#but there is only one flower related to ashes. so

[raayllum]

So the clue is a creepy ass cover of "Ring around the rosie," a childhood nursery rhyme about the Bubonic Plague / Black Death. Here the lyrics pictured:

"Ring around the rosie Pocket of full of posie Ashes, ashes"

stopping before the infamous "we all fall down." When you lighten the photo, there is also a picture of wilted rose.

This clue was also released very purposefully and pointedly at midnight, and the release being at midnight was built up. Therefore:

6x08 has to do with Aaravos' history with Elarion

The poem detailing the history of Elarion and his involvement with dark magic is called "The Midnight Star"

Elarion is routinely referred to as a flower/bloom

The Flowers of Elarion is a story in Tales of Xadia shared between Katolis and Moonshadow elves, specifically. It is the only story in TOX to have a dual narrative treatment.

Flowers of Elarion are left as a gift in exchange for stealing by an unfortunate elven thief stranded on the human side after the Exile.

The flowers, unbeknownst to them, turn to ash in the morning. "They never knew their gift was perceived as a curse, not a trade"

Instead, Lasair intended for them to be "a fair exchange of beloved for beloved" whenever they had to take something important/precious from a family

A wilted rose is also a symbol of dead/dying romance

Either all of this symbolism is going to be woven into Aaravos' backstory (dark magic being a gift and a curse, something that takes more than it ultimately gives) quite easily, leading to Elarion's fall as a city and perhaps Aaravos' own fall, too. If it is tied to the present, I expect it to be tied to our respective Katolis mage and Moonshadow elf, for well, reasons I don't think I have to elaborate on. Either way, it's shaping up to be an incredible episode with some very cool symbolism and deep lore, and I am prepared to be emotionally devastated.

[mswyrr]

Season 1 has its writing issues, but it accomplished some major character work with Rhaenyra. It took her across a moral threshold and changed some core components of how she relates to others. She begins the season paralleled with Helaena. But she ends the season paralleled with Aemond and Daemon. IMO, the Red Sowing was a major moral Rubicon crossed - and she's changed in permanent, fundamental ways. That was the goal of this season. Partly the reaction to the season is due to how this kind of internal character work isn't usually the focus of Fantasy; it's more common in "realistic" dramas.

First, the comparisons with Helaena. They mourn their sons in visually similar ways, clutching an item of clothing/blanket of the child's.

Then Rhaenyra repudiates the idea that she wanted Jaehaerys' head, specifically by mentioning this similarity and empathy with her little sister:

It's after this scene that she confronts Daemon and rejects his "a son for a son" logic. Then we get the final visual parallel. Both sisters look up and see (in flower petals and dust) the ash that will rain down on the kingdom due to the destruction of a dragon fire war. They're both disturbed by it. Early in the season, Rhaenyra tried to do all she could to prevent that future. By the end of the season, though, she has wholly embraced it.

By the time we get to the Red Sowing (2x07), Rhaenyra has changed her mind - she embraced the fire. Burning people alive for power. She might have introduced the "seeds" to Silverwing, who wouldn't have slaughtered them. But she chose Vermithor. She chose their deaths. And the power felt good. It pushed back the fear and trauma of the early season. As Emma put it:

What is going through Rhaenyra’s mind as she watches the Targaryen bastards be devoured and torched alive? "I think she feels like a god. I think she feels super proud." [interview source] [and major credit to darksvster's meta, which gives full details of where Rhaenyra is at in this episode]

Not only does that happen - but in the next episode, her brother Aemond does the same thing. Massacring people and looking down at it, feeling like a god. Feeling powerful again, after having been made to feel powerless by running up against Rhaenyra's new dragonriders at the end of 2x07.

The visual parallel is as stark as the ones earlier in the season were with Helaena:

They're not being subtle. She is being positioned opposite a brother - a mirror to her enemy - it's just not Aegon, as some people want. But it makes sense that it's the brother driven enough to *take* the crown against the rules of this society - the position of first born noble daughters and second sons has been compared since season 1. They're so close to being the one with the rights to power and yet there's a barrier.

Both of these siblings have crossed that barrier. They will take what this society will not give them. They will take it with fire and blood.

As we see in the next parallel with Aemond. They literally are twinned in two scenes where an as yet untainted female family member challenges them on their policy of burning cities of innocent people:

My final note is that now Rhaenyra is on the same page as Daemon as well. She repudiated his behavior earlier in the season, but now she embraces his return and embraces his core logic. She uses his words, his phrase in a scene where imo we are meant to notice that--while love is still there-- she's being much more cruel to Alicent than she would have ever been in the past:

Daemon has changed in the fact that he will recognize her as the reigning queen, but his morality has not changed. Rhaenyra's has - she is now of a similar mindset as Daemon and Aemond. She uses religion--and her conversations with Mysaria about caring for the smallfolk--to justify it to herself and she believes herself righteous. But the actions and their consequences (people burned alive) are the same. And for the same goal of power.

They are doing all of this so artfully--keeping us so tightly in Rhaenyra's pov where she feels justified as she crosses this moral Rubicon--that it can be difficult to see without pulling back and looking at the clues, the shifting parallels, and the ways her behavior by the end of the season is truly, in pivotal ways, not what it would have once been.

[aishangotome]

Roger Barel: Chapter 6

Chapter 5

♡———♡

The courtyard of Crown Castle echoed with the lively voices of Kate and the others.

There, two shadows lurked unnoticed---.

Nika: Hmm, looks fun. The Crown is more friendly and "family-like" than I imagined.

Ring: .............

Nika: What is it, Ring? Do you perhaps want to be friends?

Nika: No way. You know we didn't come here to make friends.

Ring: I know. I will only obey Dari and you.

Nika: I don't intend to make you a puppet, but if that's what you want, do as you please.

His eyes, peeking through the gaps in his ash-blue hair, eventually focus on Roger.

Nika: Roger Barrel. It seems he's doing research related to the curse bearers.

Ring: Research on the curse bearers? What is he... trying to do?

Nika: Who knows? Maybe it's research that will hinder our ambitions.

Nika: It could even shake the very meaning of our existence.

Ring: ... Should we eliminate him?

Ring: I'll take care of him without anyone noticing.

Nika: What are you saying, Ring? We're here as goodwill ambassadors.

Nika: We need to be white and clean, for now.

Nika: Besides, he's a man who could be either poison or medicine for Vogel. It's best to let him swim for now.

Nika: But...

A ferocious smile suddenly appears on his lips.

Nika: The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, the beautiful flower gets plucked.

Nika: It would be nice if someone other than us noticed him and eliminated him.

---At the same time.

The "Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council" in the palace was filled with irritation.

Privy Councilor: It's been several days since the "Vogel," a direct organization under the German Emperor, arrived as goodwill ambassadors.

Privy Councilor: How dare the Vogel Director and his subordinates show no interest in us.

Privy Councilor: They only show interest in "Crown"...

As one spat out with hatred, the other councilors also began to curse the Crown viciously.

Privy Councilor: Crown, with their strange power of curse bearers, doing as they please in Her Majesty's presence...

Privy Councilor: They should be erased, a stain on our country!

Privy Council Member: Her Majesty must be out of her mind to keep those cursed monsters.

Privy Councilor: Before the existence of the Crown is exposed to the public, we, the Privy Council, must protect Her Majesty.

Privy Council Member: To do that, we must force Crown to disband.

That is what the "Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council" desires.

Privy Council Member: ... But, to speak out against an organization directly under Her Majesty, we need to find their weaknesses.

Privy Councilor: Let's immediately look for weaknesses. The best material to force Crown to disband.

Unaware that darkness is once again creeping up on the "Crown"...

-

Kate: Sigh... Finally, it's over.

Finally released from the self-defense class, I was climbing the stairs, feeling completely exhausted.

(I need to train my legs and core more...)

Exhausted, I rubbed my tired legs, barely able to climb the stairs.

On these legs - under my skirt, a garter belt is wrapped around, and there's a hidden gun.

The gun was a gift from Roger.

*earlier*

Roger: Kate, I'm giving this to you. I got a good one from Victor's armory.

Kate: A gun...?

Roger: Hand it over. I'll teach you how to shoot.

I returned the gun to Roger, and a few seconds after he took aim, he shot the distant target without a single miss.

(Amazing...)

Roger: The height of the muzzle is determined based on the opponent's feet. If it's close range, the muzzle should be pointed downwards, and if it's long range, it should be horizontal.

Roger: In spaces with obstacles like rooms or trains, you might point it upwards, but that requires considerable training to stabilize.

Roger: If the muzzle wavers, the chances of hitting your allies increase, so remember that the basics are to point it downwards.

Roger explained while actually demonstrating how to hold the gun.

Roger: That's about it. The rest is just practice.

Kate: I'll try...

The gun was returned to my hand, and I held it as instructed, with Roger moving behind me.

Roger: Grip it like this. Yeah, that's good.

Roger: Put your finger on the trigger... No, don't grip it deeply with your finger. Just lightly.

Kate: Yes.

Roger: Relax... Now pull it straight back.

Roger's hand slowly moved away, and I focused my strength only on the finger on the trigger.

--A dry sound echoed, and the bullet slightly hit the target.

Roger: A little more to the left. Shoot all the bullets.

Kate: ...

My arm position was corrected, and I pulled the trigger repeatedly.

Roger: 1 hit out of 6 shots, 2 bullets grazed the target. Not bad for your first time.

Roger: We'll incorporate this into your training, so make sure to do push-ups every day from now on.

Roger: And...

Roger: Kate, think of this as your last resort weapon, only for self-defense. Okay?

*back to present*

(Roger looked a bit scary back then... No, he had a serious expression.)

As I remembered and my breath trembled slightly, I heard the sound of a piano from somewhere...

(A beautiful melody. Who is it...?)

As if drawn by the melody, I followed the sound and opened the door.

William: ...........

There, I saw William playing the piano.

William glanced at me, then continued his dramatic playing, raising his fingertips high.

The piece gradually approached its end with a decrescendo, and as the faint afterglow of the final note dissolved into the air, I offered generous applause.

Kate: It was you playing the piano, William. It was a wonderful performance.

William: Thank you for your kind words, Kate.

William, who gracefully placed his hand on his chest in response to the applause, suddenly lowered his gaze.

William: Ah... you were given a gun. A robin carrying a gun, quite a picturesque image.

Kate: How did you know? It's hidden under my skirt.

William: Your gait. When conducting undercover investigations, be careful not to let your surroundings notice.

Kate: My gait... I haven't thought that far yet.

William: But it seems you're growing quite a bit. Was it the "Robin Growth Map"?

(Ugh... It's embarrassing to hear that directly.)

William's blood-colored eyes, smiling, held a gentle power that seemed to see through everything.

(William is a mysterious person.)

(I feel like he understands everything, but I don't find it unpleasant.)

William: Kate, do you know why Roger uses a shotgun?

Kate: No... Come to think of it, Roger is the only one who uses a shotgun.

(While most members use swords or pistols...)

The shotgun Roger carries is large and conspicuous, and as an amateur, I think it would be very difficult to handle and not very convenient to use.

Kate: I have the image that shotguns are originally weapons used by people with good eyesight.

Kate: So at first, I wondered why, but...

William: One reason is that he often went hunting with his father and was familiar with it. The other is because of his "abnormal hearing."

I opened my eyes wide, receiving an unexpected answer.

Kate: Ah, because Roger can figure out where the target is by listening to the sound!

William: Exactly. Rather than risk getting injured at close range, shooting from a distance allows him to avoid that.

William: It's very Roger-like, prioritizing efficiency.

William: But that's the official reason, and I think there's another reason.

Kate: Another reason...?

William: Do you know, Robin?

William spoke gently.

As if telling a gentle fairy tale.

William: It's said that 80% of those who are forced to hold a gun in war "deliberately" don't shoot the enemy.

Kate: ... I didn't know that.

That number was much higher than I imagined.

Kate: Even if they are enemies, I guess shooting a person takes that much of a toll...

William: What about in the case of a shotgun?

William: A shotgun is originally a tool for hunting animals, not for shooting people.

William: Using it to kill people, even for the sake of judgment, would be an undeniable evil for him, from the standpoint of a former doctor.

At that moment, I remembered Roger's serious face when he taught me how to use a gun.

William: I heard from Victor that Roger himself chose the shotgun when he joined the Crown.

Kate: You mean he deliberately chose the shotgun...?

William's smile indicated affirmation.

Roger, who deliberately chose a shotgun and kills people to judge evil despite having the skills to save lives.

Roger, who has more medical knowledge than anyone else, yet calls himself a former doctor and lives in this darkness.

(... The more I get to know Roger, the deeper my questions become.)

I wonder "why" Roger decided to live in Crown.

It's not just intellectual curiosity - that much is clear...

(I wonder if I'll ever be able to ask him the reason.)

(Still, William is...)

Kate: Um, why did you tell me about Roger?

William: Hmm?

Kate: You don't seem like the type to talk about people without a reason.

William: ... That's true.

William furrowed his brow thoughtfully.

William: Perhaps because people should meet others when they need to, and be given wisdom when they need it.

Like a precept written in the Bible, its meaning cannot be understood at once.

But I felt like I had found some kind of "guidance."

Kate: It's a little difficult to understand, but... thank you.

William: You're welcome.

Kate: Ah, that's right, William!

(There was something I wanted to ask.)

Kate: I heard that there are medical books in the palace library.

William: Medical books?

Kate: Well... since I'm by Roger's side, I thought I should have some knowledge in my head.

William: Then wouldn't it be faster to ask Roger?

Kate: That's not possible.

William: Why not?

--CHOICES--

I want to grow and make him happy

I want to make him eat his words

I want to keep it a secret and surprise him

---------------

Kate: I want to keep it a secret from Roger and surprise him later.

William: A special surprise, I see.

William chuckled upon hearing my plan.

William: In that case, I'll guide you. Of course, it'll be a secret from Roger.

-

That night, Roger and I were called to Victor's office in the palace.

Victor: Roger, and your personal Fairytale Keeper, Kate- Her Majesty has a mission for you.

(Another mission...)

Since Roger started teaching me various things, I've been feeling my daily growth.

Thinking that the time had come to test my abilities, my back naturally straightened.

Victor: There's a certain village in the rural farmland outside the city.

Victor: It's a small village, but it's a special place where they live by their own unique rules.

Roger: Hmm, you mean a village with traditional customs. So, what happened there?

Victor: A few days ago, skeletal remains were found in the mountains near that village. A large number of them.

It was a reminder that the previous infiltration mission to the "Death Party" was easier than usual.

I swallowed the fear rising in my chest and organized the mission details in my head.

Kate: But burial is common in this country, and if it's a unique funeral custom of that village...

Victor: I thought so too. So, as we investigated further, we found out...

Victor: The police officers who went to investigate haven't returned since they went to the village.

(Even the police...? That can only mean something happened in the village.)

Victor: And, there's one more thing we found out.

Victor: It seems there's a leader called the Spirit God in that village. They say this man can cure diseases.

(Spirit God...? What's that...?)

Roger: That's incredibly suspicious! | Kate: That's so incredibly suspicious!

We frowned and spoke out at the same time.

Roger: I see, if it's related to diseases, then I'm the right person for the job.

Roger: Besides, there's a possibility that this man is a new curse bearer...

Kate: A new curse bearer?

Roger: No, it's something else.

(What is it?)

As I tilted my head, Roger declared triumphantly.

Roger: Alright, Kate and I will infiltrate that village.

Roger: And we'll expose whatever evil is lurking in that miniature garden. Right, Kate?

(This time, I'll make sure to fulfill the mission without being a burden as a Fairytale Keeper!)

Kate: Yes, leave it to me.

Victor: Thank you. Liam, who can disappear, has already infiltrated and is gathering information.

Victor: Once you enter the village, contact him discreetly so as not to be noticed.

Victor turned to us and said,

Victor: Roger, Kate. Be careful not to get hurt. Now, be loyal to your own evil.

He sent us off with words befitting the "Crown."

.

.

.

.

.

Chapter 7

If you’d like to support my translations, feel free to buy me a coffee here! :)

[aluria-sevhex]

HELL FUCKING YESSSSSSSS

hey if you wanna read all of my posts as i play through ISAT, they are all tagged as #Aluria plays ISAT for the first time (please don't spoil)

notes:

-aight i'm back yippee

-title theme my beloved

-i always find it so funny when an enemy tries to freeze Mira

-gonna try this boss again

-ok i think i'll just replay Floor 3 on this loop instead of looping forward after i find out another one of Bonnie's favorite foods so i can build up everybody's stats

-OH. BONNIE OVERHEARD THE DEATH CONVERSATION.

-heh Bonnie slapped Siffrin

-uh... the audio is REALLY ominous...

-oh, Bonnie...

-WAIT WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT DID I JUST LOOP SLIGHTLY BACK IN THE PAST?

-Siffrin you ok i don't think that was helping ur mental health issues your eye is covered in shadow in your dialogue portrait

-i will once again NOT kill Siffrin via anaphylaxis. i will take the fish head

-...i didn't. get info on Bonnie's favorite foods this time.

-ok according to the save screen that didn't count as a loop

-anyway time to try looping to get the Bonnie snack info

-hey... the Tear dialogue isn't as silly anymore (it just says yes or no without the 'looping time' or 'living time')

-hey i didn't skip any loops this time!

-time to kill this pair of assholes again

-"carry my ashes with you" aw that's a sweet dialogue option

-i am so tempted to kill Siffrin. but i won't.

-awwww... i talked to Bonnie and now Sif is comforting them

-ok how the fuck do i get the info. BONNIE PLS.

-hold up. does Siffrin no longer nod when zoning out? :((((

-WAIT FUCK DID I FORGET TO GET THE KEY ON FLOOR 2.

-...Mira's roommate. was learning to make bombs. why???

-lol Isa knows how to make a bomb

-Mira has anti-anxiety meds. this makes a lot of sense tbh

-...what are these papers for???

-so i decided to try using the silver coin since a person said that you can do something with it related to the croissant lore. and it said "you think about the Incident" or smth like that lol

-lol Sif forgot the term 'stuffed animal'

-idk why but it feels like a lot of Craft skills are like. slower. or have bigger cooldowns in Act 3. even tho i KNOW they don't and my brain is fucking with me

-ok the game accounted for the key thing

-in the bathroom again

-Sif is calming themself again and figuring out what to do

-Siffrin, self-loathing and calling yourself stupid won't help :(

-i zoned out at some minor dialogue but i don't remember what the dialogue was the first time so i am fucking clueless about what was going on with a choice i made. sorry Mira idk why i 'saved you' by smacking your mouth ;_;

-i love getting to obliterate weaker Rock enemies with Paper α V

-i have now gotten Sif to level 60

-sometimes it's nice to take a break and talk to Loop

-wait a sec. doesn't one of the lower floors have a sharpening stone?

-ok it's been a while and now i have everybody back to level 52. time to kick the asses of the 3rd floor boss

-ooo Odile got a new skill

-time for the last snack break!

-Bonnie's upset now because i didn't try the fritters D:

-time to face the King again... and hopefully talk to him

-welp. *that* didn't work

-oh nvm now i can ask him questions via the Craft menu!

-you. you can give the King the flower.

-yeah the characters have a point! why Vaugarde specifically?

-the King is NOT responsible but he says Siffrin has an odd smell. huh... the only other things where an odd smell has been noted is Bonnie saying the star crest Sadnesses smell odd... but if Sif had that smell then it would've been noticed sooner...

-dude. how rude to say that if Siffrin doesn't understand Time Craft they can't understand the King's methods. maybe i should read more on Time Craft in one of the libraries? or that one book on craftonomy...

-the "you have heard this before" for zoning out got more and more annoyed

-once again. what does the King need to say?

-hm i was talking to Odile and Bonnie piped in really excitedly that they have more pineapple in their pocket

-GOD FUCKING DAMMIT MIRABELLE I LOVE YOU BUT YOU STOPPED ISA'S CONFESSION ToT

-time to talk to Euphrasie and loop again ig

-hey what's that in her hair?

-"you inhale sharply, almost choking on the smell of burnt sugar around you" BURNT SUGAR BURNT SUGAR THAT'S THE SMELL OF TIME SHENANIGANS AS SEEN WITH THOSE SADNESSES

-SAY SOMETHING ELSE EUPHRASIE

-how do i get the familytale?

-ok i talked to Odile and i'm gonna help her!

-am i gonna have to go all over town for this?

lmao yeah i think i will

-oh hey the wizard-loving kid is named Manon

-oh my god. i have to go back to the boulanger

-FINALLY

-:O THERE IS NO RESEARCH???

-oh THAT'S why Odile is in Vaugarde

-oh... her mom left... all of her travels here have been to try to reconnect with that part of her...

-HEY SIFFRIN I AM ONCE AGAIN ASKING WHERE THE *FUCK* ARE YOU FROM?

-damn. bro has amnesia

-LMAO I ASKED MIRA ABOUT THE PAPERS AND THE BATTLE THEME STARTED

-...bonding proposals???

-oh my god Mira joined a dating website group

-"we have one of those at home"

-"oh, i don't have a type! i like all kinds of people equally!" is this in a bi way or an aro way

-YEAH AROMANTIC REPRESENTATION

-DIVERSITY WIN! THE KICKASS HANDMAIDEN WHO'S IMMUNE TO BEING FROZEN IN TIME AND THE SORT-OF CHOSEN ONE IS ARO!!! I FUCKING CALLED IT YEAHHHHHHHH :D

-oh, Mira :( you're not the problem you don't have to do anything like that you're not comfortable with

-hm this game is dealing with personal identity a lot

-:( :( :( oh, Mira...

-DIVERSITY WIN!!! THE SKETCHY WANDERER STUCK IN A TIME LOOP WITH MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IS ACE!!!

-MY BLORBOS ARE ACE AND AROACE FUCK YEAH I AM SO HAPPY

-FUCK IT I'M POSTING NOW

SERIOUSLY THO I DON'T THINK I CAN ACCURATELY CONVEY HOW FUCKING HAPPY THIS PART IS MAKING ME. TWO OF MY FAVORITES ARE ACE AND AROACE HELL FUCKING YES

[yrbladie]

—﹒୨` TELL ME GOODBYE (part 1/?)

˖ ࣪ summary. in which they're gone, but you call them one last time to hear their voice. but instead of the silent beeps and the voicemail message, you hear his quiet breathing. or in which you get one last chance to say goodbye.

˖ ࣪ characters. diluc, kaeya.

( warnings ) around 1k words. angst. gn!reader. heavy mentions of death (his). kind of modern setting since it has phones. mentions of living together (diluc). non-fluent writer

( a/n ) this is based on a book called "you've reached sam" and on a personal experience. also i'm not 100% sure if i should make a series out of this or not, i just had this idea randomly after reading the book and relating to it. and i kind of wrote this in a rush after an entire night awake so... if there is anything confusing or any mistakes, i'm sorry. and yes, i know it's small but i'm starting back slow :')

It had already been a year since your life had completely fallen apart, ever since your lover's passing. You kept wondering if you had made a mistake somewhere down the line or if your life had simply always been this dull.

Though time had completely stopped for you, the outside kept moving on, only precious memories remaining, like flames that spring to life one last time before being completely diminished to ashes.

Before, it was common to joke that you'd never be able to spend even a moment without his presence by your side, but who would've thought? Now, you'd have to spend an entire lifetime without him.

You, above everyone, knew how unfair destiny could be. But of all people, did it have to be him?

It's almost as if things hadn't changed much.

Your reserved seat in the tavern is still there, but this time it's Charles who greets you every time, a compassionate look in his eyes. And you don't know why — actually, you do — but you always find yourself waiting for him. Waiting until the moment you'll hear the door to Angel's Share open, and this time, surely, this time it'll be him. And you'd smile at him like you always did, and ask "where have you been? I've been waiting for you all this time!". But for some reason, you can't imagine what his answer would be anymore.

You always look for him everywhere you go, his red hair in the middle of the crowd, standing out like a rose in a field of lilies. Back then, no matter how much you tried to surprise him from behind, he'd turn around and greet you, like he was able to find you anywhere. He always did.

You always find yourself waiting for him to come back from wherever he is — even if you know where he is. Besides his father, in the cemetery next to the church.

On his birthday, his grave was filled with flowers of all kinds, and on most days, there was a single Small Lamp Grass that you'd change every few times. Sometimes, Kaeya would add a pink carnation to the pile on the days you couldn't go visit Diluc.

It was by no means a lonely and abandoned place there. And if you could be honest with yourself, you'd even say that spending your entire day besides his grave was better than to come home to a empty house. The place in which your voice echoed to nothingness and the silence was unbearable. The future, so meticulously planned together, now mocking you from a distance, out of reach.

Walking from room to room, you find bits of Diluc everywhere, your voice barely above a whisper as you try to connect all the pieces back together. As you try to remember how it felt to have him there. And you can't. You realize, with a coldness in your chest and a choked up sigh, that the human mind could be something so fragile.

So instead of dwelling on a life that no longer exists, surrounded by the shadows of a presence forever gone, you call him, just like you used to do. And for a single moment, it feels like you're back to the past. During the days where Diluc would never let it ring more than twice before answering.

And it seems like it rings forever as you wait for the usual voicemail to start playing, his casual voice saying that he'd call again later if it was something important. But this time, you're greeted by silence. And you're about to start wondering if your phone had glitched, before a familiar voice greets you again.

"(Name)?"

And maybe, you've really gone insane after all this time. Because it was still his voice, in the same way he used to say your name, although now he whispered, almost as if he couldn't believe it himself. Even if this was all a dream, just the fact you could hear him say your name again was a blessing in itself.

So you whisper back, "I'm here".

You can't help but feel like you've been there before. More times than you'd like to admit. It was like people around you were always doomed to disaster, so much so that it made you wonder whether you were somehow cursed.

"Well, then maybe we should be cursed together." Was Kaeya's lighthearted answer to your worries. Although he had quite the charming smirk at the time, you knew he was being serious.

Kaeya was someone that spoke about forever as if he was talking about the weather. In the way he joked about never leaving no matter what happened, and making promises under the stars.

In the end, you won the bet that neither of you chose to participate, the one you didn't even know you were part of. A bet with fate. It was like it was a cruel and twisted joke from destiny itself. To show you that indeed, your 'curse' would always be your downfall. Because no matter how many times you'd been there before, watching yet another loved one being buried, you still never expected it.

A fool's hopeless dreams. Like a firefly chasing a shooting star. Always looking up for the brighter days only to end up in the rainiest ones.

You had always loved rain. But now all your flowers where withering and your plant pots were overflowing, because as much as water can nurture, it can also destroy when it has nowhere else to go.

Mourning sometimes led people to the strangest places. Some would start swearing they could hear their loved one voice calling for them in their home, in the street. Some would even see them. And you couldn't help but wish this paranoia to yourself, because ever since Kaeya was gone, there was a simple and unending cycle of silence. No matter how much time you wasted waiting for something to happen during the late nights awake, you were never blessed by his faint presence again, created by a mind affected by delusions.

And so, with trembling hands you decided to dial Kaeya's number again. Like it had been on instinct, a habit too difficult to let go of. You heard the familiar ringtone as you took comfort in it. Slowly trying to delude yourself that things were still the same, that Kaeya was somewhere simply busy with work and he would call you back in a few minutes.

But the call was unexpectedly picked up. You wondered whether someone else already had his number, and you couldn't help but be angry, because how could they? But it wasn't their fault. Instead, you decided to speak as if it was Kaeya there, on the other side.

"Why?" You asked. Why did you have to leave? Why did you accept to go on that trip? Why didn't you stay when I asked you to? There were many questions you wished to ask, but knew you'd probably never hear the answer to.

"Uh… shouldn't I have picked up?"

The other person in the line suddenly says, their voice cheerful and so painfully familiar. You wondered if there was anyone else in the world that could have his voice, and now that you paid attention to it, you could hear his calm breathing through the phone, the same one that you used to hear when you'd call each other late at night only to sleep 'together'.

It seemed almost impossible to be him, but this time you wished to fool yourself just a little bit.

"Kaeya?"

And you can swear you hear his quiet chuckle, the one he always did when you said something silly.

"Yes, it's me."

[nrc-therapist]

in relation to this post

okay so let's see, fighting fairly would mean just physical strength so no magic. for it to be fair, we'd also have to make sure no one cheats, and that one person is only fighting one person, not 5v1 or something

so @/nrc-tea is a savannaclaw student so I think he could put up a good fight

meanwhile @/somerandomdiasomniastudent has eaten a whole pavement, gravel, bones (?) and probably more, and survived. they could survive a nuclear reaction

@/official-nrc-prophet could be a potential winner but he's disqualified since he can't stop using his unique magic

Now if we CAN use magic:

@/official-nrc-prophet is definitely a winner cause I think he could use his unique magic to prophesise what his opponents next move so they'd be able to win

me because of my unique magic. it makes things around me go wrong, benefiting me in the end. who knows, maybe the floor would break, maybe they'd slip

NOW IF WE CHEAT:

listen listen, @/nrcgardens could bring out any poisonous flower they want. period.

as for @/nrccookingclubofficial, one showing of the cola ramen and everyone is out

FOR THE STAFF: @/nrcstaffofficial could beat us all up, let's be real

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

@/nrccleaningclub no need to explain to be honest. they go through so much every day

@/nrcmonstercontrol also no need to explain. if they can take down monsters, I'm sure they can take down some students

@/nrchostclub-official IF WE WERENT IMMUNE TO THEIR CHARMS, they'd win. but we all have a sense of immunity on them

@/nrc-danceclubofficial Ash doesn't stand a chance<3

@/nrc-fashion-advice also doesn't stand chance...maybe more than ash<3

@/nightraventherapy, both them and I deal with all of yalls bullshit everyday, don't fight them, give them a break

@/stressedoutcrowlet also needs a break. probably too tired to fight

@/hello-from-nrc-infirmary don't know them

@/diasomnia-gossip I mean, they're in diasomnia, they probably can use magic to beat someone up

@/thoughts-of-an-nrc-student bold of you to assume that housewarden rosehearts would let them fight

@/merlino-anais I mean, probably could win, but I don't think they would

[epicspheal]

Not Yet! We can fight on! An Iris Analysis

Ah Iris…I remember when we first got information about her through anime leaks how Serebii.net forums were going wild. A dark-skinned female as Ash’s companion? I was fighting for my life trying to defend her because people were…not that accepting of her to say the least.

I like Iris, both her anime and game counterparts. But this analysis is going to be centered on her game counterpart (since this blog is mostly gameverse centered). While our time with her in both Black/White and Black 2/White 2 is overall pretty limited we can still gain a lot of information about who she is in the game’s world

Let’s start with her name. Fun fact! Iris is the only champion (bar Red) whose name is the same in both English and Japanese. The name Iris comes from the plant genus named Iris which actually comes from the Greek Goddess of Rainbows, Iris. Now this Greek Goddess doesn’t have a whole lot of mythology around her, but her key role was to be the connection between humans and gods. A divine messenger of sorts. Given Iris’ ability to understand the hearts of dragons, the Tao Trio being revered in Unova, and her being from a Village that lives as one with dragon types it makes sense why this is her name. She’s a bridge between humans and dragon types which I think is really sweet.

Now back to the Iris flowers, we know Pokemon loves floral and plant symbolism. And the Iris flower has no shortage of symbolism with it meaning faith, courage, valor, hope and wisdom. Iris as a character certainly has a lot of courage being a dragon tamer of some pretty fierce dragon types at such a young age. She has a lot of faith and hope in her and her team’s power. She shows plenty of valor by offering to be Bianca’s bodyguard in Castelia city and stepping up against Team Plasma in the Plasma Castle. And as we see in Pokemas, she is growing in her wisdom.

But wait there’s more! Even the individual colors of the Iris flower (of which there are many) also have their own unique meanings. Since Iris is very much related to the color purple, let’s use that one for more analysis. The purple iris symbolizes royalty, wisdom, strength and courage. Wisdom and Courage are repeated themes for Iris as we see. Strength and Royalty can be tied to her status as champion as they’re the strongest trainers of the regions and (especially in places like Galar) can be seen as royalty among the league.

Now let’s take a look at her team. For this I’m going to be only using her normal mode team

We see here that she uses a mix of Dragon-Type Pokemon and Pokemon that are dragon-adjacent much like Lance. However unlike Lance, she doesn’t repeat any species (which is mainly due to Unova having more variety in Dragon Types). She uses 12 of then (at the time) 17 types with a fair spread of both physical and special damaging moves showing that she does value coverage a lot. She has a lot of coverage for ice types with fire and fighting to combat ice, and fire, fighting and ground to combat steel which resists dragon moves. Even though the fairy type had not yet debuted, it seems like Iris was already future-proofing her team with the addition of Aggron. She also tends to favorite spread moves (Surf, Earthquake, Rock Slide) and some high-risk/high-reward moves (Double Edge, Focus Blast, Endeavor, etc) which gives the impression her style of battling is very high-powered and likely means her champion room needs to be pretty sturdy to withstand the level of her attacks.

"I heard this lady's scream and ran after the thief as fast as I could. But this city is so big and so crowded… I'm afraid I lost them. […] But that's so bad! Taking people's Pokémon is really bad! 'Cause it's really nice when people and Pokémon are together! They each have something the other doesn't, and they help each other!"

This is our first introduction to Iris after she helps out Bianca after she gets her Pokemon stolen from her. We can see right off the bat that despite being young she’s very eager to help others, which gives me the vibes that in another universe she’d be a perfect Pokemon Protagonist. Also we see that she truly values the relationship between people and Pokemon which again tracks since she not only grew up in the Village of Dragons, her empathic abilities that allow her to connect with Dragon types at a deeper level would increase her love on the bond people and Pokemon typically share.

We also see in the Castelia City events that she does struggle bit with getting around the city, but that seems to be more of a result of Castelia being so unfamiliar to her versus her being like Lillie or Leon who have more overall struggles with with direction, since she can navigate Opelucid City just fine.

"That single Dragon Pokémon, along with twin heroes, brought a new region into being. And people and Pokémon had happy lives!! In its pursuit of truth, the white Dragon-type Pokémon sought to usher in a new and better world… Its name was Reshiram. And the other, the black Dragon-type Pokémon, sought ideals and to usher in a new world--a world of hope. Its name was Zekrom. But, but… The two heroes' sons started the battle again! And an instant later, Reshiram and Zekrom destroyed Unova with fire and lightning! Then, they disappeared! But, but… If people work with Pokémon in the right way, we don't have to worry anymore about the world being destroyed. I mean, Reshiram and Zekrom worked hard for everyone and made a new region! So, it should be all right, I think."

Iris is also the one in both versions to tell us the origin story of Reshiram and Zekrom showing her deep knowledge of Unova cultural history. Now here we get a bit of a divide where in Black she is Drayden’s apprentice and will teach the move Draco Meteor to your Pokemon, but in White we actually face her as the gym leader.

"The pain of my Pokémon… I feel it, too!"

Here we get a glimpse of her powers in action, albeit subtly. It’s very clear she’s an empath and that the bond between her and her Pokemon is so strong that she can feel when they take hits. Which when you think of the attacks she puts on her teams, shows that she tries to finish battles quickly to minimize the shared pain.

We see her again at N’s castle bravely fighting against the seven sages so Hilda/Hilbert can face N, once again showing her courage and I swear in another universe she was the BW protagonist. She fits the bill so well

"Sometimes I think about the village where I was born, but I'm totally OK! Because I met lots of Pokémon--and all of you!"

This quote comes from Caitlin’s Villa where she remarks about her time in the Village of Dragons, showing that she doesn’t mind being away from it because she’s made so many new friends!

"… Looking for Team Plasma? But Team Plasma disbanded two years ago!"

Fast forward two years in-universe and meet her once again in Castelia City as Hugh and Nate/Rosa are giving chase to Neo Team Plasma. As she helps them to the sewers we can see she’s gotten a better grasp on navigating the big city as she no longer complains of getting lost. We can see though, she is taken aback a bit by the claims that Team Plasma is still around, but nevertheless she still helps out.

"Yahoo! I haven't seen you since I ran into you in Castelia City! Are you here to battle Grandpa? Yep! Opelucid City's Gym Leader, Drayden, is my grandpa. We're not really related, though! Oh! The Gym is that way! Before challenging it, you might want to go to Route 9! Still, your Pokémon really respect you! I feel how much fun your Pokémon are having, even from inside their Poké Balls! Good luck!"

We meet up with her again in Opelucid City where we see in both versions that Drayden is now the one gym leader for the city which is foreshadowing that Iris has ascended to a higher position. But also we get a confirmation that Drayden and Iris have a grandparent-grandchild relationship even if they aren’t blood related. And once again we get a bit of hint of her powers as she can sense the fun the player’s Pokemon are having, showing that although her powers seem most related to draconic , she can still sense the feelings of other Pokemon too.

"Know what? I really look forward to having serious battles with strong Trainers! I mean, come on! The Trainers who make it here are Trainers who desire victory with every fiber of their being! And they are battling alongside Pokémon that have been through countless difficult battles! If I battle with people like that, not only will I get stronger, my Pokémon will, too! And we'll get to know each other even better! OK! Brace yourself! I'm Iris, the Pokémon League Champion, and I'm going to defeat you!"

I really love this quote in particular because it shows how much she looks forward to tough fights as it helps her deepen the bonds between her and her Pokemon. This is in contrast to at the time, the only other kid champion of the series, Blue, who was more concerned about gloating about his tactical mindset in assembling a powerful and versatile team. It shows the different mindsets we see between the two child-prodigies (thankfully though, Blue does change his mindset). The fact that we both began and end the 2D era of the franchise (Gen 1 to Gen 5) with the champion being a child is a nice way to bring it all together for that time of Pokemon.

Iris’ pre-champion fight quote also ties into a quote you can only access in the memory link cutscenes

"I've already decided! I know what kind of Champion I will be! There's a myth in Sinnoh that says that the reason why Pokémon jump out is because they want to thank people. I'm sure that we and Pokémon have helped each other and enriched the world since ancient times. These memories have been engraved in each Pokémon's heart! So, I want Pokémon and people to get closer and closer! As the Champion, I want to tell that to everybody!"

Here we can see once again how knowledgeable she is about myths, not just in Unova but Sinnoh as well. But also we can see how this helps inform how she wants to be a champion. That she wants to help facilitate the bonds between Pokemon and People. This really shows her mindset as being quite mature for her age as she’s not focused on showing off her strength as much, even though yes she still doesn’t like to lose.

"So, this room is the Hall of Fame! Your name and your Pokémon's names will be recorded here so these important things will never be forgotten: That you are an excellent and kind Trainer! That you are considerate toward your Pokémon, and you give them your whole heart! And that your wonderful Pokémon believe in their Trainer with all their hearts, and together you have a strength that knows no bounds! Hey, c'mon! Oh, excuse me… ! To the Trainer standing before me! And to the Pokémon at your side! Your beautiful bond has grown strong through battle! In order to make this bond an eternal treasure, your names shall be recorded here!"

I also find this quote really endearing as you can see that even though she’s giving a serious impactful speech, she’s still just a kid and sometimes slips up a bit. She is really trying to live up to the role of being champion which we see impacts her a lot in one of the Pokemon Masters EX events- The Shining Hearts of Dragons

Is he saying…I'd be an embarrassment to Unova?"

Oof…if ever I wanted to jump through my screen and throw hands with NPCs, it was those jerk adults who were calling Iris an embarrassment. It seems being a kid does not protect you from the harsh criticism of people who keep an eye on the league. We see Iris definitely feels pressure as being the youngest champion at the event. All of the other champions are adults (or in Blue’s case an older teen) and she’s coming off the heels of Alder who is a wise veteran champion.

"It's just…Diantha is so pretty, calm, and mature… […] Diantha is amazing…I wanna be that elegant and cool when I grow up, too."

You can see of all the older champions she definitely looks up to Diantha the most. Which is very fitting considering it’s Diantha who ultimately mentors her to help her get out of the funk once her Hydreigon goes berserk thanks to the actions of Team Break

"I wanted to make sure people knew me…and accepted me…I just wanted to make everyone happy. I wanted them to know that I'm the proud Champion of Unova… […]"I remember thinking I'd become a great Champion, just like Alder was! But I don't think I can do it anymore…I don't have the experience…and I'm just a kid…"

We can see how much the incident (and Lance’s stern warning) affected her. Hydreigon going out of control was also a hard blow because we learn in her “Day with Iris (Champion Alt)” story that she struggled to control it initially (again drawing more parallels to Blue as he also couldn’t handle his Aerodactyl at the start of his journey). So having Hydreigon act up again right when she was trying to show how capable she is as champion was a huge blow. She wants to be seen as mature and to be accepted. The acceptance part likely stems from her being from the Village of Dragons which has a vastly different culture than Unova and how she likely feels like an outsider at times. Poor Iris, she needs a hug.

Thankfully though she manages to find her way and get back to her peppy self by the end of the event. Feeling more confident in her abilities as champion. Which is important once we see her in the multiple Unova Neo Champion events where she presides as the main judge. In all the events she definitely seems to prioritize how people and Pokemon connect via their hearts and their ideas of strength

While Iris has certainly stepped up to the plate in showing her ability to be a mature, albeit young, champion. She thankfully still has time to still be a kid. A lot of her dialogue in the Pokemon Center talks about playing and having fun. But more importantly she got to get a whole bunch of candy, and new friends in Allister and Naganadel in the “Otherworldly Encounter” Halloween event. It was really adorable to see her team up with a ghost type expert like Allister who also happens to have supernatural powers much like her and just be able to hang out and enjoy getting a bunch of candy.

“But I can tell how it's feeling! I bet it was just afraid because it came to a place it doesn't know well!  was the same when I moved to the large cities of Unova from the Village of the Dragons! I was really nervous since there were so many tall buildings–and a lot of people."

I really liked this moment where she stands up to someone as domineering as Lusamine in defense of Poipole as she could relate to how the ultra beast felt being in an unfamiliar place.

“Yeah! I bet a concert with Roxie is gonna be so much fun! I understand how you feel, Roxie! I have an important dream as a Champion too...So I think I can sing with the same feelings as you!"

Lastly, I wanted to point out this small bit of dialogue from “Who’s the best singer” Where we see that Iris not only enjoys Roxie’s music but that she has a bit of musical talent as well. I really love instances like this in Pokemon Master’s where we can see characters step beyond just their defined role in-game. So not only have we gotten a chance to see her play with kids around her age and get candy, but we also get to see her sing with a rockstar! All in all, Game!Iris is a really incredible character who I’ve enjoyed since I first played White all those years ago. She’s certainly gone through a lot in her young life and I’d honestly love to see how she’s grown up since the events of BW2.

[belit0]

Hello!! I'd love to see Madara with a single mama. Baby could be hers and the dad died or poofed, or could be her friends passed and in their will they requested her to care for the baby. With Madaras temperament I think a little girl would be so perfect! She'd put flowers in his hair or share her bows and no one dares say A THING about it. Please and thank you!!

As soon as I received this request, I had to write it, because I love Madara's tender side (and having a break from nsfw things is also nice)!🤗💕

This ended up being way longer than I anticipated, I hope you like it!

(Y/N) finally realized the depth of her problems when she held her baby in her arms, the physical proof that things were not going to be easy at all. Of course, she adored her little girl, and after giving birth alone and unaided, without any support, she knew it would be the two of them against the world.

One night of passion and need turned into a lifelong contract with the one she now carries in her arms, and nine months of pregnancy were far from easy. (Y/N) only wanted to feel alive, experience some sort of sensation, and she made the mistake of getting involved with a man who was only interested in the bounty between her legs.

With no clan, no family, and no friends, she went through gestation on her own, until the physical changes in her body would no longer allow her to work. She couldn’t do anything to earn a living, resorting to begging for charity among the wealthy as her only source of income.

Childbirth was devastating and traumatic, full of uncertainty and terror. The pain was overriding, and (Y/N) had to sneak into an abandoned barn in order to give birth indoors. She didn't know if she or the baby would survive, pushing and struggling alone to finally meet the only bit of happiness in her life. After hours of suffering, hearing her daughter's cry gave her back her willpower, and she forgot all her negative thoughts.

It would be difficult, but the two of them would make it together.

(Y/N) found a new motivation in her little ray of sunshine, and fortunately, people were kinder when donating money because of the baby in her arms. For years, she managed to get by, doing her best to find shelter and food.

When her child was five years old, (Y/N) knew things had to change. Her daughter could not grow up on the streets, exposed to any person or factor that would harm her, and the woman became determined to find a permanent destination for them both.

She asked anyone who might be willing to talk to her about possible inexpensive and friendly places to go, and got information about a particular territory. The journey would be long and laborious, a month of walking at least, but as the person who gave her the information related, "Senjus are the most compassionate and empathetic clan in the whole world, if anyone will help you, it will be them."

Ignorant of the war and all the chaos surrounding that particular family, (Y/N) embarked on a journey to find them, praying the legends about the mighty Hashirama were true.

The first weeks passed without any problem, fifteen days of movement where she met people kind enough to give them both a hot meal and a place to spend a few nights. Her little girl resisted the adversities alongside her like a warrior and never stopped smiling. Her attitude helped (Y/N) stay afloat, fighting against life to reach their destination.

The last two weeks of the trip got chaotic, with hints of war along every road they traveled. Near Senju territory, all the houses seemed to be abandoned, and the territory completely destroyed. Trees had been reduced to ashes, residences collapsed, the skies were gray and filled with smoke.

It was a battlefield, and she walked into it without any qualms.

A feeling told her something was wrong, and her daughter refused to walk in those surroundings, demanding to be carried in her arms out of fear. After a few kilometers of walking, she realized she would find no shelter or help there, and decided to retrace her steps.

They would find a more promising route.

A strange sound sings on the horizon, and (Y/N) can see how the heavens turn red. Clouds seem to bleed, as hurricane-force winds wake up unprecedentedly from the ground. The panorama becomes apocalyptic, triggering panic and terror in the two of them. She hugs her little girl and crouches to the ground, trying to hide her face from such brutal and sudden weather.

Two groups of five people each approach from opposite sides, as if they are about to confront each other. A few meters away from her, they run at impossible speeds, and the attack swiftly begins. Fire and water fly everywhere, screams, and metal on metal.

Smoke and debris fly through the sky, landing near where (Y/N) is reduced. She knows they must flee, and her little girl's cries indicate urgency. She has to get them to safety right now, or something terrible could happen.

Quickly scanning her surroundings, she finds no place to hide, the ground crumbling to dust and ruins. Far from any structure that could shelter them and make them go unnoticed, (Y/N) squeezes her daughter tightly, and hopes those men are too intent on their battle to notice them.

She decides to run in the opposite direction of the battle, standing again on shaky legs and holding back tears. There is so much dust in the air it is impossible to see, and she keeps her child's face hidden in her chest for protection. Holding the infant with one arm, she covers her eyes with the other in an attempt to move forward.

While taking her first unsteady steps, there is an embracing heat coming towards them, feeling almost as if about to be burned alive. Everything happens so fast there is no time to react, instinctively acting. Her first impulse is to scream, clutching her little girl tightly and hoping to shield her from whatever might be happening.

An incredible explosion hits just a few meters from where she is standing, and the shockwave sends them both flying backward. In the air, (Y/N) continues to hold her daughter, an inexplicable force helping to keep her close to her. She has a few seconds to calculate how to position her body and be the one to hit the ground, but it never happens.

Before she can slam into anything, two large hands grab her under her legs and shoulder blades, holding them both and pulling them away from the floor. The event is sudden (Y/N) cannot comprehend what is happening, only seeing the face of a man both handsome and terrifying holding them in his arms, preventing them from falling to the ground.

(Y/N) feels the cold armor the man wears against her body, rising and falling with his agitated breathing. Long, frizzy black hair hides half of his face, and upon making eye contact, she is met with an unnaturally red eye.

At that moment, she falls prey to an overwhelming drowsiness, and can only think of her daughter as she falls asleep against her will.

......

"That was close, you know..." A male voice booms against her ears, as (Y/N) tries to gain order and command of her body. All her muscles feel exhausted as if she has gone days without moving. She struggles to open her eyes, but when she does, she finds a cozy room, lit only by candles.

A window indicates it is nighttime, and the mattress under her body feels comfortable and warm. Examining her surroundings, the woman notices she is lying on a large bed, and wearing clothes that are not hers.

"My daughter..." she whispers feebly, trying to sit up and get out of her comfortable rest. "Don't worry, she's fine. Last time I went to see her, Izuna was with her buying candy."

(Y/N) focuses her eyes on that disembodied voice, and is met with a heavenly image. A handsome man with prominent shoulders is sitting against the sliding door of the room, looking out into the starry night and admiring the view. He wears a yukata similar to the one she wears, but much bigger. Long black hair rains down his back, framing his defined jawline.

She might have blushed if finding her girl wasn't a priority, and the stranger seems aware of her urgency. "Izuna!" he shouts into the darkness of the night, and another man extremely similar to him immediately appears. In his arms, he carries the sleeping child, who embraces a bouquet of flowers and a small bag of candy.

"Ah... so she finally woke up. Does this mean our fun evenings are over?" the boy presumably named Izuna asks the sleeping toddler tenderly, as if she would answer. He gives the girl to the mysterious man, and carries her to (Y/N).

Hugging her daughter for the first time in what felt like years, she can't help the tears, kissing her head and remembering those events which brought them here. They both could have died in the middle of that battlefield, but life decided to give them more time.

Well, maybe not life, but that man.

"My name is Madara, and this is my younger brother Izuna... If I hadn't been there to deflect his attack, both of you would be charred right now." The younger man scratches the back of his neck guiltily, and sharing a glance with his older brother, leaves the room, disappearing back into the night.

"Of course, it was not purposeful... the colors you were wearing were easy to mistake for those of the enemy. My apology on behalf of us both." Madara analyses her from his position, arms crossed over his chest and a comprehending look. (Y/N) carefully deposits the small child on the bed, and cuddles her between covers for a peaceful sleep. She tries to get up, but her legs quickly give way under her, too weak to support her weight.

Before hitting the ground, Madara holds her, keeping her against his chest. He carries the woman to where he sat a few seconds ago, and takes a spot next to her. The night is beautiful, and a warm breeze is blowing in the garden, signaling wonderful weather. "Would you mind telling me your name?"

"(Y/N) ... I am (Y/N)." The place is exquisite, and the beautiful room she woke up in is nothing compared to her current view. All the clan's territory can be seen from her position, a million houses lit by fire.

"How long was I asleep...?"(Y/N) asks uncertainly. "About a week. We had to resort to the family healers for keeping you healthy. According to their professional prognosis, I was a bit aggressive with the Genjutsu I used on you."

"Gen...justu?" trying to understand the words and the situation, (Y/N) asks almost to herself, "I confirm you are not familiar with warfare in this territory...I assume you must have traveled from afar. What brought you here?"

"The legend about a wonderful clan and the promise of a good life..." There are tears in her eyes still, mentally going over all the troubles and the terrible experiences lived.

"Hm... that must be regarding Hashirama... Well, (Y/N), we may not be the Senjus, but life here is delightful and comfortable. You are invited to stay as long as you wish... Personally, I recommend not leaving anytime soon, Izuna is too fond of that child to allow it."

Madara stands and smiles at her, before disappearing into the darkness of the night like his younger brother.

........

It's been months since their accidental arrival at the Uchiha compound, but as Madara commented on their first night, life here is nice and beautiful.

(Y/N) found a stable place to live, friends to share with, and a promising future for her little girl. The child begged her mother to allow Izuna to train her, and she started developing in the ninja arts.

She learned a lot about the clan and the family, about their standards and ways of living. Madara did not disclose being the leader of it until a few weeks after she awoke, trying to help her adapt as best as possible and not intimidate her with his position. She understood the importance of the Uchiha family and the power Madara carries within, profoundly respecting him.

The two became extremely close, almost to an intimate point.

The Uchiha adores her little girl, and (Y/N) admits embracing him as a father figure every time she witnesses how the young child fills his hair with flowers or paints his lips bright red. Who would have thought one of the strongest men in the world could have such a soft and tender side for them both?

Seeing the leader of the family stroll around the compound decorated by her daughter was definitely a wonderful scene, especially as no one dared to comment on it, except Izuna. His younger brother was dedicated to teasing him from the first time it happened, until he fell victim to those little hands himself, and had to walk around full of flowers and paint in front of everyone.

Madara was right... they might not be the Senjus, but they were even better.

[satanachia666]

Astaroth's Menstrual Moon Ritual

Astaroth’s Menstrual Moon Ritual uses the powers of lunar energy and menstruation to manifest specific intentions and desires. In this ritual, one gives offerings of menstrual blood and rose petals to Astaroth in exchange for the manifestation of intentions and desires. This ritual has helped me deepen my connection to the Great Duke/Duchess of Hell, and I hope it does the same for anyone interested in performing it on their own!

Perform this moon ritual with Astaroth while menstruating and feeling well enough to actually do the ritual. Some of us experience more severe period pain and discomfort than others, including myself. I speak from experience when I say that doing a ritual is usually/often not doable when one is experiencing severe PMS and menstruation symptoms. I intentionally made this ritual short so I could do it while operating with lower spoons. I’ve found that making rituals accessible according to my needs leads to the most effective ritual performance and better results. Feel free to adapt this ritual according to your specific practice and needs, regardless of whether those needs are physical or spiritual.

This ritual is best performed under a moon in a Venus-related zodiac sign, but feel free to perform it during any moon phase. The best times to perform this ritual are at night, sunset, and sunrise. This ritual has only 8 steps, so it’s flexible enough to do on its own or incorporate into a larger ritual.

Items:

A rose gold, red, or pink chime candle

Dried rose petals

A cauldron or burning bowl

Astaroth’s seal drawn on a piece of paper - Feel free to write your intentions on the back!

Most Importantly: Menstrual Blood!

Carve words or symbols related to your intention(s) into a rose gold, red, or pink candle.

2. Light the candle and say the following invocation and incantation:

Hail Astaroth! Demon of love, lust, beauty, creativity, and friendship! Great Duke of Hell! I’ve lit this candle in your honor. By your infernal powers of the _____ moon in _____, I call upon you with full love and respect: Please bless, charge, and empower this candle so as it burns, my intention(s) of _____ manifest to full fruition for me in my life. So mote it be!

3. Hold up a cauldron or burning bowl with flowers in it and say:

Hail Astaroth! I offer these rose petals to you as a gift and sacrifice from the bottom of my heart. These rose petals represent your star-kissed beauty, power, passion, and prosperity. Please accept these rose petals as an expression of my love and esteem for you. As these rose petals intermingle with the elements, my intention(s) of _____ become my lived, tangible reality. Thank you, Astaroth, now and forevermore. So mote it be!

4. Meditate and/or chant as the candle burns. While doing so, focus on attuning to Astaroth’s energy and receiving her/his messages.

5. Hold up a paper with Astaroth’s seal on one side, with or without your intentions written on the other side. While holding Astaroth’s seal on paper, state your intention to offer menstrual blood to Astaroth:

Hail Astaroth! As a final gift and sacrifice to you, I shall anoint your seal with my menstrual blood and burn it so you receive its smoke in this realm and all others realms beyond it. By your infernal powers of the _____ moon in _____, my intentions of fully manifest for me in my life. Thank you, Astaroth, now and forevermore. So mote it be!

6. Anoint the seal with menstrual blood. Once the paper dries, burn it with the rose petals present in the cauldron. Once it’s done burning, thank Astaroth verbally or in your thoughts.

7. State your intention to scatter the rose petals nearby, outside, and/or somewhere dear to you:

Hail Astaroth! Thank you for accepting the offerings I’ve extended to you with love. I shall scatter these ashes upon the earth so my intentions become my lived, tangible reality. By your infernal powers of the _____ moon in _____, my intentions of _____ fully manifest for me in my life. Thank you, Astaroth, now and forevermore. So mote it be!

8. Scatter the ashes outside while saying a personal prayer to Astaroth. Keep an open awareness of signs, dreams, and visions from Astaroth.

🌕 Pearl Satanachia 🌕

[chiekorita]

✨ chiekorita's palletshipping recs ✨

my will always re-read list. not a comprehensive list so i will add on as i go thru the fics again.

ratings listed in front of title. (c) means completed.

the unfinished collection by misswonnykins (ratings varied w each chapter)

as title says, unfinished but they're all *chefs kiss*. fav is the first chapter. ash wooing gary unknowingly pls read

[t] a pokemon trainer's guide to romance using modern technology and terrible pick-up lines by bgtea (c)

ash and gary being menaces w each other thru terrible pick up lines even in diff regions. the puns are amazing ok and v funny and cute.

[t] after all these years by archwriter (c)

the story of how they break and keeps on breaking until they come back together. the emotional rollercoaster this got me thruuuu like destroy me. can be read platonic.

[g] tying loose ends by archwriter

sequel to after all these years. ash's role as the chosen one coming back one by one and his recovering relationship with gary on the side. the way everything in his life is written and having gary mixed in naturally like that. i still reread this since years ago.

[t] my brilliant friend by afoolserrand117

gary a professor and researcher being made to do a friendly battle w ash to raise funds for his research. more gary focused esp w his mewtwo related ptsd (which i don't see much explored so it was niceeee). we get to see a more confident ash as opposed to gary. pls this is so good and cute and fun.

[m] a call to arms by feranelia

pacrim!au. the pokemons are jaegers. ash and gary butting heads thru their first, second, third consequent meetings and ended up being drift compatible. prof oak best shipper btw. arts for this also chefs kiss

[t] and into love go streaming by laniekayaleese (c)

high school!au. more on the coming of age movie feeling. boys discovering feelings. this is very vibes.

[m] find it, fix it by tayeah (c)

gary in saida labs getting a visit from ash. gary running from his feelings only to run back into them basically? angstyyyy and delicious.

[t] romantic by misswonnykins (c)

ash trying to pull off the best proposal ever with the help of his friends. super cute and fluffy.

[t] this dear thing called heart by salvations (c)

music!au. shigeru joins a satoshi's band after prof ookido's death. angsty stuff. mostly friendship focused but a good dose of palletshipping thru out.

[g] the sweetest betrayal by essence_of_silence (c)

little moments of ash's two fav partners being bff with each other more than with him. super cute. very sitcom/romcom vibes. i come back to reread this a lot bc of pikachu picking his pipichu over his pikapi.

[g] honesty by silver_fish (c)

hanahaki!au. gary starts coughing up flowers. more often when he's around a certain trainer. everything i ever wanted in a palletshipping hanahakiiiii my fav tropeeee read this one too pls

[t] [series] operations 101 by estelle4ever

ash's friends trying to set him up gary and made up a whole operation. operationS. funny shenanigans of well meaning friends and just cute stuff. it's a series but the main part of them getting together is done ✅.

[m] intuition by evie warner

prof oak's past coming back for him and gary's the target. ash caught up in it too. going off from the glitch in the games w missingno. this one is abandoned but it's still So Good. got me reading thru this in one sitting.

[imslowlydisintegrating]

look both ways,

before you cross my mind.

! will be pretty inactive and won’t interact as much, sorry beloved mutuals 😞🙏

you can call me evvy, teo, dorian, ruth, or any variation of those names. i use they/he/she pronouns (in order of preference) and i am genderfluid, sapphic and maybe ace :)

‧͙⁺˚･༓☾　and i ran, i ran so far away, i just ran　☽༓･˚⁺‧͙

i do have some personal obsessions on this blog that you’ll find

music (as on record): abba grandes exitos vol. 2 (abba) ✦ the returner (allison russell) ✦ outside child (allison russell) ✦ aretha’s gold (aretha franklin) ✦ self-titled (carpenters) ✦ “awaken, my love!” (childish gambino) ✦ visions (grimes) ✦ self-titled (hozier) ✦ wasteland, baby! (hozier) ✦ grace (jeff buckley) ✦ self-titled (kc & the sunshine band) ✦ be the cowboy (mitski) ✦ bury me at makeout creek (mitski) ✦ greatest hits (queen) ✦ i am the dog (sir chloe) ✦ sawayama (rina sawayama)

tv/movies: bullet train ✦ arcane ✦ spider-verse trilogy ✦ knives out film series ✦ brooklyn 99 ✦ jurassic park ✦ the brothers sun

what’s the screen playing? [jujutsu kaisen.]

i spend my time writing, playing drums, pacing around my room, listening to music, and doing fuck-all with my life ❤️️

☂︎ oh, come on, angel, come on, come on, darling ☂︎

my silly little peoples you’ll find around this blog <3

my official unofficial bandmates: @literatureisdying ✦ @bassguitarinablackt-shirt ✦ @gently-decaying-flowers

mutual list:

@bassguitarinablackt-shirt — asher 🌊

@gently-decaying-flowers — goobie 🛸

@iwouldkickahorse — innocent sin’s no. 1 fan

@rapidlydecayingcorpse — decay 🪦

@takeutothemoon — sun li ☀️

@literatureisdying — attie 🎶

@catinasink — cat 🌸

@dumdumdumsalot — deedee 🧐

@browngirl-inthering — cool mutual ⁉️

@arcangelise — coco ⭐

@talesfromtheunknowable — noorie 🍄‍🟫

@eden-has-rotted — ed 🎸

@gayoticbeing — moth 🐌

@serendipititties — wren 🪶

@ringhoarder — cal 💍

@starryeyeddarlings — cristie ⚜️

@my-lady-macbeth — thea ⚔️

@blood-slushy — taz 👻

@waitingforthesunrise — ari 🪻

･༓☾ so if you need a hero, just look in the mirror ☽༓･

my tagging system:

#ruth speaks — answering asks/joining tag games

#dorian talks to the void — random (usually) text posts

#evvy still uses wired headphones — music related posts

#ruth engages in media consumption — posts about what i’m enjoying at the moment

#teo is typing — stuff about my writing projects

#innocent sin — band stuff

don’t go wasting your emotion, lay all your love on me

eventually i will have a sideblog for writing, but for right now just know that i have two WIPs, Made Of Our Own Storms (#mooos) and Way Down On The River (#wdotr).

mooos is about a group of teenagers doing their best to survive 100 years after the apocalypse while also struggling to balance their mental health and the burden that comes with being alive in the post-apocalypse. tags: (#mooos, #art o’cahan, #arun nidhi, #cy segal, #daya da silva iglesias, #azi tyali, #domi larieux morais, #naia zorita.)

wdotr is about a collection of serial killers that all manage to find themselves on the same riverboat, heading to the same destination. it only gets complicated when they set their sights on each other as their next victim. set in an almost-Earth, wdotr takes place in a steampunk-y world with parallels to earth, but it’s not exactly the same. tags: (#wdotr, #anastasia marie, #cheli malviya, #sam malviya, #zexi malviya, #the triplets, #akachi moriai, #moriai toyoko, #the brides, #ruhi arana, #don nekvasilová, #ash vanich.)

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

lyrics used in this post:

‘look both ways before you cross my mind’, george clinton featured on wesley’s theory by kendrick lamar.

‘and i ran, i ran so far away, i just ran’, i ran by a flock of seagulls.

‘oh, come on, angel, come on, come one, darling’, running up that hill (a deal with god) by kate bush.

‘so if you need a hero, just look in the mirror’, after the storm by kali uchis ft. tyler, the creator & bootsy collins.

‘don’t go wasting your emotion, lay all your love on me’, lay all your love on me by abba.

[moonxpalace]

Oliver Ketchum

After graduating from a Pokemon Academy in Viridian City at age 10, Oliver doesn't hesitate to start on his journey. He did mostly good at school, as he is book-smart and naturally independent. He has also paid close attention to his parents' battles all his life, so he decides to rely on strategy and logic rather than figuring things out along the way.

Oliver hates that other people consider him a pokemon-prodigy because of his legendary parents, because that couldn't be farther from the truth. Because of this, he tends to shy away from other kids at school, and spends most of his time alone. He prefers playing with the Academy's pokemon during recess, something that worries Ash and Iris. Rosa, May and Drew's daughter, is the only one Oliver feels 100% comfortable with.

Shortly after graduating from the Academy, Oliver befriends a wild Eevee. This particular Eevee is quite clumsy and indecisive, which Oliver finds relatable. They quickly become friends. Oliver and Eevee's journey is all about finding their own path.

Iris takes Oliver and Eevee to visit the Dragon village before they can start on their journey. After talking with the Village Elder, Oliver decides to travel around Unova and collect gym badges. Rosa quickly joins him (because Unova still doesn't have any contests. Rosa does not want to give coordinating a chance). Oliver's goal is to win the Unova League and meet Reshiram and Zekrom. Rosa wants to become a Pokemon Connoisseur (Cilan is her biggest idol.)

Oliver's first pokemon he catches in Unova is Vanillite. His motivation to catch an ice type is strong because of Iris' fear of ice types (Oliver wants to prove that he is completely different from his parents, after all). Vanillite is a sweetie and quite calm, but can be quite scary when angry

Scraggy is Oliver's second catch. He is competitive and quite possessive of Oliver (tends to quarrel with Eevee because of this). Scraggy is determined to evolve soon and loves to challenge other pokemon to battle.

Lillian Ketchum

Being 3 years younger than Oliver, Lillian is still a student. She does well at school and has many friends (other students and pokemon) She looks up to Oliver a lot, so she becomes quite depressed when he leaves to travel around Unova.

Ash feels bad for her, so he takes Lillian out of school for a few days after Iris and Oliver travel to the Village of Dragons. Ash has a meeting with the Elite Four of Kalos, and Lillian is allowed to tag along.

Lillian meets Espurr when she is playing outside with Pikachu. Pikachu is wary of Espurr, but Lillian takes a quick liking to him, and lets him play with her and Pikachu.

Ash is also hesitant to bring Espurr into the hotel when he comes to pick her and Pikachu up. He knows Espurr's powers are quite strong and not necessarily fitting as a 7 year old's first pokemon. He realizes he had nothing to be worried about when he gets to know Espurr better. Or has he ...?

Espurr is harmonious and shares Lillian's love of flowers. Although Espurr can't replace Oliver, Lillian mood improves as she has yet another friend to play with.

[raayllum]

Been thinking about the 6x08 title being "We All Fall Down" since I was off base with my guesses ("Flowers/Ashes of Elarion"). That said, I want to talk about why I still think that forms a foundation for the episode itself and what we may be able to expect with the new title in mind.

The first assumption I'm making is that we were meant to read into things further, given the extra clues that weren't needed for the episode title to be found.

The song (sung by Aanya's VA) is well known and only loosely about flowers and more so attributed to plague and sickness. It cuts off before the most famous part of the song, which is the second part of "Ashes, ashes, / we all fall down". The point I'm making here is that the song itself as a clue would've been suitable for the meaning.

So what are the extra clues? Well...

There's posting the clue specifically at midnight, which is probably the most noteworthy. Thus far in the canon show text, there's no mentions of midnight for anything. Dawn is consistently negative (2x05-6, 4x04) and the phases of the moon play a role sometimes, but I don't think a character has ever even said the word midnight outside of the Midnight Desert. However, the clue was still notably posted at midnight and this was no accident. I don't think we're getting a midnight desert callback (that would be kind of random) as the one piece we have that does mention midnight is The Midnight Star, a poem that also gives Aaravos his moniker besides a Fallen Star. A poem that spends most of its time talking about the city of Elarion and ending with Aaravos' influence over it / humans / and magic, seemingly (poem analysis here).

Another noteworthy thing is that that poem mentions Elarion fearing the wrath of the dragons, and we know from canon (3x01) that Sol Regem's ultimatum was "Give up dark magic or I will reduce [Elarion] to ash".

Now, there could be other factors that play a role here. Ashes/a song commonly associated with the plague could show a tipping point with the Sunfire elves being infected as a dark army thanks to Pharos. However, there's another extra clue that seems to point towards Elarion:

The wilted rose you only see if you lighten the video picture. Again, the song itself mentions posies/roses, so the flower indication there is clear and points toward "we all fall down". The wilted rose is likewise unnecessary to reach that conclusion... so why is it there? There's a few options I think:

People have pointed out the wilted rose bears a resemblance to Aanya's red flower necklace, and her VA is the one singing the creepy cover of "ring around the rosie". If Aanya falls in battle with the corrupted Sunfire army, say, that would certainly work for 6x08. If the army is Aaravos' puppets or it's supposed to be the darkest point of the night (midnight) that would also loop in the other unnecessary clue.

However, one of the only other pieces of information we have about Elarion from Tales of Xadia are rare and beautiful flowers that turn to ash when dawn comes. This directly pulls in both the song, Midnight, and flower related clues. "We All Fall Down" could likewise evoke Aaravos chasing his revenge to make the other Startouch elves fall in the same manner that he did, of sorts.

Basically: I'm prepared to be booboo the fool and believe that 6x08 has something to do with the history of Aaravos and Elarion until S6 proves me otherwise, and this is why <3

[five-rivers]

A Page from the Diary of Sam Manson

AO3

@aggressivelyclueless

July 21st, 20XX

Thanks to our ~wonderful~ mayor, I now know that some plants do… things.  To ghosts.  Even if they weren’t grown by ghosts.  Between that and Undergrowth…

I’m going to start a log of different plants and their effects on ghosts.  I’ll be using ethical and scientific methods, unlike some people.  I won’t say their names.  

Jack and Maddie Fenton.  

Oh, no~ Did someone hear that?  Someone said some names, oh, no~

I’m never going to be able to let Danny see this.  

.

July 23rd, 20XX

I did some research and I have some simple things that are supposed to affect ghosts.  Evil spirits.  Whatever.  I don’t actually believe this stuff changes what it does based on the morality of the ghost it’s being waved near, but who knows?  Ghost stuff is crazy, sometimes. 

I’ll make a list of what each thing is supposed to do, and then once I’ve tested it I’ll come back and make a new list.  Also going to count stuff that’s supposed to ward off fairies or witches, because why not.

Rosemary - Supposed to ward off evil spirits, the evil eye, and witches, sometimes dropped into graves to keep loved ones from being forgotten.  

Sage - Wards off spirits.  <- Apparently this is only white sage and it’s usually misused.  Hold off on this.  

Mountain-Ash (Rowan) - Keeps you from getting lost, wards off witches, fairies, or other supernatural things.  Works as a ‘portal’ between this world and the next.  Definitely check this out.

Wormwood - Wakes the dead.  Also in absinthe.  Hallucinogenic, maybe.  Ew.

So much crazy poisonous stuff.  I’m 99% convinced they only thought this had anything to do with ghosts or spirits because it would kill you dead.  

Also hallucinogenics.  

I’m not feeding Danny anything I know is hallucinogenic.  

Actually, I shouldn’t feed him anything at all.  

Elder - Makes ghosts angry if you burn it.  Apparently because witches live in it.  

I don’t know.  A lot of this sounds really stupid, now that I have it all written out.  

Ugh.  I’ll try it anyway.  

.

July 24th, 20XX

Got Danny to cooperate.  

Rosemary - No effect on Danny either way.  Did not help him remember his English vocab.  Actually, he got worse.  Also, he ate it on a dare from Tucker.  

Mountain-Ash (Rowan) - Gave Danny a branch, which initially seemed to do nothing, until he started waving it around like a wand and said ‘open sesame.’  Then he passed out and a huge natural portal opened and didn’t close for an hour.  

I’m exhausted.  

.

July 31st, 20XX

Convinced Danny to help again.  Bribery always works eventually.  Even if they say ‘never again’ at the top of their lungs a hundred times.  

It’s for his own good, anyway.  

Wormwood - Got Danny to go to sleep and then threw some on him.  He stayed asleep.  Even when Tucker squished some up and held it under his nose.  

Now I feel bad.  He doesn’t sleep very much.  

Shoot.  

I’ll leave elder for tomorrow.  

.

August 1st, 20XX

Elder - Danny just stared at me like he was really tired.  His ghost sense went off like a second later, but I’m not sure that’s related.  

.

August 2nd, 20XX

Rosemary - Handed some to the Box Ghost after asking if he wanted some.  No change.  Brought it home to his ‘wife.’

Since when is he married?  And why is Danny making that face every time we bring it up?

.

August 7th, 20XX

Had a wonderful talk with Dora!  Got a few new things to try.  She said that funeral flowers make ghosts sleepy.  It might be a little hard to test this with Danny, seeing as he’s always sleepy.  

There are a lot of different funeral flowers, though.  I’m thinking I’ll get a bouquet of one each and see if that makes Danny fall asleep faster or slower.  I should probably test a few different times, too, to get an average.  

I want to test: lilies, carnations, mums, glads, roses, hydrangeas, and forget-me-nots.  

.

August 8th, 20XX

Lilies - 10 minutes to naptime.

.

August 9th, 20XX

Lilies - 30 minutes to naptime.  

.

August 10th, 20XX

Lilies - 25 minutes to naptime.

.

August 11th, 20XX

Danny has pointed out that we should measure how long it takes him to get to sleep without the flowers, first.  He has a point.  

Tucker’s going to set something up on his PDA to monitor things better.  I’ll still write the results in here.   

.

August 27th, 20XX

THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE I HATE THIS.

.

August 28th, 20XX

Danny thinks the funeral flowers have to be ones from an actual funeral.  How do flowers know they were in a funeral?  That doesn’t make any sense.  

.

September 3rd, 20XX

Apparently the funeral flowers from actual funerals do work as advertised.  Just.  Why.  

At least I got this before school started again.  

.

September 29th, 20XX

Dora sent me a book on ghost herb lore.  She says she’ll try to get me some ghost plants, too.  

I really like some of these.  But others just freak me out.  

Ghost-nip - Induces euphoria in ghosts when they eat the stamens.  This somehow makes the ghost start producing pollen????  For the plant????

Tattoo rose - Grows under the ghost’s skin and bursts out when it blooms.  At least it’s not a perennial?  The heck?

Blood poppies - Blood blossoms, but they put the ghosts to sleep instead of torturing them.  Doesn’t sound completely horrible, but ghosts exposed to them don’t wake up until they’re removed.  Keep Danny away.  

.

October 1st, 20XX

Turns out tattoo roses come in many different shapes, sizes, and colors.  In related news, guess who’s going to the Far Frozen for emergency surgery?  It isn’t me.  

We might be here a while, because he got really stabbed by that one guy, so the seeds are deep. 

Borrowing some books from the Far Frozen library.  

Winterbloom - Kind of like snowballs in the real world, but bluer.  Only grows when it’s freezing.  

Iceflower - Kind of flower that only grows around ice-core ghosts.  Apparently it is a flower and not just a type of ice formation.  Frostbite gave me some seeds.

Snow strawberries - Also called blood-on-the-snow which I like way better, honestly.  The yetis use it for deserts but also food dye.  They’re vegetarians.  All their meat is fake.  

Take that, Tucker.  Maybe I’ll eat some just to freak him out.  

Extra note: Tucker successfully freaked out.

[rfurny]

Recently I reflected on why I am such a hardcore Pokeshipper and didn't fall into amourshipping.

Honestly, I like XY and I like Serena. She is a nice character and her feelings are relatable in many ways. It doesn't even bother me that she got Ash's first real kiss. Not everyone's first kiss is with their soulmate/future person. Did Ash like her back? I don't know. He let her leave without saying anything to her. Then he went home and there were baby's breath flowers on screen as he returned home? People say that baby's breath flowers mean everlasting love so that means he has everlasting love for Serena? After one series? After one kiss? No. There are dozens of flowers that mean everlasting love/romantic love. There are also other flowers that mean 'innocence' as the writers claim it meant. The writers did not have to choose baby's breath which is synonymous with Misty's Japanese name, Kasumi, but they did! They know how to work symbolism. It was deliberate.

Now you can call it character development or whatever, but Ash became the experienced trainer when Misty left which watered down some of his rougher character flaws that made him interesting. Hoenn Ash and onward was smoothed around the edges. He was flawed yet by the end of each episode he was the perfect hero again. Serena "fell in love" with this new ideal Ash while Misty fell for his raw, original portrayal. To me this made pokeshipping feel real for both characters. There is also the little fact that Misty is the only person of whom he was ever outwardly jealous. So when Misty came back in Seaside Battle it was fascinating to see him revert back to OS Ash who automatically regained his personality around her. He was annoying, smug, and cocky, but that's alright because Misty was hot headed and loud right back. AND PIKACHU. I believe Pikachu represents Ash's true feelings. Pikachu sees through Ash's facade and straight up disobeys for his love of Pikachupi. There was no choice to be made. Misty belongs with them and Pikachu knows it.

I think the biggest sway though is just how similar the two characters are because opposites may attract, but similarities are the foundations of a successful relationship. All of the screenshots of them making the same damn faces and gestures in Seaside Battle are unbearably adorable. You also better believe that Ash and Misty would be the kind of couple that would settle matters with a battle. Who's going shopping? Battle. Who takes out the trash? Battle. Who feeds the Pokemon? Battle. Whoever first said that Pokemon battling is their love language isn't wrong.

After Seaside Battle, I just can't see a future where Ash and Misty aren't together.

And now I need to channel this Pokeshipping excitement into my fanfics.

[occasionally-victor]

bwaah ghost au spiderbit; you can see i kinda lost motivation on this one a bit lmao welp

in this au people that die peacefully leave like. normal ghosts. the "transparent floating person maybe with some quirk" type of ghosts. idk whether make them move on to some Otherside or are they just still hang out in normal world - probably a bit of both (alive people usually can't see those tho). the people who die from some sort of cruel death or at the moment of death have A Lot™ of negative emotions? their ghosts are Fucked Up and Kinda Dangerous™ and less person looking. the nature of it is Unknown™, but those ghosts considered "cursed" - which entails that the curse can be lifted and the ghost can be granted peace. those ghosts behaviour is in fact totally targeted towards ridding themselves of that curse HOWEVER it's usually slow. have i mentioned those ghosts are Fucked Up and Kinda Dangerous™? yadda yadda there are people who specialise in helping those ghosts get rid of their "curse" because otherwise they can do a lot of damage before doing it themselves.

this au was kinda born after thinking what would the actual ghosts of cubitos look like, and then deciding to just make a seperate thing from it

!roier was still abducted, but here it's by some fucked up people who wanted to experiment on humans - he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. take a wild guess how he dies (idk body gave up after weeks of horrifying experiments or something). ghost!roier is surprisingly Not That Dangerous™ - mostly scares encountered people and also seems to bring the rat infestation to every house he is seen in. barely floats, in general looks like a walking corpse that slightly glows, rarely seen on street as seems to hate light (most of it, at least), rats do follow him a lot. doesn't seem to talk and in general also feels constant sickness and disorientation. moves between places a lot, so not many actually seen him. the commonly used name in reports is "Blinded man" (as his eyes are very much hidden behind the cloth constantly)

spiderbit were very much married in this au and well, you could have guessed, !cellbit didn't take the news well at all (authorities eventually found whatever that underground lab was and yknow the bodies). mans left his work at flower shop, became basically a complete shut in and then one day theirhis apartment was on fire. the fire part actually nor because someone set it in fire or whatever - it's because some ghost can be "born" uhh with very real impact on normal world let's just say, and in this case the very first thing ghost!cellbit did was to set the place on fire👍 not cool, because the fire was white, which is very notoriously very hot actually (the whole thing was brief tho - the only thing affected was the apartment) (the cause of death is very much grief induced heart attack btw). the heat from ghost doesn't appear right until the flames themselves are touched - while the burn itself is nonexistent, the pain is very much is. moderately aggressive, seems to have a soft spot for kids (as in, avoids them and in general seems calmer around them). often noticed around various flower shops and other flower related placed (looking for something?) - in a places where his sightings were reported often found ashes of already burn flowers (a specific flower does seem to be burnt much less tho-) (flowers actually can completely distract him - seems to be stuck in place until they finish burning - ideally not be there when that happens). the blood is real, but it vaporises before it hits the ground most of the time. the common name in reports is "Whiteflame ghost"

the way to lift their curse is for ghosts be reunited - the nature of their curse does kinda force them to be "physically" inseparable as to not return to their cursed selves, but it's not like an issue for them at this point.

will i ever expand this au? probably not tbh, but maybe.