#dawn of mana

[playstationpark]

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A Japanese commercial for 'Dawn Of Mana' on the PlayStation 2.

[g4zdtechtv]

THE PILE PRESENTS: X-Play - Flash in the Chopan | 6/27/07

Sure glad XANA ain't infecting Dawn of Mana on this episode.

[patrickbarrett1996]

A Blindfolded speedrun of the Prologue Level in Dawn Of Mana! I also did the skip i discovered last year in October

[robotsafari]

if you like anise from dawn of mana im sorry the only iterations of her i've seen is as the literally worst retconned garbage in the entire universe and some witch in the legend of mana lore.

[aussie-roadkill]

Only got the six so far, arms hurt from gaming too hard, I’ll add more at some point

Check out the wiki

[baheaux]

Im very excited for visions of mana

[erosiism]

OBLIVION | YANDERE CROWN PRINCE X M!READER

prompt: very lazy (oblivious) reader x yandere crown prince who basically does everything for him. reader is clueless about his friends disappearing around him, historical setting where MC is a pampered son of a noble family 

character(s): yandere crown prince, lazy!reader

warnings(s): mild violence, yandere themes. still considered rather fluffy and sfw

note(s): male reader, second person, present tense, as far as this goes this guy is too green to be really called a yandere lol. his possessive and violence tendencies are not to be glorified regardless, loose use of magic, not beta read 

Your biggest enemy is hard work, and your favorite hobby is sleeping. You can’t help it—you are spoiled, no doubt about that, and because you got lucky enough to be born into a prestigious family who dotes on you. Your social life is almost non-existent, but ever since you were young, your friend has stuck next to you. 

Your friend, who happens to be a crown prince.

People say he’s scary. You doubt that highly—is His Highness Cassian not the one who has brought you sweet treats from young? Is he not the one who littered your skin with tiny kisses because he likes showing affection? Is he not the one who allows you to laze around or nap? Rumors tend to be untrue, and you feel almost sorry towards the prince for having to deal with that.

(“I heard that if you mess with him, His Highness has the ability to kill! Haven’t you heard the disappearances lately?”)

You asked the crown prince questions regarding the rumors. All you got was a surprised, flippant reply: kill? That’s ridiculous, [Name]. I haven’t even mastered my mana skills yet.

So you don’t trust the rumors. It makes sense for people to be jealous, after all: he’s the crown prince. He has objectively good looks, and he’s an amalgamation of everything someone would covet: wealth, prestige, brilliance, and skill.

“You slept in class again?” A voice tears you out of your thoughts. You’re lounging on the bench in the school garden, and your legs are propped up on the sides. Your bag is thrown loosely to the ground. Inwardly you wish you had the physical capability to be agile enough to scale up a tree—because god, the place up there looked amazing—but unfortunately, you didn’t.

You face him. Cassia raises an eyebrow, and his fingers reach out gingerly to touch your cheek gently. You don’t recoil. It’s become normal.

“I can see words imprinted on your face. How long did you sleep? Or rather, how long was your class?”

It takes a few moments for you to process the prince’s words, before you squint your eyes. There’s a red smear on his cheek that seems hastily wiped off. It’s not too obvious, not to others, anyways, but you’re so used to Cassian's face looking normal that you immediately notice it.

“What’s that red thing on your face?” You ignore the question. You know that he can guess the answer.

“…Red thing?” Cassian immediately narrows his eyes, pausing. His fingers leave your face and go to his own. It looks like blood; which is odd, and definitely not possible.

“Is that…” you mull it over for a second. It can’t be blood. Or lipstick.

Cassian, though having received multiple marriage proposals, didn’t seem to be settling down any time soon. 

Strange, it doesn’t even seem like he likes women. So the only plausible thing is—

“—were you drinking tomato soup earlier?”

Cassian blinks his eyes, before a look of realization dawns on his face. And if you see correctly, there’s almost the tiniest hint of relief. Cassian’s lips tug up into a smile—he laughs, the prince laughs, the sound bright and mirthful and irrevocably fond. Your parents have teased you once about the prince nursing a crush on you. But this is how he has treated you for as long as you can remember.

“Tomato?”

“Looks like a tomato,” You furrow your eyebrows. “Hey, do they serve tomato soup in the academy? I really want tomato soup. It’s easy to drink, and…”

“I’ll get you some later,” Cassian says affectionately. He ruffles your hair, and you relax. “Don’t worry too much, alright?”

You shrug loosely. “Alright.”

.

.

[ before ]

He stares at the dead body on the ground. There aren’t a lot of rumors of you, but your laziness is well known. Some see it fondly, almost endearingly, but there are the rare few who view you with disdain because of your apparent lack of diligence.

Caspian doesn’t like that. He’s fine with rumors of his own—but of you? But of sweet, innocent, lovely you? He loathes it.

“Stop talking,” he smiles. “…You can do that, can’t you? After all, you’re already dead.”

A head lolls about and blood drips off a blade.

What, Cassian thinks with that sweet softness he has reserved for you, smiling gently, should I get for [Name] today?

shitpost since i had this lying around. lowkey cringe

[m0nnypie]

" 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 "

𝙲haract𝚎r𝚜: 𝙲𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚢𝚞, 𝙺𝚊𝚣𝚞𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚊, 𝙺𝚎𝚒𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚎, 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚓𝚒𝚛𝚘𝚞, 𝙳𝚛𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗, 𝙼𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚞𝚢𝚊, 𝚂𝚘𝚞𝚢𝚊, 𝙽𝚊𝚑𝚘𝚢𝚊, 𝚁𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚞

Chifuyu Matsuno:

- Him not admitting jealousy when you spend more time with baji than with him

- Kazutora flirting with you to irritate Fuyu

- He freaks out when you or Baji kidnap Peke J

- When you two fight, he says that Peke J is sad and that you need to talk to each other again

- You watching chifuyu vent with peke j

- Seeing chifuyu sad and disappointed when peke j prefers you over him

- He cries for the slap you gave him after he once again forgot to buy Peke J's food

- One of your dates with him was reading manga at his house. (you two always do this at least once a week)

Kazutora Hanemiya:

- keisuke flirting with you (revenge for when kazu flirts with baji's girlfriend)

- you helping him with his problems (his free therapist)

- him hitting on a waiter who flirted with you

- him thinking you want to break up when you ignore him ( you were wearing headphones and didn't hear what he said)

- you were avoiding his food (you don't know if that mess is trustworthy)

- him showing up at your house at 3am because he couldn't sleep

- him staring at you for more than 5 minutes straight

- he angry when you go to feed kittens with baji without him

- him getting desperate when he doesn't know where you went

Keisuke baji:

- He says he hates physical contact, but if you don't give him hugs, he gets sulky with you

- Gossip about him with his mother

- Feed kittens with him and chifuyu

- Being “kidnapped” by him at dawn, to take you on a motorcycle ride

- You helping him study (you just get angry)

- He fights with anyone who flirts with you (the person just asked for information about a place)

- After a fight between the two of you, say that Ryoko invited you to have lunch at his house (which his mother denies and says he was just missing you)

- Once again see kazutora flirting with you

- You two stealing peke j from chifuyu to see him suffering from worry

Mikey:

- him calling you sweetie

- him taking you to his room (to do dirty things) in a hurry whenever he has time in his schedule (sometimes it happens on the bike)

- him throwing a tantrum when you don't buy the dorayaki he ordered for you buy (he didn't ask)

- you being the biggest spoon at bedtime

- him not letting you hug him when he's mad at you.

-you and Draken leaving him in the cafeteria because you two are annoyed with Mikey.

- You and Emma fighting with Mikey because he left the toilet seat open

- Him hitting on any guy who makes you uncomfortable (or makes him jealous)

- Him supporting you to hit on the girl (or boy) who flirted with him

Draken:

- Mikey always getting involved in your dates (Draken hates it when Mikey does that, so he never told Mikey where and when you were going to meet)

- Draken doesn't like you getting involved with anything related to the gang (he only takes you to meetings because Emma says she needs company and loves you, and Mikey also bothers him with that)

- you with jealous of Emma at the beginning of the relationship and he just laughed and gave you a kiss saying he loved you.

- him loving it when you sleep on his chest (especially when you run your hand over his abdomen)

- him stopping by your house before stopping by Mikey's

- him letting Mitsuya pick you up somewhere when he can't

- him buying you candys because knows you love it

- him ignoring Mikey's calls when you guys are on a date

- he loves it when you guys are having sex and you kiss his abs (he gets hornier)

Mitsuya:

- Win pieces of clothing made by him for special festivities (your birthday, Valentine's Day, dating anniversary and Christmas)

- His sisters preferring you to him (they already asked if you could take them to your house)

- Mana and Luna making you turn against Mitsuya (just so they have your support whenever they do something wrong)

- When you and his sisters do something stupid, Hakkai helps you hide it so Mitsuya doesn't find out

- He loves having a picnic with you

- Him buying you flowers and chocolates when you are sad

- He loves cooking for you

- He always walks with his hand on your waist or on your shoulders

- He thinks it's cute when you get jealous of the girls at the club (he always sets limits on the girls)

Souya:

- Having nahoya threaten you if you hurt souya

- Sleeping holding it, with a bunch of stuffed animals next to it

- Having nahoya trying to meddle in the relationship

- Dates at your house or his (watching movies together)

- He thinks you're mad at him when u takes so long to respond (you were just sleeping)

- When you two fight (a rare thing), the reason for the fight is nahoya

- Nahoya learning to stop interfering in your relationship because you make his brother happy

- You finishing his curls (if you have curly hair he finishes yours)

- Him putting the stuffed animals you give him as gifts on his bed (he only sleeps with his favorites)

Nahoya:

- He loves spanking your ass

- Him making jokes that end up hurting you

- Your dates with him are usually at parties (he doesn't know how to be romantic, it's up to you)

- He always leaves hickeys on your neck

- He sleeps with his hand on your butt (sometimes he uses your butt as a pillow)

- Him wanting to straighten his hair and you two fighting because you don't want to let him straighten it

- Him making you ramen as a show of affection

- He often brings his brother on any date between the two of you (his brother who has to refuse to go out just the two of you)

- You forcing him to massage you after a fight, and him complaining (you hitting him and him shutting up)

Rindou:

- Language of love being gifts

- He invites you to parties where he will play as a DJ

- Ran flirting with you just to irritate Rin

- You and Ran hiding Rin's glasses and him getting angry

- You dyeing a strand blue to match him and him saying that this is ridiculous (he loved it and Ran confirmed it to you)

- Ran showing you Rindou's baby photos (him being embarrassed)

- Him forcing you to go to parties that Ran forces him to go to - He likes to show that he knows how to play the DJ table

- He doesn't show that he loves you when you praise him

Shinichiro:

- Izana is jealous of your relationship with Shini (he accepted it over time)

- You spend most of your day in the S.S. MOTOR with Shini to keep him company

- Mikey when he does something wrong asks for your help, and you taking his side, making Shini give up fighting with Mikey ( he's afraid when you get mad )

- Always get questions from Emma, Mikey and Shini's friends about why you chose him

- Buying things for you, like a candy or a perfume that you like (this makes you happy, so he does it even if he has no money)

- Receive hugs full of grease, because he gets dirty and loves hugging you all day long (and with kisses on the neck as a bonus)

- Mr Sano complaining about Shini with you

- Him trying to cook for you (it went wrong so he asked Emma for help)

- He can only sleep when he's with you (you have a house, but it's useless since you only stay at the sano's house)

N/a: It wasn't that good, but I decided to post it because I had nothing to do

[mikaela-the-slut-expert]

Tea Shop

Xie Lian x M!reader x Hua Cheng

Y'all I've been thinking for ages how to make a two person scene a three person scene. What am I supposed to do, make two brides??? So if you have any ideas come bless me with them. 🫵🙃

Previous part: God of Song's second ascension

_____________________________________________

After you guide Xie Lian carefully out of the heavens so that he doesn't kill himself by accident . It takes a day to get to a tea shop. It could've taken longer, like three days but you saved yourselves sometimes. Since you can actually have spiritual prowess. The only reason it wasn't any quicker is because Xie Lian demanded you to not overwork yourself and use too much mana.

Xie Lian has always looked simple enough with plain, white robes. You on the other hand have to take on an 'avatar' you don't need anyone noticing you either. So you also dawn white robes, but of course a veil stays on.

You and Xie Lian sit at a table in the corner of the tea shop and you sit across from him. The two of you look over the scroll Ling Wen has given you... it isn't very helpful, but that's alright.

Both yours and Xie Lian's attention is captured by a silver butterfly. It flies across both of you and out the window. When you turn your head your heart almost drops out of your throat. Xie Lian is surprised as well to see two men sitting by you. One sat by you and the other sat by Xie Lian. There's only so much room on these benches after all.

You grimace at their presence. It's not hard to read the spiritual energy from them, they're obvious officials. You glare at them, Xie Lian is much kinder, "Oh uh who are you guys..?"

"Fu Yao" the one by you replies.

"Nan Feng" the one by Xie Lian replies.

You've never side eyed someone so hard in your endless years of life. At the 'Fu Yao' person beside you.

Ling Wen transmits a message to the two of you that they're volunteer officials. You huff inwardly. There's no way anyone from the upper court would offer their deputies from the middle court to help them.

That's because they aren't from the middle court though.

"Well I thank you for your help" Xie Lian says, quickly accepting their new guests.

"Which highnesses sent you?" You ask with narrowed eyes. You know they aren't deputies. Who are you to stress Xie Lian out more though, he already looks horrified when the officials answer his question.

"The palace of Nan Yang"

"The palace of Xuan Zhen"

"..."

Your glare only grows sharper. You've no clue why Mu Qing out of all people would want to help. You also have no idea why he would sit next to you of all people.

"Oh did your generals send you?" Xie Lian asks with a mouthful of tea.

"They didn't know we were coming" they answered in unison.

Xie Lian ponders for a moment, but you're quick to make the two squirm. Just because you can.

"Two officials from the lower court shouldn't go off without permission no? The trouble surely isn't worth it." Your eyes crinkle, as you smile at the two.

Lower court used to be what's now called the middle court. It was changed when whiny officials started complaining it made them seem trivial compared to officials in the upper court. To them an apparent mark to their honor. To you a pathetic attempt to seem important.

"..."

"..."

Your smile widens under your veil when they don't answer. What are they going to say? Their lack of words don't stop Fu Yao from glaring at you or from making Nan Feng squirm in his spot.

Xie Lian ever so kindly saves them, "Well do you know who we are?"

"You're his royal highness the crown prince and he's general /n"

"You're the justice of the mortal realm, the center of the world"

Mu Qing does not regard you at all and rolls his eyes when he answers.

Xie Lian chokes on his tea, "Did he just roll his eyes?"

" He did, tell him to scram" you and Nan Feng say together.

"Any official who was available was welcome to help so who are you to tell me to scram?" Fu Yao sneered. Again his words are only pointed at Nan Feng, not you.

"Ah well more help is better than none right?" Xie Lian smiles.

You sigh and all four of you go over the scroll together.

**********************************************************

Eventually it begins to get dark and all of you will need to find a place to sleep. Long ago, Xie Lian and you would sleep in the streets or on the ground. You put a stop to that. After becoming a powerful enough ghost and god you entreated yourself to your own palace. Not in the heavens though, you chose for it to be in the ghost realm. This was a while before Crimson Rain took over ghost city

Your palace just happened to be in close proximity to it and eventually ghosts started inhabiting themselves. Now all three realms call your palace, "The city of the lost". It's rarely talked about because well it's "lost" not many people find it, your city also doesn't cause trouble. It's just kinda there.

That is where you would usually go though but now you have two more officials with you and you'll be damned if you bring Mu Qing into your city.

"Why don't we find a temple of Nan Yang? I'm sure there's one around." You say, standing next to Xie Lian.

The four of you do eventually find one, it's a little run down but it's good enough. Your attention is dragged away when you notice a girl praying. A girl praying in a temple of Nan Yang? Makes you want to give your heart out.

You can't resist your temptations when Xie Lian asks why the temple has so many women worshippers. It's unusual for a martial god's temple after all. While Nan Feng feels the need to block the question, Fu Yao indulges it.

"I know what you want to ask, you want to ask why there's so many female worshippers right?"

You hold the urge to cackle, and lean in close to Xie Lian's ear. You happily ignore the two officials's glares. You whisper to him, "Xie Lian many women worship Nan Yang's temple so in the future their man will have... Good assets" you giggle into his ear.

For a martial god it isn't normal for many women to pray in their temples. Xie Lian was an exception because he was more of a ' feminine god ' depicted with lotus flowers. You were an exception because of femininity and because you're the God of song. The arts, like dance, drawing, and song were more partaken by women than men. Most martial gods don't have femininity, so rare for women's prayers.

You stay close to Xie Lian's side as Fu Yao judges the poor girl to pieces, calling her ugly. Xie Lian sighs, "You can't talk about girls like that Fu Yao" but you can tell Xie Lian is thinking the same thing. You snicker placing a hand on your hip.

Xie Lian notices a slash in the girl's dress, he tries to offer her his outer robe so that she can cover herself but of course she freaks out. She moves to slap Xie Lian but why would you just stand there? You grab her wrist and throw her to the side. 'throw' is an overstatement it was truly a nudge.

Once Xie Lian tells her she has a slash in her dress she finally accepts his robe and then runs out of the Temple.

Now Xie Lian's undressed. Bandages over his chest, and neck can be seen now. Nan Feng and Fu Yao stare in quiet shock. You on the other stare in admiration. Xie Lian is undeniably beautiful. You chuckle softly and remove your outer robe, unlike Xie Lian you have an under robe on. You move it over Xie Lian's shoulders.

"Should've let her run out with the slash in her dress. It's just like you to give the clothes off your back, A-Lian" you hum softly. Xie Lian smiles in thanks and puts on your robe.

He does look very pretty especially in your clothes.

**********************************************************

The next day all four of you go back to the tea shop. You aren't paying attention to the conversation about Mount Yunjin. You'd much rather pay attention to Wèizhī. The two birds hop around on the table and chirp away.

You decided to bring them today, simply because they bring you peace of mind. Of course they aren't only birds they're much more than that. Anyone would know if they're close to you, and they've seen the earring hiding behind your long hair.

Right now they're birds though and you'd much rather chirp away with the Magpies then pretend to chat with the officials next to you.

It isn't until loud drums and a gathered crowd outside has all four of you going outside to check it out. A line of men outside carrying a sedan is what the crowd is gathered for. As for the last inside the sedan... She looks like her neck has been snapped. It proves so when a fake head rolls to yours and Xie Lian's feet.

"Ew" you sneer and quickly kick it away. You assume whatever these mortals are doing is connected with the Ghost Groom. You stand to the side however as Wèizhī perches on your shoulders.

"If I was a ghost groom I'd kill the entire group for sending such an ugly thing to me" Fu Yao comments in disgust and rolls his eyes

"Fu Yao you aren't talking like an immortal should." Xie Lian said. "And can you fix that eye-rolling habit of yours? Why don't you set a small target for yourself first and only roll five days or something like that?"

" Set it fifty times a day and it still won't be enough!" Nan Feng yells

"Leave Fu Yao alone, if he rolls them hard enough maybe they'll fall out on their own." You add, with a snicker.

You're interrupted by yelling, one of the men in the group yelling about how it's useless and that they should just charge into Mount Yunjin and dragging an ugly freak out. They all hoot in agreement.

"Ugly Freak? Shopkeeper what are they talking about?" Xie Lian asks

The tea master explains, "The ghost groom has such an ugly appearance that no woman loves it, so he wears bandages around his face. That is why he kidnaps brides."

"Just because his face is wrapped in bandages doesn't mean it's ugly. There's a possibility it's so beautiful that it doesn't want others to see it, so he covers it up" Fu Yao says.

When Fu Yao quickly glances at you, you ignore. This isn't about you and you know that Fu Yao is truly a prick. No need to make something out of nothing.

Your group's attention is caught when the same girl from yesterday begging them not to go do anything dangerous and a man bitching at her because she refused to join them.

You don't care about anyone's affairs unless it has something to do with Xie Lian. You perk in attention when the man pushes the girl roughly, Xie Lian ever so kindly catches her.

Xie Lian uses Rou'ye to smack down the man and then just as quickly hides back in Xie Lian's sleeve. You snicker softly at the slumped man in the dirt. The man is not happy though, he's having none of it. He brandishes his sword and yells that Xie Lian is using wicked magic.

Nan Feng uses his palm to snap a wooden pillar of the tea shop and the group of men run in fear. You side eye Nan Feng. You have mixed opinions on him, but even after so long... "You're still just a brute dummy. You're paying for that" you smile behind the veil and return to Xie Lian's side.

The four of you eventually head back to the temple. With newly acquired information from Ling Wen, you now know that you're going to need a fake bride. However you can't use any mortals since it's a wrath level ghost.

"Well if we can't use women we'll have to use men" said Fu Yao.

"What man is going to want to dress up as a bride?" Nan Feng sighs.

The two suddenly have the same idea and look over to you and Xie Lian.

"???"

"No." You glare.

**********************************************************

Nighttime, the temple of Nan Yang.

You watch as Xie Lian walks from the back in a brides dress, hair down and flowing. You sigh into your hand. It doesn't look like a bride at all

Nan Feng has a more extreme reaction, "Fuck!" He just can't stand to see Xie Lian in a brides dress, it's awful.

Fu Yao scans Xie Lian with a complicated look.

"Do you have something you wish to say?" He asked

Fu Yao nodded "if someone sent a woman like this to me..."

"you'd kill the whole town was it?" You snicker.

"No I'd kill the woman." Fu Yao replied frigidly.

Xie Lian smiles, "Then thank goodness I'm not the woman."

You hum, "A-Lian let me help you, obviously these two have and never will see a bride in their lives" you smile, "not unless it's each other..." You mutter the last part out.

"Excuse me..." The four of them look at the voice. It's the girl from earlier. She has a white robe in her hand and stands with trepidation. "I've washed these clothes to return them to you and thank you so much for yesterday and today"

You see Xie Lian smiles in response but suddenly remembers his attire.

"Are you... if you want I can help?" She asks, no longer shy.

"No miss you misunderstand this isn't a hobby of mine" Xie Lian laughs nervously.

You on the other hand are happy with this development. "Yes! Come help us."

And so that began Xie Lian's makeover. The girl has a sewing kit on her and helps Xie Lian fit into his dress. You do Xie Lian's hair - you do it all the time anyways - and together the two of you do Xie Lian's makeup. After you're finished with him, he looks like a proper bride and a damn good one too. If you weren't a ghost there would be a blush on your cheeks.

__________________________________________________

Guys. If anyone has actually read all of these parts I need y'all to tell me if Y/n is making sense. 😭 Like do we understand the background and his character? Do we understand the b i r d s?

Time gap between here and first glance

First Glance

[rotationalsymmetry]

Imagine being Orion in A Deadly Education.

People are mostly not that interesting to you. They don't like you so much as they like what you can do. Maybe at some point you tried to really connect with someone, and it didn't go that well, so you didn't keep trying. Fighting mals though? You're good at that. It makes sense to you, unlike most of the things people do. It's rewarding -- intrinsically rewarding -- and people seem to be happy that you're doing it? Because they don't like doing it but it benefits them. So, basically no downside.

And you go off to school and it's full of mals, and people think you're great because you fight the mals, and you ignore them as best you can when you're not fighting mals for them. (You're polite, your mother always wanted you to be polite and you don't want people to be mad at you. But you don't do anything beyond being polite.) And people seem to think you're doing a good thing. So. It's ok. It's good enough. The world makes sense, more or less. This is what you're for.

And one day you see a soul eater go under another student's door, and you destroy it like you always do. Except this person is mad at you. Which makes no sense. No one's ever been mad at you before, not for fighting mals. So apparently you did something wrong even though you only did what you always do which has always been right before. But you guess you should probably make it up to her? So when she says she needs to go to the shop at dinner you offer to go with her, why not?

Except somehow she's mad at you again. So you have to make it up to her even more now, you guess?

(You don't like it when people are mad at you, but you know what to do when people are mad at you. You Make It Up To Them, usually by doing whatever they tell you to or fighting a mal or both, and then they stop being mad at you. You prefer to understand why they are mad at you, but most of the time it makes no sense, and you know what to do when it makes no sense to you why someone is mad at you.)

So you guard her door while she fixes it. Which takes her a weirdly long time. You've just taken down several mimics, you're bursting with mana, you'd give her some if she asked. Mana has never been a scarce resource for you; on some level it hasn't really occurred to you that it could be a scarce resource for anyone else. People aren't that interesting to you, you don't think about them much, except when someone tells you to, like your mother making you do flash cards of other kids' names. But she doesn't ask, and she doesn't cheat either, she does things the long and hard way, which makes a third thing all coming from the same person that doesn't mesh with your pre-existing worldview. She's fascinating.

And then she pulls on your mana like it's nothing and she's even more fascinating. How did she do that? Is she a malificer? (Is that why she keeps being so mean to you, when nobody is ever mean to you?) What's going on?

And you've never voluntarily fought alongside anyone else before, but she's good to fight with. She's annoying, but she does also point out things you missed or didn't know.

And she stands up for you, in a way that nobody has ever stood up for you before. She's not nice. She's the opposite of nice. But it's starting to dawn on you that being nice is not the same as something else that seems like it should go with being nice. And if El is not nice to you but is that other thing, maybe some other people who are nice to you are...not that other thing to you?

It's a lot to think about.

Anyways. You like her. You're not very interested in people. But you are interested in El.

And then you have the best day of your life, when you've gotten to take on more mals and scarier mals than you've ever taken on before, and you did it and you were good at it, and you kind of didn't want to leave but you were supposed to leave because that was how the Mission worked, and then you were about to die because you missed the bell and the cleansing fires had started and there was nowhere to go, but at least you were going to die next to El.

But she didn't think she was going to die, and she cast a wall of mortal flame (who does that?) and it worked as a firebreak and you didn't die and no one had ever saved you before. That wasn't how the world worked. Who was this person who kept breaking the rules of how the world worked like they didn't even apply to her?

(And then you look around and she isn't there and you kissed her earlier when you thought you were both going to die, and she, uh, didn't react well and oh no, what if you've ruined everything what if you like her but she doesn't like you like that what if she won't want to be around you any more? What if the one interesting person in the entire world doesn't think you are interesting?) (it'd be ok, right? It was ok before.) (it wouldn't be ok. So maybe it wasn't ok before either.)

[pattyaifread]

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Hatenai Omoi Vol. 2, Richter Abend Excerpts

I translated the first and last parts of Richter's chapter in the second volume of Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Feelings Without End by Sara Yajima.

The chapter begins post-game with Richter alone in Ginnungagap, and he starts to reminisce about the time he spent with Aster. The novel covers up from just before the time he got captured and locked away in the Research Academy, up to Aster's death.

Occasionally, he felt a throbbing sensation on his forehead. Richter Abend lightly touched the spot with his fingers, reaffirming that Ratatosk’s core was implanted there. It had been some time since the Summon Spirit Ratatosk had left Ginnungagap, and although the strange sensation hadn’t disappeared, he was now used to it.

Just how much time had passed since then?

Ratatosk split his body from his core and returned to that world as Emil Castagnier, and should be spending his time as a short-lived human alongside Marta Lualdi and their friends. Perhaps this throbbing sensation is responding to Emil’s feelings, Richter thought.

He knew it was a little too convenient to think that Ratatosk living as Emil was making up for what should have been Aster’s life. However, that thought was the only solace for Richter who was sealed inside Ginnungagap as a human sacrifice, and had to live with the core.

Nothing happened in this place. The flow of time couldn’t be felt. Even the demons from Niflheim were silent.

“A thousand years.” Ratatosks’s voice rose to his mind. “It will take a thousand years to separate mana from all living beings on this planet. After mana is no longer needed to support this world, the remaining mana will be used to create a new seal. I’ll release you then.”

I suppose it’s an offer I should be grateful for considering I sold my soul to demons and tried to destroy the world.

Richter’s lips curved into a smile at the edges, and as he gazed at the dark space spreading out before him, he recalled his best friend.

They had read books together, devoted their all to research, fiercely debated with one another, and had shared bread on their travels together. Aster was carefree and never discriminated against him, and in the end all that was left behind was a cold corpse.

Aster… Even once I’m released, you won’t exist in the world that I return to…

Richter wondered what that foolishly good-natured Aster would think of him spending a thousand years in the place of his death, and quietly closed his eyes.

※

—---------

After they enter Ginnungagap

“Richter!” Aster called for Richter. “Look. Over there.”

Richter followed Aster’s line of sight, and there he saw a being looking down upon them. Aster took one step towards it.

“Aster…”

Aster signaled it would be okay and made a fist, and swallowed hard while nodding. “You’re Ratatosk, the Summon Spirit of the Great Kharlan Tree, right?” His shaking voice seemed to reach the being.

“Some have called me by that name.” Ratatosk’s voice was deep and rattled the air. Those on the other side of the door reacted to that voice and became boisterous.

Richter took notice that Ratatosk’s gaze was fixed above them, and moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Aster. “Ratatosk,” Richter called out as he gazed upon the Summon Spirit, “right now, the flow of mana in the world is out of balance and is in a state of chaos. We believe that to restore that balance, your power is needed.”

“Even if I restore the balance, the world will once again fall into chaos without a tree,” Ratatosk coldly stated.

“We heard that a new tree was born!” Aster started speaking again, this time with a firm voice. “But from what we researched, the spirit of the new tree doesn’t have the power to control the flow of mana like you do.”

“Hmph. And?”

“I beg of you! Please use the Centurions to restore the balance of mana in the world! If you do, the world will be saved!”

There was a momentary silence. Then suddenly, the Summon Spirit’s voice boomed. “Awaken, Centurions! Form pacts with monsters, and restore the balance of mana. And then eradicate humanity who destroyed my tree!”

W-what?!

Richter doubted his ears.

“W-what on earth are you saying!” Aster went white as a sheet.

“I thought you wanted to save the world?”

“Why do you have to kill people to do that?!” Aster picked a fight with the Summon Spirit.

Ratatosk became furious at his words. The room trembled with his next words. “Who was it who destroyed the Great Kharlan Tree?! Humans and half-elves, that’s who! So I’ll destroy them in return!”

“B-but a new World Tree was born!” Aster replied frantically.

“And in time you’ll destroy it once more. Your kind are nothing but parasites to this world!”

“That’s not true!” Aster looked hurt, and continued to frantically appeal. “Humans and half-elves are an important part of this world, and—”

This is bad, Richter thought. At that very moment—

“Silence!” Ratatosk’s callous voice roared.

?!?!

Richter saw white fly by at the edge of his vision. Aster was hit by the full brunt of Ratatosk’s power, and went flying. He crashed down against the floor violently, and continued to tumble. By the time his body had stopped rolling, all Richter saw a white lump that was twisted unnaturally, and Aster was no longer moving.

“Aster?!” Richter yelled out, wide-eyed.

“See? The death of one parasite had no effect on the world.”

“Aster?!” Richter approached Aster unsteadily. Why was he yelling for him even though he knew it was too late? Even though nothing would change in the world? His feet stopped.

“Aster… Aster.” Richter turned to look behind him. “You bastard! How could you… How dare you do that to Aster!”

Richter grabbed his sword and axe as the blood rushed to his head. He rushed towards the Summon Spirit.

“Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

Ratatosk recoiled at the sword raised high. The sharp edge of the blade cut into the Summon Spirit. “Guh!”

If I kill Ratatosk, the world will fall into ruin. Richter realized this fact, but it mattered not.

“How dare you do that to Aster! Mortal Summer!”

Flames burst out from the swinging axe and raced across the floor in the space between him and Ratatosk. However, it had no effect on the spirit.

“Dammit!”

He threw his axe and it cut through Ratatosk’s leg and lodged into the floor. Taking that chance, Richter grabbed his sword with both arms and raised it above his head. “Towering Inferno!”

It didn’t matter who his opponent was. He went on the attack against Ratatosk who was blinded by the dizzying light. 

But then at the perfect timing— “Ain Soph Aur!”—Ratatosk sent the axe flying and retaliated.

“Aghhhhh!!!!” Richter felt like his body would break into pieces upon impact, but scraped together all his remaining power for one last attack.

I don’t care if I die. Aster was already killed like some bug!

“Tch!” Ratatosk clicked his tongue at the tenacious half-elf.

On the verge of insanity and death, Richter raised his sword once more above his head as it gleamed. Through the violent bursts of light, he had just barely glimpsed Ratatosk’s figure bending back. When the light faded, the spirit was nowhere to be seen.

“Where… did you go…” Richter was breathing heavily and collapsed to his knees. He then noticed a shining red gem rolling on the floor.

What… is that? Don’t tell… me… that’s… Rata…tosk? The sound of blood gushing out felt like it would tear apart his eardrums. He crouched down for a moment.

Aster!

He started to crawl towards Aster with a desperate look on his face.

…Aster!!

A blue figure passed by several times overhead. Richter didn’t notice that Centurion Aqua was there at all. She hid herself in the darkness. “As..ter…”

He finally grasped the edge of that white coat. With a sliver of hope, Richter looked up towards that twisted body. However, with a pale face and closed eyes, Aster was unmoving.

“I always figured I’d hand it all over to you once you eventually left the Research Academy and went out into the world.” “I want to entrust everything to you, Richter. When I die, please make sure my research lives on.” “Rather than interactive, it’s more like circulation!”

Whose voices were those? It echoed repeatedly in his head, causing pain. “Rata…tosk… I’ll never… forgive you!”

Richter picked up the gem—Ratatosk’s core—and though he lacked knowledge surrounding it, he knew he should destroy it.

While holding Aster up, he thought to go grab the core, but his consciousness was already dim due to the wound. Even so, he struggled with all his might to support his body, but just sitting up was his limit.

Suddenly, a black shadow jumped out of midair.

What?!

The black shadow swiftly grabbed the core in its mouth and ran off into the darkness.

“D-damn… it… Augh!”

When he looked down, he noticed that Aster’s white clothes had been dyed crimson in his arms.

Everything was over. Richter had finally understood that. He would never come back to life. Knowing that, he couldn’t contain his cries. Using the remainder of his life, he wanted to become empty.

“Aster! Aster! ASTER!!”

Richter slanted over and collapsed onto the floor as his screams continued reverberating.

※

Just how long had he immersed himself in memories of Aster?

Whether it was only for an instant, or for a year or even ten, it made no difference to his current predicament. When he opened his eyes, the unchanging view of Ginnungagap spread out before him. If he had been left like that, he no doubt would have lost his life, he recalled.

By the time he came to, Centurion Aqua was staring at him worriedly. “It’s all my fault for taking you there in the first place…”

She had taken Richter, who was on the verge of death, to a safe place and nursed him back to health. She had greatly lamented the death of Richter’s friend, and mourned. So she had listened to his story, and opened her heart to him. Richter made contact with the demons, and exchanged a contract with them: “If you open the door to the demonic realm, Aster will be revived.” Aqua of the eight Centurions betrayed the Summon Spirit Ratatosk, and chose to work together with Richter.

Richter gave Solum’s core that he had received from the demons to Brute, the leader of the Sylvaranti Liberation Front, and in return received a high ranking in the Vanguard’s troops.

The Summon Spirit Ratatosk was the face of Richter’s revenge–a face stolen from Aster. And now, he had given his body to that very same Summon Spirit and was spending a thousand years in the place where Aster had been killed. Richter had begun to gradually think he was finally making peace with everything.

I wonder what Emil is up to now.

He wondered if Emil was forging his own path forward together with Marta.

Richter had a secret hope that he would never dare voice.

He hoped that once Emil saw his life through as a human, that he would return to this place in Emil’s form. If it was Emil in old age, then perhaps he would be able to get a glimpse of Aster’s life, who he should have watched over. If it was the sixteen year old Emil… Richter let out a faint laugh. It seemed like something Ratatosk would do. He wouldn’t mind spending a thousand years here in that case.

He would gladly repay that kindness for the sake of the world that gave birth to Aster and allowed them to meet. He prayed to be able to once again research day in and out alongside Aster once he was released. He knew it was impossible, but that feeling revived in Richter’s chest again and again, carrying him away to those nostalgic days.

He heard giggling as he began to space out again. He cleared his throat. Once again, there were giggles.

Centurion Aqua and Centurion Tenebrae—they dispersed to escape at that moment. He wasn’t able to see them, but he could sense them. Those two, along with the rest of the Centurions, were busy controlling monsters and working on separating mana from the world, but occasionally they would return and tease Richter. It was their own form of consideration.

Richter put his hand against the core on his forehead. He was looking forward to hearing about Ratatosk’s happy travels as a human. Richter believed that somewhere in there, he would find proof that Aster was still alive.

End

Flashback quotes:

The first one is after the worlds were merged, and half-elves were released. The line is from Richter, who never thought he'd be able to leave. The second one is from Aster, when he's lamenting he only has so many more decades left as a human, and wishes he could continue to research for eternity. (This is just before they enter Ginnungagap) (Sorry kid).

The third one is Rilena, talking about the relationship between Aster and Richter and how well they've been able to get along. They're using scientific terms here rather than normal terms to describe human relationships, in terms of humans and half-elves getting along, so out of context it doesn't make much sense. But she's saying that they built a really well relationship, to the point she's even a little jealous of it.

[rakubalka]

The Black Clover AU I Accidentally Made

I'm gonna be honest what started as me just wanting to explore and develop Noelle's magic kinda turned into a rather big au touching politics , economics , culture , the place of magic and mana In a world and its effects and some more .

And because of me exploring the idea we end up with some rather strange and comical consequences . Some of which are :

Asta being a license doctor

Finral mere theoretical existence being terrifying to people in economics

Yami being a god damn enigma to the people of the Clover Kingdom

Noelle disinheriting herself from the Silva family

Asta being a drug dealer

Yuno being on drugs on a regular basis

Capitan Jack consistently trying to steal Asta for the Green Mantis

Yuno being a terror to the Golden Dawn because he reads and rereads most if not all of the books on law and history in the squads library when he's bored

Yami and Finral being each-other's impulse control

ThePoisonQuarter™ consistsing of Gordon , The Guy with the poisonous plants , Mimosa and The Mushroom guy

Yuno having what is essentially God on spied dial and willing to dial the number of God to rat out anyone rude to his brother

Asta being undetectable to most people and scaring them because of it

Noelle learning how to use multiple weapons and being a menace for it

The Blue Roses trying to make Asta their squad head doctor

Yuno using his training as a Shepard™ to deal with the Golden Dawn as their Vice Capitan and later on as the king to the Spade Kingdom

Vanessa messing with Fate to untold amount

Yuno being absolutely terrifying on a broom with only Asta willing to be on it with him flying it

Fuegoleon Vermilion having to deal with the fact that if the current king of Clover doesn't stop being an ashole to their Patron God's favorite humans , he will probably become the new king of Clover

Asta and Yuno acting as actual siblings and terrifying people with it

Finral issuing treats of himself both stop mitigating damages and starting to personally sponsor his squad if someone tries to make the Black Bulls budget smaller

Hage village potatoes being very important to the world building

Fuegoleon Vermilion having to deal with the very real fact that he might become the King of the Diamond Kingdom

Noelle being a genuine reincarnation of a God

People needing spells to amplify sound to try and come close to Asta's voice

The Gods™ and their almost constantly going on wars having Consequence™

Finral being overpowered

Charmy being terrifying

Demons and Spirits both wanting Asta and at the same time wanting him dead

Klause trying to reign his two gremlins and becoming Capitan without realizing it

Asta and Yuno referring to themselves as twins specifically as the Winterfirst™ twins or as most people in the Clover Kingdom knows them The Winter's Brothers™

Magna being the second fastest person on a broom in the Clover Kingdom

Zora learning illusion magic and terrorizing people with it

Yuno , Mimosa and Klause being honorary Black Bulls members because of how much Yuno breaks into their base with those two

Asta being a honorary Blue rose member

Everyone wondering if Meroleona is also a reincarnation of a God or if she's JustLikeThat™ naturally

Asta knowing how to use a bow and being terrifying with it . And later on teaching Noelle how to use it and making her also terrifying with it

Fuegoleon Vermilion having to face the reality that he is probably gonna end up as king

Asta probably being the best hunter in the Clover Kingdom if not the continent

If you any have questions please ask them

[sunnymoonny]

gente, tão falando que o dawn também errou com a hyuna...mas é claro que sim!!!!

ele errou por amar demais, cuidar dela, querer casar, formar uma família com ela depois de 7 anos de relacionamento, aceitar o término que a hyuna pediu e ainda assim continuar amando a mana...

dawn errou demais gente, slk

[silvyavan]

Yuno Grinbellior: Fall From Class Solidarity Grace

This has been a LONG time coming when it comes to Yuno's character, all the power ups and hellacious writing involved with said character. This actually had me re-reading Black Clover just to compile this callout/thesis/whatever the hell this is.

Hypothesis: Yuno's character arc and symbolic meaning got absolutely ruined in Spade arc, on the entire series premises even, to the point where he went from class ally to class traitor. From "You don't have to have massive capital or a prestigious family to have lots of mana and worth" to "Being born to privilege literally gets you everywhere in life".

And even if its not, Yuno's character arc ends up being "always at the important events, never where it matters the most".

ARC 1: THE GRAND ELF ARC AND THE SET UP TO THE CHARACTER.

One of the pivotal moments of the early series is the Magic Knights Exam and how it ends. The choice between captains is arguably the best metaphor for how Asta and Yuno's rivalry feels scuffed and represents that, in a world where mana is everything, big mana DOES get you in high places, even if you're unaware of it.

When Yuno gets his turn to see which captains would want him, all of them raise their hands and he even has the option to choose the best ranked squad, Golden Dawn, a squad that is already built upon with SEVERAL noble houses supporting it, including the Wizard King's own support, and with a repertoire of big mana bitches. Yuno, who symbolises the 4 leaf clover and all the mana and perceived pedigree that comes from it, has the chance to go into a squad that is exclusive only to nobles.

Asta, however, is the more realistic approach of someone who starts from the bottom up and has nothing, as no squads raise their hands because they want him and the only option he DOES have is the squad that's at the bottom of the barrel/with the worst reputation.

This is important because this is aligned with the next instance we'll talk about: Star Festival.

The Star Festival literally has this shit said outright: even if you take THE worst squad out of the gutter and work to the point of disability and get borderline killed trying to protect your country, the squad full of nobles who have:

1) an environment where its much easier to gain achievements (GD being located in Kiten, near the border between Diamond and often attacked, even getting Spade spies, thus making nation relevant achievements is surprisingly easy),

2) more resources and funding due to nepotism and support from rich family members ( having many noble families who can afford tutors, training, education and even connections into getting into squads, often even allowing immediate medical care in case of emergencies), and

3) implicit connections with the higher ups in the government (William being from the same squad where Julius, current wizard king was, the ENTIRE judicial court of Clover being royalists/pro noble faction, likely having relatives in GD)

will still achieve better results for less effort. Asta still has to work harder than Yuno, just for 2nd place. Black Bulls squad can literally save villages and towns, stop foreign invasions and terrorists and they still don't get as much payback as the squad made up entirely from connections, money and massive mana prowess. Is the GD still also doing the same things as the Black Bulls? Yeah, but if you look at the point distributions, Golden Dawn gets SEVERAL per missions/events, with a Spade Kingdom officer being a whole 5 stars.

It's the most obvious metaphor and it leaves a bitter taste in one's mouth, since one of the key notions that one usually gets from the rivalry between Asta and Yuno is that its a friendly rivalry that isn't inherently favored in one direction. And this, and many OTHER instances shown later in the story are testament that that's not true.

Even though Asta and Yuno both qualify for the Royal Knights position, what happened at the actual tournament, concerning Langris, feels like a statement of Yuno throwing away any attempt of principles. Yuno was THERE when Langris went off the deep end, and this guy is his vice captain. Even agrees with Klaus that something is definitely off. But he makes no attempt to actually stop him. Luck, Magna, Noelle, Charmy and Asta all jump in to try and stop him. EVEN JULIUS comes in to try and stop him, so any statement of "he's his superior, he can't go against him" can't hold ground because Julius' judgement clearly says that hes got issues, so I doubt Langris would have grounds in trying to discipline Yuno for "insubordination".

Like, maybe it's just me, but if you see your vice captain go off the deep end and try to kill a contestant from a different squad AFTER its been announced he won, you should probably stop him for both their sakes.

Yuno doesn't, NOBODY from Golden Dawn does, what does that speak on what they view as "going too far"?

And when the match between Asta's and Langris' team ends in a draw, and in a show of solidarity, all the Knights come to Asta to support him, Yuno is... not part of the crowd. People like Klaus, Hamon and Mimosa from the Golden Dawn are. So you've got people from ALL OTHER squads, who don't even know Asta, coming in to his metaphorical support. Its almost out of place how he's not even coming over there, compared to the previous volumes where he was, in fact there.

This just keeps going on until the actual Elf incident, where it feels like Tabata finally remembers "oh yeah, Yuno and Asta are kinda supposed to be friends", and Yuno is immediately worried for Asta in comparison to the previous arcs where he's kind of aloof with him. Can the aloofness be part of the respect for him? Maybe, but this is only because we keep having places where Asta and Yuno are together in a situation. Spade Arc is not like that.

ARC 2: SPADE ARC AND THE FUCK UPS

Spade Arc, has, for the major part except for 2 instances, been an arc that keeps hammering in that Yuno is continuing the saga of acting like the first 15 years of his life mean jackshit.

Yuno is now Vice Captain, has a fanclub and seems to be acting like William is some important figure to him. And all of this feels like absolute lip service.

Vice Captain because Langris stepped down and naturally they needed someone reliable but there's plenty of other, more higher ranking and experienced brigade Knights who could have taken over the responsibilities (assuming that the position isn't just some "second strongest in the building" ranking, and has actual paperwork, responsibilities, workload, etc). So Yuno, getting the position when he's been a Knight for only 2 years, feels like a weird choice and doesn't even give a show of "mana may not be the same, but effort is". They just put any big mana bitch in charge. Even some of the GD only refer to his phenomenal magic as the show of good characteristics.

Yuno and Asta, assuming they both have the same amount of missions and effort put into this, would've had the same position if it wouldn't have been for the Court Rulings and Banishment. And that's what makes Yuno being Vice Captain rather unbelievable or just straight up condescending. Even if the Court Ruling DIDNT apply, it makes no sense for the position to be given to someone who's been in the magic Knights for about 2 years.

The fan club, again, feels like a superficial way to state that "people like Yuno". Yuno is considered handsome, yes, but a fan club usually can't survive off of being handsome alone. There's no actual show of when, how or why this club formed. It sure as hell couldn't have formed in 6 months, even if they're made up of civilians as well. I know the anime has made some supplementary episode on this, but again, the "we accept you" moment feels backhanded.

We know Charlotte has a fan club, but they're all part of her squad. We're not given any example if there's civilians in her fanclub, or if there are other fanclubs dedicated to other famous magic knights.

Even if there wasn't any animosity, for these people to take like a year to accept a new recruit? This fanclub feels more like a representation of actual Yuno fans than a statement that people like Yuno.

The solidarity between him and William. My brother in Clover, where did all of this come from. I'm pretty sure Yuno would've been more pissed about the fact that William chose Yuno because of the elf soul in him. He's not, maybe he doesn't care, but there's not... a whole lot of ANYTHING. It's another case of tell and not show, but maybe because of the timeskip, it feels a bit fake.

The worst of it is, arguably, the moment where he calls out the Captains for keeping William at arms length for the Elf incident.

I want to remind yall, All Of Yall, that the Elf incident didn't just possess the Knights of Golden Dawn, but also EVERYONE ELSE IN THE MAGIC KNIGHTS. 3 (4 if you count Kaiser) WHOLE captains got possessed, SEVERAL vice captains and many other Knights who started blowing shit up all over the kingdom. Patri "killed" Julius in front of Yami, Fuegoleon got ROBBED AND LOST AN ARM due to machinations of the Midnight Sun, Nozel almost DIED in front of his family during the incident, and Jack pretty much had to go and juggle all this shit as the only other non possessed Captain besides Yami in dealing in this.

Like YEAH, no SHIT that they haven't forgiven him, this affected EVERYONE'S bodily autonomy, health and survival. William, bless this homosexual, is a war criminal and I'm pretty sure the Court Rulings, while politically sane, was the only reason his ass wasn't on trial. It's been 6 months, yeah, but the incident has made everyone's life in some way harder and the kingdom's stability worse. They have the right to be mad about this. Even Yuno admits it, he can't blame them for the animosity but at the same time, he's acting like them being mad about it is unwarranted.

Yuno, your autism is bad, I understand, but look back, literally less than 30 chapters ago, and ask yourself, would you be mad as fuck at your coworker if they almost killed everyone? Yes? Because as far as I'm concerned, the moment between Yami, William and Tiny Julius was a closed incident, one that did not have other captains involved. They did not see that shit, maybe they were briefed, but the emotional turmoil was absolutely necessary about this. We're not given the briefing of the captains when William would have had to come clean in front of them. Wish we did, considering how it would've made this moment much more cathartic.

But all this is not the worst offence to Yuno's character. The Prince revelation is.

The thing is, up until this arc, Yuno's behavior might be a bit off putting, but he's still technically a peasant who just so happens to have a lot of mana. The talent and mana was more so his and his alone. His talent made from effort, his mana who he just so happened to he born with. No fancy family, no fancy secret heritage. Just pure, raw autism fueled power.

The Prince revelation essentially smacks it all off of the table and just makes the excuse "of course Yuno is talented and full of mana, he's Foreign Royalty!". Hell, fucking NOZEL makes a "that explains everything" statement.. It's disheartening, cheap and just makes any effort that Yuno previously put into honing his skills feel fake. It is arguably the reason I pray that Asta never gets any secret family bloodline, because its souring the whole character arc and if Asta got that, Tabata might as well cancel the series because that would be a slap to the face for those who wanted Asta to be a winning underdog.

ARC 3: THE PEDESTAL OF BEING IMPORTANT BUT NOT INVOLVED.

This arc has lasted, maybe a bit over 30 chapters (332-369), and it has made not one good thing about Yuno.

Remember the statement I made previously? "Always in the middle of important events, but never when it really matters"? Yeah, no arc shows it as much as this one.

The start of this arc is Lucius attacking Asta's promotion celebration party, a long awaited party to celebrate Asta getting Senior Magic Knight, First Class. 3rd overall, and first in that ranking, essentially saying that Asta's next position would be Grand Magic Knight. In the same title, Fuegoleon says that Asta and Yuno SHOULD have been on the same ranking as Grand Magic Knights, but doesn't say why. Even so, they're not at a relatively similar position of ranking. Most Knights in this ranking are either captains or vice captain level.

This is, naturally, an important event. Orsi, Lily and the kids from the church are there! The captains are there! But not Yuno.

It's implied that Yuno got to Grand Magic Knight within the timeskip, and Asta only managed to get Senior Magic Knight after he was pardoned. But even so, Asta went and celebrated and congratulated it with Yuno. We don't see Yuno's reaction. Only the statement that Asta was always ahead of him. It sounds like ignorance of privilege at this point.

Yuno was out because he, the Golden members and Black Bull members, who have experience with devil activity, were away to investigate it. Unfortunate, but hopeful thinking makes you wonder if he had plans to congratulate Asta after the party, or come in late but still in time for it.

The reality of the matter is that Yuno showed up after the party, after Lucius went and fought Asta and missing quite literally everything. He even says that the attack Adrammelech planned was a feint. Was he not considering the idea that maybe if this was a feint, then something WORSE is going on somewhere else??? Even more so that he went and obliterated high ranking devils in an instant. Hell, with them all gathering in the min hall, it gives the impression that Yuno arrived to this meeting late enough for everyone to gather.

It's almost as if they're treating Yuno's reaction to the events are more important than, you know, actually participating in the events. Noelle and Nero had experience in devils too, but they didn't participate. They actually went and tried to help Asta when he was down! Even the Captains got out to try and help! And yet for Yuno, he's just reacting to it with the promise of vengeance, when nobody knows if vengeance will actually bring Asta back.

This isn't the only moment either. The magic Knights tournament, the golden dawn massacre, and this is a trend in Yuno being involved in the important and big battles, sure, but he's never in the moments that matter in terms of showing the actual presence of the character or weight to the plot. He's almost like a filler character who only shows up in major incidents at this point. Fucking SEKKE has more emotional weight to the plot at this point (I jest but what if).

The arc is, at this point, still ongoing and MAYBE the current state of Yunos character will change (I pray).

But, if I had to give my two cents, my idea of what would make Yuno's character more solid would be the contrast of Yuno who has all the gifts and Yuno who's only got his effort left.

That is to say, put Yuno in a situation where his efforts and abilities are put to the test by reducing/negating his powerups.

One version of this, is that Lucius somehow gets close enough to reach his soul, Elf Yuno takes the brunt to save Yuno, and now Yuno is down to only his Star Grimoire.

Another version, is that Adrammelech vs Yuno happens.

Yuno vs Adrammelech where Adrammelechs (supposed or proposed) Sun magic cancels out Star magic and his wind magic is entirely limited. A fight where Yuno can't rely on his massive magic to fight Adrammelech and can only use weapons made from spirit magic and wind as agility against him.

"Take away the talent and magic and what are you left with" type of fight. It would also add some zest to Adrammelech if he's fighting Yuno PURPOSEFULLY, to separate Asta and him from the fight with Lucius and make it an Asta vs Lucius Rematch while holding his own rematch with Yuno.

If its not, then having the Lucius vs Asta and Yuno might be more of a redemption scenario to Yuno missing the key moments of the party fight. Like how Yuno on his own is kinda struggling due to Lucius using numbers, Asta on his own needed to have hostages used against him. But if they both show up at the same time, then they can counter each others weaknesses.

Those are just some possibilities, and I have no idea how Tabata is gonna spin this, but fuck! Let's hope he doesn't fumble!

[simlit]

Chosen of the Sun | | dawn // thirty-six

next / previous / beginning

ELION: Rough night? KYRIE: Why are you asking? You already know. ELION: laughs Mm. Power like yours costs a pretty penny. Though, it’s not a rare gift, being able to force someone to do what you want. I can do that trick too. But mine is free. KYRIE: What are you suggesting? I walk in and threaten the Duke’s life? ELION: No, I’m suggesting I walk in and threaten the Duke’s life. KYRIE: No. And why are you so keen to help me, anyways? You didn’t hesitate at all offering to settle things with the King’s healer. What do you get out of it? ELION: What? Can’t I foster your favor without any ulterior motives? KYRIE: Wasn’t it just a few hours ago you were going on about “due respect”? ELION: Fair point. Let’s say I do want something from you. Are you willing to hear me out? KYRIE: I said I don’t want what you’re offering. ELION: Really? Come now. You know you can’t keep that spell up forever. Your mana will weaken, you’ll slip up, etcetera etcetera, and the Duke will go running his mouth about everything he remembers. KYRIE: If he remembers. He was pretty drunk ELION: So you’re banking on luck, then? KYRIE: sighs What more can Elora do to me? If you haven’t noticed, you’re already here. She can’t lock me up so long as the trials are on. ELION: And afterwards? KYRIE: She… wouldn’t do that. ELION: Are you sure? KYRIE: …No. ELION: Hm. I expect my offer is starting to sound more appealing. KYRIE: I don’t condone the use of violence to get what you want. I never wanted to hurt the Duke. ELION: And he won’t be. So long as he complies. And given that he seems particularly proud of himself, I imagine he’ll want to avoid pain as much as possible. A little threat never hurt anyone. KYRIE: And what do you want in return? I gave you my cooperation. ELION: Reluctantly, yes. But no. What I want has nothing to do with you. Not directly, anyways. KYRIE: So, are you going to tell me or just keep beating around the bush? ELION: The Witcher. What do you know of her home? KYRIE: Eira? Why do you want to know? ELION: What difference does it make to you? It’s a simple question. KYRIE: Nothing that outlandish can ever be simple. Besides, it’s no secret. She’s School of the Viper— ELION: Not that home. Where was she born? KYRIE: I don’t understand. Eira was born in a village in the far north. Near Tir Tochair. But she wasn’t raised there. She has no connection to the place, far as I could see. ELION: So it is… How curious. KYRIE: That’s it? That’s all you wanted? ELION: Yes. For now. KYRIE: Why her? ELION: She… reminds me of someone. Someone I once knew, long ago. KYRIE: What? Don’t tell me you have a heart under all that bravado. ELION: A heart? In this profession, hearts are nothing but currency.