#i have no idea where houseki is going

[four-eyed-floozy]

Houseki spoilers, you know the deal

[vikkirosko]

Hello.

Can I request the hazbin hotel crew (Charlie, Vaggie, Alastor, Sir Pentious, Angel Dust) and Rosie with a gem reader (from houseki no kuni)

Reader is a phosphophylite who defines herself as female (gems haven't genitals). She is the youngest of her gems siblings and by some stranges deeds, fell in he'll by accident.

Reader is quite childish, naive, and carefree because of her young age.

Since reader is a phosphophylite, she is very fragile and a bad fall or run can shatter her. Even strong earth vibrations (like medium earthquakes) shatter her.

Hopefully she can be put back together by just putting back the pieces into place. But when she's entirely shattered, it's like a puzzle.

Here some pictures to show how gems are in houseki no kuni and how a phosphophylite is like :

Thanks!

Please note that headcanons with Angel are platonic

Partially platonic headcanons Phosphophyllite

🌈 Charlie Morningstar x fem!Reader 🎶

You were one of the first guests at the hotel and Charlie was sincerely glad that someone still decided to come to her hotel, however, she quickly found out that everything was not as easy with you as she thought at first. You claimed that you didn't die and went to Hell by mistake, and also that you were a gem, literally

Charlie was genuinely stunned by what you told her and promised to help you get home, even though she didn't know exactly how to do it yet. You started living in a hotel, helping Charlie, but several times something happened that scared her. You could fall apart even from walking too fast, and the first time she saw it, she was very scared, thinking that you were dead, but you calmed her down, explaining that you were alive, but you needed help to become whole again

You and Charlie were somewhat similar. You were kind, friendly and caring towards the others. You talked about your siblings and your life before you ended up in Hell. Your stories were genuinely interesting to the princess, thanks to you she learned more about the world from where you came from, because she had never been there. There was a complete understanding between you, because you were similar in character

Charlie understood that some things were difficult for you because of your physical fragility, so you often helped each other. Together you tried to make the hotel better, because you, like Charlie, sincerely believed that all was not lost for the inhabitants of Hell. You both believed that sinners deserved a chance at redemption

❌ Vaggie x fem!Reader 🎀

Vaggie kept a close eye on the hotel guests, because she had to protect them, and especially, in her opinion, you needed protection. You were the most unusual guest at the hotel. You weren't a sinner and you went to Hell without even dying. You had no idea how you ended up in Hell, and you wanted to go home. You weren't even human, you were a gem

Being a phosphophyllite, you were the most fragile of your family. You could have collapsed due to a bad fall, a run, or even a small earthquake. That's why Vaggie looked out for you very carefully, understanding  that neither she nor you were sure that you could be pieced together. Vaggie didn't want you to get hurt, so she tried to keep you safe

She noticed that you were similar in character to Charlie. You were kind too, a little naive. Thanks to this, you and the princess were able to get along, and Vaggie felt she had to protect you, just like Charlie. Vaggie saw your sincere smile and felt her heart grow warmer

Vaggie understood that you missed your home and understood that Hell was especially dangerous for you because of your physical fragility. You quickly became a dear person to her and she was not going to harm you to sinners

🕷 Angel Dust x fem!Reader 💖

Angel watched the new hotel guest in your face with interest. You came to the hotel by yourself, asking if they had any rooms available. You didn't even know that this hotel was intended for the rehabilitation of sinners, but there was something that surprised Angel even more. You weren't a sinner, at least according to you. You claimed that you did not die, but ended up in Hell in a way unknown to you. Moreover, you claimed that you were not human, you were a gem

When talking to you, Angel was thinking about his sister. You were kind, childish, and a little naive. Angel felt that you needed to be looked after, and pretty quickly he found out that there was a reason for that. You turned out to be very fragile, physically speaking. Because of your own carelessness, you fell, tripped over your own foot, and fell to pieces. Angel was shocked to look at several pieces of your body consisting of phosphophyllite

Angel sat for several hours, helping you get back together, putting you back together like a mosaic. You were sincerely grateful to him and gently hugged him, trying not to get any more damage. As it turned out, this has happened before, but in past cases your siblings helped you, which you were happy to tell him about. Listening to your stories, he thought again about the time he spent with his sister

Spending time with you, Angel felt like he was resting his soul. You have developed a strong, friendly relationship. Your bright, easy character stood out strongly from the gloomy atmosphere of Hell, but communicating with you allowed him to feel better for a while, as if everything in his life was not so bad

📻 Alastor x fem!Reader 🎙

Alastor watched with interest what was happening at the hotel, and your appearance did not go unnoticed. You were, it would seem, the perfect guest for the Princess of Hell's hotel. You were a kind, slightly naive and infantile person who ended up in Hell for an unknown reason. When Alastor found out that you really didn't know the reason why you ended up in Hell, he couldn't help but chuckle. You claimed that you didn't die and that you weren't even human. You claimed that you were a gem

Alastor didn't take your words seriously, watching your actions. You sincerely tried to help Charlie and Vaggie, communicated with the others and periodically Alastor heard you talking about your siblings. When he saw you stumble on the carpet and start to fall, he saw the genuine panic in your eyes, and with the help of shadows he caught you, carefully putting you on the floor. He saw the relief on your face and you thanked him for protecting you from breaking apart

Your scared face at the moment of the fall made it clear to Alastor that you really believed that the fall could destroy you. You told him that you, being a phosphophyllite, were one of the most fragile of gems, and an unfortunate fall could cause you to literally fall apart and you weren't sure if you could be put back together. What you told me really interested Alastor

Radio Demon was interested to know what else could be expected from you. Maybe you really were a gem, maybe you really weren't human, as you claimed, and that made a lot of difference. You could have become the very variable that would have changed what was happening around him and added new interesting events. In the meantime, he's been watching you try to find a way back home

🐍Sir Pentious x fem!Reader 🎩

Your appearance at the hotel caused Charlie a lot of joy. The princess tried to make sure that the guests of her hotel got along well, so she tried to make both you and Sir Pentious, who were both new to the hotel, get along. Sir Pentious didn't see anything unusual about you at first, until one day you bumped into each other in the hallway. Because of your collision, you literally fell to pieces, as if you were made of a very fragile gem

This caused Sir Pentious to panic a lot and he tried to assemble you as if you were a puzzle, a complex puzzle that he was obliged to assemble. However, a new wave of panic was caused by the fact that, despite your condition, you spoke, trying to calm him down, claiming that you were not in pain and that he should be more careful and not crush parts of you, because then it would be even more difficult to assemble

He and his minions spent several hours trying to restore you. During this time, you told them that you weren't even a sinner, you ended up in Hell by accident and you were literally a gem, one of the most fragile of all and a lot of things could make you fall apart literally. You hoped that you would be able to meet your siblings again, but while you were in Hell, you hoped to get along well with the other inhabitants of the hotel, including Sir Pentious, who was so worried about you and that you were whole

After you were put back together in pieces, no one would have thought that you had even a small crack. Sir Pentious, who liked you, tried very hard to keep you safe. He took care of you a little too much, but you had fun with him and you were glad that he was with you

💀Rosie x fem!Reader 🌹

You and Rosie met when she was returning from an overlords meeting. She saw you covered in cracks and was interested. She helped you safely get to her home, where you could rest for a while and your cracks disappeared. Rosie was very curious to find out who you are and why you almost literally fell to pieces

You told Rosie that you weren't from Hell and got there by accident. You weren't even sure how exactly you got there. You told her with a sincere smile that you had older siblings, that you were the youngest of them and that you were a phosphophyllite. You were literally a gem in human form. You were open, friendly and a little naive, and Rosie understood that you needed someone who wouldn't let you get hurt

You didn't hide the fact that you were literally fragile. Falling or running could hurt you. You almost crashed when you were hiding from a few sinners the day you and Rosie met. Because of this, Rosie was looking out for you, not sure if you would be able to be put back together if you fell to pieces. She didn't want to take any chances, so she made sure that no one hurt you and that you didn't get into trouble yourself

No one in Rosie's entourage knew why she cared about you so much, but no one argued with her. Next to her, you were like a ray of light that wasn't so easy to find in Hell. Rosie understood  that you would like to leave Hell and return to your family, but while you were in Hell, she intended to make your stay there as easy and pleasant as possible

[king-paimon]

Houseki no Kuni Chapter 107 Thoughts: Goodnight, Sweet Phos...

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay with this post. I originally intended to finish it and post it on Wednesday, but you know.... life happened.

Another month has gone by and now we're on our second to last chapter for Houseki no Kuni. That's right; it's been confirmed that the next chapter will be the last chapter. Can you believe it? If you've seen my previous posts, I'm sure you have an idea of how I feel about this news.

But that'll be for the end of this post. For now, let's talk about this chapter! I don't know how long this one will be, but I'll still warn you that it might be longer than intended, which is the norm for me. This post is a bit too messy for my liking so I might end up making some edits to it later. For now, I just want to have it posted.

As always, please feel free to share your own thoughts in this post! Here we go!

Visual Storytelling Through Change in Style

The first thing I want to talk about is the visuals for this chapter. It greatly contrast with the visual style of the previous couple of chapters. In those chapters, the art was loud, intense, and chaotic, and yet mesmerizing and immersive. The heavy use of black, sharp lines and patterns emphasizes on the harshness of the changing environment. And in many of those page, Phos looks so small, as they are literally being consumed by their surroundings. Even though there were many panels where Phos, Eyeball, or the pebbles are the focus, the background is still very overwhelming in comparison.

Now contrast that with most of the visuals in this chapter. Most, if not all, of the intense visual motifs from the previous chapters are gone; no sharp patterns, black is subdued significantly, and the background isn't overpowering the characters.

The intensity of the visuals were cut back significantly and were traded in for simplified line art, heavy use of the white negative space, and soft hues that make everything airy and dream-like. This is especially true during Phos's sequence. I like how there are very few thick continuous lines in the artwork. These illustrations are mostly made up of light, loose broken up short lines that create abstract structures. And I like that as the regression continued, Phos's design simplified to the point that they were just a small abstract face.

This art style literally and metaphorically showed us the deconstruction of Phos. It's so simple, and yet so impactful.

This is also the case for the last two pages.

The change in visual tone does a nice job emphasizing the literal and figuratively change in scenery. To be more specific, the drastic art style changes can symbolize the final metamorphosis of the remaining characters and the story itself. With Eyeball and the pebbles, the style emphasizes how they've transitioned to a whole new place in a literal and allegorical sense. And with Phos, they're style does the same by emphasizing on the deconstruction of their being during their final moments.

I apologize if what I said was confusing (I also got myself confused for a moment haha) But I'll just end this section with this: I liked the art in this chapter.

Now then, we should jump into the meat of this chapter....

Phos's final curtain call.

Phos Can Finally Rest...

Like I stated before, I found Phos's pages really beautiful for different reasons. In terms of visuals, it's nice seeing some softer imagery after having nothing but sharp, chaotic ones. And story wise, it's nice to see Phos finally letting go and feeling fulfilled.

They are finally free, for real this time. Free from heartache, pain, existing. Phos is no longer held back by the sorrow they had been carrying, and they are free of regret.

They are finally at peace.

And would you look at that? We got to see Pho's original face one last time. And they were happy.

Good for them.

Before going to the next section, I want to quickly talk about this page:

When I first looked through the spoiler tag for the previous couple of chapters, I remember seeing some posts from people who seemed unsatisfied with how the story progressed. From what I understand, many of them didn't like that Phos decided to forgive the remnants of humanity. With this latest chapter, I'm sure there are fans who were also not happy that during Phos's final moments that they are thinking about wanting to see their old families again. I can understand the sentiment, though I'm not surprised with this development.

Despite everything that had led the story to this point, Phos did not hate their old families. Yes, they harbored malice towards them during different points of the story, and it would have been justifiable for Phos to punish them along with the other remnants of humanity came to them to pray. But instead, Phos chose to forgive and free them.

I originally saw Phos's actions as their way of finally cutting ties with their families and relieving themselves of the emotional baggage that they burdened them with. But it's been hinted for a while that despite everything, Phos still loved their families. And the fact that Phos wishes they could see them again solidifies this fact.

Though I can't say if I like this revelation or not, I still find it interesting. But again, I can understand if some readers disagree with Ichikawa's writing decisions. If you have your own thoughts about Phos's final moments, please feel free to share them!

But regardless of everything, I still think this was a wonderfully fitting send off for Phos.

But I'm not done talking about Phos just yet.

And Start Anew...

I'll admit that having the first image I see be Phos's last gem piece shatter was not the welcoming image I wanted to see. For a moment, I thought my hope that there was a chance the small piece of Phos would grow sentience and live a new life was shattered (haha.)

But hooray, for that theory became a reality! Despite Phos's last piece breaking up again, a small bit remained and is evidently showing signs of life. It was wonderful how the pebbles immediately recognized that small piece as their brother, showing once again how open and welcoming their are. Small Phos is so lucky.

And how ironic is it that this Small Phos is considered the smallest, (in some ways) youngest, and most fragile new member of this new family... much like how Phos was with the gems at the beginning of this whole story. (I know that Phos was the same height as the other gems, but because of their makeup and position within their society, Phos can be considered less significant or "smaller" than everyone else)

Hm. With that thought in the air... I hope the parallels end there and this doesn't mean that this small and untainted piece of Phos won't be subjected to a similar treatment of their predecessor, right?

...right??

Nah, it should be fine....Unless Aechmea somehow comes back-

Created Their New Path: Final Act of Defiance?

The second to last thing I'd like to talk about is this page because it had me thinking about few things.

It made me think back to the previous chapters, namely the crazy, nearly perfect plans perpetuated by Aechmea and the Lunarians. It's been emphasized many times how calculated Aechmea's plans were, especially when it came to Phos. He nearly predicted every action Phos would make and kept planning and manipulating accordingly until things go the way he wants. And in the previous chapter, it was also heavily implied that he and the other remnants of humanity counted on Phos, Eyeball, and whatever new organisms they came across, to get onto the Dues Ex Machina ship. In some way, they predicted correctly.

But now I must ask these questions:

Did they also count on the possibility of Phos not entering the ship?

Did they also count on Eyeball switching off the ship's autopilot, manually controlling it, and subsequently crash landing it on a planet that more than likely wasn't the original destination?

For these questions, I want to say no.

It's interesting how even though at this point in the story, both Eyeball and Phos seemed resigned to the fact all of their actions were a result of them being manipulated, even after the perpetrators were long gone. But funny enough, I think that their very last actions were entirely their choice. For Phos, staying on the planet and ceasing to exist was entirely their choice. And for Eyeball, choosing to meddle with the ships settings to grab Phos's last gem piece and boost the ships' output. I don't think Aechmea counted on Eyeball doing that. If Eyeball is correct and they did pass the planet that Aechmea had possibly prepared for them, then this means that Eyeball had in many ways changed the trajectory of his and the pebble's lives, albeit unintentional. This could all mean that are all finally free from Aechmea and his long-game, 4D chess plans.

Phos and Eyeball have finally and truly defied Aechmea and humanity.

...BUT THEN AGAIN.. there's always that dumb chance that this was ALSO somehow part of Aechmea's plan. I highly doubt it, because that would be very ridiculously convoluted, even for this story. But then again, you never know with this author.

But for the sake of this post, I want to believe Phos and Eyeball came out on top in the end by intentionally and unintentionally forging paths that wasn't previously made for them. Even though Phos's final choice was somewhat influenced by the professor, it still felt like it was truly their decision.

I hope this doesn't unravel somehow with the final chapter.

Speaking of which-

The Final Stretch...

I can't believe it. This story is about to end. We'll finally almost done and what a journey it has been. I can't believe I started getting into this series almost over 6 years ago. Many things have happened since then, and during this time, this story had sent me on such an emotional rollercoaster. Though there are many things within the story that I wish was different or handled better, I still think this was a very wonderful and thought provoking story.

Now Ms. Ichikawa has to stick the landing. This could make or break this series.

After everything you put us readers through, I hope the true finale will be worth it.

[hard-times-paramore]

Those who walk away from Omelas.

Man, it's been a while since my Houseki no Kuni oc Iolite has seen the light of the day! I never gave much thought to what happened to them after they were kidnapped by the Lunarians and ground into dust, long before Phos's time. But now that the manga finally ended, I have ideas on how I'd continue their story!

You can see the tidbits of lore I made for them in here and here. Under the cut, I will go on a ramble as to what is next for them.

Those Who Walk Away From Omelas is a short story about the most wonderful, joyous and perfect city to ever exist, but it only remained that perfect thanks to the inhabitants forever torturing a small child. Sounds familiar?

Well, the thing is, even in that story, not everyone in the city of Omelas accepted that. The story has this title because some people refuse to have their happiness and good life sustained by a tortured child, and leave the city.

And that's what I think Houseki no Kuni is missing. Though, let's be honest, I've noticed most people agree the manga became a dumpster fire towards the end, where none of the characters you came to care about had satisfying conclusions or stayed in-character. Would Padparadscha, for exemple, one of the most mature gems who genuinely saw Phos suffering, allow them to be the tortured child? Hello, Ghost Quartz?? Whose main goal was to protect Phos??

Iolite is a Gem with a history of uncovering secrets. If they found out that their happiness on the Moon was being fueled by a tyrant who tortured one of their own into a wreck of themselves, they'd leave that place to go help Phos. And I know they wouldn't be the only one. There were so many revived gems, surely not all of them, even among the characters we do know, would be okay with their metaphorical Omelas. Hell, I even chose Barbata to help Iolite escape to Earth because he was one of the nicest people to Phos during their time on the moon. Even if, by being a Lunarian, he's the part of the worst remnants of humanity, he might still earn his redemption and subsequent ascencion.

Another thing Iolite wouldn't stand for is being stripped of their personhood and turned into a Lunarian. I didn't add any details in their hair in this comic for this reason. I don't know if, in this Fix-it AU I'm making, I'll even keep the gem-lunarian convertion machine. Cause first of all it came super outta left field. Second of all, they wouldn't choose to be assimilated by their enemy after all they knew in their lifetime was war. If I do keep it, and someone else made this decision to convert them, Iolite would never forgive them, and would grieve their old self - further sympathizing with Phos.

What would result, I think, would be the gems who refused the moon probably having to battle the Lunarians once again, as they want to isolate Phos and make them a good praying machine. The cycle would repeat, for now, with Phos taking in Sensei's role and refusing to pray, and taking care of the new gems, like the fandom theorized would happen.

But one day, the cycle would end. I might write a fanfic on how, I might draw it instead, but one day, the Lunarians, specifically Aechmea, the one set up as the villain, would finally get a proper end fitting to their characters.

There's a lot more I'd like to address in this AU. Such as all the gems having a reconciliation with Phos, resolving their interpersonal conflicts, Cairngorm and Ghost Quartz talking out their differences and Cairngorm becoming free from Aechmea's grooming. I'll work on it and write it someday.

For now, thank you for reading what I wrote. If you got this far down my rambles, your epic.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I can only play the english version. I'm so confused as to where/what shaftlands is supposed to be?? Is that supposed to be the land of pyroxene?? Cuz wtf is that name change 😭😭😭

Yup, that’s Pyroxene’s official name (it’s called the Shaftlands in the Twisted Wonderland world map, which is written in English even in the Japanese server of the game) 🤡 I believe it is written in dialogue as the land of “輝石” (read as kiseki, which can mean “gem” or “pyroxene”; pyroxene is a large class of rock-forming silicate minerals), so I’m not sure why it was changed to Shaftlands… “Shafts” don’t automatically invoke the idea of gemstones or shiny rocks, but of the less attractive aspects of mining (ie mining shafts).

To this day, I haven’t met a single TWST fan that actually enjoys the Shaftlands, and I think a large part of that comes down to it just not sounding nice. The name really got shafted— I mean, both of TWST’s social media influencer characters, Cater and Vil, come from this place. Imagine A list celeb Vil in a high-profile interview opening his mouth and going, “Ah yes, I come from the Shaftlands.” It’s very jarring.

I guess they couldn’t have written it as “Land of the Lustrous” (aka houseki no kuni) since that’s already taken as the name of a popular manga and anime about gem people… but that would have been a name that read better.

[hanakihan]

to follow @i-bring-crack, here i present you all

Sung Jin-Woo / Woo Jin-Chil Weird AU WIPs Bingo (because my fantasy runs wild)

Fatal Frame AU: Jin-Chul disappears on assignement to investigate disappearance of people near small village. Jin-Woo, worried, plagued by nightmares and paranoid over moving shadows in their shared apartment, goes to find Jin-Chul himself. He had no idea that he’s Abyss’ creation that helped It to find and seek back what belongs to It. Jin-Chul was the only survivor in sacrificial night because his mother helped him to escape and ritual failed, entire village consumed in eternal darkness that froze this place in time. Jin-Woo, fighting with his nature as Abyss’ creation, arrives at sacrificial altar, where remaining piece awaits, clad in white and reds. The question is, will he succumb to shadows and finish ritual that failed or will defy his fate.

Houseki no Kuni AU: Clinohumite (Jin-Woo) is a right hand for Gray Diamond (Go Gun-Hee), not the hardest yet not the most fragile of gemstones. Being the one to keep track of all gemstones and their schedules, it falls on him to find always sneaking Alexandrite (Jin-Woo) and finally assign him a proper task. Game of hide and seek results in first proper meeting, the best fighter among them all that catches Clinohumite from falling and breaking, while shining purple eyes laugh at him. Since Clinohumite won by finding him, Alexadrite arrives next day at meeting in clear blue glory, under different light he changes his color and slightly personality. Clinohumite once was on Moon and returned from it barely whole but has no memories of it, because Alexandrite was his initial partner on patrol duty until he failed to save Clinohumite from abduction and that’s why he avoids him, ashamed of his previous weakness.  Clinohumite’s abduction resulted in appearance of other self in Alexandrite (basically pre Monarch awakening Jin-Woo as blue hue Alexandrite at day and Shadow Monarch Jin-Woo as purple hue Alexandrite at night).

Idol AU: Jin-Chul wanted to be a normal office clerk, not to work as an idol manager. He lacks enthusiasm but he gets the job done, but even then he decides that he’ll quit after his final assignment. Final assignment happened to be the most popular Idol in South Korea - Sung Jin-Woo, who, compared to other Idols, is actually nice and easy to manage. Poor Jin-Chul has no idea what a disaster Jin-Woo is, especially after Jin-Chul caught his eyes.  ‘After our contract ends i’m going to retire’ ‘Oh great i plan to graduate from idol industry and take a vacation with you’ ‘Congratulatio-- WAIT WHAT’ And Jin-Woo’s graduation alnum was full of love songs that broke top charts in less than a day.

Absolute Being Incarnation AU: No matter what, Shadow Monarch seeks his God, while God seeks familiar presence. They both awakened through pain and suffering, but in the end they’re together after lifetimes of separation. They’re Origin and Finality of everything, but most of all, they’re two pieces that perfectly match. 

Gacha AU: Jin-Woo was a prime example of pop-culture illiterate. And then apparently Jin-Ah drags him into gacha hell where in addition to his Shadow Monarch title he earns The Supreme Whale title and he absolutely doesn’t regret speding money on 2D husbando when in theory he can have 3D one. Two pining dorks whaling the hell out of game for each other’s content because they’re afraid to speak about their feelings in real life.

Childhood sweethearts AU: Jin-Chul was a white crow that other kids avoided. That is until a really cute boy approached him and asked if he wants to play. Jin-Chul had a thought to be rude so other boy will leave him alone but honestly it won’t hurt to play with a child who’s younger by some years? After that they were playmates for some time because Jin-Chul’s orphanage took kids out to play in park, and one day this boy gifted Jin-Chul really cute but clearly child made plushies of himself and that boy, and Jin-Chul almost cried because no one gifted something directly to him and for him. And boy had courage to propose to him despite being at least head shorter and younger, and Jin-Chul told him to grow up first. That was their last meeting, but Jin-Chul still held those plushie dolls dear to his heart, caring and repairing them when time came. Jin-Woo never forgotten that lonely but pretty boy from childhood to whom he promised to marry once he grows up, and deducted it was Jin-Chul after seeing those old plushies that are clearly taken good care of.  ‘If that boy from years ago to propose to you again, will you accept?’ And Jin-Chul silently drops plushies he was holding, seeing a fine man that still look at him with same admiration and affection just like that pure boy on playground.

Howl’s Moving Castle AU: Jin-Chul is a workaholic who rarely rests, but he still finds time to be kind to people. After unknowingly helping a Shadow Monarch in disguise, he gets cursed by other Monarchs for contacting with exiled one. Now it’s up to Shadow Monarch to return a kindness favor to human who got caught in this mess and fall in love with warmth and brightness of his soul despite his eldery appearance. Also there’s definitely a scene of Jin-Woo lovingly stroking Jin-Chul’s golden locks as man becomes youthful in his sleep again wrapped in blankets near fireplace.

Hades and Persephone AU: Under request of Gun-Hee (Demeter), Jin-Chul (Persephone) visits Underworld to welcome and help new God - Jin-Woo (Hades), since Jin-Chul knew previous Shadow Monarch and helped him from time to time to run things in Underworld. Because Jin-Woo had no idea, he accidentially fed Jin-Chul food from Underworld. Jin-Chul found a solution, thus creating seasonal cycle. Jin-Woo feels bad about his mistake and doesn’t notice how he fell in love with god of spring and nature.

Frog Prince AU: Jin-Woo is a soon to be heir to a kingdom, and he needs a spouse. Unfortunately, he’s not interested in getting married when whole country is open for explaration. In the end, his parents make him to shot an arrow - where it lands, there will be his spouse. Jin-Woo finds his arrow in swamps and near his arrow is an ordinary looking frog. Ashamed to lie to his parents, he brings frog back to palace, where he becomes an object of laughter. Heir’s spouse shall go through trials to show their skills, but seeing that heir brought a frog with him, no one took it seriously. But surprisingly, each morning Jin-Woo found each required item made with utmost care. Jin-Woo goes to bed ready to be a laughterstock next evening because there will be a ball to congratulate him on his engagement on swamp frog, but before falling asleep he feels someone stroking his head and whispering to wait for him at ball night. At that same night instead of a frog a beautiful man enters the room, a shining brilliance that adresses Jin-Woo as his future husband who took a good care of him while he was small and weak. Jin-Woo later finds and burns frog skin making things worse, because Jin-Chul was a cursed missing adopted prince that king Gun-Hee tried to find for years. Now it’s up to Jin-Woo to lift the curse and fix his mistakes.

Palace intrigue AU (Heavily inspired by Kusuriya no Hitorigoto and Cinderella): Jin-Chul’s parents were high ranked prostitutes in red light district that raised him in brothel. By sheer luck and because brothel owner knew General Go Gun-Hee by old friendship, he ended up in his care as a right hand man. By no mans Jin-Chul was a best educated man, but he knew basics enough to preform taks given to him. Who would’ve known that during his visit to palace with Gun-Hee he’ll manage to save princess Jin-Ah from being poisoned? Apparently brothel knowledge comes in handy when someone tries to assassinate someone. And just like that a faceless soldier with no name behind him and no education gains a favor of the Emperor, whom almost no one saw. And on top of that some palace minister, who happens to be Gun-Hee’s friend, has a tendency to drag Jin-Chul into problems while Gun-Hee laughs on background because while Emperor Jin-Woo is in disguise to escape his obligations as a ruler of a nation, it’s still hilarious to see that sparkle in Emperor’s eyes when your adopted son scolds the Emperor for doing something dumb.

IB-inspired AU: Jin-Chul is a busy salaryman, but when given free tickets to attend an art gallery dedicated to famous missing painter Sung Jin-Woo who had a very distinct style focusing on blues and purples, he attended. Too caught up in admiring art pieces, Jin-Chul doesn’t notice changes in gallery and accidentially falls into one of paintings. Ending up in reverse gallery with nothing but a vibrant yet dead looking yellow rose he wanders around and tries to avoid hostile Shadow series paintings that came to life. In the end Jin-Chul finds missing painter - albeit he has some memory issues. But then also he finds that Jin-Woo made a themed self portrait for Shadow Series before his disappearance titled ‘Shadow Monarch’. Now Jin-Chul questions who’s real and who’s impostor while questioning if the person he bonded with is the real Sung Jin-Woo or a pretending Shadow Monarch.

Genderswap AU: Jin-Chul never understood what Hunter Sung found in her - he got the looks, the power, everything he can desire at this point, he’s surrounded by best looking hunters out there, yet despite it all he follows her around, a workaholic, constantly tired and not best looking person out there. She’s tall and too sharp for a dream girl, no curves and softness, only sharp angles and muscle, no skirts and heels, only suits and occasional loafers. She even gets confused for a man most of the times so yes, what Hunter Sung potenially could’ve found in her is a complete mystery for her.  On side note if both are women, Jin-Woo domineering the fuck out of men but chosing bae over hoes because she has her lesbian priorities okay and because chairman’s right hand lady is so fun to tease

Nier AU: After fall of humanity, two Androids - B1 (Jin-Woo) and A8 (Jin-Chul) - continue to wander on Earth trying to fulfill their mission despite no need. B1, who in reality happened to be E1 type Android and A8 - an old model - locate and destroy Monarchs - signle A.I. units that stop Earth from self regenerating. They succeed, but in the end, nothing is left on them, empty falling apart shells that want to meet their end together, because maybe they found humanity while it ceased to exist? /whoever gets why there’s numbers 1 and 8 ilu

Titanic (kinda?) AU: a rich class young master and an ordinary overworked coal covered engineer meet on luxurious cruise ship even though they were never supposed to. What can go wrong on nighttime when both of them meet and talk without social boundaries surrounded by lull of waves? As a part of engineering team Jin-Chul stays on sinking ship and after securing his family Jin-Woo having none of this self sacrificial shit because Jin-Chul has people he cares about too.

Gambler/Organized crime AU: Investigator Jin-Chul having a cold case on his hands - and potentially, the Shadow Monarch, one of Monarchs that rule underground criminal world in Korea, has needed leads to finally solve it, so killing spree can be ended. Once a month his syndicate organizes gambling night - a type of gambling battle royale between participants and Shadow Generals for winning and having a chance to have an audience with unreacheable Shadow Monarch. Jin-Chul, desperate to find a lead, signs in as a participant and slowly climbs him way towards victory, avoiding death along the way. Surprisingly, he gets small aid from ‘benefactor’ who seems benevolent enough. Jin-Chul survives the night and has a meeting with a mysterious Shadow Monarch, who’s curious what a government dog (heh--) is doing in such place and why going to such lenghts. Jin-Chul saw Monarch’s face and learned his name over a cup of herbal tea and didn’t even thought how he’ll walk out of here alive after that. It was written all over his face and Jin-Woo had best laugh in years because of that and after drugs kicked in and exhausted Jin-Chul fell asleep, Jin-Woo spared him, curious of what Mister Investigator will do and will his actions shake Monarchs balance in underground world. 

Benelovent God AU (Crane's Return of a Favor inspired): Jin-Chul led a simple life as a peasant - there was food on his table and his adopted father was well, and that was enough for him. One night he got lost and stumbled upon a butterfly field, pleace clad in darkness yet luminated by flapping wings of blue butterflies. In middle of it grew an old majestic tree and right under it was almost destroyed altar. Jin-Chul, feeling tired after field work, tidied place a little and prayed to unknown god, asking for forgiveness and a chance to sleep near tree. Next day he wakes up covered by expensive looking robe and with butterflies sitting on him, but instead of taking anything, he draps it over altar and even leves small offering from remaining food he had. Jin-Chul continues to visit that altar and take care of it, eventually sharing how his day went or his troubles while doing work here, and when that happened, one of butterflies always ended up following him back home only to disappear later. With time his household started to flourish and life in village became so much better, and Jin-Chul one day asked if unknown god wants something in return for shown kindness and unknown god finally manifests, replying that Jin-Chul showed kindness first even though he had no idea to whom he prayed. It was kindness of a stray human that awakened a sleeping god that fell in love.

Fashion industry AU: Who would’ve thought that an average looking manager will catch worldwide known fashion designer’s eye? Jin-Woo was having a slump of ideas, none of best models inspired him, he had no one to model for his recently released collection photoshot. Enter Jin-Chul who was just accompanying one of models to end up dressed up and groomed for a photoshot under careful eye of essentric fashiom designer Jin-Woo. And then he gets an offer to be Jin-Woo’s personal model for next collection? Cue sexual tension during a simple measurements taking scene--

Blind and Mute AU: Jin-Chul was born blind. Jin-Woo became mute because of trauma. Two of them meet in a park, awkwardly sitting on a bench. Jin-Woo helps Jin-Chul to navigate around new places while Jin-Chul talks with Jin-Woo without demanding answering back. They grow comfortable around each other and their communication method is touch, two become function as one, comfortble and complete.

Villain/Hero AU: Jin-Chul was absolutely unfortunate enough to be selected as a Hero that will go and slay Shadow Monarch. Turns out Shadow Monarch is a bored shut-in who didn’t even leave his lands and has no idea that someone does crimes under his name. Entire misunderstanding gets resolved with a good cup of tea and Shadow Monarch decides it is time to socialize after being a shut-in for 1000 years. Jin-Chul thinks it was a bad idea. Jin-Woo says that hero now can rest since Shadow Monarch was slayed - his heart now belongs to a tired man who unceremoniously entered his palace to slay him.

Soulmates AU: with appearance of Gates and Mana, in rare cases hunters can become Soulmates - those who have a connection through which their mana reaches other. Jin-Woo was weak, but he felt much stronger mana trying to keep him somewhat safe, while Jin-Chul felt a weak flicker of someone’s mana shyly touching his own. The stronger Jin-Woo becomes, the more Jin-Chul knows and feels it, and eventually Jin-Woo’s mana starts to terrify and hurt him. Jin-Woo has no idea that Jin-Chul is his soulmate since his own mana started to eat other’s. Weak warm touch of other’s mana is what reminds Jin-Woo of who he is and that he mustn’t lose himself in his own power.

Omegaverse AU: Jin-Woo is a weakest hunter but also a completely ordinary beta. Then he gets hit with Ashborn’s yassification and changes to alpha that demands to domineer to claim to own. And then there’s Jin-Chul who’s also a normal beta and has no idea that Jin-Woo is an alpha because betas literally cannot smell others or feel. Despite Jin-chul being a beta, Jin-Woo still finds his smell rather nice and soothing, not annoying like alpha’s or sickeningly sweet like omegas. Cue alpha’s courting that an ordinary beta completely doesn’t understand. Alpha in Jin-Woo is completely overjoyed when Jin-Chul allows him to mark his neck with a bite even though it does nothing to beta and it’s a literal pain in neck but oh well, he can survive this (he has no idea it will become worse once it’s rut period someone save him).

That’s some weird ass AUs okay but those are at least fun sounding (i hope) because i have additional 30 in my safe but G O D they need brushing because they’re an overall idea mess WHEEEEEEEEEEZE)

[dragonkeeper19600]

How I Would Fix Houseki no Kuni

By now, you guys are probably more familiar than you’d like to be with the numerous posts I’ve made about what I see as the many narrative failings of Houseki no Kuni.

I’ve already written extensively about my gripes with this train wreck of a manga, and as much as I’ve said already, I could keep going. However, over the past few days, I’ve found myself wondering what I would change to make the story stronger. After all, it’s easy enough to identify a problem with a story, but it’s a great deal more challenging to come up with a solution. I’ve already suggested some potential changes in other posts, but I thought I’d assemble all of my brilliant ideas in one convenient location.

So, without further ado, here’s how I would fix the garbage fire that is Houseki no Kuni:

First, I’d have Phos keep the encyclopedia job longer. It always seemed weird to me that this story mechanic was dropped so soon after being introduced, and I don’t think that was to the story’s benefit. Phos becoming more devoted to and more competent at the encyclopedia job would showcase his growing maturity, plus it would lead to a growing curiosity. A big part of what sets Phos apart in the original story is how willing he is to question things that the other gems don’t, such as Sensei’s possible connection to the Lunarians or whether there’s another job for Cinnabar. You could have his desire to learn more come from his desire to get the encyclopedia job right because he’s already fucked up everything else he’s ever attempted, so this is his last chance to be good at something.

Similarly, I would not make Phos a fighter, or, at least, I would wait until later in the series to make him a fighter. Manga and anime is already oversaturated with stories about people who learn how to fight. Having a protagonist who’s strong suit is not fighting would make Houseki no Kuni stand out from other seinen series. Instead, Phos’s usefulness to the war against the Lunarians would be as a tactician, using the information he’s collected from other gems (such as Alexandrite’s obsessive knowledge of the Lunarians) and his own observations to help the other gems fight more efficiently. Phos accepting that he isn't cut out to be a fighter would be yet another sign of his maturity. In my version, after he gets his new agate legs, he decides he can ditch the encyclopedia job and become a fighter like he’s always wanted, just like in the original story. However, after he sees the Amethyst twins shattered by the Lunarian weapon made from Sapphire, he realizes battle isn’t cool and badass like he thought but scary and really tough, and he decides the encyclopedia thing is where he’s needed.

Of course, Phos would be forced to take up arms and finally fight later in the series as the war with the Lunarians is ramping up. Phos would have a moment to muse on the irony of finally getting to be a fighter just like he always wanted after already deciding he didn’t want it anymore.

One more thing about combat is that the gems would wear actual armor into battle. Red Beryl’s job wouldn’t be just to make cute moe moe outfits for the gems to strut their stuff in but to forge armor to protect the gems from the Lunarians’ weapons. The Lunarians would find ways to get through the armor, of course, but it would be better and more believable than sending these rocks into a war zone wearing but ties and shorts too tiny to pass a public school dress code. The gems can still wear their uniforms when they’re just hanging out at the school, that’s fine, but when they go on patrol, they suit up in fucking armor. The fact that they don’t wear their armor around the school could actually lead to some tense scenes where the Lunarians attack the school directly and the gems there are caught unprepared and underdressed.

Phos’s motive for not hibernating during the Winter Arc would be, again, to observe Antarcticite and the winter season for the encyclopedia. However, and this is big, by the time winter ends, Phos would come to blame Sensei for Antarcticite’s shattering. This is a change I suggested in a previous post. The exact scene I described back then is that Phos sees Sensei shatter Antarcticite himself, but I don’t think you need to go that far. Phos’s blaming of Sensei doesn’t even need to be justified; he could just be lashing out at Sensei out of misplaced grief. But something needs to happen during the Winter Arc, while everyone else is asleep, to make Phos suspicious of Sensei. Perhaps Phos actually sees the Lunarians surround Sensei and tug pleadingly at his clothes, like they did in the actual manga, and comes to realize that the Lunarians and Sensei are connected. Perhaps Sensei hesitates to strike back against the Lunarians, because he’s guilty about not being able to help them or whatever, and that hesitation leads to Antarcticite being shattered.

At any rate, by the time winter ends, Phos is the only witness to this suspicious side of Sensei, and he finds that nobody will believe him about what he saw because the others are all refusing to accept that Sensei is less than perfect. The only one who’s willing to listen to Phos at all is Cinnabar because Cinnabar is grateful to Phos for listening to him. Plus, since Cinnabar is already isolated from everyone else, he’s less willing to keep so strictly to the party line. While he still loves Sensei, he’s less complacent than the others. I suggest these changes to the Winter Arc and its fallout because I always thought the chain of events that led to Phos being suspicious of Sensei in the latter half of the anime was pretty week, plus Phos being able to turn to Cinnabar for support would make Cinnabar a more prominent part of the story instead of getting shunted aside like he is in the manga.

Speaking of the Lunarians, I would change basically everything about the Moon. The Moon is not a high tech, utopian society full of karaoke bars, ramen joints, labor unions, advanced laboratories, and all that other stuff, but a surreal, Lovecraftian landscape that looks as beautiful as an ink painting of the Pure Land but is actually nightmarish and hostile. The Lunarians are supposed to be the tormented souls of human sinners unable to pass on to the afterlife, and their world should reflect that. In my version, the Lunarians have been driven insane by their long perdition, and while they look like divine figures from a Buddhist scroll, their behavior is so weird and alien to the gems that they find it hard to believe that these creatures were ever human. They can’t even communicate with the gems because their minds have deteriorated to the point that they can’t even understand language. The only Lunarian who’s coherent and rational is Aechmea, and even he’s starting to lose his sanity after running the asylum by himself for so long. 

Aechmea himself would also need to be radically changed. Somewhere along the way, the manga kind of forgot that Aechmea was supposed to be the villain. They try for this reveal that Aechmea was actually benevolent all along, and it 100% doesn’t work because A. a lot of his wicked acts are just gratuitously cruel and don’t further his supposedly well-meaning goals at all and B. the Lunarians aren’t really suffering anyway. To fix Aechmea, his sympathetic qualities and his villainous qualities both need to be enhanced.

So, my version of Aechmea is a well-intentioned extremist who chose the path of the bodhisattva but doesn’t have the supernatural patience and wisdom necessary to handle it. His backstory would be the same, but because my version of the Moon is a hellscape where he’s the only sane person around, his desperation to get Sensei to pray to free both the other Lunarians and himself is way more understandable. At the same time, the story would condemn the cruel things he’s doing by pointing out that he’s got no right to make the other races suffer just to save his own people. Aechmea would be portrayed as a lost soul, pitiful, yet misguided. And, above all, the Lunarians’ salvation cannot come about because of Aechmea’s manipulations. The story needs to show that the path Aechmea is choosing to try and save them is the wrong one.

On a similar note, Aechmea can’t make Phos into a human. I’ve already made a separate post about this note, and the reception to it was pretty positive. If Phos becomes a human/enlightened/bodhisattva/whatever, it needs to be in spite of Aechmea, not because of him. Phos needs to become human through his growing experience and his own choices, not Aechmea’s. 

Instead, in my version of the story, Aechmea chooses Cairngorm as Sensei’s replacement. Aechmea chooses Cairngorm because Cairngorm has been sealed inside of Ghost Quartz for most of his life, and thus, has never had any real agency. Hell, maybe Ghost Quartz is shattered specifically so Aechmea can then swoop in and claim Cairngorm, all so he can groom him into becoming a new prayer machine. It’s a sad fact that abuse victims are often abused multiple times in their lives by different people, and oftentimes, their current abuser is someone who “rescued” them from a previous abuser. When Aechmea “frees” Cairngorm from Ghost Quartz’s influence, he portrays himself as a savior who will show Cairngorm what he’s “really meant to be.” Aechmea and Cairngorm’s relationship in the manga already comes across as super predatory and sus, so I think the story would be better if it actually acknowledged that Aechmea grooming Cairngorm is bad instead of portraying their wildly unequal marriage as the “happily ever after” that it does.

Phos, on the other hand, would become a foil to Cairngorm because their growth and change happens because of their own choices and not because of Aechmea’s (you know, like the opposite of how it is in the manga). Phos would also choose to replace his body parts, instead of his body parts being lost through circumstance or being swapped out for him by other people. Him losing his legs can still be an accident, but it has the effect of showing Phos that his inclusions are special because they can assimilate basically any other material while still leaving Phos’s consciousness in control. However, after he gets his agate legs, every other new body part has to be a deliberate acquisition. For example, when he finally decides that he has to fight, he intentionally seeks out the gold alloy to replace his arms, whereas in the manga and anime, his arms were taken away by the ice floes, and replacing them with gold alloy was Antarticite’s idea.

Finally, the ending. In the manga, Phos is essentially tricked into enduring 10,000 years of mind rape to become the new prayer machine. In my version, Phos chooses to undergo the 10,000 year transformation, knowing that it’ll be tortuous and awful, because he’s willing to make that sacrifice to bring the Lunarians peace and finally end the conflict. The gems don’t become Lunarians in this version. My version of Lunarian society isn’t idyllic the way it is in the manga, so the gems wouldn’t want to join them, plus my Lunarians don’t have that kind of technology anyway. The sacrifice in this case is that Phos praying will also cause the gems that have been shattered to pass on as well, meaning Phos will never see Antarcticite again, and all the other shattered gems will be dead for good. But Phos is okay with that because 1. They realize from their interactions with the Lunarians and Yellow Diamond’s declining mental state that immortality is a curse and 2. They’ll still be around, and they’ll still remember Antarcticite, which is specially poignant because Phos has lost so many of their memories by now. 

There’s also some tension because when Phos makes this choice, no one is sure that he’ll be able to handle the nightmarish transformation without going insane the way the Lunarians did, and there’s a chance he’ll emerge after the 10,000 years as some kind of monstrous eldritch abomination. And because he looks so weird and alien after the transformation is complete, the surviving gems aren’t sure if he’ll actually be able to pray the Lunarians away or if he’ll become a new threat.

But, ultimately, he shows that the transformation was a success, and he prays all of the Lunarians away. Yes, even Aechmea, because for all the evil he’s done, he also lived every day in pure agony, so there’s no point in punishing him any further.

The surviving gems would still be alive, as would the Admirabilis. (Yeah, the plot point about the living races descended from humanity also being wiped out in the prayer is really contrived and makes no sense, so I’m chucking it entirely.) Phos, however, would no longer live among the other gems because he’s become so enlightened that the other gems can’t relate to them anymore. So, Phos remains aloof. But the other gems know where he is. When a gem is finally ready to die, they seek out Phos, who will ensure that they pass on. Phos vows not to pass on himself until the last gem has been shattered. Phos, the little gem everyone called worthless, has become the benevolent bodhisattva that both Aechmea and Sensei failed to be. End.

[raccoonrobyn-imagines]

Houseki no kuni x danny phantom.

Hear me out- (note: i got inteoduced to danny phantom thru fics and havent watched the show yet but will)

The ghost zone is a weird place right? Imagine if somehow danny decides to explore the gz for whatever reason and stumbles upon a lair that suspiciously... Looks like the moon. But is inhabited by ghosts and...rock people..? ( Lunarians count as ghosts right? ) but the weird thing is. They have no idea the ghost zone exists. Until danny waltzes in.

Note: i am a hnk fan who is deeply deprived of hnk fanfics.

-◇

Anon, I am so sorry, I have not seen that anime/manga, and I wish I knew more to expand on my ideas of how this could go down. Instead I shall give you my ideas about the Ghost zone and the purpose of the Ghost King cause I have been dying to type it out. (I haven't seen the original show either, dont worry, the fandom doesn't generally give a crap about canon or anything from what I've seen!)

To me, since the Infinite Realms are literally Infinite™ and cause they likely bind the multiverse together, I think that it is just an inifinite expanse of territories that are governed by the leaders that the people choose. Since no one person could truly know and understand the needs of everyone in an infinite expanse, the Ghost King is more of a mediator and can mobilize things to certain areas of the Realms as needed. So, like, if two territories fought each other, and it got to be a bigger problem than a garden variety war (think a world war vs a war between two countries), that's when the Ghost King is called in to have the final say about what is gonna be done about it. The Ghost King mediates and decides punishment for causing mass destruction and damage to everything.

The Ghost Zone itself is more like if the earth and its countries were all just afterlives and places where people got to enjoy their afterlife and chase their obsessions. But also if the earth was a never-ending expanse of souls and their homes.

Anyways, I love getting asks, so don't feel dumb anon, I just wanted to share those thoughts and ideas I had and that I semi took from other sources. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my ramble, and please send in more asks, I love to get them!

[proxyedgy]

So, a few months ago I remembered Houseki no Kuni was a cool thing I watched once upon a time and decided to look up the manga. And then I read it. Past where the anime adapted. Up to chapter 75, then I stopped because I am not in the state of mind to periodically wait for unfinished stories like I did in high school, so I'd rather stop at a pleasant point and wait a good while to pick it back up.

And, all's well and good. I had a good time and am still extremely invested in whatever new way this author decides to break my heart with. Catharsis and stuff. Yep.

But then comes November, I go to an anime event. With the intention of buying myself something. With my own money. Which I am stingy about because I mostly use to buy food since I hate cooking-- Bottom line, I am walking around. There is hardly any merch I would like to have. Still, I am having a good time being on my own and going at my own pace. There is a manga stand.

There is Houseki no Kuni. First two volumes. Translated in Portuguese. They have holographic covers. I buy before even asking the price. This is a historical event. I can count on one hand the number of manga I adore that get translated, and that number is now three.

I come home. I look up the publishing house website. There are more. I buy then in the beginning of december like a happy joyful idiot and they take far too long to get to my hands because of a silly little detail called xmas. Never heard of it, to be honest.

And now, now, finally, after all hope was lost, I received my package. Brought it home in quite the mood. Forgot to have dinner and am now suffering a headache because it was just oh so important to read the same story I read before, only with far higher quality than the scans I found online. And in portuguese. Have I mentioned that?

There is, a certain quirk, let's say, with portuguese. A detail that almost clashes with this particular story. Because this is, after all, a story about gorgeous gemstone people who are very much agender lesbians. And portuguese, a very unromantic language, absolutely loathes the idea of not gendering every word and concept. Therefore, when translated, all of the gemstones use he/him pronouns. I can't explain how that makes me feel, but it is a happy feeling, or at least so I'm inclined to believe. Male pronouns, female androgyny. Interesting choice.

Quite a lot of choices are make when adapting this kind of material and they were a joy to notice, I'll say. The way the word "sensei" has been translated, but his name remained as "Kongou", unlike every other gemstone. A peculiar detail, a good hint, shows the care put into this. The gems themselves, many pleasant words to see in my own tongue, some of which I had never read before and made me wish I had a class on gemstone geology. The more delicate moments, like turning the original "fu-an" syllables of the lunarian speak into something else while retaining the wind sound.

My, the work of an adaptation, it's such a creative endeavour. Translators have it hard, but to see something go a step beyond to be accessible in another language, in my language, like this, I have nothing but respect for every choice made.

And not to mention, how different it is, to have the book in your hands. Manga does not retain the scent I find familiar and comforting from my childhood and teenage years, but their rough pages offer quite a nice experience too. And, most of all, I find myself scanning them for details more easily, being far more absorbed into the lines when I can hold them close to my face like this.

This manga is quite a beauty. The lines are so simple, and that makes it so much easier to follow. The best part, however, is the sheer number of wide panels. Blacked out panels, with white lines. I've never seen a story that plays with panels like that. I love every single one. There is such a sense of shock, and scale, and emptiness, and feelings which I can't name. It's great, really.

Now, pacing, that is the despicable evil that makes me ramble so much. Because it's one of those stories, that ends every chapter with a cliffhanger, and it's such a tall cliff, I am indeed holding the thread from which these characters hang over this tremendous fall. I know the story, I know what happens, I read it recently, it's fresh in memory. Yet, yet, I am shaking right now, because the last volume translated ends, like every other before, in a scene so utterly tense that I cannot reach catharsis through any means other than complaining.

Yes, this was all a huge complaint, yet still I cannot bring myself to dislike even a single thing. The first time I saw this story, it felt mean-spirited, in some way I couldn't articulate at the time. It is, truly, stained in hopelessness, however that is not the same as despair. As I read it now, perhaps I understand it better, even if the sting still hurts the same every time. It brings up frustrations, and annoyance, and impatience. It's a story that begs for what-ifs, but couldn't proceed any other way. I find that true for all my favorite tales, so I suppose it's just fair that this one gets my number three spot.

I love, love, love you, Houseki no Kuni, Land of the Lustrous, Terra das Gemas.

[tater-pudding]

Gem Girls and Cyberpunks

I rewatched Houseki no Kuni and Cyberpunk Edgerunners this past week. Why do I force myself to suffer like this? And I've been thinking a lot about the parallels between the series. I don't have nay conclusions, just some ramblings. If someone were to ask me for anime similar to Houseki, Edgerunners would never even enter my mind, but watching them in quick succession really made the similar themes stand out to me.

I find it interesting that both series explore similar themes in different ways. Houseki, with its strong buddhist themes, has a very strong theme of cycles and breaking free from them. The cycle of the lunarians coming down to steal our main characters, the cycle of Rutile constantly repairing the body of their loved one just to share a few minutes, the cycle of me experiencing this story over and over, and obviously the cycle of Samsara. All of these which would go on seemingly forever without the intervention of our main character. Throughout the entire Cyberpunk universe, the cycle of suffering under a capitalist society is a constant underlying theme. Unfortunately in this world our main characters never seem to have the ability to truly break this cycle, and are doomed to die trying

The more prominent theme in Edgerunners is the idea of dreams, and chasing dreams. Lucy's dream of the moon, Gloria's dream for David, our dream for the characters to attain happiness, David's dream to make people's dreams come true. All dreams that realistically can't be attained without breaking the cycle of oppression that exists in a capitalist society. Paralleled to the theme of dreams in Houseki, where every gem has a dream that seems unattainable without the cycle of their own world being broken. Rutile's dream of fixing padpa forever, Cinnabar's dream to leave the night watch and be close with everyone, Phos' dream to be wanted.

But possibly the most obvious similarity to me, the one that stuck out to me the most, the idea of breaking yourself, in seemingly every possible way, in order to change. Truly breaking yourself down, over, and over, and over again, in some futile attempt to break the cycle we are involuntarily thrust into. The idea that such drastic change, even if it makes every step we take agonizing, is the only way to break free and reach our goals. And that even with such drastic change, things are unlikely to end the way we want.

I've been thinking a lot about how both Phos and David slowly replace their bodies with stronger parts, how both of their journeys of becoming the ship of Theseus starts with a tragedy of some sort, how every time they replace a piece of themselves, they lose a piece of themselves. I've been thinking a lot about how every time Phos uses their alloy arms, tiny fractures travel throughout their body, and every time David uses his implants he creeps closer and closer to the edge that is cyberpsychosis, how neither of them can stop the journey they've started.

And what is the conclusion of all this? What's the great epiphany I had thinking about all this?

I'm sad.

[kerocola]

Hi Kero! I just wanted to let you know I am so excited for Eyes/On and any projects you make in the future. Curious what the inspiration(s) to create a semi-long form project like this was?

It's a long one!

I had a failed story I was working on called Lilypad Mall that never did see the light of day. It had a 11 page work document and focused on my frog girl Keroline. Looking back, the project was really unfocused and all over the place, designs didn't have much connection between each other.

Ultimately I scrapped it back in 2021 as I lost interest in it and left to do other things. Focusing on character design practice and whatever I was going to do with the vtuber design I had made.

The whole vtuber thing was going to be general whatever streams of me working or me playing games, with a small animation series meant to tell a backstory of how the character came to be. The basic rundown of that story was first person torture, but I kinda ran out of ways to show body horror and torture from a first person view and tell a story on the side. This is where the name "Eyes/On" came from! I simply kept it because I couldn't think of a better name after the story shifted.

This iteration of Eres was also primarily evil, focusing on her being a mad witch focusing on experiments and making monsters. This whole project was really ambitious and made me realize I dunno if I could stream that often!

So I focused on retooling that story into something else and salvaging the designs. You could say that Eyes/On has been in the works since 2019! As for the current iteration of the story, it's heavily inspired by the shows and music that involve a larger world with tons of other life taking place in it.

Things like Made in Abyss, Houseki no Kuni, Somali and the Forest Spirit, The Ancient Magus' Bride, music from the talented Mamyukka with songs like 蒼の海底都市, アストロノミア, あやかしばなし, and the whole Evilz album.

There's definitely more, but this post is already getting long enough! But I got a little more left to say.

For the side project, it's main inspiration is mostly from my own feelings, partly my dreams, and Yumi Nikki. If it ever does end up becoming a bigger thing I've got a lot of ideas for imagery and designs that I can't do for Eyes/On that I'd love to use for it.

[callophelia-ailingamnemonic]

Genshin AU ideas that have been living in my head but currently don't have enough sustenance for me to consider writing stories for

Fatui Fledgling AU

This AU idea is based on a fic I read "Strings Attached" by VeePASTA (Viewer discretion to all who plan to read it, it's NSFW)

Similar to what happens in the story (minus all the sex cuz I ain't about that life), in this AU, instead of the Fledgling dying (Idk if I want to call him Tori or Hinadori yet), he survives when Kabukimono and Dottore cross paths and Kabuki decides to essentially sell himself to Dottore for the price of the Fledgling's survival.

To pull that feat off, Dottore replaces the Fledgling's infected organs with artificial innards made after studying Kabuki, essentially turning the Fledgling into a long-living cyborg puppet. As per his and Kabuki's agreement, Dottore lets the Fledgling go after a few experiments, but the Fledgling decides to remain as Dottore's assistant to stay close to Kabuki.

For the next 500 years, Kabuki remains Dottore's favourite experiment and prisoner and never becomes a harbinger, and while I don't think the Fledgling would ever become a harbinger himself, I do like to imagine that he grows up with a cold disposition that slightly resembles canon balladeer's if you take away the god-complex.

Although he's Dottore's assistant, if given the chance, he wouldn't hesitate to brutally murder the man (for reasonable reasons) and bust himself and Kabuki out of there. I like to imagine that this determination allows the Fledgling to receive a vision (probably an Electro based on an explanation interpretation I saw in a video) and that his skills would have something to do with dolls :))

I just think it would be super interesting to see the Fledgling in a similar role to canon Balladeer and how that would change the story :uu

I'm still contemplating if the Fledgling should be successful in his goal of saving Kabuki, or if I should kill Kabuki off for character development.

Collei runs away from the Fatui with Kunikuzushi's decapitated head AU

This AU's inspired by two fics: "I'll get you home" by jammincat and "Two Flowers to Trick the Children" by zephyrai

Long story short, in this AU, Scaramouche/Kunikuzushi/Whatever else he's named lol helps Collei escape the Fatui. I haven't decided yet if he's still a harbinger in the AU and just got close to Collei the same way he does in TFTTTC, or if he's just a fellow test subject who just knows more due to how long he's been with the Fatui.

Either way, he helps her escape but then Dottore effing shows up and effing d e c a p i t a t e s Scara to which Collei grabs his head due to "Not my best/closest/only friend!" emotions and runs away, somehow successfully escaping Dottore).

In this AU, I imagine Scara working a lot like the gems from Houseki no Kuni where he kind of goes unconscious when he loses too many pieces of himself (or, y'know, loses his head) but is perfectly fine after you put the pieces back together, but as far as anyone in Mondstadt was concerned, Collei is essentially carrying around a dead person's head lol

Tho I do also imagine that maybe Scara's head is still able to have thoughts and that somehow, Collei is able to telepathically read those thoughts. So not only was she the traumatized kid who carried around her dead friend's head, but she was the traumatized kid who was so traumatized that as far as the Mondstatders were aware, she would talk to her dead friend's head and treat it like it's not a decapitated limb.

Maybe whenever Scara's head is around electro crystals, he's able to communicate using an Ouiji board or something, so now people don't think she's crazy anymore when they see him "talk" but they do freak out because "IS THAT GHOSTLY ACTIVITY???"

I just think it would be interesting to see an AU where Collei has Scara's decapitated head around. I'd enjoy seeing a segment where the traveller needs info on Dottore and Cyno's like: "I know a guy, who knows a gal, who knows another guy who could help you out" and they just expect to see another forest ranger when SURPRISE MOTHERFUDGER- it's a decapitated head!

Either way, in this AU, I can imagine that one of the conditions Nahida makes in her deal with Dottore is for him to return Scara's body. Now, although his body is not conscious, Dottore can still use it for some experiments, so he's not to keen on accepting the deal until an audible crack can be heard from the gnosis' in Nahida's grasp lol.

Fatui Fledgling and CRAFTFWKDH mashup AU

I ended up having another thought: "What if I mashed up these two AU ideas together?"

The fledgling is Dottore's assistant who smuggles things from the outside for his big brother: books, treats, small toys, and supplies to make stuffed dolls, and Kabuki, who sympathizes with the young girl in the cell next to his, reads his books to her, gives her his treats and toys, makes her a doll, and eventually convinces the Fledgling to aid him to help Collei escape.

Just like in the CRAFTFWKDH AU, this doesn't go too well and Kabuki gets his head and arm decapitated, to which the Fledgling snags his head, Collei grabs his arm, and Dottore retrieves the rest of his body.

I don't know what the two's relationship in this AU should be like yet, but I imagine that initially, Collei hates the Fledgling and the Fledgling doesn't really care about her, but as the only members of the "Kabukimono's Younger Siblings" club, they probably learn to tolerate each other after his decapitation... kinda like real siblings lol.

After that ordeal tho, I'd imagine that the Fledgling probably just drops Collei off at Mondstadt and goes off to do other things I don't know yet (probably not go back to the Fatui, unless he plans on retrieving the rest of Kabuki's body on his own or smth). The two are still able to communicate thanks to the body parts they retrieved from Kabuki's dismemberment.

I don't really have much else for this AU, but the Fledgling would probably also show up in the Sumeru arc.

[nickywhoisi]

OH MY GODRED IS IT FINALLY HAPPENING

Yes! I have finally made some pieces for my ttte gem!au, where they're pretty gem people, like that one 3d anime where everybody's gorgeous but sad things happen alllllll the tiiiiiime. This neat little world has some things like that, but not NEARLY as bad. I mean I'm all for pathos but I'm not a monster who would torture beloved characters. Yikes. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go read Houseki no Kuni online and prepare for Big Bad Moods(tm) and to wonder why the author hurt the baby so

Because I'm an old nerd who grew up with tatmr, I will begin with my two favourite brain synapses Lady and D10, as gem humanoids. If I were still doing gijinkas of the TV trains, they would also generally look like this, and I'm real happy with the hair designs. And the poses are sort of based off of one piece i made before IN A NOTEBOOK THAT WAS BLOODY STOLEN ALONG WITH PAGES AND PAGES OF OTHER ART I MADE, AND WHAT'S WORSE IS THAT INCLUDES THE ORIGINALS OF THE ART I DID POST, ALOT OF WHICH WAS UNFINISHED FGGFSFGHDGDFGGFFSDT guys it was so good I gave Lady a burger king crown to reference her gold funnel it would have been hilarious

Just like the canon, Lady is a big deal and D10 is still trying to destroy her. But the reason why this time around is a little more dramatic and cohesive. There is a clear reason why he hates her, and I wonder if you can possibly figure it out before I reveal it? There's a hint in the picture. How smart are you guys out there ô.ô

In the story, these two are, left to right, Yellow Chrysoberyl and Lady Gold. The gems usually refer to her as "their Lady", with lots of reverence, as she is the oldest living gem on Sodor. As for Chryso, he was a spunky gem even in the earlier days, until he began losing a lot of his crystal - he used to have longer hair. Then, when he lost one of his arms, was suddenly granted a fun augmentation of liquid copper that can morph into anything he wants. But the inclusion was...a bit painful? Sometimes it even shows mild sentience of it's own, and it now treats him like a friend. Though the very first thing it did was morph into a giant machine claw and try to crunch him...it didn't do much though. So Chryso got the idea to call it "Pinchy". But how exactly did he come across it? And what is Lady Gold's involvement?

[king-paimon]

Houseki no Kuni Chapter 105 Thoughts:

Hello everyone. I hope you have all been well, considering the hectic and honestly devastating month this has been for many people across the world. It's sad how awful real life can be. I'm so sorry to everyone who is affected directly and indirectly. Though words can only do so much, I sincerely hope things get better for you all.

Now then... regarding this chapter.

This was definitely a spectacle. So much happened and though we had an idea of where the chapter was going to go because of the last pages from the previous chapter, it still managed to catch me off guard. I don't think anyone saw a literal "deus ex machina" ship to appear, but at the same time... of course that would happen. Ms. Ichikawa loves pulling stunts like this. Whether it's good or not is up for debate. More on this later.

But the one thought that came to mind after reading this chapter was: "Finally." We are truly now in the final stretch of Phos's story, and I couldn't be more happier for them... BUT that feeling got muddied when I saw the bottom of the final page.

Another hiatus.

Sigh. I'll also touch on this in this post. But for now, I'll share my thoughts on this chapter with you. These posts always end up being longer than first intended so sorry in advance! As always, please feel free to share what you think on here too!

(Just so you know, I was extremely tired when I wrote this so it may be convoluted in some areas. I'll likely tidy it up later after I get some proper rest. Hope you enjoy it regardless!)

The Deus Ex Machina Ship: Why??

Was anyone else surprised that the object Brother Eyeball was carrying was a piece of Lunarian technology, that seems to only activate under the extreme heat of a sun that's about to consume the planet? I certainly didn't see it coming at all and I don't know how to feel about it at the moment.

Based on everything up until this point and Phos's comments here, it's evidently clear that Aechmea planted it there for this specific occasion. My question is why? Why did Aechmea bother in leaving this for Phos?

Perhaps Aechmea hoped Phos would take the new remnants of humanity and create a new society once again on a new planet, sort of like what Adamant did for the Lustrous. Maybe this was some twisted/backhanded way of thanking Phos and giving them another second chance of surviving? I don't know, but if it's the Lunarians' weird way of trying to save Phos, it's kind of pointless. Like Phos said, running to another planet would only be a temporary solution since everything was going to be consumed by the dying stars eventually. Even though the little rocks and Eyeball still take the ship in the end just to survive a little longer, I don't really see the point of it either.

(Edit: Made small change here and included the page that I forgot to add.)

The only reason I can come up with for this ship to being there is that Aechmea knew of another place in space that wouldn't be affected by the dying suns and he wanted Phos and their new remnants of humanity to go there. But I honestly I believe that theory fully, so I don't know.

What do you guys think? Is there a reason why the lotus flower ship was intentionally left behind, other than Ms. Haruko just wanting a reason for Phos to be along again? To me, the only thing that was clear was that this ship was left for Phos and whoever else was with them that would only activate when the planet was going to be destroyed.

But this leads me to my next questions and segment...

Burning the Bridge: Phos's Final Actions

Unlike the lotus ship, Phos's actions in this chapter did not come as a surprise to me. Phos had long accepted that they were ready to finally disappear. And before the ship, it looked like the other beings were fine with it as well.

It was only when the ship appeared that the others expressed their desire to exist just a little longer, which completely understandable and I don't fault them for feeling this way.

It's touching and sad how Phos made sure that all those beings, including the final pebble that was introduced in this chapter, made it onto the ship so they could escape while Phos choose to stay behind. More on that in the next segment.

But back to Phos and their final decision to stay behind. So, we know that the ship was intentionally left for Phos by Aechmea and the Lunarians. And though it was used in the end, Phos chose to stay. Now my question is... was Phos's final decision to stay on the planet still part of Aechmea's plan, or was it part of the Professor's plan?

I've hypothesized in an older post that I thought that while Aechmea was a frightfully powerful being who was able to predict Phos's actions and successfully manipulate them, he wasn't truly omnipresent nor omnipotent since he couldn't predict everything and there were individuals that were not totally under his control.

I want to believe that Phos's final actions fall into that category. Part of me really wants to believe that Phos not getting on the ship was a final middle finger from the Professor through Adamant to Aechmea and everything he stood for.

But then again... this could have been an outcome Aechmea expected, too. It's honestly hard to say how much of everything that had happened was still going according to Aechmea's grand plan since it wasn't made clear if Aechmea knew of this memory of the professor that Adamant held onto.

Sorry for the ramble. I'll just say that unless I'm told otherwise, I'll believe that Phos's final actions was their final act of defiance towards Aechmea, in the name of the Professor.

I can only hope that Phos will finally be at piece once that bridge is burnt to the ground.

So, now that it seems like Phos's story is going to end, albeit in several months... there are still some elements in this story that have not yet been resolved. But after re-reading this chapter, I have a theory for one of them.

The Identity of The Last Passenger of the Lotus Ship (my silly theory)

This is a silly theory I came up with to try to explain one of the last mysteries of this story. It's been proven untrue, but I still want to keep it here because I still like it and had fun coming up with it!

One plot point that many others have brought up before, that I've admittedly forgotten over and over again, are the Ice Floes. These mysterious creatures played a unique role in the beginning but had quickly lost their relevancy in the story.

Now that the planet is about to be destroyed, it seems the Ice Floes will forever lose their significance in this story, though they hadn't been relevant in a long while. Well... I have a theory and it relates to the last member of Phos's little pebble family.

In this chapter, Ms. Ichikawa made it a point to have Phos collect this one last pebble and put on the ship. Though all of the pebble beings are unique to one another, this one is the most different from all of them. For one, it's significantly smaller than the other pebbles, almost the size of a grain of rice. And unlike the others, it hasn't spoken once, though Phos could sense its very faint presence, so it is sentient to a degree.

With all of this in mind, I couldn't help but wonder why Ms. Ichikawa included this in the story now? Why did she make pages dedicated to Phos collecting this pebble right when the planet is about to die? She had to have done it for a reason, but why? Why is this teeny pebble important?

Well, here's my theory: This teeny tiny pebble is what's left of the Ice Floes.

I came up with this theory based on a few things.

My first clue is the location where it was found. Judging from the details in these pages, this tiny pebble was in the middle of a dried up ocean.

The second is the type of rock I think it is. Ms. Ichikawa incorporated a lot of rock and mineral information in this story for her characters. I'm not sure if that's the case in this instance, but please allow me to indulge in my rock nerd side for a bit. I strongly believe it is a sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rocks are formed when bits of pre-existing rocks, inorganic material, and/or bits of once organic life forms accumulate and gradually get compacted and cemented together. This type of rock is found everywhere, but especially in the ocean.

The third and most supportive piece of evidence was Phos's comments on page 16.

Phos recognizes that this pebble is similar to the other rock life forms AND it's consciousness had been there since the beginning of the earth, meaning it's much older than nearly everything on this planet, including Phos and Eyeball. To me, this cemented my theory.

Of course, this is just me guessing. And I'll admit, when I went to look up the Ice Floes again, the HnK wiki states that Eyeball and the Ice Floes are connected, so I could very much be wrong. It was still fun to theorize haha

Please tell me what you think!

Edit: Well, it looks like that theory was incorrect. Oh well! I still had fun coming up with it. Thank you @laloyoungblood for letting me know.

The End Is Near and Yet So Far...

I've said it many times before and I'll say it again: I can't wait to see how this story ends. And if the story is going to end at 108 chapters, I'd be so happy, and the ending of this chapter had me excited for the final climax of the story...

Until I saw the excerpt at the bottom of the page.

Houseki no Kuni won't be returning until the spring of 2024... And we just barely came back from the other hiatus...

Now don't get me wrong, waiting through hiatuses is nothing new for me and I'm glad more mangaka are trying to prioritize their health and happiness than trying to rush their stories because of a deadline.

But these hiatuses are a bit annoying, I'm not going to lie. If there's one thing I know I won't miss with this series, it's the many, many hiatuses Ms. Ichikawa had done.

I know it'll be okay in the end. There are more important things going on in my life now, so I know I won't dwell on it for much longer. But at the same time, I just want this story to finally cross the finish line. We're so close to the end, and yet the goal post is moved again.

I just want to see this story end soon. And I hope it'll be worth it.

Okay! That's all for now. Thank you to everyone who reads and responds to my posts. I love all your responses. I don't know how many of you will stick around when I stop doing these posts, but I'm honestly really grateful to you.

Hope the rest of the month goes well for you all! Stay safe out there.

[cinnabarmawar]

Sometimes, I listen to houseki no kuni OST while looking at TMNT stuff, I just immediately think that it fits so well, that's where the crossover & inspired idea that I wrote on this blog comes in. This theme mainly

And I like to think that if the dark turtles from fast forward were given names they probably have gemstones name like Topaz, Amethyst for Dark Leo and Dark Donnie(maybe he'd be fuse with alloy or agate because of the tail) while Dark Raph would be a Cinnabar, he's breath smells like mercury(A terrible breath really) or maybe Alexandrite or Ruby while Dark Mikey is Heliodor has gold alloy arms like Phos from hnk.

I haven't draft this idea yet but the dark turtle morphed gem idea is currently haunting my brain so I'll go for this one.

Although this one isn't hnk crossover AU like I planned on previous post but I honestly have been thinking about this sort of AU with hnk as inspiration for the gem stuffs because, I really like the dark turtles in Fast Forward, a shame that we never see how their story wrapped up.

If I draw I think I'll just make my own tmnt version for this one (the main turtle boys design to be specific)

[superchat]

ITOKI HANA TOBY FAX MV SPOILER RANTING WITH NO PURPOSE

that was so fucjking good wtf, the visuals were amazing. the art the character designs. so much reminded me of houseki no kuni. the long expressions features and limbs, the cracking, shattering, surrealism.

that twist. i never trusted him and i dont think the viewer is supposed to but that was so much much more haunting. that was horror, terrifting i was right there feeling it too.

the confusion and panic, then she looks to him one last time, in my mind she was like "my hope and love, will you keep me safe actually?" like she was scared but saw his face and she was expecting him to save her, life she felt he was her prince at the very start when she first saw him

but he looks to her and says FLY! the show must go on, and it literally jkust. fucking pulls her apart. that was horrying. he did not care about her at all, just her spectacle for the crowd.

like im so conflicted. the whole thing was terror, but they really mixed in this beauty and elegance that just makes it all the more fucked up and horrifying. i have not seen midsommar but i am thinking to it as something that could be similar, idk!!!!!!!! tragic story, it contrasts their other song (47) very well

did they see her? or did they just see a porcelain doll? she saw dolls breaking and cracking but was she seeing real people? was she just seen as doll and did her performance help lure in another to be put into a show? i do not know. there was parallels and layers to this tho, i need to watch again. that was so good and scary and beautiful and tragic and horrific,

Literally pushing her past her limits until she falls apart wtf ;-; he didnt even look at her head when it fell he was just looking at her body, he really did not see her but only a doll for a show

where it was a prince trying to save a princess, the prince went through so many traps and near death moments to reach a princess in a castle, but the princess was a dragon really, and she only finds purpose in luring princes to their death, imo like a form of being wanted. she is desired, and that desire is what fuels her, she has to be desired as an idea andonly an idea, its the pursuit. its like unrequited love. once the prince reaches her its all over, so she kills him right as hes at the door