#i know more about the stars form than the mythology and from the mythology there’s different stuff going on

[sixoclocker]

orion’s belt (i hope you find what you’re looking for)

i love drawing background characters. especially if they are named after constellations. and if they have constellations that are extensions of those constellations

[zae-heeyyy]

Stelliferous

Summary: You stargaze with Arthur. Pairing: Arthur Morgan x female!reader Word count: 1,353 Tags: fluff, shy, high honor Arthur Warnings: no warnings, enjoy the fluff.

a/n: Just a little something I thought of when I found this camp. Plus, I really wanted to draw a constellation. Fun fact, the game has accurate constellations, and Orion is one of them! I had a lot of fun reading about Orion mythology for this one. And TYSM to my tumblr bestie @littlemistey for helping me get the journal entry just right!

stelliferous: filled with stars or bearing stars, often used to describe a visibly starry night.

As everyone went about their business for the night, you headed to a deserted clearing just beyond camp and sat on the ground. You loved sitting alone, getting lost in the stars and the tales that went with them. Just as you were settling down, the snap of a twig alerted you to someone else's presence. The stars had aligned perfectly for you that night, putting you and Arthur in the same place at the same time.

You rose and looked around, spotting the cowboy leaning against a tree. If it were anybody else, you'd be annoyed, but seeing him there made your heart flutter in all the good ways. You loved looking at him just as much as you loved looking up at the stars. But the stars didn't make you weak in the knees at the sight of them or make you laugh until your stomach hurt. But just like the stars, Arthur always felt so out of reach.

"Things're really goin' downhill back there if a lady would rather sleep in the grass than in her tent," he said. His face was neutral, but you could see a playful glint in his eyes. You hugged your knees to your chest and tried to hide your shyness.

"Oh, hey Arthur, I was just––"

He held out a halting hand and tipped his head.

"I was just jokin, miss. I know what it's like to want some peace and quiet." He pushed himself off the tree and gave a two-finger wave. "Anyway, I won't disturb you."

You spoke out before he could leave. "It's no trouble, Arthur." You turned away from him and cranked your neck to the sky. "Y'ever wonder if it's just us out here?" It wasn't a question you expected him to answer. You were just thinking aloud. He didn't respond for a long moment but sauntered towards you, his boots appearing in your peripheral.

"I don't do much thinkin'."

You turned to glance at him again, shaking your head.

"Oh, hush, Arthur Morgan. We all know you do more thinkin' than any other fool around here."

You could tell he was fighting hard to keep the frown on his face from curving upward.

"That ain't saying much." He chuckled on his exhale, then, with a grunt, sat down beside you. "This whatchu' always doing out here? Just—" he gestured to the sky, "—looking up?"

"Don't knock it til you try it, Arthur." A soft smile formed on your face, and you waited expectantly. He quirked an eyebrow, then put his hands behind his head and laid back. A satisfied grin crossed your face, and you dropped down, too.

You spent the rest of the night pointing out stars and constellations to Arthur, sharing all the stories you knew about them. An hour crept by before a yawn escaped you. Arthur didn't show it, but your departure was the last thing he wanted. With one arm still behind his head and the other slung across his stomach, he kept his eyes trained on the sky above.

He was hooked—not on the stars, but on you. Then and there, he realized he could spend eternity on the ground, captivated by the rise of pitch in your voice when you got excited and how your eyes crinkled at the corners when your smile stretched from ear to ear.

From that night, Arthur used stargazing as his excuse to be near you, sometimes sitting so close to you that your shoulders rubbed when you pointed upward. Once, you turned to ask him a question and noticed him staring at you instead of the sky.

"It's impolite to stare, Mr. Morgan." His expression faltered, and he opened his mouth in a stuttering attempt to damage control.

He didn't need to be ashamed, though; you'd felt his eyes on you many times before. He admired you like you admired the stars, and knowing that sent waves of adoration through you.

Arthur caught up with you another evening just as you were finishing dinner. Golden sunlight reflected on his face as he glanced down at his feet, clutching his hat between his fingers. He reached nervously towards your hand, thought too hard, and placed it back on his hat. He started to speak, his words low and careful.

"Got somethin' to show you—somethin' I found— if you'll ride with me?"

You suppressed a building laugh, trying to save him further embarrassment. It tickled you that someone as audacious as him could be made so flustered by the likes of you. Your amusement was well hidden, and you reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"It's about time you asked me on a ride, Mr. Morgan." He nodded and placed his hat back on his head, the brim shielding the building smile on his face. He walked you to his horse. He got on first and held a strong arm down to pull you up.

The two of you road down the Heartlands, across the Dakota River, and through Bard's Crossing. He slowed when you approached a hill outside Lone Mule Stead. Arthur helped you off the horse with one hand, keeping hold until you stood in front of a campsite that overlooked the Upper Montana River and beyond. The site was breathtaking; you could make out the lights of Blackwater, boats on the water, and the expansive night sky in all its glory. Just to the side of the spot stood a small brass telescope. When you finally saw it, your eyes widened, and you met Arthur's, your mouth agape.

"Found this out here the other day," he gestured towards it, beckoning you.

"Oh, Arthur," you ran your fingers across the smooth brass cylinder. You shook your head in slow incredulity. "I've never seen one in person, only seen 'em in books."

Arthur removed the cap on the end, letting it swing on its chain. He nodded toward the viewing device again, and you walked around to the lens, bending to look through it.

"I hope it's everything you read about, miss." His voice was comforting, like the soft rumble of distant thunder. Breathless, you pressed your eye to the lens, and a speckled blanket of black engulfed your vision. Truthfully, the stars were the same as always, but knowing Arthur had curated this moment, just for you, made the night sky more beautiful than ever. When you were done taking it in, you stood to see Arthur watching you from a few feet away. You approached the crate he was sitting on, your hands outstretched and reaching for his.

"Thank you, really," you said. The gunslinger stood and accepted your hands, his lips pressed together tightly as if opening his mouth would betray him. His eyes were strictly focused on your clasped hands. Surely, if his mouth would betray him, his eyes would too.

"Arthur." His name coming off your lips so endearingly could kill him. He finally looked up, his mouth falling open to speak, but you didn't give him the chance. You rose on your toes, your lips crashing against his hurriedly. When he finally realized what was happening, his shoulders fell relaxed, and he wrapped two arms around your waist, pulling you into him. Your mouths moved in sync with each other's until you pulled away for air. Heat had built up in his face, and you saved him the trouble of hiding his blush by wrapping your arms around him tight.

As breathtaking as it was, you forwent the telescope for the rest of the night, opting to wrap yourself in Arthur's arms instead. You pointed up at a line of bright stars.

"See those three? That's Orion's Belt."

"Orion?" he asked, saying the name as if it were a foreign language.

"Orion. He was a hunter—a big and strong one. They say he was a bit of a drunk brute, too. He reminds me of someone." You didn't need to peel your eyes away from the warrior in the sky to feel the warmth of the one right next to you, a knowing, gentle smile on his lips.

[loth-creatures]

Wolf Ezra's final form

Lothwolfwalkers

I've been frothing at the mouth to reveal this for some time, but I also wanted to put together a synopsis of what I imagine he's been through after getting blasted into the unknown and his time on Peridea. Also will include some lore I came up with for Peridea! This post will likely be edited/added to every so often.

Also! I have a sideblog now @lothwolfwalkers

Ezra's many new scars are mostly from the shattered glass flying around the Chimera's bridge. Thrawn has a matching set. Ezra fell into a very deep meditation upon entering hyperspace, using the Force to keep a bubble of life support for himself and Thrawn. During this time he converses with the Purrgil, and beholds way too much knowledge of the universe for one person to hold in their head. He's probably a little weird after all that; frequently spaces out very badly while experiencing intense visions of things he saw and learned but can't remember.

The Purrgil travel much faster than ships. It takes them three days to reach the other galaxy, whereas it takes the Sion a few weeks (I want the Sion's voyage to be very very miserable for everyone) I'm going wild with the ocean metaphors for space and the Force here; Ships only ever skim the surface of hyperspace, whereas the Purrgil evolved to sink far deeper, where the current is much stronger and farther from time and real space. Sort of like how we can cross the ocean's surface on ships but animals like sperm whales can dive to extraordinary depths on the power of their own biology. To the Purrgil an intergalactic voyage is a hop across the pond.

The Purrgil don't drop the Chimera off on Peridea. They track along the very edge of the galaxy and their first stop is a barren volcanic planet that I've been calling Hel in my head (gonna be leaning into the Norse mythology theme). Although if anything its more like Davy Jones' Locker from POTC: At Worlds End.

The Chimera crashes and is grounded here for several months. All the internal systems are dead, everyone is unconscious after dropping out of hyperspace (like after the jump through the star cluster to Lirasan). Ezra escapes the crash as a wolf, beyond delirious and exhausted, forgetting his human body. It's not long before he's tortured into returning to it. It's also not long before the crew of the Chimera regret that. They could barely contain him for long under normal circumstances, let alone while the ship is in shambles and their resources are limited. He certainly spends some time in the walls and any repairs they've made are severely set back by the time he decides to steal a TIE Defender and leave.

Ezra then does the only thing he can. He follows the Purrgil. With no means to navigate and no way to obtain fuel, the only path forward is that of the Purrgil, as fruitless a path as it is, for the Purrgils' destinations are isolated from any form of advanced civilization that might exist in the new galaxy. Ezra is a step ahead in terms of conserving fuel as he can hitch a ride with the Purrgil. However, Thrawn knows Ezra and the Purrgil are their only hope of navigating this strange galaxy, and surgically implanted a tiny tracker on Ezra’s human body while he had the chance. It takes Ezra several months to realize this, as Thrawn is careful about how closely they follow him. When he does, he takes the Chimera on a wild goose chase, trying to run the them out of fuel. By now he's learned he can run alongside the Purrgil as a wolf through hyperspace.

Ezra leaves his ship and body on the most barren useless planets the Purrgil stop by, and continues to follow them as a wolf for as far as he can, trying to map their routes in his head, trying to find the way home. Then doubling back in the ship, zig zagging, going in circles and doing everything he can to cover their tracks. This goes on for about a year. I suppose they must find some form of fuel somehow in order to continue that long, but its inefficient and damaging to the ships.

Thrawn occasionally threatens to recapture Ezra, in order to keep him moving, but doesn't yet know that Ezra knows about the tracker and doesn't want to give it away. Perhaps he does recapture Ezra once or twice. And immediately regrets it. No matter what they do to human Ezra, Wolf Ezra simply can't be contained and tends to short out the entire electrical system as he drifts on and off the ship, straight through the hull in his spirit form. Human Ezra causes lots of problems on the way out when he inevitably escapes. The entire crew just want him dead. But they also know he's their only chance of escaping this exile.

This cat and mouse game takes a massive toll on his own ship though, and by the time they reach Peridea, its completely broken down, out of fuel and will never get off the ground again. At this point Ezra uses the Force to locate and disable the tracker, but has no way to safely remove it from his body, which he's pretty pissed about. He disappears into Peridea's wilderness. The Chimera becomes a grounded fortress and will not lift off again for several years. While Thrawn contacts and makes allies of the Night Sisters, Ezra befriends the Noti and also becomes amicable with many of the bandit clans.

Except I'm not calling them bandits, they need actual names. After googling "old norse word for blank" a few times and taking the first result, I came up with Hundur Ridarri for the howler riders we see in the show, roughly meaning 'dog horsemen' and Vatn Fari roughly meaning 'lake farers' as I imagine Peridea having many massive lakes or seas, and many of the 'bandits' are mariners. Their ships are mostly made from the bones and skin of giant sea creatures, which they also hunt for food.

Wolf Ezra has been known to tow in derelict ships caught in storms or attacked by creatures of the deep, and has ferried survivors of shipwrecks to shore on his back. He is sometimes offered some of their catch in return. He mostly avoids them though, as they occasionally treat with Thrawn and the Sisters.

The Noti on the other hand keep to themselves and are so good at hiding that Thrawn doesn't even know about them. Ezra’s body is quite safe with them and in return he defends them and helps them find food, and is quickly adopted as one of their own. They mostly survive on the washed up corpses of lake creatures, which Ezra can sniff out from miles away, and can tear the carcasses open for them, saving hours of carving through tough skin and bone. Ezra can also stomach it as a wolf but prefers to fish along the shoreline.

Ezra can't stay undetected forever though, he's not exactly inconspicuous as a wolf. As Thrawn now has powerful allies and resources, he's made a project out of capturing Ezra and attempting to study his wolfwalker abilities, something the Sisters are intrigued by as well and keen to experiment on. The Emporer was highly interested even before they knew about healing powers and teleportation. If Thrawn is to return to the Empire, he intends to do so with something to show for it. And a bit of vengeance.

The Sisters do succeed in capturing and containing the wolf briefly several times. One of their smaller strongholds (known as Gleipnir after the string that binds Fenrir in Norse mythology) becomes increasingly dedicated to the project. Ezra always escapes, but it gets harder each time. And if they ever find his human body, it's all over.

Meanwhile, Ezra is still trying to find a way home. He has no way of carrying his human body with him, can only follow the Purrgil so far as a wolf. The further he gets from his body, the more tired and sick he becomes until he simply can't keep up and is slowly and painfully dragged back to his body through the Force. There is no chance of him crossing between the galaxies. But he tries anyway, hoping he can get stronger, run farther before faltering, hoping someday he will make it just far enough to tell someone where to look. He only succeeds in hurting himself. It's too risky to try stealing another ship off the Chimera, as they are actively using their remaining TIEs as bait and he cannot afford to get caught again now that there's a real chance he'd never escape.

The Purrgil may go to Peridea to die, but they don't all die at once; the young escort their elders to their final resting place, the elders in turn show the young where to go to visit their dead and eventually join them.

Back home, Kanan searches for Ezra through the World Between Worlds. He has no luck, as the wbw doesn't extend between galaxies. The new galaxy likely has its own version but they are not connected. Kanan feels in his heart that Ezra is alive, but has no hope of finding him. Meanwhile Sabine often has dreams as a wolf, running through the wbw, following Ezra's faint faint scent, only to run right off the edge of the map and fall to oblivion. Ezra cannot sleep as a wolf without falling straight through reality and onto the paths of the Purrgil, where every minute contains a lifetime and every pawstep crosses light years. It's so very easy to become lost.

[cupidlovesastro]

𝟷𝟶 𝚏𝚞𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢

1. sign ≠ house- the reason this is, is because they both have their own characteristics and also represent different meanings. the signs represent more of a personality and the houses represent aspects of your life. they correspond but they aren’t the same thing. this is because when you think about it, aries has qualities such as leadership and impulsivity, but the 1st house doesn’t represent those things. therefore they’re not the same thing. when you see post that say aries/ 1st house, it’s usually because they try to add aspects of both placements

2. there’s multiple kinds of astrology- most people that live in america follow western astrology, but there’s vedic astrology which is said to be the most accurate, chinese astrology, medical astrology, and more. they are all different but also similar and some ways

3. there’s multiple charts in astrology- this is one of my favorite parts about astrology but it can also get confusing lol. there’s your natal chart, which everyone knows about, but then there’s persona charts, transit charts, progressive charts, draconic charts and more. then synastry and composite charts which takes 2 people’s birth information to create

4. asteroids- you don’t have to only learn about planets, you can learn about asteroids too. asteroids usually fall between 2 planets, which somewhat helps form a personality for them. not all of them though, some of them are in the outskirts of our solar system and some have meanings that don’t necessarily relate to the planet it’s closest to

5. there’s thousands of asteroids- there’s so many asteroids out there, that have been discovered with in depth meanings, some that have been discovered with no clear meaning, and obviously some that still aren’t discovered. that’s why there’s so many different elements to your chart, and so many different things can dictate your personality in a natal chart

6. greek mythology and astrology- greek mythology and astrology have a lot of points where they correlate. especially with asteroids, if you read into greek mythology, you will start to understand why certain asteroids and placements mean the things they do

7. cusp- if you believe in degrees in astrology, then you don’t believe in cusp. cusp basically means when you were born “between” 2 signs. so people born on may 20th or 21st could say they’re a taurus/gemini cusp, but that’s not true if you believe in degrees. degrees can go from 0 to 29

8. no such thing as a bad placement- no placement is bad, some are just harder to deal with than others and that’s okay. it doesn’t mean parts of you or bad or that your cursed for the rest of your life. everyone has rough edges, you just have to smooth them out if that makes sense lol

9. astrology and tarot- some major arcana cards actually represent the zodiac signs. not all of them but about half of them do. like gemini is the lovers, aquarius is the star, libra is judgement, and so on

10. empty houses- technically no house is empty because like i mentioned earlier, there’s thousands of asteroids out there, and all of them fall in a house. but as for your natal chart, having an empty house doesn’t mean anything negative, it just means that’s an aspect of yourself you don’t really need to focus on or pay attention to, or nothing is really going to happen in those areas of life. if you have an empty 4th house it can mean that nothing significant or out of the ordinary or specific is going to happen to your family or children. i hope that made sense 💀

[rollinouttahere-writes]

What about monsters au or maybe a fairy au

These have yandere themes to them from when this was supposed to be part of a Halloween event, but I decided to keep it that way because I like it. The first paragraph lightly explains what they are, the second is a reader-insert scenario.

Yandere Straw Hats Monster AU

2.3k words

Monkey D. Luffy - Faerie

Luffy has some intense fae vibes in my humble opinion. He’s chaotic, marches to the beat of his own drum, and he’s prone to dragging people into lifelong friendships that they CANNOT escape from. Luffy finds other fae to be rather uppity, and he prefers the company of humans. They’re so funny and weird! Plus he likes their food. Luffy comes from a very powerful bloodline, though people tend to forget about this fact until it’s too late and they’ve already provoked him.

One day when you’re out foraging, you almost step inside a fairy ring. You count your lucky stars that you didn’t and turn to leave and give the ring a wide margin, but a voice comes from behind you. A faerie is casually sitting in the circle and asks if he could have some of your food. Not wanting to upset him, you toss the snacks you brought for the day to him. He all but demands that you come to visit him once in a while, and you’re forced to abide. Refusing would upset him, but agreeing and then not keeping your word would be even worse. Fortunately, as you continue to meet with him, you find him to be awfully kind and fun for a faerie. You begin to look forward to these meetings. When he asks one day if you’re his friend, it’s only natural for you to say yes. A big mistake, you would quickly come to realize. By agreeing that you’re his friend, you’ve unwittingly given him ownership of yourself. But it’s okay! You two will have lots of fun along with all of his other friends!

Roronoa Zoro - Werewolf/Barghest

Another case of vibes, Zoro just screams werewolf to me. The barghest is a monstrous black dog originating from English mythology, with some sources claiming that a wound inflicted by its claws will never heal. I’ve combined this creature with a werewolf to make it a bit more interesting. When Zoro transforms, he takes on a grotesque and massive wolf-like shape with green fur. He’s capable of standing on two legs, but walking on all four feels much more natural in this state.

Zoro is a renowned monster hunter, as well as a close colleague of yours. After working with him for years, it’s deeply concerning to you when he comes back from a mission only to seal himself away in his home and refuse to interact with anyone. You try to be patient with him, but as time goes on, you NEED to get to the bottom of what happened. He’s been holed up for over a month, so you figure that he must be leaving in the night to get food and water. As you’re lying in wait in a nearby shed, rather than seeing him leave, you hear crashing and yelling coming from his home. Without thinking, you rush in. You don’t know if he’s being attacked or what, but you can’t leave him to suffer. It takes some effort to break the door down, but you do. The home is in shambles. Furniture is ripped to shreds, holes have been punched in the walls, and there are claw marks everywhere. Your attention turns to the writhing mass of limbs and fur in the corner. The moonlight illuminates the room just enough for you to recognize the shade of green the fur is, and your heart falls into your stomach when the creature turns to look at you. There’s a scar over the left eye. Before you have a chance to process this gut wrenching information, he’s on you. As he’s snarling over you, you wonder if you’ll be able to bring yourself to kill your friend before he can kill you.

Nami - Kitsune

Kitsunes are highly intelligent, cunning, and mischievous. All of these traits fit Nami perfectly. She is still quite young for a kitsune and only has two tails so far. In order to make some easy money, she establishes herself at a shrine and demands tribute, primarily in the form of money, though she will also accept fine jewelry and kimonos. 

The shrine she occupies happens to be the one your family cares for, making you her personal shrine maiden. Well, shrine maiden in training. In the beginning, you’re run ragged trying to accommodate such a demanding spirit. Once Nami is confident that you are a good match for her, she relaxes somewhat, but demands near constant attention. You’re unable to eat with your family because she wants you to eat with her instead. Opportunities to see friends are consistently shot down by her requesting that you brush her hair/fur for her or other mundane tasks. It was a little flattering at first to have a prestigious spirit favoring you, but it rapidly becomes draining. It isn’t truly your place to be asking her questions, but you do anyway. Why is she so dedicated to taking up every second of your time? You aren’t even a proper shrine maiden yet, doesn’t she want someone more experienced assisting her? Nami giggles at your inquiry and pets your head in a way that feels more than a little condescending. She explains that it only makes sense for her to be focused on you. Your initiation ceremony is coming up, and those play out like wedding ceremonies more or less. Of course she’s going to favor the person who is about to essentially be offered as a spouse to her.

Usopp - Drider/Anansi

Anansi is a popular figure in Akan mythology and is strongly associated with storytelling. He’s known for being a bit of a trickster, but also a hero and extremely cunning. I’ve combined this with a drider to make him more humanoid, but he is also capable of shapeshifting when he so pleases. Usopp has a reputation for being troublesome, but ultimately helpful. Sure, he drives the locals up the wall some days, but he’s willing to step up into a heroic role when necessary.

Usopp had been dwelling near your village for a while now, longer than he normally would. He just can’t help it though, you’re one of his favorite people to tell his tales to. You never question the validity of what he’s saying or roll your eyes, you just eagerly listen to his stories with a sparkle in your eyes the whole time. When he’s causing trouble, you take it on the chin and laugh it off. He falls fast and he falls hard. Slowly, he starts to incorporate scarier stories into his repertoire. To make sure that you fully believe what he’s telling you, he’ll shapeshift into various forms and lurk around just barely in the corner of your vision, only to flee when you whip around to investigate. When you vent to him about how frightened you’ve been as of late, he’s quick to offer a solution. Why don’t you come with him? He’ll bring you somewhere safe and keep all the monsters away from you. Doesn’t that sound perfect?

Sanji - Yaoguai

I bounced around with a lot of different monsters before eventually settling on this one. A yaoguai is a type of demon from Chinese mythology. Though technically, he’s only half-demon. His father was a god turned demon who was banished from Heaven by the Jade Emperor when he became too arrogant in his power and miserably failed in defending an important artifact. Ever since then, he has been desperate to regain his godhood and has resorted to trying to make supremely powerful warriors of his children. Their mother was a human who was forcibly taken and used in their creation. Sanji suffered a lot of cruelty for being the weakest of his siblings, with the only kindness he ever received being from his human mother (as well as a certain chef after he ran away from home). It’s unsurprising that he strongly prefers the company of humans to demons.

That also means that in his quest to find true love, he’s only looking at humans. Unlike his father, he desperately wants to have a loving, mutual relationship. He tries so hard, but his courtships always end the same way. Everything seems great in the beginning, they’re happy, they’re falling in love. The problem is that all of these begin with him taking on the appearance of a normal human. He wants to be open and honest with what he’s hoping will be the love of his life, so when it’s gotten serious and marriage is brought up, he reveals his true form. Every time, every single time, they scream and run away in horror. Sanji has lost track of how many times he’s been chased out of a village after doing this. He’s getting desperate. By the time he ventures into your town, he’s made up his mind to not tell the next person. At least not before the wedding. Even if you scream and cry and say that you hate him, he’ll make you stay with him long enough to see that he’s the same Sanji that you fell in love with even if he does look different now. He isn’t going to hurt or eat you, you just need some time to realize that. After you have, everything will be fine. At least so he hopes.

Tony Tony Chopper - Leshy (there are so many spellings I’m sorry if this isn’t the right one)

A Leshy is a type of guardian deity for forests from Slavic mythology. They rule over and protect their given forest, and their attitudes towards people imposing on it can really vary based on where the legends originate from and how the intruders act in the forest. They are able to take the form of anything in the forest and imitate woodland noises. It’s anyone’s guess how they will handle a human wandering into their domain. Maybe they’ll be lighthearted and playful, or maybe that person won’t ever be seen again. They’re very ambiguous. Chopper leans towards the more lighthearted side of things. He’s very shy towards most humans, but can become angry and lash out if they do something he doesn’t approve of.

Living right on the edge of a massive forest can certainly be nerve wracking, but you do your best to make it work. You did everything in your power to avoid potentially upsetting whatever Leshy is inhabiting the forest, and it seems your efforts worked… Perhaps a little too well. It started with seeing a bizarre deer-like creature amongst your livestock or outside your windows. Then you started hearing things. One day you could have sworn a terrible thunderstorm rolled in abruptly, only to dash outside and see nothing but clear skies. Eventually, the Leshy got bold enough to approach you directly. You knew you should have been distressed to have such a deity so close to you, but it was hard to be scared of such a small and cute creature. Chopper seems so youthful and childlike that you can’t help but grow fond of his little visits. Then he starts pushing for you to visit him. He has a home at the center of the forest and he desperately wants to show it to you. It couldn’t hurt to go just once, right?

Nico Robin - Harpy/Gamayun

The Gamayun is a prophetic bird with the head of a human woman from Russian mythology that is said to know literally everything and to spread prophecies and divine messages. Again, I’ve combined this with a Harpy for the sake of giving her a more humanoid form. While some people appreciate the endless knowledge Robin possesses, others fear and want to repress it. Robin can rarely stay in the same area for long without worrying about an attempt on her life.

It’s after an almost successful murder attempt that she meets you. One of her wings was shot, leaving her unable to fly away. When you suddenly appear and usher her into your home, she is highly suspicious of your intentions, but she goes along with it because she feels like she has no other option. Much to her surprise, you misguide the people hunting her and then tend to her wounds. As time goes by and she stays put while she’s still healing, she is shocked at how you never once ask her for information or prophecies. You’re being kind to her… because you want to? And you expect nothing in return? It’s unheard of for her. By the time she’s healed, she’s completely enraptured by you. She can’t go back to her perpetual solitude now that she’s gotten a taste of kinship. You must feel the same. You have to feel the same.

Franky - Talos

Talos was a giant bronze statue built by Hephaestus to guard the island of Crete in Greek mythology. His main job is to drive off pirates and other enemies by hurling boulders at them. For the sake of this AU, let’s say that rather than dying, he is simply subdued and ultimately lives. Franky feels lost and like a failure. He leaves Crete to set up shop on a new island where he takes it upon himself to take misfits under his wing. He doesn’t want other people to feel the way he does, so he does his best to take care of them and give them a sense of purpose.

Admittedly, you haven’t made the best decisions in life, that’s a given. Being a petty thief and general troublemaker is hardly anything to brag about, but it’s your life and you’ll do what you want. That is, until some giant bronze behemoth snatches you up and declares himself your mentor. He isn’t even giving great advice, it looks like he’s herding cats when he tries to get all of the local hellions to work together to better their lives. Unfortunately for you, not only can you not escape him, the others are buying into it and trying to drag you down with them.

[umbralstars]

Kemetic Influences on Fire Emblem Three Houses (Part 1)

I know I have made a more unstructured post regarding this before; however, I am certain in my assessments that the influence of Ancient Egyptian mythology had on 3H is vast and more varied then I, personally, have seen people discuss. Yes, we know of the etymology behind Sothis and Seiros' names, but I believe these connections go much deeper than the surface level. This will be structured with me discussing what I am most sure in to what is more interpolation on my part. This part about Sothis is so long that it needs to be it's own post entirely. Sothis is based on Hellenistic/Roman period worship of Lady Isis

As we know, Sothis' name can be traced to one of the names of Sirius, specifically the Hellenized name of Sopdet the goddess of said star. However, this is surface level. Sopdet was often syncretized with Isis during the Hellenistic period and in Lady Isis, I believe, there are more clear allusions to Sothis and how she acts as a deity within 3H's world. Lady Isis is an Egyptian deity who was worshiped across the Mediterranean during the Hellenistic and Roman period. Sothis in her mythology, actions, and how she is depicted in-game shares remarkable similarities to Isis. The images and sources I will be using as a reference come from Dr. Andrew M. Henry's (ReligionForBreakfast) video on the topic and FEDatamine for everything regarding 3H.

Sothis and Isis are both "great mother" deities who act as supreme goddesses to their followers.

Even before coming to supreme status in the Mediterranean, Isis was an incredibly important goddess within Egypt. She was the bringer of magic, a guardian of women, a compassionate goddess who wished to relieve all human suffering, and much much more. All of these traits are extremely close if not direct parallels to Sothis. We know that magic within Fodlan is directly connected to Sothis through the visual of all the magic circles (save for Agarthan dark magic) and it can be postulated that, like Isis, Sothis magic was beyond the capabilities of other humans or other deities. Faith magic in particular is directly correlated with the ability to heal and protect, which is one of the main domains of Lady Isis in antiquity and modern day. She was the healer of the sick and injured, so much so that she often traveled in human form so that she could aid those who called out to her. I don't believe it is a coincidence that healing magic was reskinned as faith in this game given that context. And the connections continue beyond that. Consider this text from a temple to Isis in Cyrene:

During the Hellenistic period, Isis' power and prominence grew to wear she became a supreme goddess within these polytheistic societies. She was believed to be the ruler of time and fate itself, and, as stated here, one of the creators of the cosmos who first set time to course. She was often depicted holding a steering rudder or with the planet beneath her very feet as the goddess through which all fate flows.

Next, take this quote from Lucius Apuleius: The Golden Ass a text from a satirist, but nonetheless believed to hold elements of truth to Isis' worship during the Roman period.

Once again, we see the language that would describe a supreme, cosmic deity. Compare to similar wording in The Book of Seiros Part 1: "The goddess is all things. She is heaven above and the land below. She is eternity incarnate. She is the present, the past, and the future. Her eyes see all. Her ears hear all. Her hands receive all."

Due to this language, it is believed by some religious scholars, and presented within the video, that within the mysteries of Isis there was an element of henotheism at play. A philosophy within religious practices where one god is worshiped a supreme deity whilst not denying the existence of other gods, and such a system of worship is what I believe to be happening within Fodlan's religious context. Other gods are known to exist, they are spoken of in the Book of Seiros; however, Sothis is supreme goddess of Fodlan.

Now, I ask, what is Sothis' primary characteristics within the Church of Seiros and as depicted in game? She is the supreme Goddess of Fodlan, who's depicted with having control over time and fate itself (literally divine pulse), spoken of as a savior not only in the past but also through the actions of her vessel Byleth, who created all life (or at least the Nabateans) as "The Beginning", and the arbiter of souls as an explicitly afterlife related deity.

All of these traits are direct parallels to Lady Isis, and I am not even finished listing all the similarities. First take this quote from The Book of Seiros Part 2: "In the beginning, amid the great cloudless ocean, Fódlan came to be. At the end of a long journey, the goddess glimpsed that land and there alighted. Upon that sacred ground, she breathed life into the world and created all of the creatures upon it.

By the goddess's hand, plants took root, birds took to the sky, and animals roamed the land. Last of all, she created humanity." Within multiple Egyptian creation myths one of the prevalent and constant features is the primordial ocean of Nun. It was place of nothingness and chaos all at once, a "cloudless ocean" if you will. And from that ocean came the first land, the benben, and from there any number of gods created all life. This includes Isis, who within the inscriptions at Philae, is described to have created all life and the cosmos itself (Žabkar 1988, pp. 134.): "Indeed, she is the Lady of Heaven, Earth, and the Nether World, having brought them into existence through what her heart conceived and her hands created..." Both of them are related to the afterlife and are explicitly called out as deities of fate. Once again from the story of Apuleius:

Lady Isis' connection to the afterlife as she who guides the soul to it's fate goes back even further in Egyptian texts and she has been a funerary deity all the way back in Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts. Take that in context with Rhea's line of Sothis being the "arbiter of souls" and much of her cosmology in-universe revolving around the afterlife you have another link between them. Isis was said to be able to prolong a person's life if they were to follow her mysteries as she knew the lifespan of all people and could manipulate it with her magics. She also typically interacted with her followers via dreams. This is something Sothis is shown to do constantly with her appearing in Byleth's near death moments, within their dreams (at the beginning of the game and later during her speech regarding Fodlan's plight. And can I say, Sothis being aware of the blood being split and awakening Byleth to explicitly put it to an end is a very much like a savior goddess). Then, in Rhea's backstory, she said that she heard Sothis' voice within the Holy Tomb (or within Enbarr) and that is what lead her to take up the name of Seiros and begin to fight against Nemesis. Sothis inspiring the creation of the Adrestian Empire through Seiros, and Byleth's place to chose the fate of Fodlan, directly correlates to Lady Isis' role as a goddess of kingship. Her protection was explicitly called upon both during the defense of Egypt and during campaigns of military conquest, and that she alone was comparable of armies of soldiers. Isis and Sothis both are also transparently related to nature. They are callers of the rains (cited in the Philae Hymns for elsewhere and in-game for Sothis) and related to bounties of the harvest. In this way, Sothis may also cross into the sphere of Osiris who was more explicitly a fertility god and the ruler of the dead/judge of souls. An interesting similarity can be called to the myth of Osiris' death and dismemberment at the betrayal of his brother Set, Isis' incomplete resurrection of her husband, and Horus' becoming king of Egypt after contending with his uncle where he avenged his father; with how Sothis herself was killed and dismembered for her power, then Seiros' creation of Adrestia (where he also chose the first king) to avenge her mother, and her inability to resurrect her due to Sothis' body being scattered and incomplete (at least, until her ib/Creststone was placed within the intact khet of Byleth). But that is an aside for now. I want to finish this off with a look of the physical similarities between depictions of Isis and Sothis. Once again from Apuleius:

"Firstly her long thick hair in tapering ringlets was loosely spread over her divine neck and shoulders, and her head was crowned with a complex garland of interwoven flowers of every kind. At the centre, over her brow, a flat disc like a mirror or rather a moon-symbol shone with brilliant light. Coiled vipers reared from the right and left of her coronet which was bristling with erect ears of corn. Her multi-coloured robe was of finest linen, gleaming here pure white, here a saffron yellow, there flaming rose-red, with a woven border flowing with flowers and fruit, and what dazzled me most of all was her jet-black cloak with its full sheen, wrapped gleaming about her, slung from the left shoulder, knotted at the breast, and sweeping over her right hip. It hung in sweetly undulating complex folds down to a tasselled fringe, and along its borders and over its surface fell a scatter of glittering stars, round a full moon at the centre breathing fiery rays. And she bore a host of emblems." To me, there are some similarities between this and the depiction of Sothis plus how Rhea dressed and Byleth's Immaculate One outfit. The floral motifs of lotus flowers, the crisp white of Sothis' mural appearance and those of Rhea and Byleth, the crowns of flowers and star motfis, the way Isis bears many emblems around her, much of it bears some similarities to Sothis. But this is not the only depiction of Isis, let me show you some visual representations. Let us compare this mural of Sothis to some depictions of Isis:

Here are two of Isis from Pompeii with one being a mural and another a famous reconstruction of a statue:

Again, while not 1:1 there are some visual similarities in design. The white linen of her dress and the cut of it are fair similar, as are the wings that are associated with nearly every depiction of Isis. To show and example from Egypt:

The fact that Sothis is shown with feathered wings in particular feels important given her other similarities with Lady Isis. Plus the throne hieroglyph that represents Isis and often often seen above her head looks exactly like the throne of Sothis as seen in the Holy Tomb. Lady Isis is also known as the "Lady of the Throne" just like how Sothis is called the "Girl on the Throne." The amount of connections between them does not feel like coincidence to me. If you want to take the Romance into account as well, both Sothis and Isis are associated with floods in that case, especially with floods that are said to be caused by their sorrow. Sothis is a savoir deity who protected and saved from Fodlan from the destruction of the Agarthans; she is said to have caused a flood in the one, possible, Agarthan account we have. Her name is Sothis, transcribed from Sopdet, lady of the blue star, who was syncretized with Isis who also became manifest within Sirius. I think I will make one more note: the Rite of the Goddess' Rebirth is transparently related to Wep Ronpet, the cosmological new year in Kemetic religious practice. Both take palace in late July (or into early August for some dates of Wep Ronpet), both are related to the rising of a particular star (the Blue Sea Star is based on Sirius, this fact), both are related to the rebirth of the world and the gods, and both are a day of celebration with family and friends. As one final aside: in Kemetic practice, worship of the gods has always been an intimate and close affair, both in antiquity and in modern practice. Gods are active and immediate presences within the world, and they are presently felt within physical parts of the world. Ra, Aten, and other solar deities are all the sun, Nut the sky, Shu the air and wind. Various "truths" about natural phenomenon could all be true at once and created a multi-facted view of existence. So Sothis having the Blue Sea Star as her "home" are acting as her spiritual double entirely makes sense within this framework. Sothis' laws are also fairly similar to the Laws and philosophical underpinnings of Ma'at; however, delving into that is outside the scope of this post. So I will need to leave things off here.

[thegreatwicked]

Writing Resources Part 2

My first list was so long I decided that I reached the character limit! So we have a part two! I'm going to try and keep them a bit more organized too! Hope these help you all in your writing endeavors and if you happen to use any of them try to give the original source some love!

Also, apologies if I've tagged you more than once and it's annoying! If I reference your material more than twice I will just link your whole Tumblr. I really do want to make sure everyone gets their credit and spotlight!

General Information and Research:

The Fantasy Guide to Royal and Noble Marriages or anything by @inky-duchess Her blog is extensive and is a wealth of information regarding things like royalty/nobility/Period social politics and is a fantastic resource, go check her out! Ink I do appologize I might be tagging you more than once!

@type1diabetesinfandom This blog is an amazing resource if you are interested in writing about characters with any form of diabetes or similar health issues. It was ana amzing find when I was writing my character Belladonna Black from Shadows of Deception who is hypoglycemic. What an amazing source!

How to Cook in a Medieval Setting: by @alpaca-clouds Food is the best way to know a culture and this particular blog post is a trove of information for your fictional foodie set anywhere in this spectrum of time or a great find for a fictional setting! This post obviously gets a chefs kiss!

The Symbolism of Flowers by @novlr Yeah! Leopold knew what he was talkign about, every flower has a meaning and it is entirely possible to send some a bouquette that translates to 'Fuck You' btw it consists of geraniums (stupidity), foxglove (insincerity), meadowsweet (uselessness), yellow carnations (you have disappointed me), and orange lilies (hatred). it would be quite striking! and full of loathing. THE MORE YOU KNOW. This blog is also a fantastic source for writers.

Writing About Body Pain by @slayingfiction I just came across this gem of a blog and if you're one who likes to make your characters sufffer than look no further, also, how ya doing? You ok? Just checking. This blog is also a fantastic writing resource.

How to Accurately Describe Pain in Writing by @hayatheauthor kinda piggybacking off the previous source but nevertheless lets make sure we make these characters suffer realistically? I'm ok too, if you're wondering. This is another great blog that focuses on the aspect of being a writer.

How to Use Canva to Make Mood Boards by @saradika I did not know much about mood baords but I'm telling you they are a gaem changer! They bring a life to your story in a way that is just so stunning and saradika has been so lovely as to make this helpful guide! She's also a very talented writer and is quite the Star Wars Fan! GO check out her stories!

Researching as a Writer by @so-many-ocs Research is a tricky topid to delve into and sometime sit hard to know where to start, this blogger has been so kinda as to make a bit of a roadmap to help you narrow down what you need to research and how. Wonderful blog! Very helpful!

Resources for Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters by @thecaffeinebookwarrior THIS! This right here is a gem and the only reason I don't write these types fo characters is because I've never known how to do so respectfuly and realistically! Not a problem anymore! Also a wonderful artist!

How to Write and Research a Mental Illness another gem from @hayatheauthor again if you're going to wrote a character with a mental illness lets make sure we get it right!

@namesforwriters It's little but a wonderful source of unique names for your story! Including mythology and music themed names!

Nightmare Disorder vs Night Terrors by @redd956 Some great clarification from a blogger who is diagnosed! So happy I found this as I was wondering about the distinction myself for a little while!

Types of Gemstones by @blueboxbeagle and brought to my attention by @keffirinne

A General Cane Guide for Writers and Artists by @deoidesignand brought to my attention but @cripplecharacters I was so excited to find this fantastic little gem recently and I look forward to using it! I'm keeping an eye out for more material in portraying characters with disabilities and disorders maybe it'll get it's own post!

@cripplecharacters linking this amazing blogger if you are wanting to expand your characters and write them with disabilities or diaper fees, this is a wonderful source of how to do it and stay respectful!!

@writingwithcolor use that painters pallet and write diverse characters and when you’re not sure what or how to write something check this blog out! Such a wonderful source for all questions concerning ethnicity, race and diversity!

@writinglgbtq I was looking for this blog!!! Your source for all things concerning writing the LGBTQ community respectfully and believably! So happy to ah e found this!!

@macgyvermedical I have been looking for a blog like this for some time and I'm so happy to add it to my writing resources list as tehre are far too many great and helpful posts to pick just one. Check out this amazing blogger who offers medical beta reads and asks for fanficiton!

Make it Pretty! My own contribution to help make writing a bit prettier! ꧁☽✶☾✶☽꧂ Enjoy!

Adding Page Breaks & Art to Your Stories Another of my own contributions for adding in nice clean page breaks to your stories as well as how to upload art to AO3, FFN and Wattled.

More will be added to this post as I find it and if you find anything that fits the general research on broad topics or specifics please let me know so I can continue this collective writing resource! And make sure to give some of these wonderful writers and bloggers some love!

[cegiel-athelia]

Love in the Stars

(A Love and Deepspace x Qi Xi Tale)

This is a sequel to the Moonlit Orchid Day event on 10 August 2024.

I thought that it is important to educate the fans about the true nature of the event, that is, Qi Xi (七夕), commonly known to simply be the Chinese Valentine’s Day, but it is really more than just that. It is a love story. It is a story of broken hearts and eternal love all at once.

I have done my best to summarise the myth into an easier read for players, so please, enjoy.

Genre: Very Fluffy (and slight angst, only if you are able to catch the nuance.)

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

The low, soft humming of the engine of the car as Zayne was driving us back from the festival was steady and consistent amidst the melodic chorus of the song, “Mountains in the Night”, which he said that he would play enroute our way home to Linkon.

I laid on my side in the reclined passenger seat, gazing tenderly at the stoic, yet magnanimously caring man before me - the same person I have known since my childhood, and I was grateful that fate had not only given us the chance to reconnect after years had passed, but that we now had something that is more than special.

His soft chuckle cut through the ambient noises when he noticed my staring, and he said in a voice that was gentle, “what is it?”, as he removed his grip from the steering wheel to take my hand in his, intertwining our fingers �� a gesture confined to our private moments together.

I shook my head, a fond smile playing on my lips as I replied, “Dr Zayne, what did you wish for on your sky lantern?”

He let out another amused chuckle at my question, releasing my hand to shift the gear. “If I told you, then it wouldn’t come true.”

I smiled knowing that that was not exactly true, but I did not insist. Instead, I murmured, “I saw you peeking while I was writing my wish on my lantern. How much did you see?”

A blush formed on his cheeks which spread to the tips of ears, almost imperceptible by the dimness of the night and confines of the car. He cleared his throat as if to brace himself before he spoke. “I saw that you wrote ‘I wish to be with Dr Zayne forever’, and you punctuated it with five exclamation marks.”

I groaned an agonised sound, covering my face with my palms from the embarrassment, and his chuckle drifted to my ears again. In concession, he spoke in a gentle voice, “I wished for the same thing with you, but I excluded the exclamation marks.”

I lifted my head from my hands and for a fleeting moment, I saw the curve of a smirk on the sides of his lips before he returned his attention to the road ahead.

We stayed there in the comfortable silence for a while, until I soon found myself drowsy with sleep. In defiance against the lull of slumber, I asked, “Dr Zayne? Could you tell me more about the origins of the festival?”

The familiar chuckle came once more, one that was of tenderness and affection as he obliged. “Sure,” he muttered, collecting his thoughts before continuing. “Moonlit Orchid Day is really the ‘Qi Xi Festival’. It falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.”

He paused, slowing the car at the corner to make a turn. “On Qi Xi, the stars align, such that, it allows the constellations, ‘Vega’, ‘Altair’ – the star-crossed lovers – and ‘Deneb’ to come together. Deneb forms a bridge over the Milky Way to enable Vega and Altair to meet once every lunar calendar year.”

He glanced over at me and a wistful smile graced his features as he spoke. “In the Chinese mythology, Altair is the man known as Niu Lang, and Vega, the girl named ‘Zhi Nu’. There are several versions of the story, and this is but one of them.”

Zayne’s eyes were on the road, but his gaze appeared distant, as if, deep in thought. “Zhi Nu, together with her sisters, are the daughters of the queen of heaven, the Queen Mother. One day, they came to earth and bathe in a river in the mountains. Niu Lang was smitten by Zhi Nu’s beauty and he stole her clothes, which prevented her from returning to heaven with her sisters. Zhi Nu eventually fell in love with Niu Lang and they married, and were blessed with two children.”

I continued to listen to Zayne, or at least, I attempted to. However, his voice, combined with the low droning of the engine and the occasional sound of crunching asphalt under the tires, created a harmonious lullaby and my eyelids grew heavy as the minutes passed us by.

Still, I strove to listen to his words in my subconscious as I felt myself succumbing to the lull of sleep. “When the Queen discovered the marriage – one that was forbidden – Zhi Nu was immediately seized and returned to heaven. Niu Lang finding that Zhi Nu was gone, searched for her with his two children, embarking on a journey to heaven, intent on reuniting with his wife.”

Zayne’s expression became pensive, although his eyes did not leave the road as he navigated towards home. “To thwart his advances, the Queen ‘drew’ a river with her golden hairpin - the Milky Way is symbolic of that river – making it impossible for Niu Lang to cross.”

“Niu Lang mourned for his wife by the river, unable to cross it, and soon, the news spread and a flock of magpies, having compassion for Niu Lang, formed a bridge for the lovers to meet. The Queen eventually allowed the lovers to meet only once a year on that magpie-bridge – the constellation, Deneb.”

“That one day a year, is Qi Xi.” Zayne’s voice trailed off as he concluded the story, turning to look at the figure beside him, now soundly asleep.

Her breathing was slow and even, the glow of the passing streetlamps faintly illuminated her features, and her eyelashes cast long shadows on her cheekbones. He felt a breath catch in his chest at how ethereal and fleeting she looked. He reached a hand to brush a lock of hair away from her face, careful not to rouse her in the process and he could not suppress the tender smile forming on his lips.

He leaned in to whisper ever so quietly, “I will love and find you in every lifetime,” and pressed a kiss on her forehead. “I promise.”

===============-END-=================

[ironychan]

Today's explorations brought us a couple of new birds. The first one was only today on a technicality, because it was a very wee hour indeed when Valdez let herself into our tent and woke me up to tell me there was a really weird animal outside and she knew I'd want to see it. Kibwana refused to get up, but Reynolds and I followed her to an old log, where we found this:

It looks something like a cross between a crane, a grey owl, and an anteater. It and its fluffier offspring were crouched by the log, tilting their heads back and forth to listen, and then they'd lick out with long tongues to catch insects. They didn't seem to need to open their beaks to do this, and I'm not actually sure they could open - I never saw them do so. If the adult needed to pull more of the log apart, it would use the four-inch blunt talon on the end of each otherwise useless wing.

Reynolds says the way the feathers fan out around each eye is actually an adaptation for hearing - it funnels sound into the ears like a radio dish. The adult bird was clearly aware of us and looked directly at us several times, but since we weren't coming any closer it didn't seem bothered as long as we didn't make any sudden movements. Eventually it got its fill of ants and wandered off.

We asked Valdez what she was doing so far from our campsite in the middle of the night. She said she wanted to get further from the fire (which we leave smoldering so the wildlife won't get too nosy) in order to look at the stars. Apparently she's been mapping them. She's even invented several constellations based on tools and animals. I guess we all have our little keep-sane projects.

She was telling me more about it around lunchtime, while the two of us were scrounging for edible plant material, when we got today's second bird. This one was a bastard.

It was very tiny, mostly black on top with an ochre-coloured underside patterned with black v's, and a white mark on the back of its neck. It was also very round with tiny feet and absolutely adorable. I couldn't believe how lucky I was when it landed on my arm and put its beak right up against my skin. I figured it was licking up sweat for salt or something. I was wrong.

After a second or two I realized a bead of blood was forming where it touched me, and when I took a closer look I saw that it actually had a very long, needle-like upper beak that had gone right into my skin without me even feeling it, and a very short lower beak that it opened to let its little tongue lap up the blood. I'm sure I took this in for just a split second, but it felt like I stared at for an hour, unable to move. The image is burned into my retinas. I keep seeing it when I close my eyes.

I hollered and shook it off me, and it flew away. Boonmee put some alcohol on the puncture and told me to watch it carefully for signs of infection. Other than that there's not a lot I can do but wait and see how many diseases the little bugger gave me.

We took several suggestions for the name of the vampire bird, but seem to have settled on Reynolds', which was White-Naped Syrinx. 'Syrinx' is a character from Greek mythology and also the root word from which we get 'syringe'. It is also apparently the word for a bird's voice box. This would be much more interesting to me if I didn't have a hole in my arm.

Somebody suggested calling the anteater bird an owlvark, but Vandebeek said 'aardvark' means 'earth pig' in Dutch, so a more accurate name would be 'aarduil'. When somebody writes a bestiary for this future, we now know what the first page will be.

[fraugwinska]

Chapter 19 - Constellation

Constellation (noun) 1. a group of stars forming a recognizable pattern that is traditionally named after its apparent form or identified with a mythological figure. 2. a group of associated or similar people or things.

Tags & Warnings: Power Dynamics, Master-Servant dilemma

You weren't surprised to wake up alone. The bits of dusty purple sky visible through the cracks indicated that it must be early, the sun not yet risen over the horizon.

A faint feeling of melancholy settled over you as you looked over the spot where he had laid last night, the pillow neatly fluffed and the sheets perfectly folded. Not a wrinkle to be seen. You reached out from under the covers and touched the smooth fabric - void of his body's warmth, cool under your blackened fingertips, which meant that this space had been unoccupied for quite some time.

You sat up and sighed as you got out of the bed and took your time to flatten the sheets, wondering if Alastor would pick up your scent from the pillows when he'd return to his room. Wherever he went off to.

The events of the last night replayed in your head, and now, with the emotional distance and a few hours of sleep in between you felt able to analyze just how bold and daring you had really been. The confrontation with Vaggie aside - you felt not a tinge of remorse on how you treated her, the fight had been long overdue - you couldn't believe the sheer nerve you had mustered up to do what you did.

Kneeling at your supposedly master's feet, declaring your independence, and then offering... well, a blow job.

Pleasing him for more than just his, but for your own pleasure. Taking him, to prove a point. Proving that, despite the contract and despite the implications, you didn't need pity or protection.

That you weren't powerless in this. That you could make your own decisions and face the consequences without regret. That, and more, and perhaps most importantly - that you truly, deeply cared about him.

And the fact that he accepted, that he gave in, that he took what you offered... Wouldn't that mean that he felt the same? Or at least similar? You hadn't used your powers last night, you were absolutely sure of it. Different from the times before, where you felt the autonomy of your thoughts and feelings slip through your fingers, you had been not the player, but the conductor of these strange voices inside you - allowing them to be heard instead of overriding you.

You had been entirely in control, inside and out. And the fact that Alastor, ever the strategist, had handed you the control and let himself be pleasured, had been vulnerable in front of you, spoke louder than a thousand words.

Your chest tightened as you tried to wrap your mind around the possibilities of what it could mean. What it could change.

With a final, long glance at his empty room, and a deep inhale of his lingering musk, you made your way back to your room. The walk through the hotel was silent and the sun was slowly rising behind the skyline as you snuck through the corridors, carefully turning your doorknob and quickly slid into your room.

"G'Morning, slut~."

Angel, leisurely lounging on your bed, his hands crossed behind his head and a shit-eating grin on his face greeted you.

Oh fuck our afterlife.

You stood frozen in the doorway, painfully aware of what you looked like - lounge clothes still from yesterday, hair disheveled and makeup smeared. He picked up one of your throw pillows, running his slender fingers through the tassels, his furry legs crossed, and his smile grew wider at the sight of your shocked face.

"Sooooo... how'd it go?" Eyebrows wiggled, and you contemplated jumping out of the window.

"I don't know what you're talking about.", you managed to say, as calm and disinterested as you could, knowing fully well what he was talking about, and Angel cackled, kicking his heels in the air and waving at your pathetic display.

"Rocky, honey, I work in porn, I know what the walk of shame looks like. And looking at 'ya Baby, you ran the whole damn marathon."

"It's that bad?"

Angel grinned, sitting up and patting the empty spot of mattress next to him while criss-crossing his long legs. "'Ya know, if 'ya were my coworker I'd congratulate 'ya to a new hit movie by the looks of it." You sat down and he started to untangle your hair, pulling little knots out and grabbing your hairbrush from the nightstand. "But, I know 'ya don't work in my field, so c'mon, spill it. This time no excuses, I want details."

You bit your lip and glanced down. Spilling details went completely against Alastor's 'be vague' rule. But denying would only make Angel more curious and press on harder, and if you were honest - you  really, truly trusted him, he had never given you any incentive to do otherwise, and shown you more than once he deeply cared for and liked you. Angel had been a loyal, true friend from the get go, and from where you came from, that meant something.

"Okay, I will tell you... something... But not a word to anyone. Promise?"

"Promise, scouts honor, cross my heart and hope to die, yada-yada-yada. Now gimme the goods."

You took a deep breath, gathering your courage, and turned around to face him.

"Well... things got physical... we've been... you know. For a while now."

Angel rolled his eyes, detangling another strand of hair around the base of your ear. "WHAT? No shit, Rocks, I would've never guessed."

"Cut the sarcasm, spiderman, it's not like we're running around with a sign saying 'Hey folks, we bang now'!"

Angel snorted and grabbed your shoulders, turning you back around to brush the back of your hair. "You're talking with a professional, toots, and also - 'ya ain't that hard to read, at least not for me. 'Ya face may be granite, but 'ya heart is right on 'ya sleeve. So... how is tall dark and creepy?"

"Good. Very good, actually.", you murmured, blushing slightly.

"That's how you'd describe a new toaster. Gimme a real answer, babe, tell me what I wanna hear."

"Fine...", you huffed, and let out a sigh. However could you juggle this to not overstep any drawn line and still satisfy Angels never-ending curiosity? "It's... intense. When we... well it's... passionate. Like, the real deal. I'm not a fan of clichés, but... I've never felt like this, Angel, with anyone. Ever."

"Mhm, so he's got a big cock, got it.", he chuckled, and playfully nudged your shoulder when you groaned in response, "Nah, Rocky, really, I'm happy for 'ya. As much as he creeps me out, I gotta say - 'ya look cute together. And not in a 'Big boss fucks his secretary'-way."

"Thanks, I guess." You smiled, but Angel kept silent, continuing to untangle your hair. You didn't expect the serious, solemn look on his face when you glanced over your shoulder. "Angel... you okay?"

"Darlin', I just wanna warn 'ya... 'ya got a good thing going for 'ya and all, and I think it's sweet as hell, don't get me wrong, but...", he furrowed his brows and gently removed another knot, his claws scraping softly over your scalp. "I know what it's like to fall for the boss. It makes 'ya do... things. You play stupid games because you think he loves 'ya, and if he's... not in it like you are... the prize 'ya get is going to be more than you can chew... that's how I got on Val's leash."

His hands paused mid-brush. You could almost feel his eyes bore into you, as if they'd burn holes into the nape of your neck. "I don't know the details of the shit between you and Alastor, and if there is one person I'm glad for not being stupid for, then it's you. I just don't wanna see 'ya make the same mistake I made... You... you're too good for that, Rocky."

You felt his hand in your hair shake, and turned, gently prying the brush out of his hand. For a moment, he looked like he did when you had the movie night: Young, vulnerable, broken. Softer edges and lost, but searching, in his eyes, that flickered in the morning light and reflected a sense of nostalgia. And regret. Words failed you, so you did what you did before - you wrapped your arms around him in a soft embrace, and he let his head fall on your shoulder, four hands finding rest on your back, grabbing your shirt firmly.

"Sorry...", he said quietly, as you stroked his sides.

"Angel... you're always looking out for my well-being, and I appreciate it, I do. But I'd say we're close enough that you should know by now it goes both ways, don't you think?" You held him tighter. The difference between Vaggie and Angel was that Vaggie's concerns came from a distrust against Alastor, making you merely a helpless pawn. Angel, in contrast, was only worried you'd lose yourself, not unlike how he had. That in itself meant a great deal to you. "You are too good for it, too. And one day, I hope I'll be able to help you get out. Until then... you don't have to deal with it alone. I've got your back, and I know the others do too. Even if you think you don't need protection or deserve something better - sometimes having someone stand at your side makes all the difference."

He chuckled, sniffing into your shirt. "If Antlers didn't already scored 'ya, I would've really thought about switching sides just to bag 'ya, bitch."

"I love you too.", you smiled, and ruffled his fluff.

The morning went by in a blur of familiar actions and boring rouotine. You took a quick shower while Angel waited, complaining about your unwillingness to update your uniform to something more modern, then you both went to breakfast, opting for cereals instead of cooking something. Charlie and Niffty joined you, and from the guilty look Charlie shot you, you knew immediately that Vaggie told her about your fight. You were still tense about facing her, but it didn't feel right to put Charlie in the middle, and after you treated her just as you had the weeks before, she slowly relaxed around you and offered to cut up fresh strawberries to put in your Hell-O's. Alastor had been nowhere present, the only sign of him was the visibly used, empty coffee mug in the sink, and you tried not to let yourself get too caught up by the thought of him possibly avoiding you. Whatever made him disappear again, you told yourself, had nothing to do with the events of the last night, or his response to it. It was an ill-timed coincidence.

After eating, Angel headed off for work, leaving the rest of you behind in the hotel. As he walked through the front doors, waving you goodbye with his signature smirk, you could see a sleek pink limousine slowing down to a halt and its windows rolled down to reveal Valentino, and with shock you recognized him from the lewd picture Dante had shown you the evening prior, making a mental note to warn him about just who tried to lure him in his shady business as soon as you could. The moment he pulled Angel inside with a rough tug, you felt something grow cold inside of you. The glowing, red eyes behind pink, heart-shaped sunglasses flashed your way, and the sly grin he shot you before the car took off made your stomach turn.

It was unsettling, to say the least.

Throwing yourself back into work, you spent the rest of the morning helping Husk at the reception desk, filling out order forms, dusting and cleaning the glasses behind the bar with Niffty and spoke with Dante about Valentino while the both of you tended to the neglected back garden, ripping weeds and whacking away stray twigs and withered shrubs until a path was visible and the shrubbery was neatly shaped and pruned, making room for future furniture or decorations. You were just returning from the washroom, hands clean and forehead sweat-free again, and headed for the kitchen for a quick cold drink from the fridge, when Charlie flagged you down. An ashamed looking Vaggie was on her right, and on her left stood Alastor, smile unwavering as ever.

"(Y/n), do you have some time?", Charlie asked, clutching a few sheets of golden paper in her hands. You glanced at Alastor, who kept up the cheerful appearance, and discreetly nodded.

"Of course, Charlie."

Vaggie grimaced in discomfort at your sight, avoiding eye contact, while Charlie stepped towards you and held out the papers she had carried. "Great! Listen, I know you haven't had a proper break, you've been so busy the whole time - Amazing, by the way, you helped so much again, thank you! - buuuuuut if you're up to it, we could use your and Alastor's help."

The gold sheets had names and addresses on them, you recognized a few of them as overlords, royals and even sins. A few names had a sticker on them depicting a sun with a happy face, others had a sad looking cloud sticker on them, and in between were ones without any childish decoration. You rose a brow.

Charlie cleared her throat, smiling at you nervously. "See, you know we sent out the invitations for the Blue Moon Ball weeks ago, and most of the ones we invited RSVP'd. It's looking like a good turnout, of course we had some negative replies, those are the cloudy ones, there, see? The sunny ones are those that accepted. But there are quite a few on the lists that never responded, and I thought, why not visit them and personally invite them?"

"Which inclined me to offer our assistance, kitten, if you are agreeable to the task, of course.", Alastor chimed in, tapping his cane and tilting his head, eyes not straying from your face. Your lips twitched at the edges - Alastor seemed relaxed, genuinely delighted even, and it relieved you to no end.

"I'd be happy to help - sounds like fun."

"Awesome!", Charlie exclaimed, "And to save time, Alastor suggested we'd split the ground work, with me and Vags teaming up and covering one half, and Alastor and you the other. That way, we can likely get it all done today!"

A part of you couldn't help but suspect that Alastor hadn't come up with this on the fly, and that there was some ulterior, secret motive behind it, but either way you could use a short break from the monotone duties in the hotel and enjoyed the prospect of spending some time outside the confines of the hotel again, and especially with the demon in question.

Alastor and Charlie proceeded to lean over the papers, going over the names on the lists as Vaggie remained quiet, patiently standing by while listening to them bicker in a endearingly friendly and comfortable way about which team should pay a visit to who. You found her eye, and after a moment of tortured indecision, she quickly mouthed a quiet 'Sorry about yesterday.' to you. You acknowledged her apology with a slight bow of your head, and even though there were still things to be said, you neither had the nerve nor the desire to have this tension remain between you both.

Alastor looked at you and smiled when Charlie and Vaggie started making their way through the lobby and Charlie called out her goodbyes with a vigorous wave, telling you not to worry about coming home early, and that she and Vaggie would get Take-out for dinner so no one would have to cook.

As soon as the doors fell shut after them, Alastor appeared right by your side, his arm snaking around your waist in a half possessive, half caring hold, as he guided you over to the front doors. "You do not mind working closely with me today, do you darling?", he murmured into your hairline, as his other hand came to rest on your hip as he stood behind you, and the unabashed, sudden display of intimacy almost made you faint from the speed in which blood shot up to your face.

"Oh, uh, of course not."

You anxiously glanced back to the kitchen to see if maybe Dante or Husks eyes were watching, but the nightingale wasn't anywhere to be seen and Husk was deeply asleep behind the counter, his ears twitching slightly.

Alastor noticed your glance and snickered, clearly amused but not surprised at your nervous reaction. With a flourish, he swung open the heavy doors and you followed him out and down the street, trying your best to keep from grinning like a schoolgirl while you felt his hand never leaving your back.

"We'll be done in no time, darling, the furthest we have to go is to the second circle, near a place called Imp City. I'd suggest to start there, then we'll come back to Pentagram City and work our way down back to the hotel. What do you think?"

You blinked at him, and by the way he stared at you you realized it wasn't a rhetorical question.

"You're... asking me?", you managed to press out, taken by the sheer idea.

"My dear gem, you're an intelligent and capable woman, and I've learned that relying on your skills and ideas often is not a completely wasted effort.", Alastor hummed and dropped his chin a little to look at you over the rim of his red stained monocle.

"Right." You were still stunned by the sudden change of dynamic, unable to address it as you feared it would stop. "I agree with you, starting at furthest point and then heading back from there is a good idea, and makes most sense." You felt like he set it up a little, his plan not really objectionable, but you felt warm at the mere gesture of weighing your opinion. Which is why you added "Is it possible to shadow travel there? Would be a good way to avoid traffic and prying eyes."

His smile widened and a glint danced in his eyes at the suggestion. "You read my mind, kitten, a wonderful choice indeed! Though with the distance it can be a little nauseating if you're not used to it, so hold on tight.", his voice dipped to an almost purr, and for a moment, it felt like it came not from his chest but from somewhere in the dark, thick fog that wrapped around both of you. A sudden feeling of vertigo made the colors of the red sky shift into a blurred mix of shades, your breath stuck in your throat from the cold air and Alastor's static rang in your ears.

Then, it vanished with a sharp thud of your feet meeting hard ground and the weightlessness you felt instantly replaced by violent gravity as you swayed for a moment, only to be caught by Alastor's grip firm around your waist and Ozul, who crept up your leg and fizzed fondly up to you You shot him a thankful smile, and he grinned at you before melting into the other shadows again. Alastor smirked down at your form, letting your waist go just to straighten your collar while you tried your best to get your stomach under control. "Shall we?", he said melodiously, offering his elbow for you to take with a grandiose bow and infuriating stability. You huffed and locked your arm with his as he led you down a wide, winded path, the street sign reading 'VIA DIVITIARUM'.

In the nearest distance you could see a thriving metropolis, the skyline both similar and absolutely different from the Pentagram - similar in that it had a towering, distinct outline against the red sky of Pride, a proud and loud center booming with neon lights and black smoke. Different as it seemed to lack the striking, dangerous and seductive charm the one in Pentagram had, more chaotic and unruly looking than the main city of the sin ring. You tore your eyes off the groups of small, red-skinned hellborn, maybe those were Imps you thought, hoping you'd one day would be able to visit it to experience it more closely, and glanced around the place Alastor and his shadow had teleported you.

A blue stoned pathway was lined with red and purple wild roses, leading around the quieter, more expensive looking outskirts of the city - there were long, golden fences with smaller pathways for deliveries behind them, houses like small villas and some bigger ones akin to small hotels and condominiums, and you could smell something faintly pleasant, mixed with the signature scent of sulfur. The gardens around here were much bigger and meticulously tended to, no patches of dead grass or withering flower beds to be seen and a fine sheen of dew coated the ground. Some even had glass roofs covering a lush courtyard inside, or water features you saw through big gates or even high walls.

Alastor noticed your curious eyes, and patted your interlaced hand as he directed your steps down the wide street. "Via Divinitarius is the aristocratic area of Imp City. Means 'Street of the Wealthy', quite fitting name as you are certainly well aware of." You both walked past a towering arch with a shimmering, blue gate, the gatekeeper, a female, burly looking red demon, her black horns curled like those of a ram and the spade of her tail whipping tensely. Before she could speak, Alastor handed her a paper with a condescending grin, you could see Charlie's handwriting on it - maybe it was a permit or something like that, because she just nodded and let you pass.

"Thank you, miss. Have a nice day." you said before Alastor pulled you away up the driveway, and you turned from the surprised face of the gatekeeper to the chuckling one of your escort. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I just marvel at your charm." You looked at him skeptically and Alastor rolled his eyes playfully and smirked. "To clarify, your charm on the lesser classes of Hell's citizens. You have to know, that imps are considered the lowest class of society - Hellborn with a weak demonic ancestry and hardly a sliver of magical prowess, they're usually made up to be the cheap, disposable muscle and labor of every operation."

Oh. So she had been an imp, and you hadn't even realized.

"That's awful." You wrinkled your nose and Alastor glanced at you, curiously noting the silent outrage in your face.

"Indeed, kitten. It is a cruel and unjust system, but, what can you do. It is Hell, after all, and everyone who lives here, no matter how long, will have to accept its rules. It's not like the powerful would make concessions and give up the advantages their status grants them." He sounded amused and slightly condescending, as if the mere thought was laughable.

You didn't respond, his words echoing inside you, twisting your stomach in a strange fashion.

It's not like the powerful would make concessions and give up the advantages their status grants them.

"Now, let's be on our best behavior, shall we, my dear?", Alastor's voice snapped you out of your trance, and you followed his gaze up to the grand building looming over you. The mansion was huge, double stairs winding up to a luscious entrance. Not unlike at the hotel, it was made off stained glass - the arch window above depicted moon phases, and both of the doors contained the sun and moon in an art deco style. The columns framing it had each a big purple, ethereal looking crystal ball in the middle, shimmering as if you were looking into earths night sky.

"The owner must have a thing for astrology...", you mused, and Alastor hummed, letting go of you as he reached out to knock.

"We are about to meet the goetian prince Stolas, son of Paimon. He is a member of the Ars Goetia, and quite a powerful creature, as you should know from your studies way back when, darling." At the look he gave you, you straightened up and folded your hands behind you. It was clear that from this point on, you had to be what you were meant to: his dutiful assistant, demure, professional and obediant.

It's not like the powerful would make concessions and give up the advantages their status grants them.

Alastor knocked thrice, and a few seconds later the door was opened, a tiny imp butler eyeing the pair of you suspiciously.

"Can I help you?", he asked in a squeaky, nasal voice, his eyes narrowing as his gaze shifted between Alastor's menacingly grinning and your stoic face. Alastor held out the letter he had shown to the gatekeeper, tilting his head.

"Why hello, young man. We're here on behalf of Princess Charlie Morningstar, daughter of Lucifer Morningstar, and would like a word with his Highness Prince Stolas, if he is available."

The imp's eyes widened comically, and he started to shake a little, his face going from a deep red to an almost white color.

"M-Morningst... Oh! Of-of course, sir, please follow me!" He opened the door wider and Alastor stepped forward, holding it open for you as the imp bowed and motioned for you to wait in the plush, iris-colored chairs, almost tripping over his own feet as he scurried through the entrance hall and around a corner.

Alastor chuckled, his fingers grazing over the soft fabric of the chairs. "Quite the opulence, don't you think? I have no particular appreciation for the ostentatious, but a certain taste in quality is admirable."

You just nodded, taken by the 'opulence' Alastor was talking about.

Paintings depicting what you assumed would be the prince and his family lined the walls. You didn't sit down and opted to walk along the gallery under Alastor's watchful gaze.

A tall, slender and majestic looking owl demon, two pairs of red eyes in a sea of white, gray and black feathers holding a glowing red mirror - you guessed him to be the prince.

Next to it, a family portrait: The prince in traditional royal attire, almost defeated looking, holding a book next to what must be his wife - a beautiful yet cold and arrogant looking peacock demon, almost looking down on the viewer. It sent a wave of antipathy through you, and you quickly went on to the third painting.

This one warmed your heart - in this one, Stolas wasn't looking sinister or sad, but instead laughing freely, happily, down at a tiny and absolutely adorable owlet girl in his arms, a swirling trail of pink stardust surrounding them. A captured moment of love and fatherly warmth that almost seemed misplaced in between the somber looking collection. It was nice though - proof that the perceived rigidness of status and expectations was not inevitable and total.

"You admire the piece?", a gentle, articulate voice cooed from behind you. You turned to see the owl demon from the pictures, living, breathing and very much NOT a painting, standing in front of you. He was towering over you and even Alastor with his thin height, radiating elegance and importance in his sleek purple robes, not a single feather out of place. The imposingness only subsided a bit in his soft expression, curiosity and amusement in his eyes as you instinctively fell back and bowed deeply.

"I'm very sorry for my lack of manners, your highness."

"Oh no, please. I also quite love this one, but what father wouldn't love a painting of his darling daughter?", he laughed, melodious and soft. He turned to Alastor, who had walked over to step to your side, his arms crossed behind his back and his head slightly bowed. "So, Impington told me princess Morningstar has sent some visitors, which are...?"

"Alastor, your Highness, the radio demon, pleasure to be meeting you." Alastor said with an air of civility, bowing as his smile was still ever present, and Stolas blinked, as if he was searching for a memory.

"That name rings familiar... ah yes, I remember, you had a little radio show, didn't you? Quite the rage for a while, even outside of the main city."

Alastor tensed at the word 'little', subtly but you very much noticed the sudden change of his aura. Your own back stiffened a little, tail whipping nervously, sensing prince Stolas had just pushed a button. But Alastor simply chuckled, a slight snarl of distaste audible only to your trained ears.

"Happy to know my name is not entirely unknown outside my usual domain, more so to a goetian prince. I'm honored."

Stolas' eyes fell to you and a smile tugged at his beak. "And you are...?"

"My name is... Gem, your highness, I am Alastor's assistant.", you answered politely, trying not to react to the slight prickle of static running up your back when you used not your old name, but one of Alastor's pet names to introduce yourself. Stolas bows down to you, giving you a friendly, fascinated look.

"Ah yes, and how fitting the name is, given these beautiful eyes you have."

You could feel Alastor bristle with barely contained indignation. Quickly, you decide to try and diffuse the tension. "It was actually Alastor who gave me my name, your Highness."

At your words and the ghost of a smile on your lips as you said them, Alastor relaxed, and you heard the quiet crackle of a static fire being smothered. Stolas seemed pleasantly surprised, clapping his hands together and looking between the two of you.

"He did? Now isn't that endearing, and quite unusual. But then again, a lot has changed since my last visit to the Pentagram. So, how can I be of assistance?"

"The princess has sent you an invitation to a formal event happening at the Blue Moon, and gotten worried when you didn't respond. She has asked us to extend the offer personally, and, of course, answer any questions or reservations you might have.", Alastor responded, his tone professional.

"She did?" Stolas blinked, and you and Alastor blinked back. He took a moment, thinking as his gaze became distant, and he mumbled, mostly to himself, "I should really check my mail more often..."

Alastor's jaw twitched, his ears flickering a little, and his smile strained. You felt your own lips twitch upwards, and Stolas finally focused back on the two of you.

"My apologies to princess Morningstar, with the divorce and everything, I don't know where my head is sometimes. Well... no matter. You are here now, so tell me all about this event. As you may know, the stars are my field of expertise, and I am very much intrigued."

After the second refill of your cup of tea by a diligent and nervous looking Impington, Alastor and you had finished explaining what the Hazbin Hotel did and why the Blue Moon Ball was organized. Stolas had listened attentively, a hand to his beak and nodding, the occasional comment or question thrown in. Alastor, enigma that he was, had you do most of the talking, and you would have lied if you said you weren't delighted at the look of pride on his face as you finished speaking. You were, in fact, feeling rather accomplished.

"I'm happy to hear that the princess and her staff are working so hard, even if it's for this very... ambitious cause, and have come such a long way. I'll be sure to attend and show my support.", Stolas said, smiling and putting down his empty tea cup.

"Thank you, your highness, that is very generous and gracious of you.", you bowed a little, and felt Alastors eyes burn into you.

"Yes, we are indeed fortunate and grateful for your acceptance, and will be sure to inform Charlie, your highness."

"That reminds me." Stolas clapped, and the tiny butler appeared in between you and Alastor as if materializing out of thin air, making you jump in your seat. "I feel terrible for keeping Lucifer's daughter waiting for so long. Impington, please take Alastor to the artifact gallery - he may choose a gift from us as compensation for the deat girl. You don't mind your assistant waiting here with me?"

"Not at all, your highness." Alastor's grin was wide, his eyes locked onto yours for a brief moment as he pressed out the words, clearly minding. His static hummed against your skin, and he and the butler walked out of the room.

The door had not even closed completely when Stolas suddenly leaned forward, his gaze intent. "Say, Gem... Is the invitation including a plus one?"

He took out a smartphone, quickly glancing at the screen and blushing a little.

You softened your face. "Of course, your highness, I will gladly add any guest you want to bring with you to the list of attendees. I assume you won't invite your former spouse... so maybe your daughter, Octavia was it?"

Stolas laughed nervously, waving his hand in a dismissive motion. "Oh no, no, no, Via is... at an age where things like that bore her. Teenagers, you know how it is. No, the one I intent to bring is... someone very special. And important to me."

He sounded embarrassed and a little flustered, but his expression was a tender one, his eyes softening and his lips curling up fondly. It made him look younger, and for a moment, he even lost the royal aura and just looked like a slightly abashed boy in love. You tilted your head, lips tugging into almost a smile. "I think I know the feeling. Having someone very special and important, I mean."

"You do, hm?", he asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes that he thankfully not elaborated on. Instead, he started fiddling with his teacup, running a finger around the lip and tapping his feet. "It could... be a little outrageous, though..."

"Oh, don't worry about that, your highness. We will do our best to make sure your partner is treated with the utmost respect and care, and feel comforta..."

"He is an imp, you see." Stolas said, not meeting your eyes. "I'm... afraid he... we will be met with a lot of prejudice."

"Oh.", you said dumbly, caught off guard, and not sure how to react.

Stolas looked up, and sighed, leaning back while he took off his crowned hat, a hand running through his hair.

"You probably find it scandalous and improper, hm? Everyone else does. For a goetian, especially a member of the royal family, to be involved with an imp is unheard of. It is seen as a disgrace, and I could understand if the princess wouldn't want such bad publicity for her..."

"As I said, your Highness." you interjected, voice firm and eyes strong on his glowing red ones. "Your partner will be treated with the utmost respect and care. As will you and any guest at the Ball, no matter the status, race or class. There is no room for judgment or ridicule at the hotel of Charlotte Morningstar. Especially when he is important to you. I'll personally make sure of it."

Stolas stared, silent surprise in his gaze, and tender sympathy. "No one has ever been that... accepting. You are quite the interesting one, Gem."

It's not like the powerful would make concessions and give up the advantages their status grants them.

You shuddered. "Your highness, if you allow me - can I ask you a question?"

"Please, dear, call me Stolas. Go ahead."

"If I'm understanding this correctly - You chose love above status and blood? Over rules and the expectations set in stone?"

"I have." Stolas gave a rueful smile as he saw your expression, as if he knew. "But that does not mean I haven't paid the price. My marriage is the least of what I sacrificed... it was forcibly arranged, and Stella never..." he hesitated, sighing heavily. "My ex-wife and I quickly grew to despise one another. The only good thing that came out of it was my daughter. But... when he entered my life, I was at the lowest point. He ignited a fire in me I've never felt before. For a while, we had a... transactional pretense for being with each other - it made it easier to justify, maybe even to pretend. But there came a time where the knowledge of the wrongness of it all became too much. I felt like I held him a prisoner. He felt used and toyed with."

You gasped a little, his last words resonating with a deep ache within you, making Stolas smile sadly. "Love, how selfish and selfless at the same time, isn't it?" The phone in his pocket vibrated again, and he pulled it out, glanced at the screen and immediately relaxed. "I freed him from his obligations to me, because I knew we could never really fully be together like this. For a while, it was messy - a lot of unsaid things and hasty assumptions. We spent our lifes apart for quite a while, focussing on healing ourselfs before we would be hurting each other further... at some point I thought it was over."

"And what made it all work again?"

Stolas smiled softly at the phone in his hands.

"Communication, honesty... and forgiveness."

You stared at him, your heart beating so hard against your ribs it almost hurt. He reached out and took your hand, a gentle expression on his face. "I must apologize for getting so personal - I rarely get to speak to someone about it all. It is... quite liberating, especially when the listener is as... understanding as you."

The way he toned the word made you blush. There was an implied knowingness in it, subtly laced in the way he looked at you and told you his story. Unspoken understanding, yet loud and clear to you. You were more than thankful Alastor wasn't here - if Stolas somehow had figured out the complicated dynamic going on between you and the demon, and hinting at it or worse, saying it out loud, who knew what would've happened?

"There's no need to apologize, your h... Stolas. I'm honored you trusted me with it." you said, sincerely and with a small bow, earning a chuckle from the goetian demon. "Now then, what name may I add to yours on the list?"

Stolas smiled sincerely, his voice dripping with adoration.

"Just Blitzø. And the 'o' is silent."

Alastor was feeling a myriad of things: Annoyed, pleased, surprised and impressed.

Annoyed at the fact that Stolas had managed to bruise his ego - he knew it had been done rather accidentally, but still, it miffed him. Granted, the prince was one of the few hellborn upper class men he could actually stand - Alastor appreciated his elegance, respectfulness and the way he carried himself so effortlessly. Which made the sting of not being recognized by him appropriately all the more sharp. But alas, a foot in the door was more than waiting in front of it. All in good time.

Pleased, at her perceptiveness and the way she had reacted and soothed his foolish bristling, defused and diverted what could've been a rather embarrassing situation that would've definitely led into Alastor letting some dust get off the proverbial rug, one way or the other. And having a big name in demon royalty attending the event would only put it forward even more.

Surprised, at the ease with which she had gained his favor so swiftly, just by being herself. To say Alastor wasn't at least a bit envious would've been an out and out lie, but in this case, a bigger part of him, no, the majority of him was actually impressed. She had been more than useful, yet again, her whole aura oozing respectfulness as well as endearing approachability, while also showing the proper amount of courtesy, professional distance and friendliness.

After Alastor had returned to the room he left them in - a small box containing the rare planetary orb he chose from the impressive collection of hellish artifacts of the prince in hand - his kitten and the prince had been in deep, serious conversation. He had made the right call, he had thought, dismissing the tiny imp servant, stating he wouldn't need a guide to find his way back, and hid in the shadows outside of the kitchen to listen in. And after catching a few words like 'love' and 'transactional pretense', he risked it and slid with his shadows under the door, lingering in the darkest corner of the room to hear the conversation better.

"Love, how selfish and selfless at the same time, isn't it?"

Alastor tried to contextualize what they were talking about, but her face was unreadable. And the prince to unknown as to accurately be analyzed.

"I freed him from his obligations to me, because I knew we could never really fully be together like this. For a while, it was messy - a lot of unsaid things and hasty assumptions. We spent our lifes apart... at some point I thought it was over."

Alastor felt uncomfortable, suddenly wary on his decision to stay, realizing he was in the middle of an emotional outpouring. Had she been confiding in him? Alastor furrowed his brow, a little incredulous. No, that would be highly unlikely, he knew that. But nonetheless, the topic of their discussion felt... dangerous. He shifted a bit, contemplating to break it up by rematerializing in the corridor and walzing into the kitchen.

"And what made it all work again?" he heard your voice say, quiet. Soft. Almost hopeful. He stilled, rooted on the spot as his eyes pierced through the darkness and tried to catch the look on your face. He had heard that tone once before, he was sure... when had it been?

"Communication, honesty... and forgiveness."

Alastor shuddered, and he decided to leave the room and make his presence known, shifting through the room again and back to the corridor. When he fully materialized again, he took a moment to collect himself. Why did those words hit him so intensely, and with a certain degree of discomfort, no less? There was something in the expression of hers when the prince talked to her that put him off, making his static almost sizzle uncomfortably, almost like a bad omen. Ozul fizzed at him, almost anxious, and he scoffed.

"Stop that childish nonsense now, old boy. We have nothing to worry about."

He straightened the lapels of his overcoat and adjusted his monocle before he pushed the kitchen door open and strode in, his steps slightly lacking his usual grade of confidence.

The rest of the visit was rather short. Stolas accompanied you back outside to the front gate with his imp butler trailing behind, much more cordial and attentive to him than before, and he reminded himself to question his little assistant about that when the time was right. You had marked another guest as Stolas's escort, the name unknown to him, but that was but a triviality. The more guests attended, the better.

"It has been a pleasure meeting you both." The prince said, and as protocol dictated, Alastor bowed, as did his kitten. But when she lifted her head, Stolas held out a blue shimmering card out to her. "My card, for whenever you need to reach me. May it serve you well, my dear."

She bowed a little lower, and smiled shyly as she thanked him and took the card with nimble fingers, slipping it into her pocket. Stolas turned to him, reaching out his hand, and pleasantly surprised, Alastor took it, the handshake a warm and friendly gesture that was followed by him leaning forward to say something to him.

"I look forward to see you again, Alastor, the radio demon. Take good care of your lovely assistant - one might regret not realizing what they have before they no longer have it." The last sentence was spoken so quietly as to not be overheard by the confused looking lynx next to him. Stolas gave him a wink and a bright grin before walking off and leaving a completely bewildered Alastor standing behind.

He stared wide eyed after Stolas retreating form, his mind reeling and smile tensing, as he was unable to fathom just what had transpired between his kitten and the prince to get him to utter such an ambiguous warning to him.

"Um... What was that about?", your puzzled voice ripped him out of his trance. You were looking at him with curious yet nervous eyes and a tilt of your head, one of your ears twitching expectantly.

Alastor laughed a little too loud, and stepped closer, putting his hand to the middle of your back.

"Nothing worth worrying about. I would say you have been very successful with our first visit, wouldn't you say? Attagirl, well done."

Her ears perked up and a timid smile tugged at her lips. He enjoyed it every single time her ears would twitch, the subtle display of unspoken thoughts finding their outlet in such an adorable way always a deliciously funny one. He flicked the tufts on the tips of her ears and was rewarded with a quiet chuckle and a furrow of her brow.

"Let's see if we are as successful with the others on our list."

They were, indeed. Back in their own circle, the visits were much shorter and, since Alastor knew most of the demons they searched for personally, it didn't take much effort to find them, and everyone they talked to agreed to attend - a little convincing provided for some of them on his part, not enough to be perceived as a real threat, but just enough for the respective person to make the right decision. Now, the sun was slowly descending, nearing the horizon as the both stepped out of the Carmine factory, the last name checked off as 'attending'.

“What a productive day this was, don't you think, darling? So far, the princess's quota has been met, and so satisfactorily to boot." Alastor praised, a prideful smirk on his lips and eyes as he stretched his limbs, a joint cracking somewhere under his red coat.

"It went better than I hoped! Charlie will be so happy - and if they got their stops done, we can finalize our plans with the vendors and really start to properly prepare. We'll even meet all of our deadlines. I'm getting excited!"

Alastor saw the subtle, yellow glow around her, like an aura - she was literally radiating excited joy. While she was oblivious to it, he wasn't the only one noticing, a few sinners turning their heads, half in fear of seeing him, the radio demon, walking the streets, but also half in awe at the golden shining girl next to him. Dangerously increasing in brightness, Alastor stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, and when she looked up to him, the light slowly faded. The evening was still young, and they had a little time on hand for something he had postponed long enough.

"We do have one additional stop to make, dear. Not to worry, no business - but if she knew you were out with me again without seeing her I fear she would really scald me."

She blinked at him, taking the bait. "Don't you mean 'scold'? And who are you..."

"No, it will most certainly be scalding, you know how Rosie is."

For a moment, she just stared at him, face blank and eyes wide, the black binder with her lists and notes tight in her arms. Then, as he expected from his girl, recognition set in, and he grinned benevolently when she let out a loud, excited gasp. "Rosie?! We're going to see Rosie? Oh, Alastor, thank you!"

What he didn't expect, not in the slightest, was to be almost thrown off balance as she, foolish girl that she had become, forgot all manners and decorum whatsoever and threw herself on him, her tail puffed and arms flinging tightly around his neck. Half of him wanted to reprimand her for this blatant display of public impudence, but the smile she wore, the one only known to him, only ever worn for him, made him reciprocating her embrace instead, his hands lightly caressing up and down her back, a hearty chuckle rumbling up in him as her warm glow returned.

Hadn't he been so enthralled by her reaction, he surely would've noticed the whirring of the Voxtech voyeurdrone, hovering over them like a starved vulture.

<< Previous Chapter - Next Chapter >>

[obitoslay]

absolutely obsessed with how the strongest beings in orv are constellations, literally the oldest form of story telling and the more memorised/impactful the more important they are, from historical (more recent so weaker) to narrative to myth grade. and like i know this is all obvious to everyone but for the oldest form of story telling from religion to mythology and oldest fables to turn against people once the scenarios begin when they are so ingrained in what makes you human and what people turn to in times of desperation and and moral guidance makes this so much . more chilling and twisted to me

humans are the ones who named these stars and created constellations, we created a story out of nothing, kinda like how od birthed wos into existence, i think feeding into the idea that stories have both the capability to harm and save people. i’m sure we know constellations are a huge symbol for those who are content with monetising and consuming stories without care for others and how this sustains capitalist greed right down to what makes u human….. but i think it’s just. soooo good. but then what makes kdj so special as a constellation is that while reading is also a means for survival for him just like how it is for constellations consuming stories, he is so unbelievably selfless and full of love as he reads and gives his lives up for the characters he reads about rather than completely discard them like other constellations. in a world where the star stream has monetised even survival, kdj is in the end driven by hope and love and devotion . ach… a reader who gives back to the story as much as the story has helped him.

[whumpsday]

Annie's Prisoners

Writing Masterlist | G/t writing tag

g/t sideblog here! @smallsday

content: g/t, whump, tiny whump, fairy whumpee, begging, rescue, captivity, wing whump, magical exhaustion, bullying

Whumpmas in July Day 21: "Please" GT July Day 21: Secret

here's the last of the GT July "crossovers" i'm doing during WIJ! it was fun to write more tiny whump :)

-

"Okay, but you don't tell anyone."

Annie got down on the floor, pulling a pink plastic hamster cage out from under her bed.

Parisa could hardly believe what she was seeing. Inside the cage was what looked like a fairy, no more than four inches tall, cowering in the corner. He had wings, but they stopped abruptly about halfway through, leaving him with uneven little trapezoids.

The fairy didn't look pleased to see either of them, hiding himself as well as he could inside the plastic tube running up one wall of the cage- which wasn't very well at all, considering the tube was transparent.

Parisa knelt down on the carpet to see closer, star-struck. "What is this?"

"My fairy!" Annie boasted. "I caught him myself, he was drinking from the birdbath in the backyard! I just shot him with Calvin's Nerf gun and grabbed him while he was all dazed and stuff. Don't act surprised, it's not like you haven't insisted fairies were real since preschool."

Annie was right, Parisa had always been obsessed with fairies. Her notebooks were covered with fairy stickers, she'd spent her whole childhood playing Pixie Hollow, and she'd read book after book on faery mythology. A part of her had always believed that with so many different stories and accounts of them, fairies had to exist in some form, somewhere. Even as she got older and felt more and more that she was being silly, a small part of her always knew.

And she was right.

She would normally be jumping for joy, but... the fairy was obviously not as enamored with Annie's recollection of his capture. He teared up a little, hugging himself as he cringed as far away from them as possible, his severed wings tucked behind him.

Parisa frowned. "He looks kind of sad."

Annie waved away her concern. "He's always pouting. But I haven't even shown you the cool part. He can do magic and stuff!"

The fairy's head snapped up at that, a look of horror dawning on his face.

"But I already did a spell for you today!" Though it seemed like he was attempting to shout, his voice came out tinny and quiet, just as small as he was.

"You can do another for Rissie," Annie said firmly. "But yeah, seriously, you can't tell anyone. Can you imagine? Some government prick would totally take him away from me to experiment on him or whatever, like in the movies."

"Do your parents know?" Parisa asked.

"Oh god no. But I'm taking him to college with me in September, so I won't have to worry about that anymore." Annie sat cross-legged, picking the cage up and moving it into her lap to rest her arms on. The fairy grimaced as she began drumming her fingers absentmindedly on the lid.

"I've had him for almost two months now. I would've shown you sooner, but I wanted to wait until after graduation so you couldn't tell anyone at school. It's not like you talk to anyone besides me anyway, but can't be too careful. But Ciel can change that!"

She held the cage up triumphantly. "I knew you'd be totally helpless without me since we're going to different schools, so I wanted to make sure you were aaaaall set. He can't do like, big things, he's not a genie. But he can do little things. Like make you a little luckier for a while, stuff like that. I use it for studying, too. But I figured he could do a charisma spell on you or something, and it'd help you make new friends at your little state school!"

"I can't do another spell yet, please, I already did one! I don't have enough magic left," Ciel pleaded, looking up at Annie as his tears started to fall. "You said college isn't something that starts until autumn, there's time! It'll hurt too much if I do another now, please no more!"

Parisa's shock slowly gave way to horror as the fairy's deplorable conditions became more and more apparent. She wanted to say something, but she knew Annie would just get defensive and guilt her if she did.

"Yeah, it'd probably be more effective closer to September anyway," Parisa agreed quickly, unable to push down a feeling of hope that Ciel would like her for agreeing with him.

"Fine, whatever," Annie sighed, roughly shoving the cage back under the bed. Parisa got the feeling she was more interested in showing off than actually helping. "Then you can see him more then. He's my fairy, after all. Let's go back downstairs."

Parisa followed Annie, but didn't take her eyes off the dark space under the bed until the door was firmly shut behind them.

It was hard to go back to hanging out normally, and she couldn't keep herself from asking question after question about Ciel. Parisa really wanted to just see him again, but she knew he would hate that, so she didn't ask to.

But as Annie told story after story, it only solidified the fact that what was happening here was wrong. She was practically torturing the delicate little creature, draining him of magic to his absolute limit.

Parisa dreaded the answer, but she couldn't not ask. "What happened to his wings?"

"Don't be a baby about it, but I had to trim them after he tried to fly away one time," Annie said, like it was nothing.

"Wouldn't that hurt?" She tried to do what Annie said, to not be a baby about it, but it was getting ridiculously hard. She wanted to cry, hearing her best friend had done something like that.

"No, it was like getting a haircut, I think. Except permanent. He didn't like, scream or anything." Annie shoved her lightly on the arm. "I said don't be a baby."

"Right. Right." This was all wrong. This wasn't how discovering fairies were real was supposed to be. She had to get out of Annie's face. "I feel like I'm gonna be sick," she lied.

"Ew, go." Annie pointed upstairs. "God, you're so sensitive."

Parisa darted up to the bathroom, where she felt like she could breathe a little better. How was she supposed to live the rest of her life knowing Annie was torturing a fairy? They weren't even going to schools in the same state. She wouldn't be able to do anything to help. She might not ever get to see him again after whatever spell Annie wanted him to do.

Unless she took a peek right now.

Parisa snuck into Annie's room, hoping she wouldn't come to check on her, and carefully pulled the cage out from under the bed.

Ciel clung to the metal spout of the water bottle, like she'd interrupted him while he was drinking. He looked around wildly, relaxing a little bit when he realized Annie wasn't here. "Is she coming?" he asked, his voice so quiet Parisa could just barely hear him.

"No. I'm not supposed to be in here," she admitted. "I just wanted to see you again. And, um, check if you're alright."

"I'm not," he answered without hesitation, eyes still shining with tears. "I don't know how much longer I can go on like this. Please, I desperately need help, Miss." He tentatively stepped forward, though his little hands shook. "Rissie, she said your name was?"

"Parisa. You're Ciel?" she asked.

"I am. Please, I can- I'll come back and do a spell for you, once I've had a chance to rest. If you would just..."

He pointed toward the window with a trembling finger. "Please?"

Oh, Parisa wanted so badly to help. "But your wings? How will you get down?"

Ciel sobbed. "I don't know. I need to be away from here, she plans to keep me imprisoned for life. She's careless, she's going to kill me and I won't even get to die outdoors!"

Parisa had to do something, even if it meant she would lose her only friend. She was probably going to lose her either way anyway, once they left in September.

She unlatched the cage, holding a hand bigger than Ciel's whole body out to him. "I'll help. You just have to trust me."

It was obvious from his face that Ciel had a strong distaste for being grasped in human hands. But with no other options, he climbed readily into Parisa's palm. "Please be gentle," he begged.

She was holding a real fairy. It was like a dream, but Parisa couldn't get caught up in that now, she had to focus on protecting him. She brought Ciel to the front pocket of her hoodie, carefully placing him inside. "Try not to make any noise or move around too much. I'll keep you safe, I promise."

Parisa could feel the fairy's little heartbeat thrumming away against her as she headed back downstairs.

"Yeah, I'm really not feeling good," she told Annie. "I think I'm just gonna go home."

"'Kay, whatever." Annie shrugged. "If you get over yourself by tomorrow, you can come watch him do a spell for me."

Annie would figure out it was her, Parisa knew. But what could she do? It wasn't like she could tell anyone she stole her fairy. And now that they'd graduated high school, she could just... never see Annie again, if she felt like it.

"Goodbye, Annie." Parisa walked out the door without another word.

She waited until she'd walked far enough away from Annie's house and she couldn't see anyone else around to stick her hand in her pocket, offering it to Ciel. "Coast is clear."

He crawled into her hand, and Parisa lifted him out. His eyes instantly went up toward the stars, and she saw him smile for the first time.

"Thank you," he breathed. "It's really over?"

"It's over. I won't let her take you back," Parisa assured him. "What do you want to do?"

"What I want...? I can't just fly off," Ciel lamented. "I'm not sure yet. I- I sort of just want to rest now. She keeps me so tired all the time."

"You can rest. Do you wanna go back in my pocket?" Parisa asked.

He nodded. "Yes, I think I do."

Parisa softly set him back down inside, both of them feeling freer than they'd ever been as she walked them home.

-

tune in monday for some alien whump! 👽 and the following thursday for some kane & jim

this is ciel's cage btw. never put a living creature in this monstrosity

everything taglist:

@lilac-and-lemon-whumps

@t0rture-me

@whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump

@dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night

@whumpshaped

@pigeonwhumps

@the-scrapegoat

@whumpycries

one-shots taglist:

@icyheart-and-friends

@kira-the-whump-enthusiast

@whuarri

@reborrowing

g/t whump taglist:

@whumpinthepot

@cupcakes-and-pain

@reborrowing

event: @whumpmasinjuly @gianttol

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

Thank you so much for answering my ask about the constellations in LOTR universe! That was, indeed, very helpful. Another question: I noticed that the names of the constellations are usually in the Elvish tongue (Quenya, I think?). Would the Rohirrim have different names for them, or would those names be used by everyone in Middle Earth? Thank you so much!

So we have every reason to believe that the Rohirrim would have their own words and names for these stars and constellations rather than simply integrating the existing elvish terms into their language (just as they have their own word — Mundburg — for Minas Tirith, and the Rohirric name for the huntsman of the Valar is “Béma” rather than calling him Oromë as the elves and Númenoreans did, for example).

What is less clear is whether the Rohirric names for the stars and constellations would be direct translations of the original elvish/valinorean names or whether they’d have an entirely different, unconnected name coming from their own mythology. That depends on whether they had heard the explanations of what those stars were called and why (and thus just translated the names over), or whether they didn’t know any of that at the time they first took note of those shapes in the sky and so they named them something entirely unrelated and held onto those unique names over time.

I don’t think there’s a way to know for sure. The Rohirrim definitely had a shared understanding of at least *some* of that high elven/Númenorean history (see earlier example that they know the Vala Oromë – their name for him evokes his status as a huntsman, so they clearly had some common understanding with the elves and other men about exactly who Oromë was). But that doesn’t mean they had it all or had it in exactly the same form as the elves and Númenoreans. I’m inclined to think their belief systems were a mix and match of some of that more official Silm-style lore with their own home-grown beliefs that would have been developed by the Northmen and the other proto-Rohirrim ancestors before they were ever mixing with elves and the men who went to/came from Númenor.

So, I think you can make whatever assumption you want about the Rohirric star and constellation names. Maybe Béma told them the star names and so you could do a word-for-word literal translation of those existing names. Or maybe you think the proto-Rohirrim already had unique names they applied to those same stars/star formations that evoke their own mythology for those particular phenomena. I think the second option is probably more fun, but also harder. So it’s a real judgement call in my book!

[recursive-rifts]

Lucian@???: The trainer's gaze took in the spacious study, eyes lingering over the finer tapestry hanging on the wall. Seeing such a cloth in pristine shape felt timeless, admiring the piece in silence. Meanwhile, his Umbreon, Umbra, stretched to drape herself over his shoulders, kept her eyes on the Haxorus, unyielding, watching the dragon's every move. He was drawn to the lights upon the star map almost if they pulsated with life. But his hands were firmly at his side as he turned to face the woman here. One would easily be able to tell the thirst for knowledge, the curiosity burning in his eyes but he reminded himself to be polite.

“I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself there. I assume you're the professor of this place?” He had no other way of describing her, her study reminding himself of the ones in Unova except hers appeared more cleaner. No dusty desk or books scattered about. No coffee stains marking book and paper. 

“Can I ask what you study here? I find myself interested in knowing, if you mind explaining, that is?”

[Alruba eyes how he had to tear his gaze away from the tapestry, following his line of sight of the fabric before making eye contact with the likes of recognition. Another curious mind, another just like her. It was like looking back in time when she was around his age-captivated by things that felt eternal.]

Never apologize for curiosity. Curiosity is what makes the world go 'round, after all. Sure it may cause some trouble, but I often find it worth it.

[She smirks to herself as she looked back on her own experiences and what it took to get her to where she was, allowing herself a moment before looking back with a bow of their head to Lucian.]

My study originates in the origins of dragons, young one. There are many accounts that they came from the heavens in the form of meteors, when the constellation of Draco was at her highest and held Thuban as the pole star. A creation deity in of herself, one to rival Arceus. Myths always contain truth, I want to know just how far that truth goes.

There's only so many myths and records to go through in the world however. On top of mythology and genealogy, I've extended my reach to research dimensions. I more or less have the answers I initially desired, but I still find myself in this raboot-hole of researching. There's always something to learn, something to uncover.

[She gestures to the Haxorus nearby, crimson eyes staring at Alruba before shifting to a more relaxed position. It looked like any standard Haxorus at first glance-but a longer look revealed key details. The crest on the head was longer, extending to the rest of the body. What could be assumed to be vestigial wings... shoulders with more armored plating than the standard, the tail was longer too, and with the markings on their body it was as if...]

Lamassu. I've traced that she's a descendant of Palkia. Which one, if there are others, I wouldn't know... not yet at least. Perhaps one day.

[ohnogachaverse]

Hello I'm back on my bullshit

So @god-canceled-me raised an interesting point in dms about a comparison between Rerir "The Avenger of Solnari" aka a person probably clinging to the past vs. Kaeya who is moving forward and finding his own way (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) and it all spiraled from here

TL;DR Rerir might be connected to the three moon goddesses/sisters

Because what is Solnari? Or who is Solnari? We don't know, we never heard that name and it doesn't seem to be from northern mythology like most of khaenri'ahn-related names

I think Solnari is more likely to be a person than a place because in myths Rerir avenges his murdered father

The interesting part is that Rerir's title is different in different languages. It's "Rächer/Avenger of Solnari" in most of them I think, but in original Chinese it's "The Moon Hunter". And, interestingly, in russian and portuguese his title is "Lunar Avenger" but that might be a mistranslation because I know those are very common in russian version (don't know about portuguese though). But if it's not, than it's very interesting

And we know a story about three moon sisters in Teyvat: Canon, Sonnet and Aria. They switched places in the sky until at least two of them died and now one of corpses hangs there. I'm too lazy to open the actual game, but here are some wiki excerpts

Important points from these are:

Distinction between the moons in Teyvat and in the Abyss, which is closely connected to Khaenri'ah from what I remember

A possibility that those are different corpses

"In love with the stars of daybreak"

Not from screenshots, but The Spiral Abyss definitely has a connection to the sisters

So I rise two versions of who is Solnari (if it's a person, but I think it is)

Version a: Solnari is another name for the sister whose corpse is the Abyss's moon and her sister(s) and/or Celestia are to blame for her death (that's why Rerir is The Moon Hunter). According to one of the books (Moonlit Bamboo Forest vol 3, according to wiki) sisters did kill eachother, but it's the only source mentioning this

Version b: Stars of daybreak was a person, named Solnari, and one or all three of the sisters caused their death. Tbh the main point here is that Sol means Sun. I couldn't find if Nari means anything

Also, an interesting thing, is two Khaenri'ahn dynasties: The Crimson Moon and The Eclipse, which replaced the first one during the Archon War. Dainsleif's introduction mentions "the eclipse is swallowed by the crimson moon" and original Chinese uses the verb "revenge" or "avenge". Tbh it's either me not getting english, or it's interesting that here Eclipse is the one getting replaced.

Another thingy is that Syzygy from the Moment of Syzygy (aka the "event" before you reach 9-12 in the Abyss I actually had to google this ) is an astronomical event when three astral bodies form a straight line and a common example is an Eclipse

And the last small parallel connection noticed by god-canceled-me is that Kaeya was left near the Dawn winery. And there are stars of daybreak. Idk if there is an actual connection but I think that's interesting

[zephyrusswinds]

JTTW retelling I've been making

Okay! don't know how to start this off, but for the past month (and a few weeks give or take), I've been working on a Journey to the West comic, it's supposed to serve as a partial prequel comic (I say partial because the journey does in fact happen).

my entire purpose for writing this is due to my disappointment of how little certain characters are fleshed out or explored in the original novel, like Hui'an (or Moksha), the Bai Longma, the other three spiritual primates, Hong Hai'er etc.

since reading the original I've always had many questions about these guys, and so much more! but doing research has given more questions than answers, so I thought it would be fun if I was to make a comic that would tie their stories together.

the basic summery of the plot follows Wukong on a quest for immortality, and in the process, learning the consequences of hubris, but at the same time, learning how important it is to create your own path in life.

But, the twist is that the entire comic takes heavy inspiration from astronomy, mostly in the forms of designs like how the celestials resemble whatever planet or star they represent (like the Gold Star of Venus or Kui Mulang), but others are less obvious like Princess Iron Fan being represented by meteorites due to her association with mountains and fire. and on occasion representing the actual relationships planets/stars have with whatever astronomical event I'm trying to portray.

this is due to how many characters are associated with astronomy, like how 2 out of the 4 spiritual primates have some type of relationship with stars/planets, or how so many celestials are planets.

another twist (which I wouldn't really call a twist) is the inspiration I've taken for this comic, EPIC (which is a musical I absolutely adore) was the biggest influencer for the events in later chapters. I even made up a chapter based on the song "Storm" from the Ocean Saga.

and there's a lot more, other myths such as the "magic lotus lantern" are involved in this. Investiture of the gods is another mythological novel I've taken HEAVY inspiration from.

as of writing this, I'm currently finalizing designs for characters in later chapters and fixing up a few plot points.

Chapter 1 is roughly 20% complete, it focuses mostly on 3 out of the 4 spiritual primates, that being Shihuo (Wukong), Mahuo (the baboon), and Tongbi (the gibbon).

while I work on chapter 1, here's a messy, rushed doodle of Shihou's design in later chapters.

(his design is probably gonna change later in the development of the comic, so be prepared.)