#so that she can purify souls

[its-stayville-forever]

@astraystayyh

[soundlessdreamss]

Can I have a Lucifer vs Alastor fighting for the reader romantically, please if possible yanderes...

Lovely riddance

part two

pairings: y!alastor x reader & y!lucifer x reader

Note: reader will be a fallen angel for this! (Also this is prolly ooc)

You were a normal sinner (totally a sinner and not a fallen angel) living in hell you were in hell because of you questioning heaven which led to them throwing you down here… but you realized how different the other people in hell were compared to you. it just made you feel very weird, a total standout!

it made you miss heaven. A lot. Since you had made so many friends there and now you just lost it all. Well not all of it to be exact, your old friend Lucifer is the king of hell because he was the first one to rebel against heaven. You admired him for being so fearless against heaven themselves.

as you were in your own thoughts on the street of hell suddenly you passed by a poster that snapped you back to your senses. You suddenly scooted back to the poster and read it “want to be redeemed so you can live a gorgeous life in heaven? Well visit the hazbin hotel and let yourself be purified!” Oh my god. This could be your chance to meet other people like you! You decided to fly over there since the other angels didn’t rip off your wings when you fell down.

after like 69 minutes of flying (lol) you finally made it to the hotel! You couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious though, what would they think about you? Would they make fun of you? Would they humiliate you if you did one thing wrong- no you couldn’t let that stop you. This could be your chance to find your friends in heaven again. You knocked on the hotel door and waited for a response. It felt like it was taking forever until a blonde haired girl opened the door. (It only took 3 seconds for them to open the door but okay.)

she nearly screamed out of joy when she realized someone actually came to the hotel to be redeemed. She gave you a hug and welcomed you into the hotel where all the people there introduced themselves. There was Charlie, Vaggie, Angel dusk, Husk, Nifty, (nifty is a cutie) and a snake who you didn’t bother remembering his name cause it was too long. (Totally not an excuse to not have to write his name)

you almost choked though when Charlie said her last name was Morningstar, like Morningstar as in Lucifer Morningstar? She was his daughter?! You had no idea him and Lilith had a child but you felt happy for them. Not until she told you her mom left her 7 years ago. (Lol)

To your surprise (and relief) they accepted you and treated you nicely. And you recognized Vaggie but didn’t out her because you had a feeling that she didn’t want that to happen and you respected her.

All of a sudden a man just teleported out of the floor and tapped you on your back which made you scream so loud. He chuckled and said not to worry as it was him, the radio demon! And he also introduced himself as Alastor. He grabbed your hand and kissed it which made you a bit confused but you rolled with it. Over the couple of days you had spent there you bonded really well with all of them, but alastor specifically wanted to spend a lot of time with you.

he often invited you to brunch, dinner, and to help him work on the hotel. Had you caught his eye? Maybe… maybe you had caught his eye more than you thought you did. (He also may or may not be planning to make a deal for your soul.)

timeskip to when Charlie invited her dad over. ——————————————————————————————————————

you had all prepared for the place to look nice since the king of hell was coming to visit! Aka Charlie’s dad, and you wanted to make a good impression on him after you haven’t seen eachother for such a long time. He seemed happy that his daughter was inviting him over based on the tone of his voice when Charlie called.

You guys all got in position and Charlie was about to open the door until Lucifer barged in and greeted his daughter with a bear hug! He looked around the place awkwardly after and Charlie introduced him to everyone in the hotel. He stared at you for a couple of seconds not knowing if it was really you. He was about to speak to you until alastor teleported right next to you.

Alastor put his hand on your shoulder and had a death grip on it. Like he didn’t want Lucifer to even be near you. They both introduced themselves to each other and as they were talking about the hotel ideas, Alastor pointed out a thing you did for the hotel which helped them a lot. He brought your face to his as he put his hand around your neck pulling you closer. Your face was squished with his. He only did this though to simply piss Lucifer off and trick him into thinking that he had got to you first and that you guys have a deep connection.

as you pulled yourself away from him and looked at the two it suddenly felt as if there was an intense aura in the room all of a sudden. You laughed nervously and tried to excuse yourself before Lucifer grabbed your hand.

he was nervous and tried to compose himself to talk to you as it had been so long since you two had talked. Wtf was he even suppose to say? He decided to finally speak after an agonizing 5 seconds.

Lucifer: “oh [reader]… it’s been so long since we’ve last seen eachother! How have you been doll?”

[reader] : “oh I’ve been just fine. Well despite the fact that heaven kicked me out, it feels better here. Like I can actually breathe in this place.”

Lucifer: “good to hear. Would you mind visiting my palace sometime? Id like to show you some of my latest creations, especially one I made just for you!”

his smile became wider and his eyes seemed more sincere like he really wanted you to visit. I mean after all you guys haven’t seen eachother in eons!

before you could reply to his offer, Alastor grabbed your other hand and yanked you away as he chuckled.

Alastor: “I’m sure they would love to visit you sometime, but they’re busy with me today as I invited her to dinner and they accepted. Didn’t you dear?”

you suddenly remembered that you and Alastor were gonna go out for dinner tonight and you nodded your head.

[reader] : oh that’s actually right! I totally forgot about that for a minute. Well Lucifer would you like me to visit anytime I’m free if that’s okay?

Lucifer: oh, that’s just fine! Just try to make it soon cause I can not wait to spend time with you again!

his smile faded a bit and he seemed to give a glare to Alastor. In response Alastor simply had a wide smile as he continued to hold your hand after yanking away Lucifer’s.

After the argument with Lucifer and Alastor over Charlie was done.

───────────────────────

Finally everyone calmed down after they argued over who Charlie preferred as a dad. Thank god Mimzy barged through the door before another fight broke loose. After a couple minutes Alastor decided to tell everyone you and him would be leaving for dinner about now, you thought it was later but alright!

as you guys left through the door to go to your favorite restaurant, Alastor couldn’t help but giggle feeling Lucifer’s eyes burning a hole through him. He knew it pissed him off and he was glad that it did. And little did you or Lucifer know the Alastor was making more and more progress to his plan. His plan was to woo you enough so that you’d made a deal with him for your soul.

of course you’d get benefits aswell! Alastor would be at your every beck and call and you would do the same for him. It would just be a matter of time before he proposed the idea to you. He just hopes a certain someone wouldn’t mess it up.

part two coming soon…

note: hiii to everyone who read this, I’d like to thank you all for all the likes on my previous two posts! I’m going to be working on part two sooner or later. Also sorry is this is a bit ooc, I’m new to writing fanfics and tried to make alastor manipulative like he is in the show. :)

[cicide76536]

I literally cannot stop crying

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Secrets of the Darkest Art: How to Make a Horcrux

So I saw many theories regarding how to make a Horcrux, but none of them really made perfect sense to me, so I decided to give it a crack myself as part of my mission to understand Lord Voldemort/Tom Marvolo Riddle (Which I think I did, big post coming about that at some point, this is but another piece of that puzzle of a man)

So this is my reverse engineering of a ritual to create Horcruxes based on book evidence, my knowledge of real-world alchemy, real-world ancient Greek cults and rituals and linguistic analysis.

How to reverse engineering a dark magical ritual:

The first thing, is to define what we knew fore certain:

The name: "Horcrux"

The creator is an Ancient Greek wizard named Harpo the Foul.

A death is required in the making.

A Horcrux holds a piece of the casters soul that anchors them to life so they won't die.

I'll actually start with the third point.

How to split a soul?

Both Dumbledore and Slughorn mention a death being required to tear your soul to make a Horcrux, and that never really sat right with me. It magically doesn't make sense and even the canon examples we have for Horcrux murders make this statment iffy.

We have seven examples of murders used to create Horcruxs (thanks to one Tom Riddle being dramatic):

The Diary - Myrtle Warren - killed by a basilisk. Sure, Tom freed the Basilisk, but it hardly seemed targeted at Myrtle specifically and you can argue he didn't actually kill her (more a manslaughter by negligence). He didn't cast the spell, so how come this tore his soul?

The Ring - his father (Tom Riddle Sr) - Avada Kadevra.

The Cup - Hepzibah Smith - she was poisoned by her house elf. Sure, the elf was under the imperious, but it wasn't a first-degree murder, and like with the Basilisk I find it hard to consider this the same as casting a killing curse. Magically those are very different things.

The Locket - Muggle Tramp - Avada Kadevra

The Diadem - Albanian Peasant - Avada Kadevra

Harry Potter - himself - backfired Avada Kadevra

Nagini - Bertha Jorkins - Avada Kadevra

Now, I used the term "magically different" or "magically make sense" what do I mean by that?

Well, besides the fact I'm going to make a full post about how I see magical theory in the Harry Potter Wizarding World, I'll say it takes a lot after occult philosophies from Alchemy that are very old, Slughorn mentions as much in book 6 and there are a few other references to it. I'm just gonna cover the basics required for this theory.

In Alchemy, everything (people, animals, plants and rocks) are built of three base components:

The Salt - the body - the physical form.

The Sulfur - the soul - the self that holds the divine flame.

The Murcury - the spirit - the life essence that binds the salt and sulfer together.

Now, in Alchemy, the main study is in purifying and combining these different aspects of material. Let's look at a herb, for an example:

If we want to retrieve its salt, we'll dry the herb completely using fire to leave behind a fine light grey ash that represents only the physical form.

If we wanted its mercury we'd distill all liquids from it until we get a purified, clear liquid which in the case of plants would be alcohol (it's why alcohol is referred to as "spirit").

And if we wanted its soul, we would take the remains from the distillation and drying process which would be a kind of oil.

(it can get more complicated with different materials, but this isn't a post about Alchemy)

Now, back to Horcruxs.

So, if we would want to split a soul, Alchemecly, how do we go about it?

Well, we don't. Not really. See a soul can't really be split, as every part of it, every bit of that oil from our random herb represents the entire soul. It's why something like a Horcrux could theoretically work in giving a full life to the diary the way we see in Chamber of Secrets.

Additionally, to work with any material in Alchemy, you are required to purify it first. It means that to get a piece of soul to bind to a diary, you need a pure soul.

Killing someone else won't sever your own soul from the spirit and the body, it's not how this works. Killing someone severs their spirit and therefore splits their body, spirit, and soul. Besides, an Ancient Greek man, like Herpo was, would hardly consider murder as vile as we do today. It wouldn't even cross his mind that any murder (even an indirect one) could harm one's own soul.

No, the only way to "split" a soul is to first sever it from life, disconnecting the bond between soul and body. Essentially, the only way to promise you immortality is to kill yourself.

I know it sounds a little confusing, but, essentially, once the soul is severed from the spirit and body you can split it. Think of the herbal oil, once you have the oil, separate from the rest of the plant parts, you can combine it with new ingredients. You can only work on a specific aspect once you severed it from the other two and as what binds all three together is spirit — life — the only way to do it for a human soul — is death.

But really, how?

Well, here comes the second thing we know about making Horcruxs — that dear Herpo was Ancient Greek.

In Ancient Greece they had multiple different religious cults, some of which were Chthonic cults. Cults that dedicated themselves to death or ditties and heroes associated with death and more importantly — rebirth.

Many of these cults were dedicated to figures like Orpheous, Dyonysus, Persephone, characters in mythology who are known for going through the underworld — through death — and coming back out. These cults were very secretive and not much is known about their practices, but some is.

What is known is that they had rituals were they reenacted a death and then rebirth (usually drinking wine — a water if life, was the representation of rebirth).

This created a very clear idea in my head — to split a soul, you'll have to ritualisticlly, magically kill yourself, severe a peice of your soul and then revive yourself with a water of life — a potion.

This potion is never mentioned, but I believe it exists due to these Chthonic cult rituals and how they were structured. Not only that, but the Greek underworld did have a river known for being incredibly painful to drink, literally made of fire, but being able to bring the dead back - The Phlegethon River.

Note: Lethe River Water (the river in the Greek Underworld that makes the drinker forget) is a canon ingredient in a Forgetfulness Potion.

So what is the dead body for?

Well, congratulations, you killed yourself to retrieve a sliver of your soul and revived yourself so you won't stay dead. You found an item you can keep secure to tie that sliver of soul, too. Now, how would you bind then? After all, the only thing meant to bind a human soul to a body is a human spirit - a human life... you get where I'm going with this.

This is why Tom didn't have to be the one to do the deed. As long as he had a recently deceased corpse to harvest the life from to use to bind his newly split soul and the item of his choice.

It explains why nothing was missing from the bodies. Myrtle and the Riddles were investigated by the Ministry of Magic. One would assume the aurors would've noticed if any corpse was missing a hand due to the killer eating it (as other Horcrux theories suggest).

Not only was nothing missing from the body, the soul was intact. Myrtle became a ghost after death, a ghost is quite literally, just the soul, no body, no spirit.

So the only thing that was taken from Tom's victims was their life, quite literally at that.

Is that all? Can we make a Horcrux now?

Not really. See, when analyzing spells in Harry Potter is their name.

Avada Kadevra - is a reference to an Aramaic healing spell "Abracadabra" pronounced in Aramaic as: "Avra Kadebra" and meaning "I will create as commanded". Merged with the Latin word "cadaver" meaning "corpse" to create -> "I will create dead bodies as commanded"

Or Wingardium Laviosa - is a cross of the English word "wing", the Latin word "arduus" (meaning "high, tall, lofty, steep, proudly elevated"), or "arduum" (meaning "steep place, the steep" and the Latin word "levo" (meaning to "raise, lift up"). So together the spell means -> "lift high up".

So, it's pretty clear spells, their names and incantations are very self-explanatory. So a Horcrux should be no different.

I've seen some attempts at translating the name Horcrux. Unfortunately, these attempts treated the name as Latin, modern Greek, or Old English. Herpo, was Ancient Greek, though, so I went and translated a few possible meanings from Ancient Greek (Classical Greek and Homeric Greek are what I looked at):

ὅρκος (orkus, pronounced "hor-kus") - an oath, the object by which one swears, bound by oath (still used in modern Greek).

κρόκες (crukes, pronounced "cru-kes") - saffron-colored (blood red in Greek), crocus flower. The crocus flower symbolizes both death (the saffron that is the spice) and rebirth (the golden crocus which brings renewal and joy) because Demeter wears them when Persephone returns from the underworld in myth.

So what we have is a spell called "binding oath of death and rebirth" which all around sounds fitting.

There might also be a "made in blood" tucked at the end due to the association of κρόκες with the color of blood.

But what does it matter?

Well, somewhat. As now with this name, I expect the binding between the spirit from the victim, the split soul, and the item would be done in a sort of oath - an orkus.

The association with blood gives us another hint. Blood is the part of the human body most representative of life. Therefore, in Alchemy, your blood is your spirit. So it'll make sense that your own blood would be used in the binding process or more correctly in the process of turning another person's spirit into your own. Making the thread to bind the body (item) and the soul piece your own. As it also refers to just a red firey color, it can indicate the Phlagatton potion I hypothesize should be part of the ritual due to how Chthonic rituals usually went, as the Phlagaton river is made of fire.

So we have a general idea on how to make a Horcrux. You need an item of your choice to bind your soul to. You need a life (spirit) harvested from a human that you transformed into being your own using your blood. And you need a piece of your own soul, which you get by killing yourself and then reviving yourself. And you finish it off by binding it all together with an oath.

But how could you make one accidentally?

So, everyone knows Voldemort succeeded in somehow making a Horcrux accidentally, something a lot of theories I saw don't account for. Becouse whatever process you need to go to to make a Horcrux, Voldemort went through all of it the night he died the first time and marked Harry.

All the steps for my method of making a Horcrux were met that night.

The item in qustion is baby Harry, nothing interesting there.

The soul sliver was split the way it always is — through death. Voldemort dies, killed by his own killing curse and that is what splits his soul.

The life or spirit that then binds his soul to Harry isn't Lily's spirit or James'; it's his own spirit that acts as a binder between Harry and Voldemort’s split soul. Because the spirit was already his, there was no need to transform it by blood.

Step-by-step guide to making Horcruxes:

I'm not going to actually give the full step-by-step least a budging dark lord is looking for this information. I do have notes about exact incantations and even the full recipe and instructions for the Phlagaton potion I'm going to mention. These instructions won't be here since they are more in the realm of speculation and headcanon. This is just the overview of the ritual based on canon information and the occult philosophy I mentioned above.

Step 1 - Life and Blood

Get access to a recently deceased human and extract their Mercury (Spirit or Life Essence).

Submerge the retrieved life essence with your own blood on a new moon (life and vitality). (7 drops of blood will probably do)

Step 2 - Water of Fire

To complete the cycle of death and rebirth you’ll need the Phlegeton Water potion to return you to life at the end of the cycle.

As you brew the potion, it must be brewed in a dark room, preferably underground to remind as much of the underworld as possible.

While brewing the potion one must be in the mindset of the Phlegeton, must be willing to go through agony to achieve eternal life and imbue these thoughts in their potion. (In alchemy, when working, it is believed you imbue your work with your thoughts during the Alchemical process. As an Alchemical process affects both the material being worked and the Alchemist themselves)

Likley Ingrediants:

Saffron spice

Golden crocus flower juice

Pomegranate juice

Step 3 - The Ritual Preparation

Set up your space so none of the components may escape the ritual space and so the ritual will not be interfered with.

Make sure the spirit you retrieved is within reach.

Make sure the item you desire will hold the Horcrux will be within reach as well.

Coax the spirit into the item and prepare it to tie your soul to the next step.

Step 4 - Death and Rebirth

To create a thread of your soul to tie to the ritual, you must die figuratively. Go through death to return stronger from the underworld.

Once you feel like death has reached you and your soul is separated you should heal your soul and finish the cycle, bringing you out of death and back to life by drinking the Phlegeton potion.

After the pain subsides you will feel healthier than before, stronger than before, and you’ll have an additional thread of sulfur (soul) in your chest to be pulled out and placed into the Horcrux.

The split-off soul should, on its own, try to search for life and a body to be bound to. If it doesn't, coax it out yourself and bind it to the Horcrux with the spirit you made in step 1.

Step 5 - Oath of Life

The connection between the body (the item), soul, and spirit is still unstable, if most likely strong enough to hold.

Swear the oath of life to finalise the bound between you, the Horcrux, and the soul thread together to ward off death.

I'll end with this note I made regarding Horcruxes when I started working on this theory:

I don't know what all goes into the process of making a Horcrux but I don't believe a person who truly likes themselves and doesn't want to inflict pain on themselves could make a Horcrux. Tearing up your soul is an act of arrogance above nature, sure, thinking you deserve to change the laws of the world and be the exception is part of it, but it's also an act of self-hatred. You need to hate yourself enough to be willing to kill yourself, hurt yourself, and tear yourself up in the most unnatural ways — hence why so few can do so, let alone more than once.

And Tom Riddle does seem to have that exact mix of arrogance, spite, and low self-esteem that would allow it.

[moipeace12]

The connection between the God and the Shrine Maiden. Theory of a connection between Gojo and Utahime.

Miko (巫女) is a woman who serves the Japanese gods. The story of Miko is said to be a descendant of Ame no Uzume when performing a dance to bring Amaterasu out of the cave to bring light to humanity.

The image of a chrysanthemum appearing before Utahime's eyes represents the Japanese emperor symbol. Amaterasu is said to be the ancestor of the Japanese emperors. The god of the sun, god of the universe. The name means "shining in heaven".

Theory about Satoru and Chrysanthemum. A seventeen-petal chrysanthemum, representing the emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇). 醍醐 (だいご) same reading with 大悟 (だいご) is also a Buddhist term synonymous with Satoru 悟 (さとる):  enlightenment. Look up the synonym of (さとる) with (大悟) here: https://ja.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/さとる

So the appearance of a Miko is always associated with the Gods. Specifically Utahime and Satoru.

Gojo has always been considered a symbol of god because he is the strongest and his image is associated with his goal of salvation as a living god serving humanity. Being honored is considered the image of a god being born that no one can touch.

Utahime's appearance is the only one associated with a miko of serving the Gods. Her role is to convey the oracles of the gods, serving them. Specifically purifying impurities, appeasing souls and granting mana to the gods.

Usually they are unmarried women because they are dedicated to the god, also known as the god's bride.

So the fact that Utahime always appears next to Gojo is said to be a connection to their roles. In chapter 223, Utahime uses her CT to support Gojo in battle, performing the Kagura ritual, using a sacred dance offered to the god to summon them to appear.

Utahime's CT first appearance to increase Gojo's CE is the reason for their appearance together. It is the beginning of the battle, that summon the god out of darkness and bringing light to humanity. They are connected to the relationship between god and miko.

If viewed from that perspective, Gege has linked Utahime and Gojo from the beginning when she appeared as a Miko. The same for her image in Hidden Inventory.

There is a common story that Miko are unmarried women, so if they get married and follow their husbands, it means they will quit being Miko. Usually Utahime only wears this oufit at work, but on her day off she wears casual clothes.

Headcanon: jjk ends without the curse and Gojo returns, he will become a normal person, she don't work in dangerous, they get married in world peace.

[kcwriter-blog]

Someone on another social media platform brought up a point that I’ve never thought about or heard talked about much - at least not with this phrasing.

I’m sure other people have brought it up but I feel the need to talk about it anyway. The person said that we may all just be pieces on Flemeth’s chessboard. It resonated with me. We talk about Solas being a chess master and tactician but we don’t talk about Flemeth or really Mythal.

Flemeth took in whatever part of Mythal’s spirit remained after her murder. They made a deal. Mythal would help her get revenge and Flemeth would return the favor. Obviously it would take longer for Mythal to get her revenge because she would need to be stronger.

Flemeth body hops down through the centuries. She gives events a nudge or even a shove when needed. What exactly has she been nudging? We know Mythal’s end game but how will it play out?

Her daughter Yavanna was raising dragons. She wanted Morrigan to do the Dark Ritual to get a purified archdemon soul. She saved some heroes - Hawk - and extracts promises from others - Merric. Why? How will it help her win the game?

Who is to say that she didn’t call Solas out of the Fade when all her pieces were in place? She needs him to take down the Veil. It seems to be the one thing she can’t do herself. But, she had to be ready or she wouldn’t have asked him to come.

If Kieran is in your world state you find her in the Fade. It seems to be pretty natural to her. As natural as it is for Solas.

Flemeth has been in all three games. Everyone knows she is important but what is her game and who is she playing against? What is Solas? Her mage/bishop? Her pawn? Her tower/castle/rook?

Is she as willing as Solas to sacrifice her best pieces so she can win? Mythal has definitely been playing the long game.

Another question is whether or not she is doing this just for herself and her revenge or does she want to help Thedas. Is she okay with Solas putting up the Veil in the first place? Does she think he betrayed the world by doing it? Does she want revenge against Solas? Is she hoping he will die doing what she needs him to do?

So many questions….

[fanfic-obsessed]

Empress

This AU really starts when Anakin finds his mother in the Tusken camp, but only truly works if there is a little set up before.  It is imperative, for reasons that will become clear, to note that in this Palpatine has been manipulating Anakin with the Force, as opposed to only psychologically, since he was a child.  Palpatine has been seeding the darkside, hidden deep so that it was never discovered (even by Anakin), waiting to sprout and spread the darkside like an infection at the appropriate moments. 

When Anakin finds his mother as she dies, he loses it, but not to violence. Instead he panics and shoves every bit of Force that he can into his mother’s body to try and bring her back and heal her. Every bit of the Force, including the darkside seeds that Palpatine had been planting.  Because healing is primarily a light sided technique, thus somewhat purifying, Shmi does not get the full force of the darkside infection that would have hit her son (so we avoid Vader!Shmi or even Full Sidious!Shmi) however there were a number of long lasting effects to the way Anakin panicked and brought her back (incidentally Anakin has now created two new deities for the Tuskans, which Shmi does note and will make use of later).  These include:

A Force bond between her and Anakin that gave her Anakin's memories and feelings for the past decade. 

A working knowledge of what Palpatine knew (From Palpatine’s Dark Seeds), though no firsthand memories. 

Force Sensitivity that is powerful enough to use the various techniques she just gained the knowledge to use.

A significant hit to the moral centers of her psyche.

A Soul Deep and engrossing ambition to rule the Galaxy.

Now Shmi is not evil in the way that Palpatine is (Palpatine is the kind of evil that not only does whatever he wants to accomplish his goal, but actively goes out of his way to create as much collateral as possible and will in fact even mildly inconvenience himself in order to increase collateral damage) but she does now fall closer to Amoral than not. Like her first option is not to kill kids, but it is never not an option. Shmi does justify her new desire to rule the galaxy, based on the fact that she would be better at it than Palpatine. 

By the time Anakin and Shmi have made it back to the Lars homestead, she has her son wrapped around her finger even more than she would have. She had also, through the careful recounting of how one of the men who had seemed so kindly to the slave children had actually been a child murder (couching it it in terms that one of Anakin's childhood friends, who it turned out had been a victim of this man, grave had been found and the man brought to a rather brutal justice), partially broken Anakin’s trust in Palpatine without ever letting on that she knew who Palpatine was.  

After they get back to the Homestead, Shmi tells Anakin that she wants him to visit again and to bring Obi Wan (It was after they had talked about what had been happening since he left). Anakin loves Obi Wan as a brother, and as such Shmi loves him too. Padme has also fallen quickly under Shmi’s influence, which is good considering that Shmi intended to make Padme another daughter in law (Both because Anakin had a crush, and she wanted Anakin to have what he wanted, and because Senator and former Queen of Naboo is actually a decently powerful set of titles).  Shmi gently shoos her sweet, oblivious son off the planet with her future daughter in law (it is for the best that her Jedi Son be off the planet for what she is about to do next) making them promise to visit soon. 

Cliegg and Beru also fall quickly under Shmi’s spell. Owen holds out a bit longer (I am fully convinced that his ability to hold back Skywalker BS comes from growing up with Shmi, not his few interactions with Anakin) but is just as willing to follow Shmi’s lead within a tenday.

While a galaxy wide war is breaking out, Shmi quietly but very firmly takes control of Tatooine. Then, in spite of the fact she had not left the planet in decades, she quickly takes control of the rest of the Hutt Empire.  Her identity remains hidden; she does not want to fight her son or his Jedi family because they do not yet understand her vision for the galaxy. They will, of that she is sure, but it will take time.

One of the many things she does is abolish slavery within her new Empire.  It is both easier and harder than it would appear. Easier in that she does not care about the power or money of the people who made their living in trafficking of sentient life, so she does not care about the economics of the systems she dismantles. Harder because the Hutt Empire was built on slavery; there are significantly larger portions of every population of the Hutt Planets then anyone realized who had spent most of their lives enslaved, with no training or education and very little idea how to exist without being enslaved (with all the psychological and sociological implications therein).  But she does it, quietly absorbing the fledgling Zygerrian Empire as well. 

A year and a half into the Clone wars Shmi is finally ready to make her move. 

In that time she has become well connected with Padme, who asks for approval to marry Anakin six months into the war (Approval that Shmi grants, on the condition that Padme also get approval from Obi wan, as Anakin’s older brother/father. Padme asks, and to the surprise of both Padme and Anakin immediately gets Obi Wan’s baffled, but pleased, approval. In this one marriage is not forbidden to Jedi, it really isn’t even discouraged. No one seems to want to marry a Jedi, as far as the Jedi are concerned. Date a Jedi, well that seems to be common fantasy. Sleep with a Jedi, all the time. But never marry. This all serves Shimi’s true purpose, to continue to break the trust between her son and Palpatine). They do decide to wait until after the war, when they can have everyone attend; in part because Palpatine is pushing them both in a really creepy way. 

She makes her move by going on vacation with Cliegg to a world she knew, from her own spies, was about to be attacked by separatists. A world that it was highly likely the 212th would be deployed to. In the time it takes for the 212th to liberate the planet, it is a relatively minor battle so only takes a few weeks, Shmi and Clieg have connected with the battalion and convinced them to transport them (Shmi and Cliegg) to Coruscant.  If asked, even Obi Wan, Cody, or the Natborn officers are not sure how they came to agree to take two civilians to the Core but everyone Shmi meets becomes absolutely convinced that it was a reasonable decision. During this trip Shmi bonds with Obi Wan, as her son’s brother/father/teacher.  This was one of her goals, to get a clearer picture of who Obi Wan is, and through him the Jedi Order; Anakin’s memories and feelings are a bit mixed on the Jedi as a whole but she also knows, from Palpatine’s knowledge, that Palpatine had been manipulating those feelings for years.  She finds that she does like Obi Wan. Because of this Shmi intends, beyond even what her plan calls for,  that she would ensure that Obi Wan found happiness in her Empire. 

Upon arriving on Coruscant Shmi sends Cliegg (in disguise) to meet with various criminal underworld leaders who know of her fledgeling Empire, while she meets with members of the Jedi council to plant the seeds of her Galactic Empire. 

It is in this that we truly see the difference between Shmi and Sidious. Shmi wants to Rule the galaxy. Sidious wants to Subjugate the galaxy. Now granted the difference between the two is not as much as people who want the former would protest, but is greater than what the people who want the latter would claim. In this case ruling is a small group having a disproportionate amount of power over a larger group. Subjugation is a group or person asserting total control over another group or person. While a ruler can abuse the power they have, in order to subjugate someone, a being MUST abuse them to break them in such a way the subjugator can control them.  

In spite of her forced amorality Shmi is actually a good person and wants to be a good Empress for the galaxy. So for her, subjugation is more work (realistically 90% of the galaxy is not going to notice if they are in a republic or an empire, and not just because the Empire had been disguising itself as a republic for a decade. That same 90% have comparatively simple needs and are going to be fine with a ruler who provides them. Whereas requires constant control measures to apply the exact correct amount of pressure to bend the populace to your will, without breaking them into rebelling. Ruling well is actually less costly) for less benefit. Because of that having the super powered warrior monks, who most of the beings that would oppose an Empress on principle are going to look to as a paragon of wisdom,  buy into the idea that Shmi should be Empress and that they would be happier in her Empire makes more sense than eradicating them.  Also, complicated feelings aside, the Jedi make up part of Anakin’s family and she does not want to hurt Anakin’s family.

Shmi also, at the behest of Anakin, took time to go with him to meet his friend Palpatine.  While in the waiting room she speaks with Fox, on guard duty, who she recognizes from her talks with Cody as the person to place a bet with(No one suspects the stern commander of the Coruscant Guard to be the biggest bookie in three systems). After about an hour of chit chat (During which Palpatine has no idea he has met someone with all of his knowledge, who is planning to abscond with the Grand Sith Plan) Anakin and Shmi leave the Senate. Anakin semi anxiously asks her what she thinks of Palpatine, babbling a little bit that Obi Wan doesn't like him, but Obi Wan hates most politicians. Shmi, after letting a long pause stretch, says that Obi Wan has good instincts (Look I really want Palpatine to be faced with his own manipulation tactics) and casually mentions Obi Wan’s time enslaved and how that must have hond those instincts- which he had not told Shmi about but that she could guess.  Again without directly accusing Palpatine of anything, Shmi manages to get across to Anakin that as the Chancellor, Palpatine actually currently has all the power and has used it to effectively enslave the clones and the Jedi. Fully breaking Anakin’s trust in Palpatine and tying him closer to the Jedi (where Shmi wants him).   During this exchange Anakin asks what she had been talking to Fox about and she answers with ‘placing a bet’. Anakin lights up and guesses it is the ‘CodyWan Bet’, because literally everybody noticed their pining and that neither will admit it (Shmi uses that to drive the point home that both are effectively enslaved and do not feel free to be together if they might be ‘sold’ apart-a concept that Anakin is very familiar with).

I am not sure where it ends, except that Shmi does indeed become Empress and her Force powers work as such that she gains power through being loved, so in being a good ruler she stops aging. The Jedi do buy in and Palpatine does end up dead. Someone in Shmi’s smaller Empire, before she becomes Empress, discovers the chips and their purpose, which leads to the entirety of the Clones transplanting themselves (GAR, Cadets, everyone) to a planet in the former Hutt space (deeply freaked out over what they could have been made to do to their Jedi) and refusing all calls for like a year, while they dechip. The Jedi (all of them) transplanted themselves to the next planet over, waiting semi impatiently to be allowed to visit their men again.  Shmi meeting Ahsoka after she becomes Anakin’s Padawan and deciding that, as her oldest grandchild, Ahsoka would have the option to be her heir if she would like (Ahsoka really wants to be a Jedi, but agrees to hold the status until another heir comes along-she gratefully passed the heir status to Leia when Leia was born, as she could not be knighted while still the Empress’s Heir). 

Oh and Obi Wan does get to be happy with Cody in the new Empire, with frequent visits from Satine (I like the idea that they were childhood sweethearts/first loves that knew they would not fit well romantically but still loved each other and got to be overprotective of each other-Satine adores Cody, thinks he is perfect for Obi Wan and thy find time every so often to take an evening to drink over whatever ridiculous situation Obi Wan go himself into this time)

[youremyheaven]

Sailor Moon & Nakshatras

I thought it'd be interesting to correlate the different Sailor Moons and their powers with the themes that are present in different nakshatras.

This is a super low effort post so all of it is just speculation and I'd love it if you guys told me what you associate with the different Senshi.

Other than Sailor Moon herself, there are 9 sailor senshi who protect the solar system.

Sailor Moon

A crystalline object which provides her basic power, contains limitless power and is the source of all energy in the universe. She can call upon her future self to use the power of both the future and present crystal to double its power.

she's the only one who has no power of her own and has to rely on some object so i guess that makes her Moon dominant??

Sailor Mercury

Sailor Mercury has the power to create and manipulate water. For the entire first story arc, she uses her water-manipulating capabilities only to create solid and dense clouds of mist and fog, chilling and blinding the enemy while her allies prepare more direct attacks

this is actually super on brand Mercury behaviour

Sailor Venus

I feel like Sailor Venus has more powers than other senshi??

It includes: Flight, Magic, Transformation, Longevity, Immortality (Type 4), Limited Shapeshifting, Teleportation, Forcefield, Light Manipulation, Energy Manipulation, Energy Projection, Weather Manipulation, Electricity Manipulation, Data Manipulation, Creation, Reincarnation (Overtime not applicable in battle), Can Survive in Space, Resistance to Mind Manipulation, Death Manipulation, Existence Erasure, Gravity Manipulation, Radiation Manipulation, Poison Manipulation, Power Nullification, Resistances to Status Effect Inducement and Soul Manipulation, Resistance to Telekinesis etc

idk if this is Venus' "being better than others" theme lol but i feel like these are powers that belong to all 27 naks and not just Venus

Sailor Mars

Precognition: Rei is shown to have strong precognition, where she can make full use of this ability to predict events from the near future, but it can fail sometimes.

Pyromancy: Rei is also shown to have a great affinity with fire, to the point where she is capable to manifest her future sights by forming images on the flames. The images are very enigmatic and unreliable.

Purification: Even when she is in her civilian form, she can use her "ofuda" (a Shinto talisman used to protect homes from evil spirits) to "exorcize" people, while yelling "Evil Spirit, Disperse!" (although it can cause normal people to faint, as shown in episode 10 when she tried to "purify" Usagi).

Sixth Sense: Rei is sometimes shown to have a "sixth sense", using it to detect "evil presences" and approaching danger, as shown in Chapter 6 of Codename: Sailor V manga, but it can fail sometimes when she mistook Usagi for an evil spirit.

Expert Archer: As a Shrine Priestess, she is an expert archer, and this potential is shown in her "Mars Flame Sniper" attack.

these are a variety of powers that don't really all connect to Mars energy, it's giving strong Venus & Jupiter vibes tbh

i associate the purification, pyromancy and precognitive abilities with Venus and the sixth sense, expert archer ones with Jupiter

Sailor Jupiter

Electrokinesis, martial arts, longevity, and "emphasized superhuman strength"

these powers are a bit random, i guess the author wanted to emphasize martial arts and physical strength with the masculine grahas but I get more Mars and Sun vibes ngl

Sailor Saturn 

Daughter of a possessed mad scientist, a terrible lab accident in her youth significantly compromised her constitution. After overcoming the darkness that has surrounded her family, she is able to become the Soldier of Silence, Sailor Saturn. She wields forces of destruction so powerful that she is rarely called upon to use them, and unlike the others, her Senshi and civilian personae seem somewhat disconnected. She is often pensive, and as a human has the inexplicable power to heal others.

this backstory is in itself very Saturnian and I think Saturnians do suffer a lot of abuse and injustice in their lives. So all Saturn naks like UBP, Anuradha & Pushya

Sailor Pluto

Manipulation and control of spacetime, Time Wave Generation Teleport others over short or vast distances. Open rifts or doorways in space through different eras Freeze all of time (forbidden) Erect a shield of time-space energy

i mean it goes without saying but this is literally Punarvasu & Swati. both these naks have themes of space and time travel

Sailor Uranus

she possesses powers associated with the wind and sky, precognition, as well as sword combat.

this is giving me Mars & Venus energy, more specifically Bharani as it is a Venusian nakshatra in the Mars ruled rashi of Aries

Sailor Neptune

exceptionally strong psychic abilities and is the only Outer Scout who has such powers and she can channel the power of the ocean. 

I associate Neptune's abilities with Pisces (neptune rules pisces so this is a no brainer) and I connect it to PBP, UBP & Revati

[nunalastor]

Chaggie + Radioapple Madoka Magica AU

Vaggie is more than a little annoyed Alastor and Lucifer are Charlie's only hope, because it's her job to protect Charlie, and those two idiots in love keep killing themselves in every loop (Lucifer more so than Alastor, Vaggie learns brutally that witching out is an inevitability in this deal. Alastor keeping his shit together for 7+ years while knowing how screwed he is remains a marvel in itself). But Vaggie can go back to the start of the loop as many times as necessary and is currently unaware of the cost, so she decides that as much as it pains her to leave Charlie, she is going to go through a few loops of keeping Alastor alive. She wants to break his deal and save herself the trouble, but doesn't want to risk Roo getting pissed and breaking their deal which would make saving Charlie impossible, so she considers breaking his deal the last resort and wants to see if she can just keep him alive despite the deal.

Keeping Alastor alive is harder than keeping Charlie alive, and given Vaggie had gone through 26 failed loops before having the "Alastor needs to be alive" realization, that is saying a lot.

Attempt 1: Tell him what's going on, he has years more experience in this deal than she does, so she doesn't need to worry about him not believing her. Alastor does believe her but like what happened when Husk brought up the deal, Alastor started lashing out at her, and the inevitability of his own demise added onto all the other nonsense that contributes to witching out created a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Attempt 2: In every loop one of Alastor and Lucifer's fights gets out of hand and Charlie throws Alastor's soul gem, unintentionally killing him until the soul gem returns. The details of this are never the same, but Vaggie's got it down to a science of roughly when this happens since she's always the one to get his soul gem back, but this time she doesn't give it back to him and keeps it just out of range of his body to prevent him from witching out until the day of the catastrophe that kills Charlie. This fails because Charlie feels so terrible about hurting Alastor that she sold her soul to Roo to save him.

Attempt 3: Same thing as attempt 2 except tell Charlie what's going on, with the promise of they can help him as soon as this catastrophe passes. This fails because Charlie insists that if they need to resort to this, Alastor should know, and gives the soul gem back to him. This violation of his autonomy added to the other stuff makes Alastor witch out then and there.

Attempt 4: Kill Alastor and pray Lucifer is enough. This one got tried a few times and all of which failed for various reasons.

Attempt 5: Find all the other factors that drive Alastor insane (see: Lilith arriving and trying to fuck over the hotel, the horrible chest wound emphasizing existential dread, the Vees) and get rid of them. This almost works but Vaggie runs into a roadblock of Alastor always figuring out what she's doing and asking why, which loops back around to what happens in attempt 1. She has yet to figure out how to be sneaky enough he doesn't catch on.

Attempt 6: Just stockpile grief seeds to purify Alastor's soul gem like no tomorrow. He may stop taking care of that thing as his sanity declines, but she'll do it for him whether he likes it or not.

This one has the most promise if she can keep getting her hands on his soul gem, but now the problem is how can she get enough grief seeds for the both of them AND make sure Charlie doesn't die in the meantime.

👀

[vikkirosko]

Can I request Adam with angel reader (the type of angel like in the ask with the angel looking like Jubileus from bayonetta, skin made of porcelain and gold with an amalgamation of flesh underneath) ?

Adam is the "father" of reader in a sense. He asked God if he can have a child made by himself, a child with no trace of sin or that can't tend to sin, an angel build from zero, like God has done with the angels.

God agreed, but Adam will have to build the flesh while He will build the soul. So, with the help of Lute, Adam find the flesh by taking it from the killed demon during extermination, he purified it and hide this gruesome flesh under a shell of porcelain and gold.

God gave her a soul and reader was born, but God gave her a pure soul made for forgiving people. She an angel made to forgive and love others.

Adam is happy to have a child that will not sin, but some years later, reader is nowhere to be found.

Adam search for her everywhere in heaven and earth, but nothing. What a surprise for him to find her in hell during an extermination.

Reader is happy to tell her father that she is helping to redeem sinners, but Adam wants her to go back to heaven. Reader refuses, wanting to prove her dad that sinners can redeem.

Thanks!

🎸 Adam x fem!Reader platonic headcanons Created for forgiveness ✨️

Adam wasn't very lucky. His first wife left, eventually choosing Lucifer instead. His second wife became the first sinner. Once in Heaven, he asked for a favor. He asked for a child, a child who would have no trace of sin, created from scratch, as angels were once created. His request was fulfilled. To do this, Adam, along with Lute, collected the flesh of the slain sinners during the extermination, purified it and hid it under a shell of porcelain and gold. A pure, innocent soul was put into this shell, created to forgive people. That's how you appeared, an angel created for forgiveness

There was no limit to Adam's happiness. He raised you with the care and love he was capable of. You were his treasure. You would never have become a sinner and would always have remained so bright. Adam didn't show you the part of his life where he killed sinners. For you, he remained the father you loved and who loved you. Heaven was your home. It went on like that until one day you disappeared

Adam searched Heaven looking for you. He was hoping that you just went somewhere with other angels or someone else and just forgot to warn him. However, he did not find you. That's why he tried to look for you in human world. Adam hoped that you went to observe the humans and their lives, because Adam once told you about the time when he was still human himself. However, he didn't find you there either. This caused him to panic more and more. He didn't understand where you could have gone and was afraid of the worst

Your meeting took place during the last extermination. You ended up in Hell, but you weren't a sinner, you couldn't be one. Adam immediately rushed to you to take you home, but you stepped back. He couldn't hide what he was doing from you anymore. Adam demanded that you return to Heaven, but you refused. You said that you had finally found your destiny. In Hell, you could be useful, helping sinners atone for their sins and get a chance to be in Heaven. Adam did not believe that such a thing was possible and bluntly told you that it was unrealistic. Then you said that you would prove to him that sinners can atone for their sins and ran away, leaving your father alone

Lute was the only one Adam told about finding you. After he met Charlie, he realized exactly how you were going to help sinners and it angered him. Adam couldn't come to Hell and forcibly take you home, no matter how much he wanted to. So Lute offered him another plan. They could have waited six months before the next extermination. They were both sure that you and Charlie would fail and then you would realize that Adam was right and then you would come home. At least, Adam hoped that would be the case

[irradiatedsnakes]

POKEMOB!!!! ive been thinking abt this nonstop for like, weeks. check it out, though! lots of little guys! reigen's special move where he chucks his nacli at the foe as hard as possible! teru's furfrou's matching wig! other stuff! this post has 18 images

@skypiea helped SO much with pokemon choices for this also!

see under the cut for full teams and further explanation!!! please check it out

mob - ralts & espurr. later, silvally. mob isn't a trainer, and his pokemon don't fight. they're just little guys. type:null was originally toichiro's (who used various pokemon alongside the human claw grunts), mob met it in aftermath of the divine tree once everything in the domination arc was over. (it still doesn't battle or anything. big fancy lapdog full of love.)

ritsu - unovan braviary, bisharp, and alakazam. going along with his student council status & top-of-the-line grades, ritsu's a skilled trainer with some powerful pokemon. braviary and bisharp were his most used pokemon early on- they're sort of representative of his student council thing (note braviary's unobtainable psychic type form)- but abra was his first pokemon, a counterpart to mob's ralts. it only evolved first during ritsu and the esper kids' attempted escape of the 7th division claw building.

reigen - murkrow, greavard, thievul, and nacli. reigen's not a trainer, his pokemon are both pets and assist him with work. with the exception of nacli, dark and ghost types are his specialty (psychic-adjacent types, but Not actual psychic types). his murkrow imitates him constantly. greavard is uu-chan, of course, but this time he doesn't get eaten by dimple (uu-chan is still feeding on reigen's soul). one of nacli's possible abilities in the games is "purifying salt", which cuts damage from ghost moves. reigen's nacli, of course, has sturdy. and to quote kite, re: thievul: "Reigen: would an untrustworthy guy have THIS [sends out the thief pokemon]"

teru - furfrou (shiny), zoroark (maybe shiny i cant decide. burple), and togepi (later togekiss). before his encounter with mob in season 1, teru didn't actually use his pokemon in battle often- they're rare, flashy, and/or powerful, but they were lackeys and status symbols just as much as his underlings at black vinegar were. his relationship with his pokemon improved after he started to work on his humility, leading to the evolution of his togepi.

shou - morpeko, latias, and (mega) blaziken. he's a super tough trainer, and he cares about his pokemon So much. he rides his latias like she's a surfboard

serizawa - swoobat & bewear. serizawa didn't really have pokemon growing up after his self-imposed isolation- the stufful he had as a kid was taken care of by his mother once that happened. he met his woobat a while after joining claw, and it evolved sometime after the world domination arc. bewear isn't entirely his- but after the world domination arc, he reconnected with it and takes care of it some of the time. the rest of the time it's serimama's gigantic housebear

tome - two (later three which become a single magneton) magnemite, orbeetle, eventually elgyem. i think magnemite just fits her vibes... plus it's a bit ufo-y, innit. she HAD to have a bug, and i mean..look at orbeetle's gmax form! and it has the telepathy ability! unfortunately, despite her best efforts, orbeetle's telepathy ability hasn't proved useful for finding human telepaths. she caught elgyem on new years, on the way back down to the car. tome can hold her own in battle, but training for battle isn't something she's focused on.

dimple - is a yamask! his big powerful form is cofagrigus, obvs. his mask is usually blank save for the cheek spots, since he has no memory of his life as a human. the mask does change to fit the (LOL) and psycho helmet cult as well. he places his mask on someone's face to possess them like any other yamask, to others it just appears as the regular red cheeks, but to folks who can see spirits they see the mask. when possessing someone, his expressions will show on the mask as well.

whew, i think that's everything i wanted to talk about. thanks for reading!

[runespoor7]

For the ask meme, au where wwx kills lxc at qiangpi path instead of jzx.

Or gender swap jc au.

Ok, so it took me a while to think this over, because there’s a lot here, and then talking it over with @demoiselledefortune I realized there’s even more than I thought! (still thinking about the genderswap jc one)

Also, poor, poor LWJ. 🙁 (LQR doesn't bear thinking about. That poor, poor man. I don't talk about LQR under the cut because it's too sad for me to contemplate.)

1) So the thing is, this isn’t a noticeably better accidental killing for WWX, because while the Lans may be less the powerhouse than the Jins, JGS will definitely try and use LXC’s death to turn against WWX. And it’s going to be stupidly easy, because LXC was a sect leader and the sworn brother of his son.

(I assume LXC was there because he was invited to JL’s 100 days ceremony and his passing there was a coincidence, while in canon he was already at Jinlintai. So maybe JZX is still in Jinlintai here, the confrontation happening earlier and thus before JZX departed; or JZX is here as well as he was in canon, and LXC was the one running late - in which case, JZX is alive and a witness and might speak up on WWX’s behalf at least to his wife and his BIL, at least to tell them that it seemed an accident. This turns out not to have much of an impact on the grand scale of things OR on JYL and JC’s understanding of what happened, bc they already trust WWX so much, but it does have an impact on JZX’s view of the world and himself. This is less about WWX than it is about politics in general and his father in specific. In that version he’s much more in-the-middle of things, much more aware of being personally dismissed. In that version there’s a chance he and JYL go live in LP.)

Besides the Jins, there’s also NMJ, who is a big fan of his sworn brothers not getting killed and of not shielding people from the consequences of their actions. Just putting it out there where we can see it. On the other hand, they’re not LXC’s most direct family. LWJ and the Lans are, so NMJ lets LWJ take point.

(There's a version of this prompt where NMJ qi-deviates when he hears about LXC's death. In that timeline should WWX get killed NHS' plans never feature bringing him back.)

2) Know for whom LXC dying instead of JZX changes things a lot, though? WQ and WN. When they decide to surrender themselves, they go to Cloud Recesses, not Jinlintai. LWJ and his sect I feel wouldn't punish WQ for LXC’s death. She wasn't there.

(WN, otoh, is very done for. There is no way GSL pulls a Jin to keep him around. He's a fierce corpse and the one who killed their sect leader at that. They execute him/lay his soul to rest. There's no further desacration of WN and that's probably the bitterest comfort WQ could hope for. WQ does try to shield WN when she realizes the Lans aren't planning on executing her, but she doesn't get that.)

WQ would easily get a promise of safety from LWJ for at least A-Yuan, probably Granny, maybe the others - on the sterner end of the scale for the adult cultivators. This is somewhat dependent on what JGS (and NMJ) are clamoring for but JGS wants the Stygian Seal more than he does the Wens and NMJ would be satisfied with the Lans supervising the fate of the Wen remnants. Besides, the most high-profile of the Wen remnants is WQ and she just surrendered herself. WN would say WWX isn’t responsible for LXC’s death, it was a freak resentful energy accident–

3) I think what LWJ does demand about WWX is... that WWX be given over to Gusu Lan. They can lock him up. And purify him of the resentful energy.

LWJ is in a frankly abysmal mental space - it’s only because his cultivation is so orthodox that he doesn't qi deviate. It’s all tearing him up, LXC’s death because of the guy LWJ has a crush on, LWJ’s want for WWX and LWJ’s wish that he could (imitate his father) bring someone back to CR and lock them up and LWJ suddenly being in the horrendous situation where he is imitating his father. The memory of the kiss is now a nightmare. It was always a mixed memory (how shameful, to lose control of himself thus - to take advantage of the one he loved - to lack even the courage to simply ask, either for the kiss, or at least for forgiveness) but now it makes him retch.

It's all twisted in the fact that LXC is dead, because of WWX. There can be nothing between LWJ and WWX now. Simply wishing there could be would be the worst betrayal.

(LWJ remembers the days of their youth, LXC’s delight and gentle teasing at LWJ’s inexplicable liking of WWX. The Water Abyss. And now LXC is dead, because of the boy he was so happy LWJ wanted for a friend. LXC always wanted LWJ to have friends, something akin to his own friendship with NMJ.)

0) (the Problem. The Problem is that I cannot see WWX staying in the Cloud Recesses if he's imprisoned there. If he wouldn't rather die at first, he will afterwards. LWJ thinks of his mother. If WWX dies LWJ would enter seclusion like his father once did. This isn’t something LWJ tells himself consciously.)

4) JC and JYL visit WWX in the Cloud Recesses while he's imprisoned there. JC hates LWJ for it, but I think he's self-aware enough to think “what if it had been Jiejie.” It’s hard to hate LWJ wholeheartedly.

5) WQ is in Cloud Recesses, too. She’ll never live outside the Cloud Recesses again, but it could have been far worse. She’s allowed time with A-Yuan (she is not in forced seclusion and neither is she A-Yuan’s mother but LWJ cannot let himself see them together, or else he starts to think of how she isn’t allowed to raise her kin herself.)

When it comes out *pretty damn early* that WWX doesn’t have a core, she’s the one who implies WZL got him.

(JC is in LWJ’s office clamoring, begging for WWX to be released into the care of YMJ in a hot minute after he finds out - which takes at least one or two visits, because no-one wrote to tell him, and it takes him asking a question about how getting WWX rid of resentful energy and not letting go when the answer’s too cagey to his taste for him to know. If it were just LWJ– but LWJ has elders. plus there’s also LXC’s sworn brothers to contend with; LWJ isn’t thinking of that, and JC will think of it later, after LWJ has refused to return WWX to YMJ.) JC is so so so angry at everyone involved - WWX for *lying to him*, why didn’t you *tell me*, I would have *helped* - WQ for hiding it from him AND not telling him when she told the Lans (to which she retorts that she isn’t exactly allowed a free correspondence. Hmph. Okay. JC allows that. WQ has negative scruples about lying to him about the core rn.) - LWJ for keeping WWX a prisoner here even though WWX is, is, WWX isn’t a cultivator anymore he’s a normal person let YMJ watch over him, let JC - even JYL for having something else in her life that she loves, that isn’t WWX locked up in another sect.

WQ is also the one who sees when WWX is seriously at risk of his life just fading away, and this time she tells JC: if WWX doesn’t get out, he will die.

The fic ends with WQ and JC breaking WWX out of the Cloud Recesses (it’s implied LWJ is looking the other way). WQ stays in CR, of course, but JC is taking WWX to Lotus Pier. There’s no plan for “later”.

[bcbdrums]

"now the anime i felt diminished Soul's character in the second half... that's another topic though, haha."

What do you mean, his character was diminished?

Hello! Sorry it took me so long to answer!! Spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn't seen the whole show.

Let me approach this a different way... We know the running joke about Tsubaki, that after the Masamune arc she gets no character development. Her lines are just screaming Black Star's name, and that's about it for her.

That's how it feels for Soul after Crona shows up. Except with him it's just...silent brooding and watching his meister put all her focus onto someone else. The meister/weapon relationship that seems like it's kinda supposed to be the whole point of the show...? We don't get much of that for Soul and Maka anymore until the finale. And then it feels just kinda...forced in at the last moment, since we haven't gotten much of that.

He's not the only one whose arc gets skewed, and a good lot of that is due to the anime ending so abruptly and not getting to tell a fuller story. It needed at least ten more episodes in my opinion, whether it followed the manga or not... It just ended too fast.

But Soul specifically got supplanted by Crona, and it makes no sense to me. To have his relationship with Maka just...set aside entirely. Or rather, the issue is that they tried to pretend it wasn't. They tried to pretend all was well, and then bring it back at the very end as if things have been fine the entire time. But no.....no they haven't been.

For some idk like fifteen episodes or so? The only glimpses of Soul are him brooding, pining, trying to be himself toward Maka, being a good friend and weapon, but Maka only has eyes for Crona. Even at their apartment her only thoughts are for Crona, even telling Soul to leave her alone one time. She puts this wall between them and doesn't even know she's doing it, and Soul... His devotion to her never changes.

And... He never gets resolution with Crona for himself. So Maka just...forgave Crona I guess for almost killing Soul? Remember that huge giant plot point that started back in episode 7? That started the entire black blood thing? We never see or hear them talk about it but I guess Maka just....let it go, after purifying Crona? Which makes NO sense but okay I guess. But what about Soul... So since Maka decided to forget about Crona almost killing him, Soul is supposed to just forget too? Since his meister has decided to obsess over this poor mixed up kid who desperately needs professional help NOT a friendship that's doomed to unhealthiness due to the kid's issues, and Soul's supposed to just...be cool with it?

I was really glad that Kid brought it up that one time at the courts, even if it was just for a moment. At least somebody remembered what Soul went through. But it should have been his meister.

So yeah it's just...messed up. In summary.... Soul gets ignored second half of the show till a last-minute dramatic thing in the finale, but it feels out of place since Maka has ignored him for who knows how many episodes except to tell him to leave her alone. Soul has remained devoted and loyal. Soul's devotion to her has him repeatedly use the black blood for the sake of all of them, risking himself. And Maka just forgot I guess about her "new project" or whatever almost killing her weapon. And Soul just gotta deal with....all of that. Deal with what looks like the slow losing of his meister.

Yeah. That's what I meant by Soul being diminished... Everything about him was just kinda forgotten except what he could do for the rest of them.

Gonna take a left-turn here and compare Maka to her father again... Wonder if this is what Stein felt like watching his weapon go off with someone else, slowly losing him to some new, interesting person for whatever reason...

Yeah Maka, your weapon deserved better from you.

All that said? Oh I still ship it. I can be annoyed as heck with canon and still use it, lol.

[aglaias-blog]

"Kindred Spirits" Chapt. 6

Aemond Targaryen x Reader

Author’s note: I'm sorry this took so long! In this chapter Aemond's thoughts on Maiden's Day are shown, as well as a conversation between the brothers, and a trip through the capital.

As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated! 💖

TW: afab!reader, reference to SA, victim-blaming, self-blame for SA, shaming sex workers for religious reasons, religious guilt

Summary: Being a highborn lady, a love match is out of the question for you, much less a match with your soulmate. You're not even told about the intricacies of what meeting your soulmate entails. When you are tricked into a betrothal to Aemond Targaryen by your parents, you don't know how to handle things. The Prince's cold demeanor is off-putting, but he is also the only one who is willing to help you, the only one you can depend on. Just how is all this going to play out?

"Kindred Spirits" Masterlist

Of course Aemond hadn’t forgotten. He followed the holy days in the year closely, just as his septa had taught him as a child. She had also been the one to yell at him on the steps of the sept.

Had it been anyone else to berate him like that in public, he would have had their head.

But it was septa Mertha, she had been teaching him the principles of the faith until the age of fifteen. She had been very strict, but fair – and also very observant.

He couldn’t believe that she had fallen for his lie. She should have been the first to notice that something wasn’t right the moment he had said that he had forgotten that it was Maiden’s Day.

Maiden’s Day – one of the highest holy days of the year. The day that his mother and sister would take their purifying baths, and fast for the day.

And noble maidens would go to the sept in the morning, praying and singing at the feet of the Maiden.

Of course he knew. Septa Mertha had taught him well.

Although, when he desired something, he knew that he would have it, eventually. No matter the cost. Naturally, he would have preferred to pay off the septa and Lady Barryn’s maid to leave their position at the sept, so that he could listen to her voice, undisturbed.

But that would have just been highly unseemly, and his honourable teacher would have never accepted a bribe, so he had to endure the embarrassment of admitting to a septa that he had forgotten a holy day – only to hear her singing for a few seconds.

He could only imagine that she looked simply heavenly in the plain white dress, with the veil light on her hair and the colourful light of the stained glass windows dancing on her face. This divine picture of purity was blurred by his sneaking foul toughts as he imagined her in front of the Maiden, on her knees… So painfully innocent. He felt his throat tighten at her virtuousness, ever so ingenuous, so completely unaware.

It was beautiful – it was torture.

Her singing the songs of innocence only reminded him his own filthiness, the impurity he couldn’t scrub off. Even on the Day of the Maiden he could not help himself, but tarnish the celebration by the only maiden in the Keep with his disgusting mind, his filthy thoughts - the shame burnt him deeply, knowing that the Seven kept their eyes on him closely.

Everyday he burnt new marks of sin onto his brittle soul, thwarting his own salvation – it was punishment for a grave sin that scarred so deeply that he was reminded of it everyday.

He should have told Aegon „no“ on his thirteenth nameday. He should have refused to go with him. He should have turned around, when Aegon had already stepped into that den of sin. He should have realised what was going on when that filthy woman loosened the ties on his breeches. He should have slapped her disgusting grin right off her face for even daring to touch a Prince. He should have run out of that room and onto the Street of Silk when he had felt that unsettling feeling bubble up in his stomach, at the latest.

Why hadn’t he? Why, why, why?

It was only right that he tormented himself now – it was his own fault. He hadn’t been a little boy then, when he had made the decision to stay. It was no secret where his brother disappeared to from time to time. He had known what happened in brothels - Aegon hadn’t been shy to tell him all about the houses he frequented.

So he had to suffer the shame now.

Harlotry was a grave offense against the faith, as much as engaging the services of a whore was dishonorable.

Aegon and his sickening habits.

He had never touched the curves of a woman after that dreadful incident. Like a hand burned by fire, his mind pulled back from thinking about that day. And in an act of self-flagellation, he forced himself to think about it everytime he noticed those filthy thoughts infiltrate his mind whenever he noticed a woman’s appealing figure – punishing himself for his past and present sins, pushing the dagger deeper into his wound.

He had realised the grave offense that it was, and he only resented his brother more after he had learnt first hand what it meant to deliberately take on sin. It took a depraved man to enjoy the moral decay of his soul.

-

Now at breakfast, Aemond had to endure his brother’s company. Of course, his mother and sister weren’t there, as they were fasting, and neither was Lady Barryn. Her father had only taken a quick bite, and then left the room, probably thanking God that Aegon hadn’t been an option for marriage.

„Well, brother“, Aegon said good-humouredly, lifting his third coup of the day. Dornish wine, of course.

„You have made a good choice.“ His words seemed genuine. Although Aemond hadn’t asked for Aegon’s opinion on the matter, he had decided to tell him anyway in his arrogant benevolence that only elder brothers seemed to possess.

„To your betrothal. To Lady Barryn.“ With one gulp, the wine disappeared into his throat. Appreciatively, he sighed. The servant at his side took a quick step forward, pouring some more of the sweet liquid into his master’s cup.

„To Lady Barryn“, Aemond sighed quietly, staring at his hands on the table.

„What, is she not to your liking?“, Aegon asked, immediately picking up on his brother’s lacking enthusiasm. „She certainly is to mine.“

Aemond looked up at him then, simply throwing him a disgusted look.

„You know, you only have to bed her until she becomes with child“, Aegon grinned suggestively behind his cup.

„Shut your mouth“, came his brother’s clipped response. Aemond knew what his brother had in mind, knew what he meant to say next. Still, Aegon chose to say it out loud.

„After that, you are free to...occupy yourself with the other pleasures that life has to offer. You should accompany me.“

„You shouldn’t drink at this early hour“, Aemond said quietly, ignoring his brother’s provocation. Aegon only giggled in response.

„Yes, I should, it helps me think.“

„This is nothing to be proud of, Aegon! Look at yourself!“ The mood in the room shifted suddenly, going from light teasing to serious accusations.

How could somebody who was meant to become King be this infuriatingly dense?

„Oh, don’t act like you care! You can’t wait for the day that I drink myself to death!“ Aegon had sat upright now, both hands gripping the table, knuckles turning white.

„You only say these words of worry for yourself, so that you don’t have to justify yourself in front of your guilty conscience the day that I die!“

Aemond only stared at his brother with that icy glare that Aegon knew all too well. His silence was response enough. The Crown Prince didn’t need to hear his brother say what they both knew to be true. His rage left just as quickly as it had come.

„You are so stuck up, Aemond, who cares anyway?“, Aegon said carelessly, lazily falling back into his chair again, snickering. He drained his cup, and filled it right up again, before the servant at his side could even take a step forward.

Suddenly, Aemond hit the table with so much force that it made the tableware rattle.

„You will, the day that father lies cold in his grave, You. Will. Care!“

Aemond had shot up from his chair, now pointing his finger at his brother across the table. Aegon still slouched lazily in his chair, looking up at his brother with a wickedly entertained expression on his face.

„The moment that our half-sister makes her claim to the throne, you will curse the day you started this nasty habit, as it keeps you from becoming a man capable of ruling the realm! You do realise that she will not spare you? If you truly believe that you don’t pose a threat to her ascension to the throne simply because you do sweet fuck-all all day, then you are even more dim-witted than I ever dared to think!“

With both hands on the table, breathing heavily, he stared him down, looking for any sign that his words had an effect on Aegon. He truly was pathetic, with his glazed over, half-lidded eyes - in moments like these he couldn’t believe that they were brothers.

„Mere incompetence won’t save you. The blood of your wife, of your children, will be on your hands, the day she slays them. It will be your fault, Aegon, because you refuse to see that your path leads to the throne. No matter how desperately you try to forget it.“

„Ugh, you sound just like mother“, Aegon just rolled his eyes, completely unfazed by his brother’s outburst.

„Who sounds just like me?“

Of course. His mother couldn’t have chosen a better moment to intrude. And with his betrothed by her side, too. Maybe it was a good thing. He was tired of repeating the same words all over, only for his brother to refuse to take them to heart, to get them into his thick skull.

„Finally, some female company!“ Aegon cheered, lifting his cup with a blithe smile, the moment he saw his brother’s betrothed enter the room with his mother. He really couldn’t keep his fat mout shut, could he?

„Well, I thought that you should like to spend some time with your betrothed. I suggest you get to know each other more. Show Lady Barryn your dragon, will you?“, she said, making Aegon spit out his wine in brazen laughter – all across the table – and all across his brother. Revolted, Aemond simply wiped his face with the napkin on the table. He would not dignify his brother’s actions with words.

„Aegon, behave yourself“, was the Queen’s only tired comment. She looked around the table – her concerned gaze lingering on her eldest son. Already in his cups.

„I actually came to see you“, she said, turning to Aemond, ignoring Aegon’s giggles.

„What is it?“ He couldn’t pretend to be good-humoured now, not after this row with his brother.

Just as his betrothed, the Queen seemed at a loss for words, looking at Aegon for an explanation of what made him laugh like that. „Aegon, w-what is the meaning-?“

„Oh, you’re such a child, Aegon.“ Not waiting for his brother’s response, Aemond grabbed Lady Barryn’s wrist, almost dragging her out of that damned room. She didn’t need to witness anymore of that. There was no use in talking to his brother after he had had his sixth cup of wine.

-

Keeping up with the angry Prince proved to be a difficult task. Each stride he took seemed to be longer than the previous one. Careful not to stumble you held up your skirt with one hand as you tried your best in following him, while your other wrist was caught in his unyielding grip. It hurt.

„You- you have a dragon?“ You brought out between shallow breaths.

The only response you received was an incredulous look – before his clipped answer came.

„Yes.“

You could only gasp in excitement. You had never seen a dragon in your life! They had been part of fantastical stories your mother had told you, enchanting mythical beasts who commanded attention by their sheer size alone. Never had you imagined that you would get to see one one day!

-

Away. He just needed to be as far away from his brother as the limits of King’s Landing would allow. As if it wasn’t enough that his brother had spat at him, of course his intented had to bear witness to his embarrassment. His brother – an ingrate, an idiot, incapable of behaving himself, and even less capable of even attempting to become a ruler of this realm.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he completely forgot that he was still dragging his betrothed behind him – until he heard her speak up.

„You have a dragon?“

Really - she didn’t know about his dragon? The biggest in all of Westeros? No, the whole known world? The only dragon left from the time of the conquest of Westeros? Just how sheltered had she been?

„Yes.“

„Can we really go see it?“

This question made him stop in his tracks. He wanted to say no. Why had his mother suggested that idea at all? „Show her your dragon“ – said so flippantly, like sending two children to play with their toys, as if Vhagar was a mere plaything, and not a beast capable of unimaginable destruction. Why would he introduce somebody he barely knew to his dragon? His Vhagar - seemingly the only being on earth whom he could be himself with. Nothing he knew could compare to the bond they shared. They were of one blood, one mind. She was the embodiment of what it meant to be a Targaryen.

He wanted to laugh at her naïve gullibility.

Yet when he turned around to her, his resolve faltered with one look at her face. Her eyes were shining with anticipation, her expression was one of pure childish excitement. Just like his had been when he first had seen a dragon.

He couldn’t bring himself to refuse her now. Why not? It was so easy. Just say „no“. He spent his life denying people their wishes, why was it so challenging now?

Slowly, he let go of her wrist.

„I don’t –“ He couldn’t do it.

„Her name is Vhagar“, he decided to say, continuing his walk through the Keep. The sound of her feet hurrying to keep up with him made him smile.

-

After you had changed into some more robust attire, you had met Aemond at the main gate of the Keep. He had already drawn the hood of his cloak over his head, almost covering his eyes. You didn’t see the need for it for yourself – you would enjoy your anonymity as long as it was afforded to you. Quickly you realised that your betrothed hadn’t only covered his silver-blond hair to pass through the city unknown. The cold winds of the sea forced you to cover your head as soon as you left the protective walls of the Keep and you were thankful that you remembered putting on gloves as you stepped onto Shadowblack Lane, Ser Willis Fell by your side.

It was the first time that you had left the Red Keep – it felt like a first breath of fresh air after a long time inside a stifling prison. You felt lighter, as if a weight was lifted from you, free from the constant judging gazes on you in the Keep. Everybody wanted to gauge what the Prince’s betrothed was like, catch a quick look at your face, get a feeling for your manners. Now you realised how much it had affected you.

„We shall take Shadowblack Lane first, then continue on the Street of Seeds, and then onto the Street of the Sisters. I should like to pass as little time as possible close to Flea Bottom, so we shall rarely walk on streets bordering on that slum“, Aemond said decidedly, directing Ser Willis Fell as to how they should navigate getting to the Dragonpit.

„Aye, my Lord“, Ser Willis said, bowing his head, „I shall keep a watchful eye.“ He knew what it meant to accompany the Prince and his betrothed through on of the most dangerous parts of the capital. He had politely voiced his hesitance at the idea of the couple walking the city with no guard except him, but to pass through the city unknown, you couldn’t have a group of goldcloaks accompanying you. Should anything happen to the couple, and he come out alive, the King would make sure that he wouldn’t keep his head on his shoulders for long. He had to yield to his master’s will.

Of course, Aemond hadn’t been too enthusiastic about the idea either, well aware of the risks that it entailed. But somehow, he had granted your request to cross the city on foot.

It had been you who insisted on walking to the Dragonpit, you wanted to see as much of King’s Landing as was possible. Before you would be known as Princess. Only now you realised how much of an intricate task it would be to safely reach your destination. You were sure that had it only been Prince Aemond and Ser Willis, they would have taken an entirely different route.

And so you made your way through the bustling city. You had never seen a place this alive before, buzzing with people arguing and haggling at the colourful stalls amid the street cries of the merchants, calling everyone to see the fine wares they were selling. Groups of laughing children ran past you, making your skirts twirl. And when a young boy almost ran into you, you had to stop the Prince from grabbing the child’s hood to hold him back and scold him for being so heedless. You hadn’t noticed that you had let your hand rest on his arm after this incident, and quickly pulled it back when he gave you a strange look.

Each time you stopped at a merchant’s stall, Aemond seemed to become uneasy, his eye following every movement of the smallfolk around you, Ser Willis following his master’s example also stood tall, careful that none of the people would come too close to you.

Your betrothed seemed hesitant to make a stop at the main square of the capital, seeming in a hurry to reach the Dragonpit, and when you reached the Street of the Sisters, this behaviour only worsened.

Ser Willis informed you that you were close to the most poverty-stricken district of the capital. More direct words were found by Prince Aemond. „It is an exceptionally ungodly slum and the foulest in the city. It is a lawless place, you’d do well to not waste any time close to it.“

The stench wafting down the street seemed to come with what you assumed to be dirty water trickling from Flea Bottom through the cobblestones down the street.

You let your gaze follow the street up the hill, until it landed on the dome of the Dragonpit. Majestically it sat on top of Rhaenys’s Hill, overlooking the city - reminding everybody of the animalistic power of its rulers.

„My Lady, we truly cannot allow ourselves to spend too much time on this street“, Ser Willis said politely, yet the urgency in his voice could not be ignored. So, with one protector on either side of you, you hurried towards Rhaenys’s Hill.

The closer you came to the slum, the fouler the smell in the air became. You could tell that it was the poorest district in the capital – the crooked walls of the ramshackle houses had broken windows if they had any at all; starving, moaning beggars lined the street here, and only angry, drunk shouting among hushed whispers could be heard from the dark, narrow alleys leading into this quarter of the city. No children were to be seen, only shifty shadows darting through the smoke from one house to the other. It seemed that the sunlight didn’t reach these streets; everything appeared to be grey here – the people, the houses, the air...

Aemond had thrown back his cloak to reveal the hilt of his sword, his hand resting on it the entire time it took you to climb up Rhaenys’s Hill. It was an obvious warning to anybody who should dare approach you. Not once did Aemond allow your little group to stop and catch your breath, too focused on reaching the top, and leaving the proximity of the most dangerous district of King’s Landing - eager to finally reach his most prized possession.

Chapter Five

Taglist: @fan-goddess @toodlesxcuddles @heavenly1927 @urbanleftovers @watercolorskyy

[angelthemanspanker]

so yknow how connor was this miracle child coveted by a bunch of evil cults (for the first few days of his life before that plot got dropped anyway) and how he's like a purified vampire with all the strength and none of the weaknesses while also having a living body and soul. anyway what if mind-wiped connor visited wolfram and hart earlier in s5 and ended up on knox's radar

something about how you can take the boy out of hell AND the hell out of the boy but someone can just put new hell in him. something about how the original connor would have gone nowhere near the sarcophagus but the new one angel made him into would think it was cool. something about the soul angel earned in darla's trial and that she died to protect being burned to nothing. something about angel grieving for connor's lost youth only for connor's body to become frozen young just like angel's. something about how holtz tried to put the righteous fear of god in connor and then angel took it out and then a god devours him. something about angel making a deal with the devil for connor but the devil not playing fair. something about illyria sorting through a lifetime of fake memories on top of the real ones and trying to come to a conclusion on who this shell was, connor or stephen or the destroyer or the father of our saviour or the kid that ended world peace or the sweet reilly boy, or angel's son, or not. something about how this is the only version of his son that angel gets to keep

[thebisexualmandalorian]

Even before Gear Five, Zoro has always known Luffy is the sun.  Luffy is his sun, and he can never help the way he leans into the light, no matter how bright and burning it is.  It feels like it’ll blind him every time Luffy flashes one of those brilliant smiles his way, but he could never look away; if that smile is the last thing he sees, it will be the best memory he could carry with him.

Zoro had never known how bright someone could burn before he met his captain.  Even as much as Kuina had burned, she burned the way Zoro did.  Fierce and hot, with something dark in the heart of it.  He’s the hunter in the shadows, the demon waiting for prey.  If Luffy is the sun, the King of Heaven, then Zoro will take the duties that he can’t, do the darker work that would tarnish Luffy irreparably, and become the King of Hell.  It isn’t even a consideration that he might damn his own soul, so long as it means that Luffy stays as bright and beautiful as he always is.  He worries with every touch that somehow, that darkness will stain Luffy like soot or ink, tainting the bright sun-white of his soul.

It never does. 

Instead, it’s the other way around.  Luffy purifies him, chases away those shadows in his soul and reaches out for him despite Zoro’s fears. He reaches out without any of the hesitation Zoro feels, like it doesn’t even occur to him that the god of the sun holds the Demon King in his arms.  It feels poetic in a way Zoro never would have cared about before Luffy.  It feels warm in a way he never felt before Luffy, and he craves that heat with all of his cold heart.  He knows the reputation he has, cold and unfeeling, the night to Luffy’s daylight, and he knows, more than anything, that Luffy doesn’t care about any of it.  He only sees his Zoro, his nakama, his love.  

For Luffy, Zoro will bask in the sunlight despite it all.