#rhine writes light

[gold-rhine]

What the guard dogs are for

There are some things you never want to hear your secret years-long crush saying, such as “I’m getting married,” “I think we should stay friends” or “I’m the destroyer of the present order, the one who shall judge all gods, and the foe of humanity.” Wriothesley’s very bad, no good day of trying to unravel conspiracy theories, fumbling a tea party with Chief Justice and learning Teyvat’s ancient history and vishap lore from the leading expert lector.

Genre: angst and misinformation campaign

Characters: Neuvillette\Wriothesley, Enjou

Warnings: sfw in a sense that nothing even remotely sexy happens, but there is dissociation, ptsd episode, brief mention of self-harm, and Enjou doing same thing he does in canon, which is not quite gaslighting? Anyway, let me know if you feel any other warnings need to be added.

Chapters: 1 out of 2. Wordcount: ~8k

With his morning tea, Wriothesley riffled through the reports as usual. Nothing was marked urgent, so he started with the most boring part, - the official ones. The production numbers, coupon consumption statistics, everything is prepared for Neuvillette’s upcoming inspection, which was mostly a formality, but he would want it to go as smoothly as possible. 

Reports from the surface informants. Traveler stirring up a ruckus with the research institute… Well, about time, that pit couldn’t go on forever pretending that massive explosions are just a part of science routine. 

Next, creatures called “vishaps” appeared recently in Erinnyes Forest. These vishaps are apparently a lesser form of dragons, and connected to Liyue vishaps, also lizard-like creatures, though in Liyue they are aligned with geo, not hydro. Non-hostile to humans, aside from one accident. But in that one they fought back against the hunters sent by nobles to capture them as novelty pets. So the only regrettable part was that they didn’t get the nobles, only their lackeys. For shame. 

Next, there are gangs with new lingo going around, which generally was a good thing to pay attention to as they usually ended up in Meropide. Wriothesley frowned, reading the lingo translations, as he suddenly felt old. “Trendy Zaytun Peach” was something he’d got called for taking it up the ass a lot in his days, but now it’s a hip and cool nickname with the youngsters. 

Informal internal reports. Victims of beret society are rehabilitating fine, preparations for the wedding are underway. Good. Albert, a new guy from the shop, is sending him tea. Quite good tea at that. Obviously a bribe attempt, though he didn’t ask for anything as of yet, so it was basically free. Everything was fair in love and bribes as far as Wriothesley was concerned. You could throw everything at the feet of your beloved as to the feet of your targeted bureaucrat, and receive nothing and you would have no claim to complain. Now, the fact he wouldn’t take it into account when making decisions about their proposals, and sometimes would even consider it a negative, was a different matter altogether. 

He perked up reading the last report. There was a new conspiracy, whose agenda was not very clear, as they were more careful than the others, but the gist was something against Neuvillette, so Wriothesley was tracking it for some time. It was hard to get anything concrete though, as they were pretty good at keeping a low profile, but now apparently one of the members by the name of Jacque got into the Fortress on unrelated charges, and he was reportedly not the brightest shank on the block. 

Wriothesley made the arrangements. 

Half an hour later, he happened to stroll by when Jacque was being beaten up by three guys in the shadowy corner. 

“Hey, what’s going on here? Leave him alone!” he said, walking up to them.

“Oh yeah?”, said one of the bullies, turning to him. “Well, make me!”

They were paid double for the pretend fight. It might have been an overkill, usually Wriothesley would go for just scaring them off without combat. Especially because anyone who’s been in the Fortess for some time or had a head on their shoulders would understand that nobody would try to openly fight the Duke outside of the fight club arena. But Jacque was as fresh as they get, allegedly stupid, and it was Wriothesley’s first chance at any info in two whole months, so he decided to make it as impressive as possible.

He went as easy on the guys as he could, they theatrically threw the fight and retreated. 

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, kneeling next to the guy in the corner and putting his hand on his shoulder for emphasis. 

“Yeah, yeah, I think I’m fine,” Jacque muttered, shaking his head. 

“Why did they attack you?”

“They don’t want me to spread the truth...” Jacque said with heavy emphasis. “But uh, thanks for helping me out.” 

“No need to thank me. I feel bad enough that honest folk like yourself get picked on in MY Fortress. That’s not how I want to run my place, so it’s only natural that I stand up for you.”

It took a moment, but finally the guy gasped.

“Your fortress? Are you… the Duke?”

At least he knew what “Duke” is.

“Yeah,” Wriothesley grinned, turning up the charm. “And allow me to get you a couple of drinks to compensate for the rude welcome you’ve received so far.”

He got them to the Coupon Cafeteria, where best meals were already arranged, and generously poured alcohol into the poor guy, listening to the story of his life and misfortunes that brought him to the Fortress, nodding empathetically. He didn’t ask about Neuvillette at all, to not spook the target, trusting that he will come to this anyway, and finally his patience was rewarded. 

“You know, you’re good!” the guy said drunkenly after some time, clasping his hand on Wriothesley's shoulder, which he beared stoically, grinning with all friendliness in the world. 

“You know, they say we can’t talk to you because you’re bought by that lizard, but I think you’re a good guy. You just don’t know all the facts!”

“Which are?”

The guy leaned closer to him and lowered his voice to a dramatic whisper. “Neuvillette is an evil dragon!”

Wriothesley choked on a laughter, which was way too obvious to turn into cough even for the dunce this stupid. 

“No, you don't understand! Dragons were enemies of humanity that Celestia conquered. But they come back when killed! They reincarnate! He is a hydro dragon who was reborn in a human form so he could more easily trick us!”

Wriothesley blinked, remembering Neuvillette standing under the rain, and the old children’s song. “Hydro dragon, Hydro dragon, don’t cry….”

“He put our rightful archon Furina on that trial, right? No one else saw the verdict, so he pretended she was declared guilty. He forced her to abdicate and took the power for himself!”

Wriothesley realized long ago that Neuvilette, of course, was not human. It was clear to any idiot who talked to him for longer than a minute in an informal setting, not to mention a lifespan of at least five hundred years. But there were a lot of options other than “evil dragon”. There were old gods who did not receive archonhood, but instead decided to serve the archon, like Liyue’s adepti, and he always assumed Neuvillette was of the same kind. But the idea that Iudex was some kind of evil monster with a grudge against humanity was ridiculous. Especially when he showed up at the Fortress and saved the entire Fountaine and Wriothesley’s own hide from the flood.

“Really?”

“Yeah! We should restore our true archon Furina to her rightful throne!”

Furina’s insurrection? Interesting. Wouldn’t peg her for someone capable of this type of conspiracy.

“And did Furina herself give us her blessing?”

“She can’t speak publicly, as this monster threatens her.”

Hmm, inconclusive on Furina’s involvement.

He spent more time with the drunk Jacque, trying to get more details, but couldn’t get much more than unhinged ramblings on how evil the dragons are and how insidious it was for a dragon to pretend to be a human. He had to leave to prepare to Neuvillette's arrival the next day.

_____

Neuvillette stepped out of Opera Epiclese into the rain and slowed down his pace to prolong the sensation. It was a bit of what humans called guilty pleasure, as he felt guilty from inflicting rain on humans for his own pleasure. Though from his understanding, humans felt guilty because they saw this pleasure as something bad for themselves. Even if often this supposed harm made no sense to Neuvillette. Eating too much food until a human's stomach hurt was at least understandable to see as such, but he heard one of palais’ secretaries say that romance novels were her guilty pleasure. How could humans feel guilty for something as simple as reading? He stopped and asked her why she would feel guilty for reading, because melusines kept telling him that socializing with humans is very easy, you just need to ask them questions about themselves and let them talk about what they like. Well, it didn’t seem to work, as the secretary stumbled, started hyperventilating and emanated levels of panic and anxiety comparable to someone in the defendant’s chair. Sensing human emotions did not actually help Neuvillette in communicating with them, as he could not discern the reasons. He asked her if she perhaps came into possession of any cursed texts? He could generally sense the stench of corruption and there was nothing on her, but there was always a possibility that it was a curse he could not register. She panicked even more and vehemently denied. At this point he decided to give up on socializing, as it was obviously very distressing for humans, but felt obliged to tell her that if she ever did read anything she felt was cursed, to inform him. He hoped it would assuage her fear of reading. She thanked him, stuttering, and after that day avoided him at all costs. 

The rain was a compromise solution in any case. Neuvillette always felt a bit strained and uncomfortable in his body, but after obtaining full dragonhood and most of the memories of past lives, the human shape felt downright stifling. He now remembered thousands of years of being something much bigger, long coils that could easily crush the spire of Opera Epiclese. Now, when he looked at his own reflection, it was hard to comprehend that this small and ridiculous frame was actually him. In addition, all of his memories and instincts called him to be submerged in water. But even with his poor understanding of humans, he realized that seeing the Iudex floating in the river would alarm humans much more than him standing under the rain. So rain was the closest solution he could get at his position. 

He summoned rain instinctively, to be as close to engulfed in water as possible. It was a bit embarrassing that even humans noticed it and composed a rhyme, even if that rhyme was inaccurate. He didn’t cry, as vishaps didn’t cry at all and even his current human shaped body didn’t have tear ducts. The closest he could pinpoint to human experience, as he understood it, was being stressed and desire to be comforted, for which water was his best remedy.

And currently he was quite stressed, looking over the Fontaine laws in an attempt to revise them. The current system that treated justice as theater was clearly imperfect, which he realized long ago. But he never saw himself as authorized to change it, as humans were the responsibility of the archon and even without it, he was well aware he didn’t understand humans, so he knew it wasn’t his place to question the human justice system, to which he was only a temporary guest. But now, as fontanias became part of Teyvat after his decision, and so, a part of his responsibility as Teyvat’s god of life, even if the usurper tried to deny him, he couldn’t ignore the need for change any longer. The problem was that he did not understand humans any better, so it was very stressful to try and restructure their systems of governance. 

He extended a hand, catching raindrops on his palm, when he noticed a silhouette near the elevator to the Fortress, and stopped himself from visibly controlling the weather. 

Wriothesley caught his eyes and grinned, approaching him at brisk pace, umbrella over his head.

“Greetings, Monsieur.”

“Good morning, Your Grace.”

Wriothesley always somehow managed to make a “Monsieur” sound more impactful than Neuvillette could “Your Grace”, despite one being a noble title and another just a polite greeting. 

“Would you like to…?” Wriothesley extended his arm with an umbrella, without actually covering Neuvillette with it. In the past, as a part of playing a role of “normal human”, Neuvillette accepted such offers, though there were not many aside from Wriothesley who dared to approach him with it. But now, as he was a full-fledged dragon, at the height of his power and influence in this land, surely he could afford to discard this role? Surely he could afford to be himself at least in this?

“No, thank you,” he said, smiling and trying to sound as cordial as possible, so that Wriothesley would not think it was a slight against him personally. “Don’t take it as offense, but I actually like being under the rain.”

The Duke smiled back, shaking his head.

“No offense taken, but why didn’t you say it last time? I felt like an idiot forcing you under an umbrella.”

“Really?” Neuvillette perked up, falling in step with the human. “You could tell that I…”

“Hated it? Yeah, for sure.”

“....prefered not to have an umbrella.”

Wriothesley let out a low, guttural bark of laughter that somehow got to the dragon despite him not being interested in humans in general.

“Not only I could tell I disturbed you, but I had to walk on the flowerbed to get to you, and then I trailed dirt in the Palais while everyone here glared at me for the audacity. Meanwhile you walked on the same dirt, but stayed pristine!”

“I’m sorry for…”

“Hey, don’t apologize. I’m just kidding, don’t worry.”

Neuvillette met the greyish blue eyes of thawed ice directly and sensed that he was truly not bothered, which didn’t make much sense. But Wriothesley was one of the very few humans who was not scared in the dragon’s presence. He was, probably, the only one who emanated only positive emotions at their meetings. Neuvillette mostly encountered negative reactions in his daily life at the trials, so he could not tell apart which positive feelings exactly that he read from Wriothesley due to the lack of exposure. But perhaps…

“I wouldn’t want you to feel unwelcome at the Palais,” Neuvillette said after a short pause.

Wriothesley grinned with a careless shrug.

“Then I will be there, even if the rest of your bureaucrats make faces. As I said, don’t worry.”

Neuvilette frowned, but didn’t see much point in pressing this further. After a confrontation with Navia, the dragon realized that his lack of understanding of humans hindered him, instead of making him truly impartial. Especially now that he was de facto in charge of the entire Fontaine government. And practice showed that only direct interaction with humans could give valuable experience, as watching from the Iudex seat did not allow him a nuanced understanding. 

So perhaps, if Wriothesley was a rare human who was not scared of him, and he proved rational and trustworthy in the years they knew each other, Neuvillette could confide in his true nature and maybe ask for advice in understanding humanity?

“Perhaps staying for some tea would make up for this past offense?”

Wriothesley stumbled for a moment.

“Seriously?” He sounded as casual and ironic as usual, but the surprised burst of positive emotions from him was bright and obvious. “After all these years you finally decided to deign my humble office with your presence?”

“It’d be a completely unofficial visit, of course.”

“Sure, sure. It was never my secret plot to bribe you with a tea party, trust me, even I realize my tea is not that good.”

His voice was ironic, but for a moment Neuvillette could see his crooked grin turn into a genuine smile. So, reassured that he was not imposing, Iudex nodded and followed the human into the Fortress’ entrance.

_________

The inspection itself was mostly a formality. The Court of Fontaine technically had no direct authority over Meripode, but it provided guards and substantial resources, and so it had a right to oversee the use of these assets. The actual budgeting was done on the regular in behind the scenes reports though, as the data was not visible in the in person visit. Still, it was a time honored tradition that got Neuvilette to show up regularly.

“Take a seat. It will take me a minute to make tea.”

Neuvilette gracefully sat down on the visitor’s chair In Wriothesley office, folding his hands on the cane. He still sat with a ramrod straight back and perfect posture, but there was a certain lightness to him today, which was hard to put into words. 

“The inspection is over, yet you are still nervous.”

Wriothesley knew he had a poker face good enough to cover it, yet Neuvillette saw it anyway. He had theorized for a long time that the Iudex could sense emotions, but usually he would not acknowledge it directly like this. “I wasn't nervous about the inspection to begin with. But inviting a high and mighty Iudex himself to the tea for years and then disappointing him when he finally accepts would be a devastating faux de pas. They will mock me on the first pages of all the papers tomorrow.”

Neuvillette frowned slightly.

“I must underline that I’m not here in any official capacity, and I would hope I’m talking to Wriothesley, not the Warden or the Duke. If you agree, I would ask that we leave the titles at the door.”

“No, of course,” Wriothesley, who had fantasized about leaving titles at the door and then clothes on the floor for actual years, said quickly, frantically recalculating how he could turn the tea party to wine tasting, which best wines he had confiscated in his storage and how he could make turning on the gramophone and then maybe leaning against the edge of the table in front of Neuvillette look natural and smooth. “Absolutely. I was just joking anyway, don’t mind it.”

“Ah, I see. I apologize, I’m unfortunately prone to missing humorous intent, so I appreciate your clarification.”

With how far the Iudex went out of his way to assure people of his good intentions in informal situations, Wriothesley really didn’t understand how everyone found him so intimidating. Especially because he very often had to interact with assholes in positions of power who did try to intimidate him on purpose and the contrast was very apparent. Neuvillette projected an aura of power without really wanting to, and then tried to over-explain himself to make others feel at ease. His earnest awkwardness was something like the clumsiness of a huge beast like an elephant trying not to step on the gaggle of kittens at his feet.

“In any case, there is nothing to be nervous about. After all, tea is liquid, and it’s really hard to make liquids unpleasant. So far I think only Fonta truly managed it.” Neuvillette drummed his fingers on the table and glanced at Wriothesley. “To be frank, if crimes against water could be prosecuted, Fonta would receive life in prison.”

Wriothesley snorted. “So no sugar in your tea, I take it?”

“No, thank you,” Iudex said politely and then, after a short pause, “And to clarify, I was not serious. There is nothing wrong with people liking sugary drinks, of course. I was just making an attempt at a joke.”

He really was horrendously bad at pretending to be a human. How could anyone hear him talk and still believe he’s a scheming manipulator was beyond ridiculous.

“No, I got it. It was a good joke,” The Duke grinned, placing a teacup in front of Neuvillette and sitting down across the table with his own.

Neuvillette gave him a graceful nod with a little smile and picked up his cup, giving it a swirl before tasting.

“Hmm. Interesting. Poignant. Bitter,” he said thoughtfully, tilting his head. 

Wriothesley was about to mention that this sort was not usually bitter, but Iudex continued. 

“Not by nature, but forced by circumstances. Not nearly enough water to be nourished, so it had to adapt and conserve strength, letting leaves seen as unimportant to die and concentrate on survival of the main branches. But there is not just hunger… there is a dream of rain. An ache of something not ever known, but yearned, longed for, without realizing what it is. But then…” Neuvillette closed his eyes for a moment. “It happened. There is a memory of luminous joy of water not gathered by mere drops, but drank in full, overwhelming, a feast after a life of fighting for scraps of morning dew. It had tasted rain at least once in the end.”

Wriothesley put his own cup down, leaning forward in disbelief.

“No way. This was a harvest from a drought year and it’s normally a mild sort, considered unusually strong in this season. How could you know this? Are you cheating?”

“You’re welcome to test me with other samples,” Neuvillette said with an air of a magnanimous ruler granting a boon and put the teacup down with a delicate clink. 

“Oh, I’m taking you up on your word, trust me,” the Duke grinned, but then paused. He didn’t want to spoil the mood, but he remembered how strongly Neuvillette felt about the perceived melusines conspiracy. Wriothesley had to tell him about the evil dragon idiots just to make sure he’s not thrown off balance later. That’s what the guard dogs are for, after all.

“Actually, before we move forward with testing your psychic tea reading abilities, there is something concerning official business that I think you should know. And then we can forget it completely.”

Neuvillette inclined his head with a small smile.

“There is a small group of conspirators, - and I must reiterate, it’s very small - who operate on the ridiculous idea that… uh, that you’re some kind of an evil dragon who schemed to overthrow Furina.”

Neuvillette's smile froze.

“You don’t have to worry about it, really. It’s negligibly small, and well, anyone with a working brain would not believe that you’re a monster in disguise.”

Iudex was silent for some time, not meeting Wriothesley’s eyes.

“Are melusines implicated in this?” he said finally.

“No. No, there’s no connection to them in this stupid theory.”

“Good. That's good. They do love living with humans so much.”

Wriothesley suspected that Iudex was taking things kind of out of proportion again.

“Listen, it’s really nothing…”

“No, no, I understand. It would be so unacceptably horrifying for humans to learn their ruler is a… monster.”

Neuvillette's voice wavered, but his face was impartial, strict, previous lightness gone completely. Wriothesley saw his hands tighten their grip on the handle of his cane a moment before he abruptly stood up.

“I must apologize for impropriety, but I have important business in the Palais which was inappropriate for me to neglect for so long. I must beg your leave to depart.”

Wriothesley stood up too, scraping to understand what he did wrong.

“Wait, it’s not…”

“Thank you for your time, Your Grace.”

Wriothesley shut his mouth, the title feeling like a slap for the first time in his life. The formality and politeness somehow only made it worse. He took a deep breath and willed himself to sound calm.

“I hope you have a nice evening, Monsieur Iudex.”

Neuvillette left in what for his usual dignified pace could be considered a hurry. Wriothesley followed him without being seen, partly to make sure he doesn’t get bothered by inmates and partly on an instinct to investigate. 

At the Fortress’ entrance, he watched Neuvillette walk under the rain, lifting his head upward. The blue strands of his long hair glowed and so did his coat-tails. They extended, shining brilliant bioluminescent blue, trailing behind the Chief Justice, in a moment looking like fish’s fins, then the next - as colossal snake’s coils. Sea waves crashed against the ridge without any wind, rising high, reaching to a lonely glowing figure of Iudex. With bated breath, Wriothesley watched Neuvillette extend a hand, as if catching raindrops - and rain stopped mid-flight in the air, lingering over his palm, waves frozen cresting over the earth. The raindrops gathered in a shuddering spheres, and then stretched upwards, against all laws of gravity.  Wriothesley’s heart skipped a beat as Neuvillette closed his fist and the rain flew backwards to the skies.

Wriothesley stormed back into his office and frantically searched through the reports, pages flying about, until he found the one about vishaps. He looked at the photos, seeing similarities he would never look for before. The dark blue color of vishap’s hide was nearly identical to Neuvillette’s attire, but that was small beans, easily written off as coincidence. Their eyes, bright magenta with white vertical slice of a pupil, resembled Iudex, but there was room for debate, as his eyes were much paler, lilac merging into gentle blue instead of a bright pink, even as white vertical pupil was so similar. What really struck Wriothesley after all this, was actually the little blue feather at the side of the head of both vishaps and Neuvillette. It was identical and looked so… deliberate. It had to be chosen and placed precisely like this. 

Still, this was not enough. He needed more evidence. He needed… he needed answers.

He walked to Jacque's block as quickly as he could without alarming inmates, but when he got to the conspirator’s room, Jacque was sleeping on the bed and a man was sitting on the chair next to him, reading a book. He looked up when Wriothesley walked in and stood up, clumsily dropping the book. He was tall and gangly, had dark hair, Inazuman features and light brown eyes behind the glasses. 

“Who are you?” Wriothesley was really not in the mood for playing games.

“Well, my organization caught wind that you are interested in learning some… historical information, and our poor Jacque is really not the best source, which is why I’m here to answer any questions you have,” the man gave him a groveling smile. “You can call me Enjou.”

“Not here. In my office. Follow me.”

When they got there, Enjou whistled musingly.

“Uh, what a nice office! Must be a pretty sweet gig. I wish I had an office instead of slinking in dump ruins all the time.” He sighed theatrically. “So, I assume your main questions are on the vishap situation. I…”

“Wait,” Wriothesley said, walking up to one of his wall cabinets. “You can’t expect me to just believe you on your word.”

“Oh, of course, of course! You’re free to rough me up a bit first. Maybe a little bit of torture? But only a little bit, I’ve got a glass jaw, haha!”

Wriothesley didn’t live so long as an undisputed champion of fight club to not recognize a freak who gets off on pain. He grimaced, walking up to the table where Enjou was already trying to rifle through the papers. He stopped with an apologetic grin and put his hands up. Wriothesley put a glass vial on the table.

“Drink.”

Enjou raised his eyebrows.

“Are we dining and wining first or?...”

“It’s a truth serum,” it was a secret project of the Sumeru Akademiya, before the sages were overthrown. Dendro Archon reportedly could read the thoughts of people, and sages were trying to replicate the effect at least partially. Wriothesley came into possession of it after using his network to get the sages connected to the needed people in Fontaine institute, as Fontaine was at the cutting edge of mech technology and the sages were apparently building an artificial god. Didn’t pan out for them, but the serum worked. Wriothesley was sure of it, because he tried it on himself first.

“Oh! How exciting! How does it work? Will it perhaps burn my insides in agonizing pain if I lie?”

“Drink,” Wriothesley said through gritted teeth.

Enjou smiled and drank the vial in one shot.

“Well, nothing is burning so far, but the evening is young, haha,” he said, smacking his lips.

Wriothesley took a deep breath.

“Why are you here?”

“Huh? What do you mean? To explain the history to you, as I said.”

“Because of the goodness of your heart? What’s your agenda? Your goal?”

Enhou cleared his throat.

“Well, first of all, I do believe in uncovering and spreading so-called “forbidden” knowledge. But with your particular case can you really question my agenda? I didn’t come to you first. You were the one who sought us out. I didn’t even want to be here! I was doing my own thing without knowing about you, to be honest! But, well, I am in an organization with some unfortunate morons who thought that recruiting a convenient idiot and then sending him into underworld prison to make sure he isn’t heard is a great plan. And then when the Warden takes note of the idiot and gets him to blabber, these same morons go, Enjou, you have to get there, because you’re a vishap expert! Ugh.” 

Enjou shook his head in seemingly sincere frustration.

“But um, yeah, I’m not trying to recruit you or anything. We know how you’ve disposed of House of Hearth agents and how you generally obstruct Fatui’s activity, and we just don't want you to do the same to us. Because we’re not your enemy! So I’m here to provide you with the necessary context to see that.”

Wriothesley drummed his fingers on the table.

“Okay. Start talking about Neuvilette and vishaps.”

“Well, Neuvilette is a Hydro Dragon, that should be obvious. To clarify, Hydro Dragon here means Hydro Dragon Sovereign, because technically all hydro vishaps are hydro dragons. If you didn’t know, which is understandable, as you’re more of a fighter type and not a bookworm like myself, haha, vishaps are primordial elemental creatures, original rulers of this land and mortal foes of humanity. Long before Archons, there were Dragon Sovereigns in charge of each element. Then there was a war with Celestia, specifics of which are not widely known, but we do know that Celestia won, dragons were largely eradicated and the huge chunks of powers of Sovereigns were taken from them and given to the Archons. Hydro Sovereign was killed.” 

Enjou made a dramatic pause, before leaning forward with a grin. “But you see, vishaps reincarnate. Neuvillette is a Hydro Sovereign reborn in a human shape. There was actually an Inazuman prophecy about it, recorded in the Byakuyakoku Collection. That Hydro Dragon will descend in a human form, and it specifically mentions a cane. This really baffles me, to be honest. How could they predict the cane? Why does he even need a cane? Surely not because of any weakness, he’s an immortal dragon, 500 years is very young for him. And the records say when Neuvilette took his position as the Iudex some 400 years ago, he already had a cane. Was he born with it? Like, had he sprung fully formed, with a cane? Did he pick it up as, I don't know, honorary agreement with a prophecy? Or were his fashion choices actually predetermined to the degree that the prophecy knew them millenia ago?”

“Get back on track,” Wriothesley growled.

“Oh, sorry. Hmm, this serum works by forcing you to spell your thoughts out loud, yes? Well, then it’s not my fault I’m even more blabbering than usual!”

Wriothesley clasped his hands together and said slowly, carefully watching Inazuman’s reaction. “Even if he is a hydro sovereign dragon, as you say, this alone does not make him evil, as your conspiracy claims.”

Enjou fixed his glasses. He really had the hands of a bookworm, no work calluses or fighting scars. But there were spots of reddened, peeling skin that looked like burns that didn’t get to fully heal before getting burned again.

“Did you miss the “mortal foe of humanity” bit? But okay, sure. This is Fontaine after all, presumption of innocence and all that. I mean, I can’t read his thoughts to tell you under oath that he’s evil, so don’t take me to court, hehe!” Enjou grinned, clearly pleased at his own joke. “But I can tell what I know and ask some questions. My first question is why, after losing a war and presumably being killed by Celestia, would an ancient dragon god want to serve a servant of Celestia? The Archon, who rules with what is actually his own power? Unless he had some sort of agenda, perhaps? And come to think of it, why would Hydro Archon put a mortal foe of humanity into a position of such institutional power?”

“Are you implying Neuvilette forced Furina to give him the position of Iudex?”

“Well, I wasn’t here!” Enjou raised his hands defensively. “But why else would he become the Iudex?”

“There are higher beings and gods serving archons in other nations. Like Liyue adepti serving Rex Lapis.”

“Morax was known as the prime of the adepti. None of them could compare with him at strength. Same with yokai and Baal in Inazuma, she was the strongest by far. It’s natural that they would accept servitude. But here…” Enjou glanced at Wriothesley with a sly smile. “If you had to make a bet on a direct fight between Neuvillette and Furina, who would you bet on? Come on, I know tales that her own court would not listen to her until the Iudex tapped his cane.”

Wriothesley couldn’t really argue with this. When the Primordial Sea started breaking out, he himself sent for Neuvillette and didn’t even think to ask the actual Archon.

“In that case, why didn’t he just kill her immediately? Why would he play the judge?”

“Well, you see, he would not get his power back from just killing her. It would just pass to the next Archon. No, the Hydro Archon had to destroy her own throne. And running out the ruler requires a long game, as you know very well yourself, You Grace.”

Wriothesley kept a calm face, but something must have given him away, as Enjou grinned predatorily.

“Next set of facts and questions. You know of the infamous Archon trial, of course? When it was revealed that fontanian people are actually oceanids, given human shape by the previous hydro archon, Egeria? And the prophecy of the flood works because Primordial Sea waters dissolve fontanians into their oceanid forms. Well, the flood actually came. Why were fontanians not dissolved?”

“I’m sure you’ll tell me that.”

“Hehe, yes. It was because Neuvillette turned them into real humans with his powers of Hydro Sovereign. How generous of him, yeah? The question is, why did it take him so long? It’s been 500 years, and yet fontanians were made human only minutes before the flood.”

Despite a feeble bookworm posturing, there was a shadow of unhinged madness in his eyes, dangerous enough that in any other case Wriothesley would cut contact. But the stakes were too high right now. He needed to get all the information he could out of this lunatic.

“You might also remember that on the same trial it was proven that Furina is not a Hydro Archon. And I can tell you that the actual Archon, Focalors, was in the Oracle machine the whole time. Sorry, I’m not even trying to pronounce that full name, haha!”

The urge to punch this bastard was overwhelming, but Wriothesley kept himself in check, mostly because he could tell he was being baited into it and he didn’t want to give the piece of shit the satisfaction.

“Anyway, Neuvilette had an audience with her right after a trial, and as result she killed herself and gave him power back. You see, Hydro Archon doesn’t have the ability to turn oceanids into real humans. All of you were just… things, playing at being humans,” Enjou said with a smirk that looked more fascinated than mocking. “But Hydro Sovereign, the original god of life, does have the power to do so. And he also, conveniently, has control over the Primordial Sea, which you, Your Grace, already know as he stopped the flood in your own Fortress.”

Wriothesley raised an eyebrow and Enjou smiled with a shrug.

“Again, I was not there! But I do know Hydro Sovereign controls the Primordial Sea, and that there is an entrance to the Sea in the Meripode Fortress. I also know that there was some emergency in the Fortress, where inmates were told to run as close to the surface as possible, and then Monsieur Iudex visited and the disaster was somehow avoided.”

Wriothesley frowned. 

“If he was really a mortal enemy of humanity, why wouldn’t he just let the gates of Meripode break and the flood happen right there and then? We would all be gone and he wouldn’t need to lift a finger. Instead he ran to help when I… when the Fortress called.”

“And what would that achieve? He still wouldn’t get his power back,” Enjou shrugged dismissively and then smiled, almost wistfully. 

“No, you know what I would do if *I* was the Hydro Sovereign with an ability to take human form? And if the Archon who held my power hostage was relatively weak AND had the prophecy involving a flood of the Sea I control? Well, I’d infiltrate human society, take a position of high authority and make sure the humans not only see me as the personification of law and justice, but also respect me more than their own Archon. And when the prophecy deadline is coming up, I’d make sure I have people loyal to me in some key positions. Such as Royal Duelist… and the Warden of the Fortress.”

“He didn’t make me the Warden,” Wriothesley gritted out. 

“No, but he did make you the Duke, didn’t he?” Enjou smirked with a wink. “Our sources say the Court was not thrilled to give the highest noble title to you. And if the Iudex did not throw his own weight behind it, it would have never come to pass. How generous of him.”

It was true, Wriothesley’s own informants reported that the Court loathed to give him a title, let alone as high as the Duke. Neuvillette was the only one who fought for him and fought hard, because usually Iudex’s one word was enough to make a decision, but here the stalemate lasted for two months. They wanted to compromise and give him the viscount, but Iudex wouldn’t budge, so in the end, they caved.

Wriothesley never asked Neuvillette for the title. Neuvillette never mentioned what he did for the Warden and never dropped anything even as close as a hint of asking anything in return.

Unless you see it as a part of centuries long game, where mundane favors didn’t matter, but being called first to the access of the Primordial Sea did.

“Ah, you’re starting to get it, don’t you?” Enjou sensed blood in the water, like a proper shark would. “Then I would orchestrate a public court hearing to absolutely discredit the current ruler and corner the actual Archon. And when Focalors is forced to talk to me…. I would make a bargain. Saving the lives of all fontanians in exchange of getting my full power back and Focalors dying. Isn't it ironic that the dragon playing human was the one to turn human-shaped water things into actual humans?"

Enjou leaned back against his chair, grinning with satisfaction.

“And then I’d have an entire country loyal to me as a ruler, which would make a great foothold to use for attacking Celestia.”

Wriothesley took a deep breath.

“You really expect me to take you on your word? You might believe it yourself, which will pass the truth serum, but the word of a lunatic is not evidence.”

“Oh, of course not! I would never expect you to take my lowly word for it. Instead, why don’t you take Monsieur Iudex’s word?”

Enjou made a dramatic gesture of spilling a heap of conches onto the table. Wriothesley raised his eyebrows, when the other man poked one of them awkwardly.

“Now that I have reclaimed one of the Seven Authorities from the hands of the usurpers, I have regained my true form,” a calm voice that was undoubtedly Neuvillette, said out of nowhere. “I am now a fully fledged dragon, powerful enough to judge the rest of the gods. My final destiny is to judge the Usurper-King in the heavens above.”

“This could be faked,” Wriothesley said automatically, just to argue, but his heart already fell.

“You wound me! These are his words, and I spent an entire night fishing them out for you, I’ll have you know. It’s quite hard to capture this. You’re welcome to listen to all of them and see for yourself.”

Almost against his will, Wriothesley reached out and touched one of the conches.

“…I shall fulfill my vow to judge all of The Seven in turn, even if the sky should fall and the ground give way.”

Wriothesley took an abrupt breath through his teeth. Enjou sighed and stood up.

“I think it’s better for you to listen to this alone. After, you’re welcome to reach out to us, but please don’t make any hasty decisions. I’ll see you soon, Your Grace!”

Enjou walked down the stairs, and by the time Wriothesley got to them, there was no one there. The Duke couldn’t bring himself to focus on that though. Instead, he walked up to one of the wall cabinets and took out a bottle of whiskey he was saving up as a possible gift.

He didn’t bother with the glass. He fell down into the chair in front of the conches and clenched his fingers on the bottle, icy veins springing up from under them. He took a sip and touched another conch.

“…my grievances with the usurpers have yet to be settled... They owe a debt of blood that shall not be forgotten.”

He drank, staring blindly into the distance, and listened, and the quiet words burned worse than whiskey sliding down his throat. He caught himself on a familiar thought. ���This can’t be happening. This is too monstrous.” The same feverish thoughts he had when he discovered the truth about his foster parents.

As if by now he shouldn’t have learned that nothing is too monstrous in this world.

“As a survivor of the dragon race who has regained my full dragonhood, I must fulfill my oath and obligations even if it means returning all the water in the oceans back to the heavens.”

It really did sound exactly like Neuvillette. Wriothesley tried to find the lie, something that sounded fake, but not only the voice, but the cadence and word choice fit. And it sounded calm, impartial as usual too. And then there were hydro vishaps appearing in Erinnyes…

Fuck, was it really that easy to fool him? Was he really this big of a fool? He learned to distrust sweet words and warm smiles, and he was so sure that he wouldn’t get caught in the same lies ever again, even if he sacrificed his ability to love for this. But all it took was a seeming opposite, direct and harsh, too cold and intimidating to appear manipulative, but endearingly awkward just sometimes, just enough to make him believe that… That there was something true and clear in this rotten world. That he could trust in *someone*.

“Nothing will stop me from rendering judgment on each of The Seven.” 

He went through all of the recordings, frantically at first, wanting to find contradictions, then, when none were found, numbly re-listening to the few that hit the worst.

“…also the destroyer of the present order, the one who shall judge all gods, and the foe of humanity. “

Wasn’t it too obvious in hindsight? Why would the Iudex stake his own reputation on Wriothesley’s title? How could you not see it coming? Oh, because you thought you “deserve” it for turning this dog-fighting pit of a prison into something with a modicum of fairness? Because you thought he recognized your redemption? Gods, what are you, fucking fourteen again, did you learn nothing, why would anyone ever care about you, you naive goddamn idiot?

Soon, the bottle was somehow almost done. At this point he was running one recording on repeat, mindless and purposeless except for repeating slashes of pain, familiar rhythm like the knife on his wrists years ago.

"Hydro Dragon, Hydro Dragon, don't cry." Whoever had penned that rhyme, as well as the Fontainians who came to believe in it, must not have known the Hydro Dragon all that well, considering that they thought the Hydro Dragon could cry. What did they take said Dragon for, some sort of bleeding heart who grieved for humans and the heavens alike?”

If this was true… If this was true, then Wriothesley didn’t just get fooled himself. Then he helped a monster take control of the country and potentially use it in war against heavens. 

He clenched his hand and it took him a moment to realize he broke the bottle he was holding in it. That pain from glass pieces in his palm felt small and distant now. But at last, it spurned him into action.

If this was true, he only had one shot. He’d already told Neuvillette of the dragon conspiracy, like a good little idiot eager to please. And any tyrant worth his salt would make sure to take him out after his, especially now that he outlived his purpose in giving access to Meripode vaults. He might have some time because of how oblivious he was, dismissing the conspiracy openly, but it couldn’t be long. 

He couldn’t take his time. He couldn’t hope for the better. He had to act like it’s the worst option possible. More than anything, he needed to confront Neuvillette, dragon Sovereign or not. He had to fix this, no matter the cost.

He realized he needed leverage. Brute strength was out of the question. Even before the flood, Neuvillette absolutely destroyed Fatui Harbinger in one flash, quicker than anyone in the audience could see what happened. Wriothesley would put himself against Harbringer with no hesitation, but he wasn’t an idiot. If this was how powerful Iudex was before, then after allegedly gaining his full power, there was no way Wriothesley could threaten him. No, he needed something else.

He took out the paper and wrote a note, taking care to not stain it with blood. Fortunately, he held the bottle in his left hand, so he could keep it out of the way.

“....and so confess that I, Wriothesley, Warden of the Fortress of Meripode, killed Chief Justice, Iudex Neuvillette.”

He finished the note and carefully put in his signature, then folded the paper into an envelope and closed it with his personal seal. Then he walked up to a safe, one of the hidden ones, and punched in a code. When the safe opened, he rummaged in it for a moment, until finally taking out two vials.

This was sold to him as the poison that could kill a god.

#rhine writes #rhine writes light #neuvillette #wriothesley #wriolette #genshin impact #enjou #i had a lot of fun with enjou here #anyway let me know what you guys think

[manifestmerlin]

I decided to scroll through rhine labs manga chapter 9 even though it's not translated yet and while I'm sad :( I'm also glad that it seems to be... actually progressing the Rhine characters relationship if I'm reading the emotions (since I can't read the text and google is kinda unhelpful) because it looks like Saria and Silence's relationship is on the mend. Not in an immediate way but the ending is very much a 'they'll get there' sort of thing. Which makes me happy honestly because I've always thought the ceaselessly dour tone of the main story was always its worst part and why I tended to like the event writing more. A story where the characters are dreamers who hope needs to actually.make it right for them to do so or it's just the worst kind of edgy bullshit.

#im just having a lot of arknights writing thoughts okay #arknights #arknights rhine labs #rhine labs manga #basically every arknights story arc is fundamentally about hope and if any of them end with that hope just being wrong im gonna lose it #its why my confidence in the writers shot up after near light #because she did it! nearl had a dream and a hope and ideals and she did it! it wasnt an overnight thing but she actually won in that event! #like completely! all the protagonisty charactera wound up coming out ahead! #they were in a better place at the end of the story than at the beginning!

[cerastes]

What are some of the greatest/most impressive feats of strength in Arknights’s story?

Taking the overall narrative and worldbuilding into account, I believe the most effective aspect of Arknights' narrative is that they managed to make Terra feel like a breathing, living world and setting instead of a vehicle for the point-of-view character to exist in and act upon. This is specially remarkable for a mobile gacha game, as settings in these tend to be exactly that sort of vehicle instead of world that give any hints of existing when outside the player's immediately vision. The way I like to think about it is, "if a tree fell somewhere in this setting while my intended point-of-view or self-insert character isn't there to see it, did it make a sound?”. In Arknights, Girls' Frontline and SIGH Epic Seven (credit where it's due), the answer feels like a yes to me, whereas in every other game of this kind, it feels like a no, if you know what I mean.

This is intrinsically tied to the cast of characters: It is an inevitability that games where a guiding principle is to release an immense number of characters throughout its lifetime will have characters that will never have any relevance whatsoever besides existing as a minor piece in the world, and Arknights is not immune to this. Even other works of a different base nature and with a much smaller casts will be victims to this: In Trails of Cold Steel, for example, you have a pretty big cast of playable characters, some of which are very well developed and have a lot of screentime and development, and others who are Gaius Worzel. However, this leads to two aspects of Arknights as a narrative and as a game telling a story and fleshing out a world that I appreciate:

The first is that those characters that do get used, are for the overwhelming majority fun and interesting to see and accompany throughout their narrative, and rarely for me, I include the usual point-of-view character in this, Doctor. I tend to have a pretty big dislike, if not disdain, for characters you're meant to self-insert into, I sincerely cannot stand them. Doctor definitely has a big of a self-insert nature to them, but there's also a lot of the Doctor that is actually pre-established, such as them being a weirdo, tending to be very effective but also causing troublesome aftermaths that others then have to clean up, and being particularly good at bonding with assassins and underworld types, among other things. More importantly, Doctor is not present in most side-stories. This is fantastic and leads to the second aspect I appreciate.

This second aspect is that the cast has legs to stand on without needing the protagonist or POV character. You'd think this is a problem mostly limited to gacha games due to their usually flimsy narratives and structures, right? Except, this is actually a huge problem in pretty much every corner of narrative art! I can think of countless comics, manga, cartoons, anime, light novels, novels, and much more, eastern and western, that just tend to have worlds and casts that center entirely around the protagonist, for the protagonist. Whether it be a US author writing out their post-apocalyptic hoarder fantasy or a Japanese author detailing the trials and tribulations of a relatable nobody that a myriad of girls want to have sex with, and even some other pieces of art perhaps not so comically easy to make fun of, it's a consistent aspect of them that the protagonist is the center of the universe, both in terms of events and what the rest of cast thinks about, talks about, and takes action upon. Obviously, this results, in my opinion, in weak worlds and weak casts that have no legs to stand on. I appreciate that even without Doctor around, Arknights does a good job of having protagonists of their own little stories in the side stories: Olivia Silence is a joy to follow when she takes the lead in a Rhine Lab story, Kroos has been one of my favorite characters to be able to experience events through with the Sui stories, Skadi and the Abyssal Hunters are exciting to watch in Abyssal Hunter stories, and the latest event as of the writing of this post filled me inspiration, seeing Reed star in a character piece that tells us more about someone so immensely reticent to open up. It's by having interesting world events occurring throughout Terra that don't have the input of Doctor, and thus lets us see more and more of this huge cast of characters taking the lead that I think is a fascinating experience for me as a reader that keeps things fresh. It's even allowed me to come to appreciate characters I initially didn't care about, such as Bagpipe and Magallan, and see, in most games of this nature, if I don't care about a character frame one, it's probably going to stay that way because, well, if I didn't care about what their limited assortment of pre-cooked lines had to sell me on, then I'm likely not going to care about that character likely not showing me a new aspect of themselves impactful enough to change my mind in an event they'll likely just be an accessory to.

It's upon this base that I think Arknights stays interesting and fresh: A solid foundation that I can agree with and that keeps things dynamic and interesting. Specific events and story beats that I think are interesting are a natural result of these baseline aspects, but it all traces back to the cradle, to these baseline aspects that facilitate those cool narratives in the first place.

#arknights #sanspapyrus683

[sporesmoldsfungus]

Safety Net | Egon Spengler x Reader

Hi Everyone! This is my first time writing for Egon and I would be lying If I said I did not thoroughly enjoy myself. Im still figuring out how to use Tumblr, so any tips would be well appreciated. Hope you enjoy :)

Word count: 3.1K

Side note: look how cute our man is in this gif, I cannot deal!!!

******

You grimace as you put your sleeve over your mouth, the smoke from the trap causing you to cough in reaction. 

“I Don’t think I will ever get used to that smell” You murmur to Ray as you pass him the trap. You were both currently out of town on a job for an old opera house. The job required you to stay at a hotel last night so you could catch the ghost in question early that morning. The ghost busters usually didn’t accept jobs from out of town, but when the owner of the opera house mentioned a large check, Peter could not say no. Of course, he had no intention of doing the job himself, which was why you and Ray were in the current situation. 

“Egon said it has something to do with the negative energy the ghost emit when captured” Ray explained, he also grimaced as he took the trap from you. He brought the trap over to Ecto-1 and threw it in the back before closing the door. “I cannot wait to get back and sleep in my own bed” He sighed. 

“Yeah, me too. Those hotel beds were horrible” you agreed as you made your way towards the driver’s side of the car. Ray had drove you both to the location, you thought you would return the favour by driving home. “I’ll make sure the invoice for those rooms go to Venkman, he’s the reason we had to do this job in the first place” You joke.

“Always the same, even in college he always got the best side of the deal” Ray agreed as he got into his side of the car, immediately putting the heaters on after he sat down.”

“Oh please don’t remind me of Peter’s Sorority years, I’ve had enough pain today to last me at least a week” You grumble as you gently rubbed your neck. The ghost you had been hired to capture had a little bit of a nasty streak. Just as you were about to capture it, it had thrown you back into a wall, your neck and shoulder hadn’t felt right since. 

Ray chuckled before asking in a concerned tone. “Are you alright to drive? I don’t mind switching”.

“I’ll be okay, an ice pack at home should do the trick” You smiled before turning the car on and starting your journey home. Ray’s selflessness was one of your favourite things about the scientist. No matter what the situation, Ray always offered to help. 

******

You firstly met Ray, Egon and Peter around eight years ago at Columbia University. As you walked through the door to your first lecture on parapsychology, you had noticed there was only one seat left available to sit in. Next to the free seat, sat the dorkiest man you had ever set eyes on. He had large round glasses that were definitely a decade out of fashion, but you couldn’t picture him wearing any other style. His slightly curly hair was neatly kept, and you couldn’t help but wonder what routine he used to tame it. The more you stared, the more you admired how beautiful this man was. From the way he had dressed himself in a suit just for a lecture, to the way his forehead was slightly creased due to the front on his face as he read over a book. 

You slowly made your way over to the empty seat, hesitating before sitting down. “Is this seat taken?” you asked softly, a small blush covered your cheeks and nose.

The man’s head rose to look up at you, his frown softening as he looked at you. It felt like he had been staring at you for an hour before he eventually cleared his throat. “uh, no this seat is free” he nodded before awkwardly going back to his book. 

You gave a small smile and sat down on the stool. As you brought your textbooks from your bag, you caught a glimpse of what the man next to you was reading. “you’re a fan of Joseph Rhine?”.

“Uhh, just a little bit of light reading” he replied hesitantly, as if he didn’t realise you were talking to him at first. 

You gave a small nod. “I’m more a fan of Arthur Doyle, myself”

“The sherlock Holmes author?” he asked sceptically.

You gave an enthusiastic nod “Yes, many people don’t know that he actually does research in telepathy and seances too”.  Just like every time you talked about anything on the lines of parapsychology, you could feel yourself becoming excited. Your family did everything in attempt to get you to choose a more ‘normal’ degree like English or Biology, but nothing could have possibly changed your mind. 

“interesting” he mumbled; his face looked as if it was deep in thought for a moment before he opened up a notebook, and scribbled down the author’s name. 

“My name is Y/N, by the way” you stuck your hand towards the man, a gentle smile on your lips. You were trying your best to follow your mother’s advice she had given you on the phone this morning. ‘Any day, is a successful day, if you meet a new friend’. 

The man returned a very small smile before gently taking your hand. “Egon Spengler”

“Lovely to meet you Egon”.

What you were unaware of that day, was why Egon had been sitting alone, when in fact his two best friends were sat directly behind him. Peter and Ray were well aware of Egon’s most important rule. ‘I forbid anybody to sit next to me in lectures, talking is a distraction of learning’.  Almost every day he had turned people down who were looking for a spare seat, earning his friends to cringe away in embarrassment each time. However, when he had looked at you, something changed. He realised that he, for some reason, would not mind being distracted by you. Of course, he later went home and tried to conduct a full study on why he felt this way, but it took him four years before he later came up with a reasonable conclusion. 

Later that day, you were introduced to Ray and Peter, through the expense of Egon being the centre of one of Peter’s jokes. After that day on, the four of you had been close friends ever since. 

******

After complaining about New York traffic for at least thirty minutes, you finally drove into the firehouse, sighing with content as you parked the car. “Home, sweet, home”. 

As you got out of the car, a floating green blob flew towards you, it’s stick like arms wrapping around your neck. 

“Awhh, I missed you too slimer” You chuckled as you hugged the ghost back. 

“How come he never slimes you; I swear he has full control of that stuff” Peter grumbled as he walked out his office and headed towards you. 

“Oh Peter, are you jealous that slimer loves me more? I’m sure he’d love to come and give you a cuddle too” You joked as you let go of the ghost, a mischievous smirk on your face. 

“Don’t you dare” He warned, his eyes narrowing as he spoke slowly. 

“Fine, you win this time. However, me and Ray have decided you are getting invoiced for those hotel rooms, after all, it was your call to take”. 

Peter struggled to find a reply for a moment before sighing in defeat. “Whatever, just give the papers to Janine, I’m too tired to debate this one out”. 

“What’s the matter? You’re not sick are you” You asked genuinely. If needed, Peter normally had the social skills to sell ice to someone who lived in the North pole. 

“No, I’m not sick. But considering I’m paying for the hotel rooms, I need to call in a favour from you too” He replied, leaning against the side of Ecto-1 as he spoke. 

You stopped unloading the equipment from the back to give him your full attention. “I’m not taking the blame again for you not closing the containment unit correctly”

“You forgot to close the containment unit again!” Ray rushed from behind the car, his face frantic as he looked between you and Peter. 

“No! The containment unit is fine! Gosh, what do you people take me for?” Peter replied quickly, finishing the sentence with a scoff.  “I’m calling in a favour because Spengz hasn’t left the lab since you went on that call”. He finally explained. 

Your heart sunk a little as Peter spoke. It was not unusually for Egon to spend hours at a time in the lab, but you and Ray had been gone for over twenty-four hours. Egon tended to go through stages where he become so fixated on science, his personal health was forgotten to him. He had the potential to go days without eating or sleeping, which often made him ill and even more stressed out for a few days. The boys did their best to encourage Egon to stop working, but it just resulting in them being thrown out of the lab. The boys sometimes called you their “secret weapon” which they would release when things got bad. 

You gave a sad sigh and nodded in understanding to Peter. “I’ll try my best” you muttered as you took a bag from ecto-1’s side door. You and Ray had picked up some snacks on the way home from your call that you were going to attempt to use. 

You headed downstairs and gently tapped on the lab door before entering. “Guess who’s back” you said cheerily, trying your best to act like you were unaware of Egon’s shenanigans. When you entered the lab, he was sat at his desk, microscope at hand. 

“Hey Sweetheart” he said softly, although you could hear the tired undertone in his voice. “How did the call go?”.

“It was just a class three, nothing we could not deal with. Although, it did get a little aggressive at the end” You explained as you came up and hugged him from behind. 

He gave a soft smile and rested one hand on your arms that were wrapped around him, his other hand continued to write down his notes from the microscope. “You must be tired from the drive home, why don’t you go and get some rest” He suggested. 

“Well, I was thinking perhaps me and you could get something to eat first?” you tried at your first attempt of dragging him from the lab. “We could order from your favourite Thai place.” You bribed. 

“That sounds great, but I really need to finish my work on this new slime sample.” Egon replied with a sigh as he continued to work with his microscope. “I really think I’m onto something with this sample, the electrochemical bond is unlike any other we’ve encountered”. 

“Oh, okay” you gave a small nod, thinking how this was going to be harder than you thought. “Well, I bought some snack on the way home from the call, we could share them in the meantime?” You suggested as you walked over to grab the bag you had put on the counter. 

“I would, but I really need to test the polarity of this sample” He abstained.

“Egon, you taking a five-minute break to eat sugary treats with me will not cause Gozer to raise from the dead.”

This time he finally looked up at you, a million thoughts seemed to be going through his head before he finally said. “Okay, but only a few minutes” He agreed, moving over to the other counter to sit next to you. 

‘Result!’ you thought. 

You gave him a bright smile and laid out the packets of food in front of you both. 

“So, did Peter behave himself whilst I was away?” You joked as you opened as packet of crisps. 

Egon hummed. “Peter behaved like Peter, if that answers your question.”  He also opened a box of twinkies as he spoke.  “I suppose it does” You agreed. “I also came up with a new theory” You announced. 

“And what would that be?” 

“Peter actually loves having slimer around. In fact, I think slimer is Peter’s favourite supernatural entity.”

Egon gave a low chuckle and you mentally ticked off another achievement box.

“Are you sure you’re not lacking sleep? That’s the most impossible theory you have conducted” Egon asked with a small smile. 

“Oh, I’m exhausted, those hotel beds should be burnt, they were horrible!” You exclaimed. You moved your neck side to side in order to relieve some of the tension. As you did so, your hair moved to the side, giving a plain sight to the side of your neck. 

Any humour that Egon had managed to gather instantly left his face at the sight of your neck. Right under your hairline, a purply black bruise began to form.

 Your neck and shoulders had been aching ever since the ghost had thrown you back into the wall. You had gotten your fair number of beatings when being on calls, but you always managed to just walk them off. You thought this was just like other times, but you were unaware of how much your neck was bruising. 

Egon slowly reached up and brushed the hair from the side of your neck, exposing more of the skin. You couldn’t help but wince a little from the pain. 

“What did this to you?” He whispered; his voice barely auditable.

You hesitated a little. “The ghost I said that got a little aggressive, he had a thing for throwing people too” You replied with an award chuckle, trying your best to lighten the mood. 

Egon clenched his jaw. “You need to ice this” he mumbled before going over to the lab freezer and pulling out an ice pack. Before he placed the ice pack on your neck, he very gently tied your hair back with the hair tie you conveniently had on your wrist. You tried your best not to wince which caused him to murmur a small “sorry”.

“I’m okay. Honestly, it doesn’t hurt that much” You reassured, taking his place of holding the icepack to the bruise. 

He sat back down next to you and gently took your free hand. “Y/N, you should really go and rest.” He told you softly, but with an authoritative undertone. “An injury like this is only going to heal with rest.”

Your eyes softened as you looked at him, really looked at him. The man before you looked exhausted. His eyes were dark but were still looking at you with pure love, His skin was slightly pale and his face had a slightly sad aura. Despite your friends attempts, nobody could persuade Egon to look after himself in the last twenty-four hours, but here he was, fully invested in your health and safety. Oh, the irony. 

“Are you in any pain?” He asked sadly, his eyes frowning a little as he noticed your eyes starting to glass over a little with tears. 

You slightly shook your head before leaning over and gently placing your lips to his. He seemed to relax at your touch, something that he had developed overtime. “I’ll make you a deal” You whispered as you pulled back to look at him, your face still quite close to his. 

He gently rubbed the back of your hand he was still holding with his thumb. He remained quiet, waiting for you to continue. 

“I will take a nap and rest my neck, but only if you come and keep me company” You bargained sweetly. 

Egon let out a sigh, he looked over his should at the slime sample before looking back to you. “Alright” He agreed. “But you’re keeping the icepack on” He added as he stood up, his hand remaining around yours as he led you upstairs and up to the bedrooms. You and Janine had your own bedroom with two double beds. Meanings that Janine hardly stayed at the firehouse, you and Egon had partly claimed the room for yourselves. 

“Now lovebirds, I don’t want to hear any noises coming from that room” Peter joked loudly as you and Egon got to the top floor. 

“Oh slimer! Peter said he wants a cuddle!” You yelled loudly with a huge smirk. The distant yelling of peter could be heard as Egon closed the bedroom door.

“I love that little ghost” You beamed as you got a set of pyjamas for you and Egon from the wardrobe. 

You both began to change into your pyjamas, Egon having to help you pull your t-shirt over your head due to the pain of your neck. As you got into bed, you gently took off Egon’s glasses and set them on the nightstand on your side of the bed, just in case he got any ideas about going back to the lab. You were a light sleeper and would wake up if he decided to slip out through the night. 

Egon wrapped his arms around you as you cuddled up to him, doing his best to avoid your neck at all costs. Just as you were about to drop off to sleep, he mumbled “I’m sorry”. You gave a small frown and opened your eyes again. “You have nothing to be sorry for” you said almost instantly. You repositioned yourself so you were resting on his chest but looking up at him. 

“I didn’t realise I was worrying people again” he said softly, looking down at you as he spoke. It had finally sunk in why you and his friends had been asking him to eat and rest a lot recently.

Your heart almost broke when you realised what he meant. “Oh Egon” You whispered sadly. You reached up and gently kissed his lips, his hand coming up to your cheek as you melted into each other’s grasp. “We all care about you so much” you told him sincerely. 

He gave a small nod before softly kissing you again. “Get some rest” he mumbled as he pulled away.  He gave the top of your head a small kiss as you repositioned yourself on his chest. 

Egon acknowledging why people were worried was the winning streak in your eyes. He was not somebody who needed to be told something many times, as soon as he acknowledged an issue, he would do his best to change things. 

“Goodnight, my love” “Goodnight, Sweetheart”

#egon spengler #egon spengler x reader #egon spengler fanfiction #ghostbusters 1984 #ghostbusters #the real ghostbusters #ray stantz #peter venkman #winston zeddemore #slimmer #janine melnitz #ghostbusters ii #fanfiction #harold ramis #bill murray #dan ackroyd #y/n

[justintaco]

I've been up for almost 24 hours so

superheavy Lonetrail Muelsyse spoilers

Besides the like, uncountable amount of stuff that blew me away in Lonetrail,

linking together Mansfield Break and Dorothy's Vision with Vigilo and Walk in the Dust

creating thematic parallels with Near Light at the end,

what really blew me away was Muelsyse.

Anyone who's followed this blog for a long time knows I'm not big on shipping and I'm semi-public with my opinion that most times shipping brain completely poisons someone's ability to actually engage with a narrative. But honest to god, even to me, they seemed to be almost writing a romance with Doctor and Mumu.

Blink twice if you don't think I'm crazy.

like any gacha you have a lot of flirty lines between the player character and a million of the girls (and guys), but like, this seemed unusually genuine and romantic?

(x)

Like besides them sharing a dance and all their cute little scenes, they seemed to be creating a genuine parallel in their backstories and who they are as people here

Mumu discovers she isn't actually the last of her race but realizes that she has so little in common with them she cannot form any meaningful connection or even find a shared language with them. Her integration into human society is like, almost all just an act of survival by her own admission, she doesn't feel any belonging there either. In fact, most of the time her real body is hiding in her vivarium because the physical world itself is becoming so poisoned by originium that it's dangerous to leave using anything but a clone. Even in her flashback with Saria and Kristen, she seems to be the third wheel.

She is by every possible metric, completely alone. And it seems like her chronic teehee backstabbing is a coping mechanism to feeling completely alienated from even her closest friends and what becomes her second family with the Rhine Lab directors. Even that dysfunctional and over idealized family is gone now too. She even says the following after she betrays Doctor for one last ditch effort to throw in her lot with Kristen and maybe find somewhere out in the stars she can belong:

Compare that with the Doctor, who in this event witnesses what seems to be the death of the last member of their race. In fact, the dialogue implies that Doctor feels an incredible amount of anguish even just pulling the plug on Trevor since it's not so quick a death. Directly after this event, after escaping the big silo bunker thing, Doctor's first thought is to go seek out Mumu rather than regroup with everyone from RI (including Saria who just reentered the atmosphere Halo 3 style). It feels like a response to an epiphany.

Earlier, Doctor had managed to actually get her to tell the truth about herself during their dance. How isolated she feels without any past or family, just like Doctor. So they go directly to her, fresh off of losing the last connection to their past life besides Kal'tsit (who is implied to not only be unwilling but in some way unable to share more info with Doctor).

You then get what is this, extremely deeply intimate conversation between Doctor and Muelsyse, commiserating over their shared loneliness.

She tries to play things off with her usual shtick but pretty quickly she admits that saving those random Control goons on the ship was her failed attempt at suicide because Saria had well and truly kicked her out of the triumvirate to confront Kristen alone.

After that she begins connecting with Doctor on a deeper level than any character I can really recall. As much as I love the ex wife Kal'tsit stuff, they really don't seem to have a romantic attachment. A very very close and intimately trusting one, maybe a past romance, but never romantic with Doctor as they exist in the present since waking up. Doctor views other characters like Amiya, Ifrit, and Rosmontis as children to be protected. But this here is these two really baring their souls and it's just crazy to see in a gacha game where the format discourages stuff like this.

Just, man I love this whole conversation. They've both just learned recently that they can't shed their loneliness with what's left of their races. Muelsyse is totally at the end of her rope, but Doctor has just learned that the only thing they can do is fully commit to the people they know in the present. So despite Mumu's one final attempt to put a barrier up between her and another person, a literal physical barrier of water

Doctor walks right into the barrier and literally reaches out to her to help save her with what they just learned that same day

Muelsyse refers to the parts not in blue here (blue usually being the only confirmed dialogue Doctor says out loud in any given cutscene) when she talks to Nasti later. That means the Doctor said all of this out loud.

Again, am I crazy or does this feel like the most romantic Doctor has ever been with another character?

A lot of himejoshis on Twitter have been mad about the event and what it means for Mumu x Ho'ohleyak, Mumu x Saria, or Muelsyse x her OT3 with Saria and Kristen, and honestly

they might have a point

#needed to get this out or I'll never be able to sleep #please try to keep replies spoiler free if you do #Arknights #Muelsyse

[alearicci]

“she looks like a devil” – CL16

pairings: charles leclerc x oc!ann rhine

note: tysm for 35 readers, I'm very VERY happy and I am sure that this is just the beginning

part two?

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ♡ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Ann Rhine stood in front of a full-length mirror in her lavishly appointed dressing room located in her penthouse. Before her exit to the car waiting for her downstairs, there was very little time left, and she took it to take one last look in the mirror and make sure that she looked good. And she looked really gorgeous.

Her long, loose brown locks were styled in elegant waves that fell easily over her shoulders. The light from the chandeliers above reflected off her perfectly manicured nails, which perfectly matched the ruby red shade of her lipstick and outfit. Her deep brown eyes, accentuated by smoky shadows, shone with anticipation of the upcoming evening.

Having changed her position, Ann could not help but appreciate her choice of evening attire. The dress was a real work of art, carefully selected from her personal collection of designer clothes. It clung to the curves of her perfect body in all the right places, emphasizing her slender figure and radiating sophistication. The dress had a deep neckline that effectively showed off her cleavage area, adding a touch of charm and passion to her image as a whole.

To complete her look, Ann chose a pair of sparkling diamond earrings that gracefully hung from her earlobes. The expensive diamonds were brilliantly cut, reflecting the light and casting a soft glow on her sharp collarbones. Her wrists were decorated with matching diamond bracelets, each of which reflected the light and added an additional touch to her overall image.

She couldn't help but feel excited and anxious as she prepared for the large-scale evening that awaited her today. It wasn't just a party; it was a special event, a charity event where celebrities from many walks of life graced the place to raise money from their visit for a good cause. The organizer was one of the most influential people in the world, which is why Ann's expectations were high. She was especially eager to see the Formula 1 drivers, because their names were also on the guest list.

Ann has attended races more than once because of sponsorship with one of the teams. Her father's company, which passed to her after his death, signed a large contract with AMG Mercedes, which is why she could often be seen in the paddock of this team. Especially, the journalists clung to the fact that she liked to spend time in the company of Lewis Hamilton. There were all kinds of headlines, they were credited with an affair, a fictitious marriage, divorce and many different things, but no one talked about the true reason. Lewis and Ann were very good friends.

And it was Lewis who instilled in her a love of racing. Of course, he very brazenly provided her with a cap with his racing number, which made the rumors grow even stronger around them, but not about that now. Ann really liked the atmosphere of racing, this adrenaline flowing through her veins, this riding at high speeds. She herself dreamed of getting behind the wheel of a car to feel this drive, but doing business did not give her the opportunity to live a little for herself.

When she received an invitation to attend this evening, she initially wanted to refuse, she has no time to attend such events, in principle, she is not a frequent guest of various parties. The duties of the director have other plans for her account. Her assistant convinced her to change her mind, because attending this event would be a good sign in the future PR company of Ann's organization. Therefore, I had to adjust the already tight schedule a little in order to smile and talk with the cream of society for several hours.

Shaking her head, dismissing the sudden thoughts that she might still write that she was ill and not go, Ann picked up her purse, turned off the light and hurriedly left the dressing room, heels clicking on the floor. After warning the housekeeper that she would arrive soon, the girl hurriedly headed for the luxury car.

The personal driver who saw her approach immediately got out of the car and opened the door for her to get in. She threw him a quiet "thank you" to which he nodded seriously and closed the door, returning to the driver's seat.

The whole trip passed in silence. Ann looked out the window and wondered if everyone invited would come. Their number exceeded fifty people, which could not surprise and terrify at the same time.

There were actors, singers, and many other celebrities. Ann wasn't supposed to be there at all, but Toto insisted that she be among the guests. After all, part of their team and part of their budget.

The car stopped in front of a majestic mansion. The red carpet was laid, there were too many photographers and journalists. There was already another car in front of them, which, as Ann realized, belonged to Pierre Gasly, the Alpine F1 team racer. His girlfriend Kika came with him and together they looked very cute and harmonious. The crowd immediately greeted them with enthusiastic sighs, and the photographers did not know how to touch each other in order to be closer to the Frenchman and make the best shots with him and his beloved.

Finally, it was Ann's turn to come out. James, her driver and bodyguard in one person, again helpfully helped her out and she, a little embarrassed, gracefully waved her fingers to everyone present. James offered her an elbow, which she accepted and they went inside.

"Miss, you look just fine. I'm sorry to break our contract of silence, but I couldn't help but say it."

"Thank you, James." Ann smiled gently and continued. "I'll leave you to have fun while I go say hello to the right people."

"Okay, miss, I'm here, remember that."

When they were inside the mansion, the energy in the room changed. The conversations subsided, heads turned, and all eyes were riveted on her exit. No one expected Ann Rhine to be there.

She herself did not expect this and smiled at everyone with the most affected smile in her life.

After examining those at the party, Ann noticed a lot of both familiar and completely unfamiliar faces. The look immediately found Lewis, as always, as if he had stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine, who, surprisingly, stood alone a little apart from everyone. Deciding to join an old acquaintance, Ann takes a glass of champagne and goes to Hamilton.

"Who do I see..."

"Oh my God, Ann!" Lewis exclaimed happily and hurried to hug his girlfriend. She kissed him lightly on the cheek, but did not touch it, so as not to stain it with red lipstick.

"Yes, it's me. I've missed you so much, champ."

***

Two more racers were standing not far from them. The two drivers of the Scuderia Ferrari are Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. They had a relaxed and friendly conversation while the main celebration had not yet begun.

While Charles was talking to his close friend in the middle of a glamorous evening, his attention couldn't help but be drawn to Ann Rhine. His gaze involuntarily wandered in her direction, captivated by her undeniable beauty and charismatic presence.

When Carlos began to talk about the recent race, Charles found that his thoughts were moving again and again to Ann. He admired how easily she seemed to attract attention, and her aura seemed to radiate confidence and grace. Her every movement was graceful and refined, attracting the attention of everyone around her. He couldn't help but be intrigued by her attractive personality, a unique trait of many celebrities he met.

"It seems to me that if I had stormed later then, everything would have turned out differently."

"Or you would have met your favorite gravel," Charles finally replied and grinned, sipped some champagne from his glass.

"Buddy, don't make me throw the contents of this glass in your face... What do you think about the new updates?"

"I think they're... Mmm... Quite good"

While Charles continued to listen to his friend, his attention remained distracted. He couldn't help but glance at Ann, admiring how easily she blended in with the other guests, making an indelible impression on every person she talked to. Her alluring presence was mesmerizing, drawing people to her like a moth to a fire.

"Wait, who are you looking at so intently and why not at me?" Carlos turned around to look at the one his partner couldn't take his eyes off. "Aah... Ann Rhine. I didn't expect to see her here. Are you surprised too, since you can't take your eyes off her?"

The more Charles watched her from afar, the more his curiosity grew. He wondered what it would be like to share a deeper connection with someone as radiant as Ann. Her sincere smile combined with her intelligent conversation awakened the desire for meaningful communication among the whirlwind of the celebrity world.

"She's absolutely amazing, isn't she? I had the pleasure of talking to her earlier. She is not only beautiful, but also incredibly smart and witty. It's really nice to see her here."

"Really? What was it like talking to her?"

"To be honest, it was quite amazing and short-lived, as she had to return to her duties. Did you hear that a few years ago she had to take responsibility and continue her father's work? We had a great conversation about her work and life in general. I was genuinely impressed by its depth and authenticity."

"She seems to be older than you?"

"Yes, she's 29. Don't ask me how I know that."

"Oh. And she looks younger."

"I agree. But she's an insanely spectacular girl."

"I support it."

"So will you approach her? Or can I get ahead of you and spend the evening in her company?"

"You'll do fine, man. See, she's talking to Lewis."

"I see I have good eyesight. Well, you keep burning her with your eyes, and I'll go to the Lando. Haven't seen him for a long time." Carlos said and, clinking glasses with his friend, hurried to Norris.

Charles had no choice but to temporarily occupy himself with looking at either Ann or the champagne bubbles in his glass.

Finally, fortunately for him, Ann was left alone.

She noticed his eyes on her and winked at him. then, she casually adjusted the hem of her dress, exposing her thigh. Charles swallowed noisily and hurriedly turned away to straighten his trousers carefully.

This was his chance.

But he was quickly overtaken by another man, forcing Monegasque to swear under his breath.

Something had to be done urgently.

#charles leclerc #charles leclerc x oc #cl16 #cl16 imagine #f1 imagine #oneshot #f1 fandom #f1 fanfic #f1 2023 #formula one #drabble #ferrari #forza ferrari #essere ferrari #monaco #charles leclerc x reader

[arkiwii]

I'm so so not normal about Kafka Been trying to draw but I'm too tired to so instead I'll write a whole block of text about why I think this character is amazing and deserves way, way, WAY more love from the community

Starting with the looks. She's a little itty bitty sized gremlin jackdaw girl in an oversized gardening coat and a hypnotic rubisk's cube. How to not love her.

But of course where she shines the most is in her character. She's a Columbian orphan who became Infected and had to survive on her own, dealing with gangs and being part of one herself, fighting everyday to see the light of tomorrow. This way of life had her build a "mask", a new personality adapted to this environment; one that made her like she was unbothered by anything, as if she simply did not care, that she was unphased to kill someone or face these things. Of course, in result, many people became scared of her, but she couldn't care; this way, nobody would bother her. That's how she kept herself safe.

That's when she joined Rhodes Island that she gradually let this mask of her fall and show her true personality; someone who cares deeply. She loves to take care of plants, she likes to give gifts or play with children, she worries about the ones she's close to, she also has been seen befriending some Operators like Perfumer...

And this is (holds my owl like that Lion King scene) all thank to HER. Silence my absolute beloved. If she had doubts about if her efforts are in vain, Kafka is the proof that THEY'RE NOT.

Yes, Silence can feel bad that she pulled Kafka into this whole mess of a prison break, being involved with situations that were unrelated to her, but, does she even realize what she did? Maybe her goal was just "discover what the hell Rhine Lab is about with Simon Co", but the results are, she has brought Anthony, Kafka, Robin and Donna somewhere safe. Somewhere they can be appreciated and loved, and won't have to worry anymore about surviving.

Kafka wasn't that unsatisfied with her previous life, it was just all normal to her, but when she met Silence, she discovered genuine kindness. And Silence may be naive, she has a heart of gold. Kafka knows that and if she accepted to help her break Anthony, it's because she wished to return the favor to Silence.

Now our little gremlin bird is sure being an absolute chaos, but she's living a far better life. And she just worries for the one who changed this for her.

PLEASE HYPERGRYPH I NEED MORE OF KAFKA. IDK make a Mansfeld Break 2 or whatever, have Jesselton come back, but please I want to see Kafka again. I want to see my stupid bird interact with my tired owl and supporting her. They mean the world to me

#this blog is about kafka arknights hsr people you can leave #even just an operator record of kafka interacting with silence #id love that #headcanon kafka uses her hypnotic arts to force silence to sleep #they both have such an amazing relationship you cant just throw kafka away like that HG #and the potential of shenanigans possible between her and ifrit #CMON HAVE MY BIRD COME BACK #also @ all artists pls draw more of kafka theres barely anything #/nf #arknights

[shuttershocky]

dam shutters how come you can write that many words for work then have time/energy to read ak story at all

That's my secret, I stopped being able to after Near Light, lol.

I still make the effort to read some events here and there. I haven't missed any of the Sui events (not even intentionally, I just have free time around when they come out in EN) and I follow the storylines I'm really into like the Rhine Lab ones, but I can't really stay on top of AK's story anymore when I have work and a family to feed and have got other, actual video games.

Sometimes at random I pick out a running event to read like Lingering Echoes and I still end up enjoying them, but unfortunately I miss most stuff nowadays, and I haven't read any operator records at all.

Which is a little sad! The sheep event having a scientist find out the couple she was very close with ended up naming their daughter after her and that daughter became Eyjafjalla sounds exactly like the sort of drama that made me really enjoy the Rhine storyline.

[aftokrator-official]

hi I can't remember if I asked you this before (I don't think I did but maybe?), is there any good way that you know of to get into the arknights story & characters without having to play the actual games?? like is there an organized database of all the little cutscenes and whatever that I can page through or something..... I like a lot of the character designs and would love to have enough baseline knowledge to potentially get into shipping some girls together (I tend to need a lot of canon familiarity before I can get invested 😔) but I hate phone games and I hate gacha and I don't want to actually play the game >_>

Yes there is! This site has all of the story content archived, including all the images and bgm/sfx, I highly recommend it (and use it a lot myself, because sometimes I just want to read a storyline all at once without playing tower defense stages in between, or vice versa.) The cutscenes aren't voiced and are presented in visual novel format, so there's not really any downside to reading them this way. And the wiki has all the operator files and a lot of nice writeups on lore and background info.

There's also some official manga that's online - I highly recommend the Rhine Lab manga in particular, it's fantastic, and shouldn't be missed especially if you're here for the yuri. Honestly if you read nothing else, read the Rhine Lab storylines, they're that good.

Oh, there's also an anime adaptation that covers the first few chapters of the main story, I thought it was pretty good. I watched it with my best friend who hasn't played the game and she thought it was great, so should be accessible even if you don't know the story. Personally I think the early main story chapters have some of the weakest writing in the game, so I think the anime makes a good alternative, but ymmv.

Aside from the main story, the event stories (Vignette and Side Story in the story reader site) can be grouped into several different story arcs that work best chronologically, but you can read them in any order really and there's no harm in skipping ones you're not feeling.

vague suggested reading order for the different story arcs below the cut cause this is getting too long lmao

anything not mentioned here is standalone. that, or I just forgot about it lol.

Main story: ch0-3/anime season 1 -> ch4-6/anime season 2 -> ch7-8 -> ch9-12 - A Walk in Dust, Darknights Memoir, and Vigilo are good to read before chapter 9 - What the Firelight Casts is best read after chapter 9

Rhine Lab: Rhine Lab manga -> Mansfield Break -> Dorothy's Vision -> Lone Trail

Kazimierz: Maria Nearl -> Pinus Silvestris -> Near Light -> Obscure Wanderer

Abyssal Hunters: Grani and the Knights' Treasure -> Under Tides -> Stultifera Navis

Laterano: Guide Ahead -> Hortus de Escapismo

Acahualla: The Great Chief Returns -> Ideal City: Endless Carnival

Yan/Sui siblings: Ancient Forge -> Who is Real -> Invitation to Wine -> Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow -> A Death in Chunfen

Siesta: Heart of Surging Flame -> So Long, Adele

#omfg this got really long i'm sorry #arknights lore is complicated and hard to get into but i love it a lot

[fromthedust]

Hildegard of Bingen (German, 1098-1179)

The Zeal of God - from her work Scivias: Know the Ways - describing 26 visions she experienced - 1152

Hildegard of Bingen, also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer and practitioner during the High Middle Ages.

For many years, Hildegard was reluctant to share her visions, writing "I did not make that known to any person except to a certain few... I sank down beneath a quiet silence... although I did see and hear this, nevertheless because of doubt and a bad opinion and the diversity of men’s words, refused to write for a long time."

Referring to her visions as 'Reflections of the Living Light' or the 'Scivias', Hildegard's writings received a blessing from Pope Eugene III, leading to a number of women and girls travelling to meet Hildegard at the subsequent creation of a new, all female monastery in Rupertsberg.

Hildegard of Bingen (detail) - Karlheinz Oswald - 1998

#art by others #other's artwork #illumination #Hildegard of Bingen

[loosesodamarble]

For That Special Day Part 2

Summary: While Josele seeks help from Solara, Nacht gets assistance on his wedding gift from someone a little closer to home. Collaboration writing piece with Taja (@faewraithsworld).

Genre: general, humor

Word count: ~5300

..........

Night. A time of peace, quiet, and thoughtfulness. The final sentiment was one that sat at the forefront of Nacht's mind, had been for a few days.

Because Nacht had to be thoughtful about this. About the gift he would present Josele when they...

Nacht felt her face warm and his heart race with the thought.

He and Josele had decided to get married. Soon. They didn't want to prolong the engagement for fear that tragedy might strike again if they put it off.

They had already arranged a date and invited their witnesses. All that was left was to prepare wedding gifts. Something in place of a ceremony and guests and rings. A simple exchange of gifts between husband and wife-to-be.

Nacht knew what he wanted for Josele. She still deserved jewels to wear. To symbolize what a treasure she was to him. To signify that she was his and he was hers.

Earrings he had determined. At first he thought it might be ill-suited as the relic that Almatra was connected to was an earring. But then he considered he would be giving Josele a pair, something balanced. And the pair of earrings could make what was once painful into something beautiful. That was something Nacht and Josele were trying to do with their lives all around.

Although Nacht had decided on what to give Josele, he still had yet to find a pair.

Because Nacht couldn't give Josele—his star, his darling, and the love of his life—just any pair of earrings. They didn't have to be perfect. But they had to be suitable, worthy, meaningful.

Josele deserved as such. After all that had been said and done, after all they had been through. Nacht wanted to give Josele something that was more than just jewelry.

But how to do that? Nacht wondered to himself as he paced his room.

If he continued to pace, the floor might’ve been permanently scuffed by the repetitive movement. But he wasn't going to stop soon.

"Perhaps you should get her earrings that match her eyes?" Gimodelo asked as he and the other devils formed at the edge of Nacht's vision.

"But consider that Mastar Nacht's brother did the same with the ring," Plumede remarked with a sigh. "Master needs to do something unique from his brother."

"But then the ring and earrings would match too," Walgner pointed out. "Wouldn't that look nice?"

"Who cares if it matches? Would it convey what Master wants to say to Lady Josele?" Slotos argued back.

"What is it that you want to say with the gift, Master?" Gimodelo asked.

All the devils looked at Nacht and he paused to look at them.

What was it that Nacht wanted to say? There weren't any words but... Emotions to share.

The love Nacht felt for Josele. The fact that they were together at last. A hope for their future together to be bright.

Nacht looked past his devils and out the window. The night sky was made bright by the light of the stars and moon.

Stars. Symbols of hope. And like Josele.

And the moon with it's silver glow. Light in darkness. Like Nacht.

"Silver and stars..." Nacht muttered to himself. The four devils stared at Nacht with wide, eager eyes. "Yes, that would be very suitable."

"And you thought about jewels too," Plumede said. "Maybe white diamonds to match the silver?"

"Or brown to match Lady Josele?"

"You could do blue to match your eyes!"

Nacht closed his eyes in thought. "Blue. But not like my eyes..."

As for where to get the gemstones for the earrings...

There was only one person Nacht could turn to for that.

After avoiding the traps leading to the ladies' rooms at the base, Nacht finally found the room belonging to Acylla.

Acylla Rhine. One of the Black Bulls earliest members, just behind Henry and Josele. As such, Acylla had become a dear friend to Josele. It only made sense for Nacht to go to her at that time.

Nacht knocked on the door to Acylla's room. Then, he waited.

It was only a moment until Acylla pulled the door to her room open and greeted Nacht with a mild, "Evening Nacht. What brings you here?"

"I would like to ask for your assistance on a matter," Nacht answered.

"If it's an impromptu mission, no," Acylla stated, her neutral expression barely changing as she spoke.

"Not to worry. It's not a mission, more like an errand if you want an idea for what it is."

Acylla raised an inquiring brow. "What kind of errand? This late at night at that."

"Doll, just say no and come back to bed!" Zora's voice called from within the bedroom.

Nacht glanced past Acylla, into the room to find Zora lounging on her bed, then met her gaze again. He wasn't going to pry. He didn't need to and, more importantly, he didn't want to know. "I'll be quick so as not to keep you from Zora."

"Oh how generous of you." Acylla's tone was sardonic and she smirked up at Nacht. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway, a casualness that Nacht had yet to fully get used to since properly integrating into the squad. "So an errand. It's not too late so depending on what it is, I might be able to manage."

Nacht was torn; he and Josele wanted to keep their marriage under wraps, but he needed to tell Acylla what it was that he wanted... needed... done. He supposed he could just play it off as something completely normal and inconspicuous.

Right?

He hummed. "I need a crystal."

Acylla blinked at his words, cocking her head to the side.

"You need… a crystal?" she questioned slowly, getting a nod. "You needed one bad enough that you decided to come to my room at… whatever time it is, and ask?" Nacht sighed; this may prove to be a more involved process than he thought.

"Come back in the morning. We're busy." Zora called from the room, making Nacht a bit uncomfortable as Acylla flushed ever so slightly; she looked backwards with a huff.

"Shut up you big baby." She turned back, closing the door more to block Zora out of their conversation. "Look, Nacht. If you need me to make you a crystal then you're going to have to be specific. I can't help you if you don't explain what this is about. Do you know what kind you want? What color? Is there a meaning behind it? Are you giving it to Jojo?" 

"There's... that much to it?" Nacht asked almost in shock at how much Acylla was already asking him; he furrowed his brows when she smiled, nodding.

"Josele it is. Alright. Let me get a robe; this may take a while."

Nacht waited outside Acylla's room until she emerged wrapped in a fluffy robe and carrying a small notepad in her hands. As the door to the woman's room closed, Zora could be heard indignantly shouting "You're still the worst, vice captain!"

Click.

"Hnnn... He doesn't need to exaggerate so much," Acylla groaned rolling her eyes. She then glanced up at Nacht in the corner of her eye. "So, common area?"

"Would you prefer walking or is going by shadow alright with you?" Nacht offered, raising his grimoire.

There was an extended silence as Acylla looked between Nacht's face and their shadows. Nacht took no offense. He understood her hesitation, that she might not yet fully trust him. Then, Nacht and Acylla's eyes met.

Was it cliche to consider her eyes crystal clear? But there was no denying that there was a brightness and sharpness to them, like a polished, cut gemstone. She quietly examined him.

Finally, Acylla answered. "Since you offered, shadows. Just don't lose me on the way."

"And incur the squad's wrath? Certainly not."

One moment they were submerged in darkness and the next, Nacht and Acylla stood in the comfortable space of the hideout's common area. Acylla didn't hesitate to take a seat on a couch.

"So about that crystal you wanted..." She flipped open the notepad and smiled.

Now that they were actually getting ready to figure out what gem it was that Nacht wanted, he was frozen; he didn't know how to proceed with this. He'd spent so long thinking about him and his star, waiting for the moment that they could truly call themselves each others, and...

He didn't know what to do.

"Nacht!" Acylla's voice cut through his thoughts, and he looked at her; her eyes were full of concern despite her outward cool attitude towards him. "Are you okay? You don't have to stress about this that much you know; no matter what, Jojo's going to love this because it's coming from you."

That comment seemed to ground Nacht as he nodded slowly; she was right. So long as this came from him, Josele would love it.

It was still daunting, though.

"Blue." He said with certainty, meeting Acylla's eyes with confidence; the look that the crystal mage gave him was one of waiting.

"Um... Nacht, there are hundreds of shades of blue, and countless blue crystals. Then there's the fact that different blues mean different things." she urged, and he balked.

"You are joking, Acylla; aren't you?" 

"Not at all, actually." Acylla said with a nervous chuckle that had Nacht sighing. He thought about it, and thought about it, but couldn't see the differences in his head.

"Here. I have an idea." Acylla said after a few moments of silence. She placed her notepad down on her thigh, and held her hand towards the table that, for once, was not in splinters nor covered in Vanessa's wine bottles.

Nacht watched as small gems started falling onto the table from Acylla's hand, each one different in size, shape, and even in color; or rather shade. After a few minutes the magic stopped, leaving three rows of blue gems.

"You strike me as a visual learner for this particular subject." She sounded tired, but before he could say anything to her she shook her head. "Look. You and I may not be the best of friends, but you mean the world to Jojo. If this takes us all night, so be it; you wanted my help, and I'm giving it. Take your time, Nacht, and look those over. Find one you like, and we'll narrow things down from there."

It was true. They were not the best of friends; they were barely even friends at all. His reappearance to the squad was one that Acylla did not take towards well, though he couldn't really blame her; he was surprised for a while that she would even talk to him at all. And yet Nacht knew there was no better person to ask for help on this; she knew Josele best aside from himself and Yami, and had one of the biggest hearts on the squad.

She was also one of the only emotionally intelligent Bulls. Everyone else was... well... they're Bulls for a reason.

He looked over the crystals on the table; while it was hard, he could see the faintest of shade changes, and some blues were richer than others. Some were rocky, others smooth, and some downright strange. He picked them up one at a time to better inspect them, until finally he saw one that he liked.

"That one."

Acylla looked at what Nacht was holding, and smiled; "A sapphire. Now we're getting somewhere. You know that to most people they symbolize wisdom and virtue, but… when given to someone you love, particularly as something like an engagement ring, it symbolizes faithfulness and sincerity."

"An engagement ring? Who said anything about an engagement; it's just a gift." Nacht thought he handled that reaction relatively well, but by the look on Acylla's face...

He would never be good at poker. At least with her.

Acylla glanced up at Nacht and tilted her head as she smiled.

"C'mon Nacht, everyone knows you and Jojo are gonna marry eventually."

Nacht pursed his lips and felt his face heat up. Hoping that Acylla wouldn't notice was useless and just trusted she wouldn't comment on it.

"Let's keep the discussion on the crystals," he said as his eyes fell to the sapphire in his hand.

"Right right." Acylla nodded and there was a sigh in her voice. Looks like I'll have to wait on getting an answer to that. She leaned back on the couch and noted the stone and its color range for reference on her notepad. "So what drew you to the stone?"

Nacht was quiet for a moment as he turned the small sapphire between his fingers. "This shade reminds me of Josie. Her grimoire and... when she uses Beacon of Hope, the stars are this same shade of blue."

"Hmm." Acylla tapped the notepad. "Her Star Magic and... You call her 'star' too." Nacht nodded. "Do you perhaps want to lean into that idea of stars? I think I have just the right gem for that."

Nacht smiled. A warm grin that reminded Acylla of Zora whenever he offered to tie a ribbon into her hair. Not that she would tell either men. But it amused her that they were more alike than they would want.

"Yes. If it's possible."

"Well, what you have there is a regular sapphire," Acylla started. She sat up more straight. "But there's a gem called a star sapphire, very similar in color and appearance though not exact. And the symbolism of the stone is that of destiny, faith, and hope."

Nacht's eyes went wide.

"I take it you like the idea?"

"Very much."

Acylla concentrated and created a star sapphire. She then handed it to Nacht to examine more closely.

"Just for an example. And with the gemstone picked out, we can move onto the actual cut of the gem." Acylla went to a new page in the notepad and sketched a few shapes. A teardrop cut. A round cut. And others she had learned over the years. Then she showed the sketches to Nacht. "Which one do you like?"

Nacht took the notepad and pencil from Acylla's hand and flipped to a new page.

"I had something more irregular in mind," he stated, letting out a sound between an exhale and a laugh. He started to jot something down.

Acylla raised a brow. "You had a shape in mind but not the gem?" Then she shook her head. "Better than nothing. So what shape?"

Nacht remained silent for a few more seconds, focusing on the paper. Then, he returned the stationary to Acylla. She looked at what Nacht sketched out. It was the shape of a four-pointed star, with the point facing downward being longer than all the others.

It made Acylla raise her eyebrow. Not a typical shape for an engagement ring. Was this really just a random present for Josele? But then why come to Acylla?

"Huh," was all Acylla could manage.

"Is that a good or a bad—?"

Acylla's gaze shot up to Nacht. "Neutral," she interjected, almost without thinking. "I wasn't expecting this shape." She tapped the shape with her pencil. "It really isn't a ring?"

Nacht groaned, "It really isn't."

Acylla tapped the pencil against her lips as she furrowed her brow. What in the Clover Kingdom was this supposed to be? She understood the star shape was a reference to Josele, but that was it! How was she supposed to work with a man who wouldn't even tell her the whole situation? She couldn't help as much as she wanted in these conditions.

But, she would try.

"Okay… can you at least tell me what size you want this shape to be?" She asked, looking at Nacht in hopes of getting a straight answer.

"Um… average size?"

"Aver— Average size?! For the love of god, Nacht, what the hell do you think ‘average size’ is?" Acylla groaned as she flipped to an empty page and started sketching the odd shape over and over again, each time getting larger and larger in size until there had to be about ten options. "Pick a size. If it's not there, pick the two sizes that you think it falls between."

Nacht sighed a little.

He knew that by not telling her off the bat what it was, it was making this more difficult, but… He just didn't want to make a big deal on something that was for him and Josele. She would see it when they finished.

He glanced over the sketches, and tapped on "Size 4" as the woman had labeled them.

"This one should be perfect; may I see it?"

Acylla nodded and produced a star sapphire of the requested size and shape; it took her a little longer, likely due to the odd shape, but when it was finished she handed it to him.

"Here you are. What do you think?"

Nacht held up the crystal star between two fingers and raised it up. He held it in the direction of a window, letting the moonlight stream in and shine through the gem. Each aspect of the gem came together nicely to make something just right for Josele. And with the touch of Acylla making it, it was even better.

"Josele is sure to love it," Nacht said in answer to Acylla's question. "Now all I need is a second one to match."

Acylla's eye twitched.

"S-second?" Acylla muttered, her hands slowly curling up into fists. But she took a deep breath before she replied. "Seriously Nacht. Earlier you said you needed 'a crystal,' as in singular and now you're telling me you want two?" She screwed her eyes shut and groaned. "You keeping secrets really is making it more difficult..."

"Apologies," Nacht muttered. "If you would like to know, the jewels are meant for earrings."

Acylla's eyes shot open. "Earrings?" She sucked in a breath. "I know it's been a while since Almatra but..."

Nacht sighed and nodded. "I've thought of it. And I'd like to replace that dark past with something more... hopeful."

"Uh-huh... Alright then. Time for number two." Acylla raised her hands, closed her eyes in concentration, and started to call upon her mana. Earrings are an interesting choice. She felt her mana condensing into a solid form.  But I guess the sentiment is in the right place. Jojo's been touching her ears too so she might actually want earrings.

"...lla?"

But why come to me? Nacht could've easily gone to a jeweler for this. Is he really so lazy to not go out? Or... Acylla felt herself frown. No, he's not so low of a person as to take advantage of his position as vice captain.

"Acyl...?"

And what is this even for? Nacht can be thoughtful but to want something so precise for a "random" gift? There has to be some occasion for it.

"Acylla!"

She felt a yank on her hands. There was a small clattering. Looking down, Acylla saw a fractured and foggy blue crystal on the table.

"Ah." She had gotten more distracted than she should've.

"I'm uh… I'm sorry about that." Acylla flexed her fingers as she leaned back into the couch,  watching as small flecks of crystal fell from them; that distraction triggered latent problems with her curse that she hadn't touched on yet. Nothing dangerous, of course, but still something that could prove problematic. 

"What was that, exactly?" Nacht questioned, shocking Acylla somewhat; now he wants to act nice?

"A side effect of my curse that came about due to a cluttered mind; nothing dangerous, just annoying." She answered as she rubbed her face with her hands. "Much like this is turning out to be."

Nacht assumed she had meant to be quieter with her muttering, though he couldn't blame her.

"I have made this go on for longer than I intended. Did you want to stop for now? Until your mind is less cluttered?" Nacht pressed, and Acylla sighed.

I suppose he has to have some care for others for Jojo to see something in him.

"What I want is a straight answer, Nacht. If all you wanted was a pair of earrings then why wouldn't you just go to a jeweler? Am I just a means to an end here? Did you think that as the Vice Captain you could request my services whenever for however long?" Well it wasn't what Acylla was going to say, but it was coming out now. "It's a matter of mutual respect and understanding; you being shady, pardon the pun, breeds none of that here."

Nacht sighed after Acylla finished her outburst which was remarkably quiet despite the fury and annoyance behind the words, and shifted under her now steely gaze. Taking that as his answer, Acylla scoffed.

"Fine. Don't tell me why I just spent a chunk of the night with you when I could have at least been with someone that gives a damn." She clenched her fist. "You know, it really isn't that hard to talk to people, Nacht. It's not like you're going to spontaneously combust if you ask someone for help in a truthful manner. You've been here long enough that I would have hoped you'd dropped this holier than thou attitude you have, but clearly I was wrong." With a glare she smacked her closed fist against the table, and when she opened her hand the second gem came out in perfect condition. "I'll admit. A part of me came out because I was hoping we could begin a better friendship, even if it was just for Jojo's sake, but now that feels like a foolish fantasy. Enjoy your earrings." She turned and started to walk away.

Nacht shot up from his seat and called, "Acylla wait!"

The woman stopped and looked at Nacht over her shoulder. She said nothing, only raised her brow.

Nacht opened his mouth then closed it again. He couldn't say. Or maybe he didn't want to. Regardless, the truth wasn't coming out. In the end, Nacht only averted his gaze and muttered,

"I apologize for the trouble."

Acylla sighed. "You should. Thank you for that at least." She continued on her way. As was her right.

"Goodnight, Miss Acylla," Nacht said to her retreating form. What he got back was a lazy wave of the hand.

When Nacht could no longer see Acylla's form or hear her footsteps, he sat back down. His eyes found the jewels.

They were absolutely flawless. Naturally, they were for Josele's sake so Acylla would put in such effort.

Nacht hunched over and buried his face in his hands. He had made the process difficult. He was the one keeping the truth of the gift a secret. It wasn't that the others would oppose which kept Josele and Nacht from coming out with the news outright. Everyone would know, it just wouldn't be right away. But because Nacht felt he couldn't tell anyone...

And that was the crux of it.

Nacht so often felt like he couldn't say what he wanted or needed to say. It was the case with Morgen, Josele, and Yami. Each and every time, the words he left unsaid hurt someone.

And though the situation wasn't as dire, Nacht had done the same with Acylla.

He had been foolish to think he could involve Acylla while still keeping her in the dark. His thoughts wandered to Acylla's words.

"Mutual respect and understanding." "Begin a better friendship."

She really had been more than generous with him. Perhaps... he should do the same, albeit belatedly...

.....

BAM!

With the bedroom door securely closed, Acylla massaged her temples and groaned.

"I swear... That man..."

"I take it the 'errand' didn't go well," Zora said with a know-it-all tone. Acylla looked over to Zora and found him lounging on the bed, book in hand. "Here's an idea, you and him fight to be vice captain, I'm sure everyone would love to see you beat him into the dirt."

"I think I'll pass on that," Acylla mumbled, shuffling over. She crawled on top of the bed and curled into Zora's side. He was warm. She was tired. The perfect combination.

"Tired, Doll?" Zora's voice was soft as he combed a hand though Acylla's hair.

"And confused," Acylla answered as she closed her eyes. "That damn vice captain really doesn't know what he's doing half the time."

"Keh hee hee. Say that again."

Acylla shook her head. "Later. When I'm rested."

"Aight then."

Sleep didn’t come easily the rest of the night. Even with Zora holding her close and the bed being so comfortable, Acylla’s mind continued to question the situation with Nacht.

She was trying to be friendly, or at least understanding. But Nacht kept his distance. It started to discourage her.

Is my effort wasted? Acylla asked herself in her last moments of consciousness.

…..

When it was morning, Acylla rose early as breakfast duty was hers that day. With her hair tied up and ingredients spread across the counter, she was ready to cook a hearty wake up call for the squad.

It was while she was beating the eggs that she got interrupted.

“Good morning, Miss Acylla.”

She stopped stirring to turn and stare at Nacht. She tried not to glare but she could feel her eyes narrowing a bit.

“Good morning to you too, Nacht,” Acylla replied coolly before returning her attention to the eggs. “This sure is a surprise. I didn’t know you could manifest in daylight.”

Nacht smiled self-deprecatingly and snickered.

“That’s actually a good one. I can see why Josele likes your humor.”

“Ugh. Don’t try to butter me up. It’s not going to work.”

“I know. I just… thought to…” Nacht paused. Acylla glanced at him. His smile had faded and his brows were pinched together. “To return the sentiment you’ve been trying to show me.”

It was Acylla’s turn to pause. She looked at Nacht curiously.

This kind of turn around feels too good to be true. “What’s the catch?” she asked defensively.

Nacht shook his head.

“No catch. That would be unfair to you.”

“O… kay…” Acylla looked at the eggs and decided they were ready for the pan. What am I even supposed to say about this, anyway? “I wish you’d decided to be friendly earlier on...” She poured the eggs into the pan, making them sizzle.

“I understand that,” Nacht sighed. “I don’t even have a reason to be so—”

“Aggravating? Shady? Isolated?”

Nacht shot Acylla a flat stare and she smirked, knowing he couldn’t argue with the assessment.

“Difficult,” Nacht said.

“Yeah, that too.”

Acylla fell silent as she made sure none of the egg stuck to the sides of the pan so as not to bring about Charmy's wrath, hyper aware of Nacht standing not too far behind her; she was certainly curious about what Nacht wanted to talk about, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he'd piqued her interest.

"First, I owe you an apology; more than one, likely, but this is an apology for making you feel as though I thought I was better than you. I'm not. B—"

"Gee thanks. It's so much—"

"Acylla, if you'd please I would like to finish." Nacht said, interrupting the woman; they both fell silent, the only sound heard was the sizzling in the pan. The moment seemed to last an eternity.

"I'm sorry. Please go on." Acylla said quietly, not looking behind her.

"Thank you. I apologize for ever coming across as someone who believes themselves better than others; with everything that I've done in the past to the people that were trying to be friends to me, I know I am not better than anyone. But in this situation, I just wanted one thing to myself; since joining the squad I've felt out of place, and that everything I once had to myself is now shared. I wanted to be selfish for this moment, but I see that was not the best way to approach such a meaningful topic to the two of us. So here I am to tell you why I wanted those earrings. Josele and I are getting married."

For a second, the sizzling was the only sound that filled the kitchen again; that was until the spatula clattered to the counter as Acylla dropped it, turning around with a mix of joy, suprirse, and relief on her face.

"You're wh—!"

"Please, Miss Acylla, they wish to keep it quiet!" Acylla wasn't entirely sure which of Nacht's devils manifested to fly into her face in a panic, but the shock of the moment caused her to step back and cover her mouth with one hand.

The other hand found its way to the hot stove.

"Shit!" She turned and put her hand under the faucet as Nacht stepped forward to try and help. "Nacht, please; just go and get the burn ointment for me. Also... congratulations?" The strained smile on her face, though worrisome to the both of them, broke through the tension in the kitchen enough to cause them both to chuckle as Nacht nodded.

"Very well. I'll be back in a moment."

While keeping her burned hand under the water, Acylla managed to reach the stove and shut off the heat and slide the pan off the burner to save the eggs.

Married! Josele and Nacht are getting married! Acylla hopped on her toes. The pain in her hand seemed to fade with the joyful news echoing in her mind. It's happening! And here I was, worrying that they'd dance around the topic forever! Although it does feel like it's happening quite suddenly. Have they been sneaking around doing preparations without anyone noticing? Or is it a recent decision? Either way... Suddenly, an impish smile crossed Acylla's face. "Heh heh."

"What are you smiling about?"

Acylla jolted at the sound of Nacht's voice but quickly calmed herself. She turned to him and grinned more warmly.

"Um, the announcement you just made, obviously," Acylla giggled. "It's—!"

"A secret." Nacht put a finger in front of his lips, the corners of which were turned up. He stepped up to Acylla and helped her tend to her wound. As he did, he met Acylla's gaze. "Thank you, by the way."

"You're welcome. Those crystals weren't all that—"

"Not just the crystals," Nacht interjected. "But for being Josie's friend and for... giving me a chance."

Acylla smiled back. "I try."

Nacht finished wrapping Acylla's hand. Acylla tested the movement of it then looked to Nacht.

"Think you could help me with breakfast? I'll forgive you for last night's troubles if you do."

The man chuckled. "I certainly can help."

..........

~BONUS SCENE~

The making of breakfast passed by quickly with Nacht's help, and Acylla found it rather enjoyable to have the company and learn more about the once-negligent vice captain—

"Wait, so you've been working with the devils for more than ten years now? That's incredible!"

"Yes. And since meeting them, they've become dear companions of mine." There was an echo of "Aww....we love you too, Master Nacht!" from the shadows.

She learned about the fiance to one of her dearest friends—

"I assure you that we will tell the others with time. But for now I ask for a bit of discretion, please?"

"Of course, Nacht; I understand now."

And she learned of the sort of best friend to one Yami Sukehiro—

"How many embarrassing things do you actually know about Yami?"

"Enough to make him want to kill me if I dared speak them."

"Pfft! Oh no!"

She hadn't stopped smiling since Nacht gave her the news, the pain in her hand not a damper to her joy. However, there was one thing that still needed to be discussed....

When breakfast finished and the youngest Bulls went to take care of all the dishes, Acylla found her way to Zora and sat beside him; she had a mischievous look on her face.

"What's up with you, Doll?" Zora asked with a raised eyebrow. Acylla laughed.

"You remember that bet we had, Z?"

#black clover #black clover fanfic #nacht faust #black clover oc #acylla rhine #taja's oc #taja of the fae courts #nacsele #zora ideale #zoracy #why do these things always turn out so long ajldhfaru! #GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! THIS WAS A LABOR OF LOVE! #it was so much fun working with you taja! #I'm so very happy with how this worked out #Acylla being helpful but sassy when Nacht gets on her nerves #Nacht being a fool and messing up along the way #but his heart is in the right place #not me freaking gushing about a Acylla and Nacht friendship #also dropping the ball here that Acy and Josele are besties~!

[gold-rhine]

Guili Plains: the sitcom

In which Cloud Retainer forces Morax to choose superior invention at gun point and he chooses a gun, Yaksha siblings have to deploy Xiao’s secret power while being caught between a rock and a dust goddess, and Guizhong invents a music machine which can bring tears even to the eyes of Lord of Geo.

Characters: Morax, Guizhong, Cloud Retainer, Xiao, Bosacius, Bonanus, Indarias, Menogias

Warnings: none, safe for view, Morax and Guizhong could be read as either platonic or married for 300 years. 2023 Lantern Rite spoilers I guess?

Kinda part 2 of this fic , but can be read as stand alone. Pure fluff and comedy.

..... I .....

“Ah,” Morax said, very carefully and prepared himself for the tough conversation when he saw his two friends this evening. He knew a storm approaching even before the thunder hit. “And to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I don’t have anything to say about the farce she proposes,” Guizhong said in a tone that suggested she actually had quite a lot to say.

Cloud Retainer ignored this statement, but her eye twitched.

“We seek your council to use your authority as our arbiter to resolve the argument of whose mechanical creation is more superior.”

“You do,” Guizhong said immediately. “I do not. I *know* I’m better.”

Morax blinked, slowly considering his next words.

“Did it not occur to you that I… uh, am not so well versed in the art of engineering as both of you are?”

“Yes, that’s the entire point of her bringing in an ignorant layman as an authority,” Guizhong said. “She plans to impress, no, to *bamboozle* you with the unnecessary complexity of her plans, so that you’ll naively name her the best engineer.” 

“One thinks that Rex Lapis, as the most spiritually in touch with our nation, should be the one to realize which invention connects to it’s traditions.”

Morax blinked again.

“You’re doing your lizard thing,” Guizhong said. “With the slow, but repetitive blinking, not with the tail. You’re stressing him out, Cloud Retainer.”

He was too sober for this.

“Ladies, would you like to have a refreshment drink?” he said, walking up to a table with a wine decanter and filling up the cups.

“Sure,” said Guizhong. “I’ve been too sober for this for at least the last hour.”

Cloud Retainer squinted at him and said, “One might prefer to excuse herself from the festivities.”

“Oh, are you still not over his square cups?” Guizhong said, picking hers up and rolling her eyes. “Come on!”

“One just thinks that it is highly unusual to...“ Cloud Retainer glanced at him, cut herself off with a fake cough, fixed her glasses and continued. “It bears no importance. But back to the matter, allow one to introduce you to one’s humble invention, which represents a pinnacle of form and function that a loom can ever achieve...“

She was unrolling the scrolls with design on the table while Guizhong elbowed Morax and whispered conspiratorially “Psst. I have snacks. Do you want me to bring them out so you can pull out square plates too?”

“Is it Mora meat?” he asked back in a same hushed voice.

“Yeah.”

“No. This pettiness would be unbecoming of us.”

Guizhong narrowed her eyes, “You just don’t want me to eat my lowly mora meat with your fancy wine. You know what, you deserve her snobbery for your snobbery.”

“... And this is why it’s obvious that intricacy of one’s design is clearly superior to ballista's simpleton construction,“ Cloud Retainer was gesturing at her scrolls. “Though for the sake of fairness we should give Guizhong opportunity to present herself.“

“No need, I’ve heard quite a lot about it,“ Morax said and Guizhong huffed. She downed her wine in one gulp like a shot (Morax winced) and stepped up to Cloud Retainer.

“You know what’s your problem? You fundamentally misunderstand the true purpose of engineering. You think you’re better by the virtue of making your designs so complex and intricate that no one can repeat them, but it is in fact the opposite. Good engineering is about perfecting and simplifying the design until it can be easily used, maintained, replicated or upgraded by others. My ballista is so simplified on purpose, so that even someone untrained like him”, Guizhong pointed at Morax, who almost choked on the wine he was sipping, “would be able to fix and use it if needed with the minimal information he’s got from listening to me rumble. We make these machines for the PEOPLE, Cloud Retainer, not for bragging about how unique and intricate you can make your gears.“

Cloud Retainer pursed her lips and said, ice cold and glaring daggers over the edge of her glasses.

“One believes we’ve heard enough. It is time for you to name the winner, Lord Morax.“

“Oh, just name her and let’s be done with it. I don’t know why I’m wasting my time trying to explain the ethos of good design while all this arrogant bird wants is a meaningless stroke to her ego.“

Morax finished his wine, put the square cup down carefully and met Cloud Retainer’s eyes.

“If you demand me to choose, I will have to choose ballista.“

“What? Preposterous!“

“Yeah, of course he chose right winner for the wrong reasons.“

“We’re at war, Cloud Retainer,“ he said calmly. “Obviously, our nation would presently benefit more from a weapon than a loom. I don’t know what you expected me to do.“

“One expected you to have a better judgement, but perhaps one was mistaken indeed.“

Morax took a deep breath.

“Would you like some snacks?“ he finally said pleasantly and conjured a square plate.

..... II .....

“So, what is so urgent that we’ve been summoned for?“

Bosacius held up all four of his arms in a shrug in answer to Menogias, who just joined a group and tried to keep with a quick pace, but look dignified at the same time.

“Would’ve told you already if I knew. I was only told to assemble everyone and get to Rex Lapis’ tent as quickly as possible.“

“Was there an invasion?“ Bonanus speculated, tucking a strain of blue hair behind her horns in a worry. “Why else would Lord Morax need all of us at once?“

“A couple of us would be enough to handle a simple conflict on the borders. No, it must be a new hostile god at least!” Indarias said. “Ah, I hope he’s flammable, I’m tired of the wet aquatic freaks that you can’t even set on fire.” 

Alatus pursed his lips and shot Indarias a disapproving glare. ”Our duty is no laughing matter.”

She chuckled and ruffled his hair. “Oh, cheer up, little one, it wouldn’t kill you to have some fun once in a while.”

Alatus bristled in indignation, but before he could answer, they’ve reached the tent and muffled sounds of heated argument from within stopped any attempt at bickering. Everyone looked at Bosacius. He sighed and stepped first inside of the tent.

“... solutely ridiculous and I would not stand for you treating me like I’m some helpless useless... What is that?“

Guizhong and Morax turned when Bosacius appeared. He gave a ceremonial bow, looking pointedly away.

“My Lord. My Lady.“

The rest of yakshas entered the tent and stood in what was less of a military line and more of a group huddled behind Bosacius wide back.

“Generals,“ Morax said calmly. “You are to follow lady Guizhong on her mission and ensure her safety.“

“Oh, for fuck’s sake... All five of them?! I’m going on a scouting trip, not to declare a war!“

“You’re going into what is basically a hostile territory, hence even the need for ballista there.“

“So? I can take care of myself, I don’t need five yaksha generals babysitting me. They can do something more important.“

“Your safety is of the outmost importance.“

“You are so stubborn about the stupidest things sometimes! General, you have to agree that escort of all yakshas at once is a dumbass idea?”

Bosacius startled, being suddenly put on the spot. Bonanus made a squeaky noise behind his back. Menogias grunted, Indarias fire crackled in agitation. He could feel the stares of all of them at the back of his head. Bosacius looked from indignant Guizhong to Morax, who did not look like he was open to criticism.

“My Lady,“ he said diplomatically. “We yakshas are a simple folk, born for battles. We are soldiers, give us orders and we will fight to death, but I certainly could not hope to give any valuable input into your strategizing decisions.“

Yakshas behind his back breathed out in unison.

“Wow, you really are turning into a tyrant,“ Guizhong said to Morax, who raised an eyebrow in a expression that usually stopped all arguing, but she proceeded without missing a beat. “Even your strongest generals are afraid to voice their opinion.”

“Enough! I’m leaving and i’m leaving *alone*,“ she turned to yakshas and gave them a narrowed look. “And if someone tried to follow me, I would like them to consider that being crushed by a stone spear is a quick and easy death, but dying from chocking on dust is a very slow and painful torture.“

She stormed out of tent. Bosacius looked at Morax.

“Follow her,“ the geo lord said calmly. Bonanus squeaked urgently, Menogias rumbled and elbowed Bosacius.

“Um,“  Bosacius said. “As my Lord commands. I would just like to mention that it might be hard for us to ensure Lady’s safety while choking on dust.“

“Follow her stealthily,“ Morax said after a pause.

“Um,” Bosacius started saying. Morax folded his arms and narrowed his eyes.

“Sure,” Bosacius said quickly. “Of course. Stealth is my middle name. I’m barely noticeable in broad daylight.” 

“Ugh, I HATE being caught in the middle of family scandals!“ Indarias grumbled when they all got out of tent.

“Don’t disrespect our Lord,“ Alatus said with a frown and had to dodge hair ruffling again.

“You’re lucky you’re so adorable, you tiny killjoy.“

“We could’ve maybe got out of it if it wasn’t for the incredible eloquence of  Bosacius. “UM,“ Menogias mimicked mockingly.

“Well I didn’t hear any of your famed eloquence at all.“

“I simply respected your right to speak as our supposed leader.”

“Oh, so you respect my right as a leader when it’s time to argue with Rex Lapis, but won’t stop backtalking for the rest of...“

“Guys, guys, we need to do something,“ Bonanus said, fidgeting with her arms. “We’re going to lose her if we waste any more time.“

“You’re right. Ugh, what to do...“ he turned to the anemo yaksha. “Alatus! You’re going first, because you’re the most... stealthy. We’ll follow closely.”

Smaller yaksha stepped up and nodded solemnly, but Bonanus moved to hug him protectively.

“What? No, we can’t endanger our little brother!“

“No, no, he’s right,“ Indarias said. “Guizhong won’t hurt him, he’s too small and cute!“

“Am not!“

“So this is your genius plan?“ Menogias folded his arms, lip curled sarcastically. “To rely on Alatus’ cuteness?“

“I am stealthy!“

“Well, we need SOME plan. I’d ask you for ideas, but we don’t have time to wait until you design all of us camouflage outfits.“

Girls gasped and looked at the geo yaksha. Menogias snarled and pointed his finger at Bosacius.

“I wouldn’t rely on you wearing shirt ever, you barbaric...“

“Boys!“

..... III .....

It was a beautiful summer day and Morax was sunbathing in his original dragon form. He enjoyed his humanoid shapes just fine, but nothing could beat the sensation of scales of a cold-blooded creature literally absorbing sunlight.

Everything was perfect. The wind was rustling in tall grass and carrying faint smell of glaze lilies, the sky was of that deepest dark blue color that it only gets on July middays with no shred of clouds in sight, birds were chirping, Guizhong was sitting next to him, leaning against his side and fussing with her latest project. She would mutter under her breath things like “soulless music... I’ll show her soulless music...” or “elitist conservative snobs...” or sometimes move his tail to get to one of her wrenches or scrolls, but he was used to this and so it didn’t deter him from slowly dazing off. 

He was almost completely asleep when the loudest most agonizing noise startled him awake. It was the worst sound he’s ever heard in all thousands of years he’s lived, it somehow combined mechanical screeching, excruciating wheeze of nails dragged on glass and also deep low reverberating bong.

He flew up, ready to end the misery of whatever abomination was making this wail, but the horizon was clear. The sound stopped as abruptly as it started.

“It worked!“ Guizhong yelled excitedly from the ground.

“What worked?“

“My bell!“ she presented what indeed looked like a metallic bell, beaming proudly. Morax blinked and carefully landed next to her.

“You mean you made a thing that makes *this sound*... on purpose? Are you inventing torture devices now?“

“No, don’t be silly! It will be an instrument that will be able to compose and perform beautiful music! Eventually. Of course it needs work first, I will be tuning it in, but the important breakthrough is that it can make sounds by itself!“

Morax blinked and shrugged, which in his current form looked like a ripple, started curling back into position he had before he was so rudely woken up, and then froze in the middle of a movement, glancing at Guizhong sharply.

“For how long will it keep making these kinds of noises before it can play beautiful music?“

She opened her mouth, closed it, chewed on her lip with her eyes darting.

“Oh well, you know, it’s hard to say exactly... Oh! Do you maybe want some wine?”

“I will have to ban this, for the safety of the nation. And perhaps, the entirety of  Teyvat.”

“It won’t be *that long*, come on! Do you want snacks with that wine? I’ve got some fancy snacks, not just mora meat!” 

“They locked the knowledge of less torturous weapons in the abyss, Guizhong.“

“Ah, come on, don’t be melodramatic, drink your wine, it will be fiiiiine“

#rhine writes #rhine writes light #guizhong #zhongli #morax #xiao #genshin impact

[rhine-gold-archive]

Like… I don’t like telling a creator ‘when are you making this!!??’ Because its like im pushing them when it should come from their own creative mind and base ect ect, but if you are asking… im still thinking about when the individual kaeya analysis (smut?) post will come out like… it’s been so long i start believing it was a fragment of my imagination, also the electro meta and other things

I guess the kaeya post now become posts with two kaeya afab and one about love language, so i guess it’s here just not like the others lol (aka Diluc, thoma, ayato )

But if you are asking us to pester you! Bestie you are not ready for me! I have been polite all this time! if im given the green light :D

LISTEN, while ofc as any creator I enjoy and get motivational boosts from receiving random compliments on my writing, I am also regularly running actual votes on what to write next, where I post what reqs\ideas I have rn and take suggestions. And when some time ago I posted a list with actually TWO different Kaeya prompts, I got ZERO votes for them, instead everyone voted geo ppl and so I wrote Albedo piece. Y'all don't get to now come at me like "Rhine :\ :\ :\ Where's Kaeya content???? :\ :\ :\" asdfghjkl

regarding the analysis post specifically, as I mentioned about a week ago, I just moved to another country and I don't have mental capacity and time to write anything high investment like that, BUT I can write smth low investment like afab one shots, and again, literally no one told me "Hey Rhine, I'd love to see smth with Kaeya", which is why I'm now writing a Xiao piece rn, bc Xiao ppl are immediately in my notes and inbox lmao

#rhine talks #i am literally so biased i'll take any excuses to write my fav man and you ppl never give me them

[troybeecham]

Today the Church remembers Hidegard of Bingen, abbess and visionary.

Ora pro nobis.

Hildegard of Bingen OSB (German: Hildegard von Bingen; Latin: Hildegardis Bingensis; 1098 – 17 September 1179 AD), also known as Saint Hildegard and Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, visionary, and polymath. She is considered to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany.

Hildegard was elected magistra by her fellow nuns in 1136 AD; she founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 AD and Eibingen in 1165 AD. One of her works as a composer, the Ordo Virtutum, is an early example of liturgical drama and arguably the oldest surviving morality play. She wrote theological, botanical, and medicinal texts, as well as letters, liturgical songs, and poems, while supervising miniature illuminations in the Rupertsberg manuscript of her first work, Scivias. She is also noted for the invention of a constructed language known as Lingua Ignota.

Although the history of her formal consideration is complicated, she has been recognized as a saint by branches of the Roman Catholic Church for centuries. On 7 October 2012 AD, Pope Benedict XVI named her a Doctor of the Church.

Visions

Hildegard said that she first saw "The Shade of the Living Light" at the age of three, and by the age of five she began to understand that she was experiencing visions. She used the term 'visio' to this feature of her experience, and recognized that it was a gift that she could not explain to others. Hildegard explained that she saw all things in the light of God through the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Hildegard was hesitant to share her visions, confiding only to Jutta, who in turn told Volmar, Hildegard's tutor and, later, secretary. Throughout her life, she continued to have many visions, and in 1141 AD, at the age of 42, Hildegard received a vision she believed to be an instruction from God, to "write down that which you see and hear." Still hesitant to record her visions, Hildegard became physically ill. The illustrations recorded in the book of Scivias were visions that Hildegard experienced, causing her great suffering and tribulations. In her first theological text, Scivias ("Know the Ways"), Hildegard describes her struggle within:

“But I, though I saw and heard these things, refused to write for a long time through doubt and bad opinion and the diversity of human words, not with stubbornness but in the exercise of humility, until, laid low by the scourge of God, I fell upon a bed of sickness; then, compelled at last by many illnesses, and by the witness of a certain noble maiden of good conduct [the nun Richardis von Stade] and of that man whom I had secretly sought and found, as mentioned above, I set my hand to the writing. While I was doing it, I sensed, as I mentioned before, the deep profundity of scriptural exposition; and, raising myself from illness by the strength I received, I brought this work to a close – though just barely – in ten years. (...) And I spoke and wrote these things not by the invention of my heart or that of any other person, but as by the secret mysteries of God I heard and received them in the heavenly places. And again I heard a voice from Heaven saying to me, 'Cry out therefore, and write thus!'”

It was between November 1147 and February 1148 AD at the synod in Trier that Pope Eugenius heard about Hildegard's writings. It was from this that she received Papal approval to document her visions as revelations from the Holy Spirit, giving her instant credence.

Before Hildegard's death, a problem arose with the clergy of Mainz. A man buried in Rupertsburg had died after excommunication from the Church. Therefore, the clergy wanted to remove his body from the sacred ground. Hildegard did not accept this idea, replying that it was a sin and that the man had been reconciled to the church at the time of his death.

On 17 September 1179 AD, when Hildegard died, her sisters claimed they saw two streams of light appear in the skies and cross over the room where she was dying.

God of all times and seasons: Give us grace that we, after the example of your servant Hildegard, may both know and make known the joy and jubilation of being part of your creation, and show forth your glory not only with our lips but in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #saints #god #salvation #peace #faith #theology #monasticism #mysticism

[what-if-i-just-did]

Writing Realistic Future Names

You writing something with aliens? Dystopian future? Doctor Who fic? 'Humans are the Weird ones' post? Need names?

Are you, like me, tired of dystopian names which are normal names written dumbly, or futuristic settings with normal names (looking at you Star Trek), or absolute nonsense? Well here's some cool ways to get futuristic names that make sense.

Celeb and Fandom Names

Names like Draco, Hermione, Sherlock, Mycroft, Enola, Benedict, Castiel, Destiel, Jensen, Danneel, Spock, Katniss, Primrose, Teyla, Elsa, Anakin, Loki, Constantine, Jinx, Rhianna, Catra, Adora, Zendaya, Halsey, Misha/Mischa, Korra, Katara, Toph, Cardi, Mabel, Ariel, Whoopi, Madonna, Oprah, Usain etc are gonna become increasingly popular, like they already are, even more so once enough time passes that people stop associating them with certain pieces of media or certain famous people.

Other Language Names

Historically, in different times different countries have a total global influence, and that will effect names. Right now, it's the USA. During the Rennasaince, it was France. We're pretty close to having Japan and other Asian cultures become the next big influence, what with all the anime everyone globally is watching/reading. Now, depending on how far in the future you're writing, add global influence from other countries. Dutch names like Marjolein and Ninthe and Brechtje, pronounced to the accent of the setting of your story. Try to go with cultures who have potential to be big: don't choose some small country somewhere that nobody has ever heard of. Go for Native American or Mexican or Russian or Japanese or Egyptian.

Surnames

Use surnames for first names! A lot of names that used to be surnames are now gender neutral first names, such as Avery. Use surnames! Johnson, Harris, Smith. All of it!

Strange Shortenings

Shorten traditional names in unntraditional ways! Richard always gets shortened to Richie or (for some unfathomable reason) Dick. What about Char? Chard? Those are kick-ass names. Chris for Christian? Cancelled. It's Tian now. Cathy for Catherine? Wrong. Let's make it Rhine. Amy from Amelia? Let's screw with that, turn it into Ammy. You get it.

Pretty Words

People tend to call their children by name of something pretty, and then those names exist untill after the words have lost their meaning. Right now, most of our names are Biblical Hebrew and Latin and Old English/German. We're at the point where slowly, child names are gonna mean things in today's language again. It's already happening a little; Dawn and Hope and Autumn... but give me children called Justice and Fauna and Prime and Amethyst and Earth. Ash and Queen and Happy and Light and Feline. Give me twins called Sapphire and Sapphic, like we call our twins Catherine and Caithlynn or Tim / Timothy and Tom / Thomas now.

Spelling

Spelling is going to shift with the years, and you want your names to reflect this. This one pretty much only works for at least a hundred years into the future. Here's some guidelines of what spelling might become:

t / th = d

s / k = c

ee = i

a = e (sometimes)

y = i (sometimes)

ks = x

o = oe

h = h (add more often)

Examples: Katherine = Caderine, Timothee = Dimoedhi, Blake = Bleke, Susanna = Cucennah etc. Of course, you can do it your own way, or only use some of these guidelines if you want. Feel free to play around with it. If you chose to go for this, keep in mind that there will still be some names in old spelling, just like we still have towns called Kooperdeck and stuff like that. This technique sounds dangerously close to the "say names while your mouth is full of oreos" technique that some dystopian writers use that I hate, but because it's based on logic and what the future might actually be like, as long as you use this in moderation, it'll sound really cool. Out of these examples, Caderine and Bleke are better to use than Dimoedhi and Cucennah, because "Timothee" and "Susanna" have been pretty much lost. If that's what you're looking for though, then that's your thing, I just personally like to be able to see realistic names and eventhough those names are based on logical prediction, they sound made-up.

Gender

You need to pay attention to the percieved gender of names. You can use names that are gendered or slightly gendered right now as gender neutral names. But if you're inventing new names, do pay attention to whatever percieved gender they have in your universe. You can use Chard and Jensen for girls, Caderine and Sapphire for guys. In fact, you should definetly use names like Loki and Earth and Rhine as non-binary names.

Disclaimer: I haven't studied history, and most things I reference here as 'historically, x has happened and is therefore likely to repeat in the future' are just things I've picked up on and heard about and logically deduced, and they could be wrong. However, I consider myself very smart and I really really like history, so you should consider this as a fairly accurate depection. Just know that if someone who actually studied or researched this topic says I'm wrong then I'm probably wrong.

So there you go! How to write realistic future names. Have fun!

#writeblr #hfy #character names #future #writing #dystopia #tw star trek mention #fanfiction

[audreyhepburninblackandwhite]

Audrey Hepburn and her first husband Mel Ferrer's publicity photographs for Ondine, which opened at the 46th Street Theatre on February 18, 1954.

Who's Who in the Cast

Audrey Hepburn (Ondine)

The most startlingly lovely young personality to arrive on Broadway in more than a decade is Audrey Hepburn, the young English actress whose stage debut occurred in the Anita Loos adaptation of Colette's novel Gigi only two seasons ago. In less than a week the theatre housing that play had her name in lights over the title. Between the season-long run of Gigi and its country-wide tour last year, Audrey Hepburn made her first American film, on location in Rome. Her performance as Princess Ann in Roman Holiday, co-starred with Gregory Peck, made a clean sweep of the film critics' polls at year-end: the New York Film Critics' Circle voted her the best screen actress of the year; the survey conducted by Film Daily added the accolade of "outstanding find" of 1953. With her newest film, Sabrina Fair, in which she plays a chauffeur's daughter wooed by Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, awaiting release, she was free to return to the stage. Of the many tempting offers she chose to ally herself to the role of the Rhine water sprite, Ondine. Audrey Hepburn was born in Brussels twenty-four years ago, daughter of an Irish father and a Dutch mother. Her family sent her to England to study as a child. When the Nazi blitzkreig swept over Europe Audrey was only ten, and her mother took her to Holland. When that country was overrun she was forced to spend five years of bitter privation under occupation. She went to school in Arnheim and danced in benefits to raise money for the Dutch underground. At war's end she studied ballet in London at the Rambert School, and to earn her tuition took a job in the London duplication of the American musical comedy High Button Shoes. It was, she admits with the refreshing candor so characteristic of her, a chorus role, but it led to solo spots in other musicals, Sauce Tartare and Sauce Piquante, and to bits in the English films The Lavender Hill Mob, Young Wives' Tale, The Secret People, and Monte Carlo Baby. It was while on location in Monte Carlo for the latter that Colette, searching for an unknown young miss to create her Gigi on the stage, discovered Audrey Hepburn and knew at once her search was at an end.

Mel Ferrer (Hans)

It didn't take Mel Ferrer long to rise to stardom in Hollywood once the film producers decided to put him in front of a camera instead of keeping him hidden behind one. The New York-born actor, who now returns to the theatre for the first time since he acted in the dramatization of Lillian Smith's Strange Fruit in 1945 and directed José Ferrer—they are no relation—the following season in Cyrano de Bergerac, went to California soon afterwards to direct the film Girl of the Limberlost. When Louis de Rochemont made his film of Lost Bound Aries he remembered Mel Ferrer from Strange Fruit and cast him in the leading role. From there the star went on to in creasingly important roles in The Brave Bulls, Scaramouche, Rancho Notorious, Lili, the CinemaScope spectacle Knights of the Round Table, in which he appears as King Arthur, and the forthcoming Saadia. After attending Princeton, where he won the playwrights' award in his sophomore year, he went to Mexico to write a children's book, which he called Tito's Hats, brought him to the attention of the Stephen Day Press, which he served as editor for a year. Mel Ferrer thereupon moved over to Broadway. He appeared as a dancer in You Never Know and Everywhere I Roam, as an actor in Cue For Passion and Kind Lady. Essaying still another medium, he entered radio, soon was a producer-director, supervising such programs as The Hit Parade, Mr. District Attorney, Dr. I.Q., and the Jimmy Durante comedy hour. Once in Hollywood, along with Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Joseph Cotten, he founded the La Jolla Playhouse where since 1947 the quartet of actor-producers has presented an average of nine plays each summer, more than half of which Mr. Ferrer has staged.

#audrey hepburn #mel ferrer #portrait photography #portraits #vintage #classic #style #photography #fashion #old hollywood #old hollywood glamour #ondine