[akasizia9]

[amydaily]

006

[nellidae9752]

[twistcmyk]

i could draw ralsei forever

[nellidae9752]

And so wept the fallen star, making rivers with its tears. Then, slowly, from the bitter water, something grew. It looked like glass. - Peculiar Book, 2nd Sanctuary

There is a small shard of something in your pocket. It feels like glass, but... - Check Text for the Glass, the Light World Shadow Crystal

A sharp shadow moves like water in the hand. - Check Text for the Shadow Crystal in the Dark World

The Watercoolers in Chapter 3 are very powerful enemy encounters with unexpectedly tough bullet patterns and their own unique variant of Rude Buster called "Vapor Buster" exclusive to them, for what initially feels just like a gag and a cute nod to Undertale. This builds up to the encounters with the Mizzles and Miss Mizzle in the following chapter.

Given the latest Chapter 5 update from Toby Fox of the translation notes as above, I’d like to point out a few of the ACT options in her mini boss fight. Just to be clear, I will also be discussing the matter of:

Miss Mizzle and the Mizzles

The Smitten Cactus and its parallels to Spamton

The Bluest Flower

The Bitter Tear and the Shadow Crystals

Asgore's flower shop

Omega Flowey from Undertale

Naturally, don't read if you have not played Chapters 3 and 4 as there are spoilers ahead. I will also later discuss Undertale Lore regarding Determination and Flowey the Flower, so discretion is advised.

[Flowers] "The Bluest Flower, A disciple of my speech Shy to no camera, And a specimen of Elegance and kindness. Should you meet, Please give my regards." - Miss Mizzle, 3rd option for [Chat] [Cactuses are better] "Disgusting." - Miss Mizzle, 4th option for [Chat]

And should you prompt Susie to [Embezzle] from her, she drops an item called the Bitter Tear, mentioned above. Trust that I'll get to it soon, but first I'd really like to talk about the Cactuses and the Bluest Flower first.

The Smitten Cactus and Spamton G. Spamton Parallels

The cactus that you get the Key from by pushing it in Board 1 will blush if you get close and also won’t dry out should you drink from the Oasis 9 times. As though it has its own water source.

Should you earn enough to unlock the S-Rank room, there is an NPC Darkner behind one of the curtains, who is heavily implied to be the Dreemurr cactus, AKA the “Smitten Cactus” of which you also take a photo of in Board 2. In case there was any doubt, the Saber10 sword -which is the spiny something stuck to your hand after they push you away- is a Japanese pun for the word サボテン(saboten), meaning "cactus."

We are forbidden however from actually seeing what they look like beyond the in-universe game of Legend of Tenna Board 1 and 2. There being merely two replicas in the Green Room suggest that there is something special about the true form of the genuine, living cactus. This figure is also hidden behind the curtain of a changing room, as though their spiny form is something they can change in and out of.

Miss Mizzle speaks of the Bluest Flower as her disciple. Should you sit Miss Mizzle and regular Mizzle next to each other in the Castle Town Café, Miss Mizzle will try to recruit the other as her “apprentice”. All this suggests that the spiny Darkner behind the changing room who is smitten with Kris is highly likely to be a Mizzle or at least some sort of water elemental. Elnina and Lanino also have special flavor text when you pair each of them with Miss Mizzle or Mizzle, suggesting Elnina is similar.

In Chapter 3, Tenna mandates the Mizzles, referred to as water spirits, to be in Watercoolers through his contracts according to Shuttah. The Mizzles of the Church Dark World manifest from the Watercoolers in Chapter 4. With the recruit flavor text of Watercoolers this suggests Tenna was going for a family-friendly dress code for a religious household like the Dreemurrs.

The chatty office star. Obviously quite a looker despite her prudish wear. - Watercooler Recruit Information

Miss Mizzle calling Cactuses as “disgusting” suggests that it’s outright taboo to be wearing a Cactus body for water spirits. Hence why the curtain NPC/Smitten Cactus is so ashamed about it.

I find it quite fascinating regarding the Cactus thorns (Like the rose thorns on the Thorn Ring) and why it’s in the S-Rank room where “HEY EVERY !” is playing in the background.

Given the water Darkners we have met thus far have all been women (Mizzle, Miss Mizzle and Elnina) points for trans Spamton theory fans perhaps?

Note how the Smitten Cactus is said to love Kris, but "mainly shows a sharp side". Compare this to the Spamton Valentine in the Sweepstakes ARG which references the insulating foam incident with Tenna and begins with Spamton cursing up a storm.

"LIGHT nER! HAY-HA Y HAY!!!" (... is what it felt like your glasses would say.) - Check Text for the haystack post-Cowboy Minigame if one of your party members is wearing the Dealmaker.

The Bluest Flower and the Shadow Crystals

All this evidence suggests that plant Darkners do not exist, because they are living things and not objects. Rather, any plant life form in the Dark World that is sentient is actually a water spirit which wears the plant as a physical body.

An important story element in Undertale is that plants cannot contain SOULs, and therefore cannot be monsters. Determination refers to both the actual noun and a tangible substance in Undertale that can be extracted from human SOULs, which have it in abundance, far more than monster SOULs. It can be injected into other living things, such as plants. This is how Flowey the talking flower, who doesn’t have a SOUL, is manifested.

ENTRY NUMBER 5 I've done it. Using the blueprints, I've extracted it from the human SOULs. I believe this is what gives their SOULs the strength to persist after death. The will to keep living... The resolve to change fate. Let's call this power... "Determination."

ENTRY NUMBER 8 [After restoring power] I've chosen a candidate. I haven't told ASGORE yet, because I want to surprise him with it... In the center of his garden there's something special. The first golden flower, that grew before all the others.

"Determination" or "Will" (as Deltarune seems to prefer) is the requisite to create a Dark Fountain, as explained by Queen, and can only be found in the SOULs of Lightners, which can be humans or monsters. Note that Toby Fox did at some point mention that Determination and Will may work slightly differently in Deltarune than Undertale, so monsters can have it in equal measure to humans.

The only thing we ever see close to a SOUL from a Darkner would be NEO’s Heart Attack, but it has yet to be confirmed if ever what that thing actually is. His character is an exception to a lot of the rules of the Dark World thanks to his old benefactor after all. And Queen would have used the NEO body if it in of itself had a genuine Lightner SOUL, wouldn’t she?

All the way up to Chapter 4, we never get to see a Darkner actually die per se. They run away from battle, get temporarily petrified, are "nowhere to be found", or frozen by Iceshock. What they are made of on the inside still remains a mystery. There's no confirmation about SOULs for Darkners anywhere.

If Darkners have no SOULs and cannot create their own Dark Fountains, I believe it is safe to say that they can inhabit plant life because these aren’t meant to have SOULs either.

Living things that appear in the Dark World, including Moss, a reoccurring consumable, never become Darkners. Fungi, as another example, instead become the bobbling doohickeys that respond to movement as stimuli to go wibbily wobbily in the Purple Cliffs at the outskirts of Castle Town and TV World. Note that this is only revealed in secret save point flavor text, and what it shoots out specifically means it represents the fungal flagella.

Speaking of the Purple Cliffs, I’d like to draw attention to the eyeball symbols and puzzles scattered throughout these locations. As we currently know, these are visual representations of the Titans. You can also see them oozing a black substance as though it’s an eyeball crying or a mouth drooling.

When we encounter the Roaring Knight in Chapter 3, a substance briefly drops as they turn and slouch over to stare at the Fun Gang. This animation’s file is labelled “spr_roaringknight_droop”, leaving it ambiguous whether the Knight is shedding tears or perhaps salivating from the mouth. I'm personally leaning on it being tears, unclear though it may be.

With the aforementioned flavor text of the Bitter Tear, it is described as water that fell from the sky. From the “peculiar” book, it tells a tale of a fallen star leaving behind tears of bitter water which would coalesce into glass. The Titans have massive eyeballs and associations with Celestial Beings. All of this suggests that the Mizzles, or at least some form of Water Spirit, have some thus far unknown association with the Roaring Knight and the Titan.

Another hint being the ways in which Miss Mizzle, the Watercooler and the Titan all have text in their encounters pertaining to MERCY.

[BegForMercy] You begged for mercy... ... but the watercooler showed none. This is probably because your NAME isn't YELLOW. - Narration for Watercooler [BegForMercy]

[BegForMercy] "Blessed are those who kneel to me, for my waves shall cleanse you. Close your eyes, for as long as you adore my purity, no harm shall follow you." - Miss Mizzle, after you beg her to heal you.

"Again you pray! With renewed vigor, But now your hands shake with carbonated nerves And fear drips down your face in painted horror. You beg not for salvation by my purity, but For fear of some ugliness you see reflected in the glass. Once again I shall show mercy, but no more." - Miss Mizzle, after the first repeat of [BegForMercy]

[Attempting to spare] But, it was not something that can understand MERCY. - Narration for the Titan Battle

With all this information, I'd like to take a prediction for Chapter 5:

Miss Mizzle foreshadows a future encounter with the Bluest Flower. Who is presumably the Blue Flower under one of the seven glass containers in Flower King. The theme of Chapter 5, according to Gerson’s novel, is a “vast garden charred in an inferno of jealousy”.

In the room post Chapter 3 Doom Board where you can fight the Watercooler with a curtain behind it, the Curtain NPC has different responses depending on whether you flirted with the Watercooler or not.

(Someone was watching you flirt with the watercooler.) "How nice... her water... was always so nourishing... wasn't it... She... was so brave... to put herself out there like that. I'm sure you two... will be... very happy together..." (But, something about the words sounded sad.) - Curtain NPC (Someone was watching you fight with the watercooler.) (They seemed relieved you didn't flirt with it.) - Curtain NPC, if you didn't choose the [Flirt] option.

I have noticed that jealousy, envy and emphasis on hierarchy seems to be a frequent characteristic of the Water Darkners (Miss Mizzle claims to be royalty, regular Mizzles are fairy-like and can't stand Miss Mizzle, and Elnina is referred to as a commoner by the former two).

And with this "power of will" contained in each of the Shadow Crystals, I'd like to draw attention to each of the holders of these Crystals.

Jevil was a Court Jester who went mad from forbidden knowledge and was sealed away by the Court Magician. He then removed himself from the narrative to be free of it.

Spamton broke his covenant and was struck by divine punishment for defying fate. His true body was discarded and replaced with that of a puppet.

The Roaring Knight lost their Lightner physicality.

Lastly, Gerson was not driven mad by the influence of the Shadow Crystal. He remained as himself. Nonetheless, he has bitten the dust.

Each of them had experienced a form of "death", whether literal or figurative. Determination or Will is linked to persisting after death. Assuming the "Bluest Flower" Miss Mizzle is speaking of is the same one in Flower King...

(A photo of your mother and father on their wedding day.) (She's holding a bouquet of seven flowers.) (A reindeer-looking monster stands nearby in a tuxedo.) (They all look happy.) - Narration, "See photos," Chapter 1

These could either be a newer batch of the same species.... Or perhaps, if the Shadow Crystals truly contain the "Power of Will" to persist long after death, perhaps the Bluest Flower is the original flower from Toriel's bouquet, preserved so long by some matter of "miracle".

That would explain why Miss Mizzle and the Bluest Flower know each other; Toriel and Asgore were married in that church.

This water spirit Darkner, who is “shy to no camera” and loves attention, is trapped in glass with hardly anyone to see them but Asgore... it begs the question how they feel about this arrangement.

The most powerful Mizzles are already carrying what may very well be either be the liquid form or the key ingredient for the creation of the Shadow Crystals. Thus, the fifth and final Shadow Crystal needed for Seam’s special item, would be obtained at the point of the story in which their true origins are finally explained. Perhaps the "Bluest Flower" Water Darkner may be a Secret Boss Candidate? We also have yet to see the Integrity SOUL in action.

The Shadow Mantle and Flowey the Flower

Some more details regarding the Smitten Cactus; Curtain NPC is implied to have some form of significance in their appearances within the "Mantle" game during the Sword Route. They will appear if you enter Mantle Board 2 without the Ice Key. In Mantle Board 3, the Smitten Cactus also has a room of their own. You need to be level 3 to destroy it.

After you clear the Shadow Mantle Boss, the Smitten Cactus will check to see if Kris was hurt should you walk up to them, because they care.

The Shadow Mantle Holder also makes frequent nods to Flowey the Flower as well. Including but not limited to numerous jabs to Kris's alleged proclivity towards violence. I won't make any assumptions as to the exact nature of this relationship, just that there is evidence of its existence.

With the aforementioned Cactus and the Cowboy Minigame. Perhaps, there may also be Cacti in Chapter 5 as part of a detail in reference to the Puppet Cowboy program that Asgore loved?

See the optional Kris and Tenna scene below, and the recently restored Board 3 quiz which didn't make into the final game:

Once again, a nod with Spamton, and the fact that it's a Puppet Show, like "Howdy Doody", which was the inspiration for everyone's favorite Toy Story Reference.

Recall that part about "Chapter 5: The Field of Pink and Gold"? A couple more things regarding Spamton....

"Digital Roots" in the basement to obtain the EmptyDisk, the unused spamton_house.ogg and "Bit Roots" before you fight the Shadow Mantle boss each share the melody of "Your Best Nightmare".

Post Spamton NEO fight in normal route has Spamton bound in vines.

Spamton has intimate knowledge of the prophecy, the player SOUL, and likely much more.

"... but nobody came."

Spamton NEO's Flying Heads are a nod to Mettaton, however, notice what they are shooting at you:

And do you know who else is cactus-like?

Thank you for reading!

[power-chords]

Can you please explain your dialogue theory of fanfiction?

In short, that dialogue, more than anything, makes or breaks a fanfic. What do posts like "He would not fucking say that" and "They would NOT have communication skills that good" have in common? Talk. Characters expressing themselves to one another. The faithful recreation of identifiable speech patterns is weighted heavily in the evaluation of a fic's quality. By "speech patterns" I do not just mean the semantic content of a given character's expression, but idiosyncrasies of style and slang, vocabulary and idiom, even gesture, musicality, and rhythm.

Of course believable dialogue is far from the only thing that makes a good fanfic Good. And there are forms of fic writing, particularly highly abbreviated ones like drabbles and ficlets, that in practice tend to de-emphasize its significance. But if we are talking about the romantic, erotic shippy stuff that is the meat and potatoes of online fandom, dialogue does the heaviest lifting short of the consummation itself. Arguably more so! It's the real keystone to the catharsis, and often the catalyst for it. Is there a confession occurring? A provocation? An evasion or ultimatum? Zoom out, big picture: What is the most potent and fundamental mechanic for developing complexity, tension, and transformation within a relationship, getting it to go from one thing to another? Making these two idiots talk to each other! Often clumsily and indirectly and maladaptively, at the worst possible time and in the worst possible situation, about anything or everything but what they should be — but talk they usually do.

What makes fanfic specifically so challenging and rewarding in this regard is that the talking is as much a feat of translation as invention, because both reader and writer are working off an existing model. Liberties taken with plot, form, and even narrative voice have wider buffer zones; you can get creative with circumventing the events of canon while still conforming to its emotional and substantive essence.

But the training wheels come off the moment you open your mouth to speak in another character's voice. And man, nothing will break a reader's immersion quite like he would not fucking say that.

[power-chords]

I probably should have clarified at the outset (though maybe it’s obvious) that this post was made with televisual media in mind. I’m seeing a lot of comments/tags to this effect and if you want a very straightforward exercise that will strengthen your ear for writing in-character fic dialogue, start transcribing the source material. Re-watch relevant scenes of interaction with either a notepad out or an open Word/Scrivener/Google Doc and translate it word for word back down to written form. Pause wherever necessary to make sure you get it all down, and annotate with any useful observations that jump out at you. Go back over and re-read what you’ve transcribed when you’re done. You’ll start to pick up on, at the very least, certain modular fundamentals: shorter vs longer sentences, preferences for certain words or phrases over others, regional slang, how and how often they curse (or don’t), etc. Do this often and you will get better at replicating how your blorbos speak to each other. Promise.

[deathlonging]

ID: screenshots of three sets of tags: 1. i read this at a time where i am struggling to get a characters voice and perhaps that was a bad time to read it but youre right 2. its why dialogue being my achilles heel hits so much harder - because it becomes so quickly inescapable 3. ah my arch nemesis - dialogue. but this is an interesting read tho

[kidokear]

Sooo, ummm, you've seen the new thing Toby Fox posted? I think you'll find it interesting regarding your AU? 👀

I did! and 2 things caught my eye.

Oooo man, ooo dear, oooo God. This feels like driving a thorn nail deeper. Tenna's problem that he doesn't listen and that's (as far as we know) is what lead his and Spam's downfall, at least a big part of it. Hell, he didn't listen to the Knight (Kris) in the end of the chapter. (I doubt that doing so would've changed the outcome though)

And he start seeing it, but the wrong part. He said that he talks too much. That's not the issue Tenna. It's the listening.

I suppose Spam is aware of this. And giving what the soul and Thorn Ring connection do, it would be seen as fixing a flaw. He's helping Tenna listen more.

Spamton is unsure how he feels about talking less.

But the part that could really means so much for my AU is the one about the Shadow Crystals.

I guess we all got the same impression from that dialogue. That the Crystals contain Determination. If that's the case, then one must analyze its effect on Darkeners from a new angle.

I did think about Determination in Deltarune. Talked a friend about the effects we know and how they could translate. What they could do. I dare say, Alphays would've hired me as a lab assistant. XD

Maybe I could find that conversation and organize it into a neat analysis. 🤔

Either way, I could work with that. More than you think. I had ideas. There are branches. I never knew which to cut and keep so early on. Maybe this could help me pick.

[bedford-prattle]

[hakkumii]

" Far from lonely "

[volvens]

[journeytothewestresearch]

Sha Wujing's Nickname

I was asked a very specific question on Discord: "In the book, do they refer to Wujing more as Sēng or Heshang?" These are both variants for "monk."

Here are the results:

Sha seng (沙僧; "Monk Sha") - 814 times

Wiktionary explains that seng (僧) is a "clipping" of sengqie (僧伽), a transliteration of Sangha, or the "community of monks, nuns, novices and laity."

Sha heshang (沙和尚; "Teacher/Priest Sha") - 94 times

As for heshang (和尚), it is "[b]orrowed from Prakrit 𑀉𑀯𑀚𑁆𑀛𑀸𑀅 (uvajjhāa), 𑀉𑀅𑀚𑁆𑀛𑀸𑀅 (uajjhāa), 𑀉𑀚𑁆𑀛𑀸𑀅 (ujjhāa), 𑀑𑀚𑁆𑀛𑀸𑀅 (ŏjjhāa, 'teacher; religious teacher'), all from Sanskrit उपाध्याय (upādhyāya, 'teacher; preceptor; spiritual adviser'."

I didn't know the etymology of these terms until now. Very interesting.

Sha Wujing from the 1986 TV series.

[stubbyartist]

first snow of the year!

[laniemel]

oughhh shes so pretty,,,

[eatingmarkerz]

a take on spamton ex

*coughs oh so violently*

[purpledragonfollower]

[ryin-silverfish]

Will Open To Flood

A fan prologue to the Water Margin Prologue. One-shot.

(Since I'm actually getting Water Margin asks, I may as well post this old fanfic from...last year or something, can't remember.)

...

From the very beginning, he knew these were not ordinary animal spirits or malicious ghosts. Yet, despite ending up with the same hexagrams of warning and ill omen in every divination, despite gazing into the night sky and finding the stars out of their usual position, Celestial Master Zhang dared not turn his mind to the most obvious answer.

So it came to him, in the form of thirty-six blazing orbs of light and seventy-two clouds of darkness, struggling against his unseen net.

Why do you stop us? Obstructing the duty of mortal officials is already a grave offense. One of the thirty-six spoke. Not to mention the very stars of Heaven and Earth. Of all mortals, you should have known better, Celestial Master.

Why bother with this bull-nosed fool, brothers? An orb of dark light, spinning so fast that it looked like a whirlwind, seethed. Let me rip his net to pieces! Bring the curse of SLAUGHTER upon him, his disciples, his lineage!

No. We are not allowed to lay our hands on anyone, before the time of our redemption comes.

A shame. A soft, feminine voice cooed. I'd have made fine mincemeat out of him. 

Silence, woman. We are trying to convince him that we are not demons. 

"I know what you are." He could feel the beads of sweat on his forehand, as he gazed down into the shallow pit. "And I will not set you free."

What insolence! A bellow, followed by a hearty chortle. I love it! This man has a backbone, and I cannot say the same for you lot.

What are you hoping to accomplish with this? Blackmail? Enslavement? A change of fortune? We cannot grant you anything, trapped as we are now. 

"To protect the living, baleful stars."

From the wrath of Heaven? One of the seventy-two snorted. You are more of a fool than we think.

Understandable, if pitiful. But we are merely on our way to the Wheel of Transmigration. Regardless of what our grim duty is, you will not know it in your own lifetime.  

WRONG! The moment I'm free, I'll give him a taste of it! The black whirlwind spun faster. Though it did not have eyes, Celestial Master Zhang suddenly felt the full weight of its glare. Release us, and I'll leave enough pieces of you behind for a proper burial!

Not. Helping.

Hmmm. As one Daoist to another, I appreciate your mastery of the sealing arts. 

It pains me to admit this, brothers, but there is a grain of truth in the words of the Star of Heavenly Slaughter. A contemplative sigh. Bargaining and negotiations are futile. If we are fated to carry out our duties in time, we would not be captured in the first place. Conversely, if we are trapped now, then we must be destined to wait further.

THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID, YOU——

Enough! One orb's light blazed. Show the Star of Heavenly Cunning some respect. 

Thank you, brother. Now, Celestial Master, it said, in a deceptively calm voice. This one can offer you nothing, other than what he knows, and what he hears from your very being. So ask, and you should receive.

"Are you truly certain in the Will of Heaven?"

A long silence. Another star laughed.

Oh, that is not a question for the wise or cunning. It is a question for this humble immortal, it said,  as it effortlessly flew into the space where the Star of Heavenly Cunning used to be.

You are speaking of the Will of Heaven like it is an imperial decree, imposed upon the world below. It is not.

The Will of Heaven is the Wrath of Man.

A chill crawled upon his spine, as he heard the last few words. Even the restless dark stars slowed in their movements.

When Qinlins fight, there shall be eclipses. When whales die, meteors emerge. As above, so below. Every deed has a ripple, and it goes both ways.

Do you think the wrath and death we carry are our own? That it does not come from the very men who lived and died under our lights, nay, has yet to die and live, will die and will live?

Have you not seen them yourself, Celestial Master? The bloody legacies of An Lushan and Shi Siming? The eunuchs, so powerful yet powerless? The charcoal seller, the elderly man who broke his own arm to escape conscription, the dying beggar in front of the vermillion gate? 

Every muffled scream, every last tear, every eye that remains shut to some and open to others. Mountain of gold and silver, built atop bleached bones. 

Like little grains of sand, they pile up at the bottom, discarded by the currents, merging into the mire. Higher and higher, until they force the very waters to rise and break through the dam, sweeping everything away in its wake.

We are the last grains, destined to unleash the flood. 

We shall dish out suffering and death, and suffer and die in return. 

"I've heard enough."

He drew the fly whisk hidden in his sleeves. Despite the tremors in his legs, he did not kneel over as he began walking the Steps of Yu.

We are the punisher. We are the punished.

Damn you! Can you stop spewing mystical nonsense for once and start convincing him?

I believe the Star of Heavenly Slaughter has well and truly ruined any chance of that, before the Star of Heavenly Leisure opened his mouth.

WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT ME, YA' WIMPY POSTBOY?!

Wonderful. Now we have to endure each other for the next few hundred years. Perhaps this is the true Heavenly Punishment. A star pulsed, as if shaking its head. Still, Celestial Master, I'm holding you and your entire lineage responsible for our suffering to come.

He did not say the mantra out loud, as he called upon the essence of Qian and Kun, Kan and Dui. Heaven and Earth, Water and Marsh. As quarrelsome and seemingly human as the stars were, he would not give them a single word that could be used against his formation.

You will not be the first to raise the dam higher, nor the last. But heed my words, ye who walk in the Sage King's steps: no dams can stop a flood forever.

"For the fields and houses standing in its way, it is still worth a try."

Your courage is commendable. But alas, Gun, father of Yu, thought dams alone would suffice too. 

Its sigh was almost drowned out by the furious cries and threats of its fellow stars, as the threads of his net hardened into diamond chains, slowly but steadily dragging them toward the earth below.

Until then, we shall wait. Let the mire bury us, wash away the memories.

The earth crumbled before the first star even touched its surface. One by one, the lights and dark clouds vanished into the bottomless void, while he drew rocks out from beneath the soil and reshaped them like clay on a pottery wheel, into the form of a slab and a divine tortoise and scripts of phoenix and dragon.

When all have forgotten, when no one knows of the missing stars, when the silken facade of prosperity seems unbreakable, when human folly and greed reign...

"Begone, demons!"

Then we will break free, and the very Heaven and Earth shall scream our names.

Only when the very last echo of its words faded away did Celestial Master Zhang fall on his knees, panting. His Daoist robes were drenched in sweat, as if caught in a downpour. Breathe in, click the tongue, swallow, breathe out. Hold onto Stillness, steady the Heart. 

The prison would hold. For now.

At last, he picked himself up from the ground, ready to add a few more sealing talismans onto the stone tortoise and the stele, just in case——

He froze when he caught sight of four giant characters at the back of the stele. Angry crimson oozed from every stroke, as if carved onto soft flesh instead of cold, hard stone, in stark contrast with the gentle golden lines of his own script.

Will 

Open 

To 

Flood

[karroana]

gouache study of beautiful ancient artifacts !