#cycles

[lddarling]

His Angel, Her Brute.

[aventurineswife]

Your hand lingers on his, a simple gesture meant to steady the warrior who has carried too much for too long. You do not know about the cycles — 33,550,336 — etched into the marrow of his being, nor the countless times he has risen, watched, failed, and burned again. To you, he is just Phainon: the Deliverer, the friend who lifts others from despair with warmth brighter than any sun.

To him, you are a miracle he can never hold.

He smiles at you, gentle, kind — as though your touch could truly banish the weight from his shoulders. But behind that smile is knowledge more cruel than any blade: he cannot save you. The Flame Reaver, his own past shadow, will tear you from him. The cycle demands it. He will watch, helpless, as he always does. He will rise from the ashes, as he always must. And you — you will fall again.

"All shall bid farewell to one, and that person alone will witness the miracle."

The prophecy gnaws at him with every breath. Everyone he loves, every vow sworn to him, every soul that once stood at his side — all destined to fade, leaving him the sole witness to a dawn that will cost him everything. A dawn he begins to wonder if he even deserves to see.

But still, in this moment, when you offer him comfort without knowing the depth of his scars, Phainon lets himself imagine. Imagine a world where the cycle breaks. A world where the Flame Reaver never comes. A world where everyone lives — where laughter does not end in screams, where goodbyes are not the only constant. A world where he does not have to be the last.

And if that world must exist without him, then so be it.

"Even if I fall a hundred times... a million times... I will rise, unnamed, but undeterred."

He leans into your hand, and for the first time in millions of lives, he dares to believe in the dream you’ve unknowingly given him: not of survival, not of prophecy — but of peace.

Continuation?

[palaeosinensis]

As paraphrased from Gustav Mahler's second symphony (fifth movement): "You were not born for no reason. You have not lived for nothing. Nor suffered in vain. What has lived must also perish What has perished shall rise again." Happy Winter Solstice.

[astrolovecosmos]

Aries Moon cycles through different waves and bursts of passion.

Taurus Moon cycles may look more like routine or habit, a creature of comfort and contentment.

Gemini Moon cycles in eras of curiosity, excitement, and stale moments.

Cancer Moon cycles through vicious and deep emotions, to emotional enlightenment and contentment.

Leo Moon cycles through feelings of being invincible, fierce, confident, and/or proud to low, small, doubtful, and/or potentially even shameful.

Virgo Moon cycles through moments of focus, nervous or scattered energy, and potentially patience and impatience.

Libra Moon cycles through inner and/or emotional darkness and lightness, heaviness and carefree, unbalanced to balanced.

Scorpio Moon cycles through intense currents of emotions such as obsession, desire, sacrifice, empathy, vindictiveness, passion, wrath, and loyalty.

Sagittarius Moon cycles through feelings of wonderment and/or excitement, a strong inquisitiveness, maybe fanatic enthusiasm and then disappointment, disillusionment, and/or clarity, and then boldness, defiance, and/or rebellion.

Capricorn Moon cycles through feelings of negativity, harshness, and/or self-criticism and blame to hope and/or ambition, survival mode, or logic and level-headedness.

Aquarius Moon cycles through thoughts and feelings of appreciation and respect for others to detachment and even judgment. Can have conflicting emotional needs which cause more internal chaos than predictive cycles.

Pisces Moon cycles through intense empathy and concern for others to sensitive fantasies to surprising apathy, isolated suffering, or heavy guilt and self-blame.

[cyclesvia]

Cuphead: Rude...

[kafkasapartment]

Cycles Clément, founded by Adolphe Clément in 1878. The widespread popularity of bicycles in the 1890s played a major role in female emancipation and leisure culture.

[theweightofdivinity]

Lara Owen, from The Sabbath of Women.