#{Assuming this is about the hidden pages puzzles- That's all me :3}

[themissingnumbers]

(IM COMING FOR UR FUCKING NUMBERS COSMIC /silly /lh)

{Once again the nefarious mod carrion escapes blame}

[starxanemone]

꩜ⴰ ࣪˖ THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS

tighnari x gender neutral!reader — oneshot. romance.

if you read between the lines, colors, and shapes of the petals, perhaps you might find meaning conveyed to you through the language of flowers.

— wherein you are a secret admirer of tighnari and you decide to send him flowers and along with equally-flowery words.

Rukkhadhava Mushrooms? Check.

Kalpalata Lotus? Check.

Padisara? Check.

Scarab fluid? Check.

“Do you find all of the necessary ingredients to be satisfactory enough?” An employee asks Tighnari as he counts the number of each ingredient separated into containers on top of the table.

“Yes, thank you very much.” He responds busily.

“I wish you the best in your endeavors. I will be off now.”

“Yes, thank you.” Tighnari nods his head as his pencil drags off carefully against the page of his little notebook, crossing small boxes listed between the grid lines. Work was constant and even more so now as he feels its amount in waves lately with the sudden new virus spreading around due to the withering zones. Fortunately, only a few were infected and it is not taking too much of a toll on his body—with him balancing the role of being a Forest Watcher and a sort of doctor on the side.

He sighs as he closes his notebook shut and sits down on the chair. He looks around him, wide dark emerald eyes admiring the abundance of greenery inside Pardis Dhyai and taking in the cluster of herbal and floral fragrances between each soft inhale.

He then glances at the clock.

3:29AM. Any minute now–

“Delivery for Tighnari!” A deep, gravelly voice enters the vicinity and Tighnari immediately stands up to respectfully bow to the delivery man.

“Ah, Arkan.” Tighnari greets the tall, burly man right in front of him politely. There is a bundle of purple hugged between Arkan’s arms and he eyes it promptly; expectantly; disposition still even despite the slight anticipating twitch of his ear. “I assume that is for me.”

“Ya got that right.” Arkan agrees gruffly, extending his arm out to hand him the bouquet of vibrant purple Forget-Me-Not flowers. “Your lover’s been quite consistent.”

“Perhaps ‘admirer’ would be a more suitable term. I still don’t know who they are.” Tighnari shakes his head before glancing down at the flowers now in his arms. Its petals are the shade of mustard yellow at the center, transitioning to vibrant purple as he eyes the petals down to its rounded tips. He wonders what is their motive behind all of this. How was he to fall for a person whose identity he had no slightest idea of? It was unreasonable to fall for a figment of his imagination—the mere idea built from expectations of who this person might be.

But still, he keeps the flowers close to him. It stays displayed inside his home, consistently being replaced every week upon each delivery. So far, he had received a total of four flower deliveries, all appearing to be freshly-picked and very healthy.

I’m keeping them because it would be a waste not to. Tighnari nodded to himself.

“Well, then, I’ll leave you to think about it by yourself.” Arkan dips his head slightly for a temporary farewell. He would be seeing Tighnarini again soon, no doubt.

“Alright. Thank you for the delivery, Arkan.”

Tighnari sits down once again, placing the wrapped bouquet on his lap, supporting it with one arm. He counts the flowers and the snowy Gypsophila surrounding each small bundle of Forget-Me-Nots. He brings it up to his face, breathing in the floral fragrance before noticing a small piece of rectangular paper pasted onto the wrapping. His fingers gently move the flowers to read the text.

“What if you forget to forget-me-not and we fade away?”

A new piece added onto the puzzle of the admirer’s hidden painting. Clever. Forget-Me-Nots. Tighnari thinks back to the previous pieces of paper he had received along with the bouquets of flowers. So far, the compilation of all the notes reads:

“You can open up to me; show me what’s inside. Mother nature made us to intertwine.”

“Lavender elixir so full of pheromones, give me one taste and you’re gone.”

“What if I can’t get you out of my thoughts? What if my seasons don’t change?”

And today, “What if you forget to forget me not and we fade away?”

The admirer seems troubled today, Tighnari thinks, humming to himself in deep thought. Perhaps they liked him more than he had initially expected. He expected to be receiving about only two to three deliveries of such things, but it’s turning out to be more of a consistent thing now. Looking forward to Monday’s every time the clock strikes thirty minutes after the hour of three in the afternoon has become a sort of habit.

But he wonders: When would this end? When would he get to meet the individual who has been going through the effort to send these on a weekly basis?

Perhaps he must do a little bit of investigating for himself.

The next week comes slowly as the virus dies down significantly with Tighnari providing the patients with treatment. It has provided time for him to give some thought onto the next course of actions he might take to look for the admirer, and perhaps, the best person to ask first is the person consistently delivering the flowers.

Arkan comes marching to the front of Tighnari’s house at exactly 3:30PM, and he’s there to receive him just in time.

“Arkan, I have a question.” Tighnari began as he accepted the bouquet. Today’s flowers were a fresh bundle white Tropical Morning Glories wrapped in black paper. He fishes for the note stuck onto the wrapping paper behind the flowers and silently reads it.

“You’re my little flower blooming in the night.”

Blooming in the night... Morning Glories were also known as Moonflowers.

He purses his lip in thought as his ear unconsciously twitches. He scratches the back of his neck. Why are my ears warm? Perhaps it is hotter today than usual.

“What is it?”

He looks up from the bouquet and eyes Arkan curiously. “By any chance, do you know who’s sending these flowers?”

Arkan lets out a loud guffaw at his question, pressing his hands onto his abdomen. “I thought you’d never ask."

“It’s just that I was too busy to be pondering about that previously with the virus and all.” Tighnari places the flowers onto the ledge of his porch before crossing his arms. “So? Will you tell me who they might be?”

“No can do.” Arkan shakes his head.

He sighs. “As I suspected. Looking for them is not going to be as easy as that.”

“How ‘bout I give ya a hint?” Arkan places his hands on his hips, grinning down at him widely. “You know them.”

Tighnari squints his eyes.

He knows them.

He browses his memories for the list of people that he knew but it was turning out to be rather difficult when he was practically familiar with more than half of Gandharva Ville and many from Sumeru City. It cannot possibly be Collei; she is much too young and she has been quite close with a boy her age lately that lived near their home. Cyno was way too subpar with his linguistic skills to be able to construct mellifluous words such as these, and it is apparent with his dry jokes, thus it is unlikely to be him. Paimon and the Traveler on the other hand had long left the vicinity of Sumeru. And Alhaitham… Well, he’s Alhaitham. Could it be Kaveh?

“Do they live closeby?” Tighnari asks after a few moments of thinking.

“They live in a sort of paradise. Sort of like a garden, if you will. That’s all I gotta say.” Arkan laughs before saluting to him. “Welp, I’ll leave ya to it.”

So it’s not Kaveh, then. Thank goodness. Tighnari breathes out a sigh of relief before taking the flowers from the ledge once again. He must quickly put them in a vase.

Another week comes and Tighnari is finished trekking through the forest with Cyno after dealing with one of the few remaining Withering Zones left.

“So you have been receiving a bouquet of flowers every week.” Cyno summarizes after Tighnari explains the entirety of the situation. “I see.”

“Yes, so if it is not any trouble and if you aren’t busy with work, would you mind helping me investigate this matter?” Tighnari tilts his head, waiting for his friend’s response.

“I’m afraid that I must refuse.” Cyno answers, quickly pulling his eyes away to look up at the nearby trees.

“Hm? And why is that?” Tighnari crosses his arms. “You are looking suspicious right now, my friend. Don’t tell me that you’re actually the secret admirer?”

Cyno sends him an offended look, or at least, as offended as his typically-stoic face could look. “Do I appear to be the type who writes poetry? I must say that my jokes are quite great, but poetry on the other hand?”

“Yes, it is exactly as I thought. Except for the jokes part.” Tighnari nods, ignoring the second wave of offended expression that paints his friend’s face. “But why were you acting suspicious just now? Perhaps… you know who they are. You know who has been sending the flowers to me.”

Cyno shakes his head. “It’s not that I knew. I only figured it out when you told me about the flowers just now.”

“How?”

“Easy. I suggested the flowers, or rather, I told them you liked plants, and maybe, flowers.” Cyno explains before suddenly looking thoughtful. “But now that I think about it. The notes do sound like something they would do.” He hums thoughtfully. "Hm... they even went all the way to Sumeru City to ask about something like that."

“Well? Are you not going to tell me who it is?”

“No.”

Tighnari sighs, rubbing his face in annoyance. This was becoming more frustrating with the way Arkan and Cyno were being so secretive.

Cyno pats his shoulder comfortingly. “You will find out who they are soon.”

“Why? Will they reveal themselves?”

“I do not know. But upon meeting them, it is only time before they slip up. They’re not as patient as you believe they are.”

“Yes, maybe…”

Tighnari receives three stems of Tulips today, tied together with a thin white ribbon that also holds a piece of paper along with it. His eyes squinted a little upon realizing that the texts today were a bit longer, and the handwriting was a bit messier.

Hm… Tulips…

“All I see are Tulips (you) and

I’m a hummingbird;

Heavenly ambrosia in every curve.

Honey dripping over my imagination;

The fragrance keeps flowing straight

down to my soul.”

He doesn’t hold back the warmth that spreads across his light-skinned cheeks and tips of his ears—or rather, he couldn’t. Whoever was writing him these notes and sending these flowers seemed to know just the precise words to make a person’s heart quiver. That, or this was simply born from the inexplicable feeling of adoration; one that Tighnari himself still doesn’t understand.

Perhaps, you would care to show him—to make him understand where all of these saccharine poems flow from inside you and onto paper.

He flips the paper around and is surprised to see an added note.

“I heard you were looking for me. Why don’t you come and find me, then?” He looks down further at the bottom of the page. “Here’s a hint: I live in paradise.”

Paradise? Tighnari squints rubs his chin at the familiar word. Where and when could he have last heard it?

Paradise… Ah! His eyes widen as he remembers his conversation with Arkan about two or three weeks before.

“They live in a sort of paradise. Sort of like a garden, if you will. That’s all I gotta say.” Arkan laughs before saluting to him. “Welp, I’ll leave ya to it.”

Paradise… Paradise— Pardis? Pardis Dhyai? If his suspicions were correct then… then the admirer was much closer than he had initially suspected. He had assumed that they lived in Sumeru City due to the weekly access to new and foreign flowers being delivered there frequently. This had caused him to forget about Pardis Dhyai completely—the actual grounds for producing an array of different plants and flowers.

He set the flowers into a vase filled with water and began preparing to clean up his things. Turns out that he had a trip to make towards Pardis Dhyai outside of work hours.

Tighnari arrives at the vicinity as the Sun had already set, leaving the shrounds of orange to be submerged underneath the dark blues littered with specs of white. Strange to him as it may be, but his heart is racing fast against his ribs as he takes rapid steps to enter the greenhouse. Perhaps it may be from all the running, or maybe it was the nerves swallowing his being, but one thing is for sure and that is the fact that his curiosity and the need to understand cannot deter him from finding out the one behind all these things.

He enters the greenhouse and the silence engulfs his ears aside from the crickets resounding from the distance. He steps forward, moving to the area where the flowers were born side by side, and there, he sees someone standing there, tending to the plants at this hour.

“You’re my little flower

Blooming in the night…”

His eyes widen as hears them sing softly as they hold the watering can over the vibrant leaves and petals.

“Only for an hour,

The northern lights.

My Casablanca sweetheart,

Nectar so divine.

Baby, you’re the best part

Of my life.”

“So it is you.” Tighnari’s voice cuts through the pause of their singing. He sees their shoulders jolt a little in surprise before they turn around slowly, sheepishly. It was you, the employee in Pardis Dhyai who guided him throughout each time he collected ingredients for new medicine.

“So you have found me.” Your smile is relaxed as you take a step towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He shivers at the contact but doesn’t move away, causing you to chuckle. “Shall we have a chat?”

“W-What makes you say that I have the time? I could be here for some herbs.” He blurts out, a little out of character from his typical self.

You chuckle at his nervousness. “Well? What can I do to convince you to stay?”

[little-eye-guy]

here's where i'm at so far secret hunting in tunic:

i have three things that i know of to do

1 - find the last fairy 2 - open the door at the top of the mountain 3 - fight the heir

i assume that 3 is the final boss, and i'd like to do that ending before finding all the secrets (which i believe unlocks ending B)

i know how to get 1. the problem is that it involves finding all the pieces of a shattered gold slab, which are around the map Somewhere. i've found three (not including the base), but i can't figure out how to line up the pattern so i think i might be missing one and i have no idea where it could be

for 2, i've nearly solved the puzzle that has you finding parts of the pattern on various manual pages. some of these are hidden so creatively and i actually said "oh my god" out loud when i found them. i'm just missing 9 and 55, the former because for the life of me i can't figure out where it is on the page and the latter because i don't have the page

i haven't actually gone through the manual to see how many pages i'm missing but iirc i know of at least two (front and back) at the end (since i know 55 exists). don't know where these are. obviously not behind the mountain door because unlocking it presumably requires them........

i've only looked up two things about this game: if i was able to figure out how to translate the text (apparently not till the end), and if i could get both endings in one save file (yes). so i don't really want to look up info about what i'm missing

[words-for-holland]

Happier (3) | T.H.

Summary: Harrison is looking for answers. More unknown text messages and blackmail. A phone conversation takes place. Wait...who’s the new guy?

A/N: Don’t be shy let me know all your theories! Again, thank you for the support on Happier! The story continues!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8

Puzzle

This whole thing was just a giant puzzle that needed to be solved, but the closer one got to solving it, another complication comes around. The story wasn’t clear for anyone, but for Harrison it was a mess. He had so many questions that needed to be answered, so many clues he wish could have been solved at the snap of a finger.

Tom was too lost in himself to even comprehend the puzzling reality, Y/N while also lost in heartbreak had been awefully quiet since she left London, Kate was lying to Harrison, and Natalie had been too friendly with Tom.

Harrison replayed the conversation with Kate over and over again in his mind, trying to remember every little thing she said that night. He knew Kate was aware of something. Her tone said it all.

“Listen I dont know who you are, but if its the same person that sent my best friend a threatening message that she’s better off breaking up with her boyfriend”

“She received a few messages...from Tom.”

“Oh my god.” Harrison said to himself in realization. How could he have been so dim to not recognize what Kate had said in the first place? He paced around as he continued to think it through. But a threat message? Who would send a threat to Y/N? And what did they threaten her with? Tom and Y/N’s relationship has been secretly hidden from the public for as long as they’d been together. No one knew she even existed...right?

For a moment, Harrison stopped in his tracks, thinking of Natalie. Though he quickly shook the idea off. Natalie may have wanted Tom, but she wouldnt go as far as threatening Y/N. He had been friends with her since they went to primary school, and knew she wouldn’t go that far. “Maybe a stalker fan?” He questioned himself. Though he also quickly ruled it out, but something about it just didnt feel right.

In the kitchen, Harrison took out his laptop and started googling Y/N’s name. If her name didn’t show on the News or one of those Tom Holland fan accounts, it would at least answer one theory. As he scrolled through pages and pages, nothing showed up until...he found on account. He logged into the site and browsed the history, realizing it was all about Y/N and Toms life. Not as a couple but seperately. It all seemed too strange. Only very few accounts followed it and yet no other accounts in the world had mentioned Y/N. Harrison quickly shut his laptop when he saw Natalie enter the room.

“Oh don’t mind me just...grabbing a water.” She giggled, making her way to the fridge.

“Hey mate...uh..I guess everyone got hungry at the same time?” Harry asked, a bit surprised to see Harrison and Natalie in the kitchen.

“Yeah. I guess.” Harrison muttered.

“Well aren’t you a ray of sunshine. If i didn’t know I’d say you were the one more affected by the break up then Tom and Y/N themselves.” Natalie commented.

“No. It’s just that I dont think Y/N broke up with Tom just because of some rumors about you and him.” He explained rubbing his face from exhaustion. Natalie’s smile dropped, when she heard Harrison mention his potential theory.

“Well...did you talk to Y/N about it?” Harry asked him, also intrigued by the theory. “Now that I think about it she —“

“Oh come on. Just leave the poor girl alone. Im sure she knew what was best for the both of them. You’ll only make it worse.” Natalie interrupted, taking a sip from her water. “Well since you boys are all talk, Im gonna go find something more worth my while.”

Out of sight and out of mind, Natalie made a quick call about what she heard. “Harrison’s getting suspicious, and so is Harry.”

“Time to clean up then.” The unknown number spoke out before hanging up on Natalie completely.

Meanwhile, Kate had managed to get Y/N out of the apartment and walk the streets of the city. Her heart and spirits were still low, but she appreciated the efforts. Kate and Y/N went around stuffing their faces with crepes and ice cream. It was the cure to any bad days, but it wouldnt have been a Kate and Y/N date if they didn’t hang around the New York Aquarium. It was also the perfect time to crack out what Y/N really knew about the unknown text message, and who was harrassing the both of them. “Look, I know I promised you a stress free outing, but I saw a text from your phone the night you came back home.” Kate confessed.

Y/N’s face became pale almost as if she’d seen a ghost. She knew, and now there was no point in going back. “So you know then.” She says quietly looking at the fishes.

“I only know they threatened you.” Kate states, leaving out that she, herself, was also threatened. Y/N had enough on her plate to worry about, and it wouldn’t be the best time to being up how her message also threatened their friendship. “How long?” She continues.

“Weeks maybe. They started around the time I was fighting with Tom.” Y/N vents, she takes a deep breath before she continues. “Each message was worse than the last. They threatened that if I didnt leave, Tom would lose career, and I...I couldnt do that to him.” Tears were falling slowly, but Y/N was quick to pick them.

“Why didnt you tell him?”

“Yeah, Kate let me just tell him the truth of why I left him because the messages weren’t offensive nor threatening enough. And let’s just assume that the person texting wouldn’t blackmail either of us if they knew I said something. Anyways, maybe it was for the best...I could never fit in his world and those past few months just proved that.” Y/N’s words continue to spill out every fear and thought she had bottled up within her. It felt good..for a moment, but nothing can really erase a heartbreak of losing the one you loved.

As the pair walked through the shark tunnel, Y/N bumped into a tall figure. “Oh my god, Im so sorry...Matt?” she asked in confusion. The moment Y/N looked up into those familiar brown eyes hidden behind the thin glasses, she knew. How could she forget? 

“Y/N? Wow, it’s been so long how are you?” Matt greeted as he wrapped her into a hug. “Kate, it’s good to see you again too.” 

“Yeah, we’re great, just you know...navigating life.” Kate responded to him. “We haven’t seen you since what?  High school?”

Matt smiled and nodded at Kate’s response, his focus remaining on Y/N. He didn’t remember much with Kate back in high school, but Y/N was a different story. They were good friends at the time, always competing in classes, but as junior year rolled by things got awkward. Y/N was falling for Matt while he didn’t return the favor at the time. Though he’d be lying if he didn’t say he may have felt the same at one point, but just never committed. Now all grown up, he didn’t realize how pretty she turned out, but her personality wasn't there. He must have figured something was wrong. After all, a girl with that kind of spunk back in the day, didn't seem like the one to lose hers so easily. “Yeah, look. I know it’s kind of a spur in the moment, but maybe we can all hang out sometime? I’d love to catch up.” 

Kate was all for it, but Y/N felt a tension she wasn’t sure if she wanted to act upon. After all, breaking up with your boyfriend after 2 weeks, because of threatening messages and still loving him deeply, it wasn’t an easy thing to move on from. Then again it’s not like Matt was asking for a date, it was just to catch up after not seeing each other for 6 years. “Uh, maybe. I have to check my schedule, and see when Im free, but I can let you know” Y/N answers him. 

“Great, well..here’s my number, and hopefully I hear from you guys. I gotta get back to my brother, so hope to see you around.” he quickly says as he walks away. 

“Wow. Matt Brynne, who would have guessed?” Kate says, breaking the silence. 

“I know...Funny I used to be so head over heels with him at the time, and now I barely feel a thing.” 

“Well yeah, cause you still love...you-know-who.” she teases, though it probably wasn't the best time to be making that type of joke with everything going on.

“And I don't think I’ll ever stop.” Y/N mutters to herself. As Y/N and Kate make their way forward, Kate’s phone began to vibrate. 

Unknown

Set up a date and take a picture of Y/N and that boy you posted on your insta story. Or Y/N finds out the truth about what you did. XOXO

Kate looked up as she cursed herself, realizing she forgot to keep her story private. It was supposed to be a harmless post of old friends reuniting and now the unknown number has used it as blackmail. It would have been easy to find the culprit, but her view count was up in the thousands with unfamiliar faces. It’s what she gets after gaining a decent following on TikTok. Kate couldn’t let Y/N know what she did, and she’d make sure she would hide that truth from her for as long as she can. “Hey, Y/N...I think we should hit up Matt.” she says, running after her best friend. 

At the same time, another texted popped from Y/N’s phone. She picked up thinking it might have been a group chat with her close friends, but it was from the only person who could make her heart flutter and break simultaneously. 

Tom

I can’t stop thinking about you. About us. I still love you. 

Y/N almost called him..almost, but she knew better. She couldn’t...not unless she wanted to continue to hurt each other. 

Meanwhile, back in London, Harrison was ready to come clean to Tom about what he’d found out. He watched as Tom finished typing on his phone, and throwing it on the side of the bed, rubbing his face. This was the new normal. Tom being alone in the dark, reflecting on his sadness and exhaustion. Only stepping out when needed and keeping up smiles for appearances. 

It was then Harrison was ready to knock on the door, when his phone received a notification.

Unknown

Don’t even think about it. Or I’ll make sure you and your lads careers are over for good.

Harrison sighed deeply, as he put his phone down, and walked away. Until he came to a most probable conclusion. “Natalie.” he says anger. “I should have fucking known.” At this point he no longer cared, about who she was before and how they were friends. The timing of it all seemed too perfect. Her arrival, the eavesdropping, the flirting. It had to be her but with what proof other than unknown numbers and good timing? Another part of him feared...what if it wasn't her?

Meanwhile, Tom was still unaware of what was really happening behind his door, but he did know, he had to take a chance now and try to contact her instead of sending these useless messages. In the moment, he showed no signs of regret, only praying Y/N would pick up so he could hear her voice. 

“Tom?” Y/N answers hesitantly.

Tom closes his eyes, as he takes in her soft and gently voice. “Y/N.” he speaks softly into the phone. 

Taglist:

@hollanddolanfangirl​ @ifilosemyselfagain @hevjadams @averyfosterthoughts​ @fangirl-with-a-mission @drishtisikarwar @eridanuswave​ @ifntelyinspirit​ @trumpettay @astridcommings

[likehandlingroses]

for the commentary thing, the Christmas gift giving part of Enter Ellis ch. 5? i can never get enough of it it makes me cry ✌

Thank you! <3 I’m so glad you like that scene. 

“You first,” he said, hoping Richard didn’t question his enthusiasm. It was routine for most people, he supposed—giving and receiving gifts on Christmas. Just another thing he’d assumed he couldn’t ever understand. Not because he didn’t want to, but because there was a cog missing, a piece that he needed to set things in motion: people who wanted something from him that they were willing to return. 

A simple thing, really, but he hadn’t had it until now, and he intended to enjoy it all the more for finding it at such a late hour.

So this whole sequence is loosely inspired by a post I saw referencing a Downton Abbey guidebook (I think one of the Jessica Fellowes ones) that made some comment about Thomas buying himself gifts to open when everyone else did on Christmas...which of course, made me lose my mind (note: I have never read this passage, cannot confirm its tone/intent or whether it even exists, but the thought of it broke me). So I needed to give him a chance to give and receive a real gift!!

Richard grinned at the excitement in his voice, and he didn’t argue the ordering of things. He handled the unwrapping with care—his hands still trembled, went right when he wanted them left—but he managed it without too much trouble. He lifted the lid of the small rectangular box, revealing the dark blue pair of gloves inside. 

I read after I had written this that in some places/in some contexts it is considered Bad Luck to give gloves as gifts, but I think my research concluded that it’s okay as long as the other person gives a gift in return so! We are good, no bad luck here :p 

Thomas searched his face hungrily as Richard took one from the box, but for the moment his expression was inscrutable. 

“No buttons…” Richard murmured, slipping it on as easily as the man in the shop had promised he would. They made all sorts since the war, he’d told Thomas, after so many men came back with shaking hands, with stiff or missing fingers.

It was a funny thing, really—Thomas had struggled with his own gloves for eight years, never thinking anything of it. Now he had a pair of his own upstairs—chestnut brown, he could pull them on in his sleep. 

This was the thing that really pushed me to pick this gift--because Thomas also has an injury that should (in theory) make a lot of things difficult. And so as he recognizes Richard’s own struggles with fiddly things, and goes, “I need to fix that,” it inevitably leads to him finding a solution to a problem he was just Ignoring in himself. And that’s one of the themes of this chapter, that they help each other through their own blindspots. 

“They go on easier,” Thomas explained, as Richard reached for the second one and slipped it on, studying the effect. “But they’re still sharp, I think.”

“They are, very.” Richard’s voice shook. “Thank you, Thomas.”

Thomas doesn’t just want the gift to be utilitarian--he wants to give Richard something that looks nice, something he’ll want to wear. And he gets Richard’s taste right, which to him is equally as important because what’s the point if Richard doesn’t want to wear them? 

He pulled them off and folded them carefully back into the box before closing the lid again. Only then did he fix Thomas with a wide smile. 

Richard in this chapter is more closed-off than in others, so pointing out those deliberate moments where he’s trying to compose himself was how to convey what he’s really feeling. 

“Now it’s your turn,” he said, pushing the present towards him—a parcel that looked suspiciously like a book (though not nearly so thick as the novel Baxter had gotten him). 

But the leather bound book inside had no title, and Thomas looked at Richard, puzzled. 

“Open it,” he pressed, his face the picture of anticipation. 

Thomas would have been so happy to get a second book, and I think there’s a sweetness in him immediately assuming he’s going to get Another of the thing Baxter already gave him...there’s something comforting about your friends/family knowing you enough to all circle in on the same thing. I think Thomas would love that, in a way. But of course Richard has something even better planned...

The book was filled with drawings—and it didn’t take more than flipping through the first few pages for Thomas to realize what they were drawings of. 

They were his stories—the stories he’d brought to tea, on visits to York on his day off. Stories he remembered telling, and stories he didn’t. 

The faces were indistinct, often hidden, but every other detail rang true. Soldiers playing cards in the library in a drawing with note reading, “Downton Becomes A Convalescent Home, 1917.”  A cricket match played on the Downton field (“A Game Well Played, 1920”). A dark-haired man sitting at a table with a little girl on his lap, a book laid out in front of them (“Tea With Mr. Barrow, 1924”). 

It occurred to me while reading this again that I never say whether they are colored drawings or not--bad!! But it’s weirdly fitting, in a way, that everyone reading has the liberty to imagine the colors (or lack thereof) in a different way, to see them a little differently. Because the artist/Richard also made the effort to put a haze over things, so the details that Thomas knows better than Richard can be filled in. 

Something about seeing his name made Thomas stop turning the pages, his breath halting in his chest. 

“How did you…?” 

“I didn’t do them, of course,” Richard said, misunderstanding the question, but supplying a much needed answer nonetheless (last Thomas had seen, he still took his time writing a short letter). “Asked a friend to do up the pictures. Someone like us, in York.”

It doesn’t matter to anyone but me, but I did imagine the artist as Chris. 

“But you...you told him all of it, you knew how to show him…”

He’d listened. He’d understood. He’d seen it, all of it. 

Thomas closed the book, unsure of how to begin to thank him.

Richard’s gift, for me, had to be a complement to Thomas’s, but also distinct. It had to be the same in that it showed understanding and helped Richard as well...but it also is less practical than Thomas’s, more about an idea. And that’s based a lot on the gift he gives Thomas in the canon, which is really a symbol and something that is supposed to “remind” Thomas of him. 

“Sometimes men like us...life feels like it passes without touching us,” Richard said, his voice filling the silence perfectly. “But it does. It has.”

He includes himself in the statement, and that sense of partnership is also a part of the gift. He understands those feelings, he relates to them. 

Thomas blinked back the tears that had come to his eyes. 

“And I got you gloves…”

(He says this but I think he knows in his heart of hearts that he’s done well--but at the same time he isn’t sure, because he doesn’t give a lot of gifts! But his instincts, of course, were right on). 

Richard shook his head. “You gave me what I gave you. It comes to the same thing.” 

“What’s that?”

“Seeing what someone needs, and offering it to them right-out.” Richard leaned towards him as he spoke, ever so slightly. Thomas wondered if he noticed. “That’s all a gift is.”

Thomas smiled. “You make it sound so daring.”

There is something daring in gift-giving! It can be stressful or overwhelming because Richard is right--it’s a statement to the other person about what you think they need/want, and that’s A Lot to say to someone. Especially if you are like Thomas (who might, in this situation, be a little like me), and that is just Too Much Information for someone to have on you...

“Life has to be, sometimes,” Richard said with a grin. “Else we won’t feel it.”

This is a line I’m still really happy with. There’s a cut scene from Season 5 where Baxter tells Thomas that the therapy he is doing is more likely to make him feel “nothing at all,” and she presses him as to whether that’s what he wants. I think on some level, that was true. So this is the moment where Thomas really pulls away from that retreat, from that desire for dullness. And he recognizes the value in feeling even negative/scary feelings!

And he gets a kiss!!

He was closer than ever, and a shared glance towards the doorway of the servants’ hall was all the prompting Thomas needed to find a little more daring of his own.

Another little movie parallel with the look over to the doorway--hopefully they weren’t interrupted so quickly, though! <3 

[canvaswolfdoll]

CanvasWatches: Id: Invaded

Okay, what if we could catch serial killers by entering their subconscious minds (referred to as an Id-Well), where the amnesiac avatar of a investigator must search for clues while also solving a murder mystery created within the bounds of a fantastic, mind bending world? Isn’t that an amazing premise for a combination platformer/puzzle video game?

Anyways, Id: Invaded is an anime. The only major complaint I have is how I would much rather be playing it than watching the proceedings, which probably just means it’s got a good concept.

Uh… it’s a mystery show with a season long arc and character progression so… spoilers? It’s a good show if you’re into that stuff. Handles grit and mature themes well, but… well, mature themes and violent images abound. So be careful of that.

So that’s the spoiler warning.

After watching the first episode and learning the basic concept, two truths were immediately evident: the young-looking police girl (Koharu Hondomachi) hearing the exposition is going to kill someone so she’ll be a candidate to dive into the id-well, and the elderly director guy overseeing the project is 100% the big bad.

Still, just because a couple things are easily solved by knowledge of narratives doesn’t mean there aren’t surprises. Like trepanning is a plot-important element in this for… some reason… it gives a secondary character superpowers!

Don’t… don’t blindly emulate your media, kids.[1]

The first couple of episodes telegraph what elements to pay attention to pretty clearly. Hondomachi is wide-eyed and overly interested in the Id Well machinations, and asks about how one becomes a candidate for entering the machine, and doesn’t look put out by the need to be a killer.[2] She also headbutts a drill to assist in the capture of the first serial killer of the show, so she’s not hesitant to take extreme measures. Which leaves the question: will she kill with the intention of joining the Id Well delving team?

Meanwhile, Takuhiko Hayaseura appears only long enough to be marked as important, but he doesn’t take an active part in the plot. Then the mysterious John Walker Phantom appears with similar old man body language, those dots are connected and you just have to wait for the plot to catch up.

Finally, our protagonist, Narihisago, dwells on wanting to save the perpetual victim of these murder dinner parties he’s investigating, signalling that Kaeru is more than a prop of the gimmick. I didn’t have enough details to take a guess at what her larger role would be, so the reveal in the later episodes was a successful twist.

There is a small tragedy with the structure of the anime course. While I typically prefer the 12 to 24 episode style, as it allows for limits for the artists to work with (like a trellis), and means that the series maintains a consistent narrative without flailing about to maintain momentum until given permission to die, we occasionally get a show like Id: Invaded where the central gimmick lends itself so well to an episodic, killer of the week style stories that I just want to watch the variations and not care too much about the myth arc. Because it’s set to conclude with episode 13, the show can only play with the gimmick for about half the course before having to buckle down and start telling the larger narrative, leaving me yearning for more new id wells and mysteries.

If the show were twice as long, it would’ve been able to play with the gimmick more, and have space to flesh out the investigative team to have actually interesting characters.

The first episodes introduce six characters watching Narhisago and analyzing the world around him to deduce the actual identity of the serial killer, but they have very little dialogue outside of exposition, and their mystery is opaque to the viewer until they solve it. The team could’ve been cut in half without losing anything.

But if Id:Invaded had two cours to stretch out and tell stories, the investigation team could have subplots and character revealing dialogue. But there’s no space for them, so… lost potential.

In fact, if this story was told as a video game,[3] there’d be plenty of space for the Wellside team to have incidental dialogue to develop them. The audience/player can also get more direct satisfaction out of solving the gimmick of each Id-Well, as they get to directly utilize the solution to complete the level. If the hypothetical game takes a page from Pheonix Wright, which is the game I most mentally aligned with the show, there can also be a section after the level where the clues found within the level can be analyzed and the player gets to piece together who the killed is.

It’d be fun.

But… er… the actual story.

It’s fine. The characters make a lot about learning who this John Walker fellow is, but the obvious culprit is sitting right there, so the viewer is just patiently waiting for the characters to catch up, amusing themselves with the episodic portion of the story.

Then, a twist: they find the device used to enter Id-Wells within an Id-Well. So, what would happen if someone used it?

So our protagonist does, and finds himself seemingly back in the real world, though before the death of his wife and daughter. He can set right what once went wrong!

Although… he knows this can’t be real. He remembers everything that led him here, so surely this is permanent.

But what if it is?

First order of business: Narihisago sequence breaks and puts a stop to the serial killer who murdered his daughter early, the fight placing him in the hospital, where he finds… Kaeru? Except her name’s Kiki, and when she sleeps, those around her experience her dreams.

Dreams where she’s constantly getting murdered, often in very brutal fashion. Huh.

Despite the characters attempting to lean into the mysterious nature of the machine allowing them to place people into Id-Wells, I took it for granted and assumed it wouldn’t need explanation.

Instead, we learn Kiki’s power is being exploited to enable the gimmick, which I should have seen coming considering how much the anime is built on women suffering.[4]

Eventually, Narihisago and Hondomachi (the girl who becomes a second Id-Well diver partway through) are able to use the time and space given in this recreated past to find a solid lead on who John Walker is. Just in time for the system to kick them out and for them to climb back out to actual reality.

Hayaseura, learning the jig is up, releases Kiki from the hidden chamber she’s been in, and lets her loose, where her powers rage out of control and pull everyone in the building into various Id-Wells.

He then goes to the chamber with the machines allowing the well-dives, and upon being confronted, he activates a machine to take him in as he shoots himself, intending to wreak havoc in the collective unconscious or whatever.

In hindsight, they probably could’ve just unplugged him and moved on to resolve the Kiki problem. Instead, our nominal[5] heroes follow him in for the final confrontation!

Then Covid-19 struck, and I had to wait three months for the final episode to get dubbed!

All my dubs are delayed. Which is fine. It’s fine and fair. I don’t want anyone to risk themselves just for my entertainment, but I’m allowed to be a little disappointed by fate.

So after a three month delay, I sit down to watch the final episode, not bothering to rewatch anything because I’ve waited three months and a not insignificant portion of my motivation was to just finish the dang thing.

The final episode was okay. The two detective characters work together to outwit John Walker, sending him to the time displaced universe via a machine in the Id-Well of someone who’s now dead.

Which… upon reflection, isn’t a permanent solution. Both Narihisago and Hondomachi went through that experience, and eventually got ejected to their original Id-Wells, and the death of an Id-Well’s owner doesn’t collapse the place (as proved by Hayaseura/John Walker using his own Id-Well to jump about despite being dead himself.

Outside the Id-Wells, the leader of the Wellside Team puts on a prototype suit version of the machine to attempt to get Kiki to stop making a mess of the building. He meets up with her, refuses to shoot her, and they all agree to put her back and maybe try and solve her problem.

So, at the end of the series, we’re mostly back where we started: using an applied phlebotinum girl to chase serial killers. Which keeps the premise open for a sequel,[6] but they’ll need to write a new overarching plot, as I don’t thinking curing Kiki’s dream projections lines up as a murder mystery. It’s possible, but I find it unlikely.

In the end, I enjoyed the show, and I’m glad I watched it. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a more obscure anime after getting through the Canon of the artform. Still, the amount of female characters suffering, to the point that the plot itself operates off a woman’s suffering is uncomfortable. If there is more, hopefully they can lean off that element.

Also, let me reiterate one last time how Id:Invaded would make a great video game. I buy that Visual Novel in a snap.

Kataal kataal.

-

[1] Not that kids should watch this one. [2] The reason for this limitation is not explained, and is likely unimportant. [3] A desire I wasn’t being facetious about. [4] Most of the murder victims are woman, and there’s a worrying tendency for the killer’s methods to be based on maiming. [5] All three are killers: one a serial killer killer, a second a killer due to self-defense, and the last just a straight serial killer who happened to be useful. [6] And, indeed, a manga continuation started at the same time as the show, so the premise lives.

[blind-band-geek]

Remember witch maitlands? Well now you do

So I’m going off to band camp and god for BID I don’t throw out like 3 more fics before I leave

@blossem12 gave me this idea and I just RAN

—

Another day, another magic lesson with Barbara. Not that he didn’t mind, in fact he loved going to her house to see what kind of spells he had for him that day. After Adam learned his first spell Barbara took him under his wing in witchcraft and he was so happy to learn.

The treck to her place was a bit long, but always worth it in the end. The main path was just in the woods by an old hardware store. There behind it was a clearing where the trees parted for a sweet little dirt rode. Along it was lined with flowers and ferns, and in the woods more wildlife than you could imagine. Almost every time he walked through he would wave at a deer deep in the woods as it passed by. Farther down the path it split in two, one lead to Barbara’s house, the other a beautiful fairy garden him and Barbara would have picnics in whenever she had offerings for the fairy’s.

None the less he traveled up the dirt rode till he was up the slope and on the hill that over saw the town. She had maybe the best view of the town known to man, and an even better view of the sun set. Adam looked around walking closer to the house, there was no sign of the witch. “Barbara?” He called out and sure enough around the back of the house came an excited voice, “Adam!” From around the corner Adam saw Barbara walk out. She wore one of her big hats full of flowers and crystals. And in her hand she held a watering can. She smiled as she saw the boy and immediately set down the watering can and pulled him into a tight hug, rocking him slightly.

“Oh Adam I missed you!” Adam laughed a bit and hugged her back, “I was only gone for a day or so!” Adam felt her snuggle her face into his chest, the brim of her hat folding upwards as she did. “I know...” Barbara groaned a bit before letting go, however still holding his hands. “So are you ready for you're next lesson?” Adam simply smiled and nodded. Barbara excitedly pulled Adam along the field till they were a way away from the house. The sky gave off an orange glow onto the couple as the spring sun began to set behind the hills.

When there were far enough from the house Barbara let go of Adams hands and stood in front of him. “Now! Today I’m going to teach you how to manipulate your body!” Adam stumbled a bit as his eyes went wide, “manipulate- my... what!” Barbara laughed and took one of his hands, “it’s not as hard or scary as it seems. Here let me show you... pick one or two?” Adam hesitated as Barbara dropped his hand, “two?” Barb nodded and smiled. Closing her eyes she was in deep thought for a moment and as of like magic her long blonde hair faded into a red wood like color. Her soft rounded fingers turned into claws. Her hat slipped off her head to reveal 2 large deer like horns.

Opening her eyes they were now green instead of her usual brown, and as she gave him a smile her canines were more pointy than before. “Tadah!” Adams eyes went wide as he took a step back a bit, “Wow-“ Barbara smiled, “pretty neet huh? Now you try!” Barbara breathed deeply and with a small exhale all of the features seemed to fade away and there again stood Barbara, her normal blonde, no clawed or antlered self. Adam looked at his hands and hesitated, “Barb I.... I can’t do anything like that yet.” Barbara laughed, “not with that attitude you can’t. Here let’s break it down. What do you want to alter?” Adam thought for a minute, “fangs? That might be easier to do.”

Barbara nodded, “fangs. We can absolutely do that tonight. Now do as I say.” Adam nodded, ready to take on whatever Barbara had for him. “Now close you’re eyes and take a deep breath.” Adam did as she said, feeling all the worry almost leave his body and into the earth below him. “Ok great! Now picture yourself, normally. What do you look like.” Adam nodded and thought about it, creating almost a mental image of himself in his mind. “So I’m assuming you’re all good, now just picture what you’d look like with fangs, and just let you’re hands do the rest.” Adam nodded and felt as his hands began to tingle a bit, his mouth feeling a bit weird.

Opening his eyes he looked down, small sparks of extra magic bounced off his hands and onto the ground, fizzing out. Adam looked up at Barbara puzzled. “Did it work-“ he was almost cut off by Barbara’s squeals of excitement. “You did it adamo! Oh! You can’t see it come with me.” Taking his hand Barbara dragged him across the hill and into the house. The house at this time was only lit by small lights hidden in the long vines that went across her ceiling. Though when they got to the kitchen Barbara stood him in front of it.

Adam took a deep breath and smiled a sure enough, he had fangs. With a gasp he turned and hugged Barbara tightly, “Barbara I did it! I did it! Do you see them! Oh my god!” Barbara wheezed out a laugh as Adam let her go, “I saw adam! Their amazing! You’re learning so fast and I’m so proud! But I don’t know about you, but I’m beat. Why don’t we say we call it a night. There’s still some light out so I assume you can get home Alright-“ Adam fumbled with his hands a bit as he looked around the house. “I uh... was maybe hoping you’d let me spend the night here?” Barbaras eyes lit up, “of corse! Why?”

Adam sighed, “just had a fight with my dad about being a ‘witch apologist’ or something dumb like that.. You know.” Barbara nodded, “Well you are more than welcome to spend the night, in just going to do a bit of reading for your next training till I sleep, so you can just head on up.” Barbara walked into the hall where a large bookshelf stood, there she skimmed through some of the book with her finger. Adam looked at her confused, “wait upstairs? Shouldn’t I sleep on a couch or something?” Barbara shook her head and smiled, grabbing a velvety red boom she held it close to her chest. “I think we’ve gotten close enough, you can sleep with me tonight! Plus I’d hate for you to sleep on the couch, their not really that comfy.”

Adam blinked slightly at the witch who was now skimming through the book, “ooo I’ve got a good one!” She turned the book at pointed to a picture of a floating cloak, “to keep up with body manipulation I’ll teach you how to turn invisible! Great for easy getaways.” Barbara smiled and closed the book, keeping a mental note on what page she was looking at. “Alright it’s late we should probably get to bed.” Adam nodded and fallowed her up the stairs.

Barbara was already in bed reading more of the book and talking to Adam who was standing in the doorway. “You know there’s so many good spells in here! Like we could get you to talk to animals!” She stopped and looked up“though, it might be weird to skip around that much. Ah! Remind me to introduce to you my carrier owl tomorrow!” Adam nodded, “I will Barbara.” Adam fell onto the bed as Barbara set down her book on the side table and laid her head on the pillow. “Hey Barbara.” Barbara gave a small hum. “Are you really sure i can do all this magic?” Barbara let out a soft laugh as she moved closer to him throwing her arm over his chest, “Adam I know you can do it! Hell you got you’re magic to make fangs today! You’re going to do amazing.

Adam felt his face light up but he laughed a bit, “You right! Oh uh barb..” Barbara hummed again, snuggling her face into Adam shoulder. “How do I uh.... make my teeth go back.” This Barbara’s free hand she waved it by Adams mouth, he felt the fangs retract almost instantly. “Thanks barb.” There was a muffled “youre welcome” from the woman as she drifted off to sleep. Adam let out a sigh and melted into Barbara’s touch putting his hands over her arm. Man was his father going to yell at him for this.

-

That morning Adam awoke to a loud noise on the window. Squinting his eyes he looked around the now brightly lit room. He was still at Barbara’s, the witch in question was still wrapped around him fast asleep. Looking over at the window there was a.... horned owl? Adam had to take a double take but sure enough yeah... he was there. Nudging Barbara he whispered, “hey uh- barb sweetheart there’s a... owl at your window.” Barbara awoke groaning something out as she tiredly waved her hand, allowing the window to swing open. The owl in question flew in and perched on a small metal perch just on Barbara’s night stand. A letter fiercely clamped in his mouth.

Barbara begrudgingly unwrapped her self from Adam and sat up. Her hair was a complete wreck but to Adam she looked still as beautiful as ever. This was also true with Adam, who’s glasses left a red mark where they were pushed against his nose all day, and his hair stuck out every which way. Though, Barbara found him still utterly adorable.

Barbara pushed through her morning drozyness and got out of bed taking the letter from the owls mouth. When she did she rubbed his head and just under his chin before laying back down. Cuddling up back to Adam she went on to read the note, “..... more vampire hunters attacking in New York and east of Connecticut...” the witch softly cursed but sighed. “Is that a bad thing barb?” Barbara thought for a moment than nodded, “yeah... where there’s vampire hunters there’s witch hunters.” Adam let out a soft ‘oh’ and the room fell silent as she read more.

“Their moving this way... but winter river is so remote... I’m pretty sure they’ll never find us here. I mean unless some big time vampire moves into the area were completely off the map.” With this Barbara smiled and set down the note on her night stand. Curling back up to Adam she found herself enjoying more and more of his company. “So... what’s on the list today?” Barbara smiled, “I’m not to sure. What I DO know is it’s time for tea. I need a pick me up.” Barbara found herself placing a small kiss on his cheek that made Adam light up immediately. “You coming?” Adam nodded, “yeah in a minute. I like this.” Barbara hummed, “Yeah me too.”

[veilbetweendreamsandreality]

Out of Focus

[Part 1]

A/N: Jane discusses her dream with Borden in attempt to uncover what it means. Nightmares, daydreams and flashbacks are difficult to tell apart. With ghosts from her past, both recent and distant; Jane hopes to find answers before the world she knows collapses around her. Set between 1x03 and 1x04. Thank you to @indelibleevidence for keeping me going with this fan fiction. (Sources of mythology/folklore mentioned can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 + Wikipedia. I have tried my best to be accurate when the above sources are mentioned and discussed in part 2. I hope to touch on them/explore them in later chapters.)

Jane placed her sketch book and pencil in her bag and grabbed an apple on the way out of the safehouse; the FBI detail opened the rear door of the car sat outside the house within two minutes of her packing her bag. She grimaced and buckled her belt, the caws from the ravens still rang in her ears, lost in thought she nibbled at the apple.

Borden's session was scheduled for 7:30 sharp in the morning, so her dreams and thoughts from the day before was as fresh as possible. In the SIOC lift, she closed her eyes head rested against the metal wall. Her feet and ankles were warm, stood the undergrowth of the forest; blood puddled around her feet. Ravens cawed, flying in a circle around the rotting corpse hooked up on a tree. Jane edged closer to make out the man's face hidden in shadow. The birds quietened, her fingers wrapped around the man's ankle - an attempt to take a pulse. Cold slime seemed to drip from the leg where she touched it. 'Why did you kill me?' A familiar voiced asked in a hoarse whisper. Jane looked up, 'I didn't. I'm sorry, I don't know who did.' She tapped the tree and climbed, with effort her body crawled amongst the branches, judicious the former SEAL unhooked the bearded man from the branch. The man landed on the ground, bones ground against each other as the leaves squelched.

Jane descended the tree and crouched by the man's side. 'How do I know you?' The man chuckled. 'Isn't it obvious? I trained you, on and off, from the moment you joined the SEALs.' He reached out and cupped Jane's cheek. Instinctive she held his hand, a sigh released the tightness in her chest.

'What your name? What does this place mean?' Jane probed.

'You will remember my name when it's time. As for the forest, have you walked through it yet?'

Jane shook her head. 'No I haven't. What does it mean?'

He raised an eyebrow. 'Look through the trees, reach the other side; then ask me again.' Shaky he rose to his feet, hands dropped to his sides, 'I can come with you; but only guide you part of the way, from there you will journey alone.'

The woman nodded. 'Come with me. Please.' The man smiled and led the way into the gloom.

The doors slid open, Jane focused on the reality of the New York Office in front of her. She nodded to people who greeted her with hello, making a beeline for Borden's office. The sooner the dreams were off her chest, the sooner they would start making sense. The weight heavy, her shoulders hunched as though a physical kettlebell was slung over her back.

Jane knocked on the office door. 'Come in', a voice called as she pushed open the door. 'Ah Jane, please come in. Please sit down.'

The fabric of the chair sank, bag on the floor Jane pulled out her sketch book. 'I want to discuss the dream last night. I think possible events or traumas from my past are trying to tell me ...something. There is this feeling of dread I cannot shift.' She placed the open sketch book on the table between them. Borden studied the images closely, the features of the tree, face and wings traced over with his fingertips.

'Extraordinary detail Jane. What happened in your dream?' Robert locked eyes with the amnesiac woman.

'What if the man in my dreams with the tree tattoo isn't Weller, I can never see his face clearly. What if it is a literal tattoo like mine are? Kurt- Weller he,' Jane chewed her lip, 'he would never have anything that elaborate.' She traced her index finger over the roots of the tree. 'Who this tree represents is - or at least, was - important to me before I lost my memories.' The brunette shifted her eyes away from Borden. 'Why did I leave him behind?'

'If that is what you believe. However, do not force the memories to come, they will come of their own accord.' The therapist narrowed his eyes at the bearded man's face.

She watched the therapist, curious. 'He was in my dream. He said he was one who trained whilst I was in the SEALs... he was in my first memory at the shooting range. He must have been important. He was the one there in my first memory and recurs quite often. But; I can't remember his name!' Jane's hands balled to fists. 'It's like a puzzle but have lost the final piece.' Her voice lowered to a whisper.

Robert nodded, 'The man in your previous safe house?' He turned the page, filled with ravens and targets hanging from branches.

Jane chewed her lip. 'I think I remember going hunting, I don't think I was hunting deer or birds; but someone - I don't know why, I don't know who. Yet I have this deep seated urge for answers; like a mission unfinished.'

After talking with the man; I was sat in the chair and the ravens circled. Then he hooked me up to an IV, I assume the bag contained the ZIP.

Jane chose not to voice those thoughts, something nagged at the back of her mind warned her not to. Instead she focused on her sketches once again, 'what do the ravens mean?'

The doctor smiled, 'Ravens can mean death or prophecy amongst other things, for example in Celtic mythology they refer to a number of goddesses including Nemain, whose name means depending on the source you research either "venomous" or "dose of poison". The goddess of fury and combat. She is one of three sisters who make up Morrigan. She is said to watch over warriors on the battlefield.' Borden lent back.

The woman nodded, a knot tightened in her stomach. 'The man with the tree tattoo, if - if he exists; will I be able to find him. Or would he be a ghost like me, and the man at the safe house?'

Borden smiled, 'You won't know unless you look.'

'He was covered in blood in my dream, as though I had shot him or hurt him in someway.' Jane traced the lines in her sketch, 'I hope he's alive.'

She groaned loudly, eyes heavy from lack of sleep. Already awake for the best part of five hours. A ragged breath drawn out to stop herself from shaking. Jane pressed her hands against her temples. 'Doctor Borden, what if I don't like what I find. Was I a bad person before all of this? Sometimes my tattoos feel like a second skin. A naga, waiting for it to be shed.'

Borden studied the woman in front of him, curious to see whether the memories will continue to trickle through in fragments or come thick and fast, forcing her brain to shutdown due to overload - unconsciousness.

'Whether you were good or bad, is down to your perspective of what's good and what's bad; regardless of words written in law.' He lent forward and looked at the sketches of ravens. Looking up at the uncertainty on her face. 'Perhaps one day it will be shed; when your case is closed.'

But am I a serpent?

‘Could the forest be more than just a metaphor from a fragmented memory?’ Jane asked, the question about serpents pushed to the back of her mind.

‘Dreaming of a forest could have many meanings - what did the forest look like?’ He took some notes of their session.

‘Decay, everything was either dead or dying; a thin layer of snow mixed in with the pools of blood.’ She held out her hands, trembled in front of her.

Robert nodded. The alarm on his wrist watch vibrated. ‘That’s time for now. Shall I pencil you in for same time tomorrow?’

Jane nodded, the feeling of numbness clung to her legs and spread throughout her body. A knock on the door, distracted both of them.

‘Come in.’ Borden called.

Patterson poked her head round the door, ‘Sorry to interrupt; Jane you’re needed in SIOC.’

The therapist pursed his lips, ‘We are done here.’

Jane gathered up her things and stuffed them into her bag, ‘Another hit on the database?’

The blonde grimaced, ‘You’ll have to see this one for yourself.’

[duhragonball]

Vento Aureo Reread, JJBA Ch. 448-456

One of the things that frustrated me about reading JJBA in manga format was that the volumes never lined up with the story arcs.  For example, this arc, where Giorno meets Bruno’s superior in the gang for his initiation, is broken up across volumes 2 and 3.   Sometimes the volumes manage to break a story up on a decent cliffhanger.  In this case, volume 2 ends with Giorno defeating Black Sabbath, but still wondering if he’ll pass his initiation into the gang.  Most of the time, though, it just feels like the editors are only looking for a certain page count, regardless of where the story leaves off.

With that in mind, I decided to break this up into story arcs, now that I can do that without spoiling myself on the story.  The first time I read Part 5, it felt like this continuous slog, with no real break in the action, but now that I’ve looked it over more carefully, and dispensed with the volume numbers, I can break it down pretty well.  

At first, I tried to sort it all by location.    Coming up soon is a mission on Capri Island, followed by an assignment in Pompeii, but once I actually looked at a map of Italy, I found those are all pretty close to Naples, which is where the story starts.  So I can lump the first section of Vento Aureo as the “Naples” part, which is then followed by a section set in Venice, then Sardinia, and finally Rome.  It just helps me keep everything straight.    I suppose I needed the same kind of clarity with Part 3 and Part 7, but my knowledge of U.S. and Asian geography is a lot better than anything I know about Italy. 

In this arc we meet Polpo, the Passione Operative who runs things in Naples.  Passione is the name of the gang.   There’s 756 members, including Stand Users like Bruno Bucellati, and guys without Stands, like Leaky-Eyed Luca.   Giorno soon realizes that Polpo has a Stand when he visits him in prison and he starts eating his own fingers. 

One of the things that always bugged me about Polpo is how he seems to have completely different abilities in his cell, as opposed to the ones we see when his Stand is formally introduced to the story.   Polpo isn’t just morbidly obese; his head is bigger than Giorno’s entire body, and he seems to barely fit in his cell, prompting Giorno to wonder how he ever got through the door.   Also, he has all these hidden compartments in the cell, and he can somehow hide his enormous body from plain sight. 

I finally got a clue when I noticed a couple of things on the reread.  First, Polpo’s fingers don’t just reappear at random.   When Giorno sees Polpo’s bloody stumps, a cuckoo clock goes off, causing him to look over to it, and when he looks back, Polpo’s fingers are back, now holding a lighter.   As we see later, Polpo’s Stand, Black Sabbath, travels through shadows, so I think it’s reasonable to assume Polpo was actually reaching into a shadow to retrieve the lighter.   He uses similar tricks to hide himself and other objects in his cell, and he can probably leave the prison altogether just as easily.   Bruno hinted as much when he led Giorno to the prison, but, as Giorno deduces, Polpo is probably safer in jail, and Polpo seems content to live out his sentence and run his gang business from inside. 

Of course, that doesn’t explain the blood we see on Polpo’s “stumps”.  This may simply be wine he surreptitiously spilled on his hand to confuse Giorno, or maybe he really does bleed whenever he moves his body into the shadow dimension his Stand uses.  Or maybe he’s got real blood stashed with the lighter, but that seems kind of extreme.

Anyway, Giorno’s initiation test is to take Polpo’s lighter and keep it lit for twenty-four hours straight.  He almost whizzes it twice.  First, he has to be searched before he can leave the prison.   Since he can’t hide the lighter, he uses his own Stand, Gold Experience, to transform it into a flower.   It does not, however, transform the flame. 

Next, Koichi breaks into his dorm room to steal back his passport.   Giorno hides, but worries that Koichi will snuff the lighter if he happens to notice it.   So he turns the wiring into a snake, which bites into the loaf of bread he put the lighter in, and tugs on the cord to lift the whole thing out of Koichi’s sight.  

I’m trying to keep track of Giorno’s powers as the story winds on.    So far, I’ve got the following:

Gold Experience can transform inanimate objects into living things, and back again.

If these creations are attacked in any way, the attack will be reflected back upon the aggressor.

At first, Giorno claims that his creations have wills off their own, but he seems to have at least some influence over their actions, or perhaps he simply has an intuitive understanding of what they’ll do.

When Gold Experience strikes a living being, their perceptions are accelerated, causing them to think the world around them has slowed down.   They also become extremely sensitive to pain.

What we see here is Gold Experience transforming inanimate objects only partway.   The lighter becomes a flower, but there’s enough of the lighter left unchanged to keep the flame lit.   The cord becomes a snake, but only on the end Giorno needs to grab the bread.    The other end of the cord remains a cord.

Despite Giorno’s best efforts, the lighter goes out anyway, and a friendly janitor relights it.   Giorno had assumed this was impossible, since there would be no point in the test if the lighter could simply be re-lit.   As it turns out, this is precisely the point, as re-igniting the lighter summons Polpo’s Stand, Black Sabbath.  Black Sabbath’s only function in this situation is to yank out the soul of its targets and stab their souls with the arrow in its mouth.   This is the same kind of arrow as the ones from Part 4, which either kill on contact, or activate latent Stand abilities.   Black Sabbath’s targets are anyone who re-ignites the lighter, and anyone who witnessed the lighter being re-lit.  The janitor dies to the arrow, while Giorno is injured by it, not once...

Not twice...

But three times, when the arrow pierces Gold Experience.  I find this conspicuous, now that I know how the story ends, but I’ll worry about that later.

Basically, Polpo’s initiation is rigged.   Of course, if an applicant actually managed to keep the lighter lit for the full 24 hours, he would pass the test and be accepted into the gang, since Polpo admires trustworthiness.   However, the real idea is that the initiate will succumb to the temptation to relight the flame, at which point Black Sabbath will either kill them or give them a Stand power.  We can infer from this that this is how Bruno got his own Stand, Sticky Fingers.  It’s also plausible that Leaky Eye Luca actually kept the flame lit for the full 24 hours, which fits his stubborn personality.   Or maybe Luca passed some other test. 

What Polpo’s test never seems to take into account is that the initiate might already have a Stand.  Black Sabbath is essentially automated in this fight, so it doesn’t know that it’s fighting Stand Users here.   It’s just trying to stab Gold Experience (and Echoes, when Koichi jumps in to help), just like it stabbed the Janitor’s soul to kill him.    Presumably, this means Polpo is willing to kill Stand Users unaffiliated with the gang, perhaps because he sees them as potential threats.   What he wants are kids like Bruno, who only get a Stand by joining Passione. 

Ultimately, Giorno defeats Black Sabbath by using his own body as bait.   While B.S. wrestles with him, hampered by Echoes’ 3-Freeze ability, Giorno manages to accelerate the life of a nearby tree, causing it to wither and die within seconds.   So chalk that up as another application of Gold Experience.   The tree was the only thing protecting Black Sabbath from the sunlight, so it faded away to return to its master. 

At first, Giorno thinks the presence of Black Sabbath means that Polpo has discovered his failure of the test.   He also thinks that defeating Black Sabbath killed Polpo, until Koichi explains how remote, long range Stands work.   And that was the other half of the puzzle for me.    I couldn’t figure out how Black Sabbath’s demonstrated powers would explain Polpo’s abilities in his cell, but they don’t have to be consistent.   When Koichi explains Black Sabbath’s ability, he’s comaring it to his own experience battling Yoshikage Kira’s Killer Queen in Part 4.   But Killer Queen had multiple modes.    The one Koichi fought was Sheer Heart Attack, which could attack foes at long distances based on very specific parameters.   But when Kira wasn’t using that mode, he could use Killer Queen more creatively than that. 

I think it’s reasonable to assume that Black Sabbath works the same way.   In person, Black Sabbath allows Polpo to move from shadow to shadow, and he can store objects for safe keeping, like the lighter and the arrow, or even portions of his own body.   But he can also reconfigure B.S. for an automated mode that hides inside the ligher, with the arrow hidden inside its mouth.    That version works like Sheer Heart Attack.   We could call this “Paranoid” or “War Pigs”, for the sake of argument. 

Anyway, Koichi wants to contact his friends immediately, now that he knows there’s a Stand Arrow in Naples, but Giorno convinces him to keep it to himself, since the enemy is an organization, and he can’t afford anyone leaking his plans.  We never see Koichi again after this scene, and while he appears to accept Giorno as a righteous person, we never actually hear him agree to Giorno’s request.   For all we know, he returned to Japan and blabbed his head off to Jotaro and everyone in Morioh.   Once again, there’s ambiguity over whether Giorno is to be trusted, and ambiguity over how the other heroes feel about him.   We’re left to wonder if Koichi vouched for Giorno, or if he raised an army to oppose him. 

When Giorno return the lighter to Polpo he somehow turns one of Polpo’s guns into a banana, which fires when Polpo tries to eat it.   I still can’t figure out how Giorno did this, since the gun was on the far wall off the cell, which looks to be out of Gold Experience’s range.   Assuming it was in G.E.’s range, then it’s no problem.   Giorno could have moved it through the walls and touched the gun without Polpo seeing it, and then it would just be a matter of moving the gun into the refrigerator with the rest of the bananas.  

I’m also not sure how the gun went off.   Giorno has some control over his creations, but bananas can’t move on their own, and I don’t buy that Polpo just happened to have his thumb where the trigger would be as it changed back into a gun.  For a second, I thought maybe this was a case of what happened to Luca.   Polpo bites down on the banana, and the “attack” is reflected back upon him.    But if that were the case, he would have a big bite mark on his head, not a gunshot wound.  In any event, Giorno arranged this trap to avenge the old janitor, whose needless death offends Giorno’s sense of honor.

Then Giorno goes with Bruno to meet the rest of their team, and he drinks pee.  OR DOES HE?

The better translation made this scene a lot clearer, in that Giorno was visibly aware that Abbachio had filled his cup with urine, and the others knew that Giorno knew it.  So it wasn’t a thing where Giorno was pretending to play along.   Abbachio was trying to trap him into either getting mad at his new teammates, or actually drinking pee and looking like a dope.  Giorno used his Stand to create a third option that would impress them all, which I suppose is worth touching pee with your lips. 

I don’t quite understand how Giorno can get his tooth back, though.  Does he have to extrude the jellyfish first?   Maybe it’s best not to think about that.

I remember being so irritated about all these new guys being introduced at the same time.    I still have trouble remembering the names of Part 4 characters.   But in color, it’s pretty easy to keep track.   Doily Hat, Dick Helmet, Baby Idiot, and Dressed in the Dark.  But I’ll have more to say about them later.

[s2he-gamewalkthrough]

Part 7: Visiting Genshitenson

Talking about the attack upgrade system, and furthering the plot. This post is a little bit image-heavy.

If you don’t know what this is about, please refer to this previous post.

[Any new comments by me will be designated by brackets.]

I might as well talk about attack upgrades now, even though it's going to be a pain...

Going back to the 2nd floor, Taiitsu's lab opens up now! Take the door in the center of the room.

If you talk to him two times, Nataku will get an upgrade here. Only Nataku's upgrades are completely "free"--mostly because Taiitsu is Nataku's master. That and the fact that Nataku constantly bullies Taiitsu to make him stronger.

Yay, two stars now! [The highest level you can upgrade attacks to is five stars, but (from my own experience) you are usually only able to upgrade attacks from four to five stars under special conditions.]

You'll get more upgrades for Nataku later on in the story/when he levels up more. Upgrading attacks is highly recommended. It allows you to do more damage, and the attack animation changes too! Which is really pretty cool, considering that this is all on the Wonderswan.

Upgrading Tensho's attacks especially are a must. Trust me, it will make the later boss fights much easier.

Okay, now on to how you can get upgrades for the rest of the characters. Talk to Taiitsu. (As a note, there are times when he won't be in his lab on the 2nd floor--like during plot points.)

Choose the first option when this screen appears:

You'll be led to a screen that looks like this:

[Alright, let me clarify things a bit more here. You’re not actually upgrading a character’s attacks/moves itself--you’re actually upgrading their weapons/paopei... which then upgrades the attacks they use in battle. So I assume that Taiitsu is “upgrading” Hitou (Tensho’s sword) here]

You can only upgrade the weapons/paopei of characters that are currently in your party. Since Nataku already got an upgrade, the only characters we can do upgrades for now is Tensho and Youzen. We'll worry about Youzen in a bit--let's focus on Tensho first, since he's the most important.

Pressing the "a" button while on Tensho's screen (it will always be the first one you are shown when upgrading weapons/paopei), you'll be directed to this screen:

Yeah... you'll need to create a three-code combination before you can upgrade anything. Remember those things I was talking about earlier? The things found in chests and stuff that seemed to serve no purpose? Well, as "payment" for the upgrades, you'll need to use those to make the combinations. From what I can puzzle out, these are essentially different types of “elements”. The numbers on the right indicate how many of each "element” you have. Each of these "elements” (indicated to the left of the numbers) are designated by different Japanese characters--what characters they are, are shown in the first character of the "word." Did... did that make sense?

Here's an example to help you understand what I'm trying to say:

Whenever you select a "element/word" on the big box on the right, the first character will be shown in the small box on the left, and you'll use up one of them each time you make a combination. (I selected the first "element", and you can see the first character of that "word" being used in the little combo box.) Each combination you make uses up three "elements". Even if you get a wrong combination. Yes, that is probably the most annoying feature they put in this game. This is why I suggest you SAVE every time you go to try this out. Otherwise, you'll waste a lot of these trying out combos.

[I’ll try to list as many combos that I know of here, but there appears to be a limited supply of them that you can get easily in the game. So I will only bother to upgrade weapons/paopei for a small pool of characters that I will be using for this particular walkthrough.]

Now you're probably wondering at this point, "How the heck am I supposed to know what combinations to use?!"

Well, if you remember what I said in the first chapter...

[Under the “books” section (sixth item listed on the start menu), you’ll see this screen:]

[If I recall correctly, you collect these hints at possible weapon/paopei combinations as you progress through the game, from treasure chests and events. But unless you know Japanese, putting together combinations can still be pretty hit or miss... so remember to save before every attempt at a weapon upgrade.]

For now, we only have one page, but we'll get more as we go through the game.

Anyway, the LV1 --> 2 indicated at the top show that these will upgrade a character's weapon/paopei from level 1 to level 2.

So let's go and upgrade Hitou, shall we?

The above screencap is the combination needed to upgrade Tensho’s weapon (Hitou).

Also, random English! Select Yes, obviously.

If you get it right, you'll hear a sound and see this sentence:

To stop upgrading, just select the second choice when given the chance:

Yay, now all of Tensho's attacks have two stars!

Youzen is in our group currently, but while his attacks can be upgraded, they can't be upgraded at this point in time. This is because we don't have the right combination listed on the “books” page to use. But anyway, let me just talk about Youzen's upgrades for a bit:

[You’ll notice that he has TWO things to upgrade. That’s because Youzen uses two paopei at this point in the game: Sansentou (the trident thing) and Koutenkun (the white dog thing). Yes, you will need to upgrade different paopei separately. Since different paopei are tied to different attacks, this means that if you only upgrade the Sansentou, only Youzen’s attacks using that paopei will be upgraded. Yes, it can get very tedious and frustrating to upgrade weapons/paopei, especially if a character uses multiple paopei.]

Since we can’t upgrade anymore at this point, I guess we'll have to come back here later... What were we going to do again? Oh yeah! Visiting Genshitenson!

It seems he now lives in some kind of mountain? Before you even get through the entrance of the "dungeon," you're treated to another convo.

When you actually get inside, you'll be treated to this:

Gaaaah, what's with this?! This dungeon is basically one big puzzle... the first one being the most annoying. See, there are tiles all over the floor with numbers. If you've seen this type of gimmick before, then you'll realize that you can only walk on tiles that are either one above or below the current number you're standing on. For example, say you're on a tile that says "4". You'll only be able to go onto a tile that says "5" or "3"... Easy enough, right? Well, it's not so easy when there are this many tiles:

And about half of them are hidden at all times due to the WonderSwan’s small screen size.

My explanation that follows might be a bit confusing, but I’ll try my best. I usually take the left side, but you can take the right side also. (Each side has a stair going down at the end of it, leading to the same floor.)

Also, forgive my crappily drawn arrows. I drew them up a long time ago in Paint.

From the entrance, go up until you come to the split path. Take the left. (I'll only detail the left side--for the sake of my sanity.) Go left two spaces and go down until you're on the "3" tile.

Go left one, and then go all the way down until you touch the wall. Then go as far as you can to the left.

Go up as far as you can, then go right as far as you can.

Go up as far as you can, then take one tile left, one tile up, and one tile to the right. (You'll be on the "5" tile) Go up one, and right one. Then go all the way up to the top wall.

Go left until you land on the second "7" tile, then go down seven tiles. (You should be on the "4" tile)

Go left as far as you can, down one, and left again. From there, just go all the way up and you should reach the stairs.

EUREKA!

Take the stairs down.

You'll find yourself in a room FULL of stairs... Tenshou will have a "WTF?!" moment here.

Compared to the last puzzle, this one's a piece of cake. (And a lot less annoying.)

Since the whole room is full of stairs, just go the spaces without them. Those are the exits. Easy as pie.

Feel free to collect any chests on the way. Also, you can encounter monsters here! At least the game producers were kind enough not to have monster encounters in the room with all the numbers... That would have made it about 5x more annoying.

Since you're in a place with new monsters, you should definitely level up your party. I think getting Tensho up to 14-15 is good. Oh yeah, I probably forgot to mention this before, but you can heal with Tensho's healing move outside of battle too. Just beware of the EP it uses!

There's a whole section of the dungeon which you can sidestep here... Just go straight to this exit:

However, in doing so, you'll miss a lot of goodies. So I'll just take the other exit on the floor to show you what you'll see.

Egads, another number room...

This one is much, much, easier than the first floor puzzle, so I won't bother drawing out the solution. It’s a very small room so even through trial-and-error it shouldn’t take too long to figure out.

After solving the mini-number puzzle, you’ll be shoved into this room:

AUUGH, WE'RE TRAPPED!

...Kidding. You can go through the walls in this "puzzle."

There are two stairs here, one that leads back to the first floor, on the right side of the room:

And one that leads to this room:

More goodies!

...Huh? Who's that guy?

[Looks like one of the Yin’s former soldiers...] I think he says something along the lines of "this is a dead end," or, "I've been lost here for many years,"  or something to that extent. The only thing we can do now is backtrack. (Of course, if you decided to just skip this whole section, then you don't have to worry about backtracking.)

Okay, getting back to the room with all the stairs, and taking the correct exit, you'll get to this room:

(More treasure! Also... this room and the one before with the dead end seem to make some kind of word if you look at the way the walls are structured. Of course, I don't understand Japanese, so I'm no help there...)

More Youkai-senin?!

Let's talk to them and find out who they are/what they're doing here.

(My current party is: Tensho at lv 15, Youzen at lv 20, and Nataku at lv 18. Didn't even bother to go back out to heal, because these guys are pretty easy.)

I remember you! (His name's Ryonou for anyone that cares)

And you! (Kousou)

These were the guys that Kou Hiko and Tenka defeated easily in the anime/manga. Really, really minor characters. Heck, they're so minor, they don't even get their own unique sprites on the overworld!

Anyway, you're quickly shoved into a triple boss fight. (As in, fighting three "bosses" at the same time.) Kohei (the big panda youkai) fights alongside Ryonou and Kousou. Luckily, the boss fights where you have to fight multiple characters are arguably less annoying than ones where you have to fight one single boss... but I'm getting ahead of myself again.

Like I said before, these guys are easy. Just use Tensho's multi-hit attack, Youzen's standard attack, and Nataku's multi-hit attack. Do team /combo attacks if you want, though it's not necessary.

Try killing off Ryonou (the guy in the middle) first, since he tends to heal his other party members like crazy.

Health isn't really that big an issue in this fight... Mainly because Ryonou will mostly be healing his friends, and the other two have pretty bad accuracy. But of course, heal with Tensho or potions when you need to.

After taking those three down, the way to the stairs will be clear. Take it down to see this place:

Hmm, a hidden underground village... It's a pretty nice looking place actually--

Annnnnd this guy crashes straight into you.

ARGH, I remember you!

It's Ryogaku, the freaky doctor guy that Taikoubou and co. (well, more accurately just Nataku) had to fight when going through Cho Koumei's Queen Joker ship.

Ryogaku shoves you aside and rushes past you... rude! Unfortunately, you can't chase after him, but you know that when a guy like that appears anywhere, it's never a good sign...

Going down, you can talk to the two villagers wandering around here. Talk to the second guy a bit farther down.

Keep choosing the second option. I think the guy tries to tell you about his history or something. If you keep choosing the second option, then he'll eventually get fed up and give you an item to make you stop bothering him.

The house near the bottom belongs to this guy:

He appears to be the “mayor” of this village.

Hitou appears to recognize this man, though.

[I initially suspected this man was an older Bukichi, but he appears to be an original character made solely for this game.]

Well, anyway, the next hut thing is a shop where you can buy power up items to equip onto your characters. They increase certain stats, and possibly other things that I haven’t figured out.

Wow, that's pricey... I usually don't bother buying anything here at this point. (You can go back here to buy stuff later, when you have more cash.)

Going left... Hey there, Hakutsuru Doji! Go over and talk to him.

Something seems to have happened to Genshitenson, as hinted in the convo. Hakutsuru moves over so you can enter the hut.

Oh no, Genshitenson's sick in bed! Grrr, it must be the work of that quack scientist Ryogaku...

There's a rather lenghty convo between Genshitenson and Youzen. I think Youzen asks Genshitenson why random youkai-senin that have been houshined already are reappearing again. (Since at the end of the HE manga, Genshitenson was in charge of the houshined souls...)

The convo is suddenly interrupted by one of Dakki's sisters, Ou Kijin.

How'd she get past security?! (And does all of Dakki's sisters just suddenly have magical teleportation powers in this game or something? I don't recall them being able to teleport in the manga...)

Tensho puts on his angry face.

And Nataku actually looks surprised for once!

Well, there's a reason why Tensho looks so angry and Nataku looks so surprised; because this

happens...

She looks mighty pleased with herself... Though I wouldn't exactly call killing someone who's already bedridden something that you should be proud of.

Yes, if you haven't figured it out already, Kijin delivers a fatal blow to Genshitenson.

Tensho...

Genshitenson's body vanishes (as per the HE series), so one can only guess that his soul flew to the houshindai... If that thing is still even in use.

And Shinkyohyou enters the scene. Dammit, why do you always have to appear at the worst moments?

He mentions something important and then promptly leaves. (As usual...)

Elsewhere!

Hey, it's the inside of the houshindai!

And it's Kou Hiko!

Then Kibi appears to kidnap Hiko or something.

Anyway, there's another cutscene after this one, but I'll save that for the next chapter, because this one is long enough. 

R.I.P. Genshitenson...

To be continued.

[quicksilversquared]

Plagg and the Butterfly Costume Ch. 6

Plagg is willing to do a lot in order to get more cheese. When he’s spotted one too many times en route to the kitchen, he decides that a disguise is in order. One purple costume later, and Plagg is free to flit down to the kitchen without people thinking that he’s a rat.

And then he gets caught.

PATBC: (1)  (2)  (3)  (4)  (5)  

PatBC Outtakes: (1)  

(AO3) (FF.net)

For their second meeting, Adrien and Plagg arrived late thanks to a photoshoot that ran over. Adrien ran all the way to Fu's place, though Plagg didn't understand the hurry. It wasn't as though the old man was going to be going anywhere.

So of course when they got there, Ladybug and Tikki had already arrived and were sitting in Adrien's usual spot behind the screen. Plagg could see Tikki already perched on the low table, nibbling on a small cake. Next to her, Wayzz was sipping away at a small cup of tea.

Plagg perked up when he saw his normal cheese plate set out. He zipped towards it, ignoring Adrien's quiet apologies to Fu for being late. He mumbled out quick greetings to his fellow kwami and then dove into the cheese.

The cheese plate was the best part of these boring meetings, really. But Plagg knew that any moment now, he was going to be dragged away from the cheese to act as a mouthpiece for Adrien so he and his lovebug could talk to each other.

"What- what's this for?" Adrien asked suddenly, sounding positively puzzled. Plagg glanced over long enough to see his Chosen pick up what looked like a weird black plastic mask.

"Ladybug brought them," Fu said, as though that was any sort of explanation. Plagg glanced over and saw Ladybug sitting on the other side of the screen- or, well, he was assuming that it was Ladybug. Black pigtails stuck out from the bottom of a black mask identical to the one Adrien held. She waved at him. "They have a voice changer built in, and Ladybug thought you two would be able to use them to talk without having to go through the kwamis while still keeping your identities safe. I believe she called them... Darth Raider masks?"

"Darth Vader," Tikki corrected.

"Ladybug is my new favorite," Plagg said around a mouthful of cheese. "Now I don't have to stop eating just so you can ask a million questions. I mean, you'll look like a dork, but..."

Adrien grinned and jammed the helmet over his head, apparently unconcerned by the dorkiness. "This is so cool!"

Plagg blinked. That...was definitely a voice change. He had not been expecting that.

"And they were on clearance," Ladybug added, her own voice just as distorted. "Because the paint job got messed up somehow. The masks are scratched, but the voice things work well enough."

Adrien laughed. "Your voice sounds so funny like this."

"You're one to talk," Ladybug retorted.

"That is going to take some getting used to," Fu said with a laugh. "But it was quite a creative solution, I have to admit. Clearly I made a very good choice when I picked you for Ladybug."

"You really did," Adrien spoke up. Plagg could tell by the tilt of his Chosen's head that he was doubtless giving the screen in Ladybug's direction a soppy lovestruck look. "I don't know what I would do without my Bugaboo."

Plagg made a face and dove with more vigor into his cheese. He really didn't need to spend any more of his life listening to Adrien flirt and pine. It was lucky that he wasn't alert when Adrien was transformed, because from what Plagg could tell, Adrien flirted with Ladybug all the time while they were transformed.

"Both Ladybug and Chat Noir have been excellent choices this time around," Wayzz spoke up, thankfully cutting off any more flirty banter between the two superheroes. "You both fight wonderfully."

"But now we must talk of more serious things," Fu agreed, coming to sit by the table that the kwamis were on. "Tikki has told me already about some of the things that she and Plagg are planning. There are...security elements, in the lair, that you're in the process of destroying, is that correct?"

Plagg nodded by way of answer. He didn't want to have to hastily swallow the lovely creamy Brie that he had just bitten into.

"And from what I hear, that's going along well," Fu pressed. "And you have plans to finish the project this Thursday?"

"He's going to break an elevator button so Mr. Agreste can't go up to the lair and transform," Tikki volunteered, wiping cake crumbs off of her mouth. "So it won't matter that he's had to recharge a zillion times. And Ladybug is going to bring some cheese bread and some cheese up to a hidden spot on the roof so Plagg can keep recharging."

Plagg perked up. He hadn't heard that that part of the plan had been confirmed. He had rather thought that Tikki hadn't actually meant it when she said they would bring cheese for him and that he would have to keep going back down to the kitchens or to Adrien's room in between destroying missiles. Hopefully Tikki had told- or would tell- her Chosen how much cheese he would need, and he also hoped that she wouldn't skimp.

Fu was stroking his beard. "That sounds interesting. But you know your strength wanes the further away you are from your Chosen, and surely Chat Noir would be at school that day?"

"I have a lot of exams," Adrien confirmed. "And I've kind of been worried about it, since I don't want to have to miss exams because of an akuma attack."

"That was the initial idea behind breaking the button," Tikki chimed in before Plagg could. Not that he actually wanted to do all of the talking "So that they could complete their exams in peace. And then we figured that since Mr. Agreste wouldn't be able to transform anyway, we might as well take advantage of it. And I would be there as well, to counteract the effects of the distance between Plagg and Chat Noir as much as I can."

"And I can sit in a cafe or a park nearby and have Wayzz join you, to help further," Fu volunteered, and Plagg only just refrained from rolling his eyes. If it weren't for the fact that having Tikki and Wayzz there would help bolster his destruction powers with Adrien off at school, he would wonder if they didn't trust him to be able to destroy stuff on his own. He didn't need babysitters.

"And I'll come hang out nearby at lunch," Adrien added in. "In, er, the park or something. And after school, too."

Plagg hid a snigger. He knew full well that Adrien would be coming home and eating in the dining room just like normal, but he could hardly say that. Fu would end him for the early reveal.

"I'm glad we have a plan set for that, then. Hopefully there won't be an akuma attack late that day but if there is, then Ladybug, you will have to be prepared to do the brunt of the fighting. Plagg will be exhausted after that much destruction and recharging and won't be able to hold on to a transformation long."

"Right. Tikki already told me about that."

Plagg rolled his eyes. Of course Tikki had. She had always been ridiculously responsible about those sorts of things.

"And then we need to start planning further ahead," Fu told them. "We need to recover the book and the scrolls and then destroy the digital copy that Hawkmoth has, preferably without alerting him, though I don't know how we could do that. I don't know how far someone without training would be able to get with decoding it, but we cannot allow him the opportunity."

"We could always take the files off of his computer to see how far he's gotten," Adrien suggested.

"And we could introduce a virus somehow to make it look like that was what wiped the files off of the computer," Ladybug added. "I know someone who might know how to do that, actually. He was-"

"The Gamer," Adrien and Ladybug finished in unison. Adrien perked up- Plagg was certain that his Chosen was beaming under that dorky mask- and turned towards the screen separating the two superheroes. "Yeah! He probably could, considering that he made that robot! And maybe he could help us with the security cameras- I mean, Plagg could probably break them somehow, but it would be more convincing that nobody was there if the cameras were on the whole time, but just showed an empty loop of video."

Fu was smiling at both of them, looking for all the world like a fond old grandpa. "Ah, young minds! You certainly are more in tune with today's technology than I am. Those sound like excellent ideas. You are certain that the young man you're referring to could keep a secret and not accidentally let word get out about how he's helping superheroes?"

"He's rather down-to-earth, I think," Adrien said, and Plagg stuffed another wedge of Camembert in his mouth to muffle his laughter. Adrien was trying so hard to pretend that he didn't know Max in person, even though Fu definitely knew and Ladybug would probably soon know that they were in the exact same class. "I mean, he doesn't freak out when we show up, and I think he could understand how serious this is."

"Definitely," Ladybug agreed. "He's trustworthy."

"Then you should try to speak to him in private as soon as possible," Fu told them. "I'm sure that the young man will probably need some time to develop the- the virus, did you say?- and figure out the security cameras."

"Tomorrow evening, maybe?" Adrien suggested. "So we can figure out the security camera system information."

Plagg made a face. That sounded like it was work for him. Again. Too bad he couldn't just suggest that Ladybug come over so Tikki could do the exploring this time. Even with the extra cheese that he got, all of this research nonsense was starting to get a little old.

He zoned out again as Fu started discussing potential new powers and how Adrien and Ladybug might get them. He had made some good progress with the decoding and translation of the relevant pages in the book, apparently, but wanted to be certain that he was understanding things correctly before teaching them to the superheroes.

Plagg really didn't care. He didn't summon the powers, just supplied them. Adrien would have to do the work of remembering whatever it was that Fu said. Once the cheese was gone, Plagg rolled over and took a nap in the beam of sun that was hitting the table. He woke up when he was rudely tossed in Adrien's bag when he was packing up to go home.

"That was interesting," Adrien said as he hurried through the darkening streets. "New powers! Even if Master Fu did say they would probably be hard to master this early on and that we should try not to use them."

Plagg blinked and yawned. "Why not?"

"Because we want to be able to surprise fath- I mean, Hawkmoth," Adrien corrected himself. "Once we actually face him, I mean. If he knows all of our attacks already, then he can think of ways to counter them. If we have attacks he doesn't know about, then then he can't do that. So I guess we can do new stuff if no one is looking, but that doesn't exactly happen super-often."

Plagg shrugged, uninterested. All of this strategy talk bored him. He just needed to know what he had to do to keep his Chosen safe, and a nice nap. And cheese.

(He always needed cheese. That was a given.)

  Plagg was Not Having Fun.

"I'm already getting tired," Plagg complained as he phased back through the walls of the lair to mess up another couple missiles. He had already made the gunpowder in over a dozen of the weapons expire completely just that morning, and while it had been fun at first to watch the energy give out and dissipate as the powder unnaturally aged, it had gotten old.

Really old, really fast.

"You wouldn't have this much to do if you hadn't taken two evenings off," Tikki chided. She and Wayzz had been circling around the lair all morning, keeping track of Plagg's progress so he wouldn't miss anything and leave active missiles in the lair. "And it's not meant to be exciting. This is a job."

Plagg scowled- he had taken one night off because Adrien had transformed unnecessarily to go visit some classmate that wasn't Ladybug, and the other night off because of an akuma attack late in the evening- and zipped towards the wall cavity that Wayzz was waiting by. He phased through and went to the first missile. The gunpowder crumpled into no more than black dust under his paws. If Hawkmoth tried setting them off, they would just let out a cloud of black smoke and slide forward off of the launching rig to fall unimpressively to the floor in a grand display of ineptitude.

Plagg decided to amuse himself by imagining the look on Hawkmoth's face if he ever did try to shoot off the missiles. There would be wide eyes, there would be cursing, there would be foot-stomping, and there would probably be panic as the superheroes pounced on him and took his Miraculous.

"Hawkmoth is still struggling to figure out what is wrong," Wayzz reported after Plagg emerged from the wall, leaving three more thoroughly expired missiles in his wake. "Apparently he did decide to try to fix it himself, like you thought, and he's gotten little bits and pieces all over the floor." Wayzz held up a small spring. "I may have, ah, borrowed a piece."

Plagg sniggered. Ah, Mr. Agreste's reaction once he figured out that he had "lost" a piece would be a sight to see. Unfortunately, he was stuck up in the lair all day until he got every last missile destroyed. Maybe he would have to break another button some other day so he could see the results for himself. He could pull that stunt on a weekend sometime so he could sit and listen and laugh at Mr. Agreste as he struggled to fix it all day.

The cheese stash that Ladybug (Plagg was pretty certain that he had heard her name before- after all, she was Adrien's classmate and friend- but he really couldn't remember what it was, and he wasn't about to admit that by asking Tikki) and Adrien had put together was the one bright spot in Plagg's day. Ladybug had bought a variety cheese pack sort of thing that had all of Plagg's favorite cheeses, and then several cheese bread buns. Adrien had added a round of Brie and another of Camembert, all sliced into chunks. It was 100% Plagg's dream, and if only he hadn't had to work, then Plagg would be in heaven.

Unfortunately, Plagg was also 100% certain that he would never get a cheese basket like this again unless someone was trying to bribe him to do something or he was getting forced to work again.

"I'm only doing this for the cheese," Plagg grumbled to Tikki as he headed inside for the last time. He was starting to feel a little light-headed from the number of times he had had to recharge. "Otherwise, no way."

Tikki giggled at him. "You know full well that you're doing this to protect Adrien. You can't fool me. The cheese is just a bonus."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Plagg sniffed. "I am a creature motivated by cheese and cheese alone. Protecting my Chosen is just a bonus. Besides, who would get me my cheese if he got hurt?"

Tikki sighed.

"I mean, I guess that the kid has grown on me just a bit," Plagg added with his most exasperated sigh. "And I would be a bit upset if he got hurt."

Tikki clearly wasn't fooled one bit.

"Adrien is about to leave," Wayzz reported, popping up into the lair again. "His lunch break is nearly over. Are you almost finished?"

"The cheese is finished," Tikki reported with a giggle. "And Plagg only has two more missiles to go."

"I'm going to be running on empty as soon as I'm done," Plagg whined. "And then I'll have to waste away for the whole afternoon until Adrien gets back after fencing."

"Not if you hurry up and catch Adrien before he goes back to school," Wayzz called through the walls as Plagg made the last dregs of gunpowder crumble into harmless dust. "I know he has cheese on him, and he could probably spare a few minutes to grab some more before going back to school."

"Why would I want to go to school?" Plagg demanded as he wobbled back out into the lair to join them. He was feeling a little fuzzy-headed now after so many recharges. "I have to listen to that blond brat yammer on and threaten to call her dad all day when things don't go her way. I just want to have some cheese and sleep."

"He's not talking about Adrien, is he?" Wayzz hissed to Tikki. The turtle kwami was frowning. "Adrien isn't a brat."

"He's talking about the Mayor's daughter," Tikki explained with a giggle as she guided- well, pulled- Plagg towards the covered window of the lair. "She's a bit of a character. And they have exams practically all day at school, so it should be quiet. And Plagg, you know that you'll recover faster if you're close to Adrien."

Plagg tried to say something, but it came out as slurred mumbles.

"Yeah, he's exhausted," Tikki said with a sigh. "Wayzz, can you help me get him down to Adrien so he can sleep it off?"

"Certainly."

[captnbarnesrogers]

A Kingsman and Statesman Affair

Pairing/Characters: Eggsy Unwin/“Galahad” x Reader/“Moonshine”, Merlin, Statesmen, OFC “Cheska Aragon”, OFC “Senator Ascott” Warnings: Beginning of smut but no explicit smut, blood, violence, angst, assumed character death, kidnapping Summary: When a Statesman and Kingsman work together, all seems to be a success but when a mission fails and a Statesman goes down, one Kingsman feels like he loses everything. Word Count: 2.4k+ A/N: THIS IS MY FIRST EGGSY FIC GO EASY ON ME  AND GIVE ME FEEDBACK PLS!!! THIS TAKES PLACE AFTER THE GOLDEN CIRCLE BC I HAVENT SEEN IT AND I HAVE NO GODDAMN IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON I do kinda bc I read the wikia page

I’M MAKING AN EGGSY/TARON TAGLIST DIRECT MESSAGE ME TO BE ON IT <3

Eggsy entered the doors of the large building, if not made obvious enough by the horridly big sign outside, that was the Statesman building. He chuckled and wondered to himself if they could be any more discreet. He walked with the umbrella in one hand and was suddenly greeted by Agent Tequila who leads him up to the last floor. As the doors of the elevator opens, your eyes meet with Eggsy’s.

“Agent Moonshine.” Tequila greets you with a pat on you back which you return with a smile. You turn back to meet the smirking face of the British Kingsman,

“Agent Galahad, it’s nice to see you not on a computer screen.” He laughs at you and nods his head, you hand him a martini and he thanks you. Tequila and Champagne look at you both suspiciously,

“You two know each other?” Champagne asks,

“C’mon, Champagne, it’s not my first time on their side of town.”

“She’s a great Agent,” Eggsy begins, smirk still placed upon his face, “she’s very��� Attentive, you could say.”

“Ain’t you just flattering, Galahad?”

“Is it really a form of flattery if it’s true, love?”

“Okay?... How many times did you go to his side of town?” Tequila asks with a scorned face, “Cause I’m real grossed out, I think y’all are talkin’ ‘bout doin’ the do.” You looked at Eggsy, only to catch him looking at you intently, gulping the rest of his martini,

“She came about five times.” Merlin spits out the gulp of whiskey he was about swallow as he let out the comment, “The shop, she came into the shop.” You bit your bottom lip, giving Eggsy a suggestive smile,

“Christ, Galahad!” Merlin exclaims, “You didn’t do it inside any of the fitting rooms, did you!?”

“Y/N?” He ate the garnished olive from the silver stick, giving you one of his winks that always got you in trouble – in the good sense of the word. You smiled but then cleared your throat and passing a file around the table.

Agent Champagne began to explain the mission at hand but you could tell Eggsy wasn’t listening. You felt his stare burning against your skin and he wasn’t even close enough to touch you. You tried to focus yourself but failed incredibly and only ended up biting your lip. Unlike Eggsy, you were in fact attentive, just as he said you were. You understand what you had to do and got up from your seat to get ready. Merlin elbows his fellow Kingsman,

“D’ya understand that, you moron?” Merlin asks with furrowed eyebrows,

“Understand, what?”

“Bloody idiot… If you’re gonna look at her like you’re gonna eat her and not do it discreetly, you might as well just grab her from across the table and eat her right in front of us!” Eggsy stands up from his seat and straightens out his suit,

“I like this girl enough to do just that but I think it goes against the whole ‘Manners Maketh Man’ thing, ya kno’?” He grabs his umbrella and runs after you, leaving Merlin to deal with Champagne and Tequila.

He sees you strutting through the office in your black pencil dress, your glasses covering your face, and a clipboard in your hands. He feels as though you couldn’t feel his presence but he knows better. He knows that you know his every move. Other than Harry, you are the only person who knows how he moves, speaks, and thinks. Like he had mentioned before, you were an attentive person and it was nothing less than true.

He had met you a few years beforehand, at a mutual mission, from each agency. It wasn’t their intentions for both of you to meet but as fate would have it, you did and or a few months you were seeing each other secretly. Of course, you lost excuses to go back to London and as did Eggsy to fly all the way to America. There were phone calls here and there, which you both liked. Before you knew it, you both knew this was something more than casual but both parties refused to admit so.

“Eggsy, I can feel you following me.” You chattered, laughing at him and waving your pen to the space beside you, suggesting for him to start walking beside you,

“And I thought I was bein’ casual.”

“Lately you’ve been sucking at that job.” You laughed. Suddenly, with one push, both of you are led into an unlit closet, “What are you doing?”

“This dress is drivin’ me mental.” He begins to attack your neck with kisses, making you moan and roll your eyes back, “Do you always dress like this?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“That is fuckin’ sick.” You giggle and grabbed him with desperation, leading him to your lips and kissing him roughly. As you jump on him and wrap your legs around his waist, the voice of Agent Ginger rang through the hidden speakers of the closet,

“You both best be getting dressed.” She says,

“Fuck!” You both shriek, making you jump off of him and straightening your dress and Eggsy unwrinkling his suit, “Uh… Thank you Ginger, we’ll see to it.”

“Ginger?” He looks at you puzzled,

“Agent Ginger Ale.”

“Right.”

You both exit the closet in an orderly fashion, no one even taking notice of your sudden appearance in the hallway. Your Kingsman looks around to spot for any wandering eyes and when he finds none, quickly slaps your ass, making you yelp a teasing laugh and playfully slapping his arm.

You put on a sheer white top, a white tube top underneath, and tucked it into black dress pants. You tapped your shoes together to reveal a hidden knife and clipped your inconspicuous knife hair pins into your hair. You attached a watch (similar, if not almost the same, to the Kingsman watch) on your wrist and grabbed your gadget wired bag from the hook before exiting the room.

Eggsy looked at you with an intense look as you came out of your ‘office’, his mouth agape and his airways almost blocked.

“Close your mouth, Galahad, you’ll catch flies.” Merlin addressed with a smirk on his face,

“Merlin’s right, you know?”

“How did you- Wait, you were far away.” Merlin asks in a surprised tone,

“Attentive.” Both you and Eggsy say, making Merlin nod in realisation. You lift Eggsy’s chin to close his mouth while staring into his marvelled eyes and walk over to Champagne to go over the plan once more.

“You… Are… Whipped, Galahad.”

“You can see why, can’t you, Merlin?” Merlin laughs and shakes his head in astonishment,

“C’mon, lad, you better listen in on the conversation so you know what the fuck you’re doing.”

Arriving at the secret hide out of your newly found villain, you introduced yourselves as Mr and Mrs. King to the female who awaited your arrival. You smiled at her and entered the glass building with your ‘husband’. You were led downstairs where rocks became walls and the true light of the sky had disappeared. Stopped at the glass doors downstairs, a woman with blonde hair came out in a lab jacket.

“Mr and Mrs. King!” She said with excitement, giving the both of you a firm hand shake. She pushed up her thick glasses that almost magnified her eyes and sneezed repeatedly, “My name is Cheska Aragon and your donations are deeply appreciated.” She sniffled, wiping her nose and giving you a wide smile, exposing her gold covered bicuspid tooth,

“Well, when my husband and I see hard see hard work, we love to appreciate it.” You say with a sweetly fake voice which is obviously isn’t heard to a normal person’s voice, especially if that person only wants money,

“Three million dollars as an investment is so much more than I expected!”

“We’ll make it official once we see your projects.” Eggsy laughed, grabbing the spare lab coat from her offering hands. You both slip on the lab coats and Cheska leads you into the brightly lit room where bodies and bodies of people laid on steel tables, connected to wires and tubes. You rarely became nauseous about anything, being a Statesman came with more blood than inside your own body, but the sight of the pale faced, cold lipped, lifeless bodies struck something in you. You jumped in surprise as you felt Eggsy’s hand rubbing your back.

She leads you both to the last table and holds her hands out, presenting to you both the creation she had made.

“With one click of a button, these people will serve to command me and you, if you choose to invest in me,” she begins, “I created them to kill people, you see, people who get in my way.”

“And you did that how?” Eggsy asks,

“Mr King,” she takes out two large needles from her pocket and smiles. One injection was filled with green liquid, the other with red, and the needle was thick and could probably cut through your hair, “I have spent ten years creating these and after all this time, as you can see, it has worked.” She turns around and opens an unseen door behind her, grabbing a man almost twice her size and setting him in front of her, “This is Connelly, he tried to commit homicide and failed because I caught him.” She laughed, evilly. His hands were tied behind his back and duct tape covered his mouth, he yelled at the both of you through his taped mouth, “This blue needle,” she stuck it in his arm, making you jump slightly, “initially it disintegrates the prefrontal cortex, it gets rid of his memories,” the man begins to shake, “it also triggers the emotion of anger in his amygdala and finally, this red needle, if need be, if they lose control of themselves,” she sticks it into his neck and presses down to secrete the liquid into his body, “kills them in just five minutes.” She smiles at you maliciously,

“I have one more question for you, Cheska.” Cheska nods at Eggsy, fiddling with her fingers, “You know, before we close this deal,” he chuckles, “are you keeping Senator Ascott in this building?” Cheska’s face falls as she slowly realises that you are not here to invest in her but to destroy her form of investment and as you see her emotions change on her face, you throw one of your hairclips at her, going straight through her hand and keeping her stuck on the door.

“Fuck you, you little bitch!” She hissed, “I will fucking kill you!”

“I love you, too, beautiful.” Sarcastically blowing a kiss at her. You take out your gun and begin to shoot at the Cheska-made ‘soldier’, wiping them out in under three minutes. Eggsy winks at you as you both take out the last two soldiers at the same time. You look over at the door where you flung your knife only to find a bloody stream and no Cheska, “Eggsy, she’s gone.” He looks around for her and as he turns around her sees her behind you with a red liquid-filled needle,

“NO!” He yells as Cheska injects you with the lethal needle. He shoots her in the head, her blood splattering all over the floor, and runs to you laying on the ground. He begins tapping your face and caressing your cheek, “C’mon, love, with me here.”

“I’m feeling…” You pant, “so sleepy.”

“You can’t- MERLIN!” He yelled through his earpiece, “Merlin, Merlin, I’m losin’ her, man!”

“Hey, y-you ain’t going soft on me, a-are you? I-I dug the whole sexy spy thing.” You said in a broken chuckle as Tequila and Merlin burst through the door, “I only have t-three minutes left, Galahad,” You caress his cheek and he grabs your hand, bringing it to his lips, tears landing on your soft skin, “I guess, you’re alright.”

“Galahad, we gotta take her in.” Eggsy nods and they quickly carry you into the car. As the engine starts, your eyes close and you lose your consciousness.

You inhale deeply and fail to recognise the scent of the room. As you open your eyes, you look down and see a cannula stuck in your arm. Across the room you see Eggsy, Ginger, and Merlin having a chat.

“I could go for some water.” You stated and suddenly, the room silenced. Heads turned to you and Eggsy came running beside you, taking your hand in his, “Hey.”

“You alright?”

“I’m thirsty.” He chuckles and grabs a cup and a jug of water, filling it up and handing it to you. You gulped it down and wiped your mouth, “Thank you, Eggsy.”

“Thank God, you’re okay! We thought we had to replace the Moonshine.” Ginger says,

“I ain’t goin’ away that quick… Well, almost.”

“She failed to complete the mixture of the poison from the flower she used, luckily, we found an antidote just in time, you were gone for thirty-one seconds, Moonshine.” Merlin explains,

“We’re off duty, you can call me Y/N, Merlin.”

“Alright,” He taps Ginger on the shoulder and leads her near the door, “it’s good to have you back, Y/N.” They both exit the room, leaving you and Eggsy alone in a quiet room, which in usual circumstances would lead to unspoken things but in this instance, led to a tear slipping out of his eye,

“Hey, Eggsy, what’s wrong?” You ask concerningly, caressing his cheek,

“You were gone for thirty seconds, thirty seconds, Y/N, and it felt like a life time- I- It felt like I lost a part of me.”

“I’m here now, I’m okay.”

“I know and I don’t think I’ve been happier but I have to tell you something.” He helps you sit up and you’re ready for him to end things with you. You understood why he would and you nodded as a gesture for him to continue, “Look, I know- I know we started this just for fun and I understand, I do, if you don’t feel the same way-”

“Eggsy, I understand but I can’t handle you leaving me right no-”

“Wait… what?” He straightens his posture,

“That’s what you’re doing isn’t it? You’re ending things?’’ He begins to chuckle and rests the bridge of his nose in between his thumb and pointer finger, “What?”

“I think that injection made you a bit dim.” He leans in and kisses you, “I’m try’na tell you I love you.”

“Oh… OH!” He nods as he stares into your eyes, “I love you too, Eggsy.”

“I don’t think have the power in me to leave you, ever.”

“Good, ‘cause I couldn’t handle it, ever.” You smile, pulling him for another kiss.

MASTERLIST

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[romahollingswor]

Car Lease Hire - Economical For Business

When extra flab to find the best car lease deals, do not want have in order to far however, you do end up being look wonderful. You want to get the deals that assist you you the most, while giving the most potential for saving funds on the car you do you want. Another perk of using cash is that you could sell issues at any time, even when it's puzzled. Buying a car with cash allows one to have a monthly budget with less of a strain. However, there are a couple cons to working with cash to purchase your car. This usually turns to be able to be far more expensive than finding a package which has everything inclusive from wholesome. Another key point to remember is to only go rented car services that are very well known and popularly through the amounts. Transferring a franchise is comparable to transferring a lease. Actually the best auto lease deals and franchise agreement feel and read in much the same. Read the franchise agreement and under critical indicators such as hidden costs, transfer, training, and remodeling, and the franchise expenses. Know what kind of support to expect from the franchisor. Perhaps the car you that are used to drive was leased via your company that has been called in. Committing yourself to huge month by month installmets just doesn't make experience. After all, the belief that auto we drive defines us as one is so high school. A car doesn't have regarding new turn out to be attractive and reliable. Of all of the new car leasing websites leasing tips to be discussed, perhaps essentially the most important end up being to compare lease payment insurance rates. Do not assume that the best pages and use a particular dealership has to supply is necessarily the lowest price out there. It is only is a part are offering. Don't be afraid to surf around showcase the salesperson aware of this other quotes you have was served. 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First let's look at the deli. He may have needed to plunk down $30,000 to $50,000 or higher for the franchise selling price.and you don't get that back if you go in the car leasing websites . He probably had to sign a 3 to five year triple net lease on his building. If his business does not make the concept.7K to 8K per month is a great be liable for. The first way for a cheap new car is actually by look for rebates and cash back programs. Because the economy is in a slump and hitting automobile industry harder than most others, producers are offering incentives to their motorcycles. Some of the lease direct Ny deals at this moment on new cars will include a $13,000 is without question on the Mercedes-Benz CLK Class, $5000 off a Nissan Titan, and $7500 off the BMW Z4. Don't sign a lease that goes over four a few years. Most new cars come using a three year warranty; a lease direct Ny within that time will ensure no overhead car maintenance fees. Also, a car's age gets to be more apparent on your third year due to general harm of the vehicle, in order to mention new styles and technologies. To find lower prices you really need to take a the monthly payment, deposit and mileage limit. Usually you get 10,000 to 12,000 miles per year, but prone to need a lot more than that, renegotiate to avoid high cost-per-mile charges. Companies additionally let its employees use cars looking at the fleet without worrying about fuel and maintenance costs, which are common shouldered from your company. They never need to think about mortgage payments the way they end up being if they bought the car leasing websites on very own. Depending for the purpose the auto will use for will determine if leasing or buying is the right way to go on and. Unless you are experienced in how leasing works, it may not regarded as good thing to enter into. The negotiations for leasing a car or truck a incredibly similar to buying a car. As absolutely see will be the major many epidermis hosting benutzerkonto. Whether you are arranging business website hosting or you want to do a school site or perhaps you are simply planning on getting a little hobby site up and running, a person a decision to make, what hosting package an individual chose.

[guksthighs]

A Modern Hero ( iii )

Chapter 3. Oblivious

Parts: one | two | three

Group: BTS

Pairing: JIN X READER

1k celebration: "I’m bulletproof…but please, don’t shoot me.“

Summary: You make an important discovery and what you choose do to with this dangerous knowledge could ruin your friendship forever.

Genre: fluff, angst, superhero au

Length: 1.1k

A/N: I hope you enjoy the final part!! i hit 1k a while ago but thanks for all the congratulations!!

There were other heroes and villains in your city, and you currently stood in the middle of a frantic crowd, too busy admiring Haesik's form tackle the villain from the sky to wonder if you would ever have a day of peace.

It had always intrigued you that no one from the city had become used to the constant battles; however, your generation was the most accustomed, running multiple fan pages for the heroes and villains. And of course, your up close photos of Haesik from battles led to you having a huge part in the community.

Originally, you had just been walking to meet Seokjin in a supermarket for the weekly shop, and you still intended to get there on time but the people running in all directions was making this a challenge. Furthermore, the chance of photos from this distance gave you a chance that you struggled to give up, so you weren’t late for Jin.

As you barged past a woman screaming with ease,  glancing over your shoulder completely entranced by Haesik's glowing blonde hair only to be shoved over by another man who was sprinting away from the fallout.

Your body slammed into the concrete, causing you to groan in pain; as you stayed still you could feel the heat radiating from Haesik's blasts and looked up in adoration before realising you were going to be late, as you jumped to your feet and ducking into an alley that served as a perfect shortcut.

You assumed by the sounds of blasts that the battle didn’t last much longer after your departure, the screams quietened and the alley seemed to be longer than you last remembered, the dark walls seemed to be closing in and it smelled damp.

As the fear began to build, the lump in the back of your throat becoming more prominent, as you wondered what was about to happen, as your intuition was almost always perfect, your hands clenched around your phone before a pair of hands covered your eyes, "Guess who it is!”

The voice was distinct, the slight melodic tone of your roommate made you laugh, as your hands rose to grab his long fingers, his grip tightened. You became more desperate, disliking your vision being blocked, "Jin, let go!“

That was when you stopped laughing, the heat radiating off Jin was almost scalding and quickly his hands had disappeared, and you were alone in the alley again. The last time you had faced such intense heat had been when

Haesik had restrained you and pushed you into the back of a police car. The pieces of the puzzle had begun to slot together, revealing a picture that you knew you should have been more surprised at but for some reason the fact that Kim Seokjin was Haesik made perfect sense to you. Even if that meant you were now going to have to fight not only your crush but your best friend; however your Father still needed to be avenged.

You were perched on the roof of a hotel, hidden by the neon lights behind you as your eyes stayed trained on the man you had watched shoot your father in the chest. The night had been silent and using your current knowledge of Jin being Haesik, you knew you would finally be able to complete your mission. This was because Jin, unlike you, had not completed a five thousand word essay analyzing a chosen play.

As you shifted on the balls of your feet, before yawning as you felt your eyes get heavier; it was a few minutes past minute and stalking out the boss night after night had taken a toll on your body. Your white fox ears ruffled in the wind and that when you heard it, the panting knowing instantly who it was, you turned to face Haesik, before smirking as you placed a hand on your hip.

"Aren’t you meant to be doing something,” you dodged his fireball with a quick leap to the side, deciding not to fight back as if you were to reveal your identity it might be awkward to do so to his broken and bruised figure. Haesik's hair ruffled in the wind, and you wondered how you never picked up on his eyes, although now a different colour they still held the same kindness in them.

“If you are referring to protecting innocent civilians, then I am doing my job,” but you could see his uncertainty and you wondered if you had also looked this stupid continuing to hide from an obvious truth that had been staring you in the face for too long. But Haesik had tilted his head as if to look at you better, with a small smile you stroked down your ears,

“No, you’re meant to be writing an essay,” you placed a hand over your mask, letting the illusion fall before you tilted your head back at Jin as your tails swayed slightly in anticipation, “Kim Seokjin.” He stumbled back slightly in surprise, as his eyes widened in shock before he closed the space between you in seconds; his hand hesitantly rising to touch your cheek, jumping when he realized it wasn’t an illusion.

And as the laughter began to bubble up, before you were laughing with him in shock at how well he was taking this news but also wondering what you were both going to do now. Jin seemed to have the answer, as he tugged you into his chest by your costume, “My evil little villain. Do you only like me because I’m Haesik?”

You hummed to yourself before thinking of the perfect answer to his question as you pulled him down so you were finally facing each other, and glancing down at his before pressing a chaste kiss to them, you rested your head on his chest, “my stupid hero.”

Jin felt the barrel of the gun pressed into his chest as he looked up at you in slight shock, "I’m bulletproof Y/N,“ you raised an eyebrow at his statement, clicking the safety off as you desperately tried to cling to the memory of why you were doing this, until Jin spoke, his voice breaking, "but please, don’t shoot me.”

You never pulled the trigger, you couldn’t do it and as you tossed your Father’s gun across the roof,  and with it you threw your need to avenge him because how were you meant to disappoint not only him but Jin as well. Because you had realised all along your obssession with Haesik had just been to cover up your feelings for Jin; you had both been so oblivious.

If you enjoyed this, please do not hesitate to like, reblog and comment~ And tell me your thoughts in the comments/ask box <3 For my masterlist: click here

[warmdevs]

New Post has been published on https://warmdevs.com/the-user-experience-of-customer-service-chat-20-guidelines.html

The User Experience of Customer-Service Chat: 20 Guidelines

In today’s world, many people turn to chat for a fast, convenient way to interact with businesses for customer service. Chat is often considered superior to traditional methods like telephone calls for several reasons:

There is less of an emotional investment in the conversation: it’s easier to type a message than to interact in real time with another person.

There is a written trace of the conversation; both parties can refer to it later on.

People can multitask. At least on large-screen devices, people can open multiple windows and do a different activity while waiting for the chat representative to respond.

One study participant summarized it well: “Chat is less personable. You have time to think. You can have it in writing. You have to build less courage to talk. And it takes less time [than a phone call].”

To understand how people use chat to interact with businesses and how this interaction channel could be improved, we ran a usability-testing study in which we asked 8 participants to contact a variety of businesses through chat.  This article reports some of our main findings and recommendations.

1.Place a Link to Chat on the Contact Us Page and Label it Chat

Our study participants usually looked under Help or Contact Us when they wanted to find the chat. Unfortunately, not all companies made chat easy to locate. Typically, people interpreted hard-to-find chat as “it’s pretty clear that they don’t want you to contact them.”

Some hid chat under vague labels. On Walmart.com, the Help page contained a lot of information, but none of the links clearly pointed to chat.  Our participant scrolled down and selected the Contact Us link in the page footer, only to stay on the same page.  She eventually clicked on the Walmart.com icon under Contact Us and was prompted with Choose your topic and What can we help with. The user wasn’t sure whether she was on the right track to find chat or whether those options would point her to an FAQ page.

None of the links on Walmart.com’s Help Center was labeled Chat (top).  The user clicked the Walmart.com icon and was taken to another page that where she was asked to provide more information about her question. This page did not indicate that she was on the right path to chat either.

2.Don’t Rely on Floating Buttons as the Only Way to Access Chat

Other businesses chose to offer chat as a floating button on the side of the page — either on mobile or on desktop. We noticed that some of our participants completely ignored these buttons. On HSBC a user opened the menu and did not notice the Live Chat button on the side. However, after she selected Contact HSBC, she was really pleased to see the big Live Chat Now button at the top of the page. She said “This is really nice … ‘cause I don’t want to look through like an hour of FAQs and find nothing.”

HSBC.com: The big Live Chat side button was completely ignored by our study participant, who instead accessed chat through the Contact HSBC page, reached through the main menu.

3.Floating Buttons for Chat Should Be Placed on the Right and Should Contrast with the Rest of the Page

Two common reasons for which people ignore floating buttons in general are: (1) they are placed in other position than the standard one (bottom right corner of the page); (2) they don’t stand out enough relative to the rest of the page.

On Dell.com’s mobile site, the chat was also available as a small floating button placed on the left side of the screen. People had difficulty noticing that button and instead navigated to the Contact us page. One user commented that the left-side positioning took her by surprise. Forever 21 also used a floating chat button, but it was so tiny and blended in with the rest of the page, that users ignored it. Its label looped from Ask a Stylist to Live Chat  — a feature that we don’t recommend.

Forever 21: The visual design of the chat button made it too hard to notice. The label Ask a Stylist (which changed to Live Chat later on) was also not clear enough for our users.

4.Do Not Hide Chat Under Vague Labels such as Ask a Question

Some companies  used chatbots as filters to human-assisted  chat. Because this functionality was technically not “live chat”, they generically labeled it  Ask a question. This label made the feature hard to locate and the chatbot unlikely to be used. People were not sure whether Ask a question meant sending an email or searching through the FAQ. “’Ask a question – our online help tool’; that sounds like not even a bot; that sounds like just an FAQ section. This sounds like you’re not gonna be talking to someone. […] I feel this is kind of misleading when they have ‘ask a question’; I’m like is that a person, is that just a bot, I don’t know what it is, it’s kind of confusing,” said a participant trying to find the chat on Lloyds’s Bank site. Instead, label the feature Chat and tell people that, at first, they will talk with a bot, but later on they will be transferred to a human if the bot is not helpful.

Lloydsbank.com: The bank’s virtual assistant was hidden under the Ask a question link.

5.Have a Link to Chat on Product Pages

Many people who are inspecting a product may require clarification about certain features and may need supplemental help through chat. Having that link available on the product page saves them from having to navigate elsewhere in order to contact an agent.

On Purple.com, the user looked around to find the chat feature and eventually typed his question under what seemed like an input box for frequently asked questions. Once he did so, he was presented with a link and the options to chat or call. The user did not expect to find chat in that way.

Purple.com: The user did not expect to find chat by typing a question in the Frequently asked questions field.

6.Minimize Wait Time, Especially on Mobile

People don’t like to wait. When they are on a large screen, they can multitask while waiting for an answer, but on a smartphone, switching between windows is difficult and the user may not receive a notification when the agent responds. One of our study participant commented: “Waiting always bothers me when I am doing it on my phone. When I am on my computer it doesn’t bother me as much because I’m going back and forth [between different windows]. So when I look, I just see the answer there, so I don’t know how long it took them really.”

In general, a fast response time reflected well on the company; in contrast, long wait times made users feel undervalued and they tended to assume that they shared the agent with many other customers. “It bothers me when it takes a long time to answer a question, although they seem they are typing.” (In a separate study, we found that even though people prefer human chat support over chatbots, a faster response was one of the things users did like about chatbots.)

7.Keep Users Updated on How Fast They Will Get a Response

Periodic messages that communicate the state of the agent are essential and serve the same function as progress indicators.

Before the chat started, estimate how long it is going to take for the user to be helped. Messages such as “You’re number 5 in the queue” are less helpful than an actual time estimate — for example, one of our study participants noted, after waiting for a few minutes while being number 2 in the wait queue: “They must be really understaffed….”  Another user was puzzled by the message “0 contacts ahead” that he received while waiting for a Purple representative, together with “Please hold for the next available well-rested specialist.” He said “I’m not sure if I should start typing or I should wait because I’m the next person in line… I’ll wait and see if they reply in about a minute and if not I will go ahead and ask my question.”

Purple.com: The chat system displayed conflicting messages, and the user was not sure whether he was supposed to wait or to start typing.

During the chat, people were generally pleased to see the message Agent is typing. It did help them wait more patiently for the agent’s message. However, if the agent’s message took too long to appear, they started becoming suspicious and felt deceived.

Best Buy used puzzling language to communicate the state of the agent: “Agent is paused” caused people to wonder whether the agent had left. “Is this the same as you’re on hold?”

Even a one minute wait can seem a long time if you’re staring at a screen, waiting for a response. Show time stamps for messages to put response times in the right perspective. Time stamps also give users a handle to refer to different conversation items in case they will need the chat log in future comunications with the company.

Dell.com showed a timestamp for each message sent either by the user or by the agent. People commented favorably on that detail.

If a request takes unusually long to respond to, update the users and let them know that the agent is still working.  “Still checking” or “I’m still working on that” are useful progress indicators that let users know that the agent has not abandoned the chat entirely.

8.Use a Separate Chat Window

In general, we don’t advocate opening up new content in a new window or tab. Chat is one of the few exceptions to that rule: seeing the chat window next to a view of a different page on the site can help user refer back to information (such a product details or order numbers) that they may have questions about and can also make it easier to explore whatever links the agents will provide.

“I could probably answer maybe even go on a website as I am speaking to them and compare different ones,” remarked one user, as she was interacting with the Dell chat.

9.Visually Differentiate the Messages Coming from Different Participants in the Chat

Several users commented positively when the messages of the agent were shown in a different color than the messages of the user. Dell took this differentiation one step further by using yet a different color for automatically generated messages (labeled as coming from the System — see the screenshot above). One user said:  “I like the layout on the screen with different colors — my reply, and their reply, it’s really easy to see.”

10.Prepare for Possible Interruptions

Users in our study appreciated when the chat agents took precautions so that the conversation could continue if it accidentally got disconnected. Some companies asked for the users’ phone numbers so they could call back. Even better was when the agent offered an email address that the user could use to resume the conversation.

In general, give users control over whether they continue the conversation or not. Also, ensure that if the user does attempt to resume an interrupted chat session, the context (and the progress) is saved and the user doesn’t have to reenter questions or start over.

11.Don’t Make Users Type Their Question Multiple Times

Some systems ask users to type some preliminary information (like their name and their question) before connecting them with a chat representative. It’s very annoying when the chat agent asks again for the same information — first, it’s a waste of users’ time, and, second, it shows that the company does not have a well-planned protocol for chat.

We have always recommended seamlessness in omnichannel UX, but as far as users are concerned, a single chat window is a single interaction (even if the backend may involve multiple agents or a combination of humans and computers), so seamlessness is that much more of a requirement for chat.

On Forever 21’s website, a user was asked to type in her question first, and, then, after she was connected to a chat agent, she had to answer the same question again.

Forever 21 asked the user what her problem was before and after she was connected to a representative.

If you ask users to explain the reason for their chat request, use that explanation to provide them with good service; don’t waste their time.

12.Avoid Automated, System-Generated Messages

While chatting with a customer-representative on Met Opera’s site, one user was told to wait while the agent was searching for an answer. After a while, she received the message Your session has expired due to inactivity. The user was surprised and disappointed, and she was ready to close the chat window. But the chat representative then replied back with an answer to her question.

The message was likely automatically generated by the system and not sent directly by the agent. Unfortunately, the user had no way of knowing that, especially since the automated message was displayed in the same way as the other agent-generated messages.  The user said: “I assume Judy [the chat agent] typed that in as the session was expiring and then went back to search for my answer maybe…”

MetOpera.com: A study participant was told that her session has ended and then received her answer from the chat agent.

13.Allow People to Upload Documents During the Chat Session

In case people need to submit photos or additional documentation about their problem, they should be able to do it regardless of the device they are using. Google Express allowed desktop users to upload an attachment to their message.

Google Express allowed users to upload an attachment on desktop.

Dell also had an attachment button, but unfortunately it did not work on a mobile device.

14.Allow Users to Save a Transcript of the Session

Many chat systems offered to email users a transcript or allowed them to save a pdf. Users commented favorably when they were offered with these options, for several reasons: (1) the transcript could serve as a reference later; (2) they felt reassured that they could quote the agent in case of a dispute or another type of issue — “I like having the transcript; especially if they’re rude.”

We recommend offering both options. Saving a pdf may not be handy on a mobile device, but on a desktop it can be preferable to receiving an email.

If users choose to have the transcript emailed and their email address was collected during the conversation, make sure you don’t force them to enter that email address again.

15.If Live Chat Is Not Always Available, Specify the Hours When It Is

MetOpera did not always have live chat available, yet it did not tell people when they could use that opportunity.

16.The Agent Should Not Start the Conversation with “How Are You”

While the chat agent should be polite, an emphasis should be put on efficiency. Polite questions such as “How are you today” or just the word “Hello” delay some people. One of our users had already started typing her question when the agent asked “Hello; How are you?” She deleted what she had already typed and entered “Fine” instead and retyped her question.

A better chat starter is: “Hello! How can I help you today?”

17.Be Upfront About Using a Bot

People can better calibrate their language and their expectations when they know that their conversation partner is a bot.

When they chat with a human, some users do try to be polite to get a better response. “I try to be friendly. The nicer I am the better they will respond.” Although not everybody feels the pressure to be polite, some people will be excessively so and waste time and bandwidth with pleasantries when they think that a real person is at the other end of the line. For example, they will say “Thank you” and “Good bye” at the end of a conversation. Or phrase their questions with “is it possible…” Many said they would feel bad to just close the chat window at the end of a session, “out of respect for the other person.”

When users know that their chat partner is a bot, they often streamline their language to make it more easily understandable. Take advantage of this natural tendency and let people know if your agent is a bot.

18.Don’t Overuse Canned Responses

Some canned responses are acceptable, but a lot of canned responses raise suspicion and make people believe that the agent is a bot. “This makes me think I am talking to a bot… The answers seem pretty general” said a user interacting with a Dell agent who had just replied “Glad that you chatted in. I’ll be happy to assist you with your concern today” after she had described her problem.

People like friendly, not overly formal language that sounds like a real person. Occasional typos are okay, but a lot of typos can raise questions about the professionalism of the company.

19.A Canned Response Should Be Instantaneous

Chat agents should have responses to common questions already prepared.  But don’t assume that users won’t know when a question they ask is a simple, common one. They do and they expect such questions to be answered quickly.

In a longer conversation, one user asked a Purple representative about the company’s return policy and got an answer after 2 minutes. He commented “I could get that answer from everywhere, so it bothers me that it took so long for him to give me that answer. Even though it was just two minutes, it felt like a long time just waiting staring at my phone… It’s a copy-paste answer, he could have copied-pasted it very quickly, but it took so long. I could have done that in 10 seconds. “

Purple: The chat agent took 2 minutes to answer a simple question about Purple’s return policy.

20.Provide Users with Specific, Detailed Answers

When people have invested the time in a chat conversation, it means they likely need detail that they were not able to find by themselves elsewhere. So it’s important to be as specific as possible and offer them answers that match their needs.

The participant who was shopping for a Purple mattress commented that the answer he received about the refund policy was not specific enough for him. “I don’t like when I’m presented with vague answers, like ‘all the information you would need would be presented in this form’. Making it seem like it’s very easy, but what if it’s not? It’s annoying, because I’m sure it’s not going to be as easy. It’s an expensive item, it’s almost $2800, I don’t think it will be that easy.” He was expecting to get details about how the mattress would be shipped back, whether there would be any costs associated with shipping, and whether he would need to justify why he did not like it.

Sometimes providing a specific answer might involve getting more data from the customer. On Dell.com, a user asked a question about monitors that would work with her laptop. The agent proceeded in searching for a monitor for her, but he did not ask her what type of laptop she had. The user wondered whether the representative would be able to do any useful work in the absence of that information.

Conclusion

Chat is a popular means for contacting customer service. To be effective, it needs to be easy to find and supply prompt, clear, and detailed responses. Companies should be upfront about using bots to help users calibrate their language and their expectations. They should also avoid empty or duplicate questions and allow people to upload supplemental materials or save their chat logs for further reference.

[buzzycohen]

I am going to start a list of the books that’s really affected me as a child and I’ll come back and edit this list as I remember more

1. Flying Solo by Ralph Fletcher

I remember reading this twice and just breaking down both times. I didn’t understand death as anything more than one person going until I read this book and I realized the effects of leaving... Rachel and her selective mutism demonstrated the consequences of words and this led to a hyper awareness of how I spoke and what I spoke about. I honestly went mute for a couple days at a time as a child because I was too afraid to talk.... re-evaluated how I spoke because of this book

2. The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene

I read The Hidden Staircase in my mother’s bed, tucked into her white comforter. Nancy Drew stumbling upon the connecting passageway and ending up in that house down the street? Lord, the imagery for that in my beautiful young mind was glorious.

3. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Loved Percy Jackson, I have reread the series many times. Loved the Heroes of Olympus too. I probably read The Lost Hero the most though. Leo Valdez is what peak comic relief should be with kids. The characters are all products of just enough family issues and emotional turmoil and typical teen stuff that they’re perfectly normal and relatable TEENAGERS. Rick Riordan writes kids and teens in such a nice refreshing way. I think of Mister Rogers when I think of Rick because here’s a guy who created a little word specifically for children/teenagers so that they can feel natural and healthy and included and LOVED. The more he writes, the more people give him flack for being too out of tune and for creating characters just to be called inclusive. But he writes for children and kids love to see themselves and be loved. The Lost Hero was Rick’s first time introducing a new set of protagonists after the Percy Jackson series and homeboy pulled it OFF! Sophomore slump, who? I still pick this book up and read it. Too much love from me.

4. A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin

When I found out that Ann M. Martin was a lesbian, it all made sense to me. Babysitter’s Club? Oh yeah. It makes sense!! But A Corner of the Universe will always be my favorite from her. I recently read an article about the gay history behind children’s books and how there are so many book series about best friends written by gay authors and I immediately thought that if the article had not focused specifically on children’s picture books, then A Corner of the Universe should have been in it. There’s a scene where the main character meets a girl at the circus and the girl performs there and Hattie can’t stop thinking about this girl... immediately thought of that when Ann’s sexuality was made known to me and then I remembered little me and my poor heart aching for that kind of friendship and realizing ‘ohhhhhhhhhh.....’. Yeah.

5. Jumping the Scratch by Sarah Weeks

Yo this one kind of messed me up because I had never read about s*xual *ssault before. I don’t think any books on this list changed me as a person but there are moments I have with all of these that I come back too and that’s what makes them special. But I remember the cherry cans in this and I remember the hypnotism and I dunno... I just think how silly our minds are to bring up these details years and years after we have experienced reading these scenes.

6. Magyk by Angie Sage

Picked this one up randomly and I loved it but I seriously doubt I ever finished it and I certainly did not read the other books. So why include it? The next couple authors had books that provided such odd imagery for me and for some reason, young me LOVED THAT. No wonder I like Dickens so much? He writes 10000 words to describe one thing and Sage wrote 10 words to describe a whole day or something. Just goes back and forth between everything so you don’t realize a character is dead until you read about it 20 pages after the fact... I want to hate this book and I cannot recollect why I even liked it but I read it- but never finished it? About 3 times within a couple months. So odd.

7. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Yo. If we’re taking about odd imagery, let’s talk about this one. Card never described Ender. I never got what a twirp Ender is. But I could always always always figure out the setting and that was fucking RAD. People would talk and my brain shut down. But when you’re describing how shoes are tied or walking on walls- I don’t even think Card did a good job at detailing the games Ender played but homeboy believed in understatement and there’s nothing that I loved more than understatement so I made up EVERYTHING. Which is glorious for a child who loves to read because it’s like giving us a fourth of a puzzle and we’re allowed to make the rest. I probably learned critical skills from Orson Scott Card. Too bad he sucks.

8. The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

I read this one before Ender’s Game and never put together that they were written by the same twirp of an author. Same reasons for liking it like Ender’s Game. Will not reread it because I know I would hate it now that I know how boys should be written.... aka not by modern sci-fi boys like Orson Scott Card.... lmao

9. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Owen is a sweetheart who I personally think was autistic coded. And the main character living in that glass house with her model sister and her detachment from popularity because of a misunderstanding... Sarah Dessen’s best novel in my opinion. Don’t wanna give too much away but I was quite fraught and trying to overcome my pretentiousness when I read this and it helped put things into perspective for me when I had been trying to denounce others by being “independant” when really, no one should ever be independant

10. Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates

Probably the book I think about most. I was read this aloud in 4th grade and I still hold this story close to my heart. I think a lot of white kids don’t take slavery seriously and don’t really assume that consequences of slavery exist to this day. I transferred schools in 7th grade and like... you can tell that even one book changes a groups mindset because there was complete respect over the topic of slavery once my class was read Amos Fortune but my new grade did not have that background and it shows.

11. Number The Stars - Lous Lowry

12. Nothing But The Truth: A Documentary Story by Avi

Completely forgot about this book until I was looking at Newberry Prize Winning authors and recognized the title... Nothing But The Truth probably subconsciously formed my opinion about the Star Spangled Banner and other nationalistic patriotism in the US. Coming back to this book after the 2016 election and the come up of “fake news”.... whew. Avi knew something before the rest of us.

13. The Tale of Despareaux by Kate DiCamillo

14. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg.

15. Hatchet by Gary Paulson

16. Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

17. Mixed Bags by Melody Carlson