#(at a young age i stand by the theory that link was sealed by the master sword after it was sent back in time with the knowledge ganondorf

[comixandco]

Tears of the Kingdom isn’t the first time we’ve heard the phrase The Imprisoning War in Zelda lore

It’s also the term used in the Downfall Timeline as a precursor to LttP when Ganon was unleashed from the Sacred Realm and the King and the Sages rushed to fight the Demon King and re-seal the Sacred Realm, with no mention of a hero

Could TotK Imprisoning War and the LttP Imprisoning War be one and the same, with specific details being lost to time by the beginning of the game?

[comikadraws]

What actually was Itachi's desease? Does anyone know?

I AM GETTING ITACHI ASKS! FINALLY!!! Though I imagine my answer might be disappointing :')

Itachi's Mysterious Illness

Length: • 3.2K Content: • Itachi's Illness as a Writing Tool • Itachi's Symptoms • Popular Diagnoses • Exploring Alternative Causes • My Thoughts and Theories

DISCLAIMER: I have no medical background and, for the most part, am relaying the findings of others, not my own. Some of the panels are out of order. Blue links are sources. The art in the header is mine.

Itachi's Illness as a Writing Tool

Itachi's illness is very much a mystery in canon. A side-note. Itachi doesn't make enough appearances in the story for us to get an elaborate picture of his health. While there are popular theories, the fact of the matter is, we just don't know for sure what he was suffering from.

Due to Itachi's illness not playing a larger role in the story, it is unlikely Kishimoto actually researched any particular disease to reference. He resorted to a fairly common trope called the "Incurable Cough of Death" which is known for taking inspiration from Tuberculosis and its bloody coughs. The author doesn't specify any illness. It is merely a plot device to push a storyline.

As a narrative device, you might even consider Itachi's illness as a metaphor. While dying young was a deliberate choice on Itachi's part, his illness further solidifies his decision, leaving him with no way back. It mirrors Itachi's lack of agency in life. And, of course, it also makes Itachi's suffering palpable and highlights it for the audience. Itachi is in agony, yet chooses to suffer for Sasuke's sake rather than taking the easy way out.

Of course, while Itachi's illness is an unspecified, plot- and/or narrative-device disease, that doesn't necessarily have to stop us from trying to find a real-world equivalent or an in-universe explanation. But to do so, we must describe his physical condition first.

Itachi's Symptoms

While hemoptysis is probably the trademark of Itachi's illness as portrayed in fandom, it can be argued he was experiencing a wider range of symptoms. None of these necessarily have to be the result of Itachi's illness but since they often come up in discussions, I will mention them anyway for the sake of completion.

Low BMI

To begin with, Itachi's body is in a fairly weak condition. For example, Itachi's BMI stands fairly low at 18.3 at the time of his death, which is considered to be slightly underweight. It is a slight drop from his 18.6 at 18 years old.

While BMI is not a professional way of measuring a person's health, it does bring things into perspective. Considering that Itachi is a physically active person, he probably had a low fat-to-muscle ratio. Combine that with his low BMI and we can fairly assume that Itachi had weight problems, assuming Kishimoto and/or his assistants put that much thought into those numbers.

Low Stamina According to Databooks

Itachi's stats in the Databooks also indicate somewhat of a physical weakness. While Itachi ties with Jiraiya in having the highest stat total in Sha no Sho (35.5 points), he has noticeably low stamina at a value of just 2.5 points. It is not a major deficit, but it is definitely odd, especially when putting things into perspective.

In the Databooks, characters with high stat totals usually have stat deficits at 3 or 3.5 points, not at 2.5. Stat deficits of 2.5 occur at slightly lower stat totals, like Might Guy who reaches a stat total of 31.5 and a hand seal deficit of 2.5.

Additionally, characters with stamina deficits are usually associated with physical ailments. Orochimaru is basically suffering from necrosis, Hiruzen is 70 (his old age likely impacting his physical prowess), and Kakashi basically goes unconscious every time he uses the Sharingan as early on as chapter 16 of Naruto (indicating low chakra reserves).

Again, we better hope those numbers were intentional or this doesn't mean anything.

Noticeable Frailty

But now, let's take a look at the manga to search for evidence. What other fans before me have already pointed out is that Itachi's interactions with Kisame are fairly curious.

In a seemingly random scene, Kisame worries about the weather, claiming both he and Itachi will catch a cold if they stay out in the rain for too long. It is a somewhat strange suggestion, considering that this is coming from a shark man who primarily uses water ninjutsu in his battle tactics. You'd think he isn't bothered by some rain or chill if he is already getting wet this often.

Not that this applies to his partner, however.

In chapter #364 we get a repeat of this scene in which Kisame expresses worry only for Itachi rather than for the both of them. Kisame is made out to be explicitly caring toward Itachi and sensitive to his health and needs. But looking back at chapter #353, he refrains from hurting Itachi's pride by stating it out in the open.

This recontextualizes the scene from a few chapters earlier as this pattern in Kisame's behavior is actually consistent with the rest of chapter #353.

Kisame mentions that Itachi was absent from his most recent battle against Roshi. For unknown reasons, this causes Itachi's expression to turn somber or melancholic (though it could be argued he is smirking ever so slightly). Perhaps Itachi was reminded of his physical decline. Perhaps he regrets missing out on this last mission with Kisame.

Either way, Kisame picks up on Itachi's mood and quickly clarifies that this solo battle was the former Kiri-nin's idea and not at all Itachi's fault. While we cannot say for sure, the possibility that Kisame insisted on going without Itachi specifically to spare the Uchiha from putting unnecessary strain on his body is definitely there.

Kisame goes on to say he is tired, yet the first person to sit down in search of a break is Itachi - The same guy who didn't even fight Roshi and, at least technically, should be in better health than Kisame.

Kisame's worry for Itachi's health supports the idea that Itachi has been struggling for a while now - long enough for Kisame to pick up on Itachi's condition. He watches out for any strain or health risks that Itachi might unwittingly subject his body to, implying certain frailty that could be explained by a weak immune system and/or a weak and easily fatigued body.

During the Battle (Hemoptysis, Vision Loss, Heart Attack)

Besides this, Zetsu comments on Itachi's condition multiple times - both during and after the brothers' battle. He mentions that Itachi's movements were sloppy and wonders why he was coughing up blood. He hypothesizes that Itachi's body may have already been pre-damaged at that point.

Guessing by Zetsu's reaction, this must have been a recent decrease in Itachi's battle performance rather than a long-established issue. Combining this with Kisame's behavior (that instead implies a longer history) Itachi's condition has likely been bad for a longer time but never impacted him this severely until now. The illness may have just worsened naturally, but Itachi could've also stopped medicating or caught an additional infection.

During the actual battle, we see Itachi struggling with several more symptoms. He suffers from vision loss as well as from hemoptysis (bloody coughing) and what appears to be a heart attack or otherwise intense chest pain.

After the end of the battle, White Zetsu also theorizes that Itachi's symptoms may have simply been caused by the Sharingan, only for Black Zetsu to voice his uncertainty. An odd reaction, considering that Zetsu is one of the few characters that should be fairly knowledgeable about the Sharingan and its drawbacks. This implies that Itachi's symptoms are atypical of your usual Sharingan overuse.

Medication

Obito later explains that Itachi's illness was terminal and demanded regular medication to prolong the patient's lifespan. Obito unfortunately does not comment on the origins of Itachi's illness or any of his symptoms, though.

While not necessarily canon, in "Naruto Jinraiden: The Day the Wolf Howled", Itachi uses a drug called "Kotaro", which uses hallucinogenic substances. It is applied via the eyes and also helps with irritation of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Popular Diagnoses

Once again, Itachi's symptoms are rather vague, befitting the Cough of Death trope. But some people have still managed to find likely candidates for real-world equivalents.

One such candidate is obviously Tuberculosis. It matches some of Itachi's symptoms, such as his coughing up blood, chest pain, weight loss, and tiredness. Another Tumblr user pointed out, however, that Tuberculosis is highly infectious. Had Itachi contracted the disease, other Akatsuki members would've fallen ill as well, not to mention Sasuke who came into contact with Itachi's blood and was supposed to inherit his eyes. This would've been beyond careless of Itachi. Any infectious, terminal diseases can therefore be safely ruled out.

The same user argued that Itachi may have had Lupus or ITP, both of which are immunological and therefore better suited for Itachi's diagnosis. It should be noted, however, that Itachi does not express many symptoms associated with Lupus, such as joint swelling, rashes, and skin lesions, and ITP is not particularly known (if at all) for hemoptysis.

The most popular theory is probably that Itachi had MPA. It is known for bloody coughs, cardiac failure, fatigue, weight loss, and in rare cases it may damage the eyes. But there are also people who disagree with the MPA theory, mostly due to his young age (which is atypical for MPA patients), but also because MPA causes diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, which the original poster deems more severe than just hemoptysis. While Itachi's symptoms match MPA somewhat, it might not be a perfect match.

But Itachi could have also died of lung cancer, Sarcoidosis, AIDS, SLD, Viral Perimyocarditis, Pneumonia, Paragonomiasis, Lymphoma, or something entirely different, due to the vagueness of his symptoms. But since we are talking about a fictional universe, it could also be a fictional disease or even a disease that attacks fictional parts of ninjas' anatomy (such as Tenketsu, Chakra Pathways, etc.).

And while I do like the idea of Itachi just being hated by life itself (vocaloid reference, haha) and developing a terminal condition on top of all his other sufferings, I could also see it being a manifestation of his guilt and trauma rather than just simply being an unrelated burden the universe put on him. Heartbreak Syndrome, basically.

Exploring Alternative Causes

Another way to explain Itachi's symptoms is by finding alternative causes. Believe it or not, but it is not 100% certain that Itachi had a disease in the traditional sense at all.

Obito Is a Liar

One of the reasons why is that Obito, unfortunately, is a liar. Especially in his conversation with Sasuke, his goal is to make Itachi as sympathetic to Sasuke as possible and demonize Konoha. Both are in an attempt to win over Sasuke's loyalty and Obito is not at all afraid of lying to Sasuke.

This is hinted at in the Databooks but also becomes evident in certain instances where Obito's exposition simply proves wrong - most notably the cause behind the Ninetails Attack. Obito's words directly clash with Itachi's and later Kushina's flashbacks.

Not to mention, Black Zetsu appears noticeably confused about Itachi's condition, leaving us to question how Obito acquired this much information on Itachi in the first place, if not through the Akatsuki's spy. Is Obito really this knowledgeable about Itachi? Would Itachi's condition really have been terminal? Did Itachi have his condition treated with medicine? Or is it all just a shot in the dark on Obito's part?

Long story short, we cannot trust Obito's word when making any claims about canon.

But now, let's find the promised alternative explanations.

Itachi's BMI Is a Lifestyle

To begin with, most of the Akatsuki members actually have low BMIs. Obviously, Nagato is severely underweight, but even characters like Sasori and Hidan score quite low. The average among the Akatsuki appears to be at 17.8 (or 18.2 if we exclude outliers like Nagato, Konan, and Kisame). This might reflect the Akatsukis' precarious living conditions or just the standard Ninja physique, rather than indicating any specific ailments among the Akatsuki members.

Of course, Kisame still manages to somehow reach a healthy BMI, but this might be the result of their respective diets rather than Itachi just magically losing weight. While Itachi dislikes steak (which has high calories and protein) he eats less nutritious foods like onigiri with seaweed, dango, and cabbage. Meanwhile, Kisame loves shrimp and crab (which are high in protein). And beyond that, Itachi could be suffering from mental illness instead, impacting his eating habits.

It should also be noted that low BMIs (as well as stress and trauma) can weaken the body's immune system and impair its ability to fight off common infections.

No Training, No Stamina

As previously mentioned, while Itachi's low stamina is highly unusual among characters of comparable caliber, it is just a small difference of 0.5 points. It might merely be the result of his fighting style which relies primarily on genjutsu or quick and painless assassinations rather than physically taxing maneuvers. This would be similar to Might Guy, who has a 2.5 deficit in hand seals due to a lack of practice.

But this explanation still begins to sound less sufficient when we look back at the manga itself. Itachi's interactions with Kisame in chapters #353 and #364 imply a certain frailty beyond just a simple lack of practice. But this is where Itachi's Sharingan becomes relevant.

Mangekyo and Susano'o Side Effects

Many fans underestimate the damage a Mangekyo Sharingan can inflict on its user. Most notably, the Mangekyo causes the user's eye to bleed and become irritated. Their eyesight deteriorates with repeated use until full blindness. (refer back to chapter #386). Those are not symptoms specific to Itachi at all and can therefore not exactly be traced back to any disease.

Additionally, the Mangekyo does not just affect the user's eyes. In the case of Susano'o specifically, it is stated to be hard on the user's body. Sasuke describes it as an unbearable pain affecting every cell in his body. And to top it off, it causes hemoptysis for Sasuke as well each time the Susano'o is in use.

It appears as though hemoptysis is not at all exclusive to Itachi but a Susano'o-specific symptom. It doesn't change that Zetsu remains puzzled about Itachi's bloody cough, so we have to assume Zetsu might just not be as much of an expert as previously assumed.

Assuming Itachi had already used the Susano'o at a point in time prior to his battle with Sasuke, it is possible that this jutsu has damaged Itachi's cells.

Since we know that the body's cells are partially responsible for chakra production, cell damage should logically impact a ninja's ability to produce chakra. Assuming Susano'o-conducted damage is at all permanent and that Itachi has ever used it prior to his battle with Sasuke, this may have caused an irreversible chakra shortage for Itachi.

Sharingan Side Effects and Chakra Depletion

In general, besides the Susano'o, the Mangekyo is known for wearing out its users. Not just Kakashi, who famously ends up in the hospital each time he uses it, but Itachi too requires long rests after using the Mangekyo. Notably, Kisame describes using the Mangekyo as "dangerous".

Even the standard Sharingan can deplete the user's chakra to the point of being immobilized. As we can see in early Naruto chapters, the Sharingan can put Kakashi out of commission for a weak (refer to chapter #16). It appears as though chakra exhaustion causes muscle weakness (inability to move) and fatigue.

While not as extreme, this would explain Itachi's fatigue in his interaction with Kisame in chapter #353. In this chapter, we can see that Itachi's Sharingan has remained active for an unknown period of time and likely robbed Itachi of a portion of his chakra. If this is something he did regularly, it might also explain Kisame's concern for Itachi.

If we think about this one further, it could be argued that the heart, due to being a muscle, can fail in the case of excessive chakra exhaustion.

My Thoughts and Theories

Itachi's vision loss and hemoptysis can clearly be attributed to his excessive Mangekyo and Susano'o use, as far as I am concerned. And right now, all of Itachi's symptoms can be logically explained without adding an unknown disease into the mix.

Although Zetsu still remains an unreliable source in this instance (due to not knowing that hemoptysis is a common symptom induced in response to using Susano'o) it should be noted that unlike with Itachi, this does not result in a lethal outcome for Sasuke who, as opposed to Itachi, uses his Susano'o constantly. When hypothesizing that Itachi's body may have been damaged from the beginning, he probably wasn't far off. This is also what Itachi's interactions with Kisame seem to imply.

While Itachi's Mangekyo use and chakra exhaustion probably put the final nail in his coffin, it stands to reason that his body was prestressed by yet another condition that shrunk down his chakra reserves and left him, in Kisame's eyes, "frail". It's comparable to how many diseases such as AIDS, Diabetes, autoimmune diseases, or other conditions don't kill you on their own but instead lay the groundwork for a truly lethal illness.

But even then, this pre-sustained damage has logical explanations as well. His low fat could be the result of his lifestyle. His low stamina and chakra may be the result of repeated Sharingan/Susano'o use or a lack of practice. His heart attack may have been the result of ordinary chakra exhaustion. His immune system may have been weakened due to his low weight (but then again, he is not significantly underweight), stress, and/or trauma, resulting in the contraction of a regular infection as Itachi stood in the rain without protection. This explains his seemingly "sudden" decrease in battle performance.

Conversely, it is not unreasonable to assume Itachi indeed had an incurable condition - unrelated to Sharingan's drawbacks. While Obito and Zetsu are not at all reliable sources, they do push the "Itachi was ill" narrative rather hard and the story never cares enough to dispel their claims.

Beyond that, Itachi's symptoms can be viewed as a causality dilemma. What was first? The chicken or the egg? The immune system or the illness? While low weight, stress, and/or trauma can result in frequent infections, so can a major infection lead to increased stress or low weight. While blaming Itachi's poor condition on his lifestyle is a valid interpretation, it is not at all confirmed.

Narratively, it makes a lot of sense to burden Itachi with a painful, incurable disease. Aside from externalizing Itachi's suffering to the outside, where the audience can see it, it manages to evoke stronger sympathy from the reader, mixing in a sense of unfairness and tragedy.

But alas, this is not sufficient evidence, and instead, we could also view Itachi's damaged condition as a metaphor for how very often, life does not leave Itachi with any options other than harming himself. Due to his growing blindness, he is forced to use his Sharingan more frequently. Due to his status as Nukenin, he cannot take care of himself as diligently. And then those minor inconveniences spiral out of control, piling ailment after ailment on him.

Unfortunately, none of this leaves us with a definitive answer. Perhaps Itachi did have a terminal illness. Perhaps he did not. The story seems intentionally ambiguous.

[esamastation]

Breath of the Wild snippet

Link is bored. It's a little startling how easy it's to see – how easy he's to read these days. Where before, hundred years ago, he'd been as unreadable as a brick wall, a look of serious determination as though permanently etched to his face, now he's an open book, covers flung wide. The serious frown still makes an appearance, of course, it's his default expression, Link's face simply rests in a way that makes him seem as though he's almost scowling, but now, should an emotion cross his mind… he does nothing to hide it. 

Like now, as his attention strays and his eyes wander and every so often he smothers a sigh or a yawn or a longing look directed at the door. It's in part painfully and in part endearingly clear how little attention he's paying to their meeting, and how much he wishes he could be elsewhere.

Zelda smothers a smile and then realises she's allowed herself to be distracted, and quickly turns her attention back to the meeting taking place in Impa's house.

"... a little difficult to test," Purah is saying. She's sitting cross legged in the middle of the floor, her seat cushion abandoned and papers flung about her – most of them about her anti-aging rune. "I can't even promise the test subject will survive the process, never mind that it will work even fifty percent of the time... so finding people to volunteer has been an issue."

"What, no old folks interested in regaining their misspent youth?" Robbie asks with a slight snort, adjusting his goggles. "I'd happily test it, if my work wasn't too important to risk!"

Purah gives him a look. "Well, duh. Most folk are the same," she says and shakes her head. "And besides, the population and age statistics don't exactly trend towards the elderly these days. The average life expectancy of both Hylians and Sheikah both trend about forty years younger than it used to be pre-Calamity. And the only way for people to reliably grow old these days –"

"Is to have a family or other support network, helping them," Impa muses, rubbing at her chin. "Which means they have things too dear to lose, for an uncertain chance."

"Just so," Purah says and folds her little arms, adorable in her seriousness. "I did post queries around Hateno village, of course, but I only had a couple of takers, and they all turned tail when I explained the risks. And we can't improve the chances without further testing. And we can't do further testing without candidates. And we're not likely to get more candidates with the chances being what they are - it's a vicious circle." 

By the door, Link looks ready to nod off. 

Zelda hums, looking at the papers Purah had brought, conflicted. It's incredible work, just as a concept, and Purah hadn't just left it at theory – and the results certainly speak for themselves! Purah is now, what, hundred and twenty, hundred and thirty years old? And she looks as though she is a girl of six, with all that time ahead of her and not behind. If the technology could be made reliable, it would no doubt change the future in ways Zelda can scarcely imagine… for the better, she hopes, for all the people of Hyrule.

But right now, she has more selfish reasons to make enquiries into the rune.

Zelda looks at Impa, sitting on top of a pile of pillows, her weathered, aged face thoughtful. Their eyes meet and Zelda steels her resolve. "Might there be any potential candidates in Kakariko village, Impa?" she asks.

"Hmm. I doubt it. Young Zain, maybe?" Impa muses. "Well, he's not so young. He's in his seventies, he has bad knees and no surviving relatives to support or be supported by. Bit of a sour grape, that one, though. Sceptic. Hard to convince."

"I'm sure if the Lost Princess and the Hero who stopped Ganon ask for it, anyone would be happy to give it a go!" Robbie says, slapping his folded knees. "Especially if they learn what it's all for!"

Zelda smiles, wincing, and looks down. Using her standing for such a thing… sure she'd done things of that nature before, pleading people to join their cause, ages ago… but never with the risks so high, and potential results so uncertain. She'd never liked asking people to risk their lives, for her or otherwise. Even with a cause so important...

"It would be a somewhat awkward thing to ask, though," she muses and looks down. "It is an awkward thing to ask. I'm… I'm sorry to have to ask it of you."

After all this time, all these years, all the service they'd already put in, to ask for so much more of them… but she had to. No one woman could rebuild a kingdom by herself. She needed help, she needed allies – she needed Impa and Robbie and Purah. With such a foundation, Hyrule might yet rise, better than ever, but for that to ever happen… Impa and Robbie needed to go through what Purah already had, and extend their already prodigiously long lives even further. They all deserved their quiet retirement, after all the effort they'd put in, but for Hyrule, Zelda would make this cruel request.

"Ha!" Robbie says, striking a pose. "Like I wouldn't do this without being asked! As soon as Purah can improve the odds – no, as soon as we can improve the odds –"

"What's that, you old coot, what do you mean by we?" Purah depends, bouncing to her feet. "If you think I will let you ever into my lab, mister, you're sorely mistaken –!"

"If we work together, combine the efforts of Akkala and Hateno tech labs, we're sure to succeed! With Cherry's incredible computing power and your Stone –"

"Your creepy ancient furnace is getting nowhere near my Guidance Stone!"

Link startles awake at the noise they're making and Zelda smothers a giggle while Impa sighs.

"I will ask Paya to check in on Zain, maybe he will be interested," Impa says and shakes her head. "But it's still a small test study, with only two subjects. I'm sorry, Zelda – as much as I wish to do this, I am with Robbie on this. The chances are too low and I have too much to lose, right now. Paya is nowhere near ready to take over for me here. There needs to be more candidate's, first, and I don't know where we can get them. But," she hums and looks away. "There might be someone who does."

Link yawns and then freezes, finding all of them staring at him. Then, clearly baffled, he points at himself quizzically, and Zelda offers him a smile.

Impa chuckles. "You've been all over Hyrule now, Link – you've traveled farther than probably anyone has in a hundred years. Better than anyone, you know the state of her people. Do you think there is anyone out there who might be interested in Purah's study – in regaining their youth, even at a risk?"

Link scratches the back of his neck thoughtfully and then takes out the Sheikah Slate, opening the map with an easy, well practiced wipe of his fingers over the screen. Zelda leans in, once more amazed – and a little jealous – of how far he'd gotten with it, how full of markers the map is. Hundred years ago, she'd estimated that there might be as many as a dozen sites of ancient Sheikah technology all over Hyrule. Link had discovered over a hundred. They now glow on his map, like glittering blue gems, the Towers and Shrines he'd seen and mastered.

Link zooms in on the map and then puts down three other markers. One in Zora's domain, one in Gerudo Town and last in Lurelin Village. Turning the slate around, he shows the map to everyone.

"Of course," Zelda breathes in realisation. "The Guardians never reached so far, so their populations were never so scattered or scarred. In Zora's domain, in Gerudo Town and in Lurelin, people can grow old peacefully, without fear of attack."

Link makes a face and a wobbling gesture with his hand and then shrugs. Zelda smiles, sadly. "Aside from monsters and other disasters and misfortunes, of course," she agrees. "But without fear of attacks by Guardians, they were allowed to prosper."

"Not the Rito, though?" Robbie asks, his goggles whirting and shifting like the eyes of a gecko as he looks between the map, Link and Zelda. "Or the Gorons?"

Link shrugs, rubbing at his neck.

"Gorons age like rocks, Daruk always said," Zelda muses. "And I suppose with Rito it can be difficult to tell their ages. If we send out invitations to the study, we should include them as well – assuming that the treatment by the rune isn't Sheikah exclusive…?"

Purah rocks back and forth on her feet thoughtfully, almost as though she's about to dance. "I… don't know? I calibrated the first version based on my own physiology, so it might be best to stick to Sheikah and Hylians for a start – but I can't see why it couldn't be adjusted. Gerudo are closer in structure to us than Rito and Gorons, or Zora for that matter. Might be best we start there, when we begin making modifications to include everyone."

"So, begin with Lurelin," Robbie says and nods. "How do we do that?"

"We'll make some posters and Link can zip in and out of Lurelin Village to post them," Purah says and strikes a pose. "It's just a snap for the Sheikah Slate."

Impa hums in agreement. "Best we make advertisements for Kakariko and Hateno as well, and perhaps some of the stables," she muses. "You never know who might take us up on it, and getting this technology to work at hundred percent will be a benefit to everyone."

"You're right," Zelda agrees, nodding. "Purah and Robbie, I suppose you two know best what should go on the poster. Can you make it?"

"It'll work much better, with your name under it," Robbie points out.

"We'll write a draft and you can copy it and put your royal touch and seal to it," Purah says and does an excited little dance. "This is so exciting! We'll get so many applicants and my little Guidance Stone will get to do it's thing!"

Zelda offers her a smile, all the while wondering, not for the first time… how much of a royal she even is, at this point. With the castle in ruins and the Kingdom in shambles, with no one to rule it for a hundred years… all that Zelda is now... is a story. The Princess that went to fight Calamity Ganon as the Kingdom fell asunder all around her. Not many even believe it. That might change with this meeting and the following cooperation, especially when they'd begin reaching out further, but right now… 

Princess of nothing indeed.

"So much was lost," Zelda murmurs, carefully resting her hands in her lap to keep herself from wringing them. She shouldn't concentrate on the losses. Not when there's so much to do. "It will be good to build something for a change. To improve things."

"Indeed," Impa says, nodding her head, her heavy hat tilting. "But if Calamity Ganon taught us anything, it is that we should take all due caution."

"Yes. And speaking of which," Zelda says and lifts her eyes to Robbie. "Your research in Akkala – I would very much like to hear more about it. Link showed me the armour and weaponry you made, they're very impressive – how did you manage it?"

Robbie all but launches himself into the story of Akkala Ancient Tech Lab, the research he'd done there, the progress he'd made, enthusiastically recounting the creation of his Ancient Furnace, Cherry. Zelda leans in, allowing herself to be drawn in, and by the door Link settles down with a sigh and begins nodding off again.

-

Hmm hmm. Took me 3 years, but I finally finished botw.

I might continue this one and it might end up a Stargate crossover. Who knows.

[abarbaricyalp]

@sambuckylibrary

SamBucky Halloween Prompt 5: Mausoleum

Sam meets Bucky in a mausoleum in Brooklyn  (This fic is set in Brooklyn because I could not make up a reason for Bucky to be in Louisiana despite the fact that I really very badly wanted it set in Louisiana. Bucky is also slightly younger because of fic reasons.)

Rated G: Discussions of death and loss (It’s set in a mausoleum, use discretion) (AO3 link in the notes)

Title from “Little Ghost” by The White Stripes, highly encourage you to listen to the song

One I’m Most Scared Of

Sam hated funerals. He hated that his father wanted him around for them. No other seventeen year old was surrounded by so much death and mourning.

“Sam, you have a gift,” his father said. “You put others at ease just by your presence.”

Sam thought everyone else should invest in a therapist and not a high schooler.

Petulantly, he kicked his heels back against a stone bench as he stared at the walls of crypts and cremains spots. Behind him, the funeral party milled and offered condolences to the bereaved, which actually seemed like everyone in the party. Sometimes, a funeral party seemed less bereaved than relieved at these things. Sam remembered the first time he heard a man’s daughter immediately plan lunch with a group of friends without a waver to her voice or a tear on her cheek. He vowed he’d never be the kind of person that had a funeral like that.

If he even had a funeral. Putting himself in the ground in whatever clothes he died in and then becoming a tree without telling anyone was becoming a nicer and nicer option.

So, he listened to the sniffling without turning around and thought about what kind of tree he’d become. He’d already done his duties of rubbing a wife’s arm, hugging kids, tickling grandkids, listening to the same three stories a dozen times. His father couldn’t expect anything else from him. So he wasn’t thrilled when someone his age sat down beside him.

The guy was handsome in a traditional, classical sort of way. Not as boring as the rich white guys who went to Sam’s school. His hair was side parted and only long enough to make an impressive arch on his head instead of laying in his face. He had a square jaw that was a little comical and his nose was a little fucked up in a kind of endearing way. The way Sam’s best friend looked after getting beaned in the face by a wayward baseball. Like most people who came through the mausoleum, he was sad.

There was no other word for it. Sam had tried to be poetic about his time in the crypts, but there was only so much the clinical-ness of bereaved and the dramatic-ness of tortured or sobbing or anguished could do. And they were rarely entirely true. Sad was just the word for people staring at remains of someone they once loved. Sometimes the simple explanation was the most appropriate. The rest of death and grief was already so complicated. It was easier to just feel sad.

The guy was too old to be a grandkid but too young to be a kid, unless the deceased and his wife had gotten freaky in their elder age. Sam hadn’t noticed him in his previous passes of the party or from the service, where he always sat in the back and made it a game to memorize as many shades of black or ridiculous hair styles as possible.

In fact, the boy wasn’t even wearing black. He was wearing a dark brown jacket, adorned with gold accents and pins. In fact… Sam was pretty certain it was an old military dress uniform.

“Uh...are you just visiting?” Sam ventured when the guy didn’t even bother to glance over.

The guy’s mouth quirked to one side faintly. “Yeah, you could say that. That one,” he said, gesturing to an entombment with a gravemarker that read James Buchanan Barnes March 10, 1922 - February 5, 1942. Son, Brother, Friend, Hero.

“Oh,” Sam breathed and understood the weird military uniform. “Are you related to him? You do kinda look like him.”

The guy turned finally to look at Sam and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, you could say that. I’m Bucky.”

“Oh, jeez, you were named after him too.”

The guy--Bucky 2, apparently--cocked his head in a half nod. “I’m actually waiting on someone. Do you think they’ll be here much longer?” he asked, jerking his chin over to the party.

“Well, these things don’t really have a limit to how long people can be here,” Sam pointed out. “But most people get the point when they start sealing the tomb and all. Uh, this thing you’re waiting for, is it about him? Like, some kind of memorial service?”

It was neither February nor March, so Sam couldn’t imagine why there would be a memorial service for Barnes now. It had been a while since Sam’s father had done a service in Brooklyn and he’d kind of forgotten the cult status Barnes and,  to a much greater extent, Rogers had in this town.

“Nah, I’m just waiting on a friend,” Bucky said.

“Well…” Sam settled back against the stone bench. “I’ll stand in for a while.”

“You wanna be my friend? Should I be worried. I think horror movies start off like this.”

“Name one horror movie that starts off in a mausoleum.” 

“Murder by the Clock. Mummy’s Tomb. All the vampire movies.”

“Dracula doesn’t live in a mausoleum,” Sam argued lightly. “And I’ve never even heard of those other movies.”

“That’s ‘cause you don’t watch classics.”

“Uh-huh. Or you were just scraping the bottom of the barrel.”

Bucky rolled his eyes and knocked his shoulder against Sam’s. “Did you know…” He gestured back to the waning funeral party.

Sam shook his head. “No. My dad’s the pastor. He did the service. He likes me to be here for moral support.”

“Hell, I don’t think my parents trusted my morals as far as they could throw me,” Bucky snorted.

Sam noted the past tense but knew better than to push for information, especially in a mausoleum during a funeral of all places. “Are you a student around here?” he asked instead.

“Can’t you tell?” Bucky answered as he popped the lapels of his jacket. “I’m a soldier.”

“Right. A soldier who’s home, spending his time in mausoleums in front of his great-great uncle or something.”

“I could be a great-great grandkid. I heard he got around.”

“I heard that was all manufactured propaganda to sell a story.”

“I read it in a book.”

“And I read about time travel and aliens in a book.”

Bucky shrugged. “There are weirder things out there.”

“Right, in a world of super soldiers and Nazis with no faces,” Sam agreed drily.

“You’ll see,” Bucky assured. “Aliens and time travel are both gonna be all anyone talks about soon.”

“Y’know, I didn’t think a guy dressing up as his great-great grandpa-uncle to meet someone at his burial site would be so into sci-fi too.”

“Multitudes and all that. You know, there were half a dozen sci-fi books in his bag when his belongings were recovered.”

“I’ve heard that,” Sam said. Only because it’d been a point in the Oscar-Bait movie a few years ago. “He’d read to Rogers when he was sick.”

Bucky looked a little wistful and then nodded.”I’ve heard that too.”

“Do you ever feel pressure to be like him? Or be somethin’ you’re not, just ‘cause someone looked at your little baby face and named you after a legend?”

That wry, sad grin came back and Bucky shook his head. “Nah. Not really. Do you, though? I mean, obviously not him. But someone.”

Sam traced out the letters of the name of someone who died in 1985. A L E X A N D E R. He nodded. “Feels like everyone needs me to be someone and I let myself play that part until people stopped noticing it was a part.”

“What’s the part?” Bucky asked as he leaned back on his hands.

“I dunno. Someone who-- Well, I mean… Maybe it’s not a full part. Maybe I’m just upset that people only want me to have one kind of personality trait. I mean, everyone knows I’m kind and I’m good with words and I care about people. And I really do want to be that guy. But when I want to be that guy, y’know? Not all the time. Sometimes I want to cry and scream and rage too. Sometimes I want to be quiet for a little while and not help someone else. Just for a few hours.”

Bucky nodded and stared at the rows of internments  before them. “Y’know. I’m sure people would understand that if you told them. If you said, ‘I can’t do this right now. Please let me be quiet.’”

“I know that,” Sam said softly. He tangled his fingers together in his lap. “Maybe I’m mostly angry at myself for not being able to say something like that. I’m the guy who helps. If I don’t do that, if I beg a day off, then who am I? What am I bringing to the table?”

Bucky scooted closer and put a hand on Sam’s knees. It sent a jolt through Sam’s body and he worked very hard on not jerking his gaze up to Bucky’s face. “Sam, you just said you have other personality traits, other feelings, other hobbies that aren’t hanging out in a mausoleum. That’s what you bring to the table on the days you can’t be there for everyone else.”

Sam nodded and reached up to rub two fingers under his eye. He wasn’t at full tears yet, but he also didn’t want to get any closer. “Wait, did I tell you my name?” he asked suddenly.

Bucky lifted an eyebrow again. “You must’ve. Or someone else said it earlier. The point is, you’re still you. And you bring smarts and humor and a good head around, even when you aren’t offering free therapy or a crying shoulder. And, Sam, listen, even when you don’t want to be any of that, you’re still kind. I’ve only been sitting here for a few minutes and you’ve been kind the whole time, even when you weren’t trying. It’s not a part you’re playing. Just be who you are and ask for your time when you need it. If people reflect even a quarter of the love you put out there back at you, no one will ever begrudge you some quiet.”

Sam swallowed thickly and leaned against Bucky’s shoulder heavily. Bucky moved his hand from Sam’s knee to wrap his arm around his ribs instead. “You really think I’m funny and smart?” Sam asked eventually.

“You started spouting off propaganda theories and joking about where vampires technically live. Yeah, you’re something else, man,” Bucky laughed. “And I think you’re beautiful, which people always appreciate in people they hang around with.”

Sam rolled his eyes and ignored the last comment, thankful that his skin was dark enough to hide his blush and Bucky couldn’t see the swooping of his stomach. “Well, if you think that’s impressive, I’ve got a whole list of things I think are propaganda.”

“I’d love to hear all about it some other time.”

“Is your friend here?” Sam asked, sitting back a little and glancing around.

Bucky’s eyes cast around the mausoleum briefly too. “No. I just don’t feel like listening to any propaganda tonight,” he joked.

Sam jostled his elbow into Bucky’s rib and leaned back against his side. “I can’t remember the last time I actually talked to someone in one of these things. Everything’s always so surface level here. ‘Sorry for your loss’ ‘He was a good man’ ‘Of course we’ll come by the benefit.’ None of it means anything.”

“Well, I wasn’t part of the funeral, so maybe that was a plus. I’m just some guy. Hanging out in a mausoleum.”

“Ah, you’re the vampire,” Sam said with a grin. “Maybe I should get a stake in that casket.”

“There’s no body in it,” Bucky reminded him. “They never found Rogers’ or Barnes’ body.”

“Right, right. The train and plane.”

“It’s just for show,” Bucky said. He reached out to trace his fingers along Barnes’ last name and then held his palm against the stone for a second longer.

Sam put his hand on Bucky’s knee and said quickly, like ripping a bandaid off, “Do you want to get lunch or something? With me? Now, or later. I’m not picky. And then maybe again?”

Bucky turned blue eyes back to Sam and he really did look just like all those old pictures. That same sad smile came to his mouth. “Yeah, I really, really do. Maybe later,” he said and leaned over to kiss Sam’s cheek softly.

Sam’s eyes fluttered shut and his heart kicked up so rapidly in his chest it punched the air out of his ribs.

When he managed to open his eyes again, Bucky was gone.

[onewingedxngel]

One-Winged Angel Lyrical Analysis: Advent Children edition!

Part 1 (for the OG rendition) can be found here!

WOOP WOOP! Who’s ready for ROOOOOOUND TWOOOOOOO of my lyrical analysis? Me. That’s who. You’d better be too, or else, prepare for my army to stand awaiting you right outside your window...

Noli manere,  Manere in memoria (Do not remain, remain in memory)

Sephiroth is determined to stay alive; of course, this links with the final words he utters in the film: “I will never be a memory.”

To die would mean that your legacy will only live on in the memory of others. Memories are manipulated, fragile and easily lost or twisted (as seen in Cloud). And, once those who carry your memory are gone, what else remains of one’s legacy?

Sephiroth doesn’t just want to stay alive. To live the life of a normal being would mean, eventually, becoming just a memory. He wants much more than that; he wants to ascend. To be more than the weapon he was born to be. To be a God. Something eternal.

Saevam iram, iram et dolorem (Raging anger, anger and sorrow)

Notably, the official translation says ‘sorrow’, but apparently, the literal translation is ‘pain’.

This is somewhat similar to the ‘burning inside with violent anger’ line in the original, but has an extra aspect to it which explicitely mentions his vulnerable side which I so love to point at.

This is outright acknowledging that not only is Sephiroth furious about his existence, but that it is also utterly agonizing for him. He’s not some one-dimensional villain who just wants to destroy for the sake of destroying, no. The anger is mentioned first and repeated twice, but the later reference to sorrow convinces me that Sephiroth puts up this front of blind fury, where that is all someone may see from the outside- but, in reality, that fury is borne from the great sorrow/pain he holds inside his heart, formed from the horrifying truth behind his existence. And he hides this vulnerable sorrow behind this more aggressive, intimidating rage.

Filled with anger and agony. Although he tries to hide the latter behind his rage, it is still there, ever present and lingering.

Ferum terribile, terribile fatum (Brutal terrible, terrible fate)

This is extremely similar to the previous lyrics, ‘fate- monstrous and empty’, which I discussed in part 1.

But this is another acknowledgement of how he wouldn’t exist had it not been for the JENOVA experiment, which I appreciate. Again; cursed by fate into an existence of pain and anger. Sephiroth’s rampage against the planet was sealed from the moment the JENOVA Project got approved. After all, JENOVA was never a Cetra, but being infused with her cells meant he would be born with incredible power, then exploited at the hands of the Shinra Corp.

Said it before, I’ll say it again: Sephiroth was nothing more than an experiment, a weapon. His life is full of bloodshed. Humans forced him to become a killer from a young age, and a killer he remains...

Veni, mi fili. Veni, mi fili Hic veni, da mihi mortem iterum (Come, my son. Come my son Come here, give me death once more)

I think ‘my son’ refers to Cloud. Maybe this could be slightly metaphorical, with how Cloud is referred to as a failed clone of Sephiroth (and could be a sort of ‘son’ in that aspect). Especially with the ‘give me death once more’, as each time Sephiroth has died, it has been at the hands of Cloud. It’s like however much he resists, however much he tries to win... part of Sephiroth understands that death is inevitable. Or maybe, to him, Cloud may represent death. And, when facing him, he’s come to anticipate it. Yeah. That works.

But maybe it could be referring to Kadaj. Kadaj is literally referred to as a ‘larval’ stage for Sephiroth, so it could make sense for him to be a ‘son’, one way or another. Maybe he’s calling to Kadaj so the remnant embraces his transformation into Sephiroth, and ‘give me death once more’ could refer to the inevitability of death that comes with being reborn...? OR ‘give me death once more’ could refer to Sephiroth’s wish to end the lives of others/the planet?

'My son’ could also be interpreted as a reference to JENOVA’s POV as she addresses Sephiroth and craves the death of others, but... she’s long been reduced into his puppet by this point, so I think it’s more likely that these lines are from Sephiroth’s POV.

Okay, my final thoughts: this refers to Cloud, who is a metaphorical son through being a failed clone, and represents death to Sephiroth, as the two times Sephiroth died before was directly because of Cloud. Though the Kadaj interpretation seems to work quite nicely as well. I think it can go either way.

Qui mortem invitavit Poena funesta natus Noli nomen vocare Ille iterum veniet (He invited death Painful tainted birth Do not call He will come again)

WELL. We have ANOTHER depressing few lines.

He invited death could mean many things. 

If we take ‘he’ to refer to Sephiroth, it could refer to him possibly embracing his demise, as it’s what allowed him to ascend both times he’d been defeated previously (after Nibelheim he overcame JENOVA, uncovered the knowledge he needed and formulated his plan, after the original game he managed to infect the lifestream and establish a connection with Cloud). Death does not hinder Sephiroth anymore, in fact, it seems to allow him to grow even stronger. Or it could also refer to Sephiroth embracing death as a force, since he brings it upon so many.

‘Painful tainted birth’ is also very in-your-face in its reference to Sephiroth’s pain. All of his anger and agony can be traced back to the moment of his existence. Sephiroth cannot exist without being ‘tainted’, because being a JENOVA experiment is literally who he is: I’ve said this before, but a Sephiroth who isn’t an experiment, who was born a human simply wouldn’t be... Sephiroth. So his ‘painful tainted birth’ is, unfortunately, necessary for his existence: and this is something that torments him. He can never escape the fact that he is... nothing.

‘Do not call’ (his name, I presume). I’m unsure. My brain jumped to the very literal interpretation of ‘don’t say Sephiroth’s name’, but that doesn’t exactly work. He’s not treated like Voldermort to the point where no one’s willing to say his name. SO I say this is metaphorical, in the fact that Sephiroth remains in existence because of Cloud’s memories. Cloud remembering him, and ‘calling back’ to him is part of why Sephiroth won’t dissipate into the lifestream.

‘He will come again’. Obvious. Sephiroth refuses to die. He will always find a way to return, as we see in both the game and the film. There’s the theory that AC Sephiroth is the same as Remake Seph, so if this ends up being the case, this line would be relevant in that aspect too.

- - -

So, that’s it for my analysis. T’was fun. Hope y’all enjoyed.

[ships-n-giggles]

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity; How Nintendo Subverted Expectations and Emphasizes Unity over the Lone Hero Trope

Having played Age of Calamity to death, I was one of the many people who expected the same outcome of a prequel to the much beloved Breath of the Wild; an exciting, battle based game that ultimately confirms the outcome that we see in flashbacks of Link’s service to the princess before his 100 year slumber, a tragedy waiting to happen.

But, spoilers down below, the rug gets pulled from under your feet in the most positive and heartwarming way.

In order to emphasize the message of Age of Calamity, let’s return to Breath of the Wild for a minute. The game shows very clearly that this follows the Hero’s Journey, which we’ve played many times before in Zelda games. This Lone Hero Trope, as I call it, is the dedication of a single person for a greater cause, who shoulders heavy burdens on their own in order to carry out a noble mission. Both Link AND Zelda represent this trope! Not only do we learn of Zelda’s quiet, lone suffering as she struggles and fails to achieve her inner sealing power, but we see it visually when we play as Link, following his quest to defeat Ganon.

Just look at the Memory Images Link follows. When each one opens up, Link and Zelda often stand apart as time begins. Even their fellow Champions stand apart during the first memory where Link is being knighted, expressing doubts and concerns, while Zelda shrinks with reluctance.

But then when we see the opening scene of the first playthrough mission of Age of Calamity, our first shot of Link not only has him teaming up with an entire platoon, but they’re all united. Standing together, roused by a common cause to fight evil, and positioned close together. In many of the cutscenes thereafter, there’s an increasing closeness to all the characters, and a budding sense of familiarity.

What changed? Baby Guardian.

The Baby Guardian is only given a short period of time to be seen by the audience in the opening prequel, awakened by Zelda’s sealing power, and urged to flee back to the past to find her. We see the shift from Lone Hero to Unity right away; Baby Guardian knows they can’t carry out the rescue of Hyrule on their own and instinctively goes to find someone he KNOWS can. In doing so, he finds Link and Impa, who are pulled to Zelda’s side while chasing him. From then on out, this change draws more and more people together.

Now I have my own theory, which you can agree or disagree with. What we see of Baby Guardian in Zelda’s flashbacks of him hark to a childhood when her mother the Queen was still alive. And, to a smaller degree, we can connect this memory to another one not seen, but shown when Zelda gives her father a tool she and her mother found while investigating Sheikah technology.

Though her mother is dead, she is still sending means to protect her family, all of which are only achieved when the characters communicate and listen to each other. King Rhoam would most certainly have perished to the Guardian assault on Hyrule Castle if he had not accepted the tool Zelda gave him, and Zelda would not have developed her power to fight with the Sheikah tools had Baby Guardian not arrived either.

The very fact that there are literal swarms of monsters, more intense challenges, only drives home how hard it is to take someone down when they’re not alone. Any of the playable characters can take down literally hundreds if not THOUSANDS of monsters at a time because in most cases, they’re not doing it on their own. Just look at the characters we can recruit; while Hetsu, the Great Fairies, and Monk Maz Koshia are all aids to Link’s journey in Breath of the Wild, we never receive their aid as staunchly as we do in Age of Calamity. Even Kohga ends up joining the fight, when it becomes clear that Astor is a threat to their existence. And the more that join, the greater the offense.

Why change the future? What turns this prequel into a spinoff with a happy ending? It’s a shift in mindsets; from Rhoam’s to Baby Guardians.

Whether you can appreciate the King of Hyrule as a complex character or hate him for being a terrible father, the fact of the matter is that he is not only a leader, but a manifestation of Hyrule as a kingdom All kings more or less fill this role as a model for what a kingdom could be. Rhoam undoubtedly was raised to follow the Hero’s Journey to the letter, to expect a princess with sealing powers, a Hylian with a sword to seal the darkness and a monster to overcome. But when things don’t happen the way the stories tell him, like when Zelda can’t access her sealing power, he only buckles down on the importance of sole strength.

This ends up being a fatal flaw in Breath of the Wild, as he ends up pushing his daughter away. In his diary, readable in Hyrule Castle if you access his private office, we see his regrets, and decision to accept her no matter what....all far too late by the time he writes them.

But in Age of Calamity, when faced with the huge group Zelda has gathered with Baby Guardian’s help, as well as having been rescued by the very technology he tried to urge Zelda away from, he can’t deny the facts any longer. After Rhoam is recruited as a playable character, we see much less of him as a leader. He’s accepted his daughter’s growth, aided by the help of her friends, and seen the truth for what it is.

That a people united is a people saved.

Now don’t misunderstand me. I love Breath of the Wild. The music, the challenging shrines and boss battles, all of it. However Age of Calamity hit me emotionally and more or less exposed some of the weaknesses of most Zelda games. While there have been mild exceptions, we’re so used to carrying the burden of saving the whole world on our own, we forget just what a crushing responsibility it must be for these young people. We can see it in Zelda’s heartbreaking scene in the Spring of Courage, cursing her fate, pushed to tears, and standing apart. It sends a particularly poignant message to me now, often feeling like the only way something can get done is if I do it on my own.

But Breath of the Wild is evidence to why this doesn’t work. While we can see a true victory over Ganon, a kingdom saved, and a princess rescued, we also see the toll it took before it could be achieved. The Champions, King, and countless other civilians and soldiers are killed. Zelda and Link are left alone again to pick up the pieces of a fractured, weakened kingdom. The Hero’s Journey is set to continue, a long, solitary journey of hardship.

Age of Calamity on the other hand, showed how beneficial and wonderful it is to conquer a daunting world with your friends. Not only does it spirit you to the end of your journey faster, but it reinforces the message that “burdens shared are burdens halved”. And we get to save our friends, by calling upon the ones we made in Breath of the Wild through Riju, Teba, Sidon, and Yunobo. Most of the missions playable in the game, at least for replay, are able to be done by ANYONE. If you play the final battle with Link, you can replay it with Baby Guardian.

Anyone can be a hero if you fight together.

[ginger-nightmist]

Day 8: Lush

More mature than explicit, but definitely on the NSFW side. I’m not sure letting out my ShB and catboy-adjacent feelings was a wise idea, but here’s a riff on some more of the themes in the last few days.

Once, a very long time ago, he had been an impulsive young man. To survive, for hope to survive, he has stopped being all of those things. Normally, he supposes, being young might have disappeared first, but when G'raha Tia awoke it was into a world where impulse tended to end in a short, bloody conclusion. Impulsive he had been, yes, but also clever. So with the help of those who had woken him, he learned to wait. He learned to plan. He learned patience and patience and more patience, to wait for results he may never see.

And in the learning, age did away with youth, even before he came to the First and merged with his charge as he has. That took care of the final component as well; what right does he still have, to claim to be a man? The crystal creeps to consume him, a century in, and he could live for more, but someday, someday, he will be naught be stone and metal.

And yet.

Perhaps some parts of him are still flesh and blood and feeling, intense and burning as brilliant bloody as the sun merging to the horizon, the final end in sight. A wave of his hand, and the viewer awakens with a dawning glow, casting cool highlights on everything. In years past, he used this to watch Lyna when he worried.

He has no hope of claiming that this worrying is of the same familial variety. Warriors two, but he watched only one to ensure rest and safety, when he could. If it were asked of him, the Exarch might claim, smooth and calm and clear as the crystal that made one of his hands, that he merely bore concerns, perhaps if pressed hard a trace of guilt, for the one who was chosen to bear the release of the Lightwardens. G'raha Tia, sealed away in his mind like his cowl pressed his ears to nothingness, like his robes obfuscated the glimpse of a tail, would whisper inside, that he watched the one he knew, the woman of lilac and irises, who had once laughed at his jokes, despite her resistance, and started to smile.

The lamps still glow in her room, needed once again now, and she sits at the table, writing into her codex. Here, he can see what she hid among others. The faint lines of strain to her brows. The pained hunch of shoulders. And most concerningly, what he had spotted earlier beneath the brilliant but honest sun: a patch of hair nearly to her nape, bleached from regal iris to first breath of spring lilac.

The light was starting to warp her. 

A flicker in the periphery of his portal, and the door swings open. He can only see, not hear, but the drahn — no, au ra — woman who steps within, dark horns and scales and all pink and red between. The second warrior.

Her hues ever remind him of flesh and blood; it makes him uncomfortable, especially with her antagonism towards him. On their arrival, as expected, Kohanya had been tart and biting, but the gentle side beneath it that he remembered well had won over and she either had forgiven him or done a good job of faking it. G'raha turns over in his mind, looks at him with the mismatched eyes of memory, and he thinks, no, she merely is weary with resentment. I remember what true happiness looked like on her and you have never, never seen it here.

Dragging his focus from self-flagellation to femininity, both parts of him flush and he wonders what he's missed. Atara stands over Kohanya, both hands cupped around her face, kissing her deeply while darkness bubbles out of the ground around them, forming a translucent dome. Embarrassed, his eyes skate away, then come back. He is merely making sure the exposure to… to a dark knight's powers when she holds the light, when part of why she had to do so is because she is not linked to the dark aether, is not going to make her worse.

The ability to pretend the rapid rise and fall of her chest is from distress disappears as the other woman starts to peel open the layers of Kohanya's robes, baring skin like the moon where it is not flushing to match the pink of her partner. Lust lances through him, then guilt, but oh, not strong enough to defeat the searing spread of desire. He lowers his gaze a little, but not enough to lose sight of the vision of her leaning back against the table, folds of her dark garb falling open around her like a pearl dropped amidst the leaves of the verdant lushness of the forests of Rak'tika she had just left.

He presses the still mortal hand to his face, uses it to cover his mouth, jn theory to muffle any sound he might make in response, in truth because if it is at his lips he is not placing it anywhere else. Atara's lips are on Kohanya's neck, a hand slipping between parted thighs. He can't hear the gasp that must accompany the way the miqo'te woma.n's head falls back, lips parting. He would rather have seen it up close, at his own hands, but that does not remove the allure, the fascination of seeing it.

Nothing in him wants to look away now, through long moments, the lift and shudder of pale hips beneath a demanding hand, the way the two warriors tangle together beneath their shell of misty shadows, a tumble of royal iris petals, creamy jasmine, pink peony, the bloody hue of poppies. He knows the moment where the dark knight brings the trembling scholar to apex by how she shudders and slumps, gone limp and weary.

He has resisted the temptation to do anything uncouth. More uncouth than having watched them. (What he does later with his memories, he is not ready to be held accountable for.) Relieved that he still has this much strength, slowly, the Exarch lowers his hand, watching as Atara gathers Kohanya's exhausted form in her arms, carrying the smaller warrior over to her bed and finishing shucking her clothes before tucking her within. As her head lolls, finding a spot on the pillow, her hair halos out around her, and he sees something.

The streak of lilac has deepened, not fully back to the deep inky iris, almost black, but the middling hue of salvia blossoms. Healing.

[tatselk]

The Untamed (陈情令) Review: Ep 4

!!! SPOILERS AHEAD !!!

Previous episode review: 1 and 2, 3. 

The Nie sect people have arrived at the Cloud Recesses! Somehow the NHS here seems a lot “softer” than the one in the novel/donghua. Wonder if they are doing this to throw in a bigger plot twist for those who haven’t read the novel…?

The Wen sect people have also arrived (late) at the Cloud Recesses! WC was his usual arrogant bullying self (e.g. using a spell to burn a Lan sect cultivator who asked him to produce his invitation to enter the Cloud Recesses). WQ stepped in to stop him and reminded him that they were supposed to lay low as she was on an undercover mission (finding the fragment of the seal WRH wanted which was at the Cloud Recesses). WN just looked apprehensive at everything that went on. 

The change in how the Wens first appeared in the live-action actually makes a lot of sense if it goes into the setting up of why they burnt the Cloud Recesses (to find the fragment of the seal) and destroyed Lotus Pier (in return for WWX standing up to/ sassing WC in front of everyone when the Wens first arrived at the Cloud Recesses and interrupted the Jiang sect people from paying their respects to LQR). 

MY/JGY first appeared here as a retainer/ assistant of the Nies who accompanied NHS to the Cloud Recesses. It was… really awkward for MY/JGY to be in the same room as his half-brother, JZX, when everyone was gathered together to pay their respects to LQR as their teacher (not to mention having to hear people gossip about his illegitimacy). Also, this change in when MY/JGY joined the Nies makes it more dramatic if the live-action retains what MY did to NMJ and what NHS apparently did to him since he seemed to have been at the Nie sect for a longer time than in the novel.

XiYao! Or at least the first hint of it. LXC stepped in after the gossiping and defused the awkwardness (LXC praising MY/JGY for being capable and refined! And MY/JGY shyly glancing up at him). After the ceremony for paying respects to LQR, MY/JGY was all grateful for LXC’s help and specifically approached him to say farewell; as an assistant of the Nies, it was best that MY/JGY headed back to the Nie sect as soon as possible. LXC actually looked vaguely upset at this and pressed him to stay at the Cloud Recesses for a few more days (LXC, do you tell ALL the assistants of the various sects to do this or is MY/JGY just a special exception? Haha.) 

The live-action really played up the WWX/NHS friendship. In just this one episode, we see WWX asking NHS what the chirpping sound was about and NHS showing him a bird which he hid in his sleeves, WWX teaching NHS how to catch fish with his bare hands in the river, the two of them passing notes in class etc.

WWX also had WAY more classroom shenanigans going on. Napping, snacking, passing notes, sticking a painting of a turtle on LQR’s back, making a paper doll fly over to LWJ to bother him (LWJ crushed it lol). This actually made LQR more reasonable in randomly testing WWX on his knowledge. This was also where WWX raised his theory of demonic cultivation and LQR putting LWJ in charge of WWX’s punishment. 

WN seemed to hv been aged downwards (when WWX asked him why he didn’t join them in class, WN said that he was too young to attend classes with the rest of them) and WWX has taken on a more big brother/ mentor-y type attitude with him (e.g. teaching him how to improve his posture in archery). 

The Wen plot thickens! After the ceremony for paying respects to LQR, LXC noted that the Wens’ appearance was unusual because the Wens had never attended classes at the Cloud Recesses before. LXC also wondered out loud to LQR whether the burn marks on the zombie/ corpse they found in the previous episode had any links to the Wens as the Wens could use fire in their spells. And LQR mentioned how the Wens had been becoming increasingly domineering and proud in recent years. Plus, WWX saw WQ lurking around the mountains twice and wondered if she was trying to find something.

On a side note, I really like the idea of the students from the different sects at the Cloud Recesses wearing the white Lan sect robes but with details/ crests from their own sect. Helps to promote the idea of how the Lans like uniformity and order but also to help the viewers with differentiating the characters.

Overall: 9/10. Not very exciting in terms of plot development but at least all the MCs have appeared and are gathered in one place. I’m mostly here for All The Fluff And Shenanigans. Oh and the XiYao-ness. Haha. 

[chandelierslayer]

Y’know, there are a lot of narrative choices and tropes that I outright hate with a fiery passion. Veritable plateaus of text have been dedicated to pointing out why and how stories that use them can be made better. And “super bloodlines” or whatever you want to call it, is one of the biggest offenders. It irritates me to no end when writers can’t let their person be special on their own merit. Everyone has to be connected to some kind of magical bloodline. This hero was able to vanquish the hero because they’re from a long line of special people. This woman can talk to the planet and she’s the ONLY ONE who can because it’s a thing only her race can do, and the rest of her race is dead. This villain was inevitably going to become the sixth ranger because they belong to bloodline that is always Good™ or is SURPRISE! the sibling of one of the heroes. This horse is more BEAUTIFUL and SPECIAL than all the other horses because it’s the descendant of the horse ridden by a PRINCESS (really???). Yeah. You get my drift. 

But when bloodlines are (actually or just hinted at being) in the backdrop of a story, with no special privileges bestowed because of it, I don’t mind. So when I was examining the maps of A Link to the Past and The Minish Cap together (which I originally only did to look for similarities between those two and the LoZ map, hi, welcome to how we do things around here, my trails of thought are split ends and those split ends have split ends and you get it) and trying to find more than a few similarities to back up two of my previous theories (I need help, somebody throw down a rope), and I found something that made me throw them off of the stove completely, I wasn’t at all bothered by the idea of the two little dudes who make the Master Sword red being descended from Minish Cap Link. Instead, I just used that thought to further fuel my digging into the theory I’ll lay out before you. 

Now, with that absurdly long and unnecessary intro out of the way, I hope you enjoy. XD

Picture, if you will, a cozy little house surrounded by trees. It’s also a smithy, where the sound of metalworking can be heard from closeby. To the west of this house is a body of water stretching from North to South. If you walk North of the house, you’ll eventually come across a road that runs from East to West. Not far Northwest from that point, you’ll find a place called the Lost Woods. 

Now, what did I just describe? The home of Smith and his grandson? Or the home of two tiny blacksmiths who helped the Hero of Legend stop the Cataclysm by strengthening the blade of evil’s bane? 

And no, no, no, don’t worry, I’m not asking you to believe that the Lost Woods in ALttP is the same as the “Lost Woods” South of the Royal Valley in TMC. That would be silly, right? Hahaaa. No. I’m asking you to believe that it’s part of it. The Northwestern part, that is. Sort of. Around that area. Look, if some of these map theorists out here can swivel maps diagonally and flip them completely around to make them fit together, I can be vague about some thick woods, okay? (No hate, I love you guys, keep doing what you’re doing) *ahem* So yeah. 

Let’s zoom out from that tiny scenario I was describing earlier. The idea is that the first Hyrule Castle¹ is around the area where the “Bumpkin Family” house and the Eastern part of the Lost Woods is. North Hyrule Field would be South of that, and Hyrule Town, whether you want it to be the same as or separate from OoT’s Castle Town, would be just South of that (the road running East to West, under the fortune teller’s place, would be the same road as the one just South of the town gate in TMC)

Yes, this means that ALttP’s Kakariko is where the Trilby Highlands/Western Wood used to be (and a little bit where TMC’s Hyrule Town is), which ALSO means that Wind Ruins, Castor Wilds, and Mt. Crenel are just West of all that, putting it just outside the ALttP map² (conveniently out of the way - sorry I love all three of you, you’re wonderful, mwah). This also means that Veil Falls would’ve been just about at the Westernmost parts of that gigantic mountain range thing in ALttP they call Death Mountain, which I’m okay with. Also means the Minish Woods was around where the Sanctuary and Hyrule Castle are in ALttP. Ouch. But I mean, it’s not the most devastating thing the Hylians have done, so moving on. Also, the first Lon Lon Ranch would be in the Death Mountain foothills, to the West. 

So, why do I like this idea so much? First, it aligns pretty neatly with the idea that the Master Sword grove in ALttP is where the Temple of Time used to be - at least, to me. But I’m also of the opinion that the Temple of Time/Sacred Grove/Lost Woods grove area are all the same - meaning that’s also where the Sealed Grounds was - and it never changed. Um... No matter what other theories I come up with/entertain, that’s always gonna be the case, I can pretty much guarantee. I just don’t like the theory that the Temple of Time was moved. Granted, I’m more okay with that idea in this timeline than in the Child Timeline, because in the Child Timeline the Hero of Time prophecy still has never come to pass, it’s still a sort of messianic legend the people believe strongly in, and even though the royal family has been told of the whole time-travel shenanigans thing, ha ha haaaaaaaaa... I don’t think they’d be able to convince an entire society that there was no longer need for that five-piece seal. The descendants of the ones entrusted with the keys are probably still clutching them tightly to this very day... Actually what am I talking about? All that stuff is forgotten about, shrouded in the mists of time and whatnot. Whoops, guess this green and shining stone can fetch me a pretty penny at the pawn shop... ANYWAY. We’re here for the Fallen Timeline right now, so let’s FOCUS. 

Another part of all this is my old theory... hypothesis?... idea? that the Sealed Temple/Temple of the Goddess, and later the Temple of Time that was build where that used to stand, were somewhere behind/within the castle in TMC (not in the game, obviously, but you know how this works). The reason I believe this, is because TMC happens at a time when Hyrule is a young kingdom. It has literally one town and everything else around it is all wild lands, as far as they’re concerned. It’s obvious that they’ve only just settled there in the past few centuries, and I doubt they would stray far from the place where they first touched down. 

So. If the Temple of Time is where the Master Sword grove is later, that would put OoT’s Hyrule Castle North of the ALttP map, Market where the Lost Woods eventually grows, Hyrule Field/the second Lon Lon Ranch in the Southern Lost Woods plus where ALttP’s Kakariko is built and the surrounding area (which also means Ordon Village is around the second Kakariko area in the Child Timeline. Amazing. No matter what happens, that land WILL be repurposed into village land. Except in the Adult Timeline, it’s been destroyed, bye-bye), and mayyyybe the Desert of Mystery where OoT’s Lake Hylia was??? Although this also means I could’ve been wrong all these years about the Minish Woods: Maybe they ARE where the OoT Lost Woods are after all. Hmmm. Honestly I still personally prefer the idea of OoT’s Lost Woods being where the Eastern Palace area is in ALttP. Lots of deforestation no matter where my theories go... That’s depressing. Hylians, stop being jerks. At least they’re less jerks than humans have historically been to each other. So far. I can only prove their oppression of AT MOST three and a half races so far, so honestly, we’re looking at an improved world here.

Ummmm I think that was about it. Did I have anything else before I zoom into the notes? No? Alrighty let’s wrap this up! 

¹ When I first played TMC, I had no problem thinking that Hyrule Castle and the one in OoT were the same, Hyrule Town became Castle Town, and the Minish Woods are located in some indeterminate woodland somewhere between Castle Town and Kakariko. But like I said, I’ve become partial to the idea that the Temple of Time is behind/around the castle in TMC, not shown, out of sight, protected, so I theorized them building a new castle elsewhere. Then again, that idea comes from the idea of the Temple of Time being built over the Sealed Grounds, and that hasn’t been shown or said in-game yet, so both options are valid to me I guess. I love Historia, and I take its word with more salt than Encyclopedia, but still not enough to season my stuffed pumpkins on a Monday night. ...I still believe wholeheartedly that Hyrule Castle in TP is a completely different castle up North from where the original one - and the town, and the Temple of Time - were in OoT, and TP’s Lake Hylia is not the same Lake Hylia, and Arbiter’s Grounds/the more “Western” style Gerudo desert is North of the OoT desert, etc., and you’ll never be able to pry that belief out of my cold, dead, fingers, so don’t even try. Er... I mean... ... Golly, you guys, aren’t hypotheses fun? ^__^

² Which I’m thinking would mean Mt. Crenel is just North of Gerudo Valley, maybe even a mountain or cliff you can see in-game, and Castor Wilds would maybe eventually be the land the river runs through in the canyon below. Or... part of said land. Who knows. Ah man now I wanna make my Link (from Peace of Heart) jump down from the Gerudo Valley bridge with her Roc’s Cape and glide down to the Wind Ruins all cool and stuff! <<33 Just kidding, Gerudo Valley is no longer exactly there in that fic, in fact Gerudo haven’t been in that area in ages. It’s... a long story. In more than one meaning of the phrase. ANYWAY.

Alternatives: Smith’s House TMC is Link’s House ALttP - this is not a new idea, I don’t think. I’ve seen other people propose it, it’s a great idea, my idea is just this but like, scooched over a little. I’m sorry, I never claimed to be original. XDD The great thing about both of these theories is that they put Syrup’s hut pretty much around the point where it is in both ALttP and TMC, if you think about it. 

Hyrule Town TMC is Hyrule Castle ALttP - this also works? Kind of? Except it doesn’t give a lot of room North of the castle for the stuff that should be there (although that’s explain-away-able if you take the “the mountain formed over the ages” route, which I personally like, because I like the idea that OoT Kakariko was around where the Sanctuary/Graveyard is in ALttP and then a series of volcanic eruptions happened, resulting in the formation of the Westernmost mountain and also the destruction of the original Kakariko and the village moving Southwest. ...I’m sorry). 

That’s all I have for you today (I’m pretty sure I didn’t miss anything) and to my followers, I am really sorry I’m never around anymore. I have no excuse. Please forgive me. I’ll try to make some posts about my recent LoZ misadventures, but... No promises, okay? Let’s take it one day at a time. However, you CAN follow me here to actually watch some of those misadventures, so there’s that! ^__^

Until next time, have fun, stay safe, and drink water! PACE~

[darquedeath4444]

Of Tales Now and Long Ago

Chapter TWO

Hatake Kakashi did not know what to expect when him and his team were called into the Hokage's office early one morning. He greeted Namikaze Minato on behalf of his team and dropped into a bow.

"I have a mission for you," Minato said, and the curt tone in his voice alerted him that this was no ordinary meeting. The man turned to his desk and passed Kakashi a scroll. "There have been reports of a disturbance in the area near the River border." His eyes darkened and he linked his hands in front of his mouth. "A Jounin team sent on border patrol to that area has not returned. It's been three days since their departure. I want you to check it out. You leave at noon."

Kakashi recalled the rumors of Hyuga Tsumuji and his team going missing and bowed once again. "Understood, Hokage-sama."

ANBU Team Ro met up at the gates at exactly noon. They departed without words and Kakashi made a beeline towards the border between the Fire country and the River country. His team easily kept up with his rapid pace and it was rather soon when the terrain began to change.

Uchiha Itachi momentarily broke the formation to move up next to him. "Taicho, there are intricate layers of genjutsu laid across the entirety of the area before us," he reported.

Kakashi tensed and brought forth his own Sharingan to confirm what the Uchiha had said. "This is a very strong genjutsu."

Itachi nodded. "Strong as in undetectable," je said. "The genjutsu is so well blended into the environment and its natural chakra."

"It must be someone very skilled," Yamato noted.

Kakashi turned to their female teammate. "Yugao, keep an eye out for any presence. Report back if you sense anything,"

Uzuki Yugao nodded firmly. "Understood."

They traveled on for a little while longer before Itachi drew in a sharp breath. In the next instant, Kakashi himself noticed it. The mouth of a huge stone structure was hidden right before them, blended in perfectly with its surroundings to the point it could not be seen at all. He decided that the uneasy air surrounding them must be a genjutsu too, to keep people from accidentally wandering into the area.

"It's several layers of genjutsu used to hide a single object," Itachi said, and Kakashi could hear the cogs turning as theories flashed through his mind. "I have never seen it be used like this before."

"A genjutsu to hide the doorway, and then another to hide the genjutsu, then several more on top of that," Kakashi nodded. "Unheard of, but certainly very effective."

"The caster has no doubt noticed our presence," Yamato said. "If he's talking this many precautions to hide this location, I bet he would have some sort of sensor seal hidden somewhere."

"Regardless, this is proof that the caster has something to hide within these caves."

"There are two signatures from within," Yugao reported.

Kakashi straightened his mask and gestured towards Itachi. "Break it."

Itachi raised a hand towards the empty space before them and the air seemed to ripple, and the scenery began to break and crack. Soon, they were standing at the mouth of the now visible cave. A set of manmade stairs lead downwards and at the bottom, they could see the beginning of a corridor.

Kakashi silently drew a blade. "Be ready," he ordered, then began to descend.

At the bottom, they found a double door. Kakashi threw them open. The ANBU streaked through the entrance and found themselves in a beautiful cave. The walls were highlighted blue-green by what looked like light given off from the rocks themselves. There was a quiet sound of trickling water that came from a calm river that cut through the rock floor. In the center of the cave was a raised platform made of rock and a desk like a structure that looked like a sacrificial altar.

Before it stood a young white haired teen clad in white robes and empty sockets that seemed to stare right through them. He had a kunai in his right hand and a bundle tucked under his other arm. Kakashi tensed when he realized that the bundle was the limp body of a child.

"Pink hair, around five," Yamato murmured. "It matches the description of the Haruno heir that went missing during the massacre two years ago."

Kakashi nodded slightly. Was this boy somehow related to that tragedy?

"Hello." The teen casually shifted his stance and used his weapon to point towards a corner of the cave. "Is that yours?"

Kakashi carefully glanced over and narrowed his eyes at the sight. Four dead bodies, that of the missing Jounin team, hung from the ceiling with what appeared to be chakra strings. The Hyuga was clearly missing eyes. The white-haired teen's missing eyes flashed through his mind, but he put that aside for the moment as he turned back to face him.

"Do not come any closer," the teen warned.

"We are Konoha ANBU," Kakashi called out. "Put the weapon down and release the child."

"This one?" Toneri shook the bundle in his arms and there was a soft groan.

Kakashi made a few signs behind his back and in the next second, all four of them flashed away from their places.

Kakashi reappeared in front of the teen while Itachi appeared behind. The teen seemed unfazed by their presence and neatly ducked Itachi's kick. He used the momentum of the movement to deflect Kakashi's blow and then swiftly spun around to land a kick of his own on the twelve-year-old, who flew back with a surprised grunt. Kakashi noted the apparent strength behind the teen's attack and drew a kunai. The teen passed his weapon from his right hand to his left in order to block the attack with minimal movement. The blades clashed right beside the unconscious girl's ear.

In that instant, the girl's eyes flew open and she let out a scream. Her arms came up in an attempt to struggle away from the teen but his grip tightened, forcing the air out of her lungs and leaving her to struggle for breath. Kakashi realized that the strength the teen was using to push him back was causing this and pulled away. The girl went limp again as the teen relaxed as well.

Kakashi would have to admit, he was impressed. Whoever he was, this teen was able to hold back two ANBU level shinobi while blind and carrying a now struggling girl. Still, that was not something he should be praising such a potentially dangerous enemy for.

Kakashi revealed his Sharingan just as Itachi activated his. They began to push the teen backward, and soon, he had no choice but to use both hands to defend against them. In that moment, Yugao appeared and snatched the girl from his loosened grasp. Yamato appeared to cover for her and she lunged the girl backward and away from the immediate vicinity of the fight.

Kakashi and Itachi regrouped with them and Yugao nudged Itachi towards the girl before she stood to join the rest of the team facing the teen.

The white-haired boy clicked his tongue in annoyance and made a hand sign. In the next second, there was a surge of chakra and the sound of an explosion. The ceiling began to cave, raining debris and chunks of rock down towards them.

Immediately, Itachi threw himself over the girl as she let out a wail of fear. Yamato grew a wooden structure over them to protect them and a few seconds later, the sound of falling rocks and the shaking stopped. The wooden shield unraveled and Kakashi glanced around the clearing to note that the teen was nowhere to be seen.

"He isn't anywhere within my range," Yugao reported, confirming his thoughts.

Kakashi nodded then turned towards the girl, who was clinging onto Itachi's uniform and glancing around widely with fearful green eyes. Her gaze finally landed on the four of them and she instantly let go and scrambled away, towards the altar. Kakashi let her hide in the shadows of the altar and after a while, she carefully peeked out at them. "Who are you?"

"We are ANBU from Konoha," Kakashi said. He thought for a moment before he took off his mask. "We aren't going to hurt you."

The girl eyed them warily. "The white-haired man. Do you know him?"

"We don't."

The girl narrowed her eyes before she slowly stood up to move to the front of the altar. "Well, he is not here anymore. What are you going to do now?"

Kakashi eyed the girl's shaking limbs and realized how thin they were. If he recalled, Itachi's younger brother was around the same age as the girl and the differences in the thickness of their wrists were slightly worrying. "You don't have to worry about him anymore," he said, trying to sound reassuring. "Can you tell us who you are and what happened here?'

"I...I am Haruno...Sakura," the girl said, confirming her identity as the missing Haruno heir. "The man brought me here a long time ago after I came out of the cave."

"Cave?" Yugao asked. She, along with the rest of the team, had taken off their masks as well.

Sakura hesitated, but she nodded. "The Cave of Generations. The cave from which I emerged as heir."

Kakashi noted the girl's posh language. “The man, did he do anything to you?" He asked.

Sakura glanced down at her hands, which she hand clenched into her clothes. "I...I do not think so," she said after a while. "I cannot remember everything, but I think it has been a very long time since I have done anything else but eat and sleep."

"You don't have to worry anymore," Kakashi repeated. "Konoha will take you in."

"Konoha," Sakura said, softly, as though testing out the words. "It is...is..."

"A village," Kakashi tol her. "A Hidden Village."

Sakura nodded, but still did not seem to understand what he meant. "Okay." She stepped down from the platform and slowly made her way towards them.

"Yugao, will you take her?" Kakashi asked, and the woman nodded. "We will return to Konoha and report to the Hokage." He told his team. "We will keep an eye out for the white-haired teen."

"Will we head out now?" Itachi asked, tilted his head towards the sky. "It is soon sunset."

The girl's head snapped upwards and her eyes widened. "Sunset," she repeated. "The time of day when sunlight fades." Her tone softened and she closed her eyes. "I have never seen it before."

Yugao glances worryingly at the girl, then at Kakashi. "What do you mean by that?" She asked carefully.

"As per clan traditions, all children are to remain within the compound until they are of age," Sakura said, almost as though she were reciting something. "Even after the ceremony, the only view of the outside I had was the hole in the ceiling that let in natural light. I have never seen the whole sky before. A cousin of mine once snuck out of the compound and upon his return, told me of the sky. He vanished a few days after and I never saw him again."

Shinobi clans had dark secrets, ones like the Hyuga and their binding seal. The Haruno clan were known to be even more secretive and in addition, was a clan of another village altogether. Kakashi decides to leave the questioning to a later date.

"Should we explore the cave?" Tenzo asked.

"I'd say there are no life forms here, but I can sense very faint chakra scattered all throughout the place," Yugao said. "It's not an individual signature, it's almost like the entire cave, the rocks themselves, are radiating chakra."

Kakashi turned his focus to the closest glowing wall but he could not pick up on anything. It must be very faint. "We can explore the immediate vicinity," he decided. "Sakura, do you know how deep these caves go?"

The pinkette shook her head. "The man went there sometimes," she said. "I do not know what he did in there, nor do I know where they lead. He left sometimes, but I believe there were wards around the altar to keep me from stepping off of the platform."

Kakashi nodded and accepted her answer. The teen had kept Sakura captive here for two years: it would be fair to assume that he had taken measures to make sure she could not escape.

"We'll scout the area before the sun goes down," he ordered. "We'll head back to Konoha tomorrow morning."

Sakura's first steps out of the cave were wobbly. Itachi noted the girl's lack of shoes and glanced around the terrain. For the moment travel would be made over grass, so it should not be too much of a problem. The forest would be slightly more unsafe for bare feet but Itachi assumed one of them would carry her through the trees. Kakashi had already sent a summon back to Konoha to request aid with the bodies of the Jounin team and they could afford slow travel.

"This is grass?" Sakura asked.

Itachi turned his gaze back to Sakura, who was carefully poking at the grass with her foot. "It is." If what she said was true and she had spent the first five years of her life underground, having something not cold stone under her feet must be an entirely new experience altogether.

That thought filled him with pity for her.

"It is...different," Sakura noted. "Ticklish, but not unpleasant."

Unsure of what to say, Itachi nodded. A few seconds later, Kakashi, Tenzo and Yugao appeared from the cave.

"We've sealed the cracks so they don't collapse," Yugao said. "We can go now."

Kakashi nodded, then eyed Sakura's curious prodding of the ground. "We'll walk for a while, and then you'll have to be carried, Sakura."

The girl looked up hesitantly but she nodded. "Okay."

There was no drastic change in the scenery on the way to the forest but to Sakura, everything was new. Itachi could tell she was trying her best to refrain herself but occasionally, she slowed to glance at one thing or another.

"I'm sorry." She murmured when they had paused for a break. "I-I have never seen..." She glanced down and hesitantly bit into the ration bar offered to her

The children in her clan only ate rice, apparently.

"Everything is new to you," Yagao said gently. "Don't worry, we understand. It must be fascinating and overwhelming."

Sakura tightened her grip on the wrapping. "As a child, I did not know and as an awakened, I did not care. It is because I am now head." She said. "That is why curiosity is plaguing me."

Itachi glanced up to see his teammates sharing a look. What did she mean? Kakashi asked just that.

Sakura hesitated but did not speak and Itachi understood. As a member of a clan, it was forbidden to share clan secrets and inner workings. However, now, Sakura was the clan head and even more. She was the last of her blood.

Sakura was the clan itself.

When they move onto the trees, Itachi offered his back to Sakura, expecting her to climb on just like Sasuke did, sometimes without invitation.

He paused when she did not. "Climb on," he said gently.

"Climb on?" Sakura repeated.

Itachi gestured for her to come closer and helped her place her legs around his waist then her arms around his neck. "Hold on," he said. "We will be moving much faster."

Despite the warning he had given her, when they began moving, Sakura still let out a gasp of surprise and tightened her grip around his neck. She looked up after a while, though, and she let out a soft gasp beside his ear. "Wow."

Itachi glanced up from the corner of his eye and watched the fascination run over the girl's face. "How is it?" He asked softly.

A strange look passed over her face as she paused in her rapid glancing around to look down at him. "It is beautiful," she said, and there was something a little off with her tone, but Itachi decided not to comment.

Team Ro and Sakura passed through the gates just as the sun was beginning to set. They immediately headed over to the Hokage Tower to hand in their report. Sakura, who had fallen asleep a little while ago, had woken up at the sudden commotion. Her head shot up and she glanced around rapidly, taking in the buildings and the people."What-"

"Welcome to Konoha," Itachi told her softly.

Sakura seemed to take in his words and slowly let them sink in. "Konoha," she repeated. "The Hidden Village of Leaf."

The Hokage let them in the moment they arrived.

Kakashi dropped into a bow and the team followed. Itachi gently placed Sakura on the ground and felt the girl quickly step behind him to hide as he lowered to the ground as well.

"Welcome back."

Kakashi stood up. "Team Ro has returned.”

Namikaze Minato smiled. "Remove your mask, Kakashi, all of you."

Itachi felt Kakashi sigh but do as told. He and the team followed suit. Their team leader then proceeded to give Minato a run through of their mission, starting with the chakra sensors and the illusion around the cave, then the Jounin team and the white-haired teen, and finally, Haruno Sakura.

Itachi felt the girl tense at her name and he gently nudged her out from his shadow. Sakura stubbornly clung onto him for a few more seconds before she allowed herself to be moved forward. Minato's previously stern expression melted into a gentle smile. "Hello Sakura-chan," he greeted. "I'm Namikaze Minato, the Hokage."

Sakura eyed him for a while before she dropped into an unfamiliar, yet surprisingly humble and respectful bow. "Hokage-sama," she acknowledged. "I am Haruno Sakura."

Minato suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Uh, Sakura-chan-"

Sakura stood up and glanced him over like she was searching for something. "You are unlike Senri-sama," she finally decided. At the confused looks she received, she gave a short explanation. "Senri-sama was the head of the clan. He was my predecessor, my to be mentor." She smiled softly. "But I guess that is now but a tale of the past."

Minato asked Itachi and the Uchiha clan to take in the girl, at least for the first few nights, until arrangements could be made. He ordered the youngest member of Team Ro to bring in the girl tomorrow then dismissed them with the exception of Kakashi, and the moment they had all left he turned to his student. "Is there anything else you can tell me?"

Kakashi nodded. He relayed the conversations they had had with Sakura, of the glimpses of her clan life and what she remembered of her time in the cave with the teen after its massacre. "There is something strange about the Haruno clan,” he said. "Sakura implied things, but I cannot be sure unless she confirms it with her own words."

Minato nodded slowly and placed her head on his linked hands. "I will have Inoichi present tomorrow," he decided. "I don't want to do this to a girl, but-"

Kakashi nodded in understanding. "It is better to get it over with."

Chapter THREE>

<Chapter ONE

[hostgalli19]

The Cannibal’s Book Collection -  Chapter 2: Uncle Jamie

Chapter Summary: Au: Clarice was adopted by some unlikely people and it changes a lot of things but many things stay the same. Note: Good evening everyone. Here's the newest story in this little collection of stories.

The idea came to me today and I couldn't help but write it down. I'm likely going to be doing more with the idea but I'm not sure if I want to make this idea its own separate story or not Length: 2,194 (3 pages)

Tag List: @wilfordwarfstacheisbae, @matt10nt, @fuckmethomasshelby, @lamb-and-knife Link

Date: 17/05/20 Time: 1:29 pm - 2:19 pm

Clarice sighed as she walked up the steps of the somewhat run-down house, irritated a Jack for sending her to interview an old lady instead of letting her help catch Buffalo Bill. She could look after herself and wasn't as incapable as Jack seemed to think she was. Clarice was really paying attention when she knocked on the door and introduced herself. She did look up when she heard the person gasp.

"Uncle Jamie?" Clarice questioned, she hadn't seen her Uncle since she was maybe eight years old and he was chasing her through his basement while her parents were out getting dinner. He had changed quite a bit since she had last seen him. He had blue eyes and blond hair instead of the brown hair and green eyes he'd had when she was eight years old.

He was shorter then she remembered him being but then again it had been a good 15 years since she had last seen him in person.

"Clarice, what are you doing here? Since when do you work for the FBI?" Jamie question staring at his now-adult niece who had expected to see so soon. He had been planning on visiting for Christmas. He had been annoyed when his sewing was interrupted. His neighbors knew not to disturb him unless his the light in front of his house was turned on.

His niece had changed a lot in the last 15 years but she was just as curious and strong as she had always been. She had been a willful child and had run her parents ragged and kept them on their toes. He had been more than happy to look after her. He was a little surprised she applied for the FBI considering what they had done to her parents though then again it wasn't really that surprising.

"I work for the BAU. I'm here because you kidnapped the senator's daughter," Clarice answered easily, trying not to laugh when she saw the annoyed look on her Uncle's face at the news. He was able to tell if someone was important or not. It seemed that unique power had failed him with the Senator's daughter, she couldn't help but wonder why. He hadn't gotten the sense that the girl in his basement was important.

Apparently he had been wrong. He hated being wrong. It meant police asking unwanted questions, having to find a way to get rid of the body (that become easier after meeting Clarice's parents) and having to move which was tedious and annoying at the best of times. It usually took him several months to find the correct house, he could never move suddenly, he always had another house, just in case.

He didn't particularly want to leave this one so soon. He did have other houses that suited his needs but this one was by far his favourite. 

"Ah. Well then. You call the FBI and I'll go and clean up a little then we can put on a show for them," Jamie replied Clarice nodded, a large smile spreading across her face, making her looked far younger and much more innocent than she really was. It would nice to catch up with her.

He made his way into the basement and got everything ready, making sure to clean up the maze a little so his Starling wouldn't trip and hurt herself. He didn't want to get yelled at by her father for hurting his baby. He tried his best to make the maze the way it had been the last time she had been there. That way she would have no problem getting around.

Anyone other then Jamie would have had trouble following her without tripping. he had been more than surprised when she had learned to navigate the maze in the dark and was even able to run through the maze, in the dark, with surprising speed having seemly memorized the layout. He sometimes changed it up but she still managed it. 

Jamie looked up when he heard the tap turning on and the sink filling followed by the clinking of dishes being washed that Clarice was trying to make his kitchen look somewhat presentable. He hadn't gotten the chance to clean lately, being that he was busy trying to finish his new skin before the end of the year.

Clarice sighed as she walked into her Uncle kitchen and knew her Pa would throw a fit if he saw the state of the kitchen. There were plates, bowls, pans, pots and cups on every available surface. The importance of a clean kitchen was drilled into her from a young age. Some mess was acceptable as long as you were able to prepare and cook with little problem.

She made quick work of the plates, pots, pans, bowls and cups. Leaving some of the pots to dry and some cups and plates in the sink and some stacked next to it, she made coffee sitting it on the counter before going to clean up the rest of the house a little. Just before she called the Jack she grabbed her Uncle's phone and called herself before calling Jack and making it sound like she was in a hurry.

Hopefully, it had given Jamie enough time to clean up and seal the correct rooms and get everything in place for their little show for the Senator's daughter. She walked into the basement, noticing how things had changed in the 15 years she had been here. She just hoped the maze was still the same. It luckily was and was able to get around with little trouble, tripping once or twice. 

She wanted to strangle the Senator's daughter, she was a rude, ungrateful brat and knew if she had been anyone else's daughter she would have ended up their dinner for her behaviour or would have, at the very least taught her a lesson. After she had shot her Uncle in the stomach she went to free the Senator's daughter resisting the urge to strangle her yet again.

She ended up shooting 'James' in the stomach and felt horrible but knew as soon as the lights turned on, the 'person' groaning on the floor wasn't her Uncle but something else. Likely a Gollum of some kind. Hopefully, it would be convincing enough once its job was done that no one question what it was.

"Yelling and shouting aren't going to get you anywhere. Either you act like your the Senator's daughter or I'll leave you down there until the FBI arrives," Clarice snapped when Catherine Martin continued to swear and threaten her with losing her job. Didn't she know who Catherine's mother was? She shut up very quickly upon hearing that she might be left in the hole.

Clarice was going to have a... chat with Senator Martin about her daughter once the FBI arrived, her behaviour with theory despicable and very much unwarranted. She was only trying to help her and yet the brat was swearing and threatening her. Hopefully, this and possibly the loss of her allowance would teach her a lesson about being a decent human being. 

She was relieved when Jack turned up with the Swatt team, it meant Catherine would finally shut up about how cold she was. When the light in the basement was turned back on she could see the man groaning on the ground wasn't actually her Uncle, but something else. Most likely a Gollum of some kind. She just hoped it would last long enough in prison, her Uncle had always been good with that sort of thing. 

She nearly shot her Uncle in the chest for real when he grabbed her from behind before she could leave his "sewing room". She knew his real sewing room was hidden behind a false wall. He laughed and asked if she wanted to get something to eat and catch up. She, of course, said yes and exited the house while he exited through the 'back' entrance, picking up his car from two blocks away and driving it over. 

She introduced her Uncle James Martin-Wells to Jack, telling the man that her Uncle had called just before she had called Jack using Jame Gumb's landline so they could find his home. Clarice took him to a nearby cafe and they spent a good three hours catching up on things. Clarice was beyond irritated when they were accosted by Freddie Lounds. 

The women was thoroughly dislikeable and never seemed to take the hint. Her parents had told her not to say anything to her. Clarice had plenty of run-ins with her over the years, particularly after someone told Freddie who her parents were. Freddie Lounds had many lawsuits filed against her over the years but they never seemed to go anywhere. She was too useful to The Tattler.

James politely told her to "fuck off and leave them alone" before they got into Clarice's car and went to visit her parents. It had been a while since she had been home and she messed them a great deal. It had also been a long time since she had something decent to eat and no one cooked quite like her Pa did. He had sent her a care package every few months when she was in college

"Papa, Dad. I’m home. I brought a guest. Hello, Wendi" Clarice yelled as she walked up the steps of her father's house, they switched every other week, greeting the dogs when they come racing out of the house, almost knocking her over. She smiled when she saw the large dog standing the doorway, he came up to her waist and had been a very good friend. 

She wished she had taken him with her when she went away to college, then maybe the men would have kept their hands - and their comments to themselves. She had eventually created a list of the different ways she was going to kill many of her male classmates, she was just so used to every man in her family respecting that it was a shock when she went to college. 

She knew her Pa would be horrified and scandalized if he found out half the things her male classmates were saying about her. 

"Did you bring them for dinner or for dinner? What prompted the sudden visit?" A familiar voice from further in the house question and Clarice groaned, her father wasn't even trying. She heard just about every cannibal pun in existence at this point. Most of them were horrible and yet she still laughed even though most people didn't know why.

She usually threw whatever she happened to be holding at whichever of her parents had made the pun because no college friend wasn't dinner. 

She was coming for a normal dinner not one of her Pa's special dinner's even though they were the best. Normal food didn't taste quite as good as her Pa's food and she knew, on some level, she should find that disturbing but she really didn't. She had learned from a young age to never mention what her Pa used as a special ingredient to make his food taste so good. They would be horrified if they ever found out. 

"That's a horrible pun Will, you're not even trying," James answered rolling his eyes. He had long since gotten used the horrible puns but some of them were just horrible and groan-worthy. He had heard that one far too many times for it to be funny anymore. It hadn't been funny in the first time he had heard it even though he had been incredibly confused by what one earth Will had been asking.

He had been a little freaked out when he found out. Though who wouldn't be when they found out their friends had been discussing different ways to cook you for dinner.

"You wouldn't make good food anyway, your far too lean," Clarice groaned even louder, that was an even worse pun, she walked into the house, scratching the large dog behind the ear as she went and going to hug her father, her mouth-watering at whatever or more like whoever her father was cooking. It really had been too long if the mere smell of her Pa's cooking made her stomach rumble. 

"Hannibal I've told you before, you aren't turning me into soup or any other dish so stop pretending you're looking for recipes every time I come over. It's getting annoying," James growled playfully. He knew he was in no danger of becoming dinner, it was a long-standing game they played. At least Hannibal never suggested the same recipe twice.  

"You know Pa's never going to stop. I'm sure you've heard about the Buffalo Bill cases. Jack threw me to the wolves, completely unprepared and sent me to visit 'you' in BHCI. That was fun. I wanted to punch Chilton and Miggs is a bastard. Seems your Gollum is just as protective of me as you are," Clarice answered briefly burying her head in her father neck before going over and giving her Pa a hug. 

She'd missed them. 

Note: Thank you for reading. I hope you like the twist of who Clarice's parents were. I will go more into depth later though I am unsure of how exactly they come to have her. I haven't quite figured that out yet. I have changed the title of the story. 

I think it fits much better. If you have any requests for stories, please do let me know though you'll have to go into some detail.The next chapter should be up soon. 

Its mostly finished. I just have to edit it and add a little more to it. It was going to be the second chapter I wrote this one first.

[jackthebard]

Ultimate Electrical Engineer

(art by @turtledogsenpai​)

Name: Takamori Akira

Age: 23

Height: 5’5”

Weight: 129

Blood Type: AB+

Hair: Multicolored

Eyes: Hazel

Likes: Shocking people with static electricity, the feeling one gets when they put their tongue across the contacts of a 9V battery, making circuits that seem to serve no functional purpose

Dislikes: Letting out the magic smoke, people shocking her with static electricity

Before Tragedy: Akria’s father was an electrical engineer with Sony, always working on the hottest and newest game systems, and he often brought his work home with him. From a very young age, he let his daughter take a look at the defunct integrated circuits that he removed from the boards, putting them under a microscope and pointing out the various components and teaching her the basics of his business. She caught on much quicker than expected and soon began tinkering with the ICs in order to replace the miniature components. It wasn’t long until she was helping her father with his accomplishments just as much as he was making them. While Mr. Takamori wanted to introduce his daughter to his bosses, she was perfectly content with him taking the credit for her achievements in order to raise his pay. When she was barely in her teens, she approached Nintendo with a circuit diagram that allowed them to produce a much more efficient motion-sensor attachment for their Wii line, and seemingly sealed her future in the realm of production of high-tech gaming gear.

During Tragedy: Knowing that her skills in the hardware side of computer science could come in handy, the Future Foundation snapped her and her father right up, allowing them to continue their work for good rather than dying or falling to the side of Despair. The “Takamori Tag Team”, as their coworkers called them, managed to create more efficient radios that worked with a lesser number of antennas, build computers that could connect to the GPS satellites in order to give the FF’s strike forces an extra edge, and even create disruptor devices that could throw off the motion sensors of the Despair forces. After Tragedy: At Hope’s Peak, Akira is a rather bubbly young lady, always running around in a pair of overalls and thick wool socks whenever she’s in the common areas of the building. When shoes are necessary, her sneakers are spattered with solder and flux, making her look the part even more than she already does. She likes to joke around with her classmates, building small items that distract or annoy them (though only momentarily), as well as shuffling along to build up a great deal of static electricity and shocking one of her friends without remorse.

Notable Features: Akira has her hair done up in a number of thin braids, each of which seems to be a different color. Some are pitch-black while others are varying hues of a neon rainbow. She usually wears these bound up in a thick ponytail that sits on the crown of her head, causing a cascading waterfall of color to constantly play about her forehead. 

Interview 79.05 – Open

Interviewer: Yamada Jiro, Psy.D

Subject: Takamori Akira – “The Ultimate Electrical Engineer”

Interview Date: May 10th, 8 AT (after tragedy)

Observation

[The subject is female, with hair styled into dozens of braids. Each appears to be a different color, spanning a rainbow and then some. They are pulled back behind her head in a tight ponytail, and a pair of glasses sit on the bridge of her nose. She is wearing a pair of beat-up tennis shoes and a set of overalls. There is a noticeable bounce in her step as she walks into the room.]

Discussion

Interviewer: Please state your name and age for the record 

Akira: My name is Takamori Akira, and I’m twenty-three years old. 

Interviewer: And you are aware of why you were being scouted by Hope’s Peak before the Tragedy?

Akira: [She sticks her tongue out in a playful manner] I think it’s safe to assume that it’s because I managed to revolutionize the way Nintendo produced gaming systems by the age of fourteen. 

Interviewer: Correct. Could you actually tell us about that?

Akira: I’m not a genius or anything when it comes to EE theory. I just… I get circuits. One of my coworkers told me that watching me work on a circuit board must be like having seen Beethoven compose the Fifth.

Interviewer: So your coworkers thought it was like watching art in motion?

Akira: I suppose so, yeah.

Interviewer: Your father was the one that taught you the basics of Electrical Engineering, correct?

Akira: Yeah. But those of us in the field just call it EE for short.

Interviewer: And how did that influence your skills?

Akira: I don’t think I would be as good if it weren’t for him. It’s like building a house. You need strong groundwork, a solid foundation before you can start building all the really fancy stuff. He was the foundation. He gave me the basic theory and I could extrapolate from there.

Interviewer: So it’s safe to assume that you were particularly talented when it came to your mathematics courses?

Akira: [She lets out a bark of laughter, resting her hand on her forehead. Her face has changed a few shades darker red out of embarrassment] Oh hell no.

Interviewer: Could you please explain that?

Akira: It’s like… oh hell, how do I put this? It’s like the theory is stupid. I don’t get theory. I get seeing the numbers in front of me and figuring out the ratios myself. Dad taught me the basics of Ohm’s Law, and I was able to figure out how to calculate the resistance across Series and Parallel circuits based off that.

Interviewer: That’s impressive. But, even so, it’s just figuring out ratios, correct?

Akira: It’s easy with series resistors, yeah. You just add them together and treat them as one big resistor. But parallel is trickier. You have to see the inverse of the sum as being the sum of the inverse of each of the parts.

Interviewer: So you figured that out on your own?

Akira: Give me a breadboard, a multimeter, and enough time, and I can figure out a lot of things.

Interviewer: So what are some of the other things you worked on?

Akira: [She taps her finger on her chin for a moment, clearly pondering the notion] I never really got into the programming aspect of that. I like the smell of solder and flux, seeing the wisps of smoke and the sheen turning dull on a bead of melted metal as it hardens. I don’t think I could ever work in front of a computer, just punching in lines of code after lines of code.

Interviewer: That’s not what I asked.

Akira: Oh! [she sits upright, excited all of a sudden] I managed to develop a method of linking capacitors so gamers could continue playing for almost 30 mins after their controller died out. That way, the controller could “die” halfway through a match of Splatoon or whatever, and the capacitor subset would serve as a backup battery until the match was over. This way, they don’t get completely screwed over by the battery dying. This way, match ends, you recharge/swap out the batteries, then you’re good to go.

Interviewer: That seems like it’s pretty common sense. How come nobody else thought of that before you?

Akira: For starters? More of them were focused on the product rather than the players. I mean, Nintendo was better about that than most, but even so. They’re a company, they gotta make a profit. You know?

Interviewer: I’m pretty sure I can understand that. Please, explain more about how this idea was deemed so revolutionary.

Akira: [she holds her hands up and starts illustrating with them, tracing lines in the air for the interviewer to follow along] Right so imagine that this is your circuit, yeah? You have your power source here, loads all over the place. But, what if you put a bunch of high-charge capacitors between the source and the first load? This way, you have a pre-charged source that can give power to the circuit even after the load dies out.

Interviewer: Then wouldn’t that mean the device stays on even after the power button is turned off?

Akira: Not unless you move the switch to between the last capacitor and the first load. That way, you can fully cut off power to the circuit without any wait.

Interviewer: Right… So what prompted this idea in the first place?

Akira: It was probably the fact that I was sick of my controller dying halfway through a game, just like all the other gamers that have had to deal with such a thing. When you’re in a really intense match, you don’t have time to think, let alone reach out and grab your power cable.

Interviewer: So it was based off practicality rather than profit?

Akira: Duh. I’m not some moneygrubbing corporate executive. I make products people can use. Not products that are intended to make money. Sometimes the two coincide.

Interviewer: So you are all about making items exclusively for the betterment of the rest of the world?

Akira: Well… not exclusively. I like making things for fun too. All work and no play makes Akira a dull girl, you know? [she gives a very childlike giggle at this notion]

Interviewer: [smiling despite himself] Well, Takamori Akira, I think you would be a perfect fit for Hope’s Peak. Welcome.

Akira: Really? Oh my god I’m so excited! I have to tell my dad! Thank you! [Without so much as saying goodbye, she stands up and runs out of the room, cheering, whooping and jumping in the air in excitement. The interviewer probably didn’t have the heart to tell her that she was accepted from the very start]

End Interview

[caveartfair]

From Paul Klee to Alexander Calder, 7 Artists Who Created Inventive Toys

In the art world, artists must often come to terms with the changing market, and creating work can become serious business. But there is an intrinsically playful element of the creative process, which celebrates limitless imagination and childlike exploration. It seems fitting, then, that many well-known artists were known to create toys for children. While some of these artists pursued toy-making alongside developments in their broader art practices, others found that the two modes of creation were indistinguishable.

Particularly during the first half of the 20th century, as artists grappled with enormous political and social changes, some aimed to mold young minds through educational toys that were mass-produced for children everywhere. Other toys created during this era were intended purely for fun, made by artists for their own children or grandchildren, while they also reflect revolutionary strides in modern art.

The following seven toys, conceived by artists from Alexander Calder to Renate Müller, take various forms and functions, whether that be dynamic blocks or therapeutic stuffed animals. Yet they all showcase their makers’ inventiveness and overarching interests—and invite us to embrace our inner child.

Pablo Picasso, Petit Cheval (ca. 1960)

Petit Cheval , 1961. Pablo Picasso "Picasso Sculptor" at Musée Picasso, Paris

With his revolutionary Cubist paintings and assemblages, Pablo Picasso pushed beyond the academic tradition of creating that that imitates life. To hone his style, he studied from his own four children, admiring the imperfection and energy of their drawings. The link between Picasso’s children and his own creativity extended to paper and wooden dolls that he made in the 1930s and ’40s. (In turn, he sometimes incorporated his children’s toys into his own sculptural artworks.)

One of his most well-known toys, however, is the horse he made for his grandson Bernard in the early 1960s. Standing around two feet tall and perched on four wheels, the toy was made to be ridden by the toddling Bernard (who has recalled attempting just that). The horse is made up of six pieces of metal TV-table legs, with eyes drawn on; its angular, abstracted form aligned well with Picasso’s larger oeuvre.

Alexander Calder, Circus (1926–31)

Red Horse and Green Sulky, 1926. Alexander Calder Calder Foundation

Circus Scene, 1929. Alexander Calder Calder Foundation

Acrobat, 1929. Alexander Calder Calder Foundation

Elephant, ca. 1927. Alexander Calder Calder Foundation

Alexander Calder’s experimentations with motion and industrial materials run throughout his large-scale mobiles and wire sculptures—as well as the numerous toys he created. Beginning in the 1920s, he made rocking- and pull-toys: horses, kangaroos, birds, and fish wrought from wood, wire, and string. He also fashioned toy cars from cigar boxes and tin cans. Yet his most famous toy is perhaps his least conventional: The traveling circus that the American artist made in Paris around 1926 to 1931 has been in the permanent collection of New York City’s Whitney Museum of American Art for 35 years, and is the subject of Jean Painlevé’s 1955 film Le Grand Cirque Calder 1927.

In over 200 live presentations of his circus, Calder used strings, air hoses, and levers to animate dozens of figurines inside a miniature ring, set to grandiose recorded music. Calder operated the characters—which were made from wood, wire, leather, and cork—in sequential acts, for audiences that included fellow artists like Piet Mondrian and Marcel Duchamp.

While the pieces could originally be neatly contained in two suitcases, later it required five. The set grew to include acrobats, clowns, a ringmaster, an elephant, a lion trainer, a dancer, a horse and standing rider, a chariot race, and more, all based on real-life circus performers of the day. Many of the figurines—like the lion, with its simplified wire body and shaggy, fabric mane and tail—not only reveal Calder’s playful approach, but also echo the well-known wire sculptures he developed around the same time. Reviewed by critics as a serious art form when it was first performed in Paris, the Circus is a significant part of Calder’s body of work, and brought the joy of toys to adult audiences.

Renate Müller, “Therapeutic Toys” (1960s–present)

"Therapeutic Toy" Elephant, 2016. Renate Müller R & Company

Anyone who has ever owned a stuffed animal knows their potential for comfort and companionship. Over half a century ago, German artist Renate Müller began creating her jute-and-leather toys to serve as therapeutic aids for hospital-bound children with disabilities. Hospitals found that they were effective, and with their bright colors and huggable bodies (some are large enough for kids to sit on), it is easy to see why. Through her handmade purple seals, green-horned rhinos, red-eared elephants, and multicolored birds, Müller also pays homage to the 19th-century German toy-making tradition, which insisted upon high production standards. She uses her own technique of hand-stuffing with a combination of wooden pieces and soft filler to make the animals, which also include invented creatures like two-headed horses and two-tailed hippos.

Today, Müller shows her creations in the gallery setting, where they attract serious collectors. Yet while in school at Sonneberg Polytechnic for Toy Design in the 1960s, Müller learned to strive for simplicity, and her forms, colors, and materials have consistently adhered to that mantra over the decades.

Joaquín Torres-García, “Juguetes Transformables” (ca. 1917–30)

Joaquín Torres-García, Dos figuras, c. 1929. Photo by Arturo Sanchez. Courtesy of the Estate of Joaquín Torres-García.

Go Pony, 1924. Joaquín Torres-García Odalys

Along with Rafael Pérez Barradas, Uruguayan artist Joaquín Torres-García co-founded Vibrationism, which applied Cubist and Futurist aesthetics to depictions of modern city life. His other brain-child was Constructivismo Universal (Universal Constructivism), the philosophy behind the grid-and-symbol paintings guided by universal forms for which he is celebrated.

Alongside his cerebral art practice, beginning around 1917, Torres-García also created dozens of different children’s toys, which he intended to be both recreational and educational. He based his oil-painted wooden figures on turn-of-the-century pedagogical theories that valued active learning, and through which avant-garde artists strove to teach a new generation how to realize utopian ideals in the aftermath of World War I. Through mass production, Torres-García disseminated his designs for what he called juguetes transformables (transformable toys). The figurines—including people, vehicles, and farm and circus animals—were made from various wooden pieces that children could assemble in different arrangements to hone their own creativity and construction skills. Their simple shapes and caricature-like detailing cleverly veil the serious intentions behind their creation.

Paul Klee, “Puppets” (1916–25)

Along with Picasso, Paul Klee was fascinated by the spontaneity of children’s artwork. In 1902, Klee described his own childhood drawings as his “most significant” artwork up until that point. He also cherished drawings made by his son Felix, for whom he created toys, including a cast of hand puppets, to nurture the boy’s creativity. Beginning with a group of eight that were based on the popular German puppets Kasper and Gretel—characters that were similar to the British Punch and Judy toys—Klee made some 50 puppets from 1916 to 1925, which Felix used to perform shows in their apartment.

Simultaneously adorable and ominous, the puppets were made of plaster and—like Klee’s few sculptural artworks—incorporate found materials like beef bones, nutshells, and electrical plugs. They are strange, somewhat totemic creatures with haphazard costumes—apt vehicles for the satirical, politically driven shows that Felix later put on as a young student at the Bauhaus, where Klee taught. When Felix left home as an adult, he brought a number of the puppets with him. Sadly, many were destroyed during the Allied bombing of Würzburg, Germany, in World War II, with only 30 remaining today.

Alma Siedhoff-Buscher, Small Ship-Building Game (1923)

Ship Building Toy by Alma Siedhoff-Buscher. Photo by Leon NEAL/AFP/Getty Images.

Beginning in 1922, Alma Siedhoff-Buscher was a student at the Bauhaus, studying under Klee and Wassily Kandinsky before she began to specialize in wood sculpture. During her tenure at the school (where she later taught), the German designer created children’s furniture that was both practical and facilitated play, like a wardrobe-type cabinet from 1923, which had built-in space for a puppet show. The objects she designed for children extended to toys, such as her Throw Dolls (1924), which were made from fibers and wooden beads, and were designed to survive being tossed about by their young handlers.

Closer in form and material to her furniture was her Small Ship-Building Game (1923), a mass-produced set of 22 assorted wooden triangular and rectangular blocks that children could use to assemble a toy ship. Painted in the Bauhaus’s signature primary hues (red, yellow, blue), as well as green and white, the pieces could be arranged into numerous combinations, with the educational aim of strengthening children’s inventive capacities. Soon after their roll-out, Siedhoff-Buscher’s furniture and toys were shown at conferences for daycare staff and kindergarten instructors, helping to advance the Bauhaus’s desire to use design to positively influence the next generation on a day-to-day basis.

Lyonel Feininger, City at the Edge of the World (1925–55)

Lyonel Feininger, Town at the End of the World, 1919-50. Photo by Joachim Hiltmann, Stanislaw Rowinski, Andreas Torneberg / MKG Hamburg. Courtesy of Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg.

At age 16, American-born Lyonel Feininger moved to Germany to pursue a music career, but instead studied art. Today, he is recognized for his innovative contributions to German Expressionism and to the Bauhaus, where he taught, headed the school’s print workshop, and later served as an artist-in-residence. Feininger’s drawings and oil paintings illustrate his long-standing interest in urban architecture and spaces, depicted through Expressionistic strokes and colors, as well as angular forms and planes that are indebted to Cubism. These same interests surface in Feininger’s City at the Edge of the World (1925–55), a set of 68 objects including human and animal figures, houses, and a bridge.

Playful and sketch-like, the figures (the largest of which is a little under four inches tall) are painted in bright reds, pinks, blues, and oranges, and are made from rough-cut, unpolished wood. Feininger originally made the hand-carved pieces for his three sons, including photographer Andreas Feininger. Another grouping of similar figures, Wooden Toy Town at the End of the World (ca. 1919–50), which highlights Feininger’s nostalgia for Medieval buildings and small towns, resides in the permanent collection of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany.

from Artsy News

[darwinism00]

Chapter one

CHAPTER ONE The presentation of who we want you to be Definition of Darwinism 1 : a theory of the origin and perpetuation of new species of animals and plants that offspring of a given organism vary, that natural selection favors the survival of some of these variations over others, that new species have arisen and may continue to arise by these processes, and that widely divergent groups of plants and animals have arisen from the same ancestors. Young Keera shifted in her seat, nervously playing with her writing gadget as to keep her fingers busy during this presentation that every high schooler had to sit through on their first day of 7th grade. Her eyes were distracted from the projection screen and her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest. She felt like after this maybe her friends, the few she had made at this school in the last year would start noticing things about her that she didn't want them to know. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to focus on not having an outburst just this once. She had done good after all and this was the longest she was able to stay at a school. Dont mess this up now! Keera scolded herself. “Hey Keera you alright girl?” A boy with blue/green eyes and a gigantic grin leans over and nudges her. She jumps over dramatically. He smiles his charming white smile that made his eyes sparkle. She remembered once thinking that when he got older that his eyes would be the first to wrinkle. Laugh lines would surely be the first sign of aging and a good life, for Albo was the happiest boy or person she had ever met. He had a slight accent. His family was from Albania and had moved to America when he was little just before the borders were sealed. He laughed softly at her reaction. “Wow girl I'm not armed.” Keera gave him a sideways glance and his smile infected her. Even with the feelings of anxiety she was having he seemed to still have her smiling. “Quiet class there will be an assessment on this to see how much you were paying attention. This is your American history and very important key elements to your government. Pay attention!” Mrs. Stimack a very conservative pointed woman pointed her last statement at the two of them. They both bit their lips and stifled a giggle and continued their focus to the front of the room where the tv box had the documentary playing on the wall. In the year 2014 News stations had footage, reports and headlines of a new drug sweeping the U.S. Its street name was dirty tar but later was lead back to Afghanistan and was easiest explained to the public as a special strain of Heroin. The News stations claimed that it was cut with a unknown substance and extremely dangerous leading to episodes of aggressive super human delusions and almost always leading to death. There were several reports of people eating each other, lifting cars or jumping off building thinking they could fly. Like most reports this too was swept under the rug after a few months until years later when it was linked to something much larger and historically changing. Keera shifted again restlessly thinking about her mother. God this video couldn't be over soon enough. She thought to herself as she rolled her eyes in frustration. She knew this was coming and that she would have to sit through it eventually but that didn't mean she was going to like it. Besides most students already knew most of this stuff already. It was a part of their day to day life. Keera glances back to Albo who was taking notes. Of course. Keera thought with a smile. He was the perfect student. He got all A’s. He knew multiple languages, was captain of the debate team, class President and was captain of the Soccer and basketball team despite being a bit short for his age. Keera remembered feeling a bit self conscious when she looked down the few inche from her eyes sight to his. His eyes were penetrating and caused her stomach to be uneasy. So much so that she avoided him for the first few month she was here last year. Finally, his charm infected her and they were the best of friends. Because for her that's all she had to offer. Anyone she let get any closer than that died and her heart cracked just thinking about anything happening to Albo. She shook the thought off and continued watching the documentary. The drug not only had massive initial side effects but it also modified something in the D.N.A. and the offsprings of the drug users had certain abilities. One political group wanted to euthanize the ones with abilities for the safety of all. Another wanted them in camps and the third wanted freedom for its people with or without abilities. This disagreement caused a war among the citizens of the United States. This Civil war is now known as the gene war and the most powerful Nation fell to its knees. Pictures of actors dramatically falling to their knees flash to the screen. Keera rolls her eyes and shakes her head with a heavy exhale of breath. “Hey Miss can you keep that heavy breathing down I can't keep my attention.” Keera looked over to Albo as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. She burst into laughter. She couldn't help it. Just then the projection paused and the lights came on. They looked up to Mrs. Stimack standing at the front of the class by the controller panel with her arms crossed and a wicked glare on her face. She was definitely not amused. “Keera if you can't control yourself then I will have to ask you to leave.” Keera presses her lips together and after a brief second she puts on a poker face and shakes her head in understanding. Albo raised his hand with his writing gadget still pressed between his fingers. “Yes Mrs. Stimack I am so sorry. I was asking her a question about the film. The dialect had me confused and I guess my confusion came out funny.” He shrugges innocently. “My apologies I will save my questions for after the Documentary is over.” Mrs. Stimack eyed Albo skeptically knowing that his dialect in the many languages he knew was next to perfect but seeing how he was her favorite student she replied. “Ok Albo that is a good idea. I'll let this go this one time but any more outbursts or disruptions and I will have to separate you two.” Albo smiled his beautiful smile and nodded with eager agreement. “Yes mam.” He said as he gave her a salute. Anyone else doing this might come off as arrogant but with that smile Albo was charming and genuine. Keera felt her once fast beating heart beat skip a beat and float in her chest. He glances towards Keera as Mrs. Stimack walked back to the controller panel on the wall. He leans over and whispers. “Separate us? Never.” He still wore his grin and gave Keera a wink. Keera tried desperately to not look at him. Las Vegas was bombed into a hole in the ground for being found out to be a safe haven for those afflicted and the government crumbled. Other Countries turned their back on the U.S. none of them wanting to risk any tainted getting in over seas and have the same destruction go on. America instated Martial law while the government rebuilt. Three territories arose. The Confederacy, which made up most of the inner, center states. The Union which made up most of the bordering states and the Independency which was made up of just four states, Colorado, Nevada, Louisiana and Florida. These four states were made homes to people who saw both sides of the other two territories and refused to commit to either. “Fence jumpers.” One kid coughed out. “Communists.” Another added in agreement. “Hippies.” A third added in a high pitched squeak until Mrs. Stimack called out in a stern voice. “That is enough! Pay attention or I will give the assessment now.” The room fell silent. “I will take questions at the end.” In the Confederacy they believed that God would show them the way out of this and they integrated religion as law. If you were a citizen of the Confederacy it was mandatory to attend Church every Sunday and donate your Wednesday nights to charity work. As a symbol of your allegiance at the age of 16 you were given a Confederate silver cross to wear as part of the Confederate dress code along with your state issued ID chip in the palm of your hand. Keera glanced down at the palm of her left hand. She was almost 12. She had four more years until she would have to leave. There would be no way for her to stay with what she was and in a Confederate state nonetheless. She glanced to Albo and her chest ached. She had four more years with him. The memory of him enthusiastically telling her that he wanted to be a soldier flooded her mind. This is why she could never let him in. She knew that if she did that he would hate her for what she was and that was worse than almost anything else. Keera blinked back tears and continued the torture of watching the documentary. In the Confederacy you were obligated to go to the Army for a year of training after high school and then attend college if decided after that. Science was accepted but with the acknowledgment that God created all things and any science trying to prove otherwise was forbidden by Confederate law. There was also an election for a Commander in Chief every 5 years which enabled the public to vote for its Confederate leader. Because a lot of the Confederate states consist of farm land they thrive on trade and focus on this skill. In the Union territory they believe in the people's voice as a majority to be most important. They have a council of the Union which consists of a leader from each Union state as a representative. In this territory environment is most important. Recycling is a strict law. Technology is a huge push in the Union states. College is not only free but required. If you opt out then you are required to join the military. Without either you will not be eligible for work. In order to work or travel at the age of 16 when you instate your allegiance to your territory you get a chip in your palm. In a Union state you get a branding on the back of the neck. The symbol of two hands shaking. Because most of the Union states are on the borders their technology and waterways give them an advantage to trade with the Confederates for food. Keera found herself rubbing the back of her neck and noticed that a few students were doing the same. She couldn't imagine being branded even if she tended to believe in the Union states of government more than her own. For now she was stuck. She would probably have to find a way to an Independent state at some point. That's the only way they wouldn't need to chip her. She was scared of being chipped because there were rumors that when you are chipped if you have a genetic default that your chip implant zaps you dead in under a minute. Even though it was most likely malarkey she didn't want to take that chance with her life. She continued rubbing her palm and listened closely to the Independent explanation of government. The Independent states are just that. They are each Independent from government and run on their own individually. After Nevada was bombed and as a gesture of peace all three territories deemed it the first safe zone. It was renamed New Vegas and housed all the new and upcoming technology. College kids from all three territories were allowed safe passage. Louisiana, Colorado and Florida ran off of a point system. Colorado and Louisiana grew crops and canibus to trade with either faction for their needs. In order to get points you had to contribute and thus you got your rations. It was harder to establish this system more than the others but in time everyone just grew accustomed. If they didn't like it they could change to a different faction. So people moved to where they wanted to be. Once you pledge your allegiance however it was very hard to change. Florida functioned on the same point system as well but thrived on fish trade and tourism. Independent territories allow visitors from both Union and Confederate States but no long term visitors like New Vegas and once you pledge your allegiance to an Independent state because they don't require tracking chips you were not allowed to travel outside your state without special paperwork stating you had permission to do so. Damn. Keera thought to herself. She wouldn't be able to leave. She would need to try and research all of them. Keera sunk a little in her seat. Researching anything outside of being a Confederate citizen was almost impossible here. She would find a way or she would just go to the closest one. Nevada wasn't too far from Arizona. Keera thought. I would surely find someone to help her get to an Independent state from there right? The cold feeling of loneliness blanketed her chest like it often did when she tried to come up with a game plan. Keera was completely on her own and had no one to help her. The Nihilist started to arise in her. Fuck it. She cursed. She would do what she had to do and if she went down she would take anyone trying to stop her down with her. This system has taken nearly a decade in a half to establish into what we have today. A very precise unified governing system. All three territories though separate help keep the united states diverse yet segregated. Once a melting pot of angry people forced to live amongst each other we are now a three part governing system with everyone where they belong best. Now a little over 10 years after it all begun the United States has gone through more change than it has in the last 200 years but is finally prospering. With the ones with ailments gone or secluded peace has finally been possible. Music of a marching band crescendos into the credits screen. As the lights came on Keera glanced around the room to the students blinking to adjust their eyes to the light. She was trying to gauge their reactions to the video. She looked to Albo who was staring at her. At first Keera wanted to be self conscious as if the video exposed her in some way. Then Albo licked his lips; eyes penetrating her with concern. “Are you alright?” He asked with so much concern it caught Keeras breath. She exhaled and averted her eyes from his. “Yeah I'm fine. Just tired.” She clears her throat. “Oh i dashur you don't expect me to believe that.” He always called her that. Which meant “darling” when she looked it up one time. Though she secretly loved it she found herself rolling her eyes at it almost impulsively. He laughed softly at her response. “Ok then we talk later ya?” Keera found herself unable to speak so she just shook her head in agreement to make the conversation be over with. “Ok settle down.” Mrs. Stimack called out over the chatter of the room that had erupted once the lights came on. Keera overheard one boy finishing his story to two other boys. “Yeah well my dad said the tainted are all in Puerto Rico in a camp where they belong.” Keera flinched at this statement. Puerto Rico was deemed a safe zone before the bombing of Las Vegas but it ended up just being a trap. Anyone who was taken there was never seen or heard from again. Men in black uniforms would come and tear people from their families and drag them off to this safe zone that people without abilities were not allowed to go. All of them being children. It almost caused a second war but because people that were not affected directly from this and wanted to move on outnumber the ones who did nothing came of their rebellion. “Joseph.” Mrs. Stimack called out to the boy telling the story. “Tainted is a slanderous word for those afflicted with abilities and I do not tolerate slanderous terms in my classroom.” Joseph put his head down in shame for his slip up. Keera had heard that word plenty of times behind closed doors. Her foster family used language worse than that along with other things that would make it easy for her to walk away from this facade of a life. The only thing that made it hard was Albo. She thought about the times they had hung out on roof tops talking about their life plans. Albo was so certain about what he wanted. He was tenacious. His life was planned out like a check list. Not like I want this to happen but what will happen with such certainty. Keera would just shrug and say that she planned on going to college for something. Albo would tease her casual non-commitment type attitude but she figured that deep down he maybe knew she didn't plan on sticking around and pledging her allegiance to Arizona. They never talked about it but when the subject of what they would do after school got brought up he would get this look in his eyes that was unmistakably sad. Albo was always happy and contagiously enthusiastic but in those moments Keera knew that she was going to break his heart and in doing that break her own. Whenever she thought of those moments her heart ached and she would then begin to a wall. “Yes Matthew?” Mrs. Stimack said calling on another student and waking Keera up from her inner tortured dialog. “Is it true that.” He paused looking for the correct words. “The people.” he paused again not knowing how to refer to the people with abilities. Mrs. Stimack answered for him. “People with ailments.” She said nonchalantly. Matthew shook his head in agreement to the term and continued. “Is it true that people with ailments are shipped to Puerto Rico in a camp?” Matthew was a skinny blond haired blue boy with such an innocent expression that Keera almost didn't even feel a stab in her chest when he asked it outloud. Mrs. Stimack answered with a well prepared tone to her voice and a fake smile plastered on her face. Keera had been alive long enough to observe people who despised people with abilities. The slander remark didn't fool her. “Now Matthew that has never been proven to be true. OK?” She shook her head yes as to get him to comply in agreement and to Keeras disbelief Matthew did so. “Ok Mrs. Stimack.” He said with a smile. Did she just hypnotise him? Keera thought to herself. “Yes Mary?” Mrs. Stimack called on the next student with their hand raised. Most of the students that were born into a Confederate state ended up having a biblical name. Students had come to bear these names with pride and arrogance and it annoyed Keera to no end. Mary was a teacher's pet. She had red hair in two tight pigtail braids on each side of her head and a freckled face. “Yes.” She said brushing one braid off of her shoulder like the chip she needed to get off her shoulder Keera thought to herself. “My daddy said that Canada is a Country full of heathens that all have abilities and have children out of wedlock and…” She was cut off. “Let me stop you right there.” Mrs. Stimack said. Mary went on though. “He said it's Sodom and Gomorrah all over again.” Mrs. Stimack put her hand up and Mary’s rebellious look on her face fell into a blank expression. Mrs. Stimack smiled kindly, which looked odd on her wrinkled face that had stress lines from frowning rather than smiling. Her blonde hair was tight on top of her head exposing every one of those lines on her face. “None of that has ever been proven and here in the Confederacy we only acknowledge truth and justice.” The words Truth and justice was recited by the whole class out loud any time they were said in class conversation like a verse at Catholic school. The Canadian border was the last to close, but they are just that. Closed! Therefore we do not acknowledge them. Understand?” She says with a gritted toothed grin. Mary just nodded in agreement. Keera pinched her brows together in shock. She is fucking hypnotizing them? She thought. Keera looked around the room to the other students to see if anyone else noticed what was going on and as far as she could tell no one was catching on. She looked to Albo who had his nose buried in his notes he had taken. Luke who was one of Keera and Albos friends raised his hand tentatively. “Yes Luke.” Mrs Stimack said with a smile but rolled her eyes at the same time already fed up with this routine. “Uh yea.” Luke's voice was shaky and nervous. He was Puerto Rican. After the war begun Puerto Rico was evacuated and his family, who was very religious moved to Arizona and had him and named him Luke by suggestion of the Commander of Chief that said all Confederates should bring biblical names back for the future is within our children and we should give them the holiest path we can. “Yes Luke go ahead.” Mrs. Stimack said with a hint of irritation in her voice. “Yeah what will happen if we don't want to pledge our allegiance?” Everyone turned to stare at him in the back of the class. Keeras heart ached for him knowing how much this bothered him. “I mean do you have to leave?” Mrs. Stimacks head tilted like a puppy's does when it does not understand how something works. “What do you mean not pledge your allegiance? Do you mean switch sides to a Union state?” She laughed at the last part conveying what a joke she thought that would be. “No I mean why do we have to pick a side?” He says in a smaller voice. Keeras stomach started turning at the agony she saw her friend going through. Damn it Luke why did you have to open your mouth! Keera yelled in her own head. “Well you don't. You can move away from your family and everything you know and go live on a commune, in sin with the savages in an independent state.” “Savages?” A crude voice rang out clear as a bell in the classroom. Keera didn't realize it was her own voice until she noticed everyone's gazed shifting to her. Mrs Stimack looked to her as if she was a bug. “Yes I believe savages would be accurate.” Mrs. Stimack’s voice was overly punctual as to convey her conception of knowledge to be much greater than Keeras. “Violent and uncontrolled is an accurate definition of the word savage.” She drew the last word out and flicked her tongue at the end as if it were something dirty she needed to get out of her mouth. Anger started boiling in Keeras stomach and she knew she was skating on a thin line. Keera drew in a deep breath to calm herself. “Just seems like an extreme word for a group of people that want to live their lives without being forced into something that they don't believe in.” Keera could feel herself glare even though she was trying to will herself not to. Mrs. Stimack glared back and stood. Her nice smiling expression was gone. “Really Keera? You mean people who don't believe in God or Jesus and want to live in sin without any consequences. You think savage is too harsh of a term for them.” Her hands were in firsts hung down on each side of her body that was shaking. She paced in front of the class and preached in a strong overpowering raging tone. “John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” She glared daggers to Keera daring for a response. “Matthew 7:1-5” was all that left Keeras lips in a firm defying voice. Although every fiber of her being was telling her to stop bringing attention to herself she couldn't help but feed the fire inside her. Her lips curled up into a smirk. Gasps erupted from the room because the scripture she was referencing was about not judging others for you will be judged with the same harshness. “Get out!” Mrs. Stimack roared. Keeras smirk fell into a frown and she swallowed hard. Students that got send to the principle got lashings and although she was not scared of the pain from the lashings she was scared about controlling her ailments as she was punished. “Please.” was all that could leave her lips. She frantically looked to Albo that was looking at her with pain in his eyes. “I will not have you disrupting my class!” Keera did not respond. She had no words that wouldn't just get her into more trouble. She also did not move. She was unable to. She just gripped the sides of her desk trying to control her breathing frozen in fear that she might burn the entire school down if forced to move. Just then Albo stood. “I want to bear her punishment please.” Albo stood at attention. The class was dead silent. “Albo no.” Is all that Keera could say but it was barely audible. “Quiet.” Mrs Stimack spat at Keera. She approached Albo. “Are you sure you want to do this?”She whispered quietly into his ear. Albo stood at attention not looking Mrs. Stimack in her eyes. “Yes mam. I would please like to bear her punishment for her which is stated in the handbook as a viable rule.” Mrs. Stimack leans her gaze back to spot the agony in Keera’s expression. “Yes, but not a rule that I have seen actually practiced.” She then wore a smirk leaning in to whisper into Albos ear again. “You know you are very brave for this.” Albo said nothing. “I favore you but the Principal will make an example of you. You know this right?” Albo says nothing. “You can back out if you want to. Now that you know this Albo.” Albo looks to Keera and winks. “No mam I will not be backing out” He says loud enough for everyone to hear. Mrs. Stimack leans back to look Keera right in the face. “I didn't think you would. Go on then and receive your lashings.” Albo grabs his books and marches out of the classroom. Keera’s eyes glassed over and warm tears rolled uncontrollably down her face. Her chest felt like a hole had been hammered into it. “You should think of this next time you want to disrupt my classroom Keera.” If keera hadn't been so heart broken she knew the room would of exploded at that very moment. Instead she sat extremely quiet; silent tears falling out onto her desk until she had no more tears left to fall. That night Keera snuck out of her room in the attic of her foster parents house and into the upstairs room of Albo that lived just next door. She opened the window that was always unlocked. She had become accustomed to knocking and they meet on the roof never daring to actually go inside his room. She didn't want to give the wrong impression to him. Albo was laying in bed with bandages taped to his back soaked in blood. He lay face down covered in sweat. “Oh my God Albo.” Keera whispered touching his bicep gently from behind not able to see his face yet. “Albo I am so sorry.” She whispered out. Albo took a deep breath in. “Keera you didn't deserve this.” His words were muffled half into the pillow and half because of Albos teeth being grinded together through the pain. Tears Keera didn't think she had welled back into her eyes. She walked around the bed and layed down so that her face and his were facing each other. “You didn't either. Why did you do this for me.” He smiled his enthusiastic grin that was tainted with the pain. “Because i dasure don't you know?” His eyes shot lasers into hers and down into her chest. He raised his hand and touched her cheek. “Ti je dashuria ime” Keeras breath hitched. She wasn't exactly sure what that meant but she was almost 100% sure that he just professed his love to her. He leaned forward to give her a kiss on her forehead and kiss her tears from her eyes. Yeah I'm going to break him. She thought with certainty for there was no future for them but she felt like she couldn't live without him. In that moment Keera felt for the first time ever that she was not alone and it was going to kill her.