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vasiliquemort · 4 years ago

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Can I have some more Margot headcanons ? 💖 I'd love to know more about his domestic and practical skills ✨ Love the Huldra boy 💞

Yes! Yes, yes, of course - as much as you like!! *--*

I love to talk about my sweethearts so much - and, as always, I tried to answer both the question, and a little (or maybe not a little;зз) more, parts about different things - about household talents, about personal habits, about temperament and motivations, about the past, about the future.

I sincerely hope you’ll enjoy it - thank you so much for making me so happy today, you are just a treasure!

Please, bever hesitate to ask more - about anyone, anything, short ideas, or full drabbles - it's always an absolute delight for me~~

Margot is one of those people who seem to be visually restless - but in reality he carefully controls everything that concerns his personal interests. He has many rudiments that would help him cope with home economics - he carefully and enviously observes Edwardis and his place in the coven, memorizing and using everything he can learn.

He is thorough and attentive in everything that his hands touch - it is important for him to control his life, to be confident in his place, but he tries not to let anyone observe his personal affairs - in a closed society of northerners, everyone follows their own corner carefully and zealously like a kite. Margot himself is gentle, but at the same time carefully keeps his distance when it comes to something that is important to him - usually he tries to remain invisible and does not like when someone is watching him, so you will rather notice how he escapes from prying eyes than the very process of his studies.

Margot was once an early riser - but in the constant fog and darkness of Nimrode, his sense of time faded away, he feels constantly sleepy and like a ghost. He quickly gets lost and needs the attention of other people - as a huldra, he is hardy and can go without sleep for a long time, but the longer he is deprived of rest and comfort, the more complex and animal his temperament and train of thought.

Margot does not like public signs of affection - for him all forms of adoration are much more difficult than it seems. He is calculating, but always invariably affectionate in the eyes of the archon - but it is much easier for him to give attention and affection than to accept, he is distrustful and feels uncomfortable if he is singled out or shows special attention in front of other people, although he always allows himself to emphasize his place and privilege.

He knows how to cook - but to a greater extent, cooking does not give him any warmth, for him it is just a daily need. He knows what it feels like to be hungry in the north, and he is amazingly smart and careful when using his own supplies or helping with food issues in the coven.

Usually Margot always dines quickly and alone, but the situation is completely different if the Archon invites him to their place - for the northerners this is a form of intimacy and courtship, and in this case Margot will treat the process completely differently. When he stops feeling cut off from society cooking for him becomes a form of intimacy - he is especially talented in simple but tasty pastries, and he knows how to make warm teas and uzvars in a special way.

Do you want to cook together?.. Oh wow. For Margot, this is something very special - be with him, show that you care and consider him a part of your life, and although he will not give any special look (the more you push him closer, the more cautious and outwardly detached he becomes), he will remember this for a long time. If you do something together - cooking, doing greenhouse work or handicrafts - he becomes surprisingly quiet, but especially cozy and warm at such times. He stops flirting or touching at all, but there is something gentle, very familiar and close in his stealthy gaze and soft, calm face and hand movements.

Margot has restless hands - when he is being watched, he carefully restrains himself, but as soon as he relaxes, they flutter like birds when he talks. Alone or in moments of rest, he always does something with his hands - he often spends hours knitting with threads and vines, weaving, sorting and tying herbs, at the same time he completely ignores embroidery (considering it a pointless killing of time) or cooking (he.. he does not like to waste food if he cooks only for himself)

He doesn't need help. No. Just, please, do not touch him when he is doing something on his own - if he loves you enough not to consider your actions a mockery, he will still refuse - he sees a meditative and calming meaning in many things, do not take it away from him. He likes to spend time in silence and in his own thoughts, when he does something for himself, for his home, every action seems to be a ritual, with a special meaning in his eyes. If he is not alerted, it will be much more difficult for him to switch - but he will be infinitely happy and grateful for your company and the feeling of security and warmth that you generate in him.

Margot is a solid contrast, as soon as you begin to get to know him better - he is amazingly sociable and attentive, he has a bright, changeable temperament, but he prefers to spend time alone and always carefully chooses words and monitors his actions. He is not at all like Tizian - he does not like to play with other people's attention and feelings in the open and he lacks that passion and brightness of temperament, and although he is soft and sympathetic, he tries to remain invisible in the eyes of the majority.

Oh, and, of course, Margot is very calculating in everything he does or says - everything has a special meaning, a special idea, he knows how to achieve someone else's sympathy, imperceptible but murderous, methodically and persistently. Tizian is his opposite, although they understand each other too well - it is much more common for him to play his own games with the public, he is exponentially pleasant and easy to love, but with whom he wants to conquer, he is amazingly open and honest - in his true character there is all the necessary simplicity and passion, while Margot is quieter and more affectionate inside than it seems, and it is much more difficult for him to reveal himself without expecting a blow.

Margot is amazingly well versed in trade and many types of handicrafts, and he lives with a special, very important idea of him and his full, like a cup, home. He is not very worried about his own comfort - he easily gets used to many things, but he desperately and passionately needs a family and the fact that all his loved ones lived in pleasure and prosperity. His understanding of prosperity is far from luxurious, through, but he is attentive to many little things - and he does everything on his own. He is versed in weaving and sewing, in caring for many plants and host animals, in the preparation of wines, cheeses, tea, food for the long winter, he knows how to take care of the house - with simple and affordable materials, but he carefully whitens the walls and looks after the wood, knows how to properly build a roof and lay a stove.

There are a thousand things that he learned from people from his very youth - in the meadows and mountains of soft, gentle Galicia, but he still feels defenseless and weak under the cruel, crushing storms of the islands of fog, for them they are wild beasts that he inexorably wants to conquer, but so far I have to carefully, daily and tirelessly follow.

He is a huldra, a child of the forest, but he desperately and with horror opposes the animality, the unconsciousness of his nature. The spirits of forests and lakes are close and dear to him, he understands and hears their whispers, when he walks past the windows at night, they call and want to take him with them - but there child of the forest loses himself, he feels like a ghost, led by the unconscious - and there he cannot have family or desires, the future does not await him and he, like Mavkas and Leshyns, is lost in eternity and immutability of roots. He can teach the archon his talents how to talk and honor the old gods - their mother will push them if necessary, but Margot always turns away and refuses to look the ancients in the eyes longer than he needs. He will easily lead a person out of the darkest forest, teach how to survive in wilds months or even years - but he himself will prefer to live in a human society, in the tight quarters of the south or the thick walls of the north, so as not to lose himself, in order to feel real, true and living.

I see that Margot's main instrument of conquest is his touch and the feeling of comfort next to him. He does not know how to strike brightly and outright with charm or words, but he goes to the Archon methodically, persistently - it will seem to them that they are holding him at arm's length, but as soon as he leaves, they are cold and their life seems to be falling apart. It is amazingly easy and pleasant to get used to warm and gentle hands, to unchanging tea and well-fed food, to the tranquility and safety of their home, to infinitely caring and attentive eyes.

Margot is considered beautiful - someone who is very invisible at first, but who is absolutely pleasant to look at - he has bright eyes and an delightful, soft smile, his skin is chapped from frost, yet with a warm blush, and his voice is iridescent like a stream. He likes to grow his hair, imitating secunds - but he invariably puts it in buns and tied up braids, he dresses in his own neat and simple way - over time he wants to get lost less and finds things that emphasize the maturity of his character and the desire to show his place among people.

He is not capable of magic in the usual sense of the secunds - but he has a huge storehouse of weapons that he can use for his own sake. Potions and poisons (Burn other people's lungs with vapors? Secretly deprive sleep and mind with amok’s mist and anxiety poured into the cup?), charms and runes, and hordes of fellow spirits, into whose eyes he peers and sees their insides, as in the palm of his hand. Margot has powerful patrons of islans, revenge for him is methodical and similar to a ritual, but even so - his temperament is explosive, and his hands are a stone if he feels in danger. He hides under his own gentleness, indicative of defenselessness among magicians and sorcerers, but this way it is easier for him to get close to someone who came to ruin and desecrate his nest - Margot, like the other huldras from legends, will easily roll the iron into a hook and break a man's spine like a twig.

#secunda #visual novel #ask #margot #headcanons #margot x archon #margot x reader #imagines #dark fantasy #gothic #requests #domestic #tizian

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spiritmaiden23 · 4 years ago

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CHARACTER SHEET FOR ZELDA!!

This is a headcanon sheet that will go deep into the depths of Sky Zel, namely for fantasy verse because I do have another post to dissect Zel’s character as a whole coming up! Fantasy verse I feel needs more info than what I have for her character sheet this way more people can understand her and hopefully play around in that verse because hunny witch zel is an excellent concept I refuse to go to waste. I’d love to rp with more people in this verse because it’s refreshing as well. Anyhow! Bear was kind enough to provide the sheet and now here I am taking advantage of it! Be warned fellas, it’s gonna be a long. Like very long, this took like an hour or two to complete. With all dat juicy details. Feel free to copy and paste this if you want, it’s good for main characters or OCs. But it is long as hell! Let’s jump into it!

Character’s Name: Zelda Lockewood Character’s nicknames: Zel, Zellie, Zeldy, witch of the woods, Hylia’s apprentice Gender: Female Righty or Lefty: Righty Age: 19-20 Height: 5′3 around 161 cm Weight: 104 lbs Eye Color: Light blue, similar to the skies. They twinkle with mischief intent yet benevolence is within her gaze. Hair color: Golden blonde, often tied with ribbons and in a very low ponytail Distinguishing marks: She has a scar on her chest below the collarbone and at the end of her ribcage where the scar has a slight turn to it towards the left, right above her heart. After a summoning spell gone wrong, she was stabbed there by the creature, thankfully miss OP Hylia was there to save her from dying. Describe physical traits in one passage: Whew, ok I sound like a broken record but here we go. She often has red cheeks that tend to grow redder when angry or embarrassed or shy or when she has the dokis. Very long ears that also can grow red towards the tips, as such people have mistaken her for an elf which is why she wears the witch’s hat in the first place. She likes to tie her hair in a low ponytail in order to work without it getting in the way but out of her hair is super long to the waist. She has blunt bangs or hime cut as I like to call it! And is petite but don’t let that fool you, she does have monster strength much like main verse. FAMILY/ RELIGION Parents: Hylia is her biological mother within this verse, she’s unaware of the fact and believes her mother to be dead. She lives with her adoptive father, Gaepora. Siblings: An only child Significant Other: None thus far! But I’m open to shipping here ;v; Children: Again, none but it’s something she’d want in the future! Other relatives: Gaepora keeps his family at an arms length, though jolly and wise he tends to be a bit of an introvert at times as such Zelda doesn’t really get to meet with her family too much or get to know them. Pets: Her familiar, the Loftwing Indigo! Black cats seem to like her as they surround her though! Friends: Tons! But well in case future RPers are interested I can’t really fill it out. Enemies: Sorceresses are typical enemies to a witch, she tends to avoid other witches too due to their cold-hearted nature. Relationships (other): It’s tough to put Wylan in a category so this might be best. Though he is an annoyance and she finds him a bit of a troll slowly she’s starting to get to know him bit by bit. Ethnicity: A witch! With connection to the gods thanks to her mother being the Goddess of Witches who goes by the name Circe to mortal realm and witches, her true name is Hylia though so don’t be confused by this. She comes from a nation called Lanayru, so prehaps Lanayruen if you wanna call her that! Religion: Most witches tend to follow something akin to Wiccan belief, Zelda follows that! Superstitions: When making a potion, she often likes to pray to the Goddess of Witches and sing a small tune while making sad potions as a means to break the silence. She doesn’t look at mirrors in the dark or but two mirrors opposite of each other as it’s believe it could make a portal of sorts for demons and other evil beings, as such she often covers her mirrors and doesn’t look at them too much aside from when she has to get ready. It’s silly, she knows, but it’s trauma from opening the portal when summoning a being far beyond her skill. Diction, Accent, ETC.: So, she has a light accent that’s typical for those coming from Lanayru. Certain words, you can hear it spilling out. It’s best to describe it as a sing-songy accent where certain vowel sounds are stretched out. She’s learned to shorten the vowels though, trying to fit in with the nation she lives in now! Which is Hyrule a land far more bigger than her humble homelands with advancements in magic and certain technology. They have a more... I wanna say North american accent that can range from Canadian to the typical eastern accent for USA to southern accent from again, USA. SCHOOL/ WORK / HOME Education (Highest): Hmm, college equivalent of fantasy world? She was a fast learner and skipped a few grades which is why she graduated so early (it helps being the daughter of the Goddess of Witches too, demi god to be exact haha) she and had a natural affinity for magic, also she was studious as well and often aced tests. Degrees: Oh damn... well she doesn’t have the title Hylia’s Golden Apprentice for nothing. So let’s consider that a degree, or maybe a degree in magic pft! Vocation/Occupation: A potions seller! Employment History: Let’s explain how she has experience in this! She worked with a brewing master, who owned a shop that was full of wares and while some cursed and forbidden, as well as the owner being sketchy, she learned about how the potions business works while working for him from 14 to 18. Four short years! Nice! Upon moving to Hyrule, she kept her potions making a bit lowkey. Selling her wares in the small town near the lost woods known as Tarrey Town. Under the guise as a merchant, it was soon discovered that she was a witch and while certain residents tend to avoid her due to low reputation of witches as a whole, many are attracted by her refreshingly friendly nature and excellent quality in potions. Rumors begin to spread out and she does tend to travel to the big city, Castle Town, from time to time to sell her wares. Though she’s still learning the ropes, and though her business isn’t really that big, she’s doing not too bad. Salary: Potions aren’t cheap, she’s her own boss as well. So, let’s put it that way. HWEOH Status and money: Despite how well her business is doing, she’s not exactly rich but she’s not too worried about her money situation either. Resourceful, she tends to save her money by collecting her own ingredients in the Lost Woods, though if she has to she will go out to get the ones she couldn’t find within the forest and while some are expensive, she tends to barging with cheapening the price somewhat. Own or Rent: OWN! She made her little hut deep within the woods through magic of course, it’s hard to find unless you know how to navigate within the ever changing nature of the Lost Woods. It’s a bit like OOT in that regard, ALTTP with the mysterious fog you can get lost in, and well... I’m also taking small inspiration from Paper Mario 64 with the spooky forest in one level since the Lost Woods here is a bit... well, spooky! Living Space: It’s a small, humble sized cottage crafted with grey bricks for the chimney and front entrance sticking out with some tudor elements to the building where the house is half-timbered walls! The outside has a white little gate with a plant arch full of roses, and there is a garden full of flowers and herbs, with ivy crawling up the building towards the back of the house along with a weeping willow within her large yard, a lake is nearby and there is a lovely waterfall but beware of the creatures lurking within! The window in the kitchen is the biggest window in the house, almost like a bay window of sorts but you can’t exactly open that window yet there is a another on the lower floor where you can, while her bedroom has a slightly smaller window where they are opened outwards and always opened in the daytime, there is a large window seat, large enough to sleep on it with comforting pink cushion as well as little pillows she’s knitted herself. There are drawers underneath where she stores extra stuff. Now, as for the inside, aside from the kitchen and her bedroom along with the bathroom, it’s a big mess! The small space is cluttered with tons of books and tomes, some on the millions of shelves (along with tons and tons of potion battles) she has and some on the floor with pages scattered throughout the wood flowering. She has plants like wisteria hanging on the walls and several others like witch’s herb among other examples hanging from the celling. There’s a small sitting area with a wooden desk and stool and that’s where she often works with her research. It’s pretty much well lived in and is the result of working too much to notice the mess. It’s two stories, with a small attic being the second floor. Her bedroom is located on the first floor and despite the window seat, she has a nice slightly small queen sized sleigh bed in the center and up against the wall, it looks super comfy, like you can sink into it and well it’s possible! Along with a vanity mirror with brushes for light makeup she wears for special events, and a small bottle filled with flowers, her knitting area with a small basket full of yarn balls and a wooden wardrobe to keep her clothing in. There is a cute rug on the floor to bring the room together. Along with book shelves. It’s a cute yet ery simple style. Work Space: As described above, it’s a wooden desk within the main hub area of the house. It’s in the corner of the room, near a window as a means to get sunlight and fresh air! Her cauldron is not too far from the desk and once again, she has tons of flowers. There’s always her research papers and books on it, a quill with a feather, annnnd a small candle stand in case she’s working late in the night! Main Mode of Transportation: Either her “broom” which is an enchanted feather from her Loftwing or her Loftwing himself! She thinks it’s silly to ride on a broom and wanted to be more creative! PSYCHOLOGY Fears: Well when you face near death and actually saw the reaper’s scythe coming at you hot, you tend to not fear much. She doesn’t really like to summon things though due to that accident, so there’s nervousness whenever she absolutely has to. Mirrors there’s a slight fear due to how they can act as portals into the other realm. And losing loved ones, failing to protect them. Perhaps knowing the truth about her birth is also a fear, as she will deny being a demi god let along to the Goddess of Witches. There’s this feeling she has where she knows she’s not an ordinary witch but out of fear she does not investigate too much with a slight hint of curiosity. Secrets: Much like main verse she can hear the gods and spirits of the realm, something she denies and keeps to herself. While she can do wandless magic, a feat only known to Hylia, it’s a bit hard and her spells tend to go wild so it’s why she likes to stick to tomes as it better handles her powers. Whenever mana blockage happens, she tends to get embarrassed and will only reveal it if she has to. IQ: VERY HIGH as expected of someone with a lot of wisdom despite her age. That is all for this one... Eating Habits: NOT VERY GOOD!!! She just throws together anything that’s edible enough and eats it, while it doesn’t taste good she’s always in a rush to get back to work because she’s a bit of a workaholic in this verse! Sometimes, she’ll take elixirs to suppress her hunger if she’s working very hard on something like research or recipe hunting, at times she doesn’t always get the potion right so she tends to try again and again until she does. Neglecting her need to eat. Pretty much, it’s like putting fried rice, egg, and leftovers in a blender and eating that disgusting mess. And though she can cook mainly simple enough dishes, she tends to not do it too much. Someone get this girl some food. Sleeping Habits: AGAIN NOT VERY GOOD THIS POOR BABY!! When cramming in the night, she gets so focused she tends to stay up until four o’ clock by drinking lots and lots of coffee... and that’s when the sleepiness tends to hit her once that caffeine is all gone, you’ll most likely see her asleep at her desk. Being an early bird though means she won’t get much sleep so ;v; That said when not cramming, she tends to get sleepy once the sun’s down so she does get normal hours of sleep mostly. She loves the morning and always wakes up to the sun greeting her as she tends to leave the curtains open, not at all afraid to do that since like... no one goes deep into Lost Woods aside from Wylan pft. Book Preferences: She loves reading research and recipe books! It’s always fun for her to learn new things and as such she always has her head buried in a book that discusses tons and tons of research. When not learning and sitting back to relax, she likes tales of adventures and will sometimes read romance novels as well. Music Preferences: Harp and lyre along with other string instruments! She tends to love folklore as there is a history behind it and she does find that super interesting. Though she can somewhat play the harp/lyre she’s not as talented as say the bard Kina! Groups or Alone: While good enough in a group as she does like teamwork, she’d rather do things on her own. Blame being responsible to a fault for that one alongside slight hero complex for more dangerous things she has to face HJKA! Leader or Follower: Are you kidding? Leader all the freaking way! She has a natural charm about her and is ambitious in a sense, she would make a good leader because she’s wise enough to make good decisions when in a pinch. That said she can be a little bossy when worry wart tendencies pops up and will def assume that you need her help. She’s just trying to be a good friend who believes in you and your potential, don’t mind her. Just... her supportive attitude is pretty strong haha! Planned Out or Spontaneous: With her carefree nature, you’d think she’d be spontaneous and while she can be at times because adventure is fun, she tends to plan a lot of things out... of course, her plans never work out. But again, she’s resourceful enough to work around the issue she may come across. Journal Entires (Do they keep one?) YES OF COURSE MY GIRL LOVES TO WRITE!! She actually has a few, four in total. One for researching plants and other things, another to keep track of her inventory, one for folklore and ghosts/monsters findings perhaps, and one for her personal feelings. If you find the last one, she will end your life. Hobbies, Recreation: Girl loves to knit! It’s very relaxing and she’s really good at it along with sewing her own clothing! She loves flying, and collecting plants in case that wasn’t obvious already. She also loves monster hunting despite how dangerous it can be, but due to how unique the monsters are in Hyrule she just can’t help it! Catch her taking pictures whenever she comes across one while a friend grabs her and runs for dear life. Jam making is a fun things she enjoys and gardening. Overall, really good hobbies she has! How Do They Relax: A nice bath filled with floral oils that’s meant to relax you and certain flowers as well. It’s how she’s got that flowery scent after all. She tends to read in the bath, and well reading in general along with writing is how she unwinds! She loves knitting and gardening and jam making is relaxing from time to time. Drinking tea while sitting underneath the weeping willow. She does love practicing her magic and hexes too! What Excites Them?: MONSTERS DESPITE HOW DANGEROUS THEY ARE AND SNAPPING PHOTOS TO RECORD THEM, finding new spells, new tomes and other books! Seeing friends will make her super happy, flowers, wild plant life never seen before. Whenever other people from distant cities learn about her potions shop, new cauldrons, successfully making a new potion, exploring new cities and towns, traveling, flying, learning new things because she’s a nerd with a thirst for knowledge... pretty much she’s very excited over tons of things, it doesn’t take much to excite her, actually haha! Pet Peeves: Wylan breaking into her house, she has tons of charms in the place so it’s a bit worrying and annoying to find him in there doing whatever, messing up with a spell or burning potions, hunger pains when she’s deep at work along with her natural sleepiness once it’s dark out, prideful hero types mayhaps where they’re all talk and no action more like (she does value bravery though), bullying since strong sense of justice, and finally gossip and judgement. Prejudices: She... doesn’t really have one? Aside from not liking bullies and again prideful hero types who are all talk and no action... liars too? And creeps who flirt with her. Flirting is fun but not when it’s unwanted. Yeah... that’s about it I think! Attitudes: Very determined and ready to face the day and is a hard worker! She’s a cheery girl through and through and very kind but don’t let her kindness fool you as she’s not afraid to put her foot down and call you out. She’s charming and a playful girl who has a love for learning. And is very supportive but can be a busybody if she worries for you. And though somewhat scared about the truth of her origins, once the time comes she’s ready to face those fears. She tends to get either angry or embarrassed (it’s ambiguous really) whenever Wylan is around doing... Wylan things actually haha! Stressors: I guess failure or deadlines that she can’t make if the recipe for the potion is too hard. As well as vague customers too because what sorta potion do you want from her she can’t read minds? Tarot cards and palm reading, while she knows how to do these things as it’s natural for all witches, knowing the future is scary and she’d rather live in the now while looking forward to the what the future has in store without knowing of her fate. Also, dark magic. She tends to stay away from it, corruption is a thing that can happen causing her to become a mindless yet very OP being known as sorceress. Obsessions: WORK. Very much a hard worker to a fault actually due to her high sense of responsibilities playing into that. It’d be cash money if someone could help with relaxing her. Addictions: Book collecting, along with flower collecting too and finally she has a super bad sweet tooth. That’s about it. Ambitions: Right now, she wants to become a bigger name in order to help out people as she loves helping others, and well, the extra money doesn’t hurt either. She wishes to become a bit more powerful as she already is, up to the Grand Witch Hylia levels and wishes to increase her mana, not that it’s low but just in case! As Seen by Others: A cutie pie! Who’s kind though sometimes people do avoid her since Witch. As Seen by Self: She’s cute and she knows it haha! Aside from that she doesn’t see herself as kind but someone who wants to do the right thing, there’s no reason behind this aside from it’s natural for her to be this way. That said she wants to work harder than she already is someone stop her. ASTROLOGY/PHISIOLOGY (hoo boi i know shit about that but let’s go) Birth Date: March 20 Time of Birth: 3:07 AM, right during witching hours with the magic number seven in it, that’s why Hylia went “oh crap she’s gonna be powerful like me and make poor life decisions if she sticks with me time to yeet this baby outta here” Western Astrological Sign: Pisces Traits Associated with Western Sign: I’m lifting this from a sight but strengths are Compassion, artistic, intuitive, gentle, wise, musical. While weakness is fearful (not really she’s pretty brave but does have some fears) overly trusting, sad, desire to escape reality, can be a victim or a martyr. Some traits don’t really fit her, I guess you can say she’s the odd man out with typical pisces haha! Chinese Zodiac Sign: That’s a little difficult since it goes by year rather than date but I’ll try! Year of the Monkey! It fits her best I feel! Traits Associated with Chinese Zodiac: according to this site monkeys are fast learners and crafty, they tend to have many interests, they are clever and creative and love to accept challenges. They tend to have magnetic personalities are witty and intelligent but can be naughty aka playful. I feel this fits her better than Pisces... or maybe a mixture of both haha! Handwriting: DOCTOR’S WRITING!! SHE... HAS SLOPPY CURSIVE THAT ONLY SHE CAN READ HWEOH but she can write neat cursive it’s just she’s always in a rush to get her thoughts out there. Sexual History: Girl was too focused in her studies she did not date anyone. She’s not one for ahem “hooking up either” So... no history there I guess pft. General Health: Healthy as can be! Medical History: Aside from that one time where she almost died, her medical history is really not that interesting. She does get mana blockage from time to time and they hurt hard and makes it harder to use magic. Her spells going haywire. Allergies: Hmm... I don’t think she has any. Chronic Illnesses: Nope again! Handicaps: And again no on that either. OBJECTS Purse / Bag: She has a leather bag around her waist, it’s charmed to be a hammer space of sorts so like... tons of things. Books, tomes, scrolls, diary for ingredients gathering, another journal for folklore and monster tracking, pictograph/camera athame knife just in case because you never know, wallet and plenty of others stuff Wallet: Well, it’s a pouch that’s full of money, a lot just in case. That is also a hammer space of sorts! Fridge: NOT A DAMN THING she’s better at storing bird food for her loftwing and cat food for any stray cats hanging around her area but her fridge is like... leftovers from the little meals she makes from time to time, jam, potions that need to be stored in cold place, veggies, and one battle of water that’s it. Medicine Cabinet: While she knows some healing spells it doesn’t hurt to have bandages just in case! Along with medical brews that’ll help with things such as colds and other illnesses. Tooth brush and paste of course... and uh the little makeup she has because this girl a goddess and doesn’t wear it too much. Glove Compartment: CARS DON’T EXIST BUT ACCORDING TO BOTW MOTORCYCLES DO, that said she doesn’t have a motorcycle so like... nothing! Junk Drawer: Utensils, knives for food... for one draw. As for the other real junk drawer full of papers, dried and pressed flowers, journals, and extra quills alongside some cute jewelry! Kitchen Cabinets: Plates, bowls, and glasses of course with spices in another and any food to help with cooking! Bedroom Hiding Place: Underneath her bed is where the personal journal is... for the most part. Closets: Clothing, it’s a small closet along side other junk like her old wand, and anything relating to her school memories such as supplies. Backback: Isn’t that the same thing as purse/bag? Either way, read above! Locker: None Desk: WEEPS DO I HAVE TO REPEAT MYSELF ON THIS? Read above with living situation. Clothes pocket: Mostly letters for her father... a pocket watch, and sometimes she’ll have the athame knife in there too. There’s not much she can store with her dress apron!

OTHER (bitch we almost done!!) Halloween Costumes: SHEET GHOST!! She won’t go as a witch since well she is one, sheet ghost is probably meant for laughs really. Also she’d make her own black cat costume due to her affinity with them. A black dress, with cat ears and whiskers drawn on... yeah that seems good! Tricks: Little things like charming you to float! Or having giant rabbits chase after you before they cuddle you! Spiders crawling out from your ears! Bats following you. See? Nothing harmful but something funny to witches yet not so much to mortals or other supernatural beings for that matter. Talents: Magic, she’s insanely talented but it helps having a Goddess mother who created magic and witches/mages in the first place! She’s good at knitting as we established and sewing, very good at brewing all sorts of potions as they’re always high quality, very good at researching stuff. ETC ETC. Politics: Hmm well,,, Hyrule is absolute monarchy where the king and royal family lie about being descendants of gods so... yeah! Not much to say there since she’s not one who’s tied to mortal virtues. Flaws: Worrywart which turns to her assuming things and taking the wheel so to speak she’s trying her best to support friends but well being nosy and like this isn’t always the best, sometimes while good with words and advice to comfort someone she doesn’t always say the right thing to comfort said person, she works too hard and is responsible to a fault, she often likes to give others the benefit of the doubt despite being screwed over. And perhaps... she doesn’t worry about herself so much as she worries about others. Not only does she think she can handle most things but also it’s a bit of a hero complex or something similar to that where she always sacrifices herself for others. Because, it’s the right thing to do. She tends to get embarrassed easily and has a bit of a nasty temper at times but it doesn’t take long for her to get overall as she’s not one to hold grudges. Strengths: Very joyful and charming, many find themselves drawn to her as the result of this. Kind as well to everyone, aside from mentioned above in prejudice section and dislikes, she likes to treat everyone equally as best as she can. Reasonability is her middle name and tends to always get things done. She’s also very wise for her age and someone who encourages you to do your very best because she believes in you and sees this great light in you that gives you great potential for the bright future. She can be a little flirty towards someone she likes once she gets over her initial shyness upon discovering her feelings but well romance is new to her so sometimes she’ll miss certain romantic intentions. And playful girl who’s a bit witty too. She has talents for magic and is a fast learner for the most part. Also love learning too and is a nerd. She has a creative side to her! Drugs/Alcohol: Nope! Passwords: Probably her birthday for like things that require numbers such as safes and the like! Email Address, Home Page, Blogs, etc.: Well none pft Time and place: Very vague middle ages that takes inspiration from the Magic Technology BOTW has along with other games too such as TP and SS. Special Places: The sky... does that count? And the Haunted Grove deep within the Lost Woods. Special Memories: Meeting her familiar for the first time, any time spent with her dad as he was loving and kind, getting accepted to become a student for Hylia despite her wanting to keep a distance but takes her under her wing just in case.

#phew... PHEW THAT TOOK ME LEGIT HOURS #BECAUSE IT WAS A CHART AND I HAD TO TYPE EVERYTHING UP #ALONGSIDE WITH ALSO RAMBLING #y'all better read this i didn't break my back and burn my eyes for nothing *points knife*#(i am kidding of course)#but i changed some things around from initial post about fantasy/witch verse for zellie!#all those juicy details... i'm quite proud of myself and honestly amazed i can do this at all HWEGV #that's how you know i love this character #ooc postings.#headcanon.#| piece of heart: headcanon.

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redisriding · 5 years ago

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King of Scars - Review

I have just finished reading King of Scars and let me tell you, I have some THOUGHTS™

I don’t want to spoil anyone though, so read below the fold at your own discretion…

(Also contains spoilers of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy and the Six of Crows Duology, but it is unlikely that one has not read those books but has read King of Scars).

Nb. I word vomited this onto the page so apologies for any typos/misspellings/incomplete trains of thought!

Okay so, let me start by stating my position in respect of the other Grisha Verse books. I enjoyed the Shadow and Bone Trilogy. I really liked the first one, thought the second one did nothing but elongate the story, but found the third one redeeming. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the two main characters/love interest as I found both Alina and Mal annoying in parts, but I have to remind myself that I am in my mid-20s reading YA books so maybe I can’t be too critical of the behaviour of teenagers(?!). I am however a sucker for when the female lead chooses the good boy they grew up with over the mysterious creepy stranger, so yeah I shipped them. What made this trilogy for me was the amazingly vivid universe that was created – the Grisha Verse – and the absolute romp of supporting characters. So, not wanting to leave the world behind just yet I read the Six of Crows duology and I LOVED THESE BOOKS. Not only did we get to delve deeper into the Grisha Verse, but the storyline is fantastic, the characters are brilliantly painted, and the dialogue is some of the most witty, most wonderful dialogue I have ever read (Jesper anyone?). Plus, the Nina x Matthias dynamic is my absolute favourite romance trope!!! With honourable mentions to Kaz and Inej of course.

Going into King of Scars I was hopeful for a thrilling adventure across the Grisha Verse I have come to know so well, with some excellent characters and cracking banter.

Was that what I found?

In short, no.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate this book. It was an enjoyable read. However, I do think the King of Scars is Leigh Bardugo’s weakest work. Now, I don’t know whether she was writing under pressure from her publishers, fans etc., if there was something going on in her life perhaps to throw her off her game, or if the King of Scars was genuinely the direction she wanted to take this series/story/universe. The characterisation was good as always, I enjoyed learning more about Nikolai and Zoya’s respective backstories, and yeah, I ship them hard, but there wasn’t as much witty banter as I had hoped. Particularly from a character like Nikolai who gave so much in previous books. Sure, the argument can be made that this book is about him battling his own demons, so fair enough if he was somewhat off his game. I think however this book fell down in two key ways, (1) the universe and (2) the story itself.

What do I mean in respect of not liking the “universe” as conceptualised in King of Scars? This might sound a little strange, but in the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology the “magic” that the Grisha possess appears very “real” (if magic can indeed be real). There are rules about how Grisha power works and thus seems plausible to me. I feel like King of Scars departed from this. I don’t mean the Zoya/Dragon story line. I actually quite enjoyed the exploration of “but aren’t we all things” and the blurring of the lines between different Grisha powers. I think that will make an interesting development in the story. What is less clear in how magic works in the Grisha Verse is (1) the demon that possesses Nikolai (but sure I can get on board with it for the purpose of the story and to be quite honest I don’t REALLY care about a lot of the minute details about the world’s in fantasy books operate), and (2) the whole mid-section of the book where Nikolai and Zoya are sucked into this Twilight Zone/Alice in Wonderland alternative dimension that emerges in the fold. This is where the book lost me. I didn’t totally understand what was going on, and I think the writing fell down here. It was like even Leigh Bardugo didn’t have a clear idea as to what was happening. Trying to make sense of it was a bit like trying to look through fog. Dragons, bees, three-headed bears, a big rock that became a palace, thorns??? I was totally baffled by it all. Where they in the fold or the Unsea? How did they just suddenly disappear? Where did that pilgrimage camp go? Was any of that real or just an illusion to trap Nikolai and Zoya there? Even at the end I’m unsure as to how much Yuri knew, how much he was leading them knowing what was going to happen or was he just a hapless buffoon that got caught up in the whole thing? How exactly did Zoya defeat the bee witch queen? What happened with Nikolai and his demon? Is it is half defeated? Is the demon the Darkling himself rather than a residue of the Darkling’s monster? Does that mean that the Darkling lives half within Nikolai and half within Yuri? Maybe some of this is deliberately vague and will be cleared up in the next book, but I honestly think that a lot of it has to do with the writing because there are parts that are perfectly clear and I do understand what is happening, for example when Zoya slays the dragon. Perhaps this was because I had read the previous books and I understood what it meant to kill a creature to create an amplifier, but equally, I believe that Leigh Bardugo wrote this section clearer because she had written the previous books!

Essentially, I felt that I had a good grasp of the Grisha Verse but this whole section is too off the wall for it to be believable to me and just doesn’t feel like it “fits” with the universe that had been created/developed in the other books.

The second thing I dislike is the story. Yes, see previous thoughts above in respect of the whole mid-section of the book, but this whole story was just angling to bring the Darkling back? Nah, I don’t like it. Not because the Darkling is a baddie and the thought of him being back can only mean bad things, but because I think its lazy writing. There is already so much conflict, or potential for conflict, in these books with Nikolai becoming King and trying to save Ravka that there was no need for the Darkling to return. For one, I think it undermines everything that happened in the Shadow and Bone series for him to return and presumably be defeated in the next book?. Mal sacrificed himself for Alina to destroy him, only for her to lose her power afterwards. It doesn’t seem right that he went on “living” in this alternative universe. The whole body swap thing was just bizarre, and again, lazy writing. I’m not a fan of people suddenly appearing back from the dead as a trope anyway, but this was particularly sloppily done. (Yes, I know Mal came back from the dead too but there was some explanation as to have him having two souls/lives inside him and as I say I was an Alana/Mal shipper so I was prepared to overlook it). I just felt that the Alina/Mal/Darkling storyline was wrapped up so nicely at the end of the Shadow and Bone trilogy that is doesn’t seem right to bring the Darkling back as the villain in a Nikolai/Zoya story. The final line in the Shadow and Bone series about Alina and Mal living a normal life if a life with love could ever be such a thing absolutely destroyed me (I wept for the evening after reading that – it’s my catnip), but that story felt complete. I don’t see how the Darkling can come back within at least Alina being involved again, and she doesn’t have her powers anymore which were the only things that defeated the Darkling. I think what my uneasiness boils down to is, presumably Nikolai and Zoya are going to defeat him in the next book, but no matter how comprehensively they do so, I’m never going to believe that he is actually dead, or that death in the Grisha Verse really exists. That at any time, anyone, not matter how long they have been dead for could just reappear with some absolutely insane story of how they managed to remain living even though they were totally, utterly, completely, without a doubt dead.

I think the crux of my disappointment with King of Scars can be summed up as follows:-

Will I be reading the sequel?

Yeah...probably.

Will I be thinking about what is happening to these characters every day until that book is released?

No.

#king of scars #leigh Bardugo #book review #Grishaverse

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cosmicheronebula · 4 years ago

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Available Verses

Stuck in Canon -- Cosmic Hero: Nebula (Main)

#VERSE ;; main : stuck in canon

Defaults:

Age: parallel to canon (minor)

NSFW Content Available to all || SRP Content NOT Available to minors

Identity: Yuu; Yuuraraka; Nebula

Overview:

Complete Overview Here

Upon searching for her missing friends, Akatani and Bakugou, Yuu comes across a villain with Quirk for jumping between alternate universes! The encounter resulted in her being dragged into the ‘Canon’ Universe, and now Yuu’s stuck trying to find a way back home while living under UA’s supervision. She takes an alternative to her hero alias, dawning the name of Cosmic Hero: Nebula, so as not to be confused with her canon counterpart.

Concepts in Action -- Zero Gravity Hero: Uravity (Alt)

#VERSE ;; alt : concepts in action (proto!verse)

Defaults:

Age: parallel to canon (minor)

NSFW Content Available to all || SRP Content NOT Available to minors

Identity: Yuu; Uraraka; Uravity

Overview:

Back home, Yuu takes on her respective canon counterpart’s hero name, Uravity. Verse can be completely unrelated to main!verse’s circumstances, or be post!main, in which she finds a way home.

A ‘Cleric’ with a Mission -- Wandering Shaman Yuuraraka (Fantasy)

#VERSE ;; fantasy!au : loved by elements

Defaults:

Age: ~20 years (adult)

NSFW Content Available to all || SRP Content Available to all

Identity: Yuu; Yuuraraka

Overview:

Complete Overview Here

A wandering shaman disguised as a cleric lest she’s captured and returned to life of slavery. With a special ability unlike many other mages, Yuu travels the world using her magic to heal the imbalance of elements in the lands. She hopes to find other shamans like her in order to restore her kind’s long lost civilization.

A Solemn Siren’s Cry -- Pearlweeping Siren Yuuraraka (Mermaid)

#VERSE ;; mermaid!au : dwellers of the deep

Defaults:

Age: ???

NSFW Content Available to All || SRP Content Available to All

Identity: Yuu; Uraraka; Yuuraraka

Overview:

This verse can be used for both (1) fantasy settings involving mermaids with Yuu as a mermaid or human, and (2) circumstances in other verses as a sub-verse.

In the event that Yuu is the mermaid, a complete overview of her species can be found here

Yuu’s Species Overview:

Mermaid Type: Tropical

Affinity:

Siren – dangerous spirits of the sea that can conjure storm and fog, foretell death, read minds and wreak havoc of every level.

PearlWeeper – popular myth of mermaids who can weep tears that instantly transforms into the most beautiful pearls.

Diet: Omnivore

Behavior: Cautious, Evasive, Observant, Independent, Territorial; Crepuscular (primarily active during dawn & dusk); Commensalism with Coral Reef Inhabitants

Scale Color: Iridescent Violet-Blue Scales with Traces of Bioluminescence at the fins

Description: An evasive tropical mermaid that does not belong/follow to any pod (group of mermaids), and is instead often found lurking around coral reefs, rocky coasts and hidden coves. Despite being a siren, Yuu almost never uses her abilities to entice humans into their demise, preferring to keep to herself and remain hidden as much as possible. There is a hint of curiosity towards mankind that dwells in her, but most of the time she just observes from distance. Surprisingly enough, unless it’s inside her domain, Yuu will prefer to avoid other mer unless they earn her trust.

By default, most of her fins are smoothed down against the body. When threatened, they can flare out to make her appear larger and more dangerous. Apparently, there are traces of bioluminescence in her fins most visible at dawn and dusk.

#blog info #verses #v #VERSE ;; main : stuck in canon #VERSE ;; alt : concepts in action (proto!verse)#VERSE ;; fantasy!au : loved by elements #VERSE ;; mermaid!au : dwellers of the deep

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sophcaro · 7 years ago

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Destiny | WMatsui - Chapter 32

2.55 PM.

Jurina wore a sleeveless yellow cardigan over a white long-sleeved blouse, a red bow around her neck, and a short, red and white pleated plaid skirt. She slowly walked in from the right side of the main stage, her feet only pausing once she found herself at the center of the stage. With her back turned to the audience, Jurina ignored the screams of the fans who had enthusiastically begun to call her name upon her arrival; she gazed instead at the majestic, high staircase looming in front of her.

The camera zoomed in on her intense, focused expression; Jurina taking a deep breath at the daunting task awaiting her, before beginning her ascension of the stairs decidedly. The idol’s determination never once wavered as she progressed and climbed the stairs one by one, the whole time scrupulously keeping her eyes fixed on the top. It was her ultimate goal, and under no circumstances would she let anything or anyone prevent her from reaching it.

Only a couple of stairs were left now and Jurina ignored the growing pain in her legs, acutely conscious that she could not afford to give up right now that she was so close to her objective. With renewed determination, she continued her ascension valiantly, until her feet paused abruptly on the penultimate stair. Stupefied, she saw a silhouette emerging from the shadows at the top of the staircase.

Jurina’s mouth dropped open, watching with unconcealed admiration the twenty-nine-year-old girl, her brown hair tied back in a ponytail and dressed in an elegant long black dress, slowly approaching the edge of the staircase. As her attention fell upon the younger girl below her, a gentle smile plastered the older girl’s features. This unexpected arrival had been observed and received by the audience with exclamations and gasps of surprise, yet neither of the two girls paid attention to any of it, seemingly wrapped up in their own little world as their gazes silently lingered.

“Acchan,” Jurina murmured in awe.

Atsuko Maeda raised her arm and extended her hand in invitation. Jurina forced her legs to move and climbed the last stairs separating her from the former and legendary first ace of AKB48. As they were finally standing on the same level, Jurina looked back and glanced down nostalgically to the path she had taken, before setting her eyes on the older girl before her and placing her fingers inside Acchan’s outstretched hand.

“Congratulations, Jurina,” Atsuko said solemnly. “You made it to the top.”

As soon as those significant words escaped Acchan’s lips, the music of Oogoe Diamond began to resonate, filling the packed stadium with its distinctive upbeat melody. Both girls immediately dropped the rehearsed little act to exchange a casual smile, eager and alive with delight, their hands still linked when they turned their attention towards the attentive audience.

Hashiridasu basu oikakete Chasing after the bus as it started to leave

Boku wa kimi ni I wanted

Tsutaetakatta To tell you

Kokoro no moyamoya ga kiete The fog has lifted from my heart

Taisetsu na mono ga mietan da And I’ve seen what’s important to me

The lyrics of the song left their lips as they began to descend the staircase together, this duet marking the opening of Jurina Matsui’s 2020 graduation concert.

The last notes of the 2009 AKB48’s hit song faded in the air, and the two aces disappeared along with it from the main stage. The audience of the Nagoya Dome directed its attention in curiosity towards the message written in large, black letters that appeared on the main white screen. The message was accompanied by the sound of a plane taking off echoing loudly through the speakers of the Japanese stadium.

Twelve years ago, a young girl started her journey towards her destiny.

The message remained on the screen for a few, long seconds, enabling each fan to grasp the deep meaning of the words, until disappearing gradually from the screen as the two majestic doors of the main stage slid open. A group of fifteen girls could be seen aligned behind the door, but it was only when the lights and cameras fell upon them, that the audience was at last able to discover their identity.

The reaction was instantaneous: it was impossible for the fans not to manifest their great surprise, mingled with evident joy and pleasure. Despite being very familiar with every one of those faces, most of those girls had retired from the idol industry, and as such not participated in a SKE concert since countless years.

Each girl wore a white short-sleeved blouse with a panel down the middle decorated with braid, completed with a sailor's collar. Their short pleated plaid skirt was several shades of brown; some of the girls had a short tie around the collar, whilst others had a bow tie. Finally, black knee-high stockings and simple black shoes finished the traditional costume. As the first notes of Tsuyokimono yo played in the air and the girls began singing, the audience, whilst still having a hard time believing their eyes, was becoming progressively conscious that they were extremely privileged. They were witnessing a scene they had not seen in almost a decade.

The entire first generation of the Team S: Rena Matsui, Kumi Kagami, Oya Masana, Yuka Nakanishi, Aki Deguchi and all the other girls who had shot this low budget videoclip in the small aircraft hangar of Nagoya were all present, exceptionally reunited on stage on this very special occasion.

Tsuyokimono yo Be the strong person

Shin no yuusha Be the true hero

Tatakai oeta ato After you’ve finished fighting

Dare no tame For whom

Nagasu no Do you shed

Sono namida Those tears?

Emotion could be seen shimmering in a few girls’ eyes as their names were being called by a crowd of enthusiastic fans, whilst others tried not to be too destabilized by the general euphoria, attempting to remain professional and stay focused on the lyrics and the choreography of the song. As the first verse progressively came to an end, it didn’t escape the audience’s attention that all the girls were now standing at the front of the stage, except for one crucial member.

Jurina Matsui.

The doors began to progressively slide close, but not before the last missing first-generation member made her entrance, joining the other girls already dancing energetically on the emblematic, upbeat music. Jurina stopped her progression once she arrived at the front of the stage and, positioning herself at Rena Matsui’s left side, began to sing the second verse along with the other girls who had marked the beginning of SKE48’s story.

Akane, who was about to complete her Cross outfit and put the black hat on her head, was easily distracted once again as she listened to the music of Tsuyokimono yo resonating loudly in the Nagoya Dome. To be honest, she was still impressed by the prowess Jurina managed to demonstrate. A few weeks ago, when Jurina informed her of her desire to invite as many graduated members as possible on stage, Akane found herself naturally thrilled by the idea.

Jurina had certainly succeeded: not only had she brought the entire Team S first generation back, for the fans’ greatest pleasure, but also many other graduated members were scheduled to appear throughout her graduation concert. Regarding the song Akane would be performing in a couple of minutes now, the former idol was feeling quite impatient, and admittedly also a little nervous, to be reforming the original trio on stage.

Chancing a glance through the mirror of her makeup booth, Akane could see Tomoka Wakabashi and Rina Matsumoto who were finishing adjusting their black and pink satin costumes. While Tomoka was already wearing her jacket over her white blouse, Rina had just finished putting on her pink tiered skirt and was now taking a seat to complete her costume with the usual knee-high patent boots.

Akane let out a small sigh, a wave of nostalgia sweeping over her.

In a few short minutes now, a staff member would enter the dressing room and ask them to join the main stage. Akane was acutely conscious that, once on stage, time would fly by, and the performance would be over in no time. That’s why she was determined to take advantage of the incredible opportunity to savor this magical moment, conscious that she would likely never relive it in her life again.

When Akane heard her cellphone beeping, she diverted her attention from the two other girls and looked down to the device placed on the table in front of her. After checking the time, and discovering she still had a little time left before the beginning of her performance, Akane grabbed her phone in curiosity, discovering she had received a text from Airi.

“Hi Churi,

I heard that Jurina’s graduation concert has begun. I don’t know if you’ve already performed on stage yet, but I really hope you’ll enjoy yourself today!

When I arrived at Junkudo thirty minutes ago, there was already a long queue waiting outside, so I’m guessing the sign session will last a little longer than planned. By the way, a fan asked about you. He was wondering if you would make a surprise appearance during my sign session, like you did in February for my previous book. He looked a little disappointed when I told him it wasn’t going to happen, as you’re on stage today for Jurina’s graduation concert…

Say hi to the other girls for me!

Airi.”

Akane’s mouth tugged into a smile as she read the message, quickly typing a reply back to her friend. She barely had time to press the Send button, when the door of the dressing room opened and a staff member told them they were now awaited on stage. Akane immediately muted her phone and put it away in her bag, before checking her appearance in the mirror one last time.

Putting on her leather gloves, she carefully made sure her black, cross-shaped earrings were well attached, before grabbing her black hat from the table and adjusting it on her head. Over her shoulder, she heard Tomoka Wakabashi asking if she was ready and, once she was sure her outfit was complete, Akane followed the two other girls out of the dressing room in the direction of the main stage.

Rena grabbed her iPod from her backpack and placed each earphone inside her ears; her fingers slid over the screen of the device as she searched for one particular song. Once she found it amongst her tracklist, she pressed Play and adjusted the volume, closing her eyes to concentrate better and not be distracted by the agitation of the dressing room. As an upbeat piano melody began filling her ears, Rena’s lips silently moved in synchronization with the lyrics of the SKE song.

Ame no pianist ga The pianist of the rain

Ai wo hiite iru wa Playing with my love

Building no machi ni From a building in the city

Kanaderu kanashii melody There's a sad song playing

Mado no kenban wo The keyboard made of windows

Tataku shizuku no yubi Struck by the fingers made of rain

Watashi dake no concerto Plays concerto just for me

Earlier on, Rena had studiously rehearsed in the dancing room the choreography of each and single song she was going to perform today, but she also wanted to make sure her memory wouldn’t fail her accidently when it came to the lyrics. Rena couldn’t be more familiar with Ame no Pianist, a 2010 song she had performed plenty of times in the past, yet she was determined not to leave anything to chance.

Feeling a sudden, small tap on her shoulder, Rena fluttered her eyes open and removed her earphones when she saw Yui Matsushita addressing her. “Rena-san, we’re leaving ahead in the direction of the stage.”

“Alright,” Rena replied, watching as she and Moe Yamashita - the two girls with whom she was going to perform that song – left and walked out of the dressing room.

The trio wasn’t due to sing until fifteen more minutes: there were two other songs coming up after Sansei Kawaii, the song the young SKE’s kenkyuusei were currently performing on the main stage of the Nagoya Dome. That’s why Rena knew she had sufficient time to go over the song once again. Placing the earphones back inside her ears, Rena resumed the music and focused her attention on the lyrics once more.

A few minutes later, when the music came to an end, Rena was now certain she knew the lyrics by heart. She put her iPod away, before carefully studying her dark and red outfit in the mirror. If there was one important thing that her career as an idol had taught her, it’s that you were never safe from an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction.

Rena raised her hand to her hair, checking that the large, red rose pinned on the right side of her head was well attached. Once she felt confident enough that the accessory wouldn’t fall, her gaze fell down to the red sleeveless top, then to the black cumberband that she was wearing. At last, her eyes landed on her red skirt, making sure that it was properly clipped around her waist.

Alright, I think I’m all good.

Now that she was all set for her next performance, Rena wondered whether she should use the time left to rest and relax. Soon, the music of Sansei Kawaii grabbed her attention again, and she chose instead to make her way towards the stage. Somehow, she was a little curious to see how well the kenkyuusei were doing with that energetic song. Despite having left SKE a long time ago, Rena followed the group’s activities from afar.

And if there was one certitude she had anchored deep within her - and this even when she was still a prominent member of SKE – it was that the group’s future lied with the new, young generations.

“Rena-san! Rena-san!”

Rena had barely stepped out of the dressing room when her feet paused on the floor; her eyes widened in surprise as she heard someone call her name. It must have been years since she heard that voice, she would recognize its distinctive feminine, cheerful tone anywhere. Pleasure softened Rena’s face and she turned around, facing the familiar twenty-nine-year-old, former AKB48 member who was approaching her.

“Yuki-san,” Rena threw her a smile. “How have you been? It’s been a while. Aren’t you a little early for your performance?”

“Ah yes,” Yuki conceded willingly. “But I don’t mind waiting. Mayuyu’s duet starts in less than half an hour, so I figured we could arrive together.”

Rena followed Yuki’s gaze as she inclined her head and glanced over her shoulder, noticing Mayu and Jurina chatting together a bit further down the corridor. Even though Rena was too far to catch what the two other girls were saying, Jurina’s whole body language spoke for itself. Her radiant smile grew broader at every word exchanged; a genuine, small laugh occasionally left her lips.

Jurina’s happiness was nothing but manifest.

Rena’s mouth curved with affection; she hadn’t witnessed this kind of scene in years. It was all so familiar, that it brought back many, fond memories. Despite their often, conflicting agendas, she had never seen a friendship more solid and stable than the one uniting Jurina and Mayu Watanabe. The fact that they managed to remain friends throughout the years - even after Mayu’s graduation - didn’t come as a real surprise.

When it came to the friendships she forged, no one was more loyal, reliable and constant than Jurina Matsui. Despite this acknowledgement of Jurina’s personality, it didn’t prevent the moment from being any less touching in Rena’s eyes.

“I see your solo career is going extremely well,” Rena said, bringing her attention back to Yuki. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you very much.” Yuki’s cheeks flushed at the compliment. “There are so many talented artists; I wasn’t expecting my new album to sell so well. I’m going back on tour next month; a few dates have just been added. It might be a little tiring sometimes, but there’s nothing more gratifying and motivating than to do something you love.”

“That’s true,” Rena murmured. How could she object to such a statement, when she herself had embraced an acting career, thereupon fulfilling her ultimate, childhood dream? “I’m sorry, but I think I’d better get going. I was on my way to the stage; I’m expected in less than ten minutes.”

“Oh, sure. I’ll see if those two are done chatting,” Yuki said, swinging her head around to look at Mayu and Jurina. “I guess not,” she let out a small chuckle after discovering the two friends still profoundly immerged in a passionate conversation. “When those two are in their own little world…”

“It’s hard to get them out of it?” Rena offered, a warm note of amusement in her tone. From her peripheral vision, she noticed a staff member approaching her: she knew it was her cue to leave. “It was really nice talking to you. See you later?”

“Of course! I won’t hold you up any longer, I just wanted to say that…” Yuki’s friendly, cheerful voice took on an unexpected, serious tone. “I really miss this. I know it was a long time ago, but I sometimes remember the Summer the four of us spent at Mayuyu’s beach house. We had so much fun together, didn’t we?”

Rena blinked in astonished silence, a little taken aback by the abrupt change of subject. Even though she couldn’t really fathom why Yuki was bringing it up – nor the reason behind the strange, expectant look the other girl was giving her – casting her mind back to that particular week in July 2015 inevitably brought back a sense of nostalgia.

“Yes, we did. Everything about that week…” Rena smiled reminiscently. “Everything was perfect. We really had a great time.”

“Yes, and maybe one day…” Yuki’s voice trailed away.

Rena didn’t need her to finish. She knew perfectly well what Yuki was implying and could even hear the touch of hopefulness in her tone. Rena found herself momentarily distracted when the staff member addressed her, warning her it was time to leave. Rena absently nodded back in return and, after giving Yuki a small, apologetic look, couldn’t resist one, last glance in Jurina’s direction.

Rena was startled to find out the two friends were done talking, and now looking in their direction. Despite being acutely aware of the male staff member’s presence by her side, Rena was unable to turn away when she saw Jurina staring at her across the distance, the young girl making no attempt to hide the fact that she was watching her.

For a moment, they held one another’s gaze and, as Rena let the meaning of Yuki’s previous words sink in, found herself secretly wishing she could one day relive those carefree days of happiness.

4.20 PM.

Jurina’s 2020 graduation concert was now halfway through. Unexpected guests, exceptional performances. On this day in late September, the lucky audience at the Nagoya Dome was definitely in for a treat. After such a memorable opening and an impeccable first part, it was hard to see how the second part would manage to surpass such a level of perfection. If the fans believed they had already seen it all, then they were definitely not at the end of their surprises.

The team KII had just cleared the stage after Kodoku no na Ballerina; Airi Mizuno rightfully owed herself the cheers of the public with her flawless technic in the title role of the graceful ballerina. A videoclip was now projected on the main screen, showing a short feminine silhouette - dressed in a black, masculine military outfit - energetically running in the woods. Her slightly inconstant breathing, heard distinctly through the speakers, was the evident proof that this little chase had been going on for a while.

“Dammit,” the complaint escaped her gritted teeth when she realized she was having a hard time keeping up the distance with the incredibly athletic, feminine silhouette she was chasing.

Suddenly diverging from her course, she hid and pressed her back to a tree, quickly pondering over her options. The camera - which had until now carefully avoided revealing her identity to the spectator – progressively moved upwards from her black boots to her combat fatigues, pausing and zooming in on her face. The image of a determined Mayu Watanabe flashed on the main screen of the Nagoya Dome.

“Mouse to Team B,” Mayu tried to keep her voice calm and steady when she opened the communication. “Nobunaga is approaching an inhabited area. Do you copy?”

“Team B to Mouse,” a feminine, slightly crackled voice replied in her earpiece. “We’re five minutes away from your location. Please don’t engage the target before our arrival.”

“It will be too late,” Mayu argued. “She will have escaped by the time you arrive. I can’t let that happen. I’m going after her.”

“No, it’s too dangerous,” her interlocutor protested in alarm. “Mouse, I repeat. Do not engage the targ-”

Mayu abruptly cut the communication with the rest of her team, her eyes fired with anger as she stared back at the agile, feminine figure quickly disappearing out of the woods. “Oh no, I’m not letting you escape,” Mayu grumbled, her fingers tightly gripping the pistol attached to her belt. “Not this time.”

The videoclip paused, the image froze and lingered on Mayu’s intense, focused expression, until her features gradually faded as the screen turned black. The audience waited in anticipation, an upbeat pop music filling the silence the moment after. Instantly, everyone’s attention flew to the main screen: large, white letters flashed on the surface, announcing the imminence of the next song.

R I V A L R Y

From a trapdoor carefully hidden underneath the stage, two feminine silhouettes appeared, the lights shining upon them immediately. Gasps of surprise echoed in the stadium as Jurina and Mayu Watanabe, both dressed in the black military outfits taken from the videoclip, were standing back to back at the center of the stage.

Anata wa watashi no raibaruda You’re my rival

Watashi no eien no raibaru My eternal rival

Watashitachi wa dochira mo We both want

Toppu ni tōtatsu shitai To reach the top

Watashitachi hitori no tame But there is only place

Dake no basho ga arimasu For one of us

Kore wa mujihina sekaidesu This is a merciless world

Dare ga ikinokoru nodesu ka? Who will survive?

As the pair began singing together the first verse of the 2015 AKB song - their first and unique duet in the history of the 48group – the unexpected appearance of the graduated and emblematic member Mayu Watanabe caused waves of euphoria among the already misty-eyed spectators of the Nagoya stadium.

Jurina tried her best to clear her head and control her agitation, somewhat frightened by the sound of her own heart beating wildly inside her chest. From the minute the concert had begun and she had stepped on stage in front of a packed stadium for her duet with Acchan on Oogoe Diamond, she had felt a shot of adrenaline course her veins. Her excitement was at its highest level and - as the first part of the concert went smoothly without a single incident to deplore - the electrifying sensation hadn’t left her since.

A few songs ago, they had officially entered the last third of the concert, and a completely different feeling monopolized her senses. Despite her best efforts, the muscles in her stomach wouldn’t stop clenching nervously at the imminence of her next duet. It was true that other SKE members sang that song occasionally in the past - mostly during theater performances - it hadn’t been her case in many years.

Yes, the possibility sometimes presented itself to her, but Jurina had a hard time imagining herself singing that particular duet with someone else than her original partner. Back in 2010, when she listened to the lyrics of Two Roses for the first time, she couldn’t break free from the feeling that song had been written specifically with both she and Rena in mind. Two Roses had always been a significant, special song; one that required detailed, careful preparation before going on stage.

When Jurina finally became fully conscious of her romantic feelings for her WCenter, this song only grew to be even more meaningful.

“Let me help you.”

Jurina came back to her senses when she heard a feminine voice softly addressing her, noticing through the mirror Rena - already elegantly dressed in a red, long dress - approaching her from behind. For a split second, Jurina wondered what the older girl could possibly want to assist her with, until feeling Rena’s fingers on her back, prudently pulling the zipper of her blue dress up to the top.

“Thank you,” Jurina voiced her gratitude, until her smile vanished when she noticed Rena’s slightly troubled expression in the mirror. It was true they hadn’t had the opportunity to exchange more than a few words since the beginning of the concert, not that she expected any less. The first twenty-five songs followed one after another at breakneck speed, even sometimes obliging her to sing a few songs in a row without a single interlude.

Even so, Jurina never missed the opportunity to steal a glance at Rena when she had the chance. When they crossed paths in the dressing room or happened to share the stage together: each and single time, Jurina was struck by Rena’s serious, intense focused expression. Despite the general restlessness and noisy environment surrounding her, Rena’s impeccable professionalism always seemed to take the upper hand: she never let herself get distracted unnecessarily.

“What is it?” Jurina asked in concern, turning around to face her once Rena was fully done adjusting her dress. “Is something wrong?”

“I just…” Rena hesitated. “I was just asking myself if it’s really a good idea to do that song together.”

Jurina frowned, bewildered. “I don’t understand. When I suggested we sing that duet together, you accepted. You don’t want to do it anymore?”

“That’s not it,” Rena nodded negatively. “I want to sing this song with you; I really do. But I also know what this song means to you: how very emotional you can get sometimes when you sing it. Believe me when I say I want nothing more but to please you and make you happy on this special day but when I accepted to come, I promised myself not to do anything to cause you pain or sadness. And this song…”

“I…” Emotion closed Jurina’s throat, trapping the rest of her words.

Unable to speak, Jurina stared back at her wordlessly, struck by the range of different emotions conveyed through Rena’s eyes. Hesitation. Apprehension. Concern. But it wasn’t everything Jurina realized as she desperately tried to maneuver her thoughts and studied Rena’s expression at length. If she wasn’t mistaken, there was also a perceptible note of genuine caring and affection in those brown eyes fixed on her.

“See, that’s what I’m talking about,” Rena sadly murmured. “The performance hasn’t even started yet and you’re already crying.”

Jurina widened her eyes, startled when Rena delicately brushed away a tear from her cheek: she hadn’t even felt it rolling down. When Rena was about to pull her hand away again, she quickly trapped Rena’s fingers inside hers, keeping them closely pressed to her cheek. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe emotion will get the best of me and I won’t be able to hold my tears back on stage. I don’t care; it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to live with regrets.”

As Akane was pensively removing her Kiss Datte Hidarikiki black and red outfit, she couldn’t help but steal another discreet peek at Jurina who was by her side getting changed, still feeling a little disturbed by what had happened at the end of the song. She and Jurina hadn’t shared a word since they left the stage a couple of minutes ago yet, the more Akane looked back on this strange final spin and the unusual way in which Jurina behaved, the more she was convinced it hadn’t ended exactly as the younger girl originally planned.

A few weeks ago, when Jurina suggested centering this particular song with her, Akane hadn’t seen any valid reason to object and had gladly accepted her invitation. Teasing her friend about the infamous kiss, crucial part of the choreography, was way too easy. When she had confronted Jurina and the latter had proclaimed loud and clear she had nothing to worry about - advancing the fact that she didn’t kiss other members on the lips anymore - Akane had suppressed a knowing smile.

It was indeed true that the kissing monster’s ardors had considerably calmed down over the years, but Akane wasn’t naïve. Jurina’s flirtatious, mischievous behavior was an inseparable part of her personality. No matter her level of maturity, it would never entirely disappear. Moreover, Akane couldn’t ignore the great temptation this particular song always represented throughout the years for a girl as playful as Jurina.

That was why, as innocent, casual and sincere as Jurina tried to appear on the subject, Akane was practically certain her friend would never let such an opportunity pass. It was her graduation concert: the very last time she would ever be performing that song as a SKE48 member.

Kiss Datte Hidarikiki You even kiss left-handed

Watashi me wo tojite kizuita yo I noticed while my eyes were closed

Anata sukoshi hidari ue kara You start a little from the left

Hora ne kuchibiru kasaneru And there, our lips meet

Yume wa anata no kikiude My dream is your dominant arm

When Jurina seized Akane’s hand to make her spin, the latter clearly saw Jurina’s lips quickly approaching hers. Despite being fully conscious of the bad deed Jurina was about to commit, Akane didn’t try to avoid the imminent kiss. Somehow, she couldn’t find it in her to be upset at Jurina’s action, deciding to grant her that last little moment of pleasure.

As Akane was preparing herself to receive Jurina’s lips on hers, she was startled when the contact didn’t happen. Instead of following through with the kiss, Jurina changed direction at the last instant, pressing a chaste kiss to Akane’s cheek. Under normal circumstances, Akane wouldn’t have thought too much about it after seeing Jurina’s mischievous expression, understanding she had been played, and Jurina never had any intention of intimately kissing her.

Today, Jurina’s eyes reflected no sign of mischief, but an unusual flash of hesitation mixed with unease. It only lasted a few seconds: Jurina quickly regaining her composure when the lights went off and the music stopped. Yet, Jurina’s strange expression had spoken for itself: it was enough information to tell Akane that something had happened inside her friend’s head, making her change her mind at the last minute.

When they moved backstage, Akane absent-mindedly noticed the Team E – with the graduated member Rena Matsui at their head – patiently waiting at the entrance of the stage for their turn to perform. She didn’t miss either – although it was quite brief - the visual exchange between both Matsui, as Jurina shyly returned the gentle smile the older girl was sending her way.

Back then, Akane hadn’t thought much of the interaction between the two girls.

In retrospective, and in the light of all those elements, Akane wondered if Jurina’s unexpected change of heart during the final spin of the performance might be linked to a certain, twenty-nine-year-old, brown-haired girl. A girl who shared the same surname as Jurina’s, and who was currently performing Team E’s song Dareka no Sei ni ha Shinai on the main stage of the Nagoya Dome.

Akane couldn’t hold it any longer: she had to know if her intuition was correct. “You were planning on kissing me during the final spin, weren’t you? Why did you hesitate? How come you changed your mind?”

Jurina turned to look at her. “Are you saying you wanted me to really kiss you? I thought you would feel too embarrassed about it, so I changed my mind.”

Akane wasn’t in the least fooled by Jurina’s apparent relaxed attitude, even less by the playfulness in her tone. After more than a decade by Jurina’s side, she was capable of analyzing her reactions: the slight moment of hesitation in Jurina’s voice before she replied was the evident proof that her question managed to destabilize her.

“I don’t think it had anything to with me,” Akane said carefully. “I think you changed your mind for another reason: because you knew Rena was watching.”

“W-What? Why wouldn’t I want to kiss you because of Rena? It doesn’t… You’re not making any sense now.”

No, it doesn’t make any sense, Akane almost replied, but kept her thoughts to herself when Jurina turned her back on her and continued undressing as if nothing happened. Akane remained quiet, beginning to feel slightly concerned by her friend’s defensive tone and embarrassed answers. She was never one to jump to conclusions, yet one thing was for certain: she didn’t like at all how this whole thing was starting to look.

Jurina hung up after her video call with Mariko, a smile of pleasure spread over her face as their conversation lingered in her memory. Of course, a part of her remained sad that her thirty-four-year-old friend wasn’t present today for her graduation concert. Unfortunately, Mariko had work commitments requiring her to be in Madrid, and she wouldn’t be back in Tokyo until the end of the month. Despite her absence, Jurina was extremely happy they were able to get in touch and exchange a few words on this special day.

Jurina put her tablet away, a small laugh inadvertently escaping her lips when she remembered the funny way her older friend appeared on the screen earlier on, wearing a ‘I love Spain’ tee-shirt, together with a wide-brimmed black Cordobes hat. If it wasn’t for her friend’s noticeably drawn features, Mariko’s goofiness would have easily made her forget about the difference in time zones, and it was barely past 9 am in the Spanish capital.

Distractedly, Jurina listened to the cheerful, KII’s pop song Disco hokenshitsu resounding loudly in the baseball stadium, before setting her eyes on the familiar hat laying on the table in front of her. Reaching out for it, Jurina’s fingers played with the white accessory for a short while, until raising her eyes and checking her matching white outfit in the mirror. In less than ten minutes, she would be stepping on stage for her solo, CENTER.

Feeling the white hat slowly moving between her fingers made everything rush back with vivid clarity. It might have been already five years ago, she would never forget the first time she sung that song in front of a crowd. Between the release of SKE’s new single, her first solo and the shocking announcement of Airi’s graduation, that specific Handshake Day in December 2015 had definitely been emotionally charged.

That time in the dressing room when Rena had gently chastised her as she was playing with her hat nervously. That other moment too, when Rena had noticed her crooked knot and carefully adjusted it, while playfully teasing her about her supposedly legendary issue with ties. But most of all, Rena’s last-minute encouraging, reassuring words after she had confessed to her how terribly anxious she felt about the idea of missing a single step during such an important song.

Even if you make a few minor mistakes, I won’t love you any less.

If there was one person who had demonstrated her unconditional support and successfully helped her get through this stressful day, it was the girl whose angelic face still haunted her days when she cast her mind back to the past and delved into her memories. It was the girl whose soft, lovely voice was currently filling the air of the Nagoya Dome with the first verse of the melancholic ballad Kareha no Station.

As the impressive doors of the main stage closed on her gradually, Jurina let her gaze wander around the Nagoya Dome, taking time to admire the amazing view of forty thousand green light sticks beautifully illuminating the stadium in her honor. As the fans kept chanting her name vigorously, aware of the imminent departure of their favorite idol, Jurina flashed one last smile and mouthed a ‘thank you’ of eternal gratitude to the audience, emotion shimmering in her eyes. The moment after, her face vanished from the screen entirely, the doors shutting once and for all in front of the first and emblematic ace of SKE48.

Jurina remained standing in front of the closed doors, silent, her heart beating wildly inside her chest as she listened to the cheers and the fans still calling her name from the other side. It was almost as if they didn’t want the concert to end quite yet and wished she would come back, surprising them with a couple more songs. But Jurina was perfectly conscious that - even though she would have loved to step back on stage and sing for them again - it was not going to happen.

Her graduation song, the one she had performed a few minutes ago, had marked the end of her 2020 graduation concert irrevocably.

Feeling incredibly moved by this vibrant testimony of their love for her, an unlimited affection that had motivated her to dedicate twelve years of her life to the idol group and to surpass herself at every occasion, it took Jurina a few seconds to capture a male voice addressing her behind her back. When she finally tore her eyes away from the stage she had just left and turned around, she discovered two staff members patiently waiting for her.

Mustering her most polite smile, Jurina was especially cautious not to trip up on her long, satin white dress as she slowly descended the few stairs - clearly appreciating the staff members’ help in the process - and following them when they guided her backstage. After more than two hours and thirty-five songs, numerous guests’ appearances, an impressive mix of AKB and SKE big names on Majijo Teppen Blues and an emotional, final reunion of the Team S first generation on Tooku ni ite mo to complete the picture, Jurina’s 2020 graduation concert had finally come to an end.

On her way backstage, Jurina was approached on many occasions by group members wanting to congratulate her; still she remained in such a daze after such a unique experience, that her voice was locked within her, barely managing to nod and smile back in return to every one of them. As Jurina reached the dressing room, the two staff members accompanying her left her side, Jurina’s steps soon pausing on the floor as she felt her eyes watering.

Startled, she raised her hand to touch the moistening sensation on her skin, wiping away the tear that had slowly found its way down her cheek. She had done her very best not to cry too much during the concert, especially during the last songs. So why were emotions getting the best of her now of all times? When Jurina sensed someone approaching, she tried to conceal her emotional state behind a fake smile yet was immediately caught off guard when she discovered the person’s identity.

Rena was standing by the door of the dressing room, giving her a look of mingled surprise, confusion and concern. “Jurina… what’s wrong? It was such a beautiful concert; you should be so happy and proud of yourself.”

The ghost of a smile flitted across Jurina’s sad features; Rena was entirely right. Everything did indeed go mostly as planned and without any major incident to deplore. Yet, she found herself incapable to answer Rena’s question. How could she give her a semblance of an explanation, when she ignored herself the reason behind her tears? Those inexplicable tears she had quickly attempted to hide, but which had unfortunately not escaped Rena’s keen attention?

And what about this strange, unpleasant sensation of emptiness filling her?

Jurina felt the tears rising unbidden behind her lids, threatening to trickle down her face. In the past, she always felt a tinge of frustration when a SKE concert reached its end, not wanting to leave the stage quite yet and instead sing a few more songs to please the audience. But this sudden aching hollow void inside her wasn’t like anything she had ever experienced before. It was disconcerting and disturbing, even beginning to frighten her.

“Jurina…?”

At the sound of Rena’s hesitant voice calling her name, she stepped forward and reduced the short distance separating them, leaning forward to bury her face against Rena’s shoulder. Tears began falling remorselessly down her cheeks and Jurina fought hard not to weep openly, until her breath caught in her lungs, shocked by her own actions when she realized what she had done.

What on earth was she doing?

Rena was only being nice and considerate; yet she was selfishly taking advantage of it for her own benefit, without thinking about the consequences. A feeling of profound unease mixed with guilt swept through Jurina’s chest, realizing she had completely let herself guide by her emotions and overstepped her boundaries with Rena. She and Rena weren’t that close anymore; she had no right to throw herself into her arms in such a shameful, casual way.

“I…” Jurina’s voice trembled, as she began to pull back. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

Jurina was taken by surprise when Rena refused to let go, instead sliding an arm around her back and keeping her close. “It’s alright, I’m here. Talk to me.”

Jurina shuddered when Rena’s soft fingers caressed her back delicately through the fabric of her dress, her eyes fluttering close as she couldn’t help despite herself but relax in Rena’s protective, warm embrace. “Is this… Is this how you felt when you graduated?” Jurina finally managed to ask, still somewhat distressed by the multitude of conflicted emotions overwhelming her. “This immense happiness when you were singing on stage, then a terrible void inside you when it all… stopped?”

“Ah, I see,” Rena quietly murmured. “This bittersweet sensation you’re having right now; I think every girl who graduated went through the same. But, it won’t last. In a few weeks, maybe months, it will have passed. I promise you that.”

Jurina didn’t say anything, relishing instead the sensation of Rena’s fingers beginning to caress her hair slowly and tenderly. To be honest, Jurina was having a really hard time understanding the reason behind Rena’s patience and incredible gentleness. By now, Jurina would have expected the older girl to release herself from her hold, and make sure she didn’t try to invade her personal space again.

Fearing that another word from her might ruin this incredibly pleasant moment between them, Jurina kept her mouth closed, while desperately attempting to make sense of the situation. Rena was only trying to bring her comfort and ease her worries: it didn’t mean anymore than that, Jurina tried to convince herself. Yet, as Jurina was careful not to jump to conclusions and falsely misinterpret Rena’s actions as more than a simple act of friendliness, she couldn’t deny how happy she had felt all day to have Rena by her side during such a crucial moment of her life.

As the seconds flew by, and Jurina was more than conscious she would at some point have no choice but to extricate herself from Rena’s arms, realization dawned on her that she didn’t want this reunion to be the last. Jurina swallowed a nervous lump in her throat, uncapable of keeping to herself any longer the question burning her lips. She needed to ask. She needed to know.

“Will I… see you again?” The question left Jurina’s lips in a whisper. In fact, she had uttered those words in such a feeble voice, she wasn’t even sure Rena had heard her at all. A glimmer of doubt that grew and developed within her as she waited and waited for a reply but didn’t receive a single one in return. But she didn’t want to let this opportunity pass, Jurina was sure of herself when she slowly disentangled herself from Rena’s embrace to look at her.

The great surprise plastered on Rena’s face told Jurina she had definitely heard her before, contrary to her initial belief. And Rena’s reaction, coupled with her lack of answer, made her fear she might have been somewhat presumptuous by believing there was a chance Rena would accept to meet her again. Maybe for Rena, this day was a one-time thing; an exception she had agreed to make only because it was her graduation concert.

“I know it’s already been three years and maybe today didn’t mean anything to you but…” Jurina paused, her voice trailing away uncertainly. “But after seeing you today, I realized how much I missed you and I didn’t want this moment to be the last of us. So, can we… can we see each other again? It could be for anything you want: Dinner, lunch, or even a simple coffee.”

Jurina watched Rena’s lips parting, yet she didn’t have time to speak that a staff member interrupted them, informing Jurina she was expected for a short, exclusive interview with Nikkan Sports. Jurina silently nodded back to the male staff member and began to follow him obediently, before abruptly halting when she realized she had no assurance the other girl wouldn’t have already left by the time her interview ended.

Decidedly turning on her heels, Jurina asked politely for the staff member to wait a little longer, before glancing back at Rena in apprehension. She couldn’t wait: she needed to hear her reply at once. She had to know if they still had a chance to mean something to each other. If Rena refused her offer and preferred to keep her distance with her, then she wouldn’t insist and accept Rena’s decision.

But what if she said yes?

What if they had an opportunity to reconnect?

Jurina mustered the courage to speak up. “Rena, can I…” She tried to steady the shakiness in her voice. “Will I see you again?”

Rena’s mouth curved into a smile and gave her a small nod in return; it was all Jurina needed to have her hopes rekindled and feel the tension in her body dissipating. Jurina’s heart leaped inside her chest; joy warmed her from within. On this particular day of September 2020, she had unquestionably turned an important page of her life.

It was now up to her to begin a new chapter.

#wmatsui #matsui jurina #matsui rena #wmatsui fanfic #SKE48 #AKB48 #Destiny #chapter 32 #Heartbeat trilogy #Partners sequel

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voicestm · 1 year ago

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Looking up from her book, she offers him a rare smile and pats the space beside her. She liked his company. He was almost a steading force whenever he was near her. She liked that about him. Like how he made her feel. It's odd in a way but she learned not to question herself about these things. "..Would you believe me if I told you a book about cars?" Those freckled cheeks heat under the weight of her admission and he drops her gaze to the page. "It's silly. But I didn't drive back home and I don't know the first thing about cars."

"Good to see ya again,"

The relief in his voice is palpable. As if he was half expecting to be told off or asked to leave. When she doesn't, he shortens the gap between them. "Reading what exactly?"

It surprises him that this place actually has books. Weird that The Entity bothered with that detail. But of course they have to do something when they're not be chased around a field or vacant building.

#thxgrxmrexpxr #- { Interactions - Hunk } -#- { Mikaela Reid } -#- { Verses - Magic Inside The Fog; Main } -

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voicestm · 9 months ago

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[ hickey ] (Danny to Mikaela)

Different ways to kiss - accepting - @designedparadigm

[ hickey ] a kiss that's supposed to leave a mark on the partner's skin

She reminds me of the one I knew that cut up the negatives of my life I couldn't take my hands off her; she wouldn't let me be anywhere but inside.

Funny how those lyrics roll through her mind as she perches on the highest floor inside of Crotus Prenn Asylum, eyes following the Ghost Face as he stalks a victim from corner to corner, that red stain a brilliant glow she could easily follow. She has no desire to work at the generator at her back. She's.. Distracted and angry. Well.. Maybe it isn't anger she feels but jealousy. Kate was the current obsession and the Ghost was chasing her around like she was his personal favorite of the day. That was the entire point wasn't it? At least that's what she keeps having to remind herself of.

Didn't sooth the anxiety eating away inside her. Was he bored of her? That wouldn't surprise her. She wasn't exactly.. Exciting. She knew she wasn't as pretty as the blonde. So why wouldn't he go after someone else? It makes sense to her. But she doesn't.. For once she was considering fighting for what she wanted.

And as if her thoughts summon his gaze, she watches his head tilt up to where she's crouched and she feels herself smile. They share a long look before he's on the move again. He purposely doesn't give her the opportunity to follow his movements but before long.. She could feel him at her back and slowly she turns to watch him. They stand like that for long moments until she's the one who finally moves and a slender hand slips out to take his hand. She shoves the fabric slowly up his arm, up over the bend of his elbow before she leans down, her mouth hovering over that exposed flesh before she latches down more roughly than she usually is and sucks and bites a mark into the yielding flesh there.

It's a brand, a small little reminder she's there.

And I don't mind you keeping me on pins and needles If I could stick to you and you stick me, too

#designedparadigm #- { Mikaela Reid } -#- { Interactions - Danny Johnson } -#- { Verses - Magic Inside The Fog; Main } -

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hazbinextgeneration · 4 years ago

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Down The Rabbithole Ch11

(Disclaimer: The Song the Fortune Teller sings is Rabbit hole by AViVA and some words have been replaced to fit the story better. I in no way own the song or anything.)

Chapter Text

Just follow the pink mushrooms.

Simple enough. Allison had followed the Twiddle Sisters instructions and started for the south side of the small town of Enchanted Vil. but now she was very much worried. The Queen was after her? How many people knew that? Was there other people searching for her or guards? Was she being watched right now by someone? Was she even safe? Did anyone know the 'human' was her?...Well other than the sisters and Marsh and Hatter, but she had a feeling they wouldn't tell anyone. Hatter and Marsh lived way to far from the castle it seemed, wherever the castle was, and it sounded like the sisters would rather NOT associate with the Queen or anyone who knows her by the sound of them. She tried not to look suspiciously at all as she headed south of the small village and the houses started to become fewer and fewer. And the people and magical beings started to also become fewer, from the large town square to just a few people here and there as she walked by. She kept looking back over her shoulder every few seconds to make sure no one was following her and as to not seem suspicious, she pretended to be looking back up at the sky that was slowly changing in colors again from that light blue sun-less day to the silent night. With the way she was going there wasn't any cobblestone roads beyond the last few houses who hugged the edge of the tree line where the think woods started up again. She didn't like the thought of trudging through tall grass with her stockings getting wet from dew again, but the thought of someone capturing her was far worse. So with one last look behind her, there wasn't anyone there thankfully, she squeezed between two wooden small homes and popped out the other side heading deeper into the unknown forest again. Now what did they say? Glowing pink mushrooms? She could barely see her own hand let alone the ground. What if she ran into a wild animal like a bear or a snake? Her grip on the umbrella became even tighter at the thought of that and gulped. Looking around even faster searching for any pink glowing things as she stepped along the dark forest-

"WA- OOF!!"

Tripping over a small log, she fell flat onto her stomach, thankfully not letting go of the umbrella. But she groaned before slowly lifting her head up. She really hated not having any light, but luckily this pink nightlight was here to help her see-.....PINK NIGHTLIGHT!! She blew the hair out of her face and shook her head, shooting up to her feet and staring down to where she fell...and smiled. THERE WAS A GLOWING PINK MUSHROOM!! And another one was a few feet away from it followed by another and another, and another until there was a trail of glowing pink fungi going off deeper in the middle of the woods. She didn't hesitate to start following them at a brisk pace with a smile on her face. Deeper and deeper into the woods she went, and darker and darker it got. She wasn't sure how long she had been at this but this world's strange moon was climbing higher and higher into the skin at least showing it had been half the night. She was starting to get tired and yawned every few minutes. Her body started moving slower and she was starting to feel sore again from all the walking she's done for the last few days, but didn't stop even first her vision was starting to become misty....Wait a second. That wasn't her vision she blinked more and found her self suddenly surrounded by fog...Whitish purple fog. ...She blinked and swiveled her head around and around again. No signs of glowing pink mushrooms, or any other light source. It wasn't as dark anymore but now...Somehow she had gotten lost in her sleepy state. Great! Just what she needed. The slight panic set in and- She yelped and whirled behind her and came face to face with a white mushroom that came up to about her shoulders. ...Mushrooms. Didn't the sisters say that the Fortune Teller was rumored to live in the Misty Mushroom valley...or whatever this place was called? Somewhere with fog and mushrooms. Allison blinked yet again and looked around gripping that umbrella of hers. Well..This was the place. Now the big question was, which way to go now? There wasn't anymore glowing things and every direction looked the same....Well she came this far, she turned in the direction she had originally been walking and kept going straight. Even if she didn't find this Fortune Teller she'd at least eventually get out of this misty maze one way or another. So she started walking forward.

Deeper and deeper into this misty valley she traveled without any lights, or sounds, or any sense of direction. Where the world was she heading? And how long had she been at this? More yawns came through as she walked along passing mushrooms and getting more and more tired by the second. Until a deep rumble of a chuckle sounded out- She jumped with a small gasp and whirled behind her brandishing her umbrella like a sword ready to hit someone over the head with it...But no one was there. Still on edge her head swirled around her in all directions keeping her eyes out for anyone...but there was still no one there....Maybe her tired mind was playing tricks on her.

"Rabbit hole!~," that same deep voice sung out and two more verses of 'rabbit hole' echoed around her making her jump more and look around wildly. Where was that voice coming from? "I could say I help you.~ I could say I aid you.~ But underneath all I plan to do, to do is lead you.~ You could make a breakthrough.~ Watching others wait til I lead you and they can initiate you.~ No one understands me.~ Too scared to command me.~ Walking through an empty wonderworld of others dancing.~" She blinked and looked behind her. The main noise of the voice came from that direction. "No one understands me.~ Too scared to command me.~ Walking through an empty wonderworld of others dancing.~"

Like all the other people she's heard sing so far this man, she assumed it was male by the tone of the voice, was pretty smooth but unlike Chesire's this voice was deeper and had a serious underline to it despite that cheerful singing. Could it be-....She blinked. And began to slowly walk towards the source of the loud voice.

"I'll lead you into my home.~ You'll be deep in your thoughts.~ Fall inside the rabbithole again!~....I'll lead you into my home.~ You'll be deep in your thoughts.~ Fall inside the rabbithole again!~" The voice suddenly boomed out- "RABBITHOLE!!~" Again two echoes of 'rabbithole' sounded back as she slowly walked catiously to it. "Rabbithole again!~ Rabbithole!!~" More echoes. "Rabbithole again!! RABBITHOLE!!" Again more echoes. "Rabbitholes again.~"

Allison made sure to keep her umbrella in a 'ready to swing at anything' position as she ever so slowly approached the loud voice. She wasn't taking any chances with this new voice, especially after learning their was a queen after her behind.

"I won't wait to help you.~ I will not forsake you.~ I'll wait as long, as long as it takes you.~ You will say you need me.~ Say you don't beleive me.~ You can try but you will never, never, never doubt me.~ No one understands me.~ Too scared to command me.~ Walking through an empty wonderworld of others dancing.~ No one understands me.~ Too scared to command me.~ Walking through an empty wonderworld of others dancing.~.....I'M to late to be left alone.~ To bad to say I don't know.~ Too late to turn back time.~ ....NOW FALL INSIDE THE-"

She yelped at the sudden loud change in the voice and she guessed her startled yelp must've made the voice cool it as she looked around frantically again.....Before sucking in and letting out a deep breath. Before continueing towards it again.

"I'll lead you into my home.~ You'll be deep in your thoughts.~ Fall inside the rabbithole again!~....I'll lead you into my home.~ You'll be deep in your thoughts.~ Fall inside the rabbithole again!~" The voice suddenly boomed out- "RABBITHOLE!!~" Again two echoes of 'rabbithole' sounded back as the voice repeated the verses again. "Rabbithole again!~ Rabbithole!!~" More echoes. "Rabbithole again!! RABBITHOLE!!" Again more echoes. "Rabbitholes again.~"

She was starting to wonder what was up with all these strange characters singing so much to random people?...Not that she was in any place to judge. She couldn't sing to save her life.....But OH. How she would have to soon as she would later find out.

"I have been waiting, You.~ I have always been waiting.~ I will always help you out.~ 'Cause you cannot escape here.~" ....She froze....How did that thing know she-...."I have been waiting, You.~ I have always been waiting.~ I will always help you out.~ 'Cause you cannot escape here.~......I'll lead you into my home.~" The voice boomed out even louder and it sounded SO close. "You'll be deep in your thoughts.~ Fall inside the rabbithole again!~....I'll lead you into my home.~ You'll be deep in your thoughts.~ Fall inside the rabbithole again!~"

She looked around wildly for the source of that noise, how was it able to know she was lost in here?!

"RABBITHOLE!!~" Again two echoes of 'rabbithole' sounded back as the voice repeated the verses again. "Rabbithole again!~ Rabbithole!!~" More echoes. "Rabbithole again!! RABBITHOLE!!" Again more echoes. "Rabbitholes again.~.......I have been waiting, You.~ I have always been waiting.~ I will always help you out.~ 'Cause you cannot escape here.~"

Allison still looked around. Even as the voice echoed out and faded away and she wondered if it left for a moment. ...

"Hello, Human.~'' She jumped and looked around wildly for the source of the voice, but still didn't see anyone there. "I've been expecting you. My sticks fortold your arrival. Though I wasn't expecting you so soon."

...Sticks? What? She shook her head and kept looking around holding that umbrella out. "I-I'm n-not looking for trouble!" Her voice stuttered out and she wished it didn't. "I-I'm just looking for someone called the F-F-Fortune Teller."

"And you found me."

She froze. "....Are YOU the fortune teller guy?"

"Correct. Now if you would please turn around."

.....Confused, Allison did so and stopped. Her eyes widening as her hair blew around from the magical blast. Like magic, the mist parted in a tunnel and on the other side of the tunnel was the entrance to a cave. Allison just stood there stunned and amazed at the entire thing as another deep chuckle picked up. A dull pink light lit up from inside the cave.

"Oh human so small and meak.~ You have permission to come inside and take a peek.~" The light flickered on and off with the deep voice as it chuckled again as she still stood there staring. "That means you can come in. To see me that lies within."

That was permission for her to enter, and she did after a few long moments of standing there suspiciously, as she slowly walked the tunnel began to close behind her as Allison got closer and closer to the cave and the light within it. As soon as she stepped within the entrance the tunnel of mist sealed up back behind her and she looked behind her in surprise,...before continuing to walk into the cave deeper and deeper as the light grew and grew. Oh so now there's light. the light came from mushrooms that shown brightly as she walked along and didn't stop until she was at the very end of the cave entrance. ..And stared wide eyed. The light she saw before came from a crystal ball sat upon a small table, and ontop of the table was a dark pink table cloth. Beside the table on either side of it was matching giant chairs obviously tailored to his much bigger size, matching the colors of the tablecloth perfectly. Hanging from the ceiling was tiny bottles filled with who knows what. Some of the labels red: Tongue of Griffen, Tooth of Wolf, Unicorn Horn Dust, some unlabeled glowing liquids, etc. Father towards the other side of the home was just a somple plain giant bed and a little ways from that was a giant shelf of empty jars waiting to be filled, and a cauldron over an unlit fire pile. Other than all that, the cave was very ordinary and empty. A. GIANT. MOTH!! Was sitting there at the table staring at her with a smile. Two of his hands holding a glowing white ball and A third holding some kind of smoke pipe, as his free hand held his head. The air had a very sickening sweet smell like too much sugar, and dark pink smoke encircled him like the mist outside as he sat there studying her. The giant fluffy antenna on his head twitched again as he chuckled at her, before taking one of his four hands and reaching to take another drab of that sweet smelling smoke, while gesturing to the giant chair in front of him.

"Come in. Sit down please. I've been expecting you, Miss." She still stared at the glory that was the moth man,..but without thinking walked closer as he watched, and she coughed a few times from the pink fog swirling around them, before she slowly sat down across from him. Her sore muscles finally getting some kind of relief from the long tired walking she'd done for the past two days. And he smiled friendlier. "No need to be frightened. My crystal ball has told me you would be needing my help, and it's rare I get visitors."

"....Y-YOU are the fotune teller?," she asked still stunned.

He chuckled. "Yes, I thought I already said that. You may call me Fortune. And what might your name be, Human?"

"....A-Allison?"

"Well, Allison, It very nice to meet you. Now what have you come seeking me for?"

....She finally seemed to snap out of it and blinked up at him. "OH! UH-..R-R-Right.Well-" She rubbed the back of her neck as she stared up at the patient looking moth..and coughed again. "I need to get home!"

"Ah. You're searching for a rabbithole back to the outside world aren't you?"

Her face lit up with a desperate smile. "YES!! Yes, that's exactly what I'm looking for. D-Do you know where I can find one?"

His smile slowly went into a thin line as he hummed. Reaching the smoke pipe over to suck in and slowly breath out another plume of smoke. "The thing you seek, I know where you can find. But getting to it will be harder then you think. For you see, there are a few ways in but only one way out, and that one way is the queen's magic mirror in the castle keep. ...You will be sent from where you last entered, but you'll have to venture INTO the Heart Queen's domain to get to it."

She stared mouth agape at him. She had to....GO INTO THE QUEEN CASTLE?! THE SAME PERSON WHO WAS CURRENTLY TRYING TO IMPRISON HER?! WAS HE CRAZY?! "WHAT?!," she shouted gawking at him, "How-....What am I supposed to do now?!"

He only hummed and gaze back down to the shiny white orb. Seemingly reading something on it and looking back to her. "There's a way in you see, but a friend's help you desperately need."

She blinked. "A friend?"

"Yes, and a helping hand I will give you for these troubling time. But you must leave right now if you wish to meet him in time." Her face dropped as he leaned to the side reaching under the table. MORE walking? Great. Just what she needed, as if she wasn't tired enough from the entire thing. Where was she gonna be sent THIS ti-...Wait, did he say meet him? Him who? He leaned back up with something in his one free hand and uncurled his fist. Inside it moving around was a tiny little glowing white butterfly. "Follow the butterfly and do NOT stop until you reach the circus tent it brings you too." His nudge his hand and the small tiny creature fluttered around and came to stop hovering near the entrance of the cave she came in as it waiting for her. She blinked and looked back to him, and he made a shooing motion with his hand. "Well? Off you go, on your way. If you don't hurry you won't ever get back home. Trust me, you won't have any other chance if you don't take this now."

....There wasn't any room to argue with that logic. So no matter how much her body yelled at her not too, she tiredly forced herself up and turned to the fluttering white glowing insect. As she stepped closer and closer to it, it began to flutter away back down the glowing cave's entrance and she tiredly followed after. Getting back home was going to be harder than she thought.

"Good luck to you, Miss Allison. You'll need that determination to get home."

***************************************************************************************************************

Alomost there.....ALMOSTTHEREALMOSTTHTHEREALMOSTTHERE!! The sun peeked up over the sky but it was still fairly dark with the ongoing storm. Persistant, wasn't it? The crackling of the last of the giant shards of glass crackled and shined as it went back together, the cracks sealed back to normal until the very last peice was sealed back together and floated towards the mirror. Where it looked like one last peice was missing like a piece out of a big puzzle. And he was about to fix it. Thunder and lightning cracked across the sky as the cat's badly shaking paws aimed the scepter at the mirror and strained his magic one last time as it crackled back into place along with it's shiny counterparts. The glass crackled as it sealed back into place, and finally after two days and hours of exhausting his magic and body, the magic mirror was complete. He dropped to his knees in exhaustion but smiling. He did it.....He FINALLY fixed the thing. He chuckled and knew he couldn't stop now. Standing back on shaking legs, he wobble ran towards the mirror, almost tripping a couple times before jumping.

The smiling cat disappeared into the portal with a few ripples going across the reflective surface like water. Leaving the taunting storm behind him.

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theotherbackgrounder · 7 years ago

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Have you finished the book yet! If so can you explain to me what happens!? specifically what 'shadow high' is? and if any characters from eah besides apple and raven do anything? I'm just really curious!

No problem. real quick summary

Confirmed Nu-Monster High canon. So does this make this their third adventure?

Narrators can apparently cross dimensions as Brooke Page starts narrating in Monster HIgh. Though I suppose this doesn’t mean much.

Any talk of “Shadow High” leads characters to goosebumps and Narrators uses what’s called a “Plop” device as too distract characters as so they forget about “Shadow High”

Raven does refer to Dragon Games…so…Cartoon and Books are one canon afterall?

The narrators go as far as to stop Raven and Apple accessing Shadow High that they actually break the rules and ask Maddie to stop them,

In their search for “Shadow High” Draculaura and Frankie uses the Mapalogue to teleport there but instead it causes tremors to appear…and a new place on the Map. Ever After High

Meanwhile inthe Magic Mirror, Evil Queen can feel the tremors that shakes the multi-verse and a small crack forms on a mirror

Simultaneously Draculaura and Frankie switch places with Evil Queen. Drac and Frank appears in Ever After High and Evil appears in Monster High

Nina thumb and back ground characters panic while crying out “monsters” and Daring Charming chases them after them with a sword, Milton says “There will be no slaying on school ground”

Fraknie and Drac panics but soon meets with Cerise, someone that is similar to Clawdeen they are eased, Baba Yaga appears to get them into the hedamasters office.

Evil Queen tries to get monsters to join her but the school body is like “whateve” only Moanica wants to help. Searching through Dracula’s office they find out about a place called “The Library”

Raven, Apple and Maddie have to look after Frank and Drac as they do the “But Monsters/Fairytales aren’t real” shenanigans. Draculaura and Raven hit it off as magic buddies, Frankie doesn’t particularly like Apple much at first.

A dark fog seperates Ever After High and Maddie is kidnapped by Zomboyz and Raven really starts to panic over that. They follow them through the “Margin” a place between Stories and The Fourth Wall.

There they come to the Library where the Evil Queen is bringing Shadow High back into reality.but the dangers only start with the “Unmaking Lava” which breaks down everything into merely words. For example Apple’s shoe was turned into the words: HEEL, ARCH, BUCKLE, SOLE, etc

It’s revealed that all the stories were once apart of the same world: Ever After High, Monster High, a land of Gods and Goddesses (Cupid?) and Superheros (DC SuperheroGirls?) and many others

But a Narrator named “Ms. Direction” believed that the characters created by “Authors” should be controlled by narrators… this is what Shadow High is.

Okay so Ms. Direction is broken. She literally breaks the characters into sitting a doing nothing until The End comes.

Then Brooke Page looks over the page of the boook and asks the readers to help and the whole book turns into a “Choose your own adventure book”

I went with the choice of Maddie out narrating Ms. Direction. Fight broken powers with Broken powers.

The six of them (Raven, Apple, Drac, Frankie, Maddie, Evil Queen) heads to the top of the volcano to stop “Shadow High” before Raven can do it, Evil Queen takes the power for herself. “The power to destroy lands” is too much for the little birdie she says.

The last person to seal away Shadow High had died in the process so Evil Queen does it this time. As it is sealed, The five girls have to escape the island before the bridges to their world are destroyed and they fall into the lava..

The girls return their home.

with Frankie that night she has apple’s backpack and scrummages around inside of it and finds Apple’s tiara. Frankie connects it to a little compass that they used to find Shadow High earliar but of course it doesn’t work.

Frankie goes to sleep and while dreaming, her compass comes to life emitting magic from Apple’s tiara. It points to where Apple is. It is pointing west.

Alright that’s the summary.

What is Shadow High?

Long ago the World of Stories were once connected. Everything had once co-existed as the Authors made them. Monsters (Monster High) Fairy Tales (Ever After High) Gods and Goddesses (Cupid’s world?) Superhero stories (Dc Superhero Girls?) Holiday Stories (In the book we see Santa Clause’s daughter). etc. etc. I don’t know if all the “worlds” represent all of Mattel’s toylines or what. But everything co-existed.

The Narrator’s job was to narrate the stories. All narrators but one, Ms. Direction. She believed that the narrators should have more power, that they should decide what happens in the stories.

She created Shadow High so that Narrators could learn the power to force characters to do what the Narrators wanted them to do.

A magic was created to do this. It unmade stories, breaking them down to bits, believing that they could take the pieces and build new stories.The unmaking magic was like lava, it unmade everything, leaving it all mere concepts of A’s, B’s, C’s and D’s.The lava poured pooled out towards the world of stories threatening to turn everything into what they were, mere concepts.

In order to combat this the Narrators used a chisel that was used by the very first author and a single Narrator left the Land of Narrators and journeyed to Shadow High. Using literally all the powers that the narrators can muster, he used it to break apart Shadow High. Using God’s power broke the World of stories and seperated the world.

All the worlds (ie. Monster High and Ever After High) exist at the same time and do not. When the world seperated, the Unmaking Lava filled in the gaps between all the lands. Seperating itself, as well as everything else, away from everything. So if saying that MH and EAH are alternate dimension (Cupid’s mirror) or that they are alien planets (Astronova) you are both correct as well as wrong.

—

Now as far as all the characters.

A bunch of Ever After High characters gets at least a single scene, the main characters though are Raven, Apple, Maddie, and Evil Queen.

Milton Grimm has 3 scenes- two at the beginning when confronting Frankie and draculaura and one at the end with Raven, Maddie, and Apple

Nina Thumb has one where she screams “monster” when the two MH girls arrive.

when everyone starts freaking out, Daring Charming appears chasing the girls with his sword while Milton Grimm chases him stating “There will be no monster slaying on school ground”

After the freaking out, Cerise Hood appears before Frankie and Drac, showing her ears she doesn’t want them to think that everyone at Ever After High is bad.

After the previous scene, Baba Yaga appears (with Milton) in her chicken house. Draculaura mentions that the house is SOOO cute and she wants one, Baba says she can’t have hers.

Nevermore appears a couple of times

Faybelle is only mentioned. Apple refers to “Fairy’s got talent.”

When the fog appears in Ever After, Briar appears and gets all the students together so that no one starts panicking…Then apparently they have a creepy fog party.

And then of course Brooke and her parents are in the stories

Monster HIgh not so lucky, of course Draculaura and Frankie are the main characters. Only Moanica D’cay is close to any major screen time as she works with Evil Queen.

Dracula and Clawdeen’ mother appear together when D and F confronts them about Shadow High…only for them to run off because of the “Plop device” Dracula appears again later talking to Zomboyz

Mr. Rotters is kind of significant as the two girls are doing a project for him.

The Janitor, Mr. Mum-Ho-Tep, also talks to the girls about Shadow High…before getting distracted.

and that’s about Any other character that appears either gets relugated to a single line (aka. Cleo and Deuce) or relugated to giving a thumbs up (Clawdeen) or doesn’t exist in the story (Lagoona)

#ever after high #monster high #Frankie stein #draculaura #Raven Queen #apple white

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storiesofwildfire · 7 years ago

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Out of all of Loki’s children, the only one permitted to stay on Asgard was Sleipnir, because Odin wanted to use him as his own personal war steed. Being a horse with eight legs and the power of both Loki and a work horse capable of building a fortress in a fortnight proved to be the best option for riding into battle.

The rest of Loki’s children (Hel, Jörmungandr, and Fenrir) were all taken from Loki at a rather young age. Everyone knows that Hel ended up in Helheim, ruling over the realm of the dead because she was half-dead herself. Jörmungandr’s story is similar because he was sent to Midgard’s oceans since that seemed to be the only place big enough to house him. Fenrir, however...

In mythology, Fenrir is often described as being kept close to the gods so they could control and tame him.

In this case, Odin kept him hidden away from Loki and just about every other Aesir or sentient creature known to Yggdrasil. Believing Fenrir to be the most dangerous and the most feral of Loki’s children, Odin kept him under lock and key and for many years, Loki searched for him in hopes of reuniting with his son, but Fenrir was heavily protected with advanced magic that made tracking the wolf next to impossible.

Every time Loki got close to one of the locations Odin kept Fenrir in, Odin would have him moved to a new cell.

Eventually, Fenrir’s hidden away on the dark, cold realm of Niflheim, the world of fog and mist. The realm seemed like the perfect hiding place for the wolf because of how difficult it is to navigate, even by the most skilled explorers. Due to how cold it is, there isn’t much of a population, so Fenrir is secluded and isolated from anyone that he can potentially harm.

At the far end of a massive valley, there sits a large mountain range. Between the base of the two tallest mountains, there’s a large opening to a cave but as one moves further back into the cave, they will come across a complicated, maze-like system of tunnels that eventually leads to a massive open chamber where natural light does not reach. This is where Odin decided to place Fenrir. Once inside the chamber, Fenrir was bound to the cold, stone floor of the chamber by massive chains that were etched in runes to keep them from being broken by the wolf. Once immobilized by the restraints, his jaws were pried open and a massive sword was placed in his mouth. This prevented him from being able to close his mouth, else he would shove the point of the sword up into his skull, and therefore, unable to bite or swallow anyone who got close to him.

Getting to this chamber is almost impossible because the massive valley that stretches out before the mouth of the cave is laced with wards and magical protections. The simplest charms trick anyone or anything that nears the valley to ignore it and leaves them believing that it was their decision to forego exploration of the valley and, therefore, the cave. The more complicated spells are designed to lash out at anyone who attempts to cross the valley, often times resulting in death.

In order to successfully get to the cave, a very skilled sorcerer would have to be able to take each spell and ward down one at a time, which would result in alerting Odin to the tampering of his enchantments.

If a person manages to get through the valley, they are then faced with the maze within the cave, which would result in most people getting lost and eventually perishing within the complicated system of tunnels.

In most verses, Loki is unaware of Fenrir’s location but is still searching for him (the biggest exception is any verse that takes place while Loki is King of Asgard and has released his children from their banishments and unwarranted punishments, such as v; main II and v; rebuild and protect). Depending on his relationship with Odin in various verses, he may also still be trying to convince his father to return his children to him.

#c; fenrir #index; loki #filed under; affiliates #filed under; children #filed under; dislikes #filed under; headcanons #index; secondary muses #filed under; fenrir #{ fenrir's fate and loki's inability to find him literally drives loki crazy #this is maddening and upsetting to him in ways that he can't adequately explain #but he beats himself up about it constantly #and he's never really stopped searching for fenrir #though he often loses hope that he'll ever find him #and it breaks his heart to know that his son has probably been suffering since he was a pup #in most verses loki literally hasn't seen fenrir since he was a child }#( side muse ) fenrir #( storiesofwildfire headcanon ) chaos is about that which is possible

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campfiresandsandcastles · 5 years ago

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Explore Machu Picchu with Teenagers

We ended our 9 day adventure to Peru [INSERT LINK TO ENTIRE AGENDA] at one of the Seven Wonders of the New World, Machu Picchu. We decided to do the epic trip to Machu Picchu at the end of our vacation which worked out really well for us. I don’t have any great reason for doing it in that order, except that our kids like to stay in one hotel for most of the trip and not move around a lot. So, it seemed to make the most sense to just stay put in Cusco once we arrived and head up to Machu Picchu Pueblo at the end. However, flipping the itinerary around and doing Machu Picchu Pueblo the first day after arriving in Cusco would’ve probably worked fine as well. Doing it that way may also have the added advantage of ensuring everyone is healthy and energized to visit the main attraction of Machu Picchu and then doing all the adventure activities at the end of the trip.

Day 7 - Relax on the train to Machu Picchu Pueblo

Day Seven we woke fairly early to catch the PeruRail train from the San Pedro station in downtown Cusco to Machu Picchu Pueblo (formerly known as Agua Caliente). Two different train companies make the trip, Peru Rail and Inca Rail. We chose Peru Rail for no particular reason. And we chose their Vistadome option that includes windows that wrap to the ceiling and a light Peruvian-themed snack (which none of our kids ate, but we liked).

We also chose to leave from the San Pedro station rather than the stations located closer to Machu Picchu Pueblo. For example, the Ollantaytambo station a few hours from Cusco is a popular station for people to leave from. I honestly don’t really understand why, as there are very limited accommodations in Ollantaytambo. For example, we’ve traveled enough in South America at this point that our teens know to ask what type of hotels we are staying in and prefer the name-brand hotels, since we’ve stayed in some less than fabulous locations. There are certainly no name-brand hotels in Ollantaytambo.

The train ride from Cusco to Machu Picchu Pueblo was fabulous. It was comfortable and relaxing. Much better than a bus or taxi ride. The total trip was close to 5 hours. We just chatted, enjoyed the view, napped, and the kids played cards and snacked. I cannot recommend the train enough.

You can only take a backpack or small luggage weighing less than 11 pounds on the train. This is well known by the hotels, so we were able to leave our large suitcases at the Hilton Garden Inn in their designated storage room. There is limited space to hold baggage on the train, only under your seat or on a small luggage rack as you enter each train carriage.

You need to pre-purchase the train tickets from PeruRail. In fact, most people recommend that you purchase your train tickets and tickets to enter Machu Picchu before scheduling any other portion of your trip because both sell out. We visited the week before Christmas, in December, which is rainy season and tends to have less crowds. We did not have a problem purchasing either the train or entry tickets.

Arrive in Machu Picchu Pueblo (formerly known as Agua Calientes)

We were met at the train station by a representative of our hotel for the night, Gringo Bill’s. I’m not kidding, that is really the name of the hotel. The town of Machu Picchu Pueblo is very, very small, with pretty much just the train station, a central square, two branches of river running through the town and train tracks crossing the town too. So, you simply walk from the train station to the hotel. The room at Gringo Bill’s was nice in that it was two bedrooms and had separate beds for the kids and a wrap around porch. Plus, it included breakfast. We would recommend the hotel for families with teens.

Just outside of the train station is a large multi-stall market full of vendors selling various Peruvian wares. Again, everyone claims all textiles are “baby alpaca,” but by now we knew better. As an example, I bought a red suede backpack for a friend that had Peruvian-type embroidery on it, but was likely mass produced. The vendor tried to tell me that the leather was baby alpaca, which was clearly not the case, but I share this as an example of what many of the vendors will likely say to make a sale. The vendor also originally asked S/130 soles for the backpack (approximately $45 USD), I told her that I didn’t want to spend more than S/75 soles for the gift and began to walk away and find another backpack at a nearby stall. She chased me down and accepted the S/75 soles. I didn’t do it to try to negotiate with her really, I simply didn’t want to pay that much, but it shows how much the vendors are willing to drop their prices when negotiating, nearly 50%.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the town and ate at a local restaurant along the tracks. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant. It served a wide variety of food and had two floors with a balcony overlooking the raging river. There are actually many restaurants in this town. It’s pretty much just restaurants, hotels, and shops, perfectly catered to everyone heading to Machu Picchu.

We also bought our bus tickets to Machu Picchu. There are signs around town to follow to the bus ticket office, or just ask anyone for directions. Again, the town is not that large. You do need your passport to purchase the tickets. You buy tickets for the bus leaving just prior to your entry time to Machu Picchu. If you tell the bus attendant what time your entry is, they will tell you which bus to purchase tickets for. You can purchase the bus tickets using a credit card too.

It is required that you have a guide to enter Machu Picchu. There are many standing outside of the bus ticket office, or even at the entrance of Machu Picchu itself. The hotel our friends stayed at had a relationship with a guide, so we hired him. The cost to each family was S/160 soles (about $50 US dollars). He met us the night before we headed up to Machu Picchu to show us the map of the site and provide us with some explanations of what to expect. He recommended sunscreen (which we used) and bug repellant (which we did not use). Also, good walking shoes or boots, a rain jacket, and layers so you could strip off clothes as it got hotter throughout the day.

Day 8 - Hike Machu Picchu

Finally the day had come to visit Machu Picchu, one of the newly named 7 wonders of the new world! Everyone was very excited to see this historic site with their own eyes.

We started with breakfast that was provided by the hotel. The hotels in Machu Picchu Pueblo are well versed in the needs of visitors to Machu Picchu, so we were able to leave some of our backpacks at Gringo Bill’s to hold until we returned. Also, be aware that there is a list of items you may not take into Machu Picchu including selfie sticks, tripods, and drones. Be sure to note the restrictions of what you can bring before you go as the list is a bit long and sometimes surprising.

You can start to line up in town for the bus 30 minutes before your entrance time. Just ask and follow the crowd on where you need to line up, it is near the bus ticket office. Suddenly a person holding a large sign with your designated entrance time will appear and escort the long line of people onto the waiting buses. The buses are really nice and the ride is about 30 minutes from the town to the entrance of Machu Picchu. You need to show your passports to enter the bus.

You need to pre-purchase the tickets to enter Machu Picchu. As I noted above, these are some of the first tickets you should purchase when planning your trip because the Peruvian government restricts how many people may enter the site every day. In fact, you purchase tickets for a designated entrance time and you have an hour to enter within that time slot. You will need to show your passport to enter the site. And then you are limited to the number of hours you can actually spend in the site. The limit was 4 hours when we were there, but we did not see anyone being kicked out. Tickets are purchased directly from the Peruvian government here. Many, many, many tour agencies will be willing to help you purchase packages for train tickets, entrance tickets, and bus tickets, and tour you around the site, plus other amenities, but we found all of this relatively easy to navigate all on our own and did not need a tour agency to plan the visit.

At the entrance to Machu Picchu there are bathrooms, vending machines, and small lockers. There is a minimal cost to use the bathrooms and there are no bathrooms inside the site itself.

We chose the entrance time of 10am. Many people recommend to be the first ones in the site to be able to catch the sunrise over the mountain peaks, but we were traveling with teenagers and knew better than to expect them to want to enter at 6am. We were hoping that a 10am entry would ensure we’d be in there early enough, but maybe late enough in the afternoon too in case we needed some of the fog to burn off. In the end it was a perfect time for us. The weather was great, we had some fog that clung to the surrounding mountain tops, but the valley was clear.

Our tour guide was clearly very experienced and loved to share all that he knew about Machu Picchu, plus he answered all of our many questions. Originally he told us that he would give us a tour for about 2.5 hours and then let us explore on our own, but he ended up spending nearly 4 hours with us. And he knew all of the good spots to take the popular photos of Machu Picchu, even the famous postcard spot. There are plenty of llamas to hang out with too, which the kids loved. As you are leaving the site, be sure to get your passport stamped for fun (we forgot).

Enjoy a Meal and a Magic Show Too

After the bus ride back to town, we had a bit of time before our train back to Cusco. We grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at one of the many restaurants in town. It was ok, but really expensive and they did not take credit card, so that was a bummer. Our train was delayed a few hours due to a landslide on the tracks, so we ate dessert at a popular Italian restaurant that we loved called Incontri del Pueblo Viejo. It apparently is #1 on TripAdvisor and it definitely deserves to be, we all wished we would have eaten dinner there. The desserts were very good, we had the lava cake and gelato, but more importantly, the staff was fabulous. They performed close-up magic tricks for us, which were amazing! I don’t want to share any more details of their tricks, because you need to experience it for yourself.

At days’s end we enjoyed the train ride back down to Cusco. There is a point in the ride where the train needs to wait for another train to pass, so the staff performs a bit of local dancing for you and a fashion show of Peruvian clothes that are also available for purchase.

Overall, each aspect of visiting Machu Picchu is a well-oiled machine. From the train ride, to the hotels, to the bus ride, to the tour of Machu Picchu, every person or organization involved makes the trip easy to navigate. And, nearly everyone speaks English. We returned late to the Hilton Garden Inn in Cusco for our final night and slept hard.

Helpful Hints

Shed your luggage: You are only allowed 11 lbs of luggage per person on the train, which equates to a small backpack or carry-on size luggage. Your hotel in Cusco will likely be happy to hold your larger luggage until you return. Also, your hotel in Machu Picchu Pueblo will also likely be happy to hold any of your backpacks or other bags you do not want to travel with into Machu Picchu. All hotels have a lot of experience with this and are prepared to help.

Carry your passport: Your passport will be needed to board the train, purchase bus tickets, board the bus, enter Machu Picchu…essentially every step of the way into Machu Picchu. So, be sure to have it and carry it with you.

Purchase train tickets from Cusco to Machu Picchu Pueblo: There are two train companies available, we chose PeruRail. We chose their Vistadome option which included a light snack and windows that wrapped to the ceiling. When planning your trip to Machu Picchu, purchase the train tickets and entrance tickets to Manchu Picchu first as both can sell out.

Purchase bus tickets from Machu Picchu Pueblo to Machu Picchu: These are purchased in the town of Machu Picchu Pueblo at the bus ticket office. Just follow the signs in Machu Picchu Pueblo to the office. You will need your passport and you may pay with credit card.

Purchase entrance tickets to Machu Picchu: Tickets are purchased directly from the Peruvian government here. The Peruvian government has started and will likely continue to restrict the number of persons allowed to enter Machu Picchu each day, so stay aware of the most recent restrictions that the government is enacting at the time of your visit. Moreover, when planning your trip to Machu Picchu, purchase the train tickets and entrance tickets to Manchu Picchu first as both can sell out.

Find a guide to enter Machu Picchu: The Peruvian government requires that you enter the site with a guide. You will find plenty recommended by your hotel, waiting outside the bus ticket office, or even at the entrance to Machu Picchu.

Get your passport stamped when leaving Machu Picchu: We forgot and we’re kicking ourselves for it. So, do what I say, not what we did.

Accommodations in Machu Picchu Pueblo: Machu Picchu Pueblo is a very small town filled with a couple of high-end resorts/lodges and numerous private hotels and hostels. We stayed at Gringo Bill’s which offered us a 2 bedroom room suite with walk-around balcony.

Best place to eat in Machu Picchu Pueblo: Incontri del Pueblo Viejo. They serve Italian food. Come for the food, stay because of the staff. They are amazing.

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