#LIKE I AM LITERALLY DOWN TO 8. 8 DIAS.

[chisungie]

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[sm-baby]

Family Vacation (Chapter 3)- "The Trip to Poseidon"

AH, THE LONG-AWAITED CHAPTER IS FINALLY HERE, GREAT...

Chapter 1 : ("Carriage Ride")

Chapter 2: ("The Motel Room")

Word count: 11,921 words 65,612 characters

GOD... THESE JUST KEPT GETTING LONGER..I will say this will probably be the longest a FV fic is going to be, from this point on I everything else will be ficlets uwu

Go enjoy my ramblings!! I know this was messy I didn't use many writing techniques ;;

Ok Bye bye!! Enjoy~ <3

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8:30am in the morning. Leftover cold polluted the air. Water droplets slowly fell from the ceiling edges. The weather was colder than most. Aside from the obvious wealth, Zeus was known for its cold weather as they neighbor the north Iceologers. Most everyone outside was wearing sweaters and long sleeves, while the most prone were wearing full-on coats.

Speaking of the people more prone to the cold: Gracious Simpleton, alongside her companion Leonardo Birch, finally stepped outside after their two-hour nap. Leonardo was off wearing a sweater that he rolled up to the elbow, while Gracious, not only wore long sleeves, but also a jacket on top. This time, with thicker material.

     "Alright, I'm ready." 

Leonardo cleared his throat. 

     Grace turned her head in confusion. "What?"  She literally just woke up and she messed something up already.

The man pointed passed her, towards her messy bed. She cleaned herself up but seemingly nothing of her surroundings. The big man did his fair share on his side of the room, you wouldn't guess which one the noble would be if you entered it without seeing them first. 

     The woman rolled her eyes. " Room service will handle it."

     " It's rude to leave a mess for other people to clean up." Leonardo crossed his arms. He was already nearby the exit earlier while he was getting ready to leave, but this time it was almost like he was guarding it. "Besides, you're not going to have room service in the vacation house. "

Grace stared at him as if it was a completely unheard-of thing to ask of her. She would be incredibly insulted had it been someone else. The woman was very reluctant, but she followed through after much convincing.

The Seniors were finally out of their Motel room to the cold morning. They descended the outside stairs, Leonardo went down first and Grace was not that far behind him.

There lounged their kin. Noah, Wilbert, and Flint were down munching on their breakfast, while the adults were off further into the kitchen. Catherine and Sheldon were manning the stoves, while Erma and Simon chatted with them from their seats. 

     Wilburt paused mid-chew to greet the big kind man who he saw not that long ago "hello, Mr. Leo!" This took the other’s attention.

Noah waved happily upon seeing his grandfather.

     Sheldon, pan still in hand, took a few steps back to see his father in view "Heyyy, there's the man of the hour!” Everyone turned with him “Good morning, Papa!"

     "Hello, Papa!"

     "Good morning, Papa."

     "Bonjour, Papa!" 

     "Buenos Dias, Señor! And…” Simon squinted his eyes to see the white silhouette behind the man “Mama!" He flinched, his body immediately arranged to tend to her. “Excuse me for a moment, I’ll be right-”

     “Simon?” Catherine frowned, She looked more concerned than anything. “Hon, We talked about this. “

    “I-” He sighed “...know. But just this once? I do want to see if mother is well.”

    “Oh, of course, don’t let me stop you! Just-” Catherine put her hands up in a sort of shrug, and scrunched up her face, wanting to find the appropriate words. Her fiance knows this look. “...Know your limits?”

     “I will try.” He gave her a quick kiss on her nose and started walking off  “I promise, I won’t be long! ” 

Catherine waved to him with a reluctant smile and an unsure look in her eyes.

      “I have no idea what’s happening there, but boy am I worried about your fiance.” Erma raised a brow. Although they were looking reserved, She and Sheldon were listening in to the couple’s chat.

    Catherine shrugged, “ He’s working on it.”

Simon arrived as quickly as he left. His mother had barely even touched the floor yet. The nobleman's posture was a little more straightened the closer he was, and he fixed his outfit to at least not look like a mess in front of his mother. She deserves a clean son.

     "Boker tov, Mama!" He leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek and laid his hand out for her to hold. He escorts her often when she is in unfamiliar territory. It eases her worries for at least a little.

     "Hola, Hijo."  

     "Do you need anything? A coat? It is quite cold this morning-" her son asked. It was freezing after yesterday’s storm, he was wearing a jacket himself! His own frame was also quite thin for someone his size. 

     " Hijo-"

     Simon could only imagine how his mother handled the temperature! He had his darling offer him some body warmth last night and earlier this morning; surely white sheets weren’t the most warming. His mother was wearing a coat and her gloves but was that truly enough? " I could give you my coat! I'm using it right now but I have a couple extra-"

     " Hijo, I don't need anything!” His mother interrupted. “I wouldn't go downstairs unprepared. "

     " Are you sure?"

     " Si. estoy segura. Now, Off with your friends you go. Don’t let me be a distraction."

     " .. well, alright. But if you need me…"

     " I will call you. I know."

Leonardo dusted off the table with his hand and sat down. His children turned to greet him with small talk and to see if he needed anything. He did already feel his energy draining as-- he was running on less than 5 hours of sleep, so he shut down the conversation from him in a very subtle, clever, and tactful way that only a man who’s interrogated spies and higher-ups could come up with. " What's for breakfast."

    Sheldon rolled his eyes. " Oh, you know what’s for breakfast, papa." He tapped the order Flint wrote that was taped to the wall, returning back to cook his steak 

     When all the attention was taken from him and back to each other, Erma, with her usual devious smirk, slipped away to the sleepy old man who was currently resting his face on his palm on the table. 

     " I'm surprised you're not the one staying up cooking.” 

Leonardo flinched, a little surprised and honestly impressed that he hadn’t heard her. You learn a thing or two from serving Athena I guess.

    “ You usually wake up at 4am to cook for us when we were little. When you were home, that is."

     " Mrs. Simpleton and I had a talk."

     " Simon’s mum?” Erma nodded along “I’ve heard a little dingy or two about her, She seems quite alright with me." she snickered, “You know, aside from the snot-nosed capitalism.”

     " I’m not giving you material to gossip, Erma."

     " Oh you know I don't like gossiping about you! Makes me feel dirty."

     " Mmmhm." Leonardo rubbed his eyes and was losing focus on the conversation.

Erma saw this as her queue to leave and left him a classic smile. " Alright, I’ll give you some space, old man." She pats his back before walking off to the Birch siblings in the kitchen.

Erma wasn’t alone, as Simon had also come back from a conversation with his mother. That was fast. Hopefully for a good reason. 

Grace was overall impressed by how the Motel was set up. For an establishment in Artemis, She thought the place would be a little more run down. But apparently not. The public kitchen areas were separated into large booths with their own tables. She can hear other tourists talking among themselves in their own areas. With a place such as this, not to mention one so close to the gate of Zeus, it must have been funded by a Zeus witch such as herself. 

The noblewoman turned her attention to the bunch she came with. Everything was quite lively. From the young ones at their table to the adults in the kitchen area. The last time she saw this much chatter was at a noble party where, as far as she knows, most everyone was faking their chipper attitudes. But this time was…strange. It was a little overwhelming. She wasn’t used to this. 

Her face scrunched up unsure of the sight. Until she noticed the half-asleep Ares- er… Man at his table. He was the only one not talking to anyone. And the only one who she knows isn't the most chatty.

     Ahem

Leonardo sighed. What’s a man to do to have some peace around here? The man looked up to find Mrs. Simpleton. The woman he was rooming with last night. Wow, taking initiative. He’s impressed.

     “Uhm..” she stammered and gestured to the space beside him. “May I?”

The old man nodded and moved over. He hadn’t even bothered to greet her. He just went back to resting his head on the table. Not that Grace minded.

A comfortable silence fell between the two. Leonardo crossed his arms on the table and placed his forehead on it. Grace was just sitting calmly, with her back straightened, still with her proper etiquette. Admittedly, she too was resting and closing her eyes. 

     “What did you tell Simon.”

     She opened an eye “Excuse me?”

    “What did you tell him.”

    “I told him nothing, uhm. Leonardo.”

     “Did you. ” he turned his head to peek at her. “Can I take your word for it.”

    “If not mine, then his.” She shook her head, brows slightly furrowed. “I have no reason to lie.”

     Surprised, The Birch completely turned to her upon hearing her tone. She almost sounded defensive. “What exactly did you tell him then.”

    “I told him that I didn’t need anything and that he should head back to his company. He offered me his coat, but I denied it. Nothing more, nothing less.”

     Leonardo exhaled and leaned back from his seat. “Good.”

    “It's the bare minimum, as you've said.”

     “It is. And I’m not praising you for this behavior. What I will tell you though,"

    From the corner of her eye, Grace spotted her son laughing during a conversation with his friends. His fiancée fed him a dish he hadn’t tried before, and his eyes lit up at the taste.

     “...is that he looked like he needed that.”

     The woman had an unreadable expression on her face. It seemed to still be quite the blank mask, but her thoughts could tell you otherwise. “...Hm.”

     " Alright! Pork Chops and baked potatoes for the great elders!" 

Grace flinched, her attention completely taken. She hadn't even noticed the Junior walking near them. 

     "Sorry, I burnt some of the pork chops. " Sheldon placed the plates on the table and rested his palms at the corners. He wasn't paying too much attention. He hadn't even noticed that he gave the burnt pork chops to his future brother-in-law's mother.

     " Thank you, my boy." Leonardo nodded.

     His son smiled and started walking back " Bone apple teeth, as how Erma would say"

     Erma frowned " Sheldon, you're so lame."

Grace just stared at her meal, barely even paying mind to the family's shenanigans. The woman was not the eating type, she never even agreed to eat this morning. But she was in too deep so she might as well. Goodness, what would her business partners say if she put on more weight… that must be quite the turn-off. She's at least glad that she's retired now.

Other than the subject of weight, she didn't think the junior was aware of what he was doing. The meal was prepared in a way that she was extremely unfamiliar with. She was already missing her personal chef's cooking. She might have taken them for granted..

All that, but what turned her off the most, was that she was given the slightly burnt dish which wasn't the most appetizing. That part just made her a little…sad, however. If she were perfectly honest, she was looking forward to a good meal today. Not that she would care. She didn't need to eat.

     "Grace."

She didn't notice him calling out to her. What he saw was a woman staring blankly into the dish and thinking to herself. She had the utensils in hand, but she didn't even have the energy to use them. She barely had a grip on them.

    "Grace?" 

God damn it, Grace. Why can't you just grow up? Why does even food make you uncomfortable?? You can't even finish a single plate that isn't perfect?? Your father would be ashamed of you!

The woman put her hand up to signal that she needed a moment. Her head was building up again. She just needed a minute to reassess herself. " I'm fine." She sighed.

     Leonardo frowned at the sight quite honestly. Maybe it was a little too quick to put a posh woman in such a completely different environment. It was just food. But…baby steps. She's already doing quite a bit of progress. 

     " Here. Have mine." The man slid his plate over to her side of the table and took hers to his.

     " Thank you. "

And, trying to make the best of the situation, Grace regained her grip on the utensils and started eating out of her plate. She covered her mouth with her hand while chewing, though it shouldn't really be that bad.

     " What's wrong?" Leonardo followed not that far behind her.

     " It's nothing." Grace sighed. She never really shared this with anyone, but she couldn't lie to the man either. " Sometimes there are days when I get very uncomfortable when I eat certain meals. There are very few dishes that I'm safe eating, but weeks go on when I eat only that specific dish I don't end up meeting my healthy diet. " The woman turned away from him. She would cross her arms if it weren't for the fact that she was holding the spoon and fork. " I'm just being picky. That's all. " 

     " Hm." Leonardo rested his elbows on the table, head turned towards her. "Tell me, what's this dish that you can't get enough of?" 

     " It's…" she muttered, "...salmon. "

     " Salmon."

     She nodded.

     " Well. Thank you for sharing that with me."

     Grace managed to turn back to him again. Briefly making eye contact before going back her plate. " Thank you for listening. And...for not judging."

     " Ofcourse." He shrugged and went back to his business. This man is a father. And a good one at that. Hes done this before.

     " I hope you're not going to spread it around."

     " I'm not one to gossip." He shook his head, but interupted himself not long after. "Well… I'm one to listen, but not to spread it. "

     She felt a smile coming through. This man can be a little funny sometimes. " Thank you, Your majesty-…Leonardo." 

     Leonardo squinted his eyes at that. "You know, when I said that you could call me by my real name, I didn't mean it as a command. You can call me whatever is comfortable. "

     " Oh, Of course, I knew that! "She turned to him quickly, no less than embarrassed. " It's just a bit of an adjustment-- That's all." Grace lost eye contact with him. But this time, it wasn't because she felt bad.

The Birch siblings were still cleaning up their cooking while Erma and Simon were waiting for them at their table. They had to wrap up breakfast soon and pack everything up to get back on the road.

They chatted and gossiped about their time in the military, while Simon nodded along and sipped from his cup of coffee. Sometimes he forgets he's with people who've experienced war. He can't say he can relate. He stood up from the table and went over to the sink to put away his cup which is, coincidentally, where Catherine also was!

     "Querida…!" He whispered

     " Hm?"

     " I need to go to the toilet, I'll be right back. " 

     " Don't take too long. Sheldon and I are right about done"

     " I won't be. Can I have a kiss before I go?"

     Mwah

     " Thank you! I'll be right back!"

     After finishing up his dish, Leonardo stretched his limbs and stood up from his seat. "Alright kids, wrap it up." All attention was given to him. He took both his and Grace's plates and walked over to the younger adults at the kitchen to clean. "Once everyone's done, you should pack your bags and settle in at the new carriage up front. It's a self-driving one, you can't miss it." The senior pointed at his son " Sheldon, you know what to do. Man of the house. Take control if I'm not there." 

     His son nodded and Leonardo left the booth. 

     Grace followed behind him as she said she would, only she realized that he was going in the opposite direction from their room " Where are you off to?" 

     "Toilet. Pack your things, make sure you don't forget anything."

     "Ofcourse, sir." She nodded a slight bow and started walking off.

As Leonardo was on his way to the bathroom entrance, he was about to turn the nob before he was immediately interrupted by the Junior Simpleton opening it from the other side.

     "Señor! Hello again!"

     "Simon." His future In-law bowed politely, almost like a greeting.

     "Pleasure seeing you here!"

     "It's the bathroom, Simon." 

     Oh my god, this mumbling idiot can barely greet this man Hello without dying first. He felt just as silly as he did last night! “Oh! Alright alright, don’t let me get in your way!” He moved over to the other side of the door, clearing the entrance for him and joining him outside. Leonardo just looked back at the man twiddling his fingers. 

     "Señor, might I tell you something?"

     "Yes, son?"

Simon flushed at that. He was aware that the man refers to most men below him as such, but with the newly added context, he can't help but be happy to hear it from him.

     " I wanted to say that…"  He folded his hands together, and cleared his throat. "Thank you. For giving me and my mother such a wonderful trip. I have never seen her so sure of herself and so happy to be around people. " He said. " I've seen her at your table! She smiled! You're very kind and patient to both of us and I can't thank you enough." The boy bowed at him slightly. White coven etiquette.

     Leonardo stared at him, eyebrows raised. He didn't expect this today, but he was glad that the two of them felt welcomed. " My family and I are more than happy to give you this opportunity. We like you. I don't speak for my children, but I'm happy to invite you two to these occasions moving on. "

     " Really?"

     " Ofcourse." Leonardo pats his shoulder, "You're family now, son." 

Simon froze, eyes sparkling at him…he looks like he could burst from happiness! He was a smiling idiot! cheeks flushed and hands playing with each other happily.

His future father-in-law rolled his eyes. It was just as amusing to see him try to contain himself as it is to make him feel embarrassed. Recalling the physical touch his daughter gave him, Leonardo put his arms out.

     " Bring it in."

Oop! There Simon goes, clinging onto his future father-in-law at a speed that almost made him stumble back. "I won't let you down sir!"

    The Senior almost choked from the fast pressure but, managed to give the boy a pat on the back. This man does not get fatherly attention often. "Take care of my daughter and you got yourself a deal." 

Erma was just done helping her friends pack their things. And by helping, I mean she sat at the side while she watched her red coven suckers carry her luggage. Truly, another day of hard work by the purple menace herself. 

She was just escorting them to the carriage their father said was waiting outside for them, but low and behold she was impressed by what she saw. "Shells! Cath! Take a look at this baby!"

The Birch siblings caught up with her, and something about their ride immediately caught their eye. A white carriage, large, but this one was larger than usual. What was especially strange though was the symbol at the back entrance. It was obviously a white coven carriage, but that wasn't the official white coven insignia. It was familiar. Though they feel like they've barely seen it around. 

     " Huh! And papa said this was self-driving?" Catherine tilted her head to look at the front. " Doesn't have any horses either." 

    Erma replied. "It's that wack white coven technology, I tell you.  Perks of being close allies of Poseidon I guess. " 

     " No matter! A bigger carriage means more space for us. " Sheldon huffed and placed the bags on the carriage floor "  Cath! Help me out here!"

     " You got it, Don!" 

     " Erma?"

     " No."

     " Whore." Sheldon jokingly shook his head at her as if telling her to be ashamed. It was Erma. He was practically expecting that reply. "Hey, speaking of little menaces, where's my son?" 

And as if right on queue, his little iron golem was practically waddling in with his, Wilbert, and Flint's bags stacked in his arms. Noah held them all with no problem! The bags were almost as heavy as he was!

     "Woah! Did you bring all that yourself? Good job! " Sheldon gave his little delivery boy a pat on the head and took some of the luggage from the top. He piled it along with the others at the carriage floor which Catherine stored at the trunk. " Say, where's your cousin and friend?"

Noah signed to his father.

     " Having fun with the vending machine, huh? Well alright," He crouched down to his son's height as if to whisper to him. "In 15 or so minutes, I want you to get them back here in time. and in return, I'll get you some extra ice cream for dessert. Deal?"

    Noah's eyes sparkled at that request before nodding his head excitedly. Sheldon took that as a yes. " Atta boy." He reached into his pocket to pull out some emeralds, placing it in Noah's itty bitty golem hands. " Here's some money. Get papa some chips and soda." 

Noah ran back to meet the others, and then Sheldon promptly stood up. Erma could feel the earth's vibration from Noah's heavy steps.

     Erma crossed her arms and nudged her best friend "I love your kids, man." 

     " Right?" Sheldon shook his head light-heartedly and went back to helping his sister with the luggage.

     " Hey, some of that soda better be for me!"

     " I can't keep you away from them even if I wanted to!"

     " Yeah, you know it!

The two men were on their way to the front entrance from the bathroom. The Junior Simpleton decided that he might as well wait for him since he was there, and now they were off to the gates to meet their family. 

     " Señor, can I ask?"

     " Mm." Leonardo turned his head

     " You did not charge me for this vacation, and trips like these are usually very expensive. What with-- all of you moving from Ares and Athena to Zeus, and then us moving to Poseidon-- to- renting our own space near the beachfront." Simon rambled. "No offense, but I did not take you as a richman."

     Leonardo looked back forward to the gates, calmly explaining " An old friend of mine insisted she paid for everything. She said she owed it to me for all my service." He shrugged. "She's one of you, actually. Zeus Witches."

     " Oh do I know her? Who is she?"

     " Uhhh.." He squinted his eyes to think, trying to remember. "The Queen?"

     " THE QUEEN!?"

From a distance, near the carriage, Grace had just spotted them. Previously, she was standing near Erma, watching the Birch siblings take her bags. 

     " Leonardo! Hijo! " She called out, waving at them.

     " Coming! " Her son yelled back.

And with that, the Birch siblings had finally wrapped up putting all the luggage away! All that was left was to get their families' butts in here to prepare for the road. 

Speaking of putting his family's butts in the carriage, Noah should be coming right about… ah! The Birch saw his son running to him, literally carrying his cousin and friend in his arms! Sheldon placed a palm on his face, but he loved how proud of themselves they all looked. Noah was happy to have extra Ice cream, and Flint and Wilbert were happy to have so many snacks on hand.

     The sight, to the father, was adorable. The hand that was previously on his face was now on his lips as he crossed his arms, endeared. "Catherine. Look at your child. "

     " Oh I'm looking." His sister stood beside him having the exact same stance.

     "Come here, little man." Sheldon picked up his son after he put down his live delivery. Someone was definitely getting ice cream later.

Grace put her hand down after calling out to her son and his father-in-law. It wasn't long until she noticed who she was standing with. Erma Blaire. She knew nothing of this woman except for the fact that she was the only other person here who had access to the book of maps. She didn't look related to the family, and she seemed to be of Athenian descent from her fashion style. She was just some random woman on vacation with them. Maybe she was a close friend like how the little ones brought in a child villager.

     She knows her for something else though. Leonardo had previously told her of the woman who chose the vacation spot near the beachfront. The one that she particularly swooned over last night. " Are you the little lady who chose the place we're staying at? "

     Erma nodded pompously, "The one and only! What can I help you with? "

     " Nothing. I just wanted to say that I think you chose a very beautiful place to stay at. I don't usually like these sorts of events, but your picking makes it all worth it." Ms. Simpleton smiled at her calmly with a slight nod on her head "You have excellent taste, young lady. "

     Erma was just left incredibly flushed at that! Frozen even! What's she supposed to say to that?? She looked around flusteredly and panicked before smiling in confusion! "... Oh! Uhm-- thank you! I'm-- I'm glad!" This woman does not get motherly attention often.

     " Mrs. Simpleton! " Sheldon called out, finally gathering up his family inside.

     " Coming..! " Grace said, walking up the carriage stairs that she, being the shortest, struggled to get up on without help. Luckily, the funky librarian was there to give her a hand.

     Speaking of helping short people walk the stairs, "Erma!" He called out to the woman who was honestly still flustered and frozen in place. " Erma, you okay?"

     " I think I just had an inner child moment. " Erma mumbled.

     "oh my god, an inner child moment…" Her best friend calmly gasped and matched her energy. "Come on, you can tell me all about it in the cart." 

And with that, the two families went on about their journey. This carriage was double the size of the old one, which in itself was already big and stable enough to hold a family of 8 or more. It was shaped into a big square except for the entrance at the back, and a table taking up the whole front side. The ceiling was MUCH higher, with a space for the luggage being lockable at the back. The glass of the carriage was completely down, but if they were up, you could tell that they were bulletproof. What was the most impressive of all was the extra tea bags hidden in a glove compartment. Technology at its finest.

The children sat on the right, while the older adults sat on the left. The great elders were seated at the space from the back cut off to the far right by the entrance. 

The families had spent half the day just to get through a little bit of Artemis. They made quick stops in the middle of it, joining tourist attractions and eating some meals. Leonardo often showed Grace the map to help him decide on a stop, which she was more than happy to do with him. He offered her a sense of control and warning which she greatly appreciated.

Near the end of their tourism, almost everyone was exhausted, and Grace ended up asleep on his shoulder. Leonardo, now seeing that the family has had enough, put the book of maps away and rerouted the carriage.

This was an endearing sight to him; The kids had found out that there was a bed mode on their side of the seats and decided to lay down and take naps. The younger adults had already been tired of their chatter and decided to be exhausted with each other in silence. Sheldon and Simon laid their heads on Erma and Catherine's laps, while the women slept on each other.

Yeah…This is what he was fighting for…He would kill for this family, and he has. Leonardo was the last to fall asleep, putting one leg over the other and crossing his arms.

Some of them were awakened by the feeling of a rocky trail under the carriage wheels. It had made the ride shake a lot which made it hard to sleep. not to mention, the very high and strong winds coming from the windows, yet somehow it was almost suffocating. It didn't take long before they started shaking each other awake, and the sounds of panic filled the air.

     " Huh…?" Erma opened her eyes to the fear of everyone's voices. They were all looking outside in which she turned around to look for herself. They were at the side of a mountain... They were so close to reaching the skies they could no longer see the bottom! Catherine rushed to look at the front of the carriage to see where they were headed and was met with horror…

     "...Why are we driving to a cliff?" 

     " Leonardo?? " Grace shook the man who was already half-awake during the whole commotion.

     " Hm? Oh, don't worry about it. "

     " Señor, we're serious. There’s nowhere to turn here. " 

     " Mhm.

     " PAPA! " Everyone screamed frustrated, in unison.

     At this point, the carriage had gained a lot of speed! By that rate, maybe they wouldn't crash into the mountain below, but they will most definitely die of the fall!

The wheels reached the end of the cliff and drove off the mountain. The passengers were holding each other and saying their prayers. They all started being lifted from their seats as gravity took the carriage first. This would be..a little fun if it weren't for the fact that they were gonna die.

But mere seconds later, as if they spawned there, wings have accumulated at the side of the carriage and caught them from the fall. Any real physical damage was safe. Emotionally, maybe not so much. They all plopped back down in their seats as the carriage made its way through the air.

Everyone was looking around trying to process what had just happened. They all looked outside again and Sheldon recognized fully functional wings made with similar technology as elytras at the side of the ride. He hadn’t recognized this kind of machinery, though admittedly it was a little familiar… This technology has never been released to anyone before!

      well...anyone except for-

      " SEÑOR, IS THIS THE QUEEN'S CARRIAGE!?"

     "THE QUEEN'S WHAT!?!" They all yelled after him.

     They were all met with the shrugging Leonardo still with his little look "It's. One of the queen's carriages, yes."

     "Woahh!!" Everyone's attention was taken by the young Wilbert looking out the window.

When the clouds cleared up, the family had a very clear view of Artemis. They passed through cities and villages with ease, and flocks of parrots sometimes joined them on their flight. Flint, Noah, and Wilbert wanted to pet a few of them.

It didn't take long until they all started looking out the windows to admire the view. Flight technology has not reached the public yet-- ever! Unless you yourself were a trained professional or if a machine was specifically built for it! It's never something as simple as a carriage! For all they know, they could be the first people aside from the queen to experience Artemis from this high!

Simon and Erma were enjoying the wind in their hair, Sheldon saw a beautiful waterfall in the distance, while Catherine spotted a beautiful forest clearing that she'd love to camp at. Noah saw the mountains, Wilbert saw the Ocean, and Flint was still fixated on the birds.

Leonardo was at least glad that they were enjoying the view. This is what he was hoping to happen, just, without the brush of death from earlier, in which, he felt a little guilty for. He turned to his right. Grace. Unlike the others, she wasn't indulging in any way. She was just crossing her arms and looked frustrated at him

" So I take it that you're mad at me." Leonardo frowned and looked at her.

     Grace's expression couldn't make up its mind, however.  She looked more like she wished she was mad. "I can't. " She sighed. "You make it so hard to." Her crossed arms broke and she just went back to relaxing her shoulders. "I'm not going to elongate this. We were all so scared. Why didn’t you just tell us?" 

     " If I told you, I would just be giving you excuses."

     " Well?" she nudged him " That's what I'm asking for, isn't it? Tell me."

     " I was incredibly tired didn't want to handle it. I knew everyone was safe." He shrugged, looking down.  " And I." he muttered to himself. " I thought it would be fun for them. Looking back, that's a very foolish assumption. But I didn't know that. Otherwise I would not have let it happen."

     Grace frowned at him. But there was a part of her that already started to forgive him because of the explanation. He did sound rather remorseful. "You're right." She turned to him. "You are quite foolish." 

     Hhh Leonardo nodded at that! " You can be mad at me."

    " Oh I am aware." The mother turned her nose and lost eye contact.. " And I am not mad. I'm just disappointed."

     OOOGH The younger adults felt that in their BONES. Sheldon felt physical pain from that phrase! Leonardo's expression also looked like the very definition of "fair, but ouch".

His kids tried their best to conceal their snickering. They were just happy to see their old man getting scolded. Though most of them forgave him, they loved the taste of sweet vengeance.

     He squinted and sighed through gritted teeth. He feels as if the woman was enjoying this a little too much. “As you should be.”

     Grace smiled. She could hardly contain her own laughter. " Mhm." 

A piece of Leonardo died that day.

It didn't take long until they all went back to resting again. Heading to Poseidon by air was faster, but it still took quite a while. The only downside to it is that they couldn't make that many stops, but they didn't seem to be particularly eager to anyway. 

Grace took a look at the book of maps again. Ahead of them was nothing but water and sea. This-- honestly gave her a bit of Anxiety, but she shook it off and didn't let it get to her. She was sure Leonardo got them on the safest route. Besides, open seas were a good sign. They were close and they could feel it.

From the corner of her eye she saw Simon and Catherine sharing a short kiss before continuing on with their lounging. Grace was actually a little happy for him, as much as she didn’t approve of the woman he chose. She didn't have the privilege to be as in love with her husband as they were, so she was glad he could have something that she didn't.

She sat in comfortable silence for a while. This time, the bunch she came with was quiet, and yet they all seemed so calm and relaxed. They were doing nothing but be comfortable in each other's presence. She didn't even know that was possible. The air from the open windows was refreshing, and the flow from the ride felt like a gentle cradle. She took a deep breath to take everything in and exhaled. For the first time in a while. She was grounded. Like she was in her body.

Grace closed the book and put it to the side. Feeling the most relaxed she's ever been, she skimmed through her bag and pulled out a pen, paper, and another book to help her write. She had a lot to say. Her penmanship was once again noble, but this time, in its own subtle way, it was calm.

     "My dearest sister," 

Simon was back laying his head on Catherine's lap, where she sat petting his head. It was a most gentle one. and he looked up at her with a happy smile on his face. His fiancee's smile didn't seem to be the same one though. Hers seemed a little sad.

     "Aren't I just the luckiest man to be able to wed the most beautiful woman in the world?"

     She chuckled." You're not lucky, Simon and you know that."

     " That's right. " He hummed and gave his future wife a gentle tap on her nose. " I earned you myself. fair and square. It's what you deserve after all."

She managed to get out a fairly sad laugh. But her fiance caught on to it easily.

     " Are you alright, my love?"

     His fiancée shrugged. " I’ve seen better days. But I. Don't think I want to talk about it right now." 

     Simon frowned and sat up to see her. " Well, can I ask for a short summary?"

     Catherine frowned. Her response was delayed just thinking about it. Her voice got just a little bit sadder, as well as her eyes. " I thought I lost you there, Simon…"

     " Because of what your father did?"

     " Yeah." 

A short silence went between the two. It was half to let Catherine breathe, and half for Simon to process what she had just said… oh his poor darling…

     " You didn't lose me." He put a hand gently on her cheek and looked her in the eyes. And with a soft voice, he continued. "I'm here, you are here, your child is here. Nothing bad is happening. We are fine." 

Catherine leaned into his hand, eyes still a little sad. She knew what he said was right, but it was still a very sad thought. 

     " We will leave it here. I just wanted to let you know."

     " I know…" she put her hand on Simon's. " Thank you."

     " Ofcourse." no longer eager to put his head on her lap, he leaned back to give her space.

     " Actually, can I have a kiss?"

     Mwah

Catherine chuckled softly and leaned her head on his chest. "I love you."

Flint woke up from their wake to the sound of the open seas. They yawned, and rested their head near the window. It sure was cold out… They wished they could take out one of the blankets they packed; It would've been perfect for the bed option. But, instead, they just took off their coat and put it over themself.

     "Helloo, good afternooonn…" you know who else had woken up from their nap though! Wilbert Smith who was laying next to them! 

Wilbert Smith was the other child Noah had brought along. The adults didn't want to make him feel lonely so they insisted that he bring a friend with them. As far as they knew, Wilbert was a normal villager child who lived in a normal villager town…well..if you called The Player's city "normal" that is… Wilbert wasn't even at all scared of any of the witches when he saw them. Sure a little shy, but it was almost as if none of their instincts told them to run away. How odd!

     "Oh hey, you're up. What's up, little guy?"

     " I'm bored." Wilbert also rested his head on the carriage window. Only his was-- plenty more sleepy than tired.

     "Oh man, if only I could use my soundboard, that would entertain us a lot."

     "Why not?" Wilbert turned to them.

Flint shrugged. "Too loud and too much noise. Papa wouldn't let me use it when there's others around."

Wilbert blew a raspberry at that. That blows. He would make sick ass tunes with that soundboard.

     "How about… a good ol' game of I spy?"

Wilbert shrugged and nodded his head. Oh well, at least it's better than nothing.

     "I spy with my little eye…" 

Leonardo woke up and stretched his legs. To his right, he saw Mrs. Simpleton writing on a piece of paper, but what surprised him was the fact that she had on the red jacket that he set aside.

     " Cold?"

     " Hm?" Grace looked back, caught a little off guard from her focus and onto him. "Oh! Uhm- Yeah! it's just-- so cold here, you know?"

     " You took it because it was comfortable."

     " Yes I took it because it was comfortable." she quickly admitted,  " It's like a bed that wraps around me, I swear. " and shrunk back in the monstrous sized coat.

     Leonardo raised his unibrow. That is. Strangely an adorable way to put it.

"Well, we do have tea bags here. I can make you some tea if you're that cold."

     " I'm… not that eager for tea at the moment. For the same reason as before."

     " Well. What are you eager for?"

Mrs. Simpleton went quiet for a while, and Leonardo could tell that her posture became a little bit more timid. She didn't want to admit this or if she was even allowed to ask for it. But since he insisted… "Do you have any of that hot cocoa from last night?"

     Leonardo paused. "Oh. "

Grace at this point just looked embarrassed and kept looking up at him.

     "Oh." 

He knew he was a great brewer

He was flattered, he didn't expect that! Alright then! " Well. I ran out last night so I can't." 

     " Ofcourse, nevermind, I don't need anything."

     " But," Leonardo continued, " I can buy some when we arrive at the resort. They should have shops nearby." 

     " Oh you really don't have to--"

     "Nonsense. I like my own cocoa too, thank you."

     " I spy with my little eye something green."

     " Green, green, green… hm…" Flint looked around. There really weren't that many green things in the carriage. The whole ride was white and everyone was wearing their warm civilian clothing. "is it uncle Sheldon's eyes?" 

     Wilbert shook his head. "Nope!" 

     "Hmm.. is it… the emeralds on Uncle Sheldon?"

     " Noo, it's outside! "

     " Uhh…" Flint looked back at the window and thought nothing about what they saw. "Oh is it that island?" 

     "Ding ding ding! It's the trees."

Hell yeah, score one for the Flintstone! The Island in question was big. There seems to be a landing doc, but otherwise, it didn't seem to be surrounded but any sort of civilization. In fact, the nearest village seemed to be quite a while away! They were getting real close to it and pretty low, I wonder- anddd they were landing. 

They made it.

Once safely on land, the adults were out to take their bags, and The children were told to wait outside, which they happily did. Playing little games and making chatter along the way.

The kids found a fallen tree bark and used it to sit on; Wilbert found some rocks making a trail and decided to hop from one to another. And yet, they were still playing their little game.

    “I spy with my little eye something brown”

    “Tree bark. I spy with my little eye something hard.”

    “Rock. I spy with my little eye…”

     Erma Interrupted. "I spy with my little eye a little blue man walking towards us. "

    Leonardo turned his head upon overhearing their chatter. He sighed and muttered under his breath "Poseidon."

     " Heyyyyy!! Welcome to Poseidon, asshat!"

Leonardo was told there would be someone in the island to escort them. He didn’t anticipate this little surprise. Poseidon seemed to have some men with him, Perhaps assistance if anything happened. Lord, he hasn’t seen him since he announced his retirement. And his old friend seemed to be oh so thrilled to see him again.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and walked over, telling his kids that he had it handled. 

Marcus Poseidon, arms wide open and a painfully fake smile on his face, greeted his old friend with an aggressive handshake. "Oh, Ar- old friend, how are youuu. I see that you brought the kids!"

     " Mhm."

     Quickly, Ares felt a squeeze, and before he knew it Poseidon pulled him inches away from his face to whisper. " Do you have ANY IDEA how much trouble I had to get into just to make sure Zeus knew you were safe!?"

     " Oh I can't possibly know."

     " YOU DON'T! I told her that I could get a lookout to escort you, but she INSISTED I go cuz she trusts me. So now you're stuck with ME, asshole."

     " I miss you too. "

Poseidon huffed and pulled eachother off.

    “ Excuse me, uhm, who might you be?” Simon pulled a finger up in question and crooked his head confused. The blue man’s demeanor seemed to have completely changed upon seeing him.

    Ahem 

     “ Greetings, friends! I will be your escort for today. The Queen has personally assigned me to guide you safely in your current residence! “ The petite man bowed. His little introduction took the family’s attention. “Seeing as your ride is…” Poseidon stared at the white carriage behind them. Ah, it's like looking at your child who came back from college. “Special, and clearly engineered by the ever most handsomest smartest engineer around, You will be shot dead if assassins found their way here thinking that queen was inside! “

A few of Poseidon’s men made their way to the carriage, taking their bags from the trunk and the Birches who were previously tending to them. “My team and I have provided you with a regular set of horses to guide us to town. You will be escorted first and your luggage will be delivered after. Any questions?”

     Flint raised their hand “Uh, how long will the ride take?”

     “By horse? 1 hour 30 minutes. But Poseidon has developed advanced transportation systems so the time should be significantly lessened. Any other questions?”

     Everyone stayed quiet.

    “ Perfect! Now come, don’t dilly dally! I have more…” Poseidon stared Ares dead in the eyes “Important. Things to tend to.” The guide turned and left to his own horse. 

     “Well, he seems nice.” Simon said in sarcasm

    Catherine chuckled and shrugged at him. “He is. I’ve seen him around, He’s nice when he wants to be. ”

And there they were set! They passed through the Poseidon island by horse. Grace and Simon were seated on a white stallion, Catherine and Flint on a brown one with a red tint, Sheldon and Wilbert on a brown one with a black back, Erma and Noah were on a cream-colored one, and Leonardo sat on his own on a black one with a diamond on its nose. They were all led by Marcus, with a gray horse.

They arrived at a tunnel riddled with some sort of brown sand. Now that they think about it, the horseshoes were looking rather strange. They had that familiar funny glow on them.

The tunnel had a sort of aquarium-like setup to it. Above were fish and squid going about their day. The only thing separating them from the ocean life above and beside them were thick glass

     "This is one of Poseidon's systems. Soul sand is scattered across the entire tunnel, where under is water. The old greats used this as fast travel in the olden times, but we figured out a way to engineer the two to avoid--"

Poseidon notices that none of them seems to be paying attention. He agrees it was pretty, but Is he the only one who finds this fascinating?? God, he feels like a math teacher. He's getting too old for this.

     "Oh whatever, it's old science stuff. Just hold onto your horses!" He laughed at his own pun, some seemed to chuckle with him. " No seriously, cuz we will not be able to notice if you fell off." 

And there they were, going through the tunnel at around 50-60 m/s! behind the tunnel was one of the towns on the island. It seemed to be a smart community, a very well about place. The witches seemed to be friendly, smiling and waving at them as they passed the town with their horses. Already, they could spot shops and restaurants they could go to if so needed. It didn't seem to be vacation-worthy, but it sure did look like a lively village to stay at. 

That wasn't where the vacation house was, however. They were going uphill just passing the town on a road owned by a big business renting out houses near the seaside. Some of the townsfolk envied the fact that they were going to that trail.

They arrived at a blue gate, briefly stopping so Marcus could show them proof of visit. But just as they did, Simon was incredibly captivated to see the ocean, in all of her glory,  from the side of the mountain… The wind blew strongly on his and his mother’s hair, and he can’t help but love every possible minute of it. They saw boats just passing from far away, islands far and near…

  “Mama, look!”

Simon and Grace had never seen such breathtaking nature before! Or at least ones that weren't plastic or coddled in pots! These looked like they were grown on their own! Living organisms thrive by their own will!

They found themselves staring in clear amazement. Catherine noticed and smiled endeared… She was happy that she was able to help him see these sorts of things. She could almost see him melt in the horse saddle! Oh my! Her fiance was adorable sometimes.

They all held on as the horses trotted downhill. Even from the distance, they could all spot the vacation house from afar. Grace recognized the green surrounding it. It was far from the forests, away from any potential aggressive mobs, but also comfortably near the ocean. Despite the beach, it didn’t shy away from having its own indoor pool, which in itself had its own little separate building.

God, it looked huge, and modern with its design. This must have been… quite expensive. It looked so big, like every one of them could comfortably have their own rooms. Ofcourse, it’s not as big as Grace’s mansion, but she must admit… It looked so much more fun.

They all got off their horses once they landed on the beach. Most everyone was enjoying the seaside, the wind blowing through their hair, and taking in breaths at the fresh oxygen. Simon was once again checking on his mother, this time more excited and wanting to bond with her about their shared wonder. Catherine was marveling at the view with Erma, Flint was running around with Noah in the sand, yelling their “Woohoo!”s at such an open space, And Sheldon, arriving last, helped his little villager friend off the horse to join his buddies.

Leonardo however, wasn’t with the crowd, as he was walking with Poseidon towards the house, making sure everything was in order. 

Poseidon jingled the keys over and handed them to The Ares. "If you need a couple of extra just ask the owner of the establishment. Your bags will catch up shortly."

     “ Right.” Ares sighed and put the keys on his person. It didn’t take a genius to notice that his old friend wasn’t at all making eye contact. He didn’t know what to say to make it a little more comfortable for him. Or even if he could…

Ahem. 

     ”Everything aside… Thank you for coming all this way, Poseidon. I know it must have been a lot. It’s nice to see you again.”

     " Yeah, yeah.. " he rolled his eyes and looked away, arms crossed. Body, slightly turned away from him.

     “ I’m.. sorry that I left you behind. I haven’t seen you in years and I didn’t exactly get to say goodbye after I left..”

    “ God you’re being all gross and sentimental again!" Poseidon groaned, "You and your stupid brain-- reading people so easily!” he pinched the bridge of his nose. His tone sounded like he finally let out a breath that he was holding for too long. “I’m not mad anymore, Okay?? I’m just upset, and I-- miss-- you and your stupid face!”

     Leonardo blinked in surprise! Maybe he didn’t realize it but Marcus when in distress seemed to struggle with his speech. It almost felt like he was taking a breath every few words. 

     “You- just-- Haven’t replied to any of my letters, and It makes me feel like you don’t like me anymore! Or that you never did! Which-- sucks, because, aha, newsflash motherfucker, I like you.” Marcus took a deep, almost shaky, breath and sighed. “A-And what you did, really hurts me, because you, are one of the best people I have met in life, and-- actually made me feel wanted-- without wanting anything in return.” he continued “I’m hurt, and I want you back, but I’m scared, and I don’t feel like I deserve it.”

Leonardo’s eyes soften at that. He had no idea that’s how he felt after all this time… he felt great pity, but was also proud of him for allowing himself to say it. He was being vulnerable with him, which wasn’t the case years ago when he struggled to accept any sort of help.

     “ So there! No need to make it all dramatic...”

     Leonardo, after so many years, slowly started smiling. A small one, proud as it could be.“ How did you learn to express yourself so well like that?”

     “ I’ve been...” the petite man grumbled under his breath “...seeing a therapist. ” Marcus, upon seeing the smile on Leonardo’s face, had an instinctual, grossed-out, and embarrassed frown “dON’T give me that look! I swear, You fucking whore.”

     His friend chuckled softly. “ How is it going for you?”

     “ It’s good. I’ve been meeting new people lately.”

     “ Oh really?”

Just as The blue man was about to answer, he shook his head as if interrupting the thought “ You know what? We don’t have the time to catch up. I have meetings to go to and projects to finish, while you have these little bastards to manage.”

     “You’re right.” Leonardo shrugged and rolled his eyes, speaking with a sort of casual mischief in his voice. “We should talk about it over tea sometime.” He raised his unibrow, looking back at his friend expectedly.

     “...Oh, you’re good.” Marcus smiled at him. “You asking me to hang out?”

Leonardo shrugged once again.

     “ Oh, You piece of shit… make it pizza and you have yourself a deal.” he put his hand out to shake, in which Leonardo accepted the gesture

    ”Deal.”

     The little man howled a laugh and started running down the stairs from the house entrance “Suck it, loser! You’re paying for everything!” he yelled!

     “You mean Zeus is paying for everything!”

    “ HAHAHAAAA!” he laughed but stopped himself mid-run after remembering something “Oh right! Speaking of Zeus, I’ll let her know you made it!! SHE SAID HIIII BY THE WAAYYYY!!!”

    “ Tell her I said hi back!”

    “That's what I thought you’d say you stupid fucking whorree!” Poseidon went back to running to his horse.

Sheldon whistled at how big the vacation house was. It was crazy how his father could just get these sorts of favors from the queen… but like the others, he was quickly distracted by the wind the beach brought. It reminded him of a sweet memory. The feeling of finally being able to be free wearing his brown coat. To finally take off his hat and sit under a tree not having to worry about the next war. It took a lot of sacrifices. But he didn't regret where he was now. 

At the corner of his eye, He saw the little blue man struggling to get up on his horse. The ex-witch knows this man. He doesn’t remember much from him at a young age, but he managed to start a sort of bond with him during his time serving the witches. They haven’t spoken much since he left. And he was sure he wouldn’t be able to speak to him again any time soon.

Sheldon took a deep breath…

and before he knew it his legs were already moving.

Ahem.

    “Hello,, Uncle Poseidon.”

    Marcus scoffed, sensing the familiar looming aura. “Leo, I got it handled oka-... Sheldon?”

    “Yeah, it’s…” The boy rubbed the back of his neck ” It’s me!”

The blue man had not seen his nephew in a while. He was much bigger now, he had to look up at him. But he can't help but drop everything to talk to him.

    “Oh, it… it really is you, huh.” What does he even say? Last he’s seen him, he was just another one of the leaders he could sass and order around! But this? He hasn’t seen this man in decades! Until recently,  he was fully under the impression that he was dead! Last he saw him, he was just a kid! He didn’t have a son-- or extended relatives, or a family?? What do they even have in common anymore??

    “How’s the uh… son.”

    “He’s doing good.” Sheldon smiled at him, as gentle as he could muster. “I’ve been considering getting him enrolled at a school, but. You know.”

The silence continued between the two. It looks like it wasn’t just Marcus who was having trouble continuing the conversation.

     “And the. Wife?”

    “I don’t have a wife.”

     The man laughed at that “ yeah, well, don’t need one to make a kid am I right?”

His nephew laughed with him, though softly and so much more endeared.

Marcus’ smile fell a little after hearing it. Sheldon really did resemble his old man so much. It was kind of bittersweet.

     The man stretched his arms and leaned back on his horse.“So how’d a king like you end up hanging out with these losers? Don’t you have some books to read?”

     “Ha! Yeah actually, I do!”

    Marcus’ smile crooked and brows furrowed in a sort of light hearted cringe. “God, you’re as nerdy as I remember you.”

    “You are literally an engineer.”

    “Exactly. That should really say something coming from me.”

They laughed. 

     "Oh gorgeous!" Simon gasped upon stepping inside the house door. Some members of the families have already started settling in the home. The house had a big kitchen, multiple bathrooms, and a long corridor with doors leading to 8 separate bedrooms! The house's bedrooms were similar, but enough slight changes for them to be unique in their own way. "Mama, look! Poor people Interior!"

     "I can see that, Hijo. Yes."

The Birches sort of recoiled upon hearing that exchange. Sometimes they forget that these two bumbling idiots lived their whole lives in a mansion. It was almost gross to hear. Blegh.

     Erma was passing by all the rooms in the corridor, before stopping dead in her tracks the moment she spotted one littered bookshelf after bookshelf. She quickly started admiring the hardwood and making herself at home in the room. It had a king sized bed too! Perfect for a sleepover for two! Well she knows which room she and Sheldon are staying in! "Shells come look at this beauty!" She yelled.

… 

     After hearing no response she perked her head out the door. " Shells?" 

She later met with Catherine at the porch, leaning on the railings, and looking down below. 

     "Cath, have you seen your whore of a brother?"

     "Shhh… " The sister shushed and pointed at what she was staring at. 

From a distance the both of them saw Marcus and Sheldon sharing a soft embrace. Their brother had to really perch down, while his god-uncle pet the big man's back. Despite the size difference, it was Sheldon who felt more like the child in the situation. 

The ladies awed at the sight. Unlike her brother, Catherine never really met the man when she was a child, so they had no connection. But she knew her brother had something there with him. Even the way Marcus talked was more akin to an uncle talking to his nephew. If they met during a meeting, Sheldon came back a little more cheered up than when he came in... 

     Erma sighed, endeared. "Can't believe Sheldon's having an inner child moment."

     " Oh my god, an inner child moment… " Catherine chuckled. " What do you need him for anyway? "

     " I found us a good room filled with books. If papa doesn't give it to us I am so questioning his parenting choices. "

     " This house has 8 rooms and you still wanna room with Sheldon? "

     " Yeesss. Wouldn't you want to be roommates with your best friend? "

     " Fair, fair. "

Back at the corridors, Noah and Wilbert already made themselves home in one of the bedrooms. One with a clear view of the ocean and with two twin beds at the center. Wilbert was happily jumping from one bed to the other while Noah was sadly not allowed to. He was happy to just swing his little itty bitty feet at the side however.

Flint was just outside, peeking in but not entirely joining them. They scanned the hallways, and walked towards their grandfather as soon as they saw him. They had something else in mind for themself.

     " Дедушка?" Flint asked meekly. 

     " What is it, Sweetie."

     " Can I have a separate room from the other two?” They asked “ As much as I love my cousin, I… sort of want my own privacy. "

     Leonardo's brows got a little sad hearing that… he had a sneaking suspicion that they felt out of place during the entire vacation. They didn't exactly have someone their own age to be with. "I thought so. Here." 

     Flint smiled softly at the key in their hands…they were happy to just have this little thing for themselves for the time being.  " спасибо, дедушка." 

     Their grandfather shook his head, " Don't thank your old man. " And put his hand on their shoulder. "Я тебя люблю. And I'm sorry if this hasn't been fun for you."

     "No, no. It's been great!" they said. "  I'm just…a little homesick is all. " The DJ leaned their head on their Grandfather's chest, in which he replied by wrapping his arms around their back, and patting their shoulder. 

     " You can still write letters." he said. 

     " Yeah but it's not the samme.." 

     " You know what is the same? "

     Flint tilted their head up. “ What?”

     " My grandchild being the darndest, most talented bard I have ever met. "

They laughed at that one! That was cheesy, but very in tune with what their grandfather would always tell them in these kinds of moments. " Papa! "

     " I said no lie. " Their grandfather shrugged. " You charm your way into people's hearts very easily. That town did have some very friendly witches. "

    " I guess… " Flint chuckled, " Okay." And pulled away from their grandfather who later gave them a kiss on their forehead. "Thanks for the room keys. I'll see you around, Papa!" 

Leonardo waved as his grandchild left to their room. Two other familiar faces approached their father not long after. Erma Blaire and Sheldon Birch overhearing conversations as always. They were just happy to see their little buddy go. It has been a rough few years for them.

     "Good for them." Sheldon said. 

     "Aren't you worried about Wilbert and Noah being left on their own devices?"

     "No." Their father shrugged " I'm more worried about the person who's going to tell them. "

     " Not it! "

     " Not it. "

Sheldon Blinked. " Oh wow you're really just going to leave me like that. "

     " It's your kids, man. "

     " Papaa..! "

Leonardo looked away. He didn't seem to have any objections. He wasn't saying Erma was right. But Erma was right.

     " Father, why have you forsaken me?"

The sun had started setting and Catherine was looking for her fiance deeper into the corridors. She was just told by the kids that he was scouting for a room, and she wanted to look with him. She slid her finger tips against the wall while she walked by, her blue proposal ring glistening in all its glory.

She stopped as soon as she saw her fiance on one of the room's balconies. He was leaning on the railings, watching the oceans and nature from a distance. Seemingly admiring it. It was hard not to spot the man, as he wasn't exactly the most camouflaged in his all white fit. She smirked and went inside the room. 

     " Hey, you!"

     " Querida!" He perked up from the railings. " Nice of you to join me." 

     " Do you like this one?" Catherine joined him on the balcony, she herself leaning her arms on the railings and feeling the wind going through her hair. 

     " Yes, I'd say so. The other rooms don't have as amazing of a view. "

     " Then we can have this one. "

     " Don't you want to explore the other ones first? " Simon crooked his head to the side.

     God… what could she say? Her fiance can be adorable sometimes. She's never seen him be so fond of his surroundings before. His eyes were beaming, but his smile was much softer and calmer than how it normally was. She really was happy that she got to see this side of him. And she's happy to be a part of the reason why. "I don't need to..." 

     " How are you, my love?"

     " Okay now. I still don't think I'm ready to have that talk from the carriage though."

     " You have all of the time in the world. I am even okay if we end up talking about it after vacation."

     " I know. But I think I just want your presence for now."

     Simon smiled at her before turning his body towards her, away from the railings. " Well I have two arms and a warm body. That is what I have to offer. "

     Catherine chuckled and shook her head in amusement before leaning her forehead on his chest. "You are the best."

     Her fiance softly put his hands on her back, one palm over the other. and there they sat in silence for a couple few moments. 

At one point, Simon went to kiss her on her forehead… 

later on her nose, 

her cheek, 

Then they looked at each other's lips… before leaning their heads in to-

     "So you two are taking this one." Leonardo said from the doorframe. 

Simon's whole everything instinctually stiffened at his future father-in-law's presence, entirely out of embarrassment. Can't a man show his Fiancée some love in peace?

     Catherine however, took it very light heartedly. She guessed the comical interruptions continued even after her father's blessings. The spy laughed. " Yes, Papa! We're taking this one!" 

The sky looked more and more beautiful now that the sun had completely set. The temperature slowly dropped cold as it entered the night. 

The families turned their lights on inside the house.

Sheldon heard the small carriages outside, presumably the ones that held their luggage. He went to call for his father to let him know, and Leonardo was about to walk over, but… 

     " Leonardo? " The white coven called out to her friend just outside a bedroom door. 

     " Grace. "

     " I like this one." She pointed, and went inside. 

     The man told his son to go on ahead of him, before following the madame to her preferred room. 

He wonders what made it so admirable to her. The house didn't exactly have any fancy decorations. As soon as he went inside though, he could tell very easily. "Ofcourse you'd go for the white based one." 

     Grace frowned, salty at his judgmental comment. " Don't act like you weren't eyeing the room with red sheets, king Ares." 

     Leonardo couldn't argue, and just shrugged his shoulders. " You caught me." 

     The woman crossed her arms and walked towards the bed, later picking up one of the many plushes neatly placed around the room. " Besides, it comes with these little darlings." She had a stuffed pink colored rabbit, and held it in her arms as if it were a newborn. 

…Oh.

Leonardo had a mental gasp of realization. He couldn't tell if this was healing her inner child, or generally nurturing her motherly needs. Whatever it was he didn't mind. As long as the room treats her well. 

After helping his family with their belongings, visiting each room to see how they were doing, and saying goodnight to his rascals, Leonardo finally had the chance to head to his own quarters. He didn't get the opportunity to enter it that whole time. He barely even got to see it.

It was based on red and black furniture, but still carried its own modern look to it. He didn't need to see the spare ones, he already made the decision. The balcony had red curtains, the bedsheets were a nice ribbon color, and the bedframe was made of dark oak. He started taking off his foot wear, but opened the curtains before he decided to collapse in bed.

Even from where the bed was, he can see exactly what he came here for. He didn't have the best view of the house but he can appreciate it for what it was. The sound of the waves of the ocean, the stars twinkling at night, and the moon making a lovely reflection on the water. 

The man felt pleasantly cold from the ocean wind. He could wear a blanket but...Nah. he’ll do it later. His body was already great at dealing with colder temperatures. And once again, he enjoyed it too much to change it.

[thesolotomyhan]

amado carrillo fuentes as a dad would include

a/n: hehe slowly coming back because heres my soft ass dropping this long hc for you guys, im so in love with preggo/dad hcs yall im sorry pls love me-

Taglist: @fandomnerd16​ @visintaes​ @sheeshgivemeabreak​  @artemiseamoon​ @yvngfirefly​ 

let me know if you want to be tagged!​

ok so,, we’ve briefly already gone over some ideas of amado being a dad and in some sense how he would be when your pregnant-

but let’s refresh some points here and there yeah? because im SOFT at the thought of amado becoming a dad and the fucking HEART EYES DE TONTIN he would always have looking at you-

just listen- ok because the very moment amado knew about his kid’s existence growing inside of you-

this man was instantly wrapped around their little finger right then and there,, he just grew an attachment with them from then on alright

like im just imagining him always talking to your stomach every single night he possibly can,,

giving it little kisses, his other hand caressing your stomach like “8 mas meses mi amor, hasta que yo y tu mami te podemos abrazar” i

like :(( i can see him whispering to your stomach at 3 in the morning, thinking your asleep as he gently whispers to his bebe about anything and everything when he cant sleep-

and like hed just talk about if his kid is going to be a girl hes just over here saying something like “si dios quiere bendecirme, saldras igualita a tu mama, de hermosa y inteligente-” i cannot

dios mio- he just screams overprotective,, like if you thought he was protective before with you, that is nothing compared to the amount of extraness hes taking when youre pregnant,,

like hes going to be duplicating your security so much even if youre just going to the store down the block for 1 thing- youre going to be even more untouchable than the president- hes not taking any chances-

when hes with you,, my god hes just doing the MOST,

like he hates it if people look at you for more than 5 seconds because hes already snapping back at them like- “qUE CABRON, te gusto algo o que? no te traje para que te le quedes mirando a mI ESPOSA ASI-” i

he would also never let you do things on your own when hes there, it doesnt matter if youre 6 weeks pregnant or 7 months pregnant, hes not letting you move a single muscle because hes already going to be doing it for you-

doesn’t matter if all you have to do is move your arm to open the door- his ass is already opening it, holding you by the small of your back :((

but also the cravings?? dear god- I swear he gets them more than you do

because when your craving donuts or something at 2 in the morning hes over here snapping his fingers and sending his men out the moment you so as much think about it-

“órale pues, hijos de su reshingada madre, ya escucharon, traigan a mi esposa sus 3 cajas de pan” lmaoo when literally all you wanted was one but ya le sacaste las ganas a el-

just :(( he would love to eat cravings with you all the time so you dont feel bad :( its one of his favorite things to do- i cant 

and listen- the AVIONETA TOYS!!

its something that i know he would do as a dad :( like him collecting all these different toys while youre pregnant,, organizing them around his kid’s room :(

so when his kid is older they can play with them with like these matching pjs he bought :(((

just wanting his kid to be able to be interested in the things that amado likes to do- its BONDING ok dont look at me-

but also this baby mobile he got for his kid,, with like these little airplanes hanging from them,,

woW :( i cry at the thought of him playing around with it everytime he walks into the room,, just imaging the moment when he’ll be able to look down and see his angelito sleeping i :((

he just gives me so much soft vibes of wanting to try to always be apart of his kid’s life growing up,,

just never wanting to leave your side either because dear god if something were to happen to you or his kid before he ever gets to meet them-

its going to be like juarez never existed in the first place,, hes just always going to be right there next to you as much as physically possible,,, god- it only gets increases when his kid is finally born-

this mf never shuts up about you and his baby,,

like probably ranting for hours to acosta about it like, “nada, cabron, nada se siento mejor que poder por fin alzar a mi hijo/a, pinshi hermoso creatura que mi esposa me dio-“ :((

AHh,,wait can you fucking imagine you making acosta the padrino,,:( because ??

like even though he cant stand when amado doesnt shut up,, nothing beat the feeling the day he met your kid,, just happier than ever that you chose him to look over them:(((

i am laughing at the thought of acosta always walking up to amado whenever he has your kid,,

his voice going all light like “buenos dias, donde esta mi nino/a favorito?!” and just taking his kid out of his arms,, spinning them around, completely ignoring amado all together as he starts to walk away-loL probably while still talking to your kid and offering them candy :(

god- since we’re here his kid would literally want to be around amado all the time,, wanting his attention,, i just !!

imagine amado convincing you so that he can take his kid to work or something- i

the smile on his face because his kid is over here in his arms pointing at all the planes like “papi!! mira, that one looks like my stuffed airplane at home” little finger pointing excitedly- i cannot

but he would never, never mention anything about his business in front of them for your sake but also because he doesnt want to ever be the bad guy in his kids eyes alright :(

also im so sorry in advance but if he had a daughter that little girl would fucking OWN his heart- his princessa de todos los cielos :((( NO IM NOT CRYING

ayY but if he had a son, i just know he would dress him up in all black like su papi:(( a LITTLE CUERVITO version- oh my god :(

he would be such a fucking pushover dad too- like always reading them bedtime stories, giving into them no matter what,, getting them these big ass surprise presents every time he comes home from the airstrip,, just CONSINTIENDO HIS NINOS all the time-

like:( hold on just imagine on some days you coming from the kitchen after making some dessert for your ninos and amado but finding them all passed out on your bed:(((

like your daughter on top of his chest and your son curled into his side,, both of them holding their favorite stuffed toy, their little hands holding onto his shirt -I SOB

i just- i can see him also being the dad that would hold his kid above him,, carefully tossing them in the air

his laughs mixing in with their little fucking giggles as he brings them down to his face to kiss them every time :((((

i don’t know- im just so soft at the idea of him walking around the house or his work with his kid on his hip :((-

or him distracting his ninos while you cook breakfast for them- i just might about sob if i keep going

oh fuck- or every morning before he leaves to go work, he comes into their bedroom,, kissing the top of their heads,, moving their messy hair out of the way :((

probably prays a little thing- like for nothing bad to happen to you or his kids while hes gone for the day:( i

:(( no offense but i cannot handle the thought of him picking them up in their blanket in the morning,, his kid still sleeping and bringing them into your bed so youre all together when you wake up- his soft fucking smile while he tucks them into you :((((

becasue THATS HIS FAMILIA- the one hes always dreamed about having- 

wow um- but hes definitely the type of dad that would build his kids a whole ass park in the backyard for them-

like his kids wanting a swimming pool with a water slide? You bet your ass hes going to build one,, im :((

wow ok but if his son was into soccer or his daughter into ballet or something and theyre practicing at home-

i can see him being the dad that would sit there, smile on his fucking face,, praising them while they practice,, ugHH just him telling you about the improvements they made while he watched them-  i

god- please don’t get me started how he’ll always go to school plays/sports with you just so he can feel orgulloso thats his kid out there performing-

why am i crying at the thought of him having this picture of you and your kids with him wherever he goes, like his buena suerte or something- im SORRY i CANT

or him calling you every day when hes at work,, wanting to hear your voice but also hear the moment his kids scream “WE LOVE YOU DADDY!!” :(

i just- every night,, him always telling you how he would never change you and his kids for anything in the world like- “sabes, dios me bendicio de que tu fueras la mama perfecta para mis hijos-” goodbye i need to go cry

[eveningstar1516]

Rise of the Demon King ~ Epilogue

Rise of the Demon King

Fic: Multi Chapter Paring: MC x Everyone (Mostly Lucifer) Type: Angst with a Happy Ending Total Word Count: 26,758 TW: Major Character Death, Reader gets stabbed with a sword through their chest so..., Abusive Parents, Past Child Abuse, Demon Hunters, Loss of Control Summary: You’ve done it. You’ve finally done it. You’ve managed to anger the demon king. Now you hold your head high as he hands down your sentence. AO3 Portal: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27065362 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: I gotta Discord server guys! It's primarily Obey Me but other fandoms are welcome as well. It's kinda baby and dead so me and the other members are looking to revive it and we'd love for you to come join us. A roleplay area is included :) https://discord.gg/F3YEmDZCPS Please remember to read and accept the rules once you join for access to all the channels. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Previously:

I spent that night cuddled close to Lucifer. After I bathed, he tended to my injuries and wrapped my upper back where my top set of wings once were. We layed in bed together, Lucifer holding me protectively against him as we fell asleep to the sound of our heartbeats, beating in sync. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHAPTER 13 - Epilogue (3514 words)

“Mmm, Lu?” Gingerly, I opened my eyes. I had woken up to the feeling of someone nuzzling the side of my neck. Opening my eyes, I found that we had shifted into a spooning position in our sleep. His arms were wrapped around my waist and my hands were clasped over his. Lucifer was still asleep, holding on to me tightly. Carefully, I turned over to face him. His expression was relaxed. Sleep melted away any forehead creases making him look infinitely younger. His lips parted ever so slightly as his hair fell over his face, framing it just right. Carefully, as not to wake him, I lifted my hand to tuck some loose strands behind his ear and pecked him on the cheek. Being the notoriously light sleeper he is, Lu stirred at the movement. “Good morning Lu” “Mmm, good morning love” “Did you sleep well?” “Mhm.” Lucifer opened his eyes. The soft morning glow of the Devildom moon cast a soft light over him masking the demonic entity next to me in a celestial glow. His eyes were soft and docile, sleep still apparent. Not wanting to ruin the moment, but also not wanting to miss breakfast and see the rest of the brothers again, I started to shift away.

“Come on Lu, it’s time to get up.” “No. Just a little longer.” Lucifer immediately tightened his hold on me and buried his face into my chest. Letting out a small laugh, I brought my hand to his head and started stroking his hair. He sighed and leaned into my touch. “I’d love to stay in bed longer, but if we do that, Beel would eat everything.” Lucifer muttered something into my chest before pulling away and placing a kiss on my forehead. “We wouldn’t want that now would we? Come, let me change your dressings, then we’ll go.” It was then I remembered that I didn’t exactly have anything to wear. “Um, Lu? What am I supposed to wear?” Lucifer was already across the room getting the first aid supplies and a change of clothes out of the closet. He laid them out in front of me as I sat up. Spying the outfit, I realized it was my own, the one I would always wear when Lucifer and I spent our limited alone time. “Lu? Why do you have my clothes in your closet?” I asked with a raised eyebrow as he started removing my dressings and cleaning the wounds. A small blush appeared at my question. “It’ll be about 2 weeks before these fully heal.” “Lucifer, you’re avoiding my question.” “It will take you a little longer to learn how to fly with 2 pairs of wings instead of your usual 3.” I caught Lucifer’s hand in my own. He averted his gaze away from mine, his blush intensifying. “Lucifer.” “I-I couldn’t let you go. These reminded me of you, so I kept them. We still have most of your stuff in the catacombs. I just wanted these for myself.” When he finished, he was looking anywhere but my face. I held his hand and cupped a cheek with my other hand, gently turning him to face me. I leaned up and placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth. “You missed.” Lucifer looked at me with his signature smirk on his face. I put a finger on my cheek and tilted my head. “I did? Huh, that’s strange I never miss.” Leaning up, I placed a kiss on the opposite corner. “Now you’re just teasing me.” I giggled. “Yup. Now come on, we better get down there before Beel eats everything.” ~Dining Room~ Lucifer entered the room first, announcing that they had a visitor that would be staying with them. “Ooh, really? Yay! Another Spa mate!” Asmo clapped his hands excitedly. “Great, I don’t have time for another normie.” Levi went back to his switch not caring. Belphie was half awake and not really caring, giving the barest hint of acknowledgement. “Who are they?” Satan asked, putting his book down. “Well, we have met before. It would be quite awkward to have to introduce myself a second time.” I stepped around from behind Lucifer and looked to the brothers sitting at the dining table. Pin. Drop. Silence. A full second went by before I found myself under a pile of demons. “Y/N! You’re back!” “Y/N, I can’t believe this!” Asmo clung tightly to me, practically bawling his eyes out. Belphie was clinging to my other side with Beel wrapping his arms around both of us. Levi was hugging me from behind, pressing his cheek into my back. Satan waited by Lucifer for his turn while Mammon was still standing there in shock.

“G-guys! I missed you too but I still need to breathe!” “Alright everyone, Y/N is still sore from their fall. I know you’re all excited to have them back, but give them some room.” After Lucifer got his brothers off me, I went and gave Satan a tight hug. “Welcome home kitten.” “It’s good to be home.” After letting go of Satan, I made my way to Mammon. “It’s really you, ain’t it treasure?” “Come on Mammoney, who else would I be?” Mammon lowered himself to my level and tucked his head into the crook of my neck, holding on to me. “Ya dumb human.” “Not human anymore I’m afraid.” “That’s right! Darling, can we see your demon form please? I’m sure you look absolutely stunning!” “Not really much of a demonic form Asmo, but, well, you’ll see.” I stepped away from Mammon as the rest of the brothers backed up to give me some room. I rolled my shoulders feeling a swirl of magic surround me as I unfurled my wings and let my Nephalem form (A/N: That’s what I’m calling it. Don’t like it, too bad 🙃). I looked up at the shocked look on the brother's face. “You look stunning kitten.” “Your halo. It’s beautiful darling!” “You look just like him.” “I know Beel. I don’t know why my halo stayed. You guys can touch it, but Satan, I don’t know if you can yet.” “Y/N’s halo repels demons but doesn’t have an effect on beings that once held, or have traces of grace within them. Since you are born from me, you might have some trace, but we shouldn’t risk it. For now, just avoid touching it Satan.” “Will do, although I am curious. When the rest of you fell, your halo’s broke off and your uniforms changed completely, so why is it that Y/N’s outfit stayed Celestial, albeit with their colours, and they kept their halo, even if it is now a ring of black fire?” “I wish I knew Satan, although it might have something to do with my decision to willingly fall instead of being cast out by force.” Satan opened his mouth to say something but before he could, Beel’s stomach decided to make a guest appearance. “What, we stopped breakfast for this?” “Alright big boy, let’s eat, we can invite Dia and Barb and talk about this afterwards.” “Dad. What’s going on, and who's this?” I turned to the doorway where the voice came from. I looked as a young demon woman walked into the room. Her long black hair was braided down her shoulder. Serene coloured eyes looked me up and down. She wore a simple outfit consisting of dark blue denim tights with a white v-neck shirt, a black cropped jean jacket, and a pair of knee-high combat boots. “Who are you?” She asked again with her hands on her hip, eyes pinned on me.” I turned around to face the brothers. “Alright spill. Who’s the father?” I looked at the brothers with an equally pinning gaze as all eyes looked to Satan. “That would be me. Mezu, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is my daughter Mezu.” “You had a kid and didn’t tell me?!” “When could I have done that? We literally found out you were alive not 3 minutes ago. Mezu, Y/N here is an old friend of ours. They were the one that brought our family together and sacrificed themselves for us.” “Nice to meet you Mezu.” I stuck my hand out for her to take. She didn’t. “Why do you don and angels garb and halo with demonic features?” Mezu looked at me with her arms crossed, distrust evident across her features. “Mezu, you can trust them.” Lucifer came and put a hand on my shoulder. Mezu looked unconvinced and took one more look at me before reluctantly letting the subject drop. “If you say so. Although I still want to know why.” “I’ll explain that all after breakfast when Diavolo and Barbatos get here. I look forward to learning more about you too Mezu.”

~After Breakfast in the Common Area~

“So, I guess I should start.” “What happened after the execution?” Mezu asked. “Mezu!” “It’s fine Satan. I figured that’s where I should start anyway. After the execution, I woke up in some sort of pocket dimension. Lilith was there, she says hi by the way. She explained this dimension that she called the “Void”. It’s a place where souls that have no destination but don’t return to oblivion go to. She presented me with two options. She didn’t have enough power to resurrect me the way she did before, so she told me that she could either make me into a demon and return to the Devildom, or make me a Seraph and take me to the Celestial realm. I wanted to return badly, and I almost did but I didn’t want to return as a demon serving under Abandon. I chose to go to the Celestial realm. I woke up in the House of Honors wearing, according to Michael, Lucifer’s old uniform. Needless to say, he was not happy about that. After he gave me something to eat, we headed to the palace to see your father. It was there where we struck a deal. Neither of us wanted me to be there, but I also didn’t want to return and serve under Abandon. No offence” “None taken.” “He took an interest toward my knowledge of Lucifer's old habits and position. He struck a deal with me, one I would have also struck if he had not suggested it. I was to serve as Lucifer’s replacement, as head of the council of 7, until such a time that King Abandon steps down and Diavolo rises to the throne. During my time as the Council leader, I was to fulfill my duties as Lucifer would have, not abuse my power, and make decisions based on the best interest of the realm. The period of the agreement ended yesterday when Diavolo was crowned. I-” “Y/N?” I turned to look at Lucifer. “Diavolo wasn’t crowned yesterday. He’s been king for almost half a century now.” My eyes widened. “You mean to tell me. That I could have returned HALF A CENTURY AGO?! I should have done more than sock that bastard while I had the chance.” At the last part, half the room doubled over laughing. “You-you actually punched him, in the face?!” Satan asked, clutching his stomach. “Yup. In Front of the entire council, right before I jumped. You should have seen their faces but I could only do so much within the element of surprise before I made my dramatic exit. I would have done it sooner if I knew Dia had been crowned. I just didn’t want to risk falling while his dad was still in reign.” “Darling, have I ever mentioned how much I love you?” “Only every day since we met Azzy. Anyway, back to the story.” ~A Few Hours Later~ “And that’s when I woke up in Diavolo’s garden yesterday.” “It seems like the past millennia had been eventful for everyone.” Mezu commented once I had finished. “How was everyone's time here? I really want to know the story behind Satan’s love life and what the rest of you were up too.” “Well, the first few decades or so were quite difficult. It was hard to forget that you weren’t with us. Eventually though, we all grew closer through grieving you. Your death opened a familial bond between us. Something we had a hard time admitting existed while you were here.” Lucifer explained. “Don’t worry, we still haven’t changed. Mammon still ends up hanging from the ceiling, Satan spends all day reading and coming up with ways to prank Lucifer with Belphie, Asmo is still as narcissistic as ever, Beel keeps cleaning out the fridge, and I still spend my days in my room.” “Although, I noticed you have been starting to come out of it more often Leviathan.” Diavolo stated “Well, yes. I’ve been visiting the catacombs whenever I get the chance to add something to Y/N’s collection by their casket.” “Uhh, if my dead body is still down there, could we, like, get rid of it? It’s a little creepy to live in a house knowing your dead body is in the basement.” “We’ll clean that out and bring your stuff to your old room.” Satan said. “Alright. Ok then. Your turn.” “Me?” “Yes you. Come on Satan, spill. What is this love story of yours? I want to know more about Mezu and her mother.” Satan scratched the back of

his neck, looking lost in thought, a longing look in his eyes. I looked around the room and noticed that the occupants avoided my eyes, some looking towards Satan with a pitying look. Only Mezu looked at me. “My mother died 50 years ago.” “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” “Of course you didn’t. You angels don’t care for any demon or their relations. You all think your so high and mighty yet-” “Mezu, that’s enough! Y/N is not an angel, not anymore. I assure you, they care more than you think.” Lucifer starred his granddaughter niece down as she sat back down. A scowl still present on her face. “I’m sorry Mezu, I truly am. I didn’t mean to make you feel like that. Please forgive me.” I smiled at her. She looked away, almost guiltily before Satan broke the silence. “Mezu was named after her mother. She was killed by an angel when Mezu was 25. She was beautiful and the only one who could cool my wrath after you passed.” “Were you happy with her? Like truly happy?” “Truly.” “That’s all I need to know.” I stood and hugged Satan. He returned it, resting his head above my heart.

~2 Years Later. At RAD~

It’s been 2 years since I returned. My wounds have healed and I found my place among the demons once again. Diavolo appointed me as an official member of the student council. I served as a secretary of sorts to Lucifer to allow for fewer sleepless nights and to make sure he didn’t bury himself in his work. Because of my status as a fallen, I was considered a noble and given the title “Avatar of Loyalty. The 8th of the 8” by Diavolo himself. I returned to RAD as a teacher on angel studies and a student in demonic politics. Lucifer and I became an official couple. During long night grading, I found myself chuckling at my students' interpretations of the Celestial Realm. I reminisced about my time with the council. Michael was probably glad to have finally gotten rid of me. Luke was promoted as Michael’s personal protegé. The rest of the angels were probably too busy to think about me though. Having finished marking, I went to go get Lucifer to turn in for the night.

~The next day~

“Dia, not to sound rude or anything, but why did you want us all to meet so early? RAD isn’t starting for another hour.” Diavolo sat in his head seat at the table as the rest of us sat in our usual spots. All of us displaying varying levels of consciousness. Belphegor having fallen back asleep as soon as he sat down. Diavolo had a beaming smile on his face as he spoke. Never a good sign... “We have some new exchange students joining us today. I want you to meet them all and show them around RAD. This is an opportunity for the rest of you to mend some old ties” “My Lord, what exactly are you getting at?” Lucifer asked tentatively. Diavolo’s smile only grew brighter, but before he could say anything, the doors to the council room burst open. “Y/N!” Looking up, I managed to catch a mop of reddish-orange hair before I was buried under a pile of bodies. After I finally wiggled my way out, I backed up towards Lucifer; his arm finding its way around my waist. Standing in the council room were the 7 Archangels, all donning RAD uniforms, all smiling sheepishly save for Michael who was standing off to the side with his arms crossed. Looking at the rest of the brothers, I found that Bell was now wide awake as the rest of them looked a tad bit uncomfortable. Lucifer had a displeased frown. “What are you guys doing here?” “It was Father's idea to have us participate in this program. He thought it best to-” “Don’t kid yourself Michael. We volunteered to come. We missed you Y/N. Especially Michael. He wouldn’t stop talking about you after you left. Things weren’t the same after you fell. He also really wanted to see Lucifer again.” Raphael cut Michael off mid-sentence. Looking around, the brothers each had a murderous look in their eyes. “Ok, first off, you volunteered, I got dragged into this. Second, I did not miss Y/N and I did not talk about them after they left. If anything, I was glad that they were gone, especially after that little stunt they pulled before they jumped. You didn’t think I’d forget that Y/N, did you?” I loosened myself from Lucifer's grip and made my way over to the angels, giving them each a hug in turn. “Aww, I missed you guys too. Mike. What did I say about your pride? Honestly, for someone who used to adore the Virtue of Humility and claims to hate the Avatar of Pride, you really seem to take after his sin. Besides, you didn’t deny wanting to see Lu again.” The occupants in the room started snickering as Michael’s face started turning a lovely shade of beet red. Lucifer looked taken aback at the revelation but lightly chuckled into his fist as well. “I’d be careful Mike. You wouldn’t want to lose that angelic status of yours for something as childish as misplaced pride.” Lucifer said with a smirk on his face. Michael started stuttering, trying to defend himself. “I-I didn’t! I-I don’t have any Pride I swear! Besides-” “Alright, alright. That’s enough.” Gabriel stepped in to save Michael from any more embarrassment. “It’s true, we did miss you and saw the exchange program as an opportunity to see you again. That’s why we volunteered to come.” Gabriel stopped in front of me and hugged me, much gentler than before. “We really did miss you Y/N. Things up there were too quiet without you.” “Oi! Hands off Y/N!” Mammon jumped up from his chair and pushed Gabriel away from me. Levi had shifted into his demonic form and wrapped his tail around my waist. “Y/N Belongs to us, not you normies.” “NORMIES?! I’m hurt that you think of us like that Leviachan. It is nice to know that you still kept your love for the Japanese animation even after you left.” Azrael said as he turned to look at Levi. A hand on his chest and a look of faux hurt in his eyes. This time, it was Levi’s turn to turn beet red. His self conscious not being able to take the attention. I was pulled away from Levi by Lucifer who placed a quick kiss on the top of my head. A prideful smirk on his face as he addressed the angels.

“Now then, there is no need to fight over this. Y/N belongs to me. Isn’t that right my love?” One cannot describe the look of utter hurt, shock, betrayal, and jealousy that overtook the features of everyone present in the room at Lucifer’s bold statement. My own expression being that of shock before all bloody hell broke loose. Everyone started arguing over who I belonged to and who I loved the most. I stood there trying to calm everyone down but alas, my voice was never heard over the shouting. “It seems the exchange program is becoming quite the success, isn’t it Barbatos?” “Indeed My Lord, although perhaps we should put a stop to this before someone loses control?” “No need Barb. Let them talk among themselves. I know, how about some tea while we wait?” “Of course My Lord.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And there we go. It's done! Thank you to everyone who stuck through reading this until the end. Thank you to everyone who left comments and Likes.

For those who are wondering about the candle and magical energy that surrounded Y/N, the energy is the magic used to take away their angelic status and made them into a Nephalem (Demon, Angel Hybrid). Their candle kept changing itself because it needed to form a new substance to match Y/N's new physiology.

[squirrelinameatsuit]

“Elysian Fields” in Ancient Greek

Translation:

“τὸ γ`Ἠλύσιον πεδίον”

τὸ γ`Ἠλύσιον πεδίον στόρνυσιν

ἡ ἕλη διὰ τῶν τῆς μονῆς

ζωσᾶς δρύος πυλλῶν ποικίλλει

ἐγώ τὴν λύσιν μενῶν

κείμαι ἐν τοῖς ἄνθεσι

ἐγώ τὸ ἔργον παυσόμαι

ἐν τῇ γῇ σὺν τῇ γ`ἐρωμενῇ

τὸν ὕστατον οἶκον εὕρηκα

.

ὅν πάλαι κοινῷν ἔσπευδον

ὥς μη ὁ θάνατος κοινός ἄν εἴη

οἱ τοῦ Λαβύρινθου τὸν οὐ ἤνεγκον

οὐ τοῦτο θερισουσιν ὅ ἔσπαρκα

κείμαι ἐπί τῇ χθονί

τῆς ἕω τὴν ψυχήν φαιδρύνουσῆς

σὺν τῇ γυναικί, ἐκτός πονοῦ

αὐγῆς τὴν νυκτά σχίζουσῆς

.

οὐδείς ἐκ τῷ ὕπνῷ μ`ἐξέλξει

τῷ βιῷ τὸν νόον ὡς ὀχλησῶν

τῆς λυπῆς καί λεινῆς ἐλεύθερος

ταυτήν τὴν ἔριν ὑπολείψω

κείμαι ἐν τῇ ἑλῇ

ποῦ ἀναπαύσω εὕρηκα

τὴν ὕστατην κλῆσιν εὕρηκα

τὸ γ`Ἠλύσιον ποῦ θανοῦμαι

τὸ γ`Ἠλύσιον ποῦ θανοῦ…

.

Transliteration:

“to g’Ēlysion pedion”

to g’Ēlysion pedion stornȳsin

hē helē dia tōn tēs monēs

zōsas dryos pyllōn poikillei

ego tēn lysin menōn

keimai en tois anthesi

egō to ergon pausomai

en tē gē syn tē g’erōmenē

ton hystaton oikon heurēka

.

hon palai koinōn espeudon

hōs me ho thanatos koinos an eiē

hoi tou Labyrinthou ton ou ēnegkon

ou touto therisousin ho esparka

keimai epi tē khthoni

tēn heō tēn psȳkhēn phaidrynousēs

syn tē gynaiki, ektos ponou

augēs tēn nykta skhizousēs

.

oudeis ek tō hypnō m’exelxei

tō biō ton noön hōs okhlēsōn

tēs lȳpēs kai leinēs eleutheros

tautēn tēn erin hypoleipsō

keimai en tē helē

pou anapausō heurēka

tēn hystatēn klēsin heurēka

to g’Ēlysion pou thanoumai

to g’Ēlysion pou thanou…

.

Back translation:

“The Elysian Fields”

The Elysian Fields stretch out

The sunlight through the only

Living oak’s leaves dapples

While I await my release

I lie in the flowers

I will cease my labor

In the earth with my beloved

I have found my last home

.

Long ago I sought to share it

So death might be shared

Those of the Labyrinth did not bear it

They shall not reap this which I have sewn

I lie upon the earth

While dawn brightens my heart

With my wife, without toil

While sunlight splits the night

.

No one will drag me from my slumber

To plague my mind with life

Free of the pain and hunger

I will leave behind this strife

I lie in the sunlight

I have found where I will lie

I have found my last calling

The Elysium where I shall die

The Elysium where I shall…

.

Translator’s notes:

Title: Unless I’ve made a terrible mistake, the Elysian Fields are plural in English but singular in Greek.

Line 6: As much as I love bones, I have been forced to excise them from this line because “rest my weary bones” is too idiomatic.

Line 8: Ulysses uses the same word for home/family as Heracles does for his children.

Lines 9–10: Sorry for putting two words derived from “κοινός” in adjacent lines.

Line 12: As I mentioned in the notes for “Ties that Bind,” here the word for “reap” (“θερισουσιν”) is literal. Because there’s a tree, like, right there in Line 3.

 Line 22: “ἀναπαύσω” comes from the verb for “stop” and can refer to both a lie-down and the big sleep.

Line 24–25: Here’s the one place where I think substituting “will” for “die” is a big loss for the text, as it deemphasizes the whole “deathless eternity of toil for everyone” thing. Depending on the context, “θανοῦμαι” can mean “I will die” or “I am slain.” Breaking it down into its morphemes, it’s “θαν” (death-related) + “οῦ” ([some future verb forms]) + “μαι” (I), so it could be translated as “die shall I” for the purposes of identifying which bit of meaning Ulysses leaves off.

.

Questions and suggestions welcome.

[hag-rambling-on]

Boys hc’s feats Diaspro

Riven

Riven Cassios was born to two Omega prisoners. What surprised everyone, because staying healthy enough to carry out a pregnancy on a planet that sucks your magic is... Obviously the Rocalucce Council keeps an eye on the planet, they took him out of there because no child would pay because his parents, and he has been in foster homes, although it doesn't last long since the requirements for his adoption were more strict than most -which in the long run the Council would realize was COUNTERPRODUCTIVE for his character-. That is what Darcy detects and why the high spheres are somewhat "permissive" with him.

His mother died giving birth, it was already miraculous that she lived so long and ‘bout his father I think I'm going to kill him too, maybe. The father I assure you would be love him (he called Riven to himself Daru, his gift) thought was not his initial idea, the mother always saw him as an experiment (she was a witch who followed the Ancenstresses). Ohm, also in his blood there are dark elves and giants.

Riven surname is actually the name of the galaxy where he was born or a derivation of it, as is common for orphans. So the boy knows NOTHING about the above.

Timmy and Riven are the only specialists who have passed the full course at Fonterossa, without skips. In the end they bond about it. Timmy gives him a recommendation to work as a part-time mechanic at Magix (good boy face, he knows how to use it)

Timmy

Timeus “tshhhh, it’s Timmy.... i’m not my grandfather” fulfills the physique requisits as much as any other specialist, but it is true that his physique and abilities, adapted to the distance, give him a more "feline" air.

He is also the one who wakes up at night and moves silently, scaringthe rest of the squad if they wake up unexpectedly.

His glasses are for both sight and Aura Vision. His parents are rich enough to pay for an operation, but since he would have to wear glasses for his ability anyway, why? Practical guy.

And the glasses make people look down on him, something that when his self-esteem is high and he’s being rational and cunning he knows it’s wonderful, although many others times may hurt. He is mostly leprechaum with something human.

Nex

Nex is still a Paladin born in Lymphea and with blood of literally ALL races. He adapts well to any planet, although not its people at first. His race mix makes his face “charismatic”, like always draw attention even if people don’t know very well why they are draw.

His ability is Delay Sleep. It allows him to hold over his need to sleep for days without going crazy or losing physical capacity or needing many days to recover (he can stay awake for 5 or more days, sleep 8-10 hours and go back to being his usual self). Sometimes he does not control this well and has plenty of energy in need of drop but he is the one who has the most control of his ability.

One of his parents spent time in Rocalucce Fortress as a "guest" so at times he feels like he has something to prove.

Roy

Coming from Andros, most of the population are merpeople with a few elves and humans. which avoids the 100% aquatic population. Roy, unlike Aisha is mostly human-elf with a bit of merpeople in a grandgrandgrand level. One of his parents comes from one of the colonies on the moons of Andros and he was born there although they moved almost immediately.

Roy’s paladin ability being the canon “Triton Aura” used to breathe underwater. That and learning to swim and drive all kinds of water vehicles was what made him feel "adapted" to Andros. But he always try to be useful.

He only became a Paladin at the beginning of season 6, and it was visiting him that the season began. He’s bi but he thinks of himself as straight.

Nabu

I plead guilty to liking Nabu even though I shipped Aisha with Flora and Nex. So I have a hard time thinking about him. Except, EVERY time I try to think of something. EVERY TIME. Rapunzel. So, he will never cut his hair.

But with an island instead of a tower and a babysitter (male and wizard) more dumbledoor (not, actually more like Newt Scamander mentor like).

Sometimes he misses out on some "social customs/things/normalcies" whatever is called due to his little dealing with people. He may seem naive or that don't understand sarcasm. He understands and learns quickly, but people were very respectful to him and there are things he is not used to. 1/2 merpeople 1/4 half elf 1/4 human as both of his parents are half merpeople.

He likes to swim as much as any merpeople, but they didn't let him do it much because they were afraid he would go away or lost, so he usually went off "to the heights", going up to the rooftops and things like that.

Helia

Helia is trans but keeps his first name as chosen name which I don’t understand. Also he has formally tried study practically everything he wanted. Specialist, Paladin, Wizard (of Threads). Painter.

He can't make up his mind, his family hurries him just to STOP making them dizzy and spend a few years with everything -and actually end a single “major” choice- he wants to experience, that he has a very long life and can dedicate a few decades to Everything and they can support them. Well, more or less, but he was vip pass to all these options because family connections.

Long story about Sky, Brandon and Dia.

Sky, Brandon and Diaspro's first meeting was a show. Has it all. Costumes, lies. Confusion. Kidnapping. And that is why Diaspro insists on the wedding (I would like to mention that although I don’t know her romantic orientation yet surely bi or lesbian, here, Dia is asexual. And Sky is non-binary but his parents do not approve so go for he/him to avoid problem with them. And here our story begins)

A bit of background. Brandon actually hails from Isis, the son of the military and was chosen by the whimsical chibi!Diaspro as a playmate and future personal guard (because then she believed that touching children gave "lice" and her character and age did not have the 18like wall of royal education, then in a random encounter he called her among many things what Dia's mind translated in a strange way "uncracked geode", which is a double-edged compliment in Isis that many would not accept from strangers but she liked it). Rarely they would end up becoming friends in the end. When the series begins, Brandon and Diaspro keep up with calls, which will prevent Dia's reaction with Bloom on the one hand.

On a visit (officially only from the kings of Erakyon to to the kings of Isis) for the children to get to know each other, somehow, they all ended up happily dressing up, with Sky and Dia looking like two pretty princesses and Brandon assessing whether his dress would be green or yellow because Diaspro insisted that she and Sky had already taken the blue and red and so it would be more "thematic".

Here began the first of many attacks on Sky's head, because before it had begun to be rumored (true) that Erendor had fertility problems (btw his race dwarf-high elf and Samara is leprechaum-high elf, Sky gots mostly high elf part). When they came in and saw two girls and a boy, Brandon, not the highest IQ, but one of the wisest of his team and definitely the best fighter, played along so he ended up pretending to be Sky (also helps that his hair colors looks like Erendor) Everything worked out well in the end, although Brandon ended up as Sky's squire (better for him, worse for Diaspro), and Diaspro made Sky promise that he owed her a big favor. Anyway they grew up over the years in friendship and they both knew they were not of each other's true love interest, but, they could put up with each other (because that's what royalty does).

Sky and Diaspro have a sonorous (affectionate) war over Sky's hair to annoy/exasperate Brandon. Diaspro always complains that he doesn't grow it and it would look great then. Sky says that he is fine as with his hair at it is (it's actually Erendor's thing). The soft part of Diaspro that she doesn't usually show off has taught Sky many ways to style his hair and subtly put on makeup to look more feminine if he wants to.

How I am amused by that image from wikipedia and that Diaspro entered Sky's guard so quickly. Another headcanon is that Diaspro would sometimes change her appearance a bit and go into Sky's guard to be with Brandon to annoy him and Sky, when Brandon has to talk about her without giving details, she is simply "his sister Charbonne" (she hates that alias). They were discovered when she was 15 years old but she had already trained and the royal families considered it a sign to formalize the engagement since “they search each other” (people only sees what they wants).

The Diaspro family is not good, first Brandon was a shield (emotional) because as a child they were not “that” bad and then Sky joined him (physically and politically), handling things with Bloom so like that was not a good idea when the floor was full of cracked bottles.

... omg i’m sorry you three i’m sorry what I did to you

Also, Brandon's ability as a green user is very interesting and helps with this a lot. I temporally call it “Keypoint Warning” and I like it a lot, it's like a "tic" that tells him "be careful, what you say, what you do now, even the smallest thing could change everything for youself (for better or for worse)”. He actually has a scar on his forehead (not a lightning bolt) that his hairstyle hides after “that” day but a little less fine on the words and the kidnappers might have broken his mouth so... His parents have been cured (spoiler: no) of heart attack since then.

[randombtsprincessa]

Content Tag Game!

Tagged by my babies Dia and Maria ( @yoonia​ and @joyfulhopelox​) to answer these content queries and dish some dirt on me whoops!

Here we go!

1. what fandoms have you written for (but do not currently)? 

Well I for one thought that I would never write for Twilight again. I wrote Touch in the Worlds as a practice and just to get the feel of how writing and the posting worked online. I was very sure I wouldn’t visit the fandom again for obvious reasons, but yeah, I have recently gotten another idea for it for another character that many asked for in comments.

2. what fandoms are you currently writing for? 

I am writing for Kpop (BTS) and currently have two works for Harry Potter!

3. how long have you been writing? on this blog? 

I began writing in 4th grade. Silly me also tried to make a club out of it with a few friends but yeah lol, that tanked. I mostly tried to write Horror back then because I was a hardcore Goosebumps fan. Writing kind of took a back seat to my music and dancing before making a vicious comeback. 

I made this blog to follow SuperWhoLock and other shows. Before I refurbished it to accomodate my writings. Then in 2017, I purged it again at the same time as Tumblr underwent it’s own mess of thingy.

4. on which platforms do you post your stories? 

I post on FF.net, Wattpad, Tumblr, Ao3 and Inkitt.

5. what is your favourite genre to write? 

I love smangst with fluff. Of course, like any deprived emotionally person I do do fluff because where would we be in life without it. I love the tropes of E2L, Estranged Lovers coming together, balancing otherwise unbalanced dynamics etc. Also woman empowerment because hell yes.

6. are you a pantser or a planner? 

I’ a firm swinger between the two. Usually for writing projects, like NANO i have a plan but well, when I get an idea hit, I usually just write how I see it in my head (I’m a visual imaginator). Series require more planning than one-shots.  

7. one shot or multi-chapter? 

Depends on the stories I cook up. Many of them might be finished and reach the proper catharsis in one chapter but many others aren’t stories that can be wrapped up in one sitting.

8. what is the perfect chapter length in your opinion? 

Don’t ask me. I have a problem with word counts. Ask my undergrad professors.

9. what is your longest published story? is it complete? 

I still think my longest is Touch in the Worlds. Its four books and over 200k so. Yep, it’s done and over with.

10. which story did you enjoy working on the most?

I. ADORE writing Autumn Leaves, mostly because my MC is lowkey brilliant. She’s a living embodiment of all the mistakes the HP characters made corrected. For BTS, I loved writing Aberrations. I’m going to have the same fun when I get to the ‘part’ in Achilles Heart. hehehe...otherwise in the future some works are *satan grins*

11. favourite request you’ve have written and why (if any?) 

I wasn’t sure if I was going to be writing a sequel for Bed Bereft. But people have asked and yep it’s coming (plotted already and I will enjoy it)

12. are there reoccurring themes in your stories? 

I’ve been told I write women in relationships well. Honestly if I wanted a break down of what I as a writer have done nicely in my BTS fics it would be a question for people like @jimins-ass-eater, @stealth-liberal and @cuziloveyou7

13. current number of wips? 

Outrageous and increasing. I have a lot of chapters to upload lol.

14. three things you have noticed about your own writing? 

Some fics I have noticed are purely for a particular mindset. I wrote Asylum in my down time and Ambrosia is going to be the same. I tend to aim to be realistic. I am 23 years old, I have seen a few things that deserve to be addressed and I do that in my fics. Oh, and if I am writing for Namjoon, you can expect my philosophical side to jump right out and ramble in that fic. 

15. a quote you like from a published story.

● Series:

There was nothing soothing about people watching.

Or maybe there was and it required some form of inner peace to find the charm in it.

You didn’t have that sort of inner peace; neither did you have the patience for it.

- Belladonna, Chapter 1

● One-shot:

All the stories that showed that Princesses would be rescued fell short at one crucial juncture.

No one told the story about the cursed princess who was ugly, who was a monster, who wasn’t the pale skinned beauty in a glass case or silk bed.

No, nobody came to save the ugly princess and over time you learned to see yourself just that.

This man – this Jimin, would be no exception.

“After all, what’s to love?” You muttered.

You vowed not to weep. Not for a man, not for the humanity that judged who was worthy of love.

- Blackthorn Creek

16. a quote from an unpublished story.

Jimin didn’t reply, carefully placing a donut on a small, pristine white plate. “I don’t think there’s anyone who just was born wrong. Everyone has reasons, everyone has stories. Things that happen to people to make them the way they are at present. It’s harsh to judge a person’s future for what the past did to them in the present.”

His eyes flickered up to glance out the window. At the edge of the park, right along the lines separating the background of the city from the forefront stood an old Honda. On it was perched a single girl.

“Like her.”

- Brownie Points

17. space for you to say something to your readers. 

I want to thank each and every single one of them. On tumblr and out of it. I know I miss out on a lot of interaction but I want you all to know that you always have an ear and shoulder available on my blog. I want you to know that these fics I write are for more than just your enjoyment. It’s for them to maybe find a part of them resonating inside of you and if I achieve that then that would be my biggest achievement. I love you all and your encouragement is literally the reason I and many other content creators are still here.

Tagging: @avveh @serooks @softyoongiionly @hobidreams @jungkxook @joonscypher @hobiwonder @bangtanhome @joheunsaram @kookdiaries @ressjeon @kithtaehyung-main @vyduan @rosietae @kookingtae and anyone else who wants to do this!

[asrisgratitudejournal]

October!

Anyong Ashimikka!

Wow ini literally 13.22 pm dan ku terkantuk-kantuk betul-betul lagi baca artikel terus merem-merem saking ngantuknya. Kayanya karena kenyang juga sih abis makan nasi uduk + bihun + tempe orek + bakwan + tahu (wow pas dibaca lagi ternyata banyak ugha makan w, ini thanks to Bu Yani btw). Iya, seminggu kemarin balik lagi ku mengalami periode where I can���t think straight and basically gets nothing done. It’s including the writing-tumblr-post part. I just noticed that the last post that I wrote was on 28th of September which is last week? Imagine. Ngapain aja ya w dari Rabu-Kamis-Jumat… Bahkan yang last post of 28thitu belum selesai nulisnya yang no 3 4 5 semua masih tba, plannya adalah mau nulis pas malam sebelum tidur tapi ujung-ujungnya ya tidur aja saya. Bahkan si streak freeze duolingo dua-duanya betul-betul kepake saking nggak produktifnya huf. Nggak mau blaming anyone tapi part of it adalah thanks to UK weather alias males banget ke office kalau hujan dan basah huhu ☹

Berhubung udah lupa denga napa yang terjadi weekday minggu lalu, mari ku list things to be grateful di weekend aja ya, dari yang paling recent dulu:

I made it to the office today! Ini sebuah pencapaian besar sih, karena minggu lalu betul-betul full nggak menginjakkan kaki di office sama sekali. Berangkat pagi jam 9 kurang tadi(?) karena menemani Anis liat-liat Oxford. Tapi ya belum melakukan anything worthy juga sih seharian daritadi. Well, anyways, at least I already sit in my desk right now.

Semalam Anis numpang nginep di rumah, terus jadi banyak ngobrol banyak banget. Jujur, kalau dipikir-pikir aslinya mangkel banget kalau inget-inget PPI UK tuh, karena ya capek aja, dan ga nyangka bakal se…demanding itu. Tapi kalau melihat ku sekarang punya banyak teman dan koneksi dari departemen PPI UK ku ya not bad sih… Dari PPI UK jadi kenal Anis, Mba Nufis, Angel. Literally orang-orang yang aku nggak akan pernah ketemu kalau ga ikut PPI UK. Kapan lagi ketemu lulusan Gontor yang ternyata SEUMURAN! Sama-sama lahir 1993 kami (aku dan Anis). Dan inspiratif banget deh, dia baru aja menikah H-7 berangkat ke UK! Jadi habis itu langsung LDM for a year (imagine). Seru ketemu orang bermacem-macem tu, jadi betul-betul mikir circle main aku (di Indo pun bahkan) ya kecil banget ya. Cuma kenal orang-orang geologi aja mostly, terus sisanya ya teman SD SMP SMA Kuliah… bayangin. Bahkan tadi abis kelas ada pertanyaan “apakah ada di jejaring kamu yang bekerja sebagai akuntan/works in wind farm/works in fruit industry? Nggak ada. Jadi… yaudah.. bersyukur aja Non, terima kasih YaAllah sudah dikasih kesempatan untuk bergabung dengan PPI UK setahun belakangan ini… jadi bisa banyak ketemu orang dengan kisah hidup yang berbeda-beda.

Kemarin siang (Minggu) juga diajakin makan siang Sushi Mania bareng Mas Indra, Dini, Leon, Carina, Devi. Senang karena half price! Jadi kemarin abis £14-an dan udah kenyang banget (imagine, harusnya £28 berarti habis makannya). Beres makan sushi chaos banget lol: jadi mau ke pengajian kan di Castle Mill. Terus ya just Noni being Noni batere hp tu abis karena nggak di-charge semalemannya. Akhirnya tau apa yang terjadi? HP saya mati sodara-sodara seberes dari Sushi Mania itu. Terus ku kan gatau ya Castle Mill di mana dan belum pernah juga ke sana, udah sempat screenshot googlemap dan berusaha menghapal rute, tapi tetap aja lupa dan hilang ingatannya. Yang kuinget cuma nanti pokoknya jalan lewat pinggir kanal 24menitan, nyebrang rel, terus sampe. Terus untungnya juga ku berhasil menghapal kira-kira posisi si Castle Mill ini di mana, yaitu di baratnya rel kereta api aja deh, dan utaranya stasiun. Terus yaudah akhirnya ku ke kanal, coba ngikutin orang pada pulang bawa belanjaan dengan harapan ni orang pulangnya ke Castle Mill, eh tapi ternyata tidak sodara-sodara. Yaudah akhirnya coba-coba jalan gitu w kemarin IMAGINE wkwkw. Abisan bingung juga mau nanya orang siapa, gaada orang yang terlihat bisa kutanyain. Untungnya first trial ngikutin orang bawa sepeda dan groceries cart ternyata dia mau pulang ke Castle Mill. Terus yaudah dapet deh masuk dan ketemu orang-orang Indonesia huhu. Senang karena ketemu banyak orang, walaupun nggak makan sih karena dah kenyang banget makan sushi itu tadi. Pulangnya pun ditebengi oleh Bu Yani dianter sampai rumah huhu Alhamdulillah YaAllah.

Minggu paginya ngisi webinar yang diadakan oleh HM Geosains UI tentang “Geoscience After Campus”. Isinya anak-anak 2019-2020 tapi. Jadi ku gaada yang kenal. Ini acaranya early banget btw alias jam 8 am on Sunday I literally sudah sit in front of my laptop with a cup of coffee. Definitely not a Sunday morning image I had in my mind, but anyway…

Habis ngisi webinar telponan sama Mama, doi cerita banyak banget a-z yang w tweet itu lah ya pokoknya. Won’t tell the same story here. Bersyukur karena Mama masih sehat juga Alhamdulillah. ((Pas lagi nulis ini ke-pause karena ada kelas SeedWISE jadi lupa kan mau ngomong apa lagi)).

Sabtu! Sabtu adalah hari badminton! Seharian hujan. Sempat deras banget, tapi akhirnya reda juga just 30mins before the designated time (yaitu jam 3pm). Main for like sejam terus ngobrol-ngobrol. Lumayan rame btw, ada 11 orang. Habis itu pulang badminton sesungguhnya laper banget karena belum makan siang, mampir ke Sainsburys Cowley karena main badmintonnya di Iffley. Karena hujan basah semua dah itu sepatu sampe sekarang masih dijemur, untung kemarin Minggu cerah HUHU Alhamdulillah YaAllah.

Sabtu jam 10-12 gitu(?) ngisi jadi dosen tamu untuk mata kuliah Modul Nusantara yang diampu oleh Bu Tyas geografi UI alias tetangga gedung sebelah. Awal mulanya diminta tolong oleh Andini (yang ternyata ku ketemu pas OSN di Padang tahun? berapa lupa), ku di-DM Instagram. Karena kosong juga kebetulan Sabtu yasudah ku-iya-kan saja. Acaranya turns out malah jadi aku yang belajar banyak hehe. Jadi program Modul Nusantara ini diprakarsai sama Kemdikbudnya Mas Nadiem ini lah ya. Intinya adalah nawarin pertukaran pelajar mahasiswa PTN/PTS selain UI (dan mahasiswa UI juga sepertinya) bisa ambil matakuliah di UI. Harusnya katanya kalau nggak pandemi, mereka beneran datang ke Depok terus isi kuliahnya tu yang visiting Kota Tua gitu-gitu. Menarik banget kan??! Terus Bu Tyas cerita tujuan programnya lebih ke menghighlight keragaman dan kebinekaan di Indonesia gitu lah. Kelasnya kecil, cuma isi 15 mahasiswa(?). Ku senang banget sesungguhnya dengan kelas kecil gini karena jadi lebih intimate dan intense. Dari pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang masuk adalah mahasiswa dari Indonesia timur mostly(?) sama Kalimantan juga ada sih. Ini berhubungan dengan pos-ku beberapa waktu lalu terkait akses. Adanya program-program kaya gini betul-betul membantu orang-orang yang nggak ke-ekspos ke akses atau informasi jadi terekspos. Ku mostly ngebahas tentang Jardine dan Oxford, tapi yaudah seminimal-minimalnya kalaupun ku gabisa ngebantu mereka masuk Oxford atau dapet Jardine, seminimal-minimalnyaaa banget, bisa jadi inspirasi lah ya. Bukan buat sekolah di luar negeri, atau jadi researcher, tapi ya sekedar just… being themselves, pursuing what they want to do. Intinya ke-recharge banget sih habis ngisi kelas itu. AH! Ada yang nanya juga: “sebagai muslim, experiencenya di sini gimana? Apakah di-rasis-in? Apa gimana?” Menurutku ini bagus banget pertanyaannya, akhirnya ya kujawab aja: “basically people here have no interest in what you’re doing as long as you don’t do crime/illegal stuffs and not bothering them”. Yang mana jadi mentrigger pertanyaan oleh Bu Tyas terkait apakah individualism value-nya barat itu jadi melunturkan community value kita as Indonesian (yang ngapa2in tu ya bareng2 gitu kan) atau seperti apa? Aku ga sempat jawab pertanyaan ini, tapi ya ku jadi mikir juga sih, pada akhirnya masih terkotak-kotakkan juga kok walaupun sesama orang Indonesia: based on almamater, agama, PPI apa nggak, suku/darah keturunan. Tapi ya wajar nggak sih? Karena memang pasti kita akan cenderung pergi ke tempat di mana kita punya value yang sama? Walaupun harusnya ya nggak selalu gitu sih. Well, anyway, intinya tapi Sabtu pagi kemarin cukup inspiratif dan membuat mikir. Makasih YaAllah atas opportunitynya!

Udah itu dulu aja untuk postingannya hari ini. Ini Instagram dan whatsapp lagi down ya btw. Ku padahal lagi baru aja mau ngemail research proposal ke orang yang dm ig gitu terus dia alamat emailnya ada di dm ig gimana saya bisa mengeceknya coba huf. Habis ini btw akan ketemu dengan college children-ku! Sesungguhnya pengennya cepat-cepat pulang aja karena Senin kan, tapi yaudahlah gapapa, ku senang kok networking dan meeting new people. Anyway, hope you have great week ahead everyone!

30.18 1722pm (waktu selesai nulis ini karena terselingi sangat banyak hal) 04/10/2021

[2old4kpop]

15 Underrated Girly Kpop Songs That Make Me Go Absolutely Feral

When it comes to girl groups, more than anything I am a Blackjack and Blink. I like to listen to girl songs that make me want to murder men (and believe me, that blog post is in the works). But I’m also a ONCE, as TWICE are my sweet darling babies, but they’re about as girly as I can tolerate. I’m not one for the super girly concepts. I mean, did you guys ever see MINX? Occasionally I ironically jam to Shakey Love Shakey Shakey Shakey Shakey Love, but it was an absolute blessing from the K-pop gods to rebrand them as Dreamcatcher. It’s really only the A-list girly songs I tolerate, like GFriend or Oh My Girl. Everything else below them just seems really cringy.

Except for a few chosen few that are so good that they make me absolutely lose all of my shits. And I’m talking about songs that nobody seems to know like at all. Either these songs came out when the groups were still under the radar, before they had their big smash hits, or they just never seemed to rise to the top. But they are still valid and important. Videos are linked in the song names, since Tumblr won’t let me add more than five videos, but here we go.

15. April- Dream Candy

April is one of those rare groups that pull off the girly concept so well but don’t ever seem forced, like they are just truly naturally sweet and pure and precious. Honestly all of their songs are great, and it’s tragic that they haven’t had a comeback in 2019. But their debut, Dream Candy, is the one that really gets deep in my soul to that animal part of my brain that makes me scream this god damn chorus. But only really at the end. I never really listened to this song until it came on shuffle one day when I was walking home in the rain, and thought, why not listen to this awkward girly song, and then the last chorus hit and OH MY GOD. It’s a good one guys.

14. Momoland- Jjan! Koong! Kwang!

So this song comes out by some unknown group called uh, Momoland?, with a title that is just a bunch of sounds that don’t exist in English, and I felt like I was the only one on Earth that was like, “This is fine.” I was honestly in some I Am Legend universe where instead of me being the only living person on Earth, I was the only one that liked Momoland’s debut. As time went on Momoland started putting out what is pretty much some of the worst K-Pop that exists (I mean, have you SEEN the video for Wonderful Love? Try not to cringe challenge) and sadly enough this group just faded into obscurity and never had any huge, Earth shattering hits or anything. 

13. DIA- My Friend’s Boyfriend

On paper this song is awful. I mean it’s a song about being a petty bitch who has decided to steal their friend’s boyfriend, hence the title. Also the song ads cute little quirks like *squints eyes to read this metaphorical paper closer* coughing. Also the video has an unnecessarily long intro. But believe me when I tell you that this is an absolute slapper.

12. Gugudan- Wonderland

It’s a crime that Gugudan has never really hit it off, even with two I.O.I members. Their debut has this amazing Little Mermaid concept and believe me when I tell you that this chorus is best when screamed at the top of your lungs. After all the screaming I am basically in a manic state by the la la la’s.

11. LOONA 1/3- Love&Live

You’ll notice that the main theme of this list is that the choruses are absolute fire. But this one comes in and basically knocks the wind out of me with sweetness, like some kind of aegyo Kool-Aid man. It’s really the music that does it for me in this one, along with the melody, along with Heejin’s perfect high note. If this song doesn’t make you smile then you are a robot, like ViVi. 

10. Shannon Williams- Why Why

If Ant and/or Dec were here, they would hear this song and definitely say that Britain’s Got Talent. Shannon is the British IU,hands down, undeniably, I will not be taking questions at this time. But it’s very sad that her career was nonexistent after this came out. Was it the fact that this features a sixteen-year-old grinding against faceless boys? Or that this video widely revolves around her intensely stalking someone? It can’t be the song because that is perfect. 

9. AOA- Bingle Bangle

Okay so some history for those non-Elvises out there. AOA was THE HOTTEST girl group for a good minute, with so many timeless collaborations with the Brave Brothers that really changed the shape of female K-Pop for a while. And then ChoA left the group. And without the only member who could actually sing the face of the group, AOA kind of went quiet, save for a few Jimin solo songs. Then AOA came back with a new sound, and while everyone else thought it was terrible, I thought it was a bop! And I love the video and the concept! And the dance for this is so fun. Bingle Bangle is a real yes for me dawg. It’s only too bad that they lost yet another member and their concept was handed off to FNC’s new girl group. Speaking of which...

8. Cherry Bullet- Really Really

Yeah so they literally gave this entire “girls in a video game but it’s fun and cute” concept to Cherry Bullet, and they hit the ground running with it. This comeback in particular is my favorite of theirs because it hits one of my favorite pop music tropes: Having A Funky Instrumental Chorus, Only At The End To Put Words Over The Music. It ticks all my boxes.

7. Rainbow- Whoo

If you ever wanted to hear a song that made you scream “RAAAAIIINBOOW AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” then this is it. At this point in this list we start to hear the songs that make me truly insane, and this song absolutely destroys me. It’s really sad, however, that this is basically Rainbow’s swan song, as it was their last song before disbandment. 

6. Matilda- Macarena

I bet you haven’t even HEARD of Matilda. I bet you didn’t even KNOW that MATILDA just DISBANDED a FEW MONTHS AGO because ALL THEIR SONGS WERE BAD except for THIS ONE which is just full of CHAOTIC GOOD ENERGY and if you don’t ENJOY THIS then GET OFF MY LAWN. 

5. Berry Good- Angel

Berry Good was destined to be one of those girl groups, like Matilda, that came from a tiny company and was just given bad songs and were set up to fail. So they crowdfunded, and somehow made two incredible comebacks, Don’t Believe (which is a whole other story that we won’t get into today, but it’s an amazing song that you should check out) and prior to that, Angel. I don’t even know where to begin with this song because it literally makes me forget who I am and why I exist. It’s a banger?? This song starts off so soft and pure and jumps right into a chorus that makes you bang your head and scream “I TAKE A CHANCE, YOU NEVER KNOW” as loud as possible. And right when you think you can’t take it anymore, that you are gasping for air because you are drowning in perfection, THEY GO EVEN HARDER. Like, girls, you did not need to go that hard. Holy shit. They go full IU in Good Day. I don’t know why we were blessed with this, especially since after this all their other songs have been garbage, and they’ve been so unsuccessful that they lost their strongest member and they’re heading for disbandment. But we have this gem, and I’m thankful for it.

4. 4Minute- Heart To Heart

Back when 4Minute was just another 2NE1 clone, trying to compete in the market of “Girls Who Look Tough But Are Actually Sweet” 4Minute, aka The HyunA Group, put out this. Third Geners, this is what Second Gen was all about. This is the meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown. This song is everything. It’s perfect. And it’s too bad that 4Minute didn’t really stick with this sound, but also not, since with their more mature concept they wound up getting pretty famous once Park Bom... I mean, we’re not gonna talk about it. 

3. Hyolyn- Bae

Okay so I know that Hyolyn as an entity is not technically considered underrated, but her entire solo career is being slept on and I don’t understand. With Sistar gone, and now Red Velvet carrying the torch for summer anthems, Hyolyn doesn’t necessarily have to give us one of the best summer songs of all time but she did. Every second of this song to me is perfect. And yeah okay I’ll admit it, I am a Gay, I am attracted to women, and Hyolyn is a lot of. A lot of wow. She and HyunA are exactly my type, and this video is a lot. But the SONG you guys. It’s so much that I told even regular people who listen to English music to listen to this song. They didn’t, of course, because the world doesn’t appreciate Hyolyn like I would, I mean like I do as a fan and nothing else. This song was my summer anthem in 2018, Power Up wishes it was this good.

2. BESTie- Thank U Very Much

One of the things that really got me into K-Pop during the Second Gen was that it sounded so much like pop music from my youth. This is gonna sound weird, but I grew up in a Wiccan Neo-Pagan household where 90% of the music we listened to was traditional Celtic or New Age, and if it was ever anything else it was like The Beatles (my Mom and her sisters were one of those screaming and fainting Beatles fans, the trait that was clearly passed down to me, based on what happened when I saw G-Dragon live, but that’s another story) or ABBA, or any kind of British/European pop/rock from the 70s or 80s. So once I was old enough to really find out what kind of music I liked, I dived deep into cheesy pop songs like S Club 7, Britney Spears, and the like. But I always had a soft spot for ABBA. The melodies, the music, the strange lyrics that didn’t really make sense or weren’t quite grammatically correct but it worked. I feel like that love for obscure pop, along with the 90s and early 2000s bubblegum pop, pushed me right into the K-Pop scene. And this song is the best example of that kind of weird melody with oddly used English words, but it works in the best way. The chorus of this song sounds like it was written by ABBA. The ending of this song is transcendent. Tell me you can’t picture a Korean Meryl Streep in overalls singing the ending of this song while dancing on a beach. This song makes me lose all my shits. But I do have to say that this video is uh, Not Good, especially compared with how amazing the song is. But these underrated bottom of the barrel groups don’t have much to work with in the first place, so we can’t really fault them. This song holds up, and is going to hold up for a very long time. I stan.

1. Laboum- Shooting Love

So like I said before, I don’t typically like the super sugary, super tacky, super girly girl concepts. BUT I LOVE LABOUM. ALL their girly sweet songs are AMAZING. They somehow get everything right, in their own unique way. They’re not at all like “Oh, they’re like GFriend”, “Oh, that’s like Lovelyz” or anything, if you get what I’m saying. Laboum had their own cheesy yet perfect style of girly. Aalow Aalow: A CLASSIC. Journey To Atlantis: A CLASSIC. Hwi Hwi: A CLASSIC. Only U: YES YOU GUESS IT, CLASSIC. Sugar Sugar: DON’T MAKE ME SAY IT AGAIN. I could have made this whole list with just Laboum songs. So I made myself pick one by listening to as many old Laboum songs as I could before I would become an absolutely menace to society, as I am not responsible for my actions after listening to so much girly perfectlon at once. If I was arrested and went to court for I dunno, causing distress and mayhem to the citizens of my city, my lawyer would call it “the Laboum defense.” “You see, Your Honor, my client listened to a lot of Laboum songs, and lost control of themselves and became an entity, a ball of energy, a comet destroying everything in its path while screaming cheesy Korean lyrics.” And I would be set free, of course, because who wouldn’t lose themselves completely to the power of Laboum? But anyway I picked Shooting Love, as it puts me in a manic state from the very intro until the last second. And let me just say now that I deeply mourn this old Laboum, as they came back in 2018 with a new concept that makes them sound lobotomized compared to their old sound. Like slow R&B is fine, but compared to this it’s drab and slow and dull and I hate it. I Hate It. Bring back cute Laboum in 2020, or at least study Apink if you want to see how to properly change an aging cute group into a mature group. I could go on, but now I have the urge to listen to more Laboum. You’ll see me on the evening news tonight, I’m sure.

anyway 안녕

[searchingwardrobes]

Until the Day Breaks and the Shadows Flee: 7/8

The overwhelming consensus after the last chapter was “fix this!” - lol! I heard you, believe me, but I just want everyone to understand that we still have one more chapter left, and it’s a legit chapter, not an epilogue. The last chapter will be one of the longest ones, actually. So don’t expect much to get fixed just yet. Hang with me, everyone!

Much thanks as always to my beta @snowbellewells, my artist @hollyethecurious, and @kmomof4 for heading up this event.

Summary: Every night she traces the contours of his body as Killian whispers words of love against her skin. But can Princess Emma ever be fully happy with a husband who only comes to her in utter darkness? A Captain Swan AU of the myth of Cupid and Psyche.

Rating: M for sexual situations

Words: ~3,500 in this chapter

Chapter One | Chapter TWo | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Also on Ao3

Tagging: @jennjenn615 @welllpthisishappening @let-it-raines @kday426 @nadine200179 @teamhook @bethacaciakay @profdanglaisstuff @distant-rose @shireness-says @mythologicalmango @wellhellotragic @branlovestowrite @xhookswenchx @optomisticgirl @winterbaby89 @ultraluckycatnd @vvbooklady1256 @resident-of-storybrooke @spartanguard @thislassishooked @whimsicallyenchantedrose @tiganasummertree  @snidgetsafan @ohmakemeahercules @delirious-latenight-laughs @nikkiemms @gingerchangeling @revanmeetra87 @cocohook38 @effulgentcolors

Chapter Seven: Jealousy as Strong as the Grave

Emma had never been the type of person to fall apart under pressure. She had faced her heartbreak over Baelfire, the plague that struck their kingdom, and the prophecy of the oracle all in the same way: with tenacity. She hadn’t even reached out to her family and friends to lean on. She could take care of herself and refused to be a burden to anyone. With Baelfire, she had also felt a heavy dose of shame and humiliation, constantly chastising herself for being so naive. Ruby, Lily, and Elsa only knew what little they did because they had aided her in the clandestine relationship.

Emma wouldn’t say she was falling apart in this moment, either, yet she also knew she had never felt so completely out of her element. Something significant had also shifted in her since her marriage to Killian. Handling things on her own no longer seemed like the strength it once had. Ironic, really, because never had she been so completely alone as she was now on top of this mountain.

No, that actually wasn’t true. Her husband was the god of love! Venus may be powerful, but surely their union was strong enough to withstand her jealousy. Killian wasn’t a demigod; he was the son of Venus and Mars. She was confident in his love, even in the face of his mother’s wrath. Emma threw back her shoulders and tilted her chin. A Princess of Misthaven may not be much against a goddess, but she was no shrinking violet.

“Venus!” she cried out. “Venus, I beseech you! Please, oh goddess, allow me an audience!”

Emma sank to her knees in the damp earth, bowing her head reverentially. She clasped her hands in her lap, her skin starkly white and chilled against the bright royal blue of her nightgown. Her teeth chattered as the cold wind sliced across her skin. Her hair tangled around her head, blocking her vision.

“Venus, I beg of you,” she said again on a whisper.

The words had scarcely left her mouth when the wind cutting through the satin of her garments shifted instead to a warm zephyr. Emma could smell a sweet perfume enveloping her, and she swooned at the headiness of it. She felt herself falling, but gently, and when she sat up but a moment later, she found herself in a large room, ornate, yet warm. Boughs of cedar, interwoven with flowering vines, made up the walls and the ceiling. The floor was a glassy marble in a shade of softest pink unlike anything Emma had seen before. She was in the middle of an opulent, round bed piled high with furs and pillows. She took in her surroundings in awe for a moment before her eyes landed on another bed sitting atop a small dias. Emma gasped when she saw who lay upon it.

“Killian!” she cried, leaping up and racing across the floor.

Her wardrobe hadn’t changed, and the rosy marble was cold beneath her feet. She raced up the four small steps leading to Killian’s bed, but when she reached the top of the dias, something unseen halted her. She took a step forward, trying to reach him, but was once again shoved back by an invisible force. He lay there, so close that Emma could have touched him if not for the magic protecting him. He looked so similar to when she had gazed upon him by the light of her candle - was that really only an hour ago? - that it broke her heart. His cheek rested on his pillow, one arm flung out as if reaching for her - his wife.

“Killian,” she choked out, tears coursing down her cheeks.

“He can’t hear you.”

Emma spun at the sound of the voice. Standing there in the middle of the room was the most beautiful woman Emma had ever seen. Her beauty wasn’t even something a person could put into words. Unlike him, Killian’s mother had light colored hair. Emma had many a suitor claim her hair was the color of gold, but seeing Venus, Emma knew what an empty compliment that was. Venus had hair that was truly golden, shimmering in such a way that Emma was mesmerized by it. Her eyes were the color of the seafoam legend said she was born from, such a sparkling blue-green that they literally drew Emma into their gaze. Her skin was flawless, her lips the color of deep red wine, her eyelashes dark and thick. Her figure was flawless too, her curves on perfect display through the soft white garments that clung to her frame. Emma knew she was gaping but couldn’t stop herself.

“Oh my dear,” Venus said in tones that dripped with condescension, “you see now how foolish you’ve been, don’t you?”

The goddess strode across the room, a natural and easy sway to her hips, and sat before a vanity with a gilded mirror. She lifted her hand casually towards her perfect face, her fingers fluttering near her cheek bone.

“What have you done to him?” Emma demanded, marching down the marble steps with her hands clenched at her sides.

“Oh,” Venus replied with a casual wave of her hand, “a long, refreshing sleep is all that it is.” She caught Emma’s gaze in the reflection of the mirror. “He’s a god, after all. Unlike you.”

“So . . . he’ll waken?”

“Eventually.”

Emma let out a breath of relief, yet her eyes still narrowed as she gazed upon Venus. “What’s the catch?”

Venus gasped exaggeratedly as she spun upon her stool to face Emma. She pressed a perfect, slim hand to her breast. “Why my dear, I am only looking out for my son’s best interest as any mother would. I’ve been concerned from the moment I learned of this . . . infatuation of his.”

Emma didn’t really know how to respond to that, so she merely kept a suspicious eye on the goddess as she rose from her vanity and crossed the floor. She strode past Emma and to the dias where her son lay, a look of tenderness upon her face that Emma wasn’t completely certain was sincere.

“He’s always been much too passionate for his own good,” Venus tsked, “but I suppose it’s to be expected considering his lineage. His father has a tendency for rashness.”

“Killian said you wanted to kill me.”

“Of course I did.”

Her cool manner as she said it, so casual and matter of fact, sent ice through Emma’s veins. She strode towards Emma, and it was all Emma could do to stand her ground and not flee. Venus came toe to toe with her, taking Emma’s chin in her hand.

“I suppose I can see your appeal,” Venus scoffed as she studied Emma’s face, “for a mortal.”

“I never did anything to -”

“Silence,” Venus snapped, releasing her roughly. “I don’t care to hear you defend yourself. The fact of the matter is; princes, dukes, sultans, military leaders, even peasants were suddenly all begging me for the same thing: that they would win the heart of Princess Emma. After every one of the balls your parents threw, I would then have to hear the heartbroken pleas of the men who had fallen under the spell of your beauty.”

“But I didn’t -”

“Foolish girl!” Venus raged. “That’s the point! You didn’t do anything! You’re nothing! Yet no one was exulting the beauty of Venus anymore, only yours. I’m the goddess of beauty. I couldn’t let a mere mortal girl receive praise over and above me!”

Venus took a deep breath and released it, her exquisite features settling once again into a serene expression. When she resumed her story, the calm timbre of her voice was more terrifying than her previous rage.

“I sent my son to kill you. Did you know that?”

The blood drained from Emma’s face, but she refused to answer.

“I gave him a vial of poison,” Venus continued casually, lifting bottles of perfume from her vanity one by one and idly sniffing them, “but he hesitated.” She frowned as if Killian were a disappointment to her. “The first time he saw you, you were in the castle courtyard getting a sword fighting lesson from your father. Your mother was there too, teasing you both about archery being the superior pursuit. You were in breeches, sweaty and flushed, your hair messy and pulled away from your face, yet you mesmerized Killian for some reason.”

Venus shrugged dismissively, and Emma’s temper flared. “Unlike you, he sees more than what’s on the surface!”

“He’s also infuriatingly monogamous. It’s embarrassing, really. What’s the point of immortality? Eternal youth and vigor? I ask you.”

“And you’re infuriatingly shallow and selfish. Killian told me what his childhood was like, you know.”

Venus’s eyes widened threateningly. “Be careful, mortal. Forget not to whom you speak.”

Emma swallowed nervously. When she spoke again, she forced humility into her words. “Forgive me, I beg you. I am a mere mortal, as you said, but I love your son with all my heart. He’s my husband. He is my beloved, and I am his. I would do anything to prove my loyalty to him so that we might be together.”

Venus was leaning closer to the mirror, admiring her own reflection, as if she weren’t paying a bit of attention to Emma’s impassioned speech. “Why should I care about your insignificant happiness? My son is immortal. When you’re old and gray, he will still be young and virile. And when your body turns to dust, he’ll have to find another anyway.”

“Then why deny us this short time of happiness? If I’m distracted during the flower of my youth by his love, then I’ll be out of your way.”

“Or a constant thorn in my side,” Venus bit out, “even my own son favors you over me. And don’t you think I care at all about the pain loving a mortal will cause my son?”

Actually, no Emma thought, but she held her tongue.

Venus spun away from the mirror to regard Emma. “No. My plans for you have changed, and they are so much better than your death. So much better than ravaging your kingdom with a plague. So much better than dressing you up in a wedding gown to be fed to a monster.”

“That was all you?” Emma gasped.

“Of course it was! My soft-hearted son just had to get in my way, but unintentionally he has given me a much better punishment for you - a more fitting one.”

Emma hadn’t noticed that Venus was stalking ever closer, pushing her closer and closer to the dais upon which Killian slept. Emma stumbled into the bottom step, falling backwards, catching herself before her back could collide with the marble.

“To love someone just out of your reach. To forever long for a husband that you can’t have.”

Emma shook her head, tears pricking her eyes. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“My son will slumber until your death.”

“No!”

“Unless,” Venus amended, casually examining the nails of her left hand, “you can do as you swore and prove that your love for him is true.”

“I told you I’d do anything.” Emma hated that she was begging, but she couldn’t stop the tears that streamed down her cheeks.

“Good girl.” A sadistic grin curled the goddess’s lips. “Bring me the flower of eternal beauty. It is currently in the possession of Persephone in the Underworld. I want it back.” She gestured to Killian with a shrug. “And it just so happens to be the cure for my son’s enchanted slumber.”

Emma swallowed nervously. “It shall be done, but . . . how do I get to the Underworld?”

Venus’s gaze snapped to Emma’s. “That isn’t my problem, mortal,” she bent down to stroke Emma’s chin, “though I wouldn’t tarry if I were you. Every moment my son remains in the arms of Morpheus, the closer he is to forgetting you.”

Emma couldn’t prevent the gasp from leaving her lips. “How long?” she managed to ask.

“Days? Weeks? Months?” Venus cooed, her hand drifting to tuck an errant hair behind Emma’s ear in a mockery of a motherly gesture. “I’m not entirely sure.”

The sweet nectar of Venus’s breath against her face left Emma dizzy and disoriented. The room began to spin, her vision to blur, and Emma felt herself falling once again.

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

“Is she dead?” a voice near Emma’s ear asked in a hushed tone. Emma tried to open her eyes, but her lids felt weighted, and her head pounded.

“Of course not, Ariel,” another voice above her snapped.

“Would both of you get away from her?” Emma recognized Tiger Lily as the third voice. “Venus’s magic will have left her queasy, and the last thing she needs is the two of you in her face.”

Emma managed to peel her eyes open, yet her vision was fuzzy. A flash of red swam before her.

“We can’t let her sleep long,” Ariel said worriedly. “We don’t know how much time Killian has.”

The fairy’s words caused reality to slam into Emma, and she struggled to a sitting position despite the pain that threatened to split her skull. She moaned and clutched her temple with both hands. The three fairies rushed to her side with words of comfort and concern, and Emma realized she was surrounded by the thick branches of a tree. The night sky, blinking with stars, was visible through the canopy of leaves above.

“Wh-where am I?” Emma asked through dry lips. Her mouth tasted like cotton.

“Drink this,” Tiger Lily said gently, offering her a cup of coconut milk.

Emma drank eagerly, and as the sweet liquid filled her, she felt herself strengthened, her mind less muddled.

“This used to be our home,” Tink told her, the tone of her voice much too chipper for Emma’s frayed nerves, “before Killian got us our wings back. Of course, now his house has been poofed out of existence or something by Venus, but -”

“Tink!” Tiger Lily snapped. “Not. Helping.”

“Sorry.”

Emma shoved aside the soft fur that the fairies had draped over her, and rose quickly to her feet. She was second guessing that decision the minute the tree house around her seemed to sway and spin.

“Easy there.” Ariel hurried to her side. “A lot of magic has been used on you in a short amount of time. You’re going to be disoriented.”

“I don’t have time for you to coddle me,” Emma snapped, brushing Ariel off. “Killian’s memory of me will be lost forever if I don’t hurry and get Venus what she wants.” Emma sank back down to the creaking bed of woven reeds, moaning as she buried her face in her hands. “Though I have no idea how to even get to the Underworld, much less persuade Persephone to give me some magical flower.”

“The first part’s easy,” Tink enthused, plopping down next to her and wrapping her up in a side hug, “you’ve already seen the entrance to the Underworld.”

Emma lifted her face to look at Tink in astonishment. “You mean that cavern Killian was trying to convince me to enter?”

The fairy nodded her head enthusiastically, and when Emma turned to Tiger Lily and Ariel, they too nodded their agreement.

“But . . .” Emma said, rubbing at her temple, “Venus destroyed our home.”

That final word - home - made Emma’s chest tighten as realization of its truth washed over her. All the weeks she had resided in the castle, she had missed her home and her family. Yet now, all she wanted were those marble halls, the exquisite gardens, the warm and welcoming library. And Killian. Most of all, she wanted her husband by her side.

“She destroyed the castle,” Tiger Lily clarified, “and even that only temporarily. Cupid - Killian, I mean - is a god too, remember. He can rebuild our home in all its glory, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried about our house, I’m worried about him! Are you saying that the entrance to the Underworld is still on the mountain?”

The three fairies nodded, and Emma surged to her feet once again. She didn’t sway this time, and she counted it as her first victory, albeit a small one. “Then let’s go!”

The fairies exchanged dismayed glances.

“What?”

“We . . . “ Ariel trailed off, wringing her hands, “can’t go with you.”

“But you have to! I don’t know how to get back there, much less how to navigate in the Underworld.”

“Fairies are immortal beings, so we aren’t allowed in the Underworld,” Tiger Lily explained gently.

“But we can give you gifts!” Tink put in, her face beaming as if this ought to make everything better.

“Gifts?” Emma asked with a wry arch of her brows.

“It’s a fairy thing,” Tink said with a smile and a shrug, Emma’s sarcasm going completely over her head.

Ariel wrapped her arm around Emma’s shoulder. “Really, Emma, we can help you. The journey must be yours, but we can point the way and aid you through our gifts.”

The redhead flicked her wrist, and there in the palm of her hand was an ornate, golden compass with markings in a mystical language Emma had never seen before. She took it and lifted a questioning gaze to her new friend.

“It’s enchanted,” Ariel explained, “instead of pointing north, it points to the object you seek. In your case, Persephone’s flower.”

“Thank you,” Emma whispered. Ariel’s other arm came up to wrap around Emma, enveloping her in a warm hug.

Tink bounced forward, pulling a vial free from the leather cord around her neck. What was inside glittered and caught the light of the moon above. Emma cocked her head.

“Sparkly dirt?”

Tink giggled, “No, silly, pixie dust! As you can imagine, it’s almost unheard of in the Underworld. Charon, who ferries the boat across the River Styx, will want payment to take you across, especially since you’re . . . you know, alive?”

Emma couldn’t help smiling as she took the vial. “And let me guess, he really likes pixie dust?”

Tink’s eyes went wide and her mouth formed a small “o” of surprise. “Pixie dust is a very versatile and powerful magical substance.”

Emma bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Thank you, Tink.”

Emma grunted as the petite fairy launched herself at Emma for a fierce hug. After relinquishing the blonde fairy, Emma turned to Tiger Lily. She especially valued Tiger Lily’s steadiness at such a time, and felt certain that her gift would be the most important. So when Tiger Lily pressed a stack of thick discs wrapped in brown paper into Emma’s hand, a furrow creased Emma’s brow. They smelled of ground beef.

“Are these -”

“Dog biscuits?” Tiger Lily nodded. “They are. Surely you’ve heard of Cerberus, the three headed dog that guards the castle of Hades and Persephone?”

Emma blinked rapidly. “And I subdue him with . . . dog biscuits?”

“Infused with pixie dust!” Tink whispered.

“Works like a charm,” Tiger Lily insisted.

“How would you know? You just said fairies can’t go to the Underworld!” Emma felt panic rising suddenly. She had a bad feeling about this . . .

Ariel took both of her hands, forcing their green eyes to meet, and in the fairy’s gaze, Emma found solace. “But that doesn’t mean we haven’t helped desperate souls like you. We love you, Emma, and we love Killian. More than that, we believe in your love for one another. You can do this.”

Emma’s lips tipped up in a wobbly smile as tears welled in her eyes. The fairies stepped forward to embrace her in a slightly awkward group hug, and Ariel’s words filled the depths of her heart, lending strength for the quest ahead.

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

Emma did not hesitate this time as she approached the cold and foreboding opening of the inky cavern. She stepped through boldly, Ariel’s compass pointing straight ahead. She made her way through a tunnel of vines that swayed like bony appendages, catching in her hair and brushing against her bare arms, yet she soldiered on. She exited the passage of thick foliage, and there before her were the viscous, black waters of the River Styx.

She walked with steady purpose towards the hooded figure that piloted the small ferry. She clutched Tink’s vial of pixie dust which hung around her neck. The golden compass and the dog biscuits rested in the satchel at her hip. Nothing but firm resolve radiated from her.

“Stay strong, Killian,” she whispered, “I’ll never stop fighting for us.”

[medea10]

My Review of 22/7

How did I get into this anime? Fuck it! I picked a random anime to watch for the winter line-up. Let’s hit it!

22/7 is an idol group for real in Japan with one hell of a fanbase. LET’S GIVE THEM THEIR OWN ANIME!

Okay!

So, eight total strangers are picked by random to become part of an idol group. That’s essentially it! Eight girls who don’t know each other are told to meet some gorilla producer at a zoo and told to drop everything in their lives to become idols. What the literal and actual fuck?!

First of all, the concept of having all of these young girls being eyed and taken to some underground penthouse has Jeffery Epstein AND R. Kelly vibes ALL OVER THIS MESS! Although, I will give this anime some credit that these girls are at least high school age or older (but not by much)!

We’ve got a shy, introvert named Miu. Then there’s the blonde, cutie from America, Sakura. Nicole, the only one with an interest of becoming an idol. Junko, the spunky girl with butt-loads of energy. The no-nonsense and let’s get down to business, Akane. Miyako, the girl with sisterly love. The practical one, Reika. And Ayaka...she’s also in the group! These eight girls make up the group, 22/7 (a group name to this day I’m not sure why it’s called that).

They are then told to obey a wall…

OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE! A wall? Seriously?! A God-damned wall?! These girls and the people promoting 22/7 are to obey plates that are shit out by a wall! I know idol animes are notorious for fucked up storylines, but…I can’t even here! Becoming idols because it’s been your life-long dream like in Idolm@ster, that is fine! Becoming idols in order to save your school from being shut down like in Love Live, that is fine! Becoming idols because an eccentric necromancer brings you back from the dead like in Zombieland Saga, fucking awesome! A wall that must be obeyed when giving decisions on an idol group…what the literal and actual fuck!

Here’s what most episodes are set up like.

1. The Wall gives out an order. 2. One of the girls doesn’t want to do *insert activity here*. 3. Flashbacks play off and on for girl of the day. 4. You must do what The Wall says. 5. I don’t want to. 6. BITCH, DON’T GO AGAINST THE WALL. THE WALL IS GOD!!! 7. Pout, contemplate, and more flashbacks play. 8. Fine, I’ll do it. 9. Play the ending theme!

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: This anime is licensed by the good folks at Aniplex (and possibly FUNimation). Crunchyroll added this one month after the initial release. If you’re all wondering why that’s happening to a lot of Crunchyroll-picked animes, yeah keep wondering. Sony has control over Aniplex and FUNimation and as a result Crunchyroll has a delay on several animes (including this one). It’s an inconvenience and just raises the rates of people downloading the episodes illegally. Once again, thanks for nothing, Sony! Give Crunchyroll some credit as they do give people in other countries streaming benefits. FUNimation is primarily U.S.

With that rant off my chest, on with the cast! Now this might just be first episode jitters and all, but a lot of the voices here seemed very bland. And you know it’s gotta be that bad if even I am riffing on the voices…FROM JAPAN! Well, much like many other idol shows like Idolm@ster and Love Live, the voices for the girls are only going to be known for their Idol group work. With the exception of two girls, this is everyone’s first official anime role. Here’s everyone!

*Miu is played by Nagomi Saijou

*Sakura is played by Sally Amaki (known for Betsy on Kaguya-sama)

*Jun is played by Ruri Umino

*Reika is played by Chiharu Hokaze (known for Silvia on Fate/Grand Order)

*Akane is played by Kanae Shirosawa

*Ayaka is played by Reina Miyase

*Miyako is played by Mizuha Kuraoka

*Nicole is played by Mei Hanakawa

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Miu.

Prior to episode 11, it was more of a me connecting with this particular character due to having many introvert connections. But after Nicole’s flashback where Miu beats the crap out of a bully, Miu is best girl.

IDOL TROPES: So let’s see if 22/7 has the usual tropes normally seen in many other idol animes.

* A shy, introvert character (right from second one) * A bitch who thinks she knows all about the idol world (not as bad as Dia, but heavy on the bitch part, yes) * Shotty CGI for the dance scenes (right in the fucking opening) * Bikini episode (check) * One of the girls has a fuck-ton of siblings and is one of the most eccentric of the bunch (oh yeah) *A robotic character or IS A ROBOT (Akane is not a robot, but she’s monotone for like 96% of the series excluding flashbacks)

ENDING: It’s been close to one year since all eight of these girls were chosen for this “project” We’ve already seen back-stories/flashbacks of almost all of the girls (except for Nicole and Miu) and now 22/7 is about to prepare for their one year anniversary as a group. But then the wall gave out an order! And the plate simply read, “Disband”.

Could you be any more cliché?

Maybe it wasn’t obvious for you, but for me I knew that was coming. And no, this wasn’t a joke! There wasn’t smudge on the wall’s platelet. These girls are to disband, lie their way through a press conference explaining the disbandment, all the people a part of this experiment are out of a job, and the girls are to go back to their regular lives before any of this happened.

Can they though?

These girls just spent a whole year being thrust into a position they never expected to be in and leaving their families and future plans behind. These girls are late-teens; they’re trying to prepare for work or college! A lot of them even had to work through a lot of baggage weighing them down (particularly Jun, Akane, and Reika)! Then all of a sudden, the wall shits out an order and says to disband. There was nothing wrong with the higher-ups or the group. Everyone was now enthusiastic about doing everything possible to make 22/7 a household name. But because a fucking wall gave the command to disband, everyone’s gotta drop their shit, lose their income (which some people like Reika, Ayaka, and Miyako could use), and just pull-out of already planned events.

THEN, you make the girls lie their way through a press conference by giving vague answers to the media about the disbandment! In my opinion, the girls could have lied and said there was fall-out at the top and it was out of their hands. I know the girls can’t simply say, “the magical wall told us to disband and we can’t go against the almighty wall”.

Well, we’re about two episodes away from the finale and it’s about time to see the backstories of Miu and Nicole. Believe it or not, these two have a history that goes back a ways (though it seems like Miu doesn’t remember Nicole). Would you believe that Nicole was once a shy introvert with a stuttering complex? Yeah, it’s true. The character who was seen as a bitch from episode one was once a shy, introvert.

It wasn’t until Nicole was pushed to do something against her will and a little help from Miu that she was able to come out of her shell. But enough of the flashback!

It’s now one month since the girls were told to disband. And for one reason or another, all eight of the girls made their way to the old production building. I guess they were all feeling nostalgic for the one year they spent as idols. They have a good cry. And all of a sudden…

The wall spoke?!

The wall pretty much said that this was merely an experiment and when the girls asked to reunite, the wall denied them. So then Miu goes savage on the wall…

Okay, Miu is best girl of this series!

The other girls follow suit and break the wall, making an opening.

Once inside, the girls stumbled upon something quite disturbing. These girls have been tracked, not only throughout their idol careers, but before then too! There were shots of the girls when they were children! What kind of freakshow, One Hour Photo, Truman Show, fucked up shit is this?! This is all sorts of WRONG! How is this fucker not in jail? WHO IS THIS FUCKER?! No, I will not be quiet about this! Everything about this is so fucka wrong I can’t even! Who follows little girls secretly for most of their lives taking pictures of them? Let’s think about that…

*Perverts *Fucking perverts *R. Kelly *Oingo Boingo levels of perversion *State of Florida levels of perversion *Jefferey Epstein

New theory that goes along with old theory! Jefferey Epstein was killed in prison when his neck was snapped because AG Bill Barr sat on it. And before the devil sentences him to a lifetime of misery and woe, he gives him one last chance to atone for his actions. Instead, he stalks little girls in Japan. HOLY SHIT, THIS IS STARTING TO MAKE SENSE!

Medea…the review?!

Oh right!

The girls leave the disturbing room (never to be seen or talked about again) and I guess we’re never gonna get a clue on the identity of our pervert that hides behind a wall. They walk away and end up on a stage. And in the audience, were all their loyal and devoted fans. You see, they happened to gather on what was supposed to be their one year anniversary and their fans held out hope that they would still perform on their anniversary like they promised before the disbandment notice hit.

They performed. I guess 22/7 is back together. I guess we can disobey the wall just this once.

The wall shits out a new platelet saying add 3 more members.

We end seeing those three new girls that we may or may not see again. It depends on whether 22/7 was good enough to warrant a season two.

If the Jeffery Epstein rants weren’t an indicator, I was not fond of this series. Maybe I was just turned off at the concept of eight total strangers being told all of a sudden they’re idols because a fucking wall commanded it. I’m pretty sure it’s because of the storyline involving a wall and having to obey it. The songs were just okay, whenever we got to hear them. Unlike a lot of other idol animes, we really didn’t see a lot of performances from 22/7 outside of the opening and ending themes.

The one thing I was really invested in were surprisingly the flashbacks from all of the girls. A lot of these stories do lay on the drama really thick. But you really wish that everything’s gonna work out in the end. Like you really wish Miyako could see her biological father again or want a happy ending for Akane and her family. But then you get a back-story like Jun’s. Oof, that one was a gut-punch! I’m no fan of this show, but episode 7 is the go-to episode.

Now, I’ll watch 22/7 if it gets a season two. I try not to give up on an anime, no matter how much it annoys me. I like to see things through to the bitter end. But as for recommendations, there are far better idol shows to choose from.

Yes, I see that it’s a stretch to say there are GOOD idol shows. I know the stigma and hate that they get. But I am not one of those people. I thought Idolm@ster was okay. I liked Love Live just fine. UtaPri amuses me (and yes I count it as an idol show). Zombieland Saga, fuck yeah! This, not so much!

But if you want to watch, FUNimation has all 12 episodes available for streaming. And Crunchyroll has…a few as of this date and time. Again I point out that Crunchyroll couldn’t even get streaming rights to this until a full month after it began airing. Thanks again, Sony!

[houseki-no-suffering]

a lot of jumbled thoughts on ch 76

aka: shit is about to go down, oh boi oh boi, but let me ramble about stuff first 

also im late to the party but shhh we got another 3 weeks before the earth arc so its still okay

isnt it funny how we’ve spent six months speculating about Euclase’s shadiness while Phos told Aechmea they’re ‘amicable’? And isnt it funny how Phos contradicts themselves at the end of the chapter cause they’re scared Euc will see right through them? Will we ever know more about Euc? Please? Pretty please?

also, I’m surprised by the moon people’s efficiency. They have no idea if Phos’ plan is going to work, maybe they dont even know how long it’ll take for them to become nothingness if Sensei starts praying, and here they are, making arrangements to leave everything to the gems. 

Reminds me of chap 56(?), when Phos thought the gems should acquire lunarian technology. Can’t believe it was this easy and now Amethyst’s about to become a hybrid between a pilot and an engineer? Well done, Ame, nice character development. Evangelion crossover when?

Why did Phos pick Amethyst, anyway? Alex, Yellow and Padpa are incapacitated, Goshe and Cairn are unpredictable, but what about Dia and Benito? Maybe Benito already has their hands full with taking care of Alex. But Dia?

Dia’s interesting tbh. Even Phos knows that, given the choice, Dia might decide to stay on the moon. They started off as one of the main characters and then slowly slid to the background and they’ve been p much static for a long while. i wonder if they’ll ever change at this point.

Ah, the problem child. 

This part hurt, as it’s custom now with Cairn-centered pages. Yet i just adore the idea of Cairn blowing up the whole moon one disastrous experiment at a time.

ABOUT THE PROTECTIVE COATING! 

how does it work exactly? does it protect gems from cracking? does it increase their hardness/toughness? has somebody thought of using it on Phos cause, yknow, they’re still mostly made of brittle phosphophyllite and they’re going in what’s basically enemy territory unharmed?? can somebody please care about Phos for once?

“My friend has time”

That’s the face of a man who doesn’t, in fact, have time. Aechmea is every bad boss you’ve ever had, he just doesn’t care. But bribing people with pasta is smart, i know i’d hardly resist. 

Also please let’s skip over how Aechmea is putting literal guards so that Barbata can’t hit on his shiny rock wifey. If anyone still believed Cairn has made nothing but independent choices so far please stop being delusional, you’re only hurting yourself.

Yeah, uhm, i’m gonna die (and my species has no concept of death so i have no idea what that means) for this totally good guy i’ve known for at least a few months (and my species lives forever so a few months is nothing, really) and that i’ve married (yeah, still trying to wrap my head around this marriage thing. also wife. everyone calls me wife and princess for some reason). This is fine.

also, if Shittymea’s gone and become nothingness he wouldn't be able to miss you, Cairn. but has anyone taken the time to explain it to you? Anyone?  

On another note. Is it just me or Cairn’s wife-outfit is way less revealing than Cairn’s bitchy girlfriend-outfits? Even when you don’t consider the lab coat. I wonder if Cairn’s still choosing them. 

Maybe Aechmea wants them to dress in a way that’s more appropriate for a wife/queen? Or maybe his possessiveness has started to extend to something more than having Cairn surrounded by guards at all times.

FINALLY WHAT VENTRI SAID IN CH 8 MAKES SENSE! 

And goddammit, this is one of my favorite theories and you’re telling me they already used it and discarded it? Is that why the lunarians experimented on gems? is this why the gems went mad? what about the human particle? THEY’RE STILL EXPERIMENTING, I FEEL IT

what was there for the moon people to gain? they already had admirabilis to experiment on (the criminals) and they most likely breed them to keep their population stable. Why’d the lunarians need more? this explanation doesnt match Ventricosus’ and it doesn’t really hold up. 

Thought it was impossible at this point, but Aechmea just earned 10 more untrustworthy points. I wonder why he’s hiding information from Phos

HOW VERY CONVENIENT

“I’m going to do everything I can.”

So this means this is Phos’ final attempt. This is it. If it doesn’t work out they’re gonna quit. 

Shit is about to go down during the next arc, an Earth arc. And this is exactly why i think Phos’ll acquire the seventh treasure during/at the end of this arc. More about this in a future meta cause this thing is already too long.

i’ve read a couple of posts already about this sentence. The translation is a little awkward, and it’s still ambiguous in Japanese. 

Knowing Ichikawa’s stories, i’m tempted to say it’s foreshadowing, a metaphor for what’ll happen next. It might even be that the story is coming to a close, it’s very hard to say.

MORE LUSTROUS SCRIPT SAMPLES! 

sorry, my inner linguist took the wheel. Yet i’d pay to see the actual lunarian manual. and the lunarian script. nngh. 

but yeah, “it’s not japanese/chinese” confirmed, “it’s not just alex’s bad writing” also confirmed, “it’s mongolian” not confirmed. but it def looks like it. a little. a tiny little bit. i love it. 

Also let’s take a moment to appreciate everyone’s cuteness in these pages cause the end of this chapter hurts. And was Phos joking? are they really planning to call Benito? When did Benito become a main character?? I’m so proud of them

“don’t act rashly” is a recurring piece of advice among gems. Even Padpa told Phos to keep cool and think, while Cinnabar is constantly observing and Alex clings to a 400 years old hatred.

It makes sense for a society that’s as stagnant and conservative as the lustrous’ to value contemplation over action. These rocks live forever, there’s no need to rush into things after all. Interesting.

Once again, Phos is carrying all the burden on their back. A child, one of the youngest gems, they’ve lost partners and pieces of their body in a short time, unveiled unsettling truths, betrayed their family multiple times, sided with the enemy, had partners and friends turn their back on them. All for the greater good.

They’re pushing themselves to their own limits, breaking them over and over, destroying their mental stability in the process. Why are they doing this? What’s the point if every answer just elicits new questions. 

It’s heartbreaking to feel Phos’ regret. How dare they think of Sensei’s kindness? How dare they envy their old self? After everything they did, after betraying Sensei? They can only move forward now, for all the people who didn’t make it or that count on Phos. It’s just heartbreaking. I feel so much for them.

[rutilation]

there isn’t a new chapter but i feel like I should still...write things

Fool that I am, I thought that since there wouldn’t be a chapter this month, I could just quickly type up a post about some hnk things that have been on my mind, but haven’t been immediately relevant to the new chapters. Easy Peasy.

Now it’s 5,000 words later, I’ve started ranting about geology instead of my usual literary bullshit, a couple cookie recipes have snuck their way onto this word document, and the Euclase section has ballooned far beyond its original scope.

Anyway, click the read more if you want to see the following topics:

Hot takes about Euclase

I attempt to psychoanalyze Cairngorm’s fashion choices

Visual symbolism from the cover of the artbook

What type of microcrystalline diamond aggregate is Bort anyway? ft. the etymology of Bort’s name

Crazy snail theory

Since Euclase is a bit of a hot topic at the moment, I figured that I might as well expand a bit on my thoughts towards them.  Somehow, I ended up writing a big ‘ol essay.  Then I erased most of that essay.  But there were some good bits in there, so here’s what I thought was worth salvaging.  First though, I should lay my cards on the table, and explain why I’m not on team Euclase Did Nothing Wrong.  

In the days following the release of chapter 71, I’ve heard a couple people say that this line:

was not translated with the appropriate nuance, and that Euclase wasn’t blatantly saying “lol, I’ve found their weakness.”  However, the fact that Padparadscha regards Euclase’s words as emotional manipulation in the very next scene indicates to me that that’s still a probable reading of Euclase’s actions, even if they’re not being as unsubtle about it as the translation implies.  I don’t know much Japanese though, so I can’t really comment on any translation issues that may or may not have occurred.

I think my sticking point with Euclase is that I have trouble buying that they’re acting in good faith or that they’re really committed to the ideals they’re espousing.  Granted, most of what they’ve been saying and doing seems reasonable, especially compared Phos’s short-sighted flailing.  They haven’t displayed any malice, and they’ve at least paid lip service to wanting positive change and demonstrating pro-social behavior.

But here’s the thing: if they truly value change, and they simply want to go about effecting positive change in a way that’s more sensible than Phos’s bull-in-a-china-shop strategy, then why are they so consistently reactionary?  (I mean this in the most neutral sense of the term, btw.)  They didn’t value an equitable relationship with Kongou until Phos made it impossible for the Kongou-centric monarchy to continue. They felt no urgency towards Cinnabar’s plight until they became useful in warding off the moon gems.  They showed no concern for Phos’s crippling lack of self-esteem until they could use it to try and persuade Phos to defect to their side.  Even though they have reputation among the other gems for being kindhearted, from what I’ve seen, they’re only ever as kind as is absolutely necessary to maintain group cohesion.  The only time they’ve been considerate of someone else’s feelings in a proactive manner is with Dia, specifically regarding their issues with Bort.  And since those two are the gems’ strongest non-comatose defenders, it’s prudent for Euclase to concern themselves with their issues.

Like, compare Euclase and their partner’s respective reactions to Phos in chapters 21 and 22.  The story goes out of its way to show that Jade doesn’t mob Phos like the other gems, and they express concern over Phos’s insomnia.  Euclase meanwhile, has no compunctions about ganging up on Phos with the others, and only apologizes when they need to ask a favor of them.  I kind of expect a bit of tactlessness from the other gems, because most of them, on top of being single-minded, are implied to be pretty childlike on account of the highly static society they live in.  And even those who aren’t very childlike kind of don’t have their shit together.  But since Euclase has positioned themselves as wise and compassionate authority figure, that sort of thing stands out.  And when they’ve cultivated a reputation among the other gems for being kind, it’s really off-putting when the narrative drops hints that that kindness isn’t sincere.

Couple all that with Padparadscha’s wariness towards them and that creepy face they made in chapter 60 and my predominant emotion towards them is

Which isn’t to say that I hate them or anything.  To the contrary, I think that it’s valuable that their perspective--that of someone who is stalwartly on the ‘society’ side of the whole ‘individual vs society’ theme that the manga has going on—is a valuable one to acknowledge in the story.  Furthermore, I find them to be quite the interesting character at this point. They’ve come a long way from their initial role as “that one minor character who follows Jade around.”  I also find characters who are in some way secretive or two-faced to be a lot of fun because I get a kick out of trying to wade through the miasma of subtext and half-truths to try and get to the core of a character (looking at you, Craig-Greg.)  Anyway, in Euclase’s case, I don’t even think they have bad intentions; but at the moment, the impression I’m getting is that they only value other people insofar as they can contribute to the maintenance of society, whatever form that society takes, rather than seeing society as something that should exist for the sake of enriching the lives of inherently valuable people.  Despite the fact that Euclase is a staunch team player, I’m gonna go on record and say that I don’t think they care all that much about other people, they’ve just come to the conclusion that being cooperative and not rocking the boat as a general principle is the most rational way for them to go about their life.

If at some point in the future Euclase demonstrates that this isn’t their mindset, then I’m prepared to eat humble pie and admit that I was interpreting all their actions in the most cynical light possible and jumping to conclusions from there.  But for now, I am Mr. Krabs.

Getting away from “It’s about ethics in gem society” for a moment, I suspect that, unlike a lot of the other gems, Euclase isn’t really coming from a place of willful ignorance.  They’re not incurious and their words and actions have been quite deliberate.  I think that they know—or have at least inferred—some truths about their world that a lot of the other gems look away from. Their oft remarked fondness for statistics might have given them insight into some discrepancies in the narratives they’ve been fed by Kongou.  For example:

They’re probably well aware of the fact that no one on the moon has ever come back, and that if they themselves are captured, they’re gone for good.  (According to Aechmea this wasn’t always the case; but it’s quite possible that the gems who were returned to earth and promptly recaptured lived before the gems started keeping written records as well as before any of the current characters were born.)

If we compare the number of old gems to the number of young gems to the number of middle-aged gems, it’s clear that the old group is the smallest in number, and that most of the gems who make it to old age don’t patrol often for one reason or another.  Even though the gems go about their lives under the assumption that if they’re careful, they’ll never be caught by the Lunarians, that assumption is clearly not based in reality.  And Euclase, who apparently knows how old each gem is down to the day, is probably well aware of how illusory their immortality really is.

What I’m getting at is this: they’re likely one of the few gems who have wrapped their head around the concept of death, and like all the other gems who’ve come to understand that they’re not as immortal as they’ve been lead to believe, this knowledge has informed their outlook on life and their actions.  But while someone like Phos has taken a carpe diem approach to dealing with the fleeting nature of life, it seems to me that Euclase responded by maneuvering themselves into a position where they never have to take risks and, thus, never need to die.  As one of the little character intros mentioned, Euclase is skilled enough for any job, but the job they’ve chosen is one that apparently allows them to avoid patrolling and stay out of danger.

Something I find interesting which I expect to be brought up in the story later is Euclase’s insecurity about their brittleness, which was briefly mentioned in chapter 8.  To expand on this, Euclase has three planes of cleavage, one perfect and two distinct. This aspect is actually something they share in common with Phos.  Euclase, like phosphophyllite, is considered among gemology nerds mineral collectors to be a beautiful mineral that would make for great jewelry...if it wasn’t so rare and brittle.  Both of them also have names that reference their brittleness--euclase means “easily broken” and the -phyll part of phosphophyllite references its perfect cleavage.

Since many of the gems have one or more aspects of their characterizations based on the physical properties and/or cultural associations of their minerals, and since breakage is a major motif of the work, I think there’s probably significance to the fact that Ichikawa decided to make a gem so thoroughly associated with brittleness into a major character.  That’s how it is with Phos anyway.  To paraphrase a bit, Ichikawa said in this interview that phosphophyllite’s much lauded beauty and rarity juxtaposed against its unsuitability as jewelry was the inspiration behind Phos as a character being bold yet perpetually ineffectual (and of course very, very breakable, both literally and figuratively.)

So, this character, who is shaping up to be an antagonistic(?) force has a similar—and thematically relevant—existential condition to our protagonist, and they deal with it in a strikingly different way.  It’s a bit early to say where this element of the story is going to lead, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

As I’m typing this, I’m starting to wonder if the reason why Euclase misinterpreted Phos’s words in chapter 70 as insecurity about their hardness is because Euclase themselves is insecure about their brittleness.  In fact, that might also be the reason why they didn’t show themselves in chapter 70 until everyone was down and out, and why their overall plan involved shooting first and asking questions later.  The chance of breaking and showing weakness—either literally or figuratively—isn’t one they want to take, even at the cost of a lot of casualties/toxic mercury spills.  Additionally, when the Lunarians reported that they observed no changes in the earth gems’ behavior, Padparadscha comments that it seems like something Euclase would do, and doesn’t elaborate any further.  I think this aspect of their character is what Padparadscha was getting at, that Euclase is loath to show weakness, and goes to great pains to never be the first one to blink.

Going back to chapter 8, they also talk about how the gems’ immortality predisposes them to be ignorant of danger, and how they somewhat envy the bugs and plants that can react promptly to changing stimuli.  At that point in the story, it just seemed like one wistful observation on immortality among many, but looking back on it, it may have been just as much a window into Euclase’s anxieties as that line about their brittleness right after.  For someone who wants to organize the world around them and dislikes uncertainty, it must be frustrating for them to imagine that some inherent aspect of their nature predisposes them towards ignorance.

To pull back a bit, I imagine that the point of making statistics Euclase’s beloved hobby is to help set them up as a foil to Phos.  It’s a way to allow them insight into the flawed and tenuous nature of their society and their own existence without having them actually go out into the wide world to experience those answers for themselves like Phos does, since they’re not the type who’s willing to take risks.  So unlike say, Melon or Hemi, they’re not wallowing in their comfortable yet stagnant existence because they’re willfully ignorant and simply don’t want to inconvenience themselves.  Instead, they’ve spent their life running cost-benefit analyses and have come to the conclusion that they should maintain the status-quo to the best of their ability and avoid putting themselves out there.  It may seem like a distinction without a difference, but I think that’s what Ichikawa is going for.  Not to mention, it’d be kind of lame if everyone who decided to go against Phos and stay on earth was doing so out of incurious stubbornness or simple concern about the logistics of Phos’s plan.  For one of the gems to oppose Phos due to irreconcilable differences in worldview seems a bit more meaningful to me.

So, the core of the conflict between Phos and Euclase is that Phos finds value in risking failure as a means to finding something better, while Euclase believes that if they can simply play the system forever, they’ll never have to reap the negative consequences said system doles out.  This kind of goes without saying, but I don’t think the narrative is going to side with them in the end; looking at the story as a whole, I doubt that “If you keep your head down and play your cards right, you’ll be able to avoid suffering,” is a conclusion it wants to reach.  

But much like the rest of the cast, Phos has forced Euclase to change.  See, as much as they like to control the environment around them, they don’t like to let on that they’re doing so.  To me, their blurb on this page indicates that the reason they stick to Jade and subtly direct their actions is because it allows them to micromanage everything to their heart’s content while letting someone else take on the nominal position of authority and all the attention and responsibility that comes with it.

But now that Kongou has ceded power, Euclase doesn’t have the luxury of pretending to be middle management anymore.  Since no one else was willing to step up to the plate, they had no choice but to do so.  And now that the gems are split in two, Euclase has been forced to publicly stand for something.  Even if they’re trying to mitigate possible risks, they’re still operating well outside their comfort zone, and given that this manga is a veritable meat-grinder, it’s only going to get harder for Euclase to keep their world in order.

To sum it all up: yes, Euclase is a snake.  But they’re, like, a complicated snake.  A snake whose character flaws spring forth from very real insecurities. A snake who just wants to spend their days lounging on a comfy heating pad without having to worry about Actual Chaos Elemental Phosphophyllite mucking everything up.

(Ichikawa please validate my interpretation or else I’ll become Boo-boo the Fool.)

Anyway, Euclase isn’t the only character insecure about their brittleness…

Naturally, I continue to have thoughts regarding The Artist Formerly Known as Craigory.  There are times where I wish I had gotten attached to a more respectable character, but honestly where’s the fun in that?  I stan disasters!  

I mentioned in my last write-up that the glove Cairngorm is now wearing over their left arm pretty blatantly displays their desire to cover up the part of themselves that’s prone to breaking, both metaphorically and literally.  But after some thought, I’ve realized that their entire wardrobe is full of AnxietyTM.  Here’s a few of my observations.

They started off their foray with avant-garde moon lingerie with a small transparent shawl which has, a month later, become a full-body veil.  It seems to me, on a purely visually symbolic level, reminiscent of their situation with Ghost.  Like, if I were Ichikawa, and I were looking for a way to symbolize their existential plight in clothing form, that’s how I’d do it.  If I were to try to decode the meaning behind the evocative imagery, it’d be this: they’ve become trapped again, and are still being blocked from the freedom and the engagement with the world that they desire—symbolically in the sense that they’re interacting with the world through a veil, and literally in the sense that Aechmea seems to be, uh…strongly discouraging them from leaving their room, or doing things in general.

Cairn, please love yourself and get as far away from this creep as possible; I’ve got a sinking feeling that he’s going to cash in all those red flags he’s been setting off sooner rather than later.

Then there’s the matter of Cairngorm’s ongoing quest to find the Worst pair of shoes.  See, Cairn started their love affair with terrible shoes long before chapter 68.  

They’re not as ostentatious as say, the banana-peel crocs but…I mean look at them.  These may as well be pointe shoes.  Anyway, comparing these with their more recent…shoe decisions, I can’t help but think they might be a bit insecure about their height?  (And in case any of you guys didn’t see it, this omake explicitly spells out that they’re shorter than the other gems.)  

Even though they’re at most a couple centimeters shorter than the others, they seriously overcompensate for it.  I think that for them, the slight difference in height is a painful reminder that they’re not fully formed like the others are, which has lead them down the path of…dreamfoam platform high-tops.  

Getting back to the glove, chapter 44 contained a lot of subtext that indicated that they’re insecure about their finicky arm, and possibly about their finicky inclusions in general.  The whole buildup to Phos’s head being stolen is full of dumbass decisions from both of these clowns, but on Cairn’s side, they contributed to the whole fiasco by hiding the fact that their arm had been strained past its limit, and insisting on taking down the vessel alone in spite of that fact.  I’ve talked a bit before about how embracing or rejecting one’s weakness and impermanence is a major motif of this series, so the fact that Cairngorm consistently tries to hide the part of themselves that keeps breaking is…noteworthy, as is the fact that their most obvious attempt to do so in chapter 44 ended very badly.

Which got me thinking, what if that’s also why they started wearing long sleeves?  It might be possible that the long sleeves on their winter uniform served the same purpose the glove does now--to cover up their left arm.  We saw their bare arms in chapters 68 and 69 and it looked fine then, but what if, say, fractures appear on their left arm on a regular basis, and they wore long sleeves in order to cover it up?

To sum it all up, the aspects of themselves that set them apart from the other gems are all things that they subtly act like they’re ashamed of, and their choice of clothing reflects this.

I’ve already made a couple of posts about the cover of Pseudomorph of Love, but I felt like staring at it again and reporting my additional findings.

Something I noticed is that while the other characters’ broken pieces are placed right next to themselves, Phos’s pieces are scattered over the entire cover, usually lying on top of one or more of the other gems.  I have circled them here, with my peerless image editing skills.

If I were to take a guess at what this visual symbolism is trying to say, I’d say it’s that by changing and breaking, Phos leaves an impact on others.  At their very best, I think Phos breaks other people out of their bad habits and learned helplessness.  As Phos rushes forward, they also drag others out of their personal hells, sometimes intentionally, sometimes inadvertently.  Needless to say, they don’t always live up to these ideals, but that’s the general direction they’re headed in.

(Hey guys, do you think the fact that Phos’s hand is caressing their own face is foreshadowing that one day they will let go of their self loathing and learn to love themselves?  Because I want that to be the case.) 

Oh, and Cairn is indeed missing The Left Arm of Conspicuous Foreshadowing here too.  The break is even at the same angle.  If it turns out that nothing else happens to that arm for the rest of the story then I’m going to be so embarrassed because I have gone full pepe silvia over it.

Pictured here is Ichikawa making me cry by sneaking the foot Antarc left behind into the illustration. 

The only other gem whose parts have managed to travel across the cover is Dia, whose hand is next to Bort.  And I’m sure that it’s Dia’s because it’s a right hand and Euclase’s right half is blue in this illustration, and it can’t be Antarc’s either because all of Anatarc’s pieces are overlayed with a shimmery, watery reflection.  Make of it what you will.

At this point, I’m going to take off my literary hat and put on my middle school geology phase hat. Bort, how can I possibly bless your marriage to Cinnabar if I’m not sure what arbitrary classification of diamond you fall into?

So, bort is a rather ambiguous term, and can refer to basically any diamond that isn’t fit to be used as jewelry.  But Bort the character is not so non-specific.  They’re supposed to be an aggregate of microcrystalline diamonds, and the thing is, microcrystalline diamond aggregates are considered notable enough that they get their own names.  So while the term ‘bort’ does encompass these specimens, it’s a bit imprecise.

Microcrystalline diamond aggregates can be roughly grouped into four different varieties: framesite/stewartite, ballas, carbonado, and yakutite.  

Ballas, also known as shot bort, are microcrystalline diamonds with a radiating, fibrous habit that form spheres of various sizes. Despite being opaque, it sometimes displays a pearly luster depending on how heavily included a given specimen is. It ranges in color from white to gray to black.

Framesite is the name applied to most granular-to-microcrystalline diamond aggregates.  It's usually black but I couldn’t find an exhaustive list of colors.  Stewartite is the term for framesite that’s been magnetized as a result of magnetite intergrowths and inclusions.

Carbonado is the toughest and most mysterious form of diamond.  No one knows how the hell it forms, and theories about its formation range from the transformation of irradiated hydrocarbons to supernova-genesis.  These rocks are a hodgepodge of diamonds, graphite, and amorphous carbon.  Carbonado is very porous and its component crystals are of a much smaller grain than either ballas or framesite.  It is also further distinguished from its fellow diamond aggregates by a melt-like glassy patina that coats its surface.  While most are just black, they come in a wider range of colors than other microcrystalline diamonds, including grey, red, brown or even some weirder colors like green, purple, and pink.  There’s also some evidence that suggests it’s slightly harder than normal diamonds—at the very least, many a diamond-tipped sawblade has been ruined trying to cut into carbonado.

Yakutite is named for the location in Russia where it is found.  It is characterized by its numerous lonsdaleite inclusions, and since it’s found in rocks that have undergone shock metamorphism, it is thought that yakutite forms via meteor impacts.  So, this is pretty much the only variety of microcrystalline diamond we can rule out since I’m not seeing any meteor craters on the island.

At first I was thinking that since the inside of their hair is brownish red, and carbonado is the only one that comes in that color, they must be carbonado; problem solved!

But then I realized that the inside of Bort’s hair has never been colored that way in the manga, only the anime.  In colored illustrations, the inside of their hair is iridescent like Dia’s, but with much more muted colors, so that it looks more like an oil slick or something and less like a rainbow.  That could be an artistic representation of the glassy patina of carbonado, but it might also be the pearly layers of ballas.  Framesite on the other hand is more likely to have a completely dull luster than either ballas or carbonado, so…one point against framesite I guess

One thing that indicates they might be ballas is how their mineral is represented in both the episode 10 eyecatch and in one of Ichikawa’s illustrations.  The bort represented in these images has the spherical shape of ballas.

The most compelling argument for Bort being made of framesite is the fact that out of all the options here, framesite is the most likely to be referred to as simply ‘bort.’ Several sources I’ve looked at listed framesite and stewartite as being obsolete names for what is normally just called bort these days.  This comes with a big caveat though.

While the scientific names of minerals are widely agreed upon and are consistent cross-linguistically, unofficial trade names are...not.  For example, our Padparadscha probably wouldn’t meet the GIA’s standard for padparadscha sapphire on account of the fact that they’re pinkish-red with a bit of orange and a somewhat dark shade, rather than the GIA’s narrowly defined pastel salmon coloration.  But despite the GIA’s current standard on what counts as padparadscha, they’d still meet the criteria for padparadscha found in historical literature on account of being a hunk of corundum that’s vaguely orange-looking. There are other gems in this series who exist in this gray area, but this post is getting pretty damn long so I’ll spare you poor readers the details.

What I’m getting at here is that if you look at the Japanese Wikipedia page for carbonado, bort is listed as a synonym.  So even though they’re not typically used interchangeably in English, it looks like that’s not the case in Japanese.  In fact, last spring this geology museum did an hnk themed event, and the rock they used to represent Bort was a hunk of carbonado, and this tweet they put out treats bort and carbonado as synonyms.

In carbonado’s corner, there’s Bort’s fight with Ventricosus.  During said fight, chunks of their hair melted off from Ventri’s acid. But here’s the thing though: diamonds can’t be dissolved by acid, no matter how strong that acid is.  If we generously assume that Bort losing some of their hair isn’t just a plot hole, then it may point to them being carbonado, since the graphite and amorphous carbon packed into carbonado is readily soluble in acid.

In conclusion, there is no answer and I’m slowly going insane.  My mind is all out of Bort license plates.  I’m leaning towards carbonado because of Bort’s galling lack of acid resistance and also because I think carbonado is a pretty cool rock.

Putting on my literary hat once again, I can’t help but wonder if the reason why Ichikawa went with the ambiguous bort over the other possible names was because of its etymology, which comes from the Anglo-Saxon gebrot, meaning fragment which is in turn derived from breótan, ‘to break.’  (A related cognate from Middle English is brotel, which became brittle in modern English.)  Its cognates in other Germanic languages all seem to have meanings along the lines of ‘a break,’ ‘a rupture,’ or ‘a fracture.’  Another possible source of bort is the Old Norse brotna, meaning break.  -Brot also shows up in a few other Old Norse words like Skipsbrot—shipwreck, Haugebrot—the destruction of a grave, and ísabrot, meaning oh-god-someone-please-take-my-dictionary-away-from-my-sinful-hands.

Ahem,

Out of all the possible names Bort could have had, they got one that references brokenness.  I realize that this probably isn’t intentional symbolism, and I’m just shoving my interest in linguistics where it doesn’t belong, but I do think it’s a nice bit of serendipity nonetheless.

Okay, I promised you guys a galaxy-brained snail crack theory, so here goes: I’ve mentioned before that Variegatus seems to share a lot of parallels with baby!Phos, and that her name, which means multi-colored, could be said to describe Phos’s current state of being.  It seems pretty clear that, on a metaphorical level, she’s connected to Phos.  Well, what if that metaphor was literal, and ~somehow~ the inclusions from Phos’s arms and legs which were lost at sea ended up reborn as Variegatus, and that’s why she’s so Phos-like.  The idea seems pretty absurd, but it wouldn’t be the first time Ichikawa has used someone’s body parts becoming their own sentient person as a plot device.

[katoktm6]

Blanes 22 km hike=14 miles

So, the first photos were just as the sun went down at 9:45 pm last night! We ate on the beach, paella, wine, and calamari..the menu del dia was sangria, appetizer, paella, lemon ice cream for $17euro. So we ended up with a huge plate of a variety of calamari, paella, I finagled a bottle of wine rather than sangria, and we were too tired to wait for ice cream..but today I thought, if it was $17 per person, shouldn’t we have gotten two bottles of wine? Hmmmmm…. We finally got home from walking around town exploring allllll day at 11:30! Sleep by midnight, but both of us were wide awake from 3:00 on. The church bell tolls every 15 minutes! So the photo that is all lit up at night was the view from our window at 3:30 a.m. started getting ready for our hike at 5:45. Potential for disaster as I had no sleep and nothing was open for breakfast or coffee. Luckily we dug around and found electrolyte powder, one Kind bar to split, two chocolate nuggets, and a plane sized bag of mixed nuts to split…after filling our camelbacks, we were off at 6:30.

Well, we did it. It was hard…hot…blazing sun, all kinds of terrain, stunning beauty, steps and stairs and cliffs and streets and paths…luckily we are from Arizona so we were mentally and physically able to handle the heat and sun…it was intense. Our biggest problem was the lack of places to refill our water. We thought there would be fountains along the way, but there were not. We got a bit panicked about 3/4 of the way along, but found a fancy beach restaurant to have a coke and buy some bottles of water. They did not like us in our twin outfits and dusty shoes (did you notice the twins?) one family was seated next to us and literally got up and moved to a table at the other side ..end…of the patio.

Graffiti is everywhere…sadly…but going up one set of steps, the graffiti must have been from middle schoolers…lots of penis type drawings and they signed all their art “Gizzy Gang” 🤣🤣.

Did I mention the stairs?! Hundreds hundreds of stairs. My new Garmin watch is shorting me mileage and I am pissed. Today Elyse got 38,980 steps to my 31,537…that is about a 4 miles difference. Any of you who know my obsession with steps has to know this is driving me out of my mind.

Turtle pace..it took us 8 hours and 45 minutes to walk the 14ish miles. We baby stepped our way up and over cliffs and rocks…also 1 breakfast break 2 hours in and our Coke Zero break 2 hours before we finished. We were soooo hungry that we paid way too much for “lunch” but we were desperate…celebrated with a glass of wine, a sandwich for me and a pizza for Elyse. Hopped the bus back for $3euros…showered, laundry, photos…and it is 7:15. Tomorrow we take the bus and all our stuff back to the end of our hike today. We have a pensión reserved…which is a step up from a hostel.

We did not see one single other thru hiker or even day hikers today on the trails! Seems we will be traveling this Camino solo! Strange…

Heat rash and I lost my brand new never used sun glasses today….

So incredibly beautiful. The views, the water…amazing! After tomorrow we have a 14-15 mile hike every single day!

[oumiyuki]

DiaChika for the OTP questions plz

For starters, I’m sorry. I can’t see Dia and Chika as a ship. But I know a friend (survival-and-revenge) who does, so I got him to help answer it.  Hope y’all don’t mind! :)

OTP Questions: DiaChika

1. Whooffers their jacket when the other is cold?

Chika. And she does so by putting her jacket on thepair’s shoulders, using this an excuse to stay close, and hugs Dia’s arm,leaning on her.

2. Whogiggles uncontrollably when the other playfully picks them up?

Dia. She pretends to hate it, but she can’t be madat Chika even for a minute, and Chika loves showing off the results of hertraining with You.

3. Whocompliments the other in front of everyone?

Chika literally has a banner with “My gf isamazing” written on it, and generally loves to bring out Dia’s achievements infront of everyone. Dia always blushes and start to compliment Chika as well,and it soon becomes a competition where they try to out-compliment each other.Really tho, this does wonders for Chika’s self-esteem, so Dia does not mind toomuch. She could do without the banner, that’s for sure.

4. Whois more likely to tell the other a pun and what is the other’s reaction to thepun?

The pun-master Chika is always, always, alwaystelling puns. Dia just rolls her eyes and smiles, holding back the gigglessuccessfully. Or sometimes she just groans.

(the three “always” are normal, italics,and italics and bold, for enphasis)

5. Whenone of them has a bad day, what does the other do to help cheer them up?

This works for both of them. Their collection ofμ’s BDs and CDs is almost worn out from how often they watch/listen to them.And they have a couple of reports for night noise from their neighbors forsinging and dancing “Storm in Lover” on the balcony at 3 AM. But that had beena very stressful week for them.

6. Ifthey got to pick what one another wears for a day, what would one another wear?

With them, this becomes a way to have matchingoutfits. One day, they went out as follows: Chika with Honoka’s primtempsoutfit (the one from the first and last album); Dia as Kotori, from the samecover. (And Dia hates the uneven pants). One other time, the two of them wentout dressed in the Soldier Game outfits, Dia as Eli and Chika as Umi. The restof Aqours still teases them for these things.

7. Whointroduces their partner to their family first? How does it go?

Chika does not need to: her sisters find out waybefore they were even togheter: the mutual pining was just too obvious. Dia isa nervous mess before the “official introduction dinner”, but her father andmother are so enthralled with Chika’s determination and fire that all theirarguements fly away.

8. Ina coffee shop AU, who would be the coffee shop employee and who would be thecustomer?

Dia would be the down-to-earth, strict employeethat never talks to anyone more than the strict necessary. It helps efficiency,she says. But, when a cute, energetic customer comes in and, before giving herorder, blurts out “you are beautiful!” all her resolution becomes dust in thewind. Slowly but surely, she starts to open up with this beautiful, energeticcustomer called Chika that seems to enlighten her day every time she walksthrough the door of her café.

9.When they sit side by side, do they touch one another? For example, does oneperson has their arm around the other, do they sit holding hands, or linkedarms, ECT.

Sometimes, Chika wraps an arm around Dia’sshoulders. Other times, Dia’s hand shyly makes her way to Chika’s.

10.What is a small thing that one another does to make their partner happy?

Chika calls Dia either “Dia-chan” or “Dia” and Dia,that was always treated distantly by everyone, loves her more each time. Dia,as strange as it sounds, argues with Chika, trying to drill into the Mikan’shead that she is amazing and she would not live better without her. Chika isreally happy with that, but sometimes she needs a reminder, especially when shescrews something up.

11.What would they do to celebrate their one year anniversary?

They’d go to Tokyo, and have a beautiful weekthere. They even come across HonoUmi, thus they have a picture with the twoformer μ’s members.

12.When did they know that they loved each other, and when did they first telleach other that they loved one another?

Dia had been aware to have fallen for Chika whenshe’s seen her struggle for keep the school open. Chika realized her feelingswhen Dia graduated and she realized they wouldn’t see each other every day.They tell each other when Chika goes all the way to Dia’s new place,unannounced, because she missed the ex-Stundent concil president too much.

13.Who likes to give the other hugs from behind followed by a kiss?

Dia, whenever she sees Chika down or deep inthoughts.

14.Who would make a playlist for the other person?

What would be featured on the playlist? Do wereally need an answer for this? Dia’s playlist would be full of Eli solos andtraditional songs, with an exclusive mix (thank you Riko) of Mijuku DREAMERfrom Chika and Dia alone.

15.Who would bring their partner on a romantic date under the stars?

Chika would. Dia would be scared at first, becausewhat the hell are you doing why are you climbing on your roof are you trying tokill yourself but then, when she sees the sky, she can’t do anything more thanplace a gentle kiss on Chika’s lips.

“what the hell are you doing why are youclimbing on your roof are you trying to kill yourself” italics

[melissafoxmedia]

Gender roles, witches, demons and Hereditary. A film essay and review.

An opinionated and biased essay ahead, perfectly imperfect. This writer is aware of said bias's and welcomes your ideas respectuflly. Proceed. 

Halfway through his movie, I turned to my husband and said, “I think we might need therapy when this is all over.” I’d like to start with a caveat that we are a household that loves horror movies. In my opinion, horror is an under-appreciated genre. I'm not talking about franchise horror films, of which we are not a fan, with the exception of Insidious. I'm talking, The Shining, Blair Witch Project, Suspiria, Mommy, Let The Right One In, Babbadook. Classic horror tales and the like. Greek tragedies, even Shakespear. I have a lot to say about this one. So fair warning, this essay is long. 

A QUICK BACKGROUND

I grew up reading Steven King, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelly, Edgar Allen Poe, Anne Rice and Mark Danielewski. I would argue that even my favorite fantasy and science fiction writers like Tolkien and George R.R. Martin borrow from the horror genre. 

What solidified my interest in horror was actually a class in Chinese and Japanese cinema and art history. I enjoyed studying the nuances of the culture through the stories they told. Most of which were ghost stories. Ancestral worship is part of their culture. When visiting someones home, you might find a shrine to their passed loved ones. Ghosts are a normal, everyday part of their spiritual life. So too are their ghost stories. 

This connection to the dead is apparent in many cultures. The Celtic festival of Samhain, The Buddhist Obon, Dia De Los Muertos, Chuseok in Korea and Gai Jatra in Nepal. All have ceremonies and celebrations that honor ancestral spirits. Essentially, the ghosts of your family. I joke that even the Bible is one long ghost story. Full of death, rebirth, angels, demons, spirits, voices and apocalyptic visions. But where eastern religions and ancient cultures differ is around the premise of fear. Specifically spirits.

Take, for instance, the Buddhist Obon and Del Dia De Los Muertos. Celebrations designed to honor the people who came before you. Essentially, one envokes the spirits of your ancestors come back to visit the living. One would light lanterns or lay a path of flowers to guide those spirits back to earth for the celebration. You are literally inviting ghosts to come and have dinner with you. These rituals are not fear based spiritual practices. You will find no children running away in horror from the ghosts of great granddad. They are beautiful rituals full of dancing, prayer, and community.  

I grew up going to Church for a large part of my life, so my religious experiences of adolescence are based on my experiences with the Chrisitan church. Here notes my personal bias. I have no such memories of honoring my ancestors in a such a way from the Church. In fact, anything involving something seance-like would have been viewed as the devil. The dead are mourned in quiet reverence but one must be careful in creating any false idols. The only ghost that is ok to envoke, is the holy ghost. It's still very old testement thinking when it comes to this one. 

I have a vivid memory of sitting on a picnic bench at Jesus camp, 13 years old, sobbing uncontrollably. I just listened to a fiery sermon about hell and I was truly conflicted. I was already "saved," having said the prayer and done the ritual at 8 years old. But my father was not. He was an atheist. I didn't want him to go to hell. I was terrified and felt guilty. My counselor at the time kept pressing me to call him. She wanted me to "get him saved," right now. 

As an adult, I see how flawed that moment was. I did not call my father that night. I couldn't understand how my Christian peers thought less of me for doing so. I thought for sure that God would understand my compassion. My father and I had already discussed his feelings. He always respected my right to choose a religion, and I liked that, so I respected his. But that is not how I was treated by members of the Church. Needless to say, my relationship with the Church ended shortly thereafter and became an agnostic in my adult life. 

I could give many instances of examples of why I feel that Christianity is a fear based religion, but I am not defending that point for this essay. Let's assume that it is. 

I think it's interesting that our writer for Hereditary uses Goetia as it's religious influence. Goetia, an ancient Greek word that literally means sorcerer, get's its roots from the 16th century. Later, during the Renaissance, it became dubbed "black magic." The backdrop for the ending of the film and it's 17th-century Greek influence, we will explore later. But culturally, I think it's worth looking at this film through an American lens, of which, most of the population is Christian, making the comparisons I make relevant. Hereditary is an American film, written by an American writer. So I don't think he is trying to say anything specific about religion, other than to use it as a horror construct. This writer is obviously aware of his audience and is using that within his film. 

We like horror films about evil, possession and ghosts almost as much as we like superhero movies. That classic good versus evil fight. We love it when the lines are drawn in the sand and the tension is clear. We don't get that kind of clarity in life. In fact, life is made up of many unknowns and gray areas. Those two, a cause of our fear and anxiety. 

Hereditary doesn't put this idea front and center. Which is why I love it. The supernatural takes a back seat up until the second act. It dives headfirst into the gray areas to establish our characters and keeps us in the deepend with our worst fears. 

ABOUT HEREDITARY - NON-SPOILER REVIEW

Hereditary is brilliantly written and performed. If I were awarding Oscars, I would give one to the writer and one to the lead actress. The writing and specifically her performance is award worthy. It is visually stunning and draws from some of the best ancient storytelling techniques of the ages. Its greek tragedy influence is what makes the whole story so strong. The best moments are the long takes, the timing of the edit, the absence of music and truly breathless performances. 

But I would argue that the best thing about Hereditary is what it doesn’t explicitly say. Like a Greek Tragedy, it’s about the things that take place in-between the lines that make it so terrifying. It’s a spiritual horror film that speaks to our fears of inheriting the tragedies and traits of our ancestors. It’s about secrets between parents and children. Grief and it’s emotional manifestations. How tragedy can transform a person. It’s about the unspeakable terror that leads to more questions than answers. If you are looking for a nice bow-tie ending, you won’t get it. You are more likely to walk away going, “huh?” I loved the ending, but I think it will turn a lot of people off. It’s not what you are used to these days. 

The best thing about the movie, in my opinion, is about women, spirituality, possession, and emotion. Which leads us to the essay below. I won’t be diving into Greek Tragedy or deconstruction of its uses in horror films. That’s for another day. I think it’s been widely documented in reviews thus far. I’d like to take a look at Gender, Christianity, Religion and how this film plays with those larger social constructs. 

GENDER ROLES IN HORROR FILMS 

Gender roles in horror films are one of my favorite things to pick apart culturally. If you want to dive in more, this is an excellent place to start. Women in horror films have a long history of being gas-lighted by the male characters they interact within the plot. They are scorned with male “logic,” that the things they are experiencing aren’t real. Usually, they are tortured, shallow characters that look pretty and scream on cue. Often viewed as “crazy,” and spend most of the plot running from danger. This isn't always the case, there are a few standouts. But for the most part, I think the above is true. Women are either victims or "witches," in the majority of horror films. I also think it's interesting how we treat women who are having spiritual experiences. In our stories, we are uncomfortable with female emotion. Therefore, if someone is having an extremely emotional experience, we are likely to view them as scary.

We are at our roots a Puritan nation. One whose fear of “the devil,” allowed us to pillage “savage Indians,” in the name of that fear. Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries persecuted thousands of witches. Whole villages of Swiss women were wiped out in the hysteria.

In America, we have the Salem witch trials. 

I recently got to visit Salem Massachusetts. I read this fantastic book before I went called, “A Delusion Of Satan, The full story of the Salem witch trials.” Which outlines in more context the conditions and beliefs that lead to the "witch hysteria.” Today, those Puritans have received their Karma. Salem is a joke. It’s become a tourist Halloween town. Complete with haunted houses, tarot readers, and hippie spiritualists. The “devil,” they so fought to destroy has won. I laughed thinking about the righteous judges jumping through time to see children running around in witch costumes pretending to put spells on each other in their beloved village.  

The story of Salem became a cautionary tale of the dangers of religious belief. But the book attempts to take it one step further in outlining the gender roles of women, power dynamics between men and women and femininity, creativity and inspiration. Unlike the modern telling of the story like “The Crucible,” the book deliciously researches connections from historical records. The trials were meticulously documented. Which may be why the story has been passed down to new generations and became taught in schools. But the book makes some connections for me that my 5th-grade classroom reading of The Crucible didn’t. 

Life was hard as a puritan and men made all the rules. Imagination was stifled among children. Art was functional. Creativity was not encouraged, survival was. Sexuality was almost exclusively prohibited as a sin of the flesh with the exception of procreation. Pleasure was not allowed. Expression among women was silenced. These are all feminine values. Women who express extreme emotion are “crazy,” while men who express themselves in extreme ways are “passionate.” Soon “crazy,” became “a witch.” Any outburst of extreme emotion and a woman could be accused of being possessed by the devil. Witch hunting thus became inherently female and while anyone a could be accused of being a witch, most of the persecution was of women. 

As a little girl, I played a lot in an imaginative space. I experimented with all kinds of storytelling and play acting. As a teenager, I was emotional and dramatic. I guarantee if I had been observed by a Puritan priest, they would have convinced the town that I was possessed. I think most artists would have been accused of witchcraft in that era.

These tropes still exist today. We still silence women. We write stories where they are silenced by others. In a large majority of our horror films, women are either the victims or for lack of a better term, "witches." As time moved on, we stopped persecuting witches and started locking women up in asylums for misbehaving.  Thus replacing "witch," with "crazy."

I’m sure at some point, we have all thought our mothers to be “crazy,” through this lens too. Extreme imaginative outbursts or expressions of emotion are squashed in our society. We can barely handle a crying baby on an airplane let alone a woman who cries in public. 

And here marks the line of spoilers people. If you wish to continue, do so at your own risk. I am about to talk about the details of the story. 

GENDER, DEMONS AND WITCHES IN HEREDITARY

 Hereditary begins with our main character, Annie, in the midst of working on her art. She creates model dioramas. It is implied as the story chugs along that these dioramas are her emotional outlet. This is how she processes grief, anger, and fear. The tension between imagination, memory, and reality play nicely here. Why in the world would someone make a miniaturized model of the death of her mother? 

I enjoyed the duality of the models with life. The idea that I could take memories and tragedies out of my head and examine them as real-life objects. To see if I could make sense of them, process them differently. This process apears painstaking in the film. The details are fussed over, out main character possessed with the idea of recreation. A rebirth of her pain. Nicely done. 

Next, we meet Charlie. Charlie is different. She makes you uncomfortable but we trust her slightly more because we assume it’s a mental disorder. The play on gender here is masterfully done. Our young actress is phenomenal but I question the casting choice. We love to put our humanly different in horror films and this borders exploitation for me. It's akin to pointing at her and calling her "freak." I get that we are establishing a long line of mental health issues for our characters, so I'll leave this one be. But do better next time. 

Next, the shocking tragedy that propels our characters into some of the best moments of the film. Personally, I did not see that one coming. The car accident begins our true emotional terror. 

Annie experiences real grief for the first time in the loss of her daughter. She was relieved when her own mother died, having been released from the burden of that relationship only to be thrust forward into the guilt of playing a part in her own daughter's death. Grief is not handled lightly here. Our main character moves through hysteric fits. She retreats. She creates twisted dioramas of the accident. All the while her husband grows more and more suspicious of her behavior. Her husband literally acts as men have throughout history. Questioning the intensity of her emotions and wondering if he should send her away. If we are sticking with our horror metaphors, Annie is possessed by grief. 

My favorite scene to illustrate this concept is at the dinner table. Tensions mount in the household to an emotional breaking point. Our male characters confront our female lead and claim that she isn’t being truthful about her feelings. They invite her to express herself. 

She does. This eruption is the best scene in the film. Rarely do we get to experience female emotional flow on the screen. The sight of a woman in full emotional and visual expression makes our male characters physically retreat from the scene. The very thing they invited her to express is the very thing they can not handle and rather than applaud her completion of this expression, they squash it. The men refuse to join her and instead they persecute her almost as if saying, "burn the witch.’ The refreshing length of the shot and the stellar performance by the actress is noteworthy. They do not shy away from the complexities of extreme emotions. 

I think all of us are afraid that if we let go on some level, what comes forth would be bad. Tapping into our emotional flow is scary. So scary that as a society we can’t handle people doing it in front of us. We tell each other, “don’t cry,” when comforting one another. We tell our men, “crying isn’t manly.” And when we see our lead actress express herself on screen, we too as an audience are scared. We question her sanity, if only for a moment. Can we pause for a moment to admire the cinematography choice here? It's like an 18th century painting. 

I mean, look at that still shot above. Gorgeous terrifying women in full power feeling herself fully. Just hand Tonni Collect the Oscar, please. This scene is fucking amazing. I applauded Annie's capacity to let go and laughed when the men wouldn't join her. Granted, it has taken me a long time to be ok with my own extremities of emotions but now that I am, I was praising this goddess on screen. I honestly can't think of another on screen performance that accomplishes this as well as Hereditary does. 

Emotoins escalate as the film begins introducing the supernatural to the plot. Annie, meets with a new friend in her grief group, this friend conducts a saence to bring back the spirit of her grandchild. It seems to work and despite her reservations, she tries it. This triggers the climax of our film and leads to its ultimate resolution after discovering that her mother had a secret spiritual life. Spirituality “literally," kept in a box and hidden away until the very end of the film. I think spirituality is what our writer wants you to infer as the "hereditary trait." It’s the thing that our lead character doesn’t want to inherit from her mother. Her secret life. Her mental illness. Her spirituality. One might even say, she demonizes her mother. 😉 

 CHARLIE

The gender play with Charlie is also worth noting. At the conclusion of the film, we learn that Charlie is a male demon reincarnated into a female body. His name is Paimon. His rencarnation into Charlie was a mistake, as we learn at the conclusion of the film. The whole film is a plot to correct this mistake. Charlie referenced as she presents more like a tomboy with an androgynous name. While women are often “Witches,” in our scary stories so to men are painted as “Demons.” 

I always wondered why this trope existed in our storytelling. Sometimes I think it's about dominance and submission, Witches serve Demons. Men subservient to women. Demons are usually powerful creatures in our stories. Females are usually the victims of demon possession, either used for literal possession or for impregnation. But it wasn’t always that way. 

In the pre-Christian era, demons were both male and female. Much like the ancient polytheistic religions that had many gods and goddesses, so too was the gender spectrum of demons. It’s Christianity that spun the gender roles and made them sexless. Technically, Christian demons are fallen angels, as referenced in the Bible. They are sexless beings whose purpose is to test human beings on their faith in God and lead them to sin. 

 "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” —2 Corinthians 11:13–15

 I always wondered, why then do we paint demons as masculine throughout history? See that winged creature demon up there - - - what sex do you infer when observing it? For context, the above painting is Dante and Virgil in Hell - William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1850. It’s a scene from Dante’s inferno, in which there are several biblical references used to describe the journey into hell. This painting is terrifying in person btw. It’s the size of a billboard and you can see the demons eyes staring at you from all angles. Notice the color palet and the lighting on the main figures in the foregroud. Remind you of any shot from before? 

Back to Hereditary … 

Why does Paimon need a male body? Why is he unhappy in a female body? Paimon is supposed to be a Prince not a Princess. If you don’t know who Paimon is … you aren’t alone. I had to look it up too. He’s one of the kings of hell with Goetic orgins, also referenced in Persian and Iranian stories. The “King," denotes man right? 

Paimon is referenced in a demonology spell book called Lesser Key Of Solomon. Therein lists 72 demons of which, one is Paimon. Each demon has a symbol, which was a clue in the film. Annie wears one around her neck. Guess she should have googled the symbol before wearing it. 

 So essencially our demon "man-king," is pissed because he was born a woman and his followers work to correct the issue. Wow. Talk about some gender issues right? The wiki page for Paimon also gives us a hint at a sequel btw… go read it if you like.

SO have you made it this far? 

If you have, cheers to you. Welcome to my geekery. I spent a lot of money on my education in art history, English and film critique. Literally wrote a paper a day for 4 years. I’m still paying off the bill. Blogs are more refreshing though, I don’t have to worry about being perfect or getting graded. I can just share my passion for picking apart social and cultural references in storytelling. 

That said, if Hereditary made me spawn a long essay like this, imagine what it might do for you. I will warn you, my husband is still having nightmares from the visuals. Which I didn’t even get a chance to geek out about here. That said, I do think that our tales of horror are the most interesting things to look at in society. Our relationship to fear or lack thereof is still taboo. Last year marked the first time a horror film was nominated for an Oscar, and I think to Get Out was nominated more for its cultural relevance and discussion of race in our time. I’d love to see more from this writer. I was seriously impressed. It’s well researched and smart with an excellent understanding of pace and emotional landscapes. 

So just like our movie, here ends my essay. I’m not going to neatly tie this up.

What did you think of the film?