#Shinae was really important to her

[trashlie]

I'm 99% sure the sweater is from Alyssa. The note that came with it was written on staff paper (for music) and that would tie it to Alyssa. She had staff paper for music classes, and works in the music industry now. It feels very in line with other subtle hints Quimchee has given us that point to certain characters.

See, that's why I think it, too! At the time of the episode some people thought it's a red herrings but when we have so little to otherwise go off of... it's hard to say at this point, isn't it? And narratively it leads more to the story than it being from Nana, I think. Had Nol's.... "tried to visit my mom" thing overlapped with Shinae's stay at the hospital, I think there could be something there, but the idea of Alyssa who had no idea how else to try to apologize being the one to gift it feels more likely.

It leaves us the question of "how would she have known where Shinae is, though?" I don't imagine the school would supply that information, nor would Minhyuk or Maya tell Alyssa - not that Alyssa was going to school anymore.

I wanna knoooooooooowwwwww!!!!!!!!!

[purgemarchlockdown]

Shidou, Mahiru, Amane and Parenthood

(Also Known As: Shidou and Mahiru are paralleled with Amane's parents and I need to talk about it)

(CW: Child Abuse, Cults)

So the newest interrogation question came out and the question is this:

If you had to make one of the prisoners part of your family, who would you choose?

Amane's answer to it was this:

A: Mahiru Shina. Her innate goodness might have brought the two of us closer, maybe

This is an interesting response for a lot of reasons, especially since the last time we saw Amane and Mahiru interacting they didn't exactly have a pleasant conversation.

23/01/17 (Mahiru’s Birthday)

Amane: Happy birthday. Mahiru-san. How is your body feeling? Mahiru: ……ah, Amane-chan. Thank you. Yeah, I’m fine. Now I can move around if I use a wheelchair…… It’s all thanks to Shidou-san looking after me…… Amane: I’ll give you one warning. The two of you are dabbling in something tabooed. If you continue to go against the way of nature like this, you’ll just bring an early death upon yourself. Think hard about this. Mahiru: Amane-chan……? Are you really Amane-chan……?

If Amane believes that Mahiru is dabbling in something taboo then why does she think Mahiru should be apart of her family? Well let's take a look at how Mahiru and Amane parallel for a bit. At first it doesn't seem like they have much in common but there's actually a substantial amount of connections between them.

The one most important to this discussion is the usage of water and their views on love.

Now water for Amane is punishment, both symbolically and literally. She was waterboarded. However this torture was used to confirm something, her parents "love" for her.

But it’s not scary at all, because it’s love I can actually think of it as a good thing, see isn’t it a great thing?

The thing about Amane Momose is that she's sinful and impure. At least in the eyes of her cult. She's constantly messing up, constantly failing, constantly wanting to run from the trials presented to her.

Dear wise one, Is this ok? Is it ok to be weak sometimes?

In the eyes of her cult Amane Momose needs to be punished so she can become "better." A better girl, a better person, a better follower of god. Under this logic the punishments are her parents way of delivering...salvation, to cleanse Amane Momose's impure soul of it's faults and eventually turn her into a "good girl."

Pain is Love, for all intents and purpose, it means that her parents still care enough about her to try to purify her. Even though she herself knows that it's a lost cause.

Only if, only if, only if I could be a good girl

This is something she shares with Mahiru.

We fought sometimes, I was happy to get hurt Let's have matching pain, this sickness is pretty bad

Do you really think you know what love is? If you do, let's just overheat together

Mahiru believes that if you are in love you share everything, happiness, sorrow, joy, pain. Being together even if you are suffering and unhappy is proof of your "bond."

Giving you love to the point of pulling you down It's just because I still get worried, please forgive me Even when I test you, even the times we do the breakup ritual, Is because I love you

Using this lens we can read the water through a different lens we can see it as...love. Water is love, it is needed for people to live, it is rejuvenating and good.

Now multiple characters have this motif and I won't talk about it in too much detail but both Amane and Mahiru's boyfriend are covered in water, love. Metaphorically or otherwise. Except both of them are submerged in it, drowned even. The version of love Amane was given and the version of love Mahiru gave out was distorted and destructive. With Mahiru's love ultimately leading, in some way or another, to her boyfriend's death.

This makes two lines in their MVs super interesting.

My emotions are out of control, that’s inconvenient? I don’t care!

You’re sorry? I don’t care! Please, go ahead and die already

This is very similar phrasing but the context is completely different.

When Mahiru says this line she's talking about her love for her boyfriend. Her overly indulgent, suffocating, love. It doesn't matter if it's inconvenient to Him because this is how she shows Her love.

No matter how unaware she was of how unhealthy her relationship was (and I don't think she was malicious at all in her intentions), she was still Actively suffocating him by not taking his feelings into consideration.

Amane however is Reacting to her mother's abuse. Her mother's painful and horrible "love." "Love" that really could have killed her, people aren't supposed to survive waterboarding and electrocution without any medicine, or just in general.

When she goes to her mother and kills her she's doing this because she Hates Her. She doesn't care if she apologies because she never took Her Feelings into account when she punished her.

Not only that but we have this Timeline conversation.

20/07/06

Amane: You want to know about my family……? My father is a truly wonderful person. He’s honest, values fairness and justice above all else, and will work himself to the bone for other people’s sake……. Why do you want to know? Mahiru: Oh, I was just wondering what sort of parents you must have for them to have raised such a good child like you. Fufu, I’ll keep it in mind for the future when I raise my own family. Amane: I see. If it will be of use to you, I’ll tell you more. It’s still a long way off for me, but for someone your age the prospect of finding a partner and having a family must be feeling a lot more real. Now that I think about it, I recall my mother was around your age when she gave birth to me……

Amane's Mother was Mahiru's age when she gave birth to her? Mahiru thinks Amane is a good child and wants to use her parents as examples for how to raise someone like her?

To me, it seems like Mahiru is being paralleled with Amane's parents. Most likely her mother but you could probably argue the father too due to how Amane is (seemingly) on much better terms with him.

Now I've outlined most of the Mahiru-Parent parallels but we also have Shidou.

So, Amane hates Shidou, that's a well-documented opinion. Shidou violates cult rules and doctrine. He "steals" people's trials away. He's evil and horrible and needs to be destroyed.

Amane: Oh – speaking of which, there is one among the prisoners right now. An evil existence that’s trying to steal people’s trials away from them. Es: …! Amane: Shidou Kirisaki… His actions violate our rules. I have given him a warning. If he continues, I suppose it will be inevitable for me to intervene.

However this isn't the only reason why Amane dislikes Shidou, in fact she's disliked him since the start. For reasons completely unrelated to this.

Shidou makes Amane feel small.

Shidou: I…… I just don’t understand. If everything about MILGRAM is true…… why did a child like you have to become a murderer? Just imagining what sort of circumstances must have led to that, it makes me so sad…… Amane: ……*sigh*. Is that right. I don’t think I’m going to get along with you, Shidou-san. I don’t agree with the fact you refuse to acknowledge that I have my own free will, and that I should be held accountable for my actions, just because I’m a child. I may have only been alive for 12 years, but all the choices I’ve made, even if they weren’t the best ones, were entirely my own. What point is there in you getting sad when I have no regrets myself?

His actions are, for lack of a better term, triggering. It reminds Amane of her parents. The lack of control she had over the situation, and how her words meant nothing to them.

She cares about her free will because for most of her life her free will and choices weren't respected. So Shidou disregarding her feelings makes her feel disrespected and uncomfortable.

Is this done out of malice? No but it seems like Shidou is doing this more for his sake than Amane's.

22/06/27 (Amane’s Birthday)

Kazui: What’s up, Shidou-kun? You’re looking pretty down. I guess you must be tired, I’ve been relying on you a lot lately. Shidou: Yeah, I just remembered…… today is Amane’s birthday. I’m just getting a bit sentimental. Kazui: Hmm, it’s unfortunate, but at the moment we can’t worry about that. ……you understand, right? There’s something that you need to do right now. And if you tried talking to her your words definitely won’t reach her. Don’t look at me like that. We’ll just wait until the situation changes. Let’s do our best. Shidou: Yeah. I’ll do what I can. I can’t have a child making a face like that. Even though we’re “murderers”…… we’re also the adults here.

Shidou is Guilt Man. He's absolutely consumed with it, even now that he doesn't want to die his guilt haunts him. In a way, taking care of Amane is a way to "redeem" himself for whatever he did.

He's also presumably coping with the loss of his own children and is projecting that Onto Amane and also Es. You can see this very clearly in his T1 VD.

Shidou: I’m a fine specimen of what a murderer ought to be. I don’t mind when you hand down your judgement, but if it’s possible… Instead of being told by the law that I won’t be forgiven, I wanted a child like you, Es, to tell me that.

Shidou is condescending and makes both Es and Amane feel uncomfortable and disrespected, even if he doesn't want to. His actions harm them because Shidou cares less about them and more about the Idea of them being children.

(My emotions are out of control, that’s inconvenient? I don’t care!)

The clearest example of how the way he interacts with Amane is this scene in this Timeline.

Amane: I warned you. I can no longer turn a blind eye to this wickedness taking place right in front of us. You’re bringing ruin unto yourself. Do you understand? Shidou: No, I don’t understand. It’s my job as an adult to teach you that throwing a temper tantrum isn’t going to make everything go your way. If it’s a test of endurance you want, I’m happy to oblige, Amane.

Now as I've said. Amane likes having her opinions and choices respected, this comes from how they Weren't when she was living with her parents. Most of her positive interactions with people, especially in T2, come from people asking her about her opinions and how she feels about things. Shidou dismissing her emotions and calling them a temper tantrum was one of the worst things he could of possibly said to her. Outright confirming To Amane that Shidou doesn't care about how she feels.

Again that isn't exactly true, Shidou does care, but it doesn't change the affect it has on her does it?

Shidou makes Amane feels small and disrespected and Hurt. Like how her parents made her feel. Amane's just been given a righteous reason to hurt him now, like what she had for her mother.

(This is another reason why I can't exactly say Mahiru is paralleled with her mother and Shidou her father...it's possible we have a bit of a roleswap here.)

In short: 050608 family parallels haunt me forever and ever.

[chattegeorgiana]

Hey Chatte, hope all is well. I wanted to share a head cannon I thought of revolving around NarSaku kids. And I wanted to know what you think about who would be appropriate for their godparents?

For me Shina are Kakashi, and Dan younger sister( I forget her name)

Hanami Sasuke and Karin (I ship them too)

Arashi Iruka and Ino.

All of these characters are important to the parents on a lot levels but these pairing just make sense. For me KaKashi should be Shina godfather for a number reasons I think would fit in the OG canon. Kakashi would no doubt see the parallels between Minanto and Kushina and Naruto and Sakura, given the fact of his guilt complex for not doing enough and NarSaku being aware of that. It wouldn’t be like an olive branch or redemption the gesture of be telling him that you don’t have to carry this guilt forever and we trust you to be there for our son.

I also have a head canon that Shina & Kakashi relationship is similar between Jiay and Naruto and a his father and Jiay.

Hanami I feel that Sasuke and Karin favor girls and they would be a better as Hanami godparents. Arashi being the youngest I wanted to include characters that people I feel forgot how important their are to their parents not only personally but also developing their story. Ino and Iruka played a similar role even though they themselves aren’t connected directly.

Omg this is so perfect?!?!?!

I never really thought about it until now because I’m not exactly sure if in Japan they have this custom. Here in my country for example, we do too and I THOROUGHLY agree with the combination you just made.

So what I’ll do is research if it’s a custom in Japan as well and if so, do I have your blessing to use this combination in Kaika, since it wasn’t initially my idea but I JUST LOVE IT?

I think it’s perfect to have Kakashi be Shina’s godfather, especially since Shina does resemble Minato as well? And I believe you meant Shizune as well, which I totally see given she is Sakura’s senpai and would most likely want to help & be there for Sakura, along with Tsunade.

It would be like the family that could have been in Tsunade & Dan’s case since they are also direct parallels of NaruSaku, too. Shizune knows how much Taunade loved her family & having Sakura succeed where her master sadly couldn’t, I feel like both of them (as in both Shizune as a godmother & Tsunade as a granny for real now haha), would absolutely want to help Naruto & Sakura with their firstborn.

Likewise, later on after Hanami comes along, given how Hanami is literally a prankster like her father & Karin is eccentric herself, I feel she’d be autie Karin’s favorite niece!!

And Sasuke would grow to love her tremendously given that she is literally a young Naruto replica & so that would remind him of their genin days. Sasuke would probably love the fact that Hanami IS A TROUBLEMAKER and would always be on her side just to mess around with Naruto and be like “see how it is to taste a dose of your own medicine?” 🤣.

And last, but not least, for Arashi, I think Ino and Iruka is also the best choice given Arashi’s personality.

Let’s not forget Arashi has his mother’s temper from the time Ino met Sakura so for her it’d be like a walk down memory lane & just the fondness of that time.

Likewise, Iruka’s calm demeanour is perfect for Arashi’s introverted personality.

So yeah, I’d say pretty top notch ideas!!

Chapeau to you, my dear!

[ohplagg]

I Love Yoo Timeline Part 2/4

The Evidence Part 2

This is part 2 of 4 of my I Love Yoo Timeline as of Episode 241.

Part 1 and 2 consists of laying out all the detailed evidence with descriptions, screenshots and episode number.

Part 3 consists of explaining the evidence, connecting the dates and some math because the I Love Yoo universe (or as I like to call it, Yooniverse) uses letters instead of numbers to represent official years.

Part 4 is the I Love Yoo Timeline.

----

I told you guys there's a lot of information. Both The Evidence parts reached picture limit.

--------

Kosuke's life when he was in school

Episode 91

YuJing and Kousuke went to high school and university together.

Episode 79

Whatever happend that caused the fallout between Kousuke and his college friends happened "about 5 years ago" according to Hansuke.

I'll show the evidence later in this post and go in depth about it more in part 3 but for now do keep in mind that Hansuke didn't go to the same college Kousuke and the friend group did so when he says "about" we should interpret that as "I don't really remember how long ago it was exactly since I had more important things that needed my attention"

Episode 144

Kousuke graduated in Spring

Kousuke was 14 the day of his graduation

Episode 241

Kousuke goes to the park with his mom right after his high school graduation and Nessa is there.

Episode 239

Hansuke was there at the funeral related to the college friend group fallout.

Kousuke got his friend group at the beginning of his college days

Kousuke was part of the friend group for a couple of years

Episode 116

In Meg's flashback we learn:

Alyssa has already started the path of becoming a Kpop idol

Meg is 20 years old

Hasuke and Meg went to the same university. A different university from Kousuke, YuJing and the friend group.

The college group of friends would visit Hansuke at his college every once in a while.

Kousuke used to date "around" in college.

At this moment in time, the fallout between Kousuke and his college friends has started to happened if it hasn't already happened AND Hansuke wasn't aware of it.

At this moment in time Kosuke is "like 20"

Kousuke is "finishing up his masters this year or something"

I do want to highlight that the information that we get for Kousuke's graduation is based on a rumor that reached a different college than the one Kousuke goes to.

From personal experience I can, with 100% confidence, say that people that start college at a younger age get mistaken to be much younger and finish school much faster than what is true just because the gossip stays the same throughout the years without considering that time passes for said person who the gossip talks about.

In my personal experience, a person who started college when they were 16 had their gossip evolve to say that they started college at 14. And by the time they were 20 and with a year more of school the gossip was "that person is graduating soon and they are like 16 or something. Yeah dude, they are super smart".

So my point is that Kousuke, having started college at a young age, always looking young for his age with that Hirahara genetics and low testosterone levels, and the fact that this information comes from a gossip in a college he doesn't even go to, all tells us that this is not trustworthy source of information and we should take it with a grain of salt.

Shin-Ae's Timeline

Regarding Shin-Ae's timeline, I won't be touching up on her personal family affairs since that's a whole can of worms that I don't have the brain capacity nor the space to add it in this post.

If in the future the whole plot of Shin-Ae's sister and her mother becomes extremely relevant then I might do another Evidence post for that and add the events to the timeline. But for now, I don't see them that important to the timeline mystery so I'll only mention whatever I feel is relevant for the timeline I'm constructing.

Episode 222

Shinae and Alyssa met in "Class of 20XT"

Episode 205

Here we see all 3 of Min-Hyuk's Middle School (which is the same thing as Junior High) yearbooks. Min Hyuk's last Middle School year was 20XT = Min-Hyuk graduated on 20XT.

Episode 202

On the Shin-Ae/Alyssa flashback Min-Hyuk says that he will be graduating middle school "next year" meaning that the incident took place the year before 20XT

When Shin-Ae was leaving the hospital, winter was just around the corner (Winter officially starts December 21st)

Exact dates for events that have happened since we started following the story

Episode 6

Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th of September 20XX was the day of the party where Shinae met the brothers. When Rika and Maya got pranked by Shinae and Nol at the very first party.

Episode 37

November's calendar

Episode 144

December's and part of January's calendar

Character information shared by Quimchee in her 2017 and 2018 Curious Cat answers

Kousuke seems to have had a very active dating life in his teens

Character's ages (keep in mind these answers were given when in Yooniverse it was still November)

Other information relevant to the construction of the timeline

Nol was a late bloomer. This is important to keep in mind because Nol looks young in so many flashbacks, specially compared to Dieter, Soushi, and Alyssa. Any Nol we see before his 15th birthday will look like a little kid.

-------------

This is just part 2 of 4. Go keep reading:

Part 1: The Evidence Part 1

Part 3: Math and connecting the dots

Part 4: The Timeline

[josouhenshin]

Day 3

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Welcome back, josou enthusiasts. Last time, Mizuho and Shinobu picked up some women’s underwear (known to some as the foundation of crossdressing) to round out Shinobu’s first girl mode outfit. This time, we’re going to take Shinobu out on her first adventure en femme. 

At the end of the previous update, I put up a poll to help decide where to have them go next. The results were:

Town: 2 votes

Amusement park: 2 votes

French restaurant: 1 vote

Tennis court: 2 votes (including mine)

A 3 way tie is tricky to resolve, but town introduces some important things, so let’s take care of that first. Tennis is short and it’s got a special outfit so I’ll try to squeeze that in soon too.

Incidentally, I obtained the music through a bit of exploring, so let’s ease into the update with the main title theme:

First things first- we gotta equip the underwear. What had Mizuho picked out for us last time that had the two of them so flustered, I wonder, I wonder?

Music: BGM 11

A jra and joyshorts. I believe the flavor text describes them as something to the effect of “denim-like” or “with the vibes of denim” so I don’t think they’re actually junderwear but I could be wrong. Anyway I do like that they specifically start Shina here off with boyshorts instead of regular panties, I suppose that staple of the culture hasn’t changed much in 20 years. Equipping both gets Shina down from 109 bpm to 103. 

Important to note- if you don’t equip the underwear, Shina doesn’t pass and the events seem to mostly end with the two of them getting harassed and going home early. So put on the underwear. It’s the foundation of crossdressing, you know!

I also want to make a quick note about progression too. I tried out a few combinations of things, and it seems like the first time you visit any of these places you get the same event regardless of order. I’m not sure if your outfit or base stats influence things though, so getting access to clothes shopping is pretty important. This all feels very similar to messing around in first cycle termina or something though. Hard to tell how much is really accessible or what’s worth doing. 

Well, that’s enough dillydallying, I’m sure Mizuho is getting impatient. 

Music: BGM02

We’re out in public. Shina is visibly (and understandably) extremely nervous. Mizuho assures her that if she acts confident it’ll be fine. Shinobu mumbles in agreement and thinks to herself that it’s unbelievable that she actually went out looking like this.

“But when you crossdress and go out, the world is different, right?” Mizuho says.

“Yeah,” Shina agrees, “it’s like you’re not yourself.”

Mizuho says she remembers the feeling of going out for the first time well. Everything around seemed like it was brand new. She wondered why she’d never done it before, why she’d never gotten to know the world of crossdressing. Shina says she understands that feeling well. Just by dressing up it’s like a different world out there. 

Nearby they hear a solicitor passing out tissues. This is (was?) a common occurrence overseas similar to the american tradition of making someone stand out on the street and twirl signs. Mascot costume optional. They’re being kinda pushy.

The ad on the tissues says “recruiting: tele-club part time job.” Tele-club apparently being a term for phone sex hotlines. Shina muses that the two of them should probably think about looking for some part time work too... but working for a tele-club sounds like a bad idea. She also corrects herself from saying ‘boku’ to ‘atashi.’ They grow up so fast!

Mizuho agrees. She says it’ll help Shina with collecting new clothes and cosmetics and such.

“I guess with crossdressing you also need money, huh,” she considers.

Ah piss and shit and fuck the tissue guy overheard. Damn it. Now they’re stuck talking to him. He’s asking them if they’re job hunting. God- god damn it. Come on man. He’s recommending they take a look at the tele-club job. What a hassle. Shina tries to politely turn him down. He’s disappointed but offers them a more regular part time job at a cafe instead. Well that’s very nice and not at all shady. He says cute girls like them would be well received, since they don’t have any waitresses. 

“I wonder whether we’d get to wear a cute uniform or something,” Shina thinks to herself. But, she also figures that getting a part time job while crossdressing sounds like a terrible idea. She asks if they’re recruiting men for the job too, and-

“Men?!” he’s totally flabbergasted. He says, well, we’re accepting anyone, but why? “Did you want to get a job with your boyfriend?” He asks if they have boyfriends. 

Man this guy is shady. But Shina is also not playing it off well at all. “Well, I don’t have a boyfriend, but, uh, what do I say-” she stammers.

Mizuho asks for directions to the cafe. He explains the route. He also gives his name: Jin Asakura. “Let’s be friends, okay?”

You may have guessed from his severaltitude of sprites, but you can fuck that guy down the line. If you want. From what I understand there’s a few different jobs you can get, each with a handful of associated romanceable characters. I think you also meet the green haired girl through the cafe job, and maybe some others, but I’m not sure how the progression works out yet. More investigation to come. 

“Jeez, you went and said something weird and that guy got confused,” Mizuho accuses. But she also agrees that crossdressing at work sounds awful. She also says she wants to see Shina as a waitress though. Much to consider, huh?

Thus ends the day. We’ve opened up a few new events by talking to that guy. For starters, there’s a new “your house” option on the map in girl mode, and it also adds the cafe on the map in boy mode. Like I said, I think I want to do the tennis court event next, but after that I might take suggestions about where to go again. 

Until next time, girls and girl-likes <3

Prev post Index Next post

[ecargmura]

Delicious Party Precure Episode 14 Review - First Love Tastes Like Black Pepper?

I feel like the writing for Delicious Party feels a bit clunky at times because nobody is ever on the same wavelength when it comes to the important stuff and this episode also feels underwhelming for Black Pepper’s debut episode. The episode did feel as if it was supposed to revolve around Takumi, but it’s not. Instead, there are a few plot points mashed into this episode that it makes the thing involving Takumi seem not as important. 

Though, the one thing that surprises me the most is the fact that Rosemary cannot seem to connect that Cinnamon and Takumi are related. Even I can tell Monpei and Cinnamon are the same person just from the name alone. The Shina in Shinada is from the Cinna in Cinnamon while the Mon from Monpei is the Mon in Cinnamon. Not only that, Monpei and Takumi practically look identical other than Takumi taking some of An’s features; he has An’s skin color and her eye color, but everything else is from Monpei from face to hair style. The fact that last episode establishes that Monpei is from CooKingdom which makes it a dead giveaway. Rosemary seems to be perceptive and intuitive when it comes to love, but not when it comes to pointing out the obvious, it seems.

The plot about Takumi getting confessed to by an underclassman feels oddly written. Like, Takumi gets confessed to, but the story mainly revolves around the girl who confessed, Tomoe Honma. While Takumi is obviously in love with Yui, his feelings about the confession isn’t really brought up as the story mainly focuses more on the Precures. Rosemary is also a bit more involved as he loves supporting people in love and even seems to have had a first love at some point, but nothing about Rosemary seems to be revealed either. But like, the topic is about first love and what not and no one talks about love other than Yui’s love for food and everyone’s love for fried eggs. Though, Takumi being popular with girls feels understandable. He got the boy-next-door vibes and is super kind despite his tsundere personality.

Narcistoru was pretty smart for making the Ubauzo go after Mari as he is good support but cannot join the fights. Though, I have this feeling that this will be a one-time thing and the Ubauzos and Narcistoru won’t be targeting Mari again.

Takumi joining the fight as Black Pepper is going to be interesting. He has the sickest drip so far, but I have a feeling that he isn’t going to be utilized as much. Well, at least, he’ll be more useful than 90’s Tuxedo Mask (Crystal’s Tuxedo Mask was a lot better in terms of contribution). I guess I have to see how he’ll be like as I keep progressing with the episodes. For now, I like Takumi as a character so far. Let’s just hope he stays consistent. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[multicultural-america]

Blog #3: Social Media

Shina Novalinga is an Indigenous Inuk content creator, living in Montreal, Canada. She grew up in a family that fully embraced their Inuit culture- especially her mother. She learned many things from her, like traditional Inuk throat singing. A video taken of Shina’s mother, who is a professional throat singer, along with Shina singing- is what initially launched her presence on TikTok. The clip got millions of views, and encouraged Shina to continue sharing her Indigenous-related content on the platform. On TikTok, as well as her other social media, she shares things like: eating Inuit dishes (like raw beluga whale) handmade Inuit fashion, singing, activism content, etc. Her inspiration to continue sharing their way of life is because “It's important for me to educate others on my platform because not a lot of people know about our history, or know about the Inuit culture. It has always been brushed off. My goal is to change that and not be afraid to speak about it.” For the subject of throat singing specifically, she speaks on how she wishes to continue the tradition and show it on a big platform because it was banned for so many years in Canada due to Christian missionaries at the time. She finds that it is very important to shed light on Inuit traditions that some intended to erase in the past. She states in an interview: “Throat singing is important in our culture because it had almost been a lost tradition due to missionaries. We are now taking it back and passing it down to keep it alive. Throat singing allows us to connect with the sound of nature and the animals. It also allows us to connect with our ancestors, our soul and our voice.”

Relating to course topics, erasure of culture is something we’ve already covered. Further, stereotypes and generalizations fit into this as well. Like the erasure of African American photography and media, Indigenous groups in Canada like the Inuit have faced these same issues. Although the specifics may be different, it’s important to uplift and represent these cultures now, and educate people on parts of history that may have been lost or covered up over time. Shina does a great job of this, and her socials show that people are in-fact really unfamiliar, as well as extremely intrigued about the practices and history of Inuk culture.

Here is a link to her TikTok page, along with links to a couple of my favorite videos of hers on it:

Sources Cited:

Allaire, Christian. “This Inuk Throat Singer Is Bringing Cultural Pride to Tiktok.” Vogue, Vogue, 8 Nov. 2020, www.vogue.com/article/shina-novalinga-indigenous-inuk-throat-singer-tiktok.

“An Interview with Shina Novalinga – Air Canada Enroute.” Stories That Travel. Made by Air Canada., enroute.aircanada.com/en/interviews/shina-novalinga/. Accessed 13 July 2024.

[veryimportantsparkles]

The story thus far...

Megan (me) has been going through some kind of midlife crisis, but it's for the midlife of the Pokemon franchise. There's a long and convoluted gameplan that won't be explained here because parts of it are stupid. In this stupid part, I replayed Sapphire on an extra cartridge we had for reasons, MOSTLY to get a Latias, but also to refresh my memory on the events of 3rd gen. This was a relatively simple project, compared to the three separate playthroughs I just did for Leaf Green. I did not saddle myself with nickname theme gimmicks nor did I train any unevolved starters up to level 60. There was also no necromancy this time, and none of my Pokemon were burdened with the legacy of their forefathers. Pretty straightforward.

This post is to commemorate the brave and mighty Pokemon who fought for the championship in this playthrough, the

~~✨Second Sapphire Gijinka Journey✨~~

Becky Fern is our valiant starter. She thought she could solo the entire game, and that was almost true. She kicked her way across Hoenn, stopping only to cower from Brendan's Swampert and various Psychic-types. As the starter, she was forced into a 'big sister' role for every Pokemon I caught, and she hated it. She thought level grinding with the Exp. Share was a waste of time. But although she'll never admit it, she needed these losers. And she's proud of them.

Eryn Fern was the first Pokemon I caught after starting the journey with Becky. Shroomish are found in the Petalburg Woods, so Becky spent the first few routes and towns as the only Pokemon in my party. She was so mad when her 'only child' status was revoked. But I wanted a Breloom, they're neat!

So, Breloom's moveset options hinge on knowing Spore, and in order to learn it you have to leave a Shroomish unevolved until level 54. So Eryn spent the entire journey with an Everstone on, only to evolve right before the championship fight. The poor guy has no self confidence because he was stuck in baby mode for so long. But he's strong. And he's lucky; Dynamic Punch has 50% accuracy, but somehow in the Elite Four battles he managed to land his hits every single time.

When I first caught Shina Nera Fern, I thought it would be cool to train a Shedinja. Unfortunately, either I'm managing her wrong or Nera just isn't very good at battling. But Shina, the Ninjask, has been a great fighter. Shina and Nera both are big fans of Becky, they're sort of like Becky's cheerleaders. But Shina considers herself a friendly rival to Becky, and aspires to become stronger than her hero. She did it too; I entered the Elite Four with everyone at level 55 and Shina was the first to level to 56, making her officially stronger than Becky.

Ambience Fern was caught around the same time I got Shina, but I wasn't sure at first if she'd stay on the team. She's actually got decent stats and kept up with the rest of the team. Eventually I got her Ice Beam and that provided important coverage against Flying-types, which Becky, Eryn, and Shina are all weak to. I gave her Flamethrower in between attempts at the Elite Four, and I think that was the change that got us the win.

Ambi's appearance and personality was built around her Whismur form and she's kept a lot of those affectations. She's a shy little pastel-wearing princess, even if she's a giant shoutmonster who shoots three different types of mouth laser. She is soft and she cares about her friends a lot.

Ponderous Fern was added to the team because I encountered a Spoink and thought, "oh neat, a Spoink." He beat Becky in that fight before I could capture him! He's a prodigy and Becky hates him. He and Eryn are buddies, they get to sit together at the scorned-by-Becky table. He's normally soft-spoken and agreeable but he'll be rude and sarcastic to Becky, usually because she instigates it.

Spoinks really like pearls, which they somehow steal from Clamperls despite the 0% overlap between those species' habitats. Even after evolving, Ponder keeps a collection of pearls that he can use as amplifiers for his psychic power. Over the course of our journey we were given the Blue Orb, a key item that awakens Kyogre. Ponder claimed it and he won't give it back. It's his favorite orb. It's a key item so he can't hold it (I checked), but he won't let it go.

And finally, we have Hanna World, our world pillar. Now, every time I have to reset a cartridge I take every Pokemon out of it first, but you're required to have one Pokemon on the file. They get deleted when you make a new save file, so I commemorate them by catching a new version in the new file. The old file in this cart had an OT named Hanna, and I left behind a level 15 unnamed female Spinda. When I encountered a level 15 female Spinda in the new file, she gained the name Hanna. She's a clown, I guess.

Every 'world sacrifice' Pokemon gets a design theme that stands out from the others. Prometheus got a toga, Fujiko got a kimono, and Hanna is a clown. Or maybe, Spindas are just like this? She's dizzy and wobbly and giggly and says a lot of ominous shit. She's great in battle, although sadly her role in the Elite Four was mostly to stall while I healed someone else. She's always a sacrifice of some kind. Is it poetic? Maybe not.

Anyways they beat the game! Good job, kids!

After their victory, we went after my original goal, the Latias that only appears in postgame. I Master Balled her the moment we got her to show up. To give the team a little more challenge and adventure, we went after the Regis and Rayquaza. With some vital assistance from Inari, Mola, and Dayo we got all our legendaries, and this cartridge is concluded.

My next playthrough is Alpha Sapphire, which I'm playing for the first time. The idea is that with regular Sapphire fresh in my memory I'll get the most out of the remake's changes. I've already started gijinka designs for that run! When the game is completed, that cartridge is the promised land for a bunch of my champions from various 3rd, 4th, and 5th gen games. But before their world gets overrun by level 100 turtles from beyond reality, the locals need to tell their story. It's coming, I'm up to Mossdeep and my main obstacle is getting sidetracked by Super Training and berry farming.

I made this post really big because I'mma blaze it! Hi, random tumblr users! Follow my sideblog Popkas for non-OC-focused Pokemon shitposts! Let's find out if there's a size limit for blazeable posts!!!

[somebody-909]

also shinaes scar made me audibly gasp it’s really worse than i expected????? and nolan thinks that it’s his fault from when they all fell in the pool but if he finds out how severe it was AND who did it it’s gonna be the end of us 🙏😭😔

Yeah, I felt that pit in my chest when I saw it...

It becomes more and more clear how significant it is to Shin-ae and who she is. And really seeing how terrible it was — gosh, it makes me feel so dumb for not understanding how important it is.

The image meant to embody what she hates most is herself with the scar... meaning, what I assume to be (even more so than falling from the pool), the point in her life that most symbolically shows her largest issues with herself — her lack of autonomy, her inability to take care of herself, her weakness.

And yeah, to know how significant it was to Shin-ae... I think it's only natural to assume this would be a key point of tension for Yeong-gi and Alyssa, and I totally think he would be completely hostile bc of it.

(one way to think of it... "you had hurt someone I care about so badly, and didn't care enough to address it? you just tried to sweep it under the rug? are you really that cruel?")

[youuuimeanmee]

So, funny things about Shinae's grudge list right?

Shinae was extremely mad at Nol but his face never appeared in her grudge list. Everyone is saying that she's not as mad at him as she thought she's gonna be, but you know what else is funnier? Nol shares some similarity to those people, and yet not at the same time.

Okay so he's like, what, could be lying about his intention when he helped her? Yui was like that too. But he never uses her to his own gain; if anything, he's the one who always suffer because of her.

Nol could be lying about his sincerity? Kousuke was like that too. But unlike Kousuke, he never talks bad behind her back and he always defends her.

Nol may have some questionable loyalty? Alyssa was like that too. But unlike Alyssa, at least he has the guts to explain himself and/or apologize, no matter how much he wanted to run away.

Nol, an important person, is walking out of her life? Her mom is like that too. But... yea nah they're both similar. Shinae doesn't really know who they truly are and both have their reason to leave, that she's yet to understand.

Nol and the dad? I first thought Shinae unconsciously resented her dad who's never there for her when she had a hard time and Nol is always there for her. But like... that only happens recently. Before Nol entered, it's always been just her dad and herself in the team soo that's not quite right. When I think about it again... yeah Nol and Sim-Han, they're just similar. They always think about her well-being first, but they never share their burden. They want to shoulder everything alone.

Nol and her younger self? :)

I don't think Shinae realize this yet, but this is just how I feel when I see her grudge list. Is this even a grudge list anymore though?

[headinthe-fridge]

My Grandfather’s Lawyer (pt. 3)

⁂ – Ushijima Wakatoshi x reader –  ⁂

warning: nsfw, swearing

Summary: Your grandfather, Washijo Tanji, disowned your mother when she was pregnant with you and her hatred towards him was passed on to you. Now, your estranged grandfather wants you to leave your life in Tokyo and come live with him in his estate in the Miyagi Prefecture.

You took a day off and a 6-hour trip, intending to give him a piece of your mind before disappearing from their lives forever. You didn’t expect to see an ailing and fragile old man. Your day trip stretched into weeks and soon, you patched things up with your estranged family and warmed up to everyone -except to one: Ushijima Wakatoshi -your grandfather’s lawyer.

He thinks you have ulterior motives in reuniting with your grandfather.

You weren’t suppose to care what he thinks of you. His opinion didn’t matter.

But it did.

AN: I would like to thank you all for supporting this fic! I love you alll so damnnn much. I try to update everyday beacause the parts are very short. Please enjoy this next part. :)) Lemme know if you guys wanna get tagged!

Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2

You just got off the phone, informing Kiyoko that you wouldn't make it home today as well as asking her to look for someone to cover your shift tomorrow when Kuroo's voice sounded from behind the sliding panels.

"y/n-chan, you awake?"

You padded your way across the room and slid the panels open. "Kuroo-san, do you need anything?"

He greets you with a smile. "Dinner time, come."

"Sorry, I'll skip, I just ate snacks that Saki-san bro-"

He completely ignored what you were trying to say and grabbed your wrist. "No skipping meals in this house." He lectured as he pulled you towards the dining area.

You tried to yank your hand free from his grasp, heels digging against the wooden flooring of the engawa. "I'm fine, rea-"

"Hep!"

"Bu-"

"Hap!"

What the hell?

"Seriously, I do-"

"Hep hap hep!" He paused in his steps, let go of your wrist, and finally faced you. "Look here my dear cousin, it may not be obvious to you but Ji-ji loves you very much. So imagine our shock when he allowed you to go -yeah, 'Tsumu and 'Samu told me. You," He emphasized. "Who was long lost to him, and the daughter of his only daughter."

"What are you trying to say?" You asked, irritated, though you didn't really know what got you riled up all of a sudden.

"If you're only gonna stay one night with us -with him, at least give us this. We're still family, you know."

Well, that caught you off-guard. Once again, something pulled at your heartstrings at your cousin's words.

Cousin. Wow, it just dawned on you that you have one -scratch that, four cousins. Your father was an only child and you barely saw your relatives from his side. You've always thought about what it was like to have cousins that visit every holiday, celebrating family reunions, sharing meals over long tables.

Now, this cousin of yours just asked you to spend one night with them. Just one night and you were so selfish to even think about bailing out.

"Hmm, what'cha say?"

You let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. Lead the way, Kuroo-san."

His boisterous laugh filled the hallway, when he calmed down, Kuroo affectionately ruffled your hair. "Nii-chan. Call me nii-chan."

You scowled. "Maybe next time, Kuroo-san."

"Tch, cheeky little brat."

The dining hall was just as magnificent as the rest of the house. The area is well-lighted and the sliding panels were pushed to the side, letting in the night summer breeze. Instead of plain zabutons on tatami mats, padded floor-level, polished wood chairs were placed around the chabudai.

All your cousins were already seated when you and Kuroo arrived. The twins(greeted you) and your most lovable cousin, Hoshina (glowered at you), sat on the left side while you and Kuroo sat on the right. You mumbled a soft 'good evening' at the trio, not letting Hoshina's antics get to you.

Saki-san arrived with two women carrying their food.

"Your grandfather will not be joining you for dinner tonight." She informed. "He will have his meal in his room."

Your cousins were about to ask why when another person beat them to it.

"Why, is he not feeling well?"

"Of course, ji-ji isn't feeling well. Someone here gave him a headache."

Your eyes narrowed at her thinly-veiled jab. You opened your mouth to retort but once again, that 'voice' spoke.

"Be careful with your words, Hoshina-san, you don't want to eat them later."

Your brow shot up at the lawyer's words. You clearly didn't need him defending you but his counter made your cousin shut up. You're not thanking him though.

"Man, I'm hungry!" Atsumu -or was it Osamu, you weren't sure, cut the tension in the air.

"Come on, Ushiwaka-san, take a seat." Kuroo invited and gestured for the seat beside you.

You silently prayed he wouldn't accept your cousins invitation. After your excange earlier, you were sure there was bad blood between the two of you now.

"Sure."

Ah, shit.

Ushijima took a step towards the seat beside you when another presence interrupted him.

"Good evening everyone!"

All heads snapped to the direction of the new comer.

"Kotaru-kun!"

You did a double-take. Was that delight in Hoshina's eyes? Wow, she could be real gorgeous if only she always smiled that way.

"Hey, there Shina-chan," He greeted with a wink and you swore your cousin swooned. He proceeded to greet everyone then his eyes landed on you. "Who's the beauty here?"

It was Kuroo who spoke.

"Our cousin, y/n, just came from Tokyo."

"Cousin, eh? Well if that's the case then I'll seat next to your pretty y/n. What do you think Kuroo?"

"Be our guest, I know well that your weakness is pretty faces. But let me remind you, y/n is my cousin."

He wasted no time occupying the seat next time, his dazzling smile never faltering.

You didn't know if you'd be relieved or bewildered. But you were thankful nonetheless at not having to seat beside Ushijima -who took the seat next to the one called Kotaro.

"Nice to meet you, y/n. I'm Kotaro, I'm the marketing manager of your grandfather's company. Iff you want to know more about the family business, feel free to ask me."

You chuckled at his casual flirting. "I'll keep that in mind. And nice to meet you too."

"So, what's your work back in Tokyo?"

"Nothing fancy, just waiting tables at a cafe and-"

"Are we going to eat or what?" Ushijima's irritated voice interrupted your chat. "Why don't you talk about what you do for a living some other time and finish our dinner so we could go check on your grandfather."

What the hell is this dude's problem?

Kotaro leaned towards you and whispered in your ear. "Don't mind him, he's always been a little stiff." He said then snickered.

You fought the grin that threatened to come and instead focused on your meal. Even with your attention focused on the food, you could feel everyone sparing you glances periodically while Hoshina's looks were accompanied by visual daggers.

----

"What are you al doing here? And why are your faces like that?" The old Washijo asked when the lot of you entered his room. His voice was stern but the fond look in his eyes was obvious as he looked at you all, one by one. "Even my marketing manager is here, did you come here to report or are you just lurking around?" He jeered lightly.

"Of course not, boss. Since when did you see me just lurking around your home? I came to give my monthly sales report and I'm glad that I did otherwise I wouldn't be able to meet your pretty grandchild."

You flushed crimson at his words. What a flirt!

"Since you said that my granddaughter is pretty, you are forgiven." The old man said warmly as he glanced at you. "But what are you all doing here? I'm not going to die yet."

"I think they are not used to eating dinner without, especially now that y/n has arrived," And with an uncharacteristically handsome smile, he added. "Is it beause of over-excitement or old age?"

Okay, what?

Did this man just threw a half-joke half-insult at your grandfather?

"That's what I tried to tell Saki-san earlier, but you knew her, she's very strict."

And he got away unscathed?

You looked around warily but it seemed everyone was fine with it, like it was common occurence.

The old man assured all of you that he was fine and shooed everyone out.

Except for you.

"Now, please leave me with y/n/, I would like to speak with your cousin privately. We have some very important matters to discuss."

Each of them said their goodbyes and to your surprise, all your cousins gave the old man an affectionate hug -with Hoshina even placing a soft peck on your grandfather's temple.

The last one to leave the room was your grandfather's lawyer, he turned to close the sliding panel when your eyes met.

Your insides churned at his unreadable gaze. It wasn't friendly but it wasn't hostile either but you were sure that his look held meaning.

Part 4

Taglist: @thegrumpyhag​ @sushij1ma​ @valoryess​ @yakus-yakult​ @ly-nia​ @ushi-please​ @plutoglass @kokofirebangbomb​ @strawberryy-milkk 

I hope I didn’t forget anyone. Please feel free do message me if I did. And I’m sooooooo sorry if I did.

[russkayas]

But.. why does wikipedia describe this group of people with this word if it's claimed to be a slur? And also, there is an ice cream type named this way. Any tips how to deal with that?

Hey anon, this is a really great question!

I’m not indigenous (I’m very, very white LOL), so I’m going to step back and give you some information here from things that I’ve read from indigenous bloggers, content creators, etc. and other indigenous sources since I can’t accurately speak on the issue myself.

First, from a post by indigenous tumblr user marywhal, which is a guide on how to correctly refer to indigenous peoples in north america: “esk*mo is another slur. it’s an anglicized version of askipiw, a cree word which is more or less saying that inuit eat raw meat (i.e. that is implying they’re more akin to animals than people). again, even when you’re referring to sports teams that use the term in their name, don’t say it. it doesn’t matter what some white dude on QI told you, it’s not a “more acceptable” umbrella term for northern indigenous peoples. some people might use it to refer to themselves still, but, as with other terminology on this list, if you’re not indigenous, don’t say it!”

Now, from instagram user and blogger tapisakilabuk, who is Inuk: “Don’t call me Eskimo: I have always known that I am not an Eskimo, I am Inuk. From a really young age I remember being told that Eskimo is a bad word from my white dad. So as long as I can remember I haven’t used the word to describe myself. Here’s why: it was a name given to the people by non-Inuit. It is a name that we don’t give power too. It’s not who we are. It’s as simple as that. I wrote a letter to the football team @officialedmesks and asked if they would change it. I didn’t receive a reply...” (She has multiple posts about the word “Esk*mo” especially in relation to the sports team in Edmonton on her instagram if you would like to read more of her thoughts). Additionally, Tapisa mentions in another post that things that use the word Esk*mo (but especially the sports team) are all things that perpetuate negative or harmful stereotypes about Indigenous, and especially Inuit, people. 

Of course, the words of several indigenous people and sources are not what every indigenous person may say or feel. Some Inuit people may reclaim the word “Esk*mo” for themselves and use it freely, and others may not! In my mind, to help myself understand it a little better, I equate it to something I personally know and have experience with: how the LGBT community relates to the word/slur “queer”. Obviously, they are very different situations with different backgrounds, but queer is a word used to describe to gay people by heterosexuals, with an extremely negative connotation, similar to how Tapisa describes Esk*mo. Not every LGBTQ person wants to reclaim the word queer, and in the same fashion not every Inuit person will feel comfortable using or hearing the word Esk*mo. Some might, and that’s completely okay. It is each individual’s choice. And similar to queer, which should never be coming from cishet people’s mouths, non Inuit or Alaskan Native people shouldn’t be saying Esk*mo. What’s important here is that we recognize that the word is harmful to Inuit and Alaskan Native people and communities, and that they are asking us to no longer use it. 

TL;DR: Don’t trust wikipedia or take that information at face value. When it comes to issues like these, listen to Indigenous voices first and foremost. Learn their stories, ask how you can help advocate for their causes, read how they feel about these issues. As I stated before, I am white: if any of my followers are Inuk, Inupiaq, Yupik, or just Indigenous, PLEASE feel free to correct any of what I’ve said. I wrote all of this not to speak over Indigenous voices and opinions, but to direct anon to resources I have seen that have helped me to understand why Esk*mo is harmful to the Inuit community and should not be said.

Additionally, anon, if you’re looking for Inuk/Inuit (I apologize for being unsure when to use the singular vs plural terms!!) bloggers or content creators to follow, I recommend following Marika Sila, Shina Nova, and Kayuula Nova, all on both instagram and tiktok. Their content is informational, beautiful, and inspiring!

[demytasse]

[Shinzaya] Hold Me Tight (Or Don’t) — Ch 3

Previous Chapters: Chapter 2 | All Chapters

—

   Morning rituals were only good for their reliability—not their interest. They might conform with the trends of time; transform into something novel with new means to set the mould, but they always wound up a formulaic bore and predictable as the people who accessorised the unremarkable event. They were a mere bringer of happenstance.

Which Izaya's present gift from his trusty schedule came in the form of his nag of a friend who melded with the shadow on his left and sought to initiate any kind of annoyance. At the moment it was Shinra's hope to converse with an added twine of their dominant fingers as they walked the halls. The contact wasn’t needed, the touch wouldn’t be sincere, and their frozen palms needn't chill the both of them.

His attempts didn’t work, though he did try—and kept on—despite how Izaya shooed them away.

Izaya knew the conversation Shinra insisted would be a nuisance by default, but a day later in retrospect he’d claim that he prophesied exactly how chaotic their morning would turn, and precisely knew that detrimental intel would be gained as a result.

And if he told a soul, he’d explain how the giveaway was the digging grip around his bicep that demanded Shinra be paid attention—a tad different than the normal ritual.

    “Come on, Izaya, listen! I have a brilliant scenario for club today!"     “Can I stop you there?”     “Just hear me out.” Izaya side-eyed his friend.     “It actually involves studying, you know.”     “That doesn’t instil me with confidence.”

    “If you let me talk you’ll see that it’ll accomplish the opposite.”

    “Ah, even more so I’m skeptical.”

Shinra huffed. It was fake.

Though Izaya could tell how patient Shinra tried to be as to not ruin what he’d undoubtedly planned in depth. Which meant he wouldn’t let up no matter how long the reveal was delayed or sidetracked—ignored with little success.

    “Do I have the floor now?”

Izaya sighed, rubbed at tired eyes; revolved his other hand to indicate that Shinra should just get on with it.

    “Splendid!” 

    He cleared his throat enthusiastically. “So like I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m aware of your proclivity to lust over my form while we change in the locker room.”     “Shinra, you’ve never mentioned that,” he rolled his eyes upon instinct.

    “I’ve never explained how obvious your voyeuristic tendencies are?”

    “Perhaps you’re confusing me for you since it seems you’re the one paying explicit attention.”

    “Well it doesn’t matter, you won’t have to rely on those stray glances and pitiably gazes after today.”

    “Enlighten me, vice club president, what’s this supposed bullet on our agenda?”

Unconsciously they’d trekked an optimal route that avoided extra eyes and additional foot traffic. Still, Izaya looked about to make sure no one followed close enough to make a rumour of whatever nonsense Shina was about to explain.

    “Well since you’re finally amenable I’ll cut to the chase. I've come up with a sort of team bonding exercise, a warm-up if you will, to ease ourselves into the ceremonious sex life we’ve yet to start. Thus, I propose that we entertain our teenage libidos with a rousing yet sensual strip teas—”

His perverse fantasy was cut with a solid body-check.

    "Shinra, for the love of whatever god... I want none of what I so kindly prevented you from further revealing."

    "You mean our bodies or the truth?"

    Izaya asked deadpan, "wait...the truth?"

    "Yes! Revealing the truth.”

    "Which is…?"

    "That you want me!"

    "Rather blunt, even for you."

    Shinra shrugged, "as if you don't know my spiel."

    "Ah, so I do. In that case, I'll skip my own to save me the trouble."

Startled—Izaya’s hand was taken into Shinra’s grasp who sparkled in spirit.

    "I was right then." 

    "Not even in the slightest!" He yanked his hand back, scowled while he rubbed the audacity off his skin, “don’t colour my response with your confirmation bias.”

    "You're so cruel, Izaya!" Each word was whined in woe. 

Stray students that Izaya feared would show up covered their ears while they searched for whom to grumble at, but only found a chilling threat. The few of them dispersed and abandoned the duo.

    "Indeed, I am."

    "At this rate, I'll grow old and undesirable before anything can happen."

    "That's not my problem."

    "Well I insist that you make it your problem! That way I can fix it just like I tend to your ailments and injuries. I won't be made a defeatist just because you adamantly deny the fact that you want me to touch you up—in more than one way." 

A chuckle hung up Izaya.

    "And what a touchy subject that you fail to drop. You know that I can turn you into the officials for your sexual advances and disrespect of my wishes at any time. Wouldn’t that solve my problems just as well?”

Izaya cocked his smirk and crossed his arms; expectant of Shinra’s surrender going without a hitch. In lieu of that, another form of hitch formed in Shinra’s breath as he remembered the time when Shizuo was turned-in for a dumb reason.

Still, his rebuttal was found after a shiver, hitched a ride from the relief, and realigned their pace.

    "Come on now, Izaya, you know we both ignore morality; at the very least I do and admit it. So rest assured, I'll hit you up again with the idea later on."

    "Oh, I hardly doubt that you will, my dear friend."

Shinra hummed—pat Izaya on the shoulder with a self-confident smile.

    "Okay!"

His peculiar response ended their conversation on an awkward note, it really didn't go along with what Izaya said prior and if that weren't normal he would have taken offence that he wasn’t listened to.

Thus it was thrown aside in favour of continuing their circuit of identical corners and walkways; intentionally without a care of how close it was until homeroom.

Though the energy from before died down quickly before they started down a new avenue of discussion.

    “But to be honest, I've thought about us more."

Curious of what necessitated a 'but' precursor and a drop in his tone—a mention of ‘us’—Izaya flipped attention towards his pensive friend. Whom was overly so and a little too unsure of himself.

    "We're friends...right?”

Izaya tripped over his footing as well his thoughts.

    “Dubiously so, but here we are." 

He swatted his...dubious friend as if the tease would kill the heavy air; out of habit Shinra didn’t flinch nor release the somber tilt from his lip.

    "Yeah...so,” he hesitated, “doesn't that mean you won't connect unnecessary feelings to us having sex?"

The mood dissolved into sickness as Izaya listened to the full reel.

    “That's a boon, right?”

    “A boon, hmm?'

    "Right. I mean, it should be…" he trailed off.

    "I suppose to you that’s all I am—” Izaya frowned, “rather, that’s what I am to you; a tool for your selfish whims."

Shinra readjusted the strap on his bag, further fidgeted to correct an uncomfortable hang that persisted its agitation.

    “Mmm, seems you remember what this whole plan is for: to prevent me from shamefully disappointing Celty, correct?"

    Is he questioning me with what he’s spouted to me?

    "Tch, how could I forget the disgusting mental image of you two going at it when you keep reminding me of it?"

It was strained, but Shinra managed to slip into the reminiscent smile he wore whenever his love interest was brought up.

    "How could you suggest that? Anything that involves Celty is purely beautiful. Which in respect of my angel I want to remain pure for her, despite my obviously tainted thoughts."

Once again he held some restraint and it seemed unbeknownst to the teen himself like he half-mindedly kept to an abused script rather than ad-libbing. Which Izaya decided to lean into the sudden turn as punishment or to defend his own feelings—both really.

    "You do realise your logic makes no sense? Having sex strips you of your virginity."

    "Naturally. Which is the exact reason that I’m purely opting for male relations, it's not quite the same as making love with a woman, but similar enough setups and motions. Therefore it keeps me a virgin in the important way.

    "Although, if I’m going after an older woman, that is quite the perversion. Un-pure, in fact. Oh. Oh no… Will that tamper with Celty's purity if she goes after me: a man centuries younger than herself…?”

His prior confliction seemed forgotten for a moment as he fell into his practised character.     “Get to your point, pervert.”

    "Err, right… perhaps you know this, but it's said that only fools will rush haphazardly into things without regard. Which, one and the same, I’m that fool whom the wise men speak of; hopelessly in love and blinded by it. Where do you think that puts me, Izaya? I’m at the precipice of doing whatever it takes to fulfil my goal.”

To this he performed a hard pause and stared beyond Izaya’s sight into his mind, both conscious and unconscious; it unnerved him, made him sweat.

    “I’m not the only one you could use. There are heartless bastards who are just as absent of a mind. Easier to puppeteer.”

    “I don’t particularly have a deathwish, I’d rather mess around with you than wrestle with a dimwit beast like Shizuo.”

Shinra flinched in preparation of being mauled by violent repercussion as if said beast was actually present. If it was a joke to lighten both their moods it went ignored.

While his friend comedically struggled with traumatic memories, Izaya explicitly worried about himself. How the previous implication deemed their friendly get-togethers more as a requirement of acquaintances to fulfil a specific purpose.

Izaya watched Shinra emote through a summoned monologue while stuck on mute. His mouth flapped silently, looked playful a few separate times while he nudged Izaya with a wry wink. His bright smile would immediately fall whenever he didn’t get a response before he'd continue—defeated. 

Whatever he rambled was in vain.

Though the absent audio made Izaya's internal voice scream.

Somewhere within him nagged a question of if he’d actually made up his mind—if he really wanted none of the sexual intimacy that Shinra kept offering, with or without either of them smitten. He didn’t and he wasn’t, he really wanted none of that baggage. 

Yet there was tension, and it’d been eating away at his brain; the swirls of muscle that had become a victim of jealousy, a parasite that started to take over his rationale, motor skills, and more.

    "...plus he's not as much my type aesthetically unlike y—"

Shinra turned mute for real as he went stiff —was killed on the spot, stood a corpse in rigour mortis.

At the changed demeanour Izaya scrunched his features to a focal point, that is until he looked down the hall. It appeared that the devil was summoned by his repeated mention—Shizuo, the dolt who'd surely wreck both of their mornings.

    Moderately, Shinra began to shake. "Oh god, he heard me."

Given the grim aura that surrounded Shizuo, Izaya gathered that he was one agitation away from ornery, which bode terribly.

    Izaya masked his nerves with a sigh, "Shinra that's improbable. Maybe not impossible, considering his inhuman hearing, but—"

    "The hell did you manipulative bastards do?!" 

As if to prove the hypothesis, Shizuo locked sight on them, his ornery scowl confirmed; with a chip on his shoulder, a prominent rip on his jacket’s shoulder.

Decidedly he must have read their racked nerves as damnation of some ploy that hadn’t been actioned, or maybe it had, Izaya wasn’t sure if Shinra had set up something fishy.

    "Surprising as it is for your amateur reasoning, Detective Gumshoe, we did nothing."

Shizuo looked between Izaya and Shinra in doubt and looped through his scrutiny again. Oddly enough he settled shifty eyes on the other teen though targeted both of them—just to be unfair.

    "Eep!!" Shinra weaved a hyperbolic squeal into his legitimate reason to falter.

Though there wasn’t an excuse for his dart around Izaya to create a safe base out of him, both slim and inefficient. Especially there wasn’t a good reason for Shinra to grasp onto his cover, nor was there to hold his waist fake means to stabilise himself before he wrapped them around front. It was too intimate a hold for the hostile setting, but the teen kept to his whim.

    Ah...perhaps this was planned...

Shinra perched his chin on Izaya's shoulder to keep watch of their enemy.

    "Prove I'm innocent, Izaya!"

    "Like hell he's innocent!" Shizuo yelled.

In one sense Shinra couldn’t be proven guilty, but he wasn’t innocent. He took advantage of Izaya’s skyrocketed endorphins as Shizuo trudged closer—he pilfered them, used them. Subtly nuzzled a spot behind his ear; continued his act, but seemed flustered as his breath was shallow from underlined fear, yet focused.

It was that manipulative sway Izaya swore he liked, but now he felt betrayed by his propensity to love anything off-kilter.

Anger ran up his spine and ended in a shudder around the spot Shinra laid his head. His pulse raced furthermore as a palm rolled discreetly under his jacket and flattened upon his heart to monitor its speed.

Shinra spoke. It was loud enough to combat the hallway chatter—clearly the beast as well—but went unheard by anyone other than his victim.

    “Interesting, fear really does bring you excitement. I should’ve known...” 

Shinra hummed uncharacteristically pleased for scientific discovery. That or Izaya's preference had grown askew over time and made a calculated tone of a scientist attractive, repulsive given the circumstances. Though that preference could possibly be tied to his personal inspector who tested his fortitude against prior jealousy.

For a second he swore he felt their pulse sync up with the heartbeat against his back. Enough to count for evidence that maybe… Shinra toyed with both their feelings.

Regardless of what he had done to invoke Shizuo's wrath as a trap, Izaya felt he was made a lab rat, a joke.

As Shizuo swiftly decreased the space between them, he turned against his friend.

    Two can play this game, asshole.

Within the last moment, Izaya overlapped their hands in tender opposition of the aggressive atmosphere, which shocked Shinra. Izaya used the opportunity to pry the leech from his back and shoved him into the battlefield.

    "W-woah!"

Shinra spun and tripped, and by the look of it, his fear shot up to one-hundred percent genuine.

    "Shizu-chan," Izaya smirked, "have at him."

    "Seriously?!" Shinra staggered off to evade—sounded a hair amused, but looked terrified as Shizuo picked up speed.

    "Don't start acting like that damn bastard, Shiiinrrraaa!"

In the distance, they were now a pair of ants.

Left on the sidelines, Izaya mused.

    "You know…”

His hands formed a frame out in front of him with an eye closed for better focus. 

    “I don't see how anyone could get tired of this show like they do with Shizu-chan and me.”

    He clicked a fake shutter, “they must have no appreciation for good humour." Izaya wished he had an actual camera to photograph his revenge—for precious school memories soon to end, not to mention good blackmail. In spite of that, he hoped Shinra would forget the discovery he made in the heat of the moment. Anything more discovered of him in that fashion would be worse than a public downfall, it would be a private tragedy. And really, it wasn’t just that he may get a bit…excited in dangerous situations; honestly, that should’ve been obvious and he knew Shinra knew that. It was probably an excuse for his shitty friend to associate sexual excitement with himself. It was a flimsy experiment with failed results, but only because Izaya already got that sort of reaction when it involved Shinra.

As his hands slid from the air into his pockets he willed his rampant pulse to normalise—much to his dismay, it didn't budge.

    “My, what a pickle he’s stuck me in.”

His mood soured just like vinegar and salt, with the purpose of the sexual endeavour fresh on his mind. What his fool reminded him of—rather not his, but it was easier to say and pleasant ring. 

Shinra played with his sweet spots and weaknesses; he did it too well like he paid unnecessary attention to someone who was just a target for his ploy. That in and of itself was trouble.

    Izaya skipped class and club alike—he lacked the energy to struggle through their time together alone. That and he couldn't stop focussing on the undeterminable expression Shinra wore while they exchanged souls…

    “...I’m at the precipice of doing whatever it takes to fulfil my goal…”

Correct him if that didn’t feel like a hint for him to pick up.

—

AN: What a slog writing this has been, ahaha...

[p-pooky]

A few words about the last week.

I feel that i should share with you with this very important information. As you might know I am part of 'Neverhood' fandom and I love people's creativity here and their original characters they do create.

Recently, after 11 years of acquaintance via Internet, I finally managed to meet in person, one of most important member in the 'Neverhood' fandom and one of my closest internet friend - @gweniala

Of course, I was mostly scarred of language barrier, due to the fact I have never spoke in English for such a long period of time, and as it turned out, it was not such a problem after all. 

Gwen in real life is a kind of person I expected to meet. I have never met someone who is talented in many, various ways. Drawing. writing short stories, possibly the best ones ever created based on 'Neverhood' series, and on top of that even She is able to write music. At first I felt intimidated by her vast knowledge, but i have never met anyone else who would be as kind as Gwen.

(Hooray for me, I had the opportunity to see how she creates pictures in the traditional style.)

It was a perfect opportunity to show her most of my arts made in traditional and I could watch her drawing some art too. Must admit, it was such a breathtaking sight.

We have spent three days together and I was excited to show her my hometown. Frankly I always wanted to do it and finally I managed to fulfill my fantasies. I was so glad that she liked the city, polish customs and food, even though she was surprised sometimes.

(This is how a room usually looks like when two artists meet)

I hope that your friends and family will enjoy the gifts, which I helped you to choose. Moreover, in the beginning we were supposed to meet together with @shinakazami1​ too but due to private issues we could not meet as a three. However, we managed to send to her a special gift related to our meeting. I hope that we will manage to meet together next time.

Sadly Gwen had to come back and I hope that was not our last meeting, since you are a really valuable person. I would like to mention the fact that I managed to visit Shina and Her family it were a really great days. 

Thanks Gwen and Shina for everything, really!

[foxydivaxx]

Abel and Cain chapter 3

Man it’s been a while. I owe a lot of updates for various fanfics tbh.

“.....some first degree burns and several broken bones. Also she suffered from internal bleeding in the brain.” the doctor explains Shura’s condition to Mephisto who listens with a frown on his face as he observes Shura’s body closely.

A mere lower class or mid class demon wouldn’t inflict this level of damage. Heck even some of the S-Class demons would not harm a mere human to this extent unless.....

Those two idiots are in big trouble. Mephisto mutters. Rin meanwhile just stares at Shura’s corpse, his eyes losing whatever depth it once had. As weird as it sounded, the woman was like a mother to him and was one of the rare few that stood by him. Now she is gone and he bets that people would suspect him.

Izumo who was seated next to him still visibly shaken by what happened, eyes red and puffy from all the crying. He does not realize his body moving as he places a hand on his shoulder, startling the poor girl as she jumps up in fright.

“Hey watch it!!!” Izumo yelled. Rin simply stares blankly at her. That alone breaks her heart. Rin is no longer the cheerful boy he was used to be and it is obvious who is at fault here.

“I am not gonna pretend anymore Izumo. I am tired of not being who I am.” He says with a cold tone. She is shocked by the tone by which he spoke. “What do you mean?”

He sighed. Perhaps he can trust her with this. ��Truth is Izumo, the Rin you guys have known for a while now is not the true me. The real Rin Okumura is a much darker and lonely soul.” He admits to her.

She simply glares at him, completely unfazed. She had always been suspicious of that because of that one time he talked down some bullies in school. “You know, I have always been suspicious of you and that brother of yours and now you have confirmed it.”

He simply nods, running his hand through his hair. “Bet you hate me even more.” It was then that Izumo does something very surprising and that is to smirk at him. “Well that makes both of us because I am not all that icy. Besides I kinda like you better this way as opposed to that fake persona you often put up even though it is kinda cute.”

She then stares down at Shura. “I bet whoever attacked her would return here. Probably to lure you out.”

“But what does not make sense is why Kirigakure and not someone much closer to Rin like that Moriyama girl?” Says Amaimon.

At the mention of Shiemi, Rin instantly flares up. “Never ever fucking mention her name again!!” He shouts, making everyone jump up in shock and fright.

Unfortunately, said girl was standing by the door with the remaining Exwires, all staring at him in stunned silence. Since when does Rin speak that way? At that moment, Shiemi breaks down in tears and just runs off.

“Why the hell did you have to speak that way Okumura?! Don’t you realize you have just hurt her feelings?!” Suguro yells.

Rin snorts. “Oh so she now has feelings huh?” He replied sarcastically, further stunning everyone in the room. Rin then looks up, shooting a terrifying death glare that made the other Exwires to shit in their pants. Might as well let them have it

“If she really had feelings she wouldn’t have turned on me after the truth about my heritage got out.” He says. Shina then says, “Hello your dad caused the Blue Night!!”

It was at this moment that Izumo acts. Getting up, she walks towards Shina and slaps him hard in the face. “HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO RIN THAT WAY?!! DO YOU ALL REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!!! NO ONE AND I MEAN ABSOLUTELY NO ONE ASKED TO BE BORN TO WHATEVER FAMILY THEY ARE BORN INTO?!! SO THAT BLUE NIGHT SHIT AIN’T HIS FAULT?!!” She screams at the others.

Rin then says, “It’s no use arguing with riff raft like them Izumo. Let’s go.” With that, Izumo stomps past the others with Rin and his brothers following suit, Rin not bothering to spare a single glance at them. On his way out, he brushes past his twin, not even bothering to look at or acknowledge his presence, Yukio doing the same thing. Mephisto notices this but does not utter a word.

Once they are outside, Rin then tells Mephisto, “I will not be attending the funeral. In short, I do not want to be within the same vicinity as those bitches.”

Izumo then nods. “Might as well skip out on that too.” Rin then shows concern. “What about Paku?” The purple haired girl then says, “Will discuss with her. Still it is kind of well...awkward being there with them and all....”

Without hesitation, Rin then says, “She and Paku will come with us.” Izumo’s eyes widened in surprise. “A-Are you serious?!” She exclaimed. Mephisto simply chuckles. “I kinda agree with him. Besides, it’s best we avoid unnecessary drama. Still you kids go ahead. I, Astaroth and Amaimon have some important business to attend to. Roku will take you home.” With that he and the other Demon Kings head off. Izumo thinks for a moment before nodding. “Alright. Will tell Paku.”

Took me a while to update this. My bad. Things are getting interesting right?

[gweniala]

Quantum Uncertainty

After re-reading Dake of the Past by shinakazami1, I was so violently inspired that I spent the whole afternoon, evening and morning writing. This is the 9-page result. I am proud of my muse.

If you’re not familiar with my five Guardians, have a look at NH: The Guardians at my dA page. That should do for an introduction so that you’re not confused who is who.

Important note: Several parts of this fanfiction, mostly the “flashbacks”, were taken from shina’s Dake of the Past and adapted so that they’d fit with my writing style a little more. I don’t claim ownership of those pieces. In fact, this entire thing is heavily based on Dake of the Past, it’s basically a retelling from another angle and... making it cannon. Go shina, your ideas are strange and awesome.

***

„Adah!“

The scream woke Ruze up like a knife stab. He shot up and looked around wildly. He heard a thump in the darkness… and when he finally made light, he saw Dake lying on the floor next to his bed.

“…What?” Gome asked sleepily.

“Dake?” Ruze growled. The Guardian of Fire groaned.

“I think I was having a nightmare…”

Ruze snorted, half annoyed, half relieved. “Don’t scare me like that. You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry…” Dake muttered, picking himself up from the floor. “Good night,” he said, lying down again.

“What was the nightmare about?” Gome asked curiously. He was shushed by three of his brothers, but Dake answered in spite of that. “I don’t rememeber anymore…”

“Lame,” Gome yawned.

Before Ruze went back to sleep, he saw Dake light a scented candle beside his bed. He usually kept one alight throughout the night, said it helped him sleep. Did he forget to light it in the evening? Ruze couldn’t remember.

They all fell back asleep one by one.

***

“Tell me only once more ‘I love you’… and I will never go away again.”

***

“Look at that beauty,” Dake said and nudged Kamzik in the rib cage. The Hoodian jerked and spilled dynamite powder on his lap.

“What?”

Dake pointed. Caline and Krevel were walking across the Arena toward the Explosive Shack. They were chatting amicably.

“May I remind you that she’s married?” Kamzik pulled one brow up and returned to stuffing his dynamite stick.

“Yeah but… do you see those huge… stems?” Dake grinned shamelessly, gesturing in front of his chest.

Kamzik rolled his eyes. “Why won’t you just leave her alone?”

“Because she’s one of the very few girls here!” Dake retorted, his gaze never leaving Caline’s body. “I can’t waste this opportunity.”

“It’s always girls, girls, girls with you,” Kamzik looked at the Guardian angrily. “What’s your problem? There aren’t any girls on the Neverhood. The only ones we’ve got is Tao who’s weird and Klaya who’s your mother! Why do you keep going on about them? Aren’t guys enough friends for you?”

“Ah-ah,” Dake wagged his finger. “You have to learn to appreciate beauty, my friend. The curves of a female body are the most refreshing gaze one can… Hello, madame,” he took off his non-existent hat and bowed to Caline, who had just entered the Shack. “May I interest you in some fireworks tonight?”

“No flirting, we’re just passing through,” Krevel told him sternly and pushed Caline through the Shack.

“They will start at eight in the Arena if you take a fancy!” Dake called after them with a wide smile. “Anyway, as I was saying,” he turned back to Kamzik. He paused when he saw what the Hoodian was doing with the dynamite stick. “That is going to explode in your hands, you know,” he said dryly.

“No, it’s not,” Kamzik defended his craft, covering the stick end and inspecting the finished product.

“Uh-huh,” Dake nodded, unimpressed. He took the dynamite stick from Kamzik’s hand (“Hey!”) and walked out into the Arena (“What’s your problem?”). “Watch and learn,” he told his discontented friend. He snapped his fingers and the fuse caught on fire. He barely had time to extend his hand before the dynamite exploded.

“For Quater’s sake, you madman!” Kamzik cried out, running out of the Shack toward his friend. When the smoke cleared, he saw that Dake was covered in soot and completely unharmed. “You’re crazy!”

“And you can’t stuff a dynamite stick,” Dake replied swiftly. “Come on, I’ll show you how it’s done so that you don’t lose a limb or two the next time.”

***

“Dake, why are you sleeping on the ground?”

It was Loopid, one of the youngest Hoodians. Dake groaned. He found Loopid terribly annoying. Whenever Dake approached a lady, this guy would appear out of nowhere and spoil his plans.

“What do you want, Loop?” Dake growled as he picked himself up from the ground. “I’m not bothering anyone right now. Is there a problem?”

Loopid didn’t answer. He was looking at his feet, rocking from side to side gently. Then he smiled, waved at Dake and walked away.

What is up with this guy? One moment he hates me, the next he’s all smiles.

But he wouldn’t waste any more time on him. He needed to see Klem, one of the Neverhood medics. Surely she would give him her time of the day.

***

Arig was tending to a gramophone flower sapling when he heard the inarticulate cry. He looked around quickly, recalling whom he had recently seen in the Garden. When he couldn’t see anyone, he felt out. Immediately he noticed a Hoodian lying under the five-leaved ivy. He rushed over. It was Dake, lying on his side and twitching.

“You said to her… live for… three more years, and…“ he was mumbling.

„Dake,“ Arig called out to his brother. Dake didn’t react.

“Without any memories about me…”

“Dake, wake up,” Arig nudged him gently.

Suddenly Dake’s eyes sprang open. “You BASTARD!” he bellowed and swung his arm, sending a fan of blazing fire out. Arig leaped backward. The heat singed his face and chest, leaving behind nasty burns.

“D-D-Dake?!” he stuttered, wide-eyed and terrified. He felt his face; the wounds were regenerating.

Dake blinked and sat up. He looked at his hand. “What?” he uttered, disoriented. Then he looked at Arig and his eyes widened. “By mother, bro, I’m so sorry,” he got to his feet and went to hug Arig, but the Hoodian scooted away. Dake stopped, looking regretful and ashamed. “I must have been having a nightmare.”

Arig nodded, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. He had not seen that coming at all. It had been harmless, all in all, but for a Guardian to use his powers against his brother… “I know. You… you realise that they keep coming back, right? Are you doing anything about them?”

Dake shrugged helplessly. “Candles help. I didn’t want to fall asleep here… Arig, I’m sorry man…”

Arig waved his hand. “I’m fine, you just scared me. Come on, let’s sit down. Do you remember what the nightmares are about? You keep calling someone called Adah…”

“Adah…” Dake repeated thoughtfully. “Doesn’t ring a bell. Maybe Hoborg knows something about them.” He rubbed his hands gleefully. “I hope it’s a girl! Then I could have one at least in my sleep.”

***

“Adah,” Bobuslaw set down a large dusty book, “was a historical figure. She was a wife to Nuri and the sole survivor of the burning of Lides. She lived on a world created by Arven a long time ago. Her name survived to this day because the village’s gruesome end attracted much attention, including that of historians.”

“What happened?” Krevel asked, sipping at his cup of tea.

“Bad business,” Bobuslaw shook his head sadly. “The village shaman, Majeer Shanem, went mad. He murdered everyone in the village except for Adah and then set his house on fire. The fire blazed so high that it could be seen hundreds of miles away. Adah was found scrambling through the ruins, half insane with pain from the burns. She was trying to find the corpse of her husband, Nuri, among the corpses of the villagers, but they were all burned beyond recognition… She died on the same day, but not before she told everyone what had happened. That’s how she made it into historic records.”

“Why did the shaman spare her?” Krevel asked.

Bobuslaw shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he liked her?”

Krevel made a small sceptical smile. “Thank you, Bobuslaw. You’ve been a great help. Your library’s really the best. We couldn’t find a mention of Adah in the entire Castle or in the Hall of Records.”

Bobuslaw blushed and chuckled from the praise. “Do you want to borrow the book? Perhaps you’ll find more interesting things in there.”

“I would like to,” Krevel nodded curtly. “Ottoborg?” he called upstairs. “I’m done here. Would you mind coming down and giving me a ride back to the Brokenhood?”

***

“Nuri was a Guardian of Fire,” Ruze muttered darkly, flipping through the pages. “The shaman didn’t burn his house down, it was Nuri who came in there and fought him with fire. Dake shouldn’t be remembering this. He’s not supposed to recall any of this.”

“But he doesn’t, does he?” Gome piped up. “He has no idea who Nuri or Adah are. He doesn’t remember that previous life when he’s awake.”

“He’s not supposed to remember it at all!” Ruze raised his voice. “Sorry. Fuck.” He ran his hand across his face. “This is really bad. I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s really bad.”

“How can you tell?” Arig asked carefully.

Ruze hesitated. “I don’t know. Gut feeling. I’m just getting the feeling that remembering your previous incarnation is really, really not supposed to happen. I’m worried that the hothead might be interdimensionally sick.”

“Interdimensionally sick,” Gome repeated in admiration. “Psyche… I wanna be interdimensionally sick.”

“No, you don’t,” Ruze snapped, but he couldn’t help smiling.

***

“Higher, higher! Nuri, I want to go higher.”

“Hush love, any more and the fire might hurt you. I can’t let that happen.”

Adah just laughed and told Nuri to give her a break. After their hot-air balloon touched down, she made dinner for them, and like every day, they ate it together in the garden.

When they were just about finished, Adah disregarded table manners and began to sing:

“Something so unfair,

a woman kills a man.

Why did we not beware

and why did you say it, Shanem?

We will die anyway,

but what will it be for

if we have to start up everything

right from the beginning once more?”

She stopped and smiled at Nuri. He knew that his wife’s health was getting worse. He needed to go alone to Majeer Shanem and ask him some questions. And one of those questions was…

***

“We don’t think this is a good idea,” Ottimo shook his head.

“Please,” Ruze stepped forward. “You and Tuborg are the only ones who can help us. Hoborg has rejected us twice now, and Ottoborg doesn’t want anything to do with it.”

“Have you considered that they might have a reason for that?” Tuborg asked snidely. “I’m not saying a machine that can read dreams is impossible…”

“…but it’s really immoral,” Ottimo finished for him. “I like my privacy when I dream.”

“You share half of your dreams with me,” Tuborg narrowed his eyes as his twin.

“You don’t count,” Ottimo shrugged.

“Then it’s possible,” Ruze latched onto the only important thing he had heard. “You can get inside someone’s head and see their dreams.”

The twins looked at each other. Ottimo pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let me get this straight. You’re worried that your brother is ripping through reality when he sleeps, which is why he gets dreams about his past life.”

Ruze nodded. Ottimo stared at him in exasperation.

“Don’t you think that it could be a coincidence? Maybe he just have heard the name Adah somewhere. Dreams are weird.”

“And repetitive,” Tuborg added. “Sometimes you’ll have the same dream for years.”

“On top of that, your brother is a womaniser who can’t keep it in his pants for shit,” Ottimo continued.

“He’s been constantly hitting both on our mother and our sister, who are both happily married,” Tuborg elaborated.

“Why would we want to help you get inside his head when we don’t like him very much already?” Ottimo finished.

Ruze bit his lip. “I can offer a favour.”

Ottimo waved his hand, dismissing that option. “Favours are a Neverhoodian thing. Raise the bid.”

“You want money?” Ruze stared at them in surprise.

“What? No!” Ottimo recoiled.

“Best klay would be nice, though,” Tuborg interjected thoughtfully.

“Brother dear, don’t get distracted,” Ottimo told his twin. Tuborg shrugged and smiled.

Ruze huffed. “Fine. Then what about information?”

“Ooh,” the twins said in unison and leaned forward.

“Now you’re talking,” Tuborg said.

“What kind of information?” Ottimo asked, grinning. “A new robot drive?”

Ruze turned his palms up, shrugging. “I may come up with something. Let me into your workshop and I’ll figure something out.”

Tuborg caught Ottimo’s eye. “Are we really going to sell out like this?” he asked, a little concerned.

“Depends on what miracle of technology he comes up with,” Ottimo shrugged and smirked. “Think of dad’s reaction when he sees it. It has to be real good if we’re constructing a dream reader in return.”

***

“And I’m supposed to sleep with this thing on my head?” Dake asked sceptically, turning the dark grey helmet in his hands. “Won’t it explode and tear my head off?”

“It won’t, I checked,” Ruze assured him.

“Right.” Dake rubbed his lips. “I’m still not totally cool with this, just so you know. I’m not wrong it the head. A dude’s allowed to dream.”

“Just put it on,” Usha rolled his eyes and prodded his brother. “We’re all curious about Adah.”

“One more thing,” Dake said as he was putting the helmet on his head. “You’re the only ones who’ll see this, right? Bros before hoes. You’ll tell no one.”

“We promise,” Ruze knocked on the grey helmet affectionately. “Now go to sleep. I hope you’re not too nervous to fall asleep.”

“I’ll keep you all awake for hours,” Dake laughed sinisterly.

He was out within ten minutes.

***

“It’s nice to have such a good patient,” Klem smiled at Dake, wiping her hands clean on a white peace of cloth. “But next time, please, don’t visit ill ladies again. You might not wake up again. Capishe?”

“Of course, Klem,” Dake smiled back, appreciating the view of her curving body. “I don’t understand what happened either. I wanted to find you because I didn’t feel so good, and then I don’t remember anything.”

“Not even what you did in the waiting room?” Klem asked, raising a brow.

“Eh heheh, you know me…” Dake laughed it off. “I’ll see you.”

“Take care,” Klem said, catching and holding his eye as he walked out of the infirmary.

***

“Wow, it’s his dream girl! Did you see that look? That’s what I can flirting!”

“Hush, Gome. You’ll wake the loverboy up.”

***

On his way home, Dake found something completely unexpected.

“Hello girl!” he whistled. “Do you come down here often?” Finally, a new face! He had never seen this Hoodian, and she didn’t look like she knew this place either.

“Yes, quite often,” she smiled at him and batted her eyelashes. She made his blood boil just by that little gesture. “Tell me, darling, where can I find Hoborg?” Her voice was so familiar. But, as he looked at her chest, that wasn’t the only familiar thing about her. That chest didn't belong to the girl from his dreams. No, it was…

“Of course,” he heard himself say. “But first, won’t you tell me your name?” It couldn't be. That chest was the same as Loopid’s. The shape of it was different, of course, but the threaded markings definitely looked similar to his.

”This is my problem,” the girl sighed. “I need to find the king so that he gives me a name. My brother already has one, but I don't.”

“Who’s your brother? You know, most of us can be siblings and lovers at the same time.” He smiled at her, as bright as the sun, while his stomach was turning like a restless otter. He felt like he knew her.

“Well, his name is Loopid…” she told him intimately.

He remembered Loopid's birth. He was born with three brothers, no sisters. But let's play this game of yours, he thought. “Really? Where is your brother now?”

“Oh Nuri,” the girl purred, coming even closer to him. “He is here.”

Dake’s eyes widened. “What did you call me?” Nuri. That name… it belonged to him. How? He felt like something was tearing… “What is this game?” he grabbed the girl by her shoulders. “Who are you? How do you know-” Unwelcome images flashed in his mind: a great fire, a crouching shaman covered in red… a great despair.

Her smile vanished. She looked down and said: “You said that one day I would be the one to forget you. And yet I see you here, chasing other women, not remembering me… Loop is doing a good job.” She sounded close to tears. She looked him in the eye hopefully. “Don’t you remember someone named Adah?”

It was her. The one he had been longing for. Wordless, he hugged her. He was happy that only she could see him cry. Corrupted memories were flooding in.

Then he heard a male voice.

“Welp, I see this session is over. I thought she said she could be here a little here longer.”

***

Dake yelped and jerked awake. Arig went to calm him down, helping him take the grey helmet off. The Guardian of Fire squinted at the static-filled screen.

“Well? Did you see something?”

His brothers responded with silence.

“What? I don’t remember anything. Was it scary? Was it rad? I think I woke up with terror, but I can’t really remember what it was about…”

Finally Ruze broke the silence. “This is really bad.”

“What?” Dake bristled. “Why? You guys – what did you see?”

“It was another Neverhood,” Gome said with wonder. “Different from this one. There were different buildings and different people… I hardly recognised some of the places. But it was definitely the Neverhood.”

“Oh,” Dake perked up. “Were there girls?”

“You talked to two of them, but I saw a lot more,” Gome nodded. “I thought you said the image would be hazy and blurred?” he turned to Ruze. “But I could see everything in detail. And were we supposed to hear Dake’s thoughts, too? By mother, I’d never looked at someone’s chest with that much intensity.”

“We weren’t,” Ruze growled from where he was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. “That’s the point. This wasn’t a dream.”

“What about a very vivid dream?” Usha suggested.

“No!” Ruze barked, making Usha jump. Then hid his face in his palms and groaned. “Why are you doing this to me, Dake…”

“I’m not doing anything, you’re the one who insisted that you take a peek at my dreams,” Dake protested. “Not my fault you didn’t like what you see. I don’t remember any of it!”

“Do you really not remember a single dream?” Arig asked. “Not ever?”

“Not ever,” Dake confirmed. “I’ve always been jealous of people who remembered their dreams. I know that I have dreams, but I forget them the moment I wake up.”

“Ruze?” Gome said. “Do you mind telling us why you’re so upset over this?”

Ruze let his hands down and glared at his well-meaning brother. “Sure,” he said in the end. “What Dake’s having aren’t dreams. He’s tapping into another reality. That’s why the image is so clean. His brain isn’t making it up as it goes. It’s genuinely happening, somewhere very far away, and our lover boy switches between bodies and realities as he goes.”

“Ahem,” Usha cleared his throat, breaking the still that followed. “Not to be a spoil-sport, but are you sure that you’ve been getting enough sleep? You sound half delirious right now. I’m pretty sure that other realities don’t exist.”

“I’m-” Ruze began to snap back, but then he noticed the others nodding. “…You really think so? That I’m making this up?”

“I’m just saying that you’re reading a lot into it,” Usha shrugged apologetically. “How would you convince us that what you’re saying is true? Do you have anything beside your gut feeling?”

Ruze hesitated. Then he sighed, defeated, and leaned back against the wall.

“It would explain one thing, though,” Arig spoke up in a musing tone. “Didn’t you find it weird that Dake always chased after girls, even though there weren’t any? Maybe he does it because he remembers them from his dreams. After all, there were a lot of girls there.”

“I don’t remember anything from my dreams, I’ve just told you,” Dake pouted. “Don’t make me out to be deranged.”

“No,” Arig shook his head, “I’m not saying anything like that. It wouldn’t be the first time someone I knew switched back and forth between an alterego and didn’t remember anything.” He paused, looking at his brothers expectantly. Confused stares was all he got. “Really? No one’s told you The Perfect Stone yet?” He shook his head in disbelief. “I’ll have to get Nike to tell it to you once he comes back again. It was Krevel. For reasons I can’t begin to speculate about, he put Hoborg’s crown on many years ago. He turned evil and forgot everything he was before.”

“Holy water,” Gome interrupted. “Krevel put on Hoborg’s crown? And they just let him walk around the Hood after that? He’s a security risk!”

Arig shrugged uneasily. “I… don’t think he is? Anyway, that’s beside the point. What I want to say is, after Krevel turned into Leverk, he didn’t remember anything about being Krevel. And after he turned back, he didn’t recall anything about being Leverk either. But Nike and Nehmen insist that it was still the same person, with the same background, opinions and insights. He just didn’t keep any conscious memories. It was all in the subconsciousness.” He tapped his temple. “The same thing could go for Dake. He doesn’t remember any girls in particular, but he knows that there are supposed to be girls.”

“Are you serious?” Dake frowned at him. “Your theories are even more unhinged than Ruze’s. Don’t tell me you actually believe the guy.”

Arig made a defensive gesture, sitting back on his bed. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just pointing out that there’s a precedent.”

“I don’t have an evil alter ego!” Dake cried out. “Seriously, I think this entire business with dream reading is a load of bullshit. I don’t know why I agreed to it in the first place.”

“Your previous incarnation apparently burned his shaman’s house down to the ground,” Ruze growled.

“He was very obviously upset that his entire village had been killed!” Dake threw his arms out.

“Yes, my point exactly,” Ruze bared his teeth, rising up from the wall. “He let his fury get the better of him. As far as we know, both he and the shaman burned to their deaths in that house.”

“Don’t compare me to some lunatic!” Dake hissed, getting up from his bed as well. “Should I dig up some historic records of your previous lives, see how you fared in the big cruel world?”

“Guys,” Gome said unhappily.

“Go ahead and try,” Ruze hissed back. “Whenever we find references of previous Guardians, it’s always the Guardian of Fire. Who was the first one we learned about, huh? The Warrior of Fire, Gerard. Very moving story, tells how you got your cool sword. Begins with how you burned your house down and our parents with it.”

“Burn in hell!” Dake shouted, stomping his foot. Sparks came out from under it. “You don’t get to order me around like this! My past selves are long gone, and my dreams are mine alone!”

“Funny thing that,” Ruze snarled. “Cause it seems to me like you’re breaking the fabric of the universe in your dreams. You always did what you wanted, chaos. As thoughtless as ever.”

Dake placed his palm over his chest and bright red light seeped from between his fingers. “You will NOT-”

There was a loud crash followed by a splash. Dake yelped and jumped back as rivulets of water ran across the floor. They converged in Gome’s hands as one bobbing blob of water.

“Alright you hotheads – I have a bucketful of water and I’m not afraid to use it!” the Guardian shouted, taking a battle stance. “The first one to smite the other will get wet from head to toe! Seriously though,” he added in a tone much less aggressive and more pleading, “quit it, please. You look like you’re gonna murder each other. Can’t you just take a break and talk it out? Ruze, you don’t gotta rub Dake’s previous lives in his face, you know that’s a low blow…”

Ruze seemed to deflate at that. He slumped his shoulders and said quietly: “I see. That’s how it is, then. None of you believe me.” And he turned to leave. He ignored when several voices called out “wait”. When someone grabbed his hand to stop him, he tried to yank it out. But the grip was stronger than he had expected. He turned around to glare at whoever was stopping him from leaving. He hesitated when he found that it was Arig.

“You…”

“Don’t run away,” the Guardian of Earth said quietly, covering his brother’s hand with his other palm. “We’re here, we’re with you. If something is wrong, we need to know.”

Ruze wavered. Arig pressed his hand and pulled him back gently. “Come. You need to explain where you’re coming from. Otherwise we’ll never understand you.”

Ruze took a deep breath and released it in a sigh. “Fine,” he murmured. He plopped down on his bed and hid his face in his hands. Gome gave Dake a threatening look and wobbled the water bubble in his hands.

“Put that away,” Dake muttered nervously.

“No playing with swords in the bedroom,” Gome reminded him. “Um, Arig? Would you make me a bucket? I don’t have anywhere to put this.”

Dake lit a scented candle it the meantime. It filled the room with the fragrance of chamomile.

“Alright,” Ruze raised his head when they were all settled down. “So… you know that I’m the Guardian of Order, right?”

“Order?” Usha echoed. “You’re the Guardian of Invisible Forces, aren’t you?”

Ruze nodded. “I thought you might not know. Yeah, that’s what they call me. Earth, Water, Air and Fire… and Invisible Forces. Didn’t that seem odd to you? That the fifth element is kinda… redundant?”

“I thought they didn’t know what to call you, so they just came up with something,” Dake shrugged.

Ruze smirked. “I’d think you were trying to be a smart arse, if that wasn’t exactly how it is. Thing is, we didn’t start out as the Guardians of Earth, Water and so on. We started out as three Guardians of the real world and two Guardians of the meta world. The real world, obviously, falls onto you three,” he gestured to Arig, Gome and Usha. “You don’t have elements per se, you command the three states of matter: solid klay, liquid klay and gaseous klay. Earth, water and air just happen to be their most prevalent examples.”

“Oh yeah,” Gome lit up. “I found out I could control molten metal the other day. Cool, right?”

Ruze nodded. “Arig goes a little out of this context because of his second contract, but his flower power is just a wild mix of empathy and regular solid klay skills.”

“Don’t call it flower power,” Arig protested weakly.

“And then,” Ruze paid him no mind, “you’ve got me and Dake. Anyone take a guess what our ‘real elements’ might be?”

“You said you were the Guardian of Order,” Gome said in an unsure tone.

“Congrats, you have an attention span longer than a fish,” Ruze smirked. “And Dake?”

“You called me chaos before,” the Guardian of Fire muttered reluctantly.

“Yep,” Ruze stared at his brother. “You’re the Guardian of Chaos. You could also be called Energy, or Entropy, or Change. Either way, Quater’s original intent was that three of his Guardians represent matter, and two Guardians the antagonistic forces that shape matter. I get to make the rules. You get to break them.” Ruze rubbed his eyes with his palm. “I can’t imagine what the world looks like to you, guys. I suppose you’re ‘one’ with your element. You can feel it, you can move it, it feels like a second nature to you.”

“Something along those lines,” Usha commented.

“To me, the world is a set of rules,” Ruze continued. “I feel the tick of time. I know the structure of things and how they fall one into the other. I get the most basic of forces, gravity, electricity and magnetism, because everything else is too complex for me to fully understand. I get a few cool tricks, but they’re not terribly useful in real life.” He sighed and glared at Dake. “And then there’s you. Who’s able to break my rules without any conscious effort. Who apparently travels in space and time and between alternate realities in your sleep, just because you can.”

Dake shrugged, and seemed somehow pleased with himself.

“Your ‘element’ is phoney, just like mine,” Ruze frowned at the self-satisfied expression. “Fire is a chemical reaction, not a real thing like the air or the earth. Your original power lies in disregarding rules and making your own reality.” He sighed and ran his hand over his face again. He seemed tired all of the sudden. “And that’s why I have such a bad feeling about your dreams. I can’t prove that something is wrong with you. After all, you’ve been having these dreams since we were born and I didn’t feel any tears in the fabric of reality yet. It’s possible that your jumping between timelines is completely safe. But it’s not the way it’s supposed to be. You’re not supposed to recall your previous lives. You’re not supposed to know about another Neverhood where girls are plentiful and chasing skirts is normal. I’m sorry for freaking out on you, but… by mother, it just gives me such bad vibes…”

“Is that all?” Dake asked curiously. “You went this far on a feeling?”

“Sod off,” Ruze mumbled and turned away, flustered.

“And here I thought Gome was my eternal rival!” Dake laughed. “I didn’t know I should hate you in particular.”

“You shouldn’t hate him or Gome,” Usha frowned. “That’s like saying that I should hate Arig just because our elements are so different. You should work together and let your powers complement one another.”

“Hear hear,” Ruze smirked sarcastically. “There’s something about what you say, though. I noticed that not only is the Guardian of Fire the most popular one in literature. He’s also the one who brings the most disasters. Neither Gerard’s nor Nuri’s story ends well. I think Quater might have tweaked your powers a little so that another Guardian could keep you in check. Hence the Guardian of Water.”

“You think so?” Gome asked excitedly. “Then is it alright if I splash him a little from time to time?”

“I will smite you,” Dake began to hiss. Ruze waved his hand quickly to stop them both.

“You don’t splash anyone unless they’re making trouble. But, uh… the bucket was actually good thinking on your part.”

“Hee,” the Guardian of Water smiled.

***

“You won't escape, Majeer. I will find you.”

***

Dake woke up in cold sweat. He unclenched his stiff fists and kicked the blanket off. His brothers were still sleeping. His candle had gone out.

He rubbed his fingers against each other to light it again.

In the bed across the room, Ruze stirred. “Dake?” he mumbled, rising up to one elbow.

The Guardian of Fire waved for him to go back to sleep. Ruze grunted and lay back down.

Dake stared at the ceiling for a long time. He didn’t remember a thing from his dream. Not even the feeling. Was it loving? Had he been with his wife? Had he been fighting the mad shaman? Had he flirted with a pretty girl? He didn’t know. He had no way of knowing.

He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep again.

At the threshold between waking and dreams, he thought: Adah, my love… I’m coming.