#although my own accessibility settings may have something to do with that

[dimlylittorch]

sighhhh the silco brain rot is real. i need him like i need air. he’s on my christmas list.

My Masterlist🌱

Silco x transmasc!chubby!sweetheart!assistant!reader

extension of this drabble

this is very ‘by me, for me’😀 so reader may not cater to everyone, forgive my self indulgence. IT ENDED WITH ANGST I’M SORRY. THIS IS PART 1, THERE WILL BE MORE I PROMISE

You had been working for Silco for a few weeks now, and to be quite honest you liked your job. He treated you well, the pay was good, and considering you lived in Piltover it was nice to see a whole other world that you never knew much about.

Silco had taken a special liking to you- it was clear to anyone no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Let’s just say he liked to keep you on a short leash. He felt more comfortable when he had you at his side, more at ease. Of course, you were such a sweet little thing you never even noticed. He’s very nice to you- maybe he’s just a great boss, right?

He initially had planned on having you as more of a trophy, not really expecting you to do any real work. But much to his surprise you took your job seriously. On your first day you’d walked in with your own satchel bag, notepads and pens at the ready for whenever he needed you. Having people at his disposal was a common thing for him, of course. But having someone be so eager to work for him? It made his chest stir in ways he hadn’t felt in years.

When you were in the room, his eyes were always following. He couldn’t help it. You were like a swan surrounded by geese- you stood out beautifully compared to everyone else in the Undercity. Whether it be your topsider clothing or your kind features, it didn’t matter. You kept his gaze all the same.

One thing he adored about you was your clothing to be honest. Everything you wore was soft and clean, nothing like the others. You weren’t here to fight, so no need to dress like it, right? You were oblivious to how often he had to kick someone’s head in before walking back into his office to give you a faint smile and nod before discussing business. The first time you wore a turtle neck he swore his heart stopped. A brown turtle neck with earthy green pants and brown boots. When you saw the look on his face as you pulled your jacket off, you paused.

“I’m sorry- I meant to ask you if Earth tones were okay” you say softly, gaze laced with worry that you’d done something wrong. “I can go home and change if it’s not the office attire you had in mind-“ you start to say, but he quickly cuts you off.

“It’s fine.” He says simply, but his heart was hammering in his chest. “We don’t have a dress code.. just as long as you look nice.” I murmurs before he takes a puff of his cigar, trying to seem nonchalant- but in reality, he didn’t ask anyone else to look nice. Only you.

His words made a smile form on your lips, as sweet as always. “Of course- I think I can manage that.” You say sweetly.

He had gotten you your own desk in his office of all places. He always wanted you within arms reach if possible. Anything you requested he got for you. Although he had to make it seem like he was begrudging about it, in reality he had it ordered within a day.

You had been sitting at your desk, sorting a few papers into different folders before glancing over at him. “Do you think.. maybe I could have a filing cabinet?” You said softly, your voice quiet but he heard it clearly throughout the silent office.

“Whatever for?” He muttered with faux annoyance.

“Well- it would make keeping track of the files a lot more convenient. I can make them more easily accessible for you that way.” You say tentatively. “That is- if you plan on keeping me for long enough to set it all up.”

He’d tensed at your last words- the thought of you leaving making his blood pressure spike. “I’ll see what I can do.” Let’s just say you had a filing cabinet next to your desk the next day.

He’s always hesitant to have you do any work that involves you talking with other people. You’re not used to how rough they are, and he’d hate for his favorite little assistant to get dirtied by some street rat. He does find that you do well with his other workers. It’s often the same case as him- they have to maintain their image, so they act like they don’t like you. But in reality they do appreciate a non threatening presence every once in a while.

He had snapped at one of his men that were rude to you, even though you had simply smiled and taken it before making yourself scarce. He came up to you later and told you he’d ’handled it.’

“Assistant” he murmurs as he walks into his office, slamming the door behind him. You were sitting at your desk with your sleeve rolled over your hand, resting at the corner of your eye as you keep your gaze on your paperwork. You might’ve shed a tear or two.. who can blame you? These people were much scarier than you were used to. Silco certainly didn’t. He walks over to your desk, standing next to the filing cabinet and leaning against it while taking a puff of his cigar. “The moment someone has a problem with you, they have a problem with me.” He says quietly, his tone laced with a little layer of venom. “Be a good boy and let me know the next time someone misbehaves, hm?”

One night you end up staying in the office later than you had expected to, grabbing your bag and heading out the door. When you realize how late it is you hesitate, seeing how the streets were full of all kinds of.. people. Lucky for you Silco was just coming back from some business, raising and eyebrow when he sees you outside by yourself at that time of night.

“Assistant?” He questions quietly as he slips out of the alley way and into the light. You flinch slightly, but quickly relax and smile when you see that it’s him.

“How was your meeting?” You say sweetly as you stand in the doorway to his office, completely unaware that his ‘meeting’ was just settling a score or two.

“Business as usual” he murmurs as he moves to stand at the bottom of the small step. “And what, might I ask, are you still doing here?”

When he’s only a few inches in front of you, you feel your face flush slightly. You smiled wider, hoping he wouldn’t notice it. “I didn’t realize how late it had gotten.. I suppose I’ve gotten used to you kicking me out at quitting time” you chuckle.

“Hm” he hums as he glances around, noticing the stragglers wandering down the dark streets. “I’ll walk you home.” He speaks, leaving no room for argument. You couldn’t refuse, could you? So you simply followed him down the winding streets.

“I’m sorry to make you walk me all the way up there..” you murmur faintly as you both stroll along at a leisurely pace. It was easy to walk without fear when he was next to you.. no one would dare come up to you- or him, for that matter. “But I really do appreciate you.”

He doesn’t miss the way his heart skips a beat when he hears your words. ‘You.’ You could’ve easily said ‘I really do appreciate it.’ But you said ‘You.’ It drove him up the wall knowing how the smallest things you did and said made him feel like a teenager again. “What kind of man would I be if I didn’t walk you home..” he murmurs while taking a puff of his cigar.

And of course, his words make your heart skip a beat too. He could’ve easily said ‘boss’ instead of ‘man’. But he didn’t. He saw himself as more than your boss. You liked that. More than you thought you would. You felt stupid for letting yourself get worked up something so simple.

Once he’d walked you to the elevator that led up to Piltover, you both stopped at the door. Keeping your eyes downcast shyly, he couldn’t help but let his eyes trail over you, hands slipping into his pockets as he tosses his cigar and steps on it, oozing as much confidence as usual. It was hard to hide the way your cheeks were burning slightly. When was the last time a man was nice enough to walk you home?

He knew you’d be safe from here.. no sense in going up with you. He starts to turn away to slip back into the dark streets, but before he can you grab his arm, keeping him from leaving. He tenses, slowly looking over his shoulder to meet your eyes, his eyebrow raising questioningly.

When you realize what you’d done you quickly let go of him, but not before straightening out the sleeve of his shirt. “I’m sorry.” You say quickly. “I just-“ you add, trying to think of something reasonable to say. When you can’t think of anything.. you decide to settle for the truth. “You’re a really.. good man.” You say gently as your eyes meet his own.

The second you had grabbed his arm, every nerve in his body was on fire. You’d barely touched before, and it was something he didn’t know he needed so desperately. When he hears your words, he can’t help but stay quiet for a moment. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had said he was good, let alone complimented him. And your honesty? He adored. He didn’t know anyone that dared be honest with how they felt. “I don’t think you know me very well if you think that.” He says quietly, trying to make his voice uncaring. His eyes glance down at his sleeve where you’d just touched him.. he swore he could still feel your hands on him.

“You’re kind to me.” You say softly. “And you listen. You’ve never yelled at me- not to mention you walked me all the way over here..” you murmur.

He could hardly believe his ears. Yes, he had been especially nice to you. But for someone like you? That should all be the bare minimum. “Do you always get emotionally attached to your employers?” He snaps, taking a few steps away from you.

Your heart freezes at his tone, quickly taking a step back yourself. “I.. I thought-“

“Perhaps you should try to be an adult.” He says firmly as he adjusts his shirt where your hands had been. “Whatever you’re thinking- get it out of your head. I don’t pay you to think, do I?” He mutters coldly as he starts walking down the alleyway.

Leaving you standing there was one of the hardest things he’s done. He couldn’t show weakness. He couldn’t let you worm your way into his heart. But you already had. And he’d just ruined it all.

[delcat177]

Okay can we just look at this for two seconds please, for July Disability Pride Month if nothing else

This is the image description box.

When you click on an image to describe it, do you know where the image description box goes?

That's right! ON TOP OF THE IMAGE, SO YOU CAN'T SEE IT.

I believe in modern science and the ability to make this window movable. Like, this is a known technological marvel, dragging windows to one side.

Could we please for the love of God have that? I can't speak for anyone else, but it would make actually using this accessibility feature a LOT easier, it's just good UI sense

Thanks to anyone receiving this voidscream

[cripplecharacters]

How do you think multi-use public restrooms could be reconfigured to better accommodate wheelchair/crutch/cane users in a roughly modern setting? (By multi-use, I mean the ones with a line of stalls rather than a whole room with one toilet).

I always thought it ironic that the large stall tends to be at the end of the line and believed it may be better to have that reversed (large stall first). Is that a sensical thought? What other suggestions would you have besides a lower sink and, of course, room to move the wheelchair/crutch/cane?

Although this setting is roughly modern in terms of technology ability and knowledge, feel free to provide your most creative answers. I'd even appreciate a difference between slight changes in real universe that would make an impact vs alternate modern universe where accessibility was thought of by default. All stalls are large? Better layout than a single file line of stalls? Etc.

Thank you for your time!

Hello!

I have... a LOT of thoughts about this. For reference, I use a cane full time and have used a wheelchair in the past when it was needed, though I no longer have access to it (I was borrowing my boyfriend's old one but have since moved cities).

So a few things:

Grab bars in every stall. These are the metal bars along the side of the stall that you usually see in accessible stalls. They're used to help people with stability/balance issues sit and stand from the toilet. There are a lot of people who only use the accessible stall because they need the support of the grab bars. If these were in every stall, it would open up the larger accessible stall for people who need it for the other supports (More space, the emergency call cord, etc.). These are relatively cheap and easy to install too.

Hand sanitizer dispensers in the accessible stall or, ideally, in every stall. These are another thing that's relatively cheap and easy to install and would benefit everyone. I usually carry hand sanitizer on me anyways because I dislike the idea of using my cane before washing my hands. This would also help people who have the same problem with their wheelchair (Not wanting to touch the wheels before washing their hands), people with sensitivities to hand soaps, and even just people who want to use them.

More accessible stalls. This one is a bit less realistic to hope for as it would be more expensive and difficult to change but it would also be one of the most beneficial, especially in places where there are lots of disabled people coming and going at once. I'm thinking places like hospitals, school accessibility offices, etc. but also places with large amounts of people in general like stadiums and event venues.

Also just more stalls in general. Especially in the men's washroom. I keep meaning to write a post about this for my own blog but it's an issue I think about a lot. It's 2024 and there's STILL a lot of men's washrooms where I live that either only have one stall (Usually an accessible stall) or don't have stalls at all. I'm sure it's some sort of 'ADA/AODA/whatever it is where you are' violation but it's also a problem for trans people, people that are shy, kids, people that just prefer to sit, the elderly, etc. It's kind of ridiculous that this is still a thing in 2024.

More actual fully accessible washrooms. These are not at all feasible for a multiuse washroom (The kind you're referring to) but should be in addition to one. With this, I'm referring to a large washroom with adult-sized changing tables, emergency call cords, lots of space, large garbage cans, sharps containers, etc. This is something that I rarely see even in hospitals but it's so important for people that have caretakers and need that extra support. As for the sharps container, it can be very beneficial for people that need to inject medication and it's something I wish that more places had. (My general alternative is to cap the needle and return it to my "pouch" in a separate pocket from the unused ones)

Having everything in reach of the toilet. By this, I mean things like toilet paper, garbage bins, sinks (If they're in the stall), hand sanitizer dispensers, etc. This is usually already the case with toilet paper and such but it's incredibly annoying and difficult to navigate when this isn't the case.

Also just having garbage bins in all stalls (Or, at least, in all washrooms). A lot of women's washrooms already have this in some capacity but most men's washrooms don't even have a garbage bin in the main section of it (Outside the stalls). This is another thing that would be incredibly easy and cheap to do and would help so many people including disabled people that need to discard medical supplies (Catheters and incontinence supplies are the big ones that come to mind since it's not sanitary or easy to discard of them elsewhere whereas you can easily pocket an empty medication bottle or bandage remnants to throw away later), people who need to throw away sanitary products, even just people who use toilet paper to blow their nose or something. There's literally so many uses and I don't see any downside to this at all.

More hooks in stalls to hang things like jackets and bags. This is something I see a lot in the regular stalls but strangely not as often in the accessible stalls. Which... seems especially odd to me as a lot of us rely on things like small, over-the-shoulder bags and fanny packs as we don't always have access to both hands to carry things. These would also be beneficial to hang things like canes (I'm mostly thinking of white canes, which usually have a fabric loop on the end) while using the toilet. This is another super cheap and easy thing that can be done and would benefit everyone.

More accessible doors to washrooms. For whatever reason a lot of the multi-use washrooms where I live don't have accessible doors and it's incredibly frustrating and inconvenient to be fighting for my life to open a door when I already need to pee. Just... not fun.

The placement of the accessible stalls is an issue too, just usually not in the way most people would assume. At least for my boyfriend and I, it's more of a problem when the washrooms are crowded. I'm thinking of our recent experience at a concert where we had to navigate through the crowd to reach the very far end where the stall was. Not a huge thing or something that happens all that often, but it is annoying.

The other thing that comes to mind is lower sinks and also having the paper towels, hand dryers, or what not closer to the sinks. It's incredibly annoying and uncomfortable to have to use a cane, wheelchair, or crutches when you have soggy hands just to get to the dryer. This isn't something that's too hard to implement in most cases but it could be expensive depending on what drying method is used (Such as hand dryers versus paper towel dispensers). This is another reason that I usually use my hand sanitizer instead.

Aside from the facilities themselves (And this is less for mobility disabilities and more general accessibility), things like having braille on the signs as well as clear symbols if the washroom is separated by male vs female. None of those minimalistic aesthetic ones. Not everyone can differentiate by those.

There are countless others but I think I've spoken enough about this for one post 😅. Hopefully some of this is helpful.

Cheers!

~ Mod Icarus

[bblovetarot]

{୨୧} Why are people attracted to you? + a Quote

ʚ ═══･୨ ꕤ ୧･═══ ɞ Pick a Pile ʚ ═══･୨ ꕤ ୧･═══ ɞ

i listen to music while doing pac, so i decided to put down lyrics down that i feel are important to the specific pile. let me know if it resonates!

i was listening to the miseducation of lauryn hill by lauryn hill

. ༄ paid readings . ༄

。°⚠︎°。follow your intuition when choosing a pile. if you're drawn to more than one pile, that's okay! you may have messages in more than one.

。°⚠︎°。tarot readings are not 100% accurate, and do not dictate your future. please keep in mind that you have free will. these readings are also general and aren't specific to one person, so please take what resonates and leave what doesn't!

Pile 1

"you might win some but you just lost one"

People are drawn to your positive energy, admiring your ability to shake off negativity swiftly. It's possible, however, that you've encountered manipulative individuals offering empty promises and taking without giving. This may have hindered you from stepping out of your comfort zone to pursue your desires. You're likely someone who wears their heart on their sleeve, exuding compassion and love. Unfortunately, others may have taken advantage of your generosity, and Spirit suggests establishing stronger boundaries to protect your energy. Whether in friendships or romantic relationships, be discerning. Your commitment to connections is evident, yet you're also keenly aware when something impedes your potential. While you invest deeply, you won't hesitate to walk away when necessary, although this decision may take time. Your dedication, primarily to yourself, is apparent to those around you. Despite being caring and open-hearted, you refuse to let anything keep you in a low vibrational state for long. You're determined to rise above challenges, trusting in the universe to deliver what you deserve. You possess significant aspirations, and people admire your refusal to succumb to those who may want to limit you. Your persistence and determination resonate with others who see you as an inspiration. Your creative side, though possibly overlooked by yourself, is a gift meant to be shared with the world. The universe encourages you to press on, assuring you that your journey is not in vain. Even if you're grappling with recent departures or energy-draining situations, the universe urges you to persevere. Acknowledge your self-worth and creative talents, recognizing that your journey inspires those who witness your strength during difficult times. Your energy, though not always consciously recognized, radiates strongly, attracting people who genuinely appreciate you. Embrace your worth, rise above negativity, and trust that your dedication will lead you to the success you envision. The universe is continuously supporting your journey.

Pile 2

"girls, you better watch out, some guys are only about- that thing"

Oh dear, it seems you may have encountered individuals drawn to your physical allure, making false promises of mutual connection while harboring ulterior motives. Your captivating and welcoming nature, combined with a lack of boundaries, can attract those who see an opportunity to engage with your vibrant energy. These individuals, often described as energy vampires, thrive on noncommittal behavior, utilizing others for their own gain and enjoying the thrill of the game. The universe is sending a clear message: establish boundaries with yourself. Not everyone deserves access to your fiery energy that breathes life into everything you touch. Fight for yourself, my love, and refrain from giving everything away indiscriminately. Recognize that your fire is a precious gift, not to be played with by those who lack sincerity and maturity. By setting boundaries, you shield yourself from burnout and unlock your full potential. Your generosity, showcased in your gifts and love, is admirable, but it's crucial to discern who truly deserves your precious energy. People may desire your warmth and affection, but establishing boundaries is key to maintaining the authenticity of your connections. The universe assures you that you can manifest the deep, meaningful relationships you dream of. Despite any doubts, know that you are deserving of love and the companionship you seek. Upholding boundaries is not a hindrance but a declaration of self-worth. Rebuild your self-confidence and continue the journey of self-protection. As you assert your needs and stand up for yourself, you will attract those who genuinely appreciate and reciprocate the love and energy you offer. Trust in the process, my dear, and believe in the love and friendships that align with the standards you set for yourself.

Pile 3

"forgive them father for they know not what they do"

Pile 3, you emanate the essence of a healer. Whether in a profession that involves assisting others or simply through your natural inclination to help, people are drawn to your compassionate nature. Your emotional maturity sets you apart, allowing you to discern when situations aren't working and find compromises without resorting to chaos. As a leader in your own right, you stand firmly in your power, not reliant on others to pave your way. Individuals seek your counsel, finding solace in your wise advice. Your maturity is a beacon that attracts those tired of drama and dysfunction, as you offer a refreshing and comforting energy. You have the ability to make people feel welcome, particularly those who tend to isolate themselves. Your presence infuses life and joy, uplifting those who may be struggling. Your positivity is infectious, creating a ripple effect of happiness. Even if you possess a hint of shyness, your radiant inner light shines brightly, capturing the admiration of those around you. Your beauty, both inside and out, is truly remarkable. People are enamored by your ability to bring happiness to any situation, transforming the energy of those who may be feeling lonely or disheartened. In your presence, gloom transforms into light, and you serve as the beacon that lifts the spirits of those around you. Your light is not only captivating but also transformative, making you the radiant center of any group. People are undeniably attracted to the positive, calm, and surreal energy you exude. You are, without a doubt, the light that others are drawn to, and your presence has a profound impact on those fortunate enough to be around you.

[writingwithciara]

Love Or Something Like It ~Quinn Hughes~

summary: quinn's girlfriend sucks but y/n's boyfriend is the best

word count: 3.2k

pairing: quinn hughes x roommate!reader, brief elias pettersson x reader

notes: another quinn x roommate fic. not set in the same universe as the last one. italics are the past. was supposed to post this on valentines day but did not have access to my laptop

masterlist

quinn and y/n were best friends. had been since they were younger. after she finished her schooling at the university of michigan, she followed quinn to vancouver, per his request.

he needed her nearby and somehow, knowing his best friend was there, made him play so much better.

although they hadn't seen each other in person for months, everything easily went back to normal. it was as if the distance was never a problem.

things were easy, until they weren't.

quinn had gotten himself a girlfriend the third month y/n had been living with him. rebecca was only nice to y/n when they were with other people but when they were alone, she would get angry and threaten y/n with anything she could think of.

it was very clear she was jealous. but why did she have to be? y/n wasn't as pretty as rebecca, a fact that she pointed out whenever they were alone, and she didn't want to be with quinn. she had her own boyfriend back in michigan. one she loved with her whole heart, despite all the red flags he gave off.

it hurt quinn to think that y/n wasn't being treated the way she deserved. he knew he had to do something to fix it. and since valentines day was coming up, he thought it'd be perfect to set y/n up on a blind date & rebecca agreed, offering up tons of suggestions. but quinn already had the perfect person in mind.

so, on valentine's day of 2023, y/n was sitting in a fancy restaurant with quinn and rebecca while they waited for the mystery man to show up.

"hey. sorry i'm late."

y/n looked up when she heard the voice. she had heard it many times before at canucks events. elias pettersson stood before her. his bright blue eyes staring back at her with a smile that didn't seem to want to leave his face.

"no worries." y/n smiled up at him as he took the seat across from her. she may have had a boyfriend but in the moment, her only though was how good elias looked tonight.

as they ate, y/n & elias got lost in their own little world. quinn tried not to notice it but the more she laughed, the more distracted quinn got. he didn't think he was jealous until later that night when rebecca brought it up.

"if you're so into her, why did you set her up with your teammate? better yet, why are you dating me?"

"becca, please can we not do this right now?"

"why not, quinn? it's the perfect time to address these feelings. i've been holding mine in since we met. every time you brought her up in conversations, it made me feel small. you're my boyfriend. you're supposed to love me, not her."

"my love for you is completely different than my love for her."

"so you admit that you love her?"

"of course i do. she's been my best friend since we were 8 years old. i've got nothing but love for her." quinn took a step closer to his girlfriend. "but i'm not in love with her. that's the difference here."

"are you trying to convince me or yourself?" rebecca grabbed her bag and walked to the door. "call me when you get it right, hughes."

and just like that, rebecca was gone.

quinn had tried multiple times to call her and tell her he only wanted to be with her, but only received her voicemail each time.

over the next few weeks, y/n spent more and more time with elias. she was almost never home anymore and quinn was alone 90% of the time. he would drive to practice alone and he would watch as y/n slowly transitioned herself from a hughes fan to a pettersson fan.

she started wearing elias' jersey instead of quinn's and it created an unfamiliar pain in his chest the more it became evident.

when y/n found out her boyfriend had cheated on her, she didn't run to quinn. she ran straight to elias instead, breaking quinn's heart.

he realized that the unfamiliar sting in his chest was jealousy. quinn didn't want to see y/n with anyone but himself but unfortunately for him, he was a little late to the realization.

one night while quinn was at home, y/n was over at elias' place. she came home with a big smile on her face that night & quinn knew why, but he asked anyway.

"what's got you so smiley tonight?"

"elias made me dinner and asked me to be his girlfriend."

and there was that stinging feeling right where it didn't need to be. only it was 10 times worse this time. he was hopelessly in love with her & had no idea how to deal with it.

it wasn't until the beginning of february 2024 that quinn had hope again.

he and y/n were washing the dishes together when she rubbed her eye with her forearm. some of the suds came off on her cheek and as quinn went to wipe them away, her breath hitched and her cheeks were turning red.

"here, let me get that for you." he wiped the suds away and smiled. "there, all gone."

"gee, thanks quinn." y/n flicked some water at him, causing the soap suds to go everywhere. the look in quinn's eyes was enough of a warning for her. she took off out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"you've got nowhere to run now, y/n." quinn smirked evilly, moving closer to y/n until her back was pressed against the wall. y/n swallowed the lump in her throat before looking at his lips. this only caused quinn to lean down and whisper in her ear. "gotcha." he wiped the suds on her face and smiled. when he looked down at her, she was staring at his lips. "what's on your mind?" he teased.

"n-nothing." she quickly looked away and moved away from the wall. she headed back into the kitchen to finish the dishes. quinn took a moment by himself before joining her.

"so, valentines day is coming up in a few days. you and elias have anything huge planned?"

"he won't tell me." y/n washed the last plate and handed it to quinn. he dried it and put it in it's place before turning back to y/n.

"does he know you hate surprises?"

"i don't hate them, quinn." y/n shook her head.

"you don't like secrets and those are practically the same thing."

"i guess so." y/n turned to quinn. "but elias has been off lately. did anything happen at practice?"

"no. why?"

"i don't know why he's acting this way."

"what way?"

"dodgy? i think that's the word to describe it." y/n sighed. "he's not seeing someone else...is he?" the sadness in y/n's voice made quinn's heart break.

"no. of course not. elias is a good guy. you just gotta talk to him and see what's going on."

"i'll try." y/n walked to her bedroom but before she entered, she turned to quinn. "hey. are you still dating rebecca?"

"no. she, um, broke up with me. almost a year ago."

"good." she looked up at him and backtracked her comment. "i mean, not good as in it's good she broke up with you. i meant good as in it's good that she's gone. she was terrible."

"yeah she really was. and i'm sorry again for what she did and said to you."

"it's not your fault, quinn."

"it kind of is. if i hadn't been dating her to cover up the fact that i was jealous- nevermind." he caught himself before he revealed too much.

"jealous of what? you can't just leave the comment there. who were you jealous of?"

"nobody. just forget i said anything." quinn smiled at his roommate. "good night."

y/n stood in her doorway with a puzzled look on her face. why did every guy in her life have to keep a secret from her.

y/n shook her head and went into her own room. she called jack because he was the only she knew who wouldn't keep a secret from her.

"hey. what's up y/n?"

"jack, i need some information and i know you'll give it to me because you are the only one i know who never hides things from me."

"well, i can definitely give you information. but it also depends on what it is. i might not know what you're asking about."

"fair point. but it's about quinn and i know you know all about your brother."

"yeah i do. what's the information you need?"

"5 minutes ago, he said he was only dating rebecca because he was jealous but he wouldn't tell me why he was jealous or what he was jealous of."

"he's jealous of you and elias." jack responded with no hesitation, causing y/n to gasp a little louder than expected.

"but he was dating rebecca before i started dating elias. how could he be jealous?"

"maybe jealous wasn't the word he meant to use. he probably was trying to say he was only dating her because he was trying to get over how he felt about you." jack thought for a second. "or maybe he was jealous of you and that michigan douchebag you were dating when you moved to vancouver."

"that's a little more logical. but he doesn't love me, jack. and even if he did, it wouldn't matter. i'm dating elias and i love him. not quinn."

unbeknownst to y/n, quinn had come out of his room and had heard her say she didn't love him. the last few pieces of his heart shattered and he suddenly couldn't breath.

before he made any noise, he made his way back to his room, collapsing against the door. why did he have to love his best friend? his very not single best friend.

for the next 2 days, quinn would avoid y/n at all costs. he would wake up super early and leave the apartment before he saw her & he wouldn't even acknowledge her at practice or at games.

it was breaking her heart but it wasn't known why it was affecting her so badly.

on valentines day, elias had set up a romantic picnic for her in his backyard. she appreciated it but her mind was stuck on the way quinn was treating her lately. and elias wasn't blind or stupid. he could tell she was hurting.

"hey, love. are you alright?"

"i'm fine." y/n smiled and sipped her champagne. "why do you ask?"

"because i know you're not fine. i can see the far away look you have in your eye. you're deep in thought about something and i can tell it's hurting you. and i love you so please tell me what's going on with you. i just want to make you feel better."

"quinn has been my best friend forever but this past year alone, i've been feeling him pulling away and i don't know why." she sighed. "do you think he's tired of having me in his life?"

"what? no that's impossible. who could get tired of having you in their life? and quinn is the very last person who would want to do that to you. he cares about you, a lot."

"i know that's how it's supposed to feel but lately, things have been different. if he cared about me at all, he wouldn't be avoiding me whenever he had the opportunity to do it."

it was elias' turn to sigh. "it's because he's finally realizing he's in love with you. he has been for a while."

"no he hasn't. why does everyone keep saying that?"

"because it's true." elias took his girlfriends hand and smiled. "and i don't blame him. you make everyone fall in love with you like it's the easiest thing to do. and you don't even know the effect you have on us. you should've heard the way quinn talked about you the night he asked me to take you out on that date for valentines day. i already knew you and i had already said yes but he kept saying all these really nice things about you. things a best friend wouldn't say. i'm telling you, y/n. quinn is in love with you." elias sighed. "and i think you love him too."

"well, of course i do. he's my best friend." y/n smiled. "but that doesn't matter. i love you, elias. and that should be what matters here."

"i love you enough to know that being with quinn is what you need." by now, it was obvious they both had tears in their eyes.

"why do you have to be the sweetest human being on this planet?"

"well, i am swedish." he smiled and held her close. "you're always going to be the best girlfriend i've ever had. and not just because you're the only one i've had. you're always going to hold the crown."

"so does this mean we're breaking up?"

"yes. but i still love you. always will." he held her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss to her knuckles. "now, let's get you home so you can tell quinn."

back at the apartment, quinn was trying to put something together to express every emotion he was feeling. after he had everything put together, there was a knock on the door.

he opened it and rebecca walked in. she looked around the apartment then back at quinn.

"well this isn't what i was expecting when i came here." she smiled. "but it's thoughtful, quinn. can't believe you went through all of this for me."

"actually, i-" he didn't have time to tell her it was for y/n before rebecca was pulling him in for a kiss.

"seriously?" y/n was standing in the doorway, watching the whole thing unfold. rebecca pulled away from quinn rather harshly at the sound of y/n's voice.

"y/n, this isn't-"

"i'm ruining a romantic moment. i'm sorry. i'll leave."

"you're right. you are and you should. bye." rebecca waved and y/n turned to walk back out.

"no, y/n wait!" quinn called out to her then turned to rebecca. "you need to go."

"what are you talking about?"

"this wasn't for you, rebecca. it would've been if you hadn't broken up with me a year ago. but it's not now."

"then who's it for?" rebecca searched quinn's face for a sign before her eyes landed on y/n, who was halfway out the door. "seriously? for her? thought you said you weren't in love with her."

"yeah well maybe i am now!"

y/n stopped in her tracks and turned back around.

"what?" y/n and rebecca responded.

"yeah. and maybe i always have been. it may have been a subconscious act and maybe that's why i always needed her to be close by. we can't help who we love and you can't be mad at y/n for the way that i feel. she did nothing wrong."

"she's done nothing but come between us since the moment we started dating, quinn."

"just leave, rebecca."

"no. i think i'll go. elias is waiting for me downstairs anyway." y/n turned around and walked out of he building. she got halfway down the street before it started raining.

a car sped past her and she knew it was rebecca just by the way the car aggressively sped through a puddle and nearly splashed her.

"oh tonight could not get any worse!" she shouted in frustration, kicking at a rock in her path.

"y/n, wait!" quinn shouted as he ran up to her.

"quinn, i'm not really in the mood to talk right now."

"then just listen to me. i'll do all the talking."

"fine. but can we go home? i'm freezing."

"of course." they both stayed silent as they headed back to their apartment. quinn wanted to say everything he was feeling but he wanted to wait until y/n was in a better mood. he knew she hated wet clothes so as soon as they walked through the door, he was rushing to his room to get her a tshirt and a pair of sweatpants. she accepted them without a word and went to the bathroom to change.

when she came out, the smell of hot chocolate filled her nostrils and it brought her a sense of joy. only quinn would be this thoughtful when she was mad at him.

she walked into the living room and sat down, silently taking the mug quinn offered her. she took a sip and smiled. that's when quinn knew he was doing good.

"okay. i'm ready to listen." y/n held the mug close and looked at him. his hair was still wet from the rain and she suddenly found herself wanting to run her fingers through the mess.

"okay. um, first off, rebecca and i are most definitely not together. just want to clarify that. and all of this," he glanced up at y/n & gestured around the apartment. "i set it all up for you. i know you're dating elias and you probably got something super romantic for valentines day but i wanted to do something for you too, even if it's only platonic between us. and im fine with that because you're my best friend and im sorry for rebecca and im sorry for ignoring you. it was a bad move on my part. but i heard you talking to jack the other night and you told him you didn't love me so i figured you'd want some space."

"elias and i broke up." y/n set her mug on the coffee table and stared down at her hands. "but it's okay. he's still a really good friend and that makes me happy."

"why'd you guys break up?"

"he could tell i was hurting and he kinda figured out how i feel about you."

"and how's that?"

"i didn't think i loved you until he pointed it out. but now it all makes sense. i was so eager to leave my life in michigan just to move out here to be closer to you & now i know why. i also know why it was weird seeing you with rebecca. it felt unnatural because deep down, i knew you and i were supposed to be together. we've been together our whole lives but never in a million years did i think there was a reason we were so attached to each other." y/n glanced over to find quinn staring at her already. "i do love you, quinn. and i know you love me too."

"i do. i definitely do." he smiled and moved closer. "i always will. and i'm willing to wait for you, however long it takes."

"you're perfect, quinn. i love you so much." she moved forward and threw her arms around him. he held her close and pulled her sideways onto his lap to make her more comfortable. "how about we go on a real date next saturday?"

"that sounds perfect." he looked at her and it took all of his willpower to not kiss her. she didn't care. her hands went to his cheeks and her lips attached to his.

it was a perfect moment for the both of them and neither of them cared about the world around them. as far as they were concerned, it was just the two of them for the rest of their lives.

taglist: @worldlxvlys @fearfam69691

[broomsick]

Holy spaces & shrines in the modern norse path

Before we dive into the oh-so-diverse topic of holy spaces, let me first specify a few practical tips!

I’m very much aware that the definition of the term “holy” is deeply subjective and varies depending on one’s opinions. I’ll elaborate on a few of my thoughts on the topic further!

In no way are you bound by any rule regarding this aspect of paganism.

I will base my post off of my research, granted, but also on my personal experiences and practices!

Now, what makes a holy space sacred? Not necessarily "holy" per say, but simply sacred.

The very first factor to consider is, what is sacredness? Lots and lots of pagans engage mostly in solitary practice, so much is true. Which is why lots of us find ourselves gravitating towards spaces others may not necessarily find any sense of "sacredness" in. The corner of your room where you tend to pray the most? Sacred. Or the spot in your garden where you perform your harvest ritual every year! It’s the connection we feel to the space that makes it sacred in the first place. But a space being holy depends on whether or not we choose to anoint it in such a way.

When something is sacred to me, I tend to feel a sort of spiritual pull. A swelling of the heart, if you will, like the feeling I get when faced with a breathtaking landscape. The feeling of spiritual connection to a particular spot is the first intuition one needs to tune into when choosing a holy space. After all, staying in tune with one's intuition might be one of the most important aspect of any spiritual practice.

Within nordic practice, a holy space is often called vé, a sacred enclosure. Vé's are attested in numerous toponyms as well as ancient texts, such as Beowulf, or the Skáldskaparmál. Their omnipresence in Scandinavian toponyms might, when considered through a pagan lense, signify something quite interesting: the holiness of a space depends on the space itself, its location, rather than what's inside it— or rather, how grand and ornate it is. When building a holy space for oneself, one does not need lavish decoration, or an elaborate shrine with the gold foil and the statues.

However, there are a few steps one can follow in order to anoint a space as holy, if one wants to reconstruct a few practices from pre-Christian Scandinavia. Although I'll specify that as always, no rule is set in stone when it comes to neopaganism. The choice to abide by them or not is entirely up to the practitioner. And in any case, even as I was gathering these few ideas, it was clear that, as always, pre-Christian practices centered around holy spaces vastly differed depending on the place and the time. Regardless, I think it's fun to do some research on the topic in order to reconstruct on our own terms a holy space in the nordic tradition.

The first step? Having a good knowledge of your area. Both before and during the Viking Age, holy places were more often than not located outside. It can be a great help to know where to find the greenery in one's area. Is there a beach near home that the public has access to? How about a large park where you can spend some time alone without being bothered? Even your backyard does the trick! Anywhere you can see the sky and breathe the open air is already perfect. Now, the Germanic tribes would generally worship near an object of particular importance, such as a grove, a body of water, a clearing in the forest, a hill... Although this doesn't seem to be very present in historical attestations, and considering I'm devoted to Yngvi-Freyr, I'm an especially big fan of worshipping in plains, or fields!

I think it's important for me to note that if you are lucky enough to live near a body of water, you can choose to engage in one of the most popular forms of offering in nordic historical practice: throwing offerings out to sink into the water! This practice was especially widespread, evidence of it having been found as far as Britain and Iceland. Evidently, if one chooses to engage in such a practice, it's important to respect the ecosystems and stick with offerings that won't damage them (acorns, stones, flowers and the like). As for an outdoors shrine located in a forest, or near woodland, it would have been customary during pre-Christian times to center a holy space around a tall tree, perhaps representing the World Tree Yggdrasil.

Considering lots of neo-pagans prefer to keep their practice discreet, it goes without saying that the holy space of your choosing does not need to be especially big, nor especially decorated. It can be as small as it is humble! One of the spaces where I most like to worship is the little corner of the yard, tucked under a cedar tree, where I rebuild my hörgr every year, as soon as the snow melts for good. Nothing too flamboyant!

Now, the second step to building a little outdoors shrine for yourself is to choose a representation of the deity to adore. It's said that the human-like appearance of this representation mattered little to the Germanic tribes, whose representations of the Gods could be rather simple, and not especially ornate. For this reason, it would be perfectly logical to even choose an object associated with the deity in question to serve as the main representation placed in the sanctuary. If we're talking about Freyja, a falcon statuette, or feather could do the trick! As for Fenrir, any wolf imagery could work as well! In the case of Thórr, one could replicate the case of Donar's Oak and choose to center their shrine around a particular tree (the rowan are the oak would make the best choices, if one is to pick a tree sacred to Thórr). These are just examples, and the possibilities in this regard are limitless. This "main" representation can be used as the center of your sacred space, and given offerings during rituals or celebrations. In my case, I like greet this representation both when "entering" the sacred space and when leaving it, as a sign of respect!

If one so desires, it's possible to set up some kind of "delimitation" in order to mark the entrance of the sacred space, or its outline. I like to place either ribbons on nearby branches, or litter stones here and there to lie in a loose circle (we wouldn't want to block the rays of the sun from reaching the earth and keep the greenery from growing). In order to signal the entrance of shrines, the Germanic tribes would generally use heaps of dirt or pillars of stone, among other things.

Another intresting element one might include in their sacred space is the presence of fire! Whether this be a bonfire, incense, a simple candle or even just a handful of ash, there's lots of ways to include the "element" of fire into a modern day shrine. It's a means of warming up the space, so to speak: tending a fire in the shrine is akin to having a hearth in the home!

Ideas for common, historically attested offerings: Ethically-sourced animal bones, gold or golden jewelry, tools, representation of the Gods, beads and beaded jewelry, alcohol, food and meat…

Now, let's pull away from the history lesson and let's dive into modern, neo-pagan practice! I'd wager some of you are wondering, how exactly can one keep a whole shrine, but make their practice as low-key as possible?! After all, I know firsthand that solo practice is especially common among neo-pagans. So my answer to this question is, who said anything about keeping? One piece of advice I've already given to a few fellow pagans in the past is to create a little portable shrine all to yourself! Let me explain myself: you arrive at your chosen location, you put down a basket full of decoration and you put up a temporary space in which to worship for an hour or two. You take out a deity representation, a few candles (if they're allowed on site!), a handful of offerings and a cloth on which to place them. And when you're done with the ritual, you pack up your things and make sure you leave the site as clean as when you first found it. In other words, what I’m suggesting is the possibility of gathering a few designated worship items in order to make oneself a portable, personal little shrine! It might seem like a silly idea at first, but I’ve discovered it’s not only a fun habit, but it’s also greatly helpful on a tight schedule to have a quick and easy way to engage in outdoors practice.

As always, I wrote this post aiming to help fellow pagans find ways to balance historical practice and modern, solo practice! I hope these few ideas did the trick, and wish you all a good and plentiful spring season!

First picture

[worflesbian]

Klingons & Racialisation - the Long Post

This post is an overview of the racial coding of the Klingons from their first appearance to the present day, illustrated by quotes from Trek writers, actors and crew members taken from the Memory Alpha article Depicting Klingons, with my own interjected summaries and explanations. It is by no means comprehensive (I likely missed some stuff), and does not offer critical analysis of the quotes provided, but nonetheless is intended to demonstrate irreproachably the open fact that Klingons have always been intentionally written and designed as non-white -- something that fandom consistently fails to take into account when perpetuating racist stereotypes and reiterating racist canon content. I recommend reading the whole article for a more in-depth understanding of the subject, as well as seeking out the existing writing of fans of colour. This post is primarily for reference purposes so I've tried to limit my own analysis and opinions, but I do post those in my Klingon tag as well as more general headcanons and worldbuilding and I'm happy to answer any (good faith) questions this post may raise.

As always, if I have overstepped in any way as a white fan in making this post, I am grateful to be informed and will make any required changes.

Content warning for outdated and offensive language under the cut.

The Original Series

"There is some suggestion that the Klingons represent a Cold Warrior's view of China in the 1960s – swarthy, brutally repressive." (Star Trek Magazine issue 153, p. 66) "And I think he was basing a lot of it on the kind of attitude of the Japanese in World War II...." ("Errand of Mercy" Starfleet Access, TOS Season 1 Blu-ray) The script of "Errand of Mercy" introduces the Klingon look by saying, "We see the Klingons are Orientals," "Spray my hair black, give me a kind of swamp creature green olivey mud reptilian make-up, and we'll borrow some stuff from Fu Manchu, and put a long moustache and eyebrows on me." ("The Sword of Colicos", Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine, No. 8) "I think the makeup was called 'Mexican #1 or #2.' That was the name of the original makeup foundation – they actually had kind of racist names at the time, like 'Negro #1' and 'Mexican #2' – which was the basis for the original Star Trek makeups." (Star Trek Magazine issue 172, p. 59) "In the original series, all they wore was a dark face and their black hair," Michael Westmore observed. ("Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season Two", DS9 Season 2 DVD special features) The Klingons' appearance changed within the original Star Trek series; although dark makeup and heavy eyebrows were the norm, the Klingons of "The Trouble with Tribbles" were much lighter-skinned and more Human-like in appearance.... He noticed that they are not only less like Mongol warriors by having less of a swarthy appearance but also by being slightly not as fierce... ("The Trouble with Tribbles" Starfleet Access, TOS Season 2 Blu-ray) "...they were meant to represent the Communist foes of the United States specifically during the Vietnam War, which was being controversially fought at that time. (Star Trek: The Original Series 365, p. 222) "...let us never set up a situation whereby those adversaries of ours [Klingons] give any indication of ever being anything but highly aggressive and self-seeking opponents." (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season Three)

Here it is explicitly stated that the Klingons were based on various Asian cultures, with the USSR also being mentioned heavily in the article. This influence and the use of "yellowface" is covered more comprehensively in this youtube video Klingons & The History Of Racial Coding. However, the video has some notable gaps which I hope to cover in this post.

Post-TOS (movies)

The Star Trek III portrayal of Klingons took inspiration from Japanese history. "Harve [Bennett] had the notion that the Klingons were like Samurai warriors," explained linguist Marc Okrand. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 114, p. 27) Robert Fletcher agreed with Bennett, later saying of the Klingons, "I always liked to think of them as authoritarian, almost feudal, like Japan had been." (The Making of the Trek Films, UK 3rd ed., p. 52) Regarding the make-up, Michael Westmore observed, "Until now, Klingons were brown. Some had a bony ridge running down the middle of their foreheads, long black wigs and facial hair." (Star Trek: The Next Generation Makeup FX Journal, p. 28) "I thought it was an ideal way for us to have our closure too, because the Klingons for us have always been the Communist Block, the Evil Empire. It just made sense to do that story." (The Making of the Trek Films, UK 3rd ed., p. 100) "Gene was really bothered by the Klingons in VI [....] [They] were, in his words, 'too civilized, too decent, too much of the good guys in the story.' [....] [The Klingon detente] was not the way Gene would have handled it. He would have reversed it, he would have had the Klingons being the ones who couldn't handle the peace, with the Federation saying, 'Come on, let's try and work this out.'" (Star Trek Movie Memories, hardback ed., p. 289) "The story never explored the Klingon culture the way I'd hoped it would [....] I was hoping for greater insight into the Klingons." (I Am Spock) Nimoy hoped, in specific, that the movie would provide some important insight into why the Klingons had "always been so angry, such nasty, vicious murderers." Nimoy wanted the insightful knowledge to be an intellectually transformational force, changing the thinking of Kirk and the audience. (Star Trek Movie Memories, hardback ed., pp. 287-288) In an interview in the DS9 Season 7 DVD, Robert O'Reilly observed that a long-running joke among actors who have played Klingons is that they do not want to appear in the Star Trek films as, he believes, the only purpose of a Klingon in one of the films was to be killed off.

Although these last three quotes may not seem relevant, I believe they highlight an important facet of the racialisation of the Klingons. It reads as though Gene Roddenberry was against depicting the Klingons in a more sympathetic light than the Federation, and considering that the Klingons are intended to be non-white, refusing to give depth or motive to their anger in favour of keeping them "nasty, vicious murderers" comes across as fairly racist, especially when these kind of reductive and harmful stereotypes could've been challenged as Nimoy suggests. The treatment of Klingons as disposable villains is also concerning in this context.

The Next Generation

African-American actors were often cast as Klingons in TNG and subsequent Star Trek productions. This practice wasn't racially motivated but was instead carried out because it lessened makeup time, as the performers already had a brown complexion without having to have their skin painted that color. (Stardate Revisited: The Origin of Star Trek: TNG, Part 2: Launch, TNG Season 1 Blu-ray) Tony Todd, who portrayed the recurring Klingon character Kurn, stated, "I don't look at the Klingons necessarily as African-Americans, but it's about tapping into something–they're certainly an alienated people, so maybe that's why African-American actors can identify with those characters. But that doesn't mean it's exclusive to them." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 116, p. 54) Michael Westmore actually changed the Klingon facial design in numerous ways, though. He stated, "I added a Shakespearean style of facial hair and a forehead bone structure based on dinosaur vertebrae and I was able to modify motion picture Klingons for television." (Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts, p. 59) In "A Matter Of Honor", the Klingons were intended to be used to shed some light on a common social problem prevalent at the time of the episode's making. This was, namely, what it was like to be the only person of either white or black skin coloration while surrounded by people of the other color. The Klingons were selected to illustrate this theme as a spin on the usual arrangement of a predominantly Human crew serving aboard the Enterprise-D alongside Worf. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 176) Two historical societies, the Samurai and Vikings, served as other inspirations, Moore perceiving about Klingon culture, "There was the calm, elegant reserve associated with the Samurai but there was the 'party-down' like the Vikings." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 114, p. 58) "I stopped thinking of the Klingons as the Cold War adversary," he explained. "I didn't think it fit [....] The place where the Russians were when I was doing the Klingon shows just wasn't as relevant any more." (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 19, pp. 64-65) "The Klingons are not evil, tyrannical pirates bent only on pillage and plunder. They have a strict, almost unyielding code of ethics and honor and take their responsibilities as rulers seriously." Following a description of the Klingon homeworld, the memo continued by saying, "Klingon society could most closely be compared to that of Sparta or feudal Japan." ("Sins of the Father" audio commentary, TNG Season 3 Blu-ray) Having recently seen the film Malcolm X, he imagined the Klingons in the "Birthright" duology as metaphors for black people. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 274; Star Trek: Communicator issue 105, p. 16) "There's a certain way you have to carry yourself. You have to really be able to project the violence and the anger [....] All you have to do is think of the Spartans. They say, 'They'd rather have you come home dead on your shield than come home a coward.' [18]

This is where I feel the video essay previously mentioned falls short -- in the next gen era, Klingons are now explicitly black-coded. While some Asian cultural influences are still cited, they learn more towards the historical and are intermixed with other historical European influences (Spartans, Vikings, Shakespeare) rather than being fueled by contemporary prejudices towards the political enemies of the US as they were in the TOS era.

Deep Space Nine

Fields also generally based the Klingon group on American Western prototypes from the film The Magnificent Seven or, to a lesser extent, Japanese prototypes from The Magnificent Seven's movie source material, Seven Samurai. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (pp. 131-132)) "So, the hair [...] was permed. So, it had more of a curl instead of the straight type look, and by perming it, they were able to kind of give them larger, bigger hair, so it was more like a mane." ("Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season Two", DS9 Season 2 DVD special features) "I don't know how you could equate Klingons with what's going on in the world today," he admitted. "I think the intention was to make them like samurai. That hairdo they gave them is very much a samurai hairdo. A lot of the fight sequences, the moves with the bat'telh, are very much taken out of the Asian martial arts [....] It's very romantic you know, these three old guys, the Klingon over-the-hill gang." (The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine issue 15, pp. 17-18) "It was different for them to get into this makeup, because [...] [the makeup was more elaborate and] the beards were bigger, and they were greyer, and they had curls to them, and the moustaches, they had the Fu Manchu look to them. So, they weren't used to sitting that long to be a Klingon." ("Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season Two", DS9 Season 2 DVD special features) For recreating some old-style Klingons in "Trials and Tribble-ations", the Klingon-playing actors had to be made up with the same swarthy, shiny brown makeup as used in the original series. (The Magic of Tribbles: The Making of Trials and Tribble-ations) ...he had them unite in song, thinking this was "just the kind of thing that Klingons do" because they are, in his opinion, similar to Vikings. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion (p. 449)) "I always saw the Klingons as a combination of Japanese Samurai who haven't had their morning coffee (or tea!) and African Zulu warriors." [25]

In DS9 the only inspirations cited seem to be historical, once again leaning towards feudal Japan and the Vikings. Interestingly although the Klingons here are predominantly dark-skinned, I don't think that J.G. Hertzler, who is white, had his skin significantly darkened to play Martok (at least, not compared to the obvious brown makeup worn by other white actors playing Klingons). Having a white actor play a Klingon without dark makeup could've set a precedent decreasing the use of such practices later on, but no one seems to have picked up on it.

Enterprise

The Klingons of ENT: "Sleeping Dogs" were based on the crew of the Russian submarine Kursk. "For me," said Dekker, "the point was to acknowledge the Klingons as 'people' – to find them in a clear position of distress [....] The idea to 'humanize' their plight was mine, and it wasn't anything I thought about as far as canon. It just seemed right." (Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, issue 41, pp. 10-12) In the final draft script of "Affliction", the altered Klingons were initially referred to as "fierce-looking aliens" and were further described thus; "The aliens have a swarthy complexion, and dark facial hair... they could easily be mistaken for Humans. We'll eventually learn these are Klinqons... but their cranial ridges have disappeared."

At this point in time it seems the Klingons had essentially done a 180 from one-dimensional villains to sympathetic fan favourites, while still retaining the skin-darkening aspect of their makeup and "barbaric" characterisation. Although this is not mentioned in the article's section on the Abrams films, the images provided do demonstrate a level of skin darkening for the Klingons' brief appearance in Into Darkness.

The final section of the article is incomplete, meaning I don't have a lot of information for Discovery's redesign of the Klingons. The sources I can find cite ancient civilisations such as the Byzantines as well as Islamic architecture as inspiration for the set design, with a baroque influence on the costumes. I have heard rumours that the crew of Discovery have cited North African cultures as their inspiration for the Klingons but I can't currently find a source for this. Despite the lack of direct quotes, it's visibly clear that the Klingon makeup is still darkening the skin of white actors, although this time also to non-human blue and purple colours, as well as altering certain features in a racialised way. To elaborate: Mary Chieffo, who plays L'Rell on Discovery, is white and has a very thin nose and small lips, but in costume these are broadened in a way that seems imitative of African ethnic features.

As of the making of this post (early August 2023) I haven't seen any of Strange New Worlds, but from some cursory research its latest episode (Subspace Rhapsody) seems to have put a white actor (Bruce Horak) in brown makeup to play a Klingon. I am deeply disappointed that on a television set in 2023 people can still be darkening an actors skin like this without questioning the racial implications of what they're doing.

Thank you for reading to the end of this post. Please feel free to link to it if you found it useful enough to cite in another context. I would like to reiterate that I am white and while this is an issue I care deeply about it is not one I have an emic understanding of, and if anything I've said here is inappropriate I would be very grateful to be made aware.

[thydungeongal]

Sword of Cepheus Character Creation: Vagabond

For those of you not in the know, The Sword of Cepheus is a Cepheus Engine RPG in the good old swords and sorcery (as well as swords and sandals and sword and planet) genre. What is the Cepheus Engine? Well, it's the system that Traveller, the classic sci-fi RPG of space-trucking and dying in character creation, runs on. I am unsure of the details of why the Cepheus Engine has been turned into a generic, open system, but since the Traveller licence is currently held by Mongoose Publishing and Mongoose was at one point swept up in the OGL hype leading to at least some of their games (including RuneQuest) being made open gaming content under the OGL, I suspect it to be a similar situation here.

Anyway, Sword of Cepheus is an adaptation of the Cepheus Engine into the fantasy genre and to someone whose only exposure to Traveller has been the very first edition of the game (known as Classic Traveller these days) it looks very familiar. Barring the fact that there's no dying in character creation, although characters can still end up badly wounded.

I'll be rolling up a character for Sword of Cepheus, because it's one of those systems where character creation is nice and gamey.

What I know of my character already: As per the poll I ran, I will be making a Vagabond. But since I also happened to notice that this game has options for non-human characters and I'm particularly fond of goblins, I will be making a separate Goblin character. (Non-human characters have their own careers they are locked into, and while Sword of Cepheus is nowhere near as strict about forcing characters to only advance within the skills afforded by their career as something like D&D, it is still a fun nod to Basic D&D's demihuman classes.)

Anyway, a lot of text under the cut:

Sword of Cepheus uses six stats, some of them familiar, some less so: Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, Education, and Social Standing. To create a character you simply assign an array to these stats in whatever order you like: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

That array happens to be more or less what you would get by rolling 2d6 for every stat, but slightly nudged upwards. In fact, 2d6 per stat was the way Classic Traveller handled character creation, and it is provided here as an alternate stat generation method. I'll be going with the default method for now.

The game tells me a bit about what the stats do, there's a derived modifier from each ability score. A score of 5 (the lowest in the array) happens to be the threshold for having a -1 modifier, with values of 6-8 yielding a modifier of +0, with 9-11 translating to a +1. So our character will be pretty average to start with. I will be assigning that 8 to EDU, because an EDU of 8+ is the minimum needed to access a career's Advanced Education options, so that sounds good. I'm picturing a character who is sly and roguish, clever and quick on their feet, but not particularly well-equipped to handle direct physical conflict. This is what their stats look like:

STR 5, DEX 9, END 6, INT 10, EDU 8, SOC 7

My first decision after this is to pick my character's background from a short list and set one of the skills tied to that background to a rating of 1. Skills in this game start out with a skill rating of nil, meaning that your character is untrained in it and takes a -3 untrained penalty on attempts to use the skill, but in character creation characters will end up with many skills bumped up to rank 0, cancelling out the penalty, after which a skill rating of 1 already gives the character a +1 bonus on checks related to that skill. It's a very traditional ability modifier + skill rating versus target number system, only using 2d6.

Anyway, the Aristocracy background appeals to me the most: I like the idea of a noble scion fallen on hard times, forced into a life of adventuring. The Aristocracy background explicitly states that a character from said background may no longer have a noble title, which makes sense given our character's distinctly average SOC (for reference: the Noble career, distinct from Aristocracy background, is available only to characters of SOC 10 or higher).

The Aristocracy background gives us a choice between three skills: Carousing, Riding, and Govern. Carousing is the skill used for gathering information and mingling in social settings, as well as gambling! So that seems perfect for our character. We pick up Carousing 1 for our character.

Our character has now graduated out of being 14 years old and now we beging the most interesting part of character creation: career advancement. Back in Traveller, characters would pick a service branch and then basically go on 4-year "tours" in that service branch, picking up skills and abilities, and also rolling for random events which included dying horribly. Sword of Cepheus' system is much the same, except we are by default locked into one Career (although there is an optional rule allowing characters to move between careers: this is something I think could be expanded upon, with various careers allowing for "exits" into other careers) and there is no chance of dying in character creation, although there is still room for hilarity. Looking at the master character creation table I decide that 3 Terms is well and good enough to get a rounded character. We've already got our career picked for us too: Vagabond, an itinerant wanderer and general ne'er-do-well.

We first note our career's Service Skills (and this terminology really makes it clear this game is a hack of a military sci-fi game) and pick one of them to set to a skill rating of 1, and the others go to 0. There are exactly six service skills, so it would be theoretically possible to randomize this process as well. But I'm just going to pick Streetwise. So, taking into account our Background Skill, this is what our current skills look like:

Carousing 1, Survival 0, Streetwise 1, Melee 0, Deception 0, Sneak 0, Scout 0

At this point we get two Skill Levels we can distribute among skills from the Vagabond's lists of skills: Either Service, Specialist, or Advanced Education. The text is quite unclear as to whether the first skill level boosts a character's skill level to 0 or 1, but I look around for the Cepheus Engine SRD and the latter seems to be implied as the default. This makes me think that it is more cost-effective to ignore the skills we have already raised to 0 and instead focus on skills that our character doesn't have at all or has at level 1 already. I feel the text could stand to be a lot clearer with its intent here.

Anyway, I look at the Specialist skills category and notice a skill called Jack o'Trades, which reduces the Untrained penalty for using skills by 1 per rank. During my character's first term they can have a skill at a maximum of level 2, so. I'm just bumping that skill up by 2. To make a ridiculously well-rounded character.

Carousing 1, Survival 0, Streetwise 1, Melee 0, Deception 0, Sneak 0, Scout 0, Jack o'Trades 2

At the end of my character's first term I will also roll a Vagabond Event for them with a 2d6. The result is a 7, which guides me to look at the Life Event table, of which there are three: Hinterlands, Village, and City. The Hinterlands table happens to be the first one I see and I don't have a clear idea of my character yet, so I pick that one. My next roll is a 5 which gives my character this:

The local noble takes an interest in you, for better or worse. Either gain an Ally but lose a Benefit roll or gain an Enemy and gain a Benefit roll.

Brief explanation of what Benefit rolls are: once character creation is complete, we will be making a number of rolls equal to number of terms taken in a career's "Mustering Out Benefits" table (there's that mil sci-fi terminology again), and getting a bunch of benefits to start with. I feel that making an enemy of a noble fits our character concept well, so we'll go with that one.

Our character is now 18 years of age and we're starting their second term. To continue with making our character ridiculously well-rounded I am once again putting a level in Jack o'Trades, as well as buying the skill Liaison 1 (used for negotiation, haggling, impressing people, etc.).

Carousing 1, Survival 0, Streetwise 1, Melee 0, Deception 0, Sneak 0, Scout 0, Jack o'Trades 3, Liaison 1

And once again, we roll for a Vagabond Event. A result of 5 gets us this:

Foreigners – Your travel among strangers. Gain an Ally or a Language.

Because I am imagining a very traditional swords and sorcery world but I somewhat want to invert the dynamics a bit, I am thinking of a Thirteenth Warrior situation where our character, from a heavily SWANA-coded region, travels for a time and ends up in fantasy viking land. That also perfectly ties into them having made an enemy with a noble, and also ties into their aristocratic background and loss of social station. Besides our character's native language, they now speak Fantasy Viking.

Our character is now 22 years of age as we begin our third and final term. For skills I am picking Riding 1 and Leadership 1: I assume that during our character's time in viking land they ended up fighting alongside their viking friends, doing horsemanship, that sort of thing.

Carousing 1, Survival 0, Streetwise 1, Melee 0, Deception 0, Sneak 0, Scout 0, Jack o'Trades 3, Liaison 1, Riding 1, Leadership 1

And finally it's time for our last Vagabond Event: a 7 gives us a roll on the Life Events table again, so let's refer to that. Based on what we've established of our character's situation thus far, they are probably in what counts as Hinterlands in this setting. Another 7 gives us the following result:

You form a close relationship with someone. Gain an Ally.

Of course our character became sworn brothers with a cool guy named Brynjolf, his BFF. Together they intend to one day return to my character's homeland and probably kick the ass of whoever it is made them lose their station.

With that our character has come to the end of their third term and at 26 years of age it's time to roll their four mustering out benefits (three for three terms, one for a life event result). These are all separate 1d6 rolls, and before each I must choose whether they will be Gold or Material Benefits. I could also trade Benefits for skills. Gold does not particularly interest me, so I will be simply rolling all four on the Material Benefits table: 4, 3, 5, 5

Which comes out to... Weapon, Ally, Ally, Ally. :D

Our character has hella allies.

We also get to pick two traits for our character (the number of starting traits is the number of Terms divided by 2, rounded up)! These are very much not unlike feats in D&D parlance, being little ways to customize our character and make them a bit more unique. Looking at my options the following two stand out:

Awareness Prerequisite: INT 9+ The character has sharp senses and is difficult to surprise. When rolling the Scout skill to avoid surprise the character throws with Advantage. This applies even if the character does not have the Scout skill and rolls with the Unskilled penalty. Note that this trait does not apply when the character is setting up a deliberate ambush; the Hunter Trait covers that instead.

Danger Sense Prerequisite: DEX 9+ The character instinctively senses danger and can try to evade enemy attacks even when unaware of the assailant. It can be very difficult to ambush this character effectively. When the character is attacked by an enemy the character is unaware of, throw DEX 8+; if successful, the character uses their Dodge or Parry bonus (see the Combat chapter for further details).

Our character is all but impossible to catch off-guard.

Anyway, our character turned out somewhat less remarkable than I had hoped, but I still have a good idea for him: a young noble scion whose family was all murdered in power struggle between the noble houses of his nation, who escaped and traveled to the far North to live in exile, but who intends to return not to reclaim his title but to simply take revenge for the death of his family. To this end, he has made allies many skilled warriors in the North who seek to accompany him on his quest, including his BFF and sworn brother Brynjolf. Playing around with some name generators, I eventually end up with a name for him: Shamash-Nasir

Shamash-Nasir STR 5, DEX 9, END 6, INT 10, EDU 8, SOC 7 Carousing 1, Survival 0, Streetwise 1, Melee 0, Deception 0, Sneak 0, Scout 0, Jack o'Trades 3, Liaison 1, Riding 1, Leadership 1 Traits: Awareness, Danger Sense Benefits: Weapon, Ally (x4), Enemy

We also get a starting package of equipment. This is what the Vagabond package looks like:

Dagger (2d6) Bedroll Cudgel (2d6) Hide Armor (3) Bread, course 9GP 98CP

The rest of character creation is simply doing math for stuff like our character's Stamina (hit points) and Lifeblood (meat points), but that won't be necessary now. What matters is that we got a neat little guy out of this!

[starlostlix]

Moriarty the Patriot and Brotherhood

(Adam and Sam Whiteley vs The Holmes Brothers vs The Moriarty Brothers)

[that's a lot of brothers, especially since I don't even have a brother. So, another analysis! This is a long one that's been in my drafts for ages but since my exams are over I can reread and post it lmao]

Brotherhood is a key theme of Moriarty the Patriot, with many examples in the story. Some are quite similar, some are kind of different (looking at you Holmes brothers) but all are important.

First to talk about the slight outlier, the Holmes brothers. Whilst many of the other examples of brotherhood show close and caring dynamics among family, the Holmes brothers seem not only very distant but in conflict with one another. Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes live very different lives. The elder is a close associate of Queen Victoria and is, essentially, 'the government'. He has huge power over the empire's inner workings, enough to set up secret divisions like MI6. He speaks with a stereotypical 'posh' accent used by the nobility and lives much like the nobility in some ways. Sherlock, however, is a consulting detective who struggles to pay rent, struggles to clean, has to wait for cases and seems much more 'immature'. He also keeps his distinctive cockney accent - a reminder of his mother and working class upbringing. And my personal favourite distinction - Mycroft consistently wearing a bow tie compared to Sherlock's almost absolute refusal to do so (and him never doing up the buttons all the way to the top) - a detail that I just find really fun. Sherlock often accuses his brother of cosplaying nobility and the two seem to barely speak, and when they do there's clear animosity between the two. It may be because they feel so different from one another that they don't feel able to connect with one another now.

There is, however, hints that they are more similar than you first think. They both share the ability of good deduction and attention to detail. They both put an emphasis on protection of others - whether it be Mycroft protecting British Empire secrets (and his brother from.. women?) or Sherlock trying to protect Irene Adler from execution. And despite their animosity, it is clear that they do care for one another - Mycroft's reaction to Sherlock's 'd3ath' is a good example of this (he is clearly distraught but tries not to show it). They also both get themselves involved in the Moriarty plan (although that's less their fault and more the Moriarty brothers choosing them), and also both interact closely with the Moriarty family (sherlock with William and Mycroft with Albert).

Their definition of brotherhood is more strained in comparison to others, and for some people can be considered more realistic. To them, brotherhood can be both an annoyance or something nice depending on perspective. In particular, Mycroft seems to look out for Sherlock more than Sherlock does for Mycroft (or himself really). Whilst Mycroft sees brotherhood as another duty like his loyalty to the crown, Sherlock sees Mycroft's care for him as somewhat limited.

[Mycroft and Sherlock are really interesting in the way they interact and act about each other, like I read volume 15 recently and the funeral and Mycroft still drinking the tea that Miss Hudson recommended for when you feel down means he's still grieving 3 years later i'm so sad]

The Whiteley brothers are distinct in their difference in age. Adam is an adult, old enough to be an MP, whereas Sam is likely a teenager. This creates a dynamic where the elder is very very protective of the younger, especially due to Sam being wheelchair-bound. Part of the reason Adam is pushing for equality and changing the world for the better is so Sam can have a better life, with more accessibility like the park Adam designed. This is, of course, all the more tragic when Sam is murdered by Sturridge, an action that causes Adam to murder in revenge and give up on his own plans to make the world a better place. Adam, in response to Sam's death, says "What point is there to changing the world if you aren't here to enjoy it?" It is clear that to Adam, Sam's safety and enjoyment of life takes precedence over his own. No matter the reaction he would face from other MPs and the press and the house of lords, Adam would have kept going and made sure his bill was pushed through. For Sam. But that opportunity is taken from him, as Sam's life is taken too soon.

Brotherhood, for Adam, is protecting his brother and making the world a better place for him. Whilst we don't get to see Sam's point of view much, it is likely that care and support for Adam is Sam's idea of brotherhood. Even in death, all Adam can think about is making the world a better place and finding Sam again.

[this part feels devastating they actually make me so sad they are incredibly tragic]

Then we finally get to the main focus of the story - The Moriarty Brothers. What's most interesting about them to me is that, despite the fact that not all of them are blood related (as Albert isn't directly related to William or Louis), they seem to have the closest bond. One thing about brotherhood for them is that it's not limited to blood relation - it's about the bond they have as both family and accomplices. I have to stage this in 2 parts to explore this well - William, Louis and Albert, as well as William and Louis specifically.

1) William, Louis and Albert - Albert was the one that gave William and Louis a new home and a new life. He took them in when no one else would care for them, and supported their ideas of making the world better when no one else would. Their bond is defined by their shared desires, shared secrets and shared crimes (starting with the Moriarty household fire), rather than blood relations. And they're very protective and focused on helping one another. Albert being willing to go to prison for the Lord of Crime plans is proof of this. Albert is part of their chosen family which you could say also includes people like Moran and Fred. Albert is shown to care deeply for William in particular due to him being the mastermind of the plans and Albert's role in MI6 is usually surrounding in taking missions that are useful for William's goals. There are limited interactions between just Louis and Albert, but they also are presented to care deeply for each other.

2)William and Louis - these two are related and have a history before they met Albert. Louis' heart condition causes William to be protective of him (kind of like how Adam Whiteley is with Sam) and sometimes this can seem a bit too overprotective. Louis seems to have a strong desire to prove himself useful to William, and views William as a reason for him to live (and eventually to go on after William's 'd3ath'). Sometimes it can feel like because he's so wrapped up in William's goals and is quite reliant on him at times, Louis hasn't had the chance to fully develop his own identity and life outside of his brotherhood. William's view of brotherhood is seemingly about protection, but to Louis his brother is his closest person, his world and the only person that makes him feel that his existence is right. This is why his role as Em after the Tower Bridge incident is so important for him as a chance to grow on his own and lead, establishing a new moral code and system for the team. It isn't that William held him back, but that Louis felt so indebted and attached to William that he struggled to find meaning elsewhere. In this way, the strength of his reliance on his brother feels like it restricts him, but his commitment to his brother is also a strength. He sees William's compassion and other positive qualities in a way not many others do (besides the Moriarty group and the Holmes') once he's revealed as the Lord of Crime, and it is that insight that leads him to do whatever he can to save his brother, so much as wanting to convince his supposed rival to try and help him. Louis acknowledges his own selfishness in going against William's plans, but this is also out of such deep compassion for his brother that it shows us how he's such a committed and caring person. Louis wants to help William just as much as William wants to protect Louis.

[the more I talk about Louis the more i realise just how interesting he is to talk about thematically especially his dynamic with William... I've got to make more character centred posts]

So I feel that these differing variations on the way brotherhood is presented really adds to the characterisation of the people on the story and to the world itself. To me it's meant to feel somewhat realistic (despite its fictional characters) because of its historical basis on the empire and 19th century London and its social structure - the differing ways brotherhood is defined can add to this. It's such a central theme that I don't feel enough is said about (and general sibling representation is also big in the series but brotherhood in particular stands out due to the majority male character base, especially within the main characters).

[I told you this was a long one, this may have been in the drafts for around a month that I kept adding to so it's been a while in the making. Since my exams are over I have a lot more I want to do here, including casual reviews and highlight of a few trips i'm going on alongside this style of post so hopefully those will be enjoyable too! Anyways I hope this post was interesting and maybe well written it was hard to read all this over after a month and many exams]

[danieyells]

In Tokyo debunkers I have been thinking about the first years and what they have in common.I think all of them are short-sighted or have tunnel vision this isn't a bad trait

I may be wrong on this or miss remembering so if I'm wrong please correct it.Please excuse the formatting I'm on mobile and the length.

Leo-

He is the easiest one for this,the speech that Alan gave him at the end of vagastorm kinda sums up lot of leo problems.There was a post about Leo possibly self-sabotage or disregard for his own self, there's merit look at the scene of Leo,Alan and Thoma.

He may have figured out that Alan wasn't going to hurt him but Thoma was a complete wild card in that situation,he was grabbing his axe.Along with setting up the PC,he used her to his liking and was planning to fuck her over after the fact.Image if his planned success what would have happened most likely no more access to the PC if she believes her boasting does not work.That means no more spying on Thoma and Alan.

Please tell me if this has any weight.I have to go to work.Thank you

Sorry this took so long, anon! I wanted to reply earlier but I thought that maybe mobile wasn't showing parts of the message(it sounded kind of like you were going to list the ways the other first-years were short-sighted/prone to tunnel vision) so I wanted to check it on desktop and my Taiga brain ADHD made me keep forgetting 8'D Excuse me for rambling so much, I get a little long-winded! TL;DR, I do think you're right, although Leo isn't as careless as you think, and I think Sho isn't really prone to tunnel vision or short-sightedness beyond that he seems to bounce between interests somewhat easily.

Yeah, I agree that the first years are a little prone to tunnel vision--like, they all must have come here with something in mind and that something will expand in their time here. Ritsu intended to acquire clients--particularly the famous and wealthy Frostheimers who are prone to controversy and scandal. Ren has implied some issues with his family so he possibly did this to escape the responsibilities of home--and now he has to try and escape the responsibilities of work too. Sho. . .I think Sho is the least short-sighted of them in a sense? Sho seems very much like he takes things day by day and he does whatever catches his interest and whatever makes things easiest for Leo, even if it means he gets in trouble when Leo should've. He's really intelligent and has a plethora of hobbies and interests, although he puts a lot of his passion in cooking and tends to drop most other things that aren't sports. And Leo, like he said, came here expecting it to be a lot more fun to be around other people who made pacts with demons, and he acts like he only cares about thrills, profits, and having a good time. Most of them don't care about others or only care about others in superficial ways that benefit them(again, with the exception of Sho who at least seems to be more good-natured and considerate so far, unless Leo is telling the truth when he says Sho acts that way to get and keep customers, which wouldn't make sense since Sho only recently started the food truck.)

About the meeting in the car, both of them were reaching for their weapons, not just Tohma. Because they didn't know what was happening when they were summoned to the car by the other but they were both confused, so they suspected foul play and prepared for a fight either way. They may have been about to fight each other, suspecting the other wasn't actually themself, frankly. I think they had their hands on their weapons before that panel was shown. See how they both already have their hands off to their sides by the time Leo pops in, after they both get confused? Reaching for their weapons was happening before Leo made himself known.

But Leo is smart enough to know Alan wouldn't let him get hurt even if Tohma started swinging--although I imagine he was being sarcastic when he said he didn't think Tohma knew who he was and he knew Tohma wouldn't just start attacking him mindlessly. Tohma was at the entrance ceremony(he already saw Tohma's information with Darkwick so he would have recognized him anyway, and he could probably ascertain from how diligent Tohma is that he would also recognize Leo already) and he also knew Tohma knew of him from when he listened in on them previously. Even if Tohma did pull out his weapon, Alan would have recognized Leo and his voice when he started speaking and protected him. Leo knows who his muscle is. He wouldn't have had put himself in a situation he didn't think he couldn't safely get out of. He does this kind of thing far too much to not know his exits--not to mention, you don't immediately hurt or kill someone who pulled something like he did. You get information first. It's just the smart thing to do, especially when they're already worried about a spy. (Plus you can't just willy nilly try and kill motherfuckers on campus. The likelihood that Tohma was actually going to try and kill, or even injure, him was slim to none.)

As for convincing the PC their power didn't work, they already knew it worked from when they used it in Frostheim. They just wouldn't think it always worked. He would still be able to ask them to come and use it on the basis of 'let's see if we can get it to work.' He'd be claiming it'd help them, because if they don't know what does and doesn't cause it to work, they and Darkwick would want to figure it out--and since he would be able to say 'it seems like it works when we use it together' they'd end up relying on him to help them understand when it does and doesn't work. The PC just probably wouldn't be sent on missions with them due to being a liability. Also, he could still spy on Tohma and Alan--just not while they're in the soundproofed car. He mentions in the campus chat that they likely have more than one place they meet up(unless he wasn't spying on Tohma and Alan at that point, but somebody else), and he also plants bugs in the car according to his home screen dialogues(although they get destroyed.) He'd be able to spy on them less, but it's not like they only ever meet in there, and I'm sure he'd figure that out quickly enough.

You have to remember what the guy does for a living outside of being an influencer--he corners rich people and basically makes them give up money in exchange for him not releasing information they'd wanna keep private. His proper introduction is at the "mercy" of a guy with a knife who's clearly threatened to stab him multiple times based on the multiple stabbed pillows around them, summoning Sho to help him. He puts himself in danger all the time, but he always has at least one way to be backed up. He was second in scholastic ability among all the first years. He's extremely intelligent and clever. Yes, he is short-sighted, but that's in terms of making things work. He'll treat the symptoms without resolving the problem if he can, like Alan said--if it gets the desired result who cares if it's right or wrong in the long run? But he's not so careless that he'd put himself into that much danger with no backup plan--although he is careless enough to put himself in the danger in the first place, but. Everything involves risks.

The problem is that backup plans can fall through and understandings of situations can too. Like Alan said, he does need to take better care of himself because he absolutely is careless--not extraordinarily so imo, but definitely careless. Leo is willing to put himself in danger for an end goal, but it's not like he runs into things with no plan and no backup. Leo is smart enough to get things to work with his wits and his words 99% of the time, but that one percent is gonna get him in real trouble eventually--and we've already seen his plans partially fall through two or three times(although two were after they served their purposes.) Alan realized when Sho wouldn't eat the spicy donuts that he and Leo lied about who was at fault for their acting outside of the scope of their mission. Even at the end of the encounter with the anomaly, Sho ended up telling the [half?] truth and backing up that the PC was able to buff his stigma instead of going on with their deal, which Leo hadn't expected. And the PC and Alan, in Alan's character story, end up investigating the actual circumstances behind Jun and Takeru's deaths. He's used to things working out for him and going his way, so he doesn't consider enough what could happen if they don't. Short-sighted, yeah, careless, yes but not as much so as you might think. Calculated risks, normally really good at math. But sometimes you get the math wrong.

I do think you're not wrong as far as most of them being a little short-sighted though. The only one I kinda disagree with is Sho, but even Sho's like. . .he only cares about his interests, but he goes through with what other people want from him anyway sometimes? Like he tends to train with Alan in The Pit despite complaining about it a lot, enough so that Alan doesn't have to use the punching bag in his room as much when he trains since he can spar with Sho instead. He's also constantly doing whatever Leo wants despite seeming to dislike it, and letting himself take the fall for Leo's bad behavior. But maybe that follower mentality is a sort of short-sightedness and tunnel vision as well. . .then again, like he said to Hyde, "If I can use you to get ahead, I'm doing it." That's not really very short-sighted at all, he clearly has other things in mind. . .but it's hard to tell with Sho. We rarely see his motivations. Like I can't really pin down what Sho is. . .after in life. But also, Sho cycles through interests(with the exception of cooking and maybe basketball) frequently, so I get the feeling that's the point. Sho doesn't know what he wants either, and he follows who and whatever seems most interesting. When the PC says he could make money off of cooking, he takes a shine to that idea and immediately opens up a food truck. Fortunately he seems to like cooking and serving food for others a lot, because he's sticking to it at the moment.

[fog-rolls-in]

Pulp Musicals Theorycrafting: Waiting at the Gate

Major spoilers for Searcher in the Shadows below this point!

Today's theory is a bit of a wild one. We're going to discuss speculation about the future of a certain character after the ending of Episode 4...

The young man with a pencil has unfortunately written in his notebook for the last time. Or has he? Samuel's demise was unexpected, emotionally devastating, yet strangely fitting in a melancholic way.

You see, it becomes clear during Episode 4 that Samuel feels like he no longer belongs on this journey, like a spare part. He allows Kal's words to dig to his very core and questions whether he truly is just an observer to all the great things his friends are doing. In the end, he isn't afraid anymore and finally decides to act. Although, in doing so, he ended his own story so that the others' could go on.

Which is... quite a raw deal for Samuel, isn't it? It's for that reason that I don't personally believe his return would be unwelcome. If written in the right way, I think it could even elevate his arc.

Either way, that's enough of my rambling in an attempt to justify writing about this theory. Let's get into the meat of it.

In the very first verse of the Pulp story, in Planet Earth, 1835, Samuel is introduced as a young man with potential. In the context of Episode 1, this carries a clear meaning. He is the one with the potential to shake the world with his and Rose's imagination, his access to the New York Sun, and his hope in something greater.

As we reach Episode 4, it may seem that that potential is spent. He tried to find meaning and contribute to the Brick Satellite in Episode 2. He put his skills to use as a captain's clerk aboard the Ellen Austin in Episode 3. He now finds himself with no clear purpose on Lincoln Island. However, I would argue that that potential was never about the Hoax, or setting Margaret on her journey. It was something more.

In Masterpiece Containing Masterpieces, Addison first introduces the titular phrase. In literature, it was a phrase used to refer to the Nautilus, Captain Nemo's submarine. It's used in the context of the story in the same vein. But then, in the reprise of this song, Margaret uses it in a different way.

Margaret tells Samuel that he is the true masterpiece containing masterpieces, reassuring him that his actions made all of this possible. And at the end of the day, a masterpiece containing masterpieces sounds very much like something with potential to me. Clearly, on the surface level, it would seem that this use of the phrase is isolated in this moment, used specifically by Margaret. But let's run with it for a moment while we look at the bigger picture. Let's say that Samuel is the subject of the phrase in all instances, at least in a thematic sense.

The snippet above furthers this theory in two ways:

It proves that the phrase is not only used to refer to the Nautilus. In this instance, it wouldn't make any sense as they are clearly talking about something waiting for them at the gate. Furthermore, Addison may have some knowledge of something "waiting at the gate", but Samuel most certainly wouldn't.

The second point is the crux of this theory. It is the speculation that Samuel is the masterpiece waiting at the gate. In a very literal sense, when looking at previous evidence, it makes sense. But that isn't the only evidence.

Unfortunately, we still don't know very much about the gates, like, at all. All we know is that they are a physical (or metaphysical) thing, or a location, and we know that they are important. So, we're not going to discuss what they are or what they do. Instead, let's take a look at something Addison says before referencing the gate...

At first glance, a nonsensical lyric. Alright, we'll circle back to that.

"You know where to find me."

The phrase that Samuel used so many times. One poignant and meaningful enough that he used his last moments of peace to write it on the final page of his notebook. His last words.

So, what do these two points have to do with each other? Nothing... until we take a close look at one of the videos on the Pulp Musicals YouTube channel. The series of videos "Transmission" features our favourite girl M.A.I.A. pumping out the voice of the Narrator, Matt Dahan. In Transmission #9, I noticed something interesting.

Was Samuel's return hinted at all this time ago? Samuel, a masterpiece containing masterpieces, waiting at the gate. The gate, infinity's door. Furthermore, the booklets are very clear about a 'Radio Layer', which the Narrator is clearly speaking on in the Transmission. "To be continued." is always the last line of any episode, spoken by the Narrator. Searcher in the Shadows broke this tradition.

Samuel is now on the radio layer, having passed on.

Young man with potential / Imagination, twenty-seven years old.

All that being said, we know for a fact that Samuel most certainly died during The Arc of History. So, how would all this be possible? Look no further than the mouthful of a song, A Spell is Just a Rule Made With Magic (Reprise).

During Sia's argument with Ahlaam and Dakkar, she mentions being a Child of the Gates. What does this mean? The booklet very clearly capitalises it, indicating that it is a proper title. Could it be someone that is born, or reborn, through the gates' actions? This interpretation brings us to a singular conclusion in my mind:

Samuel is reborn as a Child of the Gates, and he is waiting there for his friends. The masterpiece containing masterpieces, a young man with limitless potential, that's what he means when he says that they know where to find him.

However, I would like to wrap all this up by saying that I don't personally believe this theory to be the case. While it's been very fun and interesting to come up with, and there seems to be a lot of evidence to support it, it is just one interpretation. Given the nature of musicals (and especially Pulp Musicals), it's very easy to blur the line between plot and repeating themes.

I do believe that Samuel should return. Not permanently, and not without consequence, but to end with a truly triumphant final chapter. And, of course, so that Rose and his friends can say goodbye. I have my own concept for how I would have it play out, as I'm sure everyone does.

Either way, thank you for taking the time to theorise with me. I greatly appreciate anyone that reads through my theories in full, and rest assured that I have plenty more waiting on the printing press.

~ Scott

[cosmerelists]

Ranking Cosmere Planets By How Cool I Find Them

[Contains spoilers for all Cosmere! I'll list the books in the title so you can skip the ones relating to books you haven't read]

The Cosmere has some very cool planets: but which are the coolest? In this list, I will rank them by my own definition of cool, which I'm defining here as "Planets where my interest in past or future stories is chiefly driven by the nature of the world itself."

#13: UTol (From Yumi and the Nightmare Painter; this entry also contains a spoiler from The Sunlit Man)

UTol is the sky planet that Painter can see from the surface of his world, Komashi, and we get a glimpse of it just right at the end of Yumi. It's also possible we get a glimpse of the same world right at the end of The Sunlit Man, but I don't think that's confirmed. Anyway. It's an ocean world, and the inhabitants have four arms and may have originally been from Yolen. But we don't learn anything cool about the world itself, really. I guess the fact that it can always be seen even through the shroud that otherwise blankets Komashi--that's cool. But I don't know if that's UTol's doing. Maybe when we get more info, it will turn out this planet is super ultra cool and then I will look like a fool. But for now--eh. Oceans. With water? Yawn.

#12: First of Sun (From "Sixth of Dusk")

First of Sun is a hostile world with jungles and oceans and magic birds. It's cool--as all Cosmere worlds are in my opinion--but none of it had any special, extra coolness for me. I suppose I've never been much interested in parrots, and also its only feature story so far was quite short.

#11: Braize (From Stormlight Archives; this entry also contains a spoiler from The Sunlit Man)

I am legitimately curious about Braize, Roshar's "Hell" where the Fused were imprisoned by the Heralds. Like, what is Hell like in a material sense? I want someone to visit it (and I really want to know if Sigzil has been there himself, based on his mentioning a Hell visit during The Sunlit Man), and my curiosity makes it seem more cool. But not too cool, because for all we know, Braize is super boring. We just don't have enough info yet.

#10: Nalthis (From "Warbreaker")

Nalthis has some interesting things going on, planetarily. People don't always properly die, which anyone who cheated and already looked at my #1 planet already knows is something I enjoy. It has some unique cultures, which is also something I enjoy in a Sanderson world, although the differences are painted in pretty broad strokes. It's colorful. I don't know. I'm not super into Nalthis, but it definitely has some cool aspects.

#9: Taldain (From White Sand)

I have a shocking confession that I forgot to include in my authorial confessions list: I haven't actually read White Sand. At least, not more than a few pages before I got frustrated with how hard it was to read it on my phone, which is where I had access to it. Anyway. I do think the general set up of this planet is legitimately cool: tidal-locked, I think, with a Dayside and a Nightside which each have their own magic system. There's a lot of sand. Water matters. I think there are magic tattoos. So I can't rank this too highly myself simply because I don't actually know much about it, but it does seem "Top 10" cool.

#8: Scadrial (From Mistborn)

Scadrial has an advantage because it has Time Periods, and really is a pretty different world in Era 1 vs. Era 2. I have a dark fascination with Era 1 Scadrial: the ashfalls, the mist, the slow but inevitable apocalypse constantly creeping closer...would NOT want to visit, but it's cool to read about. Era 2 Scadrial is bright and shiny in comparison. I'm not much of a Wild West gal myself, but there are giraffes, and that ups any planet's coolness, even if it has lost its brooding volcanos. Oh! And I hope we hear more about the Southern Scadrians too.

#7: Sel (From Elantris and The Emperor's Soul)

I've been trying to judge these planets based on the planets themselves rather than on their magic systems...but on Sel, can you really separate those? The magic is based on geography, after all! Anyway, I like Sel because of the wild things going on with its pooled investiture. I don't understand computer programming and so I may or may not really get its magic, but I like the fact that it ranges from the stately, sometimes assholish Elantrians to Soul Stamping. It's all very cool.

#6: Lumar (From Tress of the Emerald Sea)

Lumar is very cool. Like, color-based aether seas that each react differently to water? Rain as a deadly but necessary thing? The color borders where one aether sea meets another? Sailing on something other than water?? I ate it all up. Tress's world is wild and creative and definitely lots of fun.

#5: Roshar (From Stormlight Archives)

It's hard to separate Roshar the planet from the people and stories there, as I think it's the Cosmere planet I've spent the most time on, metaphorically speaking. But I gotta say, the idea of a constant, world-spanning storm that spits out magic and death--that's cool. A whole world that's inhabited only by crab-versions of things? Well, I hesitate to call that cool exactly, but it is...something. Plus, so many different cultures and religions and ideas on Roshar, which I really enjoy.

#4: Canticle (From The Sunlit Man)

Listen, I love Threnodites. Wherever they pop up, they are doing wild things and refusing to properly die and having names that are...let's say unique. And Canticle is quite the interesting planet. Imagine--not being able to stay in one place because you're constantly fleeing from the deadly sun while trying not to get too far ahead lest to stray into the constant fire tornado. Imagine powering your ships with dead-people batteries and doing engineering with your captive ghost engineers. The place is tiny and super invested and also an incandescent lightbulb or something. Again, I would NOT want to visit but that world is damn cool.

#3: Komashi (From Yumi and the Nightmare Painter)

I think my love of Threnody really affects these top picks. Komashi doesn't have Threnodites, but it does have the weird creepy shadow monsters which I apparently...love? (Learning much about myself writing this.) But in all seriousness, I really like Komashi and I am so curious about it. The idea of Virtuosity and how she manifests as both magical paintings and magical rock stacking. I am so curious about the magenta and cyan coloring and how Sanderson says its based on printers somehow and that yes there is one color missing (what??). The way the inhabitants just lived in a thick shadow sludge with lights creating small habitable zones...like, again, horrifying but such a cool and creative world to explore.

#2: Yolen (No books so far)

Maybe Yolen is super boring. But it is SO mysterious that it can't help but be cool. I mean, this is where the Shattering happened! I think it's where Hoid is from. I think there are dragons. It's just gotta be cool, right?

#1: Threnody (From Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell)

But my favorite planet, for whatever reason, is Threnody. I am dying for another story set on that planet. I am so curious about what the Evil is, and I want to hear more about the people living in the literal Forests of Hell. The Shadows and the rules that you have to follow to survive them, the use of silver, the fact that Threnodites just can't catch a fucking break. I am fascinated by all of it, and I think that Threnody is the coolest planet in the Cosmere.

[thecreaturecodex]

Rakshasa Immortal, Korittunni

“The Mouse King” © deviantArt user MalakiaLaGatta, accessed at her gallery here

[”The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by ETA Hoffmann is much darker and weirder than the more famous ballet it inspired. It’s mostly to do with the machinations between rival magical kingdoms and the Mouse King’s extortion racket for Christmas presents. As opposed to the ballet, which is fully half plotless dances based on ethnic stereotypes. I do enjoy Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, but let’s be honest. The Mouse King in the story is much more monstrous, having seven heads. For practical reasons, this is usually dropped from adaptations. A Soviet animated version compromised with three heads, and designs with that number are much more common than the full set.

The character has no name in the original story, just a title. We do get his mother’s name: Mouserinks. She’s the one who cursed the prince into being a nutcracker in the first place, and the Mouse King is hunting him to prevent him from turning back. My name for the character is derived from a Tamil word meaning rat or mouse. Since I’m making him a rakshasa, and different adaptations vary in what species he’s supposed to be, I figured that it was appropriate. The flavor text may draw some inspiration from the recent OGL unpleasantness.]

Rakshasa Immortal, Korittunni The Mouse King, The Rat King Concerns greed, gluttony, rodents Domains Animal, Evil, Law, Trickery Subdomains Fear, Fur, Greed, Tyranny Worshipers evil ratfolk, extortionists, misers, wererats Minions rakshasas, rat kings, swarms Unholy Symbol seven crowns stacked in a triangle Favored Weapon rapier Obedience gorge yourself on fine food and drink for 1 hour. Despoil any leftovers so no one else may benefit from them. Gain a +4 profane bonus on saves against disease Boons 1: summon swarm 2/day; 2: hunger for flesh 2/day; 3: heroes’ feast 2/day

Rakshasa Immortal, Korittunni CR 21 LE Outsider (native) This humanoid stands smaller than a human and has seven rodent heads, arrayed facing in all directions. They are clad in a fancy military dress uniform, carry a fine saber, and wear a crown on each of their heads.

Korittunni the Mouse King is one of the least of the rakshasa immortals, but that does not make him any less dangerous or destructive. He is obsessed with things: taking them from other people and destroying them if he cannot take them. No object is below his acquisitiveness; he enjoys stealing toys and candy from children as much as he does jewels or magical items from the wealthy and powerful. He rarely works alone, and surrounds himself with sycophantic ratfolk, ver, wererats and other rodent-like humanoids. Most of his elite agents are other rakshasas, typically with rodent features in their natural form.

Korittunni often is the one to initiate hostilities, but if he can take what he wants through intimidation, trickery or mind-controlling magic, he does so before fighting. His teeth are strong and powerful, but he usually fights with a dueling sword. He is a master of bardic magic, weaving spells and magical dance together in order to augment his own abilities and those of any of his minions. Korittunni often leaves his victims alive but humiliated, cursed or polymorphed, as a warning to others who would cross him.

The Mouse King’s kingdom is a vast subterranean city, from which he plots robbery and extortion. Many criminal gangs pay him protection money, and in turn he helps to supply them with tools and talent from his own reserves. And doesn’t just wipe them out and steal from them. Korittunni is a dangerous partner, however, as he will often make the terms and conditions of his deals more and more restrictive, until his allies are little more than slaves. He can be charming when he wants to, but his default mode of expression is to threaten and bully. He is something of a mama’s boy and speaks fondly of his own mother, although whether she actually literally existed as he describes, or is a composite character based on dozens of reincarnations, is mysterious.

Korittunni is only two feet tall, but no less dangerous for his size. He always carries a magic rapier capable of stealing magical defenses and a rod of splendor.

Korittunni           CR 21 XP 409,600 LE Small outsider (native, rakshasa) Init +14; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +29, scent Defense AC 38, touch 22, flat-footed 27 (+1 size, +10 Dex, +1 dodge, +14 natural) hp 420 (29d10+261) Fort +17, Ref +26, Will +22 DR 20/epic and piercing; Immune death effects, disease, petrifaction, poison, polymorph; Resist acid 20, cold 20, electricity 20, fire 20, sonic 20; SR 36 Defensive Abilities all-around vision, evasion Offense Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft. Melee +3 spellstealing rapier +43/+38/+33/+28 (1d4+9/15-20), 7 bites +35 (1d4+3) or 7 bites +40 (1d4+6) Special Attacks bardic performance (59 rounds/day, swift action, countersong, deadly performance, dirge of doom, distraction, fascinate, frightening tune, inspire competence +6, inspire courage +4, inspire greatness, inspire heroics, soothing performance, suggestion), detect thoughts (DC 35), voracious Spell-like Abilities CL 20th, concentration +31 (+35 casting defensively) At will—bestow curse (DC 25), contagion (DC 25) 3/day—greater command (DC 26), greater teleport, nightmare (DC 26), quickened phobia (DC 27), ravenous rodents 1/day—demand (DC 29), mass hunger for flesh (DC 28), polymorph any object (DC 29), prediction of failure (DC 29) Spells CL 20th, concentration +31 (+35 casting defensively) 6th (7/day)—mass cat’s grace, mass cure moderate wounds (DC 27), greater scrying (DC 27), irresistible dance (DC 29), pied piping (DC 29) 5th (7/day)—cloak of dreams (DC 28), greater dispel magic, mind fog (DC 28), nightmare (DC 28), seeming (DC 26) 4th (7/day)—dominate person (DC 27), freedom of movement, hold monster (DC 27), legend lore, pessimism (DC 27), sleepwalking suggestion (DC 27) 3rd (7/day)—cure serious wounds (DC 24), fear (DC 24), glibness, haste, mass feather step, sculpt sound 2nd (8/day)—blur, gallant inspiration, heroism, invisibility, quick change, silence (DC 22) 1st (8/day)— charm person (DC 24), comprehend languages, cure light wounds (DC 22), identify, saving finale, undetectable alignment 0th—detect magic, ghost sound (DC 21), light, lullaby (DC 23), prestidigitation, read magic Statistics Str 23, Dex 31, Con 28, Int 25, Wis 22, Cha 32 Base Atk +29; CMB +34; CMD 55 Feats Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Extra Performance, Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Improved Critical (rapier), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Mobility, Quicken SLA (phobia), Spell Focus (enchantment), Spring Attack, Step Up, Whirlwind Attack Skills Acrobatics +31, Appraise +25, Bluff +36, Climb +32, Diplomacy +18, Disguise +40, Escape Artist +31, Intimidate +29, Knowledge (arcana, engineering, dungeoneering, local) +25,  Knowledge (planes) +27, Perception +29, Perform (act, dance) +32, Sense Motive +27, Spellcraft +25, Stealth +35, Swim +24, Use Magic Device +29; Racial Modifiers +4 Bluff, +8 Disguise, +2 Perception Languages Common, Goblin, Infernal, Senzar, telepathy 300 ft. SQ change shape (humanoid or rodent, polymorph), rakshasa lord traits Ecology Environment urban and underground Organization unique Treasure triple standard (rod of splendor, +3 spellstealing rapier, other treasure) Special Abilities Bardic Performance (Su/Sp) Korittunni can use bardic performances as a 20th level bard. Rakshasa Immortal Trait (Ex/Su) Korittunni is a rakshasa immortal, a powerful unique outsider capable of granting spells. This also grants him the following abilities

Immunity to death effects, disease and poison

Resist acid, cold, electricity, fire and sonic 20

DR/epic

Telepathy 300 ft.

Korittunni’s natural weapons, as well as any weapons he wields, are treated as epic, lawful and evil for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.

Ravenous Rodents (Sp) This spell functions as a creeping doom spell, except that the swarms summoned appear as rats and mice. The swarms have the animal type instead of the vermin type, and do not have the poison special attack. Instead, they gain the voracious ability (see below) and deal damage to unattended objects in their area as well. This is the equivalent of a 7th level spell. Spells Korittunni casts spells as a 20th level bard. Voracious (Ex) Korittunni’s bite attacks deal double damage to creatures with the plant subtype, and to objects made out of plant materials such as paper, wood and most cloth.

[legobiwan]

do you have any thoughts on powerups/how the bros use them?

You have no idea what you have just unleashed, anon. :D I am super into world-building and lore when it comes to Mario stuff, so here's a random list of ideas that may or may not bear fruit for anyone who reads this. (Also, part of this is me sketching out concepts for solus creatura, so I thank my followers in advance for their patience here).

The vegetable/fruit/foliage powerups are naturally occurring. The Mushroom Kingdom has the most fertile conditions for these plants to grow, although other kingdoms have done a decent enough job of genetically engineering their own powerup plants.

This makes the powerups an integral part of the Mushroom Kingdom economy, and one of the reasons they're able to survive so long without any real standing army or defense system outside of Mario and Luigi. It's also one of the reasons they get invaded so often.

The Darklands, centuries before Bowser's reign, used to also cultivate powerups. They were overfarmed by a corrupt agricultural council, however, and in combination with a once-in-a-lifetime drought, the vast majority of their land and crop was ruined.

Luckily for the Darklands, their native species is capable of fire and they still retain a strong tradition of magical culture through the Magikoopas (although this was briefly wiped out during Bowser's father's reign, as he thought the Magikoopas were planning a coup. They, in fact, were, but for good reasons).

Now, the Mushroom Kingdom is wary of magic, due their own history and complicated relationship with the Darklands (this may be in part linked to an old civil war that caused the split between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Darklands). Their species is also just not that magically adept (something having to do with Toad physiognomy?) The powerups are a decent compromise - they afford magic-like abilities without rendering their user permanently superpowered.

There was some contention in the royal court when Mario and Luigi first arrived in terms of allowing them access to the powerups. Ultimately, it was decided the safety of the kingdom would supersede any worries about abuse of power. (This being said, Peach had to argue long and hard for this).

Mario and Luigi receive a monthly allotment of powerups and if they find any "in the wild," they're supposed to record each instance. Neither brother bothers with this and every month they get a nasty letter from Porcina in accounting, which has led to a years-long feud between her and Mario. Luigi has learned the better way to circumvent the system is bribery by brownie. It usually, although not always, works.

The non-vegetative powerups are created in Mushroom Kingdom labs. Because the Mushroom Kingdom is like a Times Square Station for warp-pipe travel, the dimensional crossroads makes it easier to cross-pollinate powerups with characteristics of other species and lands (cats, penguins, etc.)

Back in the day, E. Gadd was involved with a lot of this research, but ultimately left to pursue his own interests in the paranormal. It's also rumored that he and the governing scientific committee at the time had a spat about the limits of experimental ethics.

When Mario and Luigi are first introduced to the powerups, they think this is the coolest thing in the world. They have powers, which was an impossibility back in New York.

It takes them a while to get the hang of using the powerups. Mario set fire to a Mushroom Kingdom stable one time. Luigi crash landed into someone's wedding as a kitsune. The citizens, by and large, were relatively forgiving of these incidents, although it did make for a wild few days in the press.

At first, Mario and Luigi both love the fireball ability. That is, until the events of Super Paper Mario, after which they go a solid few months without coming NEAR a fireflower. Mario can't help flashback to that terrible moment in Merlon's house while Luigi experiences the oddest phantom pains if he as much holds a fireflower, although he can't say why exactly. (Mario, of course, has no idea Luigi was boxed and bombed twice by Dimentio).

Luigi loves flying and may steal a few extra Tanooki leaves to go out and experiment with aeronautics/aviation concepts in the dead of the night. This, subconsciously, directly influences his Brobot designs in his time as Mr. L.

Mario's favorite powerup is the classic mushroom. Finally, he gets to be as tall or taller than his younger brother.

They both think the Invincibility Star is incredible until they're faced with a situation in which the invincibility wears off at a dangerous moment, which almost turned fatal for Mario. It's a sobering moment, and brothers learn the lesson that no one is invincible forever.

The Mushroom Kingdom allows Mario and Luigi to use the powerups under the assumption that the "magic," as it were, never lasts. What they don't know, however, is that Luigi has a strange penchant for magic, which is why on more than one occasion, the effects of the powerups take longer to wear off on him. (One day, Luigi shows up to meet his brother looking a little...furrier than usual. "You look hairy, bro," Mario says, furrowing his brow. "I'm Italian." Mario rolls his eyes at his brother's quip. "Not that Italian. What, did you forget to shave again?" Luigi just shrugs, not wanting to admit this isn't the first time he's woken up with more hair than he's used to).

They tease each other mercilessly when they are introduced to some of the animalistic powerups. Luigi puts a litter box in his brother's room and buys him a collar with the name tag, "Fluffy." Mario cooks Luigi fish for five days straight after the penguin incident. He also starts singing the "Walk Like a Penguin" jingle every time his brother comes into the room.

[elliottjpg]

OCs de La Quête d'Ewilan

Ewilan's Quest OCs

Hey guys, guess who has two new children!!! (well, one and a half. Ewel has actually been hanging out in the back of my mind for a couple years.)

Luce: Shadowalker apprentice (kinda like a ninja but not really)

Ewelliottan: Analyst, a scholar studying the theory of magic (because she is crap at the practice)

///

Luce, expliquant le concept de greffe à Ewel: Par exemple, Jorune Aénandra avait une greffe qui le rendait nyctalope. Ewelliottan, sans réfléchir: JE SAVAIS BIEN QUE C'ÉTAIT UNE SALOPE!!!!!! Luce: Luce, sortant un carnet et un crayon: Fascinant. Dis-m'en plus.

Ewelliottan: Sur une échelle de "Non mais allô quoi" à "Tu es triste? Arrête", comment tu te sens aujourd'hui? Luce: Quelque part entre "Coup d'boule, rien à faire" et "Il est lent, ce lait"; mais pour donner une réponse définitive je dirais "Mange tes morts". Et toi Ewel? Ewelliottan: Un bon "Macron, explosion." Salim: Je croyais comprendre le français, visiblement j'avais tort.

///

(More character info in English under the cut!)

I'm aware that most people familiar with Ewilan's Quest speak French, but I am writing this in English for accessibility reasons. For folks who don't know the books: it is set in Gwendalavir, a country in a world parallel to Earth. Shadowalkers are an elusive guild of ninja-like people with a strong focus on freedom and communion with nature. Designers are people who have the gift of Drawing, which allows them to temporarily will things into existence.

This is set some ten to fifteen years after the events of the last book; Gwendalavir has tied economical and cultural relations with France thanks to Bruno Vignol. Most Alavirians are aware of the existence of the other world, and although unrealistic, for plot reason the existence of Gwendalavir is more or less common knowledge on Earth.

Luce Pezal

He's a Shadowalker apprentice, Salim's apprentice specifically (I wasn't gonna give him to a canon character at first, but I didn't feel like creating a whole-ass OC to be his master, so Salim now has to deal with him.) He is a very cheerful and friendly guy, with a rather nonchalant demeanour - he has elevated not giving a fuck to an art form.

He grew up in Al-Vor in a family of merchants, moved to the capital Al-Jeit to try and do something with his life, did a lot of small jobs trying to find something he liked, and ended up working as a stable boy in the stable that Salim frequents. Luce has always been fascinated by Earth, and latched onto Salim the second he heard he was from there. After some time Salim realized that Luce had the potential to make a good shadowalker, and offered to take him as an apprentice.

Their master/student relationship is a little unusual, as 1) they are both adults with only a 10 years difference, 2) they were already friends before Luce became a shadowalker, and 3) Luce's friendliness and nonchalance look like disrespect toward his master (they aren't). He knew close to nothing about shadowalkers before meeting Salim, so he is utterly unfazed about the fact that his master, great-master and great-great-master are all legends in the guild's eyes.

Luce highly dislikes fighting (although he fights very well); unfortunately for him, he is often targeted by thugs who think he'll be an easy mark because of his missing right hand (he was born without one). He'll avoid blades as much as possible, preferring to fight bare-handed or use cunning instead. He is great at sleight of hand and lockpicking.

He's around 20-23 years old, and he's gay.

Ewelliottan "Ewel" Ar'son

Ewelliottan was born on Earth to a French mother and an Alavirian father. Her parents own a convenience store. She went to Gwendalavir on a study program, and decided to stay there to study the gift of Drawing and become an analyst. She has a very small affinity for Drawing, but far from enough to be a proper analyst, so she compensates it with encyclopedic knowledge of Drawing theory. She is fascinated by all Drawing-adjacent unexplained phenomena, like hiatuses, the Eye of Otolep, the history of Al-Jeit and Al-Poll, variations of the gift, etc. If she could study Mathieu Gil'Sayan under a microscope she would.

She's seen as eccentric by her colleagues; she can spend weeks nose-deep in books in the depth of the Al-Jeit Academy's library, and talk anyone's ears off about Merwyn Ril'Avalon (in time she'll become the country's leading expert on him). Rather than doing analyses of Designers' gifts, she works as a researcher. She occasionally gives conferences or classes, and her students find her either riveting, or boring as hell, with no in-between.

She has some Faëls in her ancestry; the only consequences are slightly pointed ears and a tendency to tan very quickly. When she was little she wanted to become a shadowalker; she thought that her Faël blood would give her an advantage, but it turns out it very much doesn't, and she hates exercising.

She's a little older than Luce, by 3 or 5 years (I haven't decided yet). She's bisexual, and non-binary, in a "none gender with left girl" kind of way.

(There's a few other pics of her here!)

Luce and Ewel

Luce and Ewelliottan met on a solo mission as part of Luce's training. Salim had met Ewel through his wife Ewilan, who frequents the Academy in her Sentinel job. He found out that Ewel was going to Al-Far to give a conference, so he offered Luce's services as an escort for the trip, as the roads and the city aren't safe. Knowing Luce's fascination for Earth, and Ewel's origins, he thought they would get along well. What he hadn't expected was for them to come back with friendship bracelets, three hundred inside jokes, and probably a blood pact.

While Luce is not supposed to share shadowalker knowledge with anyone outside of the guild, he does tell Ewel a lot about his training, in exchange for knowledge about the other world. Ewel taught Luce Earth slang, and Salim is both confused and mortified because he hasn't set foot on Earth in like twenty years and doesn't understand anything they're saying.

[the12thnightproject]

Chapter 34: Turn the Page. An impatient Katsu discovers that Yoshimoto travels at his own pace - but maybe he has the correct idea?

Mitsuhide x OC; Hideyoshi x MC (Mai)

All Chapters Archived on Ao3 

Logline - With Mai, Hideyoshi, and Aki missing, Mitsuhide and Katsuko reluctantly team up. Disguised as a merchant and his concubine, can they outsmart the man known as the God of Deceit?

Travel with Yoshimoto? I could probably get anywhere faster and less conspicuously without an escort, but in spite of his ambivalent manner, his knowledge of the politics involved would be worth having. Not to mention there was always the possibility that Yoshimoto wouldn’t give up the location of Yoshiaki’s hideout unless I agreed to go with him. “Thank you.”

He cast a critical eye over my clothes. He didn’t visibily flinch at my ‘Katsu’ drag, but he was clearly unimpressed. “Dare I hope that you still have the clothing Mitsuhide provided?"

"No." I didn’t mention the turquoise yukata. That wasn’t what I imagined Yoshimoto meant. "I've abandoned the Kaya identity completely."

"Pity. It would be most believable to Yoshiaki if I brought along a concubine." He tapped his fingers on the table. "Stand up, if you will."

Wondering what he had in mind, I obeyed the polite request. Yoshimoto got to his feet as well, and stood next to me, "You'll travel as my page, although I'll have to procure a suitable outfit. My own clothes would be far too long for you."

Had it been Mitsuhide who made such a statement, I would have protested that I wasn't too small, it was he who was too tall, but Yoshimoto had a way of making everything seem like a compliment. He thought a moment longer then added, "I have a relative whose castle will be on our route. I imagine we might find something suitable there, for you will certainly need warmer outfits for the mountains. Her son’s clothes will likely fit you."

Right. If Yoshiaki was in mining country, as the context of Iekane’s letter suggested, it would be colder there. Maybe not as cold as the Togakushi area where I was from, but cold enough to need heavy outerwear. "Thank you. My winter gear is back at my master’s home."

When Aki had first disappeared, it had been the last of summer. I had never expected the search to take me into late autumn. And yet… here I was, following a path that hopefully would not be another dead end. That morbid thought reminded me that I needed to make arrangements for Hiko tonight too.

Yoshimoto reached out and tested the thickness of my kimono. "Perhaps we'll encounter traders on the route. They might have some pelts they are taking to the export merchants." Huh. That suggested it was really cold where we were going (or that Yoshimoto just wanted an excuse to go for shopping). He knelt at his writing desk and jotted down a few notes. "Do you also need a horse?"

"No. Mine is already stabled in town and she's a surefooted mountain pony." A bad tempered one, true, but we'd be more likely to see snow instead of rain, so hopefully she'd cope.

“Ah, you might be better situated in that regard than I am.” Yoshimoto folded up the letter, and set it aside. “I’ll have one of Shingen’s spies take this to my cousin tomorrow.”

Hm – I hadn’t realized that the Takeda spy network reached as far south as Sakai. But that did present a solution to one of my other problems. “Do you have easy access to the mitsumono then? Because Sho’s younger brother is in danger, and it would be a good idea to have someone watching over him.”

“How much danger?” He looked at me steadily, perhaps reassessing what he’d just gotten himself into.

“Life threatening.” While I didn’t think Iekane was currently in Sakai (because if he were, why would he send a message to de Sousa instead of just talking face to face) he probably had access to assassins.

Yoshomoto reopened the letter and scrawled a few more lines. “To be safe, I can have him taken to Kasugayama until he’s out of danger.” He muttered something about Kenshin needing a hobby.

“If you could make that happen, that’s probably the best possible solution.” Iekane would have to be crazy to attack Kasugayama. Kenshin’s reputation as a fighter was infamous.

“A good idea will waft through my mind on occasion.” He hesitated a moment, then added, “Very rare occasions.” Before I could dispute that, he continued. “Right then. Another good idea is that we should sleep. You shall take my bed.”

"I can't kick you out of your bed." I’d broken into his room – it would be impolite to also steal his bed. For that matter, I couldn't imagine him sleeping on the floor.

"If you're that concerned for my comfort, we could share." The look he gave me was enough to convince me that a) it would not be platonic, b) he was not teasing, and c) he expected me to turn him down anyway.

"I'm actually used to roughing it. Don't forget that before I was p-p-pretending to be Mitsuhide's concubine,” Let’s just ignore the fact that for one night, it had not exactly been a pretense. “I was delivering messages all over the country. My tent and bedroll are with my horse, and it’s not as if I wouldn’t be using those the next few nights anyway."

If Yoshimoto noticed my hesitation in describing my relationship to Mitshide, he was kind enough not to mention it. "Tent. Bedroll. No that won't do. There are enough inns on the route to suit."

Ah. We were going glamping. Well, it was his money. The Imagawa were land poor, but Yoshimoto at least seemed to have unlimited wealth. I supposed that now I had liberated my, for want of a better description, trust fund, from Francisco's desk, I could afford to stay at an inn as well.

But for this night, I pointed to his bed. "You, futon. Me, floor." Without giving him a chance to argue, I simply stretched out in the corner, using my pack as a pillow.

The lantern light was suddenly shadowed by his figure, standing over me. “I don’t care that you are used to, as you say, ‘roughing it.’ I will not be able to sleep if I know that you are on the floor. Take my bed please. I have other options.”

… I ended up sleeping in his bed. Yoshimoto found an accommodating tea maid (perhaps the same one as before) and spent the night elsewhere.

The following morning we were off, far later than I would have preferred, but Yoshimoto is not a morning person. In fact, by the time we had left the inn, taken care of half a dozen little tasks that Yoshimoto had insisted were important, it was long past dawn and I was already feeling impatient.

Luckily, getting in touch with one of Shingen’s spies took very little time – in fact as quickly as Yoshimoto made contact, one would think that she’d been watching for him. Or maybe even me, as it turned out that I knew her, for she was the kuinochi who had clued me in on the existence of the contraceptive tea. Sute, who didn’t appear to have a verbal ‘off’ button, had flitted around Yoshimoto, boldly flirting with him, before agreeing that bodyguarding a small boy to Kasugayama sounded like a fun new mission.

Her attention span seemed to jump from topic to topic so quickly that I was dizzy trying to keep up with her. “I love children, I would have a dozen of my own, but Chiyome thinks I would get bored with babies, so she reminds me to drink the – oh, Katsu, are you still drinking the tea?” She twined her arms around Yoshimoto for a moment. “You will need to if you will be travelling with this one. His skin is so very soft, do you not agree?” Then before I could respond to that (although what, really could I say?) she suddenly changed moods completely. “If someone is trying to kill a small boy, don’t worry, I will gut him like a fish.” She gestured to the arsenal of weapons and tools she had with her.

To add reassurance, Yoshimoto nodded. “All of Shingen’s mitsumono are brutal in a fight if necessary. Shingen won’t send anyone out who can’t protect themselves and others. Let us retrieve this child now.” It was said with a slight impatience … as if I hadn’t been agitating to get this show on the road hours ago.

I had a general idea where Hiko and his family lived, and well, Sho’s looks made it easy to track them all down. All I’d had to say was ‘green eyed beauty’ and her neighbors pointed me to their house.

Once Hiko had been guaranteed that his mother and sisters would be taken care of in a safe house arranged by Yoshimoto, he treated the idea of traveling to Kasugayama as a great adventure. In fact the biggest resistence to the plan came from Sho. Though she didn’t blink at my transformation from Kaya to Katsu, the news that Hiko was in danger was another issue altogether. In a show of defiance, my former maid not only refused to go with her mother and sisters to the safe haven, but also insisted upon accompanying her brother as an additional bodyguard. “I’m not helpless. And you’ll need another pair of eyes to keep watch on him. Hiko gets into everything.”

Sute had given her a long measuring look, then surprisingly agreed to another travelling companion.

In fact, Sute and Sho seemed to take an instant liking to each other, and as they got on the road, I could hear them chattering about everything under the sun.

Finally, Yoshimoto and I were able to leave Sakai too. I was happy to have the city in my so called rearview mirror. Moonlight also was glad to be on the road, especially after being stuck in a stable for weeks. I felt the same. Playing house, so to speak, with Mitsuhide would always have been a chore for me because I just didn’t like being inside. Getting back on the road was such a blessed relief....

And maybe if you keep telling yourself that, you will eventually come to believe it.

The only person who didn’t seem relieved to leave the city was Yoshimoto himself. With a figurative dark cloud looming over his head, his frown and drooping posture suggested some private misery. I suspected it had to do with his rebellious vassals, but I hesitated to question him because I didn’t want to make matters worse.

Thankfully, once we were well out of town, and the humid sea air gave way to a cooler crisp weather, he shook himself out of the mood and began peppering me with questions about the future, or, more specifically about the art and culture of the future. “You’ve never talked about this stuff with Sasuke?”

Yoshimoto’s shoulder lifted in a graceful shrug. “I have tried sometimes, but it was clear that his tastes and mine do not converge and I find it frustrating to hear about adventure stories when I prefer to learn about theater, art and dance.”

“Um, you’re probably going to find my conversation just as bothersome then.” Sports were always my interest, and I knew nothing about painting or sculpture.

He turned a dazzling smile to me. “Not at all. Conversation with a lovely young woman is never a bother.” Whoa. I had forgotten that Yoshimoto could turn on the charm when he wished to.

Huh. Hm. I didn’t want to disappoint him after that, so after thinking for a moment, I decided I could manage to speak somewhat authoritatively about film. I took him through the plots of Ran and Throne of Blood, giving him a brief run down of Kurosawa which then detoured to Shakespeare (at least what I could recall of both – which wasn’t a lot in regard to Shakespeare, given my habit of skipping school). And then I remembered that Ran had been inspired by Motonari, or at least the version of him from my own timeline, which made everything weird for me all over again.

Over the past seven years, I had gotten used to living in the same era as the historical figures I had grown up learning about in school. I'd rarely encountered them though, so it had been easy to pretend that they were still characters in a film. Now, I'd just spent the bulk of autumn with Mitsuhide, taken part in a rescue of Hideyoshi, and was travelling with Yoshimoto. I was feeling a bit of surrealistic alienation.

"Katsuko, what happened next?" I realized that Yoshimoto was waiting for me to continue telling him the plot of Ran. "How do they get all of these battles on the stage? Or are your theaters bigger?"

Whoops, I had skipped over the technology involved, "It's not live, we have a different, or well another medium to stage visual stories." As best I could, I tried to explain how movies were made, and how they were available to be viewed at the push of a button.

He got very quiet for a while before saying, "I can't decide if the idea of holding a play in the palm of my hand whenever I want is wonderful or terrible. I'm afraid it would make it all less special."

Hm. He had a point, I supposed. "I've never known any other way. We still have live theater, and dance. It didn’t go away. It's just... really expensive. At least with streaming, more people can enjoy it. Even in my time, people with unlimited funds are the exception, not the rule."

He turned to look at me, and there was pity in that glance. "Is that how you grew up? Were you poor?"

Yoshimoto might consider it so, but he was coming from a life where he’d at least monetarily had everything he wanted and never had to make decisions about whether or not he could afford something. “No. We always had enough to eat, shelter, warm clothes. Just not much extra."

I'd worked in a coffee shop for three years to save up for my snowboard. I didn’t really want to explain further. Though Yoshimoto (when he was in the mood) was an interesting conversationalist, talking about my childhood wasn't something I enjoyed doing, and he didn’t have Mitsuhide's ability to take with facts I gave him and accurately understand the conflicting emotions attached to them. So instead of revealing more of myself, I diverted Yoshimoto's attention back to the movies.

Unfortunately Yoshimoto proved to be distractible in every area of his life, and rather than making good time and traveling directly to our destination, he would often stop, even in the smallest villages, and visit with craftsmen and artisans.

I found it frustrating, and, I’m sure the hulking spy (Mitsuhide’s man – I recognized him from Sakai), who had been patiently following us for several days felt the same. When we stopped to visit what seemed like the tenth artisan in three days, I finally had to protest. “It seems like we’re not making very good time. I could have gotten there already.”

"Would you have pushed yourself and your horse to exhaustion?” Yoshimoto held a ceramic bowl up to the light. It was so shiny, his reflection was visible in it. “By traveling in this manner, you can go faster in short bursts. I would wager we're covering nearly the same territory in the amount of time it would take you to travel the other way. And this way, we learn whether or not Yoshiaki is massing an army because these villagers take note of everything."

Hm. Ok. He was right… and I should have thought of that myself. In my impatience over our lack of speed, I'd stopped paying attention to Yoshimoto’s conversations with the innkeepers and artisans. My bad. "Is he?"

"Not as of yet. I believe he's still in the process of getting promises of support from anti-Oda clans. Small ones." Yoshimoto reluctantly gave the bowl back to the artisan. It was too big to take with us (not that it had stopped his other purchases). "With winter setting in, he'll wait to attack in spring. No one wants to march an army through the mountains in a blizzard."

He turned back to the artisan and purchased the bowl anyway. "I can gift it to my cousin. We're almost to their castle."

Yoshimoto apparently had relatives all over Japan although the exact lines of ancestry I was never clear on. This particular cousin Ohana was married to a daimyo who was currently an ally of Kenshin, or at least that was the apparent relationship. It didn’t seem like much of a connection, especially not when we were basically dropping by with very little warning.

However, when we arrived at a small castle in Takayama, Ohana's husband Susumu welcomed us warmly. Then he immediately bore Yoshimoto off for a long war conversation, leaving Ohana to outfit me with clothing belonging to her youngest son. Besides a warm fur cloak, there were kimonos and hakamas in rich heat-absorbent shades of blue and black. I felt terrible taking her kid's wardrobe, but she waved off my protests.

"In truth, if Genmaro is anything like his father and brothers, I expect he will be half a head taller and more before the new year. And with no other children behind him, I would have sent these on to another cousin anyway." She threw a sturdy dark wine colored kimono on the pile.

I supposed that due to the fact I needed to look the part of an Imagawa page, it was in a sense a uniform. Armor. At least it was physical armor. It seemed that I would need some mental armor as well - both Ohana and Susumu had reacted with identical expressions of horror when Yoshimoto said he was planning to visit Yoshiaki. I imagined that a large portion the conversation between Susumu and Yoshimoto included the Sengoku versions of the expression, ‘are you nuts?’

Yeah, Yoshiaki was beginning to sound like the monster under the bed.

I half expected Yoshimoto’s cousins to lock him in a room and perform an intervention, but all that they managed to do was convince him to spend the night with them, so that we would be awake and alert when we arrived at Yoshiaki’s hideout. We would take with us not only warmer clothing, but also a couple additional servants, as both Yoshimoto and Susumu agreed that in the case of the Shogun, “more is more.”

And ‘more is more’ as in this is beginning to feel like more and more of serious production. As in, if you screw this up, it is more and more likely that you and Yoshimoto will die. It was at that moment that I realized I didn’t actually know what a page did. It was not in my repertoire of disguises, so as we were preparing for the visit, I asked, "Do you have any particular instructions? I've never been a page before."

This request was at least partially prompted by my worry for his mental state. He hadn’t slept at all the night before, for every time I woke up, I saw him standing by the window, staring out at the moon. Indeed, that was where he was when I got up. The moon had set, but Yoshimoto was clinging to that window as if it were a portal to another land. If the wormhole were to appear, I suspect he would leap right into it, not caring about where it led (him, I should at least warn him about the dinosaur possibility). I tried again to get his attention. “Yoshimoto? What does your page do? Carry your luggage?”

With an attitude of reluctance, Yoshimoto finally turned his attention to me. "Stand behind me, in my shadow if possible, bow as low as you can manage, and keep facing down. Don't look at him."

Well, that's ominous. "And if, when I find Iekane?" Accusing the man in front of the Shogun would apparently be an enormous breach of protocol. Probably even considered treason.

"Do you think he will recognize you?" He set out little ceramic pots of make-up… hopefully not for me.

"Well... probably, yes. He knew me as both housemaid Kaya and courier Katsu, so whichever way I’m dressed, he’ll be familiar." Plus, he had, I was sure now, been in Sakai right before my accident, so he'd seen me recently.

He was quiet a moment. "Bow to the floor as soon as you enter, and don't rise unless I give you a direct order. Yoshiaki will think it’s his due anyway."

He sounds like a real charmer. He and Iekane probably deserved each other. Hopefully the floor wouldn’t be too cold there at. Hm. “And what is the name of this place?”

“Genba.” Yoshimoto bit off the word as if it tasted terrible.

Genba.

It was the first I had heard of it. So why was I suddenly feeling claustrophobic while my mind presented me images of a labarinthine path, dark corridors, and the smell of poison? I knew I had never been there before. The word, the place name, totally unfamiliar.

But… something…?

Genba.

Note: "Genba" will sound familiar to anyone who's read "A Mitsunari Night's Dream" as most of the action took place there. Katsu is just getting a deja vu from that other timeline. But the people who live in this Genba aren't exactly the same characters who lived in that other timeline, so it's not necessary to have read Mitsunari's story ... you haven't missed any vital information.

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