#and i broke down the two last Projects into their components

[bismuthburnsblue]

okkkk, with the vest complete, heres whats left to do for Sheriff Ginny!

Hat:

   Add bullet hole✔️

   Make sheriff star✔️

   Add leather (?) hat band✔️

   Neaten up the rim✔️

Style the wig (make some blue ties out of denim left overs?)

Make the broach✔️

Holster Belt:

   Make main belt

   Shine buckle?

   Attach buckle

   Make banana pouch (add magnet to secure banana?)

   Make loop for rope

   Shape rope

   Make a pouch to store things?

Decorate the boots

... and thats it i think! it feels pretty within sight honestly, the only Big task in my eyes is the wig (oh man i hate wig styling)

(i want to have the upper half of this costume done for the 19th- cozy bundle release day- so i can take some pictures, and then the rest in time for bham mcm! im not sure when im going to that yet, but im gonna be in town so im‎‎‎‎‎ gonna get A ticket, at least)

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

'Who am I to Complain?'

As part of my own contribution to this year's first day of Spring 2024, aka the in universe birthday of one Richard John Grayson-Wayne, the First Robin and the crime fighter known as Nightwing, I would like this opportunity finally....FINALLY...posting up for you all a fic that's been in my drafts for pretty much the better part of any entire year. Originally meant on being released last Christmas, various forms of delay, writer's block and other general distractions have prevented me from finally finishing such a project. Well finally after such anticipation at least on my end, I have managed creating a final form for this story I think can satisfy.

For very quick context, this story is a component of my long running idea proposing and lore building of my own version of the DC Comics Universe. In particular, it takes within the long storyline both @thattimdrakeguy and I have crafted for the better part of two years, the first part being involved within the hypothetical Nightwing solo book, 'Clipped Wings' and its follow up crossover with Detective Comics proper, "Blue Hawk Down'. For more information regarding the general summaries of events, check out the links here and here.

I shall like to dedicate this story to my mutuals and friends @adalineozie @meara-eldestofthemall @nightglider124 @faesystem @confusedhummingbird @spider-jaysart @mothnem @lightdusk96 @camo-wolf @sbd-laytall @theredheaded-stuff @celaenaeiln @starlightbelle @shootingstarssel @avaraydrake @pin-crusher2000 @sillymanwithocs @batboyblog @bluegarners @tarisilmarwen @orange-s-mario @altinyns-multimedia-museblog @katmaatui and so many others

Constructive Criticisms are Generally Welcome; Replies and Especially Reblogs are greatly appreciated

The Following May Contain Graphic Scenes of Violence, References to Sexual Assault and other themes not suitable for a Young Audience. Viewer Discretion is Heavily Advised

As per usual, All Rights and Copyrights to Characters and Concepts seen in this work are owned by DC Comics, Inc, a subsidiary of DC Entertaiment and Warner Bros. Discovery

With all that....Happy Birthday Dick Grayson....Here's my gift of Grade A angst for you

Sigh. Cough Cough

Look at yourself. Just Honest to God, Dick, just look at yourself.

Take a good look at those cuts, that blood all over your ugly as hell face, that blood pouring out of your stupid, big fat hole you call a mouth. You wanna know who’s Goddamn fault it was for all this? You wanna know who's responsible for you being more pathetic and a freak than you already are? Cough Cough

You.

Don’t try to deny it. Why should you? 

After all, you allowed this to happen to you, right? Not just with what happened tonight but over these last few weeks. You know what I’m talking about. Losing your home and failing to find out how despite insisting you paid for it. What will Kory Cough say now when she comes back and sees that home you wanted to allow her into isn’t even yours anymore? What kind of fiance are you to allow that? 

  Why stop there? Here you are, without any place to call a house, your face gushing and oozing red as it had been lately, broke, nobody likes you, not a single damn soul cares about you. You wanna know who’s fault it is? Yours. In fact, as you right now are flinging that bottle of peroxide into your ugly face and stinging from it as you deserve, how about we explore what even happened tonight that led to this, shall we? 

  I think I should…Cough

 Three Hours Earlier….

 BAM 

“Ack!” 

“Tell Us Goddamnit, You Blue Wearing Cunt!!” 

As if I would. How do I tell these bastards where the hell Bruce is if I wasn’t even able to speak to him for weeks by now? 

I know what you’re thinking, ‘but are you his…’

Stop right there right now. If you’re gonna pull that whole ‘you’re his son’  bullshit on me, for one thing, at the very most I was adopted, I ain’t his real kid. I never deserved being his real kid at all given who we are. Another thing too; if he were to come to my help, he would’ve done so about…God knows how many times by now lately. I would handle it anyways, what kind of person needs any sort of father or even friends when it was their own damn fault they wound up taking two  bullets to the hamstrings? 

Why yes, that’s what I’m going through and yes it was my Goddamn fault being this utterly stupid and an utter embarrassment with my training for getting caught by those sickos like I was. Now you are thinking, everyone has an off day and…

BAM BAM BAM BAM 

Crap! Two on the calves and two more on my hamstrings, I can tell. 

“Motherfucker….” Damn it all they weren’t supposed to hear that. Great, now they laugh at it. 

The hell’s wrong with me? There’s no time to let them know what’s going with my nerves acting up. 

“You know, guys” (Cough) Keep it in, Grayson! You got something to say these assholes need to hear Damnit! “ You’re getting absolutely nowhere right now. If I knew where Batman was, I still wouldn’t tell you. So what the hell makes you think I do then after an hour and…” 

“Shut the fuck up, Birdfreak!” 

BAM

A kick right to my face? Yeah, another in my long line of failures and that one was justified; I should’ve seen that one coming. Hey, compared to the bullet holes though, it’s nothing really. Besides why even be hurt by that when I have this lowlife staring directly at my ugly mug of a face right now? 

“You know him, more than us here! You have to know where he went! We got a sweet little gig here and I ain’t rushing to see that pointy eared son of a dick trying to ruin it! ‘Sides, you’re in our hands now, so you see; once we’re all done here one way or another, we can get that dough from the cops since they’re looking for you more than us! Now you tell us if he knows about this place and if he’s coming, will ya?! We ain’t got all night and I’m missing my game!” 

Sweet little gig? As in the child trafficking operation they got here right now? Some of those children right behind me behind a cage like animals, forced to see me pinned on my torso and face, taking crap in many ways from them? They call that ‘sweet’ in mine and their faces?! 

“You calling that a game? Selling kids to sexual slavery? I really hate to see what’ll be your idea for a movie if that’s what you.re saying” That quip, I couldn’t help, it was damn true and these creeps needed to hear that. It was about as much a fact as Bruce hates me right now and rightfully so. 

Yet all they do is laugh even harder than before. They’re really….really starting to get on my nerves. 

Their ringleader grins ever so much in my face. His disgusting and unbearable cigarette smoke billows in my face. “So what?”  

So what? So what?? Is that really your best retort to me? It’s unbelievable, just what kind of devils and evils dwell in this city. But it’s evil I hunt for every single night. No one around me sees what I have to or does what I do around these parts. Not Bruce, not Tim, not Kory, no Donna….no one. On that note,  no one should have to. Maybe it’s my failure to stop evil like this and everything I do, everything so wrong and never good enough, that’s why I’m certain Bruce decided just to cut me off. 

No job, no place I can call a house or a home to stay in, no money, no spare clothes, no answering my calls, nothing. It’s been about three months of this so far, a three month test to see if I break if I had nothing, only for the big bad bat wanting me to literally cry my way back home to him. You know what? Screw you too, Bruce. Or whoever was doing all this. I know that, even for you Bruce, ins outs of everything, even you normally won’t stoop this low. It’s not just nothing I’ve been trying to figure out suggests otherwise. Maybe it’s just this….paranoia….no I can’t be paranoid. What’s happening is real and I need to deal with it and…

“Hey Cockscuker, you listening to me??” 

Oh right, this asshole. 

Looking at him, I can’t help myself but make my eyes go towards his own. What does he think would work now to make me talk? 

In his hands was some sort of object. It looks bladed, I can tell based on the glistening of the steel coming from the moonlight coming in through the window. Once he gets a bit closer, I see it now….oh of course….a damn pizza cutter. Oh and just my luck too, in his other hand is a goddamn cheese grater. I guess either this warehouse is for kitchen  tools or just my karma telling me how much I fucking suck and rightfully so again. Maybe the latter. 

The asshole only grins at me. “Okay then, maybe some…slices can get ya to talk. What do you say?” 

I take a deep breath and brace my teeth within my mouth. No use crying out, screaming or any of that weakness than I already showed earlier . This frankly I deserve, and come on. 

I’ve taken a few swings from a baseball bat from Two Face, got injected with Slade’s nanoscopic probes that were shredding my cells inside and out, got blasted by an alternate Luthor, forcibly swallowed a heart paralyzing pill by Slade and the actual Luthor (that bald cunt)….and now just a circular blade and a metal sheet with blades on it on my forehead and face?

Seems fitting enough to take; whatever I’ve done and didn’t do in my vow to protect the innocent and never strive off the path of justice, being a terrible friend, never good enough for Batman as I had always been, letting the only two people that actually had any right to care for me fall to the sandy and hard floor, shattering almost every bone in their bodies when I had only one job to do which was catch them….yeah this is appropriate. This is exactly what I deserve after all of that. Losing my home, my job, and my means to do basically anything for myself, I deserve that.

Who am I to complain, really? 

  Back at the Present Day….

   Sssszzzz….

“Ah Fuck!” 

Peroxide…it never fails to emit any sort of sting on any sort of cut, don’t it, Dick? 

Oh but you gonna start cussing and feeling it now? What the hell’s wrong with you? You can’t handle just a tiny sting of this shit without any yells? 

Suck it up, will ya? You’re acting like a spoiled brat. 

Who are you to complain about really?

Oh and by the way, there goes the last of our Peroxide, just circling down this old bathroom sink drain into God knows sewer pipes along with the blood it splashed off. You're gonna have to fetch some more, Dick. It’s not like Bruce is gonna get us anymore. 

Fuck Him. 

We’ve been putting up with his shit every since we lost are damn place to stay in, then our jobs all over this city, villain after villain breaking out, us being blamed for the Mayor, his wife and girl getting ripped to shreds and blood all over one day with one of your Wingdings, making you hunted down from pretty much everyone (for what only $1.5 Billion Alive? Oh c’mon that's too generous of a bounty for you. I’d put myself at about only 25 cents given your piss poor track record); You know for sure Bruce did all this, all behind the scenes, pulling every string he can to get us like this. 

 And why? Letting him know that you can take care of ourselves that one time and him being this offended by it? Well, fuck it, You’ve been showing him alright! Things are shittybut maybe that’s just how he likes it for you. Nothing gonna change that anytime soon; might as well make it the best for you, because it’s all you can do by now. 

  So now, no shoes, no fucking good socks at all, only one pair of torn sweats, that black tee, suit and toothbrush in your bag, here in this damn blizzard….every breathe getting…heavier….kinda….getting hard to stay awa…Cough Cough Cough

  Hey! Cut it out, Dickface! Cough Keep going at least somewhere! Anywhere out of this snow…so much of it….Wait, that spot there, in this alley. That’ll work for now. 

You hear that, laying on this backpack now….yeah this’ll work….at least not being out in that wind, though…..so much snow….it’s everywhere. It’s been everywhere these last few days. Fitting really, since well you do hear that right?

  C’mon pick it up, Dick, your ears can’t be that piss poor 

Cough

  “May I, as your new Mayor, wish us all in this dear Bludhaven…..”

   Yeah, there it is…..old Mafia boss now politician giving his speech for what today is. 

    “A Good…Merry ... .Christmas…!” 

   Okay, you get the idea. At least that’s one thing you got right….

   Getting sleepy now….

…...pretty cold…..tomorrow might be better….

But at least that’s one thing, Dick….

…this damn city….all of its people….they got a good Christmas….

Gotta close your eyes now…..

Wait….that the Redbird….isn't that….can’t be Timmy…..

Cough Cough

 Heh…looks like he tripped…Not real though….can’t be…..Bruce doesn’t care….you don’t need him…..but yeah….need rest…..you gave them a good Christmas 

Who…am….I….to….Cough…..Complain?

[kickthecan-revolution]

#

I’ve had to take a couple of meetings the last two days but it was worth it, I needed to get the feedback on the model I’ve put together to validate the feasibility analysis my team and I did on what is needed for a successful implementation. Everyone loves it and my instinct to not launch it too early without feedback from our Regional Directors was correct - they are running multi-million dollar businesses and need to have a say where their payroll goes. I met with our EMEIA Director this morning with my boss on the line as well - my boss’s boss is in London and offered to take her through the model but the Director said “if OK, I’d rather Diane take me through it, she has a level of detail that’s important.” which was hilarious and awesome. We stayed on for an hour, talking about our stores, our leaders, what they are all experiencing right now - she teared up, it’s so hard and my model is going to help if we create the right change management around it. My heart was so full after our conversation, she said “after 14 years, you’ve finally done it. congratulations.” And not a backhanded compliment, she knows how difficult it’s been and all of the obstacles we’ve faced. 

##

It’s so huge. We’ve done some work that is going to help so much. This larger Retail University idea needs the payroll plumbing first and this will do it. One of my team broke down in tears last week, she feels so disrespected by our current senior Leadership and so lost in her role - what she didn’t know is behind the scenes, my long-time best friend, sister cat colleague R and I- the person who I’ve led the training team with forever -  figured out a way of positioning my team with the Big Boss of the new vision of this university so we can do that work instead of the insanity we’re in now. I got on the phone with him and subtly showed him how my team can help - this morning, she sent me a screenshot and with the note “we are currently discussing how to get your team engaged on this”.  So it’s happening, but my doesn’t know it yet because I won’t share it until it’s secured. One of my skills is political savvy - my borderline tendencies create belief that every moment needs to be survived, not lived - so interactions with others always has a “succeed or die” component to it which makes me particularly adept at being liked, ensuring others are heard, that I match their energy and understand their needs. That’s a need in Corporate America despite its darker and more broken intent. And, I am a Socialist by nature -  I authentically care about everyone’s success and believe that a good solution means success for everyone’s individual projects and have innate ability to synthesize them into one big solution, but talk about that solution so everyone’s priority is seen and heard in it. So they are willing to work with me. Caring for people and telling the truth are more than just sentiment - they are the agents of change and for people who ultimately value good things, work (eventually). 

###

I called the interior designer who helped me with my place to start phase 2, furniture is expensive and I don’t want to fuck it up. I don’t need anything fancy but I need an expert to help me invest the money I am (now) willing to spend; at first I wasn’t because of my loathing to contribute to the landfill but after falling asleep on my sofa and waking up to a bad back, I want a new couch. And I want a cool kitchen table and the storage unit to not smell like cat litter. And I think I want to figure out how to put a hot tub on the terrace. So she’ll help me figure all of that out. 

####

I treated myself to some pancakes this morning but now I’m going to focus on my health. I’m going to lose some weight and be a better advocate for my body. The way I eat now is grounded in emotional soothing - I can have a different relationship to food now. My own. 

[drivingsideways]

Melo is My Nature Review

Well, as usual, I’m late to the party! I picked up 2019′s Melo is my Nature/ Be Melodramatic with some trepidation since I was (am!) still smarting a bit from the disappointment that’s Hospital Playlist S2, and I wasn’t quite ready for another. 

I’m so glad I gave it a chance! While it isn’t a “perfect” series- in the nature of the world *sigh*- its combination of quirky, clever, self-aware humour and heartfelt performances won me over from the first episode. 

More thoughts under the cut (along with some spoilers)

I’m very fond of ensemble dramas that love their characters, and “Melo is my Nature” does that very well. Perhaps a little too well, to the point that you feel the writers letting themselves be more than a little indulgent during the middle stretch of the episodes. But I can’t complain too much, because yes, I know the feeling!  “Side characters” that refuse to stay in the lane and take over the narrative are also my favourites, as a writer and a viewer. I loved, loved, loved Lee Joo-bin as the flighty-but-amazingly-smart Lee So-min; that felt like such a delightful  clap-back against the prevailing sentiment that often goes against young, successful women and the ridiculous levels of expectations of them, in how they need to perform gender and  femininity and smartness. I loved that (like Emma! There’s a lot of Jane in this series!) the writers managed to make her likeable even though they never disregard her flaws or its consequences.

 Another performance/ character that I totally adored was Baek Ji-won as Jeong Hye-jeong, the industry maven who may be (?) a nod to Kim Eun-sook, I suppose! I was afraid at some point that they’d just trash her character, by making her a little too ridiculous in an unkind way, but I found some of the loveliest scenes involved her- like the one where she tells Jin-joo to do the work, but not be too successful. In the end, there was a love and fondness for her, a genuine empathy, that really was core to what made this show so successful. 

Shout out also to two of the weirdest characters I’ve watched, but thoroughly loved- Heo Joon-seok as Director Dong-gi & Lee Ji-min as Nutritionist (?) Da-mi. I absolutely adored that the only wedding in this series is between these two, and they do it in a completely predictably-unusual way. 

Re: the “main” characters, I loved all of them without exception, though some more than the others :) One of the things I love about the show is how real and present the three female leads feel; they feel like whole, entire people rather than caricatures of them, even when the show reaches almost unusual levels of quirky. I love that a through-line of the narrative is how important women’s labour is- to themselves. The work they do, which is acknowledged as a part of their identity rather than just something they do to pay bills (though of course there’s acknowledgement of that aspect too!),  their hunger to do it well and for it to matter- all of that is portrayed in a way that’s charming  but still taken very seriously. And the way you know that its taken seriously is in the things they focus on- how Oh Jin-joo struggles to write alone, and how Han-joo’s learning to be someone’s mentor while struggling with her own insecurities, and how lost Eun-jung feels, when work which was supposed to give her purpose fails her in a time of crisis, and how unmoored she feels without it. 

Re: the romance- I’m someone predisposed to dislike heterosexual romance, especially at the present moment, so it’s always with a great deal of hesitation that I start watching shows that I know have a large romance component. It’s always a bit of a coin toss for me whether the show will end up making me hate the romance or just about tolerate it. I rarely expect to *like * it.  So “Melo is my Nature” was a pleasant surprise!  This is  one of the few series where I felt the writers put in the work to sell the “main romance” of the show. You get to know the Oh Jin-joo and Beom-soo in sharply etched sketches before they move into the romance part (with a lot of tongue-in-cheek meta humour about the formulaic nature of tv romances). I genuinely felt that thrill of  “oh this could go platonic or romantic and I would like either” slowly ease into “oh my god these two are MEANT TO BE”, because the Romance is clearly in the all the ways they are NOT meant to be, but also, very, very definitely are. DELICIOUS. Just my cup of Jane Austen in a different context/ time.

Through most of the show though, my heart was divided between two characters- Jeon Yeo-bin’s stellar Eun-jung and Han Ji-eun’s pitch perfect Han-joo. Jeon Yeo-bin brought edginess, dark humour and a deep, almost- inconsolable grief to Eun-jung. Some of the stand out scenes of the entire series are hers: the moment where she watches herself on video talking to an imaginary person, and the moment she breaks down in front of the psych after talking about her mother. Watching this show, it really felt like- oh, she’s a star. Consider me sold on her for life (though, no, I will not watch Vincenzo unless there’s a Hong Cha-young supercut out there, in which case, please put it in my eyeballs now)

Han Ji-eun, imho, actually pulled off the toughest performance, because I think Han-joo’s strength of character is so often concealed by her “silliness” (in a similar vein to So-min’s), and that often makes her someone you’d overlook or not take seriously.  But god, she broke my heart, from the scene in the first episode where she’s sitting alone at a table after a rough day and watching her horrible ex live his best life to the hilarious and excruciating  “Oppa” scene, to the one where her kid is quite unconsciously cruel to her in the way kids can be. I was disappointed in the way they dropped the “reveal” about whom she’s dating in the last episode- not that I wanted her to be in an romance with Jae-hoon, god, NO- but it felt quite clunky.  This is one of the two complaints I have with the show. 

The second one is that starting from the middle, episodes began to noticeably feel like scenes/ sketches spliced together. Each scene is, within itself, perfectly written and performed, but the seams between the stories began to show. I felt one of the main reasons was that Eun-jung’s trauma tonally felt like it belonged in another show, but instead it had to get stitched into the mostly happy/ frothy storylines of the other characters. Sure, we had Hae-joon and his girlfriend’s terrible relationship, but the show had an easier time integrating that by way of Han-joo.

That said, I love how clever this show is! I love that it loves its own cleverness and can’t resist the urge to show it off- from all the meta references, in-universe jokes, and oh, that entire episode devoted to farting, complete with a song about it,  which I think maybe my fave episode of the series. A great look at the place of performance in intimate relationships (and how the women bear the burden of it more than the men), but coming at it from a place of compassion and humour rather than anger. Love that choice, for the show and us! 

I think @rain-hat mentioned in a comment here or twitter that Melo feels like a part of a triangle of shows along with Run On and Search : WWW.  I’m inclined to swap out Run On for Rookie Historian, or huh, maybe change the triangle for a quadrangle? Rookie Historian dares to imagine a past where our protagonist is (mostly) unshackled by the patriarchy and in the “modern” ending to its main heterosexual romance, reminds us that people have always found ways to find joy and thrive outside the rigid bounds of society. Search: WWW goes about it in the opposite direction- placing us in a present/future where the patriarchy doesn’t  and hasn’t ever mattered. Melo, I think, doesn’t quite do that, but in common with both these shows, it refuses to focus on the trauma of living under such structural violence, and instead talks about how we all (irrespective of gender) can find a way to remain unbroken by it. And while both Search:WWW and Melo do well at queer-platonic relationships as an alternate to the heterosexual project, it’s Run On, I think, which goes furthest there- firstly because though ostensibly structured around a het romance, that romance turns out to be falling in love with yourself/ loving yourself;  secondly because it’s most explicitly queer in the choices that the characters make and the lives that they choose for themselves- Min-joo & May are each others darlings and will be for life, Yeong-hwa and Ki Seon-gyeom are allowed a tenderness in their friendship that feels like an explicit repudiation of toxic masculinity, and of course, you have May being asexual, but not aromantic, and Goh Ye-jun’s whole arc of accepting himself as a gay man, and finding acceptance of that identity from others. 

Anyway! tl;dr would recommend (and have recommended!) Melo is my Nature to anyone fond of women, clever story telling and also ridiculously happy songs.

[onlyfreds]

Unravelling Love’s Mystery | F.W.

Title: Unravelling Love’s Mystery

Requested: Yes/No

Summary: Fred and Y/N had bad blood between them ever since their first year at College. But when they are partnered up for a project, what could go wrong?

A/N: This is my first time writing an enemies to lovers so, I hope I was able to give it justice.

In my opinion, love is the greatest mystery of all, probably even the mystery that no one can come to solve. It will always be a mystery on how two people fall in love, how two people come to have this mutual understanding and affection.

Love brings many emotions to a person: heartbreak, anger, a sense of longing, but those people who have found their one true love, they feel joy, peace, a sense of satisfaction.

And love can come to the most unlikely pair, who would have thought that two childhood best friends end up together? Who would have thought that your soulmate happened to be your grumpy boss?

In my case, I ended up with the most unlikely contestant, my sworn enemy, Fred Weasley.

The Psychology of Love, that was our lecture topic for today. Don’t get me wrong, it is quite an interesting topic. But there was one person in the whole universe who could make the tables turn, and that was an arrogant, stubborn, and increasingly annoying classmate of mine named Fred Weasley.

“Okay class.” Professor McGonagall started the lecture as the latecomers settled into the remaining seats, “As you may have figured out from your essay that is – in fact - due today, our lecture is about the Psychology of Love.”

She looked at all of us with a stern but gentle look, “Now, which one of you can tell me who developed the triangular theory of love?”

My hand, along with Fred’s, promptly shot up in the air. McGonagall looked at us, a bit bored, if you ask me, as it was always the two of us.

“Mr. Weasley.” She called.

Fred stood up, throwing me a smug smile from across the hall.

“American Psychologist, Robert Sternberg is the one who developed the triangular theory of love.” He answered, sitting back down when he finished.

I rolled my eyes at him, crossing my arms over my chest, wanting so badly to smack him at the back of the head with my textbook to wipe that smug smirk of his face.

“Very good Mr. Weasley! Now, who can state all the three components of love that can be found in Robert Sternberg’s theory?” Our Professor asked.

Fred’s hand and mine both shot up to the air again, we exchanged a challenging look. It was another race, another competition to prove who’s better, who’s the best. Because only one can be at the top.

“Ms. L/N.” McGonagall called.

Fred wore a defeated look as I stood up from my seat, “The three components of love is: intimacy – which is defined as the closeness between people in personal relationships -, passion – which is a strong liking or desire -, and lastly, commitment – or being dedicated to the relationship, in my opinion, it is the most important component. Because intimacy and passion won’t prevail if there is no commitment in the relationship.”

She smiled, “That’s a perfect answer Y/N! Very well explained!” She praised.

I sat back down as McGonagall started to discuss, not being able to help the proud smile on my lips.

“Any more questions?” Professor McGonagall asks as she ends her presentation. Silence spreading through the lecture hall.

“Okay then, now before I dismiss you, I’ll briefly discuss your project. You are to make your own theory about love and you will do it in pairs. And I already decided your partners for you. I will read them aloud right now. There will be no complaining and no switching of partners.”

She then pulled up a file on her laptop and started reading out loud the names of the partners. That was until she read the last pair of names.

“Fred Weasley and Y/N L/N.”

“What?!” I whispered, turning to my best friend, Hermione, who was sitting next to me.

“Did I hear correctly? Out of every single person in this lecture hall, I’m partnered up with Fred?”

She nodded, “Yes, you heard correctly.”

I groaned, sinking back into my seat, “This is officially the worst project ever.”

Ginny chuckled, patting me comfortingly on the shoulder, “Well, as much as I feel sorry for you Y/N. It’s not like you have a choice.”

Even if Ginny is Fred’s younger sister, she was nothing like her brother. To be honest, I was friends with all the Weasleys, except Fred. It’s actually hard to believe that he came from the same family.

I glanced over to the side and saw that Fred wore the same look of horror on his face as he ranted to his buddies.

I stood up, shouldering my backpack as I marched down the steps towards McGonagall’s desk, vaguely aware that Fred was hot on my heels.

“Professor.” I said, “You can’t do this to us.”

She raised a brow at us, “Do what?”

“Partner Y/N and I up together for the project.” Fred answered.

“Why is that?” She asked, even though she already knew the answer.

I sighed, fiddling with the strap of my bag, “Professor, you know how Fred and I feel towards each other.” I said, glancing at Fred.

He ran a hand through his hair, “I hate to agree with her Professor, but she’s right.”

McGonagall pursed her lips, “Well, you two will just have to work with it. Like I said, no switching partners. And may I remind you Mr. Weasley and Ms. L/N, that this project contributes to 60% of your final grade. So, it’s either you give both of your best or you both fail.” She said, before walking out of the door, leaving both Fred and I alone in the now deserted lecture hall.

Fred groaned as he leaned against the desk, “What are we going to do now.”

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest, “Well, it’s not like we can do anything about it. Unless you want to fail, of course.” I said, before walking out of the hall, in search of Hermione and Ginny.

--

“No matter what you do.” Hermione said, looking up from her project with Ron, “You can’t avoid it. So, go and get this whole thing over with. Unless you want to fail.”

It’s been a week since McGonagall gave the project, and Hermione was right.

I groaned, taking my stuff as I walked towards the door of our dorm, “Well, failing is never an option.” I said, as I headed towards the library, where Fred and I agreed to rendezvous.

“So, what should we do?” I asked, sitting down in the seat across him.

He shrugged, not bothering to look up from whatever he was writing, “Well, in case you weren’t listening, we are supposed to make a theory about love.”

I took out my textbook and my laptop, placing it in front of me, “Obviously I know that. What I’m asking is what is our theory?”

He shrugged again, “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” I asked.

He sighed, finally looking up from his work, “I thought you were smart.” He said sarcastically, “You can’t even understand something as simple as ‘I don’t know.’”

It took all of my willpower to bite back a retort, “Look Weasley, I am trying so hard to be nice to you. I don’t want to be here and neither do you. So, will you please stop being so arrogant and stubborn so we could get over with this?”

Fred scoffed, “Me? Being arrogant and stubborn? I’m sorry, but I’m trying my best to make this work because I don’t want to fail just because of a self-centered, ignorant little minx like you.”

“Me?” I said, “So, all of a sudden, it’s my fault? I don’t want to fail either Weasley. And I didn’t ask to be paired up with you. You think you’re so good and you’re so much better than anyone else! When in reality, there’s always someone better than you!” I spat as I abruptly stood up from my chair.

Fred followed suit, towering over me due to the difference in height, “Oh yeah? And who might that be? You?”

He scoffed, “Of course it’s you! It’s always you! You think you’re such a genius! You act so tough and strong but in reality, you’re a coward, you’re a failure. You think that you’re so perfect, that you’re so flawless. But let me tell you, you have flaws. Everyone has flaws.”

“So, you think you’re so perfect then.” I said, glaring up at him, feeling a rush of emotion crash down on me, all at the same time.

“At least I know that I could fail and I work hard to avoid that. You on the other hand, don’t. That’s the difference between the two of us.” He said, not backing down.

That was when it felt like the whole world was crashing down on my shoulders, that’s when I became overwhelmed, the stress, the emotions, the built-up anger caught up with me. The thick tension in the atmosphere around us started suffocating me.

I collapsed back into the chair I was sitting on earlier, burying my head in my hands, as I slowly broke down into tears.

I heard the chair next to me move as it scrapped against the metal floor.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I heard Fred’s voice ask, as he gently rubbed my back. I couldn’t come to believe that he was concerned for my well-being.

“Why do you care?” I asked in between tears.

“Because, no matter how much I despise you, my mum always told me that the worst thing a man can do to a girl is make her cry.” He said softly.

I looked up at him, a few tears still dripping down my cheeks, “Are you really concerned? Or you’re just looking for another reason to torment me?”

He smiled at me for the first time as I saw genuine concern in his eyes, “I’m really concerned.” He said, pulling me gently into a hug as I rested my head on his chest.

“So, why are you really crying?” He asked.

I took a deep breath, “I mean, I know I’m not perfect. Nobody is, but my biggest fear has always been failing. I’m an only child and when my parents found out that I’m academically gifted, it made me their greatest treasure, it made me their pride and joy. I’ve always been insecure about that, whether if I’m already good enough or not. And hearing somebody voice out those insecurities, felt a million times worst. That’s the reason why I’m always trying to one up you. Because, if I fail, I would go from my parents’ pride and joy to being the disappointment of the family in a split second. And it’s just so stressful. And with our little argument, I just got so overwhelmed by my emotions that I had to let it all out.” I explained.

At the back of my mind, I was aware of Fred’s demeanor changing in a snap. From the person I despised whom I was screaming at minutes ago, to the person who was now bringing me comfort. He handled me so gently in my fragile state, as if I was made of glass, that it would have been hard to recognize him as my sworn enemy.

To anybody who would pass by, they would’ve been so confused at the sight. Me with my head on Fred’s chest, as he comfortingly rubbed my back while his other hand gently ran through my hair as he apologized over and over again.

I just wanted to stay in our small bubble. I wouldn’t admit it out loud but, I like this side of Fred better, the quiet, caring, gentle side of him.

“We’re not so different after all.” He said, breaking the silence that lingered between the two of us.

“What do you mean?” I asked, slightly confused.

Fred started to explain, “The pressure that’s being put down on us. Well, you’ve met Bill, Charlie and Percy, right? Bill’s prefect and head boy and he’s got amazing grades. Charlie has a very successful business. And Percy is basically the epitome of the perfect student. So, this puts a lot of pressure on me. That, in order to make Mum and Dad happy, then I have to be just like them. That’s why I’m always trying to compete with you. So, we’re not that different after all.” He finished with a reassuring smile.

I looked up at him, offering a small smile, “You’re right. Why don’t we call a truce for now? And when the project’s finish and being friends doesn’t work out for us, then we can go back to our old ways.” I said, offering my hand.

He took it and gave it a small shake, “Deal. And don’t you hate agreeing with me?”

I shook my head, “No. Because: one, I like this side of you better. And two, you do have a point.”

“Falling for me already L/N?” He teased.

I laughed, shaking my head, “In your dreams Weasley.”

We then started to work, sharing our ideas and concepts and working it out together.

We decided to call it a day when it was around 1 in the morning.

“So, we’ll rendezvous same place tomorrow?” I asked.

He nodded, “Sure.” Then he started fidgeting with the strap of his bag.

“Is there anything wrong?” I asked, seeing his nervousness.

He gave a shy smile, “Well, it’s just that your dorm is 6 blocks from here. And I just don’t want you to walk out there alone. So, if you want, you can stay at my dorm for the night, I’ll even sleep on the couch. But, if you’re not comfortable with that, then I could always walk you home.”

I chuckled, “Should I be suspicious if you have any hidden agenda on taking me back to your dorm?” I joked.

Fred laughed, raising his hand in mock surrender, “I have no such intentions. I’m only worrying about your safety. Like I said, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

I smiled, “Okay then. I’ll just send a quick text to Hermione so she wouldn’t worry about my whereabouts.”

I took out my phone, searching for Hermione in my contacts and sending a text to her.

>Hey ‘Mione. I’m not coming home tonight. I’ll be staying the night at Fred’s place.

I received her reply immediately.

>Woah, woah, I thought you despised him and his whole existence? What made you want to stay the night at his place?

<We called a truce, see how being friends works out for the both of us. Turns out we’re similar in a lot of ways.

>Yeah, and that includes staying the night at his dorm?

<Hermione, I’m ready to give him the benefit of the doubt. He deserves a chance. Besides, he swore that he has no hidden agenda and he’ll be sleeping on the couch.

I blushed as I read her reply, secretly hoping that Fred didn’t notice.

>Okay, I’m not saying that you’re making a reckless decision. But, at least the two of you are putting your differences aside. Who knows? You two might end up together.

>Hermione!

<What? I’m just saying ;)

“So,” Fred said, standing by my side a bit awkwardly, “What did she say?”

I licked my lips, “She’s fine with it.”

He grinned, “Okay then, let’s get going then.”

When we arrived at his dorm, it was more organized than I expected it to be.

“Your roommate is George, right?” I asked, placing my bag on a nearby chair.

He nodded, “Yeah. But he’s at Angelina’s dorm, so we basically have the place to ourselves.”

He headed to his room, coming out with a sweater and a pair of shorts in his grasp, then handing them to me.

“The bathroom is down the hall to the left.” He said as I gave him a grateful smile.

After I had changed, Fred had already set up his makeshift bed on the couch.

I bit my lip as I pulled my hair back into a messy bun, I felt like this was too much. I know that Fred was trying to make a good impression on our new-found friendship, but I didn’t want to abuse his kindness.

“Fred, I appreciate that you’re trying to make a kind gesture, but I’ll take the couch.” I said, gently.

He shook his head, a small smile on his lips, “No, it’s fine. I insist.”

I placed my hand on top of his, “You’re already letting me stay here for the night. So, I’m not kicking you out of your own bed. Let me be the one who’s doing something for you other than glare and bicker.” I joked.

He laughed, “Okay, fine. But just because that I have a feeling that if we go on, we’ll never meet the end.”

After turning the lights off, we then took the break we both can agree we deserve.

--

I woke up at 5 am, surprisingly, the couch was extremely comfortable and I haven’t felt this rested ever since my first year of College.

I stretched for a bit, for the first time in my life, I felt lazy. Turning onto my side, giving myself five more minutes of peace and tranquility before I had to get up. I took a deep breath, inhaling the lingering scent of Fred from the sweater I was wearing, which just added to the calm atmosphere in my little bubble of relaxation.

Five minutes transitioned into an hour, that’s when I knew that I really had to get up.

I slowly walked to Fred’s room, opening the door a bit to take a peek inside.

The ginger was still fast asleep, his hair sticking up in all directions while his soft snores bounced of the walls of the room.

I leaned against the door frame, vaguely aware of the small smile that had seem to grow on my lips. I had to admit, he looked kind of cute.

I headed to the kitchen, deciding to cook some breakfast for the two of us.

“Smells good.” Fred said as he emerged from his room an hour later, just as I had finished cooking.

He sat at the table as I slid his plate of pancakes in front of him.

He raised a brow, “Should I be suspicious if you have any hidden agenda in making me pancakes?” He asked, quoting my words from the previous night.

I laughed, sitting down on the seat across him, “Not at all. Just think of it as a token of my appreciation.”

He then took a bite as I watched him closely in anticipation.

“It’s better than anything I’ve ever had before.” He said with a small grin.

I breathed out a breath that I hadn’t realized that I was holding in, “Thank goodness.” I said.

“You know,” Fred said a few moments later, “For someone who I’ve been on bad terms with ever since our first year of College, you’re an amazing cook.”

I chuckled, “It’s kind of funny isn’t it? We’re in our last year of College and we’ve done nothing but spend the last three years bickering and all that stuff.”

The door of Fred’s dorm suddenly flew open as George stepped in.

“Hey Freddie, I’m home! Woah.” He was suddenly taken aback at the sight of Fred and I sitting at the dining table.

“Do my eyes deceive me?” He said, “Because I am seeing the two of you in the same room and there’s no tension in the air.”

I smiled, “Yeah, we decided to call a truce to work on the project and we would see how being friends works out for the both of us.”

“You’ve got to try her pancakes mate.” Fred piped in, “There’re the best you’ve ever tasted.”

George took the fork that his brother offered him, “Merlin! I never knew you were a cook Y/N.”

I chuckled, “It’s just something I work on in my free time.”

“Looks like being friends would work out in more than one way for the both of you.” He said with a small wink.

After breakfast, Fred walked me back to my dorm, because we both knew how much of a worry-wart Hermione can get.

“So, I’ll be seeing you in the library later?” He asked.

“You bet.” I said, before entering my dorm.

Hermione and Ginny were waiting for me inside, to my surprise, they didn’t bombard me with questions.

“So, how was giving Fred the benefit of the doubt?” Hermione asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

I shrugged, plopping my bag down on the couch, “It was pretty good.”

Ginny placed her chin on her hand while her elbow rested on the table, “A little birdy told me that you cooked breakfast for Fred.”

I playfully rolled my eyes, “Let me guess, the birdy was named George. And yes, I did make breakfast for Fred and I. It was just a token of my appreciation.”

“Yeah, right.” Hermione muttered under her breath with a small smile.

“I heard that Hermione.” I said, causing the two of them to burst out into laughter.

--

We only had a week left to complete the project.

Fred and I were sitting in the library, laptops running, there was almost no more space on the table with the number of books that were opened on top of it.

As I was drafting out the key points in our theory, when Fred tapped me on the shoulder, handing me a cup of coffee.

“Thanks.” I said, taking the cup from him and taking a small sip, “How much is it?”

“It’s on me.” He said, “You already paid for the printing of the project, the least I could do was get you some coffee.”

We sat in silence for a few more minutes, the sound of the typing on the keyboard being the only noises that could be heard.

“So, what happens to us after this project?” Fred suddenly asked.

I stopped typing, looking up at him, “Well, it looks like being friends seem to be working out for us.”

Fred chuckled, running a hand through his hair, “Yeah, I actually kind of like it when you’re smiling and you’re not shooting me glares and stuff.”

“Ditto.” I said, “Ever since I’ve discovered your soft and sweet side, I don’t want that to change.”

“But is being friends enough for us? What if one of us wants more?” He asked.

I looked at him, slightly confused, “What do you me-“ but my sentence was suddenly cut short, when he crashed his lips to mine.

I placed my hand at the back of his neck, pulling me closer to him as he rested his hands on my waist.

He then lifted me up and set me down on a free space on the table, kissing me as if there was not tomorrow.

We pulled apart, foreheads pressed together, both of us blushing like mad.

“That’s what I mean.” He whispered, “Because I love you. More than a friend, more than my enemy. I want you and nobody else but you. So, will you be mine?”

I giggled, pulling him in for another kiss before answering, “I’d love nothing more than to be yours.”

--

“Unravelling Love’s Mystery.” Professor McGonagall read the title of our theory as Fred and I stood in front of her.

Class has already been dismissed, the three of us being the only ones left in the room.

“Your theory was very interesting.” She complimented, “Especially since you two found it fit to insert your own love story in it.”

Fred and I smiled, “Well Professor, we thought that it went with the central theme of the theory.”

McGonagall offered us a smile, “The two of you have the most outstanding project in the class. I have graded it with full marks.” She said.

I felt Fred interlock our hands together, “Thank you Professor.” We both said.

Then Fred placed an arm around my waist, placing a kiss on my temple, “As much as we would love to stay and chat Professor, we have to go so we don’t miss our date at the movies.”

Our professor laughed, “Go on ahead, don’t let me stop you. I have been working at this institution for years, but the two of you are the cutest couple I have ever seen.”

𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝:

@lumosandnoxwriting​ ​ @wand3ringr0s3​ ​ @famdomhideout​ ​ @nova-darling @gaycatlord-stuff​ ​​  @pandaxnienke​ ​​ @escapingrealitybyreading​ (If you are crossed out, that means I can’t tag you)

[theres-an-impulstor-among-us]

A Suffocating Whirlpool

Summary: Grian’s relationships with some of his friends are at a low and he’s feeling overwhelmed. Dying and losing all his stuff was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Thankfully, there’s another hermit on the server who has experience with this kind of thing and knows how to help.

(note: I had to adjust the canon timeline slightly for this to work)

…

  It’s gone. It’s all gone. There’s no way anything survived those tnt blasts. The first one took Grian out and the rest destroyed his stuff. That’s the only thing that makes sense to Grian. He knew deep down he wouldn’t find his things when he returned to the scene of the explosion but it still hurts.

  Leaving the mangled floor of his newest tower alone, he stumbles over to the bench outside the building that Etho now owns and slumps onto it, his stomach squirming with nausea. 

  Taking out his communicator, he shakily taps out a private message to his former best friend. 

<Grian> mumbo are you busy

<Grian> i just really need to talk to someone right now

  A pause.

<Grian> please?

<Mumbo Jumbo> Not now, sorry.

  Grian deflates. 

  The logical part of his brain is screaming that Mumbo is just busy with Pacific. It’s not that he doesn’t want to talk to Grian. He’s just busy with Pacific. He has to be. 

  He scrolls through his other contacts on his device, searching for someone he can message. Anyone at all. 

  Bdubs and Scar? Haven’t spoken to him since the Sewer Cats broke up. 

  Impulse? Currently feuding with him over the whole BOVE situation.

  Keralis? Still ticked off about the secret base shenanigans.

  Iskall? Siding with his Pacific business partner. 

  Etho and Zedaph? Haven’t been seen around the server lately. 

  Grian buries his face in his hands. He feels utterly hopeless. There’s nobody he can turn to at all. Nobody he feels close enough to to confide in about his feelings. 

  “Grian?”

  He recognises the voice but doesn’t look up. “I’m fine.”

  Tango raises an eyebrow. “If “I’m fine” is the first thing you say in a conversation, I don’t think you’re very fine.”

  He sits down on the bench next to Grian, who lets out a quiet sigh. “Yeah… things aren’t fine.”

  “Do you wanna talk about it? I’m willing to listen.” 

  Grian hesitates, but his emotions are running wild and he feels the urge to talk about them. So he does. He spills his guts out to Tango, rambling about all the thoughts and feelings he’s bottled up over the last few weeks. 

  “-and there’s nobody else I can talk to about this because Keralis and Cleo are still annoyed about the secret base thing, Mumbo isn’t talking to me because our businesses are in competition, Impulse isn’t talking to me either because of our stupid feud over building heights, and now I just died and lost everything and I want to just jump into the void because I feel like it’d hurt less than this.”

  His voice cracks and he buries his face in his hands, fresh tears dripping down his cheeks. 

  Tango silently wraps his arms around Grian and lets him cry into his shoulder, soothingly rubbing his friend’s arm. 

  “Just let it out, G,” he murmurs kindly. “Let it all out.”

  Grian cries until he has nothing left, then he finally lets himself relax into Tango’s embrace, mentally drained. 

  “I just wish I wasn’t the only one going through this,” he whispers.

  Tango continues rubbing Grian’s arm. “Believe it or not, I know exactly how you feel, G.”

  Grian glances dubiously at him. “Really?”

  “Yeah. I totally get it. I got the same thing all the time when I was working on Decked Out.”

  Grian sits up straight, frowning. “Wait… really?”

  Tango nods. “Mhm. The whole turf war was starting to escalate when I started so I had that in the background while I was working on Decked Out. I saw so many cold and awkward interactions between the two sides, some even to the point of open hostility. Having so many people not getting along with each other at once really flared up my anxiety levels, and working on such a massive project at the same time didn’t really help. I’d spend hours at a time working on a single redstone component of the game but it still wouldn’t look right and I’d be so much more frustrated than I normally would be because of this extra pressure on me. 

  “Eventually, I’d go out to the shopping district or something and something small would happen, like maybe my elytra would break. Now logically, I know that I can just go and repair it super easily, no big deal. We have a ton of XP farms. But after the day I’ve been having, my brain doesn’t think about that. This tiny thing has brought all my bottled up emotions to the surface and I just want to lie on the floor and cry until I pass out. Honestly…” He hesitates. “Don’t tell anyone, but that actually did happen to me a few times during the war. And the only person I could talk to about it was Zed, because everyone else I’m close to was involved in the war. But Zed… gets overwhelmed by conflict very easily, so I stopped going to him after a while. I didn’t want to drag him into my suffocating whirlpool of anxiety and crappiness.”

  He pauses as he registers Grian staring at him. “What?”

  Grian’s mouth is open slightly. “I just… I’ve never heard a better explanation for this whole situation than a “suffocating whirlpool of anxiety and crappiness”.”

  Tango chuckles. “Told you I know how you feel, G.”

  “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have doubted you. That sounds absolutely awful and I never knew you were going through it that whole time. What do you do to make it feel better?”

  “The best solution is actually the hardest,” admits Tango. “Eliminate the conflicts one by one. Distracting yourself works short-term but inevitably, you’ll sink back down to that horrible place where you can’t sleep and everything feels horrible and you can’t bring yourself to do even simple tasks. Being able to cross off at least one source of conflict takes the pressure off massively.”

  Grian thinks about this for a moment. “What did you do?”

  “Me? I reconciled with Impulse and Etho. Wanted to make it clear that even though we were on opposite sides of the war, it didn’t mean we had to be enemies. I worried myself sick whenever I even thought about them but when I actually talked to them, everything went completely fine, and I slept so much easier that night. Suddenly, it seemed like everything I’d spent weeks obsessively worrying over was reduced to almost nothing. Heck, I finished Decked Out two days later after weeks of slow progress.”

  “Whoa… It really helped that much?”

  Tango nods. “It helped way more than I can ever really express. Just knowing that despite everything going on that I still had Impulse and Etho to go to if I needed it was absolutely my lifeline. So my TL;DR advice to you is this: find someone who makes you feel better, and if you’re currently feuding with them, make up with them. It’ll be difficult but the payoff will be worth it in the long run.”

  Grian is silent for a minute or so, turning over everything in his head.

  Finally, he rises to his feet and smiles. “Thanks so much, Tango. It’s good to know that there’s someone else on the server who knows what I’m going through.”

  Tango stands up too and gives his friend a pat on the shoulder. “Anytime, G. I’m always here.” 

…

  Grian takes a deep breath, hovering outside the office. Tango’s advice echoes in his head, particularly one line: “It’ll be difficult but the payoff will be worth it in the long run.” Sure enough, his heart is pounding out of his chest and his hands have gone clammy, but he knows that now he’s here, he has to go through with this. He has to get his best friend back.

  He knocks on the door. “Mumbo, it’s Grian. D-Do you have a few minutes to talk?”

  Silence. 

  Silence.

  Silence.

  Finally: “Come in, Gri.”

  Something in Mumbo’s tone, plus Mumbo’s use of his special nickname for Grian, tells him everything’s going to be fine. Their friendship is stronger than this conflict; Grian is confident they’ll work things out.

  His confidence slowly returning, Grian pushes open the door.

[ey8508]

Hidden Weapon [暗器迷局]

Rumors and Secrets: Li Zeyan (李泽言）| Victor

Li Zeyan SSR: A Great Secret

【 Everyone wanted to know how he sat on the highest chair with confidence.】

Note:

R&S for this card (CG above)

Chapter SPOILERS up to Season 2: Chapter 6-9 (read at your own risk)

Contains 5 chapters

Translation isn’t 100% accurate (or include grammar errors)

Every part for LZ’s dialogue would be in “this setting”

Do not repost to any other site (reblog is fine)

Chapter 1 Page 1 BLACK SWAN Investigation Log. Permission level: normal Name: Small syringe experiment Experiment recorder: Senior Experiment Researcher Jagger Experiment contents: [Day1] Investigated the illegal drug "small syringe" that is popular in the underground market and secretly went undercover. Page 2 .... [Day4] Send a preliminary investigation report to the BOSS, and receive a reply instruction. Nox will take the lead in handling this task, and everything will be under her command. [Day5] Seized samples of suspected small syringes from special channels. [Day6] The sensory organs can’t distinguish the components of the sample, and decided to make the injection. The experiment risk: high.  This application was rejected by Nox on the spot. [Day7] The experiment sample is missing. [Day8] Received BOSS order, this experiment was terminated and abolished. Page 3 This is the first time Jagger has been frustrated in an experiment since joining BLACK SWAN. Fortunately, before he became a BS member, his life has not been smooth, so he can bear it. Since he was young, he discovered that his Evol distinguishes chemical components through his body, he has been struggling to become a scientific researcher.  It's just that he behaves badly and has a violent personality, getting narrower and narrower in his career.  Finally, after conducting an experiment that violated the bottom line of ethics and morality, he was jointly expelled from academia and was not allowed to step into the laboratory for life. Page 4 The night when the people from BS found him, he was living alone in a warehouse somewhere in the suburbs.  So he picked up the beer can beside him and slammed "What BS! Don't bother me!" Looking at Jagger on the ground like a puddle of mud, the member had to take out his mobile phone and made a brief report to his superiors. "....Okay, understood, I'll start preparing now ." He hung up the phone, took out a delicately designed holographic projection metal box from his arms, and placed it in the open space in the middle of the warehouse.  A few minutes later, I only heard the box "drop" shooting a blue light from the dot in the center. After the light shot up and down in the air for a circle, a slender shape figure slowly emerged. Page 5 Jagger narrowed his eyes and looked at the holographic projection in front of him, and saw a man sitting on a leather chair, his entire face hidden in the shadows, only his bright leather shoes and neat suit trousers could be seen. Jagger couldn't help but spit into the air. "What is this shameful sight!" As soon as the voice fell, the BS member beside him looked up at him almost immediately and even took two steps closer.  Jagger shrinks his neck subconsciously. "Look- " Page 6 The man in the projection knocked on the armrest of the chair twice, and the member immediately retracted his gaze and stood back to where he was before. "As far as I know, you were jointly expelled from academia three years ago and you are forbidden to participate in any experiment for life." The man spoke slowly, his voice low, but he revealed an unstoppable momentum. "So what?" "BLACK SWAN can give you the opportunity to re-enter the laboratory" Page 7 "Heh, BLACK SWAN is so famous, so many eyes are staring at it in the society, once my name appears in the laboratory, someone will immediately take notice and you'll be in trouble." "Who said that your name will appear in the laboratory?" "How do you contradict yourself? You said that BS gave me a chance to re-enter the laboratory, and you said that my name would not appear in the laboratory. Could it be you," said Jagger. His eyes suddenly widened. "Giving you a new identity is not difficult for BS." Chapter 2 Page 1 The turbidity in Jagger's eyes lit up instantly.  He opened his mouth and didn't know what to say. "Since you have some knowledge of BS, it is not difficult to know that BS's social resources are top-notch. BS's power is more than enough to support you to do experiments and..." Although he couldn't see the man's face clearly, Jagger felt the man's direct gaze. "Join BS, the worst situation is better than you are now." Page 2 Jagger realized that this holographic projection is a bidirectionally visible BS technology that has already reached this level of advancement. He lowered his head and glanced at himself, his face suddenly hot.  After the man behind the barrier said these words he slightly cleared his throat as he raised his hands signaling to cut off the phone. Blood instantly rushed to the top of Jagger's head, and he unwillingly picked fresh from the opponent. "Since BS is so powerful, why should the superior BS leader had to invite a little man with a poor clothes?" In such a big pomp, he had guessed the identity of the opponent just now, and he broke this point, it was just a momentary quick guess. The other party's movements seemed to give a chuckle. Page 3 "For talents, I will do my best." The tone was steady, without a trace of irritation. Jagger suddenly felt that he had lost in the game. But it is precisely because of this sentence that he willingly joined BS. It takes seven inches to strike a snake. This is the first thing Jagger learned from the BOSS. But that was the only time Jagger had direct contact with the BOSS. After joining BS, he never saw the BOSS again. Not only him, but almost all the members around him.  Perhaps it was the first meeting with the BOSS that left a deep impression on Jagger, and when he has nothing to do, he put this sentence on his lips- Page 4 "Have you seen the BOSS? I mean, the BOSS himself." The member who was asked was stunned for a moment: "How is it possible? Seeing BOSS is like seeing an ancient dragon. I heard that even during the board meeting he's behind the barrier and no one can see him at all. In our organization, I heard that there is only one person who have actually seen him. Jagger nodded, indicating that he knew this person: "You mean Nox?" The other party sneered: "Don't call them just by their code names, we are below them, but we call them with the honorable 'Miss' " Jagger was puzzled, and the man came immediately interested. Page 5 "Don't tell it to others. I have something else to tell you..." The member looked around again, then lowered his voice, "They all said that the relationship between BOSS and her is unusual. Although the they remain anonymous from the outside world, BOSS is often doing things from behind the scenes to maintain Nox. Some time ago, have you heard about the leak of the Evolver identity of artists under Nox? It is said that after this incident, many board members asked to punish Nox at the meeting, but they were all blocked by BOSS. Jagger snorted, but didn't answer.  Although he is very curious about the identity of BOSS, he has never been interested in this kind of gossip. Chapter 3 Page 1 Soon after this conversation, Jagger was appointed to join the investigation and experiment of the illegal drug "Small Syringe", and the leader of this mission was Nox. He was in trouble for a while, not because he discriminated against women, but since joining BS, BOSS closed one eye to his "pioneer" experimental methods. At least, his experiments have been carried out very freely. However, Nox's acting style is notoriously conservative. If she is told that he is doing bold experiments, she should be taken earlier notice. In addition, if the relationship between Nox and BOSS is really unusual according to what the member said last time, then Nox's opinion will be adopted by the BOSS, she is 'a hot potato'. He has to seek the consent of the BOSS before Nox can stop him. So he pretended not to know, and after obtaining the preliminary investigation results, he sent the investigation report to the BOSS as usual, but he did not expect to receive an immediate reply: Page 2 "Nox will take the lead in handling this task, and everything will be under her direction." The next day, the informant sent a sample that was suspected to be a small syringe. He flexed his hands and went to his head for a while. First, he experimented with the sample by smell and taste, but he could not distinguish its components. So he made a decision to inject the samples to himself.  After deliberation, he asked Nox for instructions. Sure enough, he was directly rejected by Nox on the spot. Out of desire for the results of this experiment, he decided to lie about the loss of the sample and intend to conduct the experiment secretly.  Unexpectedly, he was caught by the BS inspection team that night, and even reported the situation to the BOSS himself the next day. Jagger didn’t expect to see BOSS again, this is actually the case. Page 3 "Since the application has been rejected, why did you still do it?" 

A familiar voice came from behind the barrier, mixed with a trace of fatigue. "It stands to reason that I can perform general drug component analysis from sight, taste, touch or smell alone, but the composition of this sample is complicated, hence these are not enough. If I allow injection, once the sample enters my blood,  I can feel the state of its movement in my body. Through my body's reaction, it should be possible to analyze it." "Do you know why Nox rejected your proposal to do the self injection for the samples?" Page 4 "This is because there is only one sample. If there is no experimental progress after the injection, all the efforts will be ruined." "She checked your information. Every time your body is injected with a drug, it will cause irreparable damage. It will not take long for you to die in this type of experiment." Jagger was stunned. "Although BS is in a critical position, it never needs to use the lives of any members as a stepping stone." "This experiment stops here." Page 5 "Also, Nox's orders, should not be disobeyed anymore." .... After the meeting with the boss, Jagger's heart was mixed, and he sat in place and meditated for a long time. It's just that the brain, which has been in contact with the most direct chemical elements all his life, will not know this inexplicable emotion. However, he knew very well that this BS 'Miss' was indeed a bit capable. Chapter 4 Page 1 BLACK SWAN meeting minutes Permission level: advanced Recorder of the meeting: Member of the board of directors, Assistant Mr. W. Content of meeting: Page 2 【Previously, the "small syringe" incident set off a huge wave in society. This meeting mainly focused on "whether BS should develop a drug similar to the small syringe O-tube". During the meeting, some members expressed support for this approach, believing that BS, as an organization centered around Evolver and human evolution, should take the lead in researching such drugs to screen ordinary people and accelerate human evolution. Another part of the members believes that it is too early to invest in development projects before investigating the main cause of the small syringe incident and the role of the drug, and even BS should crack down on the market value of small needles from all aspects to restrain such cases. Drugs are being re-developed to fundamentally eliminate such drugs. Page 3 The two voices stayed at each other during the meeting. In the end, the BOSS decided to investigate the small syringe incident first and postponed the development of such drugs indefinitely. 】 From the beginning of this meeting, Mr. W's heart has been hanging. Since the introduction of the small syringe, the internal voice of BS has become noisy, and those desires that have been hidden have begun to move around. Many people want to get a share of the small syringe. However, what worries him is not these noisy sounds, but the thoughts of the person behind the barrier.  If that person also thinks that the power of BS is enough to develop EVOL!  Evolution potion, then the road behind BS may be even more difficult. Page 4 Mr. W looked at the faint figure behind the barrier, and seemed to be sitting upright and calmly at the moment.  Even though there was a verbal battle in the conference room, the man always looked like he was out of the picture. Until a member spoke: "I don't know about this, what is the BOSS's opinion?" Everyone finally calmed down and looked at the barrier at the end of the round table. Mr. W leaned forward unconsciously, and had to admit that he was looking forward to know what the BOSS would answer. .... When the young BOSS first took over the office, Mr. W also had a questioning attitude. Page 5 After all, BS had just experienced a mighty internal turmoil at that time. Whether the BOSS was a hero created by the time or whether it was really capable of this position, no one knew. In addition, BOSS has never announced his identity since he took the office. Except for Nox, no one has seen him in the entire BS. Whether it is the core mysterious high-level Twelve or the board of directors, they can only communicate with him through a barrier, which has caused dissatisfaction among many members. These people formed a small group in a very short period of time, trying to pull him into the abyss before the BOSS sits firmly on the throne of the BS leader. Before they did it, even in the early days of their small group, they had already been taken up by the BOSS.  He quickly uprooted the group and carried out a cleanup inside BS. Overnight, these people disappeared from BS without a shadow. Page 6 Mr. W has inquired about the whereabouts of these people through various channels, but has never found any clues. These people seem to have never existed in this world. Mr. W still remembers that in the earliest meeting after the small group was eliminated, the BOSS was silent for a long while. After sometime, many people who had been eager to move in their hearts and had not had time to put it into practice almost lost their breath. The person behind the barrier spoke: "The remaining few people who plan to instigate rebellion, the reason why you are left is because you are still helpful to BS." "Take care of the extra hands and feet within three days, don't let me do it myself." Page 7 As soon as the voice fell, many of the people present changed their faces slightly. Fortunately, he was used to looked calm under such situations. After re-adjusting the rigid posture, he realized that there was actually cold sweat behind his back. Since then, the noisy sounds inside BS have finally quieted down. Mr. W began to appreciate the decisive decisions made by the BOSS and is actually celebrating with the new change. Page 8 But that was the only time Mr. W heard such obvious emotions in the mouth of the BOSS.  Later, many meetings were held in BS. He observed that no matter what level of personnel the questioning voice was, whether they agreed with the other party’s point of view, BOSS always respected the other’s point of views and stood at a higher level. Neither makes people too ugly, nor does it show one's position too much. This allowed the members of the organization that had always been fighting to put down the war for a while, and the internal balance of BS reached an unprecedented balance. Mr. W believes that at the age of BOSS, few people can do this. Put aside the identity of a member of the BS organization, Mr. W has never seen such a method in business for so many years. If you have to name someone who can be compared with him, Li Zeyan, the president of Huarui, has a style similar to that of BOSS. It was not that he had never suspected that it was the same person, but no matter how he investigated and inquired, the information he got was very few. Chapter 5 Page 1 Maybe he stayed in a high position for too long, and there was nothing new to pass the time, so Mr. W gradually regarded the inquiring of the boss as his personal task. In addition to trying his best to investigate the identity that matches it in society, he will deliberately talk against the BOSS during meetings in an attempt to find clues.  However, no matter how he made a fuss, the people behind the barrier will always stay calm and undisturbed. As the leader of BS, BOSS can handle everything without any leakage. Page 2 At first Mr. W just felt dull. But over time, as an older member, he found that this was a serious problem. He realized that there seems to be a certain trait missing from the BOSS, which is a human commonality that any ordinary person should have. If you have to be clear, you can call this trait a human touch. For a while, this is indeed not a great thing, but it is precisely because this thing is so common, so precious enough. Mr. W is worried that people who lack this trait will not sit in the position of leader for too long, or that such person will once again lead BS to an extreme. Page 3 "What is my opinion, it is up to you to convince me." The deep voice pulled his thoughts back to the meeting room, and seeing the other members in deep thoughts, he realized that the BOSS had just answered the question of the member just now. He lowered his head and modified the voice in his heart a bit, then raised his hand signaling to speak. "What we should do now is to figure out the ins and outs of the main incident, who developed the small syringe and for what purpose the opponent is an enemy or a friend. These key information are very important." Page 4 After hearing this, many members tried to refute, but they were preempted by the BOSS. "All the resources of BS have always revolved around Evolver's evolutionary issues. At this time, instead of developing evolutionary drugs, they are investigating small syringes. Is it not upside-down?" Members supporting the research and development of drugs echoed. Mr. W's heart sank. Does the BOSS support the development of such drugs? He tried to swallow the suspicion that was surging up, and couldn't help but tried to make an excuse. Page 5 "On the contrary. At this stage, ordinary people already have a lot of opposition to Evolver. In addition, after the main incident, many ordinary people and Evolver's body have suffered varying degrees of damage. The development of small syringes is very powerful. It may come with a hostile attitude. In the long run, Evolver evolution is a major event for all human beings. If we do not investigate clearly and blindly follow the trend to develop evolutionary drugs, then we are likely to fall into each other’s trap. It'll makes things difficult for BS to move forward with evolution in the future." Page 6 Perhaps he said too much. Once again, there was silence in the conference room, only the sound of regular fingers tapping on the tabletop came from behind the barrier, which sounded a certain kind of calmness. Mr. W has a foreboding that perhaps BS's development of evolutionary drugs is already a certainty, and perhaps his painstaking persuasion is just futile. Just when he was frustrated, the sound of the man's fingers tapping on the tabletop stopped. "The reason is good enough to convince me." "The development date for the evolution drugs will be postponed indefinitely." The meeting room became noisy again, and many members were angry. Page 7 "I said, my decision is determined by your rhetoric." "Of course I respect different opinions. As long as your reasons are valid." Those members who had been crying out to support the development of the drug were hesitating at this moment, and could not give a reason strong enough to bring the situation back, and had to accept their orders and took their seats. "Since there isn't, that's it for today." The BOSS issued an eviction order and the meeting room was cleared within a minute.

Page 8 Only Mr. W is still sitting on the spot, he has an important question that he wants to confirm to the BOSS. "BOSS, what is your side of position in this matter?" The BOSS seemed to stand up, walked behind the chair, and finally stood by the window behind the barrier. "My position has been made very clear." Mr. W walked out of the conference room with this answer, which was not an answer. Page 9 The moment he stepped out of the door, he suddenly remembered that before he had a long discussion in the meeting, the BOSS raised a sharp question uncharacteristically.  This question seems to be on the side of the members who support the drug, but it was after answering this question that the BOSS was quickly ‘convinced’ by his own reasons. Mr. W stood there thinking for a moment, then he stretched his brows and frowned all day. It turned out that today, I was ‘utilized’ by the BOSS. Everything he said today was just that the BOSS used his own mouth to silence other members. But this kind of use is very useful. Page 10 After thinking about this, Mr. W let out a long breath. The problem he had been worried about had been settled.

[iatethepomegranate]

We are not alone in the dark with our demons, Chapter 10

In which Caleb buys a house in Rexxentrum with Beau and Yasha, becomes a professor, is showered in love and support, learns how to be a person again, and tries to protect those like him from going through what he did.

Content warnings: Panic attacks, vomiting, Caleb's backstory

Chapter summary: There's not a lot Caleb can do right now, but he can teach a hurting teenager a new spell and reunite him with his very much alive parents.

Chapter notes: I 100% believe that Astrid knows the Nein call Essek "Hot Boi." Chapter title is from Ghost by Jacob Lee.

****

Chapter 10: And I'm just a stranger who could be a friend

The first thing Caleb did was flip to the page in his spellbook where he had transcribed the Sending spell. It was far into the book. As he pulled out his copper wire, Felix made a sound of surprise.

“You learned this recently?” asked Felix.

“Ja, I travelled with a cleric friend for a long time who had the spell,” Caleb replied. “Not Caduceus; he was there too, though. Jester seemed to enjoy casting it at everyone, even mere acquaintances, so I never saw the need for it.”

“What made you learn it?”

“Jester insisted a few weeks ago, so I could talk to her while we were apart. I knew another wizard who could teach me, and we were spending a great deal of time alone together exploring Aeor, and exchanging theories.”

Felix, despite his distress, was absolutely smirking at Caleb and he was not about to deal with teasing from an actual child. “So… exchanging theories in Aeor? Is that what old people call it now?”

“Hush.” Caleb ran Felix through the basic somatic motions of the spell, before demonstrating it himself. “Hallo, Caduceus. I am teaching Felix the Sending spell. It will take a few hours. Let me know if anything happens.”

“Hey, Caleb. Beau has the monks looking for Nico. They’re playing nice with the Volstrucker, apparently. Don’t miss dinner.”

“Right, so you can have a single two-way exchange out of the one casting,” said Felix. “What’s the word limit again?”

“Twenty-five words. Now, this is a third-level spell. It will take some effort for you at the moment.”

“I’ve been to school, Bren. I know what spell levels are.”

“Call me Caleb. Or Professor Widogast, if you prefer. I do teach here now.”

“Fuck off.”

“Caleb’s fine.”

Felix rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Professor.”

This was better. Caleb could work with impetuous children. Most children he knew were like that. Caleb could tune his behaviour to whatever Felix seemed to find most calming. Or at least distracting.

Felix had great attention to detail, methodically copying out Caleb’s transcription of the spell and yet still finding excuses to make fun of Caleb along the way. It was comfortable, more than Caleb had expected. Felix only knew him by reputation, and one put forward by Trent, no less.

Maybe it was the shared trauma. Maybe it was the fact Caleb was teaching him something. Or because Caleb, despite being a professor here, wasn’t trying to inhabit a position of authority over him in the way Trent had.

Snacks were delivered to the room about halfway through the process. Felix paid it little mind, and that was painfully familiar.

“Felix.” Caleb could not believe he was enforcing a break. That he had become the kind of person who would pull a focused wizard away from study for mere human needs such as food. But he was responsible for Felix, at least for now, and that was a frightening pressure.

“Busy.”

Caleb closed his own spellbook, taking away Felix’s source for transcription. In its place, he put a bowl of fruit. “Eat.”

Felix paused, his pen hovering over the page, frowning. Then he slowly set it down and sullenly grabbed a plum. Caleb sat back against the wall, nibbling on a handful of grapes.

“Don’t forget to stretch before we get back to it.”

Felix rolled his eyes. “Why are you like this?”

“Listen, I’ve had many people do this for me in the last year alone. So I’m paying it forward, and you are going to accept that.” Caleb tried to throw a grape into his mouth, and missed. He grabbed it off the floor and popped it into his mouth. Chewed. Swallowed. “It’s good for you.” If any of the Nein had heard him say that, they probably would have fainted from shock. It was easier to give this advice than to follow it himself.

“I can see why Trent fucking hates you.”

Caleb snorted. “Oh, this does not scratch the surface of Trent’s problems with me.” He threw another grape, catching it in his mouth this time. “Did anyone tell you what my friends and I did to him?”

“No.”

“Well, he tried to ambush us at Caduceus’s family home. One of my friends may have ‘acquired’ evidence of his experiments from Vergesson, and he was upset that I refused to entertain his ego while busy with bigger problems. By the time we were done with him, Astrid and Wulf were on our side, my friends had permanently glued a silencing collar around his neck, and used the leftover glue to stick his hands together. And that glue was in the shape of a dick.”

“Bullshit.”

“Ask Astrid. She activated the collar. Or Beauregard. She put the thing on him.”

Felix had that look of a teenage boy who was trying not to look impressed, hiding it behind a veneer of sarcasm. “Okay. I will.”

They finished their break, stretched, and got back to it. Felix was clever, eager to learn. It brought back memories for Caleb. Good memories, as tainted as they now were. And as much as he was worried for Nico and grieved for what had happened, he was also indescribably relieved they had been able to stop Felix. If he could help Felix reclaim even the smallest amount of good from his stolen childhood, he would take that as a victory.

Astrid looked in on them as Felix practiced the somatic motions around his copper wire, his muscle memory already secure. With a few minor corrections, he would be ready to cast.

“Almost finished?” she asked.

“Almost,” said Caleb. “Felix, that was very good. Just watch that you fully complete the motion right at the end, and hold it until you finish speaking your message. With time, you can find your own method.”

“You learned this method from your special Aeor friend?”

Caleb sighed. “No, these somatic components are developed from watching several casters perform the spell. My colleague provided the basic framework to learn the spell, but his somatic components are more intricate than my own.”

“So he’s your fancy special Aeor friend.”

Astrid chuckled. “It’s not the silliest nickname he’s had. Now, focus. The Martinet is sticking his nose in our business and we need to get you out of here.”

Felix wordlessly practiced the gesture again, meticulously correcting his errors. He ran through the motion a few more times, becoming more confident each time.

“I think you are ready,” said Caleb. “Remember: twenty-five words. Consider them in advance. It may be worth telling Nico he can reply to you.”

Felix nodded and closed his eyes, counting on his fingers under his breath. And then he cast. “Hey, Nico. It’s Felix. I heard what happened. I’m okay. They stopped me. I hope you’re okay. You can reply to this message.” The barest pause. “Love you.” Felix held his breath, listening out for a reply.

Caleb let him have ten seconds, before breaking the news. “Felix. If he has not replied yet--”

“I know,” Felix muttered. He grabbed his spellbook, hugging it to his chest as he deflated, and Caleb’s heart broke. “Just… get me out of here.”

****

Astrid’s teleport brought the three of them back to Blumenthal. The path was muddy from yesterday’s storm. Felix gripped his spellbook tighter, raking his eyes over the buildings around them. The way he held himself, shoulders hunched, inches from bolting, reminded Caleb far too much of himself mere months ago.

“Felix,” he said. “We need to speak to your mother and father, but we will not put you in a situation you do not think you can handle.”

“I don’t know if I can do this.” And wasn’t that just painfully familiar. They had barely made it a few steps before he froze, closing his eyes against the vision of home.

Astrid looked to Caleb, silently begging for him to do something.

“Felix,” said Caleb, completely panicking on the inside, “we will not force you to do anything you don’t want to. Okay? Let’s walk for a bit. Take deep breaths. If we reach your house and you don’t want to go inside, I will stay with you and Astrid will talk to your parents. Is that all right?”

Felix nodded, and he took a step. Then another step. And another. They walked together down familiar but unfamiliar streets. They were in a different part of Blumenthal than they had been yesterday. Caleb blocked out most of it, concentrating on getting Felix through the next few minutes. His own shit did not matter right now.

Felix’s body language remained tense. His head stayed down, barely keeping an eye on where he was going. His fingers flexed around his spellbook. And Caleb was planning. A hundred different options.

Caleb refused to force this boy to face his parents before he was ready. If the time came, and he couldn’t do it, he would need somewhere else to go. Somewhere away from here. If Astrid allowed it, there were a few options. Veth in Nicodranas would take Felix if Caleb asked, but he wasn’t sure if Felix would feel comfortable being around a family like that, especially with a small child. Or Felix could stay at the Lavish Chateau, but Marion was a busy woman who had been through enough on Caleb’s account. There was the Gentleman’s hideout, but Caleb wouldn’t want to leave him alone there. He could take Felix to the Blooming Grove, where the Clays would willingly care for him, but taking a boy who almost killed his parents to a graveyard was possibly not the best option.

There was Reani, wherever she was, but he wasn’t so sure that Felix could handle her on his own, or that her rigid morality had shifted enough to take him in without killing him if she found out even a fraction of the shit he did while under Trent’s power. Taking Felix to Nila and her young family, who Caleb believed had returned to her clan, would bring up many of the similar issues as taking him to Veth. And the Guiatao clan had suffered greatly at the hands of the Iron Shepherds, including many deaths, so Caleb wasn’t sure that would be a good place for him to cope with nearly killing his own parents.

And Caleb was not putting Felix on a pirate ship, so that ruled out Fjord, Jester and Kingsley.

They could always bring Felix back to Rexxentrum and he could either stay on Astrid’s estate (possibly too traumatic) or with Caleb and the lesbians, but Ludinus was poking around and that could get messy. Not to mention the whole “harbouring a Drow fugitive” thing.

Caleb circled back to Veth. If Felix could handle it, he would feel most comfortable taking the boy to her if he wasn’t able to go home. Caleb hadn’t told her what happened yet; he was not looking forward to that conversation. Even if it would help him in the end.

Of course, this all depended on Felix. If he agreed to go home, this would be irrelevant. But Caleb felt better having come up with a plan.

They reached a quiet street. Felix headed to the house at the far end, partially concealed by a granary. Caleb thought, with faint nausea, that even the physical isolation of their parents’ homes could have been a factor for Trent.

Felix made it all the way to the small vegetable garden out the front of the house, but faltered between the carrots. He stared up at the modest house. A single-storey affair, small even for a family of three. The front door was painted cherry red. The boy’s lips parted; no sound came out. His eyes traced the features of the house - the red door, the two small windows, the thatched roof in need of maintenance.

A woman’s face appeared at the window. And the door flew open.

“Felix!” The woman ran out of the house, and Caleb was just barely able to take in her simple dress and heavy coat, blonde hair gathered in a loose bun. But as she got close, Felix stepped back, wide eyes fixed on her face, as she spoke in rapid Zemnian. “No one has heard from you in weeks. Where have you been? Are you okay?”

“I can’t do this.” And he was backing away. “I can’t.” He tore his eyes from her, and ran.

“Go after him,” Astrid told Caleb. He wasted no time chasing after the boy. Caleb had run from a great many things in the past few years, but he was not the fastest man alive. But he was fast enough.

Felix barely made it around the granary before he collapsed into the grass. Gasping for breath.

Caleb knelt beside him. “Felix, listen to me. You’re okay. Slow down, breathe. Let the air fill your lungs. Feel the grass beneath your hands.”

Felix dug his fingers into the dirt, gulping in air. He was listening, at least. Being on the other side of this was not especially familiar to Caleb, but he had coached Essek once or twice. He could do this. They could do this.

Of course, Felix barely knew him, so it wasn’t like Caleb could just hug him. That would probably make things worse. So he would have to use his words.

“Felix, you got this. How does the grass feel?” Caleb gave Felix a moment to process, and then he supplied options, taking a pause between each. “Is it dry? Wet? What colour is it?”

Felix coughed a little, sucking in a shaky breath. “Wet. Green.” His hand slid across the grass. “Short. Muddy.”

“Good.”

Felix leaned away and vomited onto the grass. Then he staggered to his feet, grabbing Caleb’s shoulder for support. They moved a little further from the house, and Felix leaned against the granary, knocking the back of his head against the wood. And he laughed, that kind of unhinged, hysterical laugh that was not funny at all. Caleb knew it well.

And then he was in tears. Caleb reached for his shoulder, carefully, and Felix didn’t shake him off.

“I was going to kill her,” Felix said quietly. “If you hadn’t… I almost murdered my parents. I love them. I love them… and it didn’t matter. I was going to… oh gods....”

“Felix,” Caleb said, and did a very poor job hiding the tremor in his voice. “I am so glad we found you.”

“What the fuck does it matter? I would’ve done it.”

“Felix, as somebody who did… it matters a great deal.”

Felix stared up at him, eyes wide and wild.

“I will not force you to go home if you’re not ready,” Caleb said, pulling his voice back under control. “All I will say is this: I would have given anything to see my mother and father again. I almost did. And I know it hurts to look at your mother, knowing that you were going to end her life because of a lie. But you didn’t. She is still here. So is your father. And you have time to heal, all three of you.”

Felix wiped his face on his sleeve, cleared his throat. “Okay. Danke.”

***

Astrid was seated at a small dining table with Felix’s mother and father. Nobody got up from the table when Caleb brought Felix in, though it took visible restraint from his parents. Felix took after his mother--blonde hair, blue eyes, soft features--but he was closer to his father’s build.

The father tore his eyes from Felix with visible effort, and when his gaze fell on Caleb, he froze. And Caleb recognised him, and his wife. Friedrich Schneider and Louise Fischer--probably Schneider now. They were a few years older than him, but he could recall playing together as children.

“I heard you were back,” said Friedrich. “You were helping Nico out yesterday, ja?”

“Ja, I was there,” Caleb said carefully. “As were Astrid and Wulf.”

Louise pulled out the chair next to her. “Felix, come here.”

Felix, still gripping his spellbook like a lifeline, shuffled over and fell into the seat. Caleb sat next to Astrid on the opposite side of the table to the family.

“I have given some details of Master Ikithon’s arrest,” Astrid told him. “We were just about to discuss options for support. If you would?”

“Ja, of course.” Caleb compartmentalised his old memories and focused on the task ahead of him. “We are organising a support group for Ikithon’s former students. We are still nailing down those details, but we will be sure to pass them on. I have also been appointed as a teacher at Soltryce Academy, and we are hoping to put the students back into school when they feel ready.”

Louise and Friedrich grasped at Felix, who curled in on himself but did not complain.

“We just got him home,” said Louise. “After everything Astrid has told us, why would we let him go back?”

“The students in Felix’s position are at a delicate stage of development,” Astrid said, with little inflection, and Caleb sensed she was compartmentalising as well. “They are quite skilled, but have lost the guidance they had. That is dangerous. Good or bad, Ikithon was…” She sighed, and the mask melted away a little. “He engineered this situation. We were dependent on him. Even those whose families still live. Bren, you have been out of his influence longer. Do you have thoughts?”

“Ja, I do.” Caleb had spent his fair share of time soul-searching in the past few weeks, as well as the past year as a whole. “Ikithon shaped each of his students in a very specific way: patriotic to a fault, willing to do anything to get the job done, and unfalteringly loyal to him. It is a gradual process. By the time you realize it is happening, you have already done terrible things at his command. For most, there was no way out. My situation is unique, because I was able to escape in a rather dramatic fashion, but it has taken years to shake off the influence he had on me. I was alone and homeless for most of that time, and let me tell you: almost every fragment of positive change in me happened in the past year, because I had a support network. I found people who cared about me, and they learned how to help me. It was a group effort. I am now in a position to offer that kind of support to others.”

“Say we let him go back,” said Friedrich. “Will he have to live in that place?”

“Not all the time,” said Astrid. “You are not far from Rexxentrum, so I do not see a problem if he wishes to come home regularly. Bren and I both live off-campus if he needs a break but cannot make it to Blumenthal.”

“You do not need to decide now,” said Caleb. “The seniors do not start for another few weeks.”

“We’ll think about it,” Friedrich said flatly. “What happened to Nico?”

“He did it,” Felix said quietly. “Had a breakdown. Ran the fuck away.”

“We have people searching for him,” said Astrid. “Bren taught Felix a spell to talk to him, if he likes.”

“He prefers Caleb,” Felix muttered.

“Danke, Felix.” Caleb had not expected Felix to speak up on his behalf, not when he had his own shit going on. “Astrid gets a pass and, well, your parents knew me when we were children. I go by Caleb Widogast these days, but I will answer to either name.”

“Why the change?” asked Friedrich, still in that flat tone of distrust.

“I went by many names after I escaped Master Ikithon,” said Caleb. “For safety. I gave that one to a woman who eventually became my best friend. Now, it’s my name. But, for you, I don’t mind.”

Both Friedrich and Louise did not look trusting. At all. A mere muscle twitch from openly glaring at Caleb and Astrid, really.

Louise sighed, and some of the hostility dropped. “Thank you for bringing Felix home.”

“We will check in regularly,” said Astrid.

“Felix can message either of us with the spell I taught him,” said Caleb. “If he so wishes.”

Things were too tense to continue much conversation. Caleb and Astrid said their goodbyes, and left. They did not speak, except for Astrid’s short incantation to teleport them back to Rexxentrum.

They landed on the outskirts of the Shimmer Ward. Astrid immediately combed her fingers through her hair, hands shaking.

“That was…” She groaned softly. “Thank you for coming. I will keep you updated on the search for Nicolaus.” She turned on her heel and marched deeper into the ward, pausing for a split second, before she continued onwards without looking back.

Caleb slowly worked his way back to and through the Tangles until he was home. He couldn’t fault Astrid for being distant right at the end. The last twenty-four hours had been intense for everyone involved.

It was close to dinnertime as he reached the house. He entered his side and shut the door, leaning against it as the strength left his body. He’d done it. Today had been two-thirds of a shitshow, and he had made it through.

Felix was home with his parents, and he had the means to contact Nico, and Caleb himself, if he wanted. That was a win.

Nico, however…

Caleb knew, intellectually, that it had been a freak occurrence. A series of imperfections had tangled together into a knot, and that knot had been Nico’s escape. Almost every wizard in that room had more than one try at countering Nico’s spell, but they had not been unable to unravel it. Nico, empowered by panic and grief, had thrown all he had into a powerful fireball, and had the adrenaline to power through what should have hurt him a great deal.

Caleb hoped he was okay. Physically, at least. Psychologically, Caleb knew he wasn’t.

He sat on the floor, resting his back against the door. And he tried something. Coil of wire in hand. “Hello, Nicolaus. This is Caleb Widogast. You may know me as Bren Ermendrud. I was with you today. I’m sorry we frightened you. Be safe.”

He didn’t expect a response, and he did not receive one. A small part of him feared Nico wasn’t responding because he was dead. It was all too likely. There was no way he hadn’t been injured in the blast. Once the adrenaline wore off, the pain could’ve taken over and left him vulnerable to any number of attackers.

Gods, if after all this, Nico had died on the side of a road…

Caleb was tired. But he forced his fingers to cooperate, and worked through another casting.

“Me again. I want you to know: Trent Ikithon is in prison for what he did to us. You’re welcome in my home, when ready.”

Again, no response.

“Caleb?” A form slid into view at the top of the stairs, blending into the dark, but Caleb knew Essek’s voice anywhere.

“Ja,” he said, with the remaining strength he had. “Felix is home. We have both tried to message Nico, with no response. I…” He didn’t want to speak it into existence, so he shifted the morbid statement on his tongue into something more positive. “I hope he’s alive.”

Essek floated down the stairs and sat beside him, squeezing into the remaining doorspace. “If he's anything like you, I would expect nothing less.”

“Danke.” Caleb dropped his head onto Essek’s shoulder, and let himself rest.

[a-third-attempt]

Home

A/N: Presented on the occasion of @momochrome​‘s birthday.

Inzee is an OC of @momochrome. Source (at her writing blog)

Warnings: Claustrophobia implied, angst with a happy ending. (3240 words)

 * * *

“I need to tell you something.”

“Anything, angel.”

You’d known this was coming. He’d been out of sorts for days. Unusually quiet and slow to respond. Calling a rain check for date night. Even his quiet time tending the garden every morning didn’t seem to be bringing him the peace that it had before. 

Today, Inzee was slumped over the kitchen table, gray-skinned head resting between two massive webbed hands. He wasn’t upset, you noted, the markings on the back of his head bore only the faintest bit of color. But his pointed ears seemed to tell a different story, drooping down. You sat down next to him and smiled patiently. 

He sat with furrowed brow, collecting his thoughts, giving you plenty of time to look him over and be struck once again by how large he was. You had met other Eistirs over the last few years on Enphe, which is how you came to realize that Inzee wasn’t considered particularly muscular. Still, a lifetime of space work had kept him in shape, and what passed for lithe strength on this planet was positively enormous by Human standards. He stood well over two meters tall, with arms as thick around as your thighs and a body to match. 

“I’m glad we decided to settle down.” He hesitated, his four eyes fixed on you, nervously watching for your reaction. “But I’ve got to fly again.”

“What do you mean?”

He grunted. “I’m just going stir-crazy from being grounded for this long. I haven’t sat around on Enphe for more than one orbit since I was a child.” 

Like you, he’d gone to space as soon as he could, following that ephemeral string into the sky, hoping beyond hope that he would find where it led. That was where the similarities ended. Somehow, he seemed to enjoy it, which had always been baffling to you. Your experiences of space travel were spartan, weeks if not months of cramped quarters, bad food, and poor hygiene. When you were in Terran-charted space, you at least had a crew to keep you company. But most of your years of travels were spent far beyond it, in torturous solitude. Components were damaged with each jump, and the hours that you weren’t spending repairing the tin can were filled with tedious calculations to properly chart your course. That far out, the navigation systems were nearly useless. When they broke along with everything else after the nebula jump, you didn’t even bother to repair them. 

“Do you not like it here?” You knew the answer, but you still didn’t understand what he was getting at.

“My sweetheart, you wound me.” He clutched his chest, and you flashed a faint smile. He seemed to be feeling a little better than when you’d first come out, at least. “I love it here. I think I’d love anywhere if you were there. Somehow I just need—” Suddenly his eyes drooped, too ashamed to look at you anymore. “I mean I thought I was just out there searching for you. But maybe I was looking for something else, too, or else this feeling should have gone away, right?”

You nodded slowly. It made sense. You might have been the talkative one, making friends everywhere you went, but he had always been more inclined to adventure. You worked well together, as soulmates should, quickly collecting a large group of like-minded friends all around the world. Soon your leisure time had been positively filled with friendly banter and silly games, and with the effortless travel afforded by Eistir teleporters, there was no shortage of sights to see. At first you had assumed that he was taking you to his favorite spots, but he confessed that most of the time he was visiting for the first time too. I’ve been all around the galaxy, he said, shaking his head, but I’d never known my own backyard.

That life of your dreams had turned into a lump in your throat. How long had he felt this way? He had leased his ship when you agreed to settle back onto his homeworld, when you both thought that your days of flying were behind you. Suddenly, those terrestrial travels seemed like a paltry replacement for extraplanetary flights he could no longer have. Why hadn’t he said anything? Did he not trust you? 

No, no. That didn’t matter. He was telling you now. He trusted you now, and judging by the look on his face, he needed you now. You could worry about the past some other time.

You reached over to rub his shoulder, and ducked your head to meet his gaze. “Inzee, look at me. I love you.” He smiled, ears twitching. Every time. “You know how I feel about flying. But honestly, you’ve been a mess recently, and it breaks my heart to see you unhappy. So if you need to take a trip every once in a while, we can do that.”

He didn’t seem entirely convinced, but his skin brightened a bit more, cupping your hand in his. “You’re really okay with it? I don’t know how much time I’ll need. I could be gone for a while.”

Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath. “Honestly, angel, I don’t know. I have some really dark memories of being in a ship. But you’ll be there this time, which will help.” He bumped his forehead against yours, one of his cute little gestures that never failed to charm. “Or at least, we can try. I mean, this has to work out somehow, right? We’re soulmates, for god’s sake,” you said, twanging at the string that bound the two of you.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He pulled away, sighing. “Well, I would rather get my old ship back, if I can. That’ll probably take a while.” He looked you over with concern. He would never say that he didn’t believe you, but you both knew that there was more to be said. “Maybe I can start working on that, and you can think about it? Make sure you’re okay with me being gone for a while?”

“Being gone—?” He couldn’t possibly think that you would be staying home? “I’m going with you, you do know that, right?”

“What?” He seemed genuinely shocked. “No, I’m not going to ask you to go back on a ship again, you’ve made it plenty clear—”

A fire rose in your gut; you could hardly believe what you were hearing. “Listen, Inzee.” He snapped to attention at your sharp tone. “I dragged this tiny Human body halfway across the galaxy just to find you. And there isn’t a darn thing in it that could pry you out of my sight for a second.” He gulped, and then, much to your amusement, shivered. It made sense. He wouldn’t be used to hearing that voice in the daylight. You were tempted to push him further, but reluctantly waved the thought away. Plenty of time for that later. This was serious.

But he must have smelled your thoughts, because he completely failed at concealing his laughter. Shaking his head, he whispered, “Oh, what could I possibly have done to deserve you?”

You grinned. “Do you want an itemized list?”

 * * *

It did, indeed, take a while. Days passed and then blurred together as the long series of infuriating telecoms and paper trails paraded on. The red tape brought out a side of Inzee that you had never seen before, not just tenacious but assertive. He navigated the Eistir bureaucracy with an efficiency and ruthlessness that was almost frightening. And, ultimately, effective. After an eternity of wrangling, he managed to wrest back control of his old ship from the rental agency. 

On the morning that everything was official, he could hardly contain his excitement. He put a blindfold on you and stepped you through the teleporter, its buzzing sensation a long-familiar nuisance.

"Okay, take it off!”

As soon as the blindfold fell, you were immediately knocked breathless.

The two of you stood on a grated platform that ran along the rim of a gigantic circular room with vaulted ceilings. Sitting in the center you saw the characteristic green wireframe of a holographic starmap. It was massive, at least twice as big as any you had seen, and the room had clearly been sculpted around it; the projection equipment tucked into the arch of the ceiling, control panels on all three levels of the platform. The far side of the room was a window— a single curved sheet of glass that must have been at least two stories tall. At its edges, it faded into elegant yellow walls covered in vast black screens, woven together by veins of blue and purple crystals and a dizzying array of bright buttons. Eistir script flashed on a few of the screens, some projecting smaller holograms of their own. The room was silent, save the quiet whirring of the machinery and the occasional beeps of a droid buzzing overhead.

“Welcome aboard,” he said, his thick arms squeezing your side.

“This is your ship? It’s as big as our whole house!”

“No, I don’t, don’t think so.” His skin flushed blue. “I mean, the boy is, it’s probably, it’s not quite as—”

You hit him playfully on his side. “Jeez, you idiot! Why did you ever give this up?”

He cupped his hand around his ear, all eyes looking at the floor. “Well, I didn’t need it, anymore, once you found me, you know, and anyway, you didn’t seem so keen on flying— and I didn’t really give it up, I guess— we got it back, you see?”

You barely registered his stammered response, still taking in the grand scale of it all. “Oh, sweet heavens, I would have given the whole galaxy to fly on your ship.” His stories flooded back into your mind, and finally standing in the bright, open space, their reckless enthusiasm suddenly made sense. Of course you would love to fly if you got to fly in this beauty! This wasn’t a budget rocket slapped together to get you one or two jumps away. This was a ship made for adventure.

No, not quite, you remembered. It was, in fact, a science ship, designed for acquiring and testing specimens. You whipped your head around, looking for where the experiments might be run. But as far as you could tell, everything you saw looked like navigational equipment. “Where do you keep your collections?”

His markings glowed, intense with regret. Oh. Right. Immediately you embraced him, resting your head on his cool skin. “I’m sorry.”

The ship had been rented out, and the new astronauts would probably have collections of their own, so his had to be dealt with. He figured the data would be useful to someone, so he spent many long afternoons cataloguing everything; giving the local scientists anything they would take, and carefully documenting the rest. You had begged him to just bring them home and be done with it, but he insisted that he didn’t have the equipment to store them. He was so torn up about it, but there was nothing to be done.

“It’s okay,” he said, quietly. He wrapped you up in his arms and you savored his thick scent. “There’s a collections room.”

“There’s a what?” you demanded, jerking your head back. You were so taken aback, you’d forgotten that you were supposed to be soothing him. He tilted his head, confused.

“A… collections room? Uh, to keep everything organized?”

Your jaw dropped, and your eyes spun around the chamber. “There’s more?”

Finally understanding, he chuckled. “Ah. Yes, my love. Come on, I can give you the tour.”

“Holy shit.” 

Your mind was reeling as you followed his lead along the grated platform. He turned abruptly and the wall parted, revealing a short corridor, not quite wide enough for both of you to fit at once. He took your hand in his and you walked through to the other end, where a similar portal opened into a new room.

And when he stepped in, it was Inzee’s turn to gasp.

“Impossible…”

You rubbed your eyes as you adjusted to the light. This room was admittedly less grandiose than the navigation room, although still beautiful in its own way. It was smaller, but possibly even taller, with locker-like doors of all sizes lining the walls. A mess of Eistir script was scrawled on most of them, although it had clearly been rubbed off several of the larger doors at your eye level, replaced with more careful, steady handwriting. It wasn’t much to look at, you thought, but your partner was shell-shocked.

“What is it, angel?”

“They couldn’t have left all of it.” He started pacing around the room, sliding his hands across the glyphed doors. His body trembled as he pressed on one and it hissed open, letting loose a puff of orange steam as a shelf slid out. “Sweet oceans, they did.” He pressed frantically on the doors, drawers and tanks emerging.

“I can’t believe it.” He jumped back to you and swept you off your feet, practically lifting you up in the air. “It’s all here!”

He was still shaking as he squeezed you. You grinned like an idiot to see him so happy. “I thought you cleared it out!”

“I couldn’t bring myself to do it.” He returned an embarrassed smile. “I made all the records and put a note in the system asking them to remove it. Maybe a bit rude, but I couldn’t bring myself to actually throw it away.”

You finally gave in to your curiosity and pressed a door open. The tray that emerged was dense with easily a hundred pencil-thin glass tubes. Some of them were empty, it looked like, while others were foggy and bore subtle colors. “Atmosphere samples,” he crooned, sliding one along the webbing between his fingers. “From the Kredar supersystem. A lot of gas giants.”

Your eyes widened. “Wait, is each one a different planet?”

He laughed. “There’s a couple repeats, probably.” The words hit you like a truck. Nearly a hundred planets behind this one door. In a room filled with doors, wall to wall, floor to ceiling. 

“I can’t believe they left it all behind.”

You giggled, despite yourself. “You left it all behind.”

He let out an exasperated sigh. “You know what I mean.”

“I’m just teasing, angel,” you said, squeezing his hand. “I’m going to make you tell me about every one.”

“Good thing I’ve already taken notes.” One of his eyelids closed clumsily, and you stifled another giggle. You’d been trying to teach him how to wink, and he still needed a bit of practice.

You slid over one of the ladders attached to the walls and climbed up a few rungs. “Hmm, what’s iiiiiin…” you waved your hand around a section of the doors. “this one?” You slapped one of the larger squares. It opened cleanly, with none of the fanfare of the others, and a glass box rolled out, filled to the brim with— 

Lego?

“You have got to be kidding me.”

Inzee clutched his sides as he bowled over laughing, nearly falling on the floor. “Oh no! Don’t tell me you have those evil buggers too!”

You grabbed a handful of bricks. They were a little different than you were used to, lacking the familiar branding, some a bit misshapen. And they were clearly not all made from plastic. Some were metallic, others almost leathery. Throwing them back in the box, you glared at your partner, still wheezing on the ground below you. “What are you on about?”

He was gasping too hard to speak. You shook your head and hopped off the ladder, looking him in the eye as you shook him gently. You tried to appear unamused, but you weren’t sure if you were succeeding— it was adorable to see him like this, and his smile was infectious.

Eventually he calmed himself down enough to explain. “Nearly every race that we have made contact with has invented some version of those things. Not too hard to believe, I suppose, a toy for curious children that gets replicated across worlds.” He shook his head, another chortle busting through. “But you would think that someone would have found a way to make them that doesn’t hurt like hell when you step on them.”

“I cannot believe that the common thread uniting civilizations across the galaxy is fucking Lego.”

“Come on, that’s not the common thread. We all do language, water treatment, fusion, that kind of stuff.” Inzee snorted. “But yes, it is a incredible coincidence.”

“Oh, that gives me an idea. We should swing by Earth!” You frowned, one complication of that plan springing quickly to mind. “Well, it is pretty far away, we’d have to fly for a while. But you don’t already have Human-Lego, right? And I’m sure there’s other collections we could fill out, too.”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful!” His markings swelled with blue, and he spread his arms wide in deference. “I would be honored to visit your homeworld.”

“How soon can we start?”

His eyes were so bright, you swore you could see by them. “What’s gotten into you, my love? Just a few days ago I thought you were ready to call off the whole thing entirely.”

“It’s your ship, Inzee. There’s so much light and space. I can breathe in here.” As if to demonstrate, you loudly inhaled through your nose. He shot you a bemused glance, and you stuck out your tongue. “Oh god, you should have seen the tin can I flew here in. If I could have had this, everything would have been better, I’m sure of it. This ship, your ship, it’s amazing.”

He had been soaking in your words with an awkward sort of pride, as if you had been praising him rather than his ship. Perhaps you had been. But at the end, his expression suddenly softened, and his skin glowed a bright red. He wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you close. 

“No, my love. You are amazing.” Towering over you, he leaned down to join his eager lips with yours. His hearts pounded blood through his body, and you felt them as if they were your own, the rhythm of the kiss synching to his hypnotic pulse. You nursed it, squeezing him as you deepened it, his quickening breath sending tingles up your spine. 

Neither able nor willing to control yourself, you stepped forward, urging him toward the wall. He gave in to your demand just as instinctively, shrinking back further and further until you slammed him against the doors, pinning him down. He could surely have broken out had he wanted, but the blue heat radiating from his skin told you he had no such desire. This was a man bent on fulfilling your fantasies— or, rather, a creature, an Eistir— any interest you had in the details vanished completely as his silky hands slipped under your shirt, the light touch of his webbing teasing soft moans from your chest.

In retaliation, you slid your tongue into the fork of his, but when he tried to lean in, you pulled away completely. You smirked wickedly at his quiet whines, lifting his chin up with one finger and setting your gaze into his eyes. “Show me to the captain’s quarters, angel.”

[yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy]

Magic and Miracles and BEYOND

Chapter 16

Now that there is physical trauma, let's explore the mental trauma shall we? Good thing Dr. Gentiana Glacian is here to help. Let the healing begin.

@the-immortal-marshal this is one is also for you. Enjoy.

Magic and Miracles and BEYOND

Chapter 16

Tredd poured over the medical textbooks that Sylva had given him, one of which he would need to become an EMT, and others that would help him understand what the medical textbooks were saying that explained what different medical terms meant as Ravus was doing the same as Sylva was already ordering new replacements to the books she had given out and placed other orders for other things for Ravus and Tredd respectfully before she went to the pharma section of her hospital and got a two sets of project recovery and went to Sabrina’s room first to administer the first dose to her so that Sabrina would make a full recovery before she then went to Selena’s room to deliver the second set of it and administered it just before Selena’s boss, Wilson Foster and his wife Tammy came in.

“Hey, how are you feeling Sweetie?” Will asked, kicking into father mode since his own kids were close in age to Selena, a few years older though and were already in college.

“Everything hurts.” Selena answered honestly. “I broke four ribs, punctured my liver and my lungs and my arm was broken in two places and I have a pretty bad concussion.” Selena revealed as the lights in the room continued to stay low, so as not to aggravate it.

“Oh bless your heart and soul, you are one tough cookie to make it through all that, we are just so grateful and thankful you survived and should be making it through. And having your mom with you, I’ll bet both of you were very worried about the other. Well, we wanted to come and see what we could possibly do to help, besides hoping and praying that you pull through just fine.” Tammy offered as she sat down in the chair with her folder while Will put the flowers they had gotten for her on the ledge by the window.

“I don’t know if there is anything you can do.” Selena answered honestly, fearing the worst now that they were here. Yesterday, Craig had asked Ravus and Selena if he could inform his family about what happened and Ravus and Selena had given their permission and at the time, all the response Craig had gotten back was that everyone in his family were praying for Selena and her family.

“Well actually there is, you see, back in the beginning of September, when you were hired on as a part time designing assistant and I believe this counts as a “qualifying life event” and wouldn’t you know it, last weekend when you were in, we got so busy with the customers we forgot to tell you that you got a promotion, and with that promotion and with this qualifying life event, we wanted to come and make you aware that you are officially a remote associate designer so you don’t need to come into the office until you are fully recovered and can do any work you feel like doing from any computer and these are your login credentials in the various computer systems and passcodes for the licences for all the programs that we use and run in the office. And that position does come with a raise and of course insurance options, which I hope you don’t mind but we went ahead already accepted on your behalf, I hope you can forgive us if we overstepped ourselves, but gosh darn it, wouldn’t you know it, it all happened about a week ago, we are just so sorry we didn’t get a chance to tell you until just now.” Tammy explained as she opened her folder and set the paperwork in front of Selena as Selena just started crying as Sylva and Ravus got choked up too by the wonderful gesture.

“We already scanned in your signature, if you can just try to make your initials with your left hand best you can, that’s all we need from you.” Tammy requested.

“Thank you.” Selena offered as she used the box of tissues near her to soak up her grateful tears as Ravus was also grateful and relieved and moved by the gesture as well as he hugged Wilson and Tammy quite hard before Sylva hugged them too before Wilson and Tammy both hugged Selena as hard as they dared.

“Thank you guys, so, so much for this.” Ravus thanked them gratefully.

“Oh and you should know, that this has nothing to do with who you’re engaged to. Every client you’ve helped out with has had nothing but the highest praise for you and your already wonderful talent, so you earned this on your own Selena, you should know that.” Wilson insisted.

“Ditto.” Tammy grinned as she handed Selena one of her pens as Selena took the pen and happily tried to sign her initials with her left hand.

“Congratulations on the promotion, now, there is nothing left for you to do but become familiar with all the programs on your own time and schedule as you want to. And whenever you do get to a point where you’re fully healed, just let us know when you’re ready to come into the office. But otherwise, don’t worry about anything but healing and recovering. And watch for those insurance cards and things in your mail and as long as you can log into the programs about once a week or so, just to sign in, you don’t have to do anything other than sign in but that signing in is all we need for the systems to recognize that you’re still working so the paychecks can still be cut on a weekly basis and the insurance can still cover you because it’ll show you up as a current employee, who is salaried rather than hourly.” Tammy offered.

“You guys are the best, thank you so, so, so much.” Selena offered.

“Well you’re going to be the best too. We’re the lucky ones to have you, just get better ok Sweetie? That’s all you got to do now.” Tammy reassured her as she squeezed Selena’s left hand reassuringly before Selena’s grandparents and other family came into the room, with more flowers and cards in hand.

“Well let’s get out of your hair. You got more company. You call us if you need anything ok? Anything at all, we’re happy to help any way we can.” Wilson insisted as he tugged on Tammy’s sleeve so that she could see that Selena’s family had come in as Tammy took the contract out of the folder to scan it into her systems and folded it to put it into her purse but left everything else there for Selena and Ravus to go through when they got a chance.

“Thank you, oh I should introduce you guys, this is Wilson and Tammy Foster, the owners of Foster’s Design, Architecture and Construction Incorporated, Selena’s employers, they came to personally deliver the best news...” Ravus introduced Wilson to Selena’s grandparents and the rest of her family before Selena told her family what the Fosters had done for her as her family practically squealed in delight as William and Tammy were immediately pulled into big hugs and emphatically thanked before they were taken to Sabrina’s room with Dorian as word spread quickly as Selena laid in bed and smiled relief, because laughing would hurt too much, feeling a weight she hadn’t realized she was carrying being lifted off of her.

“See? It’s all working out.” Ravus urged his fiance as he settled in next to her again before he took a look at what all she had signed and grinned when the offer itself was exceedingly generous before Regis came into the hospital and asked to pull Wilson and Tammy aside and talk to them about an idea he had about helping Selena as well that Wilson and Tammy immediately and eagerly agreed before he came into Selena’s room as Sylva revealed what Wilson and Tammy had done for Selena.

“Yes, I know I passed them in the hallway and Selena’s family told me all about it already. I also came to tell you some good news…” Regis began.

“So I know this is your senior year. However, because you were smart enough to get all of your requisite courses done as of last year, that meant that this year could be spent getting your miscellaneous credits in, like arts and drama and any “fun” classes you wanted to take. So because of that, I talked with your teachers who agreed to greatly reduced work considering your accident and current conditions and I compiled it onto this single piece of paper, so you have until December, which I know is only a couple of months away, but if you will complete these four projects, which shouldn’t take you much time or energy to do so, so no rush on these. But I asked Wilson if he would sign off on having you spend what time you’ve had at his place of business count as extra miscellaneous credits, which he and Tammy agreed to sign off on as well so that means, that if you can complete just these four little projects by December 15th. You can graduate early and get your diploma and all that as well.” Regis offered as he handed Selena the slip of paper that had the projects and their components filled in as Selena started crying again as she nodded.

“Thank you so much.” Selena thanked Regis as Ravus got up and hugged Regis tightly, getting choked up too as Sylva was already crying too.

“Thank you so much Dad.” Ravus thanked his step father genuinely.

“You’re welcome, I’m so sorry she’s hurt but it’s the best I can do to help.” Regis offered into Ravus’ embrace.

“It means the world to us, thank you.” Ravus reassured him as he pulled away and wiped his grateful tears away but his smile was so bright and thankful as Selena gestured for Regis to come closer so she could hug him too.

“I swear to God if the dean at the community college comes in next and says I just graduated with honors, I’m screaming.” Selena joked which got everyone to laugh, including herself before she clutched her side before Sylva looked at the time and went ahead and gave her more pain killers a few minutes early and put it into the computer.

“Well I did actually contact your college and informed them of the updates in your current condition.” Ravus confessed.

“As did I.” Sylva confessed.

“As did I.” Regis added.

“Oh Jesus.” Selena grinned with a playful roll of her eyes but a grateful and appreciative smile nonetheless.

“You are loved, completely and unreservedly by everyone around you, you just get to feel as well as know that you are right now.” Sylva explained with a bright, knowing smile as she reached over and squeezed Selena’s shoulder before there was a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” Selena asked, almost wearily.

“It’s just me, Nancy, your nurse, here to make sure that the tube in your side is still draining excess liquid from around your punctured lung.” Nancy said as she came into the room with her special cart as Sylva pulled herself and Regis out of the way so that Nancy could work on Selena in privacy.

“This is looking really good actually, oh to be young with a really healthy immune system again.” Nancy gently teased as she took the soaked dressings off and replaced them before making sure everything was still working correctly and pulled some blood for panals from Selena's picc line in her left arm so that she wouldn't have to keep getting injections or moving her IV and as she made sure none of her other scrapes or bruises or anything was getting infected before she noticed that Sylva had given Selena her pain meds early before she administered an anti- nausea medication to go along with the pain medication and because having a concussion can cause extreme nausea.

“And some good ol’ promethazine for nausea so you can eat, you guys should order lunch while you have the chance.” Nancy suggested.

“Ooh, yeah, definitely.” Selena said as she got the menu from the drawer of her tray table and looked over the menu as Selena picked out what sounded somewhat good to her as Ravus did the same before Ravus called it in.

And in the afternoon, when their various friends came to check up on them, they were also overjoyed to learn about the news and developments and offered their congratulations to Selena for the “promotion” and her “early graduation” which left Iris to announce that she was also graduating early, in December as well so that she could work with her mom with the K-9 units full time so that in December, they were all free of Lucis High as Craig especially was so happy relieved to find out what his uncle and aunt had done for Selena.

Within the week, Sabrina had made a good recovery, enough to be released from the hospital. Selena though was still considered “ICU” and still received round the clock care and had gotten no less than three Project Recovery sets in that week, as Ravus practically moved into her hospital room with her and the only times he left her side was to go to the bathroom and get a shower as their friends and family took turns doing Ravus’ laundry and had cleaned out their fridge so that nothing would rot into their refrigerator as their dogs “took turns” being snuck into the hospital, wearing “support animal” gear as all of Ravus’ and Selena’s animals seemed instinctively become aware that Selena was wounded and hurting and offered as much comfort they could for their visits.

Bunny, the black newfoundland being the most comforting as she tried to jump into the bed itself but having Selena and Ravus keeping her from doing so as Selena rolled over to her left side and did her best to pet and soothe Bunny the best she could as Ravus held Bunny up, who was only 6 months old at this point, but already massive as Bunny, who was named that by Dani, was so happy and grateful to see her again, even Duchess was brought in, also wearing a “support animal” harness which she wasn’t thrilled about but she came and laid near Selena’s chest and purred loudly as Luche and Ada had gladly taken all the pet’s food and toys and beds and things and moved them over to their house since they were right next door to continue to care for their pets while Ravus and Selena were in the hospital.

Thankfully after two and a half weeks, Selena was downgraded from “ICU” status so that the nurses and doctors were not coming in almost every hour or even two hours during the night as Selena was encouraged to sleep as much as possible to help recover as Ravus continued to keep Selena company, working from his laptop only when absolutely necessary when Selena would take multiple naps throughout the day but otherwise was voracious in his own reading and gaining as much medical knowledge as he could to understand what his mother and the other medical staff were saying while in the room so he could fully understand what the impact to Selena had been and would continue to be going forward but because of his “overprotective” nature. He soon got a reputation himself with the staff.

“Knock, Knock, it’s Dr. Gentiana Glacian, you can just call me Anna though,” Anna greeted as she came into see them as Selena and Ravus were just finishing up eating their lunch.

“Hey,” Selena greeted as Ravus was happy and relieved to see her too.

“So, how are you holding up Selena?” Anna asked as she snagged a chair and sat down.

“I hurt all over. It hurts to breathe, to move really, but the concussion healed so yay- no more hallucinations or ridiculous nausea.” Selena confessed.

“Yeah, concussions can do that. And with having a near death experience, that’s a lot of trauma in itself. So besides the physical pain, are you experiencing any mental pain? Anguish? Anger? Resentment? Bitterness? Spitefullness? Aggression? Confusion?” Anna asked casually beore Selena turned to Ravus and gave him a pointed and meaningful look.

“All of the above.” Ravus confessed guiltily.

“Tell me about it.” Anna invited as she pulled a little notebook and a pen from her pocket to make notes.

“Uh, well, I went to school with Billy and Chad and they were friends with Andrew and Andrew was a psychopath and Billy and Chad were jocks and self entitled pricks who took bribes to hurt her brother, like actually tried to maim him and were stupid and reckless and nearly killed Selena because they were having a stupid pissing contest.” Ravus explained, despite the relative calm in his voice, there was a real rage whirling in his chest and still a seething bite to his tone.

“Which is all valid and correct.” Anna nodded.

"And what about you Selena? How do you feel about what happened?" Anna asked thoughtfully.

“Honestly I just feel like my mom and I were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think it was just a coincidence that they were the ones that hit us. I don’t think they thought any of it through and were just being stupid, reckless teenagers, and even though it was horrible, I don’t think they meant any malice to me or my family inparticularly at least in this instance. With Nyx, that shit was made personal because of Andrew and his past toxic relationship with Luna. Gladio told me the day after the accident, that both of them and their families nearly crapped their pants when they found out that it was me, Ravus’ fiance and my mom that they hit and I have already heard that they reached out to Sylva to try to see if Ravus and I would even accept an apology from them and Sylva has used me ICU status to keep from giving them an answer.” Selena offered.

“An apology isn’t going to fix your liver or your lung or your broken arm or your concussion or your brain damage. They need to pay for what damage they have done.” Ravus insisted adamantly as Selena looked even more exasperated and exhausted as Gentiana could tell that they had had this conversation privately at least a few times by now.

“And they will. They’re paying for it right now with their own injuries and their own insurance premiums are about skyrocket because everyone who was hurt by their recklessness is going to be doing a class action lawsuit against them, which we are going to be doing and you are already pressing charges against them personally and they will be persecuted to the fullest extent the law allows. I’m just afraid that that won’t be enough for you and you’re going to want to go full- eye for an eye, pound of flesh kind of thing. If it had been any other people who were not Andrew’s friends, who did not used to go to school with you when you were in your own 'stupid teenager phase', who had not taken bribes from currently dead- psychopaths, who you yourself used to be friends with and that guilt still to this day, eats at you and it’s rearing it’s ugly head right now and I think you’re taking this way more personally that it needs or should be.” Selena insisted to Ravus as she held his hand and squeezed it three times for emphasis as Ravus practically pouted and frowned at her.

“Honestly if it had been anyone else, anyone else in the world, I think you would be satisfied with the class action lawsuit, and be done with it, if they were from any other school, I don’t think you would be this adamant that they pay drop of blood for drop of blood, because I’ve heard you huffing and puffing and grumbling and seething curses at them when you think I’m sleeping. I think you’re trying your hardest to take revenge on my behalf, which Luna and Nyx didn’t even get a chance to do, even though with Nyx, it was a personal attack and he never got to see justice and I know you like to think that this is your best way to get revenge and get justice for him too, but even he and Luna have let that go when Andrew died and Andrew’s former friends and associates all came clean about all of the shit he was into because he could no longer go after them and Nyx already got an apology from them and I think we should do the same, accept the apologies with grace, because even though we personally have never done anything like this, I think we can show a little more sympathy for 'stupid things- stupid teenagers do', forgive them for their mistakes and accept their payment for said mistakes, with again- grace and a little humility and mildness.” Selena suggested as Ravus just flushed with shame because she was right as he scrunched up his face in a reluctant scowl.

“And I know you love me immeasurably. I know you love me more than anyone else in the world and I know you got really scared that you almost lost me and how you were going to implode if you did and probably take up drinking again and most likely drink yourself to death without me. And I think this experience is proving to be more traumatic for you, than it is for me. I mean you won’t leave my side for any other reason but to bathe and relieve yourself, you refuse to even go to the cafe to get coffee or tea because the bathroom is the farthest you have gotten from me and you don’t fall asleep before I do and you wake yourself up before I do and you are barely getting any sleep because you wake up every time anyone knocks or comes through that door and you’re grilling every nurse that comes in and keeping everyone on their toes and walking on eggshells and you’re making everyone anxious around you and you're scaring everyone, including me, because their nervousness makes me nervous.” Selena pointed out.

“Why is that Rae?” Anna asked.

“Because I’m terrified that if I leave, she’ll get a bad nurse or doctor who doesn’t know what the hell their doing or get a blood clot or have a complication or could die and she needs to have the best of the best looking after her and I’m worried that if anything could go wrong- I won’t be here, my place is here with her and I’m not leaving this room unless you are leaving this room with me and we get to go home.” Ravus insisted to Anna and then to Selena.

"Ravus, I'm literally in the VIP section of the hospital, your mother's hospital, hell it practically is your hospital too, I might add, I even look at this call button and I have three people coming in here to help with anything I could ever ask for. They're not letting any rookie fresh out of medical school anywhere near me. I'm already having the best of the best taking care of me and they are doing wonderfully. We have a butler for crying out loud. What part of any of this gives you any reason to think or feel that I won't be taken care of?" Selena pressed.

“I just...I have a fear that if I don't keep vigilent, another accident will happen." Ravus admitted.

"Which is a valid trauma response." Anna pointed out.

"So do you think that because Ravus wasn't in the accident himself, he shouldn't have a trauma response?" Anna questioned Selena.

"...ok. Maybe I didn't fully realize that he would be that traumatized too." Selena admitted.

"Well Ravus has already lost parent, and in that instance, he was helpless to do anything about it. And with your accident, that put him in the same exact situation again, yet here he is with one, two, three..five medical text books on that stand next to the couch." Anna pointed out.

"Ok, I'm sorry, I didn't see it that way. However I still feel that it’s a bit much, like it’s overcompensating and I think it’s coming off as the way those obsessive, controlling boyfriends who can be abusive because all of my nurses conveniently wait until you’re in the shower to ask me if I’m ok or need help and they have all gone to your mother to voice their concerns that you’re one of those types. I know you aren’t coming from that place but it’s coming off that way regardless. Plus, even if you had taken off of work and picked me up and had been driving me yourself and had taken that route which the route we were taking was the best route for time, we still would have gotten in that accident and you would be in the room next door instead of my mom and then both of us would be losing our minds with worry for the other.” Selena answered.

“And I know you’re not usually this obsessive or controlling but you’re turning into it. And it honestly scares me and it’s scaring everyone else.” Selena insisted as Anna was writing as fast as her hand could let her.

“....ok I didn’t realize I was coming off that way. I'm sorry.” Ravus finally admitted.

"And I'm sorry that I haven't seen how this has affected and traumatized you too." Selena offered.

“And I’m very worried that you’re going to overcompensate some more by not letting me get behind the wheel, ever again or ride with anyone but you and you will turn into the most defensive driver on the planet going ten under the speed limit and blaring that horn if anyone even inches towards the center line.” Selena voiced.

“....I...ok, you may have a point, I may, I may be looking at replacing our cars with hummers.” Ravus admitted.

“Only because actual tanks aren’t legal?” Selena questioned, albeit a little sarcastically.

“Maybe.” Ravus stuck his tongue out teasingly which got Selena to crack a wry grin which got Anna to smile fondly as she continued to take notes.

"So here is what I would like to see, it was awesome that you guys could come to an understanding about the current situation and see things from each other's perspective. That's wonderful that you were able to do that. Selena, again, be mindful that this traumatic event isn't just traumatic for you, but for everyone else involved, especially Ravus because you are his everything." Anna reminded Selena.

“And Ravus, do remember my advice to you when you were going through your own “stupid teenager phase” as Selena so beautifully put it?” Anna asked.

“To listen to the women in my life? Like my sister and my mother?” Ravus recalled with a wince.

“Guess what? I’m gonna repeat that advice. Only I’m going to ask that you consider and carefully evaluate all of Selena’s advice because Selena is hitting all the nails on the head here besides not recognizing your own trauma. So here is what I personally advise. Apologies are in order, but before you accept Billy and Chad’s apologies and the apologies from their families, with grace. I want you to apologize to all of Selena’s doctors and nurses for doubting their capabilities and thus their intentions with grace as well, because the number one rule is “do no harm” and not everyone is out to hurt you or your family. Like Selena said, this instance wasn’t personal to her. And the guilty parties are paying for their mistakes with their own injuries. And you need to make peace that that will be enough, Selena is clearly at the “acceptance” stage of grief which is amazing and I applaud you for it. Also, when Selena does make a full recovery. I suggest that maybe you two should get into defensive driving courses, maybe make it something fun like learning how to drive like a stunt driver kind of thing. But don’t let this traumatic experience torture you mentally and emotionally. Because the physical impact is more than enough. Also, Ravus I’m prescribing a sleep aid. Because you need at least 8 hours of good, restful, restorative sleep because Selena does deserve your best. However no one can pour out of an empty cup, you need to take care of yourself, eat, sleep, and don’t burn yourself out. Otherwise you will be admitted to the hospital yourself in the room right next door for exhaustion because I can see how exhausted you are from where I'm sitting and you are at your limit. So before it get's to that point, take the sleep aid, relax, you can stop being hypervigilant, it's ok to trust that even while you're getting some much needed rest, Selena's very high level of care will continue on and I want you to practice leaving Selena’s side for just a few moments, like go down to the cafe, get a cup of coffee or something and trust that Selena is going to be just fine when you come back. She’s not on ICU status anymore, she’s not touch and go, her life no longer hangs in the balance so we don’t need to be hypervigilant and not miss a single second of everything. It’s going to be ok.” Dr. Gentiana Glacian advised.

"So let's start right now, Ravus, do you trust Selena with me?" Dr. Gentiana asked.

"Well of course, because I know you're never gonna hurt her." Ravus answered.

"Then entrust her with me, go down to the cafe down the hall and get yourself something, get Selena something and when you come back, you'll see if you were right to trust me with her." Anna suggested.

"You can do it. I'll be ok. Get me a macaron, I heard they have those down there." Selena urged him.

"...ok, fine." Ravus said before he slipped his feet into his loafers and left the room and walked down the hall, forcing himself not to speedwalk or run.

“Thank you.” Selena thanked her gratefully.

"You're welcome. Anything else you want to say while you don't have him breathing down your neck?" Anna asked as she stood and put her notes and orders into the computer by the bed.

"If I thought he was attentive before, that's all dialed up to 11 in here. I just breathe differently and he's right there. I want him to relax because his hypervigilance is exhausting me, I don't know how he isn't exhausted too." Selena confessed.

"He is exhausted, he just thinks that your needs come above his own, he always has since day one. So he is suppressing his own for your sake. I would give it another day or two before he would need some medical attention for exhaustion, that's why I'm giving him a muscle relaxer, a mild anxiety medication plus a small mood stabilizer and a sleep aid and putting it into the system for the staff to keep an eye on him for exhaustion and because it's coming from me, he shouldn't put up much of a fuss or a fight in taking them." Anna added with a grin and was done by the time Ravus came back with a little box of macarons in hand and offered one to Selena.

"And?" Anna prodded.

"And she's ok." Ravus admitted.

"She is, and she should only get better from here, both of you should relax, eat some good comfort food, get some good sleep tonight, I'll check in- in a few days to follow up ok?"

"Thanks Anna." Ravus offered.

"Yes, thank you Anna." Selena parroted.

"You're wecome." Anna waived before she saw herself out of the room.

[scrapironflotilla]

Hello! I was wondering if you knew much about the transition from ANZAC > I ANZAC II ANZAC > IIXX Corps? I've seen some info scattered around on AWM documents and Wikipedia – but would you happen to know some structure to these reorganisations?

Absolutely! This is actually something that I looked into in some depth for my honours and I think it’s a pretty fascinating line that runs through the war. So let’s do a quick brief on what the various ANZAC corps were, why they were put together and who commanded them.

On the outbreak of the war in August 1914 both Australia and New Zealand were already committed to sending troops to fight in Britain’s war. The two Dominions had already done some planning in this regard before 1914, and decided they could together field an Australasian Division with two brigades from Australia and one from New Zealand. But it turned out that the initial rush of recruits and a measure of competition with Canada (who offered an entire division on their own) meant that Australia could raise its commitment to an infantry division plus an extra brigade. New Zealand followed suit, adding a second brigade, which joined the lone Australian brigade together in the New Zealand and Australian Division (NZAD). Now we meet the first of the three important people to this story. Major General Alexander Godley.

Godley was a British officer who had been recruited by the New Zealand government to oversee the reorganisation of their army. When the war broke out it seemed only natural that Godley be the one to lead New Zealand troops into battle. When the NZAD was formed Godley was given command. Godley wasn’t ever a popular general and many of those who served under him had real criticisms of his character, but few criticised his abilities as a general.

These divisions were en route to Europe in November 1914 when it was decided to send them to Egypt instead to protect the Suez Canal and complete their training and organisation. The War Office and its head Kitchener decided to group the two divisions together as the Australasian Army Corps, but was quickly changed to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps to better recognise the New Zealand component.

It was in Egypt that they received the commander who would be most associated with Anzac from then on, and who would even tie his entire career to it. This guy

Lieutenant General William Birdwood. He was an officer of the British Indian army and a friend of Kitchener who had served in the Boer War and was basically a people person. He was easy-going and had a friendly manner that helped him made him popular among his troops. There’s a relatively famous photo of him swimming (butt naked) at Anzac Cove.

We can pretty much skip over Gallipoli by just mentioning that recruiting in 1915 was good and that Australia soon added a second division to ANZAC. In fact recruiting was so good that by the end of 1915 there were some 60,000 Australian and Kiwi recruits sitting round in Egypt without units to go into.

So at this point we get three people claiming they came up with the idea to double ANZAC. Commander in Chief of British forces in Egypt, Archibald Murray, Birdwood and Godley all claimed that they though up the idea to use the unemployed troops to form two new Australian divisions and to form an independent New Zealand division. Murray was the first to write it down, but it was more a less a group project.

To try and give some experience to the new Australian divisions it was decided to divide the original battalions of the 1st and 2nd Australian divisions to form the nucleus of the new battalions. So half of the men from each of the first 24 battalions left to form new units in the 4th and 5th Australian divisions (a third was being raised in Australia).

So now with four Aussie and one Kiwi division it was decided to form a second ANZAC corps. ANZAC became I ANZAC (the 1st and 2nd Australian divs and the NZ div) and II ANZAC (4th and 5th Australian divs) was created. I ANZAC was the first to go to France in mid-1916 with Birdwood in command and II ANZAC followed along with Godley leading it.

Divisions shuffled around a bit between corps on the Western Front, but the Anzacs ended 1916 with the same men in charge but I ANZAC made up of the 1st, 2nd and 4th Australian divs and II ANZAC with the New Zealanders and the 4th and 5th Australian divs.

We can skip forward again to the end of 1917 when everything got shaken up for the last time. After years of pushing from the Australian government and Birdwood the War Office was bullied into allowing the formation of an entirely Australian army corps. The five Aussie divisions were grouped together in a new formation called the Australian Corps under a newly promoted General Birdwood. After they lost the A from II ANZAC it was decided to turn the corps into a regular British formation, and it became XXII Corps in March 1918. It was then filled up with regular British divisions, but still under the command of Godley.

And by the middle of 1918 we get the last move in the story when Birdwood was promoted to command the reorganising 5th Army. Into the empty role of corps commander went the grumpy looking Australian, Major-General John Monash.

There’s actually a whole thing that happened with Monash’s promotion where the official war correspondent Charles Bean (who would write and edit Australia’s official histories of the war), journalist Keith Murdoch (father of lich king Rupert Murdoch) and war artist Will Dyson all tried to block Monash’s appointment. They got as far as meetings with Haig and the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes. There’s a bunch of reasons why they tried to stop Monash, antisemitism being an important one, but they ended up failing and Monash commanded the Australian Corps with distinction during the last six months of the war, including some great victories such as Hamel, Amiens and Mont St Quentin.

Sorry for being so long winded, but there’s just a ton to say about this, even skipping over big chunks.

[onestowatch]

Surfaces Is Bringing Their Happy Place to the Masses [Q&A]

Photo: Dan Franco

When Colin Padalecki met Forrest Frank on SoundCloud, back in 2016, they had no idea that their whimsical exchange of DMs would evolve into the brotherhood of a lifetime, an ever-growing discography, and a roster spot on one of the hottest independent record labels in the world—10K Projects. 

Since then, the two friends have formed a genre-bending band called Surfaces and an audiovisual world of neo-soul, beach-pop, reggae, and gospel music. Or better yet, an imaginary happy place, right smack-dab in the middle of “The Lone Star State,” where the two Texans make masterful R&B music with spoken-word lyricism that elevates positive thinking for the soul. 

All in all, the guys from Surfaces have been releasing music together for four years now. Thus, with each year comes a brand-new album from the hardworking duo. While Caribbean rhythms and heartwarming subject matter remain notable fixtures of their songwriting, another mainstay is the scenic artwork that’s accompanied every album release so far.

Each time that Padalecki creates an official album cover for Surfaces, it’s as if he’s giving their supporters a behind-the-scenes look at the way in which they find inspiration before a songwriting camp. In many instances, the artwork that he designs serves as a catalyst for the band’s recording sessions, because it sets the mood. His graphic illustrations of sunsets, beaches, and waterfronts augment the heartfelt stories that have been told for the duration of four albums now by his bandmate, Frank, whose lyrics and jazz-rap cadences always seem to carry a positive undertone. 

The meaning behind his uplifting words stem from a spiritual assertion that was instilled in him from a young age by his family. In fact, his band’s biggest hit to date was influenced by his faith. “When I think of the lyrics [from “Sunday Best”]... for me, personally, the only way I’ve been able to find that kind of complete stress-free lifestyle is through my relationship with God,” shares Frank. Of all the songs that have been penned by Surfaces over the past five years, none of the releases contain a single ounce of vulgarity in them. This is a very unique distinction for a secular band—especially one that is part of a record label that’s been home to some of the most popular rappers of the SoundCloud rap era. 

But nevertheless, their working relationship with their record label has actually enhanced their creativity. Because the company’s CEO has created a healthy environment for artistic expression, regardless of the genres his artists belong to. “I feel like Elliot [Grainge] runs a really tight family kind of shop. He doesn’t have a lot of artists on his roster, but he has a personal relationship with all of us and the other people we work with like Molly, Sam, and our managers. So, [signing with 10K Projects] just made sense,” shares Padalecki. “Elliot gave us full creative control, which is truly a blessing when it comes to something like a record deal. At any moment in time, we could just ask him to meet us for lunch and he cares enough about us on a personal level to go do that. He trusts in our decisions when it comes to song making, album choices, and everything. They’ve been nothing but supportive and we’ve been nothing but grateful for 10K, it’s almost like a family.” 

Indeed, a stress-free creative space, cathartic chorus lines, and the full support of 10K Projects have proven to be key components in a winning formula that’s yielded multi-platinum successes for Surfaces. So, as the old adage goes: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Which means when it comes to dropping new music, the guys are sticking to what works. 

When they made their best-selling album to date, Where The Light Is, they recorded the tracks during the day, while the sun was out at Frank’s boat house to perfectly capture a positive and happy mood. Catching a vibe in a sunny environment has proven to be tried-and-true method for the band and a blueprint that Colin Padalecki wanted to follow during the making of their latest album, Pacifico. 

“We rented a house in Malibu for about a half a month. It was kind of like this creative camp that we set up and we pretty much woke up every single day in this really gorgeous house with this really gorgeous view of the beach line of Malibu and the sunset peaking over the mountains every single day,” says the multi-instrumentalist. “It was just nice to not have to worry about anything with Forrest, his wife, and our creative collaborator Conrad [Public Library Commute]. Nothing felt forced… we were just trying to capture the essence of that trip. The whole album pretty much describes that vacation of ours. And we just tried to capture all aspects of it through sonics.” 

On April 9, Surfaces introduced their fourth studio album to the world with the lead single called “Wave of You.” It’s a vibey beach-pop track that explores the depths of a romantic relationship through the eyes of Frank. It also displays his willingness to expose his own real-life experiences. “I think it’s really powerful. A relationship can be so powerful and when you’re really drawn to someone it’s like the tide pulling you into the wave. It’s awesome, but it’s also really fragile and dangerous,” says Frank.

Upon the release of two follow-up singles to “Wave of You,” Surfaces officially dropped Pacifico on June 25. The new album arrives on the heels of one of the most challenging time periods this world has ever seen. In the wake of a global pandemic, a little bit of sunshine is exactly what the the world needs. Pacifico, fittingly, is a breath of fresh air for their supporters and a fitting soundtrack for the beginning of summer after nearly a year-and-a-half of worldwide shutdowns. 

One of the main aspects of this album that displays the band’s growth as musicians are the amount of artist features present. Before the release of Pacifico, the only collaboration they ever published was “Learn To Fly” with Elton John. Their collaborative effort with the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer was an absolute banger, but it was never officially featured on an album by Surfaces. Instead, it was published as a one-off single. But this time around, the group teamed up with four collaborators: Public Library Commute, Salam Ilese, Xavier Omär and Quinn XCII. 

Their contributions to Pacifico have added a whole new element to this delightful collection of sun-soaked music. In fact, the story of how they ended up recording their collaboration with Omär in person is almost as compelling as the story of how the co-founders met each other. “We’d been huge fans [of Xavier Omär] ever since the SoundCloud days. We had a second verse open [for “Come Around”]. So, we DM’d him and said, ‘Yo what’s up! We’re huge fans!’ He said he was a big fan of ours too. So, we told him that we’d love to link up and talk about music because we have a song that he might like,” recounts Frank. “Then he said, ‘Oh cool, but the only thing is, I don’t live in L.A., I live in San Antonio.’ And we were like, ‘Yo, Colin lives in San Antonio (laughs)! So, we basically drove down the street and recorded with him.” It’s a fond memory of their first encounter with one of their favorite musicians… and it’s strikingly similar to the way that Padalecki met Frank on SoundCloud about five years prior. 

“Hearing (Omar Xavier’s) melodies recorded at my house brought me back to my high school days of listening to Middle of Things,” says Padalecki. “It had a huge impact on me in high school. So, him coming over and hanging out with us like friends, getting lunch with us, and then getting to the music later was really special.” While collaborative efforts like “Come Around” and “On Time” have certainly added a new dimension to the songwriting and emotional depth of Surfaces, fans can rest assured that their trademark penchant for feel great grooves remain true all throughout Pacifico.

In just five years, the duo behind Surfaces has traveled all over the country. The last time they took the show on the road was during the “Warm Winter Tour” back in 2019. This August, they’ll hit the road again for a North American tour called the aptly titled “Good 2 Be Back Tour.” To the masses they’re a homegrown duo that never fails to bring light and positivity to the forefront of their music. But internally… they’re just two friends having the time of their lives. And why wouldn’t they be? It’s not every day that pop icons like Justin Bieber partake in a “Sunday Best” dance craze dedicated to you by your fans on TikTok. 

More importantly, it’s not every day a pop-rock band comes along and reminds us of Bill Withers, Hall & Oates, Beach Boys and Chance the Rapper all in one breath. “That’s pretty good (laughs). I like that,” confesses Frank when the unique comparison was brought to his attention. With the release of Pacifico, Surfaces is now four albums deep into a promising career in music. And to think, it all started with a litany of recording sessions at Padalecki’s college house in Texas. It appears as though the guys from Surfaces are just as good at building songs as they are at giving form to the happy place from which all of their songs originate.

Pacifico is available everywhere you can stream it. 

[nitewrighter]

Could we get some Gency hurt/comfort? Prompt: Genji experiences a nightmare after getting back from an exhausting mission a few hours earlier. As in, he-broke-into-a-cold-sweat-and-started-hyperventilating type or nightmare. Mercy is next to him, still awake, and sees him writhing and muttering in his sleep. She tries to wake him up or ease him to a calmer sleep after noticing this. (I just finished 2 month-long projects and am craving angst with a happy ending :D)

Hey thanks! And congrats on your project!!

I’m still pretty proud of the “Storm” fic I wrote back during Gency week... It would be nice to have some fluffy follow-up.

-----

When they got back to the watchpoint, the first priority was getting a shower. They let Mei handle the brunt of the debriefing while Symmetra was quickly trundled off to the infirmary, Pharah quick at her side. Orisa, meanwhile, was brought to Torbjorn’s workshop for a deep sanitizing. In the ride back, Genji had been able to mentally pass off the ghostly residual sensations of being pushed and pulled by the water to the rockings of the dropship, but as he set foot on the solid ground of the watchpoint, he knew this mission would stick with him more than most. He wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was the helplessness of facing down the very environment as an enemy... perhaps it was the odd combination of being seen as an enemy omnic by that old woman, then having to actually fight Null Sector, but as he and Mercy scrubbed themselves pink and raw in the shower, he tried to lose himself in the heat and sensation. He tried to focus on Mercy’s fingers raking up through his hair from the base of his skull as she worked in shampoo, tried to focus on the feel of her own hair between his fingers, the visual of her shoulders bunching up, and the sound of her breath as he returned the favor, but still, the mission lurked at the back of his mind.

You could have done better, he thought, Should have worked faster.

The first night was thankfully swift and dreamless. And the next day they had a proper debriefing and a quick rundown of how the authorities were handling the situation without their intervention. Overwatch had been enough to scare Null Sector off, it seemed, and as disturbing as the depth of the hurricane’s damage had been, Winston and Mei had agreed that the authorities had more relief efforts handled from there and that Overwatch would only intervene again if there was another Null Sector attack. Not a clean ending to the mission, but then again, hardly any mission did end cleanly. What was Overwatch now if not a desperate stopgap against the worst?

“Genji?” Mercy’s voice managed to snap him out of a fixating train of thoughts as they got ready for bed.

“Mm?” He was setting components of his armor on their frame in the cleaning and cooling compartment embedded in the wall of their bedroom.

“You haven’t been talking much since the debriefing,” said Mercy, “Are you doing all right?”

A short breath huffed out of him. “...we’re always asking each other that,” he said quietly, setting the last armor component on its frame and stepping backwards to sit on the edge of the bed as the compartment closed.

“It’s a worthwhile question,” she said, her weight sinking into the mattress behind him.

“I’m fine,” said Genji, rubbing at his temple, “Just... need some sleep, that’s all.”

Mercy had already wiggled under the comforter behind him and she gave him a slight smile as he looked over his shoulder at her. He half-crawled half-collapsed against the bed and managed to slink under the sheets next to her. There was a few seconds where they were both staring at each other, their heads against their respective pillows. He could feel her gray-blue eyes searching him, that worried scan that tried not to pry too deeply, but still sank into him all the same. He reached a hand forward and tucked a lock of hair back from her face.

“I’m fine,” he said, “Really.”

Her lips thinned but she just leaned forward and kissed him on the eyebrow.

He didn’t want to think about how much he still felt the push and pull of the water even against the stillness of their mattress. He didn’t want to think about what fears flooded into his mind as he looked at her slowly closing eyes. It’s sleep, he thought, surrendering his body to that residual exhaustion and trying to will his mind into silence, Just sleep.

And there were a few hours of quiet, comforting darkness. But sinking deeper into that darkness, his mind, ever dissatisfied, was poking around the mission. What could have been done better? They already had the setback of having the storm cut into their comms. And that Omnic... Null Sector wasn’t generally in the habit of going full Gwishin like that. Why get bolder in a little town like Terrapin? And then there were the visuals. Unbidden, distorted. Mercy, shoving Mei out of the way before being seized herself. The shock of his own body hitting the water after her. The way her face looked ghost-white in that murky green-brown water. The way lack of oxygen was just starting to make her eyes go out of focus. He wasn’t swimming fast enough. A few seconds more--

“And you would be dead,” air sucked back into his lungs and he remembered the image of his own hands pushing up from a tatami mat. His father’s voice. He glanced up to see Sojiro and Hanzo kneeling on their cushions at the edge of the tatami, his own trainer, giving him a derisive look. How old was Genji then--10? 11? “Thank you, Fukuda-Sensei,” Sojiro had said, “I think we’ve seen enough.”

“I can do it,” Genji was insisting, still breathless, “I can do it! Let me try again!”

“No, this isn’t going anywhere,” said Sojiro. He glanced to Hanzo. “Hanzo, you will spar with Genji until he is up to par with Fukuda-Sensei’s standards.”

“What?” Hanzo protested, “But I was supposed to have archery lessons with Mom!”

“Hanzo, Genji will be your right hand when you take over the clan, we can get him all the trainers we can, but in the end, he is your responsibility.” 

He remembered Hanzo’s glare burning into him, then. He remembered the impact of Hanzo’s punches and kicks when they sparred.

“You ruin everything!”  Genji remembered Hanzo taking him by the shoulder and slamming him into the floor, “I can’t be a ninja if I’m always babysitting you!” 

“I’m going to be a ninja too!” Genji had fired back, scrambling to get back to his feet before a kick sent him rolling across the tatami.

“You’re not going to be anything,” Hanzo’s voice was furious and dark before the memory spiraled into red and pain.

“Hanzo--” it was over 10 years ago. Genji was looking at the bloody stump of his own arm before his eyes trailed up to his brother, blue light whirling around Hanzo’s arm. “Don’t---”

The dragon roared and surged around him and suddenly its impact was the impact of water.

And he was swimming toward her again. Not fast enough. Not strong enough. And he hesitated on cutting the wings. Stupid! His lungs were burning. The water was roiling around him. His arm was breaking apart, disassembling itself as he reached toward her in the water, the metal of the omnic in the depths shifting and cracking, brittle cracks turning to dragon scales, the violet turning to blue, those indifferent orange eyes coming apart into a great toothy maw rushing up to devour. But still he was swimming even though he didn’t seem to be moving forward in the water.

Stupid. Weak. Not strong enough. Not fast enough. You can’t save yourself so how could you ever hope to save--

“Genji--!” 

That voice. That same voice that acted as his lighthouse in his days of unconsciousness following Hanzo’s attack. He felt a touch on his shoulder and flinched awake, panting.

“Genji...” he could make out the pale blue of the holo-clock on their bedside table reading 3:21 AM, and and he became very conscious of the cool dampness of his own sweat making the sheets stick to him. His eyes flicked up. Mercy was sitting up in the darkness, looking still somewhat ghostly in the glow of their holo-clock, but her hand on his shoulder was steady, warm.

“What--?” he said, his breath still short.

“You were--just breathe--You were having another nightmare,” she said, brushing some sweaty strands of hair away from his forehead.

“Oh...I--I’m sorry--” he said, readjusting himself, trying to ease out of the tangle of bedsheets, his breath steadying as he pushed himself up in bed to better face her. 

“It’s nothing to apologize for,” she said, gently touching his cybernetic jaw.

He huffed a breath through his teeth, “I know, I just...” he sighed and looked down, “You’d think after everything I’ve gone through with you and Zenyatta, this wouldn’t...” 

“It was a rough mission,” said Mercy with a shrug, “Rougher than usual.” 

“I know,” Genji said again, “But--I mean--between the two of us--if anyone should be having nightmares after that...” 

She gave his shoulder a slight squeeze and smiled wearily, “Oh don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of nightmares in the future.”

“I didn’t mean--I don’t want---” Genji’s mind was a scramble of sleepiness and coming down from a panic.

“I know,” her knuckles trailed at his temple.

He closed his eyes, leaning the side of his face into her hand. Slowly, gently, she let her weight sink back against her own pillow, but her hand glided down from his face to his shoulder to motion him to lie down with her. He did so, but lying on his back rather than facing her, staring at the ceiling.

“I dreamt of Hanzo, again,” he said quietly, and the slight shff of the pillow next to him told him a new alertness had flooded into her.

“He can’t hurt you here--” Mercy started.

“It’s... not about him hurting me... well it is, but...” Genji sighed, “I don’t know if I want him back in my life because I really want to help him, or if it’s because I don’t want.... that... to be all the memories I have of my blood family. Or maybe...” his voice dropped a little, “Maybe I still feel like I have to prove myself to him.”

“But you beat him back in Hanamura,” said Mercy.

“I know,” Genji pressed the fingertips of his prosthetic hand to his forehead, “But that was--it was complicated. I knew it would not be as simple as sitting down at a table with him and saying ‘Yo, not dead’ and Zenyatta said the clan didn’t exactly give us the means to communicate in a healthy--” he caught himself and huffed, “I’m sorry. I’m rambling. You’re sleep deprived enough without dealing with me.”

“Genji, I’m not ‘dealing with you,’ I love you,” said Mercy, curling herself around him.

“Mm,” Genji conformed to her shape as well, tucking his head against that slope between her collarbone and breast.

“You looked after me back in that storm and I’m looking after you now. It’s what we do,” she said softly as she stroked a hand down his back, “And if I wake up screaming and crying about Zurich or my parents, you’ll be here for me. And if you need to be rescued on a mission, I’ll be there for you... and there’s the team, too,” Her voice was trailing off with sleepiness, but hands tensed against his back slightly, “And... if Hanzo comes... We’ll figure something out. We’ve faced scarier things than him.”

“...I’d put ‘giant amphibious Null Sector crab mech’ about on par with Hanzo,” said Genji with a slight chuckle.

A “hm,” that was a bit too sleepy to be a chuckle fell out of her and a few beats of silence passed.

“Angela?” 

“Mm?”

“Thank you.”

She kissed the top of his head. “I’m here if you need anything,” she said quietly.

“Mm-hm,” he said quietly, but as he listened to her breath and heartbeat, those physical sensations of the water seemed to go from turbulent dizziness to a gentle push and pull, like a wave on the shore. This, he thought, listening to her breath as he drifted off to sleep, I just need this.

[razzle-zazzle]

Five Times Cole was Hidden

...And the one time he wasn’t.

2781 Words; Naga AU; Pre series - Season 1

Cole had always been good at hiding.

It was a fact he had lived with as long as he could remember, some inexplicable trait about him that made him hard to find. He loved to surprise others, often waiting patiently for hours for the perfect moment to attack his mother with a hug.

But right now, Cole was hiding for a different reason.

He didn’t mean to smash the vase, it just happened to be there. On the counter. Which he wasn’t supposed to climb onto.

It looked like a nice vase, too, the kind that his grandparents would display on the shelves but never use. The kind his aunt would make and then sell to a store for a lot of money. And now it was in pieces across the kitchen floor, probably ruined forever.

So now he lay coiled on the top shelf of the laundry room—another place the six-year-old wasn’t supposed to be in—quietly nibbling on a stolen cookie. His father was out running errands, and his mother was outside working the garden. It wouldn’t be much longer before she came inside and discovered the remains of the poor vase, so Cole had hid himself immediately.

It was sometimes hard to hear the rest of the house from the laundry room, but Cole could faintly make out the sound of his mother’s footsteps as she returned inside. He had to strain to hear her reaction to the shattered vase. She didn’t sound very happy.

Cole wiggled nervously.

“Cole?” his mother called out, voice even. “Do you mind explaining what happened here?”

Cole said nothing, listening as his mother’s footsteps made their way to his room, then down the hall, to his parents’ room, all over the house in search of her son. She kept calling out to him, sounding more worried each time.

Cole started to feel really bad. She sounded really scared. He began to make his way down from the shelf onto the dryer.

“I’m in here.” He said, dropping onto the dryer.

His mother appeared in the laundry room shortly, picking him up off the dryer. Cole’s tail curled around her arm as he situated himself.

“What were you doing in here?” Asha asked, carrying her son away from the laundry room. “You know the laundry room is off limits, Cole.”

Cole said nothing, burying his face in her shoulder.

Asha cooed softly. “Please don’t hide yourself like that again. I was so scared!”

Cole hmmed. “I’m sorry I broke the vase.” He said softly. “I didn’t mean to—”

“Oh, that?” Asha sounded surprised. “I was going to break it and send the pieces to my sister to use in one of her projects.”

“Oh.” Cole responded. So he wasn’t in trouble, then. He had been worried over nothing!

“But I did notice that someone got into the cookies while I was outside…”

+=+=+=+=+

If you asked Jay what he considered normal, he’d respond with a long-winded answer where he could have used only a few words.

Though, that was how he usually answered questions, being as voluble as he was.

But his verbosity was beside the point. The point being, of course, Sensei Wu’s new student.

Who was most certainly not normal.

Say what you will, but normal people didn’t have a scaled tail in place of legs. Normal people also didn’t have forked tongues, either.

It’s not that Jay particularly disliked snakes. He just didn’t really see the appeal. But Cole was, well—he was Cole.

And of course, as usual, Jay had no idea where Cole even was. He was always disappearing during free time—there was still that hole in the floor from when he’d been pulled out from under the floorboards, Cole was lucky that Wu intended to have those redone—so Jay still didn’t really know Cole. But that didn’t really matter to Jay, because he really didn’t think he’d ever really understand someone who could swallow a fish whole.

But Jay figured he might as well try, so here he was, trying to find where he’d hidden those components for the mini heater he was trying to make. Digging through their shared room had proved futile.

“Maybe I put them in the rec room…” Jay started making his way down the hall.

And then he tripped.

To Cole’s credit, he hadn’t really been trying to hide. Jay just wasn’t looking down. But Jay still glared at the naga all the same as he pried his face off the floor.

“Do you just phase in and out of existence as you please?”

Cole made a sheepish face. “I don’t think so…”

Jay resisted the urge to yell. He stood up. “Whatever, it’s fine, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Cole looked at him in concern for a moment before returning to his drawing.

+=+=+=+=+

“Cole?” Zane stepped outside, but he couldn’t see the naga anywhere among the training equipment.

Zane frowned. He hadn’t seen Cole since this morning. True, he didn’t know his new brothers very well, but he usually didn’t have this much trouble finding Cole.

“Something wrong?” Jay asked, coming up to stand beside Zane.

“I do not know where Cole is.” Zane stated, stepping outside.

Jay scoffed. “He’s always disappearing. It’s like he just phases in and out of existence as he pleases.”

Zane considered that. “Well, snakes are known ambush predators.”

Jay stared.

Zane felt he should elaborate. “They’re good at staying hidden until the time to strike.”

“Well, yeah,” Jay rolled his eyes, “I figured that much.” He stood before one of the training dummies. “But Cole’s practically on another level entirely!” He kicked the dummy, “You’d think someone so big would have more trouble, but,” Another blow, “he just—” another kick, “—up and vanishes, like it’s no big deal!”

Zane watched Jay train with slight amusement. Though most of the social cues his brothers used were beyond him, Zane liked to think he could read them well enough.

But still, where was Cole?

Zane resumed his search, returning inside to search the halls. He checked everywhere—even opening the trapdoor leading to under the floorboards. But Cole was, so far, nowhere to be found.

Once again, Zane found himself outside. Jay was still there. “Have you seen Cole?”

Jay paused what he was doing. “Uhhh, no? Not since last night. Why?”

This was becoming concerning. It was already midday, and neither Zane nor Jay had seen Cole all morning. Zane voiced these concerns, but Jay didn’t seem very bothered.

“Cole is Cole.” Jay asserted. “He can take care of himself, and he’s probably just somewhere you haven’t looked yet.”

“Somewhere I haven’t looked yet…” Zane mused, thinking. Where hadn’t he looked? He’d checked everywhere in the monastery…

“Oh!” Zane clasped his hands together. That was it! He’d checked everywhere in the monastery, and that was the problem! “I think I know where Cole is! Thank you!”

Jay shrugged. “Okay then.” He returned to the course.

Meanwhile, Zane surveyed the walls, searching for a way up onto the roof. He found what he was looking for, and made his way up.

And there was Cole, lying on his back with a blissed out expression, scales glittering in the sunlight.

“Cole!” Zane moved over to him. “Why were you up here?”

Cole rolled over, yawning as he pushed himself up into a standing position. “Sunning.”

Zane nodded. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Cole blinked. “How long was I asleep?”

“Long enough, I think.”

+=+=+=+=+

Kai didn’t get it.

Okay, so there were a lot of things Kai didn’t get. But this? Having to train to be a ninja to rescue his sister from a dark lord? Alongside these idiots? It made no sense, yet it was seemingly his life now.

He also didn’t get what the deal was with Snake Boy over there. Who the heck had a scaled tail in place of legs?

Cole, apparently.

Whatever, it didn’t matter. What mattered was rescuing Nya. Then Kai could return to his parents’ shop and put this whole mess behind him.

Okay, so maybe Kai had grown a little fond of these idiots. But he had a sister to take care of! He had no time for this ninja stuff!

Speaking of ninjas, the others were sometimes hard to find.

Cole especially.

“Hey, Kai?” Jay asked, breaking Kai from his musings.

Kai glared, “Yeah?”

“Have you seen Cole?”

Kai shook his head. “Why would I know where that bag of scales is?”

“I dunno, he seems to like you a lot.” Jay pointed out. “He’s a lot friendlier with you than he was with me or Zane when we first met.”

“And that means I know where he is why?”

Jay shrugged. “Again, I dunno.” He started to walk away, presumably to ask Zane. “Just figured I should ask.”

Kai watched Jay go, not saying anything in response. In all honesty, he had no idea where Cole was. The boy—snake—whatever was always disappearing somewhere. It was annoying, but nothing that Kai found worrying. Cole could take care of himself, after all.

Kai was startled from his thoughts by the sounds of bones rattling. Standing up only confirmed his fears—the Skulkin were back!

“Again?” He heard Jay shout—from much further off than he expected.

Dodging away from a knife meant for his face, Kai kicked himself up into his spinjitzu, taking out Skulkin left and right. If he could group up with the others, then they could flee—not Kai’s favorite strategy, but it would have to do for now.

And that’s when Kai tripped.

His balance thrown off, Kai tumbled to the ground. He was very quickly beset upon by a swarm of the boneheads, pinning him.

But just when things were getting desperate, something came barreling out of the bushes, knocking Kai’s foes away.

With a start, Kai realized it was Cole, coiling around one Skulkin to swing the hapless foe at another.

Within moments, the two had cleared out the Skulkin enough to regroup with the others and make their getaway.

Once they had a moment to breathe, Cole turned to Kai. “You okay?”

Kai nodded. “Thanks for the help.”

Cole smiled, hissing slightly. “Of course! Anything for a friend!”

As he slithered away to bother Jay, Kai couldn’t help but stare.

Maybe he would have some time for ninjaing after this whole debacle…

+=+=+=+=+

Nya was usually good at problem solving.

She had to be, being raised by her older brother, who, for all of his love and dedication, was, undoubtedly, a complete idiot.

Being good at solving problems also helped a lot when it came to building things, a skill that Nya prided herself on. Her current project would be one to behold once it was finished—but she had to finish it first, which meant working out all the kinks.

This, however, was a bit different.

It was well known throughout the team by this point that Cole was hard to find. It was also well known—at least, to Nya it seemed obvious, she wasn’t sure if the boys realized—that Cole took to hiding when he was stressed.

And given how she hadn’t seen hide nor tail of him since Jay’s parents showed up, Nya presumed Cole was pretty stressed.

So Nya had taken it upon herself to find him and work through the problem. It shouldn’t be hard.

At least, that’s what she thought more than an hour ago.

Jay’s parents had yet to leave, still chattering away with their equally verbose son. The others had given the group some privacy, and Nya had set off on her search.

“I’ve practically turned the Bounty upside down by this point, there’s nowhere left to hide.” She mused, trying to sort through the problem. Where hadn’t she looked?

“Oh!” Of course! She hadn’t looked outside! It hadn’t occurred to her, but she might as well check.

Of course, Cole being Cole, knowing where to look didn’t automatically make him easy to spot. Which, given that he was a violet-scaled naga and these were pale desert sands, was fairly ridiculous.

Not that it took much longer to find him, half-buried in the sands just outside the Bounty. Of course. Of course he’d be hard to spot if he was under the sand. But, she had found him.

“Hey, Cole?”

Cole startled at her voice, snapping up to attention. When he saw it was her, he relaxed.

“Hey, Nya.” He smiled. “Did you need me for something?”

Nya sat down, smiling in return. “No, not really. I just wanted to see if you were okay.”

Cole shrunk back a little. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you usually hide when something’s bothering you.” She stated, as if it was obvious.

“Do I?” Cole shrunk back a little further. “It’s not like I’m stressed every time I hide, you know.”

Nya shrugged. “I don’t know, you seem pretty stressed right now.” Her gaze softened. “It’s okay, Cole, we’re friends, you can talk to me.”

Cole seemed to relax at that. “I just figured, that since Jay’s parents were here, I should try and stay out of the way.”

“Why?”

Cole grimaced. “Most people I’ve met usually don’t take well to—well, just look at me.”

Nya considered that. “Yeah, but you’ve also met all of us.”

Cole blinked owlishly. “I guess…” He sounded uncertain.

Nya took Cole’s hands in her own. “C’mon.” She prompted, “I’ll be right there if something goes wrong.”

Cole pushed himself up. “Alright.”

+=+=+=+=+

Lloyd stifled a giggle as he prepared his next prank. This one was going to be good, he was certain.

“And what are you doing?”

Lloyd startled, dropping the bucket. Turning around, he found himself face to face with Cole, who didn’t look very happy.

Lloyd giggled nervously. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He started to back away.

Cole heaved a long-suffering sigh, grabbing Lloyd and hoisting the kid over his shoulder. Lloyd shouted his protests, but to no avail.

“Come on. Let’s do something more productive with your time.” He carried Lloyd as if he was nothing, slithering away into another room without a care.

“Here.” Cole sat Lloyd down in his coils. He turned to a nearby table and grabbed some paper and pencil. “Instead of setting up pranks, maybe put this paper to good use and draw a bit.”

Lloyd took the offered supplies, glaring.

Cole laid down to get some drawing done himself, giving Lloyd an opportunity. He just had to get away from the naga, then he was home free.

The fact that he was quite literally surrounded by several feet of scaled muscle was hardly a problem. Lloyd just had to climb on over.

“No you don’t.” Cole said, pushing Lloyd back in easily.

Lloyd huffed. Okay, so maybe it was a little bit of a problem. He’d just have to wait when Cole lowered his guard.

“I can feel when you try and climb over me, you know.” Cole said lazily, after Lloyd’s third attempt.

“Oh.” Lloyd poked Cole’s tail. “Can you feel this?”

“Yes.” Cole hissed. “Stop that.”

Lloyd continued poking. “Why do you have a tail anyway? Shouldn’t you have legs?”

Cole gave Lloyd a look. “Should you?” He asked, pushing Lloyd back to the center of the circle.

Lloyd scoffed. “Well, obviously.” He looked Cole over. “But what even are you?”

Cole hmmed. “I don’t think that’s your business.” He rolled over, returning to his drawing. “Besides, you’re not fully human yourself.”

Lloyd crossed his arms. “Yeah but at least I look like one.”

Cole said nothing.

Lloyd sulked.

The silence stretched on.

Still sulking, Lloyd returned to his paper. Well, if he was stuck here, then he might as well plan out his next prank. He’d have to hide the plans—

Jay burst into the room, holding a half-filled bucket. “What is this?”

Shit. There was no way Lloyd was getting out of this. Cole would tell on him—

“I dunno.” Cole flicked the tip of his tail. “Lloyd and I have been in here all day.”

Lloyd paused. Cole was… covering for him?

Suddenly, being surrounded by Cole’s coils felt safer than not.

Jay bristled. “Why do I not believe that?”

“It’s the truth.” Lloyd interjected. “I’ve been stuck here all day with him.” He fake gagged. “Not my choice.”

Cole hissed. “Well, someone has to keep an eye on you, you brat.”

“Okay, okay!” Jay set the bucket down. “I’ll be going, then, since you clearly don’t need me here.”

After he left, Lloyd blew a raspberry at the door. “Good riddance.”

Cole snorted. He turned back to Lloyd. “C’mon, you little gremlin.

“Let’s see if there’s any snacks in the kitchen.”

[greatworldwar2]

• 13th Waffen SS Mountain Division

The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS "Handschar" (1st Croatian) was a mountain infantry division of the Waffen-SS, an armed branch of the German Nazi Party that served alongside but was never formally part of the Wehrmacht during World War II.

After the invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers on April 6th,1941, the extreme Croat nationalist and fascist Ante Pavelić, who had been in exile in Benito Mussolini's Italy, was appointed Poglavnik (leader) of an Ustaše-led Croatian state – the Independent State of Croatia (often called the NDH, from the Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska). The NDH combined almost all of modern-day Croatia, all of modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina and parts of modern-day Serbia into an "Italian-German quasi-protectorate". In an effort to secure the loyalty of the Bosnian Muslims, Pavelić ordered that a property in Zagreb be converted into a mosque that he named the "Poglavnik's Mosque". Despite Pavelić's assurances of equality with the Croats, many Muslims quickly became dissatisfied with Croatian rule. A Muslim leader reported that not one Muslim occupied an influential post in the administration. Although this was an overstatement, Muslims were underrepresented in government positions, comprising only two of 20 ministerial positions, none of the six state secretaries was a Muslim, and there were only 13 Muslim "people representatives" in a total of 206.

Fierce fighting broke out between the Ustaše, Serb-chauvinist Chetniks and pan-Yugoslav Partisans in NDH territory. Some Ustaše Militia units became convinced that the Muslims were communist sympathisers, and burned their villages and murdered many civilians. The Chetniks accused the Muslims of taking part in the Ustaše violence against Serbs and perpetrated similar atrocities against the Muslim population. The Muslims received little protection from the Croatian Home Guard, the regular army of the NDH, whom the Germans described as "of minimal combat value". The Bosnian Muslim elite and notables in various cities and towns issued resolutions or memoranda that publicly denounced Croat-German collaborationist measures along with laws and violence against Serbs. The resolutions condemned the Ustaše in Bosnia and Herzegovina, both for their mistreatment of Muslims and for their attempts to turn Muslims and Serbs against one another. The Bosnian Muslims' dissatisfaction with the Ustaše rule of the NDH and their need for protection were combined with nostalgia for the period of Habsburg rule in Bosnia and a generally friendly attitude towards Germany among prominent Bosnian Muslims. These factors led to a push towards autonomy for the Bosnian Muslim community which was strongly opposed by Pavelić as counter to the territorial integrity of the NDH.

On December 6th, 1942, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler and key Waffen-SS recruiting officer SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Gottlob Berger approached Hitler with the proposal to raise a Bosnian Muslim SS division. Both the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS were concerned about the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the NDH that tied down German military personnel needed elsewhere. The romantic notions that Himmler had about the Bosnian Muslims were probably significant in the division's genesis. He was personally fascinated by the Islamic faith and believed that Islam created fearless soldiers. He thought that Muslim men would make perfect SS soldiers as Islam "promises them Heaven if they fight and are killed in action." As for their ethnic background and SS requirements, it appears that Himmler accepted the theories advanced by both Croatian and German nationalists that the Croatian people, including the Muslims, were not ethnic Slavs but pure Aryans of either Gothic or Iranian descent. Himmler was inspired by the noted successes of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry in World War I. He "endeavored to restore what he called 'an old Austrian' tradition by reviving the Bosnian regiments of the former Austro-Hungarian Army in the form of a Bosnian Muslim SS Division". Once raised, the division was to engage and destroy Josip Broz Tito's Partisan forces operating in north-eastern Bosnia, thus restoring local "order". Himmler's primary concern in the region was not the security of the local Muslim population, but the welfare of ethnic German settlers to the north in Syrmia.

Hitler formally approved the project in mid-February 1943 and Himmler put Phleps, commander of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen, in charge of raising the first SS division to be recruited from a non-Germanic people. On February 18th, 1943, Phleps travelled to Zagreb to begin formal negotiations with the NDH government. He met with German foreign ministry envoy Siegfried Kasche who represented Pavelić. Pavelić had already agreed to raise the division, but the Waffen-SS and NDH governments had very different ideas of how it would be recruited and controlled. Pavelić suggested that it be named the SS Ustaša Division, a Croatian unit raised with SS assistance, with familiar geographically based regimental names such as Bosna, Krajina and Una. This reflected the concerns shared by Pavelić and Kasche that an exclusively Muslim division might aid a Muslim bid for independence. As a compromise, the word "Croatian" was included in its official title and Catholic Croatian officers were recruited. Himmler and Phleps largely prevailed and created the division as they saw fit, leaving the NDH very unhappy with the outcome, particularly regarding its ethnic composition.

SS-Standartenführer Karl von Krempler, a specialist in Islam who spoke Serbo-Croatian, was charged by Himmler and Phleps with organising the division. On March 3rd, 1943, Phleps met with von Krempler. The campaign began on March 20th, 1943, when von Krempler began an 18-day recruiting tour through 11 Bosnian districts. With assistance from the SS, recruiting rallies. In the meantime the Germans began raising the divisional headquarters staff in Berlin, including SS-Standartenführer der Reserve Herbert von Oberwurzer, who was transferred from the 6th SS Mountain Division Nord to command the division. In March 1943, both Himmler and a group of Muslim leaders within the NDH requested that the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, then resident in Berlin, assist in organising and recruiting Muslims into the Waffen-SS and other units. He was escorted by von Krempler, who spoke Turkish. From March 30th to April 10th, the Mufti visited to meet senior Muslim leaders and agitate in support of the new division. The Mufti insisted, "The most important task of this division must be to protect the homeland and families of the Bosnian volunteers; the division must not be permitted to leave Bosnia", but the Germans paid no attention. Despite the support of al-Husseini, recruitment of Muslims for the division fell well short of the numbers needed. Himmler then allowed a 10 percent Christian component, but the recruitment of sufficient Muslims continued to prove difficult, resulting in the induction of 2,800 Catholic Croats into the division. To Himmler's dismay, this was greater than the ratio of Catholics to Muslims that he had wanted.

By the time the division had completed its training, it was still about one third below its designated strength in both officers and NCOs, and its officer corps remained almost entirely German. Most of the officers and NCOs were drawn from replacement units of other Waffen-SS divisions. The division was initially sent to southern France for formation and training. For a long period after its official formation, the division was unnamed and was referred to as the "Muselmanen Division" (Muslim Division). The decision by the Waffen-SS to form and train the division outside Bosnia was contrary to advice given by the NDH's German plenipotentiary general, Edmund Glaise von Horstenau. On August 9th, 1943, Oberst Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig took command of the division from von Oberwurzer. Sauberzweig transferred to the Waffen-SS and was appointed to the rank of SS-Oberführer. A "proven leader of men", he spoke no Serbo-Croatian but quickly gained the lasting respect and affection of the men of the division.

In October 1943, SS headquarters officially named the division the 13. SS-Freiwilligen b.h. Gebirgs-Division (Kroatien), but a short time later a change was made to differentiate it from those that were composed of Germans and it became the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian). The division was named Handschar, after a local fighting knife or sword carried by Turkish policemen during the centuries that the region was part of the Ottoman Empire. On February 15th, 1944, the division completed its training and returned to the NDH by rail. The division was formed for the primary role of securing around 6,000 square kilometres (2,300 sq mi) of territory (the designated security zone) in north-eastern Bosnia within the NDH. The division participated in what may have been the largest anti-Partisan sweep of World War II: Operation Maibaum. The 13th SS Division also participated in other anti-Partisan operations between March and May 1944. Following Operation Rösselsprung (Knight's Move), the German attempt to kill or capture Tito at Drvar in western Bosnia on 25 May 1944, the Partisan leader ordered a general uprising. The Partisan 3rd Corps planned an offensive that involved three parallel columns of divisional strength thrusting north into the zone to engage and destroy German and local allied forces.

In early September 1944, the division returned north to the security zone, basing the infantry battalions in the villages of Kurukaja, Vukovije (south of Foča), Osmaci and Srebrnik. Almost immediately, the Partisan 3rd Corps commenced an offensive, attacking II/28 at Srebrnik. It held on despite being pressed hard during two days of fighting against the 11th Krajina Division. By the end of the first week in September, divisional supply columns were being attacked by Chetniks, sensing German weakness and looking for arms and supplies. Three members of the division were killed in these attacks. Over the same week, the Allies conducted Operation Ratweek throughout the Balkans, which involved Allied air power pounding Axis troop concentrations and key infrastructure in order to impede the German withdrawal from Greece. The local effect was to complicate the division's logistics through destruction of the Sarajevo-Brod railway and mass desertions of NDH troops tasked with securing supply lines. After the first week of September, most of the division's fighting power was shifted to the western boundary of the security zone to meet Partisan incursions. The division succeeded in dislodging Partisan units from Slatna and Međeđa and allied Chetniks captured Skurgić. After relief by NDH forces, the division's fighting regiments withdrew to Brčko for rest and refit.

Due to high rates of desertion from 13th SS Division, Sauberzweig proposed to disarm the Bosnians in both 13th SS Division and 23rd SS Division, but Himmler instead opted to transport the 2,000 Bosnians of 23rd SS Division from Hungary to Bosnia and re-organise the remaining troops of both divisions there, with key support units from 13th SS Division centralised under IX SS Mountain Corps, which would also move to Bosnia from Hungary. In the early morning of October 3rd, 1944, the Partisan 28th Slavonia Division assaulted a squadron of the reconnaissance battalion at Janja close to the Drina on the eastern boundary of the security zone. As they broke out of the encirclement to the north, the rest of the reconnaissance battalion drove south from Bijeljina and stopped the Partisan advance at heavy cost.

On May 5th, the division's remaining men, both German and Bosnian, began to retreat northwards towards Austria. On May 8th, an order was sent to retreat to Wolfsberg, Carinthia. The retreat continued until May 11th. On May 12th, Hampel carried out surrender negotiations with the British Army at Sankt Veit an der Glan. On May 15th, most of the men were transported to Rimini in Italy, where they were incarcerated with other prisoners of war from 7th SS Division and 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS.

While it achieved successes and proved itself competent in counter-insurgency operations against the Partisans in eastern Bosnia, the division earned a reputation for brutality and savagery, not only during combat operations, but also through atrocities committed against Serb and Jewish civilians in the security zone. Its reprisal attacks in northern and eastern Bosnia left many hundreds and possibly as many as several thousand Serb civilians dead by the spring and summer of 1944. Thirty-eight members of the division were extradited to Yugoslavia to face trial following the war. Some committed suicide, trials took place at a military court in Sarajevo between the 22nd and 30th of August 1947. Only seven of the 38 defendants were charged with specific offenses, although the indictment accused the division of murdering some 5,000 people. All were found guilty; 10 were sentenced to death, and 28 received prison terms of between five years and life. Hundreds of escaped members of the 13th and 23rd SS Divisions volunteered to fight in the 1948–1949 Arab–Israeli War.

[ata-art]

So this idea has been floating around in the back of my head for over a year now, but I never got around to doing anything with it until the other day when I drew up some designs, and now it’s become my procrastination project, these pages are so fun to do!

But yeah, I wanted to do something which was like, snapshots from Taako and Lup's spellbook, full of my headcanons about them as kids, an excuse to get all expositiony about how I think magic works, and just a chance to write sibling dialogue because that's always fun

Taako mentions in episode one his spellbook is actually just a copy of "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Elves", so I took that and ran with it, the twins found a copy of that book and turned it into their spellbook by writing and doodling all over it. It's sort of part encyclopedia, part high school diary, and part mutual memo board, and I've got so many ideas for this so I'll definitely make more pages when I get the chance, but have these for now!

(Second set here)

(Transcript under the cut for those who can’t see the images or find the handwriting hard to read)

First Image - Book Cover: Book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Elves (250th anniversary edition) Taako: aka us. Lup: we found this in someone’s trash and repurposed it into a spellbook - effective. elves. T: Okay well don’t write that on the cover. L: why not? it’s ours.

Second Image: [title page and first page of the book, the first page has been pasted over with brown paper to cover the text, the title page is covered in notes and doodles]

Book: The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Elves T: who do magic and stuff B: By Stevynn Covar (crossed out by Lup) T: Taako L: & Lup ^^

Notes on page: L: yo taako if you see this remember we gotta find a recipe to use up the last of that fish - if it goes bad that's another meal we don't get to eat T: Yeah yeah I got it.

T: Found another one time gig - back by 10

L: i know you were on a date tonight!!! i gotta be up early but you're not getting out of this without giving me deets!!

L (written at bottom of page): i'm bored... we've been on the road for like literally FOREVER

L (with arrow pointing to paper): stuck like this until taako can figure out how to get rid of the text on the page T: I can do it, I just can't do it permanently. L: same thing doofus XP

Page 2: T: So magic. There's a lot of it. L: No shit, dummy! T: Shut the fuck up, my intro! T: ANYWAY, as I was SAYING, so much magic out there, one day we're gonna learn ALL of it. But this book is gonna focus on two schools of magic L: (the BEST schools!) T: Transmutation and Evocation L: That's mine ^^ T: and mine.

T: School of Transmutation [a small diagram of a rock turning into a gemstone] Okay, so, this is the school of turning shit into other shit. Very useful for - just about everything, actually. Best school of magic, hands down. L: Nu-uh, evocation is totally way better! T: Sure thing, Lulu. Remind me - who's the one conjuring food out of thin air or fixing your damn outfits every time you rip them? L: Yeah but can you set a bad guy on FIRE??? Didn't think so XP T: Actually yes. L: that's just cuz you know my spells.

L: School of Evocation L: fire. ‘nuff said. [a doodle of lup with her hands on fire, there is an arrow pointing to it with the word “me”, next to her is a dead guy on the ground, with an arrow pointing to it that says “you”]

T: Useful spells Lup knows: 2 (Lup has crossed out the 2 and replaced it with “all of them”) Useful spells Taako knows: 5

Note from older twins in different coloured pen: T: Hey remember when we only knew 7 spells? L: Gods, BABIES T: I still know more spells than you L: You WISH

Third Image: [a two page spread each featuring a spell written by Taako, the pages are still covered in doodles]

First page: Message Components: Copper Wire. Easy enough to find, doesn’t need replacing, could wear as ring? (Taako has later crossed this out and written over it “Earrings work better.”, there is a doodle of both a wire ring and wire earrings here)

We learned this off that old guy in the... that merc caravan near the west coast? When we were about 40, I think. He was cool, couldn't speak so basically used this for everything, had a lot of great notes about non verbal spell casting (see page 13). Anyway it's basically instant telepathy which is like, hella useful in a bunch of situations. L: Like that time you got your ass stuck in a cave [crossed out by Taako] T: Never happened.

Message is pretty intuitive, point and think. Just be careful to direct it at the target and not broadcast your thoughts to everyone in the area. L: It was ONE TIME!!!

[a doodle by lup at the bottom of the page featuring the two of them with closed eyes and the words ~magic thought powers~ between them]

Second page: Mending Components: 2 lodestones. This is a problem - they’re hard to come by. Never did get my first set back after the Ravenpoint militia confiscated them. L: Yeah, cuz you stole them. T: Not important.

The most useful spell I know. In this line of work, things get broken. Clothes get torn. Sisters set fire to everything. L: Hey!! >:( T: You gotta be able to fix your own shit.

Technique for this one - So, you're channelling this through two lodestones, right? Lodestones come in pairs, and they always want to be together. If you let them sit next to each other they'll snap together, and you gotta pull them apart. It's this energy you use to fix whatever got broke, channelling the transmutation power from things that want to be together, into things that don't, like the two sides of a ripped piece of cloth. You gotta be careful though, think about what it is you're fixing. If you just let it snap together like the lodestones, it'll all fuse into a huge nasty mess. You gotta guide it. Imagine like you're holding a lodestone in each hand, and trying to put them together without making a noise. Or actually try that, you have the lodestones. Now imagine that but with the thing you're fixing. If you can swing that, you're golden. And don't try to fix a person with this spell, you'll fuck them up real bad. L: seriously, don’t :(

[a diagram at the bottom by Taako of two lodestones (naturally occuring magnets), with arrows pointing towards each other and the label “Lodestones”. Lup has drawn the magnetic fields over the arrows and written “magic”]