#and i like to ring the bell A Lot when i live in villages lol

[keeps-ache]

'ya'll know what time it is-'

'aa-'

'-ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding'

[s0lar-ch3ri]

not fandom, jsut wanting to talk about a thing in video games

okay, so, i do love puzzles, and i love secret doors and everything, but there's one thing taking me out of it: the actual door puzzle.

theyre pretty interesting, dont get me wrong, but how would the person living there use these doors with those entrance puzzles? (itd be kinda obvious theyd have access there, most games ive seen have those areas pretty dust free and it feels stupid to have house you cant get around)

lemme just pull up an example from the video i was watching that got me remembering this: charlie slimecicle's 2nd episode of resident evil village; let the bells ring.

(sorry for blurry image, ive switched from my old browser for a while now and the screenshots are hard to take with my new one lol)

the puzzle (for the player) is very simple: hit all 5 bells, and open the door. my issue? one bell is constantly moving and can be only hit at the right moment, another is really far away in the room, the fifth bell is literally outside (you have to shoot the glass first to get to it), and the distance and length are just...a lot. cause, yeah, its fun to play out in the game. but imagine having to do that each time. like as in, your living there and to enter a room you have to keep shooting the glass window and repairing it later.

this is just one of other examples, and while sometimes i dont notice when playing, thinking back on it, its not as fun from the outside perspective.

of course, the experience isnt ruined because "oh, this not realistic", because literally your being chased throughout that house by a tall vampire lady and her 3 bug daughters the last of your worries should be how they get around their house, and more so on how you can.

not to mention, you dumb down the puzzle and you risk it not having the difficulty that makes it fun, and makes it pointlessly easy (aka, making it reasonable for someone living there to do, and get the opposite effect basically).

i dont know anything on game design, i mostly watch others play them, just wanted to point that out lol

[vamplu]

Diavolo Holiday Headcanons

-If you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, and or anything else, he gets really into it.

[This post is in the pretense of Christmas, but if you want I can also do a Hannukah version. (I celebrate both 😎)]

-He buys E V E R Y T H I NG.

-The Christmas tree is like 20 feet high and professionally decorated.

-But he'll have a smaller one in his room for you to decorate with him :]

-Your stocking is overflowing, and there's like 100 presents under the tree for you.

-He gets you literally everything you've ever mentioned.

° And then he's like "I'm sorry if I didn't get enough".

-HE WOULD DRESS UP AS SANTA WHILE HE PUTS THE PRESENTS UNDER THE TREE, AND FILLS YOUR STOCKING!!

-He gets really into decorating cookies, putting up Christmas lights, and making gingerbread houses.

° "MC, let's make a gingerbread village!"

-He loves making gingerbread men, and he decorates them like you, him, and and his friends. (Like the brothers and the other exchange students and Barbatos.)

-They live in a model of the Devildom.

K: "You remember the gingerbread house at Disney?"

K: "He'd want one like that."

- It's in the entry way, and he hired people just to serve hot chocolate all day.

-He loves drinking hot chocolate, and sitting in front of the fireplace in his office.

-He's got snow globes and little statues of reindeer and santa.

K: "He'd see one commercial of those botanical gardens where they set up Christmas lights and he'd order construction to start right away."

☆ He loves Christmas music, and makes it bearable to listen to because he's signing and humming along cutely. (This was made in a GC, and the three of is don't like Christmas music.)

K: "It's not gonna snow this year? Well we'd better change that."

☆ Probably makes Christmas a national holiday, no school for a week, trying to simulate human world Christmas.

☆ He'd ask the angels about Christmas .

☆ K: "Idk why but I feel like right around Christmas time he'd only buy stuff with festive packaging."

K: " 'Sorry those chips don't have Santa on the bag we can't get them.' "

° "Those aren't candy canes, we can't get them.".

-Feels like he's cheating on Christmas if he gets something without festive packaging, holds it against himself.

☆ K: "First day of December this man is wearing a Santa hat."

-MAYBE EVEN A FAKE BEARD

☆ K: "Idk why I can see this man going shopping at bath and body works for the Christmas candles."

-And the perfumes.

-He's spraying it everywhere, and by the end smells like Santa threw up on him.

☆ Has these jingle bells he rings all. The. Time.

-It gets kinda annoying, but he's beaming as he does it, so you can't be mad or even try to get rid of them.

☆ K: "This man would totally want matching Christmas pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve."

-Like cute animals and stuff too

-Matching shirts that say "Santa" and "Mrs. Claus"

-Makes Barbatos be Rudolph

☆ BINGES CHRISTMAS MOVIES

K: "The hallmark channel is his religion"

-You'll walk in to check on him when he's doing work, and he's playing a shitty Halmark Christmas movie.

(We said this at the same time, lol)

☆ He changes out his stamp of approval for a custom one with a Santa hat, gingerbread man, or snowflake

K: "He'd ask to go caroling"

-He'd make the the brothers and the others go to

-Probably gets a sleigh ride for the two of you.

-He also makes sure it snows a lot because he knows you love it, but don't really get it in the human world. (The place we live in doesn't get much snow, but we three love it lol)

K: "Man would change the bedsheets because they weren't festive enough."

° "This room doesn't have enough red and green, you ho-ho-ho."

K: "He would go all out decorating the castle"

K: "He'd spend so much Grimm on Christmas lights"

-And he'd take you around town, qnd but every nutcracker, inflatable, light string, or literally anything festive.

(He'd have to summon his servants to carry everything)

☆ Probably even asks your family for a fee ornaments from their tree for the tree he puts in your room.

-Forces the brothers to decorate the House of Lamentation.

K: "He would actually use a nutcracker just because he can"

-He'd get chestnuts exclusively too

☆ He buys scarfs and gloves for the sole purpose of snow men.

P: "190+ messages...."

HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON, EVERYONE!! ❤

A/N: My friends and I do headcanon dumps im our group chat a lot, let me know if you like them, and I'll post more!!

[bloodgoddarlin]

Brainrot time rn: (female Reader cuz I am a soft whore for Brutus bc I can change him /j 👉👈)

So Brutus and his boys™ were kind of roaming around before confronting Techno along with the Butcher Army. They never really were in the overworld before so they at least wanted to see what life was like there in comparison to the Nether. A few villages were bypassed by them, nothing to extraordinary or interesting that could strike their attention but after reaching a semi-hidden village in the depths of the forest it got interesting.

At first everything seemed so lively, Farmers were wandering around and taking care of their crops, a blacksmith was busy grinding a sword and a bit remote in the back you could see a butcher chopping up some meat. Y'know, ordinary village life.

It all seemed so peaceful and almost fairy tale-like until loud ringing of bells caught the Piglin group's attention, even if they didn't know the meaning of this they were alarmed as soon as they saw what was so peaceful before in an uproar, Villagers running around in panic, trying to get inside their houses as fast as possible.

"What do you mean he's not here?" A tall male hissed at the blacksmith, presumably the chief of this village.

"Your daughter left with him this morning, he said he wanted to make sure she'd be safe."

Another grumble from the village's chief. "We won't be able to fight back for long then, we don't have enough men to do it..."

The piglins only heard part of the conversation but knew that this village was in deep trouble. It took a while for them to figure out what to do, they were caught up in the middle of chaos and if it were a Piglin village they of course would have helped without second thoughts but those were humans.

It took a while until it struck Brutus - humans often had a lot of riches to offer, maybe they could get something big out of this by helping them.

"Vernedan there's no damn need for this uproar, we're just here to talk, negotation and things, you know" The boss of the Pillager group stepped forward.

"Sure, negotiation Arek, that's why your men are armed from head to toe. What do you want?"

The atmosphere between the two men was telling stories about their relationship between each other.

"Mnh so it's gotta be the hard way if you don't wish to talk to us? We found something out in the wild that belongs to you, figured you want that back."

Brutus immediately noticed that the village chief saw red when two of the pillagers dragged a female forward that was trying to resist them as much as she possibly could, trying to ram into their bodies to push them away from her.

"Shouldn't allow your daughter to walk around with a trash bin of protector if you want her to stay safe~"

(Too lazy to continue writing lol sorry)

and then Brutus is like "ayo she kinda fine" and kidnaps you because "cute human yes"

[dreamii-yume]

Not a request! ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡  Just Yume trying to dive into darker topics and kinks, that’s all lol Just a heads up in case the whole concept becomes a little too uncomfortable~  (b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

Lilia had been watching over his Darling for a very longtime, from beginning and all the way until the end. He had seen both her tears and her smiles, heard every cries and laughter, everything. He was with her throughout the thick and thins of her life. Yet, his Darling had always been a bar that he could never seem to reach no matter how high he could jump. She wouldn't let him, the world wouldn't let him, even a part of himself is preventing him from doing so.

He's sick of it all.

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

It happened in the darkest of the night, in the middle of nowhere, in a no-named town.

Lilia stood high at the top of a bell tower as his menacing red eyes looked down on the chaos that was erupting before him. A gentle breeze blew on his hair so peacefully in contrast of the horrors that was happening from beneath. A mischievous smirk forms on his lips as he watched the flames engulf the houses of the unfortunate villagers, all running for their lives. Green flames roared intensely with no sign of stopping, destroying everything in its way. Bodies soon laying down on the ground one by one, quickly losing what little strength they have left either from a severe injury or the flames that caught up to them.

It was a heart-breaking sight, truly. Lucky for our protagonist though, it takes a lot more than disruption of harmony to break his heart.

Satisfied with view he got, the ancient fae jumped down from the tower, only to land ever so gracefully on the ground, his cloth having not a single wrinkle in them. Lilia looked around, the nonchalant smirk remaining on his face as his eyes observed every single thing around him. He found the green flames swallowing the poor humans' home pretty, like a sight of a bonfire in a camping trip. He walked around without the slightest bit of concern for the screams of anguish the people around him was letting out. Lilia even had the nerve to skip ever so cheerfully, humming as if he was walking around in wonderland.

Until, his sharp ears had heard it. A different kind of sound, buried deep within the terror around him.

Lilia stopped to look around, eventually following where he thinks the sound was coming from. It was quite the walk, he had to go through the corners of many burning houses with all its twists and turns, not to mention avoiding any flaming debris coming down at him. He couldn't really fathom it himself why exactly he was following this sound even after realizing what it could be. Perhaps it was the boredom finally getting to him that a single cry was enough to make him this curious? Even if he knew that he was risking the possibility of disappointment in the end, Lilia always thought of how it wouldn't hurt to try.

Finally, he reached a place far back from the center of the town, a cute little isolated house that was also unfortunately destroyed by the green flames. It had become quite the ruin, deteriorating far quicker than the other houses in the town, sparks of flames still remained to decorate the edges. Lilia approached the wreck of a house, finally coming into terms with a large of debris standing in his way. There was no doubt about it, this was where the sound of an adorable blabbing nonsense was coming from, or rather, underneath this material. With almost no effort at all, Lilia lifted up the debris like that of a window shutter and the price revealing itself to him.

Lilia blinked. It was just what he thought it would be.

A baby tucked neatly in a basket, covered ever so lovingly with a warm blanket. The creature sucked their own thumb as they stared at him curiously with big doe eyes.

Unlike other children in this size he's seen before though, this one smiled innocently upon seeing him, blissfully ignorant of their current situation and their once called home. They laughed, an adorable squeal coming out of them as they must've thought that Lilia was the seeker of a game of hide and seek. The fae was actually astonished on what kind of miracle had befallen on this one human baby to be able to survive such catastrophe. What incredible luck, the universe must've really wanted this poor child to keep on living, even if it's just for a few more minutes. Lilia couldn't help but to return to his usual, laid-back smile as he placed his free hand on his hips, careful to keep the heavy concrete from falling onto the baby.

At least he wasn't disappointed.

"It's unfortunate, isn't it? For us to have met like this." Lilia said, even if he knew that children at this age wouldn't understand any words he'll say. Finally, his hand grew tired of the debris' weight and eventually just threw it in the other direction. The tremors of it falling on the ground reached the child, causing them to laugh once more. Lilia stepped forward and crouched down to have a closer look at the baby who was reaching out for him with their cute, little hands. He chuckled and let them hold one of his fingers as some sort of entertainment.

The baby was very cute, with large (E/C) eyes staring back at him and plum rosy cheeks. Lilia also had come to the realization that the child was most likely a female considering how she was wearing such a cute, puffy dress and headband around her head. Her hair was already a bit longer, giving Lilia the conclusion that she must be at least close to a year old by now. Lilia also paid attention her little basket, it serves as her bed as a few toys were just laying around. Finally, Lilia noticed words written in the hem of her blanket, most notably, her name.

" '(Y/N)', huh..." Lilia read, looking back at the child, who actually responded well at the sound of her given name. He chuckled and brushed his hand on her puffy cheeks. "That's a wonderful name."

Suddenly, Lilia's ears perked as heavy footsteps were heard behind him but the fae did nothing but continue on playing with the giggling child. He didn't need to turn around to know whose presence was looming over him. "Malleus." Lilia called, closing his eyes as he unfortunately has to pull away his hand from the baby, earning a disappointed gurgle. He stood up from his spot before turning around and sure enough, it was the same horned fae that he expected it to be. "Have you had your fun? Are you ready to head back home?"

Malleus silently crossed his arms, not saying anything but his body language was enough for Lilia to understand his response. He then turned his attention towards the cradle of sunshine that his supervisor was so focused on. "A human child...?" Malleus exclaimed, blinking as he raised an eyebrow at the older fae. "Don't tell me that you're going to bring home another one?"

"Well...What can I say?" Lilia shrugged as he gently carried the baby in his arms, removing her from the basket. He smiled widely, his fangs shining under the moonlight as he joyfully spun the child. Lilia looked at Malleus with a cunning look in his eyes, something that the horned fellow had to sigh at. He brought the child close to his face, nuzzling in her warmth before giving her a slight tickle in the tummy, making the child laugh whole heartedly. "You know how much of a soft spot I have for children."

Lilia then brought the child close to Malleus, as if he was flaunting her to him. "See how adorable she is~? I found her under the rubble here and isn't it a mystery on how she survived this long?" He said, excitedly as the child matched his enthusiasm. Malleus merely grunted at his supervisor's behavior, watching him play with the kid in his arms. "I've always wanted to know how it's like to raise a girl, you know~? Like my very own little princess~!

"Besides, wouldn't Silver be delighted to have a sibling this cute?" Lilia said, listening to the child's gentle laughter, like that of bells ringing. "I personally think it'll be fantastic."

Lilia stared brightly at the child, like an angel given to him by God himself. She was certainly worth keeping, worth raising.

A child desperately spared by the universe, only to befall in the hands of someone like him.

No one was quite sure whether it was a blessing or a curse.

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

Lilia raised you in a strange but ever-loving manner.

You were placed in a castle so grand, deep within the Valley of Thorns. You were protected, cherished, and loved by not only Lilia, but Malleus and Silver as well. Malleus soon grew fond of you like how Lilia had been the first time and had found himself unable to refuse your invitation to play with him. Silver had treated you like how a brother would, much like what Lilia instructed him to do so. You had no one to fill up the mother role in your very circle but when you already have three eccentric members in your family, what more could you ask for?

Lilia admits that he may have spoiled you a little more than he did with Silver. He would give you anything you would ask him for, even things that you never explicitly asked him about but still somehow, he knew you wanted. It was a bad habit he got from parenting you, but he couldn't help himself especially whenever you would give him those irresistible pleading eyes of yours. To his surprise however, you grew up just fine, you didn't hold any spoiled traits that he was dreading to see. You grew up wonderfully, having remembered all the kind manners and respect that Lilia had specifically engraved in your brain.

Lilia couldn't have been prouder.

"Me and Silver played Knights today! He was so cool! Swinging his sword with a swish and then, bam!" Your little mouth that had just learned how to talk, babbles on and on while making exaggerated hand movements. You were all tucked in your bed, completely dressed in your pajamas with Lilia beside you. He rests his cheeks on the palms of his hand, chuckling at your story. "You should come play with us too, Father! Malleus-sama said he would play as the dragon next time!"

It was already past your bed time but thankfully, Lilia wasn't that kind of overbearing parent that makes a fuss just because they're children aren't sleeping at the right time. Truth to be told, he loved the nights where he got to talk with you like this, hearing stories from you when he was away. "Oh my, that Malleus said that? How controversial~!" Lilia gasped, putting on a fake surprised expression just to entertain you. When he heard you giggled, that's when he returned to his usual, laid-back smile. "I'll come by when I get the chance, alright~? I'll make sure to be the knight who saves you, Princess~"

You giggled once again when Lilia playfully tapped your little nose. "Eh~? But Silver's already playing the knight! Father can't take over his role, silly~!" You said. "Father is better off just playing as Father!"

Lilia puffed his cheeks. "So you prefer Silver being your Knight over me~? How mean, I'm hurt~!" He faked a cry with no visible tears but still enough to pull on your heartstrings. "Did Silver finally became the replacement to the number one spot in my little Princess' heart, I wonder?"

Blinking, you quickly sat up and frantically shook your head in panic. "That's not true! Father is still number one in my heart!" You declared, eyes sparkling in innocence as you laid your head onto him, giving him a big hug. "Silver's a great knight, very cool and amazing, but that doesn't mean he can replace Father!

"I still love Father the most~!"

Lilia couldn't help but smile, feeling genuine warmth in his chest as he stared lovingly at your innocent self. He stroked your hair before leaning down and hugging your small frame in return. You grinned, prompting him to give you a light peck on the forehead, a symbol of deep love between father and daughter.

"I love you too, sweetheart."

This was your daily life. Comfortable, sweet, and wholesome, being well-taken care off by Lilia himself. You and Lilia built your relationship together as family until it grew so strong that things like being unrelated by blood does not matter anymore. He was your beloved father and you were his precious treasure, a jewel hidden away from the public's eye. You thought of how lucky you are, how your relation to one another would forever bloom as that of a parent and a child.

Lilia thought of the same thing as well.

…Until he, the wise ancient fae, who lived for who-knows how long, had made a grave mistake.

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

Continue the spice~?

I hate how unnecessarily long this got...It probably got boring right at the end so, I’m very regretful about that.  <(￣ ﹌ ￣)> I didn’t know how to save it aaa- This drained me all of my creative energy way too much lol I’m currently working on three Sinfics at once and the next one is requested so, don’t worry~!  (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

[rebrandedbard]

First Lines Meme

@westmoor tagged me. Thanks! I’ve actually been meaning to number these things since doing the drabbles. You’ve given me the perfect excuse. In order of when they were written, omitting unposted wips, collabortations, and works in a series. Click the lines to go to the Ao3 link, or click the (X) to go to the tumblr link. God, I love organizing things.

List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors!

1. Life with Geralt of Rivia was meant to be a life of quiet consistency.

2. Music drifted into the attic, soft and mellow, rambunctious and spirited, earnest and poor.

3. Bells were ringing, the sound carried through the merry streets, filling the air with a sense of wonder.

4. Jaskier wrote a song like counting; counting the years, the steps, until one day he might count the seconds and centimeters of distance that seemed to stretch like oceans between them.

5. The villagers had been wrong.

6. Just another stroke and he’d be done.

7. Most everyone knows to be wary of cherubs and cupids come the month of February when the ices break and spring awakens the attitudes and appetites of all living creatures.

8. “Dandelion,” Geralt repeated. (X)

9. Geralt had noticed it on many occasions: on hot days when Jaskier opened his chemise a little wider than usual, when Jaskier stripped for a dip in a river or tub, when he undressed for the night and bundled himself into bed. (X)

10. “Look at them, Geralt,” Jaskier whispered in the night. (X)

11. “Please my dear, you cannot come with me.” (X)

12. Canaries and coal mines; he ought to have remembered. (X)

13. Where was it? (X)

14. “It isn’t funny!” Ciri wailed, stomping her little foot in the snow. (X)

15. How was it? (X)

16. Valdo Marx, troubadour of Cidaris, was the last person Geralt expected to meet on the ferry from Brugge. (X)

17. That made the third time. (X)

18. Under no circumstances would Jaskier ever cause harm to another living thing, but the world did not reciprocate that exact philosophy. (X)

19. Years of travelling, of Jaskier’s constant presence, all his noise and his bother and his feelings. (X)

20. “For fuck’s sake!” Geralt shouted. (X)

Ha ha! My system works! No repeat starting words. It’s so satisfying to see it all lined up that way. Honestly, I think 20 is my favorite. I just love opening with a good loud fuck. Very Geralt.

As usual, I’m pretty sure everyone’s been tagged and I’m too lazy to look. This one was a lot of work lol. I’ll just @prosebushpatch (also as usual) so she can suffer with me. What else are best friends for?

[1-mini-1]

Mafumafu- Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (Hyakki Yakou / 百鬼夜行) English Lyrics

Yoooo it’s been a while! I added a lot of personal interpretation in the footnotes so be sure to check those out too~

今宵　常日頃の憂さを晴らしましょう

賑わえば　夜の帳が下りぬ祭りのこと

Tonight, let’s dispel our everyday sorrows

When the festival bustles, night’s curtain never falls

太鼓に一節切　君もここへおいで

明け透けな白日の下　震えるくらいなら

Taiko drums and bamboo flutes, you too should come over

If being under an honest sun is enough to make you tremble then

どろり　どろろり

「渡る世間にゃ其れがいる」

どろり　どろろり

君と共に鬼となろう　今日は

Miry and thick, thick and miry1

“That’s to be found everywhere”2

Miry and thick, thick and miry

Let’s become oni together, today

誰が為に宵は来ると　世人に疎まれても

爛れ　開いた心の傷　隠してあげるよ

For whose sake does the night come? Even if you’re ostracized by those in this world

I’ll hide the inflamed, open wounds of your heart

夜の瀬に踊り踊れ　秘め事　問わないまま

剽軽　妖狐に化かされることなんて

慣れっこだろう？

Dance, dance in the shoals of night.3 No one here will ever ask about your secrets

Aren’t you already used 

To being enchanted by jesting kitsune?

笑いたけりゃ笑えばいい

何万年　妖たちは踊る

夜宴の夢

If you want to laugh, you should laugh

For tens of thousands of years, the ayakashi have danced

In dreams of night banquets

今日を生きられない　ボクらなんかを導くのは

耽美な日輪より　破れかけた祭り提灯だけ

For those of us who can’t live in these days, what guides us

Isn’t an aesthetic sun, but only broken festival lanterns4

摺鉦の鳴る境内　奥の灯籠で

赤い下駄が鳴ったら合図

誰に呼び止められようと

振り向かないと約束しておくれ

With the temple grounds ringing with bells, and the garden lanterns4 inside

When the red geta sound5, that’s our sign

No matter who calls out and tries to stop you

Promise me that you won’t look back

ねえ　どうして

忌み嫌われにゃならないの

どろり　どろろり

うらめしいことひとつすらないさ

Hey, why

Do I have to be this hated?

Miry and thick, thick and miry

There’s not a single curse I want to cast6

名ばかりの神であると　現世　嘆くのなら

君が望んだ常世の夢　叶えてあげるよ

If you’re a god in name only, and you deplore this world

I’ll grant you the dreams of eternity that you’ve wished for

風が止む　その刹那に手招く迷ひ処まで

鬼火の花道　我が物顔で歩く

夜半の園

The wind stops. In that instant, you’ll take the stage stairs7 lined with will-o’-wisps

Walking like you own the place until you reach the Lost Village that beckons you8

A midnight garden

泣きたいなら泣いたらいい

幾万年でも行脚した

夢と夢の隙間

If you want to cry, you should cry

No matter how many tens of thousands of years passed, I have wandered

In the rifts between dreams

誰が為に宵は来ると　世人に疎まれても

爛れ　開いた心の傷　隠してあげるよ

For whose sake does the night come? Even if you’re ostracized by those in this world

I’ll hide the inflamed, open wounds of your heart

もう何も　もうどこにも　怖がることなどない

剽軽　妖狐に化かされることなんて

慣れっこだろう？

There’s no longer anything, anywhere, for you to be scared of

Aren’t you already used 

To being enchanted by jesting kitsune?

笑いたけりゃ笑えばいい

何万年　妖たちは踊る

夜宴の夢

If you want to laugh, you should laugh

For tens of thousands of years, the ayakashi have danced

In dreams of night banquets

Translator’s Notes:

1. どろり- This word is commonly translated to “muddy”, but I think rather than this word’s emphasis being on the dirty part, it’s more on the viscous, dense, liquidy part (did that make sense? lol). It just so happens that mud is dirty, thick liquid. So yes, there is a nuance with dirt, but there’s a bigger one focusing on the slimy feeling that comes with it. I interpret this part of the song as pulling yourself through a dense, mucky swamp to go to the ayakashi side with Mafumafu. It’s dense, and gross, and you probably shouldn’t do it because the other side is less “clean” and pure than average society, but here we all are anyways lol

2. 渡る世間にゃ其れがいる (lit. That’s there in the other world)- A play off the Japanese proverb 渡る世間に鬼はない (lit. There are no demons in the other world) which is commonly translated as “There is kindness to be found everywhere”. I think in this context, it takes the opposite meaning of the saying and means “no matter where you go, there will always be demons”

3. 夜の瀬/Shoals of the night- I theoretically should have translated this phrase as just “night” BUT I wanted to emphasize the meaning that comes with this choice of words. 夜の瀬 (yoru no se) is a play on words for the common Japanese word, 年の瀬 (toshi no se), which basically refers to the end of the year and New Years’ (this word is also used in the song “Asaki Yume Miji”). However, changing to a new year is much like crossing a river and becoming a new person. The first step in this process is entering the shoals and having the water start washing you. It just so happens that crossing to the other side, or “that world” from “this world”, is also portrayed with a river in Japanese culture. Also, I couldn't just use "shores" because people don't get wet when they stand there

4. Throwback to “Ayakashi March”

5. Geta are wooden clogs worn with yukata to Japanese festivals. So when they sound that means everyone is clopping around

6. うらめしい (urameshii)- This word is commonly associated with vengeful Japanese spirits. When ghosts come out in haunted houses and stuff, they’re usually saying “うらめしいや〜うらめしや〜” which has been translated to, “I’ll put a curse on you~” or “I’m so bitter/hateful/full of regret (or salty maybe? teehee)”

7. 花道 (hanamichi)- These are stage stairs in kabuki theatres that are mainly use for entrances and exits (so exit out of this world and mosey on over to Mafu land).

8. The Lost Village- This is a fictional, mysterious, mountain village in Japan that brings wealth to those who stumble upon it

[guinevere-beck-fanboy]

Another OUAT Rant

So I thought the way I put my previous OUAT rant could have been improved, so I’m rewriting it here, also with more info and more rant material. Hope you enjoy!

___________________

The four most popular characters on this show are all crap characters and people. They are: Regina Mills, Rumplestilstkin, Captain Hook/Killian Jones and Zelena Mills. All four of them are garbage. And what’s so ironic is that a lot of fans of one character will always hit off on another one of those characters. All four of them are absolute garbage, and for fairly similar reasons. 

1. Killian Jones/Captain Hook

Soooo in the first season this character appeared in (season 2) Killian was actually a good character. He did horrible things but he was a villain, so that’s ok. He also had a fairly tragic backstory, so despite how horrible he was, you had sympathy with him.

And then they gave him a redemption arc and made him a hero... Now this redemption arc... Doesn’t work. Like at all.

The reason for this, is that Killian managed to stay alive for hundreds of years. And even then, after the first hundred he was still a terrible person. If Killian lived an average long life like the rest of us he would have lived and died a terrible villain. If you only manage to become a better man because you get to live 200 years.... Then you aren’t a good person.

On top of this, Killian is seriously glamorized. He is portrayed as some selfless hero after all those centuries. Which I think it just.... Not ok...

I mean here is what our apparent righteous and pure hero Killian has done:

1. Was a pirate (the implications of that are clear... stealing, plundering etc)

2. Homewrecked Rumple and Milah’s marriage

3. Assisted Milah in abandoning Baelfire, her son

4. Led Rumple to believe he had kidnapped Milah and was going to sail off with her and rape her. Then said if Rumple could defeat Killian in a sword fight to the death he could go and save her to goad him into said fight despite the fact that Rumple’s death combined with Milah’s abandonment would leave Bae an orphan.

5. He explains when Emma is the Dark One and saves him from falling off a building to his death that he wears two rings on his finger. One of them belonged to a man named Barnabee, who insulted him and so he killed him in front of his wife. The other ring belonged to a man named Egbar, he caught him drinking the Captain’s wine and drowned him.

6. Murdered his father and left his half brother an orphan

7. Murdered two royal guards and then murdered Prince Charming’s father (when Charming was a CHILD, thus leaving him fatherless)

8. Refused to set Belle free from being held captive by Regina and instead tried to murder her

9. Raped multiple women (When Emma travels back in time and talks to Killian’s past self, and flirts with him leaving him with the impression she wants to have sex with him, Killian responds with “if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were trying to get me drunk... *which is usually my tactic*”. Getting someone drunk and then having sex with them is RAPE.)

10. Shot Belle and had all her memories erased

So a serial killer and rapist is being glamorized as some kind of hero. Killian like Regina is not a hero, he is well and truly an evil person. It took him 200 years to stop being a murderer and a rapist. What a great redemption arc!

2. Captain Swan

Killian is shipped with Emma and this ship is canon. The way I see it though, this is a nightmare relationship.

Killian murdered Emma’s grandfather and ruined his father's childhood. And now... they end up married? That��s.... That’s not a healthy relationship, like at all.

3. Charming is held to the standard that he MUST forgive Hook and is not allowed not to

When Emma finds out Killian murdered Charming’s father, she isn’t mad about it. Nope! She’s just mad Killian couldn’t tell her!

In what world should a woman look past her boyfriend being the murderer of her grandfather? Seriously?

Also when Charming begins being unsatisfied with all proposed venues for Emma and Hook’s wedding, Snow suspects he is not fine with Emma marrying him, and she says to him “that ship is sailed deal with it!”. How disgusting is that? “Your daughter is GOING to marry your father’s murderer! Deal with it!”.

4. Regina Mills

This character is like the fan favorite, but she is complete trash. 

In the first 2 seasons she was actually a very well written character. She was a villain, and the writers did a great job at making her dislikeable, as a villain should be (well not always, but it’s great to have a dislikeable villain). 

But then in the next four seasons of the show, they really began to glamorize her. And I think that’s ridiculous. They act like she has a heart of gold and is an amazing person and refer to her as a hero multiple times. 

So Regina this “great hero” has:

1. Tried to murder Snow White

2. Slaughtered an entire village for supporting Snow White (they literally show the thousands of bodies scattered in one area in the woods) 

3. Tried to kill Emma Swan when she was a baby

4. Cast a curse on The Enchanted Forest that sent them to a town on Earth with false identities and memories where they would live miserable repetitive lives

5. When Henry, her adoptive son, realizes that the truth about Storybrooke, the curse and all that she tries to persuade him he is delusional even going as far as to book him therapy appointments

6. When Henry’s birth mother, Emma, arrives in town, rather than let Henry have the chance to get to know her, she tries to bully her out of town

7. Raped and murdered Graham

8. Kidnapped Belle and locked her up in a tower for 20 years

9. Trapped Jefferson in Wonderland thus separating him from his daughter and knowingly causing him to break a promise to his daughter that he would return to her

10. Cast a curse on the Enchanted Forest implanting false memories and identities into them and sending them to a town where they would be miserable and separated from their loved ones 

11. Tried to murder Emma Swan by giving her a poisoned apple pie 

12. Found a man who wanted to kill Prince Charming and turned him into a giant to help him do so

13. Colluded with her mother to murder Emma, Snow and Charming

14. Tried to use this spell on Henry to make him think he loved her out of fear of losing him

15. Tried to murder Marian, Robin Hood’s wife so that she could date Robin Hood (this one in particular I find quite problematic, because a lot of people in the fanbase were sympathizing with Regina here... Why? Yes, Marian was very judgmental to Regina, but Regina had already tried once to MURDER HER! Of course she isn’t going to see her as a saint?)

And that’s only from the top of my memory. 

5. Swan Queen

Emma Swan and Regina Mills are shipped. And this is a hugely popular ship... Like... Why?? 

Regina tried to murder Emma like three times? She tried to murder her parents, and tried to prevent her ever seeing her son again? Why on Earth would you want this person to be with Emma? 

6. Regina/Evil Queen serum

In the fifth season, Regina begins being tempted to be evil again. So her solution to the problem? Separate “the Evil Queen” (all the evil in her) from her and then kill her evil self. And then she will be a good person without her evil side.

This is just... What? No. You don’t just rip all your less moral attributes out of yourself and destroy them and suddenly you’re a good person. If you have to do that in order to not be a terrible person, *then you ARE a terrible person!*. 

It’s just a really dumb plotline and I hate it. 

7. Rumplestilstkin

Onto Rumple. Like the others, he was a fairly decent character throughout the first five seasons. He did crappy stuff, but he was a villain so that’s ok. They did give him decent moral moments at times but that’s just making an interesting character. He’s overall a douche but can do some great stuff. 

Then in seasons 6 and 7 they gave him a redemption arc. It fails for the same reason as Killian. *It took him hundreds of years to get there*. You can’t claim someone is a good person if it takes them hundreds of years to stop doing terrible things.

And here is a list of what I mean by bad deeds:

1. Rumple denies a dehydrated seer water as he is offended by the prophecy she gives 

2. Rumple murders a bunch of warriors who have come to enlist his son (Baelfire) in a war, despite the fact he had just gained more than enough power to stop them doing so in less harmful ways. 

3. Rumple abandons Baelfire and sends him through a portal to an unknown world. Father of the year everyone!

4. Rumple murders Milah, the (albeit terrible) mother of his son. 

5. Rumple kidnaps Belle and makes her his slave.

6. Rumple creates the Dark Curse and has Regina cast it

7. Rumple tries to steal Cinderella’s baby

8. Tries to prevent Belle reuniting with her father by tearing down posters she has set up all around town of him and throwing them in the trash. Despite the fact that HE is the REASON Belle is separated from her father in the first place.

9. Makes the residents of Storybrooke part of a storybook (lol that was fun to say/type) where they have fake memories and identities and are separated from their loved ones AGAIN 

10. Prevents the Dark One Curse (Which has caused death, destruction and suffering for CENTURIES) from being destroyed

11. Throws Milah into the River of Souls

12. Tries to throw Gaston (albeit he is Gaston but still a human being) into the River of Souls

So like Killian it takes Rumple centuries to not be a serial killer any more.. So I don’t think either of them truly have redeemed themselves.

8. Rumbelle

Remember how I said that Rumple kidnapped Belle and enslaved her? And how he tried to prevent her reuniting with her father after he separated them in the first place? Well Rumple and Belle are a married couple and this is portrayed as a positive relationship. 

9. Zelena Mills

Regina’s sister. Shouldn’t be a surprise then that she is also a terrible person, which like all the others is fine until they decide to start glamorizing her. 

Zelena murdered Baelfire, who is Henry’s FATHER. She then murders Marian and takes on her form and has sex with Robin Hood. This is RAPE. She has gained Robin’s consent by taking on a deceitful form, consent gained through deceit is not consent. 

But hey! Zelena Mills is a badass hero! Forget about the raping and the murdering, she’s actually a pretty decent person!

[purplesurveys]

1035

survey by tickticktmr

Do people spell your name wrong very often? LOL, of course. When your name is the less-common variant, expect it to be misspelled all the time. Only like 2 out of 10 times do people ask me if my name is spelled with an i or y, but it’s them I appreciate the most.

Who will your next phone call be with? I’m not expecting any phone call for a while.

Would you rather be taken or single? Ugh, taken. I love being in a relationship; I always enjoyed looking after someone else and doing things to make them happy. Being independent has its perks too, but I always feel lonely at the end of the day.

Do you plan to move any time soon? Nope, I’m taking it slow.

Would you rather have pink or green hair? I’d go with green but only if it’s a dark shade, like the color of seaweed. I wouldn’t appreciate neon green on my hair.

Do you miss anyone's smile right now? I saw it again yesterday, so I’m good.

Do you want kids? I used to, but now I’m back to the drawing board when it comes to kids.

Do you know who sings 'Let it rock'? It’s not ringing a bell, and honestly the first thing I remembered was the Goofy Goober Rock song from the Spongebob Movie HAHAHA. Sorry to disappoint.

Do you think stargazing is a romantic thing to do with someone? Sure, but I think it also works platonically. Stargazing is generally a nice and relaxing thing to do whether you’re alone, with an SO, with a friend, or with a bunch of friends.

Do you want to tell someone something right now? Yes, but I can’t.

What's your opinion on sex before marriage? It’s whatever. People can do what they want, and the only things they should watch out for are consent and being safe.

Do you own a car? I don’t own it, i.e. I didn’t pay for it, but it was given to me so I can have a car to drive myself when I need to go to places.

What is something that is always in your kitchen cupboards? Rice.

The last person you spoke to: have you ever lied to them? For sure. Growing up with strict parents taught me how to lie convincingly.

Have you ever made out with them? That person is my mother. No.

What woke you up today? I did so naturally.

Have you ever had a pet rock? No. People do that? How do rocks become pets?

Have you ever been lost? LOL like the lost-in-life kind of lost? Sure. I’m going through it at present because life threw a shit ton of curveballs at me over the course of two months.

How long is it until your sibling)s) birthday? My brother’s birthday is in 5 months; my sister’s is in 10 as she celebrated her birthday just last September.

Are you lazy? I can be if I want to. But I’m not always, of course.

Do you read the newspaper? No.

Have you ever heard of the song 'Teeth the size of piano keys'? No.

Who was your last thought about? You got me thinking about my sister because of the earlier question about her birthday.

What made you in the mood you are in right now? I’m relaxed at the moment and that’s thanks to the fact that it’s Sunday, I’ve recently gotten into a new hobby and a show I can dive into, and tomorrow’s a holiday so no work for me :) Gonna make the most out of this evening for sure.

Have you ever told someone to go to Hell? I’ve most likely done so, but only as a joke.

Do you know anyone named Jos? As in, pronounced ‘Jaws’? No. That’s one of the more unique names I’ve heard.

What's your font on MSN/AIM? I don’t use either. I never used either, either.

What's more important to you: books or music? Music.

Do you have any magazine subscriptions? Nah. Even when I still collected magazines, I preferred physically going to magazine stands and buying new issues. It was more exciting that way.

Has someone ever really hurt you without even realizing? Yeah.

What do you sleep in? A bed, most often. Sometimes I’ll pass out on the couch but that doesn’t happen too much anymore.

Have you changed in the past six months? Yes, both naturally and forcibly. It’s been... quite a year for me, even if we put Covid aside.

Do you bite your nails? When I’m anxious. I haven’t had to do this for a while though, and I mostly did when I was in school awaiting a presentation I had to make.

Do you like the name Natasha? I used to like it when I was younger, but it slipped out of my favorites for no real reason at some point; it just did.

What's a food that starts with the last letter of your first name? Naan.

Does your house have a white picket fence? It used to, but we had them removed after a string of typhoons increasingly deteriorated their quality over the years.

Have you ever been given flowers? Sure.

Do you have a YouTube account? How many videos have you watched on it? I do. Is the second one a real question lol? I’ve watched thousands, as I’m sure most people who use YouTube have done as well. This is like asking how many tweets in total I’ve read on Twitter since I first signed up.

Do you know anyone who is really, really conceited? My mom can be one. She likes to act as if she can do no wrong.

Who’s the last person you told off? My manager at work. I did something she asked me to do and followed the instructions down to a T...and then she said I shouldn’t have done it? That kind of thing happens at work every now and then and it’s fucking exhausting. It’s like every move I make has its own script and the script changes every five minutes. 

Are you optimistic? Sure, but not always.

How do you get to school/your job? I work from home, but under normal circumstances I would’ve been driving myself to the workplace.

Love or lust? Love.

Do you smoke cigarettes? Yeah, but I keep my use of it at an extreme minimum. I’ve only done it socially and I’ve only asked for cigarettes from my friends who have their own packs (and were willing to give me a couple of sticks, of course).

Have you ever been so mad at someone you hurt them? Like, physically? Yes, but it’s only because I was hit first.

Have you ever met someone you met online in person? This is on surveys a lot...yes. I’ve met several online friends who were once in the wrestling circle with me; and one time I bought a product from someone online so we had to meet up for that, too.

Have you ever not studied for a test and gotten 100%? Probably not a 100%, but close. I never studied for my Language exams in middle school because it was just literal English grammar, which I was already good at by that point.

Where is your boyfriend/girlfriend right now? I don’t have any.

Have you ever won a contest for public speaking? No, but I’ve joined one. I got a little frazzled by the middle of my speech (it was impromptu and I didn’t know my question until I got on stage) so in the end that cost me first place.

Are there any woods near where you live? Nah, it’s a private village so it’s super suburban and no hidden woods or forests anywhere.

What did you do today? So far I’ve watched 3/4 of an episode of Start Up, cried, washed my face, washed the glass that I drank soju from last night, and sat up in bed and continued this survey.

Have you ever considered suicide? Yes.

Do you have a lot of myspace friends? No. I never really used my account.

What was your favorite subject in grade six? Science was fun then. Partly because I could tell the teacher liked me, and partly because her method of teaching was big on memorization of terms and processes which was always more my speed.

Hot chocolate or coffee? I could go for coffee right now. Hot chocolate is best when I’m on vacation and having breakfast at a fancy hotel.

Do you like your neighbours? I don’t dislike them, that’s for sure.

Did you do something stupid today? Not yet. 

Name a five letter word that starts with the same letter as your first name. Ripen.

What time did you go to sleep last night? Around midnight. That soju/Yakult combo knocked me out.

Did you have fun yesterday? It was an okay day, sure. I got productive and even drank for a bit last night just because.

How many people are online on your MSN/AIM right now?

Would you like to/did you drop out of school? No, that was never a part of my plans.

What was your favorite book as a child? If we’re talking kids’ books, I never got tired of rereading Corduroy and The Giving Tree. I also had a book of poems and nursery rhymes and I remember taking a liking for The Owl and the Pussycat because it was the longest poem in the book and it helped me train my English.

How far away does your best friend live from you? Both live around 20-30 minutes away, just in different directions.

Do you think you could write a book? A memoir, yes. Anything fictional, no.

Is it hard to tell someone you like them? Yes.

How many bedrooms does your house have? 4.

Do you know anyone who can't speak French? Nearly everyone I know.

When's the last time you brushed your teeth? Last night.

Are you the same religion as your parents? Legally. But I disowned Catholicism/Christianity a long time ago.

Would you do anything for a certain person? Yes, I would.

Do you know anyone in your science class? The last science class I took was a course on chemistry, and I only knew one person in that class.

Describe your room: Cozy, starting to get a little cluttered, big enough for one person.

Do you still write letters to Santa, even when you know he's not real? No, and I never wrote letters addressed to a Santa.

Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Nope.

Have you ever been lied to by a girlfriend/boyfriend? I’m sure she did.

Where is your dad right now? I can’t tell whose turn it is to make breakfast today, so he’s either in the kitchen cooking or in their bedroom watching TV.

Are any of your relatives pregnant? As far as I know, no. But I also haven’t been on Facebook in a while, so I’m poorly updated on what my relatives have been up to.

How many garabe buckets are in your house? I have no idea what this is talking about.

Would you want the truth if you asked if your pants made you look horrible? If I asked that then yeah, I obviously would want to hear the truth.

[hamethyst]

Fool Dreamers

Summary:  Before she was a hero, she had been a warrior. A hunter. A sister. A girl, dreaming simply of a better world. 

Of all the people who could have understood that, she didn’t expect the foremost to be a prince. Friendship, introspection, backstory, and Buduga Boys. <12,000 words (yeah, it’s long lol).

&&&

She should have seen this coming. Could have, if she had heeded Leveva’s advice and continued practicing her astromancy in the midst of her conjury. Then again, perhaps the other woman had seen that she wouldn’t, and only spoken so she could, however subtly, rub it in her face upon her next visit to Ishgard. It sounded like something she would do.

Either way, she felt the regret of her oversight keenly now, the gaps between her fingers itching for the knife-edges of her cards as she held her opponents in her sights, missing the weight of an astrometer against her back.

She came out here, a half malm away from Mol Iloh, seeking time away from the boisterous celebrations happening in the village. It had been all just a touch too much, after so many years away. The Scions could be lively, but they could not compare to the Xaela clans at the dawning of Spring. And at the time, near a quarter of them were packed within the boundaries of the Mol’s small encampment, still basking in the highs of a hard-won victory.

So, Odzaya left, avoiding the light of the bonfires, the dance floor, the sounds of merrymaking emerging from every yurt. Only one saw her before she vanished: Organa, who shooed her on with a knowing smile and a finger to the lips that she playfully returned. She found a shallow plateau, one that reminded her of the larger one over Reunion’s proper, and settled with the tastes of buuz and warm tea still on her tongue, the stars above already in her sights. A bell passed, mayhap two, as she sought to refamiliarize herself with constellations that for the last eight years she had only seen from the perspective of one from Eorzea. Then she was duly interrupted.

“And what, pray tell, is the great khagun doing out here by her lonesome?” she heard from behind her, and looked over her shoulder to see, unexpectedly, the familiar dark forest green of the Buduga. Lower-ranking members, the three of them, by the way they stood, obviously too big for their britches, and Daidukul nowhere in sight. She felt a familiar simmer of annoyance start low in the pot of her belly at the sight.

“Seeking a small reprieve from the festivities,” she answered coolly, twisting in their direction with a casual air. “And you all?”

One of them, rosy-skinned with flames for hair, smirked condescendingly. “Looking for you, of course, dear daughter of the Dawn and Dusk.” She sniffed. Was that her new title, then?

“We have a small favor.” Another, skin bluer in tint, a sleek mane of pale bark-brown tumbling down his neck, took a lanky step forward. Instinctively, Odzaya’s hands tingled, aether building and spreading to her extremities in an instant.

“To ask?” she calmly guessed.

“To fulfill.” The third, his skin violet-brown, short blue hair in a coif that accentuated his chiseled features. “Eldest Daidukul could not be here himself, due to the injuries he sustained in the Naadam.” His eyes, pale silver and ringed in cobalt, narrowed. “Injuries you suffered him.”

She shrugged, unbothered by the hint of hostility in his tone and face. “Such are the stakes when one chances for the Throne. Surely you as warriors know this.”

“Nevertheless, we have come in his stead, to fulfill that which we know he would desire.”

They come without his knowledge, then, she thought, catching the way of their wording. They act on their own. “And that would be…?” she prompted, her brow lifting in time with the recesses of her magic.

“Poor warriors are we who failed to protect our eldest from harm, especially from that of someone clearly lesser.” The inflamed one spit out the last word as one would a bloody, too-loosened tooth. “‘Tis a failing for which we plan to atone.”

She sighed to herself. Why are we always so dramatic a people? “Look, men,” she began, and struggled not to apply too much sarcastic emphasis on a word, herself. “If you wish to contest my claiming of the ovoo and the subsequent privilege of being named khagun, then feel free. But it should be done at a proper time of day, among proper witnesses, yes?” She used an upturned hand to indicate the plains around them, empty but for wildlife, the wind, and the stones of which she mentally noted the positions. “However much the land comes alive during this time of year, I do not believe it counts as one.”

“There need not be proper procedures taken for an improper khagun,” the sleek-haired one sneered. “You are false, Odzaya Malaguld, as false as you were the first time you claimed blessings from the Sun, and we will prove it by besting you here and now.” He grinned. “There will be witnesses enough to see when we present your head to our khan at the Da– ah!”

A small stone, no larger than her thumb, pelted the center of his forehead, stunning him silent. “Thank the Mother,” she muttered, rising to her feet and brushing stray grass from her rear, her stave simultaneously manifesting in her unoccupied hand. “You’ve all spent far too much time amongst the Oronir,” she said, louder. “Bloody orators, the whole lot of you. The Buduga I knew were at least aware enough to know when they were being ignored.”

“The woman uses her magicks!” the inflamed one hissed to his brothers. “Be on your guard!”

“Probably for the best,” she agreed, grabbing their attention. “The only parts of you covered are your arms, legs, and private parts.” Another stone, slightly larger than the last, she sent at one’s bare stomach, just to prove her point. At least that has stayed the same in the last eight years, she joked to herself.Still, Odzaya kept her stance open, her shoulders loosened, her legs relaxed. Her stave she planted into the ground, presenting it more as a walking cane than a weapon. “Are you sure about this?” she asked them, clucking her tongue in skepticism. “Methinks you might be a touch out of your depth.”

“White-scaled witch! Worry not for the warriors who will soon drink of your blood!” The blue-haired one drew his spear and rushed her, only to be taken off course as a blast of wind knocked him back. He grunted as the skin of his left side, catching the brunt of the air’s force, opened in a scattering of paper-thin cuts.

“Must have gotten that one from Daidukul,” she chuckled, referring to his epithet. “It was always a favorite of his.”

“Do not speak the eldest’s name!” The sleek-haired one, wiping the dirt from his forehead, drew daggers from his belt and charged. He missed the rise of the sizable stone at his back until it hit him there, sending him sprawling to the grass with a skid.

They were younger than she thought; young, or exceptionally unskilled. No strategy, no eye for their surroundings. They were little better than a trio of rampaging dzo, so uncoordinated were their efforts. She remembered seeing them during the Naadam; they had remained at the rear, offering support to their clan’s more seasoned members. Now she knew why. Warriors, they mayhap were, but infantile ones, untested outside of Bardam’s ancient trials. Excessively passionate and daringly dim. She smiled to herself. Little worse than me, all those years ago. “How old are you all?” she asked, suddenly curious, leaning lightly on her staff, her tail wrapping lightly around it, the weight of her locs shifting as her head tilted, her earring tinkling with the movement. She tucked one vine-like strand of pink hair behind a fanned ivory horn.

“Old enough to know well your crimes, False Sun,” the inflamed one (what were their names, anyhow?) snarled. He made another attempt to enter her orbit, only for the wind to send him spiraling back to his comrades. His grimace deepened.

“My knocking your eldest brother flat is not a crime,” she corrected. “Be thankful that was all he suffered.” Gods know she had stayed her hand with no small effort as her stave had connected like a pole-arm to his neck, the sharpened adornments cutting deep into his shoulder.

“Thankful?!” He scoffed. “Thankful for some arrogant imposter of a Xaela pretending to be one of us, only to eschew our ways and steal the Throne from those to which it rightfully belongs? A woman who brought foreigners into our sacred rites, making a mockery of centuries of tradition?” The sneer returned to his face, uglier than before. “You are a usurper, Malaguld, a conniving succubus who slithered her way into Illustrious Brother Magnai’s bed, then left him shamed as you crossed the seas, only to return and rob us of our home.” Odzaya felt her eyes widen when he stepped forward, spine straight as an arrow, his branch-thin chest puffed as a pissed halgai. “That day you fell from the Dawn Throne, the land should have drank of your life as well as your blood. As what should have occurred today.”

“No doubt it was her foul magicks that saved her,” the blue-haired one drawled, drawing off of his companion’s confidence. Beside him, their sleek-haired brother joined them.

“No matter,” he declared. “She will not escape her fate this time.”

Odzaya eyed them each in turn, absorbing their accusations with pursed lips. Her stave remained at rest in the grass, supporting her weight, tuned to the aether swirling deeper in the earth, connecting her to a small vestige of its presence, warm and thick. She closed her eyes, breathing in, and felt it in the air, frissons that bypassed clothing and skin and settled in her bones.

She laughed. Great, resounding bursts that left her throat and made her small body fold unto itself with the force. She snorted, probably; hiccuped, definitely, the natural abrasion of her voice growing in time with her mirth. When she went to cover her mouth – because by the Sun the looks on their faces could have melted the ground at her feet – it somehow only made it worse.

“You laugh?!” The inflamed one looked so livid she swore his hair began moving, licking locks seeming to flit about his head like the fires they resembled. The others, predictably, were calmer, but their faces were no less stormy.

“Apologies, warriors,” she wheezed. “I am merely surprised.” Another hitch found its out of her mouth, and she finally sought to calm herself enough to remember how to breathe and speak. “I am sorry,” she said again, and that time it was comprehensible. She continued, straightening, her staff still held tight in her grip. “You just caught me unawares. No idea had I that such a tale had been woven in my absence.” And what a tale it was, she thought, containing small smatterings of truth cushioned by enough fluff and drama to impress even Ishgard’s High Houses. To think I am that dastardly, she thought, giggling once more to herself. ‘Tis almost impressive.

“A ‘tale’ that tells the history of your arrogance and treachery, Raen witch!” the sleek-haired one yelled. “A history that failed to put you in your proper place when it should have. We will not allow it to happen a second time!” At his cue, he and his brothers retook their stances, weapon edges a gleaming threat under the moonlight.

She snorted again. “I don’t suppose you will allow me to tell my side?”

“So you can fill our heads with lies and empty slander?” the blue-coiffed one rumbled. “We think not.” Lowering his body into a crouch, lance pointed at the ready, she saw the winding of the coils in his legs, preparing to launch him forward...

“A shame. I, for one, was looking well forward to hearing more.”

...before he stumbled to a stop just as he began to lift off, shocked as they all were to hear a voice not among their own speak. The mystery did not last as Odzaya turned in the direction of a movement out of the corner of her eye, only to see a bristling tail of ebon hair appear over the edge of her small plateau, soon followed by the now-familiar visage of one smiling Doman prince.

“Hien?” she murmured, at the same time the Buduga trio exclaimed, “Fire Walker!”

“Fellow warriors,” the Hyuran man greeted them. With obvious ease, his arms pulled him up over the lip of the plateau, where he rose and genially approached them, his fur-trimmed yellow dogi bright against the deepening blue of the night. To the trio he lifted a friendly hand; to her, she noted, surprise making her eyes widen slightly, he gave a shallow but notably respectful bow. “Lady Khagun,” he addressed her, and after hearing the title spoken with such insulting abandon over the past several instances, hearing it in such a distinctly reverent tone threw her, enough that she failed to react in any kind of appropriately timed manner. Hien, thankfully, moved on before it could be made obvious, though not before she thought she caught an amused quirk in his grin. “Quite the interesting gathering we have here tonight,” he said, the words and his expression clearly implying curiosity. He made a point of eyeing the boys’ unsheathed weapons. “And lively.”

To Odzaya’s continued surprise, the boys froze, then scrambled to compose themselves, their bloodlust disappearing as quickly as their weapons lowered in the next heartbeat. “We were, ah, having a discussion with the khagun, Brother Hien,” the inflamed one fumbled a reply. Hien nodded.

“I heard this discussion.” The trio blanched, their colorings seeming to reduce to near-stark white. Hien maintained his grin, as well as his approach. “Or part of it, at least. ‘Twas a truly fantastic tale you had to tell of our khagun.” One thick, scarred eyebrow lifted to his bangs. “A pity that you refused us to hear her version.”

“We wished not to hear her lies, Fire Walker,” the sleek-haired one boldly asserted. “You know not her reputation, the damage she has wrought!” He glared at her. “Comrades we know you are, but she is not to be trusted.”

“I see.” Hien crossed his arms, his expression contemplative. “Forgive my ignorance, gentlemen, but these are rather serious accusations, are they not? And not made lightly, nor in mere idle gossip, as you three took the initiative to seek out Odzaya Khagun with them in hand, yes?”

It was still very odd to hear someone say her full name and new title; she blinked when she heard it leave his lips, altered slightly by his Doman dialect, and caught the corner of his gaze once more when she looked at him. That time, the quirk of amusement at the edge of his mouth was obvious to her sight, and she wondered what it meant.

“Correct, Brother Hien.” The inflamed one nodded vigorously. “Eldest brothers Magnai and Daidukul could not be here, due to prior responsibilities. No doubt they would have, otherwise.”

“Aye, perhaps,” Hien spoke, nodding in seeming agreement. He lifted his gaze to them. “And do you all think that, given the severity of these matters, they would have handled them thus?”

“Ye-” The inflamed one’s mouth shut before his reply could be completed, his gaze suddenly unsure. The other two, as well, finally seemed to take stock of the situation as it stood. The three of them, members of a losing clan, weapons drawn with obvious intent, and her, the new khagun, alone and a malm away from the nearest settlement.

The laws of the Steppe could be and were often few and far between. The laws that existed, however, were understood to be absolute. And one such law forbade the forceful removal of a khagun without due process.

Even a trio of rampaging dzo could see where they had faltered. Odzaya let loose a small smile.

“I am afraid you have landed yourselves in quite the cavernous pit, gentlemen,” Hien continued, leveling them with a calm but assertive look. “Not only have you taken it upon yourselves to act in the name of your khans without their express permission, you have used this false authority to attempt what I am afraid can only be called assassination. Not only of the rightful representative of the Xaela, but of a member of the clan to which I am so honorably bound. Not only a leader or comrade, but a friend.” Abruptly, the prince’s stance changed, hardened almost imperceptibly, and Odzaya, for the first time, noted his positioning: directly between herself and her offenders. When next he spoke, his tone, too, was different, a note of depth and intensity that had been utterly absent before. “Foreigner I may be, but I cannot, in good faith, take such brazen moves lightly.” A distinctive click sounded in the windswept quiet, and she noted the katana looped through his obi, the fingers he had wrapped around the hilt, and the thumb that had partially, near-imperceptibly loosed the blade from its sheath, revealing just a hint of glimmering steel. “What say you, warriors?” he asked, deceptively nonchalant.

If the young men before her had blanched previously, they fair bleached now, their gazes locked on that blade. Odzaya looked at Hien herself, no small measure of surprised and impressed.

And then he met her gaze, for just a moment, just out of the corner of his eye, and winked, his mouth turning upward.

Ah. She schooled her own reflexive smile before it could become visible, and tailored her expression into that which she only used when dealing with those with particularly hard skulls. Stepping forward, she made a show of laying her hand over the hilt of Hien’s katana, covering his bare, calloused fingers with her own. She eyed the three young men, exuding a diplomatic calm. “Mayhap you’d be willing to consider my previous suggestion now?” They startled at her voice, eyes still wide as their gazes shifted from the prince to her. Still shell-shocked enough to momentarily forget the hate they were meant to be spewing. She took advantage. “You obviously feel strongly about the new status quo that has been established on the Steppe. You deserve to air those grievances. Agreed?”

They looked at one another, then at her. Nearly revived their tirade, she thought, before their gazes fell once more to the barely-visible shine of Hien’s blade. “Aye,” one finally answered gruffly.

“Then approach your khan,” Hien declared, stepping forward ‘til he was at her shoulder. “Make your case. And if supported, proper motions can be made before her, as witnessed by the appropriate parties.” He looked down to regard her briefly. “Something Odzaya Khagun suggested ere your conflict began, if I recall.”

Then he’d been present for longer than they realized, Odzaya thought, lifting an eyebrow, before focusing on the trio. There was more reluctant agreement on their side, in the form of shuffling sandaled feet, and weapons that were finally put away. Hien seemed to take it as a signal; as quickly as his intensity appeared, it vanished, and the young lord regained his genial smile as his blade disappeared back into its sheath so quickly one wondered if they had even seen its initial flash of light.

“We will do this,” the blue-haired one declared. To his credit, he looked at least partly chastised, as did his brothers as they took a definitive step back. “Thank you for your council, Fire Walker.” He hesitated a moment, then, and with even more reluctance than before, met her gaze. “And yours, khagun,” he added, low enough that they only heard it because it carried on the breeze she still controlled.

“Eldest Brother Daidukul still wants you with us, samurai,” the inflamed one declared. “Our loss in the Naadam does not change this.”

Hien simply nodded. “A matter for another time, perhaps.”

“A time that will come soon,” the sleek-haired one vowed, to the prince’s easy amusement. Then, in sync with his brothers, he stiffly bowed; his gaze found hers as they rose. “‘Til next time.” Only the slightest hint of that now-familiar sneer, no doubt reduced to avoid another glimpse of Hien’s blade, as well as any more stones to the face or wind shears to the extremities. Odzaya smiled.

“Tell Daidukul and Magnai I liked the story. T’was nice to hear a gist of all that has been said of me these summers past.”

A grunt was his reply, and her smile widened. Then she and Hien watched as the Buduga warriors began their trek back across the plains, carefully bypassing Mol Iloh. When it became clear there would be no sudden backtrack, Odzaya sighed and allowed her stave to dissipate. “Well…” When she looked up, Hien was watching her, the amused grin she caught on his lips now out for the world to see. She matched it. “That was fun.”

“Certainly eventful.” Unexpectedly, he pointed upward. “Will that still be necessary, do you think?”

She followed his finger. “Ah.” She sent a small wave of her aether to the sky; mere moments later, the ground shook as a boulder – wide enough for Gosetsu to comfortably seat his rump on – hit the ground several fulms away, mere ilms from where the Buduga trio had previously stood. “I suppose not,” she said, smiling at the black brows that rose near to Hien’s hairline. “Thankfully, I did not need it.”

“Full glad am I that you did not!” he chuckled. “Though I suspect it may have offered more effective support than myself or my measly blade.”

“Tis the thought that counts, my lord,” she replied, her smirk teasing. “Besides, rocks cannot spout ancient Auri law. It was impressive to hear.”

“The praise should go to Cirina. I must thank her once more for those weeks she stayed by my sickbed, entertaining what certainly must have seemed an endless spiel of questions.” Hien looked, smiling absently, in the direction the Buduga trio departed. “My idea to petition the Xaela clans to aid in Doma’s liberation came shortly after I awoke on the Steppe; it did not take long, after all, for me to see the strength of your people. I knew from the first, however, that I would stand little chance of convincing anyone without proper knowledge – and respect – for Xaelic history and customs. So, once my injuries allowed me to remain conscious for longer than a bell, I plead with the Mol to educate me; and Cirina, being the khatun’s granddaughter, as well as having essentially taken on the role of my caretaker, became my primary teacher.”

Odzaya lifted a dark pink brow. “And here I thought you spent all that recovery time stuffing yourself with boortsog.” Hien laughed.

“The Mol made idleness more tempting than I care to admit. Cirina, however, turned out to be quite the pedagogue. Once I was well enough to move, she declared I would only continue to learn if I began reconditioning my body in conjunction. Fortunately, I did not need to be convinced.”

Odzaya fairly beamed with pride. “I always knew she had a knack for instruction. She always said she was too soft-hearted.”

“She said she learned her oh-so-effective ways from another. Her older sister, I believe.”

Her grin froze, for just a moment. Then softened. “Did she?”

“Aye.” Hien eyed her, his smile like her own. “When I asked who she was, she insisted it mattered not, that the young woman in question had left the Steppe long ago.” He watched her, his gaze turning gently scrutinizing.

Odzaya let out a breath. “So she had,” she replied, shrugging. “Probably for the best.” Hien chuckled.

“Oh? And why is that?” Odzaya snorted at him.

“Rather sure you heard, eavesdropper.” She went over the Buduga trio’s seemingly endless list of scathing epithets. “She was a troublemaker. An impostor. A would-be usurper.”

“A witch?” Hien arched an eyebrow. “A succubus?”

“At least the last two show some creativity,” she muttered, smirking to herself.

“‘Tis certainly an interesting interpretation of one woman’s character.” Hien crossed his arms, his expression pondering, his head at a tilt. “Quite different from the impression I received from Cirina, if they indeed speak of the same person.”

“And how did she describe her?” she asked, admittedly curious.

Hien grinned. “In a word? As a hero.”

A memory at her subconscious, of Mol Iloh in a different place and time. Of her soaring over those familiar red-draped white-clothed roofs on yol-back, only to land and be immediately pounced upon by a half-dozen tiny bodies. One always hung back, equal parts patient and shy, until she approached herself with outstretched arms. Only then would little Rina run up to and into them, pale, black-scaled hands gripping her shoulders, her laughter a soft, high-pitched chirp, like a bird, as she spun them around.

Odzaya smiled. “Cirina always had an active imagination. She also used to swear I looked like a flower.”

“I can see that,” Hien said, to which she shot him a tolerant look. “Is her interpretation of you so far-fetched?” he asked, sounding skeptical.

“I was young, no older than twenty summers, and thought I could change the world.” She chuckled, looking out over grassy plains. “My world, at least. I wasn’t heroic, just arrogant and naive.” She tossed her head in the direction of the Dawn Throne, where three soaring figures, dull white against the ink-blue sky, could be seen. “Like them.”

“They were certainly passionate about their views. And more than a little belligerent.” Hien looked at her, curiosity stamped openly across his wide brow. “Were you the same at their age?”

“Belligerent? No.” She smirked. “Could I pick a fight every now and again, sometimes against senior clansmen? Sometimes.”

“So, an occasional troublemaker you were, then? Making their tale at least partly true?”

Odzaya tipped her head, considering, before meeting Hien’s expectant gaze with a half-sheepish shrug. The young lord immediately laughed, and she could not help the small giggle that she released alongside him.

“My interest in this tale continues to grow!” he exclaimed. “I daresay I will end this day unsatisfied for not having heard it in its entirety.”

Odzaya jerked a thumb in the general direction of the palace. “The boys haven’t gotten too far. Even if you miss them along the way, you can always take a friendly night flight to the Dawn Throne yourself and ask the skilled orators to recite it for you.” She allowed a hint of sarcasm to enter her tone. “The ‘Fire Walker’, I am sure, would at least be welcome.”

“Hmm.” Hien made a show of stroking his bearded chin. “A tempting offer. The view from the Dawn Throne is quite spectacular.”

“Beats mine, I’d bet.” Odzaya stretched her arms overhead, sighing with relief as her spine cracked; little surprise, it always seemed to stiffen when she spoke of the past. Then, with a small burst of wind-aspected aether, she leapt up, lightly planting and plopping herself down atop her new boulder, swinging her legs and tail and tossing her locs over her shoulder. She looked down at Hien, who grinned up at her amusedly.

“Is this a sign that my presence is no longer welcome?”

“More a signal that your duty is complete.” She smiled at him. “I thank you kindly for your assistance, Hien. I have a feeling that encounter would not have gone as peacefully as it did without your intervention.”

Hien stepped forward, his hand finding the boulder’s surface as he examined it. “Were you truly going to drop this on them if they had not kept their distance?”

“No,” she answered honestly. She paused. “Perhaps. But not to smash them.” As he chuckled, she shrugged. “A hindrance, it served as, little more. Though I am a bit disappointed they never noticed it.” Their faces would have been priceless.

“You and me, both,” Hien replied, no doubt imagining something similar as his smile turned toothy. He removed his hand from the boulder and took a step back. “Full glad am I that I could be of help, khagun, however far you were from having need of it.” He gave her a princely bow, obviously done in jest but somehow still seeming sincere in its execution. As he rose, his gaze matched. “One can only hope there will not be a reoccurrence.”

“I can always find more wind and rocks,” she joked. “And more boulders. Though it may prove difficult to find any more foreign princes with a penchant for knightliness and ancient Auri law.”

Hien shook his head, looking profoundly disappointed. “And here I was led to believe that this land provided all one could ever need.” Odzaya giggled.

“Will you be attending to the Dawn Throne, then? Something tells me they might be lacking for one, as well.”

“That depends,” said prince replied, one expressive eyebrow rising. “Would one still be appreciated here?”

Odzaya briefly contemplated, then answered by scooting her bottom to the right of her boulder and patting the empty space that emerged. “If he does not mind a not-quite-so-spectacular view.” For some reason, she wasn’t quite ready to return to her lonesome just yet. Hien grinned up at her so widely his eyes crinkled.

“From where I am standing, I do believe that may be arguable.” And before she could properly reply, or even parse his meaning, he took her invitation. Odzaya felt the boulder shift slightly as Hien walked around, climbed aboard, and settled himself beside her, legs crossed, the warmth of the bare skin of his arm minutely felt through the sheep’s wool of her coat. “Surprisingly comfortable,” he said admirably. “You found quite the quality stone, my friend.”

“Only the best for those I threaten to squish,” she japed.

“Such care taken, even for her enemies,” Hien chuckled. “Perhaps this dreaded succubus is not so horrid a figure, after all.”

Odzaya huffed in amusement, still finding herself tickled by the Buduga trio’s tale. “Or perhaps she is just seducing you into believing such. I have a history of that, apparently.”

“Far worse fates I can imagine, if so,” he replied, and his smile turned slightly cheeky again. “I should think Illustrious Brother Magnai felt a similar way.”

Odzaya snorted so hard, her nose burned. “Magnai never feels anything, except pride and perhaps constipation due to the stick up his arse. Even if he did, it’s not as if we were ever truly together. Merely…” She stopped herself abruptly, realizing what she was revealing. She glanced at Hien only to find him watching her, his eyebrows arched, his mien open and unobtrusive. And dreadfully curious. Odzaya shifted her sights to the stars overhead, wondering, briefly, if her astromancy would allow her to turn back time just enough to retake her words. No such luck most like (another point in Leveva’s favor), and feeling the proverbial maw open at her feet, ironically about the size of the boulder she excavated, she released a surrendering sigh. “Merely betrothed,” she finished, lamely.

“Ah,” Hien said simply, nodding. The utter neutrality of his tone only served to make the unspoken question of “and the difference is...?” all the more obvious.

“Our union was never consummated,” she explained, before he could find a polite way to ask or awkwardly tread around it. “I left before it could be. A mutual decision.”

“I see. Interesting; by the Buduga’s reckoning, the decision was yours and yours alone, with Magnai little more than a jilted lover left to salvage the remains of said pride in your absence.”

“Magnai was fine,” she said immediately, attempting to picture the Oronir brokenhearted. It failed to come together in her mind’s eye. “It would have been a simple matter of him picking someone else to replace me.”

Hien lifted his brow once more. “Someone else?”

“Do you remember Dorbei very loudly lamenting during our journey back to the village after the Naadam? Something about my ‘having my pick of the Steppe’?” At the prince’s nod, she shrugged. “He wasn’t entirely joking. A particular perk of being khagun is the privilege of choosing romantic partners.”

Hien made an expression of recognition, then grinned. “Quite the perquisite, that is.”

“So long they are not previously, exclusively bound to another, anyone can be chosen. And one’s fortune is considered great if they are.” Odzaya set her eye on the Dawn Throne, her brow furrowing in remembrance. “That year, my twentieth summer, Magnai won the Naadam for the Oronir. And chose me.”

Mol Iloh, those same comforting red-draped roofs, even if she no longer had the means to see them from above. She saw Cirina, no longer so small a bird, no longer able to fit in her arms quite so easily, but still running up to her like she always had, only more carefully, as if her big sister would break if startled or handled too roughly. Still smiling, but there was something different behind it, urgent in her grass-green eyes. Odzaya knew not what it was until another figure had made itself known behind her, tall and imposing, clad in dark leather and darker fur, the blonde tips of his hair and the gold of his gaze catching and binding the sunlight that beat down on them from a too-blue sky. And as she had risen, cautiously, to face him, hands speckled with dirt, still clutching the herbs she had plucked from the earth, that gaze had been strangely gentle.

“I rejected him, the first time,” Odzaya said, smirking. The moon, large and round and flooding the land with silver, reminded her of the sun that day, how it had coated her back with warmth and heated the dirt under her hands and turned the backs of her eyelids yellow, until Magnai’s shadow had blocked it all out. “I thought it was a joke, or a trap. But then he came back, insistent that he was serious.”

“What manner of trap might it have been?” Hien asked.

“In the aftermath of the Naadam, victorious clans have been known to target those who previously opposed them on the battlefield. Sometimes, it is a simple matter of establishing dominance, ridding them of whatever compulsion they may have to object to the land’s decision. Other times, those opposing clans are near-decimated, people and all, as a means of eliminating future competition.”

“An effective if not ruthless tactic,” Hien commented. Odzaya nodded in agreement.

“T’was not a very common practice until recently. Some of the abandoned villages you see scattered across the land are the last vestiges of raids that occurred over the last two epochs.” Tilting toward Hien, she indicated one such set of remains, far off in the distance, only noticeable by the skeleton of a watchtower. Hien momentarily leaned close to see it, his eyes squinting.

“They remind me of the ruins I could see from the palace as a boy, when I scaled the outer walls to survey the lands beyond,” he remarked. “Hollowed out buildings, the pillaged ruins of small towns and caravans.” He sighed and leaned back. “I am almost loathe to say it, but the tactics are similar to those the Empire employs. Seeing such disaster, with no certain way of knowing if the people themselves survived; it certainly does well to lower morale.”

“So it does.” She pointed to another landmark, this one far easier to see due to the lantern’s light that separated it from the night. “‘Tis not all bad, though. The beacons one finds all over? Those were remains, as well. A number of clans, most notably the Qestir, repurposed them over the years, that they might serve travelers seeking sanctuary and safety from the wildlife. Or opportunistic clansmen.”

“Do they not all eventually lead to Reunion?” At her nod, Hien smiled. “The one place on the Steppe where violence is prohibited. Not a coincidence, I’m sure.”

“Correct.” Odzaya smiled, as well, pleased by his deduction. The origin of the lanterns had ever been one of her favorite stories. Lights in the dark, and all that.

“Ingenious in its practicality,” the prince said. “And beautiful in its symbolism.” His smile sobered and softened in equal measure, his gaze turning inward. “I wonder if perhaps…” He trailed off.

“Perhaps…?” Odzaya repeated. Hien came back to himself, then shook his head. To her surprise, he looked a touch sheepish.

“Bah, nothing. Just getting ahead of myself, as I am sometimes wont to do. One step at a time, after all.” He looked at her. “Tis truly a wonderful way to honor the past while accounting for the future. I imagine, however, that you wished not for your own clan to share such a fate, thus your caution when Magnai approached you.”

“Mm,” she confirmed with a hum. “That year, I entered the Naadam as the only representative of the Malaguld; the first, apparently, in decades. As you can probably guess, we are of the more peaceful clans, wholly uninterested in the goings-on of constant warfare. We are also one of the few clans that accept Raen members, and most of ours are refugees, former citizens across Yanxia and Hingashi displaced from their homes in the wake of the Garlean invasion.” Suddenly recalling, Odzaya turned to him, her expression eager. “Some of them are Doman; they’ve wished to speak with you.”

“Aye, they approached me during the celebration. We spoke for some time; a number of them wish to accompany us to join the Liberation Front.” Hien’s eyes were bright with the prospect. “I will have to thank your khatun for granting them sanctuary all these years. It means more than words can say to know they found the safety of another home, and even more that they have not lost hope for their former.” His expression then turned curious. “Tell me: are the origins of the Raen in your clan, then, a representation of your own?”

More roofs, tho ugh these were not draped with red . Rather, they were looped over and around by swathes of rich plum purple. To the Xaela, it was a color that meant balance and harmony, unity and sanctuary. It covered everything, like the Mol’s red back home. Tables and chairs, horsebacks and floors. And people. Beautiful designs woven across robes and pants and tunics, encasing arms white -scaled as well as black . Something she had never seen before excepting her own reflection .

Would these people know her? Recognize her? Would they be able to tell her from where she came, and from whom?

S he remembered herself a moon before, sitting by the river with her friends , smearing her arms, her legs, her neck and cheeks and horns with rich loam. She had lain out in the sun, per instruction, waiting for it to dry and harden, all of them waiting with bated breath for the transformation it would bring. She remembered her secret, keen disappointment when, later that eve, the water from her bath had washed away their efforts so easily.

No more, she thought, as she clutched Temulun’s hand in her own tiny one and they passed under a familiar archway bracketed by matanga tusks. N o more loam, n o r ashes, nor ink for her scales . N o more hood s to cover her horns. No more targeted threats to her loved ones’ safety for the sole Raen girl in their midst.

No more reminders that while she was not Xaela, she was Au Ra.

In her young eyes, the color purple meant belonging.

“Perhaps,” she edged, and accompanied her response with a carefree shrug. Hien’s brow perked with his curiosity. The frequency of the gesture almost made her smile.

“You do not know?”

“I was adopted into the Mol as a baby,” she explained, her gaze finding the clan’s village in the distance, still lit from within with the warm light of bonfires. “Then, when I was seven, I was given to the Malaguld, as a means to ensure I would not...stick out, quite so much on the Steppe. The Mol were already regular targets of the more aggressive clans. My being among them only made the eyes on their backs larger, hungrier. Like wolves preying on sheep.” She recalled Cirina’s words.

“And you were a lamb with white horns,” Hien interjected, and gave her a light smile. Odzaya snorted at his quip.

“So I was.”

“Then no one ever told you your origins.”

“No. I suspected some might know, but I never inquired much, to be honest.” She shrugged easily. “While the differences between myself and the others may have bothered me as a child, as time passed, it no longer seemed to matter as much. I was hardly the only person in the world without parents or a known history, and though I may not have shared a story with any of those who raised or grew with me, we shared a home. That came to be enough. They were my family, both clans, and I would do my utmost to protect them.”

“And so you entered the Naadam,” Hien concluded. It was not a question; nevertheless, Odzaya nodded.

“We had experienced raids since I was a child. Every time, we lost something, be it our possessions or our livestock, our homes or a person.” She brow dipped with the weight of old trepidation. “I grew sick of it. Sick of living in fear. Of being seen as weak.” She looked at Hien, and knew the look in her eye was just this side of ferine. “Lamb though I was, I had my horns. Eventually, I sought to learn to use them.”

“I can hardly fault you that.” Hien impressed her with a look of his own, his eyes glinting once, fiercely, under the starlight. “I often felt the same as a boy, locked away in the palace, a gilded cage of the Empire’s make. A bird with clipped talons.”

Odzaya smirked. “So you sharpened them with a sword.” On a whim, she reached out, around the bend of his knee, to tap a slender finger on the hilt of his katana at rest between them. “They seem to be serving you well now.” He chuckled.

“That they are. I greatly anticipate using them to capacity in Doma.” He gave her a bracing smile. “And from the prowess I’ve seen, I am sure your horns became rather sharp, as well.”

“They did,” she confirmed. “Figuratively as well as literally.” He laughed, and she continued. “I started practicing swordplay on my own around the age of twelve. Poorly. Then Organa found me out and set me on the proper path.”

“The Malaguld’s khatun?” Hien smartly recalled. “She certainly seems a formidable woman.”

“At the time, she was still only a hunter, though one of our best; after she discovered my secret interest, she took it upon herself to train me, if only so I wouldn’t accidentally kill myself. She periodically took me on her trips out into the wilderness to procure the clan’s meals, and used those trips as her lessons. She taught me how to properly care for armor and weaponry, to inspect for damage or wear, to be cognizant of the effects my wielding could have, both good and bad.” Odzaya chuckled. “All before she ever let me actually use anything, mind you.”

“The role Organa played in your life is sounding increasingly like the role Gosetsu played in mine,” Hien commented, shifting his cross-legged stance and lacing his fingers in his lap. “He taught me, too, the arts of war. My father asked him to, as a means to simultaneously occupy my time, temper my apparently boundless energies, and teach me discipline.” He shrugged his scarred shoulders. “Obviously, he would have done so himself, but balancing both the kingdom and the Empire’s grip on it understandably took precedence.” He smiled. “At the time, of course, I did not comprehend the scope of such politics. All I knew was that my father was the greatest samurai in Othard, renowned for his bladework. If he would not teach me, I declared, no one would.”

“Well, well. And how’d that work out for the little master Shun?” Odzaya asked, raising her brows at him expectantly. Hien shot her a mock scowl, reminded of the closely-guarded secret she was made privy to that first night after their official introduction. Then it melted into something sheepish.

“Spectacularly, once I finally managed to surface from the pond Gosetsu tossed me into in reply.” Odzaya chuckled.

“Saw that one coming.”

“If only you had been there to share your foresight,” he said. “Was Organa’s handling of you equally as rigorous?”

“Well, she never threw me anywhere, if that’s what you’re asking,” she quipped. “She was tough, but fair. Strict when she felt she needed to be, but forgiving of my mistakes, and always willing to lend an ear to listen or a shoulder to lean on.”

“You sound close,” Hien commented with a smile. Odzaya returned it.

“She is my sister, as much as she was my mentor. In truth, I had hoped she would participate in the Naadam with me. It seemed almost obvious to me that she should. Even after I began hunting on my own and overcame Bardam’s Mettle, I still saw her as the best we had.” Her smile sobered. “If anyone could have changed our lives for the better, alleviated the fear we lived under, t’would have been her.”

The hollow of her horns rang. High above, silhouetted against a dusky sky, their yol circled, surveying the surrounding land for more prey. Their current catch, a pair of wandering baras, had breathed their last long ago, their tusks gleaming with a morbid beauty in the dying sunlight. She could already imagine the work ahead, the skinning, deboning, and tanning that would be done upon their return.

For the first time, n one of it mattered. Only the rejection that echoed between them, caught between their locked gazes. “What?” she finally asked, and felt shame as her voice came out hoarse with shock.

Organa sighed, her glowing-ember gaze amused. “You heard me.”

Odzaya’s heart sank. “But why not?”

“Because,” she began, approaching their quarry. With a light grunt, she flipped one baras over and kneeled, inspecting its hide for damage. “I am tired.”

“Tired?” she echoed. “Of what?”

“Clans,” her sister answered simply. “Rules, rituals.” Odzaya shook her head, watching her work.

“I do not understand.”

“Mother is getting older,” Organa declared suddenly. She tapped a tusk’s tip with her finger, nodded with satisfaction. “She has thus decided it time for me to consider taking her place in earnest. For the past three moons, I have spent my mornings, afternoons, and eves in the main yurt, listening to the oh-so-wise prattle of our elders.” That amusement in her eyes turned exasperated. “Gods know I love them, but they love to talk. About history, about hierarchies, about the unpatched holes in the roof. About everything and nothing.” She gusted out a breath strong enough to riffle the fur under her inspecting fingers. “I leave those walls yearning for one thing: to get away. Gather my bow, grab my yol, and go hunt.” She looked up at her. “I am tired. And now you bring this up.” Her tone held no serious accusation; nevertheless, Odzaya felt the sting of something like it.

“Do they not also gather to discuss routes for the clan to take to best avoid trouble? To take stock of our resources in the case that we’re pillaged? Plan funeral rites in advance for those we will inevitably lose to both?”

Organa sighed. “Dzaya–”

“Are you not tired of hearing that, as well? I am.” The older woman lifted her brow, a smirk forming.

“You’ve been eavesdropping.” Her brow rose higher. “Again.” Another non-accusation. Odzaya boldly straightened her spine, inclining her head stiffly.

“Yes.” Organa chuckled.

“I thought I saw a shadow lingering around the yurt’s entry-way. Should have known it was not the stray muu shuwuu it looked like,” she said, playfully referencing the younger woman’s pink hair, fairly glowing in the orange of dusk. Odzaya pursed her lips.

“This is serious, Gana. We are courting disaster. Entire clans have been lost to the recent goings-on, and we are on the road to becoming next. We all know it. We have to do something.”

Organa’s smile dropped, and she finally returned to her full height. “ And by ‘something’, you mean participate in the Naadam,” she concluded. Odzaya nodded determinedly.

“We’ve tried negotiations over the years, yes? The more powerful clans have laughed at us; the neutral ones have shown us little more than pity. What option is left but to fight for our survival?”

“So you would have us go to war for our peace.” Organa crossed her arms, humorous pretense diminished to near nothing, her gaze penetrating. Odzaya met it with her own.

“Is that not the way of the Steppe?” she challenged in turn. Organa smirked.

“Aye, though I always hoped to avoid falling prey to it.”

“We’re already prey, Gana,” Odzaya argued. “Scavengers on our own lands, hunting for scraps with our tails between our legs like packs of starving gedan.” She clenched her fists, summers’ worth of fear and anger rising like bile in her belly. “The Naadam has been used for epochs to take our livelihood from us. Why should we not use it in turn to take it back?!” She took a breath and let it out, swore it came out hot like steam from a whistling kettle, or a dragon’s maw.

“And what of numbers?” Organa came back. “You would have the refugees among us take up arms they do not have, and fight another potentially losing battle for freedom? The same kind that took their families and friends away from them once before?”

“I would not ask them to fight if they did not wish to,” Odzaya said. “So many of them have weathered enough conflict, enough violence. The Naadam is not theirs to win. Rather, it should be…” she paused. Met Organa’s steady gaze with her own trembling, and knew she heard her.

“Ours,” her sister finished for her. Let out a gusty breath of humor as she looked away. “Of course.”

“You’re one of the best warriors on the Steppe,” Odzaya said. “And you taught me. And I’ve been training, far more than you think.” She hesitated for a moment before continuing. “The others say–”

“That you’re special?” Organa interrupted, knowingly. Odzaya’s mouth snapped shut, lips pursing tightly with surprise. Organa smirked. “Do not think you’re the only one who can hide in the shadows, little muu. I have heard all about your burgeoning reputation as a supposed chosen of Azim.”

H eat bloomed in the younger girl’s cheeks, blessedly hidden by her scales and dark skin, and she briefly dropped her gaze to the ground, embarrassed . “They are not my words.”

Organa chuckled. “I know.” She met her eyes, her own curious. “Is that why you so desperately wish to participate in the Naadam all of a sudden? Because you’ve convinced yourself that you are blessed?”

“Of course not,” Odzaya denied with a fervent shake of her head. “But regardless of whether it is true or not, could not the belief alone grant us an advantage? Maybe some of the clans will feel too threatened to fight!”

“You are playing with the Sun’s fire, Dzaya,” Organa said, her brow knitting severely. “The stronger clans will not take kindly to talk of some Raen girl toting herself as a daughter of the Dawn Father. The Oronir especially will be quick to prove your claims false, especially when one of their sons is claiming the same.”

Magnai. Odzaya failed, she knew, to keep the scowl completely off of her face as she thought of the arrogant young princeling with whom she had often clashed. “I could take him,” she boldly declared. “I’ve done it before.”

“Aye, but what of his followers? Could you take them? Could we, the two of us, alone against the brunt of thirty or more other warriors, all vying for your light-blessed blood?”

“At least we could try!” she burst out, frustration making the words echo through the dry air between them. She almost immediately regretted it, her tail reflexively lashing about her ankles with agitation, and she cautiously eyed her elder sister for her reaction.

Organa, to her surprise, merely smiled and huffed a laugh. She shook her head, and the motion was that of fondness.“You always were a dreamer,” she murmured. The amused affection wrapped around the statement, just this side of teasing, made Odzaya’s cheeks warm once more, though it allowed her to regain her composure. She straightened.

“This isn’t just a dream, Gana.” This was not her sitting by the river, a child smearing rich loam onto her horns and praying in vain for a miracle. “This is something real, that we can make happen.”

“Mm,” the woman intonated. “So you say.” Her smile diminished. “But at what cost?”

Odzaya fell silent. Organa pressed.

“To participate in the Naadam, a clan must have the resources. ‘Tis a privilege, and one we do not have. Our khatun is growing old,” she restated. “Our warriors are few. We both are two of them, and I am her successor. If we take part, and lose, that leaves our clan with two less protectors, two less hunters, and no leader for the coming years.”

“Then we proposition for additional warriors from other clans,” Odzaya suggested, regaining a foot, or so she thought. “Surely, they would join us, yes?”

“At risk of putting themselves in the same vulnerable position? Risking their warriors, their sons and daughters, what fragile stability they have?” Organa shook her head, her expression still fond, if more somber. “That is not going to happen, Odzaya,” she said.

“But–” She tried once more.

“I will be khatun,” her sister continued, cutting her off. “Sooner than I would like. And I must begin making decisions for the good of our clan. The ins and outs of every rule, the ups and downs of every choice. What is worth risking, and what is not.” With suddenly sharp, unyielding eyes, the eyes that made her a warrior, a leader, she met Odzaya’s gaze, and the younger woman felt her stomach drop abruptly to her feet with her heart and hope. “The well-being of our clan, of all our clans, is not worth risking. My succession is not worth risking. Your life, Odzaya, is not worth risking.” She shook her head once more. “Not for a dream, however sweet.”

Silence stood between them, then, at the end as it had at the beginning, broken only by a stiff breeze and the shriek of their yol, a confirmation of newly discovered prey, and then the buffet of powerful wings as they descended. She watched Organa tie and truss up their quarry, then silently secured a baras corpse to and mounted her yol, giving his mane a stroke when he chirped with concern.

The entire trip home, she kept her fingers buried in his bountiful feathers, hoping to stop their shaking.

“I imagine she had her reasons for choosing not to participate,” Hien ventured. Odzaya nodded, slowly, momentarily afloat in old disappointment.

“She did.” She shrugged, regrounding herself with the motion, and smiled with a shake of her head. “Nothing I wanted to understand at the time; too young, too stubborn. All I knew was that, between us, we had the power to make a difference. To make peace happen. To make dreams come true.” She let out a quiet, calming breath, then chuckled and looked down at her feet, idly kicking her legs against the air. “Or at least my own.”

“And what was your dream?” She looked up. Hien watched her, his gaze unexpectedly soft. Odzaya took a breath and looked back down.

“A land with no suffering,” she said, quietly. “A land where children could laugh, and none need live in fear of what tomorrow could bring.” Strangely self-conscious, she wrinkled her nose and sniffed lightly, then turned her sights up to the stars. “It seemed like something worth fighting for. Even if I had to fight for it alone.”

“So you did,” Hien asserted.

“So I did,” she confirmed. Then she huffed out a laugh. “And soundly lost.”

“The Naadam you spoke of eight years past, during which Magnai came away the victor,” Hien recalled, his face lighting briefly with realization. “T’was the same Naadam that you participated in, yes?”

Why did it feel like she was revealing some long-withheld secret as she nodded? “Turned out Gana had been right to refuse,” she confirmed. She shot him a brief smile. “Should have known, looking back. She’s never been wrong about anything.”

“Would knowing have stopped you from trying?” Hien asked.

“Probably not.” She chuckled once more. “Such is the way of a dreamer, I suppose. Or a fool. Every possible odd stacked against you, and all the world telling you not to bother, and still you feel you must at least-”

“Try,” Hien finished for her, and smiled, the gentility in his eyes magnified by the starlight seeping into their depths. It was a gaze not of sympathy, but empathy. Understanding.

Her heart thumped, once, hard as Bardam’s fist against her rib cage.

When she fell from the Dawn Throne, the wind that should have stormed past, igniting the hollow space of her horns, was little more than a whispered breeze. The short, sharp shriek of her yol as the arrow pierced his heart and he fell headlong beside her seemed little more than a small whimper. The clamor of those below, of Organa screaming her name, were a murmur, heard at a thousand malms’ distance.

H er descent was marked by Magnai’s grim mien and Daidukul’s savage grin as he lowered his bow. She wondered what they saw. An opponent defeated. A pest removed. A star once claiming to be the sun now setting , and burning away her dreams in its wake.

When her body hit the ground, the pain was strangely muted. Her skin ripped, her muscles tore. Her bones shattered, arms, legs, and ribs. Her spine was like a twig, so easily did it give against the earth, and the resounding crack of her skull, the snap of her horns breaking, resounded through her head like a hammer on stone.

A would-be star fallen back to earth, where it had always belonged.

Her vision whited out, her breath hitched with the puncture and subsequent collapse of her lungs. Her heart ceased with a last, desperate pulse. And yet, she was told later, her eyes remained clear. Locked on the sky as if in a trance, as if they saw something. As if merely daydreaming, even as her body went cold.

Which made it slightly less surprising when, moments and a small eternity later, her heart resumed its beating once more.

“Do you regret what happened that day of the rebellion?” she asked suddenly, unable to resist the inquiry as they stared at one another, as she pondered whether or not her interpretation of the look in his eyes was correct.

Hien blinked once, then smiled bittersweetly. “That depends,” he said, and lifted his gaze to the stars. “Do I regret the ease with which we were overrun? Yes. My lack of experience, my failing strength? Yes.” He took a deep breath, and when he next spoke, the pain in his voice sounded like sand caught in the back of his throat. “Do I regret the lives lost? Of course. My own stubbornness, my insistence that the fight continue even after my father fell and our forces were scattered? Yes.” He paused, lowering his chin, his gaze aimed at a middle distance she suspected led to a battlefield. “But do I regret that day in itself, joining my father and my fellow samurai and fighting for what I knew to be our dream, fools though we mayhap were for pursuing it?” His focus returned and he leveled it on her, and within its gentleness was a glittering steel that reminded her distinctly of his blade. “No,” he declared, quiet but firm. “I cannot say that I do.”

The line of her back hurt again. Odzaya shifted minutely in a vain attempt to alleviate the ache, then started in surprise when Hien suddenly chuckled. “What is funny?” she asked.

“My father,” Hien answered, surprising her again. “He used to say that one cannot fulfill any dream alone; there is always another, sometime, somewhere, whose presence or actions, no matter how small, aided in its actualization.” He laughed again, then deepened his voice in what she assumed to be an imitation. “‘One of this star’s great truths’, he insisted it was! ‘And a good ruler never forgets it’.”

Odzaya smiled softly. “Your father sounds very wise.”

“Aye, he is. Was.” He smiled back, then cleared his throat gracefully. When next he spoke, the sand had been swept away, leaving only the natural warm rasp of his voice behind. “Thus why I am here, pursuing what has been so deemed as impossible. ‘Tis the least I can do for those we lost.”

“And those we can yet save,” she finished reflexively. He gave her a confused look. “You sound like a friend,” she explained.

“A beautiful saying,” he said admirably. “Your friend sounds very wise, as well.”

“She was,” she said, in unintentional mimicry, and that heart-achingly gentle look returned to his face in response.

“Did she have dreams of saving the world, as well?”

“She did. It’s why the Scions exist. Why we’re here, in essence.”

“Well,” Hien said. “Full glad am I for her generous aid, then, as well as yours.”

“Are you sure?” she questioned him suddenly, a smirk finding its way onto her lips. “No qualms with accepting the aid of a supposedly gods-blessed usurper who seduced her way onto a throne after failing to claim it legitimately through warfare?”

“A fair question,” Hien remarked, his expression brightening. “Do you have qualms with aiding a foreign prince arrogant enough to insert himself into a series of sacred rites in hopes of procuring an army with which to liberate the homeland he himself failed to protect?”

She giggled. Could not help herself, as the absurdity of both their situations dawned on her. “Sorry,” she said, going to cover her mouth, remembering her earlier folly with the Buduga trio. “Poor habit.”

Hien managed to surprise her once more as he answered by letting out a laugh himself, deep enough to jostle her slightly as his shoulders shook. “You are certainly one of a kind, my friend,” he declared. “Of that, there is no doubt. I can see why the Buduga and Oronir find you so intimidating.”

She cleared her throat, slightly embarrassed. “Hardly,” she replied, with a light roll of her eyes. On another whim, she pushed her shoulder lightly against his for his jest, and smiled when he laughed again.

She had never iterated her story to anyone, she realized then. Not even to the Scions, who had only recently even learned her true name. How strange that, guided by a fit a nostalgia here in the middle of her long-ago homeland, she would share it with someone who, for all intents and purposes, still counted as a stranger.

A stranger, who seemed to understand only too well what guided her, fool dreamer that she was.

As they calmed, Hien smiled down at her, and his warmth she felt through her sleeve was reflected ten-fold in his eyes. “T’would be an honor to have you at my side in our fight for freedom, my friend,” he said, his expression sweet as boortsog. “I do not believe I can imagine anyone else, in truth.” His grin turned toothy as he returned her previous motion and gently returned her gesture of touching his shoulder to hers. “Questionable repute notwithstanding.”

“I assume that means I will be able to count on your support, then, when the Buduga inevitably bring forth their claims against me to the other clans?” she asked, half sarcastic. The prince chuckled.

“Rest assured that my word and blade will be yours to use against your detractors if they are so needed.” He sealed his declaration with the respectful lowering of his chin to his chest, another jesting display that somehow managed to convey sincerity all the same. “On my honor as your comrade and a warrior of the Mol, dear khagun.”

“Then it is only fair, I suppose, to pledge my stave to you in turn, as fellow warrior and khagun,” she offered. “At least until your country is yours again.” With a mild flourish of her fingers, her stave materialized in hand, its polished wood and delicate filigree gleaming under the moonlight. She held it out before them and waited, pleased when Hien understood enough to grab his blade, his expression curious. As he held it out to mimic her own, she tapped her weapon to his, the silver filigree marking her stave pinging satisfactorily off of the gold lining his sheath. “A gesture of fellowship,” she explained, “and promise of solidarity. At least until this dream of yours is fulfilled, we walk in crimson together.” After all, you did help me fulfill mine.

“Another beautiful gesture, and one I take deeply to heart,” Hien said. His eyes fair sparkled. “I look forward to seeing the hosts of Garlean soldiers that will be running from your wind, rocks, and quality boulders.” Her answering grin was wide.

“Only the best for those I threaten to squish.”

S he stood on a precipice, as she had when it all ended . Her bones still ache d with the process of healing, her horns only having regrown most of their tips in the last several moons. It hurt to walk, to bend, to sit, and the daggers, the bow that were once extensions of her self, now shook within the hold of her hands.

And yet she lived. Against all odds, against the land itself , she breathed.

“Why?” she had asked Temulun. Her old khatun has smiled with a wisdom fit for a goddess.

“Star do not fade before first casting their light. Travelers cannot depart from a destination they have not reached.” Her smile had deepened. “Dreamers will never fully wake from a dream that has not been fulfilled.”

W hen she had held out her hand, Odzaya had felt no choice but to approach. Her spine had protested with every step, and more so when she had crouched near Temulun’s chair. She had closed her eyes in relief when the older woman’s hand had found her brow, cool to the touch against the heat of her forehead, already perspiring from the exhaustion of merely walking the several fulms she had. “I am hardly in a state to travel, eji,” she had said with a self-deprecating smile.

Temulun’s eyes crinkled . “So you say, my dear.”

“Magnai said he does not wish to marry me,” she had blurted suddenly, her skin itching for reasons for reasons she could not name. “That I should leave here. Leave the Steppe.”

Temulun rubbed her fingers against her diadem of scales, soothing. “He sees you for what you are. Even his eyes, so taken by the light of the Sun, cannot deny the truth.”

“What truth?” she had asked.

“That you are no moon, my dear, however beautiful,” Temulun had said. “You shine on your own, brighter than any jewel, any singular body.”

S he had swallowed hard. “Maybe once, eji. Not now .” And then laughed, the sound choked quiet with tears. “I cannot even fly, anymore.”

Again Temulun had smiled. “So you say, my dear.”

“What should I do?” she had asked, suddenly, feeling lost, like the tiny Raen girl she once had been, unknowing of her origins. No beginning, she had thought. And now no end. “Can you tell me? Can the gods?”

“The gods are always speaking, Odzaya,” her eji had said, then, and her eyes had fairly glowed with love. “You are better equipped to hear them than you think.”

She stood on a precipice, as she had at the end . But the end of what? An engagement, a season, an era. A dream, never fulfilled.

But maybe not herself, as she had originally thought.

In the corners of her mind, she heard a voice, quiet and gentle. Come, it said, and when she sought its origin, she found herself facing the direction of the far-distant sea.

She stood on a precipice, as she had at the end. This time, she would not fall, she would leap.

Leap, and let herself dream again.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Chapter 2; Avengers Assemble

*Author’s note*

Like I promised, more chapters still to come. Here we are with chapter 2 ya’ll so I hope all of you are ready to buckle up and prepare yourself for the upcoming rollercoaster ride I’m about to put you guys through, this is just the start of the rising action (speaking as an English major here lol) Now I just have a specific request for all of you, I have linked a video to listen to as a scene is playing, can you all please listen to that song, it will definitely put you all in the scene, thank you all so much. Enjoy this next installment chap.

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@plethora-of-things

@ixchel-9275

@waddles03

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I felt a stroke of my head and when I opened my wolf eyes I saw Wanda kneeling beside me.  My tail wagged softly, and I licked her cheek and she said to me.

“We’re here”. I stood up and looked out the window and saw a place that I had not seen in over 2 years.

The Avengers facility.

It had gotten some upgrades since I was here, but it was still my old home after the whole Ultron fiasco.  I phased into my human form and said out loud.

“God in a way I’ve missed this place, this was my first real home in so long”.

“Mine too Wolfie, mine too” she said as she stood beside me.

“Come on you two, we’re heading in” said Nat as she peeked up at us from the bottom of the ramp.  Wanda and I walked down and that’s when Sam piped in.

“And sleeping beauty awakes”.

“Shut up Birdbrain, I’ve been planning a wedding for the past several weeks and barely had any sleep doing it. When it comes time for you to find yourself a girl and tie the knot, I’ll be saying the same thing to you”. I said as I punched Sam in the arm with my metal arm making him cry out in pain.

“Alright you two, calm down. We’re heading in and we may not be the best people to see right about now” said Steve.  We all then walked inside and walked towards the conference wing to see Rhodey on virtual comm-link with the man that started all this bullshit between the Avengers, Secretary Ross.

I walked between Steve and Natasha as we all piled in and Steve said.

“Mr. Secretary”.

‘You’ve got some nerve, I’ll give you that’ Secretary Ross stated as his hologram walked up towards us.

“You could use some of that right now”. His attention then turned towards me and he said.

‘And you—you’re still alive?’

“Surprise bitch. Throw me to the wolves and I’ll come back leading the pack” I stated smugly with a grin but also showing him my wolf eyes telling him that I was done playing by his rules.  If he hadn’t come in with his fancy suit and law-making small talk, telling us we were a danger to the world, maybe all of this could have been prevented before it even started.

‘The world’s on fire, and you think all is forgiven?’ Ross said as he walked up and stared down Steve.

“I’m not looking for forgiveness, and I’m way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we’re here to fight”. He then walked right up to Ross and finished, “And if you wanna stand in our way….we’ll fight you too”. Ross then turned to Rhodes and said plain and bluntly.

‘Arrest them’.

“All over it”. He then swiped Ross away and soon the table of pointless diplomats and generals disappeared from our sights as the computer beeped.  “That’s a court-martial” he said.  But in the end, he shrugged it off and said as he held out his hand, “It’s great to see you, Cap”.

Steve walked down to Rhodes and the two of them shook hands as Steve said.

“You too, Rhodey”. Nat soon joined in and the two of them hugged each other and soon Rhodey’s attention came onto me.

“And look at you She-wolf, nice suit”. I smiled at him and walked down the steps and hugged the man I looked to as an uncle.

“Ohh Rhodey I missed you, how are your legs?”

“Ahh you know, at least it was just my legs and not my life. But Stark took care of it with these,” I soon took notice of the devices connected to Rhodey’s legs and that’s when he noticed my arm. “What happened there? That didn’t happen in Siberia did it?”

“No, no. Well long story short Klaue blew it up with his sonic canon arm as I was trying to save some boys, then my mother killed him in vengeance. Was depressed for weeks until finally I decided what the hell give me a metal arm like my brother Bucky”.

“Klaue did that to you?” asked Steve.

“Yep, but like I said he’s dead and been dead for 2 years now thanks to my mother”.

“Your mother? Wait I thought your parents died when Hydra invaded your village?” asked Sam.

“Not my birth mom, there’s this woman whose an old friend of T’Challa’s, she trained me, taught me some mystic arts, helped Bucky with his trigger words and long story short I call her my mom since she became like a mother figure for me while I was in Wakanda. You may have heard of the Jaguar, that’s her”.

“Wait that name rings a bell, yeah in South America the Jaguar once stopped an illegal trade of Hydra intel and experiments, that was her?” said Nat.

“Yep, that’s my mommy”. After that exchange of stories, Rhodey then piped up as he got a look at Sam, Wanda and Vision.

“Wow, you guys…..really look like crap. Must’ve been a rough couple of years”.

“Yeah, well the hotels weren’t exactly five star” teased Sam.

“Uh, I think you look great”. We all turned around and soon coming out of a room was Bruce Banner.

Wow, I had not seen this guy ever since Sokovia, he had disappeared supposedly when he tossed Ultron out of the quinjet and then we never heard from him since, but now here he was alive and well.

“Uhh—Yeah I’m….I’m back” he stammered softly.  With one sniff of the air, I could smell the awkwardness as Nat stated at him and she said softly.

“Hi Bruce”.

“Nat” he nodded softly at her.  Silence rang through the air and that’s when I heard Sam whisper.

“This is awkward”.

“You’re telling me, you should sniff the air” I muttered back to him.

We now stood in the conference room with an image of the two aliens we had just fought.  Bruce had explained to us exactly just who these guys were and who we were going to go up against, a mad Titan named Thanos who wanted to destroy half the galaxy once he got all six Infinity stones.

Bruce said that he had already killed half of Thor’s people just shortly after them escaping Asgard from some war with his sister and he didn’t know whether Thor and Loki were still alive or not.

“So, we gotta assume they’re coming back, right?” asked Rhodey.

“And they can clearly find us” stated Wanda.

“We need all hands on deck, where’s Clint?” asked Bruce.

“After the whole accord situation, he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families. They’re on house arrest” explained Nat.

“Who’s Scott?” asked Bruce.

“Ant-Man” answered Steve.

“There’s an Ant-man and a Spider-man?” I rolled my eyes remembering that little punk kid from the airport. He seemed charming but due to us being on opposing teams, I couldn’t really like him. Plus, he was a showoff. “Okay look, Thanos has the biggest army in the universe…and he is not gonna stop until he gets—Vision’s stone”.

“Then we have to protect it” I said.

“No, we have to destroy it” Vision spoke up as he was leaning against the back door.  We all turned to him and he continued, “I’ve been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head about its nature. But also, its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source…something very similar to its own signature, perhaps….its molecular integrity could fail” Vision now stood in front of my sister.

“Yeah and you with it. We’re not having this conversation” Wanda stated firmly.

“Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain Thanos can’t get it” Vision tried to reason with her.

“That’s too high a price” my sister said.  Vision cupped her head gingerly and he said as he stared into her eyes.

“Only you have the power to pay it”.  Wanda looked at him before walking away and not looking back on him as she stood beside me.  I took her hand in mine and squeezed it comfortingly as Vision continued, “Thanos threatens half the universe, one life cannot stand in the way of defeating him”.

“But it should,” said Steve. “We don’t trade lives, Vision”.

“Captain, 70 years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people? Tell me, why is this any different?”

“Because you might have a choice” stated Bruce. He walked up to Steve and Vision and said to Vision, “Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone. All of them mixed together, all of them learning from one another”.

“You’re saying Vision isn’t just the stone?” asked Wanda.

“I’m saying that if we take out the stone, there’s still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts” explained Bruce as he turned toward my sister.

“Can we do that?” asked Nat.

“Not me, not here” said Bruce.

“Well you better find someone and somewhere fast. Ross isn’t just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back” said Rhodey.

I looked down at my metal arm as well as my suit and turned toward Steve who was already looking at me.  I grinned at him and it was then Steve spoke up.

“(Y/n) and I know somewhere”. I smirked softly, and I hopped off the table and said.

“I’ll make the call”. I then walked out of the conference room and walked down the familiar hallways towards my room to get something I knew no one would think of importance.

My essence.

Play video

I picked up as many as I could and then quickly raced outside.  I set the four large essence sticks representing a compass before closing the gaps with stones that I could find.  The rest of the team came out and Bruce said.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just give them a call?”

“Spiritual communication is the faster way to reach the one person I know who can get to T’Challa”.

“Your mother?” asked Wanda. I nodded then I said.

“Now I need you all to step back and try not to disrupt my concentration, what you are about to see will be—intense”.  I then raised my hands up in the air and chanted out in Cherokee.

Graceful winds of the spirit world,

I beseech thee, hear my howls.

I slowly lowered my hands and made a few more hand motions.

The Wolf Messenger seeks to you.

Carry her message with your might.

Carry my message in your spirit arms.

Send my soul to the one I seek.

I picked up my hand which held some dust and soil at the palm of it and I slowly blew on it, sending it into the wind. Around us, the wind slowly began to pick up and suddenly a light began to shine within me and my eyes went pure gold.

I let out an exhale and soon coming out of my was an aurora that almost resembled the Northern Lights and soon it began to take shape in the air until it formed a beautiful blue and purple wolf with stars for eyes.

*3rd Person POV*

The Avengers stared in pure awe at what was happening before them.  Once the wolf took full shape and stood just as tall as (y/n)’s wolf form was, Wanda spoke up.

“(Y/n)? Is that you?” The wolf nodded once before letting out a proud howl and soon shot up like a beam of light before shooting across the sky.

Out in space through the night sky, (y/n)’s spirit ran through the sky, trailing and creating the Northern Lights as she raced across the sky towards Africa.  Even in the daytime, the Northern lights shined proudly just as they would if it had been nightfall.  She continued to race through the skies with great speed until finally she reached just where she needed to be.

Wakanda.

In the palace, Okoye and Morowa were discussing the plans for the upcoming war that was to come when Morowa felt a strong, magical presence heading her way.

“What is it?” asked Okoye.

“Don’t worry nothing bad” answered Morowa.  She then saw the Northern lights suddenly appear in the sky and that’s when a voice cried out to her.

‘Mother. Mother’. She turned around and there standing just a few feet away from her was a giant spirit wolf.  Her spiritual tail gently waving almost like wind was blowing against it and the fur around her neck was doing the same thing.  Okoye suddenly went on the defense holding her spear outward when the wolf spoke again, ‘For someone who always prays to the ancestors, you’d think you’d know magic when you see it Okoye’.

“(Y/n)?” she asked.  The wolf nodded before turning back towards her mother.

“What’s wrong (y/n)?” asked Morowa.

‘Nothing in particular, I just need to ask T’Challa and Shuri something, where are they?’

“I will get them” stated Okoye before leaving the room.  The two waited for a moment when she finally came back with the King and Princess of Wakanda.

“What is it (y/n)?” asked T’Challa.

‘Well for one thing I have to ask this, what army are we looking at so far to fight this war?’

“The King’s guard and the Dora Milaje have been alerted. Those that are left of the Border tribe, the Jabari and of course the chimeras” stated T’Challa.

‘Good, now remember how I told you about the stone and Vision?’ she said. They all nodded. ‘Well we’ve come to the decision to try and remove the stone from Vision, but we can’t do that in New York. Shuri do you think you can do it?’

“Hand over the droid that I seek, and I’ll see what I can do” she stated.

‘Good. And of course, since we’re technically made of up wanted criminals I will need the King’s permission to enter Wakanda’.

“You and your friends may enter; how soon can you get here?”

‘We’ll leave immediately as soon as I get back to my body’ (y/n) said.  Suddenly a bright light shone in the room and (y/n)’s wolf spirit disappeared and was immediately back in her physical body.

*My POV*

My astral wolf form soon entered back into my body and I let out a wide gasp before panting softly.  Steve came up beside me with a hand to my shoulder and I waved him off telling him I was fine.

“I’m fine, I just never get used to the reentry”. He helped me stand up and I said. “Fire up the quinjet, we’re going to Wakanda”.

[tunehummed]

TWO-PLAYER GAME. — 355 sentences from joe iconis and george salazar’s 2018 album plus a few bonuses from live performances! change pronouns as needed. trigger warning for mentions of drugs, depression, and suicide.

BROADWAY, HERE I COME.

‛ i’m high above the city. ’

‛ i’m standing on the ledge. ’

‛ the view from here is pretty. ’

‛ and i step off the edge. ’

‛ and now i’m fallin’, baby, through the sky. ’

‛ it’s my callin’, baby, don’t you cry. ’

‛ i’m fallin’ down through the sky. ’

‛ broadway, here i come. ’

‛ i could almost go to pieces, but i’m not quite there yet. ’

‛ see i’ve been bravin’ crazy weather, drownin’ out my cries. ’

‛ i pull myself together. ’

‛ i’m focused on the prize. ’

‛ and it’s a tune you can hum. ’

‛ will i remain the same, or will i change a little bit? ’

‛ will i feel broken or totally complete? ’

‛ will i retain my name when i’m the biggest, hugest hit? ’

‛ or will i blend in with the rest of the street? ’

‛ the people all are pointing. ’

‛ i bet they’d never guess that the saint that they’re anointing is frightened of the mess. ’

‛ but even though i fear it, i’m playin’ all my cards. ’

‛ baby, you are gonna hear it when i give them my regards. ’

‛ and i refuse to go numb. ’

‛ is it a scream or a cheer? ’

‛ well, never mind, i’ll never find out. ’

‛ cause broadway, i am here. ’

TWO-PLAYER GAME.

‛ find the bad guy, push ‘em aside. ’

‛ then move on forward with your friend at your side. ’

‛ it’s a two-player game. ’

‛ so when they make an attack, you know you got a brother. ’

‛ gonna have your back. ’

‛ remain on course! ’

‛ and if they give you a smack, you use your force! ’

‛ and if you leave your brother behind it’s lame. ’

‛ cause it’s an effed up world. ’

‛ dude, you are cooler than a vintage cassette. ’

‛ it’s just that no one else but me thinks that yet. ’

‛ you’re just a nothing in this high school scheme. ’

‛ but it’s no big cause you and i are a team. ’

‛ nobody here appreciates, but soon we’ll be together where they do. ’

‛ cause guys like us are cool in college. ’

‛ we rule in college. ’

‛ high school is hell, but we navigate it well. ’

‛ it’s what we do. ’

‛ we make it a two-player game. ’

‛ as losers, we have fought together for years. ’

‛ now we’re stuck on a level and i wanna move on. ’

‛ just wait two years whereupon you’ll realize guys like us are cool in college. ’

‛ dude, i know, i get it. ’

‛ but we’re not in college. ’

‛ high school is wack, but we have each other’s back. ’

‛ you know that you are my favorite person. ’

‛ that doesn’t mean that i can’t still dream. ’

‛ is it really true? ’

‛ we’re never not gonna be a team. ’

‛ high school is shit, and you gotta help me conquer it. ’

I LOVE PLAY REHEARSAL.

‛ i love play rehearsal. ’

‛ because it’s the best. because it is fun. ’

‛ and i get depressed as soon as it’s done. ’

‛ see, i just use the word to emphasize the point. ’

‛ i am passionate a lot. ’

‛ i have mad, gigantic feelings. ’

‛ red and frantic feelings about most everything. ’

‛ like if i’m living up to all i’m meant to be. ’

‛ oh, uh… where was i? ’

‛ cause you are equipped with directions and text. ’

‛ life is easy in rehearsal. ’

‛ you follow a script so you know what comes next. ’

‛ sometimes life can’t work out the way it works out in the play. ’

‛ only when i’m in a show am i the center of attention. ’

‛ like when i’m [role] or [role] and can i mention? ’

‛ those were two of my greatest roles. did you see those? ’

‛ and no matter how hard i try, it’s impossible to narrow down the many reasons why. ’

‛ i happiness cry whenever it starts! ’

‛ it’s just so universal, getting to try playing so many parts. ’

‛ most humans do one thing for all of their lives. the thought of that gives me hives! ’

‛ i’ve got so many interests i wanna pursue. ’

‛ and why am i telling this to you? ’

‛ guess there’s a part of me that wants to. ’

‛ my brain is like ‘bzzz.’ my heart is like ‘wow!’ ’

‛ and it’s starting soon. ’

TINY SHORT LITTLE SONG.

‛ monkeys are cool. babies are too. ’

‛ they make funny sounds that sound simple and new. ’

‛ these are sounds that belong in my tiny short little song. ’

ANDY’S SONG.

‛ i ride my bike to work every morning. ’

‛ i ring my bell and make sure my helmet’s tight. ’

‛ MOVE, ASSHOLE! ’

‛ have a nice day! ’

‛ that happy grin is enough to provide me with total satisfaction for a long, long while! ’

‛ and i don’t have a car because of pollution. ’

‛ so completely not cause i’m much too scared to drive. ’

‛ i’ve gotten pretty far in my evolution. ’

‛ i don’t need a lot to be totally alive! ’

‛ you know those bicycle seats cut down on your sperm count. ’

‛ uuuh… i know that cause you tell me everyday. ’

‛ that boy needs to get laid. ’

‛ i tuck my polo shirt in my levis cause it looks SHARP! okay? ’

‛ how come every person i receive tries to tell me i need ‘something more?’ ’

‛ i don’t need a girlfriend, i got a goldfish! ’

‛ i don’t have a secret dream or some bold wish. ’

‛ i’m fine with what i’ve got, i feel totally alive! ’

‛ i never open it or shake it, too afraid i’d break it. ’

‛ i’ve had self-control since way back then. ’

‛ there’s nothing else i really need. ’

‛ you may think that i want more than i let on, but i’m really fine. ’

‛ but i’m really fine, so no need to be appalled. ’

‛ i’m this way by choice and what you can bet is i’ll keep moving forward. ’

‛ i’ll keep moving forward, the opposite of stalled! ’

‛ your bike is LITERALLY stalled in front of my car! ’

‛ i don’t have a car cause they’re overrated. ’

‛ i don’t have a girlfriend and somehow, i survive! ’

‛ and just as i’ve stated, i mean what i’ve said. ’

‛ sure as the helmet’s on my head, i feel totally alive! ’

‛ i’m the opposite of dead, i feel totally alive! ’

THE ANSWER.

‛ when a fire starts in the hull, how much time do you have before it spreads to the deck? ’

‛ minutes? hours? what time is it anyway? ’

‛ how do you tell your family that you wanna quit school and just play with your band? ’

‛ when a fire starts in the hall, how much time do you have before it burns itself out? ’

‛ and why do i feel like i’m choking lately? ’

‛ what am i doing here? ’

‛ what am i looking for? ’

‛ maybe school, or maybe love, or maybe none of the above is the answer. ’

‛ maybe for once i’ll really try, or fuck it all and just get high cause that’s an answer. ’

‛ cause that’s answer. feels like an answer. ’

‛ and who do i wanna be? ’

‛ what’s the furthest distance a ship can be from shore before it loses its signal? ’

‛ maybe i’ll practice my guitar, or read a book, or steal a car and steal the answer. ’

‛ i’ll get a job and i’ll get paid, or get a girlfriend and get laid, and get the answer. ’

‛ i’ll join the army, go to war, give up my smokes or smoke some more. ’

‛ i need an answer. ’

‛ move to the village, shave my head, wind up happy, wind up dead. ’

‛ wind up in debt, wind up in love, or maybe none of the above is the answer. ’

‛ maybe it’s okay that i don’t have a plan and i don’t have a clue. ’

‛ i’m 19 and that doesn’t mean that i should know exactly what i wanna do, right? ’

‛ i’m 19 and that doesn’t that i should know what i wanna do. ’

‛ i’ve got time to make mistakes, make up my mind. ’

‛ i’ve got time enough to find out all the answers. ’

‛ but i am scared and i’m afraid that a decision won’t get made. ’

‛ i’m afraid that a decision won’t get made and i’ll be like this forever. ’

‛ i need help, need extra help to find the answers. ’

‛ what’s the answer? ’

‛ i don’t know. ’

‛ pencils down, papers turned over. time’s up. ’

‛ time’s up. ’

LISA.

‛ ain’t got no future. ’

‛ ain’t got no future, but i got ADD. ’

‛ but i got ADD. ’

‛ i steal from 7/11. ’

‛ i’m fuckin’ ugly. ’

‛ but she pretends she doesn’t care. ’

‛ she laughs and smiles, fingers through my hair. ’

‛ she must be ashamed of me. ’

‛ so i try and i try to change myself. ’

‛ so i try and i try to change myself, but my back’s against a wall. ’

‛ but my back’s against a wall. ’

‛ i don’t deserve all the coolness of her. ’

‛ i don’t deserve [name] at all. ’

‛ pollute my body. ’

‛ she makes me feel clean, clean, clean. ’

‛ i say ‘i feel like i’m drownin’’. ’

‛ and even though she don’t, she say ‘i know what you mean.’ ’

‛ sign on to AOL and think of funny things to say. ’

‛ she’ll always LOL, never pretends like she’s away. ’

‛ because she likes me for some reason. ’

‛ i know i’m dumb. i know i’m ugly. ’

‛ i know that she is not. ’

‛ i know if i were her i’d hate me. ’

‛ i hope that she does not. ’

‛ i hope that she does not hate me. ’

THE VAGABOND.

‛ i’m wearin’ two pair of underwear, some worn out kicks, and my mangy hair. ’

‛ my mangy hair could formerly be referred to as blond. ’

‛ i’m just a couple years out the clink and i’ll take showers in your kitchen sink. ’

‛ i guess i’m what you’d call a vagabond. ’

‛ i been walkin’ the highway for a while. ’

‛ fragrance of the road is my cologne. ’

‛ maybe i get some sun, maybe get a ride. ’

‛ i don’t worry none, let destiny decide. ’

‛ life’s laid back when you’re totally alone. ’

‛ life’s laid back when you’re on your own. ’

‛ see i don’t have much, don’t have much. ’

‛ don’t want much, don’t want much. ’

‛ don’t need much, don’t need much. ’

‛ don’t need much ‘cept maybe the promise of whiskey at the end of the day. ’

‛ i’m just a vagabond lookin’ for a place to stay. ’

‛ see i walk and walk and walk some more. ’

‛ i’m green grass high and a little sore, hopin’ that a car will soon appear. ’

‛ i stick out my thumb and i let it linger. ’

‛ and my eye kinda travels to the ring on my finger. ’

‛ it reminds me of a woman who’s not here. ’

‛ and my chest starts hurting, that’s just cause of the heat. ’

‛ and for the first time in days, i start feelin’ my feet. ’

‛ i start feelin’ the feelin’, the journey’s crushin’ me. ’

‛ cool it, man, just get it out of your head. ’

‛ where’s the car, where’s the car? this road’s fuckin’ dead! ’

‛ but i don’t worry, just repeat instead. ’

‛ yeah, well fleein’ ain’t a problem for me. ’

‛ cause if you get me down then i guarantee, i’ll up and leave and i never will return. ’

‛ i’ll break your heart, i’ll break your back. i won’t lose no sleep. ’

‛ shit, i can’t keep track of every bridge i use and then i burn. ’

‛ and the thought of what i’d done to you is what sends me through the desert and beyond. ’

‛ i’m up for a trade. just take me far away from mistakes i made. ’

‛ take pity on the broken vagabond. ’

‛ the promise of shelter at the end of the day, from the places where the bad bastards swarm and pray. ’

‛ with every bone in my body wanna hear you say that this vagabond can put his walkin’ shoes away. ’

NORMAN.

‛ i haven’t known her very long. ’

‛ think i can tell that something’s wrong. ’

‛ think i spy tear drops clinging to her pale white skin. ’

‛ on this dirty night, i just want her to feel alright. ’

‛ we all get a little sad sometimes. ’

‛ i want to watch her chew her food. ’

‛ i want to watch her in the nude. ’

‛ i want to watch her wash away her ugly sins. ’

‛ and if i’m caught she will not slap my hands because she understands. ’

‛ because she understands that we all act a little bad. ’

‛ we all act a little bad sometimes. ’

‛ i can see your image in picture frames looking ever so formal. ’

‛ if you rearrange the letters in both our names, you get one away from normal. ’

‛ we’re both one away from normal. ’

‛ i’ve never seen a girl like her. ’

‛ we’re not in love. i wish we were! ’

‛ put all your love inside of me. ’

‛ i’m in a trap so set me free. ’

‛ let’s go right now, the two of us, and not look back. ’

‛ and the logic might be hazy, but i’m hoping that she’s just as crazy. ’

‛ we all go a little mad sometimes. ’

‛ we all go a little mad sometimes. don’t we? ’

‛ i can tell you’re hungry and you need some food. ’

‛ if i didn’t offer i’d be awfully rude. ’

‛ it’s not fancy, it’s not stable. but join me if you’re able. ’

SONG OF THE BROWN BUFFALO.

‛ uuuh, might i ask… who the fuck are you? ’

‛ hey, white man. do you know what i am? ’

‛ i’m the brown buffalo by way of mexico. ’

‛ i am an attorney on a lifelong journey. ’

‛ never met a man i couldn’t devour. ’

‛ never met a plan i couldn’t put in place. ’

‛ they attack, i brace. they escape, i chase. ’

‛ i’m a tad temperamental, so get out my face. ’

‛ i’m mad monumental, see my dick from space! ’

‛ i am strength for the weak, i am speed for the slow. ’

‛ this is the song of the brown buffalo. ’

‛ i’m beastly and i’m brutish and my fur is caked with gore. ’

‛ i’m the trouble you’ve been looking for. ’

‛ you don’t know i’m brilliant cause you only hear my roar. ’

‛ i don’t ever hide from a fight that needs to be fought. ’

‛ i would never filter a cigarette or a thought. ’

‛ my mind is open wide and it grows and it grows. ’

‛ inhibitions cast aside, it just goes where it goes. ’

‛ see i’m a great big bad brown buffalo. ’

‛ my head is full of acid, but my heart is kind and pure. ’

‛ he’s the trouble you’ve been looking for! ’

‛ my politics are liberal, but i pack a .44. ’

‛ i pack a .44, which i use to fight for those who are too weak to wage a war. ’

‛ i’m the trouble we’ve been looking for! ’

‛ my mind is open wide, it expands, it expands. ’

‛ every open gate i pried with these hands. ’

‛ leaving no path untried, walks the sands. ’

‛ i’m no ordinary human, no no no. ’

‛ this is my birthright, baby, and this is my song! ’

‛ food, booze, drugs, guns, and radical politics! ’

‛ you’re the brown buffalo. ’

‛ see now you know. ’

MICHAEL IN THE BATHROOM.

‛ i am hanging in the bathroom at the biggest party of the fall. ’

‛ i could stay right here or disappear, and nobody’d even notice at all. ’

‛ i’m a creeper in a bathroom cause my buddy kinda left me alone. ’

‛ but i’d rather fake pee than stand awkwardly or pretend to check a text on my phone. ’

‛ everything felt fine when i was half of a pair. ’

‛ now through no fault of mine, there’s no other half there. ’

‛ now i’m just [name] in the bathroom. ’

‛ [name] in the bathroom at a party. ’

‛ forget how long it’s been. ’

‛ no, you can’t come in! ’

‛ i’m waiting it out till it’s time to leave. ’

‛ i’m just [name] who you don’t know. ’

‛ [name] flyin’ solo. ’

‛ [name] in the bathroom by himself. ’

‛ all by himself. ’

‛ i am hiding, but he’s out there, just ignoring all our history. ’

‛ memories get erased and i’ll get replaced with a newer, cooler version of me. ’

‛ i’ll get replaced with a newer, cooler version of me. ’

‛ i hear a drunk girl sing along to whitney through the door. ’

‛ now there’s no one to make fun of drunk girls with anymore! ’

‛ i half regret the beers. ’

‛ i’ll wait as long as i need till my face is dry. ’

‛ i’ll just blame it on weed or something in my eye. ’

‛ they’re gonna start to shout soon. ’

‛ oh hell yeah, i’ll be out soon! ’

‛ it sucks he left me here alone. ’

‛ here in this teenage battlezone. ’

‛ i feel the pressure blowin’ up. ’

‛ my big mistake was showin’ up. ’

‛ i throw some water in my face and i am in a better place. ’

‛ i go to open up the door, but i can’t hear knocking anymore. ’

‛ and i can’t help but yearn for a different time. ’

‛ then i look in the mirror and the present is clearer. ’

‛ this is a heinous night. ’

‛ i wish i stayed at home in bed, watching cable porn. ’

‛ wish i offed myself instead, wish i was never born! ’

‛ i’m just [name] who’s a loner, so he must be a stoner. ’

‛ god, he’s such a loser! ’

‛ all you know about me is my name. ’

‛ awesome party, i’m so glad i came. ’

THE GOODBYE SONG.

‛ the time has come. ’

‛ i’m flying away. ’

‛ mouth is numb. heart don’t know what to say. ’

‛ and although i’ll be out of sight, dear, know i’ll be right here. ’

‛ right here forever. ’

‛ and when you look to the night skies, don’t think of goodbyes. ’

‛ think how i’m right here. ’

‛ thank you for teaching me lessons. ’

‛ thank you for listening to mine. ’

‛ don’t be scared, you’ll be fine. ’

‛ come! ’

‛ no, you can’t come with me. ’

‛ stay! ’

‛ i wish i could. ’

‛ goodbye. ’

‛ i know it’s hard to say. ’

‛ i’d stay if i could. ’

‛ i’d stay if i could, but the universe won’t let me. ’

‛ but the universe won’t let me, so please be good. ’

‛ so please be good and don’t you forget me. ’

KABOOM.

‛ i never cared about caring much before. ’

‛ i rolled my eyes and even texting was a chore. ’

‛ i was your average heartless kid. ’

‛ hey, read this book. ’

‛ the book is by some guy who’s dead. ’

‛ i read it and i’m glad i did. ’

‛ it was by a person who i never knew, but the words made sense and the message too. ’

‛ the words made sense and message too. ’

‛ it made me fired up, it made me care. ’

‛ i wasn’t scared, i was not alone. ’

‛ made me wanna make something of my own. ’

‛ something wired up that i could share. ’

‛ and that person i would never see just totally affected me. ’

‛ is that legacy? ’

‛ i never cared about fireworks before. ’

‛ i thought that they were just for babies, nothing more. ’

‛ i was your average fucking kid. ’

‛ i was your average fucking kid, but then i started giving things a second look. ’

‛ but then i started giving things a second look and realized fireworks were kind of like that book. ’

‛ and i’m really glad i did. ’

‛ if handled with intelligence and care, the explosion and the crashing sound can seen and felt for miles around. ’

‛ it reaches folks who weren’t even there. ’

‛ even though i didn’t see the blast, i watched glitter in the sky blow past. ’

‛ and that’s legacy. ’

‛ what do i leave behind? ’

‛ which is why we gotta make a spark. ’

‛ which makes a flame and then will leave its mark for someone else to find. ’

‛ and that person who lived dangerously makes me braver than i used to be. ’

‛ and now i’m fired up and how i care. ’

‛ and i always squeeze my bloody heart and i let it drip into my art. ’

‛ and wow, i’m fired up. ’

‛ the light that shines on the distant shore is the light i will be aiming for, forever. ’

‛ it’s where i want to go. ’

‛ and i’m gonna reach it. ’

‛ oh, on with the wonderful show! ’

[yesvac]

back 2 san jose island

no meme here is my lesbian play for anyone interested let me know what u think : ) also when i paste onto tumblr it may fuck up the formatting but i promise i formatted it correctly in docs. 

warning: lol (lots of lesbians) also this is zombie apocalypse

Back to San Jose Island

SETTING

Post-nuclear apocalypse life in Texas, USA: now “Tejas.” The sun beats down heavily and the dust settles in every corner. There are walls around each human settlement made from wood, tires, and junk metal. Every character is dirty and rough around the edges.

CHARACTERS

ZOEY: A small and fiery young adult with a habitual tendency to pills and other drugs. When she isn’t high, she’s confrontational, witty, sarcastic, and good with her hands. To make money, she crafts weapons. Her manner is usually humorous, even in dangerous situations.

ALEX: An apocalypse assassin with a mysterious and unreadable disposition. She is ambitious, impersonal, and unemotional. She rarely jokes or displays any personal thoughts or emotions, and kills without mercy. She is on the hunt for the cure to the zombie virus plaguing her time. 

WILLIE: Zoey’s best friend, and drug dealer. During the day, he runs an odds-and-ends shop in his village, but he sells drugs under the table to an assortment of customers including Zoey. His disposition is hunched and generally nervous. He is too afraid to arm himself, even if he has the ability to. He rarely leaves the walls of his town. He wears denim and layers of flannel.

SCENE ONE

Downtown in a post-apocalyptic village by the name of SAN MARCOS. It’s near-sunset, almost dark, and the decent folk have their children and themselves inside. In the apocalypse, lawlessness reins; as nighttime falls, we hear music from bars get louder, and the daytime businesses close up. ZOEY enters through the front gate, armed with a postapocalypse-urban leather jacket and several knives; she’s not from here. As she walks towards the downtown area with the shops and bars, she hears a bang from inside a business, and a crash.

ZOEY

Wha- HEY!

As a gunshot explodes, ZOEY ducks down and covers her head with her arms.  She looks terrified, and then angry.

Willie, I swear to fuck if you’re shooting at me, I’m gonna be really mad.

She rolls her eyes, and then sneaks from her crouching position to open the front door of the business. It unlocks with a click, and we see WILLIE and ALEX.

ALEX, strong, muscular, and survivor-esque, is holding a pistol with her right hand, pointed directly at ZOEY’s face. In her left, she has WILLIE in a stronghold with a serrated machete pressed to his throat. WILLIE, a coward, looks confused and terrified.

ZOEY

Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, alright? I’m chill. So is Willie. So why do you have my friend in a headlock?

ALEX’s face is cold and hard. She looks at ZOEY, assessing her.

ALEX

Not for any reason you’d have to worry about. So I suggest you turn around and leave.

ZOEY

No can do, my friend. Your name is…? Or is that another thing I’m not allowed to know?

ZOEY cocks her head to the side. She’s ballsy. ALEX isn’t impressed.

ALEX

I could kill you with one shot. It’d be clean and quick.

WILLIE whimpers in fear. ALEX tightens her hold on him.

ZOEY

Then do it. What’s stopping you?

ALEX narrows her eyes.

ALEX

What’s stopping me... is that’s what you want. I’m not wasting a bullet to fund your suicide.

ZOEY

I’m offended! Why, even turned on!

ALEX’s expression goes from controlled to confused and rigid. She obviously was not expecting that. She attempts to hide her embarrassment.

ALEX

empathetic

Please, just leave. It’ll make it easier for everyone.

then, firm

I’m serious.

ZOEY

I’m not leaving. But the first thing you can do is let Willie go. He’s not a threat. When we were six, he cried because a butterfly landed on his nose. Just let him go.

ALEX thinks for a moment, and then loosens her hold on WILLIE. He sputters, dropping to the floor and scrambling away from ALEX, towards ZOEY. ALEX’s other hand goes to her gun, which she continues to point between ZOEY’s eyes.

ALEX

Fine. Whatever. But I’m not leaving here until I get the information I need. And I have no reservations about killing either of you to get what I want.

ZOEY

Okay, we get it, you’re a ruthless murderer. What is it that you need so you can go the fuck away?

ALEX

Your friend here. He sells goods.

ZOEY smirks. WILLIE is looking at his feet, still sitting on the floor, barely together.

ZOEY

I’m aware. He’s a damn good dealer. Got the best prices in town.

ALEX

I get it. He sells drugs under the table. It’s pretty obvious. I don’t care about that. But the suppliers for drugs are the same guys who make what I need.

ZOEY

And what is that, exactly?

ALEX

You wouldn’t understand.

The two women are slowly becoming more confrontational. ZOEY, a bold and fiery survivor, is becoming more fearless, even with the barrel of ALEX’s gun pressed to her forehead. She howls out in sarcastic laughter when ALEX says this.

ZOEY

Why? Because I’m a scavenger and you’re some type of big shot? What do you do for a living, miss? Paid-by-the-hour Debby Downer? Professional asshole?

ALEX holsters her gun, sighing, and rolling her eyes, obviously frustrated with the situation.

ALEX

It’s a scientific development not revealed to the public. It’s not something most could understand. Even me.

WILLIE

shakily

I told you, I don’t know where it is, or what it is for that matter.

ALEX

That doesn’t help me at all. Just help me and we can be through with this. Nobody has to get hurt.

WILLIE

stuttering

I can tell you my supplier’s name. But if I do you can’t tell him it’s me -- if I loose this avenue of work-- I could--

ALEX

I decide that, kid, not you. Tell me the name.

WILLIE

His name-- his name is Dustin Bigg. Goes by Dusty. He has bigger connections than I even know. He’s not at this compound. It’s about a 3 hour drive south of here. In a compound called Wholesale, on San Jose Island.

ALEX thinks for a moment, nods in WILLIE’s direction, and turns to ZOEY.

ALEX

Don’t follow me.

She walks out, the shop bell ringing as the door closes behind her. WILLIE breathes a sigh of relief.

ZOEY

What the fuck was that about?

WILLIE

I’m not sure, really. Not sure why she came to me, anyway. But when she first got here, she was yammering about something about a cure.

ZOEY

A cure? Really? She’s one of those nutjobs?

WILLIE

I guess so. Fuck. I really hope she doesn’t kill my supplier. If I was cut off I’d… I’d…

WILLIE is clearly very stressed. He’s a bit less anxious as when ALEX was in his store, but he still runs his hands through his hair, and his face is soaked in sweat.

ZOEY

Listen, Willie. Did you get her name?

WILLIE

Why does it matter? Why’d you come here anyway?

ZOEY

I was hoping you could, y’know, set me up.

WILLIE looks off into the distance for a moment, in thought.

WILLIE

I don’t feel very good about this.

ZOEY

What?

WILLIE

Well… you know...

ZOEY

I don’t.

WILLIE

Your problem.

ZOEY

With increasing anger

I don’t have a problem, Willie. I just saved your life and now you don’t want to sell me drugs? What about selling more to support your family, eh?

WILLIE

I know, Zoey. Settle down. C’mon.

WILLIE is scared of ZOEY. It makes sense - she is very confrontational, and not afraid of anything. WILLIE’s afraid of everything. He ducks behind the front counter and emerges with a box of powders in different colors.

ZOEY

Three, please, of these. And one of those. Thanks.

ZOEY hands him money, and he stows it away. ZOEY puts the drugs into a pocket in her bag.

ZOEY

I think I’m gonna go after her. Did you catch her name?

WILLIE

Are you crazy? She almost killed us!

ZOEY

No, she didn’t. She pointed a gun at me and put a knife against your throat. She didn’t have an intent to kill that entire time. It was hilarious.

WILLIE

under his breath

You’re so strange.

ZOEY

A name, Willie?

WILLIE

I think I caught it when she was looking through her belongings in her bag. I think her name is Alex.

ZOEY

Alex.

ZOEY nods at WILLIE, smiles, and heads out of the shop. The bell dings behind her. WILLIE sighs, and slumps against his counter in exhaustion.

As soon as ZOEY leaves, she spots a car parked nearby. The windows are open and playing jazz. It’s dark outside, and the sky is clear. ALEX sits on her car hood, smoking a cigarette and looking up at the stars.  ZOEY approaches the car slowly.

ZOEY

Boo!

ALEX doesn’t flinch.

ALEX

Hi. (beat) I think I told you not to follow me?

ZOEY

Yeah, but how could I resist? You, just sitting here, smoking a pack of Marlboros. It’s like all my teenage lesbian dreams at once.

Another moment of embarrassed awkwardness. ALEX doesn’t know how to respond to ZOEY’s flirting - but it doesn’t bother ZOEY.

Can I sit with you?

ALEX

No.

ZOEY

Okay.

ZOEY sits down on the concrete nearby ALEX’s car, and pulls out her own thing to smoke - a marijuana joint. She pulls out a black lighter and lights up, taking a breath in and holding it before blowing it out towards the sky. ALEX watches her smoke.

ALEX

Why are you still here?

ZOEY

I don’t know, Alex.

ALEX’s eyebrows furrow.

ALEX

How did you-

ZOEY

It doesn’t matter. Do you want to hit this?

ALEX looks confused, but nods, and gestures of ZOEY to climb onto the car hood with her. They sit next to each other, and ZOEY hands ALEX the joint to smoke. ALEX coughs a bit; ZOEY smiles.

ALEX

I know your name too, you know. Zoey.

ZOEY

I’m flattered.

ALEX

I needed to know how to manipulate Willie. You were just on a list of possible ins.

ZOEY

Not so flattered anymore. Hey, listen, why is this thing-- why is it so important to you?

ALEX gets a look on her face like she’s fixated on something in the distance.

ALEX

It’s not just important to me, Zoey. It’s important for all of us. For the whole world.

ZOEY’s eyes narrow.

ZOEY

What, you’re gonna save the world, or something?

ALEX

It’s not that simple - easier said than done, as always. But that’s the goal.

ZOEY

Holier-than-thou bullshit.

ALEX

Excuse me?

ZOEY

There’s always people who say they’re so close to finding the cure. That there’s a group, or a compound, or a state out there with a vaccination. A medical procedure that’s going to help. Some sort of herbal concoction of ancient medicine that grants immunity. Some far-off procedure to make the dead once again living. A modern medicine that will make walkers not walk anymore. But they’re all bullshit.

The two girls are quiet for a moment. ZOEY continues to smoke.

ALEX

That’s a generalization. (beat) Don’t you want to have hope for the future?

ZOEY

Sure. Doesn’t everyone? But I’m not going to put my faith into every medical miracle I hear about.

ALEX

Suit yourself. I want to-- no, need to be a part of something that is bigger than myself. I need to help.

ZOEY

And helping is pressing a knife to my friend’s throat to get him to tell you the name of his superiors?

ALEX

Is that what this is about? Geez, I barely even roughed him up.

ZOEY

What this is about is: I want to know why you have so much faith in finding a cure. Are you just naive and stupid, or are the people you work for- are they the real deal?

ALEX

First off. I don’t work for anyone. I’m solo. Keeps things simpler. And the trail I’m following -- I think -- could be a lead to curing undeath.

ZOEY

I want to join you.

ALEX

No.

ZOEY

Come on. You didn’t even think about it.

ALEX

I have been thinking about it ever since you entered Willie’s shop. It’s clear that you’re itching to do something, to latch onto anything. I knew you were going to ask me. I was waiting for you.

ZOEY

Don’t give yourself too much credit. I’m not exactly subtle. (beat) Why not?

ALEX

You’d be a liability. I like working alone. I’m not good with people. You’re probably not properly trained. You could die. You could turn against me and kill me in my sleep. There’s a lot of reasons why.

ZOEY

But I bet you want to.

ALEX’s lip quivers. She looks away.

Right? There’s no other reason why you would have waited for me. Just to tell me off? I don’t think so. To give me another chance to talk to you. To convince you.

ALEX

Do you have family?

ZOEY

No.

ALEX

Okay. Let’s go.

ZOEY breaks out in a smile, one that ALEX finds indecent. ALEX throws her lit cigarette onto the pavement and gets into her car, turning it on. ZOEY celebrates her victory with a grin and a personal congratulatory motion before getting into the passengers seat. The car backs out and begins to drive out of the gates of the small town and into the open roads.

SCENE TWO

ALEX’s car. ALEX has been driving for a while, and kills the motor by turning her keys. She then turns to face ZOEY, which, to her surprise, has fallen asleep in the passenger’s seat.

ALEX

Quietly, to herself

Shit. Should I wake her up?

ALEX reaches over tentatively to touch ZOEY’s arm, and ZOEY, in her sleep, lets out a snore. ALEX laughs and smiles to herself, shaking her head.

I’ll just give her a second.

After cranking down her window, ALEX pulls out a pack of cigarettes, and takes a cigarette out. She lights it easily with practiced fingers and a black lighter. She inhales and exhales, staring into the distance. After a minute, ZOEY wakes up, crinkling her nose.

ALEX

Awake?

ZOEY

Yeah, thanks to your iron lungs.

ALEX

Want a smoke?

ZOEY

No thank you.

ZOEY yawns.

Where are we?

ALEX

We left from Rio Vista about a couple hours ago. I’m not sure when you fell asleep. It’s pretty late, so I pulled over outside a smaller settlement.

ZOEY

And where are we going again? You know, security of self, and all?

ALEX

Rolling her eyes

You’re secure. But fine. We’re on our way to San Jose island.

ZOEY

I think I remember that name. But before the outbreak - it wasn’t somewhere people lived, right?

ALEX

Correct.

ZOEY

Then why do you need to go there? Aren’t you looking for someone?

ALEX

There weren’t people there before the outbreak. But there are now. Like Willie said - a settlement called Wholesale. And there are also several plants and animals native to just that island that will help in the search for a cure. Ingredients that can be used for medical experimentation.

ZOEY

Wow, you’re a nerd. Okay. San Jose Island. How far away is that from here, exactly?

ALEX

It’ll be another 2 hours on the road, and a little boat ride. Unless you want to swim.

ZOEY

I loved swimming before the outbreak, actually.

ALEX smiles in a sad way. You can tell she misses “before the outbreak” life.

ALEX

Me too.

ZOEY

What were you like, before?

ALEX

Why do you need to know?

ZOEY

C’mon. You let me come with you. Humor me.

ALEX

Well…

A VISION OF THE PAST. In front of the parked car, we see a young child version of ALEX walk gracefully to front center stage. She is wearing flowy clothing.

I used to love to dance.

Light, jovial string music begins to play, and PAST ALEX dances in a graceful ballerina style along with it.

ZOEY

You don’t dance anymore?

PAST ALEX dances off of the stage and the music fades out. ALEX’s face darkens.

ALEX

What’s the point? Dancing doesn’t help anyone.

ZOEY

But it made you happy, right?

ALEX

Zoey, leave it.

ZOEY

I’m just saying… even though the world sucks, you still have to do things for yourself sometimes, right? I don’t know… maybe you’d be happier if you did.

ALEX

There really isn’t time for me to be putting aside for plies, Zoey.

ZOEY

Alright, alright. So what’s the plan?

ALEX

We’re parked just outside Big Bend. It’s a smaller settlement. I think we could probably find someplace to sleep there.

ZOEY

Sounds good to me.

The two girls exit ALEX’s car and walk to the gates of the settlement. A man in various metal and leather armor greets them, eyeing them suspiciously.

GUARD

Who are you?

ALEX

We’re just travellers. Hoping to stay the night.

GUARD

Your car - it caught the attention of the herd. They’re coming near here. Know how to fight?

ALEX

Sure.

ZOEY makes a face. She’s not so sure.

GUARD

Okay. If you can help me fight ‘em off, you’ve got a room for the night.

ZOEY

We can’t just, I don’t know, go inside?

GUARD

Not exactly. They’d be clawing at the walls, and our defenses aren’t the best they’ve ever been.

ALEX pulls out a large combat knife from her belt-holster and holds it at the ready. ZOEY, realizing that this is happening (whether she likes it or not), pulls a machete from her cross-body strap holster.

GUARD

They’re coming.

A group of 4 zombies clamber onstage, towards our main characters. Silently, ALEX lunges forward and plants the blade of her knife in the nearest zombie, forcing it to the ground and pulling out her knife. For good measure, she stomps on its head as she moves forward to perform the same procedure on the next one. The guard smashes one walker’s head against the walls of the compound, and ZOEY stabs the last one in the chest with her machete. It gets stuck, the walker still growling and struggling to bite her, and she yells for help. ALEX appears heroically, and stabs the walker bluntly in its cranium.

ZOEY

out of breath, filled with adrenaline

Thanks.

ALEX nods. She is still impersonal. They fight off the next 3 walkers that come near the walls.

GUARD

I think that’s the worst of it. I could get the rest of them. Thanks - y’all aren’t half bad.

ZOEY

smiling

It’s all her.

The guard calls up to another guard elevated in a watcher position, and the gate to the compound opens. BIG BEND. It is a smaller compound, and the girls catch it in the dead of the night. Almost everyone is asleep, and the buildings are quiet. The one building that seems lively is the bar of the town, with music playing from inside, and the lights are still lit.

GUARD

Second house on the left. My wife and I live there. We have a room for you two to stay in.

ALEX

Thank you. I appreciate it.

The gate closes, and the girls walk inside.

ZOEY

It’s kind of nice, isn’t it?

ALEX

No nicer than the other dozens of compounds around Tejas. Why?

ZOEY

I don’t know. Look at the flowerbeds. It seems like life here is slower.

ALEX

It’s… nice, I guess. Just not exactly what I’m looking for.

ALEX yawns.

Let’s get to that room.

ZOEY

Sure.

They walk silently to the house that the guard has indicated, and ALEX knocks three raps on the brightly painted front door. There is silence in response, and then some rustling inside. The door opens a crack, and the girls are met with an adolescent teenage boy in pajamas. He peers at them strangely. It seems like he has just woken up.

ALEX

Um- hi, there. We’re travellers. The guard at the gate told us we could stay in a room here.

BOY

Oh. Sure. That was my dad. Come in, I’ll show you.

The house is nicely decorated with knick-knacks of the past world covering each surface. There are garden gnomes, pottery, glass animals, carved woods, framed pictures, and other worn odds-and-ends. Also, there are some mounted heads of animals, indicating successful hunting. ZOEY looks around in wonder and amazement. She has never seen a home like this.

The boy brings them up a set of stairs to a room and opens the door to the bedroom. We see that it only has one bed. The room is tiny, and there isn’t much floor space - but the bed is big enough for two people.

ALEX

Oh.

ALEX shifts uncomfortably.

Is there another mattress anywhere?

BOY

No. Sorry, miss… Goodnight.

The boy exits, closing the door behind him, and ALEX and ZOEY are left alone again. They both look like they’re not sure what to do. The awkwardness in the air is palpable.

ZOEY

Well, I guess we should start getting ready for bed.

ALEX

Zoey, I can’t.

ZOEY

Can’t what?

ALEX

Um…

ALEX looks over to the bed, and back at ZOEY.

ZOEY

Oh, come on. Get over yourself. You say “I’m the smartest person you’ll ever meet” but you can’t even share a bed with someone?

ALEX

Shut the fuck up. I’m just saying. I don’t want to… you know, cross any boundaries.

ZOEY

Well, you’re welcome to sleep on the floor - be my guest. But there’s a bed, and I’m tired. So I’m sleeping on it.

There is a bit of tenseness in the room that isn’t direct, but awkward. ALEX begins to take off her equipment, including holsters and knives and guns, and arranges them neatly on the dresser opposite to the bed.

ALEX

I’m… I’m sorry. I’ll sleep in the bed.

ZOEY

You don’t have to be sorry. It’s okay.

ZOEY strips off her outerwear, including her shirt and pants with no regard to the other girl in the room. ALEX immediately blushes, averting her eyes. ZOEY yawns, and burrows into the blankets on the bed. ALEX, with her outerwear still on, tentatively pulls back the blankets to get under them.

Are you going to wear your jacket to bed?

ALEX

I’m… I… I think so.

ZOEY

Okay.

ALEX reaches over to the nightstand and extinguishes the lantern providing the room with light. She lays back into the bed, staring at the ceiling.

ALEX

Zoey?

ZOEY

Yeah?

ALEX

Goodnight.

ZOEY

Night, Alex.

SCENE 3

THE NEXT MORNING, the BIG BEND GUEST BEDROOM. Through the window shines a morning light. ALEX wakes up first, and finds through wary eyes that she took off her jacket in the night, now only wearing a worn cutoff black t-shirt and pants. She and ZOEY are accidentally intertwined, and it makes ALEX blush severely, quickly retracting her hands from their place around ZOEY’s waist. She shakes her head, and begins to redress, but ZOEY wakes up.

ZOEY

Ugh. It feels so early.

ALEX

Do you sleep ‘till noon every day? God, I wish I was as careless as you.

ZOEY

Hey, back off. For real though, I slept well last night.

ALEX blushes again, turning away as ZOEY gets out of bed. In the morning light, ZOEY is beautiful: medium-dark skin in a worn set of underwear, sleepy eyes and messy, dark hair. It is impossible for ALEX to look at her. ZOEY begins to redress.

ALEX

Yeah. Me too.

ZOEY

What’s on the schedule for today?

ALEX

I think we can get there today. Just a couple more hours of driving. And then we find Dusty Biggs.

ZOEY

Know anything about Dusty before Willie told you about him?

ALEX

Oh yeah. Plenty. He’s a big name in medicine and drugs. Kind of a druggie himself.

ZOEY

Sounds like a criminal I could chill with.

ALEX

Really?

ZOEY

What! I like junkies! They’re relatable.

ALEX

This junkie’s a bad guy. He likes to do hard drug experiments on people. It’s… not fun stuff.

ZOEY

Experiments?

ALEX

You don’t want to know. Let’s go.

The two exit the GUEST BEDROOM, and appear downtown BIG BEND. People walk and chat, mostly gathering around dining area of the compound, having a breakfast with eggs and vegetables. On the way out, ALEX grabs them two water bottles and two protein bars. They exit BIG BEND, entering…

ALEX’s car. As ALEX turns the key and drives away, ZOEY buckles in and leans back. After leaving the compound, ALEX gets onto the road and is freely driving.

ZOEY

Hey, Alex.

ALEX

What?

ZOEY

You’ve been weird since this morning.

ALEX’s eyebrows furrow.

ALEX

What do you mean?

ZOEY

Well, for starters, you won’t look at me. I thought it was maybe exhaustion but I’m more tired than you. So what’s wrong?

ALEX remembers the morning, the way ZOEY looked in the sunlight from the window. She also remembers how warm her arms and torso were from being beside ZOEY in the night.

ALEX

Nothing.

ZOEY

No! Something’s up.

ALEX

outburst

Fine. Fine! I woke up with my arms around you.  

Awkward silence.

ZOEY

Well, that’s okay.

ALEX

No, Zoey, it’s…

ZOEY

Alex, why are you acting so weird about it? I think you’re cute. Is there something wrong about that?

ALEX

It’s just…

ZOEY

If you don’t like girls I get it, I just wanted to shoot my shot, y’know--

ALEX

Zoey, I like girls. Shit, I mean, I like you. It’s just weird. Romance. I feel like I’m not… great at it.

ZOEY

Oh. Well that’s silly.

ALEX

Silly?

ZOEY

Yeah. Silly. The world ended 8 years ago. When I was 10, and I bet when you were pretty young, too.

ALEX

I was 11.

ZOEY

We grew up without any guidance on relationships, how to flirt, how to act on your feelings in a healthy way… It makes sense to feel awkward about it.

ALEX

Why don’t you?

ZOEY

Simple lack of shame when I’m around cute girls.

ALEX laughs, but she’s still blushing. She pulls over on the side of the road, and parks the car, killing the ignition. She looks at ZOEY.

ALEX

Last night… It was nice.

ZOEY smiles, a bit sadly. She puts her hand on the side of ALEX’s face, brushing ALEX’s dark hair behind her ear. Their faces are close.

ZOEY

Quietly

Oh, really?

ALEX

Yes.

ZOEY leans forward, her eyes fluttering closed as ALEX’s do at the same time. Their lips connect, A CHASTE KISS, but one that makes ALEX’s whole body quiver and shrink up. They disconnect, and ALEX avoids eye contact, blushing immensely.

ZOEY

You’re adorable.

ALEX

No, you’re--

Suddenly, A WALKER!

It bangs its head against the window on the driver’s side, splattering glass all over ALEX! ZOEY screams, and ALEX’s words fade to a yell as she manuevers to turn on the car. She ignites the engine, and starts to drive, but the walker bangs its head into the window again. ZOEY, yelling, lunges forward with her machete, nailing it in the head and tossing it out the window.

After they get onto open road, ZOEY begins to laugh, manic.

ALEX

What? What, you weirdo?

ZOEY

Between fits of laughter

My- my machete. I left it back there.

ALEX

Why… is that funny?

ZOEY

I don’t know!

ZOEY takes a few breathes, dizzy with laughter.

But aren’t you so happy to be alive?

ALEX smiles.

[mihanada]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation / Mo Dao Zu Shi Final Trailer

“Final Trailer” because I lost count of how many of these we got lol.

If you read Chinese, you now know something about the year it takes place in (probably)! I can only read ‘Year 25′ haha. I guess the first two have something to do with the era name...

Anyways, we have the burning Burial Mounds again in this shot.

lol Gusu Lan...you really don’t like giving clear screenshots do you? So stingy! Their cloud motif flag was at a bad angle + difficult to see due to the colors in the opening and now you can’t get a good screenshot of the flag with their name on it...

So: Jiang, Jin, (can’t actually freaking read this but it’s Lan), and Nie

all four clans are here! Pretty sure we actually got this a while back, but I’m not sure if I screencapped it.

Alright, we’ve seen these shots before...

Some text I can’t read...something about 13 years later...

Ah! An extension of the summoning scene!

Mo Xuanyu is appropriately...crazed? here. His eyes are bloodshot and wide open, brow furrowed, his voice has that desperate strain in it, plus the grimace or tension in his mouth. The red energy from the summoning and the darkness gives him that sinister feel.

Can’t forget how he still has his makeup on! Instead of looking silly, because of the lighting, it looks sinister...he looks like an evil ghost himself.

Don’t think we saw this before. It’s a shot of the summoning circle, then a silhouette of Mo Xuanyu weaving before falling down.

Mo Village. The voice over is saying something about the Mo family. I think it’s one of the Lan disciples talking (sorry, can’t tell your voices apart yet...)

It’s the spirit attraction flag that Mo Ziyuan stole! It’s...actually kinda cute. I always imagined them a bit larger. Nice design though.

Is this our dear friend??

This is Madam Mo in some blue flames or something.

Ah, so this part is actually

Lan Sizhui taking off his outer garment to use against the hand. (you can tell it’s Sizhui and not Jingyi by the long strands of hair at his sideburns; Jingyi doesn’t have them.

Then we get the signal flare calling for help!

Why you gotta show sad baby Jin Ling. why.

You know, if you take this totally out of context-

I’m gonna stop there before I die of laughter or Jiang Cheng curses me or something. xD

There’s ultra pissed Jiang Cheng stroking his ring/Zidian.

You can see the design a bit better in this shot. The pattern is kinda cute, it looks like the whip that comes out from the ring.

I want to know if they ever needed to draw this guy smiling or does he just have three modes: resting bitch face, angry, angry 2.0.

I’ve always liked the Yunmeng Jiang’s purple uniforms though...

sorry for the Jiang Cheng spam

how do you play this standing up and holding one end I want to know

finally got a good shot of the Lan sect’s clouds motif except it’s on the clothes.

Lan Wangji’s pretty face!

I like this shot of his forehead band and the sparks drifting in the background.

I’m pretty sure the only way you can show emotion on his face 70% of the time is with his eyes narrowing and even then you don’t really know what he’s thinking unless you’re Lan Xichen.

Wen Ning flying to the rescue! Ok but that is a slightly terrifying sight if you were a random cultivator on that damn mountain just trying to do your job haha.

Look at those demonic eyes! And holy shit your nails, Wen Ning. Come to think of it...he’s dead. Do his nails and hair still grow despite that?

More Wen Ning because why not. The animation of him wildly attacking is pretty nice, you definitely get that unhinged feeling from it.

Speaking good animation, I laugh every time I see our dear friend’s arm flopping around. I always wondered how the heck this thing moved.

Nice fight sequence, nice fight sequence. Fluid, I can actually see all of their movements when I pause the video. Needs a gif.

Yess fight on the roof! Wei Wuxian, what were you doing, going on a liquor run in the rain.

Ah, Lan Wangji is the real mvp here. He continues holding the umbrella! lol 

Uh, considering the Lan people’s arm strength this is probably more treacherous than it seems?? xD

I love how Wei Wuxian just dodges around though, his movements are always so fluid, carefree, go with the flow - just like his personality.

Oh! The waterborne abyss scene! Very nice, very nice.

Yess, we get to see more of the awkward “flying on my sword” scenes. I still think it’s sort of hilarious but ok. um. at least it’s cooler than a broom right??

lol Wei Wuxian do you just want to be different and not wear the Yunmeng Jiang uniform or something. (I think it can be implied that he does wear it in the novel, it’s just the animation decided to go with a variation of his black clothes. notably, he at least seems to have different styles at different times in his life so they aren’t all the same outfit like is so popular in certain shows)

donghua: we must color code our characters for the viewers’ convenience

after this we get to see these two being blown around by the force in the air but I won’t subject you to seeing Jiang Cheng’s ass so we’ll move on

wait IT REALLY IS LIKE SURFING

Jiang Cheng why do we almost see more of you than Lan Wangji in this trailer huh.

But also: young Jiang Cheng! Aw, baby face. Still scowling though.

So Wei Wuxian’s eyes were...purplish grey.

that’s su she the ass. look, you wouldn’t have lived to form your own sect if this guy hadn’t rescued your sorry ass because you decided to mindlessly copy Lan Wangji and lost your sword.

Also, this waterborne abyss is sort of even scarier in the donghua just because it actively SENDS TENDRILS TO TRY AND CATCH YOU.

Ok.

So, now that we have two images at approx. the same angles of Mo Xuanyu and Wei Wuxian (young), let’s compare:

Mo!Wuxian.

young Wei Wuxian. Ignore the derpy face.

I actually am sort of impressed at how they made very subtle changes to his looks. While you can totally ID Mo Xuanyu as Wei Wuxian (they’re like twins lol) they don’t actually look the same. Mo!Wuxian does look older (he’s certainly older than 15 even if we don’t know the exact age). the young, original WWX has more of a baby face.

and, like I’ve pointed out before, he has that ahoge and his fringe curls more than Mo Xuanyu’s.

they’re still practically twins lol.

Don’t know if they’re actually going to bother mentioning Su She’s name, but here he is. lol he’s like a freaking rag doll.

also, nice shot of Wei Wuxian’s outfit from this time period?

In this earlier one you can see his sword’s scabbard and the Jiang clan’s bell (it’s attached to the belt/sash and not the sword, but on the same side as it)

I LOVE THE DETAILS OK

also the music is very nice

Who are you fighting, Lan Wangji?

Falling into a pool of water I see. That green is kind of creepy.

This is just a very pretty shot. nice perspective too

Alright there is something moving in that water! I can’t screenshot it though, it’s too dark.

WELL, that’s a wrap. That was actually a really long post omg even though a lot of this content was stuff we saw before.

Anyways, I’m really looking forward to the donghua now! ahh it’s gonna be so cool.

but I will probably have to break the live blog into 2 parts per episode or else tumblr will probably flip out on me.

[anisebonny]

21ST CENTURY MARRIAGE SAGA

I have a few friends who have walked down the aisle and some who are about to but I discovered most times they are faced with a few dramas which comes from their parents because they want to be sure they are making the right decisions. So I decided to give my own two cent on the dramas too(winks).

I have grown up to know that my parents blessing on my marriage is important or rather I was taught to know that my parents blessing on my marriage is important. When I talk about their blessing what do I mean?..... Their accepting the suitor I bring home which translate to a sincere prayer from the heart from them.

I also know that my parents know more than me because they have lived longer on earth and have acquired great wisdom (there is a saying that what an elder can see at the top of a  tree while sitting a child can climb that tree and still not see it). I also know that my parents cannot always get it right solely for this reasons and I also know that we are in the 21st century( does that ring a bell.... Lol).

I have heard a few people give reasons why their parents would not accept a spouse they bring home for reasons that I consider to be trivial (I stand to be corrected..... though I doubt anyone can really convince me lol) and we have gone past the centuries when parents marry for their children. While I understand their stand to want to make sure their children are making the right decisions I begin to wonder if they are not conditioning or putting too much pressure on these children which could lead to the kind of decision they are trying to avoid in the first place.

It's not also in our culture to elope and expect a warm embrace or a pat on the back when you get back but I have heard and seen people who defy their parents and I also know that defying comes with bigger dramas which takes a lot of energy and too much sapping of emotions from both parties.

So I have been thinking about the best possible way to avoid all these dramas. How do we reconcile with parents who bring up issues like race, church/mosque he/she attends, social status, state, country, tribe, some certain customs and beliefs e.t.c (I am not saying these issues are not important but I consider them trivial) as compared to compatibility, commitment, honesty, sincere heart, love, care, loyalty, faithfulness, understanding, communication e.t.c.

The world is becoming a global village and a lot of changes have set in and more will still come in. I really don't know the best way to avoid all these drama (I really wish I knew) but we must not forget our core values (respecting our parents). I just believe there should be a way to win our parents heart without too much drama when we are faced with such issues. But we must do it lovingly.

Love conquers all so we must act from the angle of love to win.

Agree or disagree, comments are welcomed. Kisses and hugs.

[floricimientto]

EUROPE

holy shit where do i start?

in a fucking gaming cafe right now in croatia (lol)

the keyboard is croatian so i keep on typing z instead of y. punish.

i dont even know how to structure this because i am up to week 6 and i havent slept in 2 days. i am also still covered in glitter from ultra. god help me.

FIRST WEEK.

Paris, France

Met the lovely Emma who let me stay in her apartment for 1-2 nights.

Got lunch in a lovely, little cafe where we drank French goblets of beer! 

Apartments in Paris are so tiny!!

1st night - Jet lagged so couldn’t sleep so went on tinder at Midnight.

Was slightly worried about meeting a stranger off tinder at midnight but what a night. Went to a bar where we drank whiskey shots followed by beer, went to a french nightclub where we got to party with Parisian locals. cute polaroids, drunk hotdogs and crazy french girl who wouldn’t let me on the podium.

wandered out at 4 or 5am when the sky was a bright royal blue as the light was beginning to break. the streets were quiet and beautiful. seeing Paris at that time was magical. We then got high and went to a french patisserie where i got to try one of each. we then went home and good lord, the french can fuck.

he then offered for me to stay another night. 

we went and saw the eiffel tower together and went for a fancy french lunch where we got a charcuterie board with assorted cheeses and meats, and french wine! amazing. That night I went and saw a show at the Moulin Rouge which was phenomenal. 

we then went to a bar near moulin rouge called Dirty Dick.cool bar, all about sustainability. they use recycled fruit scraps and turn them into liquors, cocktails. they left pineapple in a bucket to ferment and turned it into pineapple cider!! 

got very wasted that night. whoops.

next i went to Versailles

Versailles

,stayed in a fancy hotel to treat myself. Had a bubble bath whilst i listened to Nina simone. Jazz sounds better when you’re having a bubble bath in france... ummm and the continental breakfast, holy shit. there was a section just dedicated to cheese. you could just take huge chunks of brie. France, I love you.

Went to the palace of Versailles. Absolutely incredible. Its the chateu where all of the Louis and Marie Antoinette once lived. All of the room settings were still the way they were. Everything was covered in gold and all of the ceilings were ornately painted. all of the furniture was unreal and the gardens were the biggest and most beautiful gardens i have ever seen. 

wandered through the beautiful (and very fancy streets of Versailles), bought some jacket patches because i put my denim jacket on a candle in a bathroom in paris and it caught on fire haha. funny but v sad.

Next, I visited  Lyon(where emma is originally from) which i wasn’t overly phased by but met some super lovely people, especially these canadian boys! it was a very beautiful, modern city though. highlight of lyon was getting lunch where we got to cook our own meat on a hot stone and visitedamuseum where we saw all these amazing weapsons from ancient empire wars, like shields with renaissance paintings on them, swords that were ornately carved and covered in precious stones, armour and helmets. so cool.

Next, Grenoble and Lac Peladru! Camping was amazing.

and seeing the mountains of grenoble where the old village once was, was incredible and a park with the castle. where two weddings were taking place.

next, Marseilles - i loved marseilles. met some incredible people there too. cooked a hostel dinner with everyone. explored lake calanques with two lovely finnish girls and an american boy. long hike but sooo beautiful

it was so lovely being near the port, super magical city. men painting and playing violins and accordions near the water. 

Next, Cannes

very ritzy, stayed in a lovely airbnb right in the heart of it. lots of super yachts everywhere. got lunch with this hot half russian and half french girl.

hottest girl ever, hot blonde with tig ol bitties, kind of looked like tara reid.

caught up for drinks later that night with her and one of her friends but i got too wasted, ruined my chances and her friend had to put me into an uber (lol tragic)

fun night though, went for drinks at a bar where they gave you lolly bags and then went to a drag show.

then visited the absolute angel, Flavie, in Nice.

Such a lovely time with her and her friends. Yoga, singalongs, cookups, stories, breakdowns and cuddles, and some wisdom about energy!

then took a day trip to St Tropez - sooo fancy. really beautiful place to visit. everything was so expensive though. explored the streets then relaxed at the beach with a giant glass of Rose. Uber in St tropez even had a helicopter option. 

Next, caught a train or bus (??) to Italy. Stayed in Genoa for 2 nights with the lovely Michele and Juliano. two lovely, italian boys.

authentic dinner at trattoria, went to acquarium and african market. lots of africans in italian. genoa was very diverse. really liked it.

next, florence, too crowded and touristy but still beautiful architecture and a cool city to explore. didnt like the fuzzi museum. and only saw all landmarks from the outside because the lines were too long.

visited a pool bar with michael from LA (guy from my hostel)

and did a wine tour in Tuscany! best wine i have ever had. 

then met up with a boy i met in Florence in a seaside town called Livorno.

then Riccione/Rimini, another seaside town. then Padua! which was beautiful. 

Then from Padua to Ljubjiana.

beau

i fell absolutely in love with slovenia. stayed in Ljubjiana for 5 days. one of my favourite cities of the 6 week leg after france!!

 turquoise lakes with islands you could only get to by wooden boat. ancient castles at the top of mountains amongst beautiful, colourful buildings. quiet, cobble stoned streets. triple bridges with various rivers running all throughout the city. people leisurely riding bicycles through the streets. such a beautiful, quiet city. definitely needed after italy. 

delicious food (even though they eat horse - culture relativism though, am i right?)  

stayed in the most amazing hostel. the girls were so lovely and helpful. 

walked the streets, went to lake bled and went and saw the castle. 

met various people, such as a guy that was walking europe!! he had been walking since january. met 2 sweet aussie boys. explored this abandoned army base covered in graffiti and various art installations. super cool. it was called Metalkov

also had nightlife. we went out one night and ended up in a karaoke bar.

such a laugh when there are so many different nationalities. 

dutch girls singing bizarre dutch songs, tragic euros singing oasis, some norwegian girl singing death metal hahaha.

i then got wasted on cheap slovenian beer and did a duet of lets dance by bowie. followed by a solo rendition of say my name by beyonce (coupla slut drops)

NEXT STOP - caught an 8 hour bus to Split in Croatia where i started Yacht week. Stayed on the most beautiful, luxury yacht. Sailed around Croatia for a week. Explored Split, Makarsa, Hvar and Dubrovnik.

Highlights: floating around in the very salty Adriatic sea in my inflatable donut, visiting the set of Game of thrones, exploring all the beautiful old towns, eating the best pizza ever, ringing the bell, getting 3 course lunches every day, getting to visit Montenegro!!