#but basically i read that passage from you talk like a white girl and immediately thought of american bollywood. and this painting by hays

[bidoofenergy]

i was not part of it

"Poems to the Sky" - Randy Burman | "Colorado Snow Effect 4" - Dan Hays | "American Bollywood" by Young the Giant | Hays | "You Sound Like a White Girl" - Julissa Arce | Hays

[serpenteve]

I'm having the horrible realization that Aleksander never actually did any serious wooing of Alina in the books. It's all just Alina her self being horny attracted to him. But this is supposedly???? His grand scheme???? Of manipulation???? Implications! It seems like the girls in these books wasn't the only one slut shamed. I'm- ☠

Leigh wrote a man sexy and captivating and said "it's his fault, actually, that Alina got a crush on him. He shouldn't of.... uh.." Flips through papers. "Ah, had such pretty eyes."

Okay! 👀Yes, we are finally doing this!

I'm flipping through my copy of Shadow & Bone and noting down all the interactions between the Darkling and Alina which I've put in chronological order beneath the cut.

First of all, the Darkling and Alina are only alone together in about a handful of scenes. Most of the time, the are surrounded by other Grisha or Baghra or are in a public place. A lot of the Darkling's actions and words are clouded by Alina's own insecurities. She constantly voices how she feels like she's not good enough, not pretty enough, not strong enough and he takes it in stride and gently encourages and placates her. There are a few lies he does tell her (that the Black Heretic was his ancestor, that he wants to destroy the Fold, and he doesn't know what Baghra's power is, etc) but if we extrapolate the trajectory of her ill-fated romance arc, I think even book!Darkling would have told Alina about his real plans if she seemed like she'd accept them.

A lot of speculation has been made about the Darkling's seduction of Alina and honestly???? Aleksander literally just exists and Alina is thirsting for him because she's desperately looking for validation and re-assurance. I initially head-canoned his first kiss by the lake as being pure calculation and the kiss at the Winter Fete being 100% accidental (because Dark Lord Sasha played himself lmao) but on this re-read, I don't even know anymore. He already came close to almost kissing her after they have a tender moment, catches himself and then immediately leaves before he can catch feelings. Then when they share another tender moment at the lake, he kisses her and then is surprised by it and before he can really process it, Ivan comes by to cockblock.

Like, even Leigh (as much as she has shit on this ship) said at one point that the Darkling has strong feelings for Alina, even if he may not necessarily quantify them as love. So looking back, I don't read anything the Darkling did as manipulative seduction. He obviously lied about some stuff and wasn't transparent about his real plans for the Fold, but as a military commander who sees Alina as an opportunity for a coup, it makes sense that he'd play that a little close to the chest---especially when Alina has proved to be wary of his powers and has a very black-and-white sense of morality. If anything, this is less "the Darkling seduced Alina to manipulate her into being used!!11" and more "local dark lord tried to encourage his protege and accidentally caught feelings and it was a mASSIVE FUCKING INCONVENIENCE TO HIS EVIL PLANS"

But you know who does slut-shame Alina a lot? Baghra. Seriously, Baghra makes Alina feel like shit for her crush on the Darkling numerous times. She has all these lines:

"You want to be [his pet]...Don’t bother lying to me. You’re like all the rest. I saw the way you looked at him."

"Dreaming of dancing with your dark prince?"

"Foolish girl." (After Alina shamefully admits the Darkling might come to her that night)

At one point Baghra creeps on Alina and the Darkling's interactions and even though literally nothing happens between them and when the Darkling leaves, Alina catches Baghra giving her a snooty look. ("For no reason at all, I blushed")

She is determined to shame Alina for her feelings and make her feel like a lovesick idiot for daring to crush on him and this is in addition to all the slut-shaming Mal does. The narrative revealing the Darkling is the bad guy all along while leaving Alina no compelling arc to discover this on her own feels very much like Leigh hitting us all with Baghra's stick, like "Foolish girls! You thought he cared about Alina just because he has a sexy jawline??? HAHA HE LIED YOU SLUTS"

Scenes with Alina and the Darkling in Book 1

Their first scene together is in the Grisha tent. Based on Alina's description of him, she already thinks he's hot as barely any other character in this godforsaken series gets so many descriptions of their grey/smoke/slate/quartz eyes as Aleksander does 😏

The next time they're together he saves her life. Alina is traumatized from seeing a man sliced in half and the Darkling instructs her to keep her eyes on him instead. She is disturbed that he killed the person about to murder her and this aversion seems incredibly contrived and arbitrary on behalf of the author. It's almost like she wants Alina to be vindicated and shamed for not trusting her initial bigotry against him or something 🤔The Darkling admits even he can make mistakes and then he touches the back of Alina's neck (with some secret Heartrender/Healer abilities?) and she falls asleep riding on his horse.

They spend the next few days traveling. Alina notes that the Darkling hasn't spoken to her (probably because he's focused on getting her to the Little Palace without any more assassination attempts) but Alina is a paranoid she's offended him somehow. Again, this is just Alina's insecurity painting a narrative that simply doesn't exist based on what actually happened so far.

They exchange a few words by the stream and Alina fishes for pity points by saying she's ugly and can't possibly be Grisha. Aleksander appears 100% done with her stupidity and says she doesn't understand but he's not in the mood to explain at the moment and walks off ☠️

Alina joins the Darkling and his men for a meal. She notes that the grouse they've killed is meager shared meal but that the Darkling doesn't want to put his men in danger by sending them out to hunt in the forest at night 😌He also sits on the floor to eat like they do and he doesn't take more than the regular portion than they do 😌. Sorry, how is this man the most ~evil~ wizard on the planet? He is obviously a good and fair commander and beloved by the Grisha.

Alina has been checking Aleksander out the entire time so when he catches her, he walks over to talk. He fishes around for information on what Alina has heard about him. He seems sad when Alina mentions she has heard that Darklings are born without souls, though not surprised. He then spins the story about the Black Heretic being his ancestor and how the Fold was a mistake and how every Darkling since then has tried to undo it and how Alina is "the first glimmer of hope" he's had in a long time.

Because Alina is still on that "Grisha are unnatural monsters" agenda, she asks him about the Cut and he explains it but she's still distrubed. He asks her if it would have been better if he used a sword and she replies: "I don't know". The Darkling gets offended and leaves. Alina tries to convince herself she can't have possibly hurt his feelings (because Darklings don't have souls or feelings?) and then feels paranoid that she's failed some secret test. Yeah, the test you failed is called "empathy", Alina 🙄

Two days later, they arrive at Os Alta. Aleksander roasts the Grand Palace as the ugliest effing building he's ever seen. He leaves immediately after dumping Alina at the Little Palace and Alina actually seethes that he isn't paying more attention to her? I understand that it's overwhelming to go to a brand new place, but Alina expecting him to constantly hold her hand and explain everything to her after she basically insulted him is a bit strange.

The next time Alina sees the Darkling, they are scheduled to appear before the King and Queen. The demonstration is a surprise for Alina and Aleksander's lack of transparency of what's expected of her means she's forced to rely on him and trust his instincts. This might be his underhanded way of getting Alina to see that she can trust him; that he will not make her look like a failure or humiliate her; that they are in this together and it will only work if she trusts him.

After the demonstration, Genya and the Darkling trash the monarchy for a bit (Alina is horrified) and then the Darkling orders Genya to get a black kefta for Alina, to which Alina infamously wants a blue one. The Darkling doesn't really put up much of a fight, merely wanting to know why. Alina decides he doesn't approve of her choosing blue and wonders to Genya if he's angry.

After Alina's first day, the Darkling calls her to his quarters to ask her how her day was. Alina is surprised that this is all he wanted to know because she was paranoid he was going to torture her??? She says: "Why shouldn't I be afraid of you?...You can cut people in half. I think it's fair to be a little intimidated." If the Darkling is offended or angry about this, he doesn't show it and merely indulges her. He notes that she has a habit of running her hand across a scar on her palm and asks her about it, tracing the scar himself. Alina gets distracted by his touch but manages to answer his questions: she got the scar at Keramzin, Mal is also an orphan, he is good at tracking. He shows her a secret passage back to her rooms to avoid the main hall.

Alina starts her training and at one point laments that the Darkling is rarely at the Little Palace and when he is, he never speaks to her or barely looks her way and she is convinced it's because she's a failure and can't summon light on her own. It could also be because, you know, he's the commander of the Second Army and is usually seen in talks with other military advisors and the fact that Alina kinda lowkey insulted him with her wariness about his powers???

The next time they are together, Alina interrupts him and Baghra arguing. He politely asks her how she is. Baghra antagonizes her. The Darkling defends her. They talk about amplifiers and because Baghra is being a snarky little shit about it, they take their conversation outside.

Aleksander complains about how annoying his mom is and then asks Alina what stories she's heard about Morozova's herd. At one point he laughs for the first time and Alina practically creams her pants at the sound. Alina expresses her concerns that she can't summon any light and the Darkling says he's not worried and it will happen when it happens and worse case scenario, it will happen once she has the stag. They have a quiet intimate moment, gazing softly into each other's eyes and then suddenly Aleksander realizes he's catching feelings and steps back suddenly like "GoodLuckWithYourLessonsOKayBYE". Baghra watches this interaction from her hut and gives Alina a slut-shaming look.

Alina eventually does learn to summon light on her own. Baghra gives her grief about how it's not enough. The Darkling shows up during one of these lessons and says as much. Alina says she's useless. The Darkling corrects her (“I don't think you're useless, Alina....No Grisha is powerful enough to face the Fold. Not even me”) and then he apologizes for letting her down ("I've asked you to trust me and I haven't delivered"). He wonders if his mother is right and he's crazy to hunt the stag. They have a nice bonding moment, Aleksander lies about Baghra's power, and then he asks if Alina would think him crazy for still wanting to find the stag. She asks why he cares what she thinks, he seems genuinely surprised himself that he cares. Then he kisses her. He seems not to have meant to kiss her because then Ivan shows up for his 5 o'clock shift of cockblocking and the Darkling immediately pretends like nothing happened and walks away with him. Like dude is acting like a fucking dork who's allergic to feelings at this point. I should note here that Alina practically has an orgasm from how giddy she is about this moment. She can barely think of anything else.

The next time they're together, it's at the Winter Fete. They do their demonstration and Alina accidentally reveals her insecurities about how he had kissed her and then disappeared. He responds, "Did you really think I was done with you?" and then they enjoy some steamy kisses and thigh grabbing in an empty room before a random round of Grisha show up for their 6 o'clock shift of cockblocking. Aleksander is annoyed at his own attraction to Alina. He asks if he can come to her that night but Alina doesn't get a chance to respond.

and then the Darklina romance arc falls off a giant cliff and dies a terrible death 😭😭😭

[oneweekoneband]

Five Taylor Swift Photos From Magazine Spreads Which Make Me Feel Unmoored In Space And Time

This 2014 Rolling Stone piece is called Reinvention of Taylor Swift and heralds that she’s “left country behind”. I’ve always felt Taylor’s relationship to country music is more complicated than the simple case of a country darling seeing a chance at crossover superstardom and abandoning her down-home roots for bubblegum, namely because Taylor doesn’t actually have any down-home roots. Total domination was always the plan, and everything I know about this woman says it was always going to work, too. If anything, the country years represented a transactional relationship between an ambitious young woman and the genre best positioned to uplift and provide an instant audience for a white, blonde singer who wants to write love songs. The whole this is less A Star is Born, more A Star is Intentionally And Calculatedly Built. But 1989—the release of which feels so long ago now, so much more than six years, farther away in my mind even than the older albums for being less firmly planted in my own psychic landscape and heart, that to try and recall the experience of having been 22 and reading this article is close to impossible—mark a coronation of sorts for a whole new girl, shorn, shined, and repackaged for mass distribution, as this stripped down and honestly kind of hot cover shoot shows. During the interview, Taylor offers the interviewer a choice of six different flavors of sparkling water, which is a level of decadence that I cannot imagine, then starts talking about HBO’s Girls. In 2014 it was still basically talk about Girls or be instantly murdered by roving death squad. That was just what life was then. Taylor says she is a Shoshanna but my brain, brave ally, has erased every piece of knowledge I ever accumulated about that show so I don’t know if she was right. What I like about this particular photo, wherein “I like” means, “makes me a little feral” is how it calls to mind, like, the kind of black & white snapshot of lads being lads on a beach somewhere during a long ago war which, were it to find its way onto Twitter today, would be immediately quote RT’d like fifty thousand times like, “seems gay imo.”

The critical takeaway from this Vogue article is that until 2016 Taylor Swift hadn’t been to her Pennsylvania hometown in a decade. Yes, the family relocated to Nashville when she was a teenager to begin the construction of the Taylor Swift Industrial Complex but there’s still something odd and compelling to me about the fact that she never once went back to visit the supposed best friend Britany whose wedding is the impetus for the visit chronicled here. Maybe it means nothing! She did have kind of a busy decade, and things happen. Time passes faster than you’re ever expecting it to and the ten years between sixteen and twenty six are particularly slippery ones. Maybe! Or maybe Taylor Swift left that pre-fame life coolly in the dust, useless to her now, and doesn’t think of it at all except to clinically mine for content. Maybe Britany only had Taylor in her wedding because if you can get Taylor Swift to come, with a Vogue writer in tow, be your maid of honor, it would be difficult to resist the temptation not to do it, like, for the bit, and for probably a really expensive gift. Maybe the truth is more like a little bit of both. Regardless, there’s this proto-”seven” passage.

During a car ride earlier in the day, she excitedly pointed out landmarks: the creek where she and Britany used to play as kids; a weathered tree house in the front yard of the former Maack family home; the piney woods she and her friends used to think were haunted

Could be that Britany was the inspiration for the friend with the dad whose always mad in that dreamy piano track, but if pressed I’d put my money on Taylor just being enamored of the romantic americana of dirty children clamoring over creek beds full of ghosts, and unfortunately I can’t begrudge her that because same.

Every image from when Taylor did that Soft Focus Harley Quinn thing last year while in the throes of her full court press media blitz about how she is not only not a nazi but also Loves Gays, is to me an unbearable agony, a ruthless torment, a knife in my back, a stitch in my side, a terror I can’t unsee, a silent scream I can’t get out, but I find this one from Entertainment Weekly most upsetting of all. I am not saying that it is illegal to sit in the dirt wearing a pink and blue matching argyle sweater and short shorts combo with dumb dip-dyed hair and then not come out as bi, even, but I am saying abolish prisons for everyone except Taylor Swift, who should be in one.

This goofy goth photo shoot from 2017 is one thing, but the really important historical detail to note here is that UK Vogue, clearly absolute limp-wristed freaks, agreed to run these photos accompanied not by an interview with their covers star, but with a fucking poem she wrote. While I do think a poem in place of a proper profile is actually less morally objectionable than the famous person-”interviewed”-by-other famous person trend that’s eaten up so much of celebrity journalism, it’s still not really something a reasonable person can condone. If you have never read the poem... I actually think it’s not that bad! But, honestly, when I was sixteen I volunteered myself to edit my high school’s litmag (in order to be given a little money to have a litmag) and to my great surprise, having really assumed that I was basically just going to have, like, my own writing and some weird slightly, porny drawings from the anime club, shortly found myself inundated with piles of the most truly awful poetry ever produced, and was left to judge it all myself, and I believe the experience scarred my mind so badly that I still have great difficulty determining a good poem from a bad one with any clarity. “Hold on to childlike whims and moonlight / swims and your blazing self-respect” definitely would have made it into The Knightwriter, is all I’m saying.

When I am on my death bed, reeking and gasping, alive only technically, my family will gather close to provide comfort and receive my last words, hoping that they can offer me a sense of peace before the darkness falls. “Bring me my darling,” I’ll rasp, then choke on the air. And when nervous human children of my lineage are pressed to the bedside I’ll shake my head painfully, no, no, no, until finally they bring to me the one thing I truly love: this picture of Taylor Swift wearing a Blue Oyster Cult t-shirt in a 2015 Lucky Magazine photo shoot, for some reason.

[queenmagnusao3]

Regrets - Chapter Seven

AO3 Link - I’m feeling a bit better about this fic so I’m posting an update on here. I’d say this one is almost halfway done now

“Chief! Chief I found something!”

Lin turned from the board of papers and photographs she had set up across one of the walls of her office to see Detective Chen come running into the room, nearly sliding across the floor as he came to a stop. It had been two days and Lin hadn’t slept at all as she flung herself into researching everything she could about the case. Chen held a small black book in his hand.

“What did you find?”

Chen was catching his breath as he handed it over to her.

“It’s a diary. From Jia, the woman who…”

Kidnapped my daughter.

Lin finished the sentence in her head as she flipped through the pages. It appeared to be a diary of sorts. There was an entry that had evidently been bookmarked, most likely by her detective.

“I worked at the hospital part time and was approached by a man to kidnap a baby after it was born. At first I said no but he offered me more money than I make at the hospital in five years. I knew how horrible it was but figured I could just treat it like a job and tried not to think about it too much after I said yes.

The day came and there were complications. I had the opportunity to say the infant didn’t survive. I thought this would make things easier for my boss. But then I couldn’t follow through. I couldn’t hand this perfect little girl over to him. I don’t even know what organization he was from.

I didn’t know who the baby belonged to before I agreed to the job. And I’m ashamed to admit that even after I found out I couldn’t bring myself to come forward. She was my daughter now.

The Avatar’s son moved on and had kids of his own and I saw how busy the Police Chief was with her job. She didn’t have time for a child anyway.”

Lin stopped reading, flinging the book across the room before she damaged the evidence. There was a pressure building inside her and thought her heart was going to beat out of her chest. This was undeniable proof that this missing girl was… that her daughter wasn’t…

She slammed a fist down on her desk, the whole thing buckling in on itself as the metal crunched and twisted. Chen didn’t say anything as he stood quietly, waiting for his Chief to gather herself. It took a couple minutes of slow, steady breathing before Lin found herself able to speak.

“Are there any leads on the girl’s location or who may have taken her?”

“No, Chief. I’m sorry. We haven’t found anything.”

Lin walked around her mangled desk and slumped into her chair.

“Thank you, detective. Let me know if you get any leads.”

“Yes, chief!”

He left and Lin carefully picked up her phone from the ground. It only took two rings for Kya to pick up which meant she must have been waiting near it.

“Lin?”

She felt a lump in throat, trying to steady her voice but it still cracked when she spoke.

“Kya, it’s her. It’s really her.”

Lin let out a gasp, quickly pulling her face from the phone and covering her mouth to stop the sob that threatened to open a dam of emotions she was struggling to contain. Kya didn’t speak for a moment and when she did her voice was soft and kind.

“We’ll find her, Lin. I promise. Will you please come home? Just for tonight?”

Never promise the victim’s family that you’ll bring their loved one home safe because that’s not a promise you can always keep. The bitter thought was automatic. The very basics of dealing with missing persons cases. Lin never imagined she’d be on this side of things and yet here she was.

“I’ll be home in a bit.”

“I love you, Lin.”

“Love you, too.”

They hung up and Lin walked to her case board, carefully unpinning a photo of the dark haired girl and studying every inch of her.

Rei.

Her daughter.

 ____________________

The next day Lin was back at the station before the sun had even come up. She had spent the morning in a terrible mood, yelling at anyone that crossed her path and unfairly belittling her own officers for not having more information for her.

She retreated to her office and started reading more passages from the diary they had recovered from the girl’s apartment. There were dozens of passages, mostly the random thoughts of the woman who wrote them. But there were also many excerpts about her daughter.

“Rei said her first word today. I was hoping it would be mama because she’s been so close but instead she’s been repeating the phrase “uh oh” over and over again. I’m not sure when she picked it up but it melts my heart every time I hear it.”

“She’s an earthbender!! I was sweeping the back steps today when I tripped and cursed at the stairs. Rei was sitting nearby and waddled over. She yelled at the stone stairs for hurting her mommy and then proceeded to make a dramatic and sloppy movement with her arms that caused the entire top stair to break away and go flying across the yard. I’m so proud! I’m going to have find someone to teach her pretty soon, though, otherwise she’s going to start doing some real damage.”

“We saw Chief Beifong today and I’ve never been so scared in my life. Rei and I were walking down the street when a bunch of police cars came flying up the street. The car they were chasing lost control and I quickly grabbed Rei and braced us for impact as it came right for us. I felt something wrap around us before we were yanked away. The Chief came up and asked if we were okay before running to the car that had nearly killed us, dragging a couple of bank thieves from within. I didn’t stick around. I just picked up Rei and ran home.”

Lin was frozen as she reread the passage again and again. She remembered that day. She remembered pulling the woman and child out of the path of that car. Once she knew they were safe she hadn’t even paid them another moment’s notice. The date indicated that Rei had been 4 years old at that time. Shouldn’t she have recognized her? Why didn’t she recognize her?

There was a soft knock on her door and Tenzin came in, robes billowing behind him.

“I saw her.”

“What?”

He had stopped dead in his tracks, looking to her in confusion. She got up from her desk and handed him the book opened to the passage she had just read. He scanned the page, slowly stepping back and sitting on the couch she kept in her office. Neither of them spoke as Tenzin sat quietly and Lin started pacing, lost again in thought and a renewed sense of guilt.

She could feel Tenzin looking at her, watching cautiously as she continued to pace back and forth. She always paced when she was upset. He used to joke that if she were a firebender there would scorch marks on all their floors from where she paced.

Lin stopped, leaning against the edge of her desk with her back to Tenzin. They were missing so much of the puzzle. Why had they wanted their daughter all those years ago and why did they decide to take her now?

“Lin… you need to read this one.”

She turned to him and saw that his face had paled. He got up and handed the book back to her.

“I’m so scared right now. It’s been all over that these powerful prisoners have escaped and are trying to hurt Avatar Korra. I didn’t get many details but one of them is called Zaheer. The man who hired me to kidnap Rei once talked about someone named Zaheer. They all still think Rei died the day she was born but I’m still worried. Rei is a teenager and just wants to hang out with friends but I’m so scared something is going to happen.”

Lin’s eyes snapped to Tenzin’s her mouth slightly open.

The Red Lotus.

Before either of them could speak there was a sharp knock on the door. Lin turned to see one of her rookie officers standing there, looking completely terrified as she held up a white envelope.

“S-sorry to interrupt, Chief. You just said to let you know if you got any mail.”

Lin beckoned the nervous officer in and took the letter from her. There were no markings on the envelope except for the words “Chief Lin Beifong” written in a swirling script. She didn’t even bother dismissing her officer before ripping it open.

She scanned over the words a few times before crumpling the paper in her hands, letting out a frustrated growl. She thrust the paper at Tenzin before he could open his mouth. He read the note, backing up slowly, rubbing a hand over his head.

“Bring us the Avatar if you ever want the chance to meet your daughter”

Lin was angry now as she resumed her pacing. Apparently there were still remnants of the Red Lotus that were still loyal to Zaheer and his ideologies. Somehow they now knew that she knew the truth about who Rei was. And they were going to use her daughter to try and get to Korra.

“Do you know where Korra is right now, Tenzin?”

“She went with Asami on a business trip to the Fire Nation.”

It took a few minutes for Lin and Tenzin to figure out where the couple were staying and Lin immediately picked up her phone as soon she tracked down the correct contact number.

“I’ve got food!”

Kya entered the office holding up a couple bags of food. She had been making it her personal mission to do whatever she could to take care of Lin and not add to the increasing amount of stress weighing down the woman she loved. Tenzin shushed her loudly, gesturing to Lin and the fact that she was using the phone.

Kya set the food down perched herself on the arm of the couch.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Korra, but I need you to come back to Republic City. I know… I know. I’m sorry. Korra just… please…”

Kya reached out for her brother’s hand and squeezed it tightly as her heart broke a little at the desperation in Lin’s voice. Korra must have heard it too.

“Thank you, Korra. Please be safe. Come right to the city. I promise I’ll explain everything.”

Lin hung up the phone and collapsed back into her chair again. She didn’t look to them, staring blankly as her thoughts raced.

“Korra and Asami are their way back. They’re going to meet us on Air Temple Island.”

[wormmomma]

MIDSOMMAR SPOILER REVIEW: this movie fucking broke me

CW:RAPE, ABUSE, PEDOPHILLIA

“Midsommar” is a grimm fairytale of sorts. A fairly different homage to the cult film the “wicker man”. “The wicker man” is about a european cult being investigated by a british christian cop, “midsommar” avoids the christian indictment of pagan/occult religious practices. midsommar attempts to be an out and out horror film unlike the a genre bending murder mystery/horror/thriller roots of “The wicker man”. Director ari aster obviously wanted to add to the annals of folk horror by creating an ambitious beautifully horrific and sometimes downright psychedelic film. Ari aster wanted to make a film where you can’t hide from the horror as it all happens in front of you. It's also a breakup movie for some reason? As someone who has seen the theatrical cut twice and the director's cut once I can assure you it misses the mark when taking both concepts. If you're wondering  whether not to watch the film i think that on a technical level “midsommar” is beautiful and has amazing cinematography, but the answer is yes, but no. Jordan Peele was shown an advance copy of the film and told Aster "I think you’ve made the most idyllic horror film of all time" that high praise. But that  being said for personal reasons this will be my final time seeing the film. I think the director's cut is a gorgeous and amazing three hour film. But as someone personally affected by rape, pedophillia, and the victimization mentally or physically handicapped people i cant reccomend this film wholeheartedly. I'm far from squeamish and love films that revel in shock, horror and extremity but I cannot in good conscious recommend a film I almost walked out on. I think Ari Aster has backpedaled immensely in his ability to create horror that exhibits empathy for his characters and the triumphs and tragedies that he subjects them too. “Hereditary” had an amount of emotional pathos for its characters that was almost completely removed from “Midsomer”. The fim feels unreasonably cruel even for a horror movie. Although enjoyable, proceed with caution “Midsommar” is a beautiful, slow, horrific but ultimately controversial mess of a film. 8/10

 (the rest of this review is a plot synopsis and a meditation on the more controversial passages in the movie and is to be read for those who have actually seen midsommar. Spoilers abound!) 

So what’s it  about? 

Midsommar is about Dani, an anxious and vulnerable young woman dating an emotionally abusive and reserved boyfriend named christian. After her bipolar sister commits suicide and murders both there parents, Dani goes on a european excursion with cristian with his anthropologist friends as they study a swedish cults midsommar summer solstice tradition. Dani reeling not only from having her parents taken from her by their favorite child, but also from the lack of any real emotional support goes on a gorgeous, psychedelia, induced nightmare of the cult horror variety. Immediately after touching down on the swedish cult's beautiful grassy commune christian manipulates dani into taking psychedelics. Christian although quite emotionally stunted and quite meek at his core is very sly and amazing at working people. Watching Christian make Dani do psychedelic drugs (mushrooms i believe) to make her clear refusal to take them into something that not only affects christian but also his friends and everyone around them is almost scary in its hilariously methodical toxicity. This leads to dani having a panic attack and from there the hits just keep on coming. Dani then has to watch as two cultist commit ritual suicide. This traumatic incident further escalated when one jumped off the mountain on his leg and needed to have his head crushed by cult members till it turns to meat and dust. To make a long three hour story with icelandic pacing short lets race to the finish line:

Christian begins to be pursued by a cult member named maja. Dani still reeling from seeing two people commit suicide has her worries invalidated by christian and all of his anthropologist bros. The anthropology bro argues about who deserves to break basically every rule of basic anthropology as they try to see who gets PAID for perverting a culture they were invited to study not disturb. Christian eats one of majas pubes. After pissing on a ceremonial tree for the dead, and taking photos of the forbidden religious text (written by an inbred autistic oracle boy) our two american secondary characters are chopped off. Dani and christian are the final outsiders left standing. Dani joins a dance competition (yes really) and becomes this year's may queen. forever to be immortalized in the annals of white female faces shown in portraits plastered in the sleeping quarters of this matriarchal cult commune. Christian is then raped as we discover how all the bodies of our other character are disposed of. Dani, inebriated and vulnerable, discovers christian being raped by the cult and forced to sleep with the 16 year old maja. Disgusted dani vomits and syncs her cries of pain with the cult sister and finally has her trauma validated. She is given the choice to then murder christian as hes trapped in a paralyzed state. Dani decides to burn christian alive in the body of a bear, finally defeating and overcoming her emotional abuser. Dani smiles as the cult writhes in pain from the death of the cult members burning alive with christian.Dani is happy. She has family. She is home.

So lets (finally) talk about maja

“Look at it from an academic perspective it would provide a unique glimpse into our sexual rights.”

“Can i not have a unique glimpse without participating?”

This is a conversation that is awkwardly cut from the theatrical version of midsommar. Christian is being offered to have sex with maja. Maja is a sixteen year old girl. The closest aster ever comes to revealing this fact is offhandedly mentioning maja having her first period. Christian refuses sex and is raped by maja, and the cult while a fourteen year old disabled child watches. There's a lot wrong with this scene. I’ll be honest for personal reasons I was really disgusted by this scene. I feel like im projecting but rape and pedophellia are really delicate topics and should be treated sensitivity. Ive seen alot of extreme very difficult horror films, i've seen rape, pedophillia, and violence explored in meaningful interesting and empathetic ways even ari asters own work like “meet the johnsons”. But watching maja rape christian with what i would assume are her older siblings, aunts, grandmothers, mother and other cult members as a 14 year old boy watches just made me feel fucking dirty. The weird part: it isn't horrific. While cristian was being raped, the audience I was watching it with were laughing. It wasn't scary. it was funny. It's a cognitive dissonance. The audience isn't aware of christians being raped or majas age. Most people assume he's cheating and deserves to be burned alive by dani. Making christian the bad guy of his own a rape is horrific but i shouldn’t need to hunt down that information and watch the film three times to understand that. It makes the movie feel as if its really bad at relaying basic information, at worst it's dishonestly hiding it to make the film more palatable. After putting all the pieces together I was disgusted. Ari aster crossed a line. I felt queasy and never wanted to see this film ever again. The fact ari aster could have made maja of age, or take the disabled 14 year old out the scene entirely, or not have had christian be raped in the first place while reaching a more understandable and tragic ending annoys me to know end, it feel like i watched these characters be used and mistreated for no reason. Just to shock me. It lacks value, it’s  gross and uninteresting. much like christian and everyone involved i feel violated and it's really hard for me to enjoy watching what is an otherwise (although flawed) very interesting and compelling work or art. I’m  still morbidly curious of the next film ari aster makes but i really hope he learns for this mistake and doesn't objectify children in another weird fetishistic male rape comedy routine. It just leaves me confused, disgusted and only makes it more challenging to analyze the more interesting implications of the film. I really appreciated hereditary as someone who has a very emotionally abusive family and has a very hard time processing death. I found hereditary horrific as it is cathartic. As someone who had to quite recently confront a pedophile, midsommar just left me hurt, and trapped. I was reliving some of the worst parts of my trauma as an audience sits around and laughs at it. It all felt so tragic and meaningless. I want to actually give ari asters work an honest critique but he's produced the only work of film that really hurt me and left me feeling violated. I really love his work and I know I'm exaggerating but I hope art never has such a negative effect on my mental health or anyone else’s ever again. I don't blame Maja or christian or the actor who portrayed them. I respect their performances although I have zero respect for how utterly tasteless midsommar ended up being for me. I think I need to learn how not to take art so seriously and try not to invest myself in other people's work. It's a difficult habit to kick. Needless to say, I cannot recommend this movie. If you're able to separate art from the artist and read this whole review without watching the film you're not a bad person for watching it, midsommar is a compelling, difficult experience.

I hope you enjoyed this review and I'm sorry if it got wayyy too personal in the end there. The movie clearly struck a raw nerve for me. if you enjoy this or any review  i've dones let me know. I may reveiw hereditary in the future.if your also having issues with death, rape, abuse or mental health i hope this review didnt make it worse. Everyone is deserving of love, family, community and I hope everyone can find that. Have a good day, and have a safe quarantine.   

[swordarkeereon]

Tech Review for Writers: reMarkable2

I got myself a piece of interesting tech this year in hopes it would get me from out in front of a computer screen more often. Meet the reMarkable2, a distraction free (i.e. it’s not connected to the entirety of the internet) e-ink tablet workhorse that’s easy on the eyes.

The reMarkable2 Tablet

First things first. The reMarkable2 tablet is not for everyone and your average person probably won’t find it the least bit useful. So let’s talk about why you don’t want this tablet first.

reMarkable 2 is not for you if: 

– You want an eReader.  eReaders have a VERY DIFFERENT function than the reMarkable2. Yes, you can read PDFs on a reMarkable, but it’s more for *marking up* a PDF and commenting in the margins of a PDF. Not just reading. eReaders like Kindles and Nooks often have built in dictionaries, ways to bookmark pages or passages of text, etc…  that the reMarkable2 doesn’t have. You can search your documents for specific phrases and words and also highlight things in a light gray, but if you’re just looking for an eReader, I suggest a Kindle.

– You want a full functioning tablet that you can put apps on and surf the web with- If you’re looking for a full functioning tablet, you’ve missed the whole point of the reMarkable2. The main point behind reMarkable2 is so you can go to your creative place (wherever that may be) and brainstorm, free from ALL distractions. You can’t stop to surf FB or your Twitter feed on a reMarkable2, thus making it more likely you’ll stay on task and get more done.

– You want something with color so you can highlight because what you really want is a fully functioning ebook reader or tablet. This tablet is really more of a no frills brainstorming and note-taking tool for entrepreneurs, professionals, academics, and creatives (including engineers, writers, musicians, possibly artists if they like to sketch in black and white) who use a lot of black pens and plain paper.

I bought the tablet for the following reasons (which I wrote down BEFORE I received the device):

– I wanted an electronic notebook (not a tablet). I’m one of those people who goes through 3 packs of sticky notes every month, and countless notebooks every year. I am constantly jotting stuff down to keep myself focused and on track while running my own business and helping out at the family business.  My notes can be anything from putting together presentations, classes, and meetings, to extensive to-do lists for the day. Sometimes it’s just me keeping track of sales figures. As a result, my desk is always filled with papers and notebooks and I’m constantly searching for shit. The electronic notebook cleans up all this clutter and helps me organize my brain. (Have you seen my brain!? It’s a mess in there.)

– I  like to write freehand, especially when I’m plotting the next book or writing a blurb, or even writing a chapter – and it must be distraction free. This is something only fellow authors will understand. The fact that the reMarkable2 can convert handwritten notes to text sent via email has me excited because, if I’m lucky and it works, I won’t have to go through and transcribe all my handwritten notes. It basically saves me time by eliminating a step. I can copy/paste the note from my email into the appropriate file on my laptop. This will also save me the clutter and weight of carrying countless notebooks.

– I am involved with projects that require me to sketch out ideas for marketing and/or artwork. I do have tablets that can do this, but nothing that does it *well*. The closest is my Surface tablet, which can do a lot of things, but it still doesn’t feel like paper or allow me the fine detail paper allows. I’m hoping this tablet is a bit more responsive in this area. – I am forever printing out rough drafts of manuscripts for markup – wasting a ton of paper and toner in the process. All because I can’t edit on a backlit screen. My eyes get tired and I miss too many errors. If I can transfer my PDF drafts to the reMarkable and mark them up there with minimal errors left over, I could save some $$. I am actually estimating that I could easily save the cost of the reMarkable2 in 6 months to 1 year’s time by not having to purchase the paper, pens, and toner I usually go through in that time frame.  Plus, these marked up manuscripts often end up in a stack on my office floor for 6 months to a year after publication. 

– I am forever having to read PDFs of laws and regulations for the family business, and while I usually use them on the computer, I sit in front of a computer 8-13 hours a day. I need a non-backlit screen for reading in the evenings just to give my eyes a break.  Yes, I imagine I could do the same with a Kindle paperwhite, but I may just want to jot some notes in the same way I’d mark up a paper copy. I’m still a pen and paper girl. I’m really hoping the reMarkable is my replacement for that (most of the time anyway).

reMarkable2 test to sample the pen styles.

Some considerations I took into account before purchasing:

A lot of customers complained that it took too long to receive the reMarkable or to get support. From all of the research I did, and in reading their website, it’s clear to me that this company caters to academia and businesses. I ordered my reMarkable2 on January 16, 2021, and had it in my hands by January 25, 2021. 9 days. I also ordered it and paid for it through my business. I don’t know if that’s actually why I got mine so fast, but I wouldn’t be surprised. That said, I do think the company should work a little harder to increase their customer service efficiency. 

With regard to customer support – the website clearly states it can take up to 10 business days for support to get back to you. And a lot of the things people seem to be complaining about have troubleshooting instructions on the website. Clearly people weren’t going to the website to try to look up their issue through the support FAQs, which likely would have helped them out sooner.  They were just contacting support immediately, and angry when they weren’t getting a response after 3 days, when it’s clearly stated on the website that it can take up to 10 days due to the fact that reMarkable is a small company. But like I said earlier – they would be smart to increase their customer service team.

reMarkable’s folios are a custom fit and really pretty, but a bit pricey. I made the tablet more affordable by skipping the upgrade on the pen, because a friend of mine got the eraser feature and she wasn’t digging it initially (she loves it now), and I purchased a relatively nice folio from Amazon for under $30 (with no magnets – research told me magnets can cause dead spots in the screen of the reMarkable2). You can also just buy a 10″-11″ tablet sleeve and it would work much the same. There are also universal tablet folios that will fit 10″-11″ tablets that are free of magnets and will likely work just fine. All for under $20 bucks — even a few in faux leather. Remember that a case should protect your investment, not just make it *look* sharp. 

Right out of the Box.

Right out of the box I set the reMarkable up and started using it for brainstorming. Here were my first impressions:

1. It really is pretty damn close to writing on paper.

2. You can rest your damn hand on the screen and it won’t fuck things up or make it wobble as with traditional tablets.

3. My handwriting actually looks like my handwriting and you have almost the same control with this as you would with real pen and paper.

4. The interface is simple and intuitive and anyone who uses computers and tablets day and in day out will have no issues figuring this out.

Now some thoughts on the features:

Handwriting to Text: As an author who likes to occasionally spend time writing the old fashioned way, one of the things that attracted me to this tablet was its ability to translate handwriting to text. No writer wants to have to transcribe their written notes and waste all of that time. So of course I tested it with my horrific handwriting, vs purposefully trying to be neat, and the reMarkable2 was able to convert my chicken scratch into actual text that I could read. I was able to turn the handwritten notes into a PDF, but I was also able to send the handwriting converted to typed text as the body of an email, where I was able to cut and paste it into any program I wanted. I took it further and wrote 1000 words (about 8.2 pages) longhand. It converted all the pages to text in one swoop and I was able to copy/paste it into my manuscript. While there was a little formatting and editing involved — it was a lot faster than retyping handwritten notes. WIN! 

Handwriting for conversion test.

Conversion successful

PDF Transfer, Markup, and Signature: Transferring PDFs to the reMarkable is easy. You simply download the app on your phone and your desktop, and you can take any pdf from either device and import it onto your reMarkable, which you can then markup. I sent myself a slew of PDFs that I had to read and markup. It’s amazing how much more focused I am on a screen like this. I really got the same experience with editing on a digital PDF as I did with editing on a paper copy. My only caveat is that I don’t have more space to make notes since the margins are a bit small on the screen and there’s no “back of the page” to carry notes over to. I can likely manage. Despite that – what a great experience. Goodbye manuscripts all over my office floor!  Hello being able to drag editing work with me wherever I go!    

You can also transfer your PDFs that don’t have an electronic signature option to the device, sign them, and send them back. Talk about HANDY since I do that a few times a month by default. This just eliminates the print/sign/scan. Now I just have to transfer it to the device, sign the document, and email it straight back to whoever sent it. 

Digital Planners may be something I look into for 2022 because reMarkable actually makes them feasible. I tried a tester digital planner, courtesy a friend, on my reMarkable and I have to say – it offers just as much satisfaction as a paper planner. Plus, you can SEARCH large pdfs. It won’t find search terms in your handwriting, but it will find it in your PDF. That’s definitely a handy feature when you’re working with 500 page PDFs. That said, the tablet saves your place (last page you visited) as you’re navigating a PDF, so no need to search for the place you left off. However, there is no way to bookmark multiple pages.

ePub Reading: suppose I could sideload books as ePubs, but I really have no use for this feature. If I want to read ebooks, I use my kindle or the Kindle App on my tablet or phone. Unless I start doing editing of ePubs or want to check out an ePub format for something?  I didn’t buy this as an eReader, and it is terribly lacking as an eReader. Where the reMarkable excels is as a tool for marking up documents. So my guess is it would be great for that if you have a lot of files in ePub format that you have to go over. You also can’t change font sizes for easier reading. You can zoom in and zoom back out to regular size. That’s it. (And this is another reason this is not an eReader.)

Storage: Storage is a little over 6GB (you do not pay for the reMarkable website cloud-sync). But even with about 15 PDFs (some of them really long) on my reMarkable at any given time, I was only at .38 GB. 

reMarkable2 Storage

File System: Like I said earlier – the system is highly intuitive and easy to use. I made folders for my most common notebook uses, then I moved the appropriate PDFs to those folders, and created any notebooks I needed for those folders.

Exporting: You can export as .PNG, .SVG, and PDF.  Handwriting to text can only be sent as text via the body of an email. This is actually great for writing because then you just have to copy/paste from your email into your Word Doc, Google Doc, or Scrivener.

Importing: Imports PDFs and ePubs.

Templates: The templates are great. I generally only use graph paper, plain, and lined paper myself. But I could see how a lot of these would be useful to people. The to-do list is a crappy template just because it requires you to hide your menu to use it (you can’t tick the the checkboxes until you do this). To hide the menu tap the circle in the upper left top of the menu bar. So if you want a partial page to-do list, you can easily make your own checkbox lists using the graph paper option. There are also dot pages for the folks into bullet journaling.

A small sampling of reMarkable2 Templates

Search Feature: You can search within a PDF, but not through your own handwritten text. You must be in the PDF to search it, otherwise you can only search for file names. You can not search across documents for a phrase or word. So if you’re looking for something with the same search capabilities as a laptop or possibly a tablet, you won’t find it here.

Zooming: You can zoom in on PDF documents and write on them while zoomed. However, you cannot change font sizes to make reading easier.

Battery Life:  On days where I used it heavily (about 4-5 hours), I was using around 15% power in a day because I didn’t put it in airplane mode. Three days of 4-5 hours a day use drained my battery to 50%. So me, as a heavy user, not in airplane mode, will likely get 6-7 days out of a single charge. Possibly more since clearly not every day will be a heavy use day. The device does go to sleep after 10 minutes of inactivity.

Pen:The pens are a bit pricey. I did not buy the expensive pen with the eraser and I’m okay with that. But $60 for a pen is still a bit — ouch. 

Pen Nib: I am expecting I will be one of those poor unfortunate souls who will be replacing pen tips every 3-4 weeks during heavy use. Luckily the pen itself doesn’t use batteries. The pen nibs seem reasonable in price, just be sure to order a new pack with your device and when you start that pack, order another as shipping times on those can take a week or two depending where you are and how efficient your mail service is. You don’t want to accidently run out and find yourself without a pen. Yikes.

Security: You can add a password to your reMarkable to keep prying eyes out. But if you’re like me and self-employed, that’s not really an issue. Your remarkable has Wi-Fi, yes, but you can put it in airplane mode to cut the connection. Plus, it only syncs to your cloud storage. There really aren’t any entry points for viruses or people hacking into your device. But then I’m also not a tech person. Let’s just say I highly doubt security will be a huge issue on this thing. Besides, anyone who wants to take a peek at my tablet would likely find themselves bored stiff, unless they like reading really rough first drafts of speculative fiction.  LOL

Backup/Download: You can easily transfer your files back to your computer by opening the app and simply exporting your finished documents, etc… to your computer, backup drive or cloud drive. You can also just email yourself a copy to make it super easy.

My Wishlist:

1. I wish I could add or append new, handwritten pages to an existing PDF. That would definitely solve the space issue. Now, I just make notes in a different file and jog back and forth between the PDF and the notes, which is a little annoying, but doable. One way to solve this issue would be to save all your PDFs to double spaced. It might make markup a little easier. I’ll try that with the next books to go under the editorial knife.

2. I wish there were cheaper alternative covers. My $17 cover looks great and protects my tablet. reMarkable could easily come up with a few additional low-cost choices here. The ultra professionals are still going to buy nice leather folios. 

(I may add to this list in the coming weeks, but right now these are the two main things jumping out at me.)

Overall Review Summary

For writers, reMarkable2 truly is a remarkable distraction free device that can help improve your concentration and organization, give you the freedom to write out longhand and convert it to text without the tedious re-typing, and help you mark up drafts with ease. This would probably serve prolific and professional writers more liberally than the writer who takes a few years to pen a book. Plus, it will probably save you a lot of printer paper, toner, pens and notebooks. For business owners/users – reMarkable will likely save you pounds of sticky notes and legal pads, and hours of time transcribing your notes. Plus, it’s a great on-the-go working tool for content creators and people who review a lot of PDFs. 

Have some thoughts on the reMarkable2? Feel free to leave a comment below!

[beabythemountains]

First of all, I want to thank those who did their best to make me look beautiful in this shoot. Will forever be in gratitude to you 💗

Secondly, I want to warn everyone who reads this that I am reserving my right to this post and whoever tries to use this in any way in prejudice against me, without my consent, shall be faced with legal consequences under the Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) and other relevant laws. (I basically chose this platform because I want to be privately open about my experience without having to attack anyone who knows me in social media.)

I guess this is an open letter to people who are yet to open their minds. I wrote this August 21, 2020 after crying about it.

I received the final edits of my photos today. I have a cup of tea beside me, and cases and books on this table I am yet to read (I’m now in my fourth year in a post-graduate course.) But I just needed to pause and think about something for a bit. Today, my heart mourned.

Today was also the day I decided to color my hair back to dark brown/black.

As many people I know know, I work in government service. It has been 2 years and 1 month since I entered. Since entering, I’ve witnessed and experienced my fair share of Filipino government office gossip and, having been raised in a family and having had chosen church friends who do not condone this kind of culture, it has been one heck of an emotional ride and plenty adjustments had to be made. Many deep breaths were taken and many “it is what it is” have been whispered just to get to this level of adjustment I’m in now.

And I think I have finally adjusted to it — you meet different people everyday, you work with different age groups, and you have to adjust to a certain level of response to each different person.

And so, one day, I decided to color my hair purple/violet. Basically, the way people who like to color their hair blonde (or ash or light brown) like to do so, that’s the same way I like to color my hair purple, only in a different color. But aside from that, it’s my favorite color. I like different. I like unconventional. And not that I like it loud, I just don’t like common (similarly to how I am not a fan of mainstream stuff; but I don’t hate it, disclaimer). And it’s not that I decided to do it out of spite or out of a moment. I studied it and thought about it for a long time. I also love research so I enjoyed how I studied it and making it happen. About the color, I’ve always wanted to have purple hair, for aesthetics. The color matches well with green/blue green/pale yellow (actually any pastel color) because of contrast and looks soooo good with white — colors that do not usually compliment my skin color when worn. I’m not really cautious or conscious with what I wear because I’ve always thought that it doesn’t really matter as long as one is comfortable in it and doesn’t really affect people around him/her. I’ve also been very adventurous with my hair — I’ve tried very long, very short, straight, curly, wavy. I just don’t care what other people think of what I do to my hair or what I wear. I mean, it’s just my hair, if you don’t like it then don’t do it to yourself! 😂 What has been stopping me to color it before was just because I do not have the resources. I was only a student, imagining what it would be like to color my hair. And now I have the means to do it!

I studied it. Of course, first of all, I studied if it was prohibited. I researched every manual or regulation I could find about dress code and stuff in the government service. I found that it says in the civil service that with regard to hair, it shall be governed by the internal rules and regulations promulgated by the respective agencies/office. As to our office, there is no such rule or regulation.

So I figured, it was okay. I would not be violating anything. So the next thing I studied was how to do it. I also figured it would be cheaper if I do it at home than have it done at a salon (you know how expensive it is!) I studied it very closely and thoroughly in a way that I can do it successfully in a cheaper way and in the least damaging way possible. All in all, I only spent between 1,100-1,500 pesos to achieve this color at this length and still keep it healthy. And I was successful! It wasn’t perfect (see the colors are not even), but I was really happy. ☺️😊💜 I was very patient with my hair. I did bleach it then rested it for two weeks. Bleached then rested. Bleached then rested, until it’s light enough to have it colored (a total of 6 weeks I think.) I bought hair mask and hair treatment to keep it alive (included in the estimate) so I achieved my violet hair while keeping it healthy.

The first week of going to office with this hair, of course, was fun, and shocking for people. My friends were happy with me and supportive. I was so happy that time. I wake up everyday smiling, filled with joy and ideas of how I can wear my hair. I still got my work done the way I should, everything else is normal and the same, except for my hair. Everyone else also got to do their work the same. I expected also some retaliation. Of course, it’s new! Waaahhh “girl with violet hair!” — stuff like that. But I just laughed at it knowing that I did not violate anything. I tried my best to always keep the mood light when they talk about my hair and I was saying things that they can relate it to like cartoons or anime or kpop, or things that have similar color like rambutan or dragon fruit. Overall, it was a fun week.

The second week, some people started talking to me about changing it back to blonde (I was blonde for a few weeks while I was patient for it to lighten). Some are threatening me that I will receive a memo regarding this. Some are saying it’s bawal daw kasi nasa office ako. It started getting toxic. I know full well I am not violating anything. They also know full well there is no regulation against it. (They tried looking for it too!) When they say “bawal” I just tell them “wala naman pong regulation.” They answer “ehh oo, pero palitan mo na a?” or “first time kasi na may ganyan kaya palitan mo na a?”

Similarly, I was also still able to do my work without my hair affecting my job, or even affecting other people’s jobs. My immediate boss does not really talk to me or react to my hair. She still asks me to work on things to the advancement of our office’s goals and missions. My hair has never been an issue between us.

But gossip still spread like wildfire in the office. I wasn’t speaking much, but the talk continued. By the end of the second week, I’m exhausted from all that I hear. By the end of the week, I received no memo.

Of course, I have a friend I opened this up to because I’m an emotional baby and I would cry about it. I would cry about it because I really love my hair. I would cry about it because I spent so much time and effort and resources in researching, studying, and buying stuff to be able to achieve it. I’m crying over it because I’m not violating anything yet I’m receiving retaliation to the point that people are scaring me to bring it back to normal or blonde out of mere gossip that some people are not fond of it.

My friend, still very supportive and in agreeing that she also does not understand why they are terrorizing me, asked me whether I still think it’s worth it. At that time I answered “YES!” with all vigor because I was just so sure that I wanted this, and it doesn’t really matter because it doesn’t affect my work and the gossip didn’t hurt me too much yet to rid me of my freedom of expression. She’s supportive but worried about me. She knows that I can stand on my decision but worried my emotional self will get hurt by all these.

So I went to office again the third week with purple hair (as you can see I’m interchanging purple and violet in the whole passage because I’m not sure which is which 😂😂), bracing myself for gossip but still keeping my joyous self and keeping my cool. I continued my work, people still stare at me, whisper in my back, and that’s fine with me. I was getting used to my hair being like that that I sometimes forget it’s purple. However, longer (it’s already long) story short, the gossip has gotten worse. And this time, people who were once supportive or once indifferent to my hair color change were suddenly mobbing me. Their comments were loud but without basis. They would say it repeatedly, like a ringing in my head, whenever they see me. Some would even laugh at me, touch my hair then laugh to my face, or even on my back. They would continually scare me saying I would be disciplined, or called to the investigative office, even if I was not violating anything. What they just keep saying is that it’s “bawal” and that it’s the first time they saw something like it in their years of government service.

I felt like I was back in primary school, and in a private one. Which instead of only the kids bullying me, even the teachers are terrorizing me for something I did that wasn’t disallowed in the policy. The people are so loud in my head. They were talking without so much reflection. Was it just out of gossip? Or do they think it’s ugly? Why can’t they just say so? Will the office be hurt? My thoughts were exploding with questions no one provided me the answer to. Imagine one girl against that much noise. Their noise was louder than my hair color, honestly, because people will get used to my hair, but I will forever be marred by how I was bullied by people in my office (AND I’M 24!) It was kind of traumatic. I thought about what my friend asked me: is it still worth it?

So I dyed most of my hair back to a darker color (I left remnants of my colored hair in not-so-seen parts). But I leave these questions for people to reflect on:

* Are we still in a time when hair style, what we wear, or tattoos on our bodies still define how we look at a person? Does it really matter? Does it matter at work? At school?

* How will people be able to express themselves if at the first sight of change, we are hampering it, without understanding it or giving it a chance? Can you imagine how much potential would have occurred or blossomed if we didn’t hamper it?

* Will we keep looking down on youth? Will we always impose hierarchy against young potentials? Will we never open our minds to their views which actually make sense if we just reflect on it?

So I dyed my hair back to dark brown/black. Not because I caved in (or maybe I did). Not for you, but for my peace. I don’t want to go on another day facing judgment and tyranny from people who refuse to open their minds and who I don’t affect AT ALL. I want my peace back.

But I mourn for you. I mourn for all the people who have kept their minds closed. I mourn for all the people who have already experienced such, and I hope that you will not experience it again. I hope your daughters and sons will not experience the same trauma I felt.

I browsed through these edits and, while admiring my hair, I cried a little bit for the people who did not appreciate it and for those against it. I hope I can wake up one day when hair color is no longer an issue in the workplace. And reminder lang din na ang government issues ngayon ay COVID, corruption (pariiiin eh it’s 2020), politicians na hindi nakikinig sa mga taong bumoto sakanila, etc.

Bow. 😊😊😊💜

[ofhoneyandrosepetals]

We Move Lightly - Chapter 8

Pairing: Modern!Ivar x reader

Description: Y/N moved back in with her parents, after 7 years of taking care of her grandparents in another town. She had no idea how her neighbors would be, or who would they be, or even that she would fall in love with one of them.

Warnings: swearings. The basic of always.

Word count: 3.599

A/N: due to Tumblr’s links problems, I’m not going to put here the link for previous chapters, masterlist and my ask (which my inbox happens to be OPEN for requests) but you all can keep up with the link for my masterlist in my bio!

A couple of days later, you receive a text from Ivar.

Of course that it wasn’t his first text after that day when you met him after his doctor appointment.

But it was a text that made your heart jump.

Here’s the thing: I really wanna go out with you today but for that to happen I gotta delivery some projects first. U think we can put those two things together?

He was direct, not wasting time on calling you some sweet name (like he did sometimes) or with some chit chat. He went straight up to what he wanted, and that lightened something inside of you.

Before you could answer, he already sent another text.

After I deliver those projects my summer will finally begin and I want it to be with you - by the time I’m free of those things I wanna be with you at some nice place doing something nice. Gotta no time to waist.

After all, summer’s short, you text him back immediately. You think about how he put the word “we” in “think we can put those things together?” and your heart skipped a little bit more.

We.

You and Ivar.

It’s gonna be the longest summer, darling.

You bit your lips. Darling.

When are you leaving to hand those projects?

Around 1 pm. Be ready, I’ll knock.

You smiled and you felt like you didn’t have to answer to that, like if Ivar knew that you were smiling and that was some sort of “okay”.

*

By the time you were putting your dress on, a lightweight fabric of yellow, Ivar knocked at your door.

“Shit,” you mumble to yourself. You took more time than planned on the makeup, not being able to decide what to do. Should I put mascara? Or not? What about blush? Lipstick or gloss? You couldn’t decide, and that took more time than the makeup itself, which ended up being only mascara and gloss. You wanted to feel good with yourself and not wear too much - that was your daily makeup, on days that you actually put it on.

You ran downstairs, grabbing your shoes on the way. You put the right one and opened the door.

Ivar was wearing pants that its fabric didn’t look too hot, but the fact that he was wearing them already made you sweat. It was starting to get really hot, how could he wear that? His T-shirt was tight on his muscles, making all of them show up to you. You had to hold your deep breath.

He raised an eyebrow at you, then looking down at your feet, a hint of a smile on his lips.

“Oh, right,” you laugh and put your other shoe on. “I’m ready,” you tell him while grabbing your little purse and locking the door.

“Where are your parents? I thought that they might open the door.”

“Groceries. Where are your projects?”

“At the car,” he pointed with his thumb to the black Sedan behind him. You thought that you held a surprise look on your face, because Ivar said: “What?, did you really think that we would walk all the way in this hot weather? Maybe when we get to our destiny, but not all over the way downtown.”

Yeah, you actually thought that maybe you two would walk all the way - even because you had no idea where Ivar would hand his work and because you were used to walk and take the bus.

But you had no idea that he actually had a driver license.

You wanted to make a joke of that so you could ease yourself up a little, but you were scared to hurt his feelings, so you asked: “Is this car yours?”

“Yeah, that’s my girl. I got her when I was 16 and cannot give it away. It’s not even my type of car, but… it has its meaning.” You smiled at that.

“Maybe one day I’ll know what she means to you,” you said gently.

“You’re not jealous, are you, Y/N?” Ivar said with a cocky smirk while opening the door for you. You gave his smirk back at him as you entered the car.

“Wow, a real gentleman…” you heard him laughing as he closed the door. You saw that he was limping a little.

“First stop,” he said when he got in the car. “Get rid of the work.”

“And the next stop?” You asked smiling.

“Where the summer begins,” he looked into your eyes and smiled at you. You thought that maybe he would kiss you, but that didn’t happen. You took a look at the back seat of the car to see a whole bunch of rolled papers.

“Wow, that’s a lot of work! When you told me that you’re busy with all of this, I didn’t imagine that it could be so much! I knew that it was a lot, but not… this…” you were surprised.

“Floki has a new idea and I kept working on that… half of what’s there are some ideas that can fit his own. To improve it, I don’t know.”

“You do deserve a longer summer,” you said distracted.

“So do you,” but you didn’t pay attention to that.

*

You were waiting inside the car while Ivar went upstairs the tall and glassy building with his arms full of projects. Even if it wasn’t hot or too far, you guessed that you could never go walking. You took the freedom to grab your phone from your purse and connect it to Ivar’s radio. You let your music playing in a low volume, humming along.

He opened the door to find you singing in a low tone.

“Hey, there.”

“Oh, oh, hi,” he caught you off guard, making you drop your phone and blush.

“I see you made yourself comfortable there,” he was already leaving the parking lot.

“Sorry.”

He didn’t say a word and, after he turned the volume up, you saw him smiling.

“I have no idea what you’re listening to, but I like it.”

You smiled and looked out the window. You were too shy to sing along but, inside your head and your body, you felt as loud as the music.

*

“I think I’ll call that the first stop of our next stop,” Ivar said stopping the car at the park. “What about some ice cream?” He asked smiling.

“You just read my mind; why are we wasting time?” You quickly got out of the car, waiting for Ivar. He stood at your side, offering you his hand to held. Your lips opened a little in surprise - you didn’t remember holding hands with Ivar. Well, at least not like this. On your first date, if that could be called a date (which you did like to call it) you two held hands at the dark of the café, but that was different.

Here you would walk holding hands.

Showing to everyone that you were together. As a couple.

Or something leading to that.

Walking to the ice cream shop, Ivar said: “I still haven’t said how beautiful you look today. But not only today, everyday actually, but today I still haven’t said it. Or… any day…” he scratches the back of his head. “Shit, that came out wrong.”

You were smiling at his embarrassed way, how quickly he got lost in his words.

“I give you a new chance to express yourself better, Lothbrok,” you said holding a laugh.

“Hey, don’t laugh, ain’t fair,” he passed his hand through his hair, which was in a man bun. “I ruined the whole thing.”

“You didn’t.”

“I just wanted to say that everyday you look beautiful because you are beautiful, and you look beautiful today. Just like every other day. I also liked very much your dress,” he said looking at you head to toes. You giggled.

“Thanks,” you squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek, slowly and gently.

You wished that Ivar couldn’t tell how you felt, because inside you were just a happy mess, like if all of yours cells were partying, very drunk. You were with the stars, heart pounding, happiness running through your veins.

You were in love.

After you two ordered your ice creams, Ivar led the way. Sometimes he had to pull or push you here or there, because you had no idea where you were going and you didn’t quite follow Ivar’s movements.

You were at the park, but going somewhere there that you’ve never been before.

“Okay, we’ll have to crawl here,” Ivar said.

“What?”

“Here,” he pointed to a bush.

“There’s no way to crawl there, Ivar.”

“Of course there is,” he said playful and pulled the bush up, the leaves and branches expanding to show a rabbit hole just like in the Disney movie. “Here, hold it please,” he gave you his ice cream. “I’ll go first, then you.”

You couldn’t ignore the fact that you were kinda worried about Ivar’s legs, his knees. You saw that he was taking care of it, while trying not to be obvious. “The branches can scratch a little, but it doesn’t hurt; it’s very soft.”

“Okay.”

Ivar’s hands appeared to grab the two ice creams so you could crawl.

“How won’t you let our ice creams fall on the ground?”

“Y/N, you forget that I deal with pencils and stuff. My hands are very good and secure.”

My hands are very good and secure. You tried not to think too much about that and started crawling through and under the bush.

“Hi there,” Ivar said giggling when he saw your head.

Once you passed you sat on the grass and took a look around. In front of you had a passage through trees, a tunnel of flowers. You could only see pieces of the blue sky cut by the branches. Ahead the tunnel you couldn’t see much because of the strong sunlight.

“Out of words?” Ivar asked. You nodded. “It got me like that too when I first found it.”

You couldn’t stop thinking about when he first found it. With another girl? Alone? Did he bring every girl here too? You decided to stay silent, to just enjoy the view. You took your ice cream from Ivar’s hand.

“Ladies first,” he said when you got up, gesturing towards the path. You walked under the flowers, looking up at them. They were yellow, pink, white. All the leaves had a different ton of green. The noise of cracking branches and leaves under your feet. Ivar kept talking behind you. “When it got worse I had to get a wheelchair, and wasn’t very happy about it. That was making me feel miserable. I was the different kid at school. Everyone looked at me, with pity in their eyes. I had to stop playing, running, swimming. And I was stuck in a wheelchair.” You were walking slowly, dividing your attention to Ivar and to that place. “I refused to use that thing out of school. At home I would crawl everywhere. I didn’t care, all I wanted was to not use that thing. I was 14 years old. One day Ubbe dragged me with him to downtown, just close to this park, while he did some things. I didn’t want to be with him, so I started walking around. Well, ‘walking’,” he laughed a little at his memory. “I got just near where we crawled through that bush when I saw a dragonfly. It was flying around me, and I wanted to get it, but it was a little higher than me, sat down on the wheelchair, so I had to stand up on my feet. I did that. I did that and started following the dragonfly - I remember how much my legs started to hurt. Until they couldn’t support my weight anymore and I fell. That made me so angry, it showed that I couldn’t walk anymore, and maybe never again. I started crawling, not having a specific destiny. So I noticed something curious in that bush, and… and I found this. I found this incredible place on a day and a situation that I was on my worst. Since then it was always my safe place. Now it can be yours too.”

“Mine?”

“Yeah.”

“So you never showed it before to anyone else?”

“Never.”

You stopped at the end of the path, where it opened to a little lake. There were some animals, and the sun reflected on the water. You felt Ivar stopping right behind you, close enough so you could feel his presence so close to you.

You felt something cold dripping on your breast - when you looked down you saw that it was your ice cream.

“Crap,” you mumbled, trying to clean it. Ivar was laughing, amused. “It got on my bra too, I can’t believe it.”

“I could clean it for you,” he said in a suggestive tone.

“No you couldn’t,” you said blushing, not wanting to fill your mind with those thoughts.

After you’ve cleaned yourself, you and Ivar got a spot under a shadow to sit on the grass and look at the lake.

“It’s so calm here,” you whisper, not wanting to make noise.

“It was the calm after my own storm.”

“It means a lot, you know that?”

“What?”

“It means a lot the fact that you showed me this place.”

“It means how important you are to me. How much I like you. You make me feel different, a way that I’ve never felt before. I like you that much, Y/N.”

Ivar was leaning towards you, and you moved with him, closing your eyes. The tip of his nose touched yours and you held your breath. Your foreheads touched. His fingers started trailing your arms to your shoulders, to the crook of your neck and then to your cheek, holding your face with both of his hands. You could feel his breath.

You grabbed his wrists, placing your hands on top of his, so you could feel them.

His hands are rough, the type of hands that you could never, ever imagine that could make such gentle movements, touches. But Ivar was an artist, of course his hands could perform such things.

And maybe other things.

You took a deep breath at the thought of his hands running through your body.

How hot his skin is, you thought.

You felt Ivar’s soft lips slightly touching yours, just a peck of a kiss. A hint. Both of your lips stayed like this for what felt like the longest time, until you opened your lips for him.

As his tongue touched yours, your hands trailed to the muscles of his arms, its hardness under your touch, his hot and smooth skin. You free his hair from the man bun, gripping it hard. Ivar lifted you and put you on his lap.

He kissed your lips, your nose, your ears, your neck.

He bit your lower lip, making a moan left from you and, at that, he gripped hard your hips, which made you move them on top of him. He groaned under his breath, hardening the grip on your hips and pushing you a little, breaking the kiss. He was breathing hard.

“Are you okay?” You asked him. He nodded, his eyes closed and mouth open. “Is it your legs?, am I hurting you?” You touched his legs.

“I’m fine, it’s not my legs. I just… I needed to breath,” he said with an airy laugh. You didn’t know why Ivar pushed you back a little and you weren’t paying attention, but the reason why he broke the kiss and the distance was because of the growing bulge. Always when he was with you and he kissed you, he tried his hard ass for that not to happen, but sometimes he couldn’t control it.

And that was one of them.

“You are amazing, you know that, right?” Ivar said, shining eyes.

Even though you were under the shadow, you could see sparkles of the sun on Ivar’s eyes, yellow swimming on blue.

“Hey,” you protested when something landed on the tip of your nose.

“It’s a ladybug,” Ivar said laughing. “Wait, no no no, don’t scare it away, you look adorable, just… hold still,” Ivar got his phone and took a photo of you.

You always were a shy person but, somehow, at that moment, you didn’t care about being in front of a camera. You didn’t care about how you would look, because it didn’t matter.

“Wanna see it?” Ivar asked. You nodded. “No?” He sounded surprised.

“No. Do you know how to skip stones?”

“If I know? I’m the best of my brothers.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“So I guess I’ll have the best teacher, then.”

“Guess so,” Ivar took some impulse to stand up. “There are some stones on the riverbank.”

You ran first and took a hand full of little stones, showing them to Ivar.

“It has to be the perfect stone. Here, this one. Every stone that looks like this,” you started separating them, making a pile on the ground. “You grab it like this and twist your wrist like this. You need the perfect speed, rotation and angle. It needs practice.”

You tried the first time. The stone sank in the water. You tried the second time. No success.

“Here,” Ivar got behind you, his left hand on yours.

“Are you left handed?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m right.”

“Oh. Okay, so… I’ll show you with the left hand and you try with your right hand. Here. Your fingers go like that and… when you throw it, you’ll make this movement.”

The stone flew from your hand, skipping so much that at some point it just got lost.

“Hey, you’re good!” You said looking at him.

“Told ya,” he winked an eye at you. “Your turn.”

You did with your right hand what Ivar showed you with your left. Your stone skipped two times. You looked at him with a big smile, like a child would look at its mother after doing something marvelous.

“Need some practice, just like I said.”

“Maybe one day I’ll be even better than you,” your shoulder pushed him aside.

“What? No way, I doubt it,” he said playful.

“The greater the teacher is, the greater the pupil will be.”

“Even greater than the teacher?”

“Even greater than the teacher.”

“I’m waiting for that.”

You kissed the tip of his nose on your tip toes. “I’m gonna take my shoes off.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Ivar was bare feet, his pants rolled up to his calf, skipping stones. You could see almost all of his back muscles under his tee and they working as he threw the stones. You decided that was your time to take a photo.

Your first photo of him.

“Hey!” You heard him calling for you while you appreciated the photo. “The pupil will never be greater than the teacher if she keeps looking at her phone! Drag your lazy ass over here!” You laughed.

“I’m not lazy,” you joked.

“Oh no?”

“No. It was just a picture.”

“A picture?” You nodded. “Of me?”

“No,” you said.

“Okay,” Ivar didn’t sound convinced.

*

The day ended with you sat on Ivar’s lap, snuggled although the hot weather, looking at the sunset. His arms were hugging you by your waist, yours on top of his, hugging him back. Your legs were tangled with each other. His chin was resting on the crook of your neck.

“I like it here,” you told him.

“We can come more times.”

“I thought that this was already implied,” you felt Ivar smiling.

You thought that a day couldn’t end more perfect than this.

But so did you think that that night at the café.

And that night at his house when Amy was here.

But for now, you thought that a day couldn’t end more perfect than this.

You snuggled on Ivar’s lap, being so close to him, with the sunset at the lake, the grasshoppers singing and the dragonflies flying all around. The ducks going to their way, the birds singing too.

You didn’t want to look away, and no camera could make justice to that view, but even so you closed your eyes and took that view to your mind, so later you could paint it.

You could feel the chill air coming and the hot air leaving. The sun leaving and the moon coming with its stars.

“The stars will always guide us home,” you whispered.

“What?”

“Nothing. I think the vikings probably said that at some point. Your ancestors.” You were playing with Ivar’s arm ring. He smiled at the fact that you remembered what he told you once, under the tree of his house. He kissed your cheek.

And again you thought that a day couldn’t end more perfect than this.

Taglist:  @mblaqgi @akamaiden @dangerousvikings @oddsnendsfanfics @deepdarkred @irishhiggins @tinypuppysoul @kingbouji3 @i-war-s-boner @capitanostella @loothbrok @noaor @thehuntress26 @sassymcgonagal1651 @hoodirwin5 @attorneyl @collecting-stories @certainobservationwasteland @dreams-in-different-colours @3x5gurl @readsalot73 @thisisparadisemylove @action-adventure-and-cheesecake @titty-teetee @cutiedaij @austenkingmylady @ivarthesweetheart @golden-pickaxe @lokis-sunflower-anna @bill-istvan @cynthianokamaria @slut4hazeleyes @chinduda @hallowed-heathen @cherryblossombaby69 @paintballkid711 @bisexual-dane

[thefinalcinderella]

Tsurune Book 2 Chapter 4-Unsolicited Statement (Part 2)

The only thing worse than kyudo terminology...is Shinto and Buddhism terminology.

In other words, please enjoy this long-awaited continuation of the chapter, where the boys go to the Amatsu Star Festival in their fancy getup and we learn that Ren is actually Masaki’s stepbrother (not like the anime didn’t already spoil that for us). Also Nikaidou and Fuwa show up (not at the festival)

Glossary here

Full list of translations here

Translation Notes

1. A sekitori is a sumo wrestler ranked in the top two professional divisions.

2. A multi-tenant building here ( 雑居ビル) is a building that houses a mixture of businesses, shops and residences

3. Aratama and nikitama are parts of the spirit (mitama) of a god in Shinto belief. The aratama is the rough and violent side of the god that must be appeased while the nikitama is its normal state. (Thanks yugioh wiki for leading me to the right place)

4. The jousou of a priest is worn at regular festivals. A kariginu is a traditional hunting robe worn by Heian nobles. Basically, what Masa-san is wearing here is what he wore in Episode 10 of the anime (when the boys visit the shrine) except it’s all white.

5. Issun-boshi is a Japanese folktale about a one sun (3cm) boy who kills an oni. It’s similar to Tom Thumb and you can read the gist of it here

6. Jaki (邪気) means maliciousness or evil spirits, and mujaki (無邪気, literally “no jaki”) means innocence.

7. So apparently tsumikegare is a complicated term. Tsumi is sin and kegare is impurity, but sometimes tsumikegare happens to you without you doing anything wrong. In any case it taints your energy and you have to cleanse yourself of it.

8. The ritual Masa-san’s mom is doing is the shubatsu, a purification ritual that takes place before a ceremony. Also, ooasa is more commonly known as onusa, apparently. See one here. The sakaki tree is an evergreen that’s sacred in Shinto and used in many rituals, as well as salt water (entou), which is rock salt dissolved in water.

9. The term kaji ( 加持) is used here. In Buddhism it corresponds to  Adhiṣṭhāna, which refers to receiving blessings from the Buddha. On a side note I pretty much had to guess the translation of this passage lol

10. Joue ( 定慧) is two-thirds of the Threefold Training of Buddhism.  定 is “right mindfulness” and  慧 is wisdom. The third one is  戒, which is virtue.

11. Momote Shiki is a kyudo ceremony performed for those who are turning 20 and becoming adults. It is conducted by the Ogasawara-ryuu, who dress in formal kimonos and shoot two arrows at a target. You can read about one in more detail here

12. A naorai is a banquet during a festival where the offerings made to the gods are eaten. It marks the end of a ritual. Read more about it here

13. A goldfish with protruding eyes is called a telescope goldfish or demekin

14. Nanao makes up the word pazarinko in Chapter 3 of Book 1, where apparently it’s supposed to mean “you’re welcome” It’s the furigana for “了解” which means “got it”

15. Yo-yo scooping is a popular festival game where you fish for small balloons with a paper string and a hook. The balloons you get act like yo-yos I think? 

16. Yakitori is skewered chicken that’s grilled over a charcoal fire.

17. A marebito is a word that refers to a divine spirit or being bringing gifts of luck and happiness from afar. They are usually welcomed with festivals. It’s lso the title of the next chapter

Previous | Next

Countermeasures against the heat were necessary for summer exercise. Kyudo was no exception.

Kazemai High School was located in a relatively cool region of Japan, and kyudo was blessed compared to outdoor sports, but it was still hot during daytime. Although there was a fan, the wind almost never reached them, and so the fan head desolately turned.

In summer, the kyudo equipment also changed due to the heat. Because it was easy for the bowstring to stretch and for the draw strength to weaken if it was a bamboo bow, one used different equipment for summer and winter. The heat had little effect on glass fibre bows, but one needed to be careful as they could deform if one left them inside a car under the blazing sun.

For kyudogi, there were ones used specially for summer in addition to year-round. As the kyudo uniform must not be directly worn on bare skin, an undershirt must be worn, and the style for the bottom was a hakama that completely covered the feet. It was difficult to say that it was a cool getup. People who sweated a lot and the like had their sweat dripping onto the floor during zasha.

At break, Ryouhei and Nanao flapped the sides of their hakama.

“Ugh, it’s so humid since there’s no wind today.”

“The floor’s so steaming hot it’s like there’s indoor heating. My hakama’s getting stuck to my feet with all the sweat, you know.”

“Can you wash hakama?”

“The hakama and obi we wear for practice are made of synthetic fibers, so you can put them in a laundry bag and wash them with a washing machine. If you take them to a dry cleaner’s, it’ll be expensive since they’ll undergo the traditional clothing treatment. Though, the hakama Masa-san wears when he needs to wear kimono is probably made of silk or wool, so I don’t think he can use the washing machine for that.”

“My underglove is also really damp from all the sweat.”

“I hate having a sweaty yugake, so I’m going to air it out when I get home. Although when I say that, I’m just going to spread it out in my room and turn it over. Apparently, it’s also good to put a drying agent in it.”

The two replaced their undergloves that had become damp with sweat with new ones. In the case that one’s grip became slippery with palm sweat, one could also use rice chaff ashes, called fudeko, or one’s own white powder on the left hand.

Seiya handed Minato a towel and a water bottle. The ice made a cool, rattling sound, and the barley tea disappeared in an instant.

“Minato, if it’s not enough I can give you more.”

“Ah, thanks. I’ll have more later.”

“Are you suffering from heat fatigue? It looks like your dad has a lot of business trips lately, but are you eating properly?”

“Mm, I’m fine.”

Kaito, who was next to Minato and Seiya as they talked, knitted his brows.

“Are you mothering Narumiya again, Seiya? Leave him alone, he’s not a little kid.”

“Isn’t it fine? It’s not bothering anyone, and it’s my purpose in life.”

“So you finally got serious.”

“What? Do you want me to mother you too, Kaito?”

“Not a chance!”

“I also don’t want to take care of a child with such a bad expression.”

“I’m not a ‘child’ with a bad expression!”

Kaito finished his water bottle in one go.

Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo had on dumbfounded expressions that said, “Ah, here we go again.” They were completely used to seeing the sketch comedies that Kaito was associated with.

Tommy-sensei asked them to gather around.

“Were you all able to hydrate? Takigawa-san explained this the other day, but what is the method of breathing while shooting?”

Ryouhei answered.

“If you’re concerned about your breathing, it becomes more difficult for you to know how to shoot. Or rather, you can’t do both at the same time.”

“Exactly so. Since the way of dantian breathing used in kyudo is slightly different than the commonly stated dantian breathing, and it is difficult for those who hold the bow and still have a few years to go, it is good to store it as knowledge in a corner of your minds right now.”

“Yes.”

“If I have to be extreme, Japanese archery is lifting the bow up, parting it in both directions, and waiting to release the arrow—that is all it is. Even though just that should be good enough, people do unnecessary and pointless actions. First of all, let’s correct the major causes that produce difficulties for hitting the target. Because when you covet this-and-that, you will not be able to understand why.”

Ryouhei nodded deeply.

“Now then, it will be summer vacation soon and there will be a training camp, but before that, I will give everyone a mission. The gentlemen will be time warping back to the Heian era.”

“Heian era? Time warp? What does that mean?”

“For that, go there and enjoy what happens. The girls will be in charge of seeing that with their own eyes.”

Minato and the others blinked rapidly before Tommy-sensei, who was chuckling.

“Ah.”

Tsujimine High School’s Fuwa let out a sound without thinking.

The person before him was clicking their tongue.

Fuwa was at the bus stop in front of the hospital with his phone in one hand. A man with a muscular figure, on par with a sekitori (1), was in front of him in line, but he seemed to have decided something and left the line. Just when Fuwa was about to close up the gap and lifted his head, he saw Nikaidou right in front of him. They couldn’t see each other due to the large man hiding them.

Nikaidou opened his naturally large eyes even wider. Since their eyes met perfectly all the way here, his face that screamed, I didn’t know you were there at all, was extremely transparent.

He muttered to him, as though resigned to the situation,

“The bus is here. Let’s get on it, Fuwa.”

“…Right.”

They did not talk to each other even as they sat next to each other in the two-person seat. Fuwa still had his phone in hand, and Nikaidou was vacantly staring out the window. Neither of them said anything like, “What a coincidence,” or “What happened?”

The bus arrived at the nearest station fifteen minutes later.

Although Fuwa intended on naturally parting from him in this way, Nikaidou indicated his destination with his chin.

“Come.”

Without saying “What a pain,” he followed Nikaidou to the fast food restaurant on the first floor of the multi-tenant building. (2)

Nikaidou silently lined up at the register.

"Welcome. Will you be eating here today?"

"Yes."

"Then, may I take your order?"

"I'll have one of whatever is the most expensive thing in this store."

"Okay?"

The cashier was immediately bewildered.

As he was getting second-hand embarrassment from what he was seeing, Fuwa went to the second floor seats.

After a while, Nikaidou showed up carrying a tray. Apparently he couldn't carry it by himself, as employees were following him. The tray was piled high with food, so it did not look like it was for two people at all.

When the employees left, Nikaidou sat in his seat and spoke.

"Here, eat."

"Is that how you offer food to someone?"

"Just shut up and do it now!"

Forced by pressure, Fuwa reluctantly took a bite of a hamburger.  He had actually snatched food in the hospital room he had visited, so he was not at all hungry. When Fuwa finished eating one, Nikaidou looked relieved. He himself finally took the food as well.

Ah, so this is hush money?

Fuwa guessed.

It probably meant that he was not allowed to reveal that they ran into each other at the hospital. He couldn't ask anything about this matter. Furthermore, he is telling him to infer all of that. What a self-centered guy, he thought, but he stopped pressing it. Having him be quiet with this signified that Nikaidou trusted him greatly.

Nikaidou was hiding the fact that his uncle Shigeyuki was in hospital from the club members. Perhaps Shigeyuki asked him not to tell anyone. And Fuwa knew that Nikaidou had been visiting him frequently. That kind of thing would be divulged by someone close to him, and that information source was Nikaidou's younger brother. Because he knew, he was careful not so that they would not meet, but they ended up doing that regardless. In that sense, this whole situation was Fuwa's mistake.

Fuwa had a certain special quality.

It was the ability to get information even without seeking it.

Even though he wasn't extending an antenna from himself and collecting information, the things the people around him hid or wanted to hide entered his ears. He noticed that when he received a piece of coloured paper from his homeroom teacher at his elementary school graduation ceremony.

It was a collection of messages for the graduation ceremony, but among the trite and hackneyed phrases like "I'll do my best even after I graduate," he was unable to take his eyes from the words written by one girl.

Fuwa-kun has long ears, so bad things about Fuwa-kun are the only things I was afraid to say—.

He couldn't believe his eyes when he first saw that. He had no interest in the conversations of girls, so he never strained his ears for them. And in the first place, saying that he had "long ears" was in itself a loose-tongued thing to do. It may have happened that he did not notice the girl was hiding something and inadvertently said it aloud.

From then on, he began to be careful about his speech and conduct. He avoided topics that seemed like they would infringe on privacy as much as possible, and did not left out anything that he heard. It felt like the number of people who one-sidedly talked to him excessively increased, perhaps because he devoted himself to the listener's role. There were many people who wanted to talk, even without him asking. They could not help but vomit out the words that they kept close to their chests.

In addition, there were also many times when he accidentally overheard and learned something. The other day, he learned why Nikaidou often wore a white hoodie. When he went to the school infirmary, there was a health report there forgotten by the nurse. It was written that Nikaidou Eisuke was hypersensitive to light, and that if he was exposed to ultraviolet rays for a long time, it would cause skin inflammation.

And, there was another thing. He knew Nikaidou's secret—.

Ootaguro had also vaguely perceived it, and only Nikaidou himself thought it had not been found out. Ootaguro was not as meatheaded as Nikaidou thought he was. Nikaidou was smart, but lacked objectivity. He couldn't see himself very well.

Fuwa stuffed his mouth with his last bite, then washed it down with coke.

"Alright, it's all eaten."

"Ugh, I'm not gonna be eating hamburgers and fries for a long time."

When they exited the restaurant, Nikaidou pointed above his head.

"I'm gonna be stopping by the store up there."

"Oh, then see ya."

Nikaidou smiled, looking satisfied, and climbed the steps to the store.

Fuwa looked up at the sky.

The sound of a flute could be heard, and faint lights emerged.

At Yata Shrine, the summer festival called the Amatsu Star Festival was currently underway. Along the long stairs that stretched from the torii gate to the front shrine, bamboo tubes with the tops diagonally cut were arranged with lit candles inside them. The swaying flames were like whispers, enticing people to where the sounds were.

Sway, sway.

O marebito, o heretic gods.

Are you aratama tonight, or nikitama? (3)

Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo, dressed in yukata, stopped at the top of the steps.

"Wow, the stairs of light are so beautiful!"

"Look at the interior. It's still continuing."

"Let's go."

The lights flickered, as though beckoning them. They passed between the bamboo tubes and looked back, and saw a river of light.

"Are the boys going to be here soon?"

Hanazawa confirmed the time.

"I wonder if they successfully completed the time warp."

"The girls' mission is to see it with our own eyes, after all."

The three giggled as they headed for the front shrine.

The five boys of Kazemai High School were also visiting Yata Shrine, but they could not afford to enjoy the festival. They first thing they did in the morning was to do an ablution ceremony by bathing in cold water (misogi). They also refrained from eating meat and fish since yesterday.

On this day, Minato and the others were wearing colourful kimonos and hakama, looking just like Heian nobles. Masa-san was dressed all in white. The ordinary vestments (jousou) of a priest was a dyed and patterned kariginu, a hakama in a colour that corresponded to the priest's social position, a cap called a tateeboshi, a ritual baton (shaku), and shallow clogs (asagutsu), but the kimono was all white with only a little decoration at the cuffs. (4)

In actuality, Yata Shrine was reviving the ritual "matoi" (target shooting), which had died out, and the Kazemai High School Kyudo Club boys were serving the roles of the archers.

Minato moved awkwardly in the clothes he was unaccustomed to wearing. The weights of the pure silk kimono and the practice clothes he usually wore were different, and he took care not to make it dirty.

"Masa-san, are we really going to be okay? We're wearing these flashy kimonos and hakama, and shoes made of wood. We're doing rissha, aren't we?"

"The target is big, and you'll be fine if you move as you practiced this morning. Exposing your chest in summertime is troublesome since your kimono sticks to you with sweat, but it works as a natural cooler."

"In the first place, why is it that except for the one priest, everyone else are boys from ages twelve to eighteen?"

"In ancient times, Yata Shrine was a shrine thatwas connected to the practitioners of Shugendou, and the purpose of 'matoi' was to exorcise vengeful spirits. As you can see from folk tales like Momotarou and Issun-boushi (5), 'douji' (boys) are said to have the power to exorcise demons--evil spirits. And in the ancient documents left at Yata Shrine, it is written that the archers are chigo, that is, young trainee monks with unshaven heads at Buddhist temples. The discussion of wanting to revive it has been brought up by the parishioners for a long time, but I only got enthusiastic about it when I talked about it with Tommy-sensei."

"So 'innocence' is the opposite of 'vengeful spirits'. (6) But why would there be young monks at a Shinto shrine?"

"Before the Meiji era, there was the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism, in other words, Shinto and Buddhism weren't distinctly separated. Apparently, it wasn't unusual for priests to double as monks."

"Oh, I see."

When the festival music (matsuri-bayashi) ended, the archers and parishioners, with Masa-san at the head, stood before the shelves that held rice, salt, water, sake, fish and other offerings to the gods. The parishioners were serving as the kaizoes. The target (oomato) was made of flattened reeds that were woven together, and a piece of paper put on top of it had the character for "demon" written on it.

They received a purification rite from Masa-san's mother, who was a priest, to purify their sins and impurities (tsumikegare) of their mind and body. (7) She shook the ooasa, a rod of plain wood with shide (zigzag paper streamers) attached to it, left and right and left again, and then a sprig of sakaki tree was dipped into entou (salt water) and sprinkled. (8)

Masa-san walked a few steps ahead of the line, and then knelt (kiza) with a bow and white-feathered arrow in hand.

He chanted with a resonant voice.

Upon careful consideration, what one would call a treasured bow of divine empowerment (9), is something that strenuously exerts the virtues of joue (10), clears away the mob of hindrances,

And defeats the evil forces that block the way to samsara. Indeed, there is nothing that surpasses a divine bow and secret arrow for a vessel of expelling evil forces.

Now, the five great dragon kings have descended upon this dojo and will establish barriers that will block these evil spirits…

When he stood up, he had his bow and arrow in his right hand, and exposed his chest by slipping his kimono from his left shoulder. With both hands, he reverently held the bow parallel to the ground and then pointed it towards the target (mato-tsuki). He gripped the bow in a slanted position and drew it back to its limit, and then released the arrow.

His next arrow also hit the center of the target.

When Kaito, the oomae, lifted his bow, Ryouhei also lifted his own bow without missing a beat. After him, Seiya, Nanao, Minato and Masa-san imitated Kaito’s movements.

Kaito slowly brought the head of his arrow close to the target.

“Aiiiiiie!” After he shouted his yagoe, his arrow flew towards the target.

After him, Ryouhei also released his arrow with a “Yah”, and Seiya, Nanao, Minato and Masa-san followed.

Aiiiiiie, yah!

Aiiiiiie, yah!

The yagoes crawled along the ground, the sounds that violently cut through the wind being linked together.

When the six shootings were over, there was a big round of applause from the spectators.

“What was that? Were those Kazemai students who were shooting?”

“Holy crap, that was amazing! We can take pictures, right?”

The female high school students who were watching as a way to kill time were in high spirits. Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo, who were watching over them, were also leaning forward in excitement.

“Since they called it a ritual, I was wondering what they were going to do, but wasn’t it pretty cool?”

“It really did feel like we time-warped back to the Heian era.”

“They were moving similar to the Momote Shiki of the Ogasawara-ryuu school.” (11)

While the worshippers were chattering noisily, Kaito drew his bow tightly once again. There was a dignified air surrounding him.

The yagoes were shouted one after the other.

Six voices.

When the last shot brought down the demon, a thunderous round of applause arose.

After they finished their greetings, Minato and the others changed into their regular clothes.

Tommy-sensei met them with a smile.

“You’ve all worked hard on your mission. Congratulations to everyone for safely returning to present-day. You all looked very handsome.”

The parishioners also gave them words of appreciation and gratitude.

“What a mystical ceremony it was, as though we became lost in an older world. Many of us parishioners are getting on in years, but the ones who will create the future are you young people after all. Now, now, eat up.”

“Then, itadakimasu.”

They took the food before them. At the naorai (12), Ren was also there along with the parishioners, going around pouring alcohol for each person. A naorai also had the meaning of cleansing the body obtaining the offerings to the goods through eating and drinking the offerings and sake at the end of the ritual, but at Yata Shrine it had a strong sense of a party given in recognition of a person’s services.

It was a long-awaited and precious festival. They also wanted to go around to see all the stalls.

After talking for a while, the boys stood from their seats, leaving the adults who were drinking.

It was a complete transformation from that refined world, and they flocked to the area lined with red lanterns. The scents of sauces and sugary things mingled together. Nanao was called out to by girls as they passed by him, and he answered them with smiles. They went halfway down the row of stalls, when Minato and Ryouhei decided to take on the target shooting stall.

“I think I’ll aim for the sweets on the right. What about you, Ryouhei?”

“I see. I’ll be aiming for that mascot ‘Reclining Kaehru-kun.’”

“Alright, then, it’s a match.”

The two carefully aimed and pulled their triggers. Despite Minato bombarding it with bullets, the small box of sweets did not fall down. He persistently continued to shoot, and when he thought that it finally fell, he was disappointed when he was told that “it doesn’t count if it doesn’t fall behind the shelf.” As Ryouhei declared, he got the “Reclining Kaehru-kun,” and handed it to Nanao.

“Oooooh, this is amazing! Thanks, Ryouhei. Let’s go over there next.”

The group went to the goldfish scooping stall next.

Nanao and Seiya, with Kaito between them, were standing by.

“Seiya, Kacchan is a master at goldfish scooping.”

“Oh really? Show me what you got.”

Kaito’s eyes glinted. A daring smile appeared on his lips.

He readied his scoop in his right hand and the bowl for the goldfish in his right, and then passed his scoop under the water. He quickly slid it sideways and got one fish at the start. He then got a second one, a third one, a fourth one, and then the bowl was filled with goldfish before they knew it.

“Good job, Kaito. Alright, I’ll try too.”

Seiya gently put his scoop in the water and chased the swimming goldfish, but the fish escaped before he could put them in the bowl.

“Aaah, it got torn.”

“Seiya is surprisingly crap at this.”

“Sir, one more turn.”

Seiya paid the fee.

“Kaito, teach me your secret.”

“Watch closely, okay? First, you gotta put the whole scoop into the water. You should scoop by aiming for the fish at the surface and moving horizontally as much as possible, and making sure that the tail is getting on the paper.”

As he was saying that, he caught another one. Even the man at the stall said, “Give it a rest, kid,” with a wry smile.  Perhaps because he listened to Kaito’s advice, Seiya got two fish this time.

Nanao kept aiming for the bigger fish, but at the end he did not catch a single fish. He returned his torn scoop to the man and pointed at one spot where the goldfish were crowding together.

“Kacchan, get that black fish with the stuck-out eyes buried under those red goldfish.” (13)

“Hmm, it’s big, and that location is ugh.”

“You can still do it, can’t you? Get it, get it!”

“Can’t be helped.”

Badgered by Nanao, he reluctantly attempted it, but his paper scoop got torn when he got close to the fish.

“Ooh, what a shame, kid,” the man at the stall said with a pleased face. They decided to bring back only three fish, and Nanao chose a fish to his liking. In the meantime, Minato and Ryouhei went to take a look at the neighbouring stall.

After they received their goldfish, Kaito looked around.

“Narumiya and Ryouhei aren’t at the stall next door at all?”

“Aah…, this happened a lot back then. Whenever those two are at a festival, they really get into it and disappear before you know it. Well, it’s fine.”

“Huh, it’s really ok? You not clinging to Narumiya, I mean.”

“Yep. Today, I’m sticking close to your side.”

Kaito recoiled from Seiya, who was smiling with his eyes narrowed.

“Hah? Why’s that?”

“In this kind of place, the possibility of you rather than Minato getting caught up in trouble is much higher. And you have even less self control when it comes to Nanao. As you wished, I shall specially take care of you today.”

“When did I wish for that!?”

Next to Kaito, who was scratching his head, Seiya was ready to burst into laughter.

“Okay, I texted Minato and Ryouhei our meeting location and time, so let’s walk around together.”

Nanao responded, “’Kay, pazarinko (14). Where should we go next? The turtle scooping stall?”

“Turtles, huh…those things get huge in the future. We can’t bring them back with us.”

“I wanna get big too.”

“Then, milk scooping?”

“Ooh, maybe! Moo-moo scooping~.”

“That’s not even a thing! If you’re talking about scooping, there’s yo-yos and gemstones.” Kaito answered, getting worked up and taking the joke seriously. (15)

The three disappeared into the crowd while jostling.

At the same time, Minato and Ryouhei had also noticed that they had lost sight of their friends, and looked at their phones.

"So we're meeting in front of the shrine office. There's still time until then. What do you want to do, Ryouhei?"

" I wanna eat yakitori. (16) You mind if I line up at that stand over there?"

"It's cool. I'll wait under this tree."

Minato left the lively avenue lined with stands, heading for the zelkova tree.

The rhythm of the festival music could be heard in the distance. Since from the morning he had been busy with the setup of the oomato and learning how to strip during a rissha ceremonial shooting, observing the festival from a little further away also wasn't bad at all. The flickering of the river of light pierced his eyes.

Just when he was about to twist off the cap of the plastic bottle in his hand, someone with their hand raised approached him from the front. At first he couldn't recognize their face since it was lit from behind, but it turned out to be Ren.

"Hey, Minato-kun. We sure do meet a lot."

"Ren-san, is it okay for you to be here?"

"Trying to drive me off, eh?"

"Ah, no, I was just wondering if it's okay for you to not be at the naorai."

"Oh, it's already in the final stage, so they probably wouldn't know if just one person is missing."

Ren stood next to Minato and similarly twisted the cap off his plastic bottle.

"How's it going with kyudo practice?"

"Thanks to having Masa-san teach us, I think everyone improved, as well as me."

"I heard that you were taught by a sensei who is famous in the kyudo world. Aren't you unsatisfied with Masaki?"

"That absolutely isn't true! Saionji-sensei and Masa-san are both my precious teachers. If I never met them both, I might not be shooting a bow today."

Ren suddenly laughed, but there was something cold about the way he did it.

"Really, that's good to hear. Masaki had been worried for a while. He told you that 'If you don't fix that bad habit, the more you shoot, the more it will hurt,' but he worried that he should have said, 'Once you fix that bad habit, you will get even better,' and that he made a mistake in how he should have said it. Thinking that there’s nothing good about a coach who lowers his athlete's motivation."

"Eh, he was?"

"Even for those who teach, there's actually a real anxiety about whether or not what they are doing is really okay. Masaki did kyudo for many years, but as a teacher, he's a beginner. Everyone's an amateur for the first time they're doing anything. Studying, exercise, the arts, work, raising children—everything has a first time."

"—That's true."

People wavered whenever they are doing something. Even if they weren't aware of it, even if they weren’t in pain or suffering, they were always making choices. Even after the time of the initial resolution, in the end they still didn't know what was the correct answer. One could only cast away doubts such as if there was another choice, and go the way one believed in.

Minato asked something he had always been curious about.

"Ren-san, you don't do kyudo?"

"Yeah, I don't. There was a time when I thought I'd try it, but I missed the timing."

"So Yasaka-sensei didn't encourage you to do kyudo."

"Uh huh. I was already a full-fledged adult, and I was the child of his daughter's second marriage partner, so he probably refrained from doing that."

"...What?"

"You know Masaki's mother remarried, don't you? I'm the kid from my dad's previous marriage. I'm not related to Mom and Masaki by blood."

The wind blew, and the flames swayed all at once.

The leaves rustled and wriggled.

Minato groped for something to follow up with.

"Ren-san, are you trying to surprise me again? Even I won't fall for it anymore."

"Oh, so Masaki didn't tell you. Well, maybe he didn’t bother telling his student about it. It's about unrelated people after all."

Minato very much remembered his thirst. The scar on his left flank ached.

Ren always spoke like there was a hidden meaning in his words, but he really couldn't see his true meaning this time.

"Minato-kun, I actually hate you a little bit. I thought that when Masaki finished his ten-thousand shots, he could be freed from our grandfather's binding spell, but he relapsed back into being bow-crazy. He was about to go on the same path as the grandfather he avoided so much."

"Is it bad to love kyudo?"

"I don't think it's bad, but I do think it's constricting and uncomfortable."

Minato wanted to refute him. No, you're wrong.

Masa-san, Shuu, and Minato were certainly struggling, and might be suffering, but those shouldn’t be all that there was.

"Masa-san's tsurune is really beautiful. I don't believe it's the sound of someone who is shooting in suffering. I enjoy shooting a bow. It's frustrating to not be able to do things as they go in my mind and not getting considerably better, but even so, I love kyudo."

Ren's eyes stayed the same, with only his mouth smiling.

"It is said that Yata Shrine's Amatsu Star Festival is perhaps for appeasing Amatsu-Mikaboshi, who is branded as a malevolent god. For my home, you are a marebito—a guest. Nobody knows if you are a good spirit or an evil spirit." (17)

"Ren-san..."

"Fufu, you are too amusing... It's a joke, I'll be leaving my little brother in your care."

Ren lifted a hand and left.

Ryouhei showed up in his place, bringing along Seiya, Kaito and Nanao.

Minato blinked his eyes from the dazzling, diffusely reflected light.

Previous | Next

[pricechecktranslations]

TTDS: The Ring of Evil; Chapter 1

Torture Tower Doesn’t Sleep: The Ring of Evil infomine under the cut

Scene 1

Scene opens up with Rack, cleaning the tower (and that she does it partially to alleviate boredom). She likes to clean most at night (because she doesn’t sleep anyway, and in fact feels more energetic at night, as do the rest of the girls). Maiden sometimes lectures her though, saying she misses things because she doesn’t clean when there’s light to see by.

Gibbet is out tonight. Rack hears someone scream upstairs, thinking it’s Maiden executing their last prisoner, who’s been there for a month. They’ve been getting less and less prey lately, so Rack has mostly been cleaning despite being a torturer.

Little recap on the girls, Beritoad, and why they do what they do. Rack actually has faint memories and sensations from when she was a torture device, apparently (things like Hank smiling as she tortured people, him cleaning the blood off her afterwards, etc).

She’s cleaning the dining room, that has the now-sealed secret passage. She notices that a cupboard has been moved a little. This brings her thoughts to the passage, wondering on who the original tower’s owner was and why they made it.

She sees an iron plate in the spot where the cupboard used to be. She tries to move it, or pry it up with her spikes, but it won’t budge. Her spike falls to the plate and then won’t come off, like it’s been glued down. She considers getting Maiden to help her with her powers of moving through walls, but she wants to find out what it is before anyone else. In the process of trying to break it open, she gets a spike stuck in the wall.

In getting the spike out, she breaks a hole in the wall. Moonlight gets in, and illuminates the iron plate.

A disturbance in the air forms above the plate, getting bigger and taking shape into the form of a person. It’s male, and about her height. She’s shocked, but pretends not to be for her pride. He greets her, and she demands he put some clothes on (as he’s naked, though still in a state between ghostly and corporeal).

He apologizes and immediately transforms to have clothing on, a white shirt with a black vest and necktie, and a yellow tailcoat. His outfit reminds her of a man named (kuramuzeru—Not sure how to romanize this) who came to the tower once (when Hank was still alive and Rack was just a rack). He was a servant of a General Carax (karakkusu). He was rugged, though, whereas the boy here is feminine in appearance.

The boy calls her “princess” (different word for princess than Riliane though). This is because, though, he thinks she’s the lord of the tower. She tells him to call her Rack, and that she’s not the lord here. She thinks he’s dangerous. He tells her she can call him Amo.

She asks if he’s a familiar of their “god” Beritoad, and Amo reacts strangely to that (basically, he knows of Beritoad, and not as his servant). Despite his polite manner he’s a little bit of a gadfly, it seems (ex, Rack asks him what he (Amo) is, and he says “I could tell you but I won’t”).

Rack gets annoyed and throws her spikes at him, but he doesn’t flinch or react at all when they sail past him. He’s a mere illusion, after all, and thus non-corporeal.

Rack declares he must be a ghost of someone who died in the tower. But Amo points out she’s never seen him before. He also denies being the ghost of someone from before she was made. He still refuses to admit what he is to her, though eventually relents and says he’ll tell her if she does him a favor.

He says a part of him (vague on what) is in the basement under the metal plate, and he wants Rack to take it out. She’s not sure how to get in there, of course, and so decides to take some time to think on it.

Amo departs, asking that they don’t patch the hole in the wall in the meantime, as it’ll stop him from being able to talk to her (he shows up when the moonlight shows through). Rack decides to go tell Maiden what happened.

Scene 2

Maiden is in the chapel reporting that she’d killed the last prisoner to Beritoad. They don’t notice Rack enter. They discuss how Rabiah and Gibbet have been having trouble due to outside interference, when it comes to gathering new prey. Maiden is having doubts, as they are torture devices who have hardly been torturing anyone lately.

Rack makes her presence known, and soon they get to talking about the outside world. Rack has no memories of when she was made outside the tower.

At one point after they were awakened, another wraith sealed (magically I think) the entrance to the tower (according to Beritoad). This lasted for fifteen years until “someone” (it doesn’t say who) arrived and unsealed the entrance. Then there’s a bit of recap on the stuff with Raymond and the others.

The point of the conversation is that basically this is not the first time the girls had a drought of torturing people, so Rack isn’t put off by it.

Maiden asks how close they are to restoring Beritoad. He says about 20-30 people (depending on how much they suffer first). He warns them that Raymond and Romarius (and Tsukumo) are sure to get in the way, though.

Rack brings up the situation with Amo, but Beritoad tells her to drop it, and get the hole in the wall fixed pronto. Maiden has one more thing she wants to ask, but Beritoad leaves for the day.

Scene 3

Maiden and Rack return to the first floor dining room, and she shows her the metal plate from before (with her spike still stuck to it). After a bit of inspection Maiden determines that it’s magnetic (which makes helping lift it tricky for her). Even if she used her ability to pass through things it still might draw her in.

While Rack puzzles over this, Maiden inspects the hole in the wall. Rack insists she not repair it, wanting to find out Amo’s secret. She says she’ll meet with Amo secretly when Beritoad sleeps. That still leaves the issue of the hole in the wall. Maiden has an idea, but wants to ask about something else first.

She had a letter addressed to her. Ordinarily the only letters they get are from Gibbet, but this is different. It says only: “I’m going to meet you soon”, from someone called Garnes (Ganes? Garneth?) Elsebert (gaanesu eruzeberuto).

Rack knows who he is, and is surprised Maiden doesn’t know (Maiden professes to have a bad memory). Rack tells her in exchange for her handling the situation with the wall, but the scene cuts off before she says who he is.

Scene 4

The scene is a large info dump on Benji, so there’s a lot to write. The “Kemp Clinic” was founded sixty years ago by Benji’s grandfather Olaf Kemp (oorafu), set in the northern region of Lion City, on Vinyl Hill (bainaru). Olaf is turning 82 this year, and four years ago he passed the director’s seat on to his son and retired (having suffered from an illness in his retinas). Benji and his father are the only doctors working there, but it wasn’t that big a clinic to begin with so it’s fine.

Benji’s great grandfather was a famous architect who worked in the royal capital, and apparently he worked on the large Sell Cross church (seru kurosu—I think it maaaay be a pun on kurosuseru, meaning “cross sell”?).

The clinic was originally founded to heal coal miners (coal mining being an extremely dangerous and illness inducing job)

Apparently, during the diamond boom his father and grandfather got depressed when more and more doctors from out of town (more educated than the country doctors they were) showed up and started taking their patients. Wanting Benji to become a better doctor than himself, his father made him study medicine very rigorously. Benji liked study and wanted to do his dad proud, and so eventually was allowed to attend college in the royal capital.

There, he became distracted by all the amusements there that he couldn’t experience in Lion City. He started drinking, and got a girlfriend (he didn’t smoke because she didn’t like it). He shirked his studies. Despite this, he was still top of his class—and there he realized he was a prodigy. Once he realized that he could achieve such high marks in medicine without even trying, he lost all interest and drive in being a doctor.

He even got tired of all the amusements in the capital city, wanting to find a way to challenge himself. He dropped out of college (not because he failed, but because he spent all his college money on nightlife amusements). Fortunately, you don’t need a license to be a doctor in this country.

Benji wanted to work in the capital, but his father forbid it, viewing him as a failure who wasted all the money that he’d worked hard to provide for him. As such, he wanted Benji to stay right where he could keep an eye on him. Hence Benji working with him now (which he doesn’t mind). He also broke up with his girlfriend on returning to Lion City (which he also seemed to take in stride).

The only problem is that Lion City is much more boring than the capital, and he doesn’t have the head to earn money to leave on his own. This is why he was able to tell there was something to Raymond when he first met him in Stella’s bar, that made him different from others. He became a fast acquaintance, wanting info on the disappearances and Benji having been reading up on them out of interest. Which led to the events of the first novel.

Benji is convinced there’s something else about the tower—that the wraiths and Beritoad only came in after the fact. He’s wondering why it was built in the first place. Apparently he did become an attendant physician on the Chamberlain family after all, and he’s used it to broaden the scope of his research on the matter (his father was very proud of him for doing that).

The Benji family has a warehouse to their name as well, full of various antiques and stuff. Benji’s room is on its second floor, as a quiet place to study. He also has a room in the clinic, but he doesn’t stay there because it’s too close to where he works.

Right now, in that room in the warehouse, Benji and several men and women are assembled for a secret meeting (one of whom is a wraith).

Scene 5

There’s a wooden desk in the middle of Benji’s room, and on it is a candle that is the sole source of illumination for everyone there. In the room is a blonde haired young man, a girl with short hair painting on nail polish (Luna, spelled runa), a muscular older man (Garnes), and a boy who looks younger than everyone present (Isaac, spelled aizakku). Romalius is also present (since the wiki’s seen fit to rename Romarius to Romalius fitting his name inspiration of Andromalius, I’ll refer to him as Romalius as well).

Benji begins the meeting by reporting on the current situation. They’ve hindered Gibbet’s plans in Mercerie City, but that doesn’t mean they’ve fully averted the tower gaining more victims. She’s just operating more carefully so as to not get caught.

The last disappearance was a month ago, the son of a Lion City council member. This brings up discussion of what happened half a year ago in the previous novel, where Gibbet made the mayor into a puppet to get more victims. The people here were the ones who stopped her by killing the mayor. Strictly speaking Isaac did it—he’d intended to kill Gibbet too, but she’d gotten away.

About a month after that, Lion City’s mayor suddenly died. There was an election for a new one—everyone thought Mr. Walt (woruto, as in ウォルト), who had long served as vice mayor, would be chosen. However, a young politician named Blood Asterisk (buraddo asutarisuku) who had recently appeared in Lion City stole the victory. Blood is originally from the Melbiland (merubirando) region to the north. According to Chamberlain, there was a fair bit of corruption going on during the election. And ever since Blood became mayor, Lion City has had more disappearances.

Isaac asks if he can’t just kill him like they did in Mercerie, but Benji points out that it was only with Romalius fixing things for them that they didn’t get caught last time.

Benji isn’t even sure that Blood is connected to the Torcia girls, but Romalius confirms he is. He wants them to meet with the man personally. Benji thinks he can set something up using Chamberlain, and Romalius offers to send Raymond with him to help.

The blonde young man steps forward, bringing up the topic of the mayor’s family—supposedly he has a wife who doesn’t come out in public, who they think might be Gibbet. He offers to investigate into that matter.

Luna says she is making preparations for the “performance” relating to Torcia Tower. (just a disclaimer it is hard to infomine this scene because the narrative is being really vague about who they are and what they’re doing so as to not spoil the rest of the story).

After some prodding, Romalius declares that whatever it is they’re preparing for, they’ll do it in a month. All the investigations and preparations should be done by then. Benji almost draws the meeting to a close (to meet again in two weeks), but Isaac demands to know what he should be doing, with Benji saying that while he doesn’t have much to do in the leadup, he’ll be essential for the “performance” itself. Isaac humphs and storms off.

Luna comments on how much Benji has changed (implying she knew him before). Benji brushes it off as growing up, and then closes the meeting.

Scene 6

Romalius is the only one to remain, looking at the tower to the south out the window. He knows who built it and why, all those centuries ago. He seems to be reflecting on his place in the world (how humans rule the land now instead of wraiths, how humans and wraiths are both pawns in the grand scheme of things, that he is a particularly frail pawn at that. He wishes to reject that destiny, etc).

His butler arrives to take him back to the castle. While on the road they discuss the meeting and Benji, Romalius mentioning that he doesn’t seem much like Will or Henry (wiru and henrii—in context I think he’s talking about Benji’s ancestors). Bateau is Romalius’ loyal and long-standing familiar, as a note (I suppose that makes him a wraith). Apparently, Romalius is involved partially because he wants to get at Benji’s documents on the tower, and is sticking with them because he finds them useful.

Romalius starts trembling (seems he’s actually a bit sickly, but hides it for appearances sake). Soon enough he recovers himself, and then switches topics to having Raymond sent back this way. Bateau wonders if Romalius might have any feelings for Raymond as an adoptive son, but Romalius brushes him off.

Scene 7

A new intruder has appeared before the tower, Beritoad’s powers having recently extended to seeing a few meters outside of the tower in addition to its interior. He has arrived at the tower’s back, and starts climbing up it using irregularities in the brick rather than walking inside. Beritoad recognizes him from this (apparently he didn’t recognize him at first because he’s gotten older). It takes some time for the narrative to get to it, but for the sake of clarity, this is Garnes. Beritoad doesn’t think it likely he’s out to kill him, so waits patiently for Garnes to reach him.

Garnes reaches the roof and goes down the stairs to where Beritoad is. He greets him like a casual friend, not seeming tired out from climbing the tower in the slightest. He has a hammer on him, but Beritoad knows he’s not a fighter. They banter a bit, before Beritoad gets to why Garnes is here.

Garnes has unfinished business (having put it off until hearing rumors of Beritoad lately). He’s here about the “Iron Maiden” that he made, having heard that Beritoad made her a person (which makes Beritoad suspicious, because not many people know that the girls are torture devices). They talk a little about Maiden, Garnes saying he’s here to fix a defect in Maiden.

At this point, Maiden drops an iron maiden on him, which he catches and tosses aside. Maiden demands he leave Beritoad alone. Garnes is ecstatic to see her, recognizing her as his creation even in her new form (amusingly, he asks if Beritoad made her a cute girl out of his own preferences, and Beritoad says, “No comment”).

Maiden realizes he’s the one who wrote her the letter, and he introduces himself (presumably, Garnes was employed by Hank in the past. Nonetheless, he is a torture device craftsman).

[aion-rsa]

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 6 Marvel, Captain America, MCU Easter Eggs

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This article contains The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 6 spoilers and potential spoilers for the wider MCU.

Well, it’s finally here. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 6 was an action-packed, but rather messy season finale for the show. Hopefully it isn’t a series finale, and we’ll see it continue in season 2 as Captain America and the Winter Soldier, but that’s an argument for another time.

For now, we’re here (as usual) to dig in to all the Marvel Comics and MCU references the show gave us this episode. We’ll be honest, it was relatively light on those, but there’s still plenty to speculate about. And if you spot anything we missed, be sure to let us know in the comments!

The New Captain America

Sam’s incredibly sharp-looking Captain America costume is a perfect live action translation of the version he wore in the comics. That costume was designed by Carlos Pacheco, and first hit the pages of Marvel Comics in October of 2014, in All-New Captain America #1. Even then, it felt like a perfectly movie-ready design, but to see it translated to beautifully to live action is a real treat, and this is an immediate contender for “best superhero movie or TV suit” right now. The additional stars and stripes motif added to the underside of the wings here seems to be an MCU flourish, but that’s just one little way they managed to improve on perfection.

It’s safe to assume that Sam’s new wings are vibranium, or at least vibranium laced, just like his shield, considering that it was made for him by the tech geniuses in Black Panther‘s Wakanda. There’s something to be said here about how America is stronger when it works with and accepts help from its allies, as opposed to going it alone. Just witness how much better Sam’s wings hold up under pressure than Walker’s homemade shield.

Similarly, Sam primarily uses the shield and the wings for defense. Compare that to how Walker wields his shield, as a slashing/bludgeoning weapon for offense. It’s a nice illustration of two different interpretations about how best to utilize America’s power.

Bucky

Bucky’s leap from a barrier-crashing motorcycle in episode 6 is a nice callback to Steve’s very similar move in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. As a voice barked “stand down” from a SHIELD quinjet, Steve hit a barrier on his bike and was thrown forward into the action. 

We also see Bucky straining to open the back of the van with his vibranium arm, but he doesn’t flex as hard as Steve did when he stopped Bucky taking off in a helicopter in that same movie. Both Sam and Bucky reflect elements of what made Steve an exceptional Captain America in the finale, and prove to be a terrific team.

Bucky gives Steve’s notebook to his therapist as a thank you gift. Honestly, she deserves less. It belongs in a museum.

U.S. Agent

John Walker manages to control the effects that the super soldier serum is having on his psyche when he gets a second chance to prove himself, dropping his damaged makeshift shield and realizing he needs to prioritize human lives over vengeance. 

Val says that people will need a “US Agent” soon, and not a Captain America, as things are about to get “weird”. US Agent, of course, was the codename Walker took on after he stopped being Captain America in the comics. Speaking of which, Walker’s new costume is basically identical to his Marvel Comics US Agent costume and it looks really great here.  We wrote more about the Marvel Comics history of U.S. Agent here.

Why are Val, Walker and his wife back in the courthouse where Walker got court martialed to try on his new US Agent costume? Feels like pandemic-related restrictions forced the show to film all those scenes at the same time, doesn’t it?

Isaiah Bradley

Sam returning to properly make sure Isaiah Bradley gets his due once again mirrors the excellent Truth: Red, White, and Black story by Robert Morales and Kyle Baker. There it was Steve who made sure that Isaiah’s deeds were finally known to the world.

Hopefully this isn’t the last we see of Isaiah, but you can bet we’re going to get more of Elijah down the road. Between introducing two members of the Young Avengers in WandaVision with Billy and Tommy, and the impending arrival of Kate Bishop on Hawkeye later this year, young Elijah is due to get himself some red, white, and blue duds of his own.

Sharon Carter is the Power Broker?

Yes, Sharon Carter is the Power Broker. No, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. She took Sam, Bucky, and Zemo to see super soldier serum scientist Dr. Nagel in his lab. He was working for her! She let that dangerous shit play out, which was very much against her interests! What! No. What! The man must have been confused as hell in his final moments.

Sharon uses the same tech that Natasha Romanoff used to disguise her face during the climax of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. 

We find out that Sharon was indeed behind Karli’s initial rise to Flag-Smasher power, after taking her in and giving her a chance in Madripoor. Sharon is willing to forgive the betrayal if Karli and her friends come back to the fold, but Karli’s too far gone for that.

Sharon gets a pardon from the US government. I guess it wasn’t that hard after all. Maybe you could click this link while you’re here.

Is this the first time Sharon has been called Agent Carter in the MCU? And is there some way to bring Peggy back to kick her narrow Power Brokering ass? How dare you besmirch the Carter name, girl.

Sharon’s “mercury vapor” bomb that takes out that poor dude kind of feels like the dust that the Red Skull used to use during the Mark Gruenwald era of the comics to kill people…which left them looking like red skulls. Uh-oh…this brings us to the next question…

Who was Sharon calling at the end? Val? Nick Fury? Her Skrull bosses? Alexander Lukin? Something is definitely wrong here. It’s possible that she’s working with Val to put together a team of Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts, but nothing makes a lot of sense with Sharon’s arc in the MCU in general, let alone this show.

Zemo

That is indeed Zemo’s butler Oeznik (played by Nicholas Pryor) who kills the fuck out of the Flag-Smashers in the police van with a remote controlled incendiary device. What an Evil Jarvis. In any case, Zemo got at least some of his wish, as now there are a few fewer super soldiers running around the MCU.

Among the books that Zemo is reading in his cell is Alexander von Humboldt’s Views of Nature – the German polymath, geographer, naturalist and explorer was the first person to truly make note of human-induced climate change. But we can only assume that the book Zemo is holding close to his heart as he hears the fate of the Flag-Smashers is the Machiavelli tome that Bucky rudely interrupted earlier in the series.

Despite the news saying that there are no suspects in the Flag-Smasher bombing, Val knows straight away that it was Zemo who had “the last laugh”. Huh. “Couldn’t have worked better if I planned it myself,” she jokes. “Oh, well, maybe I did. No, I’m kidding, I didn’t. Or did I?” Who the hell knows, Val.

Batroc

Is Batroc dead? Batroc had better not be dead! We demand more Georges St-Pierre in the MCU! Ze Leaper has managed to escape certain death multiple times in the MCU so far, and we’d like that trend to continue. He’s such a great all-purpose, kinda hapless baddie, that we’d love to just see him show up for the occasional slugfest. Or hell, maybe a Batroc fight can be a kind of “right of passage” for anyone else who has to wear the Captain America costume down the road!

And hey, he even did some leaping in this episode!

The Flag-Smashers

Sam’s face-off with Karli Morgenthau is a lot like Steve’s final face-off with Bucky in Captain America: The Winter Soldier when he tries to talk her down instead of fighting back.

The Raft

The Raft was first introduced to the MCU in Captain America: Civil War, but the fact that they’re going out of their way to mention it multiple times in this show, and the fact that the Flag-Smashers were destined for there (after all, they’re super soldiers) should be an indication of just how important that place is going to be to the MCU going forward. I think we can safely expect both Val and Sharon to be doing some recruiting out of there.

The New Falcon?

We only get a brief moment with Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres, as he gazes adoringly at the TV broadcast with Sam as Captain America, but hopefully we get more of him in the future. After all, Joaquin became the new Falcon when Sam wore the red, white, and blue in the comics, and he DOES have Sam’s old wings.

Where is Steve Rogers?

You know, if they keep making that joke about Steve being “on the moon” maybe there’s gonna turn out to be some truth to it. Is this how the MCU will introduce the “man on the wall” concept from the Original Sin story in Marvel Comics? OK, fine, probably not.

The Bridge

Sam having his first big public moment on a bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn, where New Yorkers see him, cheer him, and implicitly accept him as a hero feels like moments in Sam Raimi’s first two Spider-Man movies, particularly the Brooklyn Bridge scene in the first one, and the subway car scene in Spider-Man 2. This is decidedly less heavy-handed, though.

Ayla

GRC representative Ayla is not from Marvel Comics. We don’t get her last name, and she shares a first name with extremely obscure Nightstalkers villain Rotwrap. Look, there’s not  a lot going on in this episode, we’re trying.

Speaking of things we don’t have a lot on…

“Government Official”

Can you believe that despite appearing in nearly every episode of this show, Alphie Hyorth’s bearded senator is still only named as “government official” in the credits? What are you hiding Marvel?!? Maybe he’s actually Mephisto! (sorry, a little WandaVision humor there) 

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But for real, why would you have a recurring character who ends up central to so many elements of this story and NOT name him? Is he a Skrull? Is he Senator Robert Kelly? (look, we miss all the mutant speculation from the WandaVision days)

Spot anything we missed? Let us know in the comments!

The post The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 6 Marvel, Captain America, MCU Easter Eggs appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[dragon-moms]

Entry 176 - Gloria

Today I met a secret.

I felt bad doing my best to sleep while I knew Clementine was coming to visit. But I figured he could use some friendship time with Merry anyway, and I couldn’t not go with Ivana. If we were going to do this, really going to do this, I had to make sure she wasn’t lying to me. Which is a bad thing to think about a friend, I know. But when something is too good to be true, you tend to want to cover all your bases.

Besides, she wanted me to go. That was something you do for a friend.

“You ready for this?” Ivana said, waking me up. I looked up at her putting on her mask.

“Of course,” I said, stretching as best one can under the water.

“Let’s eat real fast and get going then,” she said, and swam off.

Clementine was still there for dinner. He looked at me, concerned, as we ate.

“Miss Nobody and I are running through a plan,” I said. “It’s a trial run.”

“What plan? I should be involved in any plans,” he said.

“Not this plan,” Ivana said. “Maybe next time.”

Clementine ignored her. “Mom.”

“We’re talking to one of Miss Nobody’s contacts tonight, so we can eventually talk to the Queen,” I said. That was mostly the truth. “I promise I’ll let you know when you can help with the plan.”

Clementine wasn’t sure if he should be satisfied with that, but he nodded. “Alright. Thank you.”

I glanced at Flare, who I was shocked hadn’t tried to jump in on this.

“Tell Plato hi for me!” Flare said, smiling. “I promised Nobody I’d stay home this time… I hope I can help soon though… it’s been kind of boring, waiting around here… lots more to do back in the White territory and stuff.”

“I’m sure you can help soon, terror,” I said. “But it’s important we all play to our strengths.”

“Yeah! And my strength is hero stuff!” Flare said. “And Clemmy’s is… um…”

“Being reasonable,” Clementine said, obviously annoyed.

“But what do you do at your job?” Flare asked. “You got it after I went off to train, I think?”

“I organize things,” Clementine said. “I keep the whole business running.”

“See, so you’re good at that then!” Flare said, nodding. “So you can do the organizing stuff.”

Clementine just shook his head.

“Do you know Plato, terror?” I asked.

“No? Just what Nobody’s told me,” Flare said.

“What you forced out of me,” Ivana mumbled.

“Yeah! That!” Flare said. “But he seems really neat! So I want to meet him soon!”

“Maybe. Sometime,” Ivana said, and I thought I could hear the tiniest bit of nervousness in her voice. “Are you done eating yet, Gloria? We don’t want to leave Maude waiting.”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I said, taking one last big bite of dinner. “Thanks for the wonderful food, Merry. We’ll be back late. And Coral is supposed to get back tonight, so don’t be surprised if she comes in.”

“I shall keep a watch out for her and my mother, do not worry,” Myrmidon said, smiling.

And with that, we flew off.

I had expected some kind of secret entrance or trick or something, but Ivana lead me right towards the entrance to the Grand Bazaar.

“There are a lot of people here,” I said, watching dragons take off and land near the large entrance as we approached. “This is a bad idea.”

“Lots of people is what we want,” Ivana said. “Entrances are the most guarded right now. Easier to slip past in a crowd.” She sensed my silence meant I didn’t believe her. “Just fucking trust me to do my job, okay?” she said.

“Right, yes,” I said.

Ivana quickly slipped her mask off as we landed, and we just walked towards the entrance like I wasn’t a wanted traitor.

“Are you sure? Can we really buy that necklace?” Ivana started to say in a voice very unlike her usual one, bubbly and happy, as she took her tail in mine. I was about to react in confusion before Ivana took my front leg in her front legs and dug claws into my scales as she smiled. “Please say yes?”

“Uh, of course, anything for you,” I said, trying not to wince.

Ivana giggled happily. “You always know how to treat a girl and make a trip special.” We walked past the adjudicators at the door.

“Well, it’s not like we get to come here from Yit very often… might as well celebrate,” I said as Ivana basically dragged me deeper into the crowd. “And anyway, I’m sure you’ll make things special tonight,” I added, unable to help but poke at her a little.

Ivana averted her eyes a bit. I was unsure if she was just acting embarrassed, or genuinely embarrassed. But soon we were far enough away from the adjudicators guarding the entrance that she felt comfortable giving me a shove. “Fuck off,” she said.

“You’re the one who wanted to play happy couple,” I said.

“It’s a fucking cover,” she anger-whispered.

“Well, warn me next time,” I said.

“I thought it was fucking obvious!”

“I don’t do a lot of sneaking.”

Ivana growled a little to herself. “Just follow me. From here on in follow all my instructions.”

I nodded and followed her as she weaved through the crowds of shoppers. Soon we moved into a passage and she put her mask back on, saying one more time. “I mean it, do everything I say.”

“I got it,” I said.

We moved slowly. Occasionally she would almost push me into chambers that, luckily, seemed to be empty while someone passed. Eventually, we got to a crossroad where an adjudicator was on guard. They didn’t seem particularly concerned about anything, but they were there.

Ivana pulled a rune out of a pouch as she moved us into a storage chamber. “Okay, when they move, we move across, alright?”

“You aren’t going to hurt them?” I asked.

“Just fucking let me work,” she said, and tossed the rune hard down the hall where we’d came.

A moment later, a loud shout of “Adjudicator! Help!” came out in a very masculine voice.

The adjudicator, startled, headed down the passage in a rush.

“Go,” Ivana said and rushed out the moment the adjudicator was past. I followed.

Finally, we approached the chamber that Dagger had helped me find what seemed like ages ago. Maude was standing in front of it, and looked relieved when we approached. “You’re alright…” she said.

“I’m fucking Nobody, we weren’t going to get caught,” Ivana said, and went to open the door. “You have any trouble?”

“Not at all. One person asked why I was still here and I just said I was doing research,” Maude said.

Ivana nodded and opened the door. “Well, let’s meet the kid.”

The chamber was clearly some sort of forge or manufacturing space. In the far back was a forge, currently not in use, embers softly glowing to keep it alive. There were stacks of ores and materials strewn this way and that, and a couple shelves with fabricated items I couldn’t guess the use of. And in the middle of the room was a table, and a very young Red, maybe 80, scribbling notes about something. He had an apron on, but not the kind that Merry wore. This was the sort that was made to take a lot of abuse, thick and covered in pockets for tools and such. He also had a pair of safety goggles pushed back on his head, though normally Reds wouldn’t need them for this sort of work, since heat didn’t affect them much. I wondered if he was just being extra cautious. Or maybe they were lenses?

“This is a really nice setup,” Maude whispered to me. “Not that I do any magical manufacture, but this isn’t a hobbyist forge… and I know this kid. He comes to the archives all the time. I knew he was borrowing pretty advanced books but I assumed he was running errands for someone.”

“Just a moment, I almost have this finished,” the kid said, not looking up from his parchment after hearing us enter. “Are you here to place an order?”

“Hey, kid,” Ivana said.

His head popped up, immediately stopping his work, and he smiled wide. “Oh! Hello, ma’am! I’m so sorry, I didn’t think you’d be back so quick!” He started moving over to Ivana, walking at a strange gait. It took me a moment to realize it, and the soft clunks, were from the fact that one of his back legs was missing, and was replaced with a metal rod.

“Yeah, well, you know I try to make time when I can,” Ivana said, closing the gap fast enough to make me think she didn’t want him to walk any more than he needed to. “You doing alright?” she said, clearly unsure whether or not she should give him a hug.

“I believe so!” he said, smiling. “I was reading about problems implementing Rimmule bases into permanent enchantments and was considering some alternative solutions that might make it easier than what the book suggests…”

“So a bunch of magic shit, then,” Ivana said.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, chuckling.

“Want you to meet some people. These are my friends, Gloria and Maude,” Ivana said. “This is Plato.”

“Oh! Hello again, ma’am!” Plato said to Maude, smiling. “I didn’t know you knew Nobody.”

“Well, it’s a fairly new thing,” Maude said.

“And it’s nice to meet you, Miss Gloria,” Plato said, walking over slowly to offer a claw.

“Yeah… nice to meet you,” I said, shaking it. His scales were way more worn that they should have been at his age.

“Gloria was who I was on the trip with recently,” Ivana said.

“Oh, the lady you were supposed to guard?” Plato said.

“Yeah.”

“And they’re your friends now?” Plato asked. “Not accomplices or somesuch?”

Ivana turned away from him. “Yeah, I guess.”

Plato smiled. “I’m very proud of you, ma’am.”

“Knock it off, kid…” Ivana said, clearly embarrassed.

“Miss Nobody talks highly of your skills in creating magical items,” Maude said. “I didn’t realize you were borrowing those books for you.”

“Oh! Yes, I can make almost anything you might need,” Plato said, smiling. “What type of crime are you planning on committing? I can ensure you’re properly equipped.” He walked to a wall where several boxes of things were on shelving and started rummaging. “In fact, I’ve been working on a few runes that will be quite useful in breaching doors that most…” He looked back with a rune in his claw to meet Maude’s expression, one of displeasure. His own face turned to confusion. “Oh, I’m sorry… perhaps I misunderstood… as friends of Nobody I…”

“It’s okay, kid,” Ivana said. “They don’t think of themselves like that, that’s all. Though we do need your help.”

“But it’s not a crime,” Maude said. “The Queen is asking us to do it.”

“Yeah, sure,” Ivana said in a very unconvincing way.

“Miss Nobody,” I said.

“Yes, the Queen is asking us to do it!” Ivana yelled. “Just trust me, fuck!”

“Ma’am, are you being honest with them?” Plato asked.

“Yes, for once in my life! They’re my friends, I told you!” Ivana said, turning to Maude. “Just show him the diagram!”

Maude still looked upset, but she pulled the folder out of her bag, and brought it to the table. “This is old, so be careful with it. But Miss Nobody thinks you can make one of these.”

Plato walked over and looked at the diagram. “This is complicated,” he said, with a huge grin on his face.

Maude nodded. “I told her we’d need a team, but she wouldn’t listen.”

Plato reached into a pocket on his apron and pulled out a disk made of metal that looked very worn. He rubbed it between his claws while he flipped through the diagram. “No, No, that won’t be necessary. I want to try making this… I should be able to do it. It’ll take a few days, though,” he said.

“A few days?” Maude said. “This would take months.”

“It is really intricate… but Forge and I have some ideas…” he said softly. “I think it’s possible…”

“Forge?” Maude asked. “So you are working with a team?”

Plato let out an embarrassed laugh and quickly slipped the disk of metal back into a pocket. “Oh, just, my muse, you know? You know how you have breakthroughs sometimes? Like that…”

“It was the name of his imaginary friend back in the day. He used to talk to it all the time when he was reading his nerd shit,” Ivana said. “Still does when he thinks I’m not around.”

“Don’t… don’t tell them that, ma’am…” Plato said, looking even more embarrassed.

“Just proving that it’s nothing they need to worry about,” she said, looking to Maude and I.

“But you think you can build this exactly?” I asked. “If we’re going to use it, it has to be perfect.”

“I believe I can, ma’am. But it depends on if you want what it would do when it was created,” Plato said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, since you haven’t told me exactly what it’s for, I can only really guess,” Plato said. “But it seems like it’s targeting a specific soul here… and here… well, alright, on second glance this one seems to be based on who is holding the device, but the other one, my point stands.” He flipped back through the diagrams to show us. “As you said, this seems very old, so I doubt somewhat this target is still around? There’s been discussions of pulling souls back using Necrotic energy, but Miss Maude has not let me borrow any texts on that… and it’s not a very common area of study, having been taboo for quite a long time and still restricted, and this doesn’t seem to use it, so I’m betting I will have to at least adjust this part.”

“Necrotic energy is dangerous,” Maude said. “I can’t just let that stuff out to people who haven’t been approved. Even the slightest mis-manipulation can result in death.”

“Oh, I do understand, ma’am,” Plato said. “I would never be upset for you doing your job! I was simply proving it was unlikely you wanted to affect the dead with this. What is this to be used for, may I ask?”

I looked to Maude.

She sighed. “He figured out more about this thing in a casual read than I did with a few hours of study. Maybe he’s as good as Miss Nobody says.”

“He’s the best,” Ivana said.

“D-don’t embarrass me, ma’am… I just tinker…” Plato said.

“Kid, just let me brag about you,” Ivana said.

“We’re trying to modify the enchantment that forms the Queen,” I said.

“The rest of the document outlines the ritual the replacement seal, that’s what you’d be making, is used in, if that helps,” Maude said.

Plato grinned at Ivana. “I am so glad you brought me this.”

“It’s been awhile since I gave you an impossible task,” Ivana said. “Happy hatching day or something.”

“I do appreciate it! I get so bored just reading… my claws need to do something,” he said, heading towards a different shelf filled with parchment. “I’ll need to start by making a working copy of the enchantment, and then I can begin preparing materials for a prototype…”

“See? I told you he had it,” Ivana said. “Happy now?”

“He seems to know stuff, but this is a big project,” Maude said. “And you still haven’t provided any proof that the Queen is okay with this.”

“I told you, she is,” Ivana said.

“It can’t hurt to let him try, can it?” I asked.

Maude took a breath, and then turned to Plato, who was starting to set things up to copy the old diagrams. “Mind if I stop by to help now and again? I don’t do a lot of practical magic these days, but I have a strong theory background. I can help.”

Plato looked up, and then averted his eyes, nervous. “Oh, well… I would appreciate that ma’am… but I am used to working alone… I’m afraid it might be a bit awkward… I don’t wish to bother you with my idiosyncrasies…”

“I’m sure they’re not so bad,” Maude said.

“I… Nobody was not exaggerating… I do talk to myself a lot…” Plato said.

“That’s alright,” Maude said.

Plato laughed a nervous laugh. “Well, I have learned most of what I’ve done by doing… I’ve been trying to learn a little more theory now that I have access to the archives, as you know… but I’m sure you can be of help… if you’d like to put up with me...”

Maude nodded. “I’ll swing by when I have time,” she said.

I gave Maude a look. Her look back made it clear she was helping by keeping an eye on him, and that was final.

“We done? I have to sneak Gloria back out,” Ivana said.

“Yeah, I suppose so,” I said.

“I’ll head out after giving you two a head start,” Maude said. “Plato and I can talk about some things.”

“Be nice to the kid,” Ivana said.

“Of course,” Maude said.

Ivana went over and, obviously embarrassed to do it in front of us, gave Plato a hug. “I’ll check in tomorrow night.”

“Alright, ma’am. I’ll hopefully have something to show you then!” Plato said, smiling.

“Okay… let’s go.”

“What does she think she’s doing, being friendly with him…” Ivana grumbled as we started down the passage.

“She’s just watching him because she’s worried about you controlling every part of this plan,” I said.

“Well she doesn’t have to use him to do it…” she growled.

“She’s not using him…” I said.

“She’s going to talk magic with him even more now and who knows what else…”

“...are you jealous?” I asked.

“S-shut up! We’re sneaking!” Ivana said angrily, and stopped talking.

Getting out was much like getting in. By the time we got back to Maude’s place, I was exhausted. Barely have gotten to say hi to everyone, especially Coral, who got home from her haul.

I worry I shouldn’t be trusting my gut in this. I’m very emotionally involved.

But fuck, I have been for every other decision I’ve made for quite some time. Why not keep it rolling, I guess.

[sky-girls]

I am what I feel

Summary: Luna is a cupid (and eros to be exact, but no one uses that term anymore) a minor goddess of love. Her next job? Making sure that two couple of soulmates find their way into each other but ofc she runs into trouble while doing her job, more specifically she meets Matteo Balsano.

I wanna thank @ac-ars @deliverychicafresa and @deliverydefresas for helping me with this and letting  me rant

The beginning (Chapter 1)

Luna is new in the business but even she knows when people are trying to get out of tedious work by giving it to the new kids, sadly she is still new at the business so it’s not like she do much but to accept it or wait for the new probably even more tedious job to come.

Luna lets her head fall on her desk, this job was supposed to be interesting, that’s what they told her at least, and yes she spends a lot of the time out on the field but more of her cases are really easy or so incredibly boring that it’s not even worth it, Luna loves people, she really does and she loves spending time with people but not even that joy can’t  with stubborn people. Luna eyes the file almost afraid of what it might tell her, right on the cover it says that three others before of her rejected the case, but she won’t no matter how boring it will be. She takes the file and is surprised to find out that it doesn’t look as boring, but actually kinda complicated for most of the others on her level, someone in a higher position would make this happen really fast but this is way too easy and unimportant  for them, and wouldn't even bother looking at it.

She reads the file more carefully.

Section: Teenage affairs

Importance: Medium low

Couple Classification: Soulmates

Relationship Status: Level 0

Names: Simón Álvarez and Ámbar Smith/ Gastón Perida and Nina Simonetti

Luna skims over the details of their personalities,she can do that later, and goes straight to the description of the case.

Apparently Simonetti and  Álvarez are friends but their soulmates barely even know they exist and if they don’t notice them now the will stray away and end up with the wrong person, in fact Smith, is already going down that path and is considering dating one of her best friend, this guy named Matteo Balsano. Luna bites her lip,not many people in this age have soulmates and it would be so sad if that went to waste, they still could be happy but never as happy as they could be with their actual soulmate and that would be a waste for both the humans and for her as well since since she needs the energy to stay alive and Luna loves feeding off happiness and love more than anything, she really doesn't understand those gods that choose strife, sadness or anger but to each their own.

Luna sends the notification that she will take the case and prepares herself to spend the rest of the day reading the file she needs all the information she can get and a plan, or knowing herself the basis of a plan, but she needs to get ready.

She didn’t really come up with a plan but she did come up with to-do list that has a series of steps that she should follow before she starts just winging it. First: Get into the school in the same year as Nina, Two: Starts going regularly to the Jam&Roller,this rink/restaurant they all seem to enjoy  Three: Start winging it.

She is aware that it’s not much but she has learned that most plans go to tartarus and that in the end taking the opportunities as they show ends up being a better than having a detailed plan of action.

Right now she is just starting step one, she is standing outside Blake high school in full uniform ready to go in, she pushes the heavy wooden door and goes inside, she looks down at the small map of the school she found on internet and walks around trying to find the main office where she is supposed to go to get her schedule. Soon enough she finds herself lost in the big school, Luna sighs, she really needs to learn how to read a map.

She turns the map around and realizes that she is , probably, going the wrong way, so she turns around only to crash into someone.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t meant to...”She starts mumbling,looking at her feet,  just because she is a god it doesn’t mean she is immune to embarrassment. “I’m just lost and I need to get to the main office and this thing is huge and...”

“Hey, it’s okay.”The person she crashed into stops her and she takes a deep breath and looks up, she recognizes him immediately. “What’s your name?”

“Luna.” She mumbles, her eyes falling to her feet, but all her senses are focused on the guy.

“Well, Luna, I’m Gastón, a pleasure to meet you.” He offers her his hand to shake and she offers the opportunity to get a reading of him, he is a laid back, loyal guy who cares about honesty, sometimes way too much. “Where did you say you were going?”

“The main office.” She smiles at him, he stays looking at her for a second and she wonders if she will have to persuade him to guide her to it but he smiles back, even if she doesn’t like to use her powers unless she really needs to this school looks like a labyrinth and she is getting slightly exasperated.

“So, new girl.” Gastón says like he just noticed.

“Yes.” She giggles. “Do people who are not new get lost here a lot?”

“You would be surprised.” He tells her and starts walking. “Follow me, I’ll take you there.”

“Thank you so much.” She tells him while they walk. “I don’t know where would I have ended if you hadn’t appeared.”

“Neither do I.” He laughs. “Matteo, my best friend, got lost on his first day too and he is really good with maps so don’t worry this is almost a tradition for new students.”

“A rite of passage.” She adds and he nods with a smile.

“Exactly.” He agrees with a smile and stops walking. “Here we are.”

“Thank you so much.” She tells him.

“Don’t worry about it.” He tells her. “And if you have any problem finding anything else you can always ask me or one anyone really.”

“I’ll have that in mind.” Luna smiles at him and watches him walk away to another boy around the same height as him, she also recognizes him, Matteo Balsano, Gastón’s best friend and the guy Ámbar is considering dating, she’ll have to meet him eventually but right now she has to get her schedule, that she already knows exactly how it’s gonna be but she has to pretend to be normal and let’s be real if she doesn’t have it in paper she’ll forget about it. Luna stands straight and walks into the office her work has begun.

Nina is shy, she knows, she also knows she should try to be less shy, but truth be told, she doesn’t really want to, she is comfortable with her life and she takes measures to make sure that it keeps that way, she sits alone every class, right behind of Jim and Yam, the only two people she talks to and they serve as a shield when other people get too close since they are attached to the hip and drive people away because of that sometimes, everyone feels like they are third wheeling and so does Nina but she is smart enough to get an advantage out of it.

She is also smart enough to notice that her comfort zone is being threatened by the small brunette standing in front of the classroom, looking slightly nervous while the teacher introduces her as ‘Luna Valente:The new student from Mexico’. Mrs. Hernandez signals the girl to go si and Nina looks around, confirming what she already knows, there’s no more free sits except for the one next to her, the new girl sits next to her with a smile and Nina smiles back, not wanting to be rude.

“Hi, I’m Luna.” She whispers with a small smile on her gentle face.

“Nina.” She whispers back smiling openly, this girl seems really nice, at least she is not stuck with a jerk for the rest for the year.

The girl keeps smiling but turns around to face the white board, after a few seconds Nina does the same.

“I’m sorry to bother you.” Luna says after the class is over. “But I don’t really know where anything is, can you tell me where the history classroom is please.”

Nina bites the inside of her cheek, she has history after this, and the girl most probably has the same schedule than she does, she wants to help her, but at the same time spending the whole day around a stranger makes her feel somewhat anxious.Nina takes a deep breath and smiles, she won’t let that win.

“I actually have history now.” She tells her and the other girl smiles at her so brightly she is glad that  she didn’t let anxiety win. “I can walk with you.”

“Thank you.” The girl basically jumps out of her sit, her curls bouncing around her face.

“We most probably have the same schedule.” Nina informs her while they starts walking to the history room. “I could walk with you to all the classes.”

“Really?” Luna’s eyes light up and Nina has to smile. “I would love that. Would you have lunch with me too? I don’t wanna eat alone.”

Nina usually eats alone, sometime with Jim and Yam but as she said she feels like she is their third wheel all of the time, and she can’t deny that having a friend of her own in this school seems nice.

“Of course, I would love to.” Nina answers when they arrive to the classroom, Nina leaves her things on the floor and takes the chair  next to the window and motions Luna to do the same but she decides for sitting on the table, soon enough her yes wonder to the window looking distracted but they focus almost immediately, Nina turns around to see what she is looking at and finds Gastón and Matteo, who are talking a to two giggling, blushing girls who soon enough leave and get into the same classroom they are, still giggling.

“That’s interesting.” Luna mumbles.

“That’s Gastón and Matteo.” Nina explains, looking at them through the window glass, praying that none of them will look in their direction catch them staring. “They are the most popular guys in school.”  

“I know.” Nina looks at her surprised and she hurries to explain. “I mean I know who Gastón is, he helped me find the main office this morning, he seemed nice.”

“He is.” Nina says, her eyes involuntary travelling to Gastón’s face,she feels a smile forming on her lips despite herself.

Once she manages to stop looking at her she finds Luna looking at her intently, almost analyzing her.

“What?” She asks squirming on the chair.

“You like him.” She states and Nina can feel herself blushing.

“I don’t really know him.” Maybe being nice to this new girl wasn’t the best idea but she only feels slightly embarrassed and not annoyed so she answers truthfully. “I can’t like him.”

“But you think he is cute.”Luna retorts.

“Everyone thinks he is cute.” Nina shrugs.

“And you do too.” Luna smiles amused. “You are attracted to him.”

Nina blushes and her eyes involuntarily go to Gastón again, she stays fixated on his easy smile a few seconds before forcing herself to take stop looking at him so she can avoid an awkward situation.

“Have you ever talked to him?” Luna asks and Nina shakes her head as an answer. “Why? He seems nice.”

“I just haven’t.” Nina says looking at the table. “Besides I don’t think he would notice me long enough to speak with me.”

Luna seems like she is about the say something against it but the bell rings and the teacher enters the classroom so Luna slides into her seat and says nothing more. Nina sighs, relieved, she hopes they never touch the subject again.

[drtenebrisxii]

Lost Traveler 5 – Finishing a crazy day…

At the left, infinite seas, extending far away to realms of wonder and madness, the night in the horizon painting its mirror surface a dark purple.

At the right, the hiding sun, the ending of the Techno Goddess’ supremacy and the beginning of the Arcane God’s. The last rays of sun painting white, orange and red the horizon.

And in front of them, their destination: a seaside cliff over which tall figures loomed, only standing out from the darkening horizon thanks to the many lights in their windows and the ones coming from the many places down below the huge towers. “So this is city 45”, had thought the young Princess Flare DeFleur, as their makeshift biological transport kept closing distance to it.

It doesn’t take long before she notices the coastal defenses…

Huge stationary cannons were set on metallic platforms built on the cliff and what looked like water monstrosities were patrolling the shoreline in the company of what she immediately identified as other magic users like herself, some of them showing off their powers by flying above their magical servants; others were “boldly” riding them, and others were accompanying their creatures by driving small motorboats close to them.

Flare could felt the gazes of some of them, after all, they could feel her presence the same way she felt theirs.

-This place seems way more protected than any city I’ve ever been…- mutters Flare to herself.

-That’s because it is- comments the beautiful but manly voice of Nyepu, startling her a little. When she faces him, he was already packing away his cellphone.  

-How was the call…? - asks her with a little smile- …it… wasn’t as bad as it sounded? – the dragon just snorts in annoyance.

After defeating the water abomination some time ago, the remaining of their trek was silent and uneventful. The felixin mage, whose name the little princess never asked (she just put “mysterious cat” in the name space), spent most of his time taking a nap. The other passengers kept to themselves, busying themselves with their phones or sleeping a little. And, after telling Nyepu about her situation, the dragon decided that they should probably talk in more detail in a more private place. By the time they started to see the city, the dragon took out his own phone and called someone… and a very heated conversation started, judging by the angry expression in the draconic researcher’s face and his violent gestures; although, in an intelligible combinations of sounds that she’d never heard before but was pretty sure was supposed to be a language… The rest of the survivors showed some interest at first, and even asked Flare if she understood the alien gibberish Nyepu was saying… but she was as clueless as everyone else and, except for the felixin, who recorded a good part of the conversation, everyone else lost interest pretty soon… even Flare… until now…

-Well, let’s just say that I’m in big trouble thanks to you… so you too are in big trouble…- he says, annoyance very clear in his voice – …that and we are getting someone to pick us up in the train station-

Before Flare could ask anything else, a booming voice caught everyone’s attention. It was informing them that they were going to be taking a test to determine if they were possessed or were daemons in disguise by personal of the local police forces as soon as they reach the train station, and they better obey without question. The voice came from a slim dark vehicle that was flying above them with thrusters, its lights cast upon the passengers, blinding some of them, before it flew away as silently as it came.

The passengers spent the rest of the trip to the train station in silence, since they were about to get there soon, anyway… Flare only had time to watch a little of the city and was awestruck by it. She saw how the railway they were on was built in the middle of a canyon that ended up in the sea and went way into inland, basically splitting the city in half. She saw the myriads of bright adds in the walls of the canyon, offering services, naming businesses and stating slogans. She saw how said walls had been carved in many places to form fenced balconies, small plazas and passages.

Flare saw a lot more things in this city, and while she came from a busy city herself, this one felt to be in a different level. By the time they finally got to the station, her mind was still reeling with the many catwalks in the cliffs, stairs, the flows of people going everywhere, more stairs, and the transports swarming the bridges and airspace she’d seen so far… and let’s not get started on the noise and the lights…

Once in the train station, a white place built in such a way that it was suspended between the canyon’s walls and seemed to be bigger inside, the passengers were escorted by a bunch of officers, some lapin, humans and homunculi (the goat-people) wearing green uniforms, to a reclusive office inside the way-too-well-lit station. There, they were met by a pair of male estirges carrying with their mechanical arms instruments that Flare had seen a lot of times in the past: Aurometers.

No one out of the reduced circle of people directly involved in the production and maintenance of those things new exactly how they worked, but they were capable of detecting and measuring the intensity of magical aura in a given space… in this case, the space was the close surroundings of the survivors… and when they were put into two lines to be measured, a lapin officer noticed that something was off…

-Wait a second… - said the rabbit-looking officer, narrowing his big dark eyes- There is one more of you than we were reported…- bearing his fangs in annoyance, he ordered the passengers to form a line to inspect them all… that’s when Flare decided that it didn’t make sense to remain silent.

-I am the one you are looking for, sir- says her immediately, flying to the rabbit’s face- I wasn’t in the original list of passengers- she wasn’t sure if there was an actual list, she’d always traveled in the private train of her family, after all, but she still declared this as apologetically as possible.

-Oh yeah! I almost forgot that!- suddenly says Nyepu, floating to them, and catching the little princess and the pint sized officer off guard- Excuse me, officer, but this girl is my assistant and, you see, she is a powerful magician, so she used her magic to boost her flying speed to catch up with me as soon as possible while I was in the train… she met with us after our wagon was sacrificed…- “Wow… he sounds so natural…”, thinks Flare after hearing how casually he was lying, “who would say that Nyepu was a good enough liar”.

-Why hadn’t she waited for another train instead of doing something so stupid?- says the officer, crossing his little arms in a very skeptical pose with a way more skeptical face.

-Because she is a very reckless girl, aren’t you, dear?- asks him to her with a toothy smile that clearly tells her “Don’t fuck this up”. “Har har, so funny of you…” thinks her, managing to keep herself from smiling at the dragon’s description of her. She is a princess after all, and while she’s very honest and frank most of the time, as someone who have to live in the world of politics, the ability to read a situation and “convincingly play along” was a required must that her mother drilled on her with a lot of effort…

-I kind of am- says her in an impeccable display of false embarrassment, and with an apologetic look she says- you see, I was so worried about what could happen if the boss didn’t receive this part of his device that I decided to take it to him and, well, instead of waiting for the train I was like “he hadn’t left too long ago so maybe I can catch up with the train with my magic and ask him to open a window or something…”- and then, avoiding the eyes of the police-rabbit, as a very shameful person would ordinarily do, she added- by the time I thought of all the things that were wrong with that idea I had already catch up with them-

-Wow… you must be really stupid if it took you that long to figure that out…- begins to say the officer, still looking skeptical, when Nyepu interrupts him.

-I won’t allow you to say that- says him in a slightly offended tone- I’ll have you know, sir, that my assistant is a very capable lady, her problem is that she sometimes gets a little too caught up in doing something one way that it takes her a while to consider other options… that and her magic gives her a very good boost, so she really got to us very fast…-

-Well, she certainly is the queen of making bad ideas work in the end- says suddenly the mysterious felixin from before- When she saw our predicament, you know, the sea daemons coming towards us, she went and fought them off all by herself… it was stupid and inspiring at the same time-

-That’s true!- says the giant lapin that had been with them, smiling proudly- man, had you’d seen her in action, you’d fell in love with her! This girl might be reckless but is damn good at magical combat! – his passion apparently motivated the others to says similar things… some even took out their cellphones to show to the law enforcers what little they could record of her during her daring rescue mission.

Seeing how genuinely excited and impressed were the passengers and the officers with the descriptions of her heroics and what little the limited video records could provide to back them up, the young avian princess was feeling very abashed…

-What is this? Are you getting redder under your feathers?- asks the dragon with a sly smile. She couldn’t help but laugh at his comment and said:

-Well… yeah, I am… I… certainly wasn’t expecting this much excitement from them, at all…- she landed on the dragon’s shoulder and covered her face with her wings- I’m so happy but also so abashed!- Nyepu only laugh a little before saying:

-Well, while they couldn’t see all of what you did, they still saw you doing something really stupid and actually succeeding in making it work in the end…-

-Pri! It was not stupid! I knew what I was doing the whole time- claimed her, her chest swelling with pride.

-Yeah… I guess you almost drowning back there was also part of your plan…- said him playfully.

Before she could retort anything, though, the officers ordered them to form the two lines again, stating that they were accepting their still difficult to believe explanation of why was Flare here in account of her heroism, but she was still taking the test as everyone else, especially since she’d been the one most exposed to daemons today.

The test was actually really simple, the male estirges carrying the devices only needed to get close to the person to be inspected and measure his or her magical aura. Non-magical people like Nyepu had an aura of low intensity which oscillated inside a range that was always below the intensity of daemons’ magical auras… magical people like Flare, on the other hand, had to prove that they were capable of altering the intensity of their aura since, for whatever reason, daemons seem to be unable to do that. So, if someone supposedly non-magical had a too high intensity of aura, or someone magical couldn’t alter the intensity of his or her aura, then they sure were possessed or were daemons trying to pretend that they were the real deal…

Each one of the passengers passed the test without any big surprise and, after the estirge and the lapin officers try and failed to subtly ogle the young princess, Flare and Nyepu said their goodbyes and crossed the hot sea of people going all over the place to get to the western entrance of the station, bombarded by the noise of many boarding calls, varied announcements, conversation and the sounds of the departure or arrival of one of the trains on one of the four lines that converged at this station. As they made their way, many gave curious or weird looks to the half-naked dragon and the little princess; they were also pretty sure that someone actually called them “sexy pair” along the way but they didn’t stop to check it out…

-Sooo… who are we waiting for? - asks Flare after a while of silent contemplation of the beautiful and strange fountain in the center of the underground plaza they were currently in… yes, they were underground, in a plaza carved out of the land itself, sitting, him on a bench, her on his shoulder. They’ve been waiting there for some minutes already.

- A colleague of mine… - says him vaguely, staring at the same fountain… or more accurately, the water it was spraying into its pool. She clearly notices how he forces himself to look at her with his big reptilian eyes – His name is Giorgio, a homunculus with the annoying habit of getting on my nerves…- his face now shows neutrality, but his words had some disgust in them – he must be arriving soon- “Hmmm… he really seems to dislike the guy” thinks Flare. Since her companion didn’t seem interests in saying anything himself, she decides to ask everything she had in her mind.

- I see… and where is he going to take us? – asks the little avian. At this, the dragon seemed a little more distracted of his negative feelings from earlier.

 “Fricking water…” he had been thinking before Flare talked to him. He had been thinking in how strangely empty he was feeling by being in dry land after having been for so long at the sea. “Is that damn ‘Called of the Seas’ nonsense”, he had thought, trying to force himself to just get over it, just as he’s done before for the most part of his life… but this time, that hollowness had come with way more strength than expected… And having a water fountain pouring water into its pool in front of him was not helping matters… Thankfully, his avian companion was distracting him with a conversation now. “The little troublemaker…”.

- Well …- he began, now more focused in answering her than in his corroding emptiness. He was about to go along with the plan of his colleague when he stopped to look at her and saw with surprise how was she looking at him with her sky-blue eyes: she trusted him, her eyes had an innocence that was telling him that she was going to believe whatever he’d say… “The effects of her drinking my blood might still be on effect…” thinks him, and then considers that he probably was still under her “unconscious” blood magic, because he was entertaining the idea of actually ignoring the original plan so he could keep her around longer, “That I’m still feeling quite hollow might have something to do with it as well”, he thinks bitterly.

-Well? – she prompts. The dragon gulps some saliva… his day had been a horrible mess… and it could only get way worse if he goes and brings her with him to his workplace… but… if he does that, he can save money in unnecessary lodging, breakfast and taxis… not to mention that, by having her with him, he can present her to his superiors… and if the guys are clever enough, they’ll see in Flare an opportunity instead of a problem… “All I have to do is break the rules… well… fuck it… let’s go for it…”.

-We are going to go to the outskirts of the city… we have a little research facility there with very good lodging…- he says, “yep, screw the rules, I’m a genius…” thinks for himself, his hollowness forgotten. The plan his assholish colleague had cooked with him by cellphone had implied that the homunculus would not take her to their research center; so the dragon had to invent a story so his colleague could just dump them in a random motel or something before Nyepu could get the money and get rid of her… But Nyepu had concluded that bringing her along would be more beneficial… and, well, he still wanted to help her in her crazy mission of defeating her evil clone, so they should stick together… “We should talk a little more about this mission of hers later, though”, he thinks.

-Wah! I’ve never been in a research center! – says her excitedly, her sky blue talking gem shining with more intensity than usual. -And what are you doing there? – her eyes are suddenly filled with realization and her excitement fell as she asks -Ahm… was… was the thing I destroy part of whatever you were working there? – He only laughs lightly at her reaction, “at least she seems really ashamed for it…”, thinks Nyepu.

-It was… and it was really expensive, but don’t worry… I can build another one… with the right components, that is- says him with a small smile and the little princess’ expression lights up.

That’s when the dragon’s eyes catch a familiar homunculus wearing a magenta track suit walking towards them, crossing the pleasant plaza they were in with long strides. When his strange ovine eyes finally land on them, Nyepu was very sure that the annoying guy blushed before doing his best to look slightly pissed off.  “Yeah… I forgot this bastard has the hots for me or something”, thought him in disgust, releasing a heavy sigh… “What and awkward moment to be half naked”.

-Nyepu!- exclaimed the white goat guy with grey wool, sounding as reprehensible as possible, but failing, while finally getting closer to them – what was all that crap about you losing the control core?! A-and put something on, geez… have some d-decency – he muttered the last part after forcing himself to look at the dragon in the eye, traying too hard to keep his annoyed expression while fighting a smile and blushing furiously… “Man, you are more transparent than a crystal window…”, thought Nyepu slightly amused.

-Hi, Giorgio- he forced himself to answer as neutrally as possible- I already told you what happened earlier, nothing else to add to it… by the way, this is Flare DeFleur, the girl I also mentioned- says him, motioning to the little avian in his shoulder.

-Good evening, Mr. Giorgio! Is a pleasure to meet you! - greets her enthusiastically. “Believe me girl, it is not…”.

-I agree, it is a pleasure to meet me- answers the male lamb in a cold tone… the very same one he uses with people he doesn’t like; Nyepu had heard him talk like that to way too many people…- So you are the problematic girl that put my colleague here in so much trouble…- he says, crossing his arms. Flare falters at this, but Nyepu intervenes.

-She’s the girl that had accidentally destroy the device, yeah, but that’s not a big deal… she says she will pay for it and, with the help of my notes, I can have a new control core in less than a month…- says the dragon- Also, she saved as all of that mess of a train trip from this morning- adds him. At this, Flare gives him a look, which he quickly returns, hoping that that is enough for her to understand that he had kept in secret the negative details of her involvement in the whole incident. “She had picked up very quickly on my ruse with the officers after all…” thinks the dragon.

-Yeah… I remember that- answers Giorgio, still with his arms crossed and giving the young princess a disapproving look- Anyway, come with me- says him, beginning to walk away- let’s take you two to a place to stay for the night… we have a lot of work tomorrow- the dragon and the estirge followed him, flying.

-Actually, I think you better take us to the research center…- says Nyepu.

-Excuse me? I don’t think we have rooms there, don’t be silly- answers Giorgio a little too fast without looking back, although he had winced a little at the mention of their workplace and started to walk faster.

-You and me know that that is not true…- retorts Nyepu matter-of-factly. - Now let’s go there now, I don’t feel like taking up a taxi tomorrow when I can be there already… that and I also need to put something on… is getting colder…- For a dragon, the night was not exactly the best part of the day, being cold blooded and all that. Giorgio stops and gives the dragon an incredulous look…

 Flare was not sure of what was going on at all.

This goat-guy was very weird, not only was he getting flustered just by looking at Nyepu, he also seems to be disgusted with her for no apparent reason, and now he is acting weirdly about the research center. Didn’t Nyepu told her that they lodging there? Why was he lying about it now?

-Ok… man, I can stand you being a little careless… I can even stand you having some affair with this bird! But you are just pushing it now… you know the rules… so what the hell?!- “And now he looks really pissed off! … Wait… affair with me?!”, thinks her, her beak hanging open out of shock “What’s the deal with this guy?! Is he his boyfriend or something?!”.

-I already told you that I really don’t want to waste time with a taxi tomorrow and paying for a hotel when we have a place is kind of pointless, don’t you think? Also, I have a plan, ok? … and, I had no affair with her! And even if I would it be none of your business, anyway– answers the dragon, sounding eerily calmed. Giorgio was redder than her feathers by now, looking embarrassed and furious at the same time; but, instead of doing something regrettable, he takes a deep breath.

-Listen, asshole, rules are not there to be step over… and you already are in trouble as it is… do you really want more? – Says Giorgio, massaging his temples, and wisely ignoring the last part of the dragon’s answer.

-I already told you that I have a plan… now let’s get going- says Nyepu, his eyes clearly saying that he’s not going to accept any other argument. Giorgio just sighs heavily in defeat and keeps walking while muttering something about Nyepu being a “stupid sexy asshole”. “Well… that explains a lot”, deadpans Flare in her mind, flying at her dragon friend’s side, remembering that the dragon had better hearing than her so he must have heard everything that the apparently gay goat was saying… judging by his annoyed but resigned expression, he was and was also used to it… the young princess couldn’t help but laugh a little in bemusement at this.

Giorgio took them to a parking lot where they boarded his car, a green, slim and seemingly expensive model that levitated, before they finally started their journey to the research center… the dragon had to coil himself in the back seat since he was too big for the front one, so Flare had to go there instead, much to the driver’s and her mutual annoyance… specially since the security belt was too big for her…

They spent most of the trip to the outskirts in silence, so she had more time now to better see the city. As in any other city, evenings were also bustling with activity. Since mages were at their peak power at night, most of them prefer that time to do their things than daytime; she herself was like that after all, and so, many magicians were moving around the city, be it flying, levitating of mounting their servant daemon… of course, there were standard sizes for daemons to be allowed into the streets since there were still lots of people who used technological vehicles. The night was full of magical auras, the businesses were still open and attending, the many ads were bright and numerous, and many noises filled the air. She could hear varied music tunes, people discussing, haggling and, sometimes, could even hear sirens and others noises.

It was when they were crossing one of the bridges that crossed the canyon in their way to get to the surface that they all saw a big screen over a building where an anchorwoman, a well-dressed human, was announcing the news… and was informing about the incident in the train track that connected City 45 with City 79. Some videos were shown where one could watch how Nyepu and the passengers built the hover bio-vehicle on which they manage to get to the city; are others, when Flare flew into the horizon, using her magic to attract the daemons; the appearance of the monstrous water demigod; the ultra-flashy explosion with which she defeated it; and a short video of the two of them flying back to the survivors after winning. By the time the screen showed how a little and very bright fairy was interviewing some of the passengers, they were moving and almost done crossing the bridge. Flare was very proud, but the many things that weren’t said (like her being the one who cause the whole problem in the first place) make her feel a pang of guilt. Giorgio seemed enthralled by the shots of Nyepu and, at the end, blushing furiously again, felt obligated to congratulate the dragon and the estirge for their heroism… he also commented on how Nyepu had actually gone and done something heroic for a change with a smug face… the alluded dragon, who was now blushing in embarrassment, didn’t answer anything back for some reason… but that’s when she remembered how adamant the dragon had been at first to help… “Nyepu wasn’t exactly a hero when I met him… and… and he only helped because he was influenced by my probable blood magic…”, that thought saddened her and she made her best to hide it. The news could have been completely different had she never had drunk the dragon’s blood…

The moon was high in the dark sky and in company of many stars, it was a cool night. Flare’s power was close to its peak and she could already feel the many formless spirits that filled the air going everywhere: summoned by the magic users to fuel their spells, creating spaces where powerful daemons could manifest and generally just being carried where the most powerful magic sources were. This were the aetherical flows, and magicians usually used them to search for overpowered mages, magical artifacts, dangerous cults and hiding daemons; but only really powerful and experiences magic users could feel these during daytime… Right now, though, she could feel them with clarity and by the time they were in the outskirts of the coastal city, where the buildings were smaller and more improvised looking, and people look shiftier and more dangerous, she could sense that their path coincided with one of this flows, but she dismissed it as a coincidence…

By the time they finally abandoned the city (after passing by many defensive turrets and a control post where they had to be bio-scanned for identification by a very bored human officer) into a vast dessert and began to get close to what looked like a distant outpost, Flare was fairly sure that not just one, but many aetherical flows were converging somewhere close to the outpost they were going to… it was just too much of a coincidence to not to ask about it. When she commented on her observations, both males remain silent for a moment. Giorgio looked resigned and just laugh bitterly while Nyepu explained that indeed, they were going to that outpost, which actually was the research center they mentioned before, and the aetheric flows were converging in some sunken ruins they found in the river at the bottom of the canyon, at which edge was the research center.  She was not given the chance to ask if there was a connection between their research and the ruins, since the draconian researcher explain it anyway:

Their work there was about “reviving” an ancient weapon of the legendary Empire of Leviathan (the empire of the Sea Dragons), apparently, the sunken ruins had a sort of “factory” or, more appropriately, “hatchery and surgical facility”, where these things were born, grown and prepared to turned into living weapons…

-That… sounds cool… and kind of cruel…- had commented the young princess on the topic. She knew, as everyone else, that part of the technology of the civilized world was literally alive, as in it was made of living non-sentient beings which apparently were design by someone to fill particular purposes… that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a lot of people who cringe or were outright disgusted by these bio-tech for obvious reasons, but since it was useful, very few people complained… most of said bio-tech came from the Sea Dragons (like Nyepu) and the Myquita (the race of sentient fungus), so they were the most used to these technologies.

Flare now understood the secrecy… they were bringing back ancient technology, which in on itself was pretty awesome, but it was bio-tech which was considered to be… a little unpredictable… so people usually gets very nervous with ease around “new bio-tech advancements” and, more often than not, tend to shut down any operation at the first sign of weirdness… similar stuff happened with magical research since the weirdness usually was way more difficult to control, so she understood the whole situation here. She’d seen some weird stuff in her school days… and had met some people that is no longer around the living for causing it…

When they finally got to the outpost, they were greeted by felixin guards who bio-scanned them again and, after Nyepu told them that Flare was with them, were allowed to enter into the facility. She could see and feel a good deal of felixin and human mages patrolling the perimeter of the outpost, which was composed of various prefab buildings of metal, plastic and the strange organic tissue with imbibed crystals that some buildings were made of. They went to a parking lot and then, silently, were guided by Giorgio to one of the buildings… people was eyeing her with curiosity and she noticed a lot of dragons in the place, most of them seem to be scientific personal, wearing white bio-suits similar in appearance to the one Nyepu had worn when they met.

-Well, here we are… - said the homunculus at the entrance of the well-lit place - so, what will you do? As you know, all the rooms are occupied, so where is your little friend going to stay- asks innocently the goat guy – I can lend her my room and we can stay together this night- said him, getting very red again while traying to keep a straight face, much to the amusement of Flare and Nyepu… “Wow… this guy is so transparent”, thinks the avian girl, giggling lightly in spite of herself.

-I don’t think so…- answers the dragon dryly- actually, I think she can sleep with me… she doesn’t needs too much space… of course, if there is no problem for you- he adds the last part while looking at her, giving her a sly smile. The girl smiles back and gives a sidelong look to the goat guy who was looking at her intently as if saying, “say no!”. She made then a show of thinking it for a while and then said:

-I agree, I prefer to share Nyepu’s space; after all, I wouldn’t even dream on imposing on you, Mr. Giorgio- says her with a pleasant smile to the disappointed homunculus. The guy tried to stammer something, but the dragon beat him:

-Well, that settles it then, we are going there so I can show her where to sleep and to get some biomass for my bio-suit… go tell the admin that I’m back so we can get done with businesses for today- said him and began to move towards an elevator that was at the right of the entrance to deny any chance of argumentation. Slumping in defeat, Giorgio sighed and left saying that he was going to do that.

Once on the lever, Flare and Nyepu share a laugh at the expense of the very obviously gay homunculus.

-Wow… I wasn’t expecting him to be like that… does that guy harasses you all the time like that? - asked Flare after having been laughing for a while.

-Today he’d been a lot more blatant than usual… but yeah… one day, he started to act different towards me for reasons I can’t even begin to fathom… it took me a while to understand what was going on…- said him, getting a little more serious- I told him, repeatedly, that I’m not gay and I’m not interested in him… but that hadn’t stopped him…- now he was looking a little annoyed- It had been very stressing, really, but since the guy is still one of the best technobiologists I’ve ever met, I had learnt to just let it slide and focus on working…- he shrugged while saying that.

-Wow, that must suck- said her when they left the elevator and were now flying over a corridor with many doors with very organic-looking panels at the sides. – And, well, I can relate… my mom had been very insistent on me having boyfriends… like, very, very, insistent… and some of my pretenders had been horribly stubborn themselves, prii… and it just got worse when some girls began to try to court me as well after noticing how I kept rejecting the guys… it was maddening!- said her, getting exasperated just by remembering how many times her pretenders had interrupted her training sessions and had basically hunted her all the time… they would even fight each other for the “right” to be with her… although, she had to admit that when that wasn’t utterly embarrassing, it was kind of funny to watch…

-And I was whining about my problem with him… your case must had been a living hell! - said the dragon sympathetically, touching the panel of a door with the number 307 over it. The door slide open and they entered into a small room (he had to slither to do so since his antigravity generators were too big to enter flying) with a big tank full of water, a desk, a chair and a closet. There was a smaller cylindrical tank at one corner with a strange fluid in it that Flare guessed was the “biomass” the dragon had mentioned before. She noticed how damp was the air inside the place instantly, wish made sense since he is a dragon after all; she was sure it wouldn’t a problem…

-It was indeed! Pri! - said her, resting on the desk, there were many books piled there, as well as a lamp and a personal computer (the computer was actually a very thin sheet that would generate a holographic keyboard and a “touchscreen”). - I had to threat a lot of them with arrest if they didn’t stop!… at least, that diminished the number of nuisances to a more bearable level- said her, exhausted by just remembering all her efforts to try and get away from her pursuers…  

-No shit? - asked him with disbelief, while removing the cap of the biomass tank.

-No shit- answered her, solemnly- my mom wasn’t very happy with my solution… and the girls gave me the silent treatment after that- said her, then added smiling- my next pretenders had all told me first how I couldn’t arrest them because they had diplomatic immunity- The dragon laugh at that (it was a beautiful laugh) and she laugh with him with her chiming voice while he submerged his clawed hand inside the strange fluid. Flare saw with awe how the beige-colored biomass began to cover his arm and moved to cover his exposed torso before coalescing into the familiar blue body armor she’d seen on him when they met today… “This had been a very crazy day…” she thought, remembering all the things she’d done today while looking how his armor changed in color from blue to white.

He then took a part of the biomass and, as it were plasticine, molded it to look take the shape of a small pillow… although, for Flare, it was a big pillow…

-Here- he told her, putting the pillow on the desk next to her, she immediately sat there… “This… this so comfy!!”, thought her, snuggling into the pillow - sorry for the simplicity, princess, but is what I have… I can make you something to cover yourself with if you wish, though- offered him, sounding as polite as possible. She accepted the offering and he went back to the biomass tank and created a small sheet, slightly bigger than a handkerchief. - Well, now I have a certain bigwig to face…- said him.

-Would you need my help? - asked her, flying beside him. He stopped at the door for the moment, pondering her question. Then he shrugged and told her to tag along, then…

 -…as you heard, the royal couple is quite excited with their upcoming wedding and the current harem of princes are more than eager to have their next brother in love joining them soon…- was saying a rather beautiful female felixin reporter in the holographic screen generated by a personal computer. Looking at said screen with utter disbelief are four individuals:

-I can’t… This is…- sputtered Giorgio, now wearing a protective white suit.

-Well…while this confirms nothing… it certainly makes things… interesting…- says a dark green dragon wearing a red bio-suit, recovering his collected demeanor from before. That guy was the administrator of the whole operation, Nyepu and Giorgio’s boss.

-Damn it, girl… she is…- began to say Nyepu, still gawking at the male-surrounded estirge appearing in the holo-screen.

-She… she is identical to me…- finished Flare, her beak hanging open as her little talker gem broadcasted her words with some little shines in a very low volume.

Flare and Nyepu went together to the Administrators office, the dragon had told her to stay outside until he ask her to come in, though; so, when they got to their destination, the little girl had waited in a small reception at the entrance of the building while Nyepu entered to be verbally beaten by his superior for his incompetence, disregard for the rules and general lack of professionalism… Giorgio had been there, watching impassively how the white dragon face the abuse with stoicism worth of a military man. When he was given a chance to speak, he offered the required apologizes and suggested a solution for their current predicament that wouldn’t involve further investment of the directorate… He then mentioned the situation of Flare: a stranded princess in an unknown land that had somehow appeared here with no memory of how while a mysterious alter ego of her was impersonating her for unknown reasons… the girl was already indebted with him, but helping her could provide a lot more benefits in the long run… Of course, the admin and the other researcher in the room were very skeptical of the incredible contrive convenience of all of this, so he was asked to prove his words… that’s when he asked the young avian princess to come in and, to prove she was been impersonating, they turned on the admin’s personal computer and look out for news about her… it didn’t take long and the result was the current scene: the four individuals gawking at the incredible similitude between the two birds.

Effectively, the estirge being now interviewed by the felixin reporter in the news feed was ridiculously similar to Flare… although, this other Flare had certain notorious differences with the one at the dragon’s side: she wasn’t wearing a magical armor (she was naked, except for a gorgeous necklace with many gems of different colors imbibed in it); had some sort aura of elegance that the original one lacked; and was surrounded by four males of different races: a estirge with a generic moustache, a young although bearded human, a fairy with really long eyebrows, and, the one that was apparently going to get married with her, a lapin giant… looking at these guys, Nyepu could only focus on one question: “Didn’t Flare told me that she had no harem?”.

Now, while that wouldn’t come as a really important thing to consider most of the time, for a supposedly harem-less avian, the group in the holo-screen seems a little too big… “so, there are three possibilities: this bird had been lying about having no boyfriends (or husbands, as seems to be the case), she has a severe case of amnesia, or the imposter had been very busy…” thought the draconian researcher… if there was something he was sure was that she was not lying; so it just left the possibility of amnesia and the actions of the impostor… the amnesia theory had only one problem: her own goals. If the girl were to be believed, then she just woke up today and, as such, there is just not enough time to change her life goals from having a happy family to becoming a heroine… unless there’s some mind control involved, but then, it could have been easier to the probable mastermind to just directly control Flare instead of having a clone going through the painful job of convincing every person who knew Flare that she was the real deal… That only left the possibility of this harem of males being the result of the impostor’s work… but that theory had another big problem: how long had that taken? Even with the mentioned pressure of Flare’s mother, the impostor still had to act as the real deal… and real deal, supposedly, was adamant to get married… not to mention that royal engagements usually are very carefully planned, all of that requires time… a lot of time…

Nyepu was unable to get to a conclusion… he had thought in all the possibilities in a matter of minutes but he simply had not enough information to put all the pieces of the hypothetical puzzle together, and by the look on Flare’s face, she was having as much of a hard time as him in trying to understand what was going on… “This is a mess… but… I can probably start with something…”, he thought before taking a decision and finally starting to speak, catching everyone else off guard:

-As you said, admin, this doesn’t prove much… but now I have a theory…- he began and, giving the still shocked Flare a look, he’ll need her support for this and, by the understanding in her eyes and by how she finally closed her beak, he could tell she was going to support whatever bullshit he’d tell to his boss.

He explained to them the amnesia theory, suggesting that Flare did knew all the members of her harem, even the future one, but whatever freak event had left her lost and allowed the entrance of the impostor, had taken away a lot of her memories and, as such, she was regressed to her days as a lone princess… explaining why her first and only impulse was to call her mother. Flare showed very real confusion at this, but quickly played along and said that she was beginning to remember things, starting by identifying the estirge husband as prince Heron and the first one she married… at this, and just to be an asshole, Giorgio searched in his own cellphone for the information, and ended up confirming that prince Heron was indeed her first husband… and that they got married 10 months ago…

At this information, Nyepu and Flare had been very close to drop the act, the dragon managed to fake a fit of cough, which he blamed on having his chest exposed for a long time, to keep himself from showing too much surprise… Flare, on the other hand, while unable to keep herself from gawking in shock, managed to make it look like said shock was for having forgotten so much time of her life… although, there was a worry in her eyes that the dragon interpreted as the very real concern of that been the actual case…

The admin stated the very clear disadvantage Flare would be in if she really had lost so much of her memories… but the estirge claimed that she was beginning to remember things, although, they were still a little fuzzy, and it wouldn’t take her too long to fully recover them all, especially if she were to find herself surrounded by the familiarity of her own city and people… since the green dragon hadn’t seem very convinced, Flare told him that there was a very easy way to prove she was who she was: by going to the entrance of their research complex and use one of the bio-scanners to confirm her identity. Doing this proved to be the right course of action, because the bio-scanner showed that she indeed was ‘Flare Gavina Aralfrava Timet DeFleur Hedrian Gibranda’… there were more names and surnames there, but that, and the mention of her being the third heiress to the Sky Kingdom’s throne, had been more than enough to prove that she was the real deal…

Some discussion later, the admin finally agreed to help them by providing them with tickets to the Sky Kingdom’s capital city, City 36; some money to spend in food and lodging, and, of course, permission for Nyepu to go with her and take as much time as it was necessary. Giorgio was a little sore about not being allowed to go with them. The admin would be getting the components to rebuilt Nyepu’s device in the meantime and was expecting to start other “businesses” with the Sky Kingdom once this mess was all over.

After that, the meeting was ended and everyone went to rest…

 -Nyepu…- had said Flare in the darkness of their shared room, snuggled on the comfy pillow and covered by the sheet her friend had done for her. The dragon in question was submerged in the biggest water tank in the room but was capable of hearing her very well, as him taking his head out of the water demonstrated.

-What is it? - he asked, the lack of sleepiness in his voice suggested that he couldn’t slept.

-Do you… really think that I’m amnesiac? - asked her, looking at him in the darkness, her eyes adjusted to it; the shinning of her talking gem indicating where she was.

-I’m not sure… but if you aren’t, then you’ve been away from home for almost a year…- said him. “That is true…” she thought… The last thing she remembered doing was her going to deliver a message to prince Heron’s city before all of this… well… that and…

-Nyepu…- called her again.

-What? -

-There is… one thing I hadn’t told you…- she said carefully, she could felt the reptilian eyes of the researcher on her after she said those words, but his silence prompted her to go on- before I woke up… I was… in a dark place… hearing someone saying very… creepy things to me…- she was greeted with more silence, so she kept talking- I didn’t mentioned it before because I was not sure how real that was… but now… what I’ve been there for a whole year and can’t remember it for some reason? Because… because I remember how incredibly happy I was by flying… as if I hadn’t done that in a long time…- if that was true, then what had happened her there? Why was she there? And who was talking to her? She could remember nothing except for the last words she heard before waking up… and for some reason, just remembering make her uneasy…

-I don’t know- said Nyepu, suddenly, startling her- let’s just focus on you getting back your life… you’ll probably find more answers by confronting the impostor- he gave her a small reassuring smile before adding- everything will be alright-

-Thanks… I’ve only met you for less than a day but I already think of you as a good friend- says her. He laughs a little at this.

-This has been the craziest day I’ve had… and you calling me a good friend just puts the cherry on top…- he says bitterly.

-What do you mean?-

-Nothing… let’s get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a long day…- said him before sinking again inside his water tank. She eyed him for a while, debating with herself if she should keep the conversation he obviously wanted to end when she yawned and decided that sleeping would be wiser now… she’d have time for asking him more tomorrow….

And so, smiling to herself for having a friend accompanying her in this adventure, she finally slept.