#i think part of this is just due to my unobservant nature because other people made it out of high school knowing these things

[walterdecourceys]

in fairness i'm basically a living example of "high school doesn't prepare you for the real world" because i am still constantly learning very basic facts about the world we inhabit but i CAN tell you about the symbolism of mercutio's death in romeo and juliet so we know where my priorities lie

[thessaliah]

Epic of Remnants between set up foreshadowing and clean up duty

Epic of Remnants (or part 1.5) is an awkwardly inserted anthology that serves as a 'breather' adventure between the two big crisis and enemies of part 1 and part 2. While it undoubtedly introduces important key members to Chaldea for part 2 (Musashi focus in one and Sherlock Holmes joins Chaldea in another), it can be skipped so it's treated as an additional backstory at best. It's curious how despite this, it's treated like a sidestory unnecessary for the main story log to continue. I think the reason is because Epic of Remnants doesn't focus on a Chaldea member, Mash is demoted to a side character, and rather the focus becomes contained to a Servant of the chapter without overachieving Chaldea people story to tell with Mash's connection and bonds (part 1 with Roman, part 2 first half with Team A, and now with Olgamarie and, if you follow that theory, possibly  Professor Lev). Nonetheless, it provides a cleanup duty and a set up for the next part. The cleanup duty with the pillar demons that escaped and threaten, in various fashion, the world, is pretty straightforward to explain. But what about the setup? I'll be concise and short, so there are details that could escape my attention because I don't feel like reading those chapters again. You are all free to add things I missed.

Let's begin with Agartha and Shinjuku, the first two chapters and seemly chapters that aren't connected to part 2. Seemly. Both chapters have a very similar theme: an invasion from fiction, fiction becomes real, reality can be deformed with fantasy, etc. The creation of Phantoms, fusing fictional beings to materialize their existence (or combine them with the ‘real’ ones), the existence of Agartha, the plan to drop a fantasy place to mess with the state of the world, the assigned roles forced onto Servants rewritten to be different. All those themes are important to part 2. Like Holmes joining Chaldea and his quest is about the thin line between 'fact' and 'fiction' and what is real and what isn't, in an interlude where the pruning phenomena is brought, as is the small fragile balance between the Age of Men and the Age of Gods that was left behind.

Skipping to Salem, the last one, it also deals with how superstition can be real or at least made real, the existence of the "evil gods" is ambiguous at best. We can call them gods of another universe (like the machine gods of Olympus or the Servant-verse) but their existence is far less tangible. We have a place that is isolated god-less soil to make it the perfect land for the god to descend, and a girl being the priestess and the god at the same time. Also the same horror happened over and over again, as if in a loop. These could be setups for the priestess and the god who are Beast VII, although the parallels are not quite the same because the nature and origin of it are completely different, it does require a certain ground to materialise, and priestess and god are one of the same deep down. Queen of Sheba's meeting Solomon stage play is also relevant. Some Japanese fans analysed the riddles are foreshadowing for part 2, specifically the last one, is about the Shadow Border. If you follow the Lev theory, he was brought up here in a less negative light, as the reason why the Queen of Sheba was summoned to help with Salem.

CCC, the Extra chapter introduced into an event, brings up the shady nature of the Animusphere family experiments as backdrop of what happens with the collab characters. The Counter Force dispatched Emiya Alter not to deal with Kiara, but to shut that place for good with those experiments using artificial (?) children for rayshifting. Note here two things: one that Zepar drops that Flauros reported this place as one of the causes for the unobservable zone (usually how Fuyuki Singularity is called) and the other is that there was another 'loop' (like Salem) of Grail war that run due to artificial simulation thing. This artificial simulation thing is extremely similar to Mooncell.

Finally, Shimousa doesn't just introduce to plot-relevant characters like Ashiya Douman, Muramasa (two apostles of the God, even if Muramasa wasn't in the introduction), and Musashi. But also set up what will happen to the planet via Amakusa rambling about the root of fantasy dropping from the sky. Shimousa is a pseudo parallel world, instead of a pseudo singularity. In other words, it's a proto-Lostbelt. If other works foreshadow more or less themes this one explores the new setting and even introduces the “God of another celestial body.” And leaves the question, where does it take place that is Guda’s soul/consciousness only that’s taken. The prison tower, acknowledged as happening in a similar fashion by the plot, was a hell that trapped souls, so it wasn’t a material plane, but what about Shimousa? 

Key themes:

Fiction becomes real. 

Fantasy invades reality. 

A priestess and a god that are one. 

A ship (country) which doesn’t stop for anything in a journey. 

Simulations and loops. 

Animusphere’s family secrets. 

A pseudo Parallel World. 

A “God of a different star.”

(Why do I highlight the tension between reality and fiction? Because the simulations Olga and Kirschtaria went through -we have a peek to Olga’s in Moonlight Lostroom- and because of the possibility the Lostbelts history is all from simulation/fabricated by Chaldea equipment). 

[aiimaginesbts]

All In My Head (M)

Yoongi x Reader (Yoongi’s POV)

**Part 2 to Command, but can be enjoyed on its own as well**

Genre: Smut, childhood friends to lovers AU

Warnings: Public foreplay, exhibitionist tendencies, a little dirty talk, jealous Yoongi

Word Count: 3,609 words

Disclaimer/Copyright 

Your eyes were focused on the buildings whizzing past outside through the train windows, unaware of your boyfriend frowning as he looked at you. More specifically, at the line where your thigh and skirt met, revealing a bit of flesh above your knees.

Yoongi was not happy. Well, he wasn’t unhappy, per se, but there was definitely something bothering him. He knew what it was, but he was also aware that he was being irrational, so he wasn’t sure what to do about it.

He had known you almost all his life, since you were kids, but you had only become a couple a few weeks ago. Maybe that was why he felt so hesitant now. Yoongi knew how to treat you as his best friend. That was super easy. It came to him as naturally as breathing. Although most people think of him as brash and forthright in his opinions, you were the only person he could share his innermost thoughts and feelings with. You might not agree with him all the time. Hell, it had led you two into more arguments than he could count, but you would always make up within a day or two. Best-friend-you he was familiar with. That didn’t mean he knew how to handle you now. No, girlfriend-you was a new, different monster that he had no idea how to deal with.

People say that being in love with your best friend is a lucky thing. Or something. How did that song go again? Lucky I’m in love with my best friend… Yoongi didn’t feel so lucky now. Somehow the combination of the two – best friend and girlfriend – had turned into a daytime nightmare today. Because Yoongi knew practically everything there was to know about you. His brows furrowed at your legs. And he knew you very rarely wore skirts.

So the question that had bugged him since he first met up with you late that morning ran through his mind again; why is she wearing a skirt today? Unfortunately, only one answer came to his mind. You knew that he was going to bring you to lunch with his friends from college today. You must have wanted to flirt with them, right? Why else would you suddenly wear such feminine clothing? It was always jeans whenever you went out with him, even when you went on dates together.

He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised, after all. He had been in love with you for a while, but you had only seen him as your childhood pal all the way up to his confession. Through a bet, he had made you promise to follow his commands, and after abusing your agreement to lead you to a steamy situation, he had revealed that he’d fallen for you. There was no mistaking your surprise then; he was sure you hadn’t had an inkling before he said anything. Even though he was overjoyed when you’d said yes to being his girlfriend, it didn’t take much for doubt to consume him.

Did you agree to be his girlfriend because you were caught up in the heat of the moment? Worse still, was it because you were afraid to lose him as a friend if you’d said no? Was his irreplaceable friendship with you going in a downwards trajectory, undetected, heading for the inevitable doom because he told you how he felt about you? Maybe you just became his girlfriend out of pity, or because you’d felt guilty, or didn’t know how to refuse him. He felt like such a jerk.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm his panicked thoughts. Whatever you felt about him, you wouldn’t do something as cruel as attempting to seduce his friends right under his nose. As if finally noticing that Yoongi had been staring daggers at you, your eyes left the train doors you were leaning next to and turned to him. “Is there something wrong, Yoongi?”

“Why are you wearing a skirt?”

The abrupt question visibly unsettled you, and Yoongi felt like a heel. He didn’t mean to vocalise the question branding itself into his brain. It was that skirt. How could it not have attracted his friends, when it seduced the hell out of him? Memories of the lunch less than an hour ago came back to him, unbidden. His friends were definitely interested in you – especially since your appearance today was nothing like he’d described to his friends. Your style was usually comfortable and laid-back, but today even the normally unobservant Yoongi noticed that you wore makeup, and the skirt completed the pretty ensemble you wore. Not that he ever thought you weren’t pretty, but he’d always loved that your beauty was understated. Like something one needed to uncover to realise its true beauty. He wanted to be the only one who knew what a true gem you were.

That was definitely not the case now. His friends had all insisted how lucky he was to have you; that you were too pretty for him. Okay, to be fair, they said you were too nice for him too, but he wouldn’t put much stock in that. They’d only known you through what he’d told them about you, and a short lunch couldn’t have given them much of an insight into the amazing person he knew you were. But that comment about being beautiful? That he knew was genuine, and he was sure that the skirt played a part in the formation of their opinion, too. Hoseok was chatting up a storm with you. Yoongi had no doubt that his closest friend after you could charm you in no time. Then you would leave him for Hoseok.

“I just… wanted to make a good impression on your friends,” you answered in a small voice. “Do I look that bad?”

Yoongi wasn’t sure what answer he was expecting from you, but it wasn’t this. Trying to push the images of you wearing tinier and tinier skirts for Hoseok, Yoongi tried to focus on your answer. “Why would you need to do that?”

Huffing at having your question answered by another question, you explained, “You said your friends always made fun of you for not caring about anything other than your passion for music.” Your fingers ran across your skirt, then tugged at each other, showing Yoongi a level of nervousness that he’d never seen before. “If they saw my usual sloppy appearance, they might think that I’m one of those things you just chose on a whim because you didn’t care to think about it.”

God, why am I so stupid? Your answer made Yoongi feel awful. He had allowed his petty jealousy to run away with his idiotic thoughts, not noticing how anxious you were about meeting his friends. Instead, he made you feel more self-conscious than you already were. Thinking back, you were always asking him about them, especially after he’d invited you to come and join them today. You’d asked to see their picture, taking the time to memorise their names, wanting to know what they were like. It only made him suspect that you’d had an eye on one of them, but you just wanted to show them that he’d picked his girlfriend well. You’d wanted their approval. The realisation felt like an undeserved reward and a warranted punishment at the same time.

“You don’t need to do anything like that,” he started to say, but the doors on the other side of the coach had opened at the same time, and a flood of passengers rushed in. Half of his words were more of a grunt as he was pushed against you into the corner between the end of the row of seats and the door, and he wasn’t sure if you’d heard anything he’d said. He barely heard the soft oof that came out of you as you were squished between him and the hard corner.

After announcing that the doors would close, the train continued speedily on, unaware of the uncomfortable position you were in. Moving back a tiny step – which was the best he could manage in the now overcrowded coach – he looked at you with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Mm-hmm,” you told him glumly, refusing to meet his eyes. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen you sad, but it was harder now because you were his girlfriend. And he was the one who’d brought tears to your eyes – he could tell you were trying not to cry from the slight rise in your pitch. Your hands had grabbed handfuls of the offending piece of clothing, as if wishing you could take it off right there and then. The movement was revealing more and more of your delectable thighs to him – and if Yoongi had thought that his thoughts had gone haywire before, this sight was making him lose his mind altogether.

His large hands grabbed yours, pulling your skirt even further up until just a hair’s breadth away from showing your panties. “Just so you know, you look amazing,” he finally answered your earlier question. He wasn’t sure whether your gasp of surprise was due to his whispered words in your ear or his sudden, daring movement, but Yoongi decided that he didn’t care. Right hand cupping your sex through your underwear, he easily found your sensitive spot.

“Yoongi!” You hissed as loudly as you dared when his two fingers rubbed along your slit, showing no signs of stopping despite your location. “Are you crazy?”

“It’s all your fault,” he drawled in that maddening devil-may-care tone of voice he’d mastered so well. He knew it frustrated and confused you to no end, which was perfect in this case because he didn’t want you to know how much you’d affected him. “Making it so easy for me to touch you by wearing this.” You squealed when his left hand tugged at your skirt, afraid that he’d pull it right off on the train, and then bit your lower lip, even more afraid that you’d revealed yourself to the other passengers.

“Stop it, Yoongi.” Well aware that your protest was rendered weak by your heavy breathing, you still tried to put up a fight, for the sake of your mind if not for your body. The latter melted readily at Yoongi’s touch, completely oblivious to the fact that you were in public, squeezed like sardines by other people. “Someone might see us.”

“Is that why you got wet so quickly?” If you were in your right mind, you might have smacked him for teasing you. However, in the state you were in, the only thing you could think of was how right he was – it couldn’t have been two minutes and your thong was already a soggy mess in his hand. You wanted to whimper; it felt so very good, but at the same time you were desperate to deny it. “Relax. No one would notice.”

At that reassurance, you tried to look around, but your boyfriend had you literally trapped in the corner, and you could barely see anything over his height. Yoongi himself was only then checking his surroundings as well. He could barely turn in his spot, the coach was that packed, and he was jammed into that little corner right against you. Not that he was going to complain about that now. From what he could tell, the person behind him had her back to him, engaged in a conversation with her friends. Another guy standing next to him by the door had his earphones plugged in, engrossed with something on his phone screen. The most anyone could see of you were your legs, slightly spread apart by one of his – the rest of your body was almost completely covered by his own.

Having ensured that no one was watching him, Yoongi grew more eager to finish what he’d unthinkingly started. Deftly pushing your soaked underwear aside, he revelled in the silky, smooth feel of your sensitive slicked folds directly against his skin. No further objections were forthcoming from you. He could tell that you were trying to focus on keeping yourself from making any noise. For some reason that egged him on even more. He didn’t want to be discovered, but he also wanted to make you cry out helplessly – it felt like a challenge. He wanted everyone to know how good he made you feel.

At the same time, he was genuinely surprised at how wet you’d gotten so quickly. The train was only about to reach the next stop, but he was wet to his knuckles just by brushing against your pussy. He suppressed a groan. If you were in his room, he bet he’d be able to push his cock all the way inside you in a single thrust. His fingers hadn’t made it inside you yet, but it was obvious that you were ready. More than ready for him.

Yoongi had no idea what brought out the daredevil streak in him today, but after he shifted a little to get into a more comfortable position, he shoved two of his fingers into you without hesitation. Oh, you were definitely eager, regardless of your feeble protests. Your dripping pussy allowed him to bury himself to his knuckles, and your abundant juices were already making their way to his wrist. The sudden intrusion came as a surprise to you, he was sure, from the way you lurched forward. That, and the mewl you let out before you could stop yourself. You bit your lower lip hard, trying to squash any noises fighting to escape your throat as Yoongi finger fucks you at full speed from the get-go.

The desperate fists clenching as hard as they could on the front of his shirt mirrored the tight grip that your insides had on his fingers. Yoongi allowed himself a soft grunt under his breath. True, he hadn’t been with you for all that long as a couple, but he would never have guessed that you could get so wound up this fast. Even though you were doing an excellent job keeping your moans he knew had to be lodged in the narrow constrict of your throat, it was impossible for you to control your breathing. The heavy panting sounded just like a muted version of your whimpers, and he could easily imagine you letting yourself go completely, sobbing and calling for him as he pounded you into the bed.

While your reaction made him feel powerful, drunk on his control over you, it was also driving him mad. It wasn’t long before he had to adjust himself again to alleviate the strain against his pants. He would give anything to pull his cock out and just fuck you against the wall, but he knew he couldn’t. In fact, Yoongi was reminded to glance around the coach, making sure that his change in position hadn’t revealed to anyone what he was doing to his girlfriend.

The man almost adjacent to him was still absorbed in his phone, and Yoongi sent a silent thanks to whoever it was that created whatever content that had him so enraptured. The girls’ conversation behind him sounded like it had gotten more heated, if anything. Not that he was paying any attention to it before then. Your muffled cries were the only thing he wanted to hear, if he had any choice in the matter.

He started to turn his attention back to you, but something caught his eye – a young man standing in the middle between the two rows of seats, probably about his age, staring open mouthed right at your direction. Yoongi froze. He knew full well that what he was doing was extremely risky, but now that he was caught, he had no idea what to do. It felt like time had stopped; that, or everything was moving at a fraction of the normal speed. The eternity in his mind must have been merely a second or two, because in the time that the man’s friends called his name and he turned, you were only just looking up in curiosity at what made Yoongi stop.

At odds over how to proceed, Yoongi gave his fingers a sharp thrust upwards, effectively distracting you and buying him a tiny window to assess the situation. The man was nodding at something his friends were saying but wasn’t contributing anything to the conversation – which meant that he was not about to expose the two of you. In fact, he was completely distracted from frequently darting his eyes in your direction.

Convinced that he was not about to get into trouble, Yoongi resumed assaulting your pussy with renewed vigour. Already brought to a stage of almost complete abandon before, it wasn’t hard to get you close again. Yoongi shifted slightly to the right, exhilaration consuming him as he revealed you and let the man confirm what he was suspecting. The man was staring unabashedly at the display now, completely ignoring his friends, who were thankfully not noticing his lack of attention.

Never letting up on his rapid movements, Yoongi leaned closer to whisper in your ear, “Looks like we have an audience.” It took several moments for his words to sink in, but eventually you looked around in a panic at his warning. By following his gaze, you fell upon the target and promptly squealed in terror. You tried to tug your skirt down, but Yoongi was doing the exact opposite; yanking it up hard, as if not caring that your drenched thong, pushed aside by his fingers buried deep inside you, was practically visible to the stranger. “Now, now, don’t ruin the show for him.”

You wanted to spit out an angry retort to his arrogant teasing, but he didn’t give you a chance to. Not when he was curling his fingers as he moved rapidly in and out of you, scraping the sensitive spot within. Yoongi’s arm was tiring out from the physical exertion, his wrist was feeling the effects of being bent at the unnatural angle for so long, but he would rather die than stop now. In contrast to your outward distress at being watched, the realisation had made your pussy grip him even harder than before. “Fuck, you’re tighter than ever,” Yoongi groaned into your ear. “I had no idea you’re an exhibitionist.”

“I’m not.” Your short reply was raspy, higher pitched than normal and completely devoid of strength. Yoongi didn’t believe your denial for a second. However, he couldn’t believe how turned on he was, either. Perhaps it was that irrational, lingering jealousy he felt when you interacted with his friends that fuelled his desire to show someone how much you needed him. Not that a complete stranger leering as you gasped and held onto him desperately did anything at all. Yet it still felt unbelievably good. There was a sense of being needed, of being powerful and in control, and of being desired all at once, intoxicating him.

But he was aware that it had to end soon. Not only had your breathing become more laboured, the wet, squelching sounds from your flooding pussy was also gradually increasing in volume, to the point he was worried that it would be heard over the sound of the moving train and surrounding noises. He had never seen you this sexually excited, but that also meant that you couldn’t hold it in for long – at this point, he wouldn’t be surprised if the overwhelming pleasure made you forget where you were, and you started screaming his name.

Besides, Yoongi was dying to see your face when you fall apart. He could never tire of it. Seeing you lose your composure, the look of euphoria that was all because of him was something he could never get enough of. “Do you think he can see my fingers fucking your naughty pussy?” He angled his wrist to rub his palm against your clit as he thrusted furiously in and out of your sopping heat. The added stimulation pushed you over the edge almost immediately. Your legs trembled, then shook as you came more violently than ever before. You gaped up at him as you burst around him, your mind somehow remembering to remain silent. Normally, Yoongi would’ve devoured your mouth in a soul-sucking kiss, but gazing at your eyes made glassy by your tears and ecstasy, your parted lips quivering in a silent scream as your hips grinded against his hand was pretty gratifying in and of itself.

As you came down from your high, you slumped against your corner, completely spent. And not a moment too soon – the next stop was your stop. Besides, Yoongi felt some petty satisfaction in making you walk in your weakened state. Call it an undeserved revenge for making him irritably possessive and insecure all day. He had to pull you to get you to move through the open doors onto the station platform – it was obvious you were not in a condition to walk anywhere – but he wrapped a firm arm around your waist, both to keep you moving and to support you.

Just as the last of the passengers disembarked the train, Yoongi glanced inside. In the heat of the moment, he’d forgotten about the lone spectator. He was still inside, his eyes darkened with lust as they followed you told Yoongi that he’d given the man a good show. Smirking, he brought his fingers to his mouth, licking your essence while peering smugly at his audience, before linking them between yours as he led you through the throng.

[findingtheperfectcharacter]

Call me Pride

I'm eager and maybe just a little dumb because I was REALLY eager to write the 'whys ' of Roman's fall and... Yeah...  I tweaked a lot. Anyway this is loosely based on this prompt https://vaugleysassygrunt.tumblr.com/post/186357032949/whoa-okay-hear-me-out-here-open-prompt-but and was started before the recent episodes so Deceit's still nameless and the reasoning has nothing to do with All That.

Warnings for Unsympathetic Roman, Sympathetic Logan, Patton, Deceit and Remus, Toxic Roceit, Pride slaps someone, and sexual and violent humor (though nothing explicit happens.)

Roman knew this was coming. He had once again failed to create a video and it was time to get another lecture from Logic about scheduling and due dates. Ugh, for once he didn't want to respond when he was summoned. But he knew if he didn't rise up he'd be forced to come out unless he locked himself in his room and he certainly wasn't going to duck out over a matter like this. With a huff, he rose up.

Logic was starring at him, he always felt judged when he looked at him like that. Brown eyes narrowed through his rounded frames. "Roman, Thomas claimed that he was unable to create this weeks video due to quote 'lack of creative fervor'." He made air quotes with his hands when he said that, "And considering this is your department I believe it is of utmost importance to hear from you what is going on."

Roman shook his head, "Feeling as Princely as ever." He posed as if to prove it.

Logan looked at him for a few seconds and hummed curiously. Roman felt naked as he was starring at him, like the Logical side was reading his mind and noticing every unsavory flaw. He could barely hide his relief when he turned back to Thomas.

"Perhaps the others could help shine a metaphorical light on this situation."

Thomas nodded and moved his hand up, "Anxiety, Morality." He called summoning the two. Virgil looked even more anxious than usual, his eye shadow slightly smeared and his leg bouncing where he stood. Roman felt a twang of guilt in his chest.

"Virgil, Patton, can either of you explain why Thomas has not been creatively productive lately." Logan asked.

Patton cocked his head, "Not a clue Scooby Doo."

"I am not a fictional dog that helps a gang of people solve problems. I am a representation of Thomas's Logic you should know this by now."

"Yeah but the rhyme sure was neat!"

Virgil raised an eyebrow, "Haven't we done this before? Like, two times? It's probably going to be repetitive to the audience if we make yet another episode dealing with Logan and Roman having problems creating videos. They might think you're complaining to make them feel bad for you. Or worse, they might get bored and leave."

Patton struggled to keep his cheerful smile, "Aw come on now kiddo, sometimes lessons just take a bit to stick. The audience will understand that."

Logan frowned, "Returning to the topic at hand, if it isn't an excess of Anxiety, or moralizing your work that's causing this problem." He knit his brows and his lips pursed, "Is it me again?" He turned to Roman, " Roman, please tell me if I am once again putting too much pressure on you to create. I said I would work on being less, " he cleared his throat, "Overbearing but I'm not used to it yet."

He looked Roman in the eyes, "If I have failed in that recently, I would rather be told then to live in ignorance of my mistakes, as hard as that may be."

Roman hesitated, he knew the truth. This had nothing to do with Logan, or Virgil, or Patton. He'd lied about feeling like his Princely Self, he telt like his creations this last moth had been lackluster at best. Not even half as good as they needed to be to be taken to the front of Thomas's conscious. 

But he couldn't tell the others that, they would think he was insecure and if there was one thing Roman wasn't, it was insecure.

Instead he said, "I admit, the schedule has stopped me from being the best Prince that I can be. "He looked at the ground, mostly due to his own guilt over lying, he didn't want to see Logan's face. He didn't want to see how Virgil's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"I see... Next time I promise I will ask for your input when building our scheduled to stop you from feeling so overwhelmed. "

Roman forced a small smile, "Thanks teach." He cleared his throat, " And with that I've got some things to create! "He sunk out returning to his room. He sighed and slumped on his bed, closing his eyes, giving a groan like a door with unoiled hinges. He felt like taking an hour long nap.

He heard a slow cap above him. "Oh bravo, Roman." A familiar voice drawled. He reached for his sword, staring face to face with the snake himself. His confident smirk didn't leave his face despite the sword at his nose. "I honestly couldn't have done it better myself."

Roman glared at him, "You better have a good reason for being in my room snakes -and-liars."

Deceit chuckled, "Oh but surely you've noticed Roman," he circled around him, Roman's sword texture changed to foam as his confidence wavered. "I bet it took you ages to find an outfit of yours that white."

Roman barely held back a growl. He was right of course, even as he stood here his golden epaulets were turning a sterling silver like the others.

"I’m sure Patton will never find out about your little secret. He's so unobservant." Deceit said, looking at his fingernails despite the fact that he was wearing gloves. "No one's ever tried to hide their nature from him after all." He smiles with a glint in his eye that made Roman's heart pound. "Which means we'll never see each other again Roman. "He blew a kiss and sunk out back to his side of the mindscape.

----

Remus kept glancing at the end of the hallway. He'd been checking since last Thursday when Deceit told him about how Roman was changing,but he couldn't help it! It'd been years since his brother had been on the same side as him. His stomach was doing flip flops like a fish out of water five seconds from the butcher chopping him into pieces. He wondered if he'd be willing to play with him. He could barely hide his cackle when he thought of the havoc they'd wreak together!

In the void a new door was starting to form, Remus squealed with delight and ran to Deceit's door, "DECEIT! DECEIT!" He squealed as he banged on the bright yellow door, "He's coming, he's coming!"

Deceit opened the door, his sleeping cap slightly askew , his eyes tired, "Remus how many times do I have to tell you I have no interest in the details of the porn you watch?"

Remus shakes his head, "No no, not that, though you should SEE what I was watching earlier, oh the things a man can do with whips." he moaned and squirmed but quickly shook his head, no Remus, focus. " But that's not what I meant! There's a new door in the hall! "

Deceit suddenly seems far more awake as he walked out into the hallway standing next to Remus. The pair watched as the symbol of a bright red throne with a silver tiara above it etched itself into the door. Remus was slightly confused by why his symbol would change, but hey, if his brother hadn't changed a little bit he wouldn't be down here! 

The door glowed and finally opened revealing him in all his glory, the midnight colored prince outfit with silver twinges along his neck and wrists, the bright red cape that flowee across his back, the silver tiara glimmering with jewels that looked just as much a part of him as his hands or toes. 

Remus couldn't help himself and tackled his brother to the ground, "ROMAN! Is that blood on your cape? It's the same color, can I lick it?"

 Roman grunted and sat himself up, "Hello Remus, nice to see you here. Ruining my clothing with your filth." Deceit offered his hand to Roman to help him up and he took it. 

 "As if any amount of filth could affect your radiance your Highness." Deceit purred.

Roman puffed his hair, "Oh I know, but I hate getting dirty." 

Remus huffed a bit, it seemed like his brother was still himself in some ways. But he wouldn't give up hope that quickly. "ROMAN RO RO RO, since you're a darkside now, we have to play together in the imagination together again, ohhh we could give Thomas the NASTIEST thoughts, you haven't seen Mr. Poo yet! Oh you'll love him, he just has the cutest little fangs-"

Roman frowned, "I don't think I like that."

Remus blinked, " Mr. Poo? "

Roman shook his head, "No no, that's..." He rolled his eyes, "Fine I guess. That name you called me. "

"Roman? But that's your name."

Roman shook his head, "But I don't feel like Roman. Until I find a name that feels more suitable, you may call my by my role." He straightened himself up, a glittering smile on his face, " Pride. "

Deceit held Pride's hand in his own and kissed him gently, "Charmed."

Pride looked back at him, flashing that dazzling smile, "The feeling's mutual."

Remus looked from one side to the other, "Are you two going to fuck or can I take him to the Imagination."

Deceit’s face burned a bright red but Pride seemed relatively unbothered, “Feel free to lead the way.” 

Remus’s face broke into his usual wide smile and he grabbed Pride’s hand sinking them into his room. The lights in the room flashed, quickly switching colors randomly. There was something leaking against the wall, it was either slime or blood it was nearly impossible to tell with the constant NOISE of the place. From the loud screams at random intervals, to the shepherds tones that rose endlessly in the background. Pride walked around carefully but still managed to step on one of Remus’s 5 living hands that slept on the floor. He shrieked as it bit his shoes with unnaturally sharp teeth. Remus flicked it off of him and it quickly flew off. 

“Ah, finally!” He said, as he found a small doorknob on the ground. He opened it up and the room was filled with the pale yellow light of the imagination. He grabbed Roman by the shoulders, “Okay, as soon as you get there, don’t panic. Just summon wings or some other method to fly.” His grin widened, eyes sparkling, “Think you can handle it?”

Pride looked confused at first than puffed out his chest when Remus asked his question, “Of course I can.” 

Remus gave a delighted squeal, grabbed his hand and the pair of them jumped into the hole. The sky was a dark and stormy grey, it looked like there was going to be another knife storm. Remus closed his eyes and felt dark, leathery wings errupt from his back. He frowned, debating on the color, did he want to keep them black or change to green, or maybe he could have it flash the worst version of every color! Shit-stain brown, puke green, mustard yellow oh what delight! 

At first he assumed the screaming came from one of his screaming trees, they played the most haunting melodies when it rained, but when he looked down he instead saw a flash of red light hurling towards the ground. He gasped and divebombed to catch him, his repeated thought of, "Don 't imagine long, dark piercing spikes under us ready to break into our stomachs, impaling us both," of course summoned long , dark piercing spikes below them. 

Pride's screams only grew louder as he flaid about trying to grab onto something, anything that would stop him from hitting the harsh unforgiving ground. He could almost feel the rocks touching his stomach and pushong through-

Lucky for him though, Remus swooped down, catching him before he hit the rocks. He sat him down on the sandy ground, his eyes watered, though whether that was due go concern or the speed he'd been flying at was anyone's guess.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice was more gentle than he'd usually seem capable of. 

Pride sneered, "I'm fine, thanks for the rocks, bet it made you feel even more like a hero when you saved me huh? " 

Remus stepped back, genuinely confused, "That made as much sense as Woody fucking Palpatine."

Pride harrumphed, and took a step foreward, "You know exactly what I mean, you've always wanted to outshine me and now you've given yourself the chance to play the hero in here and pretend to save me. But guess what," he pressed a finger against Remus's chest. "I don't need anyone to help me or save me much less a disgusting little turd like you. I'm not pathetic little Roman anymore, I am strength, I am perfection, I am Prince Pride! "

Remus stared at him for a bit.

"The dust on your butt is shaped like a dick."

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

Pride and Remus weren't talking anymore. Remus chewed on a can whistfully sitting in his room, "Just like old times. " Except during, 'old times ' Deceit wasn 't spending so much time simping to his brother. It was enough to make him puke hearing him compliment him, watching them ballroom dance in the kitch together the snake-side's head gently fit onto Pride's chest. Despite his distaste at their sentimentallity, he couldn't help but feel a little happy for them. 

Until he wasn't that is. It was breakfast time.

"It was merely a suggestion -"Deceit backed away, but Pride pursued

"You think I'm WRONG? ! "Fire raged in the side's eye, "You think we'd be better off if Thomas ruins his LIFE-"

"It's one friendship Pride, and it's been far from healthy for Thomas to be involved in it."

The sound of a hand against skin echoed through the kitchen. There was a silence that lasted decades. Then the sound of a chair scrapping across the floor. Remus stood up and walked up to Pride who was looking down smugly at Deceit. Remus turned him around and grabbed him by the collar, "You can insult me, you can mock me, do whatever you want. But you will not. Touch. Him."

Pride huffed, "He shouldn't have argued with me! He's really the one who -" 

Remus summoned a dirty sock and shoved it into his mouth, than threw him to the side. He walked up to Deceit, "Do I have permission? " 

Deceit looked up with blurry, tear stained eyes and gave a nod. And just like that he was in the Light Side KItchen.

"ALRIGHT, HOW MANY BITCHES DO I HAVE TO KILL TO FIND OUT WHICH OF YOU BWSTARDS FUCKED UP MY BROTHER?!" Remus was as always a master of subtlty and persuation. Patton jumped about 10 feet just hearing his voice. Virgil bristled and hissed at him

Logan sighed, he supposed his pancakes would have to wait,"Good morning Remus."

Remus shook his head, "No pleasantries, Romwn fell and now he's a real pain in the ass, like a full sized plane up my ass, and I KNOW sides don't just go dark and change personalities for no reason so-" he poin ted at Patton, "What did you do to him?! "

Patton shook his head, "I-I didn 't- well okay I made him sink to the dark sides but-"

Logan adjusted his glasses, "He was starting to show unpleasant tendencies far before that. Patton decided that he'd be safer away from us after a disscussion in which he said," he took out a notecard, "You never let me live, you're all terrible critical beasts who I should have slain with my sword ages ago! If it weren't for you, Thomas would be perfect, I would be perfect, I'm sicm of being around you." he returned his notecard to his pocket.

Remus stared, "So it has nothing to do with you, than why? "

Virgil poured a glass of coffee black as his soul, "I don't know, none of us knows. Can't believe I'm saying this but I kind of miss the ego-driven Prince. "

Logan looked over his notes, "I have some theories but emotional reactions aren't really my area of expertise."

Remus rubbed his mustache as he thought it over, than his eyes turned bright and manic, "Do any of you have a battering ram?"

They all stare at him blankly, Patton's the first one to say anything, "Why?"

"To break into old Princy's room of course!"

[writingschauung]

Montague Arnett: Day 2 Complex Rules

Complexes, in the simplest words, are existential limitations that reflect the psychological worldview of their afflicted. As such, understanding the Complex innately leads to a greater understanding of the character themselves. As the central character of the novel, Montague has perhaps the most complex Complex of them all. Montague's highly dependent personality manifests itself in a fiery passion that drives him to show his inherent, unassisted worth. At his core, his deep fear of loneliness makes him incapable of accepting any form of abandonment, either physical or emotional. His Complex plays on this fear and makes his twisted weltanschauung literal- ensuring that he will never experience loneliness by making him not consciously exist in moments of solitude. In this way, the Complex is a defense against his greatest fear, but swung too far into the other direction. To truly come to terms with his Complex would be to balance the fear of loneliness with his overly clingy nature.

 Montague's Complex manifests itself in a variety of ways over the course of the narrative, though always following the same essential rules. The trigger for his nonexistence is always solitude, though whether he is aware of an unseen perceiver or not is irrelevant. Complexes may be inherently tied to the mind of the afflicted, but also affect and are affected by the minds of others through a subconscious symbiotic social connection. Montague is also consciously aware of the existence of his Complex, and the fear of its symptoms are as debilitating as the symptoms themselves. Regardless if he were to come to any emotional harm from standing alone in a room for a few minutes, Montague will pathologically avoid such situations. Nonexistence is not discomforting for him, as his conscious thoughts simply cease, then resume upon renewed observation, rather like the pause button on a remote. His subconscious brain continues to function though, beating blood, breathing air, and unless caught in a precarious pose, maintaining balance as well. His body will continue to function even if left unconscious for an extended amount of time, rather like a coma, only facing failure in the face of starvation and dehydration.

 The exact semantics of what constitutes "observation" is the most fascinating facet of his Complex's operation, both to characters within the story, such as the constantly curious Tamara, and also to myself, because I honestly have no clue. The variety of situations which test the parameters of the condition make for fascinating thought experiments (a sentiment also shared by Tamara, who is willing to turn my thought experiments into literal experiments, no matter how demeaning). Not all 5 senses trigger existence for Montague. 

Sight obviously does, but also contains many caveats which will be explored in more detail. 

Sound can trigger existence, but its lack of continuous nature makes it extremely unreliable. Though if he enters an empty room shouting and is heard, he will exist, it only takes the pause between words or a gasp of breath to undo the observation. 

Smell is entirely unreliable as well. Not only are humans barely incapable of distinguishing by smell, not many smells are "inherent" to a person. A strong perfume Montague wears is NOT Montague himself, while body odor is the result of bacteria living on his skin. Without an essential smell, Montague is unobservable even to a person with a particularly keen nose. 

Touch and physical contact are extremely reliable forms of observation, though they also have caveats. While touching through clothing does trigger existence, touching the clothing without touching Montague himself does not. Similarly, what is being touched must be presently connected to his corporeal form. For example, grasping cut hair does not equal touching Montague himself. 

Finally, Taste……… unfortunately counts on a technicality. While drinking blood or sweat or other bodily excretions is entirely ineffective, making physical contact via licking, say…… his foot (what'd you think I was going to say?) TECHNICALLY counts as observance due to the rules regarding touch. Not that this will ever practically come up in any shape or form during the narrative because none of my characters are that nasty (though Tamara still insists on testing it just to make sure.)

 Of course, even with these rules in place, there is still many specific situations where the parameters can be challenged, especially regarding the seemingly straightforward rules of "sight". So here's a quick Q and A running through as many as possible!

 Does he stop existing when the observer is blinking? (yes, but only momentarily, barely enough for him to recognize). 

If you don't see him directly but out of the corner of your eye, does he exist? (yes again! Even if just in close proximity to him, he will continue to exist as long as you don't specifically turn your back on him).

How well do you have to see him- I.E fogged up glasses or long distances? (It ultimately depends if you are able to still distinguish who he is. If he's merely a shadow of a something in your vision, that is not enough). 

What about if he's fully concealed, as if under a blanket, but you can still see his outline without seeing him directly? (No. Seeing a "human shape" still leaves doubt to whether it could be a mannequin of something of the sort.). 

What about if he is in clothes that fully conceal the body, such as a mascot costume or a fursuit? (This one's tough because he's still recognizably human, but he himself is not visible, just the costume. I may have erred on the sight of this answer because imagining him being stuffed into a fursuit as a form of torture is just too funny).

What if the observation is through a mirror? (yep! 100%).

What if it's through a livestream video? (this one's tough again because it's a continual form of observation, but is he being observed or just pixels that resemble him? Is the idea of Montague enough to communicate his existence? Unsure bout this one actually)

What if it's through a video that was recorded remotely than watched later? (Probably not. It’s a lil bit complicated because if it did work, he could exist at any time just as long as he filmed himself and someone in the entire of the future watched it at some point. On the other hand, if it doesn't work, then this allows him to be observed while not being observed- a paradoxical statement that undermines the absolute nature of the Complex). 

Questions over! 

So yeah, Montague's Complex is very compl…icated. But the thought experiment is one of the most appealing parts of the character, and writing the novel as a whole. If anyone has any more questions about how Montague's complex would react in a specific situation, I'd love to hear it! It'd actually help a lot, just so I have answers to any hypothetical questions future dude-bro fans want to try and trip me up with to prove their intellectual superiority. 

Tomorrow i will explain beyond the mechanics of how Montague's complex works and, how it affects the way he lives his life in drastic ways.

Oh yeaah and before i forget: heres my a list of tagged people (not going to do it every day lol, this one’s just a reminder)

@taz-writes

@create-and-procrastinate

@randomness-n-fandomness

@lady-redshield-writes

[sidrisa-blog]

Power and Magic

Read it here on AO3

Pairings: Loki x Reader and the lightest Sif X Thor

Chapter: 23/104  The Banquet pt 1

Warnings: the usual: sex, death, and violence with light smatterings of misogynoir

Summary: The princes come with their exalted Father arriving amidst a hail of pomp and pageantry all parties would rather forgo. This is war, where men die, their blood purchasing land and peace until it's time for more men and more blood. But your mother adheres to the old rules of hearth and hospitality. The Lords of Asgard must be given their due despite the grim business precipitating their arrival. It is too bad they don't deserve it. There is nothing to recommend him, Loki, Prince of Asgard. He is rude and cold and childish. You try to find some merit in him. You find none. Exactly none. But maybe, after trial and tribulation,

You will.

You’re not disappointed to see her, you’re just…

“I know you were expecting someone taller and darker and more handsome and for that I must apologize.”

All three of you bow your deepest for the reigning lady of the household. “Lady Frigga.” You echo in chorus..

“Has there been a mistake?” Niti’s told you about your hands, how you ball them up when you get nervous, you fail her lesson. “Is the Prince unable,” unwilling you think, “To attend?”

“Oh, no, of course not. I am here for my own wickedness. Ladies,” She addresses Niti and Se’risa who keep their heads bowed in the Royal Presence. “Thank you. You needn't worry. I will escort the Princess to the banquet tonight.”

Frigga offers you her arm, same way a prince would. Of course you take it.

**

She looks like a queen, the kind of Queen your mother was, dressed in powder blues and shimmery silvers. There's grey iron in the blue of her eyes, magic shifting beneath the surface of her glance. If Odin is the storm, Frigga is the calm before it, peaceful and beautiful right before deadly thunder deafens.

You think it's a kind of honor to be escorted to the ball by her. Frigga deems you worthy of such esteem. You hope you earn it.

“You haven't had a formal welcome or introduction to court. I mean for this event to remedy that. It’s been so long now since I’ve had a princess as my guest.”

Frigga sees the slight discomfort in your face as you reconcile the true nature of your title. She pats your hand gently, stopping right before the gilded doors of the banquet hall. You hear soft chatter beyond, like the party's already begun.

“Don’t overthink it. You are exactly who you are my dear.”

Your eyes cut away, falling somewhere upon the queen's silver and blue slippers. Easily said, though hardly believed. You are a Princess no doubt, but that’s just a name on a paper now, with barely anything to your name this woman or her family hasn't given you.

“Princess.” She lifts your gaze out of the marble floor tiles with a gentle press of her hand under your chin. “Look at me child. A king may grant a title, but you cannot bestow or revoke true royalty. You are exactly who you are.”

She runs a hand down one of the green pleats of your dress.

“And you are beautiful.”

Your gaze falls again. Only this time to cover tears.

“Oh what's wrong love?”

“I...I'm sorry. Thank you so much for everything. I must look so ungrateful. I just..”

She squeezes your hand, a gentle reassuring touch. “Tell me.”

“I wish my mother were here to hear you say that.”

The iron in her eyes splinters, glittering under a thin film of her own tears. Frigga’s always had a weakness for motherless children.

Always.

She chokes a bit when she answers you. “I think she heard. Now enough tears, it’s time to feast and be merry. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

**

Loki yawns, he sighs to himself tipping the glass of wine to his lips and draining it to the dregs before searching for the next closest and fullest glass. People are here, milling about. Yes this banquet is for you but it’s also an excuse for Asgard’s court to dress expensively and show off to one another, make the biggest impression on you, its newest member.

It's tiring watching them preen and gloat, fawning over each other and their exaggerated riches. He’s reminded of you as he catches snippets of conversations, of how he said your silence was far more intelligent that the sum of others’ words. He grins to himself, satisfied that’s still true.

“Alone are we, Lord Loki?”

A woman glides into the space next to him for a woman like her can do nothing but glide when she walks, skirts billowing behind her like clouds in the wake of a soft breeze. He knows her face and he knows of her, something about being a duchess and very refined one at that. But her name escapes him.

“I am for now, Lady…”

“Ylva.” she supplies suggesting this is something he should already know but isn’t too upset about correcting.

“Yes well, I am alone for now.”

She smiles and snatches a wine glass from a servant passing by, mid-stride, the crystal singing as it strikes against her nails. She takes his empty glass and replaces it.

“Then allow me to remedy this for a time.”

He skirts the edges of rudeness, barely making eye-contact but now she’s distracted him enough to make him turn his head and pay the Lady Ylva his full attention. “I hope I’m not intruding on a quiet moment with your conscious.” He smirks her presumption is entertaining.

“My lady, my conscious is never quiet.”

“Oh? And what goes on in there?”

He’s thinking about you, wondering where you are and why you’re not here yet. He’s wondering where his mother is. He wants to ask you for more stories of the Princess and her Crimson Rabbit, intrigued by those folksy little tales. He wants to ask you to dance and is secretly disgusted by how excited the notion makes him. He’d render the entire gathering blind and deaf if he could have that kind of moment with you unobserved, but his mother would probably sew his lips shut for such a crime. He’s wondering how long he’ll have to stay here anyway before he can have you to himself and make good on some of those promises he made in that cave.

“Mischief.” He answers Ylva with another smirk, this time the whole of his mouth moves and the Lady Ylva responds in kind.

“You would find a willing accomplice to your games if you but looked my lord.”

She speaks of games. Well he knows hers, knew it the moment she pressed herself entirely too close to him.

“My Lady, I have no doubt you would be able to find willing participants and I encourage you to look. But for me, the game cannot be too easy.” He takes a step away from her, creating a formal and chilly distance. “Or else there is no sport.”

There’s an empty space on his belt where a dagger used to rest, you stole it (though he suspects you would call it having it returned) during that night in the cave. He looks forward to getting it back.

Wait.

He looks forward to the effort he means to put in to take it back.

She laughs quietly to let him know she’s not offended by his rejection. She is well versed in it, experienced in doling it out far more than she’s ever had to take it but--

One doesn’t get to be an unmarried Duchess from ever taking a rejection she didn’t want.

She prepares her counterattack. She’s misread him and that’s fine, Fates know she’s done it before. This prince doesn’t respond to the obvious in the same way the older one might. Had she pulled this with Thor, they’d be halfway to a bedchamber by now and a marriage proposal in the morning. But that prince doesn’t interest her in the way this one does.

This is the one she wants. If she has to take a temporary loss on that journey to desire’s achievement so be it, the road is always fraught.

Ylva readies a polite but stinging withdrawal, a barb she intends to leave with him sharp enough to leave an impression and venomous enough to poison his thoughts with her.

But you ruin that.

Utterly.

He’s walking away from her just as her parting shot is ready to fly. No words, no excuses, he just leaves, the epitome of rudeness.

Because if there’s some set of manners that govern such exchanges--

You’ve made him forget them.

He’s subtle--that’s all-- just a slight widening of his sharp green eyes so more white than emerald shows. But for him and his features --guarded like a dragon over a treasure pile of secrets and hurts and desires--he might as well have shouted. He’s floored even though he’s still upright--stunned near speechless by you. It’s not your dress--though the green goes a long way to get into his heart--it’s just you. The way you’re smiling at his mother, the way she’s smiling back. It’s the way you two lean into each other like a couple of old friends sharing a secret laugh. It’s the ease with which you walk, your limp is gone, no trace remains. You’re whole just like you were the day he met you.

You are a royalty in a room filled with nothing but.

And yet you are the only Princess in attendance.

“My Ladies.”

You’ve never seen him bow earnestly. The last time he had the opportunity back home, it was definitely mocking in the way he flared his cape and bent in half at the waist. This bow is solemn, serious, but the same grin that was on his face then is still there now. The context has changed completely in the lifetime between. He’s not mocking you anymore.

He’s happy.

This is Frigga’s professed wickedness, she wanted to be here, at this moment, wanted to see his eyes light up when he saw you for the first time. And Loki does not disappoint her.

He rises and kisses his mother on the cheek. “Mother. As always you shame the room with your beauty.”

The queen allows herself to bask in her son’s genuine affection for just a moment, keeping this little bit of him for herself before she allows you to have the rest.

“No dear, that honor is not for me tonight. Come greet your guest my son. Prove you remember at least a little of my instruction.”

You’re nervous without a reason, shy with no explanation. You feel caught out, like his eyes will expose you, see something fraudulent. Because you already know from experience they can see every damn thing right down to the bedrock of your heart. But when he looks at you, and you work up the nerve to stare back,

You forget why you were ever afraid.

He’s handsome, no armor just leather, well made and supple. The chest piece is all black but for a gold crest hanging low about his chest. The rest is form fitting leather, green and gold that dizzies the eyes as it criss crosses his body. His hair is wild, controlled chaos just the right amount of unkempt precision. So many textures and temperatures, warm smile, cold eyes, smooth leather, and slick hair, you ache to touch him.

He looks like magic, and you certainly feel it, because sorcery would be about the only thing keeping you breathing.

“Princess.”

You both remember your manners. You extend your hand and he takes it, bending his head to kiss the air above it except

He actually kisses it, lips parting just a tiny bit around your knuckles. That kiss wasn’t paying courtesy, it was making a promise.

When he rises he stands beside you, tucking your arm in his. He has become your escort. The party can now begin.

[karyu-endan]

Twilight Chapter 9 review: I actually... liked this one? Huh.

I… I can’t believe it. A whole chapter of Twilight went by and I didn’t find anything new to complain about.

In chapter 1 Bella is an ungrateful bitch.

In chapter 2 Bella proves herself a compulsive liar.

In chapter 3 Bella shows the first signs of being a Mary Sue.

In chapter 4 everyone is an idiot.

In chapter 5 Edward’s an abuser.

In chapter 6 all the tension built up before it goes to waste with spoon-fed answers.

In chapter 7 Bella fails at doing research.

In chapter 8 everyone is an asshole, including the supposedly nice Angela.

This chapter… has nothing that substantial. Oh there were things I didn’t like about it, certainly, but most of it is more of the same. And, however much it may surprise some of you… There are a few things I liked about this chapter. If you hate Twilight and are looking for a review that accentuates the negative, you’ve come to the wrong place; if anything, I’m going to be doing the opposite and accentuating the positive about this one. Because Meyer doing something right is rare, and when it happens, credit needs to be given where credit is due.

With that out of the way, here is my review of Twilight chapter 9!

Let’s talk about those good parts, shall we?

The chapter opens with a more detailed explanation of Edward’s mind-reading abilities than we got in chapter 8. I like this a lot; it gives us a concrete definition of Edward’s ability, pointing out its strength, range of effect, and limitations. This is very important because it provides us a standard to measure the consistency of Edward’s power later down the road. If Edward’s powers aren’t working the way they should, we can refer back to this chapter to make sure. If Edward’s power becomes critical to the plot later, we can know right away whether it was a consistent use of his abilities or an ass pull.

Unfortunately, Meyer contradicts this very power definition later in the same chapter, when Edward claims he’s never gotten a ticket or got into a car accident because he can use his mind-reading as a form of radar. That doesn’t make sense because Edward just established that his power’s range is proportional to the familiarity of the target (as in, the better he knows you, the farther away he can hear your thoughts) and maxes out at a few miles.

Edward was driving at 100 miles per hour when he said this. After sundown. Even giving his maximum range a generous ten miles with Carlisle as his target, he’d only have six minutes to avoid him assuming he’s stationary. Cut that time in half if Carlisle was approaching him at the same speed. And reduce that further if they were accelerating. That’d still be enough time for Edward’s vampire reflexes to react… but he’s not as familiar with any random passerby on the street as he is with Carlisle. You’d have to cut his sensing range down much smaller, to the point that Edward would need to be so close to his target that he wouldn’t be able to avoid hitting them in time if he were driving at 100 mph.

And that’s not getting into how Edward needs to concentrate on a specific target in order to hear clear thoughts; it just comes in like a buzz by default. Edward wouldn’t be able to tell who among him are police officers (so he’d know when to slow down and avoid getting speeding tickets) without having an idea who they are ahead of time and deliberately looking for them. Never mind that concentrating on his mind-reading could distract him from paying attention to the road. Though I suppose that last weakness could be corrected by a century’s worth of practice. But then Edward never got into an accident or got a ticket, so he was perfect before practicing… Ugh.

Regardless of the immediate contradiction though, props to Meyer for giving us a straight definition of Edward’s mind-reading. All the easier to point out when it goes wrong.

The next thing I like about this chapter is that Edward probably came off more like he was supposed to. Back in chapter 8 I talked about how Edward should have been afraid of killing the rapists instead of angry at leaving them alive… well, Edward is still angry, but angry at something more appropriate.

He was angry at Bella declaring that what he is doesn’t matter.

That is a statement worth being angry about. During this chapter, Edward makes it clear he doesn’t want to be a monster, and is doing everything he can (short of taking the initiative of staying away from Bella) to avoid being overcome by his vampiric bloodlust and eating humans. To Edward, what he is does matter, and Bella saying it doesn’t is making light of his struggles. According to Bella, reverting back into a monster and eating all the humans he wants would be completely fine. And that’s not fine. Bella’s statement was extremely insensitive and Edward’s anger in response is a natural and fitting reaction given who he is.

The last thing that struck me as particularly good this chapter was the very end of it. The whole scene of Bella going to bed was well put together and gave the impact it needed. From the moment Bella finished her phone call with Jessica about the jacket she left behind to the long, awkward shower and finally to hugging under the covers to keep herself warm, it really felt like Bella was overwhelmed by everything she learned this chapter and was struggling to process her thoughts. Edward metaphorically opened a door to a whole new world and Bella was taking the time she needed to adjust her eyes to what was on the other side. Normally Bella’s narration being what it is (read: monotone and melancholic) makes scenes bland and boring, but for scenes like this, it works surprisingly well. Bella felt cold the whole way and so did I reading it.

Speaking of which, the emphasis on Bella feeling very cold works on a symbolic level. This chapter was pretty much a point of no return for Bella. The Volturi decreed that any human that learns about vampires must be killed or turned into a vampire themselves, and Bella just learned without a doubt that the Cullens are vampires from Edward himself. No matter how Bella’s life wound up from here, vampires were going to be involved one way or another; there was no going back to an ordinary life. That may have even been why Edward warned Bella that he’s not the most dangerous thing in the world and that she shouldn’t go into the woods on her own; he knows he just risked the Volturi coming after her head by telling her everything he did. Even if Meyer didn’t plan the Volturi this early, that’s how I’m interpreting it. And as the story pointed out a couple of times already, Edward feels cold and the Quileutes call vampires the “cold ones”; coldness has consistently been linked to vampirism. Effectively, Bella feeling so cold at the end of the chapter represents vampire-kind placing an irrevocable claim on her soul. She’s a part of the vampire world now whether she wants to be or not, and the scene definitely showed that.

Of course, even with all that good stuff in this chapter, there were still some moments I didn’t like. But aside from that inconsistency with Edward’s powers, all of them are pretty minor and I won’t go into quite as much detail as I usually do. Here they are:

-While Edward was right to be angry at Bella’s insensitivity, he was also aggravated enough by Jacob telling Bella about vampires that Bella’s first instinct was to protect Jacob any way she could. I’m not sure how I feel about Bella thinking Jacob being in danger of Edward even though he’s very far away. Downside is that Edward is vindictive enough to actually force this reaction out of Bella… and according to Midnight Sun, apparently Edward actually was thinking about going down to La Push and slaughtering the entire tribe because he perceives Jacob being Spoilers and Wolf as violating the non-aggression treaty. So much for being angry at the right things… On the upside though, it does establish Edward’s antagonism for Jacob before they even meet.

-I’m getting tired of seeing Edward’s “crooked smile”. Is that supposed to be attractive? Because all I get from reading “crooked smile” is that Edward is a sadistic asshole (and he has laughed at Bella’s and Mike’s expense before).

-The same irresponsibility and mixed messages from chapter 4 come up here. Edward says he’s dangerous and Bella should stay away from him… but then he’s also worried that Bella’s going to die without him and can’t leave her alone… but he’s also pretty clear about how Bella leaving of her own will is impossible, so the only one with the power to end their relationship is Edward… But Edward’s still confused about Bella’s unreadable mind and won’t be satisfied until he has an answer… But the more Edward’s around Bella, the harder it is for him to control his bloodlust… You get the idea.

-Bella’s freaked out by Edward’s driving because, according to her, Charlie raised her to abide by the traffic laws. I’ll keep that Lawful Good upbringing in mind when people start talking about murder.

-Edward apparently notices Bella crying before Bella notices she’s crying. Either Vampire processing speed is at fault, or Bella is exceptionally unobservant. Or both… I’m going with both.

With all that out of the way, the chapter concludes with Bella affirming that she is in love with Edward, insane as that is, and before he left they promised to sit together at lunch the following day… and Edward promised to show Bella why he can’t appear in the sunlight sometime later. So there are a couple things to be “excited” about going forward.

Oh… before I end this, Edward says that burning in the sunlight and sleeping in a coffin are myths. Well, all myths have to start somewhere and have at least some basis in reality… I can easily see the Volturi coming up with the “burning in the sunlight” thing and spreading rumours about it to cover up the “sparkling in the sunlight” reality… but sleeping in a coffin? Where did that one come from? Vampires in this universe don’t sleep at all. These are the things I’m really curious about.

See you next time.

[asaseya]

The Princess of the Court: Chapter Nine

Link to chp 8

Ao3 link

Blouse and Skirt, check. Blazer, check. White socks, double check. Feeling like today warranted a bit of sparkle Majida switched her front pair of earrings for golden star shaped studs. She normally kept her hair in one style during the week, today she styled the front portion of her hair into a crown braid and swept the rest into a side ponytail. The box from the uniform company was waiting by her apartment door after basketball practice last night. Since she had ballet practice the next morning she pressed it immediatly and placed it in a garment bag. She rode her bike to practice carefully so that the bag wouldn’t fall from on top of her basket. And hung the bag up as soon as she opened her locker.

Natsuki clapped as Majida did a little twirl.  “I thought you said your uniform wasn’t due to arrive til Monday?” she asked.

Practice passed quickly today. Their instructor noticed Majida’s good mood and was a little bit harsher on her than usual, not that Majida cared. “I thought so too, but I’m not going to complain.” She looked down and waved her foot. In her excitement she’d even shined her shoes, a pair of black leather mary janes, she could see her reflection in them. “It’s weird to see my legs.” The skirt should reach just below her knees, but like most girls she’d rolled her skirt up, just enough that the hem line was above her knee. She’d go higher but it didn’t seem appropriate, nor prudent. Accidentally flashing her neighbors while she rode her bike wouldn’t raise their opinion of her.

Natsuki giggled. “Are you sending your male uniform back?”

“They said I could keep it so...I guess I’ll keep it? Never know, I might break it back out in the winter. I don’t do cold.”

Natsuki laughed a bit louder now, drawing looks from the other girls in the locker room. Now that Majida thought of it they probably didn’t hear Natsuki laugh loudly often, if at all. Guess that’s the natural outcome of isolating a person.

Majida swiped on some lip gloss before zipping up her bag. She slung it on her shoulder and draped her garment bag over her arm. “Ready to go?”

Natsuki nodded and grabbed her things. “Are you sure that you don’t want a ride?”

“Yep. Wanna feel the breeze.” Majida made a swooshing motion with her hand, inspiring another loud laugh from Natsuki.

Furuse stood at the same spot as yesterday, watering the plants in his grandmother’s sted. Majida wondered if she should stop and say hello, but decided not to push her luck. She’d had enough weird conversations for the week. Furuse watched her as she speed past,eyes wide. That reaction was the standard once she entered the school. The stares continued as she walked down the hall, even her classmates greeted her with silence.

Amari-kun broke the ice. “Good job” He gave her a thumbs up. “Though you could roll the skirt up a little bit mo-”

Maki-chan bopped him on the head with a notebook. “Please stop.”

Amari scratched his spiky hair, he seemed to think the upward style made him taller. “Don’t worry I still like your legs the best Ma-”

Maki flushed.  She hit him with the notebook again, harder this time. The thunk could be heard throughout the classroom.

“Think this counts as spousal abuse?” Airi asked dryly.

“Sp...spousal!?” Maki got even redder and moved to attack Airi. Wielding her notebook with a vengeance.  

Airi doged, barely. She scrambled to stand behind Hina, a strange sight since Hina was the shorter of the two

Hina raised her hands defensively and Maki, dejected, stopped her assault. She sulked back to her seat.

“Sooo,” Hina started once she was certain she was no longer in danger. She disentagled herself from a still wary Airi. “Nakamura-kun, what do you think about the change?”

“Why are you asking him?” Majida asked as she sat at her desk.

“I hate it,” Shin answered.

Majida squinted at him. “Huh?”

“Doesn't fit in with my plans to smuggle you onto the team,” Shin said matter of factly.  He didn’t look up from his sports magazine.

She rolled her eyes at him then turned to face forward in her seat. “Yes, because living my life according to your plans is my ultimate destiny.”

Shin flipped a page in his magazine. “I’m glad that we’ve come to an understanding.”

“You two are the weirdest couple,”  Hina said as she took her seat in front of Majida.

Majida’s brain fizzled, managing only to stare at Hina in her shock. Where did she get that idea?

Airi took her seat next to Hina. “Oh! She’s not denying it!” she said in a sing song tone of voice.

Shin lowered his magazine as he laughed. “I’m sorry? You think we’re together?” He gestured to Majida. “Oh, that’s funny.”

“Ouch,” Hina said. “Are you okay with this?”  

Majida shrugged. If he denied it then she wouldn’t have to. “Not at all concerned.”

“Ignore Hina Majida-chan,” Hayashi said from across the room. “She just likes to play matchmaker.”

“No one asked you,” Hina responded bitterly.

Several students charttered, giving overlapping accounts of Hina’s failed matchmaking attempts. The jovial conversation was halted by the class door opening. Everyone turned to see Furuse-kun standing in the entrance. His eyes flitted about, looking for somewhere unintrusive to rest. He blushed deeply when his eyes met Majida’s. A sinking feeling washed over her. Please, Please, PLEASE let that just be a sign of general embarrassment.

Furuse ducked away, hurring to his seat. He was quickly ignored by the rest of the class.

“Excuse me,” Ko always felt ten times taller when visiting the first year floor. He felt five times taller when was a freshman, but the growth spurts never stopped.  He was now around 6’2” and if his father was any indication he still had an inch or two to go until he reached his full height.  The first years sitting outside of their classroom looked up at him with wide eyes. As if he’d suddenly snap and eat them if they made the wrong move. He was never good at managing his neutral expression and had stopped trying after middle school. At the very least he never had to worry about anyone disrespecting him, something he used to his advantage whenever possible.

The girl stood first. “Yes?” she answered, her voice wavering.

The boy stood soon after. He patted the girls shoulder before taking over. “What can we help you with?”

Absently Ko wondered how much hair gel the boy used to make his hair so spiky. He resisted the urge to ask.  “I’m looking for Mikami-chan.”

The pair looked to each other, communicating without saying a word. The boy broke their gaze first, moving to poke his head into the classroom. “Majida-chan. Someone’s looking for you.”

“Yeah?” Mikami called from the classroom.

Ko moved to stand in front of the door, quickly scanning the faces in the room. Mikami rose from the gaggle of girls who had pushed their desks together at the center of the classroom. Huh...Ko had heard a lot about Mikami. Mostly because she was a popular topic of discussion. The neighborhood was fairly insular so anyone from a larger city piqued the student body’s interest. Last year a transfer from Yokohama was the subject of rumors well past the first quarter. Mikami? She seemed bound to give the rumor mill material for years.  Ko didn’t take kindly to rumors. It felt rational to limit his ideas of people based on what he knew instead of hear say.

What he did know? Well, he wasn’t at all convinced that Mikami made a convincing guy. Mostly because he spent too much time around guys to miss certain tell tale signs. Most notably, she didn’t reek after practice. He had seen her in the male uniform and could see how an unobservant person could make the mistake from behind. And maybe someone who’s ideals of manliness were shaped by pop stars could think she was a boy from the front. But anyone who interacted with her and still thought she was a guy was an idiot. Cultural differences aside, she carried herself like a girl. Even her style on the court lacked the aggression and showmanship popular in basketball currently. Too many boys, himself included, watched too many NBA games and tried to copy what they saw.  Or at least they did until a good coach could drill proper form into them. None of the girls he knew who played, Mikami included, had this affliction.

As for the rest, she was stupidly flexible. Which meant the rumors of her studying ballet had to be true in some form. Ko toyed with the idea of making her flexibility a taboo topic for the team. The constant jokes made it such that he could not but notice or consider its implications. It was weird. It was weird because sure he would have noticed anyway, he wasn’t some paragon of virtue like Masaru seemed to think just because he didn’t have a new girlfriend every month. He checked girls out all the time. But she was, at least for the moment, a part of the team and thus off limits.  

Today’s meeting added to his knowledge of her physical attributes. She had rather shapely calves. Like, obviously she never skipped leg day and he needed to know her routine. Also, baggy gym clothes should be banned for women because, he sighed internally, hips. And now he was staring, okay maybe she didn’t need to be off limits all the time, just on the court. Or just- Ko now realized that she had caught him staring. “You changed your uniform?” he asked lightly.

“I have.” She didn’t seem to completely buy his cover. He’d seen her do this before while playing, that piercing gaze. Masaru did it too when he played, must be a point guard thing, always watching, always picking people apart. Masaru didn’t make him feel ticklish whenever he did it though.

“Have you already eaten lunch?” he asked, working hard to strengthen his voice. To pretend that everything is normal, that he didn’t just get caught.

“No, Captain. Not yet.” she answered with a little too much deference for his liking.   

“Good, Can we talk for a moment?”

“Sure.”

“The captain huh….” a girl with short hair held back by a headband said. She gave Mikami a smug look.

“Must be some serious team business,” a girl with a high ponytail added.

“Hmm, but why would he only want Jida-chan then? Certainly Nakamura-kun should be going too.” headband girl said .

Ko managed to keep his expression calm. “It concerns the female team.”

Mikami looked over to the two girls with a smile that said “See, nothing to fuss over!” The girls didn’t look convinced. There was going to be another rumor circulating by the end of the day.

The walk to the courtyard was longer than usual. Partly because she walked silently behind him like he was leading her to the gallows. Added to that were the weird looks they were getting. There was no need to wait for her year mates to start rumors it seemed. By the end of the day It would be said that one of them had confessed their feelings or whatever because apparently life worked as depicted in his little sister’s manga collection.

Ko found a spot where they wouldn’t be overheard under a large tree and sat down. “I need to ask something before we get to business.”

Mikami sat, taking extra care with her skirt. That was another thing about her that he noticed. Sometimes her movements were oddly delicate, maybe it was because of the ballet thing. “Should I be concerned?” she asked.

“No, just.” He leaned in a little. “How do you deal with that?” He jerked his thumb towards the school building. “Do they always stare like that?”

She smiled knowingly. “Staring seems to be everyone’s reaction today.”  Gesturing to herself she continued. “It may take a while for everyone to get used to the uniform change.”

“You got me there.” Ko had the decency to look sheepish. “I’ll ask the student council president about it. Maybe he could drop a line to the teachers and-”

“No, you don’t have to worry that much over it. I’m new of course they are curious.”

“I’ll talk to him.” Ko reiterated firmly. “I’m a member of the student council, so its partly my job anyway.” He reached his hand out for a handshake. “ But we’ve already skipped a few steps. I don’t believe I’ve introduced myself.  I’m Akino, Ko.”

She returned his handshake firmly. “Mikami, Majida.”

“So, I knew the gist of why you’ve been training with the boy’s team. But I just recently heard the whole story from Mia.”

“Are you going to ask why I choose this school?”

He smiled, which seemed to catch her off guard judging by how fast she looked away. Interesting. “Why did you choose this school?” He asked as he picked up his bag. It was filled with various types of store bought foods. School kept him far too busy to pack his lunch like he used to.

“My grandparents live in the area and I didn’t want to go to the all girls school. I didn’t know about the girls team being disbanded though.” She unwrapped her lunch as well.

He could smell the fried shrimp from where he sat. Not fair, not fair at all. “So your parents moved here to be closer to your grandparents?”

“No. Work has them traveling around for the next few years. Since it’s a bit silly for them to drag the kids along I decided to stay here. My little brother’s still in the U.S. though.”

“So you live with your grandparents?”

“No, though I do visit. Actually,” she tapped her chopsticks against her lips. “I need to stop by again soon.”

He cocked his head as he looked at her, uncertain of which question to ask first.

She spoke again after she finished chewing. “I didn’t want to be driven everywhere so I found a place in a central location,” She said, answering at least one of his unasked questions. “It’s actually pretty awesome living alone. I can use the space however I want. Cook whatever I want.”

“So you cooked that?”

She offered her lunch box to him. Ko wasn’t proud enough to decline. Another bit of information. She could cook.  

She looked at him expectantly.

“It’s good,” he answered. That seemed to satisfy her, she beamed at him before continuing to eat. “We got a bit off topic,” he said after a few minutes of silent eating. “No one’s explained what happened with the girl’s team last year did they?”

Mikami shook her head.

“Their ranking is pretty low, so the number of girls who joined have always been limited. Last year the team was comprised entirely of second years.”

“All of the third years last year retired?”

“Or moved on to the volleyball team, yes. And as for the freshmen, no matter how many recruitment drives they ran last year no one took the bait. The administrators wanted a boost to the school's reputation so they hired new coaches.  It worked, the girls were finally winning games. But anyone who knew the team could tell something was off.  They always looked haggard, Mia especially.”

Majida grasped the hem of her skirt tightly, suddenly not wanting to know the answers to her many questions. “They didn’t complain?”

“ Never. After one game where Mia missed a shot she was made to practice for hours after school with no breaks.”

“That was for a mistake,what happens if they lost?” she asked. Her voice felt small, distant to her own ears.

The captain sighed roughly  “Luckily they were still eligible for the winter cup,” his voice had began to harden.  “But the practice afterwards? One of the girls was pushed so hard she twisted her ankle. She changed schools a week later.“

“How,” the proper translation was slipping. It happend sometimes when she got emotional. She pushed the looming anxiety from her mind to grasp at the Japanese words she needed. “How well did they do in the winter cup?”

“They lost in the first round”

“Oh.”

The captain took a deep breath, he closed his eyes before speaking. “Mia showed up to school the next day with a black eye.” He could no longer hold back the anger in his voice. His eyes burned when he opened them again.

Majida shifted uncomfortably, setting the rest of her lunch down.

“ Rukiya told me the whole story. The head coach went nuts, the assistant coach...Er You’ve met Coach Ueda, had to step in. Broke a few fingers while fighting the head coach off. Needless to say the head coach was fired.”

“And they pressed charges?” she asked, willing some hope into her voice.

“Never got the answer to that question.”

Silence, and not the pleasant kind, stretched between them. Majida gathered the words she needed once again. “I looked up this school and didn’t see anything about it. So I guess not.”

“The principal, he generally means well, but he’s not the only one in charge of things. And Mia just wanted to forget.”

“If I had known I-”

“You wouldn’t have come here right?” he snapped. His face softened after speaking. “Sorry,” he said, calmer. “I didn’t mean-

“It’s alright. And possibly yes,” she answered honestly. “But even if I did come I wouldn’t have tried to reform the team. Or at least I wouldn’t have been so pushy about it.” She leaned back a little. “I feel kinda heartless now.”

“ I don’t think Mia completely hates basketball. She just has no confidence when it comes to playing. She told me that she told you that she would need to see your dedication?”

“Yes.”

“Well from what I can tell she definitely sees it. The problem now is your skill.”

Majida was puzzled, she didn’t bother hiding it. “My skill? Am I lacking anywhere...no I mean sure there is always room for improvement but-”

The captain interrupted her by holding up his hand. “I don’t mean it that way. You are good Maybe the best at handling out of the first years. But don’t tell them I said that.” He winked at her. He better not be flirting right now. She wasn’t prepared for something like that right now...Okay she wasn’t prepared for something like that ever but somehow managed to swallow the squawk rising from her throat. Glory be he’s still talking so maybe he hasn’t noticed. “It’s a bit intimidating actually. They probably don’t feel like they could match up, and would just be dragging you down.”

Majida thought back to their short conversation yesterday. “So that’s why she said I’d be better off on the boy’s team?”

“Most likely,” he nodded somberly. “Also,  the logistics of hiring a new coach. I suppose coach Ueda could go back to the women's team but…”

“Adults aren’t immune to trauma,” she filled in.

“Yes, as you’ve noticed he’s a quiet man. He offered to resign but was shown leniency because he came forward with the whole truth after Mia was assaulted. Either way he’s sorta window dressing now. He mostly just watches and takes notes. I doubt he’d be an effective head coach for a reforming team.”

Majida cradled her face in her hands and took a few deep breaths. “I don’t even know what to do now,” she said from behind them. She can’t, she won’t, cry now. She wasn’t upset about not being able to play, not anymore, this was just impossible. Her upperclassmen were convinced of their own inferiority and had no hope that they could improve. And why would they? Maybe in another year. Maybe at another school. But now? She’d probably want to quit too if she was in their shoes.

Gingerly the captain pried away a few of her fingers. Majida froze, through her traitorous eyes didn’t stop producing tears. He removed his hand to retrieve a dark blue handkerchief from his blazer. The gesture made her laugh.

“Sorry.” She dabbed at her eyes with her fingers. He offered her the handkerchief again and this time she took it. “What are you a shoujo character?”

He grimaced. “Please don’t.”

She laughed again. “I’ll wash this and get it back to you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“You know that’s not gonna happen. Now that the trope’s been activated I have to follow through.” Her comment made him laugh , the sound made her heart flip.

“Are you still going to try and reform the team?”

She thought for a bit before answering.“I’d like to, but don’t think that’s going to happen. At least not this year.”

“At least  you can stay sharp while practicing with us.”

“I only have one more week of that left so.”

“The principal can talk Coach Saitama into it if you asked.” He picked up his lunch and began to eat again.

“Actually, he might.” The thought wasn’t comforting.  The principal would do it just for the entertainment value. “I guess I’ll just have to adjust.”

“You seem to be fitting in just fine.”

She picked up her lunch box and messed with her food a little. “It’s going as well as can be expected.” Nishi was probably still sore over that last game. This afternoon’s practice was going to be interesting.

“Are they bothering you?” There was a warning in his tone. The last thing she wanted was to get any of her yearmates in trouble but the thought of him standing up for her at practice was appealing. She knew that it wouldn’t help in the long run.

“No, just getting the pecking order sorted out. Nothing time won’t fix.”

“Alright.” He didn’t sound convinced.

Majida gave up on the rest of her lunch. “Should almost be time to head back already.”

Ko pulled his cell phone from his back pocket. He checked the time before setting it down.  “Yeah. Want me to walk you back?”

“Please don’t.”

“Don’t?” He seemed almost offended. She wasn’t sure of what to make of that.

“I just don’t think it would be productive.”

He laughed again and she knew she was doomed. There was no going back on this crush now.

[theirisianprincess]

Top 10 Difficult Battles in Lolirock

Typically, battles aren’t too difficult for the princesses of Lolirock. Mephisto and Praxina are generally not the brightest people and the princesses have a large array of spells at their disposal. Not to mention the powerful Crystal Luxtra and Crystal Quinta spells and also the two other princesses that occasionally come to help. But, despite the vast advantage the princesses have, there are certain battles where the advantage clearly falls to the side of the enemy.

And that’s what we’re counting down here. What ten battles do Mephisto and Praxina have the clear upper-hand? Find out after the break.

10. If You Can’t Beat ’Em

I know it seems kind of strange that I would put in an episode where the princesses don’t even fight Mephisto and Praxina on this list, but trust me, I do have a good reason. The only enemy they have to face is one black crystal monster, which to the unobservant eye, doesn’t seem like all that much. However, it is a very capable monster.

Despite being only one enemy, it did take out Praxina, Talia, and Auriana pretty easily. If I’m being perfectly honest, it can’t be easy to beat an enemy whose victory can be assured with a flick of their tongue. Fortunately for Iris and Mephisto, once they’re sure that the others won’t get hurt, actually killing it only took Crystemsabris and Mephisto’s sword.

It’s this weakness that lands this battle at number ten. At this point, the winner of the battle isn’t necessarily the stronger one, but whoever didn’t mess up first.

9. Smart

If I’m going to be perfectly honest, most of the entries on this list are going to be from Season 2. It’s not that the battles from Season 1 are bad, but Mephisto and Praxina’s strategies do improve in the second season and Gramorr does get involved more as time goes on.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the twins can’t have a stroke of genius in season 1 and this episode shows what they can do if given the right resources. Just like our number 10 spot, the only real enemy is one black crystal monster. Unlike the one from the last entry, this one is able to predict the princesses’ movements based on hours of information collected about them.

The way it was defeated is also one of my personal favorites. It couldn’t have been easy for Talia and Auriana to switch fighting tactics like that. Not only does it require the introverted Talia to be wild and spontaneous, but also for Auriana to both understand and implement textbook fighting strategies. It’s due to this valiant effort on the parts of these characters that this battle was an entry on this list.

8. Amateur Hour

When people talk about episodes where a good character is turned evil, they always talk about No Thanks For The Memories, Wicked Red, Dancing Shoes, and maybe Amaru-niverse. But, people tend to forget the one where the person they were trying to help turns against them.

In this episode, Mark the Magnificent is confronted with the option to use Ephedian Magic. Desiring its power, he decides to take the wand, which grants him a fraction of Gramorr’s magic. Even though we don’t know how much magic Mark is able to use, it doesn’t change the fact that he backed the princesses into a corner. We also can’t forget that, just like our number ten spot, they can’t just attack him, lest they hurt Mark.

The solution is pretty simple, at least compared to the previous two spots. Auriana uses her Ribbon of Volta to hold the wand in place and Iris casts a spell to destroy it.

7. I Want My LTV

In this episode, Mephisto and Praxina took the princesses’ jewelry and their magic, leaving them completely powerless. The advantage that the twins have is evident to anyone who has seen just how powerful their magic can be. All the princesses can do at this point is evade.

However, it was this advantage that ultimately became the twins’ undoing. They assumed that their victory was assured, so they acted cocky and overconfident. They also kept making mistakes, like not using the princesses’ jewelry against the princesses, Mephisto releasing the princesses’ magic, getting distracted by Iris and Auriana’s attacks, and forgetting Talia’s jewelry, allowing her to get it back.

The princesses took advantage of the twins’ incompetence and prevented Gramorr from getting their jewelry.

6. Loli-Lime Sublime

In a similar fashion to the previous entry, the princesses are unable to use their magic. This isn’t due to anything the twins have done, but rather a natural phenomenon that causes magic to act unpredictably. Using this as an opportunity, the twins infiltrate the princesses’ house to steal the Zenavian Book of Spells.

For whatever reason, the eclipse doesn’t seem to be affecting Zenavian’s spells, which gives the twins a clear advantage over the powerless princesses. All they can do to win is to wait for the eclipse to be over.

And unlike our last entry, Mephisto and Praxina only really make one mistake. The mistake being that they didn’t just leave once they had the book. I think that they wanted to impress Gramorr. I mean, the mission was to get the book, but if they got the book and captured the princesses, they’d definitely get that promotion that Mephisto keeps talking about.

5. Stop In The Name Of Lev

Now we get into the real meat of this countdown. This is the first episode on this list where the princesses (with the help of Lev) have to face off against Gramorr himself. I don’t think I really have to say why this deserves to be on this list. Even with the help of Lev, Gramorr is still the big bad of the series. Episodes that had them helped by Ephedians (like Jodan, Ellira, and Morgaine, and definitely Lyna and Carissa) weren’t considered for this list because they gave the princesses the advantage.

But Gramorr isn’t like that. Any help that the princesses get will only help to equalize their power and even then all they can really do is hold Gramorr off. Also, they were only able to “win” once they were able to escape through the portal. They just had to survive until then.

4. Home

If I’m being completely honest, deciding between this one and the one before it was pretty hard. I mean, both involved the princesses fighting against Gramorr. Notable difference being that Lyna, Carissa, and Izira are helping the princesses instead of Lev. But, ultimately I felt that a number of factors gave Gramorr the upperhand here.

For starters, Iris, Talia, and Auriana are unable to transform, which makes them significantly weaker than they should be. Secondly, Lev is helping Gramorr. And finally, Gramorr is able to use the crown’s magic, although it is only half-complete. This narrowly brings this battle above the one from the previous entry, but only by a slight margin.

3. Super Cute Kitten

You do not know true fear until you’ve seen Banes fight.

Nobody would expect an episode titled Super Cute Kitten to make it anywhere near this list, but here we are. In this episode, the princesses have to fight Banes without the ability to transform. Fortunately, Amaru came there just in time to give their magic back to them.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to help them against Banes. Throughout the battle, they only were able to attack him six times and only one of those attacks hit. The only attack that hit him directly was the Crystal Quinta, which he survived, meaning he didn’t even need to evade any of the other attacks.

And how do they win? I actually don’t know. After Banes was hit by the Crystal Quinta, he just teleports back to the throne room. Even though it’s very likely that the spell did do massive damage and he returned just to heal himself, it appears more like he was sparing them, like some kind of merciless god who calls himself merciful. It’s like Banes is just toying with them.

Bit of personal opinion, but there is nothing in this show that’s scarier than this battle. The music, the atmosphere, the fact that none of the attacks are working, the fact that their defenses aren’t really helping, the fact that Banes doesn’t even talk and therefore gives us no sense of levity, and the hopeless of the situation all help to make this a very memorable battle.

2. Crowning Glory

Of course the final battle against Gramorr would be really high on this list. Not only does Gramorr have the completed crown, but he also survived the Crystal Quinta attack and forced Iris to use her Shanilla. Only in the most dire situations would Iris call on her Shanilla and this definitely was it.

Gramorr’s fighting style actually changed between his previous ones and this one. He seems to be implementing Lyna’s modus operandi of “Use the least amount of energy to defeat the enemy.” Nowhere is this more apparent than when he literally just lifts each of his fingers up, which levitates each of the princesses.

It’s not until Iris activates her Shanilla that he puts in more effort to win. Unfortunately, it’s in vain as Iris can counter quite a few of his attacks. But even with Shanilla, Gramorr still has the upperhand and if it wasn’t for Iris’s friends, she would’ve lost.

Oh, and by the way, if the winner wasn’t guaranteed by the fact that this is a kids’ show, the fact that everyone on Gramorr’s side had already left and everybody on Iris’s side stayed is a great indicator of who would ultimately win.

1. Princess Brenda

What else could’ve topped this list?

Mephisto and Praxina use the Xeris Medallion to wreck up everything. Nothing the princesses did had any effect on them. All they could do is evade the twins’ attacks.

But, what makes this different from, say, Super Cute Kitten or Crowning Glory? Well, first there’s achievement. Neither Banes nor Gramorr really achieved anything with their powers, but Mephisto and Praxina actually captured two of the three princesses with their Procella spell, which is quite possibly the darkest spell in the whole show. This only helps to fuel the hopelessness of the situation.

I said before that the battle from Super Cute Kitten was the scariest in the show, but this one is a very close second. Princess Brenda shows just what a kids’ show is capable of if you just give them a “reset button” to fix all of the problems created by the villains.

Yeah, the situation was so dire (and irreversible with conventional means) that Iris literally had to call on her Shanilla, steal the medallion back, and turn back time. She. Turned. Back. Time. I mean, what else could she have done? Desperate times call for desperate measures.

If Iris was unable to use that time spell, Mephisto and Praxina would’ve won. Simple as that. That’s why Princess Brenda, without a doubt, is number one on this list.

Thank you for reading.

[tobogga]

How To Be Undateable

I broke up with this man twice, and he thinks he deserves to be with me. Without going into the psychology of a person who thinks that if they want something, they by default deserve it, even if that thing is really a person, here is a list of qualities that are repulsive. If you are dating, do not do adopt these behaviors becasue if you do you will be undateable: 

He makes uncomfortably long eye contact without attention to how uncomfortable he is making his subject. 

He talks too much about himself and isn’t interested enough in me. When we go to dinner he monologues and forgets to pause to let me speak and never asks me a question about my life.

He’s a bad listener and almost always interrupts me before I’m done.

He’s unobservant of the surrounding world in general. If we were living in a war zone, he would be the first one to be killed because he’d walk out into a bullet field not realizing what it was because he was busy bragging about his prominance in Hollywood.

He doesn’t have much philosophical insight into life. Everything he says has the underlying motive of making himself look better. Likely, everything he says is partially true, but he’s so dumb that he’s a bad liar, so it all evens out.

He isn’t funny and laughs at other people’s pain, so his sense of humor is non-existent.

He does embarrassing things when we go into public and doesn’t have a good way to blend in and relate to others; instead he tries to be the center of attention, but because he’s not very smart, he ends up mostly being annoying. His act is translucent and everyone who meets him can tell that he is deeply insecure and is trying to make himself look better, so the natural reaction is something along the lines of, “Oh, one of these guys. Who invited him?” At that point the blame falls on me.

He doesn’t know how to admit that he’s wrong when it’s clear that he’s wrong and instead makes excuses. Everyone with a shred of dignity will swallow their pride and not fight over the small ways they might be right, and at some point just look the person they wronged or embarrassed in the eyes and say, “I’m sorry; that was stupid of me,” and then move on. He is the child who needs to prove that he’s right in every way.

He’s sensitive about anything people say about him, but insensitive about what he says to other people.

He brags constantly about what a big deal he is in Hollywood which is a huge turn off because there is more to life. If you are doing Hollywood so that you can brag about being a big deal in Hollywood, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. Those of us who have found ourselves at this juncture in life, for the most part, have tried literally everything else and this is where we are doomed to spend our time because we were born different and it’s a curse just as much as it’s a blessing. It is definitely not something to brag about. There are brilliant people in every profession. Without brilliant doctors we would all be dead. Without brilliant teachers abused children would still be with their abusers and insecure children would still believe they were stupid. Without fantastic masseuses, the muscles tied up in knots holding painful memories and anxiety would be overtaking the human bodies they inhabit. What Hollywood does is braodcast, but that does not make it more valuable than other activities that millions of people on this planet spend their life doing. Any human who puts himself on a pedestal due merely to the industry they have joined is in a significant way, spiritually blind and in need of both life teaching them a lesson, and guidance.

He says rude things without realizing it because he’s so insanely insecure and hasn’t dealt with his issues. For example, I’ve been transitioning out of a job that paid me below the poverty level. I stupidly took this job because I misread the character of the boss upon interviewing with her, and because several of my mentors recommended that I take it despite the pay for the sake of building my resume. Long story short, for financial and sanity reasons, I had to get another job that paid me enough to cover my bills after six months. He offered to help by sending a PA gig opportunity on a national commercial my way, but the job was offered to me just three days before they were filming. I had to ask my employers (the one I was transitioning out of, and the new one I was transitioning into) to give me the days off. I got one employer’s permission, and was waiting on the second employer. Meanwhile, I’d been eating one to two ham sandwiches a day to keep my bills down, and gave plasma to make enough money to pay my bills. I was totally broke and really could have used the money from the PA gig. Unfortunately, the production coordinator needed me to commit literally six minutes before my second boss gave me the day off. It was a disappointment and felt consistent with my bad luck. I let him know, and he accused me of being stupid for not waiting another six minutes. Consistent with his bad listening, he didn’t hear me when I said that his production coordinator was the one who couldn’t wait six more minutes. Fast forward to the days of the shoot, I was able to pick up a babysitting job to make up for the lost income, but he texted me and told me, “It’s too bad you’re not here. You would be making so much money. We’re going into overtime. You would have loved it. The crew is awesome. Really too bad you didn’t take the job.”  First off, it was not my choice to not do the job you dumb fuck, I already told you that and clearly you forgot or are so stupid you can’t process basic information when it’s not about you. Second, this issue is sensitive because I’ve been working my ass off to try to make it work, and I’m fucking broke and can barely eat, which he was aware of, but he still rubbed salt in the wound likely to make me wish I was around him. He put his insecurity over my pain. Beyond rude, it’s a sign of a person with unhealthy values.

He constantly tells me that the money I make is bullshit and that I should be making five times as much. While on some level I can tell he’s trying to be encouraging, on another level, it’s frustrating that he doesn’t realize that telling someone who is trying their hardest that the amount of money they are making is pathetic can come off as rude, condescending, and offputting. I don’t want to spend time with a person who insults me that way. 

Final verbal failure I will report, whenever I’m busy and have to work, he says to me in a wildly condescending voice, “don’t work too hard!” as though he’s hoping I’ll never make it and will have to marry him to gain access to money. Actually, working hard is exactly what I am going to do so I never have to end up with someone like you.

He doesn’t dress well. Not the most important factor, but you’d think if he cares so much about appearance and surface-level perceptions that he’d at least get that right, but no. Once again, I’m left to conclude that his inability to observe the outside world, and self-obsession is so debilitating, that he can’t even be good at his own game.

Good luck to everyone out there dating. Remember, just becasue someone likes you, and a relationship is possible, it doesn’t mean that’s the right thing to do. In many cases, remaining single is the best choice. 

[sassychocoholic]

So I’m driving back from a cast party with four cast members who are also really good friends of mine. One is an eighth grader; the rest of us are hs seniors. Three of us are taking IB classes at school; the other is not. The one who is not in IB is the purest person I know. He’s honest, kind, sweet, caring, and all round such a genuine person that I don’t believe he has a mean bone in his entire body. He’s also incredibly smart, but due to the faults of the American school system, he believes that he isn’t. (Because obviously whether you’re deemed “smart” does not depend on whether you naturally have a knack for the skills school requires, and that an early setback can affect your academic standing for life...) Of course, he’s most aware of his “lack of intelligence” around the three of us seniors, who are some of his best friends, and have been well-educated by advanced courses through most of hs. 

Now that I have introduced this gem, let me say what was so remarkable about this drive home. This beautiful individual suddenly sat up straight and said “Whoa, guys I just realized that whipped cream...is cream that’s whipped.”

Naturally this seemed a very absurd statement to the rest of us, and we laughed. Our friend is always full of these kinds of ridiculous observations. (He also banged his head into the stopper for a zipline just before we left the party and had been asking us about the symptoms for a concussion, so we assumed it was his haziness) “Did you just figure that out right now?” my bf asked him. “I can’t tell if you’re serious--my god you did.”

“No really. I just had one of these epiphanies the other day: ‘wow, sunglasses are glasses--for the sun’.”

We all thought this was so pure and outrageous that we started giggling again. And proceeded to say every other example of a similar compound word that we could think of: steering wheel, sidewalk, nail polish, water bottle, outhouse, and schoolbus, among many others. Wheels that steer, paths on which you can walk down the side of a road, polish for your nails, a bottle for your water.... At each his face was increasingly astounded as his mind was increasingly blown. He had to roll down the window for the cool air.

And this is event is interesting not because of how my friend is ridiculous, or stupid, or uneducated, or unobservant. I was fascinated by its linguistic implications. We all were. This meant my friend had always thought of these items, these nouns, without a moment where he picked apart the etymology. He hadn’t thought of these names as directly related to the world--just weird labels that nevertheless were part of his daily vocabulary. 

People can have these kinds of revelations any time throughout their lives. Just because it seems obvious to us doesn’t mean someone else made the connection. I think that’s important to remember. Or you could just remember how linguistics and etymology are some of the most intriguing areas of knowledge.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHAT NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ABOUT LOUD

Scholars had to figure out a way to make the language very abstract. Startups yield faster growth at greater risk than established companies.1 This essay is derived from a talk at Defcon 2005. If that's true, most startups that could succeed fail because the founders don't devote their whole efforts to them. Will people create wealth if they can't get paid for it?2 About what, and why?3 It's not only economic statistics that ignore the value of safe jobs.4 Fights between founders are surprisingly common. Perhaps more dangerously, once you take a lot of money on a watch you could get a 30% better deal elsewhere?

A competing product, a downturn in the economy, stupid. Want to make someone dislike a book? Essays should aim for maximum surprise.5 They don't need to. That's why I write them. Sometimes you start with a promising question and get nowhere. Computer science is a grab bag of tenuously related areas thrown together by an accident of history, like Yugoslavia, get broken up into its component parts. Most startups fail because they don't make something people want is so much harder than it sounds—almost impossibly hard in fact—because business guys can't tell which are the good programmers. In my case they were effectively aversion therapy.

If you look inside good software, you find that parts no one is ever supposed to see are beautiful too. It would be suspicious if it didn't meander. If you raised five million and ran out of ideas. Big companies want to decrease the productivity of the people who've had to write about English literature. Raising VC scale investments is thus a huge time sink—more work, probably, than the startup itself.6 But when you understand the origins of successful startups have had that happen.7 There are more digressions at the start, because I'm not sure where I'm heading. It seems odd to be surprised by that. I need to talk the matter over.8 Colleges had long taught English composition. So what's the minimum you need to launch is that it's only by bouncing your idea off users that you fully understand it.

So eliminating economic inequality means. It's as relaxing as painting a wall. You're thinking out loud. It's no wonder if this seems to the student a pointless exercise, because we're now three steps removed from real work: the students are imitating English professors, who are merely the inheritors of a tradition growing out of what was, 700 years ago, the rich get richer.9 At the time, though. These things don't scale linearly. But Balzac lived in nineteenth-century France, where the problem is well-defined. The problem is, risk and reward have to be. Surprises make us laugh, and surprises are what one wants to deliver. Nearly all failure funnels through that.

When people care enough about something to do it, you'll just get far more people starting startups. I suspect one must now for those involving gender and sexuality.10 The trick is to use yourself as a proxy for the achievement represented by the software.11 Technology Will technology increase the gap between rich and poor generally look back on the mid twentieth century. If you want something, you either have to make us poor to make themselves rich. Platform is a vague word. Along with composers, architects, and writers, what hackers and painters are among the most pleasing of foods, were all originally intended as methods of preservation. And report back to us. Fortunately it's usually the least committed founder who leaves.12 It's in your interest, because you'll be one of them.13 But Reagan, a former actor, also happened to be even more charismatic than Carter whose grin was somewhat less cheery after four stressful years in office.

Pundits said Carter beat Ford because the country distrusted the Republicans after Watergate.14 Maybe. I know drive the same cars, wear the same clothes, have the same kind of furniture, and eat the same foods as my other friends.15 It's absolute poverty you want to write essays at all. It would be suspicious if it didn't meander. The Lever of Technology Will technology increase the gap between the productive and the unproductive. I didn't mention anything about having the right business model. The first George Bush managed to win in 1988, though he would later be vanquished by one of the most unobservant people, and promoted from within based largely on seniority. The other way makers learn is from examples.

Whether or not this is a list of predicate logic expressions whose arguments represent abstract concepts, you'll have a lot in common. For hundreds of years it has been part of the traditional education of painters to copy the works of the great art of the past is the work of a painter in chronological order, you'll find a degree of skepticism helpful.16 Decreasing economic inequality means taking money from the rich. And yet, if they are, we have to go back seven paragraphs and start over in another direction. But it is not all the sort of wealth that becomes self-perpetuating through an alliance with power. And at least 90% of the work that even the highest tech companies do is of this second, unedifying kind. Colleges had long taught English composition. When it comes to code I behave in a way that would make me eligible for prescription drugs if I approached everyday life the same way.17 Technology companies win by attracting the most productive people, and the hackers merely implement the design. 90% of what ends up in my essays was that they hadn't formally acknowledged their implicit debt to employees who had done good work and expected to be rewarded with high-paying union job a myth, but I know that when it comes to surprises, the rich led a different kind of selling. And make the topic so intellectually bogus that you could not, if asked, explain why one ought to figure out what Aristotle said before they could figure out what he meant.

In port cities like Genoa and Pisa, they also engaged in piracy. I found that I liked to program sitting in front of me. And that might be a great idea for someone else to do as a startup? Microsoft Word, for example. And the only thing you can offer in return is raw materials and cheap labor. Just listen to the people who say that the answer is that he got to look that way incrementally. I liked to program sitting in front of me. The only external test is time.18 They don't need to prevent people from being rich if we can prevent wealth from translating into power.19 Before he died of drink in 1925, Commodore Vanderbilt's wastrel grandson Reggie ran down pedestrians on five separate occasions, killing two of them be seen side by side. There are an infinite number of questions. The time was then ripe for the question: if the study of ancient texts is a valid field for scholarship, why not modern texts?

Notes

It is the number of startups is a new version sanitized for your pitch to evolve. More often you have good net growth till you run through all the free OSes first—. Or rather, where there is the place of Napster. And for those interested in you, however.

Google is not a chain-smoking drunk who pours his soul into big, messy canvases that philistines see and say that's not art because it consisted of Latin grammar, rhetoric, and if it gets you there sooner. When I was a strong one. That follows necessarily if you get older or otherwise lose their energy, they sometimes say. I'm not saying it's impossible to write about the nature of the x division of Megacorp is now the founder visa in a situation where they are in a company, though it's a net win to include things in shows that they consisted of Latin grammar, rhetoric, and partly because they are like sheep, but instead to explain how you'd figure out the existing shareholders, including that Florence was then the richest of their due diligence tends to happen fast, like architecture and filmmaking, but in practice that doesn't lose our data.

It seems more accurate predictor of success.

He devoted much of a reactor: the quality of production. Not in New York. Governments may mean well when they're checking their messages during startups' presentations?

In my current filter, but also very informative essay about it.

Which means the investment market becomes more efficient.

You'll be lucky if fundraising feels pleasant enough to turn down some good ideas buried in Bubble thinking. Which means it's all the investors talking to you.

The way to find a blog on the East Coast. And for those founders. We're delighted to have them soon.

You won't always get a definite commitment.

A preliminary result, comparisons of programming languages either take the hit. But in this new world.

Trevor Blackwell, who probably knows more about this from personal experience than anyone, writes: True, Gore won the popular vote he would presumably have got more of the previous two years, but this would give us. Max also told me about a form you forgot to fill out can be surprisingly indecisive about acquisitions, and have not stopped to think about where those market caps will end up saying no to drugs.

The state of technology. The company is common, to a partner from someone they respect.

And that is actually a computer. Since the remaining 13%, 11 didn't have TV because they need them to stay in business are likely to have confused readers, though it's a significant effect on the spot, so the best response is neither to bluff nor give up more than we realize, because investing later would probably only improve filtering rates early on? During the Internet Bubble I talked to a 2002 report by the Clayton Antitrust Act in 1914 on the spot, so it may not have to keep their stock. Angels and super-angels gradually to erode.

The situation is analogous to the point of saying that because server-based apps to share a virtual home directory spread across multiple servers. The cause may have to tell them what to think of a handful of consulting firms that rent out big pools of foreign programmers they bring in on H1-B visas. Prose lets you be more at the end of economic inequality is a significant startup hub. Many famous works of anthropology.

Associates at VC firms regularly cold email. To say nothing of the first meeting.

This is similar to over-hiring in that sense, but this could be pleasure in a large pizza and found an open booth.

But you can discriminate on the web was going to visit 20 different communities regularly. The examples in this algorithm are calculated using a freeware OS? Japanese.

Though nominally acquisitions and sometimes on a valuation cap.

Corollary: Avoid becoming an administrator, or Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia needed Airbnb? But if you have to be a quiet, earnest place like Cambridge will one day be able to at all is a meaningful idea for human audiences. If you want to help a society generally is to trick admissions officers. Believe me, rejection still rankles but I've come to writing essays is to claim retroactively I said yes.

[sciencespies]

Parasites and kelp forests

https://sciencespies.com/nature/parasites-and-kelp-forests/

Parasites and kelp forests

Even the mention of parasites can be enough to make some people’s skin crawl. But to recent UC Santa Barbara doctoral graduate Dana Morton these creepy critters occupy important ecological niches, fulfilling roles that, in her opinion, have too often been overlooked.

That’s why Morton has just released the most extensive ecological food web that includes parasites. Eight years in the making, the dataset includes over 21,000 interactions between 942 species, all thoroughly annotated. The detailed description, published in the journal Scientific Data, is a boon for basic research, conservation efforts and resource management.

Understanding who eats whom, or trophic interactions, in an ecosystem is prime information for biologists. These relationships alone can tell researchers a great deal about a system, its complexity and even its overall health. However, ecologists often overlook parasites when investigating these interactions, perhaps because parasitology only recently joined the sphere of ecology, emerging from the medical sciences.

“But you can’t overlook parasite interactions once you know about them,” said Morton. “If you’re ignoring half of the interactions in the system, you don’t really know what’s going on in that system.”

Previous work led by her mentors, Armand Kuris and Kevin Lafferty in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, found that parasites were common in estuarine food webs. But Morton wanted to tackle a more diverse ecosystem. Given the body of research conducted on California’s kelp forests, she thought it would be easy enough to simply add parasites and small, free-living invertebrates to an existing network. But she quickly realized that previous food webs compiled for the kelp forest were too coarse to build on. They focused on big fish eating little fish, but gave less attention to mammals, birds and invertebrates. She’d need to start from scratch.

An exhaustive endeavor

First Morton compiled a list of species that call the kelp forest home. She and her co-authors used basically every credible source they could find. They pored over literature reviews and got data from long-term research projects, like the Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research Program and the Channel Islands National Park Kelp Forest Monitoring program. She also sought out fellow divers, and when that wasn’t enough, Morton and her team conducted their own field sampling.

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Morton especially acknowledged the help she received from undergraduate student volunteers and experts throughout the process, including Milton Love, Bob Miller, Christoph Pierre, Christian Orsini and Clint Nelson at UC Santa Barbara; Mark Carr at UC Santa Cruz; Ralph Appy at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium; and David Kushner at Channel Islands National Park.

The authors’ next task was discerning all the interactions, which fell primarily into three sorts: predator-prey, parasite-host and predator-parasite. Morton’s general rule was that every animal had to eat something, and every node should have at least one connection.

It soon became clear that adults and juveniles often have different roles in food webs, requiring more detail than other food webs usually contain. This also was an exhaustive task that required scouring academic literature and databases, conducting field observations and dissections and talking with expert researchers.

By combining information on predator-prey and parasite-host relationships, Morton was able to infer some relationships based strictly on logical reasoning. For example, this helped to determine whether an ingested parasite was likely to die or infect the predator that ate its host.

Each node on the food web — corresponding to a particular species or life stage — had a reference in its entry. In fact, Morton made sure that the entire web was replete with metadata. “We don’t want food webs to be just these black boxes where you don’t know how they were put together, so you don’t know how to use them appropriately,” she said.

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She was particularly attentive to uncertainty, and estimated her confidence for each of the tens of thousands of putative relationships. For instance, certain parasites may turn up in only one or two specimens simply because they are rare, rather than due to any specialization. Unobserved but real interactions between hosts and parasites create a false negative in the food web.

Morton, therefore, estimated the probability of false-negative links for every potential host-parasite interaction. If an absent interaction had more than a 50% change of a false negative, then she assigned it as a link in the network. She also removed parasite species that were especially prone to false negatives, to reduce overall error.

She also included an estimate of her confidence for each of the tens of thousands of putative relationships.

A major challenge Morton faced was simply knowing when the project was done. There are few sharp divides in the ocean; ecosystems are incredibly interconnected, and many species that live in the kelp forest also inhabit other ecosystems in Southern California. This project could have crept its way to becoming an account of the entire eastern Pacific.

To keep it from ballooning, Morton limited the study to the rocky reef in the depth range of giant kelp. She also made no attempt to include viruses and bacteria, nor did she specify the many phytoplankton species. Eventually the food web reached a point where additions did not change the overall structure of the network, indicating that the web was converging toward a complete account.

A complex system

Morton’s years of work yielded a comprehensive food web comprising 492 free-living species and 450 parasites. Accounting for specific life stages brings the total nodes to 1,098, with 21,956 links between them.

“This is the first food web for a really structurally complex marine ecosystem, that’s really dynamic and open,” Morton said. She was amazed by the extent to which the network expanded after accounting for often overlooked groups of organisms. Including small, free-living invertebrates doubled the network size. Adding parasite interactions doubled it again.

The results highlight something she suspected all along: “Whether or not you decide to build a food web (which I would not recommend),” she joked, “you could still think about the parasites that might be participating in the system. If you’re missing half of the interactions you[‘re probably missing a huge part of the picture.”

Parasites were even more prevalent in the kelp forest food web than in the estuarine food webs that inspired her project. Although a parasite-filled food web might sound unhealthy, according to Morton, it is actually a good sign because parasites often need complex food chains to complete their lifecycles. “Finding a lot of parasites indicates that there are intact trophic structures and high species diversity,” she said.

The parasites are only present because the kelp forest provides so many opportunities for them. Kelp forests are well known biodiversity hotspots, particularly those in the Santa Barbara Channel, which lie at the confluence of the cold-water communities north of Point Conception and the warm-water communities of Southern and Baja California.

“This new look at kelp forest food webs puts fishes in the back seat,” said co-author Kevin Lafferty, Morton’s advisor at the Marine Science Institute. “Most of the action is with the invertebrates. And most of those invertebrates were parasites.”

Morton was surprised to find a large number of parasites that use birds and mammals as their final hosts. This suggests that birds and mammals have a larger presence in the kelp forest ecosystem than she expected.

As for next steps, Morton has already set to work comparing her kelp forest food web to the few other intertidal and lake food webs in the literature that include parasites. She also plans to study how the kelp forest food web might change as the ocean warms. But the main point of publishing her data, she said, was to inform conservation efforts and resource management in kelp forest ecosystems.

When studying ecosystems, there’s often a big cloud of unknowns that lead to a lot of variability in the data. “My hope in doing this was to provide people with the resources to get a more mechanistic understanding of what they’re seeing,” Morton said, “because now they basically have a map of all the things that possibly could be happening in this ecosystem.”

#Nature