#in my physics major era please wish me luck

[fashionschoolreject]

Styling The Secret History: Francis Abernathy

(Styling the Secret History: 5/10)

“Angular and elegant, he was precariously thin, with nervous hands and a shrewd albino face and a short, fiery mop of the reddest hair I had ever seen.” - The Secret History (by Donna Tartt)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Key Styling Details:

lots of blacks, grays, dark browns

so much vintage Armani

very sharp (angular like his features)

immaculately layered

a bit more trendy/fashion forward than the rest

occasional delicate (“feminine”) touch

when not dressed up the outfits are incredibly simple

turtlenecks everywhere

long flowing jackets/oversized sweaters (emphasizing his thinner frame)

all outfits very intentionally styled to get a certain look

Bonus// Fancast: Charlie Plummer

Final Note: Sorry for the delay! I was going through the worst depressive episode of my life and having to deal with moving back to college and changing my major and minor again!! All around was NOT a live laugh love time but hopefully I’ll be back around and at it again soon.

[gliphyartfan]

@yandere-linked-universe @stars-for-thought @linked-heroes @ice-cream-writes-stuff

@imprisioned-in-the-hole I loved your prompt and couldn't resist! Hope I did it justice!

Wind has a strong presence in this one, that wasn't planned by the way.

Enjoy!

'I'll be fiine guys.'

She totally should have saw this coming.

'This is Wars' era, wandering the market won't that bad.'

Yep— these past few days had been too damn calm for the all of them,

'I'll be gone for an hour! Two hours tops! Promise!'

Of course something like this was going to go and happen.

'This. fucking. sucks!' She grunted, slowly slide down the rope she made out of the sheets in the room she was trapped in.

This is what happens when you jinx yourself.

'Everything will be fine!' Oh suuure, the first hour was delightful.

Saw some items,

Chatted with some folks,

Even got to pet a few dogs!

But the second hour-

'His Grace wishes to discuss some things with you.'

'Sorry, you got the wrong person. Plus I don't feel comfortable with-'

'That wasn't a request.'

'...-!!'

She should have know there would have been someone behind her.

It's always when it's out of your mind that it happens.

And now she was trying to escape her own wedding. And the crazy Duke that wanted to marry her.

She wasn't a hero damnit!

'I'm gonna get lectured so badly after this!' She grunted as she reached the end of the rope, her feet dangling in the air for a moment as she tried to figure out what to do next.

'Damn you laws of physics and gravity!' She whispered to herself.

Physics and gravity decided to take her insult personally as the rope loosened its hold on the railing, causing her to fall into the bushes two feet below her.

'Urk-branch! Branch!' She hissed in pain, reaching underneath and removing the branch poking at her back.

As she rubbed the area, brushing the crumpled sheet from her head, she checked her hand to make sure she wasn't bleeding.

Before she could plan her next move, she stilled as she heard the heavy thuds and clanks of armour approach nearby.

The movement came closer, she used her place in the bushes to keep hidden. Slowly parting the leaves next to her with one hand, she used what visibility she had to discover that yes, it was a pair of guards and the conversation that flowed through the air confirmed they weren't Hyrule guards.

Drat.

'Is the Duke really gonna marry that girl?'

'Seems to be the case. He's been very pleased with himself too. Looks like he's trying to get the wedding done by tonight.'

Double drat.

'I don't blame him, you've seen that girl? Bet he's eager for the wedding night.'

Okay. NO.

'Haha! A beauty like that for a wife would be quite the status boost.'

The guards walked past the bush and it's hidden occupant.

Had they looked back, they would have seen a displeased glare directed their way.

(y/n) huffed and looked around, trying to remember where the exit was.

With another glance around, she picked up her dress and slowly made her way out of the bushes, pausing momentarily before taking off the heels she was forced to wear

'I can't run and climb in this dress.' Trying to think about what to do next, she looked down at her clothes.

'Hmm...'

--

'WHERE IS SHE.'

'Link please-'

'Don't tell me to calm down Zelda!'

Wind bit his lip as Warriors marched up to the princess' face and growled.

'Impa is having her men search the castle and surrounding areas, we will find her.' Zelda tried to reassure him, taking a step back when he glared.

'It's been a WEEK and you have nothing to show for it!' He ran a head through his hair, taking a deep breath to calm down.

'You know I've been busy with-'

'With the Grand Duke of the farther kingdom who is here as a token of peace and unity between kingdoms.' Warriors recited irritably. 'Yes, very understandably important when someone went missing under the watch of YOUR men.'

'She was last seen in the market, we have blocked the gates and are inspecting every individual leaving the city.' Zelda gave Warriors a look.

'And might I remind you that they are also your men?'

'Apparently not anymore with how you let them slacked off!'

'Excuse me-'

Wind sighed as they started arguing again.

They were getting nowhere.

'This is going nowhere.' Wind turned and saw Hyrule coming up next to him, watching the arguing duo.

'Any luck with the others?' He asked quietly, not surprised when Hyrule shook his head.

'Twilight is using Wolfie to catch any scents but the storm has made that difficult. Time is with Legend and Wild speaking to the merchants and Four is with Sky speaking with the guards.' Hyrule replied, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Wind felt the same way.

None of them were able to sleep well since she went missing. The only reason they slept at all was because they needed to be rested enough in the event a fight comes their way.

But the lack of her presence was deeply felt.

'Any luck here?' Hyrule asked hollowly, already knowing the answer but still asking.

Wind simply gestured to the still arguing duo.

'Is she even still in town?' He couldn't help but ask, not wanting to think of the possibility that she was far away, but it was necessary.

'She has to be,' Hyrule reassured,smiling weakly. 'The town went on lockdown almost immediately.'

Wind returned Hyrule's smile with a weak one of his own.

They turned back to the duo, feeling more tired as they listened to the princess justify her duties.

'I am already dealing with the Grand Duke and I can't give anymore of my attention to this than I already have.' Warriors just gave her a look.

'I wouldn't be bothering so much if you allowed me access to his guest quarters.' It was Zelda's turn to glare at him.

'You know I cannot do that, he is a guest and has nothing to do with her disappearance.' Only Wind and Hyrule noticed the way Warriors hand twitched, as if desiring to reach for his sword.

Not that they could blame him.

'I am not accusing him Princess,' he said through gritted teeth. 'I am merely requesting-'

'That I allow you access to his quarters.' The displeased expression on the princess' face only matched the captain's.

'Annnd they're arguing again.' Wind muttered, watching them fall back into another verbal brawl.

'The only place we haven't looked is the guest wing.' Hyrule whispered, wringing his hands.

'You think we should sneak in?' Hyrule looked at the arguing pair and nodded.

'Yeah...it's better than assuming nothing is there.'

'Alright...Wars!' The angered captain looked at them, a scowl on his face.

'Rulie thinks he has a lead at the market so I'm heading out with him.' Wind kept a casual look on his face, staring Warriors in the eyes.

Warriors was quiet for a brief moment before he grunted and turned back to arguing his case with the princess.

But he was less tense than he was a moment before.

He understood what they were going to do.

'He'll keep her distracted.' Wind murmured, tugging Hyrule out of the room.

'And Impa?' Wind sighed and rubbed his shoulder.

'Still searching the market place I bet, we gotta be quick.'

And with that, they both headed to the guest wing of the castle.

---

The guest wing wasn't too far away, probably for the convenience of whatever foreign guests came to visit.

But it was walled off and the Grand Duke's personal guard was patrolling the area, forcing the duo to sneak their way in.

'I really hope we find something.' Hyrule whispers, the two stilling as a guard passed by their hiding place.

'Best place to look is the most obvious place.' Wind reassured. 'And the most obvious place is a area that's being guarded by enemy guards.'

Hyrule didn't correct him about the guards.

If she was here, they were enemies.

'Let's look through the rooms! Top or bottom floor?' Hyrule hummed.

'We're good at escaping from higher levels, and there's only two floors, let's start low and move up.'

They worked together, both alerting the other when a guard was close.

Soon they snuck passed the majority and reached the first set of rooms.

Then the second set.

Then the third.

They moved up to the second floor and quietly searched through each room.

It was in the Grand Duke's room that they found incriminating evidence on his desk.

'I can't read this language,' Wind whispered harshly as he glared at the papers in front of him. ' but I know (y/n)'s name anywhere!'

'Take it, we can sure it to the princess.' Hyrule whispered back, keeping watch at the door. He tensed when he saw a couple of guards round the corner. 'We need to go!'

'This is the last room and we haven't found her!'

'We found evidence and that's a better than what we had before, now move!'

It took some time to shuffle out the window and climb down, but they were successfully able to make their escape from the guest wing without notice.

'A lead, that's good.' Wind gasped, hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

'But still no (y/n)' Hyrule bite his thumb nervously. 'I hope she's okay...'

'We can't lose hope!' Wind grunted, stretching his back and sighing.

'Let's go, we need to show these papers to the others before we give it to the princess-'

The sailor went rigid, eyes snapping forward, widening.

'What's wrong Wind?' Hyrule asked worriedly, hand on the younger teen's shoulder.

The teen bit his lip to keep his expression from crumbling and his breath was shaky,

'(y/n)...?' Hyrule's own eyes widened and his head snapped to look when Wind was staring.

There, in a torn dirty white dress, no shoes, and messy hair, was their beloved goddess looking around, visibly distressed.

'(y/n)..?' Wind raised his voice, hope as visible in his tone as it was in his eyes.

Hyrule's heart felt such relief as their beautiful goddess' head snapped in their direction.

The smile she gave them was simply magnificent as she immediately ran toward them.

The moment she was close, she wrapped her arms around the both of them and began to cry, relief filling her.

'You have no idea how happy I am to see you two!' She hugged them closer.

'WE'RE happy to see you!' Wind sighed happily, resting his head in her shoulder, both him and Hyrule hugging her as tightly as she was hugging them.

Just having her in their arms was a blessing they treasured so much.

'Where have you been? How did you escape?' She sighed and shook her head.

'I'd rather tell it one time.' She looked around.

'Please tell me the others are near by?' She whispered, absolutely exhausted and didn't want to deal with any more drama.

'Well...no. They are looking for you in town. We snuck into the guest wing to look for you.' Hyrule answered apologetically, heart clenching when she sniffled.

Wind frowned for a moment before he gasped in excitement.

'I'll rally them up!' Hyrule and (y/n) looked at him in confusion as he reached into his pouch.

'Wild has the slate! And if he has the slate-' he pulls out what he was searching for.

'Then we can reach him with this!' (y/n) tilted her head.

'A...stone?' Wind grinned at them, the pirate's charm dangling from his fingers.

'A COMMUNICATION stone!' (y/n) gasped in delight and gave Wind another hug.

'Call him! Call him!' Wind laughed and activated the stone.

'Um, I've been meaning to ask...' Hyrule quietly said to (y/n) who looked at him innocently. '...About your..outfit...'

Wind ignored them for a brief moment as Wild's tired voice came from the pirate's charm.

'What is it sailor?'

'Guess who me and Hyrule found!' Wind grinned as he heard gasps.

'You found her?! Is she safe?!'

'They found her?!'

'She's okay! We're by the-'

'HE WANTS TO MARRY YOU?!'

Wind turned his head so fast, he winced at the pop he felt, the loud yells coming from his charm filling the air.

'WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS?!!' (y/n) winced as she realized the panic she just caused

'Uh-'

He couldn't help it, Wind laughed, soft and just a little hysterical.

Of course an insect had to pop up when they let their guard down.

---

'Where is she.'

'Sir, we have our men searching for her this very moment.'

'I want her found by TONIGHT, the wedding will go as planned.'

'Of course sir!' The Grand Duke scowled as his guard walked off.

He is so close to raising his status.just another day and he would have been on top of the social world. He sneered, like a child, storming down the halls of the guest wing.

'Should have simply left with her when I had the chance.' He ran a gloved hand down his face.

To think he had one of the heroes of legend in his grasp only for her to have slipped through his fingers.

He'll have to make sure to teach her a lesson.

'Sir!' He sighed irritably, turning to see another one of his guard approaching him.

'What is it? Did you find her?' The guard looked nervous.

'Sir, Princess Zelda is requesting your presence in the throne room at once.' The Grand Duke tensed and stared at the guard.

'Are you sure?' The guardsman nodded, stepping back when the Duke growled.

'Of all the times...' He looked back at the guardsman. 'Continue looking for the girl.'

After the guardsman nodded, he decided to get it over with and headed to the throne rooms.

--

--

'Grand Duke, thank you for coming at such a short notice.'

'Your Highness.' The Grand Duke bowed to her, as he rose he noticed the nine gentlemen standing to either side of her.

The heroes of legend.

The Grand Dukes greed brought to mind the rise in his status at what might be a possible meeting with the legendary nine.

He was to arrogant to realize the cold looks he was receiving from them.

She smiled, nodding in greeting. 'I apologize for disturbing your day Grand Duke, I understand how frustrating it can be, but I heard of a strange rumor recently and I had hoped you would clarify it for me?'

'Please rest assured Princess, I will do all that I can to assist you.' He said, smiling openly, the perfect gentleman.

'Splendid. Now,' She dropped the smile. 'Did you conspire to abduct the heroes' companion and force her to wed you?'

The Grand Duke froze, paling as the question registered in his head.

'Wha-'

'Ah. Before I continue, allow me to properly introduce the gentleman before me-'

'There is no need your Highness,' calmly interrupted Time, coldly gazing down at the nervous Nobleman. 'He is as aware of our identities as we are aware of his.'

'I-'

'And you seem to be very aware of the identity of our most dearest companion.' Legend hissed from his place next to Time, glaring daggers at the unsettled man.

The Grand Duke's expression twisted into fear, anger, and panic.

His hands clenched into fists at his sides as he cleared his throat. 'I'm sure I don't know what you're speaking of.' He calmly answered.

'Perhaps a misunde-'

' A misunderstanding? I'm sure.' Warriors scoffed, looking at Zelda with a raised eyebrow.

She sighed "Lets not fool ourselves here, we all know what this is about.' She stared sternly at him. 'You abducted the young woman known as (y/n) and were conspiring to wed her for...status?'

'She isn't very happy about being kidnapped.' Wild said casually, as if he was not wishing he could jam a bomb down the Grand Duke's throat and detonate it.

It seemed the arrogant man could barely handle being talked down in such a way. His clenched fists trembled in anger.

'I will not allow such accusations to be made against my person!' He looked at Zelda, face flushed in anger.

'If you believe that our kingdoms will be allied after this, I assure you that-'

'If your kingdom is full of noblemen like you, than Hyrule would benefit by NOT allying with you.' Warriors interjected, ignoring Zelda's stern look towards him, looking down his nose at him.

'You have no proof!' Warriors sighed and nodded.

'I suppose I don't.' He was silent until the Duke looked smug before he matched his expression with one of his own, pointing behind the Duke.

'But she's proof enough.'

'Oh, so I'm demoted to proof now, am I?'

The Duke went rigid, his mouth snapping shut on the words just spoken as he slowly turned his head-.

An dispassionate look directed right at him.

'Apologies my Angel.' Warriors smiled softly at her. 'No insult meant.'

'Hmm.' She raised an eyebrow, a brief glance at Warriors before looking at the Grand Duke.

'(y/n) I ask for complete honesty.' Zelda commands. 'Was the Grand Duke the man behind your abduction with intention to force you to wed him?' (y/n) nodded.

'Yes your Highness.' Zelda closed her eyes and sighed.

'Very well, I will arrange for his departure tonight.' The Grand Duke's face a unique combination of red and enraged yet also paling.

'T-This will not stand! When my king hears of this-.'

'We have already sent your king the information of your crimes.' The princess proclaimed to the unsteady nobleman.

'Y-you-'

'You are no longer welcomed within the borders of Hyrule Kingdom and are henceforth outlawed from ever returning. Impa shall escort you to the guest wing to retrieve your belongings.'

Zelda then turned and strode away, but not before sending an apologetic glance at Warriors.

He simply returned her look with a blank one.

(y/n) walked passed the royal knights that now surrounded Grand Duke and made her way to the group.

'I'm so glad you guys found me.' She said with relief in her voice.

'You ended up saving yourself dear.' Time chuckled, reaching up and cupping her cheek. 'And we were panicking like we lost our minds.'

'I was panicking when Wind and Hyrule popped up.' She admitted. 'Trust me, I was so happy and relieved to be found by you guys.'

'We'll always find you (y/n)!' Wind chirped, wrapping his arms around her waist, causing her to giggle.

'Well I guess it has it's uses.' She clapped her hands.

'I'm hungry and demand all the cuddles! I hated this week!' Wild was already pulling out his slate and looking through his inventory.

'I'll make a meal that'll taste so good, you'll forget this week ever happened!' (y/n) grinned in delight.

'That's what I want to hear!'

The Chain surround her as they guided her out of the throne room, the angry cries of the Grand Duke not worth notice.

Yet two members of the group lingered behind.

And they were eyeing the fuming nobleman with calculating eyes.

'We could have been a bit more...hands on with his punishment... ya know that don't you old man...?' Wind commented, his treasured wind waker in one hand.

'As enjoyable as it would be, I don't want to spend a moment longer away from Her.' Wind sighed but nodded in agreement , crossing his arms, tapping his wind waker against his chin.

'So the storm will kill him?' Time nodded, inspecting his Ocarina casually.

'I have more than enough magic to conjure one strong enough.'

'You've already had Wild damage parts of the ship correct?' Wind nodded. 'Than once I summon the storm, make sure the winds finish the job.'

Wind hummed. 'Kay.'

They both looked at the shrinking form of the dead man walking.

'Ugh, I hate bugs.' Wind huffed, a disgusted look on his face.

Time stared at the Duke until he could not see him no more.

'Hm..So do I...'

That night, the group of nine celebrated the return of their most beloved member, lavishing her with their affection and as she requested, all the cuddles she asked for.

(That night, reports were received by two kingdoms that notes a vicious storm appeared as the Grand Duke's ship sailed beyond the Hyrulian sea borders. Destroying the ship beyond recognition. There were no survivors.)

[mutsu-province]

Wager

Title: Wager Fandom: Samurai Love Ballad: Party/Tenka Touitsu Koi no Ran: Love Ballad Pairing: Date Masamune x MC Rating: PG-13 Era: Modern Day Word Count (MS Word): 3,959

----------

才子佳人　（さいしかじん） [saishikajin]

(n) well-matched pair 

----------

"You should totally meet my cousin."

Anyone who heard such a statement would have been puzzled as to why one had to mention one’s relative who was not present at that very moment, but given that her situation had been rather odd as well, she should not have been surprised.

It was stupid, really, on how it all began.

After living in the Ancient Capital her whole life, the moment the opportunity presented itself for her to be able to study in the East Capital, she seized it and never looked back. Sure, she got a bit homesick at times, but more importantly, she had her freedom.

It was not known to all that she was from an old samurai clan, and a conservative one at that.

Which meant that everything she did was scrutinized, from the way she dressed to where she studied. As such, she went to one of the few 'Super Science High Schools' in the country from elementary until high school, and her family, albeit reluctantly to allow her to pursue higher education, expected her to go to the equally elite Kyoto University, if only to keep an eye on her.

Instead, she opted to enroll at the University of Tokyo, specifically, to a course that she had been interested in ever since she could read a book: the Liberal Arts, with her specialization being Japanese history. Ironic, as she had been subjected to math and science most of her life, only for her to pursue a degree in the arts.

Not that her family had been against it, but they were rather disappointed that she was going to university when she could have simply gone through a marriage meeting in order to get married soon after her high school graduation.

The last thing she wanted was to become a pawn to her family, which was why she opted to be as physically distant from them as she could possibly achieve. It was by pure luck that she managed to get a scholarship for the famed TouDai, and with her situated in Tokyo, that meant less meddling.

Sure, it made year-end family gatherings a little bit awkward, but it was on them, not her. She had no desire to follow their wishes; she did so once, just to please them, but it made her miserable in the end.

Never again would she allow herself to be manipulated.

Pushing aside any thought of her estranged family, she asked, "... Excuse me?"

The other person grinned before chuckling. "Oh, sorry about that. Just that… you remind me of my cousin. He's pretty knowledgeable about history too, and would probably appreciate seeing the famed Red Gate with his own eyes."

"I… see." she decided not to tell the stranger that the ancestors of her childhood friend had a connection to this Red Gate [1], lest it invited more talk. It wasn’t everyday that some stranger came up to you to discuss about Japanese history, and no matter how much she wanted to stop and chat, it simply wasn’t done upon the first encounter. "Well then, if you'll excuse me…"

"Sorry for the sudden outburst though." The man scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "You a junior?"

She nodded tentatively, which made the man grin. "Nice, I'm a junior too. Komaba Campus, yeah? Guess I'll see you around."

She found herself nodding again before turning away, heading back to the station.

"Itou Narumi!"

She stopped in her tracks and looked back at the man, who was now grinning widely at her. “I’m Itou Narumi.” he repeated. “Nice to meet you.”

Despite her hesitation, she found herself smiling a bit. "Tamura Aki. Nice to meet you."

----------

While their initial meeting had been rather unusual, she quickly became friends with Narumi. It turned out that happy-go-lucky man was such a people-person that he had made friends with everyone in their year in no time, though curiously, he somehow chose to spend most of his time with her whenever possible. Of course, that brought about rumors regarding their relationship being more than friends, but he had been quick to tell her that she was, in his opinion, better off with his cousin.

As to who that cousin was, she had no clue, other than said cousin did not reside in Tokyo, and was a year older than both of them. When she pressed her classmate for more details about this cousin of his, all he did was smirk.

“In due time, my friend. In due time.” the words sounded ominous, but to her, it was simply typical of master showman Itou Narumi to keep people in suspense.

Which was why she was now in a Shinkansen bound for Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture as soon as her summer break started; her original plan was to attend the Sendai Tanabata, held yearly during the 6th until the 8th of August, but somehow, somehow, Narumi had managed to convince her to make changes to her plan and, instead, head over to Sendai a few days before the start of the festival. She protested over the lack of funds; the cost of a Shinkansen ticket was no joke, nor were the hotel prices. A yearly event like Sendai Tanabata surely meant that the cost of the lodging would skyrocket, but her friend told her that she did not have to worry too much about her lodging. Rather, she could stay over at his family’s place in Sendai, which she had declined initially until he pestered her to simply accept her blessings. In the end, she reluctantly accepted the offer, though making a mental note to simply go back to Tokyo just in case the arrangements did not fall through and took a turn for the worst.

“Oh, and if you didn’t know, the place’s actually very near Zuihoden; you can be there as soon as it opens at 9.”

And that was how she fell for the scheme, hook, line, and sinker.

While most of the people she knew had known about her interest in history, what they were not aware of was that she was one of them, namely, a rekijo.

Calling her a ‘female history buff’ was still too kind; rather, she was obsessed with simply one man who made his mark in history.

While she did not go to the extremes of living, speaking, and breathing anything related to pre-Edo period, the way she was obsessed with learning and reading about her favorite warlord was another story. Every new book and magazine that featured him, without fail, she would buy it and read it, even if the information on said book had been something that she already knew. After all, she knew she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she overlooked anything related to him.

As to who her favorite warrior was, it was the One-Eyed Dragon of the North, Date Mutsu no Kami Masamune, the man who founded the city she was to visit.

Upon admitting this tidbit to her new friend and explaining why she was going to all three days of Sendai Tanabata, a smile that she could only describe as ‘scheming’ made its way to Narumi’s face before saying, “... I see. Well then, your Sendai trip should be interesting, yeah? Why not stay longer? I’m sure my cousin wouldn’t mind entertaining you.”

If it was only possible to cancel the trip, but the history buff in her was screaming at her not to, and to even take this as an opportunity to have the best Tanabata experience possible. She was never one to join festivals, especially since it was always humid in the summer. Besides that, she always had a part-time job lined up for a few weeks during summer vacation as she had bills to pay and money to save up. It took her two long years to save up for this trip, and she would rather not let the moment pass her by.

… That, and it would be totally embarrassing if she cancelled out on her friend, who had actually managed to convince his cousin to tour them around Sendai and the spots around the prefecture. Narumi, it turned out, had gotten the same cousin to agree to house her for the duration of her stay, and for free. When she asked why she had to stay at a total stranger’s place instead of his family home, it was then he told her that while he had been born in Miyagi Prefecture, he and his family moved to Hokkaido and settled at Date City. [2]

To her own embarrassment and shame, she then couldn’t help but quiz him about the city he grew up in, as it was related to the Date clan. Thankfully, her friend was more than happy to tell her about the history of the place.

“Honestly, you’re the only one I know who actually wanted to hear about where I grew up. Mention ‘Hokkaido’, and everyone just assumes that you’re from Sapporo.”

She shrugged. “I’ve read about Date City and didn’t want to assume, so I thought it would be better to ask you directly instead of making my own conclusions.”

He nodded solemnly. “You’re awesome as always, Acchan!”

While, at first, she was not very fond of the nickname, she realized that Narumi-kun didn’t call her by that to make fun of her. Growing up, a majority of people made fun of her and her name, mockingly calling her ‘Megohime’ whenever she starts blabbering about Sengoku Period history related to her favorite warlord or when they find out the characters to her name.

“No wonder you’re so fond of that warlord; you’ve even named yourself after his wife! Just how obsessed are you, really?” [3]

For the most part, people assumed that her name was her alias when, in fact, it was her real name. Narumi, to her own surprise, asked her how her name was read, even after seeing the way she wrote it.

Now that she thought about it, Narumi was truly a nice guy; at first, it seemed really suspicious as to why he would go out of his way to be so nice to her, even if they became friends recently. 

Then again, he's always been like that to everyone.

Quickly relieving herself of distracting thoughts, she began to reread the list of places she would like to visit while she was in Tohoku. Now was her chance to truly visit the place she had always dreamed of; the very region her favorite warlord had ruled… just thinking about it was enough to make her want to scream in happiness.

She reached her destination a little before noon, and immediately after exiting the Shinkansen, the university student took a photo of the sign that indicated the station name, trying her best not to either burst into tears or simply scream.

She still could hardly believe the fact that she was finally here.

In Sendai.

“Don’t you start breaking down on me here.”

She hardly had any time to gasp as soon as she realized that Itou Narumi was now walking towards her, and had went out of his way to pay the platform ticket [4] just to see her.

“Why are you even here?!” she could barely keep her surprise down.

“Been messaging you for ten minutes. Guess you were too giddy to reply back? We’re not even at the castle ruins yet!” upon hearing his teasing, her face flamed, knowing that he spoke the truth.

Unable to counter what he had said, she proceeded to hit him on the arm, prompting him to yelp in surprise and in shock.

“... Come on, let’s just go okay. I bet your cousin’s waiting for us.” with that, she began walking towards the exit, eager to begin her exploration of the region.

With her back turned, she missed the calculating smirk on her friend’s face.

“Yes, he’s so looking forward to meeting you.”

----------

If only publicly throttling and assaulting his cousin wasn’t a crime, he would have done so as soon as Shigezane made it out of the ticket gates.

Despite being younger by a year old, his now soon-to-be disowned cousin was such a sleaze that he could not believe he got outsmarted by this… this… schemer.

Date Masamune being uncomfortable with women was the biggest understatement of the year within his family, and the fact that there was a woman trailing behind Shigezane was the biggest indicator that this happened to be the very person he had to take care of during her entire stay in Sendai.

Inwardly, he cringed, irritated at the fact that he assumed that the ‘buddy’ Shigezane mentioned over at LINE was male. While he wanted to blame the other man for the situation he was currently in, Masamune knew that the burden fell to him to confirm all the details. He had been so busy lately that it was highly likely that he overlooked the messages. That, or Shigezane seemed to have been intentionally been vague and rather pushy that he had no other choice but to agree just to get him to stop spamming their LINE chat.

Typical of Shigezane to use his so-called “persuasion skills” to force the other person to simply give in.

Resisting the urge to roll both of his eyes, he sized up the person who was to be his house guest for the next few days.

Surprisingly, up close, she was a rather small thing, the top of her head barely reaching his cousin’s chin. While he was no fashion expert, even from his good left eye, he noticed that her hairstyle reminded him of how women from the Heian Period, who kept it very long, but the hair on the sides of her cheeks were cut short.

… Not that she had a face similar to the Heian Period women depicted on those scrolls.

She looked… well, she was definitely a looker in that blue-green summer dress and short-sleeved cardigan, if he had to admit it. With eyes the color of ruby and her burgundy locks cascading just above the middle of her back, Shigezane’s… whoever she was, she was guaranteed to catch a man’s attention, himself included, even though he was no good in dealing with her kind.

She had seemed rather soft-spoken when she bowed at Kojuro after Shigezane did the introductions. To his surprise, she seemed to refer to his cousin by a different name, one that he couldn't quite catch.

Before he could ponder on it further, Shigezane interrupted his thoughts.

“Masa! Sorry for the wait! My buddy’s here now!” it was hard to miss the cheeky grin on his cousin’s face. “She spent her time on the platform taking photos of the ‘Sendai Station’ signboard like a tourist!”

He also did not miss the glare she aimed at her cousin, who was either oblivious or was simply ignoring her anger.

Inwardly, he shook his head and sighed, knowing that since he had to honor his promise, he might as well steel himself for the upcoming chaos.

“I’m Masamune.” he said, bowing at the girl.

Curiously, her face lit up. “ ‘Masamune’? Is your name written the same way as — ”

For some reason, he felt annoyed upon hearing where her query was going. While he was aware that there were many ways to write the name, still, hearing it from her was enough to stir something in him other than indifference.

“Yes, I write my name the same way as the Date Masamune.” [5] he said curtly, not wanting to explain further.

Like his more famous ancestor before him, he was named thus, which he thought was not a bad thing… though it got annoying when even his right eye had somehow tried to imitate the first lord of the Sendai Domain. While the issue with his eye was not due to smallpox, he felt uncomfortable about it, which was why he chose to cover his affected eye with part of his hair and, at times, a medical eyepatch.

To his surprise, a smile made its way to her face. “That is such a cool name. Nice to meet you, I’m Aki.”

He ignored the way his chest warmed upon seeing her smile. “Let’s head out before we run out of parking space at the museum.” Masamune found himself saying before turning around to head for the parking lot.

“Museum? Seriously? Her first time in Sendai, and you’re thinking of bringing her to the museum?” came Shigezane’s unfiltered commentary. “That’s boring and you know it!”

“Got any better ideas?” Kojuro asked curtly, sounding rather exasperated that the carefully planned schedule was being challenged by the very person who asked for a favor.

“I don’t mind going to the museum.” Aki said, seemingly sensing the tension in the air. “I think it’d be great to learn more about Sendai! I mean, we are off to Sendai City Museum [6], right?”

“We are.” Kojuro confirmed. “I trust that you don’t object to that, Tamura-san?”

“Of course not.” he heard her say in affirmation. “I’d love to see the history of this city! Anything goes, really!”

Despite his misgivings about this woman, he found himself admiring her, if only just a little. They’ve only met, after all, and who knows what kind of woman she really was underneath all the politeness. His own mother had been loving and kind until she found out about the condition of his right eye; despite modern-day explanations that there was nothing wrong with it, she clung to old-fashioned beliefs that he had been cursed by their ancestors.

… Now’s not the time to think about that.

He needed a change of pace and a change of scenery; he was on his final year in the university, and had been pushing himself too hard. Upon the advice of Kojuro, he decided to actively join the festivities for this year’s Tanabata. As heir of the Date clan, he had been tasked by his father to tour a group of tourists from overseas around Zuihoden, his famous namesake’s mausoleum complex [7]; while he was uncomfortable with public speaking, he knew he had to overcome this. Someday, he would be giving out lectures about his family to the general public, and the sooner he became more comfortable with his clan duties, the better.

“Are you all done talking? Let’s get moving.” upon looking back to see if everyone was following suit, he noticed that she was carrying her backpack and pulling along her rather large-sized suitcase. Upon seeing the sight, he found himself frowning.

Walking over to her, he said, “Give me that.”

“I’m fine—” just when she was about to protest, he cut her off and grabbed the trolley handle of her suitcase. “Uhhh…”

“Forgive my cousin for forgetting that he is supposed to be a gentleman and should be carrying your stuff for you.” Masamune then directed a glare at his cousin, who at least looked a bit less smug after getting called out for his mistake. “Your backpack, if you don’t mind.”

“I’m good.” she said, shaking her head. “I can carry this at least.”

“Very well. Let’s stop wasting time here.” pulling her roller suitcase behind him, he began to head for the rooftop parking.

----------

Shigezane found himself smirking as soon as his cousin’s back was turned. Beside him, Kojuro was frozen on the spot, unable to process what he had just seen.

Not that he could blame him; Katakura Kojuro served as Masamune’s guardian and mentor since childhood, and knew very well that Masamune could not abide women. And yet, the heir to their clan had been cordial, polite even, and to a woman he had only met for the first time. There was still some awkwardness to the way Masa conducted himself towards Acchan, but that was a start at least.

“... Is this what you meant when you said you’d be going home for the summer holidays?” Kojuro asked in a soft voice as both of them followed the two from a distance. “I was surprised to hear that you wanted to visit Sendai in summer, when we all know that you’d rather go back to Hokkaido and escape the summer heat in Tokyo.”

Instead of denying it, Shigezane figured that he might as well spill the beans to the older man. After all, his plan of setting up his cousin and his new friend wouldn’t go as planned if Kojuro kept trailing after Masamune like a mother hen.

“You’d never believe me on this, but Tamura Aki is the perfect girl for Masa!”

As expected, Kojuro sighed in exasperation. “... Are you serious?”

It was his turn to sigh in exasperation. “Why wouldn’t I be serious about this?”

“You manipulated her into going here just to meet Masamune-sama?!” Kojuro asked, irritation evident in his voice. “That is low, even for you.”

It was his turn to get angry at the accusation. “Excuse me, but Acchan wanted to attend the Sendai Tanabata; all I did was steer her to Masa’s direction. Wouldn’t it be great if they get along?!”

“This is highly inappropriate—”

“Oh please, Kojuro, we both know that deep within your heart, you want him settled with a good woman and take care of his babies in the future like a doting grandma.” for the second time that day, he ignored the glare aimed at him, though he grinned widely at the embarrassed flush that made its way to the man’s cheeks. “Just your luck, she’s perfect for him.”

When even his childhood guardian did not look convinced, he added, “She doesn’t know anything about the clan, nor our families.”

“You both are from TouDai, are you not? How does she not know?”

“I never told her; I go by ‘Itou Narumi’ [8] in school, and she doesn’t suspect that we’re related to the Date clan of the old Sendai Domain.”

At this, Kojuro simply shook his head, as if to give up trying to process whatever it was that he was saying; which meant that, for now, it was his victory.

“So please, could you not get in their way, at least, until she and I leave for Tokyo?”

Shigezane knew that Kojuro was torn; it was a gamble, as it was not known at this point if his ward and a strange woman would actually get along. Not to mention, the possibility of her being a gold digger and hurting Masamune was something that the member of the Katakura clan was mulling upon.

Shigezane directed a prayer to his ancestors to, for once, enlighten the old man and allow him to let go of his overprotectiveness towards Masamune, albeit temporarily.

It was on the tip of his tongue to say that Masamune wasn’t as fragile as he thought he was, until Kojuro beat him to it.

“... I will humor you just this once, and will allow your friend to be close to Masamune-sama during her stay here. However, one suspicious move from her, and I send her back to Tokyo, along with you.” Kojuro leveled his gaze at him, and for once, Date Shigezane felt as if he was a toddler again, as the look in the older man’s eyes felt eerily similar to his childhood days whenever he was scolded for getting into trouble.

Still, if the gamble paid off…

“Don’t you worry, old man, you’ll like her.” ignoring the eye twitch in the other man’s eye upon hearing the word ‘old man’, Shigezane grinned. “In no time at all, Masa’s gonna fall in love with her, and you’ll have babies to take care of!”

“... You’d better be right about this, or I’ll never forgive myself.”

----------

Notes:

[1] Red Gate - called the 'Akamon'. Tokyo University's main Hongo campus used to be the residence of the Maeda clan in Edo (Tokyo).

[2] Date City - located in Hokkaido. Members of the Date-Watari clan (Shigezane's descendants) moved to Hokkaido during the Meiji period. There is a museum in Date city that displays Date Shigezane's armor.

[3] “No wonder you’re so fond of that warlord; you’ve even named yourself after his wife! Just how obsessed are you, really?” - Date Masamune’s legal wife’s name is Megohime (愛姫).

[4] Platform ticket - when you want to see someone off at the train station and want to go past the ticket gates, you'll need a platform ticket to go in.

[5] Date Masamune’s name - It’s written as 政宗. There are actually eleven ways to write the name ‘Masamune’ in different kanji.

[6] Sendai City Museum - as the name implies, it's a museum within the city of Sendai that tells the history of the city. At times, the museum displays rare items related to Date Masamune or to the Date clan.

[7] Zuihoden - mausoleum complex where Date Masamune is buried.

[8] Itou Narumi - Date Shigezane’s name (伊達成実) can also be read as such, as shown in the game’s event story.

----------

Welp, I started writing for Date Masamune too.

First fanfic for him, and I was bold enough to even try a modern-day AU setting; I guess this is what happens when you keep on visiting Sendai and doing fanfic research while you’re there...? I love Sendai a lot though, which is why I keep coming back whenever I get a chance to do so.

I’ve set Masamune’s MC’s name to be Tamura Aki (田村 愛姫), with the kanji for her first name being similar to Megohime’s, though only read differently. I chose the family name ‘Tamura’, as Tamura was the clan that Megohime belonged to before marrying Date Masamune.

Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter!

[thegreatpikminzx789]

Etrian Odyssey Nexus - Overall Thoughts

Amidst all of the plotting and playing of Nexus, I never done a legit review of a game, so I figured I’d give it a try with the recent entry in the EO series, Etrian Odyssey Nexus.

The following will contain spoilers for the game, so if you have not played it, you have been warned.

The favorite thing I’ve recently played the thought with, ever since I touched EOIV was creating a party that felt attached to the world they lived in, and can develop more to the plot than being nameless members who merely want to clear Yggdrasil for fame or fortune. And with a grand total of nineteen classes, along with the pseudo-class of Vampires, and it’s a combination of characters you’d never thought would happen to meet up unless told through stories.

EOV sort of felt that way to me, but even the two remakes of the first two Etrian Odyssey games have a more balanced party that makes you feel attached to them than your own in some cases.

If you wanted to recreate the Hexer, there’s a way. If you wanted to use a few of EO3′s classes even if you have not played the original game, you can do so. You can even replicate the Hoplite class if you subclass the Protector with the Highlander! The amount of classes can make almost any class combinations possible, given you set things up correctly. Heck, the Vampire can even be of use against the Dinogator, given you know what you’re doing.

The fact that this game also has NPC’s that interact with you reminds me of EOIV greatly. Sure, only one really joins you for the first floor, and for the boss of that labyrinth if you allow her to, but there’s enough interaction that makes them feel more noteworthy, even if they merely travel beside you and give you small benefits.

The story is quite interesting as well- two sides (the Seafarers and the Maginians) wanting to find the ultimate treasure that supposedly grants ‘eternal prosperity’. Only to find out said eternal prosperity may not be all that it may seem. There were legitimate moments where I thought things were going to go wrong if I didn’t do something to stop it.

Apart from a few times I gotten a game over, I had an enjoyable playthrough of the main story, especially with my first attempt at defeating the final boss after things seemed to go badly.

Heck, even Makiri and the Forest Folk were such a cool thing to have in Lemuria. And hearing the Lost Shinjuku music in their village is giving me such major EOU flashbacks, I honestly wish we can have an EO game where Forest Folk can be an actual race that can be used for classes.

Now, with every good thing, there’s always a few things I hated. Not that I have to like everything, coming from a gamer/author’s perspective, but there were things that legit bugged me a bit.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Rob when he actually opened up more, but honestly, seeing him telling my characters to just end themselves was really making me want to just put down the game and despise him for all that he stands for. It just irks me whenever a character, or anyone really, tells another to end their life because things would be better for this particular person. That line will always bug me whenever I see him, but I persevered and enjoyed him for what he is.

Kvasir, Kvasir, Kvasir... Even with his hard to pronounce name, he turned out to be waaaaay different when I first met him. His voice is alright, but I really wish he didn’t have to have this creepy personality, and the fact that he admits a few times that he stripped his clothes and getting banned for being nude. I never hated a barkeeper before, but Kvasir takes the number one place in my characters to never mention list. If there was an option to head to a different barkeep/quest giver in game, I would’ve been MORE than content with Kirtida or Cass than listening to this lame excuse of a bartender!

Also the lack of EOV content, aside from two classes and a plethora of enemies and one boss from the game, kinda hurts me a bit, but there’s always DLC portraits to remedy the good old times of EOV. Hell, maybe even the only remaining Arken could’ve been a much more better fit for Lemuria’s Yggdrasil Tree resident, considering the almost out of nowhere reveal of the “Yggdrasil Girl” that was name dropped on ya in the credits, and only appears for the info-dump and True Jormungandr segment.

I know the Arken are considered aliens and are the most plot-confusing things ever since the revelation thrown at you after the Eternal Tyrant boss, but honestly, I find Arken to be more pleasing in terms of design, instead of having to look at a physical-almost-nude-representation of the Yggdrasil Tree itself. In fact, I don’t think it’s ever mentioned how the tree even MANAGED to make a physical form of it’s conscious. It’s just irritating to think of, and I had always wondered when she’ll physically appear whenever her voice clips played. Guess that’s another change to my Nexus series. Just change Arken to be the resident of the Yggdrasil Tree in Lemuria, and you’d have at least one character that isn’t stupid to try and explain what happened in the not-originating-from-EO3-dungeon, the Abyssal Shrine, instead of saving it all for the freaking 5th floor, like what EOV did in its sixth labyrinth. >_>

Hell, even the Abyssal Shrine IS a basic copy-paste of the Empyreal Bridge! No actual plot dump until you reach the final floor! Seriously, this dungeon could’ve been better. Even as someone who has not seen the original Abyssal Shrine, I would’ve loved to see it remodeled. Given the boss theme and the Abyssal Princess’ naming alone, that was such a missed opportunity...

Moving on... I knew Blót was going to be the antagonist the moment I connected the little bell with a class that appeared in EO1 and EO2. But the twin plot twist was something I certainly didn’t expect, and it’s a shame we only see him so much without the Hexer robes and he tries so hard to be so secretive that there’s barely any opportunities to know him or his twin brother that well (who I’m also assuming may be named Blót, considering the Hexer twin Blót dies to Jormungandr, while the Hero Blót gets thrown into the Abyssal Shrine).

Honestly, with this twin plot twist in mind, this certainly makes one idea for a saga of Yggdrasil’s Nexus to be a fun trip to write, given I am given time to do so. Blót is one of those characters that had a missed opportunity to be more explained, both in terms of his twin brother, and for the thought of reviving Jormungandr to begin with. The inner author within me is going to have a little fun with Blót, in hopes of explaining more than what the game tried to convey to its best. (Also missed an opportunity for a Hero/Hexer fight with Blót and his twin brother, like, come on, how can you play Towering Pair and NOT borrow the Ren/Thlatchga fight to make it more interesting?)

Also, Artelinde. Why was she here? I ignored her the first time I saw her and thought “Hey, that’s a nice character, I wonder who she is”. Having gotten around to playing EO2U sometime later in my life, I found myself questioning why she was even here. The game could’ve shed some light on what happened between EO2/EO2U to justify her being here, but it doesn’t... And it just begs why she had to be here other than representation for EO2.

Murdered tons of people all to protect a former guild member turned monster thanks to the Overlord? NOPE, no extending redemption arc/back story for you! You get relegated to being a martyr like character! Ugh... I really wanted to hear her struggles of redeeming herself for what she did, but I guess that idea never made it into the plot draft of Nexus... <_>

Things I disliked aside, the only thing I found myself being neutral on was Enrica.

Despite the massive flashbacks to Camilla from Fire Emblem If/Fates with her fan service boob appeal, I felt she really could’ve been different and not act like a child upon first meeting her. Heck, she’s even a freaking Farmer in-game, if her luck with finding items is any indication. How the heck does a character that has the coding of a Farmer LOOK like that, let alone have plot relevance? I was expecting a Sovereign at least because she mentions ‘becoming a queen’ once she goes back to her homeland, but nope. A freaking FARMER.

Sigh

I don’t hate her that much, she’s just one of those “meh, I can deal with this” type of character.

My overall thoughts are that there’s a strange balance of good and bad things I don’t like in this game. Sure, I wish there could’ve been more classes, some more things explained/justified, and an actual English dub to boot, but the need to get this out before the 3DS era of games come to a close is rather understandable. Even without Mystery Dungeon 2 being able to make it over to the West, this is a great dedication to the series Etrian Odyssey has made itself out to be, and I am personally glad to have bought the game and gotten myself into the series.

This is one game that sends off the EO series on a good note, and though I’ll miss mapping out the maps when the next installment arrives, I’ll be glad to see, make, and enjoy the story of the lore that goes into the Etrian Odyssey series.

[mikazukikannagisjourney]

Spiritual Log October 16, 2019

Subtitle: Various healing tones for pretty much anything

Hi everyone, how are you all again? I hope you're all doing great. But if you're having tummy issues like yours truly here, and your eating habit is still normal, it's possible that

1. You're a generator whose stomach was starting to clear up,

2. You're starting to undergo major energetic shifts, or

3. Both 1 and 2.

Either way, congratulations! You're well on your way towards healing and raising your consciousness and awareness levels. Don't let it get into your head though, these things aren't fun and believe me when I say that despite the magical stuff, I sometimes wish I was still dead asleep because I get more and more sensitive to so many stuff. Like the recent super-typhoon in Japan, like the name HAGIBIS in Tagalog literally means "super-duper ultra fast-moving and strong" and it has winds as strong as Haiyan, which we had here in the Philippines a while ago and that was strong AF, like I live somewhere in the north and the typhoon went to the southernmost part of the country but the strong winds were still very evident where I lived. The anxious vibes due to the strong typhoon went straight to my solar plexus and it just felt horrible, so I had to lay down for what feels like forever until the full moon popped up. (still sending Reiki to Japan and where I am right now because why not, every energetic movement counts)

Anyways, with that out of the way, let's move on to the topic on hand: Healing tones! I am super passionate about this stuff, I swear by it, as well as a whole bunch of other people in the rest of the world too. Even the early indigo children who are now probably in their 70s or even 80s had a go at it during the psychedelic era because hey, it was a freaking spiritual boom and so many methods got discovered. And now that the stuff's going mainsteam-ish, I would like to give my 2 cents on this topic.

Stuff I listen to: Binaural beats, isochronic tones, solfeggio tones, subliminals and boosters, singing bowls, tingsha bells, gongs, guided meditations, some singing chants (for Kundalini Yoga meditations)

How did this came about? Well, some years ago, during the early years of my awakening (which I used to call my darkest times, well, it was my first and major Dark Night of the Soul so yeah) I suffered from a really, really horrible backache, not only was the pain shootingly extreme but I also lost mobility from my waist all the way down to my feet. Like a power switch for my legs were turned off. So I couldn't stand, and it was very painful especially when sitting and squatting for releasing bodily fluids. I had to pee standing up, and because I couldn't squat, dumping the #2 was limited to twice a week. It was very horrible because as an anally-fixated person who HAS to do it daily, it sucked. Not that I can eat much though, I was sleeping most of the time due to painkillers so no time to eat. Of course, I tried my best to get up as much and walk and move just to rehab myself (I was pretty much a bum because I wasn't paid from the past work that I did so no moolah for rehab and physical therapy and it was DIY mode again) but the pain was very, very unbearable. If you know how it feels when you slit your wrists (trigger! Sorry!) or if you have your period cramps (gah!) well transfer those kinds of pains in your lower back all the way down your feet, then magnify the pain intensity to about 100x, then shut off your ability to walk, then any form of lower body movement just hurts. Best 6 months of my life, plus the annual flare-ups ever since. My only escape from the pain were my medications, which weren't OTC and were actually quite regulated. Unfortunately I had to be weaned from the drugs about 3 weeks in because of the cash issues and the fact that I was taking in a substance that was closely-related to morphine so yeah, you get my point.

I had to find some sort of alternative one way or another, because that's what happens when you're desparate as fudge. By synchronicity, I came across solfeggio tones as well as binaural beats for cellular regeneration and pain relief, respectively. I listened to those tracks nightly for a good 2 months straight just to get some sort of comfort, and I was able to walk properly and stand, even sit for a good 20 minutes per day since the 1st week that I started. Unfortunately I pushed my luck too much after getting cocky in the 2nd month of healing so I had to go back to taking drugs while also listening to the track. Me and my dumbass ego lol But anyway...

During the time, I also accidentally downloaded a lucid dreaming track though, and that got me really hooked with the sound healing thing. Because of that track, I started learning how to do wake-induced lucid dreaming (WILD), I got to walk a lot again, experience no pain, and became a bit more spiritual. Of course I was still unaware that I was awakening, and as usual I kept ignoring my intuit on starting a meditation practice so I was stuck in there for another 2 years or so. By the time I realized fully that I was, and had been awakening since I was 24 years of age, I was already full of effing regrets for not taking the call seriously, I wasted a very long time in my Dark Night 1.0 and was plunged into Version 2.0, which was a lot more gory and horrible, apart from the ramped-up anxiety with depression and the fun painful flareups every now and then.

Of course, now I know that the flareups were due to my extremely contracted lower chakras, especially the root chakra. If you're asking me why I thought the pain was metaphysical, well it's not exactly fun being in extreme pain while going to the orthopedic clinic, then getting expensive imaging modalities and getting UNREMARKABLE results. I just couldn't stand the fact that I was in extreme pain and the docs can't find anything. It sucked. That shit took me like a good 4 years before I was able to connect all the dots. It sucked but also it was my fault for not following my nagging thoughts on meditating. Now I regularly listen to any healing tone and meditate even for 11minutes a day, so now most of my pains and sometimes my depressive states get managed a bit better, but the empath part still sucks (though that's another topic altogether lol).

Ok, so what's the point in all of these?

Well, for starters, having these experiences made me realize better why everything was energy, I mean, soundwaves literally helped me heal my pain and my lower back, and as far as I know it was all due to resonance of frequencies. If I wasn't made up of energy I won't even experience any relief and comfort. It was, and still is an exciting thing for me because after a considerable number of years listening to various healing tones, I am still sane-ish, somewhat, in an insane world.

So if you're looking for non-invasive alternatives for healing, I highly recommend healing tones. You can purchase them or just go to video-hosting sites, but of course you have to also tailor-fit them to your needs. Like if you're having sleeping issues, start with a calming track, or if you're in pain try the binaural or isochronic tones for killing pain. You can even improve your subconscious beliefs, activate your DNA, or become even more attuned to subtle energies because some tracks have intent, energetic transmissions, as well as subliminal messages in them. I won't be posting about subliminals and boosters here though, that's another topic worth vomiting words for lolz but I will, probably sometime after this post.

Well, I hope this post had some value for you, even if it just entertained you lol. But really, I take healing quite seriously as well as personal development ever since I can remember, so if you feel like you need to amp up yourself, then please do. Your soul and the whole collective will definitely benefit from it, especially in these chaotic times. Us woke people must be healed fully so we can be better way-showers to others who are also starting to awaken, like seriously think about the time when we were waking up and we had zero clues about it. At the very least, we can help one person ease through it, somehow. Don't feel bad though, we were built to shovel the snow away from the roads so others can pass through, and I think that's a wonderful gift we can give. Plus it's free lolz.

I pray you find the healing you seek.

Wishing you all the love and hugs from Source above,

三日月🌙

Mikazuki

PS. If you found the information in this post to be very helpful, insightful, and of great value to you and your own personal journey, please feel free to reblog, share and heart/like, or if you feel super-generous, energetic exchanges are welcomed! Please click here and use this email address: may_chan_otaku@yahoo.com

Thank you so much and be blessed!

[bookishplays-blog]

some advice

so, you’re joining the hamilton fandom and want to produce content? great!! scared of the unofficial etiquette in this mess? let me help. (disclaimer: this is an UNOFFICIAL guideline. i’m aware that this fandom is a problematic mess that’s full of discourse and the only adult ones tend to be actual legal adults. don’t fuckin @ me saying that hur durr i’m wrong and should rot in hell. this is based off personal experience.)

-SHIPS •Most pairings are accepted. The main ones are Hamilton/Laurens, Hamilton/Burr, Hamilton/Eliza, Jefferson/Madison, Jefferson/Hamilton, Washington/Lafayette, Maria/Eliza (or any Schuyler sister rly) and Mulligan/Lafayette. These usually have the most content, but also contain the most discourse. There’s also some major minor character ships out there; Lee/Seabury, Lee/KG3, Seabury/KG3 etc. I found Eacker/Philip H smut once. This fandom is literally the reason why Rule 34 exists. If it exists, there is porn of it. •Polyamorous ships are widely accepted. I don’t ship any personally, but a few big ones are Hamilton/Eliza/Laurens, Laurens/Hamilton/Lafayette/Mulligan, Hamilton/Jefferson/Madison, etc. Basically, a lot of people like the idea of Hamilton’s cheating being converted into a happy, consensual relationship that’s polygamous, and that’s okay. (Please note I’m not equating cheating with polyamory. Hamilton being a dirty cheater doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with poly ships if you don’t want, but to me it seems particularly common, especially with the ships containing Hamilton and Eliza.) •And I know you want to ask; what’s not accepted? Hard question. This fandom loves its angst, so there aren’t many ships that seem untouchable. For the love of God, though, don’t write anything that’s incestuous. I’m talking father/son, sibling/sibling. Don’t make any of Hamilton’s kids end up with the characters in the show. No, Washington/Hamilton doesn’t count as incest, although I personally can’t stand it. •BASICALLY, don’t be a dick. Also, bear in mind that James Reynolds is the Umbridge of this fandom. If you portray his relationship with Maria as anything less than abusive, there will be riots. I’ve yet to see an (educated) James Reynolds apologist.

-CHARACTERS

•In terms of physical appearance, this fandom is a little wishy-washy on guidelines, unofficial or no. Tip: don’t whitewash if you’re drawing/writing them as their musical characters. Just don’t whitewash in general. This fandom seems to be okay with historical-era fanart and fanfic, which usually involves the characters looking like they did historically, but don’t romanticise them. Don’t romanticise them in general, but especially if you’re making them historical-era. •SPEAKING OF ROMANTICISING, these characters were BAD PEOPLE. Jefferson owned slaves, Burr owned slaves, Washington owned slaves, the Schuylers owned slaves, evidence points to Hamilton owning at least one slave. Don’t let the Alexander apologists fool you; they were bad people historically. Don’t refer to them, ESPECIALLY I HISTORICAL CONTEXT, as ‘cinnamon rolls’. They were misogynists against the rights of women and minorities. Don’t forget that, no matter how much you like their characters. The Jefferson you like is portrayed by a black Jew; the Jefferson in history was a racist with a history of sexual assault and a slavery apologist. •KEEPING THAT IN MIND, personality-wise, what we get from the musical is a little murky. Peggy is a great example of this. Fanon Peggy is very outspoken, sarcastic and a typical millenial. In the musical, she’s shy, hides behind her older sisters and very cautious. This is because of the fact that a) Peggy’s vocals are only apparent in one song through listening alone and b) historically Peggy was very similar to fanon Peggy. THIS DOESN’T MATTER. PORTRAY THEM HOWEVER YOU THINK SUITS BEST. Don’t let the musical force you to make Eliza’s main trait be 'nice’. For all you Laurens stans out there, it’s okay to let him have interests other than art, turtles and Hamilton. Feel free to give them depth, complexities, flaws. Not only is it fucking refreshing amongst the collection of bland chatfics and high school AUs that seem to reduce each character to a single trait, it’s good for original character practice as well. •THE SCHUYLER SISTERS get their own section. If you’re doing something historical, remember that they had other siblings. It’s generally agreed that Angelica and Eliza were closest, but Angelica and Peggy and Eliza and Peggy are shown in the musical as being close too (see Angelica dancing with Peggy and hugging her in Satisfied, and Peggy helping Eliza put away her letters and being dragged along with her in Helpless and The Schuyler Sisters). Sometimes it seems that fics reduce them to plot devices, minor characters or love interests; I won’t go all 'SJW!1!1!1’ on you but they are their own people as well, and flesh them out. (This problem is not as common in artwork, since art of them tends to focus on them either as a trio or Satisfied and Helpless companion pieces starring Angelica and Eliza.) Also, fun fact that this fandom seems to have overlooked - all three of them could play instruments. -REVOLUTIONARY SET AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICANS. Things to remember include Madison and Hamilton being friends before Jefferson showed up, Jefferson and Lafayette being close, Mulligan historically being Hamilton’s biggest hypeman (oh, I wish I was kidding) and Laurens and Lafayette being close friends. As for Burr, he’s traditionally relegated to the strange outsider by the fandom. This is more of a personal view, but Burr started off as a member of the Revolutionary Set, and progressed into a Democratic Republican, and this fandom likes to forget that. -THEODOSIA JR. Theodosia is never seen, only mentioned, which basically means everything about her is fanon. Literally. The only confirmed thing about her are her parents. This means Theodosia is good for inserting an audience-type character into; she’s an empty vessel, essentially, so anything you do to her involves zero fact checking. BEAR IN MIND that Theodosia is usually shipped with Philip, and that some members of the fandom will have expectations of her. Ignore those people. Theodosia is a shell of an OC, so as long as you don’t murder her in childhood or something, there’s no real discourse you have to be wary of. (Apart from Philip/Theodosia discourse, which is apparently a thing? But there’s discourse in practically every ship, so by all means, ignore that too.) •UNMENTIONED/UNSEEN CHARACTERS. I’m talking Ben Franklin, John Adams, James Monroe, Governor Clinton, them. John Adams appears to be universally hated, John Jay is often used as a filler or plot device, and the others are just used as names. Don’t bother about continuity with them.

-SOME COMMON AU IDEAS •High School/College Modern AU. This is a big one. There are flaws in it, namely romanticising too much and relegating major characters to 'minor’ status, but it’s so widely used that it’s good to know if you’re new here. •Modern Government/Law AU. Another big one. Not as commonly used because ugh, research and maturity, but there’s a massive pro to them - more complex themes and 'child’ characters can be added because the main lot are usually older. My personal favourite. •Chatroom AU. What it sounds - no real fic, just usernames and text speak. Good for laughs or plain fights, but bad for complex emotion, fluff, angst, or major plot. Also, they clog up the tags of less major ships, especially on AO3. •Soulmate AU. A variety of soulmate AUs exist, but essentially boil down to having some kind of matching mark, etc. Amazing for angst, fluff, plot and character development, but not so great for humour or multi-chapter fics. •Domestic AUs. Exactly as they sound. Massive fluff traps, no real substance but they’re amazing if you’ve had a shitty day and need something to cheer you up. Fan favourite.

So there you go! Everything you need to know if you’re entering the Hamilton fandom, give or take a few things. Don’t bash ships, don’t romanticise them too much, and take Ron Chernow’s content with a pinch of salt (he’s known for 'not finding’ easily accessible content regarding the women of the Hamilverse). Good luck!

[anyorderofus]

The closest thing to time travel

Hi everyone,

Here we are again. Hope you’re all well!...Here we are again. Hope you’re all well! Oh! We just had déjà vu for the purposes of this blog.

Enough. We’re not here for fun, we’re here to blog. As we will be next week too, with: Too clever to be happy.

See you then please,

Alexandra & Nico| Nico & Alexandra 

ALEXANDRA 

Déjà vu is the closest thing to time travel. Has to be.

If we’re talking non-assisted time travel, that is. Otherwise, the Pensieve or, at a push, the TARDIS, would be – hands down and don’t ask silly questions. 

But as for everyday time travel, déjà vu is the closest thing to time travel and it’s fab. It is also, for those wishing for clarification: 

The strange feeling of having experienced the present situation in the past.

Little matches the sense of feeling like a mind-reading superhero that one might feel when seeing something before seeing it again whilst being confident in the knowledge that it would’ve been seen again. I don’t know about you but, sometimes I try to beat my déjà vu, try to change the course of what I know will happen next but I am yet to succeed; usually, my attempts to thwart the happenings have already been covered in my original ‘prophecy’. Yes, déjà vu can even present one with the opportunity to be one step ahead of themselves. Genius. Although, granted, this could also be the case for someone in the ownership of a time travelling device visiting the same era or event more than once and generally with déjà vu, the rule is: one round, per event.

Déjà vu allows a shared power, something we can all be a part of. It isn’t a lonely super power, like one that prevents you from being around others in order to maintain their safety. Like Midas’ power/curse.

We know we can’t be the only people to have experienced it because we have all been present to someone else shouting, ‘ohmygod, I just got déjà vu!’ at a party and, according to research, two thirds of the population* have reported experiencing it. I’m no mathematician but that’s a majority. It’s nice to feel like you’re a part of something; in this case, like being a part of a time travelling troupe. I love Dumbledore more than the next silver bearded bloke should, but he seldom shares his Pensieve and it is really only Harry and Snape that we know also know about it. A clever time-traveller, sure, but perhaps also a selfish one?

The same, I’m afraid, must be said for The Doctor. A great guy (depending on the series) but he shares his huge living quarters with only one – at a push two – other nomad every few years. Déjà vu is a great way for time travel to be experienced as a shared superpower and, what’s more, you get the treat of not knowing when it’s going to happen: the element of surprise.

To sum up, and in an attempt to make a point, in my opinion, déjà vu is the best means of time travel that we should be looking to invest in. I would argue that it is also the closest thing to time travel we have. For now. 

*It was not clear to me which one.

NICO

Welcome internet surfer, knowledge hunter and hopeful time…mover abouter. I trust you’ve either stumbled upon this blog because you know me or Alex (in which case once again…welcome back Mums, we hope you’re well), or because of this very exciting title where I will give you the quick once over of the very best ways I’ve found out of my years of research of the bending the rules of time to your advantage.

Going Forward

This is by the far the easiest. Not least because moving forward in time is inevitable, unstoppable and in every way unavoidable, but because it’s usually going much quicker than needed anyway (unless at work or waiting for something to kick in). The simplest way to leap forward is stay up too late the night before and drag yourself out of bed sickeningly early. Guaranteed by the time you need to jump forward 6-8 hours simply lean your head back and shut your eyes (hanging your jaw wide open and dribbling down your cheek isn’t compulsory but seems to be the done thing) and you’ll find yourself in the future. Sounds pretty stupid of course but how many times have you had to sit through the worst movie/play/meeting just for the sake of common courtesy? Would have been great to jump to the next day right?

Going Back

Tougher sure. Impossible most might say. Physically, of course, can’t happen, the past is there for good, you’ll sadly (or luckily in some, sort of…luckier cases?) never get it back, although what gets pretty close is drinking enough alcohol to forget what’s on the news, attach some high powered headphones to your noggin and listen to your favourite tracks from the chosen time frame and prance around like a bell-end until you fall asleep or realise that you’d forgotten all the worst things about said time period (3 day weeks in the 70s, strikes in the 80s, Noel’s house party in the 90s) and realise that you’re much better –

Staying in the Present

The most difficult in my opinion. I’m always finding myself wondering about what tomorrow will bring, (more often what I hope it doesn’t) or daydreaming about yesteryear and how much easier everything was (editing out the bad bits obviously). Oddly the least romantic of the three but in my opinion, having put both of the above into practise, this is the one that’s really worth mastering. It’s the only one than can truly be a result of the what’s been and what can define what’s to come. Focus on this one and you can make all that crap that came before mean something and you can mould the future in such a way that you’ll never want to think about living outside the present again!

Good luck minute leaper!!!!

Read above sentence carefully please. I didn’t call you a leper I promise.