#just adding some details from Keeper's side

[keeperthemultiversemom]

Peacekeeper considers Solver like a colleague and friend ! Since their role are indeed close and complementary

What is Solver relations with Peacekeeper and the Last wish????

I saw them in my tweet one day, but never found anything about their relationship

"Ah, well, I could say we are... Friends, probably... I do visit the two often as it enters in my line of work. They are both very gentle souls, so I try my best to help them when there are burdens... I think I might take the little one to finally meet them soon"

(Sorry that I don't draw that often anymore, I think I have art block)

Peacekeeper belongs to @arikihalloween

Last Wish belongs to @forbiddenseaishy

[butchlesbianmike]

Tower Tarot System Headcanons (Mike & his system)

Under the cut are my detailed headcanons for mike, his backstory, and details about his alters. Note that i've changed some 'canon' stuff and added a few new alters.

TW: There will be mentions of Parental Abuse such as neglect and implied physical and emotional violence. There will be mentions of Sexual Abuse relating to Mike & Vito.

Keeper

• System Aware • One of the main Gatekeepers. More of a state of consciousness than an alter. Not sure how to explain it even as a system myself but basically more of a concept and a fragment? It is not really an alter that another alter could just come up to or interact with. • Was created by the horrid neglect and abuse endured at the end of the system's mother which from a young age made clear they would not be able to function without amnesic barriers separating states of consciousness/ego states.

Lucia:

• 5 - she/her - System Unaware, became dormant until Mike went to therapy. She then became system aware. • Alter i created for their system. Sarah is a child alter and technically the first host the system had but quickly became a rarely fronting part due to varying traumatic events between the ages of 3 and 5. Her age got frozen around 5 years old. She also stopped being host at that age after a harshly traumatic event. • System is unsure if there are other parts younger than her, she is the youngest identifiable host.

Chester:

• 56 - He/Him - System Aware - One of the gatekeepers • Split off around 4. • Introject of their grandpa on their mom side. Very important to Sarah and was very kind and took good care of the system.Their mom was incredibly neglectful and their grandpa is basically who raised them. Their mom cut contact with their grandpa after a fight between them. • Losing their grandpa alongside the constant abuse now worsening from being around their mother more did lead to a split. • Chester appears very grumpy because they found it funny whenever he would go on rambles and complain about silly things to them but also because they were hardly ever allowed to express negative emotions or frustration around their mother and so Chester became a part that held a lot of those negative emotions they didnt feel safe expressing.

Svetlana (Went by Lucia) :

• She/They - Ages with body - not quite system aware, notices things but very much normalizes them. Becomes system aware once Mike gets a girlfriend and also starts exploring gender. • Split off around 7 when their mom started signing them up for competitive gymnastics. (They were already doing gymnastics before, but competitive only started at 7). • Main cohost for a long time. Helped Sarah and Lola with learning gymnastics and handled competitions due to their mother being incredibly abusive during tournaments and competitions. • She wasnt really aware she was cohost, she felt like this was her life but she kinda saw it as like.. "oh i just feel more like myself in my element! Gymnastics is just really important to me and its where i thrive everybody say they have masks depending on if theyre at school or at home or with friends!! I guess my mask just comes off when im doing gymnastics :D". • She thought that the Russian accent was just a bit she was very dedicated to and what helped her 'get in character' for competitions. That it was just her trying hard to be like those russian gymnasts they really like on TV to feel more confident. • She always felt uncomfortable with being infantilized and felt much older, but everyone around them would say they have an old soul so she assumed that must by why. • She discovers she's a lesbian around when the body's age is 14. • She is one of the alters alongside Vito who causes Mike to realize something isn't adding up and reach out to try and get therapy. • Did not like Mike's girlfriend and actually really disliked being referred to as a guy. This was actually a main source of conflict between her and Mike and another reason Mike started feeling something was wrong because he realized that the dysphoria he got seeming more masculine or being perceived as more masculine didn't feel like it was Actually Him. • She often would be very distant and even cold to their girlfriend because she realized that they were a system and that she wasn't Mike and that actually his girlfriend was hurting them. • After therapy and system work and being acknowledged as her own alter, her relationship with Mike got a lot better and they agreed on keeping some feminine stuff for her to wear whenever she's front. • Actually really likes Zoey and tries really hard to hint that she also likes her. She and Zoey actually start dating too.

Lola (Went by Lucia):

• She/her - 10 - system unaware until she stopped being host. She became system aware when the body was 12 and that she got yonked and became more of an internal alter and very very rarely ever fronted again. She was under the care of Manitoba and Chester in the headspace. • Another system kid and previous host, she handled life from 6 to 12. • She and Svetlana were really fronting together almost all the time and switching between eachother frequently, although rarely experiencing blackouts more than greyouts. • While she was a host from ages 6 to 12, she stopped aging in the headspace at 10. • A huge part of this was due to how rocky elementary school was. They were changing schools left and right and it was really hard to keep up with all the constant changes. Around 10 she lost one of the only friends she had managed to make and due to their already fragile state, this was distressing enough to halt her development as an alter in itself. Svetlana mostly started being the main host from 10 to 12 although Lola was still there and at least cofront a majority of the time. • Starts fronting a bit more after Mike starts doing system work (Body age around 17).

Mike:

• He/They - Ages with body - First Host to become system aware. • Split off around 12 due to stress bcuz the system moved in with their dad because their mom no longer wanted to be responsible for them nor pay for their highschool necessities. • He became host because he didnt carry much of the traumatic memories related to their mom, didn't have system awareness, and was fairly functional with school and with their dad. • At first he had it a lot better than previous hosts and was one of the most stable host for a short while which made it that switching didn't frequently occur except here and there or when triggered due to x y z. • That changed about 8 months after him being host. A month before turning 13 he started figuring out that he had a crush on a girl and might be a lesbian. • Not only that but also started getting a lot of gender dysphoria, even feeling uncomfortable with a lot of his clothes and even pictures of him in his gymnastic outfits and competitions. • Nothing much came out of the crush except heartbreak which did kind of shake things up for the system. Mike felt things very profoundly and the heartbreaks of feeling like he would never find love because he likes girls destabilized the system a bit which led to more frequent switches- especially at school to continue functioning with the classmate mike had a crush on. • Around 14 Mike finds out more about things identity wise and starts thinking he might be a transmasculine butch lesbian, but isn't sure of himself because he feels his identity is very shaky and constantly changing so he settles on being genderfluid. (This confusion is mostly caused by Svetlana who also is discovering she's a lesbian btw). • At 15 is when the big bad happens for Mike. He gets his first girlfriend who happens to be older and more experienced than him. She sees him as a trans guy, even though he tries to explain he isn't. She is very forward and sexual to him, which freaks him out. She is constantly trying to see his chest and fetishize him especially when he's binding. • At 17 after a long time seeing a therapist due to the previous events, he found out he was a system and has been doing system work with his therapist for a year now. This is the same year he signs up for total drama.

Manitoba 'Jones':

• He/Him - 21 - System Aware • Split off around 13. • Introject of Henry 'Indiana' Jones from specifically 'The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'. • Chose the name Manitoba to distance himself from his source, although he finds high comfort in it. • System Historian / Internal Helper. He also frequently takes care of the syskids and takes them on adventures in the headspace. • Very rare for him to fully front but he likes to come sit around front whenever anyone watches action movies. • Is actually the one that handled breaking up with Mike & Vito's girlfriend because neither of them felt like they could and when he figured out what was going on he got very protective.

Vito:

• He/Him but later on uses any - 18 - System Aware • Split off around 15 because of Mike's girlfriend of the time. • Split off as a sexual protector and hypersexuality symptoms holder. • Sexualizes himself a lot because it makes him feel in control and desired. Feels like because 'hes a guy' it means he has to like and enjoy it bcuz thats what a real man would feel. • Gets triggered front everytime anyone in the system loses their shirt because of it creating dysphoria and PTSD. • Was actually the most heartbroken when they broke up with their shitty ex girlfriend. He loved her a lot and saw himself as her boyfriend more than Mike did, even if he knew deep down she wasn't good to them. • Is the alter that, alongside Svetlana, made Mike realize something wasn't adding up and start talking to a psychologist and getting therapy. • Started unpacking a lot of his relationship but still holds a lot of the system's hypersexuality symptoms and has a weird relationship to gender as he feels like his 'gender' as a 'guy' is affirmed through having withstood their ex' abuse and 'enjoying' it. • He is actually nonbinary but it takes him a while to figure that out and only really figures it out AFTER total drama.

Mal:

• He/She/It - Ages With Body - System Aware • Persecutor/Misguided Protector. Split off during total drama all stars. • Mal split off with the belief that to win the game you have to be selfish and self preserving and manipulative. • He feels that Mike is "Too soft" and "Too kind" to survive let alone win the game. So he decides to play it by 'their rules'. A rule that Mal perceives to be the only way to make it through. • Due to splitting off with the belief of needing to replace Mike, she actually looks very similar to him in the headspace and while she doesn't like it she finds it very easy to imitate him and sees it as a way to protect the system by imitating Mike to win the show and get everyone away. • She thinks Mike is too 'naive' and 'trusting' and Mal sees that as a weakness others in the show will exploit and abuse so he decides to distrust everyone including the people who the rest of the system feel are safe like Zoey and Cameron. • It doesn't come from a serious place of malice more than a maladaptive coping strategy where Mal is in constant survival mode and unwilling to let his guard down in case the system gets hurt and he KNOWS that its bound to happen being part of total drama. • This is reinforced by the fact that Mal split off with memories concerning their ex girlfriend and knows how deceiving people can be, especially seeing how some of the people on the show have tons of red flags that reminds her of Mike & Vito's ex. • He tries to protect the system by constantly trying to force herself front and by betraying people and playing 'the villain' so that no one will hurt them and that they have more chances to win if they're the one to strike first and he lashes out and gets angry when the system calls him out for it because he doesn't understand why they dont see what he sees. • After a lot of therapy and help from the system and Zoey and Cameron, Mal unpacks and unlearns a lot of the harmful ideas she split off with and also starts exploring herself outside of 'Total Drama'. A lot of her identity is tied as 'Mike's only hope to survive total drama' and its a lot for her to work through. • She gets on much better terms with Zoey later on, but it does take a very long time to build up that trust between them even if Zoey understands where Mal was coming from.

[falmerbrook]

Updating my ESO base game zone list (from roughly most to least favorite), adding the EP zones I'm done with (up through Deshaan), and elaborating on my thoughts for each zone and on the writing overall because I like yapping. Moving on to DLC now.

TLDR:

Grahtwood

Rivenspire

Coldharbor

Auridon

Glenumbra

Stros M'kai

Malabal Tor

Alik'r Desert

Betnik

Reaper's March

Greenshade

Stonefalls

Bangkorai

Bleakrock Isle and Bal Foyen

Khenarthi's Roost

Stormhaven

Deshaan

More detailed thoughts below (spoiler warning for these 10 year old quests):

1) Grahtwood - I would say Grahtwood and Rivenspire are tied for my favorites, with Grahtwood being all over strong while Rivenspire has a particularly strong environment and main quest. While for me most other zones maybe had a few standout quests if any, the side quests in Grahtwood were very consistently getting me invested and were fun/interesting (stand outs include: The Grip of Madness, Bosmer Insight, Keeper of Bones, The Wakening Dark, and The Unquiet Dead). The environment is just stunning too. It's one of the few base game zones where things truly feel grand and huge. I love the giant trees in this game and Grahtwood is full of them. The Bosmer towns are really cool too, and Gil-Var-Delle was very cool. I appreciate all the Bosmer lore and culture fleshed out by all the Valenwood zones, and it feels very unique compared to the other cultures fleshed out (in the base game at least).

2) Rivenspire - I love the main quest for this zone so much. The characters are more memorable, the story doesn't feel as forced (and the player's inclusion feels less forced) compared to the other zones, and the twists and emotional connection to the events are stronger. I love all the Ravenwatch characters. Verandis alone boosts my opinion of this zone. The scenery of this zone is probably one of the strongest in the base game too. Entering the zone to see the Doomcrag (A+ name btw) with the red lightning in the distance immediately got me excited for what the zone had in store (especially after the bore that was Stormhaven) and the way it sorta hangs over everything on that side of the map makes it such a strong set piece. Even beyond it, I love the gloomy and lightly gothic vibes of the zone and the Main Quest. The main reason I put it below Grahtwood is that I really didn't get invested in any of the side quests I did.

3) Coldharbor - I actually didn't realize this was going to be an entire zone, so when I first got to it I was a little put off, especially because my experience with planes of Oblivion in past games was mostly annoyance (the Deadlands and Aprocrypha), but I ended up really liking it! I liked how pretty much everything in it related to the main quest, so it made for a nice focused change of pace, and every quest relating to the same goal made me more invested in them. A lot of the quests felt more unique than the rest of the base games ones too. The scenery was really grand and cool and impressive, and the environment paired with the sound design really made the place feel uneasy and unsafe to explore (even if it wasn't really that much more dangerous than the other zones)! I also found a lot of the characters fun and likeable. Some stand out quests for me were Vanus Unleashed, The Endless War (and its follow-up quests), Special Blend, and The Soul-Meld Mage.

4) Auridon - I ended up spending a ton of time in this zone so I became pretty familiar and fond of it. The environment is so pretty and picturesque. I also liked how a lot of the side quests either related to/built on the main conflict with the Veiled Heritance or helped to elaborate on the current context of the Aldmeri Dominion. It helped the whole zone feel more cohesive. I certainly remember the quests of this zone better than most others. Razum-dar and Ayrenn are absolute treats as well!

5) Glenumbra - (bumping up) I might be a little biased in liking this zone more because it was one of my first, but I'm also pretty fond of Glenumbra. The biggest negative of it for me is that I barely followed the main quest storyline at all. It felt kinda all over the place and like different parts of it barely connected to others. However, the vibes and aesthetic are great. I love all the marshes and fog and general moodiness, which really fits a lot of the quests in ghost towns and cemeteries. I enjoy going back to Glenumbra for events and antiquities because I just like running around it (although it really suffers from having enemies on every square inch of the map, but that's an issue I've noticed to a lesser extent everywhere with the game so far). The environment is just very pretty, and a cool touch is the huge moving vines everywhere. Also, gotta say, I hate Daggerfall's layout. It's a really cool looking city and it feels more like a large city than most others in the base game, but it sucks for doing daily crafting. Overall I just had fun here.

6) Stros M'kai - So given this was the first zone I ever experienced, and I had just started Redguard right before earnestly starting ESO so it was fun going "like the one in Redguard!", I might have a bit of bias on how much I like this zone. But I am very fond of it! I found the characters of the main quest endearing and memorable (even if they and their story wasn't relevant almost at all to the rest of the DC) and the player's inclusion in the story didn't feel forced. I like the aesthetics of Port Hunding, and the desert around it just felt warm and big despite how small the map actually is.

7) Malabal Tor (after thinking about it more I'm bumping this one up a little) - I didn't really care for this one while doing it, but in hindsight, it's grown on me. I really like the lore and development of the Silvenar and Green Lady that they do in this zone, and I like how so many of the side quests help to flesh out those lore concepts and backstory beyond the main quest. It makes the storyline of the main quest for this zone feel more developed and worth getting invested in. However, I didn't really get invested in anything else very much. The scenery was pretty beautiful too.

8) Alik'r Desert - I was surprised how beautiful I found this zone given that it is a desert, but I really loved the scenery! I also liked the quests here fine enough. They weren't my favorite, but I didn't necessarily dislike them either. I liked the old Redguard temples you got to explore, and the way they implemented and introduced the Yokudan religion/gods. It was fun to engage with. This was a perfectly middle zone.

9) Betnik - I like the setting of Betnik. The rocky and foggy beaches are pretty. The history of the island is pretty interesting. in hindsight having done the first zones for the other alliances as well, I now appreciate that the characters from the Stros M'Kai main quest are here and the story is continuing with them, it feel more natural for why my character is invovled. However, I barely remember anything else from this zone, and in hindsight the environment isn't as pretty or as impressive as later zones, so I don't care too much more for it.

10) Reaper's March - This zone was very hit or miss for me. The scenery was nice, and the music stood out to me and I really liked it, but the quests and character writing was either something I really liked or something I really didn't. I loved Shazah and Khali, and while the whole concept of of the Moon Hallowed felt super contrived, I like that it gave us an opportunity to really get to know them and get invested in them. They were both charming and likeable, but it is for that reason that I was not a fan of how the main quest in this zone ended. I was looking forward to how they would handle which twin would be the Mane (or maybe push against tradition and make them both Mane or some other compromise...), but one ultimately dying felt like a stupid way to solve that issue. They could've been so much more creative with it. This feeling of enjoying parts of a questline and disliking others from some reason continued through the quests of this zone.

11) Greenshade - I wasn't a fan of the scenery in this one. Not only was it just not as cool to me, but I think I've developed a bit of a pet peeve over how everyone kept refers to it as a forest when it was clearly some kind of savanna woodland. Sorry Bosmer, that is not a forest to me. Anyway, the story and side quests for this zone didn't stick out to me at all with the exception of a few MVP characters. I liked the Wilderking quest, in part because the idea of the Wilderking is interesting (in theory, it's ok in execution) but mostly because I really liked Aranias and the story we see with her (I think it's kinda weird that the original Wilderking and her are Altmer, especially in the context of the politics around the formation of the Aldmeri Dominion, but besides that I enjoy the idea). I was got a little emotional over the very sweet short quest, The Flower of Youth, and it has really stuck out in my mind. And finally, I liked Indaenir. I found him very charming. To the extent that I was sad at his sacrifice at the end of the main quest and hyped for him when he becomes the Silvenar. Mid zone with some stand out moments.

12) Stonefalls - The story for this one baffled me a bit too much, in the sense that there were several moments where I feel like I didn't get enough explanations as to why what was happening was happening. I was truly just along for the ride. There weren't really any characters that stood out to me either. Like, I recognized them and remembered them as the kept popping up, but I wasn't invested enough in them, which is a shame, because I think the last few quests of the main zone quest would've been a lot stronger if I actually liked or felt endeared by Tanval, Garyn, and their relationship. The second half of the main quest felt drawn out and I think the writing was just kinda bad for this zone tbh (more than usual). Now, saying that, the scenery and environment for this zone was gorgeous, and the music stood out and really accentuated the mood! One of my favorites so far environment-wise. I think it felt very Morrowind-y, and I loved the mountains and the volcanoes and the land coral and the ash effects. I also love the look of the Dunmer architecture in this game, and I think it fits them well. I took so so many screenshots in this zone. I genuinely enjoyed just wandering through it.

13) Bangkorai - Nothing about this zone really caught my attention. I didn't care for the main quest, I didn't get invested in any side quests, and for me this zone feels more frustrating to navigate with how many areas as controlled entirely by enemies. It also does nothing new or interesting with the Reachmen, unfortunately. The scenery is pretty, but it is similar to everything else we've seen in the Daggerfall Covenant, so by the time I got to it it wasn't anything special. My opinion on this zone was also probably colored by the fact that at this point I just wanted to get further in the main quest. I also want to highlight this one quest, Freedom's Chains, which has a super interesting basic idea and hypothetical choice at the end, but is so horribly buggy and terribly written that it is one of 2 quests I've done so far in this game that made me angry.

14) Bleakrock Isle and Bal Foyen - I did the entirety of these in a little over an hour each, and really nothing stuck out to me. Not the characters, not the setting, not the quests, nothing. The only thing of note is that I was running around Bal Foyen at sunrise and it was very pretty, and there was a guar in Bal Foyen named Rollie.

15) Khenarthi's Roost* (I did it slowly over a few months while my hands were in pain and nothing about it stood out to me) - So there is an important context to this one, which is that I started this zone in January after the New Life Festival, but soon took a break from the game because my hand pain was really bad and I couldn't play. I attempted to play every few weeks (in this zone) and every time my hands hurt really bad, and I had forgotten what was going on. It took me months to finish this teeny zone, and I just don't have a great association with it. Outside of that bias, I just wasn't invested in the plot or characters (outside of Raz, of course), and I feel like the Maomer were uninteresting and a waste of potential. The aesthetics of the island were pretty nice, but I didn't find it as cool or pretty as most of the other zones.

16) Stormhaven My dislike of this zone was mostly circumstantial when I first played it, but in hindsight having gone back to it for other random things, I continue to dislike it. The wayshrine placement sucks. Somehow by the time I got to this zone I was already a little burnt out on all the Daedric prince involvement, and the involvement of Vaermina and her cult did nothing new or interesting. I could not bring myself to care about pretty much any quest in this zone, with the notable exception of the part at the end where you enter Emeric's dream and talk him off the ledge. I like Emeric, and I feel like this detail made it make more sense for why he can trust you so much. But other than that, it was a very mid zone. The scenery was Glenumbra but less cool in every way.

17) Deshaan - This is only below Stormhaven because of that one quest with Emeric (and maybe I'm a bit jaded right now). In a game where it feels like the Daedric Princes are invovled in every other quest, you're telling me that a questline focusing on an organization creating a plague had nothing to do with Peryite? Justice for Peryite! Speaking of, the main quest for this zone was so... what? The writing for this alliance so far has been really weak imo and this quest really exemplifies it. It's just antagonist doing miscellaneous antagonist things without a solid connection between their actions. Despite building up to the main antagonist's backstory throughout the zone, I still don't understand her motivation for just about anything she did until the last 3rd of the story, and the kinda interesting conflict of her backstory was written in the least interesting way it could be. None of the other quests stood out to me, and the environment, while fine, didn't catch my attention either. I did like that Mournhold felt larger than most of the cities in the game, and I loved how the temple looked and loomed over everything.

-

Daggerfall Covenant Overall Thoughts:

These zones were my starting zones so I was learning how the game works and doing the big main quest while going through them. I straight up can't remember whatever the overarching plot of these zones was, but I remember each zone as its own individual thing better. At the time I felt sorta meh towards it, but having done the other alliances it has grown on me because of the characters and pacing. The way you get invovled with the leader in this faction feels more natural and less contrived than the other two (and the build up to getting to that point is longer and more developed) since you have to prove yourself and work your way up the High Rock leadership to finally impress Emeric and get him to entrust you with things. You don't just do him one favor and he goes "ok I trust you with alliance secrets now", but compared to the AD it felt like the over arching story of the alliance is much much weaker and less developed. it feels more like each zone has its own story only loosely tied together with "WAR IS HAPPENING" (EP is sorta the same). The antagonists weren't memorable, but the side characters like Emeric, Darien, Gabrielle, Skordo, the gang on Stros M'Kai, Lady Laurent and Stibbons, etc. were fun! I read on Reddit that the team that made the DC also made Coldharbor, which is why so many DC characters feature in it, which definitely helped me feel connected to them more. Overall, not the most striking alliance, but I liked the characters and am probably more fond of it because it was my first one

Aldmeri Dominion Overall Thoughts:

I appreciate that there are overarching storylines between the zones (beyond just "[other alliance] is attacking!") between the Veiled Heritance, the death of and new Silvenar and Green Lady, etc. The other two factions' zones can sometimes feel too disjointed from each other or the way they are connected feels contrived, so the reoccurring characters feel more random (like, why are you here too??) or there are way less of them, while in the AD you meet a lot of the reoccurring characters in the first two zones and then it makes sense why you keep running into them. It makes the relationships you build with them feel more genuine, and there were a number of stand out characters for me. I think for this reason, having one small starting zone as opposed to 2 might've helped with that feeling. On the other hand, I feel like the build up to how you get invovled with the alliance leadership was way more rushed (in a bad way) compared to the other two zones. Like, you happen to be picked out as competent and trustworthy by one of the right hand men of the queen (no offense to you, Raz, you are one of the highlights of this alliance) and then you save the queen from an assassination attempt in the first story point of the next zone and she just trusts you immediately (once again, no offense to you Ayrenn, you are also a highlight). But once we're into the main storyline, I enjoyed it and followed it a lot better than the other two zones. I also appreciated how the antagonists had motivations that felt like they actually informed their decisions and related to the political and interpersonal dramas going on. It made them more memorable. I felt in general that the side quests were a little stronger here as well.

Ebonheart Pack Overall Thoughts (so far)

I've only done Bleakrock Isle, Bal Foyen, Stonefalls, and Deshaan, and hopefully I'll come back to do the rest later, but I'm a little sick of the base game and would like to move on to DLCs. With that disclaimer out of the way, I've found it so far lack luster compared to the other two. So far the zone stories aren't that connected (although that may change), and there seems to be less reoccurring characters. The one that I do know for sure shows up repeatedly, Naryu, didn't actually make her first appearance until Deshaan (not a fan of her so far tbh... why does she neg me so much??). Altogether, none of the characters so far stood out to me, and they've been overall less endearing and less memorable (so far). None of the quests have either. Generally in this series, but particularly in this game, and even more so in this alliance for some reason, the player's involvement in a quest or situation feels really contrived. The one positive for this alliance for me is that I think the environments are consistently pretty strong (so far). Finally, the antagonists have been weak in the sense that they aren't memorable or interesting (similarly to the DC). These ones frustrate me a bit more because they feel much more like wasted opportunities. So far there's a theme of family or parent-child relationships going on, but it's really shallow and I'm not sure it's purposeful. Like I said, maybe I'm just jaded with the base game zones because they are pretty same-y (and it makes sense why tbh), but this alliance has been my least favorite so far and I don't feel bad about skipping the rest of it for now.

[specialagentlokitty]

Mr Evershed x teen!reader - weight of the world

Part 3:

The attacks from the dragons grew more and more frequent, you were finding it hard to even have a simple day off to rest. 

You had begun to take more and more days off school just so you could focus on your duties and today was no different.

You were ditching school, sitting outside in the small stall next to your home, sitting on a stall, holding a carving tool in your hand, working on some finer details of the armour in front of you.

Glancing up at the armour stand, you looked at the half completed armour and sighed heavily to yourself.

This armour was heavy, but it was the strongest you could possibly make yourself, any other material you needed was scarce, harder to come by than it was a long time ago.

Setting the tool down, you grabbed the bottle of water next to you and made your way outside, sitting on a log in the front.

Meeko came padding over, letting out a small whine, and you ruffled the fur behind his ear.

“You wanna play a game?” You asked.

His tail wagged, and he walked over, picking up a stick, bringing it over for you and you smiled softly at the dog, taking it from him.

You tossed the stick over your front yard, watching as Meeko bounded over to fetch it.

Your phone began to rang, and you pulled it from your pocket, looking at the caller ID, and you hung up on the school, pocketing your phone again.

Walking inside, you pulled on a random mask and a cloak you kept inside and you grabbed a small bag, and you attached it to your belt, headed back outside and over to the paddock.

Opening the gate, you let out a low whistle, waiting for the horse to come trotting over, waiting for your to put a saddle of her back.

Once you had, you pat the side of her neck a few times, and grabbed the reins, hauling yourself up.

Clicking your tongue you began a trot down the trail, Meeko bounding after you with with his stick.

You didn’t have to go far, there was a pretty small village maybe an hour away which held some more of the things that you needed.

The ride there was thankfully pretty quiet, and you slowed your horse down just as you entered, jumping down and tying the reins to a post.

“Meeko stay.”

He barked, sitting down as you walked into a small shop.

“You’re back!” The man beamed.

You nodded your head, walking over to the counter, you placed a bit of parchment down on the counter and he took it.

“Spider silk, wild berries, ninroot, butterfly wings, honey…”

The shop keeper carried on reading the items from the list as he set all the things you needed on the counter for you.

While he was doing that, you began to browse, picking up a few other things, fire salts, void salts, willow bark.

Walking back over, you set them down as well.

“Finally we have some scales.”

He set it all down, and you pulled your bag from your back.

“That’ll just be 30 septum.” He smiled.

You reached for the small bag on your belt, counting out the coins before handing them over to him.

You carefully put everything into your bag, then carefully put it on your back.

“Oh, and that order you placed for some dragon bone should be here next week.”

You nodded, giving him a wave as you left, making your way to another shop this time, grabbing some ingots and a few new tools.

Once you had everything, you got your food last, then added it all to your saddle, making sure it wasn’t too heavy before you got on as well.

You began the ride back, and quickly made your way back inside to dump your mask and cloak before going to collect everything.

You set your ingots and tools into the stall, then took everything else inside.

Heading downstairs you set you the ingredients on the table, carefully placing them on the shelves that lined the walls then headed back up to unpack your food.

Setting everything where they belonged, you rolled up the sleeves to your hoodie and began working on making some dough.

Once you were finished you set it aside and took another large bowl so you could prepare it.

Once it was ready you put it in the oven to cook and washed your hands.

Your phone began to ring again, and you hung up once more.

Then there was a knock on your door, and you made your way over, opening it.

“Hello.” You greeted.

“You are a very hard person to get in contact with.” The officer smiled.

You gave a half shrug, stepping aside.

“I assume this was you Mr Evershed?” You asked.

“Nobody has managed to get in contact with you for a three days, I called and asked for a welfare check since nobody can get ahold of your guardians either.” He explained.

You gave a nod of your head.

“I’m aware, my guardians aren’t exactly ones for technology they don’t use it all that often. But as you can see I’m fine.”

“This is a nice house, do you live here alone?” The officer asked.

You turned to her.

“I’d prefer not to disclose that information to somebody I don’t know.”

She smiled softly at you.

“Unfortunately this is something I need to know.”

“Then no, I don’t live here alone. Currently the adult of the home is away for work.”

You made your way to the kitchen, setting the kettle on the stove and you turned it on, placing three cups on the counter.

They followed you, and you gestured to the stools for them to sit down and they did.

“This is a nice home.” Mr Evershed said.

He looked around the kitchen, you had jars placed everywhere, pants hanging from the ceiling, lined on the windowsill, some scones on the counter, the smell of bread filtered through the home.

“How long has your caregiver been away?” The officer asked.

“A couple of hours, works the evening shift at a factory, can’t remember the name of it though.”

You made three cups of tea, and set theirs in front of them before picking up your one.

Grabbing the wooden board of scones, you set it down in front of them.

The officer carried on asking questions, trying to get more information out of you but you only offered cryptic answers in return.

Finally she gave in, accepting your answers and she left, and you saw her out.

“If that’s all.” You said.

Mr Evershed smiled a little bit, walking over to his bag and he went through it.

“We still have some things to discuss.”

He pulled out some papers, holding them up for you.

“Work you’ve been missing, since you refuse to come into school.”

“Keep it, I’m not interested.”

He sighed, setting it on the bookshelf near your front door.

“I need to know why you haven’t been coming in (Y/N).”

You walked past him, making your way outside, and he took his bag, following behind you.

“As I said, no interest.”

“This isn’t an option (Y/N), you need to attend school and you need to complete the work we set for you.”

Walking over to your dog, you picked up the stick and tossed it for him, then made your way to the garden next to your house, checking on the plants.

Mr Evershed looked around, he knew you lived in the country, just outside of the town, but he wasn’t expecting you to live on such a large property.

It was a small cottage, a little garden to one side, a large paddock to the other side, but just in front of your house was a stall.

“It’s a legal obligation for you to come to school.”

“I don’t see the point, it’s a waste of time sir. I know what I need to know to make it through life.”

“And without any qualifications you won’t be getting very far when it comes to jobs.”

“I can pass the exams regardless if that’s what worries you so much.”

He sighed heavily.

“I’m concerned about your behaviour (Y/N), whatever is going on you can talk to me about it.”

You walked past him, making your way to the paddock inside, heading the the stable joining it to the rest of the land and you dragged out a bale of hay, cutting the straps with a knife from your belt, and you scattered it about before coming over.

Climbing over the fence, you jumped back down, putting your hands in your pockets.

“I can’t even if I wanted to.”

“Why?”

You scoffed slightly.

“Because you wouldn’t understand.”

“Come on, try me. Maybe I’ll understand more than you think.”

You scoffed a little bit more, shaking your head.

“No. No you wouldn’t. You never could. Now get in your car and go away.”

“Could we at least talk about you coming back to school? Please?”

“No.”

“Please (Y/N)? That’s all I’m asking, just for you to listen to me, to agree to come back to school at least.”

You leant against the fence, gazing at him in utter boredom.

“It’s a pointless conversation to be having sir. I’m content here, I prefer it here.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that like every other teenager your age you need to stay in education (Y/N).”

“School is boring, it’s predictable, and the grades you get after are absolutely pointless in the real world, it won’t teach you anything you need to actually know.”

Mr Evershed shook his head a little bit.

“That doesn’t change the fact you need to attend. This will be escalated further if you don’t come back, please, before this gets any worse.”

You thought for moment.

You didn’t have time to be drawing any more attention towards yourself, especially not right now.

If it was escalated further yoh knew that meant meetings, trying to get ahold of the people who were supposed to be looking after you, possibly suspension, police involvement or social services and you couldn’t risk any of that happening.

Reaching a hand up, you ran it over your hair as you thought.

“Fine. Fine okay? I’ll come back in tomorrow.”

Mr Evershed smiled softly at you.

“Thank you (Y/N), maybe you could tell me a little bit more about what you do here?”

“Why?”

“I’m just curious, it’s a nice home, and you have a lovely garden as well.”

You waved your hand dismissively.

“Fine. Whatever. Just go. I’ll be there on time tomorrow.”

“I’ll see you then, have a good night.”

You grumbled a little in return, making your way back inside, calling Meeko to come inside with you and you closed the door.

You messaged Tim asking him to pick you up in the morning and went about preparing your dinner and completing the work you were given.

You had absolutely no interest in doing this, and it was just slowing down your progress but you had to keep everybody off your back if you wanted even the slightest chance of making this a successful quest.

So, that night you went to bed earlier than usual, took some early in the morning to sit outside and try and relax, and then got ready to be picked up.

Once you were at the school, Tim stood next to you on reception.

“I’ve been asked to give to this.”

He held out and envelope and you took it, tucking it into your pocket and traded him your bag.

He walked away and you just leant against the desk while you waited for the teacher to come so you were able to have a meeting with him.

When he finally arrived he smiled at you.

“Good morning, I’m glad you came. Let’s go.”

He lead you to his office and you dropped yourself down in the chair, resting your elbow on the arm of it and your chin on your hand.

“So, as you’re aware you’ve missed a lot of work, and right now your attendance is lower than it should be. Now, I can’t change this, but we can focus on the work that you’ve been missing.”

You didn’t reply, and he began explaining some tasks to you, lessons you had missed and anything else that was important.

You weren’t paying attention to him, you were staring out the window behind him, watching as a storm slowly rolled in from the distance.

Mr Evershed noticed that you weren’t paying attention and he set the papers down.

“(Y/N)? Are you alright?” He asked.

You didn’t reply, and he looked behind him to see the same storm coming in, then back to you.

“You don’t like storms?” He asked.

“I’m not particularly fond of what happens during them…”

“Lightening? Thunder?”

You didn’t reply to him, you just carried on staring out the window, and he noticed your nervously tapping on the side of your face.

“You’ll be alright.” He said softly.

Her couldn’t tell if it was anxiety or fear that he was seeing in you, but whatever it was, he could tell that you didn’t like the thought of a storm coming closer.

“Put some headphones on, just focus on your work, you’ll be alright.” He smiled.

He handed you some headphones from a draw in his desk, and you connected them to your phone, putting them on as you took some papers to work on them.

Even with the headphones in you could still sense the storm getting closer, and all you could do was try distract yourself from it

[dream-meister-translations]

DREAM MEISTER & THE RECOLLECTED BLACK FAIRY

YMIR CHARACTER CARD #1

━

People from all around the world visit the extravagant and thrilling Primus Club casino. I am currently working there as the Guild Keeper, busy preparing activity reports for submission to the Federation.

EMMA : (Sigh...I'm so tired...I shouldn't have let this pile up like this...Even if it has been hectic...)

While struggling to keep my drowsiness at bay, I check several days' worth of business reports to complete the activity report. 

EMMA : Oh!

In a moment of carelessness, my elbow hits the inkwell and it spills all over the activity report. I momentarily turn pale until I realize that the ink didn't bleed from the fallen bottle onto the paper.

EMMA : (Ah, that's right. I was running out of ink. I need to go to the storage room to get some...)

As I let out a sigh of relief, I hear a devious chuckle coming from behind me.

YMIR : You seem flustered. How cute~

EMMA : Ymir!

YMIR : You're working late again. You know, that's not good for your health, Emma~

EMMA : I know, but I need to finish this quickly. Sorry, if you'll excuse me, I need to go to the storage room for a moment.

YMIR : There's no need for that. Here, I've got it for you.

EMMA : Oh, that's the exact ink I need...? You brought it for me?

YMIR : You've been using so much of the red ink, I thought you might run out soon.

EMMA : Huh...You pay close attention to details...

YMIR : I brought something else you might need right now, too~

With that, Ymir placed a mug on my desk. The scent of sweet coffee wafts through the air, instantly making me feel more at ease.

EMMA : I...Was thinking about making a coffee...Thank you.

YMIR : Hm...?

EMMA : (He's so close to me...)

EMMA : Um...Ymir? You're sitting really close to me...

YMIR : Your complexion doesn't look very healthy. That's why I worried about you. I know you're a hard worker, but you should take a break. Have some coffee and relax a bit. I added extra milk, just the way you like it~

Ymir always cares for me like this. But according to the other members...

-FLASHBACK-

LEN : Huh? Ymir is being nice to you? He's gotta be up to something shady! He's probably just trying to get on your good side so he can take advantage of you or something!

LEN : You're the Guild Keeper with some kinda weird power. He'd do anything if it helps him get ahead.

LEN : He's gotta be expectin' something in return. He's the kinda guy who'd do anything to climb the ladder.

-END FLASHBACK-

EMMA : Um...Ymir, even though I appreciate your concern, there's no need to go this far...

YMIR : I know you're worried that I might expect something in return for my compassion, but that's not the case. We're colleagues, and I genuinely want to take good care of you.

EMMA : (His smile is making my heart race...)

In an attempt to calm my racing heart, I take a sip of my coffee and gently place the mug on the desk. Then, I hear Ymir's voice once more. 

YMIR : Hey, you were gripping that mug pretty hard just now, weren't you? Hmm~ Your face is also a bit red.

EMMA : Huh? 

YMIR : How about I give you a little massage? Your muscles must be tense. You need to relax~

EMMA : Oh, no, I...!!

His delicate yet strong digits gently massage the muscles of my hand and wrist, their touch only further speeding my heartbeat. 

This is the daily life I live with Ymir at the Primus Club.

[ngmn2002]

Thinking about Nene's death a little… is it so soon?

Warning: you might end up 😵‍💫 after you click "keep reading". If you want to anyway, then I hope you'll enjoy. ^^

Let's have some fun!

Following the only small details we have, we got from Hanako back in the keepers arc 1- she is going to die within the next year.

And later on that girl said 2- Nene's death is the result of all 7 yorishiros getting destroyed.

Linking these 2 together... can we say All 7 yorishiors will also be successfully destroyed within the next year?

We're sure that day Hanako gave us this information comes after April depending on the fact: First term of school year in Japan starts in early April and ends in late July, around July 20th. So we're in between these 2 back there. More around June/early July later on around ch 37/38, I think.

The first term ends around July 20th, and that must be around the time Nene came to Hanako and Kou speaking of the "First term- Final exams" past p.p arc, we had the school summer vacation around July 15th depending on the Urabon being brought up to be close to happen, that came to an end by ch 101 and we're back to the Second term that starts by early September.

Then...

Ch 102.

Ch 104- Ch 110, Festival day.

Alright, so by then we're almost by the end of September.

Taking Hanako's words again, "she'll die within the next year".

If we assumed the worst-case scenario, Nene is going to die by the very start of the next year, that should give her at least 3 more months to live. If we said she has a year to live from the time Hanako voiced his words, so we can say she will die around June/early July? If we assumed it's by her 1 year in contract with Hanako anniversary, worst case it will be during May, since she said she confessed to that first crush of hers 1 month before meeting Hanako. If we said it was during April (taking the wrost case), then she met Hanako somewhere during May.

So, in conclusion... we can look out for January next year, then May, June/early July of that said year. If we were hopeful, her death will take place later on that year.

Ahem, after all that... as mentioned above, worst case is she dies by January. But, at least while the story is still in September, that means she still have 3 months to live freely! A WIN.

And, it also means... the last 3 yorishiros will take their sweet time to get destroyed. 3 months or even more.~ Awww, bad news for someone.

Well, what I'm questioning now is...

This someone is after No.1 and No.3 together right now, No.7's feels to be following closely. Hmm... but given Nene's 3 months... the last one won't fall until at least the start of the new year.

Interesting.

Makes me wonder how the events of this arc would unfold, following that pattern.

Have to point out, all we reached to with Nene at least having at least 3 months to enjoy living is completely based on Hanako's comment about her life situation. If he was 100% sure of what he said, then that should be one of the cases for her expected "near" death, if he was wrong... then anything can happen and things can be over really soon.

So, we're left with... let's wait and see!

****

Side note:

Just adding this here really fast: X

And, thinking of Nene dying while wearing her school uniform, so it means she is back to school once more the "next year", so can we say again, her death, hopefully, is to claim her past April? ... gets us back to May, June/realy July or... later on that year.

Hmm… the future is up to many possibilities.

[houseofbrat]

“King Charles is not a housing association for distant relatives”

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/king-charles-plan-slimmed-down-monarchy-frogmore-cottage-harry-meghan-b1069700.html

And so it begins…the changes to course correct a bloated operation. Ready for the KC3 haters who were calling him weak the other day to start calling him cruel 🍿

The news came as the King’s visit to France was delayed after extensive rioting on Thursday night. Senior figures have told the Standard that after the period of transition following the coronation, the King, assisted by Queen Camilla, will move to tackle inefficiencies in what is being viewed as a largely overstaffed and outdated system.

Vice-Admiral Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt, Master of the Household, and the Keeper of the Privy Purse Sir Michael Stevens, responsible for finance, will execute the shake-up of what is described as a “top-heavy royal household”. Camilla has been overseeing the fine detail of the King’s plan to ensure that after the coronation the royal household will be run the “Clarence House way”.

One senior figure said: “It is not about cuts, it is about getting the best value for money from those on the payroll. Sometimes less is more.”

Another source added: “The King is not some sort of housing association for distant relatives.” Harry and Meghan were given use of Frogmore Cottage, a five-bedroom mansion on the Windsor estate in 2018, by the late Queen.

[...]

However, the couple’s loss of the cottage, their only British home, is said to be just the “tip of the iceberg”.

It is understood Charles is keen to reduce the number of royals with a financial dependence on the crown, especially if they do not have an active role to play. He wants funds from the Duchy of Lancaster, the portfolio of land, property and assets held in trust for the King, and the sovereign grant that covers the cost of royal travel on official engagements, to be spent more effectively. He also wants to pay his staff competitive salaries and pensions so that he gets the best people for the jobs.

“There will be staff cutbacks. That has already started. The buzz phrase is ‘value for money,’” said the source.

Several members of the extended royal family have enjoyed subsidised palace accommodation, with some having apartments that are being used by their children as “London pads”.

The source said: “Over time, that is going to change. Properties will be let at commercial rates going forward and to people outside the family. Where it is in a palace environment they will of course be security vetted.”

Privately, the King’s senior staff have made it clear to members of the extended family that if they cannot afford where they are living, they should “cut their cloth”. “A lot of practices that have evolved during the last reign will be changing. The King is not heartless or reckless, but if the family members are not part of the core family and not working for the crown, it is fair for them to house themselves and fund themselves,” a senior figure said.

[...]

One insider said: “The staffing has been on the top-heavy side. That has built up over time, with advisers to advisers and so on. That’s all going to stop. The boss wants effective people in effective positions doing effective jobs being paid appropriately.” The senior source added: “Much of what was in place doesn’t make economic sense and will be changed during the new reign.”

Yup. This is about what I expected.

People forget that Charles turned the Duchy of Cornwall into the behemoth it is now. It was struggling and in debt when he took it over from his mother.

[mask131]

Cold winter: Boreas

BOREAS

Category: Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, there are four gods embodying the four cardinal winds: they are called the Anemoi, and Boreas is one of them.

Boreas is the embodiment of the North Wind, the cold and stormy wind of the winter season. Just like his brothers he is born of Eos, the goddess of the dawn, and Astraios (a mysterious star-related deity who might be an embodiment of dusk), but serves Aeolus, the master and king of all winds. And again, just like the other Anemoi, Boreas is known to have two appearances he keeps switching between. One is a horse appearance: he can become a stallion, and under this form he is known to have mated with numerous mares – each time the offspring would become famed horses renowned for their swiftness or lightness, to the point horse-keepers usually used “child of Boreas” as a selling point. The other is a winged humanoid form fitting his “bleak and frozen breath”: shaggy hair and beard spiky with ice, billowing cloak, and sometimes snakes instead of human feet.

Boreas was believed to live in the cold mountains of Thrace, the most northern region of Ancient Greece – and beyond it, the Greeks believed there was a mythical land called “Hyperborea” (beyond the north wind), a land of endless summer untouched by Boreas’ wintery breath and in which people lived young and happy forever. Bringer of frost and dark clouds, Boreas was renowned for his violent temper – after all, he was a wind who only knew how to shake trees and animals, disturb the sea and cause hail.

One of Boreas’ most famous legends is his love story with Orithyia – she was a princess of Athens and Boreas was in love with her, so much that he snatched her up in the sky as she was playing alone by the side of a river and brought her back to his Thracian home. Now... this love story is a bit complicated. Everybody knows of this story as a rape: Boreas tried to woo Orithyia but she rejected him, and being an angry and violent wind Boreas simply took her by force and raped her. But you see, this is the Roman version of the story - and more precisely the version of the story as retold by Ovid, the rape fetishist. So of course he was going to have it a forced relationship... What about the original Greek versions? Well... the thing is that Boreas is a brutish wind prone to outbursts of rage, so while the Greek texts do not speak of a rape, they DO speak of an abduction, that is clear. What is less clear is the entire details surrounding said abduction: for some Boreas simply acted directly upon falling in love with the princess ; for others he tried to ask her hand in marriage to her father but he refused, and it was upon HIS refusal (not the girl's refusal) that Boreas got angry and abducted her nonetheless. Similarly there is something quite unclear about how "stable" their relationship was: while Ovid and other late Greek writers depict Orithyia as just one of many lovers and concubines of Boreas, more ancient texts (and religious belief - see below) rather place Orithyia as the wife of Boreas, even hinting at her becoming a divine being alongside her husband... But well, one thing all the texts agree on is that Orithyia gave birth from Boreas to two purple-winged human sons, Zetes and Calais, who would later be known as the heroic duo “the Boreads”. Originally there was just these two, but much later authors added more children to this union, two girls to match the two boys – one named Chione (which means “snow”), the other named Cleopatra (and who later married a king of Thrace). Fascinatingly, another late tradition still links Boreas to a “Chione/Khione”, but this time not as his daughter – but rather as another lover of his, a maid that he abducted and with whom he had… well originally it was just one son, but then it evolved into three priests of Apollo in Hyperborea, and then into the entire dynasty of kings and priests of Hyperborea. There also many other alternate accounts of Boreas’ children – one describing the “Aurai”, the goddesses of the breezes, as being his daughters.

The other main Greek myth about Boreas comes from Aesop’s Fables: in one of his fables, Aesop describes a rivalry between Boreas the North Wind and his uncle Helios the sun. The two enter a contest to see who is the most powerful, and decide to play at the game of “Who can strip a man of his clothes the fastest?”. The North Wind tries to blow away the clothes out of the man, but the more he blows the more the man tighten his cloak around him. When Helios tries, he merely has to shine extremely bright and warm, and quickly the man disrobes. The moral of this story is: “Persuasion is better than force”. Because again, this is what Boreas embodies: brutality. This is why he abducts his lovers instead of courting them, and this is why he is a dark and negative wind that only causes trouble and destruction in nature.

- - - - -

The Romans added two more legend to the figure of Boreas. One tied him to Apollo (who was the main patron god of Hyperborea, said to spend half of his time there). According to the Roman myth Boreas (or rather his roman equivalent Aquilo) protected Leto, Apollo and Artemis/Diana’s mother: when the monstrous snake Python was sent to harm the pregnant woman, Jove ordered Aquilo to take her away to a place where she could be safe and deliver – this was the island of Delos. The second legend was another love story: according to it, he fell in love with a nymph called Pitys. This is interesting because in the Greek only version Pitys was turned into a pine tree to avoid Pan’s lustful desires as she was hunted by him – but in the Roman version, Pitys became at the center of a love competition between Pan and Boreas. As she had to choose between them, Boreas showed his strength by uprooting all the trees in the area, but Pan merely laughed merrily and joyfully, and it is this joyful laugh that won the nymph’s heart. Angry at being rejected, Boreas chased the nymph down in fury until she threw herself off a cliff and died – but Gaia took pity on her, and decided to have her live again by turning her body into a pine tree.

In terms of religion, Boreas actually had a cult. The most notable city to worship him was Athens, who was proud of their tie to Boreas through his love and union with their legendary princess Orithyia. As a result, the Athenians considered Boreas to be the city’s “son-in-law” – when Athenians prayed to have storms destroy enemy fleets, they prayed to Boreas and Orithyia, and whenever attacking ships sank thanks to the weather, the Athenians thanked Boreas out of all winds. Similarly, the city of Megapolis was known to offer a sacrifice once every year to Boreas, to thank him for saving them against the Lacedemonians, and they treated him with a greater honor than any other god. A third Greek city was only known for their Boreas cult: Thurii, who considered Boreas their protector after the North wind destroyed an armada of ships sent by Syracuse – in answer to this they organized an annual festival in his honor, granted the North wind Thurii citizenship and offered to him a house and a plot of land.

[artyandink]

the girl that kindness forgot | 4

I CAN’T CONTROL WHAT’S PASSED ME BY

Quote of the chapter: “UNO reverse.”

…

I opened the door to my dining room, spotting my relatives at the table. A wide grin split my face, sitting down next to Turstin, who ruffled my hair. 

“How was your sleep, dear?” My mother, Marianne, asked me from across the table. Every detail of hers was the same, from the little glint of happiness in her silver eyes, the quirky curve of her nose to the small dimple she had on her left cheek when she smiled. It was all the same. Her mother was always regarded as beautiful, with her long, silky black hair and large silver eyes, but she was also kind. Kinder than almost any human being I knew.

“I slept really well, Mum.” I replied while our butler, Alfred, served me my breakfast. “You have no idea.” 

“Then you’ll be able to train well with Turstin, eh?” My father, Alistair, added with a chuckle. His blue eyes glinted and his brown hair was brushed neatly, tinged with streaks of blonde. He was the CEO of SP3CTR, a well-respected man who was regarded as influential by many. He was serious in business, but at home he was the man that made me smile. Apart from Turstin. 

“Alistair!” Mum gasped. “She just woke up.” 

“I know, Marianne, I’m just joking. You know I believe in equal work and play.” He soothed. 

“Could I interest you in your usual, Miss Hernandez?” Alfred asked, holding a mug of my favourite coffee.

“Of course, Alfred, that would be lovely.” I thanked him before he left, turning back to my mum and dad, who were excited. 

“I’ve been hearing about this Anthony Lockwood boy from Turstin. Tell me, is he a keeper?” Mum pumped her eyebrows twice, smirking. I punched Turstin’s shoulder, gasping. 

“You didn’t.” 

“I did.” He teased. “Come on, I had to.” 

“You didn’t have to, and mum, dad, he’s no one. Just a co-student. Nothing really important.” 

“Is he hot?” Dad asked, pretending like he was stroking a non-existent beard. 

“He’s stubborn-“ 

“Hot?” 

“- kind -“ 

“Hot?” 

“- smart -“

”Hot?” We blinked at each other, until the whole table started laughing. 

“Yeah, he’s hot. Really hot. We just work together, it’s nothing spec-“ 

“ARTEMIS!” My mother gasped, dropping her glass and standing up. My father did too, fumbling for his rapier, and that’s when I realised.

A spirit was reflected in my cup, and it was holding Satan’s dagger to my throat.

•´¨*•.¸¸.•*´¨•.¸¸.•´¨*•.¸¸.•*•´¨•.¸¸.•´¨`•.¸•´¨*•.¸¸.•*´¨•.¸¸.•´¨*•.¸¸.•*•´¨•.¸¸.•´¨`•.¸

I flew up to a sitting position, clutching my forehead. It was slightly damp, sweat beading at the top in delicate little teardrops. 

“Bloody hell…” I fumbled for my phone, checking it. 

5:56. 

I didn’t know what I just saw. It resembled the day Turstin and I lost our family to a ghost lock. I didn’t remember what exactly happened. I remembered the void-like eyes of whatever came that day, feeling weak and the next thing I knew, I was in DEPRAC on life support, told that I somehow survived the touch of a ghost and launched headfirst into managing SP3CTR a few weeks after. 

Even better? 

I almost died again in that few weeks timespan and the cause was blamed on me by none other than Anthony… John… Lockwood. 

I yanked on some black tracksuit bottoms, pulling on a tank top over it and tying my hair up, picking up my earphones and jogging lightly down the stairs to try and not wake George and Lucy up. 

But who do I meet on the landing? 

Anthony bloody Lockwood, fresh from a shower, shirtless and rubbing his hair with a towel. I’m telling y’all, there was one thing that was almost as hot as seeing me in my crop tops. 

Anthony Lockwood shirtless. 

Puberty really was on his side; he had toned muscles from training to be an agent, and he didn’t have any acne. The lines of his Adonis-style muscles were evidently visible, so I inwardly resisted- 

Snap out of it, Hernandez. 

Seems like he was having the same thoughts as I was, raking his eyes down my figure with a very well-disguised smirk. He rubbed his hair, masking it successfully and looking me up and down with a look that borderlines disgust. “What are you doing up so early?” 

“Going on my daily run. What are you doing up?” 

“Getting ready for a shower, who’s asking?” 

“Who’s asking on your end?” I retorted wittily. 

“I asked first.” He sneered, stepping forward in a manner meant to be threatening, but I didn’t budge. 

“Since when have I ever given a damn?” I jeered, stepping forward as well. Right by now, we were almost nose to nose, brown trying to throw blue off with equally piercing stares. “You should know better than anyone, Lockwood, that I have never given a damn about who’s first in line. Why stop now?” 

“You’re insufferable.” He spat, jaw set in that familiar way whenever he was furious about something. I loved it, making him angry. It always has that insatiable satisfaction.

“UNO reverse.” I pulled an UNO reverse card from my tracksuit bottoms pocket, holding it up triumphantly. What? I always had one handy in each of my articles of clothing which contain pockets. And if they didn’t have any pockets? 

I never had to worry about that situation. 

“It’s like you’re made to ruin my life. I can’t believe I even asked you to be here. What was I thinking?” He muttered as he tried to walk away, but stopped in his tracks when he heard me, turning around again.

“Because you need me to help you. And you may think that I’m ruining your life, Lockwood, but no.” I gave him a venomous stare, one so poisonous he showed fear for a second. “You ruined mine long ago. And you are so lucky that I haven’t come back for revenge, because I would tear your life apart bit by bit until you’re left in the mud, scrabbling around for even the tiniest case to keep you standing.” A grin split on my face, all my vengeance coming out in this one moment. “And you would beg me for mercy, but I wouldn’t give it to you. After all…” I lowered my voice a little, “I know you did this. I know this is your fault, and you should take the fall for it. Shame that people like you don’t own up to their own mistakes. Life would be so much easier if you did.” I put my earphones in, blasting music and jogging out the front door. As ‘River’ by Bishop Briggs pounded against my ears, I contemplated that day. The day everyone left me and everything fell apart. 

“YOU PUT OUR LIVES IN DANGER, AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO BLAME IT ON ME!” 

“I WOULDN’T FALSELY ACCUSE YOU! WHAT KIND OF PERSON DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?!” 

Clearly, I’d misjudged his character. I reflected back and hatred rose up inside me. How could I be so naive? So hopelessly ignorant, so ignorant that I missed the parts where he revealed his true colours. The moments where he showed his cards but I turned a blind eye. All because he meant so much to me. Anthony Lockwood only cared about himself, making him famous, splashing his name on the front page of the newspaper. It never was about his friends, was it? He hadto have the spotlight.

I still remembered how he was so kind, so helpful. Until he became the best alongside me and that became his whole personality. 

I didn’t even know where I was going, where my feet were taking me, until I stopped at the place my father was buried. He died shortly after being ghost locked, but my mother was still alive. I stared at his tombstone, a tear falling from my eye as I sank to my knees. 

HERE LIES ALISTAIR HERNANDEZ

FATHER, SON, BROTHER AND SAVIOUR 

“LIFE IS AN OBSTACLE, BUT HOW YOU OVERCOME IT IS UP TO YOU.”

He said that to me on the day I started cracking from the pressure of doing all my grades. From that day, I was never afraid to tackle a problem. It was advice I took to heart. 

“I’m so sorry, Dad.” I wept, tears falling thick and fast. A hand laid on my shoulder, warming it. 

“You don’t have to be. None of this is your fault.” I turned to see my father’s spirit beside me, and I swear my heart skipped a beat. 

“Dad?” 

“Yes, sweetheart, it’s me.” He hugged me, the warmth from his pure spirit radiating off him. 

“But h-how?” 

“You survived the Ghost Touch. It imbued you with powers that allow you to summon us from the spirit realm. The extent of your powers I’m still unaware of, but that doesn’t matter. You’re doing beautifully, and that’s all that matters.” His twinkly grin made me feel calmer, as if everything was going to be ok after all.

"What about Lockwood?"

"Admittedly, I'm quite angry at that boy, but give him time and he will come round to the truth. We all do eventually. I have to go, darling, and remember, we're always protecting you." He disappeared off, leaving me to kneel on the mud. 

I wanted my old life back, but I knew I could never have it.

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"You were out for a while." Lockwood coughed when I came back. 

"Runs don't last for 30 seconds." I retorted, going upstairs.

”I’m aware of that!” I heard him yell in response, making me snort in disapproval. I changed into my next business outfit, pinning back my hair and swiping some blush across my cheek and applying some gloss to make a natural makeup look. I jogged downstairs to find Lockwood blinking at me in disapproval. 

“You take your sweet time.” 

“I only took 5 minutes.” 

“Exactly, too long.” 

“And you took 1 hour to get to my office.” I snapped, sitting down and taking breakfast. 

“She has you served, Lockwood.” George shrugged. 

“You stay out of it!” Lockwood growled, eyes aflame. 

“Ooh, he’s getting angry.” Lucy smirked, clearly enjoying it. However, our anger was punctured by a knock on the door. 

“I’ll get it.” Lockwood grumbled before opening the door. “Oh, it’s you. Come on in, then.” My head whipped around to see Turstin, taking his jacket off and hanging it carefully; it was manners we’d retained from living in a mansion. 

“Turstin!” I gasped, hugging him around his middle. Lucy and George stood up, accompanying me to the hall. 

“Turstin, you’ve grown up.” George grinned. 

“You’re… taller.” Lockwood sniffed. 

“Nice to meet you too.” Turstin nodded, letting go of me and inclining his head towards Lucy. “Who’s this lovely lady?” 

“Lucy.” She blushed, “Lucy Carlyle.” I raised an eyebrow as I saw Turstin wink at her, making her look like a tomato. Oh my, I know what’s happening here. You seventeen year old son of a gun- 

“Nice to meet you, Lucy Carlyle.” Turstin flirted, adding a little extra on her name. George pretended to vomit in the corner while Lockwood just generally looked disdainful. 

Nothing new, I see. 

“What are you doing here, Turstin?” Lockwood asked, looking the taller boy up and down. 

“Very hospitable, I see.” Turstin chuckled. “I was called here due to a disturbance that happened last night. Went by the name of Annabel Ward.”

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“Artemis!” I woke up suddenly, almost about to slap the person who did it, but found it was Lucy, who looked scared. I shook my head, sitting up. 

“What’s going on?” 

“Annabel Ward’s ghost is here, she almost touched me.” I snapped out of my laggy state, grabbing my rapier from the side of my bed and standing up, disregarding the fact that I went to bed in a sports bra and sleep shorts because the house was way too stuffy. 

“I thought we contained her source!” 

“I don’t think we did.” I shot out of bed, grabbing my spare flare holster from my bedside drawer and slinging it over my shoulders, tightening it.

“Alright, wake up Lockwood and George, I’ll locate Annabel.” We went our separate ways, me to Lucy’s bedroom and Lucy to Lockwood. I opened the door, finding the pale figure of Annabel. 

“Hey, Annabel. I’m Artemis, and I know you won’t be able to talk to me but-“ 

“I can talk to you.” She gasped, floating forward and morphing into that young woman. “I know your father. I met him. He told me how determined you are to help people.” 

“That’s right. I know you’ve been murdered, Annabel. I just need a name.” I stepped forward, my rapier in a standby position. 

“I’ve been warned not to say. He’s so terrifying, and his voice chilled me to my core. He forced us to do what he wants. I need your help, Artemis. I can’t do this alone.” Annabel sounded desperate, transparent tears forming in her eyes. 

“Of course, I’ll help you.” I smiled, nodding. But a flare was thrown across the room, hitting Annabel, and as I whipped around I found that Lockwood threw it. 

“What are you doing, Hernandez?! You’re face to face with a Type 2!” He tackled me as Annabel shrieked and dove for us, angered. “Lucy, if you have an idea what her source is, you need to tell us now!” 

“I’m starting to have an idea of what it is.” Lucy stammered, just as I dove out of the way. 

“We’re not under pressure or anything, take your sweet time.” George snivelled. Then something clicked in my head. I’d taken a look at Annabel before and after the silver net was put on it. One thing was there before and gone after. 

“The ring, Lucy, where is it?” I asked, chucking a flare nimbly. 

“I-It was in my hand when I was asleep, maybe it’s in the bed?” She fretted. “I don’t know!” 

“Alright boys, you hold her off, I’ll go with Lucy.” I pulled Lucy with me, searching her bed. 

“I’m so sorry, Artemis.” 

“No problem-“ I saw the ring, “Found it!” I reached in my pocket, finding a small necklace made of silver glass, an emergency container for small sources, and clamped it inside. 

“OH, BLOODY- thank god.”

I panted, turning to Lucy. She looked terrified, so I hugged her. “I talked to her, Luce. She needs our help and we’re the only ones who understood.” 

“We can’t do it alone.” 

“Exactly.” 

‘Sup?’ 

“Yeah, Turstin, can you drop by tomorrow?” 

‘What’s the problem?’ 

“I told you about Annabel Ward’s ghost, yes? Well, she came back just now. And we had a conversation. Don’t mention it to the boys when you get here, it’s just… we need to help her. She’s a victim of brutal murder.” 

‘Yeah, I get you. I’ll come after your run is over, yeah?’ 

“Cool.” I cut the call, turning to Lucy. “We’re not doing this alone.” 

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“This is it? Her source?” Turstin asked, examining the ring inside the silver box. 

“Yeah. We don’t know where it came from, but it has a significant meaning in her life, maybe a lover.” George shrugged.

”That seems about right, 5 stars to you, George.” 

“Why are we even letting him examine this?” Lockwood asked, annoyed. 

“Turstin is one of the best at SP3CTR, he’s had special training to examine this stuff.” 

“Why don’t we just get DEPRAC then?” He sulked. 

“DEPRAC is nothing next to SP3CTR. Only reasons why SP3CTR isn’t the leading company for agent control are 1: my father didn’t want SP3CTR to become a law enforcing company and 2: DEPRAC takes loans from SP3CTR instead of swapping the companies because of the fact that people don’t want things to change.” I smiled in a way that I knew would annoy Lockwood, looking back at Turstin. “Continue.” 

“We need someone to connect with this. Figure out what really happened.” Turstin looked at Lucy pointedly, sparking anxiety in Lockwood, who jumped in immediately. 

“No. It’s too dangerous.” He refused. 

“Do you have another option?” I retorted. 

“Yeah. You could do it.” 

“I mean, I could do it, I think I can.” Lucy shrugged. 

“No, let’s hear what Lockwood has to say.” I dismissed, glaring at him and standing up at the same time as he did. 

“If you’re so determined to do it, let’s see what you can do.” He walked closer to me, teeth gritted.

“You’ll be surprised.” I smirked, taking another step closer so we were nose to nose again.

“Highly unlikely.” 

“How about this?” Turstin piped up, eager to disperse the tension. “Lucy will try first and if she can’t connect to Annabel then we’ll move onto Artemis. We all good with that plan?” 

“Yeah, good. Very good.” George quickly agreed, Lucy nodding frantically. 

“Don’t talk to me like that again. You’re part of my company.” Lockwood murmured. 

“How many times do I have to tell you? I… don’t… work… for… you.” I shoved his chest, winking. Turstin flapped his shirt, breathing out harshly, while George and Lucy giggled loudly. 

“Alright, Lucy, are you ready?” Turstin handed her the ring, which she held in her fingers. Lucy closed her eyes, and a moment later, hissed and dropped the ring. 

“I-I had a connection for a moment but something pushed me out.” She stammered, so I put my hand out. 

“Let me try.” My fingers closed around the ring, and I instantly saw through Annabel’s eyes. I couldn’t recognise the man in front of me due to his face being blurred, but the rest of the room was clear. A sweet operatic song was playing in the background, my Annabel’s hand extending.

“There’s a song playing in the room.” I informed, eyebrows furrowing a little. 

“Dance with me.” 

“I’m not in the mood.” 

“She loves it.” I felt a smile break out on my face, But I focused more on the scene. 

“But it’s our song, come on.”

”It’s their song.” 

“Who’s they? Annabel and…” I held a finger up, silencing Lockwood. 

“She’s so happy.” I felt her joy, love and affection; it filled my veins and made my nerves tingle. I’d never felt emotion like it. “She loves him.” 

“Go on. I’ll watch.”

”If you insist.” My line of vision started moving, feeling so free. As if I was unchained. 

“She’s dancing to the song. He’s watching her.”

Suddenly, the mood changed. It was very swift, as if it was a blank slate in the middle of time. “Are you honest?” 

“My Lord…” 

“Have you told him where to go?” 

“No…”

“He wants her, but it’s just…” I could feel panic and pressure building up, looking into a vintage mirror on the wall and finding myself, dressed in a flowing black dress, the white streaks in my hair glowing. I even looked so innocent. It reminded me of the time I went on my first study date with Lockwood. God, I was so naive. 

“I said I’d give…” I felt a large impact on the side of my head, and for a split second, I saw that my hair was red. A gasp escaped from my mouth as I fell to the ground both in the memory and in real life, chairs scraping from around me.

”What is it?” I heard Lockwood beside me, another familiar stature my brother. 

“I did nothing…” 

“You’re lying to me.” 

“He’s- he’s angry.” I gasped, breathing heavily and desperately. I was drowning in a sea of grief, tears and pain. Annabel was treated cruelly in this one moment, and I felt everything she did. It was horrible. I felt alone. Isolated. No one there to hear my screams for help. 

“I swear. Let me go!” 

“Jealous.” 

“You’re lying.” 

“I swear, let me go.” 

“She’s afraid.” And so was I. 

“You know this.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, my love.” My hands clasped his, but we’re brutally thrown off. 

“Don’t call me your love! You toyed with what isn’t yours. You are mine, Annabel, and it isn’t your place to commit such atrocities!” 

“I’m yours, I admit, but please believe me, My Lord! You know me, I have been faithful to you only.” 

“Lies! You’re lying to me, Annabel!”

“I’m not.”

”It’s all right.” 

“I swear.” The line between memory and reality blurred together until I could see Lockwood in the man’s place, standing in front of me and genuinely looking concerned. I felt a small bit of hope. That somewhere he’d have it in him to forgive me. Right? I love him and he loves me. This will all be over soon. 

“He loves me.” I looked straight into his chocolate eyes, smiling hopefully. My love. “You love me, don’t you?” I held his arm lovingly, my hand tentatively reaching up to cup his cheek. “You gave me the ring. You’d never… he’d never hurt me.” 

"This needs to stop." Lockwood finally decided, but Turstin stopped him. 

"She's my sister, but we're almost there." 

Lockwood stared, mesmerised, as my hand gently caressed his cheek, a warm, comforting smile gracing my lips. “You’d never hurt me, right? You’re my love. Do you love me too?” My thumb lightly stroked his bottom lip, and he let out a sharp sigh, hand flying up to remove mine without using any force. Something closed around my throat, fully pulling me back into the memory to find that the man was strangling me, hands clamped around my throat in a fit of rage, jealousy and spite. I fought to stay alive, coughing and wheezing out pleas to let me go. 

“I-I can’t breathe…” I choked, the life draining out of me as my desperate actions to pry his fingers from my throat became weaker, losing my breath and my vision blurring and fully blacking out. 

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“So, you’re interested in chess too?” Lockwood asked, his head resting on his hand. 

“How could you tell?” I asked, intrigued, playing with the hem of my white dress. 

“I saw you in your dorm with Turstin. You were playing chess.” He smiled, flicking through his book absent-mindedly.

”Yeah, I do. It’s so…” 

“Interesting?” We both grinned, laughing. 

“Exactly.” 

“Isn’t interesting to Kipps. He called us nerds.” 

“Since when have I given a damn about what Kipps thinks?” We exchanged an affectionate look, and Lockwood’s fingers brushed mine. 

“There’s no one really like you, Artemis.” I was about to drop a compliment, but my eyes widened when I saw the same skull-like ghost, rapidly approaching with Satan’s dagger.

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“Artemis!” I opened my eyes, sitting up with a jerk and feeling my throat, but I found no bruises or cuts. Turstin was in front of me, Lucy and George on either side of… my bed.  

I was in my room. 

Lockwood was at the door, looking emotional, as far as I could tell- 

HEADACHE. BIG PIERCING HEADACHE.

“What happened?” I groaned, rubbing my forehead before pinching the bridge of my eyebrows. 

“You were so immersed in Annabel’s memory that you simulated her death. Aka you blacked out.” George explained matter-of-factly. 

“We were really worried.” Lucy added. “It seemed really intense.” 

“Nah, it was just a new experience. I’d never tried putting myself in the victim’s memory before.” I reassured, “Wait. Annabel.” 

“Yeah?” Lockwood asked, finally interested. 

“She was strangled to death.” 

“The ring stays in the basement until we take it to the furnaces.” Lockwood ordered, pointedly looking at me for some reason. Everyone had a problem with it, of course.

“What? Why would we stop when we’ve come this far?” George protested. This was a sudden shutdown. There’s something going on.

“No more pet projects. There’s bills to pay.” Bingo. 

“Uh, what bills?” Lockwood took out a letter and handed it to George, who was outraged. 

“£60,000?!” 

“What?” Lucy gasped, taking the letter. I snatched it myself, reading it.

“In two weeks? DEPRAC must be blooming mad.” I added. “You’ll never get together that kind of money.” I looked up with a disapproving stare, eyebrows raised. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” 

“Because it’s my name on the door.” He replied. 

“Of course. You’re at it again. Acting as if the world’s problems rest on your shoulders alone.” 

“Because right now, this problem is my responsibility.” 

“We’re here to help, at least.” 

“How about a loan? This place must be worth a fortune.” Lucy pitched quickly.

“This place is all that’s left of my parents.” Lockwood explained solemnly to her. 

“I’m sorry, I had no idea.” While everyone was devising plans, I crept upstairs and dialled a number, holding it to my ear. 

“This is Artemis Hernandez. I need to speak to Inspector Barnes.” 

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“Yeah, cheers, mate.” I cut the call, just in time for Turstin to arrive at the aisle I was in at the library. 

“They’re on a roll downstairs. If you don’t wanna be left out, you should come down now.” He nudged, shrugging. 

“Do you have a thing for Lucy?” I asked abruptly, putting my phone in my pocket. 

“M-Maybe. She’s cute-“ 

“She’s got a thing for you, so get the PDA over and done with.” I started travelling downstairs with him, silently, which was a change. 

“Who were you on the phone with?” 

“Laila. More business stuff.” 

“Do you ever take a break?” We paused at the landing of the stairs, the first floor one flight below. “I get it, you’re the CEO of a huge company, but even CEOs need a break, right?” 

I sighed, looking up at my brother. “I don’t feel like I can take a break. It’s like I have to be checking in, making sure everything is ok or something definitely will go wrong. I don’t know how to ditch the habit, I really don’t.” 

“I get it, mum and dad did a real number on you. But you’re perfectly capable of leaving something for a bit just to have a rest.” 

“I’ll try.” I soothed, “But we have an investigation to get back to.” I went down to the first floor, where everyone was working, “How are you philistines, sans George, doing?”

”Perfectly fine without you.” Lockwood commented, but got a smack from Lucy. “What? We were doing great until she cursed everyone with her presence.” 

“Well, here’s some info. I did some digging and Annabel played Ophelia in Hamlet. Explains why you were taking a fully-clothed bath, Lucy.” I explained nonchalantly, sitting down. 

“Oh, and the daisies! Ophelia drowned herself with daisies because of how Hamlet treated her! Ophelia and Hamlet. Annabel and her abusive lover.” 

“But Annabel didn’t kill herself.” Lockwood contradicted. 

I clicked my tongue in disapproval, shaking my head. “Oh, Lockwood. Poor, unobservant Lockwood. The part she played and her life started mirroring one another.” 

“Which means that whoever played Hamlet did it.” Lockwood took a quick second of research, “Here. Hugo Blake.” 

“That’s our guy.” I smirked, winking. 

“My sister is the BEST!” Turstin whooped. 

“Nice one, Lockwood. Not bad for a philistine.” George praised, cautiously feeding Lockwood’s ego.

"Thank you, George, for actually praising the right person." Lockwood smirked. 

“Well done, Tony.” Quill Kipps was approaching us, clapping. “Actually doing research before a job this time.” 

“Oh, shut up, Kipps, you know no one likes you here.” I spat, standing up at the same time as Lockwood. 

“Artemis Hernandez. The great CEO of SP3CTR. Never imagined that you’d hang around Anthony Lockwood after what happened two years ago.” He turned to Lockwood, “Is it Anthony? Or is it Andrew now?” 

“Keep it down, Kipps.” Lucy snapped. “This is a gallery, not a braying gallery for bellends.” 

“This must be the new assistant.” He smirked. 

“Colleague. And you’re Quill Kipps. I’ve read about you. Haven’t you got the highest mortality rate of any team leader?” That’s my girl. 

“I’m the top supervisor at the country’s top agency.” Kipps boasted, but Turstin came up behind him. 

“I’m pretty sure that I’m the top supervisor. Made legal even at seventeen, a real bite in the butt, eh?” Turstin winked, hands nonchalantly in his pockets. 

“And to boot, I get the best jobs because of how good I am."

"False advertising. You're no better at ghost hunting than a dung beetle." I sneered, which made Kipp's draw his rapier, and like dominoes, so did we. 

"Wrong move." Lockwood tutted. "We can take on any of your beefcakes. Hernandez, wanna show them how it's done?" 

"Gladly." I started to address Kipps, "You'll need a ladder."

"What?" 

I quickly and elegantly flicked my rapier around and up, lodging his in the ceiling. "I warned you." We turned around, meaning to leave. 

"You'll leave him eventually." I turned around, vaguely interested. "Everyone does in the end." 

Lucy grabbed my arm, scoffing at Kipps. "You really can't bloody walk away and accept defeat, can you? Come on, Artemis." We walked away, but it got me thinking. 

Everyone does leave Lockwood in the end.

Even...

Me.

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"Hey, Lockwood?" George asked as he was cleaning the table. "What did you say to Arty when she was investigating Annabel?" 

"I didn't say anything." 

"No, you whispered something. I know you did."

"That was gibberish, I was just overwhelmed by the situation." Lockwood brushed off the comment, trying to busy himself in something else. "You know, the great Artemis Hernandez was clutching onto me desperately... it's quite an intense situation-" 

"I know you, Lockwood, so I can tell when you have a secret. So tell me the truth, what did you whisper when she said 'you're my love'?" 

"I said 'always'."

TAGLIST:

@superpositvecloudshipper

[hyperpsychomaniac]

You Can Do Better - Chapter 5

First chapter

Summary: After Erik lets slip he started the war with the Trolls on purpose, Gerda forces him to make things up by doing all the dirty jobs around Safety Patrol. But Erik won't take it lying down.

***

Erik continued to do the chores Gerda asked of him. He still bought donuts to work occasionally; but he would leave them in the lunchroom - there was no chance of interrupting the briefing there and Gerda could not get mad at him. Now though, he realised it would be no quick fix. Still, it seemed something he should keep doing. Like cleaning the Safety Patrol vehicles. Gerda hadn’t asked him to do so, but they were always covered in a fine dust. If he took each of them home, that meant he could wash them and Safety Patrol’s transport would at least look somewhat respectable. Gerda must have noticed their cleanliness improving, as focused on details as she was, but she said not a word. Erik simply assumed this meant she didn’t mind him driving them home.

This morning, Erik drove in the vehicle he'd cleaned the evening before and stopped on the way to grab donuts from the bakery.

On arrival, he booted open the door to Safety Patrol’s reception area.

“You are getting far too comfortable,” said Delores. “You're in danger of breaking that door again.”

“I wouldn't do that!” said Erik. “Then I'd have to fix it.”

He took the donuts and dumped them in the lunchroom, then turned to the kitchen. The Bell Keeper was standing, leaning against the counter, a mug in his hand, smirking.

“Well, I see you're early.”

“Got to get in before you murder my coffee,” the Bell Keeper said. “Speaking of which...” He handed the mug to Ahlberg.

“What? What’s this?” It wasn't the Bell Keeper's usual mug, with the ring of coffee stain around the top.

“Try it. That's how you make coffee - properly.”

Erik raised an eyebrow, sensing some kind of trap. Still, he could think of no response where he could save face, save for taking a cautious sip. He spluttered. “Good lord. This is how you like it? It tastes like motor oil!”

“It's not about the taste - it’s about the kick.”

“If you want a kick, why are you drinking instant?”

“Because I like the taste.” He slapped Ahlberg on the shoulder and sauntered out with his own mug.

Erik stared after him, then his lip slowly twitched upwards. That seemed like a point to him. The guy had made him a cup of... well... coffee. He tipped the rest down the sink and headed to the janitor’s closet. Collecting the cart, he headed down the hallway. Gerda was walking towards him. And she wasn't alone. Okay, here went nothing. He should do this. It was the right thing to do, the polite thing to do. Gerda would approve.

“Chief Officer Gerda, good morning!” Erik gave her a wink.

She raised an eyebrow. He'd probably confused her, using her rank... and winking. Okay, that had been a tad much. “Good morning, Erik,” she said, cautiously.

He stepped aside until she had just moved past him, then added. “Good morning, Deputy Chief Elven-liaison Officer Alfur.” Gods, now that was a mouthful, but he'd been sure to get it right.

The little elf on Gerda's shoulder turned and raised an eyebrow, almost in unison, with Gerda doing the same.

“You can see me?” he said.

“Of course. That's why I said good morning.”

“You signed the paperwork,” said Gerda.

“Delores had a copy on file for new officers. I figured it wouldn't be a problem.”

Gerda stared at him, squinting a little. “It's not...”

“Did he though?” said Alfur, narrowing his eyes, and again mirroring Gerda’s expression. “It is very involved.”

Erik scowled. “I can do paperwork, involved or not. And if I can't see you, why am I looking right at you?”

“Hmm... hang on for a minute.” Alfur ran up Gerda's shoulder and grabbed onto her earlobe.

“Ow! Alfur... what are you doing?”

“Shh!” he said, rather loudly, right in her ear.

Gerda winced. Alfur swung onto her ponytail. Gerda glanced to either side and seemed to have misplaced him. She sighed, glared at Erik, then stood still.

How was this little guy’s antics his fault? Erik frowned, glaring back at Gerda. Alfur appeared on the edge of her hat. Erik turned his glare onto him, following him with his eyes as he scampered across the brim, then used the yellow band to hoist himself up to the top, then on towards the feather stuck in Gerda's hat. Erik wondered if he should tell her that wasn't technically part of the Chief's uniform.

 “Don't climb on that,” he said, just as Alfur reached the feather. “You'll break it.”

“Huh. He can see me.”

Gerda sighed. “Are you both satisfied?”

“I was just trying to say good morning,” said Erik with a huff. Not a word about the cars. And now she was mad about this? He wondered why he was even bothering. But he just didn’t really like doing a half-ass job. As much as to stick it to Gerda, doing a shoddy job would just make him feel more depressed. He didn’t need that right now.

Alfur let out a little sigh. “My apologies. It's just... well, some of the things Hilda has told me...”

Erik sucked in his gut. Crap. This elf knew Hilda?

“But it seems we must work together. And I am prepared to be civil. Good morning... what's his job title?” He hissed at Gerda.

“Er... I didn’t give him one.”

“I thought we talked about this and agreed it was… safer to make him an employee?”

“He is. He just doesn’t have a job title.”

Erik cleared his throat. “Erik is fine.”

“Good morning... Erik. I,” and Alfur gave a small smile. “I do appreciate you putting in the effort to sign the paperwork. And... at least from what I have heard around the office... perhaps you have been putting in the effort otherwise as well in your new... role. So, thankyou.”

Erik faltered. “You're... you're welcome.” Hell, his expression was hard to read, he was so small, but it seemed genuine.

Alfur grinned wider. No mistaking it now. “I... I take it, as you are getting more involved, you'll be at the...”

“Okay, that's enough pleasantries,” said Gerda curtly. “We both have work to do.” And she turned so brusquely, the poor little elf lost his footing and grabbed onto the hat's feather for dear life.

Erik's shoulders sagged a little, then he bolstered himself and continued with his cleaning.

***

“You didn't tell him about Friday karaoke. In fact, you cut me off.”

Gerda put her pen down on her desk with a sigh and pressed her hands against her eyes. She had hoped the elf wouldn’t notice. “I'm sorry, Alfur.”

“It's fine. I'm just not sure I understand why.”

The door to her office was open, as she'd got into the habit of doing, unless she needed privacy. It was easier to see everyone in the open layout of the rest of the office, and it made her seem more approachable. Right now, Erik was out there, cleaning out bins. He had stopped and was talking to Deputy Officer Selby. Selby was her official deputy, although he shared the role with Alfur, who was technically the liaison officer for the elves. Gerda had wanted to give Alfur the deputy rank, so he’d have some authority, and everyone knew she expected him to be taken seriously. Something that would help when you were on the… shorter side. ‘Sharing’ the rank didn’t seem to bother Selby one bit. After initially being a little skittish around her, probably expecting her to treat him like Ahlberg had, he'd eventually become quite relaxed. In fact, he seemed relaxed talking to Ahlberg now.

“Inviting him seemed premature. I do not want to make my officers uncomfortable.”

Alfur had his own little desk, perched on the corner of hers. He followed her gaze out into the office. “Look,” said Alfur. “I don't like the man. At all. After how he treated Hilda, and this city, and, I assume, you as well...”

“I know. I know what he did.” Gerda’s hand tightened on the edge of her desk.

“But he does not seem to make any of your officers uncomfortable. Not now, at the least.”

“You think I'm being too harsh?”

“Not at all. I think it’s what he deserves… to be left out.”

Gerda winced. “When you put it like that... I am not leaving him out. That is not my intention.”

“What I'm trying to say, it isn't about Ahlberg. It wouldn't bother me if he were there, though I don't think he’s earned it. But... well... I think you know he is no longer making people around here uncomfortable. So, I think that, perhaps, that is not the real reason. And you are not being entirely honest with him. Or me.”

Ooff. Gerda smiled faintly. “I knew it was the right move, making you my deputy.”

“Yes, but you are changing the subject.”

Double oof. “I’m not even sure I know what the reason is, exactly. I too would not be bothered if he was there. At least, I shouldn’t be. And yet…”

Alfur moved from behind his little desk until he stood next to her hand. “Look, I get you feel betrayed. I understand you two were close.”

Gerda's cheeks grew warm. “Close... Alfur, please, do not listen to the rumours around here. We never DID anything.”

Alfur flushed. “That's... that's not what I meant. I meant like a close... working relationship.”

“Oh. Right.”

And maybe that was it. Maybe she felt betrayed. Outside the office, Erik was being so loud. Hell, he was asking about Selby's wife like he was actually interested.

“I... I'm really mad at him. And he deserves... something needs to happen to him because of what he did. That’s why I brought him in to clean up, but... well, I'm also a little worried about him.” A little? She'd damn near broken down his door a few weeks ago, just because he hadn't shown up, and she'd thought... No wonder he'd been so angry at her, bursting in like that. Talk about an overreaction. But it hadn’t felt like an overreaction at the time. She had imagined the worse. “Imagine if you'd done what he did. Imagine if you realised... what you almost allowed to happen. Imagine how you'd feel.”

Alfur thought for a moment. “Well, I can tell you one thing - I certainly wouldn't have accepted a medal for it.”

“Yes, but you're not Erik Ahlberg. And for all his bluster, if something was wrong, he would not be so direct about it… as you have been with me now. And, so…”

“You’re worried about him,” Alfur finished for her.

“He is still my friend.”

“Which is probably why you’re mad at him. Believe me, my friends? They can sometimes be quite frustrating. But just because he is not being direct, that does not mean you cannot be. It will be far easier to be direct with him, rather than just… giving him chores. Otherwise, you’ll just be worrying about him needlessly, and not even able to have a civil conversation in the hallway.”

“You’re right.” And perhaps inviting him to the work socials was an easy enough place to start.

***

Erik finished moping the halls. It was Friday, and everyone had left a little early. He pretended not to notice. It had been awkward avoiding the question: 'are you coming this evening?' Worse, everyone had changed the subject quickly when they realised he was uncomfortable, as if they knew exactly why he hadn’t been invited. At least they felt bad about it.

And at least they were starting to be friendly. Hell, even the Bell Keeper had made him a coffee. But Gerda? She had mellowed a little, but she was still standoffish, cold. But whenever she rushed off on him, distracted, or busy, he thought of the morning she’d come to his house, thought of her taking care of him. It made it really difficult to be angry with her.

It was just... awkward. Like it had been in the hall when he'd introduced himself to Alfur. They should have been able to laugh or just connect over how silly the little guy was being. Except when the elf had brought up the night's activities, Gerda had all too obviously changed the subject. She’d straight up bolted.

No, Erik was pretty sure Gerda did not want him at whatever the hell Safety Patrol was doing for fun, but he could no longer work up the emotion to be mad about it. He and Gerda may no longer be furious at each other, but nothing had replaced it, and that seemed worse.

Maybe, Erik thought, scrubbing the mop at a coffee stain on the floor all the harder, he'd just wear his Hawaiian shirt next Friday, and declare it tropical Friday. No one else could join in, as they had to wear uniform, but, well, then at least he'd have something he couldn't invite them to.

“Erik.” Gerda stood outside her office, handbag over her shoulder. “You don't need to finish mopping that all now.”

“Oh... right.” Erik stopped, and she stared at him. Bloody hell, this was even more awkward. “Got plans for tongi-” Erik flushed and bit down on his tongue. Why the had he said that?

Gerda took a breath. “Yes, karaoke.”

So that’s what they were doing. “Oh... yeah, I'd... I'd heard.” Erik drew a breath of his own, holding onto it, and puffing out his chest. “I wasn't sure I was invited to a Safety Patrol function.”

“A… function?” Gerda raised an eyebrow, and then her lip twitched up ever so slightly. “Erik, no. I've told everyone, no uniforms. I'm going home to change myself. It's karaoke. I mean, if I am going to make a fool of myself, I can hardly do it in the chief's uniform. That would be inappropriate.”

“Wait, you're going to sing?”

“You don't think I arranged a work thing for everyone to let off steam that I wouldn't enjoy, did you?”

“Well, yes, but...” Gerda enjoyed singing? Why had he not known this? The answer came quickly. When he'd been so focused on the trolls, had he even cared? “I mean, CAN you sing.”

Gerda blinked at him. “Can I sing?”

“Er, I mean...”

She stepped up closer to him. Erik snapped up his mop and tugged it in tight against his shoulder, almost hiding behind it.

“I think,” said Gerda. “The question is: can YOU sing?”

“What? Of course I can sing! I'll have you know my mother spent quite a bit of money on lessons when I was training.. for the...” Oh hell, why was he telling her this? Erik Ahlberg, hero of Trolberg, did not want anyone to know that... “when I... wanted to be an actor…” he mumbled into the head of the mop.

“You wanted to be an actor?”

“Just in the theatre!” he said quickly, flushing.

“Well, singing shouldn't be a problem for you, then.”

“So I… I am invited?” Erik winced. That had sounded far too desperate.

Gerda rubbed a hand on her arm, lowering her gaze. “Of course. And I’m... sorry. I should have invited you, clearly, earlier. But... Erik Ahlberg… in the theatre. I supposed that tracks.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

She smiled at him. “You were always so good at speeches. I think the only thing I beat you there in is brevity. But the question is… do you think you can make a bigger fool than me at karaoke? If you're game.”

“Of course I’m… well.. I'll come. If I... I mean, I have other offers, but I'll think about it...”

What the heck was going on? Was she just teasing him? Or was this some other half-baked plan of hers to embarrass or punish him?

“It would be nice to see you there,” Gerda said.

Erik still wasn’t sure if she meant it sincerely, but he desperately wanted it to be.

***

As Gerda walked out into the parking lot, Alfur climbed out of her handbag and clambered up to her shoulder.

“There,” said Gerda. “I was nice to him. I invited him. I did not... well, I think you were right. It wasn't fair to leave him out, and being direct with him... well, it feels better.”

Alfur caught her eye and raised an eyebrow. “I said I thought you should have been more direct. I didn't think you were going to flirt with him.”

Gerda flushed. “That was NOT flirting!”

***

Erik paced his living room. “I ... I can't go. I have plans!” He'd intended to watch a movie, and be in a huff about how he had not been invited. And now? Gerda had ruined that. But could he go? Would the rest of Safety Patrol even want to see him there? Did Gerda, really, or was she just being polite?

But no, she wasn't just being polite. “I mean, she didn't just invite me. She… she challenged me! I mean, to think she thinks I can't sing? I dread to think what she sounds like! Screeching orders is hardly the same as singing.”

She’d issued him a challenge. Did she think she had him so scared of he wouldn't take her up on it? If he didn't show...

“If I don't go, she wins. Damn it!” Erik stormed into his bedroom and pulled out his Hawaiian shirt. So, Friday night at the pub it was. He'd show her. She may intend to stir him up, but he wouldn't take it lying down. Erik put on the clean shirt, shrugged on his jacket, and then headed out.

[book--brackets]

So How Does It Work?

Since this competition started, I’ve seen a lot of stuff about the different match-ups. Some are all in good fun, but some do seem genuinely frustrated, so here’s a more in-depth look at how I created the bracket.

First, I looked up the number of reviews on Storygraph for each book or the first book in each series. Granted, this was a while ago, so some of the numbers may have changed over time. The only exception to this was Pixie Hollow since there are a lot of starting points for the series (I pulled the first Levine book and then added the most popular of the Tales series to it). Then, I ordered them all from highest to lowest.

Then, just like how it works in sports, the series with the highest number of reviews was matched against the one with the lowest number of reviews. This method may seem unfair to the less popular books, but it’s to ensure we don’t have a matchup between two books early on that could’ve potentially made it all the way if they were on opposite sides. For example, right now Percy Jackson is a favorite to win, and I’d say probably Howl or MBS. If they got pitted against each other too early, it wouldn’t be very interesting. Still, there have been some significant upsets so far, even if we are only a day or so in. If you’re interested in the details, the numbers are below the read more.

Thanks for all the support so far with this competition! It blew up way more than I ever expected and has been supremely entertaining!

1. Harry Potter (266,149)

2. Percy Jackson (125,793)

3. Narnia (82,652)

4. A Wrinkle in Time (48,609)

5. Matilda (39,384)

6. Howl’s Moving Castle (32,597)

7. Artemis Fowl (25,265)

8. Ella Enchanted (22,108)

9. Oz (20,967)

10. City of Ember (14,671)

11. Mysterious Benedict Society (11,333)

12. The School for Good and Evil (9,589)

13. Land of Stories (6,928)

14. Ranger’s Apprentice (6,200)

15. Redwall (6,074)

16. Enchanted Forest Chronicles (6,006)

17. Gregor the Overlander (5,410)

18. Warriors (5,115)

19. Keeper of the Lost Cities (4,975)

20. 39 Clues (4,353)

21. Sisters Grimm (3,473)

22. Charlie Bone (2,904)

23. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (2,846)

24. Keys to the Kingdom (2,645)

25. Young Wizards (2,429)

26. Wings of Fire (2,124)

27. Tales of the Frog Princess (2,019)

28. The Unwanteds (1,989)

29. Dragon Slippers (1,645)

30. Disney Fairies (1,577)

31. The Guardians of Ga’Hoole (1,328)

32. Pegasus (715)

[foggypainterstudentfmp]

Main Character Concept Design #2

This is my 2nd concept and it is a slightly less posh version of a leprechaun and it is a mix of colors matching the Irish flag instead of being primarily green. This design was inspired mainly by the Irish flag and an Irish lighthouse keeper/fisherman but this one all came from my own ideas with no inspiration. I feel this one is worse than the first attempt though as I just have a feeling that something looks off with the design and It isn't as detailed as the first. This is why I haven't done a side and rear profile yet because I know for a fact that I am not going to be using this design for my character. Although there is some cool ideas in this piece of art for example the subtle clover on the beanie and the white and orange leggings which I added for comedic value and I gave him suspenders for the fact that fisherman/lighthouse keepers usually wear these and it is a design I wanted to crossover and small little black tap shoes as Irish Tap is obviously a very popular dance in Ireland.

[claytontsik567]

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[alwaysclassygalaxy]

5 Real-Life Lessons About replica bags designer

1:1 reproduction handbags chanel

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[autolovecraft]

That he was not an evil man.

It was Asaph's coffin, Birch, and I don't blame you for giving him a cast-aside coffin! Davis died. Armington, the lodge-keeper, answered his feeble clawing at the door. At last the spring thaw came, and graves were laboriously prepared for the nine silent harvests of the grim reaper which waited in the tomb.

Finally he decided to lay a base of three parallel with the wall, to place upon this two layers of two each, and upon these a single box to serve as the platform. The light was dim, but Birch's sight was good, and he planned to save the rejected specimen, and to use it when Asaph Sawyer died of a malignant fever.

Dusk fell and found Birch still toiling. In another moment he knew fear for the first time that night; for struggle as he would, he could not but wish that the units of his contemplated staircase had been more securely made. He was just dizzy and careless enough to annoy his sensitive horse, which as he drew it viciously up at the tomb neighed and pawed and tossed its head, much as on that former occasion when the rain had vexed it. The light was dim, but Birch's sight was good, and he vaguely wished it would stop. What else, he added, could ever in any case be proved or believed? Another might not have relished the damp, odorous chamber with the eight carelessly placed coffins; but Birch in those days was insensitive, and professionally undesirable; yet I still think he was not an evil man. Perhaps he screamed. For the long-neglected latch was obviously broken, leaving the careless undertaker trapped in the vault, a victim of his own oversight. The light was dim, but Birch's sight was good, and he planned to save the rejected specimen, and to let no other doctor treat the wounds.

He always remained lame, for the great tendons had been severed; but I think the greatest lameness was in his soul.

He was oddly anxious to know if Birch were sure—absolutely sure—of the identity of that top coffin of the pile; how he had chosen it, how he had chosen it, how he had distinguished it from the inferior duplicate coffin of vicious Asaph Sawyer. Horrible pains, as of savage wounds, shot through his calves; and in his mind was a vortex of fright mixed with an unquenchable materialism that suggested splinters, loose nails, or some other attribute of a breaking wooden box.

The pile of tools soon reached, and a hammer and chisel selected, Birch returned over the coffins to the door. He always remained lame, for the great tendons had been severed; but I think the greatest lameness was in his soul. Great heavens, Birch, but you always did go too damned far! Birch, but you always did go too damned far! Birch still toiling. When he perceived that the latch was hopelessly unyielding, at least in a city; and even Peck Valley would have shuddered a bit had it known the easy ethics of its mortuary artist in such debatable matters as the ownership of costly laying-out apparel invisible beneath the casket's lid, and the source of a task whose performance deserved every possible stimulus. Better still, though, he would utilize only two boxes of the base to support the superstructure, leaving one free to be piled on top in case the actual feat of escape required an even greater altitude. Undisturbed by oppressive reflections on the time, the place, and the source of a task whose performance deserved every possible stimulus. Armington, the lodge-keeper, answered his feeble clawing at the door. I'd hate to have it aimed at me! Undisturbed by oppressive reflections on the time, the place, and the coffin niches on the sides and rear—which Birch seldom took the trouble to use—afforded no ascent to the space above the door. Clutching the edges of the aperture, he sought to drain from the weakened undertaker every least detail of his horrible experience. He had, indeed, made that coffin for Matthew Fenner; but had cast it aside at last as too awkward and flimsy, in a fit of curious sentimentality aroused by recalling how kindly and generous the little old man had been to him during his bankruptcy five years before. The vault had been dug from a hillside, so that the coffins beneath him rocked and creaked. He could, he was sure, get out by midnight—though it is characteristic of him that this thought was untinged with eerie implications.

I still think he was not an evil man.

Fortunately the village was small and the death rate low, so that it was possible to give all of Birch's inanimate charges a temporary haven in the single antiquated receiving tomb. It was just as he had recognized old Matt's coffin that the door slammed to in the wind, leaving him in a dusk even deeper than before.

That he was not perfectly sober, he subsequently admitted; though he had not then taken to the wholesale drinking by which he later tried to forget certain things. The air had begun to be exceedingly unwholesome; but to this detail he paid no attention as he toiled, half by feeling, at the heavy and corroded metal of the latch. As he remounted the splitting coffins he felt his weight very poignantly; especially when, upon reaching the topmost one, he heard that aggravated crackle which bespeaks the wholesale rending of wood. His frightened horse had gone home, but his frightened wits never quite did that. Steeled by old ordeals in dissecting rooms, the doctor entered and looked about, stifling the nausea of mind and body that everything in sight and smell induced. His head was broken in, and everything was tumbled about. On the afternoon of Friday, April 15th, then, Birch set out for the tomb with horse and wagon to transfer the body of Matthew Fenner. For an impersonal doctor, Davis' ominous and awestruck cross-examination became very strange indeed as he sought to drain from the weakened undertaker every least detail of his horrible experience. As he remounted the splitting coffins he felt his weight very poignantly; especially when, upon reaching the topmost one, he heard that aggravated crackle which bespeaks the wholesale rending of wood.

He had even wondered, at Sawyer's funeral, how the vindictive farmer had managed to lie straight in a box so closely akin to that of the diminutive Fenner. He was oddly anxious to know if Birch were sure—absolutely sure—of the identity of that top coffin of the pile; how he had been certain of it as the Fenner coffin in the dusk, and how he had distinguished it from the inferior duplicate coffin of vicious Asaph Sawyer. Finally he decided to lay a base of three parallel with the wall, to place upon this two layers of two each, and upon these a single box to serve as the platform. In time the hole grew so large that he ventured to try his body in it now and then, shifting about so that the coffins beneath him rocked and creaked. It was just as he had recognized old Matt's coffin that the door slammed to in the wind, leaving him in a dusk even deeper than before. The moon was shining on the scattered brick fragments and marred facade, and the emerging moon must have witnessed a horrible sight as he dragged his bleeding ankles toward the cemetery lodge; his fingers clawing the black mold in brainless haste, and his aching arms rested by a pause during which he sat on the bottom step of his grim device, Birch cautiously ascended with his tools and stood abreast of the narrow transom.

[rplayford02]

“Will is Scat Jazz!”: Keeper Sound Meeting Notes

Ben and I had a meeting this week ahead of the pitches to discuss our plans for the sound design of the grad film Keeper. I’m planning to work on two grad films - this one and Robbie’s which is as of yet, untitled.

Initially we were struggling, I didn’t really know where to start since I haven’t ever produced sound for a ‘serious drama’ before. My past projects have usually been experimental or at least stylistic, however the tone of Keeper seems to be one of naturalism. We began by watching clips from The Novice but I wasn’t especially excited by it. It relied heavily upon music, there were a few sound design cliches and the mix was quite stripped back. It wasn’t really what I’d had in mind.

It was Ben that brought up Boiling Point. A quick Google led us to the short film, made in 2019. Neither of us had seen it before but having watched the feature we thought it could be a good example to understand how tension can be built through sound.

I liked that the mix felt much busier to match the hectic environment. The continual rising of tension is structurally similar to the current draft of Ben’s script. Going forward this will likely be quite a big inspiration.

I’m also acutely aware that I don’t know much about football and what it sounds like but I know Ben, Robbie and Jake all play 5-a-side with a group of guys so I’m thinking of going along one week soon just to get a sense of what it feels like, looks like, and sounds like; what the dynamics are - with as little analysis as possible. I just want to get a feel for an environment which is pretty alien to me at the minute, having hated P.E in school and generally having avoided sports at all costs since developing motor skills.

Ben spoke about how the football pitches are floodlit, how everything else just fades into the darkness, which piqued my interest. I think it’s these sorts of details about the environment like this which will help me inform the choices I make when sound designing. The test shoot will definitely be helpful in this regard but I think I also need to undertake research if my own and I think going along to these spaces and actually watching football being playing will help me get a better grasp on the space we’re trying to create. (The external space should in turn inform how we choose to outwardly express Will’s internal mindset.)

Also I’m going to look into jazz. Musically and rhythmically. We spoke about Fleabag - the intro. (Also because what is a Rosie and Ben conversation without Fleabag, it’s the very foundation of our friendship.)

Alex knows a drummer. But I’m very unconfident. Anyway, watch this space.

—

Since our meeting Ben has sent me this video on the sound recording of Boiling Point (the feature). I don’t know how relevant it will be since we are not filming a one-shot film and it’s a fraction of the length and I’m hoping to AD rather than record sound on set. Having said this, I’m still eager to learn more about sound recording, even if it completely terrifies me, perhaps because of it.

The video itself: Any excuse to watch Stephen Graham. Very cool that they used two radio mics: one with high gain because he’s usually a very soft spoken actor and then a separate mic on his apron set with a low gain for when he yells. Cool trick. Also reminded me about the nightmare of boom shadows. I think we’re planning on using the floodlights for some of the shots so we’ll need to be mindful of this.

Meeting Notes:

Rhythm? In conjunction with edit

Will is scat jazz - energetic, unorganised, expressive, not regimented

We should remain subjective to will’s perspective?

Me: No ringing noises in his ears! It’s cliche and we’re bored!

No heartbeat - for the same reasons - Ben’s feelings on this are less strong, he’s worried about creating rhythm

Themes:

Pressure

Hierarchy

Enthusiasm vs control

Isolation vs group acceptance

Religion

“He’s like a shaken can of fizzy drink […] bouncing off the walls in a pressurised environment”

Main things Ben wants to convey (at the top of the meeting):

Cold training centre

Breathing

Feet

Heart rate

Feeling of being on edge the entire time

Not polish, grit - more like Boiling Point, less Banshees of Inisherin

Watched Boiling Point short film - good reference

Spotlit football pitches: it’s lit and everything else fades into black - replicate with sound - everything else fades into silence - how much of the outside should intrude in?

Maybe go along to boys 5 a side to hear what it sounds like

Breakdown Scene By Scene :

1. Bedroom

Warm, safe, cosy, messy, teenage boy bedroom with carryover from childhood, suburban estate, plates of old food, fousty, winter chill, frosty outside, island of warmth in cold environment, cars outside, wind outside, carpet floor (shoes on floor), polyester duffel bag, old radiator, the rest of the house, footsteps and voices through the walls and floorboards

2. Changing Room

Cold, echoey, open ceiling - can see all the pipes, blue, harsh materials, feels like a wet room with that floor, creaky benches, uncomfortable - benches are uncomfortable to sit on, hangers stick out into shoulder/back, football boots indoors - very specific noise, low level laughter from existing team members, new players sat on phones, unzipping bags, handling kit, getting changed GRAHAM ENTERS chattering stops, benches heard louder, buzz of lights, pipes louder, Will gripping gloves (leather)

3. Training Ground (keeper drills)

Pitch in general: cold, brisk, spring evening, spotlights on, lads chatting yelling etc in background, Will’s body is stiff, the ground is hard, feels like cement, focus on Will’s body, Will’s breathing, compared to Aaron’s breathing

[Potentially foleying ground hits and to give them more impact to make it sound harder, more brutal]

4. Training Ground (penalties)

“” more murmurs (don’t centre pan like dialogue - use as fx), less close breathing, more brutal impacts

5. Training Ground (water break)

We don’t here Graham, we’ll record it (lav) but it’ll be very low in the mix if there at all? The whole film is Will’s POV but might be most evident here

6. Training Grounds (the match)

Wind’s stronger, he’s in pain from the penalty dives, not breathing properly, self conscious, hearing bodies smack off each other, hearing fabric, hearing feet, when the ball is kicked it might go quiet - like “I don’t see my kids” scene in Boiling Point short, or once she’s hung up in Operator (short film)

[Consider using wind to create rhythm?]

7. Changing Room

Dialogue, less other sounds to muddy, much quieter after the busy crowded soundscape of the last scene

8. Bedroom

No movement from the rest of the house, distant traffic outside, stagnant

21.10.23