#she is also SMI’s maker

[voice-o-fallacy]

A small compilation of Dr. Day. She’s here to placate employees with her kind words and sharp wires that probe inside your skull, and to prepare the former test subjects for their smooth incorporation into the operations onsite.

Additional doodles below the cut.

[wizardessheart-sideb]

Image ID: A chapter image done in the style of Wizardess Heart. A large, off-white imagine with a guy on it. He’s wearing a dark gray uniform. There’s a lavender bar over him that reads “Tsukasa Kuze.” The rest of the text reads “Main Story” and “Chapter 2: On the Very First Day” /End ID]

Chapter summary: It's my first day of classes and things are harder than I thought they'd be. And now something strange happens with Tsukasa...

The shrill ringing of my alarm woke me up and immediately my stomach was rolling. The strong smell of bacon and something sweet was strong in my room. If anything, it made my nausea worse. I didn’t even open my eyes as I turned my alarm clock off. Did I really have to get out of bed? Couldn’t I just sleep a little longer?

Five more minutes wouldn’t hurt…I plucked the clock from my nightstand and just as I was about to reset it, there was loud knocking on my door.

“Time to wake up! If you keep sleeping, you’ll miss breakfast!” Isabelle’s voice shouted from the other side. Ugh… With my stomach feeling so gross, maybe that’d be for the best. Would I be able to keep anything down right now, anyway?

“Okay, thanks, Isabelle!” I replied as cheerfully as I could given how little sleep I’d gotten. I groaned as I got out of bed. I hadn’t even done anything yet and I already felt dead tired. Somehow, I stumbled through getting dressed and ready for the day.

When I stepped out of my dorm room, the smell of breakfast just intensified. The door to our kitchen was open and as soon as she caught sight of me, Isabelle waved me in.

“Oh, there you are! We were wondering when you’d get up,” Aika greeted me. She was seated at the table, blonde hair tucked into a neat bun and make up done. How did she have energy for that? It felt so early, even though I knew it wasn’t.

“Your food’s gonna get cold,” Dorian spoke up. He was standing at a counter, pouring batter into a fancy-looking waffle maker.

“You made me breakfast?”

“Of course he did,” Isabelle said. “He cooks all our meals.”

“He’s totally the daddy of our dorm suite,” Aika added.

“How dare you make me go through the five stages of grief this early in the morning,” Isabelle hissed. Aika just shrugged, taking a sip of her cocoa.

“What? I’m not wrong,” she commented nonchalantly. “Also it’s like, eight in the evening.”

“YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!”

Unsure of what to say, I just grabbed the plate of food Dorian brusquely shoved towards me and sat down across from Isabelle, who now had her head down on the table. Dorian sighed and grabbed his own plate, sitting across from Aika. I cut into the fluffy omelet and cheese started spilling out. Dang, Dorian’s really making some fancy stuff.

“So, are you nervous?” Isabelle asked me, sitting up, chin resting on her hands.

“Oh, um… yeah, a little,” I told her.

“You’ll be fine. Your class has some total sweethearts,” she reassured me. That’s a relief. I already knew Tsukasa was a classmate, and if everyone was like him, I’d be able to make friends fast.

“You mean there’s four decent people out of fifteen in their class,” Dorian muttered under his breath. My stomach had slowly stopped feeling sick, but thanks to that quip, the nausea was back. There’s only four nice people in my class?

“I mean, that’s better than none!” Isabelle said hurriedly. She pouted before smiling at me. “Ugh, whatever. Anyway, you’re going to be fine. Your class is small and as long as you stick to the nice ones, you’ll be fine. You have Tsukasa, but you also have Hiro and Clive and you’ll love them.”

“Fandamilia is also very nice but jeez, she’s so energetic when she’s not drunk,” Dorian added. Aika glared at him, fixing her posture to be pin-straight.

“Dorian, are you trying to start a fight at the breakfast table?!” Her voice was harsh. Cold. She nervously glanced over to Isabelle, who had a similar look of fury on her face like Aika had had moments ago. “Isabelle, ignore him.”

“Don’t befriend Fandamilia,” Isabelle commanded.

“Our newbie can befriend who they want. Fandamilia is nice and even though she has her faults, she still deserves to have friends,” Dorian argued heatedly.

“Uh…” How was I supposed to react to this? It’s not like I knew Fandamilia and could say anything to support Isabelle or Dorian. There was no other choice but to just sit there and watch the scenario implode before my eyes.

“Isabelle doesn’t get along with Fandamilia anymore,” Aika whispered to me. But that didn’t really do anything to clear this up. Why didn’t they get along? Why were they friends in the first place? Why do I need to avoid Fandamilia? Dorian sighed and sat his teacup down onto the table a bit too forcefully, some tea sloshing over the side.

“Look, befriend her or don’t. Make the choice for yourself and not because Isabelle told you to,” he told me. His eyes were burning and I couldn’t do anything but sit there and wither under the pressure. Isabelle just rolled her eyes.

“I’m just trying to save them some heartache. It sucks when you befriend someone and then they try to justify some jerk’s terrible behavior,” she said. Oh. I guess that explains a little more. But I still wish I could get the full picture.

“I don’t like him either, but Fandamilia needs friends that aren’t Zeus,” Dorian said. “How do you expect her to grow if she doesn’t make more friends?”

“I don’t think you can even call them friends. He doesn’t really acknowledge her,” Aika lamented. She sighed, stirring her cocoa. “She should just summon herself a boyfriend like I did.”

“What?” Did I hear that right? No, there’s no way I heard that right.

“Oh, a gender-reversed take on the ‘hur dur my wife’s a demon’ boomer joke. Classy. Innovative. Straights can keep their rights now,” Isabelle retorted.

“Oh my God, shut up. If I can’t be the cute one, I have to be the funny one,” Aika replied, just as fiery. Dorian just pouted at Isabelle.

“I can’t believe you’d call me or Aika straight. I might be dating Aika but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a nice, tall man willing to destroy this -”

“I HATE THIS FAMILY!” Aika shrieked. Dorian just snickered instead of finishing his sentence, but it’s not like I didn’t know what he was going to say. Part of me wanted to say, “let him speak,” but I don’t know if I can really joke around with them like that yet.

There was a knock on the wall and when I turned around in my seat, I saw Tsukasa sheepishly standing there. Everyone straightened up a bit.

“Oh, hey, Tsukasa. Care to join us?” Isabelle asked, starting to get up. But Tsukasa just shook his head and Isabelle plopped back down into her chair.

“No, thank you,” he told her before turning to face me. “I came to see if you were ready to head to class.”

“Me?!” It made my heart flutter a little bit, as strange as it was.  

“Oh, really now…” Dorian commented, voice low. Aika reached over and lightly smacked Dorian’s arm at his mischievous tone. Something about it made me flustered and I started looking around wildly for my bag.

“Oh, um, give me a moment to do dishes,” I said. I started to stand up, but Dorian snapped and in an instant, my dishes floated into the sink.

“I take care of the dishes. Don’t worry about it,” he said, flashing me a smile.

“Are you sure?” I didn’t want to just let him do all the work, especially since he made breakfast.

“This is how it always is,” Aika told me. “Don’t let us keep you.”

“If you say so…” I grabbed my bag before joining Tsukasa. We fell in step with each other as we made our way to the classrooms.

“How did you sleep this morning?” he asked.

“I was out. The trip yesterday was more exhausting than I realized,” I laughed. Part of me wondered if I should bring up last night. He wasn’t really having a good time, but if he came to get me, then he must be feeling a bit better. And besides, maybe it wasn’t my place to pry into his life. “It’s weird how tiring travel is.”

“I know, right?” he said, a large smile on his face. “When my brother and I moved here, we were both so exhausted from the trip that we slept for a full day once we got to our inn.”

“You moved here?”

“Yeah. My brother and I lived in Hinomoto all our lives, but we moved to Gedonelune four years ago. It was right after my fourteenth birthday.”

“Oh, that��s exciting. Do you like it here?” I’d lived in Reitz my whole life. I didn’t really know much about Hinomoto other than it was an archipelago east of us. That was it, basically.

“I do. Hinomoto was really nice and I wouldn’t mind moving back, but I really like Gedonelune and I’m glad Azusa had us move.” That must be his brother. “We used to live in the imperial court and while it was nice living in luxury, I’m not a huge fan of having so many rules. I think some rules are necessary, but there were some that were just dumb.”

As Tsukasa told me about his life living among royalty, we got to campus. The hallways were full of students just milling around and it was the same inside our classroom. There were already some students in their seats, reading or sketching absentmindedly or just staring off into space. No one acknowledged us when we came in and no one said a word as Tsukasa lead me to the front row and sat down. I took the seat next to him, to the right of a girl with a big, green ponytail full of curls and in front of a guy with black hair with bleached ends. I quickly got my things out of my bag. I wanted to ask him how difficult classes were, but it’s not like I could now. What if someone overheard and made fun of me? The girl next to me didn’t seem like she’d notice since she was fidgeting with some paper, but the guy behind me had bad vibes radiating from him.

The bell abruptly rang and the remaining students filed in quickly. The girl next to me slumped a bit and put her paper away, taking out a notebook. The nerves in my stomach started to act up as more people came inside. This was really happening. My very first day of classes at Gedonelune Royal Magic Academy! I just hoped I could keep up with everyone else. Prefect Nox walked into the classroom, a smile on his face. Okay, this wasn’t bad at all! I had Tsukasa here with me and I had Prefect Nox teaching my first class!

“Okay, everyone here? Good. Let’s get started.” Nox leaned against the podium, eyes lazily scanning the classroom. We locked eyes and his grin widened. “Although, I guess I should introduce our new student.”

“Oh!” I shot up out of my chair, waving nervously to the rest of the class. Apathetic eyes met mine, if they looked up at all. Tsukasa was the only one who greeted me with a smile. That melted some of my nervousness away. “Hi, I’m the new transfer student!” I gave them my name. “Let’s, uh, let’s do our best to get along.”

“Sounds fake, but whatever,” someone spoke up. I couldn’t tell who it was. The rest of the class snickered and I sunk back into my seat. I glanced over to Tsukasa, but he was glaring at another student.

“That was rude.” Yikes, what that really Tsukasa talking back?! Sure, I didn’t know him well, but for him to sound so angry and ready to throw down was disconcerting, to say the least.

“Hey, let’s not get into a fight, okay?” Nox spoke up quickly. “Let’s just let it go and start class.”  He just plowed on, telling us to open our books. I reached out and tapped Tsukasa’s shoulder, leaning in towards him.

“Thank you,” I whispered. He smiled.

“Don’t mention it.” I’m so lucky to have Tsukasa in my class. But now I see what Dorian was talking about. People seem like they can be really snide here.

“All right, today we’re working on defensive magic,” Nox announced. “I know it doesn’t seem as cool as offensive magic, but if you can’t use defensive magic, you’re as good as dead in a fight. We’ll be going elemental shields today, specifically water. Can someone tell me what you’d call water when casting a spell?” Everyone’s eyes dropped to the ground, trying to avoid Prefect Nox’s eyes. “Fandamilia?”

“Uh… Aqua?” The girl with green curls answered, uncertain.

“Correct. Keep up the hard work, Millie.” She beamed. So that’s Fandamilia. She didn’t look at all like I imagined. She didn’t look at all like the mean girls from movies. “For today’s class, you’ll have to create a shield large enough to protect yourself and your partner. I’ll fire attacks at you and let’s hope your shields are strong enough. Get in pairs and then get in horizontal line from that wall to this one.”

My stomach knotted itself. The shield didn’t sound bad enough, but Prefect Nox testing it? That was what worried me. I looked around me, looking for a partner.

“Tsukasa? Do you want to partner up?” I asked him.

“I’d love to.” Again, he gave me one of those lovely warm smiles. Even though I was nervous about the assignment, seeing him smile settled my nerves. “Um… Would you like me to go first?”

“Oh, um, no, I can go first if you like,” I replied.

“All right. That’s fine with me.” I just nodded. We got in line and Prefect Nox, of course, went to the end closest to us. I could throw up then and there. I stared at the textbook, hoping that somehow, it’d help me conjure the shield easier. Student after student had success and my nausea got worse and worse. Prefect Nox arrived to us and I took a deep, shaky breath.

“O water, protect us from harm! Suctum aqua!” I waved my hand a large shield of still water appeared. I… I did it?! I’d never tried this spell before. Thank goodness it worked.

“That’s a great size,” Nox commented. “But let’s see if it’ll hold up. Sagitta aqua!” Several arrows of water easily pierced my shield and splashed into me. I coughed, letting the water drip out of my mouth. My shield dissipated. “Your shield looked a little thin. Next time, make it a little thicker and maybe try getting the water to swirl. That should help deflect some attacks,” he told me.

“Thank you.” I’m the first person in class to fail… I can’t cry. I’m not going to be the first person to fail AND the person who cried in class on their first day.

“水! (Mizu!)” Tsukasa quickly drew symbols into the air and a shield appeared. It was much smaller than anyone else's and Prefect Nox frowned.

“I think it needs to be bigger, but I’ll go ahead and attack. Sagitta aqua.” Again, water arrows went flying to Tsukasa. He lifted his shield but as soon as the arrows hit it, the whole thing broke and sprayed water on not just him, but me and the girl on his other side.

“I’m sorry, you two,” he said. He pulled out a handkerchief and gave it to me.

“Next time, make your shield bigger and keep it together. A shield that breaks means you’re going to get some serious injuries,” Nox critiqued.

“Thank you.”  Prefect Nox went over to Lyza and I saw Tsukasa’s shoulders slump ever so slightly. As awful as it was, part of me was relieved I wasn’t the only one that failed. But at the same time, I felt bad that Tsukasa had failed too. I put my hand on his bony shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. He turned to me and mirrored me, putting his hand on my shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Maybe we were going to be okay. A few more minutes passed and Prefect Nox reached the end of the line.

“All right, those were all good first tries,” Nox announced. “Let’s do this again and keep in mind my constructive criticism.” I almost gagged. Again?! We have to do this all over again?!

We didn’t improve much and by the time we were back in our seats, I was ready to take a nap. Who knew classes would be so exhausting?

“Good work today, guys. Here’s today’s results,” Nox said. He snapped his fingers and a large list appeared on the blackboard. My stomach dropped to the floor as I read the names and realize what it was. It was our names and our scores for the day. I kept reading and saw mine and Tsukasa’s names at the bottom of the list with only a few points each. Some kids were cheering, others gloating about how well they did. I just wanted to disappear into thin air.

“Are you okay?” Tsukasa’s gentle voice was in my ear, his hand on my shoulder.

“No. Why are our scores up on the board?”

“It’s like that for every class. It’s supposed to motivate us, but I think it’s kind of terrible.”

“No kidding.”

The rest of my classes didn’t go that well and by the time the final bell rung, I was ready to go back to my room and die in peace. Everyone was pretty quick to leave the classroom as I sluggishly put my stuff away.

“Hey. Are you okay?” Tsukasa inquired. I just sighed.

“Yeah, I guess. I didn’t know things were going to be so intense here,” I replied.

“I know what you mean. These classes are hard and on top of that, they make it like a competition.”

“I don’t see how this makes anyone motivated.”

“Everyone here is kind of competitive. Well, most everyone.” Somehow, that didn’t make things better. “If you’re worried about your grades, how about we go study together?” Tsukasa suggested. I didn’t know how much he could help me, but it’d be nice to suffer with someone else.

“Sure. We can go study for a while.” Wallowing in self-pity will have to wait. After all, I guess I do have to study hard so I’d be accepted as an official student.

The halls were already cleared of students, but in the distance I could hear faint chatter coming from near the entrance of campus. Hm. I wonder what that is? Tsukasa lead me down the hall and to two large wooden doors.

“I’m sure there will be some study rooms open for us,” Tsukasa said as he held the door open for me.

The library was massive. Shelves lined the walls and were standing proudly on the floor like soldiers, lined up perfectly and precisely. Tables were shoved into any space they could find that was out of the way of traffic. Tsukasa lead me through the stacks and to the back wall. Several doors lined the walls. Next to them were windows looking in to empty rooms. Again, Tsukasa opened a door and motioned for me to go in.

“Thank you.” What a gentleman. It was a cozy little room. There was a blackboard in addition to the table and chairs. Tsukasa took the seat across from me and started pulling his textbooks out.

“So, what do you want to study?” he asked.

“Uh…” “Everything” would be a bad answer, wouldn’t it? “Gosh, I don’t know… Is there anything you want to work on?”

“I don’t have a preference,” he responded. Great. More pressure. I know he was probably trying to be polite, but I had no idea what to do.

“Um… Man, I really don’t know. I feel like I have to work on everything,” I sighed, leaning back in my chair, arms crossed.

“We can study whatever you need to. I’ve got all night.”

“I don’t want you to ignore what you need to do for me, though. My failures shouldn’t cost you anything.”

“Hey, don’t say that.” He leaned in closer to me. “I’m not sacrificing what I need to do. We’re working together on things we both need. This is a two-way street.” Something about his words reassured me. It sounded so mature and certain. Well, maybe mature wasn’t the right word. Perhaps authoritative was a better term. He looked so strong in that moment. But in a second, he quickly looked away. “Sorry, was that weird? My brother says it all the time so I thought it would be comforting…”

“Pft… Haha!” The switch from confident to shy struck me as funny. But at the same time, it was so sweet he’d try comforting me when we hardly knew each other.

“It was comforting. Thank you, Tsukasa. I really appreciate it,” I told him. We shared smiles. All of a sudden, the crescent moon brooch on his cloak start to glow.

“What’s with your brooch?” he asked. Huh?

“Is mine glowing too?!” I asked.

“Wait, mine’s glowing?!”

We looked to our brooches and saw them glowing brighter and brighter until the light seemed to shoot out of the brooches. Sparkles mixed it the air and exploded like a firework, beautiful and fleeting.

“That’s pretty, but… What is that?” I asked him. He shrugged.

“Were you trying to cast something?”

“No. Were you?”

“No.” Then what was it? “I know sometimes if you sing well enough, magic crystals can form in the air. Maybe this is something like that? With friendship?” Friendship… Does he see me as a friend? … I suppose I see him as a friend…

“I… I guess it is.” Something about this situation felt so odd. It didn’t feel threatening or something, or bad, but still. I wondered what that magic was all about. Even as Tsukasa and I shared a smile over our new friend status, I still couldn’t help but wonder what had happened.

[rrcooperwrites]

Opus 4

[WP] It's surprisingly useful having a real witch helping out around the village. Plagues, sicknesses and animal attacks haven't been a problem ever since Old Mabel started practicing openly. So when some out-of-town witch hunters want to burn her at the stake, the villagers are none too pleased

As always here is the accompanying soundtrack: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1E4rjWSx9UXGAL?si=05a578cb58e147e2 Original Reddit Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/pi4jvr/wp_its_surprisingly_useful_having_a_real_witch/

START HERE >>>

The following happened to High Inquisitor Maximum Nastius in the year 1756 of our Supreme Lord, praised be his name and many appendages. Notes taken by Scribe Inkius The Consternated.

The High Inquisitor pounded the table in anger. The table, peppered with knot holes from the inquisitor’s mailed fist, wondered what it’s ancestors had done to merit such treatment. Then thought better about it, and remembered that a table really has no business wondering about its circumstances. It finally concluded to just bear it and instead think of the nice cleaning lady who uses the lemon scented cleaner.

“Confess your thousands of crimes, you unholy arse worm!” screamed the Grand Inquisitor at Rexius. The village chief squirmed in his seat, he knew that he was no arse-worm, but was so terrified that he was trying his best to look like one. This did not placate the Grand Inquisitor, who really disliked it when people didn’t live up to his, admittedly high, aspirations.

The Grand Inquisitor’s actual name was Prudence. His mother was a very pious woman and thought that a name based on a virtue would be very appropriate for a future priest. Which of course she was sure her little baby would grow up to be. She just needed to feel the pressure of those yellow coloured eyes upon her. They seemed to say, “Confess”.

Yellow was an odd colour for eyes. The Grand Inquisitor’s mother guessed it might have been due to her late husband’s constant drinking. Her theory was that he had drunk so much that the piss had leaked out the last time she had been forced to satisfy the compact of marriage, and had stained her baby’s eyes a piercing yellow.

Thankfully, The Grand Inquisitor had managed to combine the many beatings he received due to his name with his mother’s enthusiastic pursue of religion and turn it into a very successful and profitable career with The Church. His now elderly mother would send letters every month telling him how terrified her neighbours would look whenever he was brought up. This, of course, pleased The Grand Inquisitor. Who loved both his mother and striking fear into the hearts of sinners.

The reason I’m giving you his backstory, honoured reader, is to impress upon you how effective The Grand Inquisitor was at his job. And why even though Rexius, the aforementioned village chief, really wanted to. He couldn’t give The Grand Inquisitor what he wanted.

“Ok, you pulsing pus-flavoured extraneous growth,” said The Grand Inquisitor, whose abuse of language had been brought up in a couple of peer reviews, “Confess! Tell me where the witch is!”

Rexius tried to sigh, but his lips and face were too swollen to actually expel a sufficient amount of air to be called a sigh.

“I’m terribly sorry inquisitor, I really don’t know,” said Rexius, and then let out another not-quite sigh.

“GRAND! Inquisitor,” the Grand Inquisitor said, “As very soon you will find out, I’m a CUT above other inquisitors.”

Rexius winced at the sharp inflection The Grand Inquisitor gave to “Cut”.

“I honestly don’t know what you want from me,” said Rexius, “ I already told you, the witch is gone.”

“The witch cannot be gone. She’s only human.”

“Only witch you mean.”

“Silence arse-worm! She’s both. A demon’s bride. Fit only for the pits of hells.”

“You don’t get it. She left without a trace, because she is an actual witch. Not a lady of the woods.”

Rexius would have offered this explanation earlier, but the first six days of his confinement consisted of a breakfast, brutal beatings, lunch, more brutal beatings, tea with a biscuit, brutal interrogation, supper, and perhaps a late night brutal beating, if the inquisitors were trying to outdo themselves.

Only until today had his gag been removed, The Grand Inquisitor believed that people were like meat, if you softened them before cooking, you get better results. But now, for the first time in the week since Rexius had been brought here, The Grand Inquisitor changed his expression from his Holy Fury(TM) to his Mildly Confused(Patent Pending).

“What nonsense are you spouting heretic. All Lady of The Woods are witches, by definition,” said The Grand Inquisitor.

“Not this one. Listen. I’m not an amateur either. I’m in my fifties. How old are you?”

“Twenty-seven,” confessed the now much younger looking Grand Inquisitor.

“Twenty-seven?!? You’re a mewling baby. I’m 72, by the time you were just being weaned of your mother’s tits I had already burned over 30 witches.”

The Grand Inquisitor struck Rexius. Purely out of principle, and maybe the bit about his mother’s tits. The Grand Inquisitor did not like to think about his mother’s anything during interrogations. He was afraid he might enjoy it.

“Terribly sorry Rexius, but it was warranted,” said The Grand Inquisitor as gracefully as possible, “Ok, I’m now ready to listen. Tell me everything.”

“No worries, I understand. It’s the principle of the matter,” said Rexius. The Grand Inquisitor nodded in agreement.

“Very well,” continued Rexius, “I will tell you everything.”

Rexius then proceeded to tell The Grand Inquisitor, everything, well, almost, except for one small bit.

The whole affair started when a new Lady Of The Woods moved into their village.

Now, everyone knows that being a Lady of The Woods is dangerous. But since they’re a combination of doctor, advisor, teacher, and chemist, they are able to earn incredible profits. Most Ladies are just highly educated women really. Which of course means that there is at least a sixty-percent chance that the local village will blame them for any woes that befall the village and try to burn their Lady at the stake.

In this modern times, this happens less now of course. Some Ladies hire mercenaries, who are very eager to defend a very agreeable person from a bunch of ragtag peasants. If the Lady can’t afford mercenaries, she just bribes the peasants, sometimes by offering discounts on services for a year or so.

There are even places where the annual burning of the witch is a massive celebration, and the local Lady of The Woods is an honoured guest, and the burning is merely symbolic.

This was not the case in the village of Hogington. Hogington, true to its naming origins, was a town of swineherds, along with the swineherds there were butchers, bakers and candlestick makers to round out the needed professions in the town. Hogington also had some very famous restaurants, although due to the smell, patrons had to be particularly dedicated to enjoy their meals.

So when a new Lady Of the Woods moved in, everyone was wondering why she had chosen Hogington. When Rexius asked her, the Lady, whose name was Drusilia, answered: “Because I love pork rinds.”

Rexius explained that of course he understood. Hoginton’s pork rinds were famous the world over, or at least famous about 100 miles around Hoginton. But he had a hard time believing someone would move to Hogington just for the pork rinds.

“We did everything as per instructions,” said Rexius, “people would shun her during the day, maybe throw an apple her way even, if anyone was up for it. Then at night, everyone would go to her cottage with their problems. I can’t bed my wife, I can’t get pregnant, my crops are failing, my husband won’t bed me. The usual you know.”

Rexius explained that not only did the Lady fix those issues. She fixed a handful of others. One day, she simply walked into the tanning district and asked them why they did the tanning inside the town where it would stink up everything? The tanners of course told her, “Lady, where else could we go?

Drusilia snapped her fingers and told them to follow the new dirt road from the eastern part of town and that about one hour away by horse they will find a valley where they can tan all day long. She did the same for the swineherds, the butchers and the candlestick makers. She moved all of them out of the town into properties she owned.

“Ahhhh, usury! The cheapest of crimes. I’m sure she charged outrageous prices for this and threatened to turn your baby’s toes into jam if you didn’t comply,” exclaimed The High Inquisitor, who was growing tired of this witch’s benevolence.

“Not really. She didn’t charge us, and after she expelled some of the lazier artisans, she gave the land to the town. We own it now, and as long as it’s never sold to a private citizen, the land is ours to use,” answered Rexius apologetically.

“I see. Continue then, I’m sure we’ll find something,” said The High Inquisitor. Who was trying to hide his disappointment at the sub-par quality of the sins so far.

“Unfortunately High Inquisitor, that’s basically it. Drusilia left shortly after that, her house is empty but clean. There are no signs of her anywhere.”

“Hmmm, no ash in the shape of a phallus?”

“No”

“No cats walking on two legs?”

“Not really”

“No hellish fumes, like a combination of rotten eggs and wet weasels?”

“That’s just Tauberius, but he’s taking a medicine for it.”

“I see… Master Rexius it seems like you might just have run into a very wealthy patroness,” said The High Inquisitor, who for all his passion for hunting heretics, was a rather polite man in his private life.

“What do you mean?”

“Well my dear sir, look at the evidence. Everything she ever did could be explained away by hiring enough workers for it. Giving you the land is perhaps a bit more eccentric than usual, but not that out of the norm for the truly wealthy. They tend to be queer like that sometimes,” said The High Inquisitor, a huge smile spread over his face.

“I dare say, we’re terribly sorry about this chap,” continued The High Inquisitor, ”I’ll ask my men to give you a good horse and some provisions. Including some of our strawberries, which are in season.”

“That’s incredibly kind of you High Inquisitor, I’m humbled,” said Rexius.

“Oh poo,” answered The High Inquisitor while waving his hand dismissively and calling over some of his men.

That night, one of the kingdom’s far scouts spotted a woman riding alone on a palace horse. After he stopped the woman, he asked for her papers. The woman pulled out a very impressive looking letter with the even more impressive looking seal of The High Inquisitor stamped on it. The guard had heard rumours about The High Inquisitor, so he just let the woman go on her way. The woman thanked him and popped a rather delicious looking strawberry into her mouth, as she made her way back to Hogington.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

The mighty power of the simple Post-It Note protest

In the emotional days following the November 2016 election that put President Donald Trump in power, no one had any idea they might find a shred of solace in words scribbled on a mundane office supply. But underground, in the depths of a New York City subway station, a powerfully expressive initiative fueled by thousands of Post-it Notes was underway. 

In the weeks that followed, thousands of people in search of catharsis paused their commutes to write down rejuvenating messages of hope, solidarity, and reassurance and stick them to the walls for all to read. Soon a colorful mosaic of an estimated 50,000 Post-its, now known as the Subway Therapy project, spanned the walls of Manhattan's Union Square station.

It was a simple act during an especially dark time, but the colorful collection of Post-its helped the country's outlook seem a little bit brighter. 

SEE ALSO: NYC's 'Subway Therapy' wall is transformed into a brilliant interactive holiday card

For nearly 40 years, Post-its have been a go-to resource for annotating documents, writing to-do lists, and leaving reminders. But somewhere along the line people around the world realized just how multi-functional the sticky squares could be. 

Image: Vanessa Carvalho/Brazil Photo Press/LatinContent/Getty Images

In pop culture, Post-its have been used for infamous break ups and vow writing, and in the real world, people use them to pull pranks, make grand romantic gestures, create art, and even mourn lost icons like Apple's Steve Jobs. In the past few years, sticky notes have also been used to aid in something far more impactful: peaceful protest. 

The power of post-election Post-its 

I first spotted the Subway Therapy Wall on Thursday, Nov. 10, my first day back in the Union Square station since the Nov. 8 election.

Happening upon the words of complete strangers — simple messages like, "Your emotions are valid," and "We need each other," — was a reminder that goodness still existed. And after talking to others who contributed to or encountered the wall, it's clear I wasn't alone.

View this post on Instagram

Don't forget that there are some truly remarkable people in this world.

A post shared by Nicole Gallucci (@nicoleworldd) on Nov 14, 2016 at 3:26pm PST

"I was in a state of shock," said 23-year-old Chelsea from Yakima, Washington (who preferred not to share her last name,) recalling how she felt in the days after the election. "It felt as if the floor had been pulled from underneath me — like I was going through the five stages of grief simultaneously."

In an attempt to do something productive with her negative feelings, Chelsea traveled New York City for the first time.

"I actually stumbled upon the wall without even knowing it existed," she said. "That moment when I looked up from what I was doing and I saw that wall filled with those colorful bits of paper was indescribable. It was as if I could see the strings connecting everybody in their need for change. It was a therapy session that was free and I could write anything I wanted and not have to worry about feeling alone."

The 14th street subway has a thing called subway therapy and u express yourself on a post it note and put it on the wall. It was incredible. pic.twitter.com/3k3NRpTdDq

— chelsea lately (@chelsea_rane) December 5, 2016

Chelsea read as many notes as she could, absorbed the messages, and says she finally felt like things might be alright. "Those pieces of paper were tiny messages to us as humans that we can be change. If we try hard enough."

"It was a coming together of strangers across the country who wanted to make a simple statement that this is wrong and not normal, and we don't need to accept it," Sarah Flourance, a 31-year-old from Alexandria, Virginia said.

Flourance, who traveled to New York to visit a friend after the election in hopes that it would lift her mood, said she spoke with a few strangers at the wall, some of whom were in tears. "Right after the election, the isolation is what got to me and a lot of other people," she said. She felt the display helped ease her feelings of hopelessness.

Added my post-it to the 14th St/Union Sq subway station wall today #fdt #MotivationalMonday pic.twitter.com/zRzQ2j0qah

— 𝔖𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔥, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔶 🌒🌕🌘 (@BookishFeminist) November 15, 2016

Kevin Nadal, psychologist and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center at City University of New York says he also contributed a Post-it to the wall.

He wrote a message of solidarity to "the most marginalized populations whose rights would be threatened" by Trump's rise to the presidency, and said the expansive unity of strangers helped restore hope for him.

"I wanted people to know they weren't alone," Nadal said. "I definitely felt scared, betrayed, and angry. The Post-it wall was validating." 

And while he knew others in New York City would share his post-election sentiments, Nadal said seeing seeing all those emotions "manifested in one place was viscerally powerful."

If you want to feel some hope, visit the Post-It Wall at Union Square Subway Station. Here are my favorites. #LoveTrumpsHate pic.twitter.com/GgiM3hZMFX

— Kevin Nadal, Ph.D. (@kevinnadal) November 21, 2016

So why Post-its?

In early 2016, well before the November election, "Subway Therapy" creator Matthew "Levee" Chavez set up a table, two chairs, and a sign that read "Secret Keeper" in a New York City subway station.

His setup included a blank book in the hope that passerby might decide to unload some internal stress by writing their secrets down on paper. Despite this, he often found that people preferred face-to-face conversations.

"For the next eight months or so, I had individual conversations with people that would stop by to sit and talk...About whatever they wanted to talk about." 

After the election, he said things changed.

Matthew Chavez near his public art project: "Subway Therapy."

Image: Volkan Furuncu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Chavez says he believes that "during crisis, writing can be a more effective and accessible form of expression than conversation." It's what inspired him to bring sticky notes and writing materials into the subway that November. The Post-its helped him reach a wider audience, since several people could write their thoughts down simultaneously, rather than waiting to chat with him one-on-one.

"The wall took a form that was fun, beautiful, and expressive," Chavez recalled. "In mass, sticky notes are incredibly inviting and they definitely helped people to open up."

A history of Post-it protests

Though it's been nearly two years since Chavez's Subway Therapy project, many of the notes have since been archived online and in several books, and memories of the wall remain for those who contributed or passed by. Though Chavez helped create one of the most memorable Post-it Note protests in recent history, his was far from the first.

In 2011, Wisconsin residents used the tactic when they protested policies by Republican Gov. Scott Walker that would weaken in-state unions. In addition to months of marches and other organizing efforts, protesters left hundreds of Post-it Notes at the Wisconsin State Capitol entrance in an attempt to share their concerns. Despite the protests, Walker's proposal ended up passing.

Post-it Notes on state capitol in protest of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill.

Image: Allen Fredrickson/Icon SMI/Corbis via Getty Images

Later that year, Post-its made their way to London to serve as a beacon of light in the wake of a divisive act of violence. In August 2011, riots broke out across London in protest of a deadly police shooting that killed local resident Mark Duggan. In Peckham, London, thousands of community members responded to the tragedy with a "Love Wall" covered in notes with messages of hope and unity. The sentiment was so powerful that it spread to walls in Manchester and in other areas of London.

A wall covered in Post-it Notes supporting Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.

Image: Thomas Campean/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The people of Hong Kong also used Post-it Notes to show support for the pro-democracy movement of 2014, when many called for the resignation of leader Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. During what's since come to be known as the "Umbrella Revolution," activists and protesters wrote words of encouragement and their reasons for demonstrating on Post-its, creating a colorful display outside government offices. People in Sydney even covered the walls of Australia's Hong Kong House in solidarity.

The benefits of sticky note self-expression

While expressing oneself via Post-it Note has shown to be a therapeutic and unifying response to large-scale events, these notes can also provide comfort to individuals on a day-to-day basis.

"Self-affirmations are really helpful in helping to negate any harmful self-doubts or cognitive distortions," Nadal said, explaining that writing positive, reassuring messages on Post-it Notes "can help in increasing one's self esteem and decreasing any cognitive distortions."

A 2007 study by Gail Matthews, a psychology professor at California's Dominican University, found that the act of writing one's goals down seems to make a person significantly more likely to accomplish those goals. The study also found that writing reminders or to-do lists before bedtime may help people fall asleep faster. 

Image: screengrab/subway therapy

It's clear the humbler Post-it has made the transition from bland office supply to powerful statement maker. Remi Kent, the global Post-it business director for 3M, said that the product's move beyond the confines of the workplace has only encouraged the brand more.

"Everyone who uses a Post-it Note puts their own unique touch on it — and it's exciting to see how consumers make it their own," she wrote in an email. "We believe in getting your thoughts out and your voice heard — and our products are the tool to help people do that."

Post-it Notes may be small, but they have the power to make mighty statements.

WATCH: This artist uses Post-it notes a canvas for art

[siennasturgess-blog]

Trick Technology Surefit Scenic tour Hosel In Titleist Golf Clubs.

Samsung Galaxy S8's UK price might cause a MAJOR headache for apple iphone 8, and also this is why. A lot of the experts I've talked to indicate robotic developments such as Rethink Robot's Baxter and Universal Robots Both attract attention because they can work in close closeness to human beings without harming them. If you have actually obtained a $300 head-mounted display, and also you could run it off a laptop computer and even a computer in the headset itself, you have actually obtained an affordable gadget that will change the means we do medical points: for rehabilitation, for psycho therapists, for instructors. Samsung and also LG utilize various battery vendors, and for many years, the batteries have been constructed anywhere from China, Japan, and also Korea. In Paintball Hero, one of the current video games centered on social and political concerns, gamers rescue pigs, poultries and also cows in a slaughterhouse. When you have virtually any concerns regarding where as well as how to work with read, you possibly can email us at our own web site. I really feel that the 5G marketing element is exceeding the business usage situation," says Bieler. Facebook lately called its very first Africa head and SSA workplace. Musicians dig the ARMi since they could have their sheet songs on the tablet, document with a microphone, as well as stream with a video camera while doing social median on their smartphone. Swidget is a brand-new kind of electrical outlet, yet it's also the all-natural evolution of an item category that's not seen much advancement in the last century. This year, the camera sector got over that restriction. With HALF of shopping becoming m-commerce from mobile phones and tablet computers by 2015, the demand for website makers, e-commerce stores, as well as mobile application developers to ensure instinctive, easy, simple individual experiences for mobile is greater than ever. In 2015, Facebook instantly elbowed in on YouTube's grass as the location to watch Buzzfeed clips and also Star Wars video clips, providing what the business claims are billions of video clip views a day. The Series B round was led by Idinvest Allies, with engagement likewise from existing backers Wellington Allies and also CrunchFund (established by TC creator Michael Arrington), and brings the complete raised by the start-up to simply over $30 million It's not revealing its valuation in this round, however as a marker, its competitor Checkr, which has elevated simply under $50 million, is valued between $250 million and $300 million. Individuals who are looking for technology write-ups or products online will mainly want information on the current technologies. TechCrunch is visited Australia to discover the most turbulent onset start-ups positioned to complete on a global phase. Apple looks readied to ditch its Touch ID finger print sensor in favour of 3D face scanning on the apple iphone 8. Undoubtedly, I'm wishing Facebook's company design will certainly evolve by the time they deliver something. The predictions Gilder has actually made in the intervening decade suggest that he swore to never ever once again allow any person else to convey a vision of the globe extra abundant compared to his own. As even more galleries aim to involve visitors in new, extra prevalent methods, executing technologies to utilize mobile phones and also other mobile phones will not only end up being a lot more widespread however more reliable in time. While we're fully bent on creating collaborations to guarantee that you can at some point make use of BSX Insight with the training software application of your choice, we're confident that incorporating BSX Understanding with trainBSX's straightforward strategy production and also intuitive performance analysis will certainly take your training to the next level. A dedication to technology guarantees that we're constantly playing with what we have, attempting to bring tourists one action more detailed to their dream destination. At CES 2016 LG will show off new display modern technology - consisting of an 18-inch screen that rolls up like a newspaper. And SMI, a leader in eye tracking technology, has launched a number of collaborations as well as jobs to bring eye tracking to both standalone VR head-mounted screens as well as mobile phone slot-ins. Up until recently, the majority of people considered Virtual Reality as a device for gaming, however that altered when Facebook obtained Oculus VR for $2bn in 2014. The Robot element comes to be more clear as life seems that sum overall of all experiences that one way or another will certainly reach some point where understandings, reality as well as understanding of all these things come to be central to a significance and also quest extremely various to just what we call living today. Pledge $7 and also obtain electronic copies of two of our very successful sous vide recipe books: Sous Vide Vacation and also Sous Vide Cocktails. Jain claims she would like the government to implement mSakhi or any type of similar application, as long as it equips frontline wellness workers to do their works much better and also makes use of the most recent modern technology.