#trying to figure out who might correlate with what role

[inconspicuous-clovers]

I've seen Marble Hornets TMA AUS

But what about a Magnus Archives MH AU? Jon running around with a camera or tape recorder, being chased by The Operator. And the Archive crew getting killed off one by one by... who? I'm not sure yet, but the ideas are buzzing.

[adachimoe]

Atlus, please tell me the lore behind Adachi's mp3 player

Even just looking at Adachi, he doesn't exactly have the image of someone who gives a shit lol.

And this is intentional. Soejima talks about this aspect of Adachi's design in the P4 Design Works. Adachi is said to be an elite officer, one of the best of the best, and Soejima thought an elite might be smart, but lacking in other areas. For this reason, Soejima designed him with that crooked tie and messy bedhead.

That's certainly a common thing in fiction - someone who's good at one thing, but a complete space case in something unrelated. Though he comes off as incompetent in-game, to the extent that him showing competency in December surprises Dojima lol. And even when you get into the real dumb plot stuff that I write 10k words about, it took him like 4 months to figure out that "people can come out of the TV". Ma-Maybe his record was better at his old station.

Even in what Atlus has mentioned about the setting for P4 that doesn't get discussed in-game, Adachi's red tie is something Dojima gave him, and only because Dojima got tired of seeing him wear the old shabby tie he wore before and gave him one of his spare neckties.

If Dojima had never just given him a different tie to wear, I imagine Adachi would still be wearing his old shitty tie until it completely fell apart... Is Adachi pathetic enough to try and like... tape a tie together? Probably.

Him not caring too much about appearance and being a messy guy seems to extend to other aspects of his life. Even in his character profiles for P4 and P4AU, both say he's terrible at cleaning his room and the P4 one also says he sucks at filing paperwork lol.

This continues in his P4AU narration. The investigating detective pulls out 3 pieces of "evidence": A TV which ends up being used to get Adachi into the plot, a model gun which fits with his hobby being doing gun maintenance at home, and some kind of random off brand iPod-esque thing.

The actual music player itself is unimportant. Instead, it's used for a little characterization moment where Adachi confirms that it is indeed something that's his (he even remembers how he got it!), but he didn't particularly care about it and just left it wherever.

All things considered, I get the mental image of Adachi being the kind of guy who uses that meme 13-in-1 ~for men~ product, and his room is just a mountain of cup noodles and piles of random bullshit. Maybe there are more iPods and model guns to be unearthed from underneath his other stuff.

All of this is only talking about the more physical and material aspects of him, but I think you can extend this to who he is as a person and his mentality as well. Granted, some guys in real life end up being useless slobs as adults because they're used to their mom/sister/family/etc babying them, but uhhhhhhh from what Adachi says about his past, we can instantly rule that out with him.

(Edit: As a comment pointed out, upon re-reading this this does sound weird. When I wrote this, I was thinking more about doormat pushover moms. I don't see Adachi's mom doing domestic stuff as her babying him as a child because it strikes me as the Default Gender Role thing where the dad makes the money but the mom takes care of the household. And from how Adachi talks about it, you get the impression she wasn't hyper attentive towards him, as if she did like the bare minimum lol. Adachi's attitude towards the whole thing also strikes me as different than the dudes who grow up as spoiled little kings in their households.)

It seems pretty sensible to correlate his physical state and the way he uses it to express a lack of care for himself to something going on in his brain. Adult burnout, depression, lack of self-esteem & self-worth, all of the above.

I like the random anecdote about the music player, especially since it's him. A bingo game at a New Year's party............... A bingo game at a New Year's party???????????? Adachi, you went to a New Year's party? Hoooly shit dude I don't even do that.

Since he was in jail during New Years 2012 and only arrived in Inaba during spring 2011, for him to have won it during New Year's implies this is from before the events of Persona 4. E.g. it's not something Dojima dragged him to. I assume it was some work-related New Year's party when he was still stationed in Iwatodai. Keeping up appearances for the higher-ups? Did he just want free food? A bit lonely and wanted company and absolutely not gonna say that outloud? (All of the above?)

In both his P4 dialogue and his P4AU inner thoughts, he tends to look down on others. He's annoyed by the old woman at Junes (...though his voiced line on rank 6 expresses he liked her doting on him), he calls the protagonist a dumbass (...but only after admitting he misses him, Dojima, and Nanako), he doesn't think he'll ever get married (even tho I'm available).

And yet, as little blurbs like this go to show, we know he still participates. ♪(´▽｀)

Did he even use the iPod thing before chucking it? What did he put on it? Idols or something? Answer me, Atlus.

[mintsuwu]

please how did you come up with her design I've been trying to make a design for my poppy playtime oc but it always ends up looking like rubbish please give tips😭😭

Hello, thank you for asking! Truth be told is that it took me a bit to figure out how to do LoolaLamb in general, she didn't come out too well on the first try xD I had to tweak a couple of things in her like the hair, colors or snout.

Initially, I wasn't quite sure of what animal picking for her, but then I went with the lamb idea for a few reasons:

- When I was little, I used to have a lamb plush I used to love dearly. Sadly I don't have any pictures to show since I no longer have it with me so I tried to look for one that looked similar on the Internet- But that was the main inspiration for her character. And since the Smiling Critters have their own plushies as well, I thought it would be interesting to make one of them after a real toy. I also took reference from other characters in media that were based on sheeps, like in Pokémon (Flaaffy & Whimsicott).

I would always recommend using references if you ever don't know where to start with a design. And in the case of a Poppy Playtime OC, you can look for references if you desire as well, or even turn a beloved toy of yours into a character, anything works!

In many cultures, the lamb is a revered symbol of innocence, purity, and sacrifice. It is often associated with religious connotations, particularly in Christianity, where it symbolizes the embodiment of Christ's innocence and the sacrificial lamb offering redemption and atonement for humanity's sins. I simply liked the symbology of this because I'm always a sucker for that when it comes to creating characters;;

This was mainly due to lore reasons, her association with Catnap, a follower of an entity, the Prototype, whom he workships and would do anything to get its blessing. LoolaLamb "sacrified" her voice for the Prototype (well, it actually was that Catnap took away her voicebox with that excuse).

Her name "LoolaLamb" is a word play for "lullaby", given the role she was going to have in the Smiling Critters line, a replacement for Catnap who would have a similar role as his, except that instead of using a gas to make people fall asleep, she would use her voice. Sheeps and lambs are also heavily associated with sleep and dreams, given the advice: if you can't get to sleep, just “count sheep” until you drift off into a peaceful slumber.

Sheep are wanderers. It's their nature. Even in the best and safest of places, places that provide protection, water, and food, sheep are known to wander off, get lost, and sometimes eaten by predators.

Her color pick was mainly because even if the smiling critters have more or less the colors of the rainbow and there are already two blue colored critters (Bubba Bubbaphant being more of a neutral blue or azure and Craftycorn cyan or aquamarine), I noticed that there were no dark blue or indigo colored ones. My first idea for LoolaLamb was to give her more violet colors, given her correlation to Catnap, but at the same time I wanted her to stand out amongst the others, being a little more of her own character, so that´s why I ended up picking a different color pallete for her.

And those are pretty much the basic things I had in mind when creating LoolaLamb! Of course it doesn't always have to be so elaborated with all characters, but I'd always recommend to find references, information, symbolism, anything that might help you with the creation of your character in case you don't know where to start or are simply stuck!

I might not be the best when it comes to explaining things but I hope this has helped you and I wish you the best in your creative process, anon! 🙏🏻💖

[thezombieprostitute]

Tech Tuesday - Johnny Storm

Summary: Johnny is a natural when it comes to cyber security but he has to tread lightly.

Warnings: None at this point. Please let me know if I missed any.

Part 2

Tech Tuesdays Masterlist

“Hey, G, Geralt, did you get those latest security patches tested?” Johnny never bothered to knock on the cubicle the testers shared. They'd asked to be called by their last names, Hunter and Rivia, to avoid confusion with the double G names but Johnny preferred to be on a first name basis. Though no one actually knew G's full first name outside of management.

“Is the update still scheduled to go live today?” G asked, not looking from his screen. “Yeah,” Johnny replied.

“And are our initials on the code updates?” Geralt growled, also not looking away from his screen.

“Yeah.”

“Then we've tested them. Why are you bothering us?” G monotones before taking a sip from his coffee.

“Because you know how much I love annoying you two,” Johnny said with a smile. “How's the bug count going?”

“I'm ahead by three,” Geralt says with a bit of pride in his voice.

The two testers had a “friendly” competition every month to see who could find and resolve the most bugs. Pine and Syverson allowed it only because it never escalated beyond veiled threats of bodily harm from the loser. No one outside of the two was ever really sure what the stakes were but Johnny figured they must be incredibly good.

“Way to go,” Johnny congratulated. “G's got his work cut out for him.”

“If I give you one of the cookies I got from the vending machine will you go away?” G sighed, still not looking away from his screen.

“Yes,” Johnny nods emphatically. Still not looking away from his computer G grabs the small roll of cookies and tosses one to Johnny who immediately consumes it. “Love the sugar. Thanks! Happy hunting!”

Johnny settled himself into his “war cave” as he called his cubicle on release days. He's got energy drinks, candy bars, and occasional “healthy” meals to keep his stomach from getting too upset.

New security updates means new attempts by hackers. He's gotta be on high alert for at least the first day, if not the rest of the week. He's got his work computer with his credentials and his laptop with his own TheHumanTorch69. Going back and forth between the two of them allowed for a two-pronged defense against would-be hackers.

In truth, there was one username in particular he was looking for: DarkAngel2000. She was always the biggest threat to the firewall. He'd taken great pains to befriend her using his personal credentials without earning her suspicion. He pretends to work with her to break everything but, in fact, uses the intel to counter her on his work account. It's a difficult line to walk, not being too obvious, trying to appear actually helpful, but he's gotten good at it. The sugar rush definitely helps.

He gets a notification on his personal account:

DarkAngel2000: ready to party? TheHumanTorch69: always! DarkAngel2000: got ur sugar rush started? TheHumanTorch69: way ahead of u DarkAngel2000: let the games begin!

For the next several hours Johnny goes into a bit of a trance as he gets to work in his two-faced role. It's almost a dance, well, more of a mosh-pit, but he's got the skills to navigate it.

You're taking notes on your conversation with TheHumanTorch69 and seeing if you can find correlation with the company drone account you keep seeing countering your hacking attempts. You're certain there's more to Torch than what he's telling you. He might even be this JStorm account from the company but you need evidence.

You need to be careful. Torch is a good coder, one of the best you've worked with. But ever since you started working with him, the vast majority of your plans have gone south. You don't appreciate being duped and if it turns out Torch has been playing you, there will be repercussions.

Part 2

Tech Tuesdays Masterlist

Tagging @alicedopey; @darsynia; @delicatebarness; @ellethespaceunicorn; @icefrozendeadlyqueen; @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory; @late-to-the-party-81; @lokislady82 ; @ronearoundblindly

[crepes-suzette-373]

Germa and French references

(Plus bonus Star Wars mention at the end)

Sanji's iron mask in the flashbacks immediately made me think of Dumas's works, but when I saw it I didn't think much about it. It's just like, "Oh I guess it's just part of the Sanji = French thing". Plus in one of the cover arts Sanji was drawn in a classic Musketeer outfit, so I thought it was just for fun.

But Twitter user Marudoro-san made this thread that pointed out a bunch of the same references I'd caught and said "Hey, maybe this is actually important to the plot later", and I think they have a point. So I figured I'd share what I'd already noticed, and I will highlight the input that I got from Marudoro-san in red here in this post.

Iron Mask

The man in the iron mask is a French prisoner whose identity is never truly known in history. In his novel, Alexandre Dumas invented a plot where the iron masked prisoner is the twin brother of King Louis XIV, and the plot involves the famous Musketeers from the previous novels in a conspiracy of switching the king for the twin brother.

At a glance, it might be just a literary Easter egg, but when I look at it again, I do start to have questions. Within the One Piece scenario context, this is unnecessary. In the Dumas novel, the mask seems to be needed to hide the prisoner's identity. But there's no need to hide Sanji's identity, and it's not to prevent him from shouting for help because he can still talk even with the mask. What is it for? Is it a clue that the Man in the Iron Mask novel is relevant to this story?

For one, the fact that the iron masked prisoner being the king's twin is noteworthy. Sanji is one of 4 quadruplets, but still. Marudoro said that maybe this is a sign that Sanji and Ichiji will have a confrontation later. This makes sense, because of the other Vinsmokes, the one most likely to represent a "king" would be Ichiji.

This is something I myself had considered before, that Ichiji specifically might later have a role as "Sanji's opposite". I don't know how yet, but the imagery and themes that I've seen so far seems to point that way.

Marudoro also points out that if you look into the Musketeer novels, Sanji has vibes similar to Aramis, who is described as something of a womaniser. Aramis happens to be the mastermind behind the twin conspiracy in the Iron Mask novel.

The correlation is vague, and it's hard to tell how is this going to be relevant, besides maybe "there might be other French history/literature references in Germa's storyline".

Les Misérables, Revolution, the French Royalty

The only two Germa servants who actually has proper names, head chef Cosette and Sora's personal servant Eponi, seem to be references to the Les Misérables characters Cosette and Eponine. Part of the narrative of Les Mis is the June Rebellion, an uprising of the anti-monarchists.

In the Soul Pocus song that serves as the outro of the WCI arc, the "lyrics" specifically has the exact word "guillotine". For many people, guillotine is very closely linked to the image of the French Revolution and the execution of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Speaking of guillotine... Yonji's attack, translated as "Winch Guillotine" in the official translation, is actually called "Winch Danton" in the raw. This is possibly a reference to Georges Danton, and important figure of French Revolution, who is curiously executed by guillotine.

Sensei clearly knows the word guillotine, so why not just flat out call it "Winch Guillotine" like the translation?

For whatever it's worth, Danton was someone who was executed for opposing the new government after the first revolution. The revolutionaries got so bad that it was called the "Reign of Terror", so Danton turned against them and was trying to oppose this cruelty.

Yonji is rather visibly the least "bad" of the brothers and his reactions are almost like a "normal person" in a lot of ways, so maybe this is significant?

Marudoro-san said that the Nyasha/cat carriage the Vinsmokes were riding when they were about to meet Big Mum was incredibly similar to the funerary carriage of King Louis XVIII. While there are some differences, they do have a point.

Again, it's still unclear about what significance all of this stuff will have. Maybe the imagery of "revolution" and "King's funeral" indicate that Germa will be undergoing a lot of changes. Something that's beyond just the formation of Neo MADS.

The Knights Hospitaller... and Napoleon?

Marudoro-san says there's an interesting parallel between Germa and the Knights Hospitaller. This is a chivalric order that has privileges that puts them equal to a sovereign power. They have minimal land holdings, but has the standing almost on par with that of a nation. It's like the landless Germa, who is still recognised as a kingdom by WG up until their privileges were taken away after the mess in WCI.

The Knights has lost a lot of its power and territories in Europe through history, and finally, its headquarters in Malta was sacked by Napoleon. Marudoro-san highlighted that Big Mum's hat and sword was called Napoleon.

Marudoro-san took this analysis elsewhere, but for my part, I'm wondering if Germa almost being destroyed at WCI is a parallel of this attack of the Knights in Malta, with Big Mum being the parallel to Napoleon.

The possible proof of the Napoleon parallel is Law. Law was heavily instrumental in Big Mum's defeat in Wano, and his name are connected to events related to Napoleon's downfall.

Napoleon suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar, and the man who was his jailer to the point of his death was a surgeon's son named Hudson Lowe. Law and Lowe looks different in English, but in Japanese both are spelled the same: ロー.

[Edit: Napoleon was also famously defeated in the Battle of Waterloo. In Japanese, Waterloo is spelled like this: ワーテルロー. It contains the same "ロー" as in Law's name.]

Marudoro-san said that Napoleon's invasion of Malta involved tricking the Knights to letting him dock under false pretences. I don't know how true this is, but at the very least this is a narrative that is accessible to the Japanese. One could argue that this is parallel to the conspiracy in Whole Cake.

If this parallel is really correct, then, this could be a hint of "Good Germa".

The Knights Hospitaller surrendered and survived that Napoleon encounter, with its status being even more diminished. Eventually it restructured as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which still has its sovereign authorities (Wikipedia says they can even issue passports and currency), but is now an organisation whose activities are focused on charity.

Bonus: The Jedi and Clone Wars?? (Star Wars)

Marudoro-san also mentioned that the 66 of Germa reminds them of Order 66 from Star Wars, which ended the Jedi order and enabled the Sith to rise to power.

I only understand Star Wars very minimally myself, but a fan I talked to on Twitter confirmed to me that they think so as well. Especially because there's the specific focus on Germa soldiers being clones, and it's reminiscent of the whole clone plotline in Star Wars.

Order 66 ended the Jedi. The 66 of Germa is in reference to the destruction of the old Germa Empire.

If this parallel is true, then this might confirm the theory that "Germa is not actually evil before". If we read that the "Sith" is World Government, and the old Germa is "Jedi", then maybe it's hinting that all the story about them being evil in the past is a lie? They may be awful now because Judge is so driven by revenge, but maybe they were actually not evil before.

[yunarim]

ಇ. broken melodies | chapter 3

⇢ ⁺ GENEALOGY OF RED, WHITE AND BLACK ˖ Neige reveals his true self.

— PREVIEW (read for tags and synopsis) — MASTERLIST (open to read previous chapters) — AO3

⁺ w.c : 19.5k+ this chapter contains major usage of obscene language ! also not proofread and might be edited later with an addition of some major details !

A light reflecting through the windows slid across Yuu’s converging features and prevented her from falling asleep, even taking into account the fact she wasn’t sleepy in the first place, but in all honesty, the slight blue glow was helpful and served as a desk lamp. 

She let out a small sigh followed by an almost transparent cloud of steam. Hm, is it getting colder these nights? She shrugged the feeling off, massaging her shoulders, and continued writing, a tight grip on the fountain pen. Yuu wasn’t sure what time it was, but judging by the way the air felt and how the temperature dropped, it might be right in the middle of the night. 

Neat notes done in a cursive small handwriting were flowing before her sight, indicating nothing by now, and Yuu sighed again, closing her eyes. 

“Why,” she whispered to herself. “Did I last meet Snow White so unacceptably long ago?..” 

A pink butterfly appeared without Yuu asking it to do that, but she didn’t seem to mind, waving her hand so the butterfly landed on her little finger. 

“Little one…” Yuu opened her leaded eyelids and lowered her gaze to the notes. “I can’t remember anything but the bright red apple filled with poison.”

Yuu thought of herself as an imprudent, unheeding person when a scene of Neige making a parallel between red apple and the color of her eyes replayed in her mind. She should have at least made an assumption back then, it was some sort of a loophole, and yet…She was so dumbfounded by the sudden correlation that there was no way of thinking about anything else but his creative mind.

“Snow White lived with seven dwarfs, like Neige does,” Yuu frowned. “And also… She was also poisoned… And that happened because she took a bite of a red apple. But what else? I’m missing something.”

The butterfly flew slowly, demonstrating its confused emotions, to which Yuu nodded. The only one who could remember something else was none other than she herself. And she already spent half of a night trying to fish out at least one more detail.

Yuu, of course, remembered her visits to Snow White’s realm, but her dimension was the very first one she ever entered after being officially appointed as Fairy Godmother’s apprentice. She couldn’t be trusted with major tasks, given she hadn’t even reached fae average children's age—was she 17 or 18 then?—so there was no way she would play a huge role in rescuing Snow White. The only things she did were to help with cleaning or cooking, sometimes Fairy Godmother could give her permission to protect dwarfs, but other than that… 

Was she really helpful? Snow White told her countless times she considered Yuu her dearest friend and put her on one line with the dwarfs, but was she ever genuine in that intention, or was she demonstrating deliberate politeness? 

Yuu shook her head. She has no right to doubt princesses’ decisions and judgements. And if she really was Snow White’s friend, then she also must help Neige and figure out how exactly he is connected with the princess. 

Yuu and Neige weren’t classmates, making it difficult for her to attend lessons diligently and look after Neige at the same time, preventing all potential threats. It was also unknown if she could ask for help from one of his classmates. Asking dwarfs could be useful, but Yuu wasn’t completely sure, maybe they already were playing the roles with which they’re conjoined. Was this all happening according to the original story she once encountered? It couldn’t be trusted, considering Neige isn’t Snow White herself.

The only option remaining was to try accompanying him everywhere. She, indeed, can’t enter his lessons, but there must be teachers, right? If they’re not the ones plotting something, then it should be the safest path to take. 

“Alright…” She exhaled. “Let’s try it this way then.”

She scribbled something on the paper and the pink butterfly followed her way of thinking, flying around gracefully, to which Yuu smiled, feeling slightly better that her idea was supported soundlessly.

“You most probably expected you’ll be introduced to magic studies only during your second year, right?” Emery glanced to the seat where Yuu was, noticing how her movements slowed down and how her eyes looked more glassy and empty than before, and then shifted his gaze to Luan, holding something in his hand under the desk and cheerfully grinning. “Let me assure you, no magic can be performed without thinking beforehand. Even if you first encountered spell casting ability in your childhood, you might have not realized your brain made some extraordinary calculations.”

Luan yawned, his eyes automatically glueling to Yuu’s downcast appearance. 

“Oi,” he whispered, poking her arm and managing to attract her attention. “Take this.”

Yuu tilted her head rather slowly, when Luan took her hand and made it rest laid open the inside of palm up, and put something resembling small jelly candy in her hand.

“Hm?..” She wondered what he gave to her, examining the jelly with lidded eyes.

“It’s a gummy bear, you dummy,” he smiled. “You look so down, cheer up or somethin’!”

“Oh,” Yuu realized his intentions and reciprocated the smile, putting the jelly in her mouth and meeting teacher Emery’s condemning eyes, immediately perceiving that she stopped listening to him. 

“... In any case,” Emery continued after a short pause. “Magic spells require incantations in cases they’re complicated, but if we’re speaking about elemental types, good old physics will help.”

“...Thank you,” Yuu whispered to Luan and earned a soft giggle in return. 

“Combining two or more elemental types together does wonders. We’re not going to discuss the specifics of every combination during your first year, but will dwell on more on the basics. Well then…”

Yuu frowned, thinking how far she could go. Truthfully speaking, she did enjoy the happiness of being able to study magic so freely, sometimes her curiosity overlapping Fairy Godmother’s reprimands for even trying to learn something that could have been considered harmful and ‘useless to such a young fae as her’, but still—was there the end, a not so imaginary edge of all those magic aspects she could internalize? In fact, it was, and the answer to the question was time. 

She still doubted if it was alright for her to devour new information with such eagerness. Yuu couldn’t lie, but she had one defense point in case Fairy Godmother asked her why Yuu crossed the boundary she drew, and that was to help Neige and to fulfill her duty. 

Yuu sighed. She needed to figure out how to cover her butterflies with the way everyone performed magic here. Would her desire to learn eagerly and quickly things that are taught during second and third years be encouraged or raise suspicions instead? Yuu didn’t know, letting another soft sigh escape her throat and causing Luan to tilt his head, questioning her sudden disarray. 

“Right,” Emery said, turning to the class and stopping writing as the bell rang, notifying students of the end of the lesson. “Don’t forget that for the next lesson you need to go to the classroom next to the one we’re currently in! You’ll meet another teacher, who is far stricter than me.”

Yuu gulped, while Luan casually giggled, meeting Emery’s scolding expression. She suddenly startled, realizing she has no time to sit here doing nothing, and after Emery gave hometasks to do, Yuu rushed to the cafeteria to try finding Neige. 

According to her plan, she would follow him everywhere she could during the day and activities happening on campus territory, except for the lessons. Thus, she hurried over, carrying a hope of meeting Neige.

The way her heels cluttered was heard in the whole hall, causing other students to stop and observe Yuu’s small figure almost levitating, due to how fast she ran, and look at her in confusion. Her usual firm and calm composure fell miserably, creating a peculiar sight to witness.

Yuu also mentally apologized to Luan for breaking the promise of eating together during the lunch and quickly opened cafeteria doors, nearly smashing down Lavont, who was about to serve the tea.

“I am extremely sorry!!” Yuu said, performing a 90 degree bow. 

“Be careful next time,” Lavont replied, wondering what was with a sudden change of acting Yuu usually demonstrated with her exceeding politeness. 

She scanned the place for Neige, concentrating her vision as much as possible, but failed to find him on the first floor. 

“Ugh, well then…”

She enhanced her hearing while making her way to the second floor and—finally!!—hearing a soft yet constrained giggle, resembling a nightingale’s song, and recognized its owner instantly. 

This time making her way rather carefully and not touching other students even the slightest, she stood up on toes, trying to peek out of the crowd of tall students and fish out Neige from them. And indeed, she succeeded in the way she didn’t want to.

The bright scarlet blaze in the light of the lamps grabbed all of her attention, as if depriving her of the ground under her feet, and knocked out her sense of control over the situation, forcing Yuu to scream in fear and start acting impulsively. 

An apple. A blindingly dazzling red color shone in Neige’s delicate fingers.

The blood pounded in her ears with booming beats, and she, now ignoring all the boundaries of decency, briskly slipped through the crowd, approaching Neige’s table.

He noticed her hurried coming, smiling to her out of the habit, almost robotically well-trained, and caught the glimpses of genuine worry on her face only the second after, but decided to not follow, continuing smiling, and nodded to her.

“Good morning, Yuu. Is something the matter— Huh?”

“DON’T!!”

She shouted, grabbing the apple he was holding, and almost crumpled it down, losing control of the perfectly balanced way of maintaining the power she possessed, and caused Neige and his, apparently, classmates to stare at her in shock.

“Y-yes?..”

She ignored them, observing an apple she was holding, and before she could scan it for the poison traces, someone randomly grabbed it, and Yuu turned in horror, recognizing Luan cheerfully grinning next to her.

“Woah, is this for me?!” He laughed, sneakily jumping and taking a seat next to Neige, raising his hand in a greeting gesture, and took a bite.

Yuu looked like the end of the world just upfolded before her very eyes, her knees going weak and eyelids leaded. Her fingers twitched, as she was ready to summon the magic wand and cast a spell—she didn’t even know which one exactly, just something that would help to save a dying person from poisoning—but Luan, on the other hand, didn’t look even slightly weakened and, well, dying.

He was quite the opposite of the person who would be suffering and dying, enjoying the freshness of the fruit and chewing it with the brightest expression Yuu ever saw humans demonstrating, Luan’s tail wagging joyfully. 

“I thought there was something strange!” He suddenly said, pointing at her with his tale, causing Yuu to question his action, staring at him blankly. “You hurried to the cafeteria so fast, even tho you said we promised to eat together from now on! I thought like damn, you’re so unfair.”

She continued staring at him with an absolutely blank, absent expression, mind full of void and emptiness, at the same time blinking and slowly parting her lips.

“But look at you, saving such a fresh apple for me! Thanks, Yuu!~”

“B-but…”

Neige was smiling graciously at them, instantly forgetting what was the deal in the first place, and was enjoying the scene looming before him. 

“Oi wait,” Luan said, licking the tips of his fingers as he finished eating, and looked at Neige. “Was it yours?..”

Neige closed his eyes for a mere second before raising his gaze and returning it to Yuu, then smiled at her conspiratorially, tilting his head and blinking away all the confusion from before, radiating glimmering shine instead.

“No, please don’t worry.”

Yuu wondered what he could have meant by his reaction but decided not to question, periodically glancing at Luan and subconsciously checking if he was okay, and, to her surprise, he couldn’t have been any better—his health was in the state it always was, perfectly normal and okay. 

Was she… exaggerating? Or did she hurry for nothing, and he wasn’t connected with Snow White at any rate possible? Yuu felt her muscles going tense, and at the moment all the sounds in the cafeteria—people talking and discussing her oddness, Neige having a light ordinary conversation with typically sunny and bright Luan, trays cluttering, humans consuming food—turned to an irritating tinkling sputter. 

Think, Yuu demanded to herself voicelessly, and frowned. Was there a breach in her way of thinking and analysis? But it couldn’t be, even considering all the loopholes and things she couldn’t register yet, Neige still resembled Snow White so much it was absurd to brush aside all the similarities and call it a day. His appearance and the way animals acted almost enchanted around him, and, most importantly, dwarfs — Yuu was sure enough to make assumptions she came up with.

“Oi,” Luan suddenly dragged her out of the marsh of her thoughts and hypotheses. “You ok?”

“Ah,” she shrugged. “I’m sorry. Yes, I am.”

“Alright,” Luan smiled at her, a scent of apple freshness lingered around him. “Relax, Yuu. You looked so tense a second ago. You worry about the teacher Emery mentioned?”

“Oh, right, the teacher…” 

The urge to say it wasn’t what kept her so alarmed arose within, but she barely managed to remain silent. She, indeed, couldn’t lie, and she was miserably bad in deceiving in other ways, like other faes could, according to Fairy Godmother’s words. 

Yuu returned a smile to Luan, knowing that even though she couldn’t lie, she knew the best when it was the time to keep her mouth shut. 

After having a lunch with Luan and Neige, Yuu bowed to the last one, promising to see him soon, to which Neige curved his lips in a soft reassuring smile, impressing Yuu with how easily he could put under a shell what was hidden underneath his own heart, creating a persona of absolutely unbothered individual. 

She then made her way back to the classroom with Luan, chuckling softly at him for almost forgetting that he went the wrong way and caught teacher Emery’s sigh.

“Geez, I forgot the classroom’s changed,” Luan yawned, following Yuu and entering another one auditorium, which looked pretty similar to the previous. “I forgot what we’re going to study rn.”

Yuu blinked at his wording—what does ‘rn’ mean in the first place?—and made her way to the seat.

“An introduction to the cultural foundations of Twisted Wonderland,” she answered, causing Luan to stare at her with a look she couldn’t yet decipher.

“I wonder what’s that even about,” he sighed in return. “Sounds so boring.”

Yuu, on the other hand, would love to dwell further, but with her mind being preoccupied with Neige and his rescue she couldn’t concentrate to the max. Something crawled under her skin, an unpleasant feeling of shame and blame conjoining altogether, caused her to bite her lip. 

Fairy Godmother would be so disappointed in her actions. Yuu could easily imagine the scoldings she would receive, head lowering more and more under the pressure of being reprimanded for such an ungraceful way of following her responsibilities. Fairy Godmother’s work was flawless to the bone—her way of speaking and an excellent, essential and indispensable ability to put one’s mind at ease, not mentioning her vast knowledge and ingenuity, impeccable mindset. 

Moreover, she never was harsh and rude. Her indignation was absolutely justified, and Yuu understood that she was not scolded — she was given instructions clearly and straight to the point, not hiding any empty flattery behind. Still, Yuu was ashamed and embarrassed due to her firstly being not so helpful in Snow White’s realm, then letting Sprites turn into Imps and cause an unimaginable damage to princesses. Even rescuing them after that and returning everything to how it was, she punished herself by taking extra work, by renovating the whole garden and studying (only materials she was allowed to use, naturally).  

And now, after so many years passing, has she changed after all? She was panicking for nothing, making misjudgments here and there, and not even making any progress in magic. She was different here, a foreign, alien variable and—

“Yuu,” Luan whispered, noticing how far her thoughts traveled, making Yuu fall silent to the point it was concerning. “The teacher’s came.”

“O-oh.”

She blinked away her thoughts, standing up with everyone, and finally taking a look at the teacher who just came, carrying a strong, luxurious, though not overly concentrated aroma of an expensive perfume around him. 

Yuu instantly pointed out his graceful stance and even posture. He seemed to have descended from the pages of a romantic saga of royal intrigues and grandiose balls. His hair fell in elegant waves over his right shoulder in a loose ponytail tied with a purple satin bow. A dark purple cardigan with fur inserts was thrown over a luxuriously expensive-looking blouse tucked into high dark trousers, and despite the obvious expensiveness of the image, it did not exude an aura of pomposity and eccentricity.

His chiseled, sharp-featured face wore a thin, unobtrusive layer of make-up, and if it weren't for Yuu's sensitive vision, she wouldn't have noticed the faint lines of wrinkles at the corners of his lips, which betrayed him as a man of advanced age or approaching it. A pair of obsidian eyes peered out from under long lush lashes. Wavy strands of hair, close to gray but still retaining the old wheaten hue of his youth, neatly framed his cheeks. A tired sigh escaped his cherry-colored lips, and he turned to the blackboard on his heels, picking up the chalk with a slight movement and writing his name on the blackboard, then turned back to the class. 

“Good afternoon, dear students,” he bowed slightly. “My name is Amédée Bonsagacité. I will be your teacher of art and ancient history. Very pleased to meet you.”

Yuu found herself spellbound with the purity and depth of his soft voice, flowing with a graceful stream of soulfulness, and suddenly caught someone's light line thrown from the back rows.

“It’s that Amédée?? My grandmother’s his absolute fan!!”

“Yeah same, my grandfather treasures his autograph till today.”

Luan turned to them, completely ignoring Amédée’s lingering stare. 

“What’s that about him?” He asked sneakily.

“He was a famous opera singer.”

Yuu nodded to herself, realizing his voice sounded well-trained and naturally pleasant to hear. 

“Dear students, we haven’t got all day,” he snapped his fingers, taking a pointer, and tapped on the blackboard, where Yuu noticed that the topic of today’s lesson appeared, written in chalk. “Since it’s our very first meeting, and the lesson itself is carrying more introductory purposes, you may think it’s easy to skip. But it doesn’t mean I allowed that in the first place. Now, let me get straight to the point.”

Despite how soft and weightless his voice was, teacher Amédée was indeed strict and quite outrite. In any case, Yuu followed his words, making notes and nodding eagerly, much to Luan’s bright giggles.

“You’re surely familiar with admirable figures in our history, am I being correct? The Venerable Seven, whose principles and personality traits are of great importance here in the RSA, as well as the Great Seven, whose life path is considered highly respected in the NRC.”

Yuu knitted her brows together, making sure she wrote it right. How very interesting, why Seven figures? Moreover, what was NRC? Apparently, another school, if teacher Amédée has compared RSA to another unknown to Yuu facility. 

“We must dwell on the respectable figures our academy follows,” he said, drawing with chalk a table of seven columns on the blackboard. “As for the Great Seven, we’ll start studying their traits after taking a test regarding the Venerable Seven.”

A few annoyed ‘tsk’ were heard among the class after one word ‘test’ escaped the teacher’s lips. 

“First, I believe the dorm leaders of each dorm based on a particular figure already introduced you to the basics. But knowing only one representative is not enough. Not to mention… You, miss.”

Yuu, who was writing after him, raised her gaze and met his, unreadable and showing an emotion Yuu couldn’t understand, but no hate was shown. 

“How very peculiar you have been sorted to Sidhery,” he chuckled. “Due to lack of any information regarding your dormitory, it will be fairly hard to explain, but I’ll try my best. We usually just don’t mention Sidhery when teaching this course.”

“Thank you and I’m sorry for causing trouble,” Yuu stood up and bowed, making Amédée widen his eyes in surprise and wave his hand, suggesting Yuu take her seat. 

“No need. Now, let’s continue. First, Pandora Charm dormitory, how many of you do we have here in the class?” Amédée glanced over the auditorium, nodding to a bunch of students raising their hands. “Quite a lot, I see. Well then, as many of you know, Pandora Charm is founded on Inquisitive Daydreamer’s curiosity.”

Yuu took a note of it, humming to herself with a slight nod. If students were sorted to the dorms, was it done according to the personality traits of the Venerable Seven, and did it mean Pandora Charm’s students possessed extra curiosity? Yuu was eager to know.

“We’ll dwell on the Venerable Seven’s figures further as we briefly discuss the basics. Now, to the Kifurijua dormitory. I see many of you are beastmen, correct?” Luan cheerfully waved his tail, making Yuu smile softly at his playfulness. “I see. Your dormitory’s founded on King of the Pride Lands’ Fearlessness.”

“Yep, I’ve been told that a lot before enrolling,” Luan nodded to himself, grinning proudly. 

“Are you happy being in this dorm?” Yuu whispered to him. 

“Very much! Would be fun if you were here,” his ears twitched. “Not sure tho if you’d be sorted here, it kinda doesn’t fit your vibe.”

“I see… I think,” Yuu tried to comprehend with his peculiar wordings and decided to politely agree.

“Speaking about non-human races,” Amédée took a look over the class. “Merheronelle dormitory’s student contingent mainly consists of merfolk. I see the tendency is as firm as ever.”

Some of the students nodded cheerfully, and Yuu silently gasped. So the boy she saw during the PE class belonged to merfolk as she thought, but the fact they were quite common here in this world was new to her. 

“Great then, your dormitory’s founded on Princess of the Atlantica Kingdom’s Vivacity.”

Yuu took a note, feeling a sudden urge to draw seashells and little sea waves doodles on the margins in her notebook.

“Not much to my surprise, the number of Huriirada dormitory’s students is quite low. Though as long as I remember, it was always like that.”

Before Yuu could wonder about his age and how long does he teach here in RSA, some students already whispered the same question she beared in her mind, gossiping and making assumptions, some of them Yuu found extremely ridiculous—how could such a beautiful young-looking individual work here for 50 years, after all? 

“Anyhow, Huriirada dormitory is based on The Rebellious Princess’ Strong Will.”

What a memorable title, Yuu thought. Previous dorms’ respectable figures created an impression of kind, gentle people—creatures?—while Huriirada’s one possessed such an unexpected name, carrying an image of someone seditious. 

“The next one dorm is quite popular, I presume, contradictory to Huriirada,” Amédée concluded. “Edelwiese dormitory is founded on The Fairest Princess’ Gentleness.”

The pen Yuu held in her fingers suddenly dropped with a slight thud on the desk before almost falling on the floor, which Luan prevented with his tail, grabbing it midair and passing to her. She thanked him absolutely absentmindedly, drowning in her thoughts.

The Fairest Princess. Was it a coincidence? No, it was absurd to deny it by now. She glanced at the color of the chalk the teacher used to depict dormitories’ colors, and the bright red was erasing any doubts and hesitance. Yuu added ‘Dorm leader — Neige’ to the dorm’s name written in pencil, and sighed, knitting her brows together. 

So Neige was connected to Snow White, after all. But still she couldn’t be any sure, considering no names were pronounced. Yuu knew her title, but as far as she remembered, people were referring to the princesses by their names preferably. However, could it be that those figures on which dorms are based weren’t the princesses and princes she knew? Yet still—

“Miss Yuu,” Amédée looked at her with a strict gaze, piercing through her and bringing Yuu’s mind back. “Is something the matter?”

“No, I am really sorry for the disturbance…”

“Hm,” the teacher said, relaxing just a little at her polite apology. “Alright, let’s continue. As for Dýnamieisos dormitory’s students, your dorm’s founded on the Prince of the Gods’ Valor.”

Yuu’s mind was still too preoccupied with the potential connection between Snow White, Neige and his dormitory to the point she was writing down the notes without giving any thought. 

“And last, but not least… Florevel dormitory is founded on Briar Rose’s Gracefulness.”

Yuu took a deep breath before trying to combine all the gathered information together and put it on the right shelves of her mind. Neige, Snow White, other dormitory figures… Oh, and the other school—was it NRC?—have got their own representatives, Yuu should have included them in her research and brainstorming, too. But how could she—

“And, as I’ve promised,” Amédée said, breaking a little silence lingered for a moment. “About Sidhery…”

Yuu raised her head, looking straight into his eyes.

“I believe the headmaster already explained to you that there’s no information regarding this dormitory. Moreover, the building itself isn’t being used for dormitory purposes, with a clock tower operating an only option remaining,” Yuu nodded to his words, confirming it. “Not to mention Sidhery building belongs to the type of non-pocket dimension one.”

Yuu wondered what ‘pocket dimension’ did mean and glanced at Luan, who only parted his lips slightly in surprise, then quickly erased the emotion and changed it into his signature cheeky grin, and wagged his tail.

“Although… During my academic years, when I was a student here myself, there were tittle-tattles emanating around saying that Sidhery was the very reason why RSA became so popular and earned its status as one of the best schools for young magicians,” Amédée said, going deeper into his thoughts. “Ah, I must also say that there were no dorms at first. Moreover, RSA was a co-ed school average to its max when it was established.”

“Co-ed?!” Someone gasped from the class. 

“Maybe that’s why Yuu-chan managed to enroll?” 

Yuu-chan?.. 

Yuu felt her cheeks growing redder, despite an obvious teasing way of saying, and lowered her gaze, feeling strange. Was it so simple for humans to call someone in an endearing manner? 

“But I’m afraid that is all I have to say,” Amédée turned to Yuu. “There might be some additional information in the library, though I am not sure if it’ll be much. Sidhery dormitory is a mystery shrouded in darkness, you may say.” 

“Thank you so much, professor,” Yuu stood up and bowed to Amédée, causing him to curve his lips in a weightless smile and nod to her. 

“Don’t mention it. Now, let us continue…”

Despite carrying a huge interest towards the dorm she was appointed to, Yuu’s very first task was to help Neige. Writing the notes down rather absentmindedly, she was focusing on her further plan regarding Neige, and decided to check him after the lessons.

Apparently, after school ends, Neige is no longer to be seen. 

Yuu made sure of that when she came to his class as fast as she could and stumbled upon his classmates who witnessed the embarrassing scene in the cafeteria earlier in the morning, and told her that he already left. They also mentioned he always leaves early, sometimes even when everyone in their classes, studying, but he’s got permission from the headmaster.

Having no idea where he went, Yuu felt uneasy, worrying probably for too much. Neige was a public figure, very much engaged with the media sphere. In spite of having no idea how it felt to be popular, Yuu still could understand that he was fairly used to all of the attention aimed at him, so she decided to do her own research. Remembering how Fairy Godmother told her to always remain calm and collected, Yuu took a deep breath and opened the doors to the library.

She was rather strong and composed when it came to battles or sudden situations, but as a substitute she turned into a ball of worries when the intuition was telling her that something would happen soon.

“Good evening, sir Aell… Huh?”

Yuu went to the counter where Aell could be found, but she witnessed only an empty place and dust particles flowing around the turned on lamp.

“Miss Yuu?”

She heard a voice coming from above, and raised her head, noticing Aell, standing on a stepladder and holding several books. 

“You’re quick to spot me,” he noticed. “Wait a moment, I shall come down.”

Yuu waited for him to get off the stepladder, and took some of the books he was carrying without asking.

“You don’t have to, miss Yuu,” he said as Yuu noticed a sweat drop rolling down his sharp cheekbone. 

“It is alright,” she declined. “Where should I put it?”

“Row seven, you’ll see empty shelves there.”

Yuu nodded and followed the direction he mentioned, then returned to the counter when she finished. 

“I presume you go here quite often, given how fast you orient yourself in here,” Aell said, snapping his fingers and magically cleaning off the dust on the counter. 

“You can say so,” she nodded. “I enjoy reading.”

“That’s nice to hear,” he replied. “So, how can I help you today?” 

“Professor Amédée mentioned I can find books about RSA dormitories here…”

“Oh, it’s rare for someone to dwell on it,” Aell noticed, nodding to himself. “Very well, you can find some in rows 19 and 20 on the second floor to your left.”

“Thank you so much!”

“Don’t mention it. Enjoy your time.”

Yuu went straight to the spot she grew familiar with, noticing she started occupying it quite often, to which she chuckled, placing books she took. 

Pretty colors of an upfolding evening radiated through the window near her, and after some time of reading and making notes she realized that it always was either Neige or that copper-haired boy, or even Che’nya wandering around here or studying. Or sleeping, in the case of Neige and another boy Yuu saw only once.

Even if Aell and Amédée both confirmed she can find some additional information in the library, nothing out of sorts was found. Amédée was fairly consistent in the way he explained things, hence Yuu could not really grasp something new from books. Although, symbolic features emphasizing Snow White’s aesthetics helped Yuu to make sure she was right in her judgment. Apparently, Edelwiese dormitory used a bright red apple as an unofficial yet incredibly recognizable symbol among students of RSA, distinguishing their dorm among others not only by its color choice. 

Then there were researches made for fun only, but appeared to be great material for Yuu. According to the school survey held several years ago, Edelwiese students attracted animals, were very kind to others, and were always compared to the students of NRC’s Pomefiore… 

“Pomefiore, huh?..” Yuu tilted her head, writing the name down in her notebook, and decided to put it aside for some time. 

After analyzing all the information she gathered before Aell went upstairs to tell her that the library was closing, she gasped, noticing how warm colors turned into dark cold ones, indicating that the night was close. 

She bid goodbye to Aell and summoned a butterfly on her way back to the dormitory.

“Good evening, little one,” she smiled, letting the butterfly land on her nose to tickle it with its wings. “Ha-ha, feeling playful today?”

Something tangled in her stomach at the very thought of falling asleep tonight. A malicious, viscous feeling covered her in its dark shades, but she shook her head when the butterfly danced around, as if asking what happened.

“Sorry for worrying you,” Yuu sighed. “I just… Do you think Fairy Godmother would be satisfied with my way of thinking if she was here? I think… I’m missing something.”

An image of the red apple Neige was holding suddenly appeared before her, making Yuu drown deep in worry.

“Though now I am certain I must help. I must finish my job and finally come back home, right?”

The butterfly made a graceful pirouette, approving Yuu’s words, and she smiled once again, though not very determined and sure if she really wanted to come back.

One day when the queen asked her mirror:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,

Who in this land is fairest of all?

It answered:

You, my queen, are fair; it is true.

But Snow-White is a thousand times fairer than you.

Yuu shivered. It was excruciatingly cold, her bare legs were turning violet out of the blizzard she felt with her very skin. Fair, dispassionate woman’s gaze was piercing and sharp, to which Yuu jolted, not seeing her own reflection in the mirror. 

The queen took fright and turned yellow and green with envy. From that hour on whenever she looked at Snow-White her heart turned over inside her body, so great was her hatred for the girl. The envy and pride grew ever greater, like a weed in her heart, until she had no peace day and night.

Then she summoned a huntsman and said to him, "Take Snow-White out into the woods. I never want to see her again. Kill her, and as proof that she is dead bring her lungs and her liver back to me."

Yuu felt her heart clenching in her chest, a heartrending feeling gripped her heart, entwining it with tenacious thorny vines, and Yuu collapsed to her knees. Pierced by memories, she felt the events of past years rush through her vessels, causing her blood to freeze in her veins.

The huntsman obeyed and took Snow-White into the woods. He took out his hunting knife and was about to stab it into her innocent heart when she began to cry, saying, "Oh, dear huntsman, let me live. I will run into the wild woods and never come back."

Because she was so beautiful the huntsman took pity on her, and he said, "Run away, you poor child."

Yuu remembered that scene. She was helping dwarfs at the moment, when Fairy Godmother told her to not go anywhere without her asking, and the woeful look on her face indicated nothing good. 

She stared at the young beautiful girl who called Yuu her dearest friend, and wanted to help her get up, to envelop her in a warm comforting embrace, to tell her that everything will be alright, and even knowing it’ll really become fine — Yuu wasn’t fine at all.

"Child," said the old woman, "how you look! Come, let me lace you up properly."

The unsuspecting Snow-White stood before her and let her do up the new lace, but the old woman pulled so quickly and so hard that Snow-White could not breathe.

"You used to be the most beautiful one," said the old woman, and hurried away.

Yuu opened her eyes at once, desperately eagering for air to breathe in. She touched her neck, then embraced her own shoulders and stared at one spot before her, trembling miserably, and swallowed nervously.

“The red apple was just an omen,” Yuu said to herself, feeling how blood pounded in her head. “I must… I must protect Neige no matter what.”

The rest of the night went without any glimpse of sleep. Yuu put the memories she saw in her notebook, trying to make a timeline of events, presuming two more impingements will take place soon. 

In the morning she hurried straight to Neige’s classroom, not carrying any memory of how she changed the clothes. Nor did she possess any idea about how disheveled her hair looked, and how her face was swollen.

“Hm… Oi, Yuu!!”

She caught the voice owner rather quickly, turning around and seeing Luan waving at her. She stopped reluctantly, knowing that everything was probably fine, but she was too deep in her worries and concerns to let go of them so easily.

“G-good morning, Luan.”

“Huh?” He approached her, noticing how out of character she seemed. “You ok?”

A fae can’t lie, and Yuu really couldn’t. She gave him a small soft smile to lessen suspicions arising around her, and waited for Luan to speak.

“I guess it’s a yes?” He looked at her, approaching a little more and looking straight into her eyes. “Damn, never noticed they were so huge before.”

“Yes?..” She asked him in confusion.

“Yours eyes,” he explained. “They’re huge. I think they were brighter tho.”

“You’re very attentive to details, Luan,” she complimented him, seeing his tail wagging slightly. “Didn’t think I could see you so early in the morning, though.”

“Ugh,” he grimaced. “I just had to get up early today… Nevermind. Well, there's not much time left before the classes start. C’mon, don’t wanna hear you nagging at me for being late.”

He grabbed her hand, leading her to the classroom, much to Yuu’s concern. He was right, and it really was the only logical and rational thing to do, but the anxiety enveloping her made her heart twitch in worry.

Yuu tried to regain her composure. Luan’s presence caused a rather calming effect on her, making heart settle and mind put at peace at least slightly. During the lesson she diligently tried focusing on Emery’s words, even if still flowing somewhere in her thoughts about Neige. 

She nervously grabbed a strand of her hair, twisting it around her finger, and decided to braid her hair, realizing how disheveled and uncombed it was. 

I’m such a failure, Yuu thought silently, being exceedingly ashamed of her unkempt appearance, knowing exactly well that Fairy Godmother would be unsatisfied with her approach to herself. 

After the class ended, Yuu stood up at once, attracting Luan’s attention to her, and turned to him, meeting with his concerned gaze.

“You ok buddy?” He asked, confusing her again with that ‘buddy’ nickname, to which Yuu smiled gently.

“Yes, I’m fine, thank you for asking. I just… need to be somewhere right at the moment, please excuse me. I’ll join you for lunch.”

“No probs,” Luan’s bright smile managed to reassure Yuu that he was fine with her strange behavior. 

Despite him possessing a youthful, almost reckless appearance, he was no fool, giving her the space and time she needed, to which she was really grateful and hoped for the day she could repay him for his kindness.

Yuu rushed to Neige’s classroom, nimbly passing through students due to her tiny figure, and enhanced her hearing ability, concentrating on flowing around sounds and current of different voices combining all together. For a second stopping before the bulletin board, to which the curriculum was attached with a magical sticker, Yuu found the auditorium where Neige should be now, and hurried away in that direction.

Despite Neige’s voice being distinguishably sweet from others, she couldn’t grasp at least a glimpse of it, indicating he was silent right at the moment. When Yuu found his class, she jumped on the spot, fishing out Neige’s beret in the crowd of tall students, smiling to herself and rushing to him.

He was leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the class, not noticing Yuu at all at first. Corners of his soft, bright red lips were curved upward, yet didn’t radiate a feeling of comfort and genuine warmth he usually seemed to possess, reminding Yuu more of a feigned consolation.

She approached him slowly, glimpses of voices reaching her ears, to which she turned her head to the classroom, where the origin of strange statements was found.

“He’s pissing me off.”

“Such a brat.”

“Have you heard rumors?”

“Which exactly? There's a lot floating around him.”

“That he’s probably sells his bod—”

“Good morning, Yuu.”

She turned, recognizing familiar sweetness, and noticed Neige waving at her. 

“It is quite unusual seeing you here. I thought first years don’t have practical magic lessons to be near these auditoriums…” He gave her a smile and then gasped suddenly. “Ah, forgive me if I sound as if I don’t want to see you! It is quite the opposite, I’m very happy I was able to see you early in the morning.”

“You are?..” Yuu asked in bewilderment. Why would he though?

“Of course,” his answer seemed lifeless, yet still genuine enough to believe he was saying the truth. 

“Thank you. I’m glad to see you too…”

“I’m flattered, but… Is everything alright, Yuu? You look a bit confused, if I dare to say. Can I help you?”

How funny is that I am the one who should be helping you, Yuu thought and realized she couldn’t really express why she rushed here. It was unwise to tell Neige about her dreams, her relation to princesses and such — she simply was no one to him. 

“I am fine, please don’t worry. I am just… observing the school.”

Which actually was a truth of sorts, and even if it may appear suspicious, she couldn’t come up with something more witty at the moment. And Neige, being either considerate of her or having no eagerness to interrogate her regarding this matter, only smiled, staring at her.

She looked at him with an uncovered concern splashing in her eyes, and felt something strange growing in her body.

Neige’s eyes were aimed right at her own, huge and filled with confusion. A weightless feeling blossomed in every cell of her body, filling it with unprecedented lightness. Warmth surrounded her heart, exuding gentle thrill, yet calmness prevailed. A mixture of different, but surely positive emotions combined into a holistic picture of serenity.

“H-huh?..”

“Yuu?”

She looked at Neige with more clearance in her gaze, blinking away all the confusion, and subconsciously drew a hand to where her heart was, not realizing what happened. 

“Ah,” she gasped when Neige approached her just ever so slightly, gazing straight at her, and noticed a shadow of something heavy and mournful in his eyes. “Neige?”

“Yes?”

He quickly regained composure, smiling at her in the way he always did, much to Yuu’s concern. Just what in the world happened?

“Are you perhaps feeling unwell?” She asked him, noticing how his delicate thin fingers trembled when he raised his hand to fix a strand of her hair. 

“Hm…” His eyes averted, and he blinked, spotting out the dwarfs, who came closer to him. “Probably. I’ll go visit a nurse. Thank you for expressing your genuine concern, yet also I’m deeply sorry for making you worry. See you later, Yuu.”

Absentmindedly greeting the dwarfs and bidding goodbye to the company, she watched Neige’s figure distancing from where she was, still not quite thinking straight, but a sudden malicious laugh reached her ears.

“HAHAH, it was SOOO pathetic. He really has no idea how to woo a girl.”

Yuu turned to Neige’s classmate, a peaceful and delightful feeling in her chest slowly disappearing, leaving a place for annoyance. 

“They say they’ll include more romance scenes in the movie,” someone said. “It’ll be so painful to watch.”

“For real, he’s so lame. Smiling here ‘n there won’t help. Can’t believe he’s starring in an R-rated movie.”

“Now now, don’t be so harsh,” someone added. “He’s just a child. He plays just fine in stuff for kids commercials!”

“Yeah, pathetic shit.”

“And you are?”

No one noticed when Yuu entered an unfamiliar auditorium, materializing before other students’ very eyes, making them stare at her in confusion. 

“Oho, isn’t it a lovely Yuu-chan?”

“Lovely?” She asked, a vague smile blossoming on her face, making it completely unreadable. 

“You must be dead tired after seeing that pathetic piece of shit.”

Yuu knew she had no authority in this school, being a small girl surrounded by tall and lean men wasn’t helpful at all, too, but she was pissed off enough to act harshly.

“Yuu-chan, if you’re hanging out with him because of his fame, forget it. With your looks you might as well seduce that Schoenheit guy. By the way, I know the guy who knows the guy who…”

“Ha…” She sighed, pressing her palm to her forehead and closing her eyes. 

“Come on, you’re scaring her,” another student said, standing up and getting closer to Yuu, placing his hand on her shoulder. “He’s right tho. Unless you prefer young innocent-looking boys over someone more manly?”

“You.”

She looked at the hand resting on top of her shoulder, and then shifted her gaze straight into the guy’s eyes, her heart possessing no warmth anymore. 

“I’m rather tired. Tired of hearing you spreading all this nonsense.”

“Huh?”

“Hanging out because of Neige’s fame?” She smiled slightly. “Seducing someone I don’t even know? You’re making me laugh! All of you… I despise people like you.”

“What did you just say?”

“Oh please, cute little girl playing protective? What are you, Neige’s mommy?”

The air turned cold and difficult to breathe when Yuu’s smile widened. 

“Dude,” someone whispered to the student who was arrogantly smiling at Yuu. “Don’t jinx it, she’s a fuckin’ fae!..”

But neither Yuu nor the student really cared.

“What can you possibly do?” The student came closer to her. “Tell the headmaster about us? Go on, it’s you, not us being in a predicament.”

“That is the only cover you could come up with? The headmaster? Dear little child,” she remained even, her back straight and the gaze certain and strict. “Next time you see Neige, thank him for not telling the headmaster about your behavior. Thanks to him, your dirty souls are being safe and not expelled. Have you ever thought about it?”

“Sweetie, we just genuinely don’t care whether he tells the headmaster about us or not.”

“Great then,” Yuu clapped her hands, and a little electricity spark flashed in front of everyone, making them flinch slightly. “Then if you don’t mind Neige, you won’t mind me as well, am I being correct? Wait a moment, I’ll go inform the headmaster about this issue real quick.”

“You little shit,” the student grabbed her hand, but Yuu glanced at him with malice spreading in her eyes. “Drop your act. Yeah, you’re a greater actor than him, we got it. Now stop pissing us off ‘till we get serious.”

“So you’re not being serious right now? How disappointing. I thought your act could serve as a comedy for me to keep myself entertained for some time, but now knowing that such people like you even dared to say something about Neige… A~ah, truly unfortunate.”

“Neige’s sure got some crazy bitches among his fans.”

Yuu was feeling strange. Unknown rage was filling her to the bone, making it difficult to remain calm and collected. It never happened before, not even once, she was strictly prohibited from performing acts like that. Fairy Godmother taught her that all the problems could be resolved with little verbal tricks and light magic if needed. 

But what was that malicious, dark and dirty sensation vibrating in her vessels?

She once more felt how her body trembled for a moment, and with a gentle feeling all the emotions disappeared, being replaced with happiness and joy that was quite out of blue.

“Ah, dear little children,” she murmured. “It seems the lesson starts soon. I have no time to continue playing kindergarten here.”

“Kinder— YOU!!—”

“Shh,” Yuu smiled, pressing her finger to the guy's cheek, feeling absolutely disgusted. “I’m genuinely warning you that you’re getting expelled if you don’t apologize to Neige. Well then, farewell. Hope we’ll never meet again.”

She went out of the auditorium, turning around at the exit for a moment, and casually dropped another smile.

“Ah, one more thing. Neige is the most kind, hard-working and genuine person that I’ve ever known in my whole life. It is quite disappointing to see that you’re not following none of your Venerable Seven’s behest.”

After that she ran away, clenching the shirt in her hand, breathing heavily and trying to realize what came into her, causing to say such cruel, unpleasant and absolutely not graceful things. 

It was as if another person shifted into her, changing her personality at once.

And what was that sudden feeling of happiness and joy filling her already twice this morning?

The classes ended, and Yuu realized it would be unwise to try finding Neige in the classroom, given how unpleasant the meeting with his classmates went. 

The day was bright and flourishing in all its glory, bestowing a gentle serenity with hot yet soft sun rays. Yuu closed her eyes for a mere moment, letting herself stop to appreciate the cordial tender feeling spreading in her chest. 

“Haah…”

With a snap of fingers she summoned a pink butterfly that greeted her in a playful dance around her head.

“I’m so immature,” Yuu mumbled to herself. “Mother… will be disappointed.”

The butterfly landed on her closed eyelid, fluttering its wing, to which Yuu chuckled.

“Thank you for your reassurance, little one. I—”

“Whatchnya doin’?”

“Ah!”

Yuu gasped, opening her eyes abruptly, and saw Che’nya’s face levitating in the air.

“Che’nya-san!”

“That’s mya,” The boy materialized with all his body, casually crossing his legs midair, and landed successfully, jumping on his foot and looking like he weighed nothing at all, demonstrating his graceful and flexible moves. “How’s your day?”

“Uhm, I am… a bit confused, so to say,” Yuu forced a smile, watching the butterfly fly around Che’nya, who seemed to be enjoying the moment and chuckling softly. 

“Little confusion won’t hurt one,” Che’nya replied vaguely. “On the contrary, wouldn’t our lives be fairly borin’ without any confusion put in them?”

“Yes?.. I believe you’re right…” Yuu tilted her head, questioning what exactly was that he meant by that, but shrugged it off, clapping her hands. “Ah, right! Have you seen Neige?”

“I may have,” Che’nya jumped on the spot, his body disappearing in the air, and only his upside-down head turned to Yuu, much to her growing bewilderment. “Or I may have not.”

“It seems I’m free to allegorize your words as I please?”

“Nya-uh,” he smiled at her, his face looking silly yet cute being turned upside-down. “I know a road which can take you to someone who definitely knows where Neige is~”

“You do?!” Yuu’s face glowed in joy. 

“Nyap,” Che’nya nodded… Or so it seemed? “The one who also helps Neige. You might find him somewhere or nowhere in that direction~”

“Somewhere or… I’m afraid I don’t follow?”

“You do~ Follow my directions. I’m the best at giving them.”

Che’nya’s arm appeared in the air, his index finger pointing on the road which led to the clocktower, and glanced back at the cat-looking boy, but he’s probably long gone by now.

“And remember,” his voice was heard. “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road can take you there.”

And with that Che’nya’s voice died out, leaving Yuu all alone with her grown confusion.

“Well…” She sighed, letting the butterfly, that also seemed flummoxed at Che’nya’s behavior, rest on her shoulder. “Let’s try following the direction he pointed.”

The one who also helps Neige, huh. 

Yuu swam deeper in her thoughts, trying to recollect the memories and rearrange the succession of events. Today’s not so pleasant meeting with Neige’s classmates almost overshadowed previous encounters of other people Yuu thought were at least neutral.

By the way, why would the road correlate with the clocktower? Was someone who could help her find Neige in the building right at the moment? Other than her, she could meet Prospero there. 

Ah, wait! Did Che’nya mean Emery who was following— Wait.

Yuu felt another presence nearby. Hiding behind the tree, she listened closely, hearing two people talking.

“Another shenanigans of yours…”

The peaceful, melodious voice bewitched Yuu. The words formed rather not into speech, but into a series of musical notes, charming with their tenderness.

“C’mon, no one will know!”

Another voice, the one that Yuu was able to recognize almost instantly due to the youthful, joyful sound vibrating in the air. 

That was him. The copper-haired boy she met on her first day here, and also the one who seemed to be genuinely worried about Neige.

Yuu peeked out from behind the tree, spotting two students standing with their backs to her, so she wasn’t able to see their faces. The boy she saw appeared to be smaller in height than his friend. Come to think of it, his blonde-haired friend was so tall and magnificent that Yuu gasped, parting her lips, realizing she has never seen people of such height. An extraterrestrial aura flew around him, radiating light and calming feeling.

He was the one sleeping in the library!

“Emery knows though, doesn’t he?” Taller boy replied, to which his friend jolted on the spot. 

“N-nah, what are you saying!~”

“You said that he followed you when you tried to flee miserably.”

“Ugh.”

“And that he lectured you for three hours straight.”

“Ouch.”

“And that you are also prohibited from entering the clocktower for a time being.”

“Argh, enough!! Besides, we’re not entering the building itself, okay?! Let’s hurry up! It’s not like you’re not going anyway, right?”

“Right,” the blond-haired boy answered. “It’s always you who gets scolded anyway.”

“That’s what friends are for. To always remind you that you’re saving their asses and they’re watching you getting scolded for lulz.”

“It’s me saving your restless ass though.”

“Ah shut up~”

“Cast your magic already.”

“Alright, two premium tickets coming right up!”

Yuu came out from behind the tree before the boy started whispering, and listened closely, focusing on the words he was pronouncing in an enchanting way.

“No matter which way I’m going, it gets curiouser and curiouser. Down the Rabbit Hole!”

The familiar hole appeared before two boys, and they, exchanging another joke or two, both jumped down there. 

Yuu, immediately running towards the hole, watched it closing with a rapid speed, and realized that it was now or never — there was no time to try guessing what could happen down there, she’ll definitely figure it out once she jumps. So she did, stepping into an unknown space, and letting the wind current take her somewhere.

She opened her eyes, which had been closed before the jump, and a blindingly bright light shone in front of her. A space that looked more like the Milky Way with glittering stars of cold colors unfolded in front of her. A scattering of sparkling stars decorated the walls of this “hole,” but Yuu’s gaze was riveted by something else.

Objects of various purposes danced freely in the air, as if they lived their own lives. A chair with gold-plated armrests flew past Yuu and moved behind her, forcing her to take a seat. She levitated in the air, sitting on a luxurious velvet chair!!

“W-what is happening?!”

Ignoring her question, the table with a patterned tablecloth joined the company, appearing in front of Yuu. The treats did not take long to arrive — a plate with buoyantly dancing cookies was jumping over the table. A teapot rushed past, drawing strange patterns with flowing tea in the air, and as soon as a cup with a fancy handle joined the feast, the teapot splashed hot tea into the cup.

“T-thank you?..” Yuu mumbled, when the cup drew closer to her, suggesting to grab it.

The aroma of melted chocolate and tea with bergamot filled the space. The tartness of the drink seemed quite interesting to Yuu, but the next sweets that arrived at the table overwhelmed the persistent smell of infused tea leaves, giving way to the aroma of cinnamon and powdered sugar.

“Thank you for the cordial welcome… whoever you are?”

The kitchen utensils danced approvingly around her, and only Yuu had time to finish her tea, when space turned everything upside down (if what was happening could even be interpreted in this way, given all its absurdity). Yuu screamed in surprise, mentally thanking herself for braiding her hair earlier in the morning, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to see anything.

She spotted a bright light at the end of the hole, and turned around to witness no utensils dancing here and there. She was left all alone, heading towards the light and worrying about the closing exit. 

“No no no, wait for me!!” She cried, trying to make a move similar to one when people swim in the water, but to no avail.

She managed to get closer to the exit in the last second, before the space basically spat her out of itself.

She landed successfully, rising from her knees, and turned around to take a look. 

And realized she had no idea where she was.

An unfamiliar infrastructure appeared before Yuu. The coldness of the stone walls around her made her feel slightly uncomfortable, and she hurried to get out of her current situation. Proceeding to the side where the passage stood out, she found herself in the middle of a narrow street where people were scurrying about.

She looked around in fascination, marveling at the local infrastructure and how different it was from RSA. Small houses with small courtyards, the stonework of this alley, fancy street lamps…

She was brought out of her thoughts by familiar voices heard somewhere very far away, and Yuu turned to the source of the sound. She found those same two students at the end of the alley, hurried after them, but at the turn she discovered that there was already no trace of them.

Meanwhile, she herself found herself on a wider and busier street, which completely confused her.

“W-woah…”

The number of people walking here and there scared her out. She never considered herself a person who could easily interact with people, and now, being left completely all alone in the—apparently—town of unfamiliar faces has helped her worries to grow.

“Uhm…”

She decided to start walking where there weren’t so many people, glancing at the store windows, at people taking a stroll, at a stray cat jumping on the rooftop, at the way gilded foliage indicated summer lost its rights, giving way to autumn, and the leaves slowly falling down. 

Get yourself together, Yuu commanded herself. 

First, the copper-haired boy probably took her here (even if he didn’t know it himself), hence Neige could be possibly found somewhere near this place. Second, was this ‘hole’ he created something that Emery explained as a unique magic? And was it not the hole, but the portal? Alright, then if anything, Yuu could possibly find a spot where no one would see her, and just fly into the sky to see where RSA is located.

And now, how could she possibly fish out Neige out of ALL those people?

Yuu possessed greater abilities than humans did. Enhanced hearing, vision, smelling and other perception options, she could have tried remembering Neige’s voice, or smell, or his appearance to detect his location. However, Fairy Godmother never told her how far she could go with her abilities, explaining only the simplest ways of their work. Due to that reason, Yuu is most likely to fail. 

She decided to give it a go even still, leaning on the tree in the park she went to look less suspicious, and looked around, concentrating her vision on certain spots, but all in vain. Trying to hear Neige’s voice also didn’t work, giving her a slight migraine instead.

“Should I just observe as far as I can now…”

With the confusion on her heart, Yuu slowly started walking around, deciding to at least observe the place she arrived at, so she wouldn’t get lost in the town in case there will be another chance to visit it. 

She was walking around the city in a casual manner, fascinated by absolutely everything around her. The flow of people amazed her with how harmoniously it moved, as if it were one integral organism. People were going in all directions: some were in a hurry somewhere, quickly avoiding obstacles, pressing a box to their ear, which Yuu could now identify as a mobile phone; someone, on the contrary, was walking very leisurely, just like her, enjoying the moment.

Small buildings were replaced by some much larger in height. Such buildings reflected light with their glass walls, forcing Yuu to stop in front of them, looking at her reflection in bewilderment.

The variety on the store windows was amazing in its assortment, and Yuu smiled sadly, examining a winter scarf with the predominant red yarn in it and running her fingers over the embroidered birds. For the second time during her stay here in this world made her heart sink with regret for not earning money or at least trying to find a job. First of all, she wanted to repay Ambrose for being so kind to her and providing accommodation. And the second time was right now.

“It would look so nice on him…”

“What a thoughtful girlfriend you are!”

Yuu raised her head, looking at the shopkeeper with incomprehension in her eyes.

“Girlfriend?”

“You’re choosing a gift for your boyfriend, no?”

“Oh, no, nothing of sorts! I just thought this would look good on someone I know.”

“Your friend then?”

“My friend…”

Was Neige really her friend?

None of their encounters resembled something that friends would do or discuss, and every meeting ended with Yuu blaming herself for being not so helpful, while Neige only tried to distance her off himself with a reassuring smile.

They weren’t friends, she was sure of it, and they most probably would not be ones ever. After she finds a way to finally release him from his worries, she’ll get back home, with all the students forgetting her very existence in a short period of time.

Yet, something tangled in her stomach at this thought, and she decided to shrug it off before she got too emotional and unstable of thinking straight.

“Oh, maybe I’m overstepping, but did you sew these clothes yourself?”

“My clothes?” Yuu echoed and gasped right when she realized.

She was still wearing her RSA uniform, while not even trying to cover the fact that she was a female.

Yuu laughed rather awkwardly, realizing she needs to rush over somewhere to cast a set of casual clothes to walk here without any worries, and waited for the shopkeeper to start making assumptions so to Yuu could confirm any guess and not to lie.

“No, it wasn’t me…”

“Aah, then have you perhaps taken it from your brother? My daughter likes to wear an RSA uniform, too. What’s so pretty about it, though? NRC’s dark colors are more stylish to me. Ah, forgive my nagging.”

“This is alright!” Yuu smiled. “I like light colors more… Come to think of it, you’re right. It’s about time I return them to their owner, ha-ha…”

“Okay, see you then!”

“Have a nice day!”

Yuu casually walked out of the shop and, before rushing to the corner where no one was found, took a look at girls outfits, choosing a combination of elements of the garments they were wearing, so as to be not so different from other people. Summoning her magic wand, she decided to go with a simple choice due to the lack of time.

“I hope this will do…”

A wave of sparkles surrounded her, and with a little flash her clothes changed into a black long straight dress and a gray top, the boots with satin ribbons she used to wear as a part of her RSA uniform being replaced with patent leather lace-up boots. 

She went out to the streets, noticing that the day was cooling from the midday heat, and grew colder, giving way to pinkish evening colors.

Yuu reached a large building right in the centre of the city, raising her head up and regretting she couldn’t fly over the top right at the moment to see the name of the, apparently, company that was located here. 

She wasn’t really familiar with modern concepts and settings, transmigrating to the worlds of medieval times. Being completely oblivious to the way strange-looking carriages were rushing on the streets, Yuu felt her head turning dizzy, and decided to take a moment to rest in the park and continue her observation.

Right when she sat, a sweet scent lingered in the air, making her shudder and focus on its origin. 

“Neige!” She exclaimed to herself, concentrating her ears and feeling them twitch slightly. 

She heard his voice somewhere far away, and not wasting any more time, rushed over there. Almost reaching his location, the sweet and gentle fragrance growing easier to feel, Yuu suddenly stopped, her heart piercing with a strange uncomfortable sensation.

A malicious aura was spreading nearby, and right when she noticed Neige in the distance with a dark hat and a mask on him, she was hit by someone. Yuu turned and saw a little figure of a girl watching Neige. 

“Excuse me!..” Yuu exclaimed, but the girl couldn’t care less, her eyes strongly fixated on Neige’s silhouette. 

That was her. The girl radiated that spiteful, ill-disposed manner around her, and Yuu decided to follow. The girl was basically running towards Neige, her eyes glowing with an obsessive, possessive light in them, scaring Yuu and making her realize that she needed to act fast.

A sudden appearance of a modern-looking carriage right before Yuu’s very eyes was an unplanned and rather disappointing event, the girl being long gone by now. 

“Little one,” Yuu said, standing near the road where a column of many carriages was, and summoned a pink butterfly. “Go after Neige.”

Right now she needed to act as a young normal woman possessing no magic powers. There was no way she could do something reckless such as to fly towards Neige or the girl. People were crowding around a pillar with three windows, one of them glowing with red light. They weren’t surprised at how the carriages were moving, and decided to join them. Right when she got closer, the light changed from red to yellow, then green, and people started crossing the road with Yuu following their example.

Fantastic system, she thought to herself, deciding to investigate it more when—or rather if—she’ll have the time to do so. 

Finally escaping the obstacle, she followed the butterfly’s direction, and almost stumbled upon Neige talking to the girl.

The last one being fairly noisy and annoying, so to say. Neige, who looked even more tired and exhausted than he did in the morning, much to Yuu’s concern, lowered the mask, so his lips could be seen, and forced an apologetic smile to the girl.

Yuu was approaching them with a rapid speed, trying to control her moves, so she won’t come off as an extraordinary creature with inhuman powers, and concentrated on their conversation, catching more and more glimpses of it.

“I’m sorry I’m not—”

“But I love you!!”

“As I’ve mentioned, I—”

“I’ll kill myself if you!—”

“Please calm down—”

Kill herself?! Yuu’s blood froze in her vessels, as she rushed without any thinking, but then a bright flash of something metallic cold flew before Neige. 

Yuu accumulated magic in her legs, ready to just jump into them, but then another flash of light sparkled before Neige, covering the space with fire spurts of flame. 

What just happened?..

“And what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Yuu recognized the voice, despite it losing its cheerful notes. The copper-haired boy’s eyes glew with an intense, almost malevolent blue fire of rage. 

Stationery knife the girl was about to use fell on the ground, ashes melting in the air. 

“You okay?” The boy asked Neige, who appeared to be in oppressive stupor. 

“Ah, yes, thank you…” Neige finally replied, clenching the shirt in his hand, and swallowed.

The girl fell on her knees, and Neige, enveloped in pure guilt, outstretched his hand to the girl, so she could stand up, but the boy quickly brushed it off.

“Dude, I understand, Edelwiese is founded on kindness and things, but you could have been, like… Killed. Or… I don’t know!!”

“He’s right,” a now familiar Yuu blonde boy also appeared, still standing with his back turned to Yuu. “We should report to the police.”

“Thank you for your concern,” Neige smiled at the boys. “But everything is okay.”

“Okay?! OKAY?!” The blue-eyed boy cried, grabbing Neige’s hands and looking at him with a genuine worry in his eyes, while the blonde one monitored the girl who was still sitting on the ground. 

“Yes,” Neige nodded, distancing himself from the boy and loosening the grip on his hands. “Everything’s alright, there’s nothing to worry about…”

He then whispered something with his lips only, and the boy who appeared to be extremely tense now became absolutely relaxed and slightly perplexed with his own feelings. 

“I…” Yuu whispered to the butterfly that returned to her. “Sense magic.”

“Alright…” The boy replied. “I believe you if you say so. But we should still report to the police!”

“We will,” Neige reassured, taking out a phone out of his pocket. “I’ll let my manager know about it. I also won’t tell anyone that you used magic in the town.”

“But—”

“Young lady,” Neige turned to the girl who was still looking at him adoringly, joyful due to him paying her attention she wanted. “Please promise me you… won’t ever… do something like that. Ever. This is my last warning.”

“If you desire so!!”

Neige blinked, forcing a smile so artificial it hurt. The police finally arrived, taking the girl with them and, after asking Neige some questions, let him be with the two students.

Yuu decided to follow them and make sure they’ll get home safe and sound.

“Dude, it’s not even funny. How are you so nice to her after THAT happened?!”

“I agree,” the blonde one said, shaking his head. “This is absolutely abnormal.”

“She was trying to KILL you, hello?!”

“Or herself,” the blonde added. “Both possibilities are NOT okay.”

“What he said,” the copper-haired boy sighed. “Neige, really, you need a guard or somethin’..”

“It’s not like I can afford—” Neige’s voice suddenly rose up, but then he cleared his throat and shook his head. “There’s no need. I can handle it.”

After twenty minutes of small arguing about Neige’s safety, the conversation changed into a more casual flow.

“By the way, what were you doing here in the first place? I always thought you’re getting a ride to the company.”

“It’s just… It was an unplanned meeting, so I was basically dragged out of the lesson today. We were discussing an upcoming project. Apparently… Now I have much more lines to play than expected.”

“Even more?! Hello, your eyebags will soon reach the point of that energy drink addict.”

“Oi,” the blonde answered with a clear annoyance in his voice. 

“Ha-ha,” Neige laughed gently. “I’m already considered a coffee addict though.”

“You two are complete fools… I can’t believe it.”

“I’m very sorry to disappoint you…” Neige mumbled.

“Oh please,” the blue-eyed boy sighed. “Don’t apologize. And disappoint? What again? Why would you disappoint me out of all people?”

“You’re right…” Neige nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“Dude…”

Yuu followed them, noticing that the rest of the conversation was held by the two students, while Neige remained silent until they made it to the RSA entrance, much to Yuu’s surprise. 

After they bid goodbye to each other, Neige went to the main building, while the two boys followed an opposite direction, heading to somewhere unbeknown to Yuu. She waited for a moment until their silhouettes were gone, and headed to the clocktower. 

The pink butterfly that followed her till the end started flying in a strange way, its activity raising to the max, with the butterfly's wings fluttering very fast. 

“Is something the matter, little one?”

In spite of asking, she already knew that something was exceedingly wrong. The butterfly landed on her head, as if trying to grab her hair, then went to her clavicles, arching her waist, then flying off to the clocktower’s highest spot, finally making a comeback to Yuu after that.

“Little one, I’m afraid I don’t understand…”

The butterfly went to her ear, its wings tickling Yuu’s skin. She nodded to its movements, furrowing her brows and sighing heavily.

“I know he’s in danger!” Yuu cried, feeling totally exhausted and drenched out. “I know I must help!”

This is my duty, after all, she thought, falling on her knees before the entrance to the clocktower, expressing no desire to enter. 

“Fine,” she said, when the butterfly started acting slightly annoyingly, but Yuu didn’t want to blame it for the worries it possessed. Her own mental state reminded of a vase, starting to crumble with little cracks. 

“Give me some time. I’ll gather the information I have and try to arrange everything. We will rescue him.”

The butterfly seemed to calm down a little, and Yuu, still sitting on the grass, summoned her magic wand and changed the clothes back to the school uniform. 

“Á lelya,” the dilapidated notebook appeared in a wave of sparkles, landing right in her hands. 

Her fingers flipped the pages at a fast speed, and when Yuu found what she needed the most right now, she nodded to herself, opening a new page and writing down her thoughts.

Her thoughts and magic combinations, which she hoped she wouldn’t have an opportunity to use. She never tried those incantations she came up with just now, and was very afraid of it going the wrong way to the point of no return. 

An hour has passed since Yuu started practicing magic spells on her own. The deep evening had fallen on the streets, warm pinkish and orange colors changing into cold dark ones, and Yuu was ready to head back to the building, feeling absolutely exhausted.

“Let’s go, little one,” Yuu said, making the notebook disappear in the air, and grabbed her magic wand. “I hope I’ll settle everything tomorrow and—”

“Yuu.”

Yuu recognized Che’nya’s voice, but couldn’t really manage to find his mischievous figure. Looking around, she noticed him slowly appearing in the woods, and came closer to him, at the same time realizing she was still holding her magic wand. 

Withdrawing it now would only raise Che’nya’s suspicions, so she carefully tucked it in her sleeve and greeted him.

“Good evening, Che’nya-san.”

“Good evenyan~” How strange. Yuu thought he sounded quite concerned a little ago. 

“May I help you?”

“Not me,” Che’nya smiled at her, but something mysterious and unreadable slid down his iris. 

“Ah!” Yuu gasped. “Did perhaps something happen to Neige?!”

“Hmm,” Che’nya’s brows slightly twitched, an unfamiliar look appeared on his face. “Not at the moment.”

“I, uhm,” Yuu hesitated. She was fairly obvious with all those questions about Neige’s location and the cafeteria event. But if something could happen, she would like to prevent it as fast as possible. “I actually followed your advice and went after that boy you’ve mentioned. Even if I couldn’t help Neige in the town, he looked very… How should I put it…”

“Like the world is about to end, nya?”

“Oh,” Yuu cleared her throat. “In a way, yes…”

“Right, right, he’s a very hard-working boy, nya. Maybe too much…”

“Che’nya-san,” Yuu’s voice sounded strict and concerned. “I know it might be too much to ask, but you also came not just for a small talk like that, am I being correct?”

“Uh-nya,” he nodded.

“Do you by any chance know where Neige is right now?”

“Drama club building,” Che’nya answered immediately, showing a slight glimpse of relief that Yuu caught his way of thinking. 

“Show me the way.”

Che’nya, without further ado, went straight into the woods, and Yuu had nothing to do but follow him. 

Their path passed in absolute oppressive silence, due to the fact that everyone understood that something wrong could happen in the coming minutes. The butterfly next to Yuu was spinning in a frantic dance, as if reflecting a gloomy omen.

A small dome-shaped building appeared in front of them, resembling an indoor amphitheater.

“Normally the building is open at this hour for Neige only,” Che’nya commented. 

“What are we going to do then?..”

Neige smirked, making his body disappear, and reappeared on the opposite side of the wall, right in the building.

“Che’nya-san, is it okay for us to—”

“Don’t worry, nya. We’ve got other things to do.”

He was right. Yuu should have prioritize Neige’s safety first, so she nodded to Che’nya when he opened the window and gave his hand to Yuu to help her get inside.

The building seemed smaller inside than outside. Several rooms along the long corridor served as utility rooms and small auditoriums with technical equipment, the purpose of which Yuu could not determine at the moment.

When they reached the last door, Che’nya pressed a finger to his lips, followed by Yuu’s nod and confirmation to remain silent. Neige’s voice was heard ever so slightly.

He opened the door, and Yuu immediately bent down, glancing at Che’nya who followed her example and nodded to the side, silently whispering ‘this way’ with his lips only.

Indeed, the building turned out to be an amphitheater. An unsettling moonlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, illuminating the main stage at the very bottom. Yuu and Che’nya found themselves in the upper rows, hiding behind the raised seats, and walked closer to the middle.

Yuu's heart was pounding wildly in his chest. Everything that was happening seemed like some kind of feverish dream, a fictional delirium, moreover, absolutely unsightly and wrong. But all her regrets and fears disappeared once she heard Neige’s loud voice.

“Me? Oh I’m… Not scared of death.”

Neige was probably following the script, and Yuu peeped out to make sure she understood it right. 

He held a paper sheet with a text on it, a strong trembling ran through his tender, weakened hands. Yuu knitted her brows together, when Che’nya tagged her on the sleeve, reminding that they still needed some time to observe. 

“Argh!” Neige groaned. “That’s not it. Ahem… Me?! Oh I am!.. No, should I put more pressure? More sneer?”

He was pacing back and forth on the stage, loud thuds of his heels echoing in the building. 

“Me… Hahaha! I’m not scared of death,” Neige exclaimed after a long pause. “Urgh, no… This is all wrong.”

Yuu wasn’t sure how much more they should wait, and was about to peep out once more, but a sudden vibrating in the air caused her muscles to tense. Che’nya couldn’t resist his interest any longer, too, and looked where Yuu was staring at, noticing a giant hole opening in the floor.

“That is!..” Yuu whispered, feeling Che’nya nodding beside her.

“But why?..”

A familiar figure of the copper-haired boy appeared in the auditorium, and right when he was about to open his mouth to say something, he noticed Neige on the stage, looking mournful and gloomy.

“I am… I am not… scared of death.”

The blue-eyed boy gasped, drawing his hand to his mouth to cover it. 

“How exactly must I say that, given the character IS scared of death!?”

Neige tore the paper in his hands, collapsing on the stage, and right when Yuu and others were ready to act on their instincts, Neige laughed hysterically, standing up, tears running down his sunken cheeks.

“Haaa… I should have given this role to Vi-kun instead.”

Yuu felt a cold wave run through her body. Her heart felt like it was encased in icy, rusty chains, and she hugged herself tightly, trying to prevent herself from trembling. Che’nya turned to look at her, but Yuu only stared in fear in response. Neige went backstage. 

“Yuu?! Calm down, hey, look, Neige’s back—”

Yuu shook her head, afraid of looking at the stage. 

“It would be highly unwise of you.”

The voice, usually gentle and smooth, giving peace and tranquility, sounded sharp and blatantly insolent. Yuu sharply raised her head and felt something inside her break with a crash.

Neige stood on the stage, dressed in luxurious robes. A satin white blouse with wide sleeves and a wavy collar was neatly tucked into black leather trousers that hugged his thin legs. The knee-high boots were entwined with apple flowers. Behind him flowed a long cloak with gilded patterns, attached to the blouse with aiguillettes with bright scarlet stones, reflecting the moonlight so brightly that the blood-red hue hurt the eyes, light radiating through a porcelain mask on his face. On his slender, gloved fingers, were many massive rings.

However, the strangest detail was his hair. Half was the usual jet black, and the other was painted lifeless white.

“Neige?..” The copper-haired boy whispered.

“No…” Yuu mumbled, biting her lip. “It’s not him…”

“What do you mean?” Che’nya asked concerningly. 

“Look at his eyes.”

Che’nya did as she told, and gasped when he saw strange swirls in his eyes glowing bright crimson, pupils dissolving in the depth of its scarlet hue.

Time seemed to slow down, allowing everyone to clearly hear the creaking of floorboards and nervous chuckles.

“Huh?”

Neige’s voice was heard, and he turned around to witness someone looking exactly like him, but also different. Intimidating… creature stood in front of real Neige, smiling with his lips, but his eyes carried a horrendous consternation in them.

“Who are you?!” Neige screamed, summoning his magic pen immediately. 

“Now now,” the other Neige laughed, taking a step closer. “Do you really want to fight with me? With yourself?”

“... The fuck is happening,” the blue-eyed boy said, raising up. 

“With myself?.. What do you…”

The scarlet-Neige burst into laughter, grabbing a piece of the paper the original Neige tore, and snapped his fingers. Ashes accumulated in the air, making it hard to breathe, and the paper was restored.

“My script…” Neige mumbled, furrowing his brows. “What are you going to—”

“ME?...”

Yuu bit her lip to the point a few drops of blood were shed.

“Hahaha… I… To think that you would assume!! That I…” The counterpart bent down to Neige, grabbing his chin and staring at his eyes, smiling.

Until his body suddenly shuddered, and a loud cry was heard.

“Would be scared of death?!”

Neige gulped, falling down on his knees.

“... or this is how you should act.”

Everyone went silent when the scarlet-Neige took a chair and sat down gracefully, his whole figure radiating royal, expensive and elegant attitude. 

Unlike Neige, who was trembling, his huge eyes with dark eyebags staring in disbelief. 

“I can help you,” the counterpart whispered enchantingly. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

“W-what do you mean?..”

“You got used to the main roles,” the counterpart cupped Neige’s face, his thin fingers with protruding sharp nails slid down Neige’s cheeks, wiping away his tears. “Playing sweet, naive heroes. Always gifting everyone with those smiles of yours. I know you’re deadly tired of wearing them.”

“But I!”

“You thought you could reach Vil Schoenheit’s level,” the other Neige said, as if sentencing his origin to death. “You know yourself you’re not capable of playing villains.”

“I… that is…”

“Admit it yourself.”

“I… agree…”

Yuu stood up at once, releasing her magic wand and wanting to cast a spell, but she was abruptly interrupted.

“Great then!” The counterpart laughed hysterically, grabbing Neige’s hand and leading him into a waltz. “Let the rehearsal continue!”

“As if I’m allowing it!!”

Yuu ran through the rows, startling Neige and his replica on stage, the blue-eyed boy turning his head to the sound of Yuu’s heels echoing in the amphitheater, and Che’nya quickly reappearing near the stage to prevent Yuu from performing something reckless.

“Yuu?” Neige’s eyes followed her precipitous moves. “And everyone… Were you watching me all this time?”

Admitting such a nefarious act was fairly painful to Yuu, and she lowered her gaze, ashamed of her actions. Least she wanted him to feel as if he’s being offered unwanted help by someone he barely knew. 

She averted her eyes, glancing at Neige’s replica, studying his nature. Blood was running down in his vessels, indicating he was a living being—she wasn’t sure of his humanic entity though—which meant that he needed to be observed more for further actions.

“I presume some audience won’t hurt,” the counterpart concluded, performing hover corte while waltzing, and let Neige turn to the ‘public’. 

“What are they doing…” The copper-haired boy mumbled, trying to analyze their actions.

“I don’t knyaw as for Neige, but that one is preparing for somethin’.” Che’nya said, the usual mischievous sparkles in his eyes disappearing as he went to Yuu, covering her with his body. “This is dangerous.”

“With all my respect to you, Che’nya-san,” Yuu tapped on his shoulder, making him turn to her and look at the vermilion of her eyes with pupils trembling in a rising anxiety underneath. “I know! This is precisely why I’m going to fix this unfortunate state.”

“Girlie, I don’t believe this is the right time for your sophisticated speech patterns!” The blue-eyed boy blurted out, withdrawing his magic pen and fixing a stance, ready to fight.

“Wait!! Don’t fight him yet!”

“Huh?”

“This is the happiness you dream of?”

The replica made Neige enterwine in outside swivel, exposing him to everyone. 

Yuu didn’t know what to do. Blood was boiling in her vessels, fright accumulating within her heart. 

The counterpart wasn’t attacking them, much to Yuu’s surprise, but she was feeling with her whole body how a cold wind of worry chained Neige up, making him lose his calm. The replica was basically draining him out, hurting not physically, but verbally.

“What are you in the first place?” Che’nya asked, his magic pen appearing in the air. 

“I am Neige,” he answered with a grin on his face. “And Neige is me.”

“I’m tired of this shit,” the blue-eyed boy spitted. 

“As I’ve mentioned, don’t fight him yet—”

“And what? Are we going to simply watch Neige getting hurt mentally? He’s my friend, I can’t just let it be like that!”

“Friend?..” Neige’s eyes glowed in a soft light hue. 

“That’s right, you dummy, and I’m rescuing your ass right now, please bear with it!” He pointed the tip of his magic pen at the replica, ignoring his suspicious grin and Yuu’s scream.

The boy accumulated burning flames, and Yuu started panicking rather obviously.

Fairy Godmother, what do I do?! She questioned herself, knowing she was lacking the knowledge of performing battles. She didn’t need it in the first place, her main occupation was intelligence work of mind and brains, not attacking spells or whatsoever!!

Che’nya jumped in front of her, his moves resembling those of a cat, and grabbed the boy’s hand, but it was too late—a fire spell flew out of the tip of his magic pen, heading straight to the counterpart.

“STOP!!”

Yuu was ready to throw herself at the spell to prevent the scarlet-Neige from burning to ashes, but Neige himself interfered, casting a water shot, which led to flames die out and burst in a steam cloud.

“Don’t fight,” Neige said, realizing how weak his body turned, hands shuddering and head spinning. “Ugh… I hate to see people being so unhappy…”

“Dude, are you out of your mind?!” The boy threw out his pen, getting closer to Neige and grabbing his shoulders. “I could have burnt you!.. I!..”

“This is why,” Neige forced a smile. “I told you to not fight.”

“But that thing…”

“He’s not causing any harm, is he?”

Everyone remained silent, when Neige felt the boy’s grip on his shoulder loose, and raised up, turning to his replica.

“You too… Please calm down. I don’t want my friends to get hurt.”

“Friends?” The replica chuckled. “You know yourself you have no friends at all.”

Neige hissed at a pain blossoming in his chest due to the words he said so easily.

The words which appeared to be the bitter truth.

“You bastard! Neige is our friend!” The boy threw himself straight to the counterpart, grabbing his collar.

“Do you know his pain?” 

“Huh?” 

“Do you know his struggles? What he truly feels? What lies on the depths of his heart when he—”

“Enough!”

Neige gathered his last powers, drawing his magic pen right to where his heart was, and lowered his gaze. 

“I hate seeing you all screaming, shouting, assuming things about me!!” He blurted out, shutting his eyes closed. “Why would all of you know when I’m the one who doesn’t know a thing about myself!!”

“NEIGE!”

Yuu has had enough. The blood in her head was pounding with a force she wished to begone. Neige’s tears dropping on the wooden floor of the stage were startling, she couldn’t think straight, not knowing what to do.

The counterpart wasn’t fighting at all, watching all this exciting drama unfolding before him, yet something concerning flashed in his eyes whenever Neige was talking on the wedge of bursting into cries and screams. 

So he did care about his… origin vessel? 

But why would he tantalize him verbally, throwing right at the edge of his mental stability, and then drag him out of it just ever so slightly? 

“A-ah…” Neige looked up at everyone, staring at the pure fear and confusion on their faces, and a shadow of insanity covered his eyes. “I-I’m scaring you out… No… Please don’t be upset with me.”

“We won’t!!” The boy screamed. “Why would you even think like that?!”

“STOP SCREAMING!!” 

Everything turned into a mess. 

“Right…” Neige smiled. “If you’re unhappy, then I shall just bestow happiness for you.”

“You— What?”

“Don’t you dare!”

Neige laughed and parted his lips.

“Your sorrow is a crime, pay for it in the form I call salvation. With a smile and a song.”

The world has gone blank white. Yuu’s heart was bursting with strange sensations she had never experienced before, and when she finally dared to open her eyes, an indescribable picture upfolded before her.

The blue-eyed boy was giggling and crying out of joy, or so it seemed, and Che’nya was grinning cheerfully, while Neige’s counterpart stood with his mouth shut, but the mask on his face crumbled, revealing a soft gaze of his still swirled and pupils depraved eyes.

“W-what is that feeling?!”

“Neige, you…” Che’nya mumbled. 

“What happened?!”

“Ah,” Neige sighed. “Now you are all happy. I’m so glad no one is suffering… No one is upset…”

“Che’nya-san…” Yuu whispered, touching her chest and feeling unwell. “What is that?”

“His unique magic,” Che’nya explained. “Though I’m not entirely sure of how exactly it works.”

“What have you done? What for? Did you want to exhaust yourself to death? Do you want to die out of fear and misery they all have been carrying?!”

They all have been carrying?..

Yuu stood up, closing her eyes for a moment. Wait.

“Neige…” Yuu mumbled, getting slightly closer to Neige and his counterpart. “Don’t tell me you deprived us of our negative emotions and took them to yourself.”

A forced artificial smile served as his answer before he collapsed on the floor.

“You…”

“Are you disappointed too, Yuu?” He asked her, chuckling. “I knew it. It’s not enough to make you happy, I don’t know you enough… But my acting was flawless, yet you always looked at me with such a strong remorse in your eyes. I’m not good enough, I—”

“Ah really, in the name of Snow White, shut up!”

Yuu felt her emotions mixing altogether, happiness and woe submerging into one holistic entity, and couldn’t stand this drama any longer.

The slap that landed on Neige’s cheek rang like a tinkling whip throughout the entire amphitheater, forcing everyone into a frantic silence.

“Did you just…”

“Happy this, happy that!” Yuu exclaimed, rage burning in her eyes. “Can you please be a little more honest with yourself?!”

“You little…” His counterpart rose up, clapping his hands, and threads of fishing lines appeared behind Yuu's back.

“Yuu!!”

“Want me to be happy?” Yuu chuckled. “Great, then become happy yourself first! I don’t need your feigned trickery!”

The threads twitched behind her back, stretching and becoming noticeably sharper, glinting with a metallic sheen in the moonlight, and rushed straight to Yuu’s back.

“Yuu!” Che’nya shouted, throwing himself straight to her, but she outstretched her hand, signaling him to stop that instant. “You idiot, if you think first years magic is strong enough to stop him, then you’re—”

“I don’t know a thing about your magic. Á ettula, wilwarin.”

It was as if a storm had reigned in the amphitheater. A golden whirlwind swallowed Yuu, emitting a dazzlingly bright, somewhat painful light for the eyes. The voices were drowned in the flutter of the wings, and a moment later the whirlwind dissipated, revealing an unharmed Yuu.

“What the hell…” The blue-eyed boy muttered. 

“I don’t know either,” Che’nya added. “But it’s indeed not our magic at all.”

“What did you…”

“How peculiar,” Yuu said, the tip of her magic wand glowing in gold, butterflies glueling to her body. “Why all this one-man theatre when you had no intention of harming me in the first place?”

“What do you mean?!” Che’nya ran toward her, but she looked at him strictly, condescending with her look. 

“That.”

Yuu pointed to the stage decorations being cut in half, floating around with the butterflies’ help, preventing the stage from destroying completely.

“I wasn’t his target,” she concluded. “Neither of us were. He did it to scare us.”

“... Hahaha,” the counterpart laughed. “You little woman. How very interesting.”

“I don’t care if you won’t hurt us anymore. Doesn’t matter if you care about Neige or not, when you’re clearly not letting him go for some reason. And for that you’ll perish.”

“Perish?! Yuu, are you out of your mind?!”

“I might be with all that mess I’ve had enough witnessing for quite a time by now.”

“... She’s right,” the blue-eyed boy agreed, standing up and getting closer to her. “Let’s beat the shit out of this bastard!”

“You guys…” Che’nya sighed. “Alright, but I’m not covering your asses in case we’re doomed when the headmaster knows about this~”

“We’ll discuss it later,” Yuu said. “Please be careful. I don’t your spells, and you don’t mine. I’ll cover you in case you can’t dodge the attack.”

“Hmmm, is that so? Great then, amuse me.”

“Forest strike!” Che’nya shouted, a tangle of thorny vines formed at the tip of his magic pen, and he then shot it at the replica. 

The copper-haired boy nodded, accumulating flames and sending it straight to the tangle.

“Flame blast!” He exclaimed, and after the flames were released, he added a wind to accelerate the spell. “Wind shot!”

Yuu watched their work, and threw a quick glance at the scarlet-Neige, gasping at once. He was dragging Neige out of the spell range, and spread out his arms towards the spell, smiling maliciously. 

“WAIT, CANCEL IT!!”

“WE CAN’T?!”

Yuu shuddered, using her inhuman speed, and materialized before the spell, golden butterflies breaking in bright sparkling fragments.

“YUU?!”

“HAHAHA!”

She fell straight on the counterpart, jumping on her foot and witnessing blood on his chest and her shoulders. 

“Yuu?!” Che’nya shouted. “Why did you?!..”

“Are you freaking nuts?!” The boy blurted. “And what’s with those butterflies anyway?!”

“He wasn’t even protecting himself!!” Yuu screamed, twirling the magic wand between her fingers. “He’s only protecting Neige!”

“I don’t care about you all, pathetic humans,” he laughed. “You, on the other hand, are not even slightly concerned about your so-called friend.”

“What do you mean by that?!”

“S-stop… fighting…” Neige, who regained consciousness, coughed into his fist. 

“Neige!” Yuu exclaimed, raising her wand, but the counterpart casted a spell she never knew about before.

Myriads of puppets materialized in the air, and Neige, gasping, outstretched his hand to protect everyone, but the counterpart enveloped him in a tight embrace.

“I am thou,” he whispered, but Yuu managed to hear him. “Thou art I. I won’t allow anyone to hurt you.”

“By hurting us you’re hurting Neige himself!” 

After saying that, Yuu dodged some of the puppets' attacks and waved her magic wand, summoning swarms of ice blue butterflies surrounding her, and four walls of ice appeared, countering the attack and making puppets break.

“Ugh!..”

“Don’t. You even dare.” Yuu reappeared right before Neige and his counterpart, grabbing the last one’s collar and gazing straight in his eyes. “To ruin my rescue of Neige.”

“Rescuing?..”

“You said you’re Neige, and Neige is you.” Ice blue butterflies disappeared, leaving a blizzard after them. “Then how in the world didn’t you manage to reach consensus?” 

“She’s right, you little shit,” The blue-eyed boy went to them, welcoming Neige in his comforting embrace, to which the exhausted boy only released a sigh. “We don’t want to harm Neige, you don’t want to harm Neige. We consider us his friends, you consider yourself his friend. Now what the hell is happening now?”

“Do we really need to fight in the first place?” Che’nya added. “From what I see, emotions are what actually messed all this up.”

“I am…” The replica took a deep breath before speaking. “His other side. The side he desired the most, but what was actually sleeping underneath.”

“What…” Neige furrowed his brows. “But it can’t be… I’m Edelwiese’s dorm leader, following  The Fairest Princess’ Gentleness. No way you are being a part of me.”

“Think about the times where you were pissed off to the point you wouldn’t even remember the gentleness you’re so fond of. That crazy girl was following you for what, a year or two by now? You really think I wouldn’t form from those wicked feelings in your heart?”

“I…”

“Oh, and the times people always compare you to Vil Schoenheit.”

“But Vi-kun—”

“He’s amazing, cool, dignified, and blah-blah-blah, do you really think you can conceal all those from me?”

“Neige,” Yuu interfered. “You… should accept that all of those things he’s saying are a part of you. All of those—this replica, your feelings, your hidden thoughts and sorrows—are all you.”

“She’s right,” the counterpart nodded. “I took a physical form only because you went to the very edge.”

Yuu felt how her magic flow tingled, but decided to remain silent at the moment. 

“So you are really him,” the blue-eyed boy smiled.

“No,” Neige giggled softly. “He is really me.”

“Indeed,” the scarlet-Neige nodded. “Don’t forget about it ever again.”

A cluster of bright stars began to surround his silhouette, emitting a gentle, calm light. And right before Neige outstretched his hand to bid a farewell, Yuu’s scream cut through the idyll.

A whirlwind of pink butterflies glued to the replica’s body, consuming it, as if devouring a supper, and the next second Yuu widened her eyes, all trembling in Che’nya’s embrace.

“M-my butterflies,” she shuddered. “T-they are… T-they are scarlet!!”

The counterpart smiled at Neige, finally finding peace, and both Neige and Yuu fell unconscious, the screams of the boy and Che’nya distancing further and further with every second.

“I expect nothing else than perfect the next time. You have disappointed me.”

Yuu opened her eyes slowly, witnessing a boy with golden eyes sitting under a tree in the woods and crying.

“I’m scared.”

Yuu approached the boy, recognizing young Neige in him, and tried touching his shoulder, but her hand went through him.

“I don’t want to do anything.”

“I don’t want to act anymore.”

“Will people acknowledge me if I smile?”

“Or should I win an award?”

“But there are so many…”

“I don’t want to—...”

“I’m scared of death.”

“Why is there an aching hole in my chest? Why do I feel so lonely? I wanted nothing but everyone's happiness… Now why… Why do all the people demand impossible things from me?”

“And with everyone neglecting me… Did I not make them happy enough?”

“Tell me, please.”

“At least someone.”

“Is there a way to make

Everyone

Happy?”

Yuu closed her eyes, feeling how the brightness hurt, and slowly opened them to see Neige standing near the entrance to an auditorium, and almost rushed over to him, but then his classmates' words were heard.

“He’s pathetic.”

“Yeah, good for nothing.”

“Honestly, how are there so many girls stanning him?”

“For real, Vil’s more sexy and mature, he knows how fuckable he is.”

“Can’t believe there are people who like innocent naive guys lmao.”

“Right, did you hear that he got the exam answer sheets because he paid for them?!”

“NO WAY…”

“Actually I thought about it long ago, I know the guy who saw him bribing Aell.”

“THAT’S CRAZY”

“I know right??”

“He’s a total shit.”

Yuu approached Neige who apparently couldn’t see her, and a tear ran down his cheek.

“They’re unhappy,” he whispered to himself before pronouncing an incantation.

“Wait, I suddenly feel so light…”

“Me too… Damn I feel like I can do anything right now!!”

“Good morning, everyone.”

Neige entered the classroom, people quick to pull on smiles on their faces and greet him cheerfully.

“Good morning, buddy! How’s the movie? I heard you won another award!”

“Ha-ha, yes, but…”

“Dude you’re AMAZING!! Be proud of yourself!”

“T-thank you…”

His reply was a bitter smile.

…But I never wanted to win it in the first place.

I want to cry.

I want to run away.

I don’t want anything.

The world’s crumbling.

Then why am I… Myself not being happy at all?

“Ah, my little Sprites!!”

Neige slowly opened his eyes, finding himself on a… flower bed?

Many beautiful flowers he has never seen surrounded him, a bright and melodic voice was heard nearby.

He stood up, noticing a lady in a beautiful dress and a dark cape.

Anthracite dark starry sky upfolded above his head, and Neige gasped at the extraterrestrial beauty of the place.

“Yuu?!” 

He shouted her name, and the girl turned to where he was, but appeared to be completely confused.

“I think I heard someone,” she said, funny creatures following her. “Mother is back?! Mother!..”

Mother?..

Neige wondered what Yuu’s mother would look like, but the girl frowned.

“Fairy Godmother?..”

Fairy… Godmother? 

Neige noticed Yuu wasn’t a human in the first place, but he surely knew nothing about her in general, other than the fact that her eyes were insanely enchanting, and the shade of red glowed beautifully. 

“Well… It appears it’s not the right time!” She smiled to herself, grabbing her magic wand and casting a whirl of sapphire butterflies.

“Now, little ones, please help me water the flowers. Hm-hm-hmmm~ What a nice evening it is! Or is it morning? I do wonder…”

Nothing was happening after that. 

Yuu was watering the flowers, then gracefully dancing around, singing a little in her tender voice, or just staring at the night sky, which never really changed, even the way stars were glowing remained absolutely static.

“I wonder… I really do wonder when you will come back, Mother.”

Neige parted his lips to pronounce an incantation and let her be free out of her worries at least for a moment, but she suddenly outstretched her hand, a pink butterfly landing on it, and Yuu smiled so bright that Neige went aghast.

“And until then I promise to become a better version of myself. No… I’ll become perfect, Fairy Godmother.

I’ll be waiting for you.”

And then the world went dark.

The distant sound of familiar voices, the hasty clicking of heels and the blatant smell of alcohol forced Yuu to wince and slowly close her eyes.

“Ugh…”

“YOU’RE AWAKE!!”

Yuu blinked a few times before she saw Che’nya’s face bending over her, a familiar playful grin blossoming on it. 

“Huh?..”

“You idiot,” the copper-haired boy’s voice was heard on her left. “No, you’re insane. Absolutely crazy.” 

“Excuse me?..”

“Now now, don’t push it,” Che’nya giggled softly. 

“What happened? Where’s Neige?”

“In my arms.”

“Uh?”

Yuu turned her head, finding Neige cradled in the boy’s arms, though seeing something dark on his chest, while being held by Che’nya herself.

“U-uhm!!” She exclaimed. “I can walk!—”

“Hmm… Nyah,” he smiled. “Enjoy the moment. By the way, we’ve arrived.”

The boy knocked thrice before hearing an almost weightless ‘Come in’, and opened the door, letting Che’nya with Yuu in his hands enter first.

“Who even thought it would be a good idea to injure themselves at this hour— Oh.”

Yuu stood up slightly and gasped when she saw a man who appeared to be a nurse.

His frosty white hair was neatly tied up, and despite the short length, Yuu noticed how several strands of blue were woven into a braid that went behind his ear.

He calmly observed the company with his deep blue eyes, reminiscent of two ice floes, and the gaze from under his snow-white long eyelashes turned into a frosty, piercing, condemning and dissatisfied one.

“What happened? Those are not common injuries.” He put on a medical gown over his turquoise shirt and stood up from his chair.

“You are…” The nurse looked at Yuu, nodding to himself. “Yuu-san, right?”

“Y-yes,” she answered awkwardly, her throat aching as if after crying for some time. Why would it though? 

“Put her down here,” he commanded to Che’nya. “Oh, and you. Be extra careful with LeBlanche, his injuries look much worse.”

Yuu’s mind was covered with haze and incomprehension, so his words reached her ears with a slight delay.

“Injuries?!” She rose up on her elbows after Che’nya gently put her down. “But I made sure he—”

“Silence in the infirmary.”

“Yes sir.”

“Name’s Wyn,” the nurse replied before turning to Neige first. “Tell me what happened.”

Wyn started examining Neige’s body with torn pieces of his school jacket on it, putting it off and making Yuu turn away from the sight, even if the boy still was clothed enough to not reveal anything. 

The boys hesitated, making a summary of the events rather reluctantly, anticipating Wyn to scold them or even punish them for their reckless behavior—no one suggested calling for a teacher, after all. But to their surprise he was just nodding to all the things they said, and after completing the examination, he pulled the chair he was sitting on to Yuu’s side.

“Turn away, you two,” he demanded of Che’nya and the other boy. “Pull your shirt up to chest level.”

Yuu bit her lip in embarrassment, but followed his instructions. Wyn’s touches wasn’t uncomfortable, if Yuu could trust her own body, given she hadn’t an experience like this before.

“How are you feeling?” Wyn asked Yuu, starting to palpate her stomach after she lowered her shirt. The cold of his fingers sent shivers down her spine. “They say you’ve fainted.”

“I am alright,” Yuu said. “How’s Neige?”

“How should I put it…” He lowered his voice. “I haven’t seen it happening since…”

“Huh?”

“Nevermind, we’ll have a talk about this tomorrow,” he shook his head. “You said he was never injured in the first place, but…You see, his chest is burnt slightly. Could have been worse if Yuu-san didn’t throw herself under the attack.”

“Does it mean,” Che’nya assumed. “That he was connected with his counterpart in a physical way, too?”

“Correct,” Wyn nodded. “Any harm caused to the replica is transferred to LeBlanche himself, though only after the counterpart is gone.”

“S-so,” Yuu exhaled sharply. “When we threw a fire spell right into the replica…”

“Yes, Neige fainted because of the pain being delivered abruptly and at once. I’m not sure about mental damage, given he was mentally unstable before,” Wyn sighed. “I wonder if he visited Prospero at least once…”

“Will he be okay?” Yuu asked.

“Physically, yes, he’s under my watch now, after all. As for his mental state, it will be a long long process of making him at least more stable. But he will get better.”

“I’m so glad…”

“Listen, Yuu-san,” Wyn turned to her, placing pills in her hands and providing her with a cup of warm water. “Drink it. You will recover in no time, but as for Neige, I need to take some ingredients from storage in the alchemy room. I’ll go get the pills I need and come back shortly, understood?”

“Yes sir,” she nodded.

“You two,” he said to the copper-haired boy and Che’nya. “Stay here until I come back.”

“Okay, nya.”

Wyn went out of the infirmary, leaving the company. 

Yuu looked down, not knowing what to say. Her job was done, Neige was saved, and despite a ton of unresolved issues, she did feel some relief, and yet something pricked her heart.

“Uhm, so…” The blue-eyed boy cleared his throat and looked straight at Yuu.

She was finally able to get a closer look at him after only seeing him in the distance. A scattering of cinnamon freckles adorned his cheeks and his smooth, straight nose. Plump lips were bitten from worry and covered with cracks. His huge blue eyes looked into hers without any embarrassment, as if trying to absorb every detail of her face, and burned with undisguised interest.

“R-right!” She encouraged him to continue. “I’m really sorry I don’t know your name…”

“It’s Elias!” He announced cheerfully. “Second year student.”

“I’m Yuu,” she smiled at him. “Very pleased to meet you.”

“What a rhyme,” he giggled. “Thank you for rescuing Neige, Yuu!”

“You helped me a lot… Che’nya-san, too!”

“You’re my dear underclassmen, nya~ I did only what I should have.”

“Right,” Yuu said. “Che’nya-san showed me the way, but Elias, what were you doing there?”

“Ah, ahaha, well…” He smiled sheepishly. “I was busy rescuing myself from Emery~”

“H-how come?..”

“Y’know, I don’t like sitting around doing nothing,” he chirped. “I’m pretty restless, hence constant exploring. I thought that I’ve never really transported to the amphitheater before, so the thought randomly popped up in my mind, and I decided to give it a go. And you know what happened after.”

Yuu and the guys talked for a total of half an hour until Vin arrived and began preparing medicine for Neige. After all the treatment procedures were completed, he sent Che’nya and Elias to their dormitories, giving them official leave for the next day.

Yuu was asked to stay at the first aid station until the morning.

For a couple of hours she stared at the ceiling, listening to Neige’s steady breathing on the next bed, and tried to reconstruct the chain of events.

She was almost tuned in to the higher train of thought, but sudden rustles forced her to turn her head to the left, noticing how Neige sleepily rubbed his eyes.

“Good morning,” she greeted him.

“Uh?.. Uhm… Yuu?”

“Yes, this is me. Hello, Neige.”

“Yes, hello… Where are we?”

“In the infirmary,” Yuu tucked the blanket closer to her face. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.” He concluded, chuckling. “Deadly tired. But also better than before.”

“Neige, I… I am very sorry I haven’t noticed anything before. I could have prevented all this…”

“Ha-ha,” he laughed and coughed out ashes, much to his surprise, but shrugged it off, despite Yuu’s concerned noise. “We’re quite alike.”

“Yes?..”

“Just as I’ve mentioned it before… You’re very kind, Yuu.”

“No, I was just doing my—”

“Yuu… thank you.”

Yuu went silent, waiting for Neige to continue.

“I don’t really like to talk about myself, but…”

“You don’t have to. It is okay.”

“No,I really want to do it now,” he smiled. “I should let people know how I feel at least once. I want to be egoistic at least for one minute.”

“Alright then,” Yuu turned to him slowly, feeling her damaged shoulder aching, which she ignored. “I’ll gladly listen.”

“I’m very grateful… Well… I’m not really fond of expressing my emotions in real life due to acting. I must maintain the theatrical character, the role of someone who’s never bothered, never angry. I must be perfect.”

Perfect.

Yuu was familiar with his words, knowing exactly how it felt when you wanted to be perfect, but was experiencing reversed emotions in your heart.

“But it all started way before I became an actor. In my childhood, people always craved for more. I was quite… convenient as a child.” 

“You’re saying that as if you weren’t a human being…”

He only smiled coldly at her statement.

“First it all started with little tasks in the village I grew up in. I was quite handy, always helping here and there. But then small tasks slowly grew into bigger ones, and in the end I was afraid of disappointing people with my immaturity. I thought, what if I don’t accomplish the task right in time? But I had ten other tasks like that. It was accumulating somewhere in my heart, but I still thought that maybe… It was my destiny — to make people happy with my achievements.”

“But Neige,” Yuu interrupted. “Why did you decide that they were happy with your deeds?”

“You know how my unique magic works by now, right? I can transfer joyful feelings in return for their sorrows. It awakened back then, when I realized that when people smile at me, they’re happy with me. And if they’re happy with me, then I’m valid. If they don’t smile, then I’m disappointing them.”

“I understand your point, but… How is that your fault? Moreover, you do realize people can’t always smile and be happy every second of their lives, right?”

Yuu found herself at awe about her own words. How funny it must be—for her to say that.

She never knew the feeling of realizing the purpose of her own life. Other than saving princesses—and now Neige, too—she had no other aim.

“Yuu…” Neige whispered after a short pause. “Do you think I can be a little more egoistic from now on?”

She looked at him straight into his eyes, a gentle smile forming on her face.

“Ah, what am I saying!!” He gasped suddenly. “I must follow The Fairest Princess’ Gentleness and—”

“Of course you can,” she interrupted. “You’re a human. And well, I’m not the one who can decide that anyway, right?”

“Ha-ha, I guess that is true… Thank you.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Mhm… Also, your magic is so cool!!” He tried leaning on his elbows and rising up a little, but the pain pierced him through, making him fall on the bed and Yuu gasp in fear. “I’m ok! But really, how did you do that?”

“That?..”

“Those butterflies were amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it! I mean, magic is all about visualization, but this is the first time I’m seeing someone operating their thoughts in such a creative way.”

“I think…” Yuu exhaled. “Since you’ve been honest to me, I must reciprocate. It’s because my magic isn’t like yours. In fact, I don’t know a thing about it.”

Neige remained silent for a moment before chuckling softly.

“Could you please summon a butterfly for me?”

“Oh, sure. Á ettula, wilwarin.”

A pink butterfly formed from sparkling light, and flew straight to Neige, fluttering its wings on his nose.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. “Does it have a name?”

“Name?.. Not really…” Yuu replied, staring at the butterfly dancing around. “There are many of them. It was hundreds last time I checked, maybe there are thousands or so. To be honest… I don’t even know why I am summoning butterflies.”

“Summoning,” he echoed. “Not creating.”

“They are living beings. They’re my friends.”

“Friends…” Neige repeated with a slight sadness in his voice before gazing at Yuu. “Yuu. Please answer me.”

“Hm?”

“Are we… friends?”

Friends was a strange concept to Yuu, who heard this word not once, yet it felt so incredibly far away from where her mind could reach. 

Snow White also called Yuu her friend, but there was something natural, genuine and warm in the way that Neige asked.

“Yes, we’re friends.”

“Then I’m glad.”

His eyes gradually closed, and soon a soft sniffling sound was heard, signaling that he had fallen back into a restful sleep.

Friends…

Yuu watched the dawn penetrate through the windows with its caring, enveloping rays, healing wounds both physical and mental.

She rescued the ‘Princess’, made a friend…

And now it was time for her to turn back home.

★﹒﹒NOTES

✧˖ The Venerable Seven — an allusion to the Great Seven.

✧˖ Á ettula, wilwarin — 'Come forth, butterfly' in quenya language.

© yunarim 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲, 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.

[ryuichirou]

Tops and bottoms: whys and hows

As you probably know by now, but with all of our multishipping open-mindedness, there is one thing that we’re very particular and principled about: the top/bottom positioning of the ships that we like. These roles are always fixed with us: the characters never switch or change their positions regardless of what ship they’re in, two tops and two bottoms are never paired, etc. There is no exception to this rule with us, we don’t entertain the idea of them switching ever.

We are not the only people in the fandom spaces with this type of mindset, but as far as I know, it’s not as wide-spread on the western side of any fandom, so naturally, some people find it confusing. We get questions about it from time to time, so we figured we would write a post, in which I’ll try to explain the reasoning behind our choices and give you some insight in how it works for us.

Disclaimer: whenever we call a character a top or a bottom, we always talk about our own perception and reading of the said character. We don’t wish to force our way of thinking on others and we don’t want others to try to make us question our own preferences. Everyone should be able to enjoy any piece of media the way they want, and there is no right or wrong way to ship characters together.

In this text, I refer both to their position in sex and them being dom/sub to each other, since it usually correlates for the most part.

So, why would we look at a character and so strongly and uncompromisingly believe that he is one way and not the other?

A short and exhaustive answer would be: we just want to. Frankly, this really is all the reasoning you need lol It’s entirely a matter of preference. I just look at some characters and want to fuck them and want them to be bottoms. I look at Vil and think that I want to live in a reality in which he enjoys being the submissive and receiving one in a relationship lol let’s be honest he deserves it. So yeah, it’s not that deep.

But a longer, more thorough way to look at it would to say that there are some specific tropes that characters can have that we tend to see in a certain way. Our favourite types, if you will. Some other people might see them in different light, but to us, they have all the qualities we love in either tops or bottoms. I’ll try to explain and give some examples…

Character types that we tend to see as bottoms:

Reclusive sarcastic introvert who has a hard time connecting and/or communicating with people. They either lack the motivation/initiative or are just done with everyone. Or both. A lot of time they either have a resting bitch face or a smug sardonic expression, they bite with their words and brutal honesty, but they’re actually quite sensitive. They don’t have a lot of friends and are very aware that they can be unpleasant to hang out with, but they’re also quite sensitive and care deeply for those that they love. A lot of time they have that one person who make them into a complete all-forgiving pushover. Examples of this type: Idia Shroud, Jamil Viper, Matsuno Ichimatsu, Barok van Zieks, Levi Ackerman, Ciel Phantomhive, Killua Zoldyck, Annie Leonhart, Daria Morgendorffer. This is my favourite type lol

 It’s kind of similar to the first type but still fairy different: not as biting and sarcastic, more sensitive, earnest and emotional, but not very expressive with their emotions. They look either sleepy or sickly, they’re soft and slow, but also extremely self-sacrificial with their loved ones. Even if they are very strong, they still have these frail vibes. I guess they’re closer to a kuudere type. Examples of this one: Silver, Snake, Hasegawa Langa.

Confident and flirty, but also quite good at what they do. A diva that can be either very demanding and picky or straight-up childish and capricious at times. They enjoy stoplight, but also have their moments of insecurity and vulnerability with raw emotion and deep feelings. Very sly and very teasing, provoking, sometimes even cunning. Surprisingly wise at times. They are petty and they are very aware of that. Examples of that: Vil Schoenheit, Malleus Draconia, Alois Trancy, Keigo Atobe, Matsuno Todomatsu, Zenin Mai.

Little shit lol A bit of a bimbo. Either because they aren’t all that smart or because they tend to act recklessly without thinking, and it always backfires. They aren’t necessarily malicious, but can be quite bratty and the life is their biggest brat-tamer. Deep inside they really enjoy feeling like a victim though, is it masochism or is it self-pity? Can be either. Innocent, but not so innocent. They’re also very sensitive and huge romantics by nature. Examples of that: Epel Felmier, Jake English, Toki Wartooth, Byun Minho.

An overly serious tsundere buzzkill. They take themselves too seriously, they try to make things right but according to the way they thing is right. Super smart, but have low emotional intelligence, which is one of the things that differs them from the first type greatly (the second thing is that the 1st type doesn’t take themselves seriously at all). Sometimes they are unreasonably demanding, and they pretty much have a tunnel vision when it comes to think they passionately believe in. They’re very bulliable and hilarious when angry… But the biggest plottwist is that a lot of times they’re huge hypocrites what don’t actually believe in what they preach and want to get emotionally comforted instead. Examples of that: Riddle Rosehearts, Rollo Flamme, Kurapika, Matsuno Choromatsu.

Something that all of the types have in common for us (even though it might not be obvious with some of them…) are a lack of initiative (even if they flirt, it tends to be a provocation or an invitation to act), submissiveness (open or hidden), victimhood/self-punishing tendencies and willingness to love someone deeply and unconditionally. Once again, doesn’t mean that every character that has these qualities is automatically a bottom and it only exists in them, it just means that these are the qualities that we love in bottoms.

Character types that we tend to see as tops:

An overly stubborn bloke with tunnel vision lol Just like the 5th type from the bottoms list, they take their own beliefs very seriously and could sometimes get angry if someone disrespects it; but they are different, because there is no emotional turmoil behind this type of top’s loyalty to his ideas. The tsundere bottom one tries to cover their emotional wounds, and this top idiot simply doesn’t know better, but they SURE AS HELL BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE THE SMARTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM! And if everyone followed their advice, the world would be a much better place!! At the same time, if “the system” that they believe in betrays them, they would be the one to get to the bottom of it, and they would stop at nothing to discover the truth. They’re overbearing, overstepping, overprotective, kind of aggressive and a lot of time physical, but they could also sometimes be silly and even funny. At the same time, they’re horrible at getting hints and get confused in emotional situations. But they love their loved ones dearly and would do super drastic and horrible things for them without thinking twice. They make such great simps~ Examples of that: Sebek Zigvolt, Herman Grinhill, Erwin Smith, Equius Zahhak, Dirk Strider.

If the previous type is a stuffy inspector who doesn’t fully understand how relationships work, this one is more of a general who’s either seen some shit or actively seeing it lol He is just as stubborn, but doesn’t have as much of a tunnel vision. He might not have his shit together, but he sure as hell knows how to inspire the crowd and how to discipline young soldiers, so to speak. At the same time, if I was to describe this type I’d call him a calculating beast lol It’s the warlords and leaders + a lot of the characters who simply enjoy violence for the sake of it. But sometimes their chaos is contained in little pranks and friendly fights~ People fall in love with them quite often… The examples of that: Lilia Vanrouge, Fushiguro Toji, Zenin Maki, Eren Yeager.  

The previous type is charismatic, but these are THE charismatic fuckers. People either absolutely love them or absolutely hate them, and they just dance to the beat of their own drums and do whatever they find fun or amusing. If the character is a top and their entire motivation is to avoid getting bored, it’s very likely this one. They don’t care about hierarchy, don’t care about who they’re talking to, the world is their playground and they’re enjoying every second of it. Some of them are absolute sickos, but some of them are just enthusiastic and eager to learn everything about the world around them. It feels like they can talk to anyone, people are very drawn to them. But also? They are still super stubborn. Examples of that would be: the Tweels, Rook Hunt, Ortho Shroud, Sebastian Michaelis (oh Yana LOVES this type), Shindo Ainosuke, Morow Hisoka, Gon Freecs… see this range?! Insane.

Another psycho, but this unhinged in a different way. They’s the ufo, they’re the monster inside your bed AND your walls, they make people uncomfortable and scared, they would push a person under the bus for their loved one… or for funsies! They tend to be vindictive and petty in general and they never forgive grudges. Sometimes they are whiny and capricious, sometimes they act like they want to be pitied, but they would actually absolutely hate a person that pities them… and plan a murder. Even if a character of this type seems rather civil, trust me, they are capable of doing horrible things for the pettiest of reasons Examples of this one: Azul Ashengrotto, Gojo Satoru, Zeke Yeager, Komaeda Nagito.

A fool. And idiot. It’s hard to define this one, I guess he doesn’t look as aggressive as the previous ones, but he still has capricious and stubborn childish qualities that he can’t really do anything about. He is sweet and loving and sometimes even bubbly, but there is… there is something about him that just doesn’t…seem right…. Examples of that are Finnian, John Egbert, Shindo Shuichi, Matsuno Jyushimatsu. I guess a lot of them are straight-up CREATURES a not figuratively but literally lol

There are probably some other types that I’m forgetting but these are the main ones. Are all the character that contain these elements going to be our favourite? Not necessary – Leona is as unmotivated as Idia is sometimes, but we don’t like him nearly as much. Do these characteristics guarantee that a character would be seen a certain way by us? For the absolute majority of times, yes. The exceptions are possible, but are super unlikely.

As you can see, while the described tropes/qualities are rather specific, the range of characters that fit them is quite large. Let’s be honest, Sebek and Dirk aren’t all that similar, but on a larger scale, both of them contain the qualities that we find attractive in tops in our ships. Hence, their positions. Also, a lot of the qualities exist in different types, so it could be kind of fluid there lol

And for the record, we don’t spend hours trying to align the characters into the roles and we don’t force it. It happens very naturally and it’s always been this way; I guess when it comes to Katsu and I, we just have a very specific tastes and preferences that miraculously match. At the end of the day, it really is just a matter of what we want a character to do and how we want a ship to interact.

I hope it clarifies how we look at this whole thing. Thank you for reading!

[sophieinwonderland]

hi sophie! its us again, the system that was asking about the correlation between endogenic systems and persecutors. thanks for your input, and thank you to anyone else who gave input too! hope you dont mind if i state our own experiences with our persecutor.

back when we were newly discovered, even before we knew what we were experiencing was plurality, we had this headmate ill call X. X would constantly watch over the fronters to make sure they all behaved, and even made a kinda scary NPC to assist it. it also took on the role of what we later found out was an Imprisoner role, which meant it kept headmates from fully developing or fronting. we have a whole prison area in headspace because of it, and we still havent seen some headmates we once saw inside that prison years back.

the reason i asked about correlation between endo origins and persecutors is because i just wanted to see if any endo systems have an experience similar to this. weve been trying to figure out our origins for a while right. and i feel like this points to it not being, like, consciously willed into existence, but idk how any of us got here, lol. yeah a very selfish reason but oh well. you dont have to answer this if you dont want to, just thought id share our side of the story to ya :))

You're most welcome!

If you're trying to figure out if your system might be traumagenic, one thing that might help would be to look for possible trauma triggers. A really common thing I notice with traumagenic systems is switching instinctually when exposed to something traumatic. This is because the dissociation end up becoming a trauma response in childhood.

There's also usually other PTSD symptoms on top of that.

Another thing that's really common in traumagenic systems is dissociative amnesia. Which, to me, it sounds like you might be experiencing if this headmate was imprisoning other headmates without you knowing about it.

These are a few other things you can look out for if you aren't already.

[papabearbobbynash]

Chimney (and possibly Bobby?) will get injured in the finale, Right?

I know it's coming, and even if it pains me, this is probably about to be another way of the writing path go on "let's make this event partially if not entirely about Buck" direction as this is obvious with the whole leadership thing that has been hinted by Oliver and that magazine article talking about the finale where Kristen highlighted how Buck will try to save an endangered Chim. I wouldn't mind if the show went on a direction where Buck can lead, but I do have my issues with this leadership arc for Buck in this season and I will be voicing them before the episode, because want to be wrong.

I will start by how the build up of his leadership arc definitely doesn't seems like it will match with the pay off (him actually leading).

Don't get me wrong I would love the idea of SEEING Buck actually mature and become a leader, but in this season? I can't see it at all. This leadership wish started in S6E01 and Bobby said he needed more life experience for it, Buck followed the advice, but so far none of the "life experiences" he had justify him leading?

I have to ask myself what did fundamentally change in Buck from S6E01 to S6E18?

Like we legit had Buck mentioning he changed, but in no way we were shown how. Of course we could say that since Buck doesn't know how he changed (something Eddie implies in the cemetery talk) it's understandable we don't know how he changed either, but the thing is, the writing is the fact making this confusing. I mentioned in my latest ask response that there is enough hints to understand where Buck's arc was going, but since the writing kept making him walking in circles through the season we are just confused.

I come back and ask. What donating sperm changed in Buck's character? What dying changed in Buck's character? What coming in terms with his parents neglect changed him? What pursuing a relationship with Natalia changes him?

We don't see these changes and that is my biggest issue with this whole arc of leadership. In fact Buck's alleged growth is still a question to majority of us. We just saw him revert from a realization of his coma, as he keeps looking for people who see him. Not to count we're still trying to figure out what role did the sperm donation even play on all this. His death and PTSD? Himself brushed off and instead of address it with a professional or with people he knows and love, people who were affected by his death, he turned to a complete stranger and tried to get into a romantic relationship with said stranger. Like where is the growth? I don't see it. Neither I see the correlation of all this with leadership qualities.

This whole leadership arc for Buck feels like we were introduced to it and skipped straight up to the conclusion, because nothing of what happened with Buck's character between the Interim Captain road until the point of this disaster where Buck is stepping in on a leading role, correlates with leadership at all.

The Second point I want to talk about is about how I don't vibe with the idea of making Buck "a leader" solely when others of the team aren't in position for it. If we look at the bigger picture:

- Chim is in no position, obviously, because he is trapped hurt.

- Hen might be initially trapped with Chim? (not sure) and probably emotionally compromised because Chim is hurt.

Those also 2 had arcs about leadership this season and they probably would be first choices to fill the spot of a Captain if Bobby ever left, be by experience, be by age.

- Eddie didn't have a leadership arc, but he is hurt, not badly, but still makes it difficult for him to be in a leading position in thia disaster.

- Bobby? The actual captain is nowhere to be seen so far #pleasebesafe

I don't like this set up tbh. I mean, look at how it was done with Hen and Chimney.

When Bobby was looking for a Interim Captain, he wanted it to be Hen, he just didn't chose her initially due not wanting to overweight her with responsibilities as she was too busy with med school, instead he did pick Lucy before she breaks her leg and Hen basically go "bring it on I can take it". Later He praised her because somehow she was able to manage all her responsibilities (in some extent) when so busy with her job, extra job, and med school.

With Chimney? Bobby chose him as Interim Captain in S2 and it did not work and Chimney went "never again". Bobby respected this but he saw the struggle and when he had the opportunity, he put Chimney in a completely different environment where he is forced to lead and notice the root of his fear in leading and hopefully overcome said fear.

So, why with Buck it has to be the "I'm stepping in because no one else is in condition for it"?. I think the writers could do better than Buck to only act as the last choice remaining, where he can only lead when others aren't in the picture. Specially considering Buck character as a whole always had issues with being left and not being worthy.

Given all this I'm not really faithful in Buck's character arc conclusion in this season.

[bestworstcase]

Forgive me if you have answered this before as I only just discovered your Tumblr, but how does Team JNPR fit into the Ozian allusions?

i’m inclined to think that they don’t, at least not in the sense of being directly analogous to specific oz characters. i don’t think it’s coincidental that 1. every character with an ozian counterpart is either in the “old guard,” a defector from the same, or salem playing glinda to the god of light’s mombi, and 2. the primary oz story referenced involves a bunch of well-intentioned people flailing around trying to have a civil war until the ancient sorceress steps in to sort everything out by raining hell on the witch whose deceit and obsession with control set it all in motion. the… tone is very different, because the oz books are VERY silly, but—with the corollary that my basic reading of rwby is that we’re seeing set up for a reveal that salem’s endgame involves defeating the gods and she’s correct in her assessment of their nature—like, in the essentials the plot of marvelous land of oz mirrors precisely what i believe rwby is doing with the disciple-vs-apostate conflict, hence all the kids caught in the crossfires aren’t meaningfully embedded in the ozian narrative.

(or at least, not yet. i think rwby might start pulling from ozma of oz once theodore enters the narrative properly, and how that shakes out remains to be seen.)

that being said. i think—and i know this is something i say all the fucking time hdkfbsh i swear i’m not just contrary for the sake of it—i think the fandom at large is barking up the wrong tree and consequently missing the forest as far as how rwby utilizes allusion and intertextuality to develop its own story. specifically my feeling is that rwby is not a crazy smorgasbord of mashed up fairytales, myths, and pop culture icons wrapped around an original story; rwby is a narrative crafted by weaving together three, maybe four classic stories and populated by characters inspired by a crazy smorgasbord of fairytales, myths, and pop culture icons. and those three stories are rapunzel, cinderella, and the marvelous land of oz, with the “maybe four” being alice’s adventures in wonderland, first for how strongly “the girl who fell through the world” is emphasized in v8 and second for how blisteringly clear it is from the v9 trailer and clip that the writing team is well familiar with the books. the manner in which rwby handles these allusions, the presence they have in the narrative as a whole, is tangibly different. the plot of marvelous land are jumbled out of order, but you can make 1:1 connections between just about every single plot point in marvelous land with a correlating plot event in rwby, and in some cases even very minor beats in marvelous land are translated verbatim, figuratively speaking, into rwby. likewise salem and cinder aren’t merely aesthetically and symbolically inspired by rapunzel and cinderella, both of them are literal RETELLINGS of their respective fairytale, using an identical thematic conceit (“what if abuse and isolation broke these characters into people so desperate for freedom they would do anything to get it?”), and their narratives are so closely intertwined with each other that cinder has begun to replicate salem’s more or less exactly, with salem in the role of divine tyrant and as of the latter half of v8 making an overt bid to remove herself from that role. and of course with ozma being both rapunzel’s blind and wandering prince and the lost princess ozma transformed by a witch’s curse, the ozian narrative and the fairytale narrative are blended together around a single and perfectly clear narrative through line.

rwby is a story about two people who were torn apart by forces beyond their control and are trying so hard to find each other again that they’re tearing the world apart with them. everything else in the story is an aftershock or a repetition of that, which, bringing us back to the subject of team RWBY and team JNPR—i’m reserving judgment re: team RWBY until we can see what happens in v9 (i am… pretty sure i’ve got a sense for where this is going with the wonderland thing, but a few crumbs and an educated guess on what wonderland is *for* with respect to the narrative overall is admittedly not a lot to go on), but team JNPR? they’re the What Should Have Been. the show is uh… not subtle AT ALL about paralleling arkos to ozlem, jaune the isolated lonely kid desperately trying to write himself into a better fairytale so he doesn’t have to be “the lovable idiot stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives” and pyrrha the renowned and virtuous fighter who saves him and falls in love with him and is crushed by the burden ozpin tries to pile on her shoulders. jaune who spirals into self-loathing and helpless rage after she’s gone—but also, jaune who isn’t alone, jaune who’s got other people around him to grieve with him and support him through his grief, who gets to be seen and comforted and understood by the people he turns to for help instead of having his grief spat back in his face after being brutally punished for feeling it. like, nora and ren and ruby may not be direct repetitions of the gods of light and darkness in the way that arkos is of ozlem, but they fill the same purpose of being the ones who are there when jaune has no one else to turn to. and they get it right. they show him the compassion the gods couldn’t or wouldn’t give to salem and that’s what makes the difference.

and that’s—important, narratively, because it lays the emotional groundwork for what needs to happen in order to resolve the conflict with salem, i.e. rejection of the divine scapegoating that ultimately drove her to becoming the monster she is now in favor of like, acknowledging that she’s a person, and also because it gestures more broadly to the gods having been in the wrong and more importantly WHY they were wrong, that it wasn’t declining to bring ozma back from the dead but rather the cruelty and inhumanity in punishing salem for asking. so there’s like. a layer here in which JNPR are symbolically repeating the rapunzel narrative and fixing it, played against the wider backdrop of the ongoing catastrophic aftershocks of the original broken rapunzel narrative via the ozian narrative, and running loosely parallel to the other repetition of the rapunzel narrative that is presently developing with cinder and salem. which is all very fun and interesting and cool and, hey, isn’t it neat that the character whose inspiration is joan of arc is also the heroic foil and narrative repetition of the character whom the gods and their champion have blamed for everything bad in the world? i think that’s neat.

[sepublic]

         There’s a pretty messed up moment where Sally is in the middle of some tense, dangerous situation, and an innocent under mind control hinders her. Because of what’s at stake here, she doesn’t think much of what to do, and just does; She kills the poor victim, and for a few split seconds, ponders.

         Like, that dude was totally innocent. It wasn’t his fault. But Sally couldn’t just let him interfere, there was important stuff and not a lot of time to do it! But then she realizes, damn maybe I could’ve just punched and knocked him out. Even if he suffered from a concussion or internal injuries, it’s better than being dead. And then Sally just casually, mentally shrugs and decides, “Oh well, I’ll just have to do better next time.”

         She’s not gonna dwell on the Should’ve, Would’ve, Could’ve anymore than she really needs to. To be honest, Sally doesn’t feel much if really any guilt or remorse... She can get caught up in trying to feel the emotions people generally do, but in the end? Sally isn’t totally obsessed with the moral implications of her actions, not that much at least. Yeah, she does have some existential anxiety and self-consciousness over her role in life, but... Otherwise, concern for the actual strangers themselves doesn’t come so naturally to her.

         By the end of the day, Sally has opted for an almost cold yet utilitarian approach to life; If she messes up, learn and do better. No use beating herself up over it, and it’s not like Sally is conducive to that kind of regret, it’s more natural for her to not care and move on, than actively worry about it. It’s harsh and Sally is no saint, but she does try. And this pragmatism has recognized that a kinder world is more conducive to society than a ruthless one.

         ...Sometimes, Sally ponders on the moral dilemma of killing, only to realize later a creative solution you could’ve used to incapacitate. Is it a moral failing to have not been more clever, to have not thought outside of the box as well? To not make the most out of one’s abilities and skills? The Phantom Alliance might certainly think so. What if you try to think of work-arounds, but still fail? Do you just forgive yourself? Is it the willingness to put in the effort and work that counts, more so than just efficacy? 

         Given her moral pragmatism, does that sentiment really mean anything if you fail, IS it a moral failure to have not figured out the perfect solution? Because not being smart enough just leads to tragedy that could’ve been avoided. But Sally loathes and detests the Phantom Alliance who made her like this, and their disdain for the ‘unenlightened’. Man, morality and ethics is complicated. Maybe there IS a correlation between such a subject being for the more thoughtful, between intelligence and morality.

         And yet Sally knows how cruel ‘smart’ people can be, can she really be a moral pragmatist yet dismiss efficacy as the true measure of compassion? Is this what it’s like to be caught up in sentimentality and emotions? Sally is a pragmatist because these feelings don’t come naturally, so she might not have to be if they do...

[starseedfxofficial]

The Role of AI in Analyzing EURUSD Market Trends: Deep Dive into Rare Insights Ever wondered how some traders seem to have a crystal ball, effortlessly predicting EURUSD market trends? Spoiler alert: they might just be using AI. Today, we're not just dipping our toes into the role of AI in Forex, but diving deep to uncover rare, under-the-radar insights that you won't find in your average trading manual. Brace yourself—this journey is filled with a mix of game-changing techniques, hidden opportunities, and a sprinkle of humor, just to make things interesting. The Matrix Has You, Trader: How AI Spots What You Can’t Alright, let's get one thing clear: AI doesn't see the market like you do. While you're busy looking at price charts and wondering why EURUSD won't just do what you want, AI is analyzing mountains of data, from economic indicators to Twitter sentiment. Imagine trying to count every leaf in a forest while someone else already knows which tree is going to shed first. That’s AI in the Forex market. Artificial Intelligence algorithms, particularly machine learning models, can process an absurd amount of data at lightning speed. They don't get tired, they don't blink, and they don't get emotionally attached to a trade (looking at you, John). These models analyze historical data to identify complex patterns that human traders often overlook. One trader I know once called AI "the Sherlock Holmes of market analysis"—except AI doesn’t have to deal with a Watson who constantly needs explaining. Deep Neural Networks: Not Just for Self-Driving Cars Deep learning techniques like neural networks play a significant role in analyzing the EURUSD pair. These models are capable of making sense of complex, non-linear relationships within the data—something akin to untangling the headphones you left in your pocket. The hidden layers of a neural network can pinpoint correlations between seemingly unrelated market events, which translates to better trend prediction and better trade timing. For instance, a neural network might detect that a rise in European economic confidence, combined with positive sentiment from Federal Reserve reports, might trigger a significant move in the EURUSD. Sure, you could manually crunch the numbers for a month to figure this out, but wouldn’t it be better to let a glorified, super-intelligent calculator do it in 30 seconds? Unseen Opportunities with AI Sentiment Analysis Here's where we take the unconventional route: AI sentiment analysis. While most traders are laser-focused on technical indicators, AI has the audacity to ask, "What’s the mood like today?" Sentiment analysis tools leverage natural language processing (NLP) to interpret emotions in financial news, social media, and even central bank speeches. If AI detects a shift towards optimism across multiple channels, it could signal an upward move in EURUSD. The secret sauce here is that sentiment analysis provides context that technical charts simply can't. It's like listening to your favorite song—you’re not just analyzing the notes, you’re feeling the vibe. AI taps into that vibe, then quantifies it, turning emotions into numbers. Imagine knowing whether the market is feeling cheerful or anxious—it’s almost like insider knowledge, but legal. AI-Driven Trading Bots: Ninja Tactics for the EURUSD Market Let’s address the elephant in the room: trading bots. Not just any bots, but AI-driven bots that adapt to evolving market conditions like a chameleon on steroids. Most traders think of bots as "set it and forget it," but AI bots are much more sophisticated. These bots learn from each trade, adapt their strategy, and evolve with changing market dynamics—something even your favorite Forex guru can’t do on-the-fly. Take EURUSD, for example: If a bot notices that its usual strategies are less effective during specific Fed announcements, it can adjust its parameters to mitigate risk—think of it as the ultimate survival ninja, dodging every market punch in real-time. While most traders struggle to avoid whipsaw movements during such announcements, AI bots execute precise orders at optimal times, ensuring they make fewer mistakes (and fewer sad trader faces). Contrarian Insights: How AI Challenges the Herd Mentality Here's a myth worth busting: more data equals better predictions. False. AI knows that what matters is the right data. One of the most valuable insights AI provides is challenging the herd mentality. When everyone is bullish on EURUSD, AI might identify subtle contrarian signals, like an uptick in bond yields or a shift in liquidity preference, that could indicate a pending reversal. Picture this: A crowd of traders piling into a long EURUSD position because it’s “the obvious choice,” while AI quietly takes the opposite side of the trade because it’s detected an overbought condition. AI isn’t just your trading buddy—it’s that one friend who won’t follow the crowd to a terrible party. Instead, it takes you to a hidden speakeasy where the real action’s at. Unpacking the Hype: Is AI All It’s Cracked Up to Be? Alright, it's easy to put AI on a pedestal, but let’s be real: AI isn’t foolproof. Like every other system, it can make errors, especially if it's fed incomplete or poor-quality data. Garbage in, garbage out. But the difference here is that AI can also learn from its mistakes—something most of us struggle with (admit it, how many times have you ignored that risk management rule?). In terms of EURUSD, AI models are only as good as the data they’re trained on. An edge comes not just from the AI system itself, but also from the quality and depth of historical data, the integration of alternative data sources (like satellite images or weather reports), and the creativity behind building the model. The trick is combining robust data sets with out-of-the-box thinking—think, "How would Sherlock Holmes trade Forex?" The Real Magic Trick: Combining AI Insights with Human Intuition Here’s where it all comes together: AI is not a replacement for the human trader, but rather an enhancement. Traders who combine their market intuition—that gut feeling you get after watching the EURUSD charts for years—with AI-driven insights are the ones who truly achieve next-level performance. Think of AI as a loyal sidekick, like Robin to your Batman. Robin does a lot of the work, but let’s face it—Batman’s intuition saves the day. One unconventional approach is to use AI to screen out the noise, then rely on your experience to make the final decision. AI might indicate a high probability of a breakout based on historical volatility, but you, as the trader, can assess whether current market conditions really make sense for that breakout to happen. By blending emotionless data-crunching with a nuanced understanding of market psychology, traders can make decisions that are both precise and insightful. Leveraging AI for EURUSD Market Trends - AI processes vast amounts of data at lightning speed to identify market trends before they’re visible to humans. - Deep learning models, like neural networks, reveal complex patterns, helping traders predict EURUSD movements. - Sentiment analysis using AI can provide insights into the market mood—offering a contrarian edge. - AI trading bots are the ultimate survival ninjas, learning from each trade and adapting to market changes. - AI challenges herd mentality, often revealing profitable contrarian opportunities. - Combining AI insights with human intuition leads to strategic, data-driven trading—Robin and Batman working in harmony. Ready to Level Up Your Forex Game? Want more insider secrets on navigating the volatile waters of Forex trading? We've got your back: - Stay Ahead with Market Insights: Get the latest Forex news and market movers at StarseedFX Forex News Today. - Expand Your Knowledge: Learn advanced trading strategies that take your trading from average to exceptional at StarseedFX Forex Education. - Join the Community: Access exclusive analysis, alerts, and live trading insights by joining our community here. AI is powerful, but it’s even better when you’re using the right tools and strategies. Time to make the market work for you—without needing a crystal ball. —————– Image Credits: Cover image at the top is AI-generated Read the full article

[getmemymicroscope]

What is the fuckity fuck fuck? Somehow, it took less than 2 days to find a movie that might actually, somehow, be worse than Wafaa (it's at least equal, for sure).

Every single character is fucking annoying. Also, in very typical "everything happens at night" movie style, you can't see 90% of things because they refuse to allow any sort of lighting. So you're just seeing vague movement in a dark screen.

What they don't shy away from here, unfortunately, is very loud, high-pitched, unnecessary, and out-of-place screams (which I guess amount to the 'background music' in this movie). Like, I guess trying for the horror film-type 'music,' but it just randomly shows up and doesn't even correlate to like scare scenes. Literally I think the first one comes when Teesta is like pouring a drink or something. And then some evil-sounding laugh as Pratyush leaves. What?

The plot, apparently taken from James Hadley Chase's 'Tiger By the Tail,' has some potential, but it completely destroyed by some horrific acting, horrible sound and film decisions, and bad lighting. It's not the first Bollywood attempt at adapting a Chase story, and while I haven't seen all of the others, this one is almost certainly near the bottom.

Atul Kulkarni, normally so dependable, is absolutely laughable as a 'scared for his life, accused of murder' protagonist (well, laughable once you get past the never-ending frustration of how dumb everything is). Hell, even the 'accusation' doesn't happen until the very end, and is only made by a secondary officer as a veiled threat over a phone; the officer is promptly vocally disciplined by our lead investigator, who listen to this fucking annoying yelling and then is like "the case is solved" before walking out. I understand Pratyush's beginning reason for going to meet Teesta - but his sticking around upon figuring out it was a lie is just dumb. And then, after that pointless nonsense at the club, after she ends up murdered, he stupidly answers her phone. Which, fine - maybe nerves got to him (even though he had the wherewithal to wipe his prints away BEFORE the phone rang; why didn't he just let it ring and leave?). But then, on the way out, he runs into literally every possible thing in the hallway. Like, looking forward you fucking idiot, especially after the first thing you run into.

Later, near the end, he has this stupid scene at the phone - after the accusation by the cop - where he may or may not be trying to call his wife (versus, honestly, it looks like he's just randomly standing at the phone, number half dialed, crying her name). It's an absolute disaster of a scene, and I literally almost punched my wall (and I did yell out a "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?"). And the, at the very end, his wife find's Teesta card and asks him about it, and suddenly he's all tongue-tied. (Also, her coming back and saying "it's my fault" - what the fuck? No, it most definitely isn't.)

Speaking of crying, and disaster - the scene with Sonali and KK, where Sonali is crying about her love for her brother is also a shit-show of horrible (and fake appearing) crying. Not only does it sound fake (maybe it is supposed to be fake?), but it also makes it impossible to hear half of what she is saying.

Prashant, after being shot, has Pratyush come to try and save him - and instead, he start acting like an idiot, runs closer to the edge of the building (and obviously falls and has to be dragged up - this is clearly done as a way to build tension and allow the baddie to reach them, but it makes absolutely no sense of a just shot, near-death character to have someone try to save him and respond by moving closer to a ledge). Plus, like literally every other character in this movie (except maybe Rahul Dev?!, but he's wasted by this pathetic attempt, and Suchitra Pillai, in a very small role as Pratyush's understandably distraught wife), he's a total ass in the limited time we get to see/know him.

KK's random-ass monologue to Prashant is also out-of-place, dumb, and just like "why the fuck are you saying any of this?" Everything with the serial blackmailer is also fucking annoying. Teesta's actions, when she's alive, are also a mess. And why the fuck did she have his keys (hell, he left her place - how did they end up at the bar together)? His friend Aslam is also obviously a horrible person, and it's crazy that Aslam is the one who is like "we aren't friends anymore" when clearly Pratyush should've been the one saying that - I mean, fucking hell, Aslam pretended he was dying to get Pratyush, a married man who had just fought with his wife but was already regretting it, to go see an exotic dancer (or whatever). It almost feels like Pratyush is typically a complete pushover (except with his wife, of course, who he slaps ON THEIR ANNIVERSARY because she's questioning why he went and spent 3 hours with his friend - a girl he has had a crush on - when she was waiting for him; again, this is ON THEIR ANNIVERSARY) - how else can you explain why he thinks of Aslam as a friend for even one second after he first suggests the exotic dancer (and doesn't take no for an answer).

On top of the random-ass yelling 'music,' there are also a couple of completely random, disorienting scenes where the pictures like get all blurry/weird (not the correct words, I don't think - but essentially, the sort of disorientation that movies try to do when showing up that the characters are high or otherwise drugged). Except, you know, our characters aren't drugged at the time. They're just fucking around with the picture/imaging for no real reason than to give you a headache. There's even one scene where it literally feels like they just used a 2D filter and make everything super flat, simply because they could. It's not at all clever or well-done or a feather in the cap for this movie - it's just another addition to a very long list of "things wrong with this movie."

The biggest problem, of course, is that the opposite list - "things right with this movie" - has absolutely nothing on it. Like Wafaa before it, this movie has absolutely nothing going for it.

[tea-andcake]

The promised book-roundup January/ February 2024! A list of all the books I read this year until now, reviewed by personal enjoyment and depiction of women (which are very closely correlated). This will be part 1, other parts soon to follow.

I fortunately do have a Goodreads, otherwise I would have already lost track of what I have read so far.

A small disclaimer: This list is ordered by date read and does not reflect on the quality of the books in question.

Let's start!

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro This book is set in a dystopian version of England and follows a group of kids through school to adulthood. The reader slowly learns that these kids have a special role in society and won't generally grow up to be much older than 30. Personal Feelings: We are off to a strong start! Kazuo Ishiguro has received the Nobel prize in literature for his work, and his writing style is accordingly good. I also appreciate that my questions aren't immediately answered but I get to work out what's happening by myself. Rather dystopian, but a very good read! 9/10. Depiction of women etc: Solid. It's written from the point of view of a woman and one of the central relationships in this book is to another woman. Unfortunately, we don't get a close male-female friendship without any sex involved. Also, no queer relationships. 8/10

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir A sci-fi novel set in space with an amnesiac astronaut who figures out that he needs to save the world. Personal Feelings: Not a great book. Andy Weir is not very good at writing literary fiction unfortunately. I personally found the plot rather thin and the way the author is bending over backwards to ensure that some mediocre American guy has to not only save the world, but also another planet is not helpful. Personally didn't find it enjoyable. 3/10 Depiction of women: There's not much to say, because we get a whooping two characters in this book one of which is male and another one is from an alien planet and is referred to by the generic masculine. We do get some women in the flash-back scenes. Brownie points for the fact that one of them is allowed to be a powerful bitch. Deduction of said points for the walking Russian stereotype who also makes it very clear that she is shagging one of her fellow crew members. A lot. 4/10 because the sample size is not big enough.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt A book told from the perspective of an old woman who has lost her son some 30 years ago and is cleaning in an aquarium. She begins to develop a friendship with the octopus in this aquarium. Parallel to that we follow the story of a 30-year old layabout trying to find his father in the hopes of getting some money out of him. Personal feelings: I personally found that this book was lacking depth. The premise sounded interesting, the way it's done not so much. The characters were flat, and I was relieved when I was finished. 4/10 Depiction of women: Nothing overly remarkable. Plus points for having a 70-year old woman be one of the main characters. 6/10

Sleep by Haruki Murakami This is a short story about a woman who discovers she doesn't need to sleep anymore. Personal Feelings: This might be the best work by Murakami (which isn't saying much, as everything else I read by him was rather bad). Solid writing style, open-ended, a bit of a mystery. I overall enjoyed it. 7/10 Depiction of women: Surprisingly ok. We get a view into the life of a housewife and how she decides that she needs to get enjoyment back in her life. As she no longer sleeps she can do this by reading books. She's still the housekeeper of the family and we have a scene where it's emphasized how good-looking she is. 6/10

[clowningismyboyfriend]

Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to interrupt your current/relevant and recent social media doom scrolls to share something wholesome and that I will forever treasure thanks to and about @taylorswift

Hi!

My goodness! This isn’t the normal for me but why not. I figure the chances of a #Taylurking would be higher here!

Ok so here’s a straight forward, insightful and personal look into my world and how it is travelling with the post below that I recently shared in the Facebook Fan Group “Taylor Swifts Vault” Thanks to this page I discovered (thankfully in time to get some tickets!!) that my local cinema will be playing the Eras tour movie and after locking down tickets, I was beyond stoked and have had the best day celebrating and singing Taylor ALL DAY. Now look, this is the usual for me to sing all the things all of the times, but it was next level for the family, trust me.

I thought it was only being shown in Brisbane and was sorta kinda hurt all over again after not being able to get tickets. After making peace with not getting tickets, I buried any hard feels by creating this very blog page you find yourself eyeballing!

I’d been gently guiding my niece (I am her full time guardian) and stepdaughter, also 12, into Swiftie Territory. I mean, we would already regularly bust out to a song together; I am always oversharing facts and insights into whatever song might be playing or giving Swiftstory Lessons on the crucial moments in Taylor’s life and what impact they might have had, BUT most importantly I am forever establishing Taylor as a perfect role model for them by talking about/reminding them of all the amazing acts of kindness she does, her humble nature and generous bonuses to staff and the wonderful ways she shows up for her fans in so many ways.

I have been know to correlate lyrics and thematic aspects of Taylor’s songs when we are having the big “life” talks; you know, relationship talks and whatever- There is always something that can be tied to a TS song, particularly with 12 year old girls who have huge amounts of feelings and a tendency to be dramatic.

I was SO happy they agreed to be my dates on Friday the 13th October at 6pm AEST at Reading Cinemas, Harbourtown, Gold Coast/Queensland Australia (phew what a mouthful lol. Posted this specific info in the hopes of catching the attention of any other fellow local Swifites!)

But when we started excitedly discussing and began whipping up our friendship bracelets and planning our outfits together (..or “fits” as my niece calls it) I had to hold back from crying happy, deep realisation in the in the moment style of tears.

Anyone with 12 year old girls knows how difficult it can be navigating this period of life in general; the attitudes, moodiness and rapid increase in laziness is enough with just the one, but here I am with TWOz And although I love them like my own and treat ALL the kids equally (there’s 4 other boys too,step sons a nephews and a biological Threenager turddler) - It can be so hard, often at times THAT much harder not actually being their Mum.

Why is it that much harder? When they were younger, the dynamics were strictly that of parental figure and child and rules that were more firmer given their ages.

Now, as they get older and start to outgrow previous rules and are given slightly more leeway, they sometimes get more resistant, stubborn and more argumentative as they relearn different and new boundaries.

.. Ladies and gentleman I present to you The Tween Era. Colour Scheme identifiers: Bleak and tonal Thundercloud Grey, with extremely rare flecks of crystal skies blue and cheeky dashes of vibrant colour 😅

.. So anyway I definitely digressed a little bit!

What I am trying to convey is how today I discovered an extra love and appreciation for Taylor Swift that I didn’t consider as a possibility- that being an unexpected but highly enjoyable new bond between my girls and I.

@taylorswift you might not see this, but just knowing that the good intentions of my appreciation will come back to you in the form of positive karma is enough for me:

The impact of your incredibly gifted artistry to date and the resulting, pivotal decision in YOUR world @taylornation to release The Eras Tour to cinemas worldwide has flowed into MY world in the most amazing way…

My niece, stepdaughter and I have successfully managed to find a rare, balancing foundation that I feel will underpin the strength and continuity of so much more love to come. This seemingly flippant bond over you will smoothly carry us through the predicted and potentially rocky hard years to come as they enter the teenager years and beyond.

The simple act of showing our support to you will deepen our connection and positive growth for us for years to come. The wonders it’s worked on our communication already is a priceless gift I’ll always treasure xx

Normally I sign off my posts with the whole swirly font

“until then..” *insert random Taylor lyric alluding to or contextualised into a farewell* resume swirly fancy big font xx Dani.

But this is a bonus round post so here are some bonus photos!

Recent pic of me and my beautiful girls.. again, yes I know they aren’t mine by blood but they are mine in heart and the heart is what that keeps everything flowing and continually going.. I couldn’t think of a better analogy to represent me.

(Yes I was in my Red era that day with the hat/white tee and shirts combo, but the extra layer of “Red” that you didn’t see was how I had “22” blasting through a speaker under the pram, me singing at the top of my lungs as I took 5 kids for a walk up to the local Broadwater to cool off and vibe with the creation of some truly magical, summer beach memories ✨🏝️

Bonus pic 1. Circa being done with “22” 🤪 ( The fella in the purple shirt isn’t mine but he and his sister are practically part of the furniture anyway)

Bonus pic 2. My step kids, niece and nephew and the boss of them all, the tiny, tyrannical, trex-sounding, tantrum throwing , threenager turddler 😂 He’s the problem, it’s him! Everybody agrees everybody agreeeess.. 😜

[lunareclipsez]

the ‘make a fist and not a plan’ behind the scenes masterpost

I try not to ramble too much in my author’s notes, so I thought it would be nice to have a big old post that I continuously update with all my little notes about the pieces of canon lore and various superhero media that I’ve drawn on for inspiration for their role in the fic! I’m also adding some notes about any ‘blink and you miss it’ lines that confirm different character relationships, but might be hard to remember with chapter-by-chapter updates.

All characters referenced in the fic (so far! more will be added as they appear) are put in alphabetical order by the name they’re commonly called for my convenience.

Bad: Sapnap’s father and former mentor. Currently mentors Eryn. Powers have yet to be revealed.

Boomer: His power is inspired by Nightcrawler from the X-Men. I thought a sneaky movement ability would suit a bedwars player and someone with a frog motif.

Charlie: The details of his abilities aren’t confirmed yet, but the initial inspiration for his power comes from Ragdoll’s quirk, ‘Search’, from My Hero Academia. He knows a lot of the Essempi’s history.

Dream: Puffy’s former sidekick, currently teamed with George and Sapnap. His power is inspired by Shadowcat from the X-Men. I was very happy when I figured this one out because he stumped me for awhile, since I wanted something that was both strong and interesting. It’s also a reference to the fact that Dream the Minecrafter excels with movement and parkour.

Eryn: Bad’s present-day sidekick (I think the adoptive son dynamic they had in canon was so cute and under-explored so I wanted to draw on it for this fic!). Powers have yet to be revealed.

Fundy: An orphan. Does not like discussing his power.

George: Skeppy’s former sidekick, currently teamed with Dream and Sapnap. George is a wild one because his sotckpiling power reference a fantasy series that I like, Mistborn. He functions like a feruchemist, except he doesn’t need to use metals as a conduit. I wanted something that referenced the ‘canon’ of him constantly sleeping, and I really liked working the drawbacks of this ability into his character! There isn’t a one-to-one correlation, but the parts of his backstory that’s been alluded to are somewhat inspired by Hawks from My Hero Academia.

Hannah: Girl I am so sorry but your Elytra lore was right there... Born with a rare combination of a ‘useful’ hybrid trait (wings that she could use to fly) and a strong power. Power has yet to be revealed in full, but mentioned to be related to plants. Her arc is deliberately written with feminist themes in mind, especially since Hannah the Minecrafter has talked openly about doing the same with her character.

Karl: 🤫

Philza: Tommy’s current mentor. Technoblade was his former sidekick, but we don’t yet know what caused their separation. He’s got the epic bird wings, and I originally considered giving him Hawks’s quirk from My Hero Academia, ‘Fierce Wings’, but it’s kind of an awkward ability to describe without having the manga drawings as a reference, and I thought of something else that suited his story/character better (yet to be revealed).

Puffy: Dream’s former mentor. She is responsible for leading pro-heros as a a collective and reporting back to the Hero Commission. Powers have yet to be revealed.

Punz: A ‘vigilante’ (mercenary) who has ins with both pro-heros and villains. Powers have yet to be revealed (or have they?).

Purpled: Initially aligned with Schlatt. Has the ability to manipulate gravity, and this is somewhat inspired by Ochako’s quirk from My Hero Academia, but I buffed it to make him more OP.

Quackity: Died at the hands of XD, only to be resurrected and enlisted by Schlatt. Can shapeshift into anyone whose genetic material he ingests, and is also able to copy their powers while transformed (it’s not just aesthetic). His power was directly inspired by Toga’s quirk from My Hero Academia, with some tweaks here and there. I liked the shapeshifter headcanon that had floated around the fandom and I think it suits his planned character arc super well!

Sam: The Warden of Pandora’s Vault. Powers have yet to be revealed.

Sapnap: Bad’s former sidekick, currently teamed with Dream and George. His fire-powers are just basic and function via anime/comic book logic (ex: shooting fire at someone will just knock them out and burns only happen when they’re plot-relevant).

Schlatt: A villain who runs a pseudo-cult. Has the ability to bring back the dead, which is a reference to the fact that he was the first holder of the revival book before trading it in the lore. I was really happy to flesh out his backstory and try a new angle out with his characterization.

Skeppy: George’s former mentor. Powers have yet to be revealed.

Tina: Used to follow XD, but it now a prisoner in Pandora’s Vault. Her backstory and powers are directly inspired by Wolverine/X-23 from the X-Men. She’s got both the claws and the healing factor, that we know of. Her role in the story is inspired by the moment where she wrote ‘I want to be a god too’ in chat after seeing the DreamXD statue and her inclusion in the DreamXD fanclub.

Technoblade: Philza’s former sidekick, but now a prisoner in Pandora’s Vault for an unknown reason. Powers have yet to be revealed.

Tommy: Philza’s current sidekick. Has a healing power, but the drawbacks are currently unknown. I came up with his power because I loveeeee the idea of giving super chaotic characters traditionally ‘gentle’ abilities.

XD: The greatest villain the Essempi has ever seen. Currently locked up in Pandora’s Vault. Has the ability to take other’s powers and keep them as his own, and even distribute them to others. The extent of the power he’s accumulated is unknown. Directly inspired by the main villain of My Hero Academia, All for One. Since in canon he’s god of the server, I wanted to incorporate that into his motive and how he’s perceived by others. The whole idea of alluding to strong characters as gods is inspired by their presence in canon, but their lack thereof in this AU.