#whether things work out with Murasaki or not. he WILL have a home and his partners will always be waiting

[the-golden-ghost]

First/last meme: Fujiko/Goemon, 28

28. First/last photograph

~

The hideout had never been so cluttered with photos. Ever since Jigen swiped that camera during their last gig he’d been obsessed; pretending to be cool and nonchalant about it but the sheer number was enough to prove otherwise. Lupin was threatening to cut his paycheck and just convert his salary to film.

Goemon liked to look at them, though. And though Fujiko tended to get exasperated when he wouldn’t use her as a model, he often caught her rifling through them too. There was a simplicity to most of the shots; a quiet stillness that reminded Goemon of home, wherever home was.

Fujiko was curled up on the bed near him, in her slippers and ready for sleep. She’d be leaving the next day, and Lupin and Jigen had taken off just that morning, but that gave Goemon a night alone with her.

“He didn’t take any of his pictures with him,” Goemon remarked, looking at the nightstand near where Jigen had been sleeping during their stay.

“He’ll take more,” Fujiko said, her eyes shut.

Goemon had to agree, but he picked up the photos anyway and began looking through them. Mostly they weren’t of people. Jigen didn’t take portraits very often. Mainly they were interior shots taken from inside dark rooms, or close-ups of the piles of mess they tended to naturally leave around when they were heisting. There was a shot of Lupin at his worktable late at night with a single lamp illuminating him, a few pictures taken from outside the window at passing cars, and one or two that appeared to have been snapped quickly from the rope ladder of a rising chopper.

As he flipped through, Fujiko sat up and started looking over his shoulder. “There’s a lot of you,” she remarked. Goemon flushed and pretended he hadn’t noticed, but yes, there were pictures of him meditating, of him preparing dinner, and one of him dozing off in the back of the car with the city lights on his face.

It was pretty clear that Jigen had a favorite subject when it came to portraits, but Goemon was a bit annoyed that there were virtually none of Fujiko. If she appeared at all it was in the background of a shot of something else, never the main focus.

Until they got near the end, and she took in a breath beside Goemon. It was the two of them in the kitchen with the morning sun coming through and she was kissing him on the nose. As usual with Jigen’s photos he had a knack for lighting and timing so that everything fell into place. “I want to keep that one,” she said, taking it. Goemon wasn’t sure if it was out of vanity or sentimentality, or perhaps a little of both. Either way, Goemon was somewhat flattered that the photo she chose to keep was not just one of herself, but that he was there too.

Goemon would keep one or two for himself, he was sure. Jigen would probably never miss them. Maybe someday they could organize them and put the best ones in proper albums instead of scattering them to the winds, but not tonight.

Tonight they’d just sleep together. These memories would not be saved on film to last for an indeterminate number of years, but they would live on in their minds, and that would be plenty for them both.

~

It was a warm night and Goemon was engaged to be married in two days.

Instead of spending every moment with his bride-to-be, though, he was out on a walk with Fujiko. It would have seemed unkind in any other context, perhaps. But Jigen and Lupin were teaching Murasaki how to cheat at poker, and when Goemon had left the house, she was beating them by miles.

“So you’re leaving the day after,” Goemon said. “I thought maybe you’d stay a while. Lupin and Jigen are planning to spend a month here...” after that, they’d go, too. And Goemon would not.

“Well,” she said at last. “It’s not gonna be forever. When the wedding’s over I’m going to do a few weeks in Nepal, but after that... who knows. I might come back and see you again.”

And it wouldn’t be forever, Goemon knew. When he’d proposed to Murasaki the second time he’d taken her aside first and explained everything. They had to walk all the way through the village and surrounding forest and back again before it was all told, but eventually he got it out. Everything from his birth, his family history, his training as a samurai, his career as an assassin, and then a thief. His bravery and his criminality and the people he loved. He told her in the end that she couldn’t be the sole love of his life. That she’d have to share him because though he’d tried for years to make an end, he would never be able to untangle himself from the people he’d made a life with for years and years. He could choose her as his wife, and give her that space in his heart and future that would be hers alone, but other parts would belong to the three people he’d loved first and would love always.

He told her all that, and then asked her if she would still have him. And he’d been expecting a no, so the outcome he was facing now was a surprise to him, though not an unpleasant one.

“I’d like that,” he said. He didn’t think he could have said goodbye to Fujiko any more than he already had. “Oh, there’s something...” he’d meant to give it to her, and he didn’t want to forget before she left. Sometimes she could disappear suddenly and he wouldn’t know when to expect her again.

Jigen had slipped him a handful of photos when they arrived and told him to keep them safe. They were, Goemon guessed, a sort of wedding gift. Jigen would never be the sort to do anything official like that, but he realized that they were intended to be something to have with him even as he started his new life.

They were of the four of them, taken throughout the years and their journeys together. Goemon had noticed with amusement how Lupin’s jackets and Fujiko’s hair color had changed and changed back, and how Jigen stayed more or less the same although sometimes he traded his clean-cut mobster look for something more resembling a modern cowboy. How Pops even showed up once or twice, always in the background, always watching quietly.

Many were of Goemon and Lupin, or Goemon and Jigen. A few of the three of them. Even more of Goemon, Lupin and Fujiko, with Jigen’s presence being felt mostly in the angle and focus of the shot. And then a few, just a few, where all four of them had managed to cram into a single photo and stood smiling. There were only a small number of Goemon and Fujiko alone. But there was one, taken just last week in the hotel in Tokyo where they’d stayed over before making the drive to Murasaki’s home. Goemon stood looking out the window at the city, lost in thought, and Fujiko was looking at him. Neither one had noticed Jigen’s sneaky photography but it was clearly taken by him and not by Lupin. The composition was far too advanced.

He held the photo out  to her.

“This is from last week,” she said. “Are you giving it to me?”

Goemon nodded because he didn’t know how to say why, or what it meant to him. He didn’t even know how to say yes, it’s for you, so you don’t forget me while we’re apart. She never would, of course. So all he did was nod and she smiled and slipped the photo into her pocket and maybe she’d keep it and maybe she wouldn’t. But she would NOT forget Goemon.

But it didn’t matter, really. He was walking with his lover on a warm night, soon to be married, but not to her, and that was okay. His boyfriends and his fiancee back at home, the three of them already close friends. The family changing and growing and separating for now, but not forever. It had never been forever before and it never would.

Fujiko was right. And life was fine.

[multishipperlove]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Critical Role (Web Series), Cinderbrush (Web Video) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jamie Wrenly/Cameron Solomon/Aff Flowers/Sasha Murasaki Characters: Jamie Wrenly, Cameron Solomon, Aff Flowers, Sasha Murasaki, Samuel Flowers Additional Tags: Polyamory, Kissing, switching POVs, just general teenage fluff Summary:

Sometimes you defeat some evil cultists who killed the only friend you had, and then your life... just kinda goes on. But at least you get a relationship out of it.

It was Wednesday, Aff's favorite day of the week. Well, besides the weekend maybe, because that meant no school and no people to judge them and their friends for crimes they'd never committed (had even been proven innocent in court for, but apparently a lot of high schoolers didn't care what the court had to say). But Wednesdays were special.

Right after school, Aff would get to collect Cameron from his English class and drive them both back to Diamond's Liquor. Then they'd spend the afternoon working and, because Wednesday was usually the slowest day of the week and their Dad had allowed it, do their homework with Cam as long as there wasn't anything else to do.

So between sweeping the floors and restocking some shelves, the two would sit together behind the counter, doing their best to understand the math problem of the week or to get through a Spanish text neither of them actually knew all the vocabs for. But it helped a great deal with catching up (who knew court dates could force you to miss so many school days) and even Cameron's grades were slowly starting to get better again.

And in the evening, once the shop was locked up for the night, they'd wait for Sasha and Jamie to show up and have a proper date night. Or, as much of a proper date night that four more or less broke teenagers could have. Aff's Dad didn't didn't mind if they took some snacks and drinks from the store, as long as it was all in a reasonable range, and Jamie always brought the weirdest movies to watch.

Most nights, Aff would pile them all up in their truck afterwards and drive them home, but on rarer occasions the others got to stay the night, and that was even better. If they were all a bit tired the next morning because they'd stayed up all night talking, well... the teachers didn't pay a lot of attention to them anymore, so it was fine.

Today was such a sleepover day, and Aff had been looking forward to it since the agreement had been made in their group chat. Granted, Jamie still pretended to have better things to do at times, but they all knew they'd just show up twenty minutes late with a a small collection of DVDs and maybe some liquor, and claim that their plans had been cancelled last minute. So it was all good.

Either way, right now, Aff was still standing outside Cameron's English class, waiting for the teacher to finally end the lesson. They were anxiously tapping their foot on the floor and checking the time on their phone again, when the bell finally rang and the sound of chairs scrapping back and desks being closed erupted from inside, and the door finally opened to the first students pouring out.

Aff stood to the side, letting everyone pass. Cameron had some extra work he'd been meaning to turn in, so they knew he'd take a minute or two longer. But when he finally came out, the smile lighting up his face when seeing Aff definitely made the wait worth it.

“Hey there,” he greeted them, as if they weren't waiting in the same spot every Wednesday.

“Hey! Are you like, ready to head out? Did you get it all settled?” Aff asked, feeling himself immediately mirroring Cam's expression. That smile was infectious.

Cameron rubbed the back of his neck, almost self-consciously, and gave a half-hearted shrug. “Sure, I guess? I'm not sure if it's going to do much for my grade, but at least she let me try, you know?”

“Yeah, I mean, that's good,” they agreed, as they both started to walk towards the parking lot. “I'm sure it's gonna be really good though. Sasha helped you, right?”

“Yeah, I had no idea she was such an English nerd before,” Cam chuckled. “But anyway, enough about that. I don't want to talk about homework for, like, at least another hour.”

“Oh yeah, no, sure, that's cool,” Aff agreed quickly, and then fell quiet for a few minutes, before Cameron struck up a conversation about the football game the coming Friday, and whether or not they were all going to come see him play.

The conversation kept going for a while, jumping from one topic to the next until they actually made it home to the shop. Aff was still feeling giddy, jumping out the truck with a grin and quickly heading inside, knowing that Cameron would be right behind.

“Hey Dad, I'm home!” they called out, dropping their backpack behind the counter and instead picking up the apron they wore for work. A second later, Samuel came out of the storage room in the back, smiling as well as the saw them both.

He pulled Aff into a brief hug, one hand staying on their shoulder even as he pulled back again to greet Cam with a brief nod. “Good to see you two, how was school?” he asked. “Got a lot of homework?”

“Nah, it's fine,” Aff told him quickly. “We totally got the shop covered for the rest of the day, dad, don't worry. We'll be super fine, one hundred percent.”

“True,” Cam added, already pulling his math homework out of his backpack. “No worries Mr. Flowers, same procedure like every Wednesday.”

“I know, I know,” the man sighed, finally taking his own apron off, before focusing on Aff again. “You know I got this appointment in the city today, so I won't be back until later tonight. I worry, 's all.”

Aff faltered a bit at that. They hated how much that lie about the party, all those weeks ago, was still affecting their relationship. But with what had happened, they really couldn't blame their father. It was partly the reason they were taking so many shifts lately, not only as a way to make up for being a horrible child that night, but also for building trust again.

“No, that's fine, I get it,” they replied, with a little less intensity in their voice. “But we're gonna be okay, I swear. We'll just be here all afternoon, and then the others are gonna come by, and by the time you get back we'll all probably be asleep anyway. That's okay, right?”

Their dad was more gentle when he answered, patting Aff's shoulder with an affectionate look. “Of course, you kids have fun. I'll worry regardless, but that's just my job.”

“Sure thing, dad. Love you,” Aff muttered, watching as he went to get his jacket and finally made his way to the door.

“Love you too! Now, Cameron, you take care of he- I mean, them, you hear me?”

“You got it, Mr. Flowers. We'll take care of each other,” Cam called after the man, as he walked out with another smile and a wave. As soon as Samuel was gone, he turned back to Aff, gently nudging their shoulder. “Hey, you okay? You got kinda quiet there.”

“Hmm?” Aff jumped slightly at the contact, but seemed to refocus quickly enough. “Yeah, sure. Anyway, how about you start on math homework, and I will restock a bit before I join you.”

Cameron chuckled, knowing very well where this was going. “Nah, how about I help you first and then we start maths together, because there's no way I'm letting you copy.”

“But you're not even going to get paid for this.”

“I get to spend time with you, don't I.”

*

As expected, the shop stayed rather quiet that day. A few customers came in, but they all knew what they wanted and no one spend more than a few minutes in the shop (people didn't tend to stay and browse anymore, at least not when Aff was on shift. But at least they came at all. At least the middle schoolers hadn't thrown eggs at the store front in three weeks).

At point seven, with the store clean and stocked up and all their homework done, Aff locked up, and the two of them headed upstairs to the small apartment instead. Sometimes Sasha was early, and spend the last half an hour or so in the shop with them, but today they were still on their own, which gave them the privilege to choose snacks for the group.

“Okay, whatcha got?” Cameron asked, waiting for Aff to raid the kitchen cabinets.

“Uh, okay, so,” they started to mutter again, looking through some cupboards and shelves as they talked. “We got, like, two bags of doritos, and there's probably some salsa in the fridge from last week... I also know that my dad bought like a bunch of frozen pizzas because they were on sale, so we got those.”

Cam grimaced a bit, but made sure Aff couldn't see his reaction. Sometimes he really wished they could do this at his house instead. He wasn't actually complaining, just being here with the others was the most important thing anyway, but it could have been even better if his parents didn't suck as much. Or Sasha's, for that matter.

He didn't know too much about Jamie's parents. They seemed to have a good enough relationship with their mom, but still didn't like bringing people over when she was home. So they always ended up at Aff's place, which was small and a little bit crammed, and there were still some boxes they and their father had never bothered to unpack, but it was homely. A save haven, really, especially since he and Sasha tried to spend as little time with their parents as they possibly could anyway.

So instead of wishing for something that wouldn't come true anyway, Cam took the doritos that Aff was holding out, picked up some drinks, and dutifully carried it all into the living room. Just as he was setting stuff down again he heard the doorbell ring, Aff sliding down the corridor and hurrying down the stairs again a second later... and then downstairs, he could make out Sasha's and Jamie's voice after the door opened. Instead of running down as well he waited upstairs though, claiming the best spot on the couch while he still could.

Sasha was the first to join him again, rolling her eyes at first when she saw him spread out in front of the TV already. “Should have known I would find you like this,” she muttered, but walked over to kiss him anyway when he opened his arms for her with a smile. Cam didn't even try to reply anything, seeing as he was quickly getting lost in their little make out session. His hand was just starting to wander up her shirt when he heard someone clear their throat behind them though, and only then did he break apart from her again and turned his head with a sheepish grin. “What?”

“How rude of you to start without us,” Jamie told him, managing to hold the disgruntled facade for all of three seconds before simply coming to join them on the sofa. They both got an uncharacteristically chaste kiss before the witch started to unpack the bag they had with them, placing a few different movies on the coffee table in front of them.

“So what's it gonna be today? I got the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Lesbian Vampire Killers, or the first Final Destination movie.”

Aff came back just as Jamie was listing their choices, and wrapped their arms around them from behind before getting a better look at the covers. To all of their endless delight, Aff was a total noob when it came to movies, and even the classics were able to draw entirely new reactions out of them.

But before Cam could suggest Final Destination, Sasha made a disapproving noise, a slight scowl on her face. “I don't know about you, but I'm not in the mood to watch teenagers die due to paranormal circumstances. I think I've had enough of that for the next few years.”

“That's fair,” Jamie admitted, looking down again as well. “It's all I brought with me, though.”

“We could log into my parent's Netflix, I'm pretty sure they're both busy tonight,” Cam offered, pulling Sasha a bit closer as he did so. She leaned into him easily, and he slowly felt her body relax again.

“Yeah, Netflix sounds good,” Aff agreed, climbing over the back of the couch now to worm his way between Jamie and Cam. It worked somehow, despite how freakishly tall they were getting, but after about a minute of shifting around and some complaining here and there, they found a position that was comfortable for all of them. “Are you sure your parents won't notice? You know, it would suck if you'd get in trouble again, so, only do it if you're like absolutely sure.”

“Yeah, sure, it's gonna be fine,” Cam assured them, sounding maybe a little bit more confident than he really felt. But his father was supposed to work late, and his mom had told him she'd be out with friends herself, so he just hoped none of them would change their plans last minute.

Everyone else seemed convinced, so within a few minutes they had Aff's old ass laptop up and running, and connected to the TV. After that it only took a minimal amount of more bickering before they finally settled on a movie, a mindless horror comedy that they could make fun of along the way. It was exactly what all of them needed at the moment.

*

Aff ended up being right, too.

When Samuel came home eventually, close to one am, he found all four of them fast asleep in the living room. Still in their day clothes, all of their accessories, hats, and glasses carelessly piled on the coffee table, along with some empty dorito bags and soda cans. And the situation on the couch wasn't any better, it was hard to tell where one body ended and another begun.

Deciding that he would leave them to regret those sleeping positions in the morning, the man just did his best to cover everyone with a blanket and then headed to bed himself. If there was anything he was thankful for, in these last few trying months, it was the three strange children currently sleeping in his apartment, and whatever it was that Aff saw in them.

They were happy, after all, and that was all that mattered.

[gentletwin]

Headcanon: Tazmily After the Dark Dragon.

The Dark Dragon would reshape the world in the image of the person to pull the Needles.

Above all, Lucas wanted nothing more than for everyone to be happy, and for them to be kind to each other the way that they did before the era of the Pigmasks and DP. He wanted to get rid of all the hardships that their new way of life caused. He wanted everyone to get along again. Perhaps idealistic in an almost childish way — but a child did pull the final Needle.

The destruction caused by the Dark Dragon’s awakening was simply part of the process of resetting Nowhere Islands. It is a being with the power to destroy the world — but also with the power to protect it. It is the being that protected the islands from the world’s destruction before the White Ship carried its passengers to safety. So, it possessed the power to shift the land and the sea and preserve what was meant to be preserved. This power granted the islanders a miracle: permanent physical damage to the village was largely spared.

Any fissures in the ground were repaired by the Dragon’s ability to move the earth of the island. Anyplace Lucas wanted to protect was spared its destruction. Places that caused suffering were caught in the wreckage and ultimately wiped away from the islands. These places include the Chimera Lab, the Clayman Factory ( and tangentially, Club Titiboo ), the remains of Thunder Tower, and of course, New Pork City.

Even before the final Needle was pulled, the factory had shut down, Club Titiboo was closed, and the railroads ceased to run, with nothing left active past the tunnel for the trains to go to. The train tracks still exist, but no trains will run on them anymore. Walking along the train tracks and into Murasaki Forest will eventually lead one to the ruins of the highways, the Chimera Lab, and the factory that once occupied that area.

Some places did, unfortunately, suffer quite a lot of physical damage that required maintenance even after the work of the Dragon was done. Namely, these places are Osohe Castle and the retirement home, both of which were falling deeply into disrepair already. Efforts are being made to preserve Osohe Castle as a historic location, and to refurbish the Old Man’s Paradise to acceptable standards.

But what about the ways of life that the Pigmasks introduced? The remodeled buildings, the modern conveniences — the money?

Technology itself is not inherently what caused all of the bad changes in Tazmily. The system in which it existed did; the system which forced everyone to compete for those resources. So, electricity and modern technology don’t cease to exist. While Lucas’s family never adopted that lifestyle, he didn’t want to take that away from those that chose to. After all, it wasn’t their fault that the islands changed the way they did. They only sought happiness and got caught up in something awful in the process.

But DP? That was at the root of all the hardship. That had to go.

Of course, suddenly changing ways again after three years of living in a system with money would be near impossible, even if Lucas wished money away instantaneously. There had to be a transition. Everyone had to unlearn what they had been taught over the past three years. It would take work, but it could be done. Helping others just because worked in the past. It could work again.

To facilitate this transition, Leder, who no longer had anything to hide now that the Needles had all been pulled, took up a much more active leadership position in the village. He began to speak again, and sort of briefed everyone on why the old system failed and what they needed to do moving forward. ( This may or may not include his “the world actually ended and we gave up our memories” speech, depending on other people’s M3 muses and how much they know or don’t know. ) For all intents and purposes, he served as the islands’ equivalent of a ruler — but he would deny any prestige that would come with a title like that, and even the title itself. After all, three years of a king didn’t get them anywhere good. He would consider himself more of a guide. A counselor of sorts for village life, so to speak.

Leder’s solution to the dismantling of the DP system was to have shops accept either DP or some other good or service as a form of reciprocation. For instance — “if you wouldn’t mind whipping up a coffee and a bread roll, a room at Hotel Yado is yours whenever you need it.” “I’ll have some firewood delivered to your house in exchange for some antidotes.” That sort of thing. DP was accepted, too, but the idea was that eventually, DP would be phased out and replaced entirely by this sort of bartering. Then, eventually, people would become used to the idea of doing something and expecting nothing in return again.

Places which used DP would gradually stop using them in a staggered manner, so the currency would gradually lose value. First, power plants and such would stop accepting DP, so that no electric bills were due. Then, water. Then eventually, other essential services, like doctors or home maintenance. This would continue until eventually not even a nut cookie would cost anyone a dime. During this transition period, any late DP payments would be forgiven and negotiations could be made between parties on a case by case basis. The most important thing was that no one would be punished for simply not having, when the old regime systematically drove certain people into positions of “have” and “have not” in the first place.

With several villagers having learned to work factory positions, electrical work, and the like, those types of jobs were able to be filled by them in the post-Pigmask world. Too, Pigmasks that simply got swept up in Porky’s plan circumstantially could take those jobs. Issac is an example of this. He’s a nice guy, and can use the skills he learned under the Pigmask Army to make the more modernized lifestyle work under a non-capitalist Tazmily. Erasing his existence for simply getting caught up in the system would be too cruel. These people would go on to develop technologies like solar power and other sustainable resources that wouldn’t hurt the islands, per Leder’s cautioning against the army’s use of fossil fuels. ( Leder’s memory of the past world makes him woke. )

The people that fill these positions are also able to maintain Claus’s parts and help with any technical failures or growing pains that result from his mechanical bits.

People that were brought from another timeline along with Porky are given the option to return if they so choose. Even though Lucas doesn’t know exactly who’s from other times aside from Porky himself, his ultimate desire for everyone to be happy is what opened up this possibility for those from other times. ( This means that whether or not people like Dr. Andonuts remain in Nowhere Islands is up to the interpretation of my RP partner, since I’d imagine everyone feels differently about this. )

Going forward, what will everyone do? Perhaps other areas of the island will be settled one day, be it by other groups like former Pigmasks, or future generations. In those situations, some places may be more technologically advanced than others or do things in slightly different ways, but none without having learned from the hardships faced by the people from Tazmily, so that these mistakes are never repeated again.

[rosalind-of-arden]

Sword and Pen Reread, chapter 12

Juicy, juicy Khalila/Dario stuff here. But my focus remains on Morgan, Wolfe, Santi, and worldbuilding. Really.

Some foreshadowing of Nobel’s device in the ephemera. Only the Archivist gets to control it, not even the Lord Commander - that’s going to be a problem later. It’s a threat, but one he says they would never plan to actually use. Parallels with nuclear weapons, I think.

Nobel says that the French rebellion inspired him to think of this. Nobel lived from 1833-1896, so that gives us a possible range of dates for when things started getting bad in France. Obviously that wasn’t the end of it, since we have indications that the ex-Archivist was involved in bad shit in France, too. France has potentially been a mess for almost 200 years.

@thegreatlibraryfangirl, I want to see you pick this stuff apart. So much good K/D.

Dario is an absolute wreck here. Desperate, needy, craving affection, struggling not to cry. The betrayal mission really hurt him. Is it just that? Or is this piled on weight from the other betrayals too?

That “No, let’s not talk about what happened, let’s talk about getting married” transition. Dario is convinced he’s a terrible person, and he wants commitment from Khalila as reassurance that even though he’s horrible, she won’t leave him.

This is about the third time Dario has proposed. He doesn’t think Khalila has taken him seriously yet - how many off-page conversations on this topic are we missing?

More Khalila-Morgan parallels: taking care of their reckless found family and partners. This time, it’s Khalila trying to get Dario to eat and rest.

Dario has “wavy black hair”. All I’m saying is that it’s very possible that it’s wavy when short but would grow out into curls.

“Are you suggesting that I am not a gentleman?” “Never. But you certainly pretend not to be one to everyone else.” This isn’t just about Dario making sexual advances. This is Khalila reassuring Dario that she knows he’s a good person, which he really needs.

Dario questions whether the terrible things they do are worth it. Khalila assures him that they have to be. This seems like it will be relevant later when thinking about how they process the stabbing and Morgan’s death.

Thanks to Maz, I now know that stormy weather in Alexandria is normal for winter. More support for my timeline speculation that it’s November-ish, yay.

Murasaki is worried about the Archives. She would know about Nobel’s device by now. She wants an alternative. She puts Khalila to work contacting the Curia to find solutions. This is where Khalila and Morgan start scheming to copy the Archives, I suspect - Eskander has already been shot by this point, so Morgan is taking on more responsibilities in the Iron Tower. Who’s answering messages directed to the Obscurist Magnus? Eskander or Morgan?

Murasaki is willing to consider printing, but she also teases Khalila about being a heretic. She’s a drastic improvement over the old Archivist, but as progressive as she wants to be, her way of thinking is very much defined by the Library’s dogma. Could she have changed things? We’ll never know. But probably not as dramatically or as quickly as Khalila.

This teasing about heresy, though... Wolfe could never tolerate that. More reasons why he’s not going to be comfortable with a leadership position in the Library.

“That woke a wild streak of hope inside Khalila, a feeling that the world was, at last, cracking open. Changing into something new.” Probably not an intentional reference, but... revolution? Cracking the world open? Where have I heard that before...

Dario is on Murasaki’s list of trusted people. Murasaki says it’s just because of Khalila, but I wonder if Santi also had some influence there.

“The French had already broken off and sailed toward Tripoli. The Japanese were turning toward home.” Is this the first we’ve heard of the French being there? (I’m terrible with remembering stuff like this.) The way this is written, it sounds like the French and Japanese might be going in different directions - evidence that Japan took the canal route to Alexandria?

Here are Khalila and Dario looking to Morgan to save them from a threat that is on fire. More foreshadowing.

Khalila apparently has lots of knife throwing practice. “She had practiced this motion so many times as a child, as a young woman” and she hits the assassin right in the eye. Have fun with that, Maz.

Khalila is very sure Wolfe won’t agree to be Archivist. Is this just from what she’s heard Santi say before?

Khalila reads Japanese. Probably fairly well. The poem is in kanji. (Other possibility would be that she reads Chinese, since kanji originated in Chinese and there’s overlap in meanings, but I’m kind of assuming that would be harder, and we’ve already had a probable case of Khalila reading Japanese back in Smoke and Iron.)

Coming full circle here: Khalila gained Murasaki’s trust in part by talking about how she read poems by an ancestor of Murasaki’s from the Black Archives. Now Khalila sees Murasaki write her death poem.

Murasaki’s last request is to get Wolfe to be Archivist. She says he’s the only one she trusts. Why Wolfe? Because of his role in this revolution? Because of pre-canon friendship? She seemed to have a favorable opinion of him in Smoke and Iron, too.

[overly-affectionate-animatronics]

Service With A Smile - Chap. 05

Title:  Service With a Smile - Welcome to the Fazbear Hotel! Part:  5/?? Author:  Murasaki Rose Beta:  none Genre:  AU/Romance/Adventure/Sci-Fi Rating:  PG-13 Spoilers:  None that I know Warnings:  Slash~i.e. male x male pairings, swearing, suggestive language and humor Pairings:  Golden Freddy x Phone Guy Minor Pairings:  Foxy x Chica, Toy Bonnie x Mangle, Toy Freddy x Toy Chica

Summary:  After being picked as the new general manager, Paul has one month to prove he’s the man for the job.  But with xenophobic customers, jealous employees, a former employer out to sabotage him, and a flirty hotel owner, does the human stand a chance, or will he be sent back home?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Ah, Mr. Cawthon, just the man I wanted to see," a voice called out as Paul walked by Golden's office. 

"Hello, hello doctor!" the human replied in greeting, a faint blush dusting his cheeks when Golden waved at him from behind the hotel physician.  "What can I do for you?" he asked, entering the room and walking over to stand at Golden's side.

The older Tieran gave him a friendly smile, "Well young man, since you are now a permanent member of the staff, I've been brushing up on my human biology.  That was when I realized that there was an unintentional omission from your records."

"Omission?" Paul and Golden asked in unison.

"Yes.  It's nothing serious and the fault lies in our medical form."  A small frown formed on his muzzle, "However, I'm not sure how sensitive humans are about this, so if you prefer I can ask you in private....I wouldn't ask at all, but I do need this information in case of a serious injury."

Paul smiled and shook his head, "My health record is clean, so uh, anything you want to know, you can ah, just ask me now."

"All right then.  What I need to know is whether or not you have had the bearer surgery."

Golden's eyebrows lifted in surprise as Paul's face turned red, his brown eyes going wide before he answered.

"Oh!  W-well, I ah-no.  No, I h-haven't had the surgery.  The results were t-too finicky when I was the r-right age, s-so my dad didn't uh, didn't want to risk it."

"All right, I'll get this into your records then."  Knowing the human was in good hands, the doctor decided it would be best not to call attention to Paul's obvious discomfort and left the office.

Alone now, Golden noticed how quiet and withdrawn his human had become.  His head was downcast and he seemed lost in his thoughts, a heavy, melancholy air hanging about him.  Sensing Paul's need to talk, Golden got up and closed the door to his office; something told him this was best talked about in private.  Sitting on the edge of his desk and placing a paw on Paul's shoulder, the bear waited patiently until his human lifted his head.  He wasn't surprised to see the red-head's dark eyes glimmering with unshed tears.

Taking a shaky breath, Paul finally began to talk.  "D-do you uh, remember when I m-mentioned my brother standing up for me?"

Golden nodded, he wondered when his human would want to talk about that. (1)

"W-well you see uh...even though our dad d-didn't want to put us th-through the s-s-surgery, he always expected us t-to have kids.  A-after a few bad r-relationships, m-my brother decided to go ahead and raise kids b-by himself.  So he f-found a surrogate before I w-was out of h-high school.  Then three years l-later he h-had a second one with the same surrogate."

"How old was he?" brow furrowed in concern, the bear gently rubbed Paul's back.

"S-same age I-I am now...that's p-probably why...no.  That is why Dad started p-pressuring me to find a surrogate."  Paul frowned, "B-but I hadn't d-dated much at all and I d-didn't...I didn't w-want to raise k-kids on my own."   A stray tear escaped, hastily wiped away by the frustrated human.  "I-I love kids, but w-with this kind of job I c-couldn't do it on my own!  I-I mean m-maybe here I could, b-but back on the colony..?"  He shook his head, "I-I didn't even have time t-to date, how could I raise a child?  I-I'd never be there for them!"  His fists clenched, "I-I tried to explain that to my father, but he wouldn't listen!  He just kept going on about doing my duty for humanity, l-like I hadn't said a word!"  The red-head visibly deflated, "I finally yelled that I refused to have a child with someone I didn't even know."  The tears that had been shimmering in his eyes began rolling down his face unchecked, "Th-that was when he said-" Paul's breath hitched, "he said...that i-if he had known I-I was g-going to be like this, he'd have......had me go through the bearer operation," he finished, choking back a sob.  "That w-was when S-Scott jumped in.  He told Dad he was out of line, but Dad was so worked up, he wouldn't listen to him either.  They started arguing and just got louder and angrier until Dad stormed off."  Paul took another shaky breath, "That was m-months ago and I uh...I haven't...spoken with him since.  I've left messages, trying to get in contact with him, but he hasn't replied to any of them.  I-I-I d-don't even think he knows I-I'm not on the c-colony anymore!"  His explanation done, Paul crumpled into the strong arms that caught him, tears streaming unfettered down his face.

Scooping Paul up in a bridal carry, Golden carried him to one of the couches in his office and sat down.  Looking down into his human's surprised and tear-stained face, the bear didn't know what to say.  What could he say?  He knew that the human species had been fighting a dwindling population since the destruction of their home planet, but that they would pressure their people to the state that parents would shun their children for not wanting to have one with a stranger....

Pushing those thoughts aside, he leaned back with his human still cradled in his arms and pressed a gentle kiss to Paul's forehead.  Relaxing into the embrace, Paul felt a few stray tears roll down his face as he soaked in the comfort his boyfriend was providing.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

One of the additional perks to living in the dorms at the Fazbear Hotel were 2 hours a week for long-distance phone calls.  Having few people back on the colony he was close enough to stay in contact with, Paul spent most of his time talking with his older brother.  The two were deep into their weekly talk when a knock came at Paul's door; the younger sibling going to answer after apologetically asking his brother to wait a moment.

Though he couldn't quite make out the words, Scott could hear the joy in his brother's voice at his surprise visitor who spoke in a deep, soothing tone.  Moments later, Paul popped back into view, a shy smile now on his face.  "Ah Scott?  I've uh, got someone I'd like you to meet."  Tugging on the hand he was holding off screen, Paul sat on the far side of the couch leaving room for a large, gold-furred bear Tieran to sit next to him.

Much to the red head's delight, his brother and boyfriend got along wonderfully, which had never occurred with the few boyfriend's he'd had in the past.  Somehow though, their conversation took an odd turn and Paul wasn't quite sure how the topic even came up, much less begin to fathom why Golden was so interested when his brother mentioned it.

"You have a picture of him in a skirt?"  Aqua eyes lit when the brunet nodded, "How long is it?"

"Above the knee," Scott answered, laughing when his little brother moaned in embarrassment while Golden's ears perked.

"Scott why?!"  Grabbing one of the throw pillows, Paul covered his face and considered smothering himself with it.

"Paul are you all right?" Golden asked, gently rubbing the red-head's back.  Receiving no reply, he frowned and easily lifted his human up onto his lap with his legs on either sides of the bear's hips.  Nuzzling his head, Golden tugged the pillow out of Paul's hands and brought their foreheads together.  "If it bothers you so much, I'll stop asking about the picture," he promised, kissing his human's temple. 

Sitting back, Paul shook his head, "Oh, n-no.  It's not that.  It's just-it's a silly picture from a drama production back in high school.  Y-you can see it if you want."

Hugging his human around the waist, Golden chuckled, "Tell you what; I'll show you one of my old school pictures in exchange."  He rubbed his nose against Paul's, "and to be totally fair, I'll let Freddy and Kima pick which one."

Brown eyes twinkling in delight, Paul leaned forward and kissed Golden's cheek.  "It's a deal."

"I still don't understand why you want to see it so badly."

"Because you're wearing a skirt," Golden answered as if it was obvious.

"What does a skirt have to do with anything?"

Golden coughed and muttered that he'd explain later.

Trying not to laugh at them both, Scott decided to fill his brother in...at least partially.  "He wants to see your legs Paul."

"Scott!" Paul whined, covering his face with his hands and attempting to fall off Golden's lap to one side.  Holding his human close, Golden nuzzled Paul's hair in an attempt to hide his own blush that threatened to show through his fur.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

With the hotel's prestigious standing and stellar reputation, Paul had quickly learned that he was a great point of interest to those who held long-time connections to the hotel.  Because of this, he'd grown accustomed to occasionally being pulled from his routine to meet with various patrons and business associates.

"I'm impressed that you were able to meet Rolfe's standards so well.  He holds this place and this position in high regard.  I didn't think he'd find anyone that he fully trusted to take over."

"Thank you Mr. Ursa," Paul replied, a hint of red dusting his cheeks.  He still wasn't used to getting so many sincere, glowing compliments. 

Ursa chuckled as Golden wrapped an arm around the almost bashful human.  After hearing stories from Golden's father, he'd wanted to meet the young man himself and see if the rumors were true.  A quick change to his trip itinerary was all it took to give himself and his son a chance to visit and see things for themselves.  Unfortunately, his son wasn't making a good impression as he chose to pretend Paul didn't exist while trying and failing to catch Golden's eye, despite the other bear stating upfront that he and the human were courting.

Paul's tablet suddenly chimed as a reminder went off.  "Oh!  I'm sorry but I'm afraid I have to go.  I've got a meeting with some of the managers to get to."

"That's quite all right young man."

Having caught on to the young bear's intentions right away and fed up with this sort of behavior from people in general, Paul decided it was time he started following in his boyfriend's footsteps and show others that Golden was his.  Placing a hand on Golden's shoulder for balance, he lifted up on his toes and pressed a kiss to the bear's cheek, "I'll see you later."

Golden nodded, a silly grin forming as he put a paw over where Paul's lips had touched.  That was the first time his human had kissed him first in public.

The older Tieran chuckled at the cub's expression, "Your father had that same look on his muzzle the first time your mother did that to him."

If anything Golden's grin grew brighter and he breathed a happy sigh as he watched the red head until he was out of sight.  "He's something special isn't he?"

"He's human," Ursa's son grumped, earning himself a dark glare from Golden.

"And he's mine."

The youth's next comment was cut off by a yelp as his father smacked the back of his head.

"I'm sorry Golden, it seems my son still has some lessons to learn in manners."

Tension gone, the gold bear made an exasperated sigh, "he's not the only one."

"Ah yes, your father mentioned that incident a few weeks ago."  He laughed as the younger bear groaned in disgust.

"Please don't remind me," he frowned and shook his head.  "At least we learned that Paul can calm me down before I go feral."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Paul nearly dropped his tablet to the floor when the urgent message alarm went off.  Recovering from his fumble, he swore his heart stopped as he read the message from security:

[["Paul!  You need to hurry!  There's a guest making advances on Golden!]]

Taking every shortcut he knew, the human raced for the main ballroom, dodging staff and guests alike, all while hoping and praying he wouldn't be too late.  He was running so fast, his momentum took him past the doorway coming to a graceless stop a few feet beyond the entryway.  Spinning on his heel, he back-tracked into the ballroom at a slightly slower pace to give his racing heart a chance to slow down while he assessed the situation.

The scene that greeted him left the human debating whether he should be amused or annoyed.

Amusement won out as he watched his seven-foot-plus boyfriend awkwardly try to fend off a couple of tiny, flirtatious elderly ladies.  Nearby the event manager was attempting to deter the ladies but wasn't having much luck as he was also trying not to laugh at his boss' plight.

Stifling a grin, Paul approached the group with a pleasant smile, "Hello, hello!"

"Ah, Mr. Cawthon!" the event manager called out, drawing the ladies attention away from Golden, giving the bear a chance to dart behind Paul.  "Miss Ligar, Miss Daora, this is our General Manager."

"Pleased to meet you," Ligar greeted, eyeing the human from head to toe.

"Now aren't you just the cutest thing?" Daora cooed, fluttering her eyelashes.

Afraid for Paul's safety, Golden instantly recovered his composure and wrapping an arm around the human's waist, pulled him back to rest against his chest.  Used to this behavior, Paul subconsciously relaxed against the bear and placed a reassuring hand on top of Golden's paw.

Ligar's eyes widened, "Ohhh, I see."  Leaning over, she "whispered" to her friend, "No wonder the boy wasn't interested...he's got a lovely mate already!"  Honestly, that was one of the cutest things she'd seen in some time.

Both men blushed brightly, sending the elderly women into a fit of giggles.

Waving a hand in their direction, Ligar drew Daora away, a knowing smile on her face, "Well then, I think we'll let you boys go about your day.  Mr. Serata can take care of us from here."

"It was wonderful meeting you!"

With that, they each took one of the event manager's arms and walked away, Golden slumping in relief as they left the room.  His arm still around Paul, he let the other join it as he buried his face in his human's hair.  That had been freaky.

Leaning back against the bear, Paul sighed and sagged a little as the adrenaline finally wore off.

"You all right?" Golden asked, lifting his head to nuzzle the human's cheek.

"Just a little tired," brown eyes glanced sideways at the bear.  "I ah, ran here from the laundry room."

"That's on the other side of the hotel!" Golden was impressed, his human must have broken some speed records with how fast he had arrived.

"Oh, well I was a little ah, motivated," he held his tablet up to show the bear, "I received this message from security and after last month I was a bit concerned, you know."

Reading the message, Golden felt a twinge of annoyance that security had scared Paul so badly, but it was easily over-shadowed by the warmth he felt knowing how much his human cared.  Scooping the red head up into his arms, Golden brought their faces nose-to nose to kill any protests he might make and grinned at the blush that bloomed over Paul's cheeks.

"Since I'm sure you've worn yourself out running, I think we should take an early lunch and let you recover."

Checking his watch Paul noted it wasn't too early for lunch and nodded his consent.  His legs were starting to feel like noodles anyway.  "I uh, don't suppose you'd be willing to put me down would you?"

"Not a chance," the bear replied, his low chuckle morphing into a deep, hearty laugh as Paul collapsed against his chest with a resigned sigh.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"You need to work out a code," Golden growled as he let himself into Spring's office, later that day.

The gold rabbit rolled his eyes, "he's fine, but I'll work on something, alright?"  He smirked, "can't keep sending our general manager into a panic every time you get cornered by little old ladies."

The bear scowled and punched Spring's arm, "Knock it off."

"You should have seen him running though.  He might actually be able to keep up with Foxy and Mangle."

"Really?"

Spring smirked, "Wanna see?  I've got his whole run queued."

Pulling a chair around to sit next to his friend, Golden raised an eyebrow, "You have to ask?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Paul laughed as Golden recounted one of the sillier scenes from the movie they'd just watched.  It was supposed to be a serious action movie, but the corny lines and poor acting had the pair in stitches.  Fortunately, the theatre had been largely empty or they might have been thrown out for causing a disturbance.  As it was, the duo managed to keep their chuckles and guffaws down to a "mostly" polite level.

Reaching the employee housing, they lowered their voices as Golden walked Paul to his dorm.  At the door, Paul sighed and leaned into Golden, not ready to leave the other's company just yet.  Sensing his conflict as it mirrored his own, Golden turned him around and held him close.  Returning the hug, the human sighed in content, resting his head on the bear's chest until the familiar sensation of being watched caused him to lift his head.  Warm brown met with intense aqua as Golden gazed down at him, a determined glint in his eyes.

"Golden?"

Giving him a small smile, the bear cupped his chin and leaned in close, "I'm going to kiss you."

Heart hammering in his chest, Paul tilted his head in invitation, "O-okay."

Leaning in slowly until their lips brushed, Golden paused for perhaps a millisecond before closing the gap.  It was a little awkward at first; Golden having never kissed anyone in this manner and Paul having never kissed someone with a muzzle, but it didn't take long for them to figure it out.  Pulling away to gauge Paul's reaction, Golden saw the same need reflected in the other's eyes and eagerly dove back in, holding the red head even closer and wringing a cute moan from his human that only encouraged him.

Dizzy and overwhelmed, Paul couldn't believe a simple kiss could feel so good!  He'd kissed and been kissed before, but even the most heated, full-blown makeout sessions he'd had couldn't compare to this moment.  This slow, chaste kiss had more emotion in it and set his nerves on fire in the best way possible.

It was the unsettling feeling of several sets of eyes glaring daggers into his back that made a reluctant Golden pull away.  "I'd better let you go before your "moms" decide to intervene," he murmured, casting a wary glance down the hall.

"Well I uh, wouldn't want to ah, get you in trouble," Paul chuckled.  Though he was loathe to part from his boyfriend, he slid out of the bear's arms and unlocked his door.  Just before stepping inside he pushed up on his toes and pressed a sweet kiss to Golden's cheek.  "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Golden replied as the smiling human slipped into his dorm.  When he heard the door latch, Golden left, nodding to Mrs. Chouette as he passed the watching ladies, a happy smile on his muzzle.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"So...how was it?"

Seated in the dorm lounge with his "sisters" Paul tilted his head, brown eyes blinking once, "How was what?"

"Don't play coy...we heard Mrs. Chouette talking with the older ladies this morning."

"About what?"  Paul was so confused.

"Your kiss with Mr. Fazbear of course!"

"Wha-?"  Paul stared at the women, his mouth hanging open in surprise.  He'd never had anyone express this much interest in his dating progress.  They giggled as his face turned red while he thought over their question.  "It was amazing, I've uh, never h-had a kiss that good before."

The girls burst into a round of soft squeals and sighs, further confusing the human.

"Did he use his tongue?"

"!!!!!!" Paul's face darkened to match his hair, "N-no!  W-we d-didn't go that far!"

"All right girls, that's enough questions for now," Mrs. Chouette interrupted, much to Paul's relief.

"Aww."

-

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

1 - See Chapter 1

[ink0ming]

忘却の潔白

@idollings (kuro)

While Midori oftentimes felt like some kind of outcast of their friend group, she always found comfort being around Kuro for some reason -- the both of them had that lone wolf attitude, which made it easier for them to get along and also understand certain quirks they had. It did not mean that she disliked the others... but both Aoi and Orenji could be tiring to the green inkling (for different reasons), and Murasaki was a constant reminder of how weak she was next to a strong woman like that! Let alone the guys... she would not necessarily say that they made her uncomfortable, but despite all odds, the ‘scariest’ of them all was the one who made her less hyperaware of herself. It was always a pleasure to spot him on the street and be able and spend time with him, just the two of them -- even if they would also be around each other during big gatherings of all of them sitting together, it would somehow always result in the black inkling and her sitting at the sidelines with each other and doing their own thing.

She had been exhausted from a mission at work, Kin was really not going to go easy on her, was he? It seemed as if he wanted to show off just how excellent his ‘favourite little agent was’ and thus always drowning her in work. She could not complain, considering how he treated people like Haiiro -- she really... wondered why that guy hadn’t snapped just yet... but either way, she’d feel rude to complain about her situation, nonetheless it would not change the fact that she was completely train-wrecked and wanted nothing more than to relax a bit. Surely, she could go home and do so -- but it was always quiet and lonely there... whenever she had a time to be around someone who was not as anxious as Aoi, not as energetic as Orenji and not as pushy as Murasaki, she would gladly do so. 

Spotting the black inkling then, she wondered whether or not he had been out at the lobby to turf with friends -- it was an unusual time for him to be out and about, but she was not thinking too much into it (or getting the wrong idea that he had been with a woman). “Kuro?!” Calling out to him, it seemed as if he hadn’t listened, or was just too sunken in his thoughts as to hear her. Weird. Picking up her pace to hop over to him, she meant to stop him before he’d disappear in the crowd, clinging her arms around his to catch his attention. “Hey, don’t ignore me.” Leaning to the side to peek at him, she noticed that he looked rather tired -- maybe he was at Grizz Co. for a few hours?! Either way, she could resonate with the level of tiredness herself, so it was just perfect. Nonetheless, she was a bit worried and wanted to make sure he was okay. “You look... really tired... are you okay?” Blinking at him curiously, she was not getting the hint that he was just walking home from a hook-up, especially since she was so innocent on that kind of topic, she merely thought of all the other possibilities -- she really hoped that he was not going to be sick, but she also would not mind to stay at his place and make sure that he lays down and gets enough rest. 

“I just finished my mission and I am really exhausted, but I don’t want to go home yet. Would you mind if I come to your place? We could watch a movie, i-if that’s fine with you? If you’re too tired, we don’t have to.” She would understand if he declined her, it would suck that she had to sit at home with nothing but silence surrounding her or the white noise of a TV ---- but she’d respect him and his wish to be alone if he was not feeling well. Reaching up to his forehead, she checked for a fever though; if he was going to tell her to leave him alone and he was fever-ish, then she would have to be stubborn and tell him to suck it up while she was going to be around him.

[maiji]

Niounomiya / Kaoruchujo (The Perfumed Prince / The Fragrant Captain), 2018 Tale of Genji (Uji chapters)

“He [Kaoru] gave off [...] an otherworldly fragrance, and it was a wonder how no matter where he went, the breeze that eddied behind him seemed really to perfume the air to a hundred paces. [...]This most unusually personal fragrance roused His Highness of War [Niou] to special rivalry. He purposely suffused his clothes with the finest incenses[...] In spring he contemplated his garden’s plum blossoms...”

- The Perfumed Prince, Tyler translation

Fountain pen ink and waterbrush - Papier Plume Sepia, Kyo Iro Cherry Blossom of Keage, KWZ Confederation Brown, Kyo no Oto Yamabukiiro. Many thanks to my dad for supplying his calligraphy for me to copy!

Kaoru’s nice smell, which I mentioned previously, may seem odd/random from a Western perspective, but it’s tied to a major theme of his character. A beautiful fragrance is supposed to be sign of an enlightened being, so it’s a carryover of his karma from a past life. Except in this life it drives him crazy because he can’t get rid of it and everybody always knows when he’s in the area.

I wanted to include some brief thoughts about these characters and their relationship, but it accidentally exploded into an essay. See below the cut and I am so sorry to anyone for whom the cut fails.

(The Kaoru - Ukifune - Niou love triangle is such an obvious, common point of discussion in their relationship, so I won’t spend time on that here.)

Of the three generations of friendship-rivalries in Tale of Genji, the third is by far the most diametrically opposed. Niou's a hotshot prince who chases practically any woman because he can, being so notorious that even his servants and guardians are constantly like, where the hell is Niou NOW and for god’s sakes, don’t tell him about whatever or he’s going to get into it!! Kaoru is a wannabe monk who keeps getting derailed in this pursuit, in the beginning because he's taking care of his mom, and later because he’s asked by the aging and dying Prince Hachi (whom he greatly respects and has been studying Buddhist scriptures with) to take care of his daughters. People have summarized Niou as successor of Genji’s dynamism, charm and passion, and Kaoru as successor of Genji’s spiritualist sensitivities. So I guess you can call them Genji without the morals VS Genji without the libido, which is simplified but fairly accurate.

It’s also interesting to compare/contrast their actual heritage. Niou is Genji’s grandson through his daughter the Akashi Empress. He was also Murasaki’s favourite, and he was a cute kid, but she might have been appalled to see how he turned out. Kaoru meanwhile is the result of an affair between Kashiwagi (To no Chujo’s son) and the Third Princess (Genji’s youngest wife), and though everyone involved kept the secret pretty well, he’s always had this unsettled feeling of displacement and a sense that something was weird about his mother’s situation. (I’m a huge sucker for quietly and privately sad scenes, and the brief one where Kaoru, after learning the truth about his birth, with his real father's incriminating letters in hand, rushes home to talk to his mother - and then decides never to let her know that he knows because it would only upset her - was definitely one of those to me.)

From my perspective, Murasaki Shikibu or whoever wrote these chapters did a decent job making the Kaoru-Niou friendship believable and even supportive (mostly thanks to Kaoru) before all the crap hits the ceiling later (mostly thanks to Niou). The Uji chapters are rightfully considered a tragedy, but as I was reading I found the predicaments these two kept getting themselves into, and the sheer contrast of their positions and dispositions, rather hilarious.

At one point in the story, the pair have befriended the sisters Oigimi and Nakanokimi (the daughters Kaoru’s been asked to take care of, mentioned earlier). Because both Kaoru and Niou are of excellent status, getting married to either of them is about as much assurance that a woman would be taken care of as you could get in aristocratic Heian society. Only dad kinda FORGOT TO TELL HIS DAUGHTERS that he asked Kaoru to take care of them before he died, so they think their father wants them to stay hermits in their isolated house forever. GJ DAD YOU HAD ONE JOB

So anyways, both of them are courting the sisters. Well, Niou is definitely courting one (or both, he was kind of confused who he’s talking to/exchanging poetry with, but he is Very Serious about whomever it is). Kaoru’s doing whatever Kaoru does, which mostly seems to be talking a lot to this old woman who serves the sisters because she knew his real father, and chatting with the sisters, and slowly falling in love with the elder sister Oigimi.

But Niou being an imperial prince can’t get out and travel as easily as Kaoru can, plus he’s frequently put under house arrest for his bad behaviour. This leaves Kaoru to visit the sisters regularly and plead the case of his best friend’s sincerity. I kept picturing Kaoru all bundled up and paddling out to the middle of nowhere, and apologetically explaining for the umpteenth time, “I am so sorry. Niou couldn’t make it again. Yes, he’s grounded again. No, he really is grounded. I know you’ve heard that he’s a terrible playboy, and, well, he is, but he really is very in love with you. Uh, with one of you. He’s really very serious about whichever one of you was writing to him. Really” And the sisters behind their screen are like “WTF KIND OF IDIOTS DO YOU THINK WE ARE” (Please don’t take this as an accurate description of the story)

And then you get passages like this scene. Here we have Niou observing Kaoru in private mourning over Oigimi’s death:

"After many days of tears [Kaoru’s] features had changed, although not for the worse, for they now had so fine a beauty and grace that [Niou], who deplored his own waywardness, saw that he would certainly lose his heart to him, if he himself were a woman."

- Trefoil Knots (Tyler translation)

The next few lines, beginning with "That was a worry" makes me interpret it as either Niou going, "Uh oh, better get my brain onto a new train of thought", or "Uh oh, better get my new wife - whom KAORU HELPED ME TO WIN OVER AND IS STILL TRYING TO HELP CONVINCE WHAT A DECENT GUY I AM - to my house quick in case she falls in love with him."

Obviously, I'm biased towards Kaoru. But hey, I’m not alone! Many readers from the Heian period onwards felt the same. The Mumyozoshi or Nameless Book - a 13th century work of prose criticism by an author many believe to be Fujiwara Toshinari no Musume (“Shunzei’s Daughter”), whose family was dedicated to study of Genji Monogatari - argues that Kaoru is perfect and defends him from criticism. I don't know if I'd go quite that far, but I was super amused. And there are quite a few ancient writings that extend or reimagine things to better favour Kaoru - or at least cut Niou down to size. Here’s an example:

And His Majesty the Emperor Niou said, "Wow, you found Ukifune? Really? That’s great! Uh, you’re not still mad at me after all this time, are you? Boy, I was such an asshole back then and caused so much shit for both of us. Blah blah blah grovel grovel sob sob grovel." The Palace Minister Kaoru was so thoughtful even when he was young that he put everybody else to shame, and he barely ever complained. He now knew even more that life was fleeting and everything was impermanent and that really they’d all been at fault and his depth of compassion and understanding was way beyond even what even the most devout monk could achieve. So he wasn’t bitter at all. He replied, "It’s OK, there’s no point being angry about the past. Whatever happened was fated to happen." And he chatted about this and that until they all felt better. After he left His Majesty said, ‘Goddamn he’s amazing. I’m not worthy to be in his presence.” Actually His Majesty was annoyed because the women in his service were always going on and on about how wonderful the Minister was.”

- extremely paraphrased by me from Kumogakure Rokujo (Tale of Genji apocryphal chapters)

I hope you will agree that this amazingness would not be out of place on fanfiction.net.

Conversely, to balance out this biased post, Royall Tyler wrote an essay titled "Pity Poor Kaoru" that argues the whole narrative is set up to make you feel sorry for him to the exclusion of consideration for the other characters, and that even bearing this in mind he's not really the deep nice guy everyone thinks he is. I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but I do agree the reader is intended to sympathize with Kaoru (there’s a reason I haven’t seen any readers rushing to Niou’s defence). In any case, it's an interesting read with some good points. Centuries-spanning annotated fandom debates are so fascinating!

Wrapping up with some thoughts on Niou. As you may already know, I don’t like him, but to be fair that’s kind of the point. For the most part, aside from his amoral philandering ways and his heightened sense of suspicion that everybody’s doing the same thing he is, he seems otherwise a decent...ish... person. I guess lol. He's authentically very passionate about whatever his stupid inclinations are at the time, he really was housebound against his will at those critical parts in the story (although it’s partly his own fault…), and there are multiple points where he appears to feel genuine remorse at his own asshattery. 

Regardless of whether I’d like him as a real person or not, he’s a character. I recognize the Niou/Kaoru dynamic and relationship is central to the Uji chapters, his role makes the story what it is, and this is what creates conflict, interest, and entertainment. After all, while *I* would read 1200 pages about Kaoru being a monk, not everybody would. And even as I’m writing that, I admit it’s not the most exciting-sounding material.... and 1200 pages is a lot of pages... Ultimately Kaoru and Niou are great reminders that stories are only more compelling when you have interesting relationships and interactions. And I can say with greater confidence that I would read 1200 pages of Kaoru trying to be a monk and dealing with Niou being a turd. Thank you for reading my long wall of text.

[scumbagmordremoth]

Want: Three things they would do to your character if they were alone. {Markus for Darcy because I'm amused at the thought of him playing dress-up or tittering about crossword puzzles.}

Markus is a complicated man with complex desires don’t judge him, man.

That being said you’re right.

1: Talk incessantly about his family and give you advice.

He would tell Darcy all about his his family members, particularly Kate and Rose (being the closest in age at 18 and 16 to Markus’ 20). Maybe even a bit about Evelyn and what it was like growing up together given the three of them are mutual acquaintances and so it’s an easy topic of conversation. Or what a little demon Kitty is or who the Murasaki’s are and the subtle nuances of Kaname’s personality.

He would also ask Darcy about herself, and probably try to find a way to solve all of her problems before he left. Markus has a lot of natural empathy and a pretty decent head on his shoulders. Despite his lack of personal experience his advice isn’t bad. He does, however, straddle the line between genuinely helpful and fucking annoying.

Which means that she would learn a lot about the horde of people he is related to and the handful of people he associates with outside of that but honestly probably very little about Markus. (Other than that he’s a big idiot who lives vicariously through others.)

2: It wasn’t really his idea in the first place.

This is probably Kate’s fault.

Asking people to spend time alone with him doesn’t generally occur to Markus unless they have some kind of task to finish. Even his relationship with Evelyn was cultivated under the expectation that they would be required to unite their houses and this would be more pleasant if they at least liked each other enough to stay in the same room together.

In light of this and over concerns of Markus’s general disinterestedness, his family members feel the need to “help” him. There is quite a few disagreements on how to help him, and sometimes conflicting camps will find out about one another’s machinations and try to put an end to them.

The ending is always the same.

Team “Markus is engaged and should be trying to make things work with his future wife” wins because he basically rats out Team “Get Markus laid”, finds out that the excuse was a farce and goes home.

3: CRAFTS

Markus is a crafts guy. Mostly little things like repairing toys for younger family members or making bracelets and flower crowns for his younger sisters. Things like this are the most personal thing Markus really has to share with someone given the most of the rest of his life is devoted entirely to the causes and wishes of other people. Showing someone things that he’s made or maybe even making a thing for a person is as far as Markus’ idea of reciprocal intimacy can go. Anything else is just duty, or an extension of his personality.

I like to think he dabbles in painting and other forms of visual art but that he’s not quite as good at that as he is with practical arts simply because I find him unlikely to practice something purely ornamental whether he enjoys it or not. So if you get to see the watercolors you know you’re in.

All of this makes him seem like a pretty boring guy. He kind of is a boring guy (but I hope an interesting character). Markus absolutely does have his own opinions but his empathy is of the kind where he really only asserts himself if it’s important and his actual desires tend to be pretty simple.

[rosalind-of-arden]

Smoke and Iron Reread chapters 16-19

Now we’re onto more Khalila chapters, and that means it’s time to see what Santi is up to.

This Dario letter, omg. @thegreatlibraryfangirl, I will very much enjoy your analysis of this one when your Kink and Bone read gets this far.

Timeline: we are in a hotel in Cadiz now. Time since Khalila and friends took over the ship? Who knows? The storm is still going, so probably not more than a day or two?

Santi does not write letters to the families of people he kills, but he does approve of Khalila doing it. “It’s a good habit, remembering that every life we take breaks dozens more. It keeps us from killing when there are other options.” Here’s more of Santi’s ethics vs. the Library’s. Note that “when there are other options”, though. That’s how Santi has managed a 20+ year career working for an organization with values that don’t line up with his own. He can tell himself there was no other option. How much has that worn on him, over the years?

Protective Dad Santi is ready for a fight with whoever has come to meet them.

“The deep purple hid all sins.” Khalila is talking about her dress hiding ink stains, but one of us needs to find a way to use this line in something more sexily sinful.

The king of Spain wears “gold shoes with significant heels.” Yes! We have canon heels for men! Shiny canon heels for men!

“For the American colonies to break with tradition meant something dire had changed.” So even with their high population of Burners, America apparently isn’t usually interested in picking fights with the Library. Sounds like there’s been a mutual cease-fire in effect, which the Library just broke in truly horrific fashion with Philadelphia.

Khalila is considering global implications of so many countries withdrawing from the treaty, but Santi is more goal-oriented. He’ll be impressed when the list of rebels includes someone with more strategic value for invading Alexandria and rescuing Wolfe.

Clever of the king to try and put Santi in the position of leading his army into Alexandria. It would get him all Santi’s inside knowledge, plus symbolic value. Santi, of course, recognizes this right away. 

Santi doesn’t dwell on it, but it’s got to hurt to be in a position of even having to consider leading foreign troops to fight people who are like family to him in his own home. It was hard enough for him in Rome, where at least the scope of the conflict was limited and he wasn’t looking at potential mass casualties among civilians he knows or collateral damage to places he’s attached to. Here, they’re talking about using Santi’s knowledge of Alexandria to destroy things he values and worked most of his life to protect.

The king of Spain knows that Santi wants to rescue Wolfe. So either Dario told his cousin about Wolfe and Santi’s relationship, the king has been digging up all the information he can about the people he’ll be working with, or it’s very, very common knowledge that Wolfe and Santi are a couple.

Santi is not impressed with the king trying to play the Wolfe card. No change in expression, and he doesn’t engage at all on the topic, but we get this line: “We need a better plan than an attack they can anticipate without getting out of their chairs.” Ouch. Burn.

Santi uses the compliment-criticism-compliment strategy: Oh, yes, your navies are very nice. Your strategies are shit. But I’m sure your very nice navies would still be important in a better plan.

The king and Santi are pretty evenly matched here. Good verbal sparring. But then Santi forces a confrontation. He asks for sensitive information, the king responds with what amounts to a very polite arrest. Santi, of course, immediately calls this out. He needs to know where he stands.

Khalila and Dario are both so adorably nervous when Santi suggests that he might not want to go with the king.

Santi recognizes the political mess they’ve gotten themselves into the middle of - something else I don’t think Jess and Dario quite anticipated in their scheming. Santi probably has plenty of experience dealing with politics and war from all those war zones. He would prefer to delegate. Let the politicians play politics and the soldiers go fight. Notice that he doesn’t say where Thomas should go: is he leaving Thomas that choice, or hoping Thomas can stay out of all of it?

People Santi will listen to: Khalila, Glain, Wolfe. That might be the complete list.

Add the king of Spain to the list of people who think Wolfe is the leadership of the rebellion.

Khalila thinks Santi never considered Wolfe’s potential as a leader. Really? I get the impression that Wolfe was aiming for at least the Artifex’s position, if not the Archivist’s, before Rome. No, what Santi is considering here are the potential effects of leadership on Wolfe’s mental health and whether Wolfe can handle the politics without getting fed up and snarking at the wrong person. 

Santi says Wolfe is capable but wouldn’t want the job, and I’m not sure whether that’s an accurate assessment or a polite lie to cover for Santi trying to avoid putting Wolfe in a position that Santi thinks wouldn’t be good for him.

Scholar Murasaki! I like her a lot. The badass grandmother type has always appealed to me. Also, Murasaki Shikibu reference.

Spain is “a deeply cosmopolitan country” with significant Islamic influences.

The Curia censored Murasaki Hiroko’s poetry 500 years ago because she wrote poems for her lover, who was “another married woman.” Was the problem that they were both married to other people, or was it that they were both women? Or both? Either way, evidence of past repressive attitudes in the Library.

The Wolfe pack had limited time to go through the Black Archives when they were packing for their escape. They considered poetry worth spending at least some of that time on. Nice to see the humanities being valued.

Murasaki remembers the Library’s conquest of France. Definitely sounds like we’ve either shifted the timing of the French Revolution or added a second one.

How much of this debate between Khalila and Murasaki represents genuine objections on Murasaki’s part, and how much was a show for the benefit of the assassin in the crowd? Maybe a show for the other Library staff present, too? There’s a pretty dramatic shift in the views she expresses once the assassin is dead and the crowd dispersed. Same goes for Fergus.

Here’s some evidence that Wolfe used to have friends, at least on a professional level. His isolation at the beginning of the series was due to politics, at least in part: Murasaki has thought the Library might come after her ever since Wolfe’s arrest.

The leadership at the Serapeum has the power to lock down the Translation Chamber and the Codexes there. They must have an Obscurist present, since Khalila’s group translates to Alexandria from here. Interesting that Codexes can be locked down at a local level.

I totally want to see Wolfe, Santi, Murasaki, and Fergus go out for coffee or dinner or something together. They seems like they’d be an interesting group of friends.

Ephemera is Santi, so let’s just group that in here. Has Santi had his journal on him this whole time? Or did he pick it up after returning to Alexandria? Is it still being monitored? There’s nothing of strategic value in here that would compromise his plans to the Library. Worry about Chris, anger with the Brightwells, but no specifics about plans or locations. This particular journal must go back at least three years since Santi is looking back at things he wrote before Rome.

Just so much love here: “every page is full of Christopher. The things he does that annoy me, or amuse me, or delight me. The joy of sitting together in the quiet between missions, when we still had those to look forward to together.” Right, ok, stab in the heart at the end there. Ouch. Santi is still hurting from all they’ve already lost, so much that he can’t even reflect on happier memories without his thoughts turning darker.

“He has always been a sharp ball of thorns, and difficult to hold on to, but that has never stopped me from loving him.” This line just needs to be here. We all agree, Santi. 

“Difficult to hold on to” is interesting. Just a reflection on Wolfe’s prickly personality and possible fears of commitment? Sign of non-monogamy between these two in the past?

“In the silence where he should be, I hear nothing.” Another line that just needs to be here. Heartbreaking.

Santi does not handle inactivity well. He’s waiting to be able to do something, and all he can think of is how Wolfe is being hurt.

Here’s Santi’s loyalty stated very clearly. He cares about Wolfe over everything else. Very specifically, he wants Wolfe to be “alive, and safe, and sane.” That list of priorities has driven some of the conflict between him and Wolfe; Wolfe values a lot of things over his own safety, while Santi values Wolfe’s safety over just about anything else.

The journal ends with Santi struggling to stay optimistic. He considers what he will do if Wolfe is broken again. He tries to assure himself that Wolfe “must come out” of the prison. He tries to comfort himself with thoughts of revenge. But the last line considers the possibility of Wolfe’s death, and he can’t write any more after that.