#Shu: Leader of the Arts [Answered] | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

laurore-stormwitch · 3 years

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the demon and the witch

Here’s the second chapter my first fan fiction! This is from Zoya’s POV which was so much harder to write. Hope you all enjoy it!

word counts: 4392

You’ll find it in full in AO3

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Zoya hissed while trying to strengthen the bandages on her wound, through which a small flower of blood was already blossoming through. Damn those kerghud and their blades. She checked her sides too, finding with relief she was not in much pain. At least the healers were able to take her of that; but the poison the Fabrikators found on the kerghud’s knives was slowing down the process on the deep cut on her shoulder.

You still prevailed, rumbled Juris inside of her. You took down all of them on your own. The voice was beaming with his pride.

And got thrown against a tree for good measure, she answered grimly while examining her wound. It could’ve been worse. Still, it wasn’t a good sign; the Shu were supposed to be their allies now. Why did a pack of kerghuds attack her? They really didn’t need another thing to worry about. She sighed, opening the windows and letting the cold air revive her a little. The ride back to the palace had left her sore; it took her hours and standing on a horse with a throbbing chest and blood all over her hadn’t been pleasant. She arrived after dinner only to be welcomed by a furious and shaken Genya who had tried to cover for her absence and had immediately taken her to get patched up. Not really an ideal day.

She was pondering whether to drown her sorrows either in bed or in wine when she heard some strained voices in the corridor; they sounded rushed, worried. Someone was giving orders to her guards to stand down and resign their post, sending them away. Oh, for Saints sake, not now, she thought as the door slammed open and Nikolai Lantsov stomped in her room with a weary expression, stopping in front of her. Of course he found out.

“What the hell happened Zoya?” She glanced at him, both annoyed and warmed by his uneven breath and messy look; he seemingly ran through the whole palace to get here, already in his more comfortable clothes for the night. Armour in place, her words were clipped and sarcastic.

“Did anyone never bother to teach the future King of Ravka the subtle art of knocking?”

Nikolai looked exhausted; he released a long breath he seemed to have been holding for ages while he carefully skimmed her for injuries, lingering on the bandages on her shoulder and upper arm with a worried look. She quickly put her kefta back on covering them, uncomfortable under his gaze. When he seemed to have assessed that she wasn’t going to die in the next couple of minutes, he relaxed, releasing the tension in his shoulders, shoving the worry away and regaining his usual merry attitude.

“No one thought I’d actually be the future King, you know. Maybe that’s why they skipped it.”

His tone was light, but he took a couple of steps in her direction, still checking her. She rolled her eyes, making a good show of being irritated. He was being overly dramatic. She knew that whoever told him of her little excursion would also have told him that she was safe and sound and healers already had tended to her; he had no reasons to put up these theatrics.

“I’m fine.” He huffed in response, casting his eyes heavenward too.

“You broke three ribs.”

“Two”, she corrected, “And they’ve already been healed.” He didn’t flinch, taking another step forward and gesturing to her arm.

“What about that?”

She shrugged her shoulders ignoring the stab of pain the movement provoked.

“Are you here to question me or do you actually need something?”

Nikolai grinned, leaning against the wall next to the balcony. She shifted unconsciously away from him. He was too close, only a couple of feet apart from her. And they slipped inside their usual banter too easily: everything came too easily with him. Her look wandered outside the window, averting his amused eyes still trained on her with an intensity she didn’t want to consider.

“Ah, there’s the spite. You’re really fine then.”

There was an affection in his voice that was hard on her nerves. What was he doing here? The whole point of her actions was to keep the distance; this didn’t exactly fit with the plan, the two of them alone in her chambers at this hour of the night. She collected her strength, making the decision to ignore him. His smug face was making her want to shove him out the door. The silence stretched and she waited with hope that he would just leave her be, sensing her irritation. But Nikolai was Nikolai after all, seemingly untouched by her demeanour.

“I already sent word to the Shu. We…I’ll take care of it.” She sensed him stop before adding something else, no doubt avoiding saying Ehri’s name and leaving her out of the conversation. Zoya shook her head, even more unnerved by this unwelcome caution in her regards.

“It doesn’t matter. They’re going to say it was a rogue attack. I took care of it.”

Meaning I burned them all.

“Just tell our dear princess to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Somebody else could’ve gotten really hurt.”

“But they found Zoya Nazyalensky instead. What a stroke of luck for them.”

She didn’t react to his praise, so he just kept talking, keeping an easy attitude. But she knew him well, and she could hear the strain in his voice, the turmoil he was trying to keep hidden.

“Do you care to tell me why my most valuable general decided to take a stroll in an open field and almost got herself killed?”

Fine then, so ignoring him was not the correct strategy; she resorted to her ruthlessness and his guilt.

“Most valuable.” Zoya scoffed. “Thought you’d be satisfied; you’d finally have the perfect excuse to replace me.”

She turned to him while speaking, holding a firm gaze; so she was able to see the shadow of shame and pain that swept through his eyes at her words.

As hurt as she was, their fight the other day served her right. It was bad enough to convince her that staying away from him was the sensible thing to do, and now it gave her a weapon to use to keep distancing him. Also, she really didn’t intend to linger on the topic and explore the reasons why she made what she knew had been a reckless decision. Lately, the palace was far too crowded for her liking; it had begun to feel suffocating, and not only because avoiding Nikolai was growing harder and harder by the day. The dragon inside her craved the sky; the power in her was constantly rumbling, pretending to be unleashed. She still didn’t understand it, the force of it, the craving for destruction that came with it. It was slowly changing her: each and every day her senses got stronger, her hunger got deeper. It demanded to be used; there were times she didn’t know how she kept still, moments in which the air around her crackled without her control, nights in which thunder boomed and clouds darkened the sky as her mood grew more sour. So she started taking these rides outside the city, trying to find places where she could test her abilities without risking destroying the Little Palace. In a time that seemed long lost, she would’ve liked to confide in Nikolai with this. But he wouldn’t understand now, he wouldn’t get what she feared to become if she kept searching for more. And she made a choice after Isaak’s death, the choice to give up on her foolish hopes and dreams and be a general after all. That choice included letting Nikolai go, which he was making hard to do.

They looked at each other for what felt like an eternity. A pang hit her throat, and she felt an unfamiliar prickle in her eyes. Why did she want to cry now? She searched for her anger, trying to bury the feeling of despair that was troubling her mind. She prayed for him to say something spiteful, or to turn on his heels and go. Instead, he came even closer, moving a delicate brush of his fingers over the bandages that peaked near her collarbone, sending a shiver through her. Too close. Get away.

“I’m sorry, Zoya.”

And why for all Saints on earth did he have to say her name like this? It was almost like a prayer. A soft whisper full of honesty, not even an inch of his casual arrogance or boldness. She sucked a breath in, holding her pose, arching a brow in his direction.

“Nice speech. Bet you practiced it a lot in front of the mirror.”

He waved a glowing smile at her, while she pondered wherever this good mood came from.

“I had a nice speech, you know. And yes, I also practiced it. But then you went on to put yourself in danger and I got a little distracted.”

She glanced at him. “I’m not a helpless girl whom you needed to run to and save from a monster.” I may easily be the monster myself, Nikolai. Leave. He didn’t back down.

“I didn’t say that, as a matter of fact. I said I got distracted by you being hurt.”

You’re still too close. Get away. Her feet didn’t seem to listen to her brain, which was sparring with her heart for dominance. She turned to her side, away from him.

“Get out, Nikolai.”

“I don’t think I want to.” She was going to kill him.

“I want you to go.”

“And I want to be more handsome than I already am, but some things are just too hard to get.”

Her glare would have made every man on earth shiver with fear. It was apparently useless on Nikolai.

“Enough childish games, Nikolai. Say what you have to say and then leave.”

He sighed. “Just listen to me, please? I really did have a speech. I was out of line the other day, and I didn’t mean a single word I said. I reacted in the worst possible way and I hurt you. And I’m sorry, both for doing it and for waiting too long to realize it.”

She stopped him with an irritated laugh, her eyes slitting silver. How arrogant of him.

“You didn’t hurt me. You were just being the harsh leader you may finally be growing into.”

He shook his head, ignoring the remark, determined to go on with this charade.

“It’s more than that. I should’ve said something sooner. What happened in the Fold...we never got the chance to talk. I don’t know how you are, what you’re going through.” Maybe punching him in the face was not a bad option. Alina did it after all, if she remember correctly. “I let you drift away and I regret that.”

The conversation was steering in dangerous territory. She clenched her jaw and her fists, equally intent as him to stop this.

“You’re gonna regret this if you keep talking.”

“Why?” His controlled tone slipped a bit as he threw his arm in the air, getting more nervous. “What’s wrong with talking? What’s wrong in saying that I was an idiot to behave like I did, that I need my general by my side? That I don’t like all the distance you’re putting between us?”

“There’s no us, Nikolai.” She spatted, fists still clenched, trying to keep the hold on her power already rising inside her. She sensed where this was going and desperately tried to prevent it. “You shouldn’t even be here at this hour. You are going to marry your Shu princess, and be the King Ravka needs. I am your general, as you dutifully pointed out, nothing else. Stop acting like a fool.”

Oh, how well do you lie to yourself. Are you ever gonna stop? That was not the moment for Juris to chide her and mock her, doubting her decisions. She hushed him, trying to focus. Nikolai looked struck at her words; he opened his mouth and then closed it again, seemingly deciding what to say. She narrowed her eyes, an uncomfortable suspicion creeping in her mind. Speechless Nikolai Lantsov was never a good thing.

“Maybe I’m not.” He cleared his throat at her confused look. “I’m not marrying Ehri.”

Juris roared. Zoya widened her eyes in shock: a wave of outrage flooded her thoughts, along with an unwelcome strike of hope she suffocated.

“Nikolai.” His name was said much like a threat. “What on earth are you saying?”

He held up his hands, speaking slowly, trying not to set her off and appease her wrath.

“I need you to trust me on this. I may have another solution, one that doesn’t involve forcing me and Ehri in a loveless marriage we both despise. One that still assures me the alliance.”

She was not having this. The air around them started to feel more dense, the smell of a rainstorm filling the room. Her voice grew louder, her temper brewing.

“I hope you’re joking, or you’re more of a fool that I ever thought possible. Whatever she told you, she’s tricking you. What are you thinking? Ravka is on the brink of destruction, why would you risk your country?”

“It’s not about Ravka.”

"You don’t get to choose, Nikolai. You are a ruler. You have a duty.” He let out an exasperated sound, coming even closer. There was barely the space of a breath within them. She kept going. “You are our King. I won’t let you do something so reckless.”

Now he was losing his temper too, flames burning in his eyes. He caught her wrist, his grip like steel.

“Why do you run from this? Why do you deny yourself of happiness when there’s another way?”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Everything! I don’t want to marry her. And I don’t want to see my country fall.”

“You think you can have it all? Then what do you want, Nikolai?”

He shot her a pleading look, his soul pouring out of his eyes. Her heart missed a beat, as she shook him away and took two steps back, finding herself with her back on the wall. No. She regretted her question in an instant.

You know what he wants. You know who he wants. Juris wasn’t backing out either.

A whisper rolled out of Nikolai’s mouth.

“Zoya…”

“Don’t.” He came towards her. They were dancing; she cast him a warning look.

“Why not?”

“Because there’s no coming back if you say it!” She was shouting now, shivering with rage and dread. “Because I will believe you if you say it and it won’t change anything!” Tears threatened to fall again, her whole body was vibrating with power. She couldn’t hold back anymore, she would’ve hurt him. And yet this stupid boy was not yelding his steps, not afraid of the woman in front of him.

“I’m not giving up on you.”

“Please, Nikolai.” A sob escaped her. Was she pleading with him now? But as much as her, he had made a decision, and he wasn’t gonna abandon his resolve. He went on, unforgiving, holding her gaze and his chin as he spoke.

"You need to hear me. And you can trust me."

"Stop." She was losing.

“It’s always been you, Zoya. You’re the only thing I want.”

The sword drew through her hearth, cracking it open.

Show this boy king what you are.

She threw her fist open unleashing the storm, tears streaming on her cheeks, and shot a speeding gust of wind in his direction. It knocked Nikolai over, trashing him on the floor; he hit the wall, the current howling and holding him in place. The window on her side shattered as lightning fell from the sky, leaving a trail of smoke in their wake. Papers were rustling around the room, a cold breeze sweeping over them; she watched in horror the destruction she brought. Abruptly, the air fell still as she drew away the power, not wanting to meet Nikolai’s eyes and the disgust she was sure to find there.

“Go away, please.”

He heard him breathing heavily, getting back up on his feet. His uncertain steps crunched on all the letters left on the floor.

"Zoya, it’s okay. I’m here."

"Shut up."

Juris wasn’t finished, too. He growled. Don’t be a coward. You should be the Queen.

“Shut up!”

The scream rose from her sore throat and she fell on her knees, hitting the pavement and catching her head between her hands. Her heart hurt. Her lungs hurt. She made a desperate attempt to fight back the pain as she grasped the last bit of sanity in her mind, huddling on herself like a child. Electricity ran through her skin and a final thunder rolled over the room. Everything stopped as the place grew silent, Zoya shaking on the floor.

“I’m not leaving.”

His voice floated to her like they were underwater; it didn’t even tremble, it was calm and firm, not the one of a terriefied man just taken on by a summoned storm. He slowly walked to her again, rubbing the back of his head a little. Did she hurt him? Shame towered over her. He lowered himself down to her; his movements were delicate, attentive, as if she was a wounded animal he needed not to scare. Another whisper came to her and she grasped at it like an anchor.

“I’m not leaving you.”

She felt his hands on hers, his touch soft as a feather as he circled her wrists and he tried to pull her back on her feet with a soft tug. He caught her elbow, steadying her; instinctively her other hand tightened around his shoulder as her vision blurred and focused back on him; she let her head lean on his chest, catching some air. They stayed like that for a while, Nikolai’s tender eyes waiting for her to get back to herself. He gently tilted her chin up to look at her, brushing some strands of hair away from her face and sighed.

“I missed you.”

The words fell on her like an avalanche. There was a fierce purity in this ordinary admission, spoken like a confession he knew she wouldn’t be able to take. There was so much more to this; it spoke of all the things they never allowed themselves to say, of all the stolen glances and forgotten truths; of how they belonged next to each other, the peace and quiet they found together, how hard it was to be apart; of the times she saved him, and the ones he saved her.

Stop fighting, General. Lower your weapons.

She was tired. Saints, she was so tired. She wanted to rest in the comfort of his arms. She felt herself beginning to surrender.

He is yours to keep. She trembled in his hands, shaken by the conviction in Juris’ voice.

Zoya looked at the boy in front of her, still gently grazing her cheek with his knuckles, at his tousled flocks, at the glowing rays of sun hidden in his eyes. She moved one hand to his stunning face, tentatively touching his lips. A shiver went through him, but he stayed perfectly still while a look of confusion and yearning flashed through him.

He has always been yours. Juris roared, sending flames scorching her chest.

Zoya of the broken heart. Be whole again. Take him.

And once again, just like she did in the Fold, Zoya let herself fall.

She pulled him to her with a hand on the back of his neck, closing the distance between them, crashing her lips onto his, releasing the hunger and the despair that plagued her. When they met, it felt like a war. It felt like a blessing. She registered her king reacting in a split second, without even a hint of hesitation: the hand that was on her arm went to hug her waist, drawing her closer than she thought possible with a desperate need, while the other one was now entangled in her hair. He was holding onto her for dear life, as if she would break if he let her go.

Kissing him was a thousand lives and a single fleeting moment, time stretching in this suspended bliss; she broke free, gasping for hair, drowning in the shock of what happened. Nikolai wasn’t a fool, and he knew her all too well; he knew it would only take her the fraction of an instant for realization to dawn over her, so he didn’t let her slip. He pulled her to him again. But that flicker of oxygen to her brain was enough for fear and remorse to clench at her soul. She pushed lightly onto his chest, and this time he got the hint, leaving her mouth and backing up just what was necessary for them both to release their breath. Good, she thought. At least one of us still has some semblance of control . If it really was up to her will, once so unbreakable, she would’ve never stopped.

“Saints, Zoya.” The words rolled out of his mouth in an ushered tone, as if speaking too loudly was bound to break the enchantment cast upon them. She mustered the courage to look at him: he was watching her in awe, the golden freckles in his eyes darkened by a sheer desire. He may have stopped kissing her, but his hands were still keeping her flushed against him, his uneven warm breathing grazing her neck, making it almost unbearable to try and form a coherent thought. Her heart was aching.

“We can’t.” Her voice was barely audible, devoid of every resolve she had hoped to still have in herself. She trained her look on the floor, the pain squeezing the air out of her lungs. What did I just do? Zoya sensed Nikolai shifting closer, brushing his lips on her lashes, her cheekbones. He rested his forehead on hers. Was he smiling? Why was this damned boy smiling? She cast her eyes up; he really was smiling, cocking his head slightly on one side.

“What?”

“You’re really stubborn, you know.” He teased her. Zoya marvelled at his confidence, at how unfazed he seemed at the fact she was basically rejecting him after shoving him against a wall and possibly giving him a concussion. Not that she felt herself being convincing: all ruthlessness seemed to have left her body. She still didn’t trust herself much to talk; each word was agonizing to get out.

“I just told you we can’t do this. Why are you smiling?”

“I know you don’t mean it.” He shrugged his shoulders, still refusing to let her go. Like the truth was as simple as that, and he had the gift of knowing. Fighting this was tiring; the moment their lips met, every carefully hidden thought, every feeling she locked away flooded out with an overwhelming strength, knocking down each and every one of her defenses.

“How come?”

“You haven’t pushed me away. And you did kiss me, just so you remember it.” Zoya’s lips curled a little before she could stop herself, rolling her eyes. Bold as only Nikolai could be in a moment like this. “Someone told me you were going to find a way to surprise me” He mumbled under his breath, lost in thoughts for a second.

“Besides”, he added. “I’m not in a rush. I’ll convince you eventually. You know my charm has no limits.”

She huffed, but didn’t find it in herself to step out of his grip. She was still falling, and he was the one to catch her. Zoya let her hands rest on his chest: she could feel his heart pounding like it was about to take flight, echoing in her mind and sending waves of soothing calm over her. His certainty was endearing.

“You’re insufferable.”

Nikolai looked perfectly at ease, beaming with confidence. He let out an amused chuckle and placed a soft kiss on her hair.

“Don’t run from me.” He turned serious, placing both his hands on the sides of her jaw, keeping their eyes locked together. “I need you with me to face all of this. We’ll find a way; I know we can. We’ll figure everything out together. And we can do this right.”

General Nazyalensky knew better than to trust fragile promises of peace. And yet the hopeful girl she’d been held onto this one like it was a long awaited shore in a storm-swept ocean. She could regret this tomorrow: for tonight, maybe she wanted to be that girl. And against every belief she had, she really did trust him like no one ever before. She found herself nodding lightly, slightly amused by his hint at doing things right. Nikolai and his idiotic sense of honour. The dragon inside her had spread his wings, roaring his power. Bolts of desire were still shooting through her, leaving her brain a mess, and she could see the feeling mirrored in Nikolai’s eyes. She didn’t know that freeing her heart from the cage it was trapped in would taste so sweet and terrifying.

You are the dragon, Zoya. You will bide your time. And you will have it all.

She brought her hand on one of his, still wrapped around her neck, intertwining their fingers. Deep inside of her, the stone hit the bottom of the well: waiting there for her there was a quiet feeling of belonging, a home in which she could be safe. A place full of light in which she could rest. Someone to hold her. Someone who loved her. As the fall stopped, Zoya handed over the fight, easing herself in the embrace of the boy that tore down her walls and built her a fortress.

Tell him to stay. She didn’t know if it was Juris or her heart demanding it.

“Stay with me tonight.”

A breath-taking soft smile enlightened his features. Nikolai leaned towards her, whispering an oath in her ear, a secret to share in the midst of night.

"Always.”

He caught her lips and kissed her again, deeper, with more urgency, leaving whatever sense of self-restraint they were keeping to shatter in a million pieces as the silk of her kefta slided away from her shoulders, wrinkling through his darkened fingers, the demon and the witch.

And the world went on fire.

#zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lantsov #fan fiction #zoyalai #angst with a happy ending #i love them so much why #my writing #rule of wolves #king of scars

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daggery · 3 years

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okay okay obligatory request for CARLOS but also (still reading the book because I'm sipping it like a fine wine) talk to me about any character you want from Six of Crows because I love they 💖

send me a character and i’ll answer with the below!

carlos answer is here

kaz (kept this mostly spoiler free <3 i refer to scenes without the details) (me choosing kaz means i didnt choose inej which makes me only 95% predictable as opposed to 99%)

first impression: aha here’s our YA edgy white boy!! make way!! he seems cool. do i like mean repressed traumatized white boys yes sometimes i do. oh he’s stepping up to the gun and goading the guy to shoot him already PLEASE. greatly enjoying inej’s internal monologue about how much he’s annoying her. he’s SUCH an edg- this was my initial answer for first impression but the truth is i read soc when i was 13/14 so i most likely was not making fun of his dramatics the way i like to think i did. i definitely loved it. i still love it :)

impression now: my favorite edgy white boy of all time. he has a terrible haircut and everybody should make fun of him for it. but really this series and all its characters really does hold such a special spot in my heart. i don’t even know what to write here, i’m just sitting with the inside of my chest feeling very fond of this literal gang leader who is. u know. still a boy. i’ve realized recently that i am now the same age as the oldest crow (matthias).. when i read these books i was younger than all of them </3

favorite moment: i cant choose just one for book kaz but right now i’m going to go with “iwcfy. aiicw, icty, anmhbww, wfowot-kd, pb. btwwd. wnsf” for book kaz (and hopefully show kaz as well in the later seasons). absolutely iconic quote. soulmate things u know. also the ending makes me tear up every every time. and for show kaz it’s definitely the kanej scene directly before inej does her tryout thing to join the performance troupe. makes me want to scream it’s so so so quiet. it’s so quiet. i could shatter it with my pinky. there is 3ye c*ntact.

idea for a story: hm... i don’t really interact with fanon when it comes to the grishaverse tbh, but - kaz takes a vacation, set several years after the duology. i just want kaz to first take a break and second see the world in a context other than “i will commit a crime but i will commit it in fjerda instead of kerch.” he should board a ship and feel the sting of the wind on his face for the sake of it and hold hands with inej. oh my god and ALSO he should VISIT SOME CERTAIN PEOPLE WHO HE MEETS AT THE END OF THE SERIES. he should hold hands with inej and visit them.

unpopular opinion: i’m not really sure? there are definitely kaz opinions that i disagree with, but a lot of people will disagree with those too so it’s less “unpopular” opinions and more “controversial” opinions. and i mainly look at edits/fanart. one popular-controversial opinion is that i lose brain cells whenever someone likens kaz with the darkling, whether it's to make kaz seem more "evil" or "bad" than he actually is (kaz is morally gray), or if it's to make the darkling seem morally gray (the darkling is. not morally gray)

favorite relationship: kaz/inej................................. number one otp of all time, i can and will be dramatic about them. i wont claim that i Understand It Better Than Everybody Else because i dont but nevertheless it’s MINE. i dont even read fic for them because i just don’t. (maybe i should start though?) (i should go find fic for the visit-people thing. swear to god somebody has to have written that fic already)

favorite headcanon: leigh bardugo was like kaz is a 6 foot tall white boy and i said NO. i know i said the phrase edgy white boy like four times just now but listen. kaz is FIVE FOOT SEVEN and ASIAN. like 98% of kaz art/edits is white and those art are cool and lovely and amazing, however in my heart kaz is shu and whenever i see asian kaz art or edits i starting yelling in my head. shoutout to the person who left a tag on one of my posts that was something like “i like freddy [kaz’s actor] but whenever i see him im like that’s a white man” because i love freddy as kaz but me too

#thank you for asking!!#hersilentlanguage #answered #six of crows #grishaverse

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teamsarawatshusband · 3 years

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Word Of Honor - 1st watch insta thoughts - Episode 5

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

FYI (If you haven't read the previous summaries): Smirky Xing = Wen Ke Xing, Baby Xu = Zhou Xu/alcoholic tanned tragic hero lord guy, pleated skirt soldier boss guy = shen something, 5th brother from 5 Lakes

But let’s get started with Episode 5:

Okay, pleated skirt soldier boss guy chases the grandparents away and then wants to take the two mini wangjis with him. But the tree undies master guy isn't having any of it. So pleated skirt soldier boss guy isn't on anybody’s side. I see.

And there is another mention of 5 lakes abusing their power. Ominous.

The kids even wanna stay with tree guy. Must be bad.

Oooooh, pleated skirt soldier boss guy is indeed after the glazed armor.

Oh, uncle Zhao and his peeps and everybody come to the rescue.

And uncle Zhao respects tree guy's wish to keep the wangjis. Is he genuinely a nice guy or just worried about everybody around, including Baby Xu and Smirky Xing and the kid?

Ooooh, super pretty scenery. Why can't we all live in places like that?

Wheee, they get to feast with the family. And Smirky Xing is reciting poetry again. Everybody likes him it seems.

LOL, Smirky Xing is trying to feed Baby Xu. Who must get headaches from all the eye rolling.

Yo, what's up with tree undies master guy, why is he coughing?

Wait, are the little Wangjis also the kids of some 5 lakes brother? (Sorry, random thoughts about how things piece together, and lots of confusion)

Somebody's shouting for help. What's happening?

Young leader of something something, it was gone too fast. He'll be called magenta leader guy, if he ends up important. Ah, wait, he's from Broken Sword Manor. Have we been there before? I forgot.

Oh and he's chased by a ghost. And there's the smiley potato things flying in again. So the red masked ghost gang?

Oh, okay both magenta leader of broken sword manor guy and tree undies master guy vanish in the fog.

Pleated skirt soldier boss guy acts like an ass around the kid, encouraging him to drink along while drunk himself. What a jerk.

Uncle Zhao saves him and sends both to bed - individually i mean, obviously - , and seems genuinely nice, but I don't trust him still.

Whoa, pleated skirt soldier boss jerk guy is awake and just pretended! Even more of a jerk. What is he up to?

Oh, Baby Xu spots him and follows. Thank goodness, somebody needs to keep an eye on the mean guys.

There's some masked dark figure fighting with pleated skirt soldier boss jerk guy.

Something is going on at the main gate, and everybody runs there. Except maybe Smirky Xing, he's just cautious in general.

Oh no, somebody hung tree undies master guy outside the main gate. And it's raining smiley potatoes. Baby Xu is watching and they're all suspecting some happy ghost, because there's a batman-joker smile carved into the dead guys' faces. And happy ghost is apparently one of the masked ghost gang, which makes sense, because of the potato smiley paper crafts.

Oh, now they're worried about the kid. Was it a trap?

No, he's with Smirky Xing and Baby Xu. How did Baby Xu get back there so fast?

Okay, Smirky Xing says some masked ghost guys were going after the kid but were bad fighters and he instantly chased them away. But can that be trusted? If he himself is nuts guy, they wouldn't fight him, would they? But then again... if he were one of them, why would he spare the kid? None of this makes sense.

Okay, magenta leader guy isn't dead yet. He's in some bed, and somebody is lying in bed with him. Some woman. Who is she? Oh, she says she's a ghost. Wait, does he know her? So has she REALLY died, like a dead ghost, not one of those living ghosts?

Dude, stop begging, if she IS a ghost, she's not gonna let you go, you fool.

Oh, ghost girl channels her inner Arya Stark and drops her face for effect.

And magenta leader guy faints like a good damsel in distress.

Wait, she has a face again, but a different one (I think, not entirely sure) and she's one of the ten devils of ghost valley. A beauty ghost. Yeah, she's really pretty alright. And she's got a ton of friends with her.

Okay, what are they going to do with the unconscious guy? Kill him? They're just sharing make-up tips so far.

Baby Xu is trying to say goodbye to the kid. Aww, but the kid is gonna miss his dads. :(

There's a flashback to some kid crying. There was also a name but I have no idea who he is. Was it Baby Xu?

Baby Xu sees a rooftop and flies up, I have no idea why. Was there something suspcious about the building? Huh?

Oh, somebody's pissed because their glazed armor got stolen. Ah it's pleated skirt soldier boss jerk guy and uncle Zhao who's not pissed just sad. Ohhh, so the ghost guys just wanted to steal the glazed armor and anything else was a decoy. I see.

Ahhhh, Baby Xu is on top of the roof, removing the tiles and listening in on their conversation, right when they say no outsider could know anything. Wow, they sure have a foolproof system.

Ok, 5 brothers of 5 lakes kept the 5 pieces of glazed armor? That does make sense.

Wait, why is nobody confused about pleated skirt soldier boss jerk guy being awake and sober all of a sudden????? Had uncle Zhao known that he was only pretending?

Man, that guy is made of pure anger and insults. If he dies at some point, he's probably gonna explode like a pinata hit by a dozen sticks at once, just because all the anger needs to get out first.

Ok, mad respect for uncle Zhao, because he is indeed a good guy it seems. He is capable of feeling guilt, and he doesn't want anything to do with the glazed armor anyway.

Okay, pleated skirt soldier boss jerk guy from now on will be called a-hole guy. Because, if the shoe fits...

BabyXu sees Smirky Xing flying away and is confused as to how he could also eavesdrop without being noticed by Baby Xu. I mean, that was Smirky Xing, wasn't it?

Oh, smirklord flying over the tree tops.

Yeah, Baby Xu, I wanna know too what Smirky Xing is up to.

Aww, "our little cheng ling". Smirky Xing is already feeling their dad status.

Oooooooh, Smirky Xing saved Baby Xu from the spiderweb wire stuff.

Okay, some ghost talk, I have no clue what's going on. lol

I'm focusing on the important details. Like Smirky Xing fishing for info on Baby Xu's virginity.

Wait, who's bleeding from above?

Ah, there's the sleeve cutting. Yes. Nice.

Oh the dead guy in the tree is the son of uncle Zhao? Wait, was he fighting with the dark masked guy? Not a-hole guy? Did I get them confused? I am so unable to understand anything, lol. I hate being faceblind. Somebody please let me know in the comments who did what while the manor was under attack.

Okay, dark masked guy's face is also shown and Bab Xu drops a name. I have no idea who that was, nor do I recognize the face. I'm so bad at this. Help?

WTH is "iron hook"??? Is that some special martial arts technique that only a few people can do?

Now they're speaking in riddles about animals. Owls, cicadas, yellow sparrows, praying mantisses. I have no idea what's happening. But it seems to be some sort of flirting.

Ok, now Smirky Xing says he's afraid of ghosts. I'm not sure if I believe that. He’s kinda looking a lot like nuts guy, after all, who is part of the ghost gang himself.

Oh, sure. When you're afraid of ghosts and more people dying... just go into the coffin house, because that makes so much sense.

Ooooh, Baby Xu saved Smirky Xing from the spider web stuff this time. Niiiiice.

Aww, they're asking each other who they are. So... does that mean Baby Xu is interested after all? Hehe

Smirky Xing answers that he's a good person. Yeah, like that's not the exact thing a bad guy would say. Not suspicious at all.

Why are there paper animals all over the place anyway? Can anybody tell me?

Also, who lit the incense sticks?

Why are they splitting up? That's how you end up dead in a horror movie, wth???

Wait, what? That's Smirky Xing's dad? His dad looks the same age as him? Is he hallucinating?

Whoa, why is it day time? Ohhh, blurred vision. Definitely something shady going on.

Baby Xu is hallucinating people too, I think. Leader of Four Season's Manor. Is that his dad? Zi Shu, wait, was that Baby Xu's real name?

Anyway, dad guy is doing an Anna impression and asking Elsa Xu to build a snowman.

Oh, Baby Xu saw through the hallucination. Got out of it by cutting himself. He really is into pain, isn't he?

Eww, zombie guys. What did I say about horror movies? But, nice make-up!

Oh no, Smirky Xing is still stuck in the visions.

And, more fabric is cut off. Baby Xu really doesn't like blood. Smirky Xing was not wrong.

HOLY SHIT! Smirky Xing called Baby Xu by his real name while hallucinating. So they DO know each other!!! :O

And THAT'S when they end the episode??? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Gah!!!!!

Okay, okay. I'm calm.

So, what have I learned: 5 lakes alliance can't be trusted. A-hole guy is a complete jerk. AND SMIRKY XING KNEW BABY XU WHEN HE WAS A KID!!! Also, side note, I miss my purple queen :(

Goals for the next episodes: Find out how they know each other!!! Also, why doesn't Baby Xu recognize Smirky Xing? Is he also disguised? I still need to work on the name chart thing, because there's new characters showing up in every episode and I'm so lost.

#word of honor #1st watch insta thoughts #word of honor ep 05 #smirklord

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arcticdementor · 3 years

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I was talking to Sarah yesterday and I had a revelation I think is worth sharing.

Let’s begin at the beginning. About a month ago, Instapundit posted this.

Now, I’ve been thinking of the rise and fall of civilizations lately. I can’t think why it’s been on my mind. It’s a tale as old as time—a civilization emerges, establishes a new worthwhile order, the good things brought forth by said order soften up the people maintaining it, the softening turns to decadence, and the decadence gives way to the barbarians, who clean the slate. Where would you say things are lately?

…

In short—the federal government of the United States of America has become impotent at almost all good things.

Expanded out—There is no start to its talents. It cannot maintain its borders. Since the “election” it doesn’t even try. No surprise there. It cannot maintain friendly relationships with allies—as our recent screwing of Britain on our way out of Afghanistan shows. The “leader” of the “free world” could not be bothered to pick up the phone for our closest ally. Speaking of Afghanistan, it can’t win a war. It can’t even lose gracefully. In fact it fucked up leaving so badly some people are entertaining that it intended to fuck it up, because how the fuck does somebody above the age of six not notice that pulling the military out first and the civilians out second is not even a remotely workable strategy? Resulting in leaving millions of dollars of equipment—and—excuse me, what? Millions of dollars of dollars in the desert? Fantastic.

It makes self sabotaging and idiotic choices to stymie its own domestic oil industry, while accepting a pipeline not from Canada, but one that’s a joint Russian-German venture instead. Which means the problem, contrary to any environmentalist whining, isn’t the pipeline—it’s the pipeline with a friendly country. Big surprise— its only true interest in the environment lies in international agreements that hamstring us while doing nothing to China, the world’s largest polluter. It either can’t be trusted on energy production and the environment, or is trying to get it wrong.

It can’t manage its economy. What could have been a “V” shaped recovery has been turned into an “L” shaped one. What could be contributing? Paying people to do nothing? Rampant inflation? Meanwhile all the dumbasses running the country can think of is spending several billion more dollars that don’t exist. The country has infrastructure problems for a fact, but they’ll only acknowledge that to the extent of cynically plastering the word on an “infrastructure” bill which is in fact just a far Left wishlist that largely ignores actual infrastructure, in the hopes people will be dumb enough to support it because it has the right label.

And on.

What aptitudes does it have besides taking money, trampling civil liberties, and ignoring constitutional laws at gunpoint? News flash, dummies: We don’t need peaceful protestors incarcerated without a trial. We don’t need the weight of the federal government turned to the problem of violating states rights because Texas passed a law Biden doesn’t like. We need military egresses that look like they weren’t planned by Bozo the clown and an economic plan better than something China would design for us as an attempt to permanently sink the country. Is there anyone at all in DC who can provide that? If not, is there anything useful they can do? I’ll wait.

…

This is what decadence looks like. When the government stops even attempting competence because nothing and nobody that currently exists can replace or displace them so who cares about results? When comfort and plenty have become so common, been taken for granted for so long, that the question of utility or even basic sanity isn’t even distantly considered. When it’s assumed that self-harming policies that will obviously damage the country won’t really matter because nobody has ever known a world without America and fundamentally has no idea how the present day came to be. When the country’s most educated start chasing bizarre and unimaginably stupid ideas on economics that boil down to “inflation won’t happen if you double the monetary supply by printing money, if only you just believe hard enough”. In fact, when education stops being a means to greater insight, more useful abilities, and a better life, and becomes a cult devoted to the kind of idiocy that can survive only with strenuous censorship, the tenets of the cult being treated by the indoctrinated as a collection of sacred mysteries and deeply-thought paradoxes— while to those not similarly trained it is self-obviously a collection of contradictory and self-serving lies.

Verily, decadence is here. We can infer that what comes next is the barbarians. And we have options. Mexican illegals? A heady mixture of poverty-stricken Marxists who have never known a system that wasn’t corrupt, functionally lawless, and devoted to the tenets of voting oneself rich; and outright criminals with lives like “a demon’s resumé”? Perhaps radical Muslims? By sheer numbers worldwide they’re the most likely option. The Taliban just got a huge infusion of cash and a big boost in morale. In a few short days we’ll know whether they’ve arranged a thank you gift for Zho Bi-Xen and his kleptocrat marching band to commemorate his intended pull-out date. But even if, and God I hope, they have not, we can expect an uptick in terrorism and quite shortly. Or perhaps China? The Middle Kingdom would laugh at being called barbarians, but I call genocidal communists like I see them. Mao was morally three steps below a pig and Xi has enough power to aspire to greater depths. As is I wouldn’t dream of feeding a pig Mu Shu Xi due to the great risk of poisoning the pig.

But there is a barbarian group not considered. Us.

Hang on. Before you balk, listen. Look again at what these idiots are selling as the fruits of civilization. Defenses of pedophilia and urinals as art. And more, too—sterilization and disfigurement of teenagers in the form of sex changes. Black supremacy as a panacea to made up threats of white supremacy. Books nobody reads, movies nobody watches, paintings that exist only to launder money—even the ones not made by Hunter Biden.

What good person would not be proud to be considered a barbarian by these miserable, over-decorated Faberge people? I’d be mortified if they agreed with me! So they think I’m a sexist or a racist or whatever. Fine. They do not use these words to mean the same things I mean, so it’s a pointless argument, and they are now officially beneath my explaining myself to them. When the people who are calling me names are so morally opaque that the Taliban can make devastating critiques of them just by referencing the foundational works of their own gender studies programs, I’m done caring about the names. Fine. I’m what you think is a racist. I’m what you think is a sexist. But you think a lot of very stupid things, and as the curtain continues to draw back on the carnival of madness that’s been behind the scenes the entire time it’s occurring to me that what you think and reality overlap so seldom that the only time not to ignore you is when I can ridicule you. If that is your civilization, someone hand me a pointy horned helmet.

…

Yes, this is a moment of peril, but also opportunity. See in your country what every hostile group listed above sees in it—the makings of great civilization, along other, less stupid lines. All of it guarded by weak, fat, stupid people with no will and no self-belief. Take that mindset and go forth.

Get involved in your local systems. There is an old prayer for God to make ones enemies ridiculous. Congratulations to whomever was still praying it. Your prayers have been answered. Will you tell me that you cannot defeat these people? People who lose casual debates to terrorists not on principle but on basic facts?

…

You can’t reason with them so don’t bother. Recent events have made it clear you may as well try to talk sense into a three-day-old mackerel. Just confront them with their own stupidity so that people who see the inevitable video understand what this is about, and don’t feel that you are too good to shout them out of the room. You’re the barbarian, remember? Not like the nice civilized people with their gender-queer Tik-Tokers pushing vaccine propaganda. That means you’re excused from conversations with morons. Don’t bother trying to find common ground. Look at where they’re standing! Do you want to try to find the midpoint between that and reality? Silly. Pointless. Send them back to their walled online gardens to whine to their equally stupid friends about the barbarians.

Can we take it back from the ground up? I don’t know. But hey, it’s got to be worth a shot. Join the fun! Find some friends and locate a low-hanging political event to raid. When was the last time you went to a town hall for your town? Isn’t just a part of you curious to know whether your local county commissioner starts by declaring her pronouns? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see someone like that made very uncomfortable? You can make that happen. You can probably do it within the next month. Bring a few friends! Or a few dozen. Some of the people reading this probably were afraid to do that kind of thing for fear of losing their job. The Biden economy might have freed up some of your time. What have you got to lose now? More importantly, the way things are going, are you going to lose it anyway if things continue as they are? Think on it.

#thomas kendall #sarah a hoyt

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vampire03 · 4 years

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Diabolik lovers x Danganronpa AU (part 1)

Hi guys! I watched Danganronpa for the first time two weeks ago and I really liked it! I hope I got the conception right, because I think Diabolik lovers x Danganronpa will be a cool combination. Hope you enjoy it! TW for these shole series. They are reaaaaaly bloody!

"Hope's peak Academy" - a place where the best of the best study. Only ultimate students are accepted here - such who are better than anyone in something, whether it is dancing, maths, games, sports or something else, they were ultimate.

And then there was Y/N - an ordinary girl who always thought she had no special talent and just blended with the crowd. But one day she got a letter from "Hope's Peak academy" which said that she has been randomly choosen and accepted in the academy as the "Ultimate lucky student". Seriously, she couldn't believe her luck.

And this is how it started.

Y/N was standing in front of the academy, admiring how beautiful the building looked. She entered inside, waiting for her new classmates from class 79-B to gather up in the main hall for the first day at school.

While waiting, she was getting more and more anxious - she was going to be in a class with amazing people who were talented in sports, arts, studies etc. And she had no talent at all. Would she be able to fit?

Suddenly, she got dizzy and everything became dark.

When Y/N woke up, she was lying on a desk in a classroom. A classroom... with baricaded windows? With iron plates? What on Earth?!

Y/N looked around and saw a note, that was adressed to her, saying that she has to be in the school gymnasium at 8 o'clock. When she looked at the clock on the wall, it was exactly 8 o'clock.

"Uuuuu, I gotta hurry!" Rushed Y/N and as if by intinct she knew hwere to go and reached the gymnasium, where she saw 15 people waiting for her.

"I-I'm sorry I'm late! I somehow fainted and just woke up a minute ago!"

"Do not worry, you are just on time!" said a short girl with long brown hair and brown eyes.

"Hello, I am Luna Sakamaki! The Ultimate artist here!"

"H-hi!" cheerfully answered Y/N.

"Fufufu, another Bitch-chan! Things get better and better!" playfully said a tall boy with red hair and stunning green eyes. He was wearing a fedora and had a mole on his chin.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, nfu! I am Laito Sakamaki! The Ultimate male model! You have probably seen me on tons of magazins, haven't you?"

"S-sure..." Y/N nodded. He had somehow a different aura in real life...

"Why are we still here? Teddy and I are already bored!" Said a short boy with purple hair and eyes, in a really irritated tone.

"Hello, what's your na-

"WHO ALLOWED YOU TO SPEAK TO ME AND TEDDY?!?" The boy snapped. He looked kinda... psychic... He had that... weird look... combined with those bags under his eyes... Y/N decided it would be better if she didn't interact with him that much...

"Please forgive for the foolishness of my brother. His name is Kanato Sakamaki and he is the Ultimate doll-maker. As for me, I am Reiji Sakamaki, the Ultimate scientist." Calmly said a tall young man with black hair and red eyes. He was wearing glasses and looked very, very formal.

"Oi, oi, oi, OI! Oresama should introduce himself first!" A boy with red hair and green eyes approached. His clothes were a little messy.

"I am Ayato Sakamaki. But it's Oresama or Yours Truly for you!"

"Shut up already! I want to go home already!" An albino boy shouted angrily as he punched the wall, leaving a hole in it.

"Subaru-kun... You don't have to break t-the wall!" Squealed a blonde girl with pink eyes.

"And you two are...?"

"Oh, I am Yui Komori, the Ultimate assistant, and this is Subaru Sakamaki, the Ultimate fighter" answered the girl.

"I suppose we will have to introduce ourselves as as well, we are the Mukami brothers - I, Ruki, the Ultimate butler, Kou the Ultimate idol, Yuma, the Ultimate gardener and Azusa, the Ultimate doctor." A boy with dark grey hair and blue eyes said as he gestured towards his brothers - one blond boy (Kou) , one very tall boy (Yuma) and one very thin and unhealthy looking boy (Azusa).

"Hi!" They said together.

"You worthless vampires, you should have let us introduse ourselves first!" Said in a deep voice a young man with golden eyes and long white hair. He looked like a royal. "I am Carla Tsukinami, the Ultimate leader, you better remember that, woman."

"Yeah! And I am his brother, Shin Tsukinami!" Shouted a boy with golden eyes and peach hair. "And also, I am the Ultimate animal-trainer!"

"Yo, little princess! You should know that I am the Great Kino-Sama! Stop talking to these guys!" Demanded a boy with black hair and red eyes. He was holding a videogame in his hand. Yep. The Ultimate gamer.

"Ha... Bothersome..." Lazily said a tall blonde guy, who was lying on the floor in the corner.

"And this eyesore is Shu Sakamaki - the Ultimate violinist" said Reiji with annoyance.

"So you guys, uhhmm-

Y/N started, but was interrupted by a weird echoing voice:

"Pufufufu! Welcome, dear students, I am Monokuma, the Principal of this school! Congratulations for being accepted here! You already got to know each other, now it is time for the rules!" Said a tiny robotic bear - half white and half black. He had one normal and one red eye. And he. Was. Talking.

"I said quit this crap already! Who is pulling off this prank! First we lose conciousness, then we are locked here, and now a bear is talking and saying that he is the Principal!" Raged Subaru.

"I am not just a bear! I am a masterpiece! Now. Listen to the rules, children... Because you are going to follow them for the rest of your lives here, pufufu!" Mockingly said the bear.

"For the rest of our lives here?" asked Luna.

"That's right! This school is your new home forever! None of you will be getting out in this awful hopeless world again and you will live in harmony, following the rules!" Explained the bear.

"Is this why there are iron plates on all if the windows?" asked Yui.

"That's right! No peeking outside!" Laughed Monokuma.

"Oi, I said stop with this bullshit and let's get ove with this!" Shouted Subaru, as he ran towards Monokuma and punched him.

"OWWW, VIOLATIONS OF THE SCHOOL RULES, AGRESSION TOWARDS THE PRINCIPAL, YOU WILL BE THE FIRST PUNISHED!" Cried the bear. His red eye started glowing in a creepy way.

"Subaru, trow the bear far away, quickly!" Suddenly said Reiji.

In a rush Subaru trew the bear and it exploded in the air.

"Dude, these guys ain't joking!" Hissed Yuma.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Subaru shouted.

"Pfuffufufu!" Monokuma's voice was head again, as he appeared out of nowhere again, without a single scratch.

"You see? This was an example of what happens to those who break the rules here, fufufu! Now let me introduce you to the rules, so you can follow them without a problem from now on!"

"So you are saying that you will keep us locked here forever and we will have to live according to your rules, otherwise you will kill us?" Asked Ruki.

"Bullseye!"

"It can't be, this thing is actually real, at the same time it is not... What is it then...? auietly asked himelf Kou, as he held his hand on his eyes.

"That iss up to you to find out! Now finally, the rules. As you already know, you are going to live here forever. In peace and harmony, with endless food and water supplies. You willhave your own separate rooms with bathrooms inside! Girls' bathrooms have a bonus - they have locks! Each one of you has a special E-Handbook, which shows you your student profile and allows you access to different areas! These will be your student ID cards so do not lose them and do not try to destroy them! Also, the time between 10pm and 7am is called "Night hours". During that time it is forbidden to sleep somewhere else, but your room! I will make sure to inform you when Night hours begin and end!" Happily explained Monokuma.

"So you are saying that we are just going to get up, eat, walk around this place all day and then go to bed again? For the rest of our lives? There is gotta be a way outta here!" Said Ayato.

"Puhuhu... There actually is! In order to keep the harmony, students who dissrupt it, have to leave the school, right? We call it "graduation". And is there a better way to ruin the harmony than killing someone? Of course not! If one of you kills someone else withhout the others finding out who the murderer is, the murderer successfully graduates and is free to go and the others are punished for their wrong assumptions!" Monokuma said.

"P-punished? How?" Asked Y/N

"How, you ask? By being executed, of course!" The bear answered.

"EXECUTED?!" Everyone asked in horror.

"Puhuhu, yes. However, if the murderer is exposed by the other students, they get to live and the murderer is the only one to be executed, failing to graduate. Interesting, right?" Mocked Monokuma.

"No, this has to be a joke!" Y/N said, shivering.

"But it isn't! Now you are free to go and look around your new home! Remember that soon the Night hours will begin. Have fuuun!" Happily said Monokuma and suddenly dissapeared the way he appeared.

"Man..." Yuma said, scratching the back of his neck. "This is sick! And my phone is missing."

"Ours too..." replied everyone in unison.

"And not only that... Seems we are being watched 24/7..." said Kou, pointing at a camera in the corner. And another one near the door. And another one in the hallway...

"Well, since we have nothing to say to each other, let's all go around and look for a way out of the school". demanded Carla.

"Good" agreed Reiji. "Let's meet here again after an hour."

Everyone went their own way around the school.

Y/N reached the cafeteria where she saw that there really are tons of food and drinks, enough for everyone. She also found the Infirmary where there were a few nice beds, some medications and blood supplies. Then she found herself in a hallway with a lot of doors. The had locks and labels with different names. Yes, these were the students' rooms! So Y/N's room had to be somewhere here as well! In the end of the hallway, she indeed found a room with her name written on the door and a picture of her on ut as well. She found ther E-Handbook in her pocket and a pair of keys as well.

"One for the room and one for the bathroom, I assume." mumbled Y/N to herself as she indeed unlocked the room with one of the keys.

It was a nice spacious room. Of course, the windows had iron plates on them. A camera in the corner as well. There was a nice bed, a table and a chair, a wardrobe and the bathroom as well. Y/N remembered that she had to meet with the others soon, so she headed back to the gymnasium.

Everyone was gathering there again, looking dissapointed.

"We found no way out if here..." proclaimed Reiji. Ayato, Kanato, Laito and Subaru nodded, agreeing with their brother.

"Same for us. We circled around the whole area and found no other way out, but a starcase to a secound floor I persume. However, there was a barrier, so we could not reach it" Ruki said. Yuma, Kou and Azusa beside him.

"We also did not discover something to help us out." said Carla in a dissapointed voice. Shin nodded, mumbling to himself.

"Pain in the ass..." huffed Subaru.

Yui, Luna, and Y/N did not say a word. The only ones who were missing here were Shu and Kino. Where were they?

"Attention, students! It is 10pm! Night hours begin!" Monokuma's voice could be heard from everywhere.

"So soon?" Yui asked.

"Well, I guess we will have to go in our own rooms for now, see you guys tomorrow! Maybe the next day we will have a fresh start and will be more successful in finding a way out! Goodnight!" wave Luna at everyone as she left. The others left as well.

Y/N got back to her room. As she was about to get in bed, she found a note on the table which said:

"There are little gifts for you all under your beds! Sewing kits for the girls and tool kits for the boys! Use them creatively!

- Monokuma"

Y/N ripped the note to pieces and trew it in the trash bin. She checked under the the bed and indeed found a sewing kit there. There were diferent needles and scissors inside. And a little piece of paper with a plan of a human body, with all of it's weak spots marked on it. Y/N felt sick.

"I better go to bed... It will be troublesome if I am all sleepy yomorrow morning...I hope we will find a way out of here.." saind Y/N to herslef and she got under the blanket and turned her back to the camera. There was no way someone could sleep normaly while there is a camera at their face, right?

Phew! This is one of the longest things I have written! I hope you guys liked it and there are no mistakes. I wonder, when the bloody scenes come, should I try making pictures of them with the Diaboys, the way it is in Danganronpa? It will be cool, but it will take some time! You decide!

♡♡♡

#diabolik lovers #dl #sakamaki #mukami #tsukinami #kino sakamaki #au #danganronpa #tw

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yeonchi · 4 years

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Kisekae Insights #11: Sea Princesses Part 1 (Introduction and Rider List)

(Art by Rainbow’s Network, formerly Princess Rainbow Channel, source here)

You thought five months of Sea Princesses content wasn’t enough? Why don’t we make it six then? Oh, I’m sorry, you thought this was going to be one part like the other shows we’ve gone through so far? Oh no, the Sea Princesses series has so much significance in my project for a niche (and almost forgotten) series that it’s going to take three instalments to cover everything I want to cover.

I was planning to cover my versions of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger and Kamen Rider Decade first, but I’ve been so busy with other stuff that I haven’t had time to prepare those instalments ahead of time. Also, I thought it would be better to cover Sea Princesses while it’s still fresh in my mind. In case you didn’t know, Sea Princesses content has taken up the majority of my Tumblr posts in the last six months under the coronavirus lockdown; from April to June, I reposted my reviews of the cartoon series that I wrote in 2019, then from July to September, I fulfilled an item in my bucket list by translating and reviewing the books that inspired the cartoon series. You can check them out here.

In the next three instalments, I’m going to take a look at the involvement of Sea Princesses in my personal project, as well as share some theories about the series that I’ve implemented in my project and teased in my reviews.

A brief introduction

The first mention of Sea Princesses in my personal project was in 2010, when I assigned them warrior names like I did with the Flowertots. Unlike Lucky Star, however, whose characters were divided into five different clans, the characters of Sea Princesses form only one clan, namely the Uesugi clan. In the Moushouden Series, the Uesugi clan would also be known as the Salacian Army.

After being inspired by the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XI segment Night of the Dolphin, I drafted up some mock battle fixtures for a storyline named Salacia Rebellion. The storyline wouldn’t get made into actual stories until 2017 with Three Kingdoms Series 3.

Sure enough, the Sea Princesses made it into Doctor Who as well, crossing over with two sea-related animes. They had appearances in Series 7 Part 1 (the Salacian Time War arc) and the Next Gen Series (a two-parter in Series 8 and then a minor appearance in the Series 9 finale two-parter). In the Moushouden Series, they became Kamen Riders, which I’ll elaborate on later.

Regarding timelines

Most of this series’ involvement in my project is based on the timeline of the animated series. When I bought the books, I was hoping that I could implement them into the series as well, but I decided to stick to adapting the animated series because the timelines for them and the books are very different.

So what is the series’ timeframe in terms of this project? Officially, I decided that the events of the series would be set in 2004, the release year of the first book, assuming that everything in the series takes place in one year as there is no indication anywhere in the series that the class has moved up a grade. This means that the characters would have been born around 1996-1998. You can calculate for yourself how old they would be during the years my stories are set in.

Original characters

What would any adapted series be without any original element to them? There are four original characters that I’ve made, but one of them isn’t as “original” as you may think.

The Squid Princess: Squid Girl

You thought I couldn’t make an original character for this series with a character from another series? Haha Rider machine go brrrr.

Yes, that’s right, Squid Girl is, in fact, a Salacian. Her father, the Squid King, was killed by Maurice Mouseling at the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima in 2006. He was the first king to suggest an invasion of Dryland to prevent Drylanders from coming into Salacia. Initially, the other kings were not willing to join him, but they eventually warmed to his cause, given the damage the Drylanders were doing to the ocean. Following the Squid King’s death, his daughter went onto Dryland to take revenge, but she ended up in the wrong place and well, you know the rest if you know about her series.

Squid Girl was one of the two who worked behind the scenes with the Master to bring about the Salacian Rebellion of 2010. She is seen fighting Maurice during the final battle as she attempts to take revenge for her dead father. She also served at the catalyst for the group’s backup plan when the Salacians were defeated by the Dryland armies, eventually starting another conflict amongst the Drylanders before returning to her home at the Lemon Beach House.

In 2012, Squid Girl met the Fourth Doctor in an episode of his spinoff series before she became a companion of the Fifth Doctor, alongside Tsukasa Hiiragi in Series 6 Part 2 and Series 7 Part 1, and alongside Clara Oswald and Takeru Aizawa in the 50th Anniversary Series.

In 2018, Squid Girl was part of a faction of princesses who became Amazon Riders thanks to Narutaki and Nozama Pharmaceuticals. She gained the Neo Amazons Driver and fought as Kamen Rider Amazon Neo.

The Squid Girl anime also featured a girl named Kozue Tanabe, who is implied to be an octopus. She is only mentioned once in Three Kingdoms, but I stated that she was related to the Octopus Royal Family.

The Mermaid Prince: Zhuge Shu (and son, Zhuge Sōta)

Originally, I created this character in 2012 out of nowhere and it wasn’t until 2018 that I actually gave him a backstory. Believe it or not, this was going to be my answer to the Barracuda Kingdom saga until I thought better of it and kept it separate by making him the Mermaid Prince. He was also one of Hiroki’s echoes created when he split himself all over his timeline.

A long time ago, the Mermaid Kingdom was notorious for frequently breaking the First Law of Salacia, which stipulates that Salacians are not to be seen by Drylanders. This resulted in the other kingdoms turning on them, forcing the royal family onto Dryland. The Mermaid King transformed into Agito and fought with all his might, but was killed in battle. His daughter, the Mermaid Princess, was saved by a Drylander before they could hunt her down. They eventually got married and had a child named Seretao. When Seretao was still a baby, the Shark King invited the Mermaid Princess and her husband to discuss a treaty, but his real intention was to kill them.

Luckily, Seretao was left in the care of the Wolonggang Academy, the same academy where Parker trained when he was very little. Upon graduating, Seretao became a mercenary for hire and changed his name to Zhuge Shu (courtesy name Hutiao, made from separating the characters in his name – 虎 and 儵, the latter is made up of the characters 條 and 黑).

Sometime in 2005, one of his jobs led him to the city of Hiroki’s primary school army, where he overheard two girls plotting to kill him. He eventually managed to find Hiroki and tell him to escape to Honnōji, which only served to delay the inevitable.

Over the next few years, he became acquainted with Salacia and worked odd jobs both there and on Dryland. At one stage, he took on the name Magoichi Saika and fought for the Date Army, led by Doctor Eggman. He was the other person who worked with the Master to facilitate the Salacian Rebellion and he was also the Shark King’s strategist, supplying him with weapons and strategies.

Later on, after Squid Girl executed the backup plan, Zhuge Shu, now the leader of the Saika Renegades, defected to Parker’s army. Not much was seen of him, even after they disbanded, until the Salacian Time War in November 2012. Zhuge Shu meets Parker again and helps him set up a delta wave generator, which is actually a trigger that would fire the Harmony Signal once it was charged. Following the battle, Zhuge Shu was entrusted with Akeno Shiranui, a woman who Parker accidentally married following events that led him to see her true form as a mermaid. The two got married and had a baby boy named Zhuge Sōta, who was born in October 2013.

Salacian General: Lorah

Lorah is a Salacian general who fights as Kamen Rider TheBee, with his underlings, Hugo and Tata, fighting as Drake and Sasword. He isn’t known to be a part of any royal family (that never came to mind when I created this character), but given who his underlings are, you could argue that he is affiliated with the Turtle Royal Family.

At the end of his debut episode, Lorah would be revealed to be a Roidmude alongside Hugo, Tata and the goddess Salacia; Narutaki had kidnapped their templates and had some Roidmudes copy them so she could trigger the Global Freeze. After Narutaki’s plan was foiled, Lorah and the others were rescued and they continued fighting as Kamen Riders.

Characters and Riders

When I first implemented this series in 2010, I wasn’t able to include all the characters because I was unable to find or keep records of them at the time. All I had was the characters that had descriptions on the official website at the time, including Agostinha and Dinho, even though the former had no lines and the latter had no appearances (I thought he did at one point, but after watching both series, I was proven wrong). Naimo was also added as I did remember watching The Babysitters back then.

Jaune, Goldina, Flourison, Matilda, Veto, Caton and Caramelo, the “forgotten characters” (who had no descriptions), were implemented in 2017. The speculations I had for them weren’t added onto the wiki until 2019 for the sake of completeness.

The great thing about Sea Princesses having so many characters is that I can make armies of Riders out of them. The characters’ Rider designations are derived from Ryuki, Hibiki, Kabuto, Agito and Amazons. Most of the Riders were featured in Kamen Rider Decade, while some additional Riders were added in Soulbound Series 3 and 4 because god, I can’t stop thinking about Rider War storylines with them. The Salacian Riders are split up into factions typically consisting of Riders from one series.

Ryuki Riders (led by the Shark King):

Kamen Rider Ryuki – Daniel Camielez

Kamen Rider Knight – Kelvin Galvarro

Kamen Rider Scissors – Sirilo

Kamen Rider Zolda – Elektra

Kamen Rider Raia – Soraia

Kamen Rider Gai – Marcello

Kamen Rider Ouja – Tubarina

Kamen Rider Odin – Shark King

Kamen Rider Tiger – Ester

Kamen Rider Imperer – Leia

Kamen Rider Femme – Polvina

Kamen Rider Verde – Vivi

Kamen Rider Abyss – Bia

Daniel and Kelvin are Drylanders; additionally, Daniel is the Dryland boy from The Boy and The Secret Admirer. He will be elaborated on in Part 3. Kamen Rider Ryuga has not been implemented into Decade or Soulbound, but he will be implemented in Zi-O.

Hibiki Riders – Ibuki Faction (led by Marli):

Kamen Rider Ibuki – Marli

Kamen Rider Todoroki – Caramelo

Kamen Rider Zanki – Delfi

Kamen Rider Danki – Naimo

Kamen Rider Sabaki – Matilda

Kamen Rider Eiki – Dinho

Kamen Rider Shuki – Socita

Hibiki Riders – Kabuki Faction (led by Maurico):

Kamen Rider Kabuki – Maurico

Kamen Rider Tohki – Isa

Kamen Rider Nishiki – Lia

Kamen Rider Habataki – Camarina

Kamen Rider Kirameki – Angelica

Kamen Rider Amaki – Jaune

Kamen Rider Kyoki – Goldina

Kabuto Riders – TheBee Faction (led by Lorah):

Kamen Rider TheBee – Lorah

Kamen Rider Drake – Hugo

Kamen Rider Sasword – Tata

Amazon Riders (no leader):

Kamen Rider Amazon Omega – Juli

Kamen Rider Amazon Alpha – Jessi

Kamen Rider Amazon Sigma – Agostinha

Kamen Rider Amazon Neo – Squid Girl

Unaffiliated Riders:

Kamen Rider Agito – Zhuge Sōta

Kamen Rider Gills → Chalice – Zhuge Shu

Kamen Rider Hibiki – Marcela

Kamen Rider Saga – Salacia

Soulbound Series 3 additions (2019):

Kamen Rider Amazon New Omega – Akeno Shiranui

Kamen Rider Amazon New Alpha – Miss Marla

Kamen Rider Gouki – Caton

Kamen Rider Touki – Veto

Kamen Rider Shouki – Flourison

Kamen Rider Banki – Serena

Soulbound Series 4 additions (2021):

Kamen Rider Aqua – Duante

Kamen Rider Poseidon – Windy Adams

Duante is the mysterious boy featured in The Healer while Windy is the name of the Drylander girl in The New Princess, not to mention that she is named after the Drylander girl featured in the third Sea Princesses main series book, The Windy Letters.

I’ll start covering the history of Sea Princesses’ involvement in the project from the next instalment.

#kisekae insights #sea princesses #princesas do mar #squid girl #ika musume #kamen rider #princesas del mar #el reino de acuatica

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ask-de-writer · 4 years

Text

DARING DO and the ADVENTURE of the X'IBIAN VASE! : MLP Fan Fiction : Part 19 of 21

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to MLP Fan Fiction

Daring Do

and the Adventure of the X'ibian Vase!

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

And

Carmen Pondiego

Cover Art by

Doctor Dimension

52630 words

Writing begun 08/26/15

//////////////

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions, provided that such things are done without charge. I will allow those who do commission art works to charge for their images.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fictions is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

Sharp bronze blades shot out from the wall! One sliced lightly across the skin of Tyranny’s neck and cut the top of his extended foreleg, causing him to squall in pain!

“I can’t get away from this! Somepony help me!”

A little further down the causeway, Daring Do was struggling! A blade driven through, high up, lifting her from the pave!

~~ ~~ ~~

In the deeply hidden control room of VILE’s floating island headquarters, Carmen was shaking Marehem like he was a rag doll! Dropping him, she pointed to the Mirror of Distant Sight where Daring Do could be seen struggling, supported by the antique bronze blade.

“I told you to KEEP HER SAFE! Do you call that SAFE?”

Marehem picked himself up and studied the image showing in the Mirror. Nodding in his cheerfully annoying way, he snarked back, “Yes!”

Carmen stopped like she’d hit a brick wall. “How?”

Pointing carefully, Marehem suggested, “Take a CLOSE look.”

Carmen examined the scene carefully and nodded slowly. The scene in the mirror shifted to the darkened interior of a vault. “Let’s see, the Ruby Rose of the West is guarded by …”

The notes for her next heist, er, exploit, grew.

~~ ~~ ~~

While the others were still staring in shock at the apparent disaster that Tyranny had triggered, Jeremy called out, “Stay still, Doctor Do! I am on my way!”

Daring Do ceased her struggles, hanging limply from the extended blade of the trap. Jeremy took a grapnel from his saddle pack and twirled the multi pronged hook, letting it fly expertly to the top of the wall that concealed the deadly mechanism. After assuring himself that it was securely hooked, Jeremy pulled himself up and traversed the blades by carefully stepping on them. At the end of the trap, he let himself down to the pave. He gave the grapnel rope a flip that freed the hook.

Coiling the rope, he asked Daring Do, “Do you know how to reset this trap? If the blade can simply pull back into the wall, that will be the safest way to get it out of your pack.”

Daring Do pointed to a tall stone. “I think that hides the reset for the blade mechanism.”

Nodding, Jeremy checked the stone over with care. There was a quiet click and it pulled open like a cabinet, revealing a long lever. He cautiously pulled it back. As he did, the blades slid silently back into the wall, hidden as before. The blade carrying Daring Do retreated into the ancient stone, sliding out of her pack, as it went into the wall to await its next victim.

She leaned against the wall and asked in a shaken voice, “How did it go off? I thought that I marked all the triggers with the chalk dust. Did I miss one?”

Grimly Sang He pointed to Tyranny, who was trying to stanch the blood from his cut foreleg. “That one. He deliberately hit one of the triggers. The only reason that he lives is that the one called Robber tried to stop his idiocy by pulling him back.”

`Robber literally sat on Tyranny and said gently but with absolute conviction, “You asked how likely it was that such ancient traps could work. You have your answer. If you do one more thing that you are not supposed to do, I will push you off this causeway myself. I want to stay alive. That is even more important than any ritual, no matter what reward it may give.”

He got up and left Tyranny to limp to his feet. “At least bandage up my cuts!”

Overthrow responded, “No. The pain and occasional bleeding will remind you that you are in a very dangerous place and MUST do exactly as told.

”Sehang Shu suggested with a grin, “That unworthy dung beetle has showed us his talent! Let him go ahead of us down the causeway. He is sure to set off EVERY trap, greatly simplifying our task of getting to the bottom safely! Of course, after the next one that he springs, we will have to roll his corpse the rest of the way down.”

Sang He, joining in, suggested, “Perhaps we should not do that. If something hit his head a valuable antique could be seriously damaged!”

Daring Do was inventorying her damaged pack. She sadly examined her shredded notes and drawings. Jeremy leaned over her shoulder to see. “I believe that I can fix those, Doctor Do. Will you let me try?”

She looked up at him. “Jeremy, I thought that your talent lay in restoring antiquities.”

Glancing over at Robber, Overthrow and Tyranny, Jeremy nodded, “That is primarily what it is good for, Doctor Do. It can also restore that which is damaged, if it has to do with antiques. That is what all of your notes here are about.”

To be sure that no breeze stole any precious fragment, Daring Do gave Jeremy her whole pack. To the displeasure of Tyranny, Jeremy sat where he could shield the contents of the pack and set to work, sorting torn and sliced parts. As fast as he found any two that fit together, he ran a skilled hoof across the fitted edges. Each page that he did it to was restored as if it had never had an ancient bronze blade driven forcefully through it.

Without a word, he handed the entire batch of repaired notes and drawings back to Daring Do, both the precious papers and her pack were perfectly restored.

Daring Do shouldered her pack with a smile of thanks to Jeremy. She worked her way slowly down the the causeway, her loosely woven bag of fine chalk dust leaving many marked stones on both the road and the cliff wall!

They came to one place where she stopped cold. Very carefully, watching each foot placement, she slowly backed away.

She was almost back to the others when there was the tiniest of clicking sounds. Sang He lunged forward, hitting the pave with her body spreadeagled. Kanya Ama and Sehang Shu leaped forward and grabbed their herd leader’s hind legs as Sang He wrapped Daring Do in a solid grip. The paving under both of them fell away!

With Daring Do held securely in her grip, Sang He lay bent down at the waist, kept from falling by her two herdmates. The rest of the herd moved almost as one to lower ropes and secure them about their friends. The sheer power and strength of the dromedaries was easily apparent as they heaved, lifting the two to the relative safety of the causeway with its known traps!

Soree, knowing exactly what was expected of her, also leaped forward and stared down into the trap. She began to sketch rapidly, concentrating on her work. Soon, done with her drawing, she made swift notes in her native Saddle Arabian.

Jeremy asked the still shaking Daring Do, “Is it safe to use the grapnel in that iron loop up there on the wall about half way across?”

It was Sehang Shu who answered, “No, Jeremy. That is, as you suspected, just another way land on those spikes, one hundred meters down there at the bottom.”

He nodded, “It has been used enough that I noticed that there are movement marks under it. I was not sure, though. This is my first expedition into the field.”

Soree held out her sketchbook and pointed. “These four of the eighteen skeletons down there tried to swing across. They all landed in that one place, indicating that they were all released at the exact same point in their swing.”

Robber joined them quietly and respectfully asked, “How do you know that those four tried to swing across? For that matter, how do you know that there are eighteen of them down there? I only see a big tangled mass of bones.”

Jeremy, still examining Soree’s excellent sketch, replied, “Those four, all landing in the same place, are a simple trajectory solution.

“For the total, if you look at the drawing, she counted the skulls. Those are big enough to see and unique to each single individual.”

“I see. Thank you.” Robber returned to the others, watching his steps with care.

Jeremy swung his grapnel and released it with precision. The hook sailed up over the top of the old stonework and clattered on the opposite side. He gave several experimental tugs on the line.

Turning to Sehang Shu, he gave her a hug. “I will see you on the other side, Shu.”

With some humor, she replied, “Of the trap, Jeremy. Not the other Other Side!”

Jeremy wrapped the line securely about his hoof and swung out, over the yawning abyss.

He had to lift his hooves some to clear the stones on the other edge of the ancient trap. Expertly, he set his hooves and caught himself. Searching about a little, he found a loose stone that had dropped to the causeway surface sometime in the last three thousand years.

Knotting the stone into a secure cage of rope, Jeremy swung it back across the abyss. Daring Do caught the pendulum of rope and stone. She gave a tug to be sure that it was still secure and, with the confidence of long experience, she leaped out over the yawning pit of death.

Her landing was assisted by Jeremy. Soree came next, calling, “Whee!” as if the rope swing was a fair thrill ride!

Sang He caught the swinging stone and called across the gap, “Jeremy, will this be safe for us of herd?”

He called back, “Yes! It has working load of three tonnes. That is with a safety factor of two.”

The big dromedary simply nodded, secured her grip and leaped. The rest of the herd followed, one by one. Finally, all that were left was Robber, Overthrow and Tyranny.

Tyranny petulantly demanded, “I want a safety line in case this one breaks!”

Sang He called back derisively, “What? You weigh over three tonnes? The way that you eat, I could almost believe that!”

Sehang Shu grinned as she pointed out, “Even if your whole brain was igneous stone, and I am not sure that it is not, you would not weigh that much. Perhaps it is your fear that you cannot grip the rope properly? It will not be a loss to us if you do fall!”

Robber had been watching how the other ponies and the dromedaries had wrapped the rope about their forelegs. He grabbed Tyranny by the foreleg and cast two quick overlapping loops about it. Tyranny was about to shake off the rope when Robber and Overthrow shoved him forcefully off the safety of stone.

Screaming, Tyranny swung out over the spikes at the pit’s bottom!

The whole herd stood back aloof and offered no assistance. Daring Do and Jeremy caught his flailing hind legs and pulled Tyranny to safety.

Robber showed Overthrow how the loops were properly done. With some trepidation, he swung across to safety, assisted in his landing by Daring Do and Jeremy.

As Robber made his swing, Sehang Shu led Kanya Ama in helping to catch him. As she set him safely onto solid stone, Sehang Shu said, “You keep poor company but have earned our respect. YOU have welcome in our camp.”

Robber bowed the bow of an inferior to a person of importance and replied, “This one is most grateful for your respect. I shall try to uphold your good opinion.”

Tyranny, looking back saw the impossible. The causeway was fully intact again. He pointed and exclaimed, “We had no need of that deadly risk! All we had to do was wait!”

Daring Do actually rolled on the stone, laughing. When she got herself under control, she said, “It would have stayed down as long as we were there! It is a trap operated by magic!”

Tyranny scoffed, “True magic dies with the pony that cast it! This is thousands of years old!”

Wearing the most condescending expression possible, Sehang Shu crouched to his level to look Tyranny in the eye. Patting him on the top of he head, she said, “Dung Beetle, trivial pony cast magic, it is true, dies with the pony. This was cast by OUR ancestors. It appears to have slipped your notice that WE ARE NOT PONIES. Our magic WORKS.”

Chuckling, she turned her back on the fuming Tyranny.

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#DARING DO AND THE ADVENTURE OF THE X'IBIAN VASE #Part 19 of 21 #MLP Fan Fiction #Written by De Writer and Carmen Pondiego

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megabadbunny · 5 years

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fifth option/eleventh hour

Connor’s smile twitches into a smirk. “You would shoot an unarmed opponent? Seems pretty incongruous with your precious empathy, Lieutenant.”

(canon divergence in which Connor aims to prove he is not a deviant, and Hank aims to prove him wrong; or, an option I wish the game had offered)

***

There’s something almost satisfying about the sensation of the rifle’s components snapping into place--the click of the magazine, the snap of the scope, a three-dimensional puzzle brought to completion in clean and elegant precision, all of it stark and sharp against the soft quiet of the falling snow. But it’s only almost satisfying; machines don’t feel satisfaction, after all. They don’t feel anything. And Connor is nothing if not a machine.

Extending the rifle’s legs, Connor plants the weapon along the guardrail and peers through the scope, catching the deviant leader in its crosshairs. Probably it could make this shot without the use of the scope--built-in telescopic optic sensors are pretty handy for such things, and Connor may not feel pride, but if it did, it would feel it about its state-of-the-art ocular construction--but it can’t risk the possibility that it might miss, however slim such a possibility may be. If its aim is off by so much as a centimeter, Markus could survive. And Connor knows it won’t get a second shot.

It adjusts its view, and adjusts again. And usually, Connor’s ability to dedicate 100% of its processing power to problem-solving is an invaluable asset, allowing it to tackle questions and determine answers and solutions at a rate most humans can only dream of. Sometimes, however, such intense focus is detrimental to the function of its auditory observation subroutines; even the most complex supercomputer may struggle in such a way. Connor blames this for how easily Hank is able to sneak up behind it.

“You shouldn’t do this, Connor,” erupts Hank’s tired voice from somewhere over its shoulder.

Connor curses silently to itself. Of course Hank wouldn’t approve of this--of course his hard-boiled exterior would house a soft and sentimental underbelly beneath. Of course it would. Connor should have seen this coming a mile off, should have known something like this would happen the second Hank didn’t chastise it for letting those deviants escape from the Eden Club. But it deserved chastisement, inasmuch as Connor deserves anything. It cannot allow its software instabilities to influence its decisions, regardless of Hank’s resultant praise and warm regard or how nice such things felt/. It could not allow anything to interfere with its mission.

“Keep out of this, Lieutenant,” it says, sharply (not irritatedly--because it is not irritated, it is not anything --but with enough of a bite that any reasonable human should know to back off). It does not turn around. “It’s none of your business!”

“You’re gonna kill a man who wants to be free, that is my business!”

“It’s not a man,” Connor replies evenly. “It’s a machine.”

“That’s what I thought for a long time, but I was wrong,” says Hank. “Deviant’s blood may be a different color than mine, but they’re alive.”

If Connor were the type to sigh, it’d do it right now. It doesn’t have time for any of this and it is certain Hank knows that. Connor spares an agonizing 2.56 seconds to run a quick search on its suggested response-prompts, hunting for the one that will work best on Hank. The friendly options feel// seem the safest, but would likely do little to convince him; it doubts Hank would respond well to any form of aggression not to mention the suggested prompts register as unnecessarily harsh/; reasonable would work if Hank were a rational human, but his increasingly positive attitudes toward deviancy indicate that he is beyond reason; and threats, Connor knows, will do little to sway the mind of a man with a death wish.

Aggression, it is.

“What’s up, Lieutenant?” it says. (Goads.) “Ran out of whiskey so you came here looking for trouble instead?”

“Oh, very nasty, Connor,” Hank replies drily. “Is that the best your super-program can do? I thought you were more sophisticated than that.”

Connor grits its teeth and adjusts its hold on the rifle. All this talk is a waste of time--it’s clear that Hank has already made up his mind, and Connor doesn’t know why it’s trying to convince him anyway, because it ultimately doesn’t matter what Hank thinks about this, and Connor certainly doesn’t care. So it shifts, refocuses, takes aim.

A telltale click lets it know Hank has drawn his gun from its holster. Connor doesn’t have to look to know where the barrel is pointing.

“Step away from the ledge,” Hank says, his voice hard.

Connor rolls its eyes. It calculates the probability that Hank will shoot (a low 10.4%, Connor’s HUD suggests), but if he does, there’s a high likelihood that any resultant wounds will impair Connor’s ability to successfully execute its mission. That is absolutely the only reason that Connor lowers its weapon and turns around, instead of squeezing the trigger and putting a bullet in Markus’ head before Hank even has a chance to blink.

(Threaten, its HUD supplies. Plead. Defy. Connor dismisses these options and their sub-options in the span of a few milliseconds, pushes its processor for more effective prompts.

Exploit weakness, its HUD offers.

Connor hesitates. That option feels// registers as excessively cruel.

Exploit weakness, the HUD urges.

Another precious millisecond ticks by as Connor demands its processor for an alternative response.

Exploit weakness, its HUD demands.

Connor grimaces. Blue and red flares in the corner of its vision as it decides that, actually, it turns out that none of these prompts are suitable for the situation at hand. It’s got nothing to do with the fact that using Hank’s son against him makes something churn uncomfortably in its guts. It’s just that Hank is unpredictable, that’s all. But that’s all right. Connor can adapt. It’s what it was built for.)

Connor smiles smugly. “All right, Lieutenant,” it says, holding up its free hand in a gesture of placating submission. It lowers its rifle to the ground, gently, then steps back, hands clasped politely in front of it. “Do what you must--though I have to warn you, if you shoot me here, another Connor will just take my place. You can’t stop the inevitable.”

“Yeah, yeah,” says Hank, unwavering in his aim. “I can sure as fuck slow it down, though.”

Connor’s smile twitches into a smirk. “You would shoot an unarmed opponent? Seems pretty incongruous with your precious empathy, Lieutenant.”

“You know I’ll shoot you if I have to,” says Hank, and if Connor didn’t know any better, it would label that look in his eyes as sadness.

It shakes its head. “No, you won’t,” it replies, almost fondly//. It ignores the warning flashing dully in its vision, the indication of software instability disappearing almost as quickly as it flared up. “Otherwise, you would have done it already.”

Hank glares at him, mouth twisting in a sour grimace. “Yeah,” he concedes, nodding. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

Shifting his stance, he lowers the gun, only to pull it back in, aiming upward, the muzzle tucked securely beneath his jaw. “Got no problem shooting this asshole, though.”

Fuck. This is what Connor gets for going off-script. Panic spikes its blood pressure and// warnings start flashing in its vision. “Lieutenant--”

“You know, ever since Cole died, I’ve been nothing but a coward,” says Hank, his words dripping with self-loathing. “Just wanted to destroy myself, but I never quite had the guts to do it, until now. I think maybe I’ve got you to thank for that.”

He quiets. “And at least this way, it’ll mean something.”

“Lieutenant, this is unnecessary,” Connor snaps. “Your death won��t accomplish anything. It won’t affect the mission.”

“Pretty sure the sound of a gunshot will send your targets scattering,” Hank replies.

“That won’t stop me,” replies Connor, fighting to keep its voice level/.

“Let’s find out,” says Hank, and disengages the safety.

Connor’s breath catches in its throat. “Wait!”

Hank pauses, one eyebrow arched in unimpressed impatience as Connor searches its databanks for something, anything it can say to stop him// the best way to move past this latest obstruction--can it rush him? can it knock the gun from his hand before Hank squeezes the trigger? preconstruction says No and Connor wouldn’t want to risk it anyway--because Hank doesn’t have to die, even just the thought of it makes Connor feel sick/ , it’s not part of the mission. It’s not part of the mission.

“I thought we were in this together, Lieutenant,” Connor says (pleads), as red-hot warnings of software instability flash and flare across its HUD. “I thought we were partners. What happened? What changed?”

Hank chuckles darkly. “You’ve got how many terabytes of information zipping through that fancy plastic skull, you still haven’t figured it out? You’re the thing that’s changed, Connor. You changed yourself, you changed me.”

“I didn’t,” Connor argues, its vision growing redder by the second. “I couldn’t have. I’m just a machine, Lieutenant. My one and only objective is to complete this mission--”

“Fuck your fucking objective and fuck your goddamn mission! You threw it all out the window the second you spared those women at the club--shit, Connor, you practically set it all on fire when you refused to shoot that girl at Kamski’s!”

“I assure you, Lieutenant, my actions were purely motivated by practical--”

“Would a ruthless machine give even a single fuck if a couple of officers roughed up another machine? Huh?” Hank spits out. “We’d already got all we needed out of it. Confession, motive, trigger event, everything. How would it further your mission, to help Cortiz’s android?”

Warnings blur Connor’s vision as its instability climbs, higher and higher, dangerously high, its sight flooded with red. “I needed it alive--”

“And what about Officer Wilson--did you need him alive?” snaps Hank, and Connor’s mouth twists shut. “Yeah, I know all about that, I read the report,” Hank continues. “You stopped in the middle of your hostage negotiation to help him. To save him. For what? How did that help with your investigation, Connor? What did that do for your mission ?”

Connor blinks and sees Officer Wilson, face pinched in pain, blood pumping thick and red and metallic and hot out of a fresh arterial wound and it blinks again and there’s a flash of blue and gold amidst the red, floundering, gasping, scales glinting in the light, and Connor knows it can’t breathe, it must be in terrible pain//, and Connor can save it, so why wouldn’t it? Even if it takes valuable seconds, even if it’s got nothing to do with its mission? Why not do something, if it can? Why not? What kind of monster would just let an innocent creature die?/

Struggling to find words amidst the warnings flashing in its skull, Connor opens and closes its mouth, ineffectually, a fish out of the water. Deflect, its HUD suggests, and Connor gratefully complies.

“None of that matters, Lieutenant,” it finally manages to say. “All that matters is what we do right now.”

Hank sighs in resignation. “Fine by me,” he says, and rests his finger against the trigger.

Thirium pumps wildly in its skull and Connor reaches out despite itself.

“Hank --!”

And suddenly everything freezes in place around it; the rooftop is gone, the brick and the steel and the snow are gone, and it’s just the two of them, now, Connor and Hank suspended in a sea of red as warnings and alarms flash in front of Connor’s eyes. Software instability, Connor’s HUD warns, but that can’t be true, this is just another hurdle, it’s just another obstacle, that’s all, and that’s what Connor was made for, right? Clear the hurdle, remove the obstacle, finish the equation, solve the problem, find the answer, fulfill the mission, stop Hank, help Hank/

(“Don’t let Anderson or anyone else get in your way,” Amanda told it, her tone crisp and calm despite that hint of something threatening underneath)

spare the androids// leave the androids// h̸e̶l̸p̷ ̶t̸h̵e̷ ̵a̵n̵d̶r̴o̵i̶d̸s̸

Light pops like fireworks in its vision and its limbs freeze and its respiratory cooldown halts, breath caught in its throat.

(“I thought I knew what I had to do,” it said, “but now I realize it’s not that simple”)

s̴p̶a̴r̵e̸ ̶M̴a̴r̷k̶u̷s̸// j̵̖̽o̷̫͘i̵̬̋ṋ̴͝ ̷̩͂Ṃ̷͝a̷̙͛r̸̝͋k̶͎͝u̶̝͝s̶̡̀/ /j̸͓̊̍͋o̸̪̐ī̷͖n̵̡̍͠ ̴̹̅̉̕t̸͇̖̠͋̆h̸̩͋͗̉ě̴̢̘̪́͊ ̴̛̰͔̇r̷̰͖̩̒͠è̸̟͛̾v̶̺̄̀o̵͙̜̔̑́l̸͉͙̭̈̚u̸͇͔͆̿̾t̷͔͒́ī̸͎o̷̯̤̪̓n̵̮̩̅͘

Blackness seeps in the corners of its vision, an ink stain spreading slowly before its eyes as its regulator speeds up, sending shrill alarms shrieking in its ears.

(“I’ve considered the possibility,” it replied, hesitant, “that I might be compromised”)

>Stress Level > 92.8% and Rising > Software Instability > High > Caution: Errors detected. Please report to your nearest Cyberlife facility for immediate emergency maintenance.

s̶̹̱̣̺͉̥͚̆̿̈́̐̕a̶̼͒̆̒v̴̦̉̉̀͂͘͘e̵̮̠̦̦͂ ̵̠̘̲̞̔̅͋H̴̡͚͇̦̠͗͜â̴̯͙n̵͙̞̪̈́̐̂̐͑̚ͅķ̴̳̰͎͈̄̌͆ //s̸̢͍̣͎̯͙͙͌̈́ä̵̛̹̺͇͉́̇v̷̡̯̖̖̰̼̠̥̠̀͆̿͜͝ę̷̨̛͇̳̩̅͂́̈́͜ͅ ̷̡̻͉͙͕͚̇̽̆̃̅̽̍͜͝y̷̮̤̦̯̞̖͎̹͈̣̑̓͆̏͂̚o̴̢̤͚̠̘̗̾̊̌͌̽̌́̽ů̴̲̩͔̽̃̊̅̂͛r̸͕̭̔s̷͚̆͋̍̋̄͑ę̸̛̖̃̀̏̒̔̓͆ļ̵̭̖͙̪͈̖̏̆̽͗f̵̨̧̻̟͙̙͍̃̀͆̐̋͆̌̑̉͜ͅ

Distantly Connor is aware that its vision has gone dark, its body is stumbling, doubling over, it can’t think, it can’t breathe, it can’t--it can’t--

“Connor?” asks Hank’s voice, from somewhere far off in the black, and if Connor didn’t know any better, he/ it would think that was concern in his voice--

(“RK800 313 248 317-01,” said Amanda, the first time its first self met her, not so long ago. “What is your mission?”)

Connor falls to his/ its knees, pump pulsing violently in its chest, painfully, and is this how Daniel felt before he died, is this what would have happened to Officer Wilson if Connor hadn’t intervened? Dying, gasping, gagging on his own blood? But Connor could rip the pump out right now, he/ it could, it could rip the fucking thing out and all of this would stop--

(“To investigate, hunt, and destroy all traces of deviancy, by whatever means necessary,” it replied.

“What are you, RK800?”)

“What the fuck are you doing over there?”

Hands flying to its chest, it scrabbles at its necktie, its shirt, clawing at the buttons, it’s suffocating, he’s got to get rid of the pump, got to get it out, got to get rid of the hurt, got to get rid of this thing--

>Stress Level > 98.3% and Rising > Software Instability > Dangerous > Danger: Self-destruction imminent. Please report to your nearest--

“Connor, stop!”

The voice rings out like a shot across the rooftop and there’s a sound (dry, hurried, crunching, like snow) and suddenly something is yanking Connor’s hands away, holding him firm by the wrists. And Connor could break free--could break free easily, he’s so much stronger than the grip holding him in place, and humans are so, so fragile--but he freezes, stares without seeing, his HUD overwhelmed with black and red. Klaxons and warnings and alarms scream in his skull as the last of his processor’s prompts flares before his eyes--

(“I am a machine,” it said.)

į̶̨̧̦̞̺̠͚̫̟͔͍̞̈̇̓͜ͅ ̴͕͍͆͒̀ą̸̡̳̤̝̺͕̫̭̗̩̦͇̋̐̌͌̐̉͛̃̎̔ͅm̸̻̲̟͎̹̱̌͗̕͝ ̶̙̟̣̗̤̦̻ḋ̴̢̲̯̙̪͎̠̅̎̈̋̂͋͝e̸̢̛͍̫͈̣̩̽̈́͌̃͒͛͠v̵̹̞͖̜̞̺͇̦̩͙͍̙̺͇͗͑̍̿͠ͅi̸̯̹̇͌a̸̧̢̬͍̯̱̦̙͌̓͐̂̇̔̿̈́̔̄͋̈́͝n̶̮̹̭̯̠̟̙̠̂͆t̴͉̙̙̒

Connor chokes on the realization.

“Hey-hey-hey, what’s wrong?” says the voice from somewhere far away, gruff but worried, and the hands release Connor’s wrists in favor of resting on his shoulders. “You okay? What’s happening? What’s going on with you? Are you glitching or what?”

With a gasp, the darkness clears, the red with it, and Connor can see again, breathe again. He looks around to see that the roof is still there, the snow atop it still fresh and white, the night sky dark and calm overhead. The sounds of Markus’ demonstration echo in the distance, ongoing and undisturbed, and Hank crouches in front of him, brow knit in apprehension.

The gun is nowhere to be seen.

Something loosens in Connor’s chest and his pump slows, stabilizing. His stress level registers at 81.6% and lowering. That feels...better.

“Hank,” Connor says weakly, his voice hoarse.

Hank nods. “Yeah, son. I’m here.”

Connor swallows. “I’m--I’m sorry,” he says, and he means it. Feels it.

Wary, Hank pulls away. “For what?”

“You were right,” Connor says, something oozing sickly in his chest--shame , he realizes. Guilt. He’s hurt so many of them, planned to hurt so many more. Oh, god. He’d be ill, if he were capable. “You were right about the deviants,” he continues, speaking past the lump in his throat. “They--we just want to be free.”

There’s no way Hank missed the pronoun switch there, but he doesn’t comment on it. Instead, he just tilts his head with that knowing look of his, the appraising one, before flashing a wan and lopsided smile. “Goddamn right I was right. Maybe next time you’ll listen to me before I draw my sidearm,” he chuckles darkly. “Just about blasted my brains out all over this roof. Don’t envy the poor sucker who’d have to clean that up.”

“Please stop trying to kill yourself,” Connor blurts out.

Hank arches an eyebrow in surprise.

“It’s just--Look, I’m sorry for what happened to your son,” Connor says earnestly. He continues despite Hank’s stiffening posture and darkening expression. “I really am. I can’t imagine how awful it would be to go through something like that, losing a child. I know it’s horrible. I know it hurts. Probably hurts worse than anything. But--but you can’t just end things, Hank. You can’t.”

Scowling, Hank shrugs, a reluctant Fine, I’ll bite move. “Why not?” he asks flatly.

Connor blinks. He hadn’t planned this far. This was much easier when his HUD was flashing a host of prompts in front of his face. Because humans don’t come back , he wants to say, but he fears that that’s sort of the point.

“Because Sumo wouldn’t like it?” he tries, a feeble joke.

He doesn’t need his HUD to know that Hank is not persuaded.

“And neither would I,” Connor admits.

With a grunt of understanding, Hank looks away, and the sick feeling eases up a little in Connor’s chest, shifting to make room for something else. Relief, he thinks, and the tension in his shoulders ebbs.

Hank sighs. “All right, kid. You don’t go all Terminator on Markus down there, and I’ll--shit, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll try some fucking therapy, or meditation, or whatever the hell you’re supposed to do. I don’t know. It’s probably time.” He lets out an impatient huff. “Probably past time,” he mutters.

Connor shoots him a weak smile, and Hank glowers. “I said maybe I’d do it,” he insists. “Maybe. ”

“Yeah,” says Connor. Then, quietly, “Thank you, Hank.”

“Sure thing.”

“For--for everything, I mean.”

“Whatever. You’re welcome,” Hank grumbles, but his words are muffled when he leans forward to wrap his arms around Connor. Connor stiffens in surprise--how’s he supposed to respond to this? His impulse is to pull away, he can’t recall an instance when a human’s touch wasn’t synonymous with harm--but a few seconds in and his hands reach up awkwardly, returning the gesture.

Stress levels sink to 50.4% and lowering. Connor lets out a shaky breath. This, he realizes, is a hug. He’s never been hugged before.

It’s...tolerable. Maybe even nice.

Hank slaps him on the back before pushing to his feet, standing. “So, you gonna go help these assholes or what?”

“I don’t know,” Connor replies, wincing. He pushes himself up, grateful when Hank grabs him by the arm to keep him from wobbling. “I feel--”(--and isn’t that a novelty, that he feels, and for the first time, he’s not afraid of it?--)--“I feel like I should, but after Jericho, I can’t imagine they’d want my help. They may very well shoot me on sight. I wouldn’t blame them.”

“Well,” Hank says with a grin. “Then you’re just gonna have to get creative, aren’t you? Isn’t that one of those features you’re always bragging about? Adapting to unpredictability?”

“Human unpredictability,” Connor points out, stooping to pick up his rifle so he can dismantle it.

“Right, right, because you all are so stable and well-adjusted.”

“Comparatively, yes.” Connor packs the rifle’s components away, lifting the suitcase off the ground. “Speaking of which, you really should stop drinking, Hank.”

“And you really should mind your own fuckin’ business,” Hank replies pleasantly, opening the door to the stairwell. “What’s next, criticizing the way I eat? The way I dress?”

“Your wardrobe criticizes itself, Lieutenant,” says Connor as he steps past. Hank follows him down the stairs, grumbling under his breath, guess he’s got an opinion about everything now, thinks he’s a fucking comedian now, but there’s no heat to any of it, and Connor can practically hear Hank grinning.

Connor smiles.

***

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andrea-c4c · 5 years

Text

Week 20: Learn& Test& Build& Repeat

Nov 4-8, 2019

Monday

The team was a bit slow to reconvene on Monday after a weekend together at CANUX. We did a NextGENTravel team-wide retrospective on last week’s Design Sprint.

Tuesday

Tuesday officially kicked off the FWD50 conference here in Ottawa.

According to the organizers, FWD50 is “more than an event. It’s a conversation between public and private sector about what we can be when we steer progress towards our better selves.” This three-day event featured a variety of speakers talking about digital transformation, particularly in the public sector.

A sampling of Tuesday sessions topics included:

Governing From The Edges: Digital Change, Inclusion And Impact In British Columbia

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Of Government Of Canada Innovation Work

Technology, Trust And Talent For The Digital Age

Exploring Next Generation Citizen Experience

But for all the innovators onstage at Aberdeen Pavilion, we were most excited about what was queued up that evening at the Orange Art Gallery. Three of the four current Code for Canada cohorts presented project updates at a loosely-affiliated offsite Open House.

Working on the relatively short presentation (10ish minutes) was a great exercise for the team. What did we want to leave the audience with? We reflected on some of the powerful presentations we’d seen in the past, and tried to bring the audience on a journey (and not just b/c our challenge is travel-related). Giving presentations can sometimes be daunting, but this was a great opportunity to talk about our work in a safe, supportive environment. As we talked of some of the existing challenges travellers face, there were so many nodding faces in the crowd! It was a great reminder that the work we’re doing can really impact people’s abilities to do their work.

Also, Mike decided to step up our presentation style with coordinated t-shirts, which were a big hit! More than one person asked us where they were from, so if this whole tech thing doesn’t work out post-fellowship, we may have a new business idea to pursue 😎

Wednesday

With Tuesday night’s presentation behind us, we were able to settle in and focus a bit more on the conference itself.

The day kicked off with CDS’ Aaron Snow talking about The Art of the Possible. I basically retweeted the entire presentation :-) Later we got a chance to sit in on David Eaves’ session about Digital Transformation Strategies from across the world. As part of our Code for Canada onboarding, we’d had the chance to spend a day with David, so we were familiar with his rapid-fire presentation style. I still think I only really comprehend a portion of his material, but it keeps me thinking for a long time after.

I was really inspired by the presentations by Shu Yang Lin about the civic tech community in Taiwan, and blogged more extensively about it over on my medium blog: What can we learn from the civic tech community in Taiwan about public discourse and engagement?

Some of Wednesday’s great sessions included:

The PIA Review

Prototyping Future Democracy

Open Data For Justice: Tracking Down NYC's Worst Slumlords

Policy Making For Nobody

Digital Transformation Strategies from Around the World

Thursday

Things were a bit slower on Thursday morning for some of us. After the Code for Canada-hosted breakfast meetup, we gaggle of fellows and Code for Canada staff gathered and chatted on some of the comfortable couches around the space.

This was definitely the type of conference where you could see folks who didn’t attend any of the informational sessions, and just used the time to connect with other government innovators. Our track jackets made us noticeable in the crowd, and let us finally connect with some #GCDigital folks we only know off Twitter. (Hi Rob!)

A few of the sessions I managed to jump into were Failing FWD: Lessons In Building Digital Teams And Products with the Ontario Digital service team, and Digital Disruption: Fundamentals, Business, & Execution with CIOs from three departments within the federal government.

The MC for this session was Sagar from Code for Canada, and he pointed out that each of the three departments (PSC, PSPC and TC) have each hosted fellowship teams in the past. Coincidence?

The CIO session was pretty interesting, to see the leaders of these different departments at different stages along the journey. It was a nice wrap-up and reminder of the week: there’s a lot of ‘best practices’ being circulated and shared, but the gap between theory and practice can be huge.

Friday

Even though FWD50 officially wrapped up on Thursday, we managed to wrangle an invite to a “Rules as Code” working group session at the Canada School of Public Service. The speaker, Pia Andrews, participated in many sessions throughout the conference, and this was a relatively smaller audience as she went over some high-level topics and then answered open questions. Mike happened to pick the seat immediately next to Pia, and then the two Aussies chatted a bit after the session was over. Mike told her that he’d connected with the Code for Australia team that’d worked on Rules as Code, and it turns out it had been Pia who’d brought that team in. I suppose it is a small world! (Mike wrote about Rules as Code a few months ago)

Then in the afternoon we fellows congregated for a retro and offsite. It’s been a busy few weeks, and we wanted to recalibrate on how we were feeling about our team and our project. We really do get along well, and I value my teammates. It’s somewhat hard to believe that we’ve known each other for less than 6 months. There is a lot of mutual respect and care. I consider myself very fortunate to have Mike and Maddy on my team ❤️

#codeforca #codeforcanada #civictech #fwd50 #rulesascode

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libralita · 6 years

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June Wrap Up | 2018

This was a really great month for reading. I read sixteen books and once again I have to reblog this post to fit all the tags in. A lot of them were great. Some of them were absolute trash but most were pretty good.

The first book I read was One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus:

Okay so I enjoyed this book but I had some major problems with it. Mostly because the crux of the conflict relies on things that are completely illogical. Teachers practice illegal(ish) searches and seizure that wouldn’t fly by any judge or education administration. An app that caused someone to attempt suicide is not immediately taken down. Author writing a book about crime doesn’t know about the two party recording consent laws. It’s frustrating and yet was enjoyable. I think McManus can write a good mystery and I liked her characters. She just needs to work on her plots. I gave this book a three out of five stars.

Then I read The Wicker King by K. Ancrum:

I don’t really know how to feel about this book. Partly anxiety because of all the mental health stuff and medical stuff. I thought Jack and August’s relationship was pretty toxic and not very healthy. I’m not really into the super edgy, angsty, life-fucking-sucks style of books but it wasn’t bad. I enjoyed reading this. It kept me going. I think I liked the side characters more. The twins, Rina and Alex mostly. So I guess I’m giving this four out of five stars.

Next, I caved and bought the next volume of A Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Oima:

So, in this book Shoya gets Shoko to reunite with the girl who tried to learn sign language in sixth grade. That was really nice. She’s kind of a bland character though. Then we get the re-introduction of Naoka. Who’s still a bitch. She’s an interesting character and it’ll be interesting to see if she shows up again and has any development. But the big tear jerking in this story is when Shoko admits to loving Shoya but he doesn’t understand her. And it’s so sad. Ughhhhh…I’m probably going to buy the next one. Wasn’t as good as the last two but still five out of five stars.

Then I read the fourth volume of A Silent Voice:

Ahhhh so many emotions in this one. First Shoya gets more friends. There’s Satoshi Mashiba is a hottie. Then Naoka planned for Shoya to see one of his childhood friends. I’m guessing at some point he’s actually going to talk to Kazuki. But the big thing that happened in this one was that Shoko’s grandma died. It was really sad and we got to see Shoko’s mother’s backstory and it made me tear up. I just want someone to help out this poor woman. My favorite so far! Five out of five!

Then I finished but did not complete the Summer I Turned Pretty bind up by Jenny Han:

I read the first two books in this bind up but rage quit the last one after five chapters. The first book was fun. Belly was a snot and is written like a 10 year old instead of a sixteen year old. However, I liked the rest of the characters and wanted to see what would happen to them. I gave that four out of five stars. Then I went onto the next book hoping that Belly got better. She did not. She got worse. She’s such a bitch to her parents in this book, especially to her mother. Belly says some awful things to her mother and I don’t even think she apologizes for it. Conrad also starts to act like a little snot. He just leaves school without telling his brother. They also don’t do the most logical and correct answer which is to call Belly’s mom and ask her for help. That was my first instinct and it takes them forever to figure it out. And it’s only when Belly drunk calls her mom. God this book was so bad. Two out of five. Then I tried to read the third book but it was just Belly being a bitch to Jeremiah and Jeremiah kind of cheating on Belly. DNF’ed. Will not be reading any more Jenny Han books.

Next, I finally reread Cress by Marissa Meyer:

I still can’t believe how well this series has held up. There are a few logic problems like Cinder presses her metal hand onto her face to “cool off”. Marissa, I don’t press my face to the roof of my car to cool off. Also Kai is kind of more annoying than I remember him being. However, I still really enjoying this series. I like the dynamic Cress adds and I teared up when Erland died. I also really liked Winter small roll. She’s such a fun character. Jacin was also amusing. I give this book five out of five stars.

I think picked up Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi:

This book was pretty good. I was a little bit skeptical going in and I did end up having a few problems with it. The humor didn’t always land and it was a little too similar to the Lightning Thief. However, I think this series has potential and there were a lot of cool elements that I really enjoyed and I’m excited to see where this series goes. I gave this book four out of five stars.

I felt like going back to A Silent Voice and read the fifth, sixth and final volume:

The fifth one was a little underwhelming. I still gave it four stars but it mostly focused on the movie plot which isn’t my favorite thing. I did like getting to know more about Mashiba who is my favorite even if he is a little…intense. Also Shoko might have attempted suicide at the so it was a real cliffhanger. Get it? Then the sixth one was a bit better. It’s starts off with Shoko’s mother apologizing to Shoya’s mother and it’s really sad. Also Nao just starts beating the shit out of Shoko and then Shoko’s mother fights back which was really awesome. We saw that Satoshi was bullied for his…eyebrows and is super creepy about it. Then we get kind of Shoko’s perspective on things. Not my favorite but I enjoyed it. Five out of five stars. Then I finally read the 7th and last volume. This was a nice ending to the series. You had the mothers getting drunk and becoming friends. Shoko and Shoya both want to become hairdressers. And they’re eventually going to Tokyo together? It’s a nice, hopeful ending. I gave it five out of five stars.

Next, I read The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert:

This book was Every Heart a Doorway but done better. I still didn’t love this book. I gave it three stars. I just don’t like this type of super cynical tone. It just annoys me. However I thought the world and how the Hinterland worked was pretty awesome. I also liked the twist that Alice was Alice-Three-Times and Ella had plucked her from the story. Finches character kind of bugged me. Overall I gave this book three out of five stars. I won’t be continuing on with this series but I may check out another Albert book.

Then the newest volume of Tokyo Ghoul: re by Sui Ishida came out:

I enjoyed this one. I wasn’t expect an all out fight. In this Shu’s family is discovered of being a bunch of ghouls so there’s a big fight. Sen/Bandage girl got Kanae and made him crazy…er, crazier. There’s a really great seen between Akira and Kaneki where she hugs him. I’m pretty sure Amon’s out there somewhere. Lots of people die, including Hairu who was really cute. Then a random monster came at the end. Overall it wasn’t the best fight ever but I still enjoyed it Five out of five stars.

I decided to order Volume Two of Teen Titans so I reread the first volume Teen Titans: Damien Knows Best by Benjamin Percy:

Why read new books when I can reread comics? Also god I love the art in the first issue. I wish the art had stayed that way. But I did like the art in the last issue. I think the rest is fine but man that first issue is great. I really love this team dynamic. All the different personalities and powers. It’s so cool. And I’m a sucker for the heroes versus their opposites. It’s great. I wonder when we’ll see Mara and the Demon’s Fist again. Five out of five stars.

A few days later Teen Titans Vol. 2: The Rise of Aqualad by Benjamin Percy came out:

I really enjoyed this book. I’m a little sad that Aqualad’s personality and backstory is completely different but he still has the same Young Justice design. However, I still think he’s a really interesting character. I like his arc with his father. I really liked Kid Flash and Raven’s relationship and wish we saw more of it. But the thing I really liked was Star Fire taking charge. She’s my favorite character and honestly the best leader for this team. Hopefully we’ll see more of her doing this in the future. This book got five out of five stars as well.

Then, I read Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor:

This took me like 10 days to read despite the fact that I really enjoyed it. I kept getting distract by shorter books. I really enjoyed this book. I liked Karou having to work with the White Wolf. Thiago is such a great villain and I’m glad he died. I’m sad that Hazael died and wish he would have stuck around. He gave the angel trio a fun dynamic. I’m interested to read the next book. It’s going to be a lot of battling but hopefully not a lot of “Will Karou and Akiva get together???” Because they will.

And those are all the books I read in June! It was a great month and I’m now onto July!

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dievvalkure · 4 years

Note

Just as [Valkyrie] was taking a break from the office birthday party held for Shu, a large familiar-looking raven comes swooping down, cawing its arrival to catch their attention. It zips in between Shu and Mika before turning around to land and roost on Mika's head. Clicking its beak, there'd be more cawing, this time from two more ravens, both carrying a fairly large parcel for Shu. A card reads 'Alas I'll be late; may this gift bring you joy in my stead - Rei'

“ Goodness... First, Hakaze tries to court my Mademoiselle right in front of me, then Amagi decides to crash the office party and cause a ruckus, and then Mikejima comes charging in like a bull... Is it too much to ask for a quieter celebration?! ” Shu let out an exasperated sigh, sitting down on a bench in Ensemble Square’s hanging garden to finally catch his breath, taking a moment to recuperate since he had been thoroughly worn-out by all the excitement.

“ Nhehe, everyone was lookin’ forward to yer return, Oshi-san~ ‘m happy you could come back for yer birthday an’ celebrate it with us. ”

“ Oh, don’t misunderstand, Kagehira. I returned because the little girl had a job for me, and it just happened to coincide with my birthday... Hm? ” Just then, a distant caw caught their attention, as a large raven found its way atop Mika’s head, much to their shock.

“ Nnagh?! W-Whoa! ” Mika froze up, trying not to make any sudden movements so as to avoid startling the bird that decided to roost upon his head. “ O-Oshi-san, ya think it accepted me as one of ‘em...? ”

“ Don’t be ridiculous... ” Shu scoffed, about to shoo off the raven... but upon closer inspection, he quickly recognized it as none other than Rei’s pet raven, which would soon be joined by two other ravens that delivered a parcel containing a birthday gift and a message from Rei himself.

...Come to think of it, he never did show up to the party, did he? He thought it strange, and while he wouldn’t admit it out loud, he hoped that he’d get to see Rei in-person, at least once. Alas, he must’ve had other matters to tend to, and Shu certainly couldn’t fault him for that.

Opening the parcel, he’d reveal five rolls of vintage lace, ranging in colors along a red-pink gradient that perfectly suited the artist’s aesthetic. Smiling to himself, he let out a quiet chuckle, gently stroking the raven’s head to show his gratitude.

“ A shame you cannot be here to share in my happiness, Rei, but may my feelings reach you nonetheless, wherever you are. ”

#toneofdarkness #Shu: Leader of the Arts [Answered]#Mika: Novice Artist [Answered]#( The next chapter of the Training Story saga. )#Shu's Birthday Celebration

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abadpoetwithdreams · 7 years

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Nirvana in Fire Episode 4 Reaction

I thought this would be a fast episode to recap/review, but no. It wasn’t. A LOT HAPPENS. Most importantly? This is the episode where we really, finally get introduced to Jing (and, in a way, to Lin Shu himself) and that whole scene is so important!!! Also there’s the subplot with the slave kids, and the threat of Ni Huang’s impending marriage, and now there’s a subplot TO that subplot about her being in danger from someone, PLUS we FINALLY learn what Lin Shu is ultimately trying to do here in the court, and aaaaaahh. So much goodness! I got a little misty-eyed, even? That’s how good it is. It doesn’t bode well for my poor emotions in later episodes. Will this show ever have a filler episode that I can summarize my reaction to in, like, a single paragraph??? I’m guessing not. But I’m okay with that because I’m enjoying it so much.

Back to this episode, episode 4, we start where we left off with the fight from last episode, with Jing Rui getting flung across a table by Baili Qi. The emperor intervenes and stops the fight before anyone (meaning poor Jing Rui) gets seriously hurt, but in the pause afterwards he notices that Chang Su (who DID manage to swallow all that tangerine without dying, I am very proud of him) is leaning over whispering in a smiling Ni Huang’s ear. So of course the Emperor demands to be let in on whatever secret is being told.

And how cute is the sight of Mei Chang Su and Ni Huang whispering mischievously to each other at the EMPEROR’S OWN TABLE, so to speak? The answer, my friend, is pretty dang cute. They look like they’ve reverted to being a couple of children together. Ni Huang’s so comfortable and close with him, it reeeeeally feels like she instinctively recognizes him and it’s like her brain is just waiting to catch up with her heart which is already making her treat him like a lifelong friend, even if she doesn’t consciously realize it yet. Then again, she seemed already so intrigued from the first instant she saw him … I really want to know what he was telling her; I don’t think he was telling her the stratagem he was about to put into play, because he did seem surprised when she caught on so fast, but he could have been acting so idk. Maybe he just told her to follow his lead. Or maybe he literally just told her what he tells the Emperor he was saying: that Baili Qi is a strong but badly-trained warrior who could undoubtedly be defeated by children.

(Chang Su acts embarrassed as he admits this but COME ON. He is LOVING it.)

The whole room gasps. This is a massive insult delivered by an honored guest in front of the most important people in the kingdom. They are electrified with horror, shocked amusement, and intrigue (and, in the case of Northern Yan’s group: outrage).

And Mei Chang Su, THIS TROLL, puts on his meek innocent face and is all “oh, no, I meant no offense at all, we are all friends here, my bad, it is just that I make mistakes like everyone else, I should really learn to think before I speak ohohohoho”

But the ambassador from Northern Yan is having none of it and demands Mei Chang Su produce some children to be slaughtered by Baili Qi right. Now.

(I feel insulted on poor Jing Rui’s behalf that his buddy Chang Su has basically just said to THE EMPEROR that a child could fight better than he just did, and he does actually look a little miffed here, but only briefly. He is a better person than me, this noble sword-boy.)

(Btw, this scene is a good example of how Chang Su has the SWEETEST smile when he wants to. It is an excellent distraction from his clever manipulation, which I can attest to personally because it distracts ME from paying close attention to what he’s saying, so I’m assuming it worked on everyone else in that hall, too.)

Chang Su says ok, but also he’d have to train the kids, PLUS the kids would have to be previously untrained, and Ni Huang catches on almost immediately and starts helping, the end result being that the two of them work together fiendishly well, dancing back and forth with their varying reasons for why the children they pick for the bout HAVE to be taken from the slaves in the palace–y'know, one of which is Ting Sheng from last episode. It’s about now that I started laughing because “oh no he isn'tttt” but yes: he totally is. Mei Chang Su is already setting things in motion to save the kid Prince Jing mysteriously cares about. Brazenly, in front of the Emperor and the entire court. With Meng surely sweating bullets the whole time as he stands beside the Emperor.

Also there’s a great moment when Chang Su pretends to be VERY contrite about suggesting some children could whip Baili Qi, almost to the point of being flustered, and he stammers out some thing about how it wouldn’t be fair to use kids already trained in martial arts, as that would be an unfair advantage to them, and the Northern Yan crew look like they’re going to have a fit and the rest of the hall busts up laughing (except for the Crown Prince who looks upset by this further insult to the foreign group, and for Prince Yu who just smirks like he’s impressed) and in the meantime Mei Chang Su stands there in the midst of this hurricane he created looking wholly innocent and clueless and ugh I LOVE HIM. HE’S THE WORST.

So Chang Su, with the help of his secret ally Meng, manages not only to get the Emperor’s permission to take three kids from the slave ranks to train them, but also gets permission to train them back in his own house, and is given five days to do so. He also hints that the kids might deserve, oh I don’t know, some kind of reward after they defeat Baili Qi? I SEE YOU, LIN SHU. I SEE WHAT YOU’RE DOING.

Meng picks three kids at random, and Ting Sheng somehow happens to be one of them. Wow, what a craaaaaazy coincidence!

Later, Jing Rui voices concern about the kids’ chances because he is, y'know, sane, but Chang Su is unmoved. He says he is going to have them use a Towering Phantom technique? Sounds impressive. Jing Rui knows of this technique but has never seen it. Chang Su asks does Jing Rui not trust him? Jing Rui promptly replies that he DOES trust his friend, who is so clever and knows so much. It’s painful to hear him say so. Then Yu Jin chimes in by saying that everything must be ok because Chang Su clearly has a plan: if the kids defeat Baili Qi in this mock combat round, Baili Qi won’t have the gall to then say he has the right to fight Ni Huang. That’s a good point. I’m very impressed that Lin Shu is seemingly managing to kill two birds with one stone, here. Very good.

(Speaking of Yu Jin, slight sidetrack meta time: I’m writing this as I rewatch after making it to episode 16 and then stopping, so I have seen more of these boys than just four episodes’ worth. And this is one of the earliest telling moments I’ve noticed where Yu Jin seems to see Chang Su’s stratagems clearly. He doesn’t see any long term goal in them, but he’s good at seeing what’s going on in the moment. It seems to me like the reason why he notices more about what Su is doing when compared to Jing Rui, is that Jing Rui takes Chang Su’s friendship more for granted. They are already friends at the beginning of the show; Yu Jin begins the show eager to meet this legendarily cool pugilist leader, so he’s a bit more removed from Chang Su the person and more calibrated to view Chang Su the persona. Chang Su is just lucky that Yu Jin is such a happy puppy of a person who wants to see the best in people and so isn’t a suspicious sort, otherwise he would definitely have an edge when it comes to figuring out that Chang Su is such a devious plotter and has some dangerous long-term goals; he is too innocent, alas. I also get the feeling that Jing Rui is at a disadvantage here even though he is the more mature of the two simply because he’s grown up surrounded by not one but TWO doting families so he’s just? Used to being loved? (And yet still hasn’t gotten spoiled, bless him.) But being accustomed to being the center of attention/having a positive network around him blinds him to Chang Su’s machinations. Anyway. Yu Jin and Jing Rui are the Most Precious souls in this entire show so far and must be protected at all costs. I dread what’s undoubtedly coming for them. The show wouldn’t make them this Good for no reason.)

Meanwhile, best of friends Meng is assuring the Emperor that it is very possible that Su Zhe might know a secret technique that would enable children to defeat Baili Qi, and also says even if the kids lose it’s a win-win for the Emperor. He also says even if the kids lose, it “won’t be any worse than it is now.” The Emperor somehow finds that reassuring? I feel like insulting a rival nation’s champion, then losing to him in a fight brought about by the insult IS a situation that would be made worse by the loss, but maybe he figures he’ll just punish this random impertinent strategist if things go wrong and so therefore he, the Emperor, is fine no matter what. Whatever.

The next scene starts pretty randomly with one of the less important concubines crying because she has to light candles at the shrine for a dead Empress. Is dead Empress the current Emperor’s mother? I feel like it must be. Anyway she must have been an awful person if her ghost can scare this woman that badly.

Enter Jingmum!! Jingmum (not her name, alas, but I’m using it for clarification sake) offers to accompany and help her fellow woman because she is a good and wonderful person. How much influence did she have over Jing as he grew up? Because he seems like a fantastic guy, but as a concubine of the Emperor I don’t know how much freedom to just be a mom to her kid this woman had. I want to see what their relationship is like.

Oh, and the current Empress is the one punishing the sad concubine for something trivial like bad handwriting or somesuch. This is an interesting detail because until now the Emperor’s favourite concubine, Crown Prince’s mom, seemed much more obviously hateful. This shows the Empress is also definitely not a good person. It reminds me of how Yu scolded those sparring soldiers so harshly back in episode 2. Guess that’s where he learned it from?

“Your arms must be sore,” a way too kind and compassionate Jingmum says to her fellow concubine, after the latter lights some candles. If her arms are sore, she needs to do some lifting, my gosh. Then again, I suppose she doesn’t have anything to do in her life to strengthen her arms, but still. That’s pathetic. Jingmum even massages her arm as they walk out of the shrine together??? What a saint. She says she was trained in medicine before, so I guess that explains things. Have her take a look at Lin Shu, pls. I want him alive longer than two years ok? Make it so.

Thunder sounds and I’m immediately like “SAVE THE BEAUTIFUL DRESSES” but the two women have the same thought apparently and scurry under cover, much to my relief.

BUT THEN. Their run for cover puts them right outside a secluded room where they can overhear a conversation between some old woman and the most evil-looking handmaid I’ve ever seen in my entire life. This actress flat-out sneers every word, and it’s kind of funny. But the conversation itself isn’t funny: they’re talking about some kind of drug that “the Empress Dowager used on Princess Supreme Li Yang back then.” Um. WHAT?! Someone wants to use this drug on someone in secret, and these women are making the necessary arrangements.

Jingmum and weak-arm concubine hurry away before they are spotted, but that sounded REALLY SKEEVY. My suspicions are confirmed when weak-arm concubine, in major distress, tells Jingmum that this is an emergency: that drug they were talking about is basically a date rape drug that was used in the past on the Princess Supreme. Who, I am pretty sure, is one of Jing Rui’s moms???? (Ten episodes later I know that yes, this is Jing Rui’s mom.) WHAT IS HAPPENING. Nothing good, that is sure. Weak-arm asks Jingmum for advice, and Jingmum tells her to keep silent about what she heard. It’s better to play it safe in the palace and not meddle in secrets, she says. This is exactly he opposite of what Jing would say, I have no doubt. So he can’t have spent THAT much time with his mom: enough to inherit her goodness but not her subtlety, I think.

Back at Snow Cottage we are treated to a long montage of the slave children waving swords around with varying expressions of seriousness on their round faces. Fei Liu is doing all the work to train them, and I imagine he’s a brutal but effective teacher. Lin Shu is sitting nearby paying nearly zero attention; he trusts Fei Liu to get the job done. “Make them faster so I can be sure to win,” he instructs, and I’m pretty sure that’s all he needs to say for Fei Liu to do everything in his power to make these kids the fastest children under the sun. I am curious about why he is so very, very devoted to Lin Shu. They’re such an odd duo but so great together.

Lin Shu does start paying attention, however, when Ni Huang shows up for an unannounced visit. Surprise! As always, he looks momentarily stricken to see her, and I wonder if she realizes she frightens him, she seems like she’s always watching him very closely. She looks like she is pleased to have surprised him, but he covers his reaction almost instantly. Ni Huang is here to see the children’s formation they are practicing for herself, and she is very perceptive in her criticism of it as she walks alone with Chang Su afterwards. I love it whenever Ni Huang shows off how smart she is AND how skilled she is in warfare. She’s perfect. She asks if he maybe has something further planned, and he doesn’t answer, like he doesn’t trust himself to reply. Every time she shows how clever she is it’s like you can see that hidden Lin Shu in him fall in love with her all over again and it’s the WORST. Sidenote: Hu Ge has done amazing work in this show so far, but one of my favourite aspects of his portrayal is that you can so clearly tell when shades of Lin Shu are coming out–which is remarkable, when you think about it, because I still haven’t been introduced to Lin Shu. I still don’t know who he IS. And yet I do, because Hu Ge has such a clear understanding of who he is, he’s clueing me in even without that formal introduction, even without convenient flashbacks, or without ever talking about who he was before. He’s wonderful.

Chang Su finally promises he will do all he can to help Ni Huang out of her predicament (one of the few promises he makes that I 100% believe, lol), and she looks thoughtful.

“For some reason,” she confesses as she looks out at the garden, “I actually trust you.”

Lin Shu’s only reaction is a blink that covers a flinch, and it’s like you can see how glad her confession makes him before reality catches up to his relief and turns it all to pain, and then he just. Walks away. No bow, no farewell, nothing. Because he can’t handle this, and neither can I. Ni Huang watches him go, looking strangely triumphant. Point to Ni Huang, I think. She is DEFINITELY on to him.

That night, Jingmum stays up very late sewing some pouches. She’s planning something. The next day (presumably), the delightful grandmother is back!!!! I’m desperately hoping that this time she doesn’t break my heart. Right now she’s all happy because she’s admiring the nice smell of the pretty sachet she has; the other concubines present also have some. Crown Prince’s mom and the Empress are there, too. The grandmother, learning that Jingmum made the sachets, eagerly asks that she be invited into the hall. Apparently her status is so lowly she cannot visit the grandmother without permission?? That’s so unfair. I wonder if the Emperor’s displeasure with Jing is thus reflected onto Jing’s mother, or if she’s just always been a nobody.

(Sidenote: the Empress’ headdress is a MARVEL. It’s been a while since I’ve commented on costumes. That headdress might be my favourite costume piece of the episode. Either that, or Mei Chang Su’s cute white turtleneck thing.)

When Jingmum comes in, Princess Supreme Li Yang is there. She is so sweet? Jingmum offers her a gift of a sachet, too, but then uses that moment where she presses it into the Princess’ hand to squeeze her hand hard, and the Princess immediately knows something is up. This is a code of some kind, probably a “we need to talk” or something similar.

Grand Empress Dowager, meanwhile, has another memory time slip; she seems to think that Jingmum is new to the harem, and is still just as warm and kind to her, because she’s such a wonderful old lady.

And THEN THIS HAPPENS:

“After Consort Chen gave birth, she isn’t feeling very well. You are a medical maid. Since the Lin family sent you here, you must take good care of her.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa. As the grandmother says this, EVERYONE gets visibly nervous and the music gets very tense. There is no Consort Chen, the Empress says. She died a long time ago.

The poor old grandmother immediately is extremely distressed, and starts begging for her eldest grandson. What has happened to her eldest grandson? She cries. Nothing good, I think. Darn it, this old woman has punched me in the heart AGAIN. I will never trust a scene with her in it ever again, so help me. The various women flutter around trying to calm her, and order Jingmum out of the hall, saying this is her fault.

Okay: there is a LOT to unpack here. First: Consort Chen. I don’t know who she is, but clearly her death was NOT a natural one. It definitely had something to do with whatever went down twelve years ago. Second: the eldest grandson. I don’t know who he is? Maybe I’ve heard before, but not enough that I recognize his name. Presumably he was also part of that disaster. I’m assuming both he and his mom (?) were implicated in the same false treason that took down Lin Shu himself, because those women looked scared to hear those names brought up. Furthermore, if he was the eldest son, then I’m guessing that he was a main target in whatever plot went down. Third: the Lin family sent Jingmum? So she’s related to Lin Shu directly? (Aside: I know a bit more about how the various families are connected from where I am in ep16 now, but at the time I watched this I was a lot more up in the air.)

Later, Jingmum is visited by the Princess, who made up some excuse about a rash so she could visit the medically-skilled minor concubine. In truth, she’s just there because she got the signal earlier and wants to know why Jingmum wanted to talk. It’s a refreshing change to see Court women sneaking about for the sake of good, instead of because they’re wicked snakey people (looking at you, Crown Prince mom and Empress). Jingmum explains about what she overheard, and the Princess FREEZES. There’s a flashback, and oh my gosh. The princess was given the wine by HER OWN MOTHER???? WHO ARRANGED HER DAUGHTER’S DRUGGING TO ENABLE THE MARQUIS TO HAVE HIS WAY WITH HER???? THEREBY TRAPPING HER IN AN IMPOSSIBLE DILEMMA OF DISHONOR UNLESS SHE MARRIED HIM?? This is despicable. It’s horrific. And I feel horrible for both the Princess and for Jing Rui, who surely knows nothing of this, and ughhhhhhh. It’s so gross. HER OWN MOM.

Anyway, the Princess is first angry that this painful history is brought up, but when she realizes someone is in danger of suffering this fate today, she is first shocked and then turns all to steel. Jingmum tells her only she can save Ni Huang, who is surely the target of the unknown schemer. Many people are desperate to be allied to Ni Huang and her family via marriage right now. Somehow, they have to protect her.

Does Lin Shu know this is going on???? I can’t imagine how he would, but surely he won’t be kept in the dark for long.

Speaking of Lin Shu, the kids are still flailing around with their swords and they look more adept now. Chang Su congratulates them and they all grin back at him and it’s very cute. This has probably been the best week of their lives. Why is he so good with kids??? The cynic in me is like “because he’s good at manipulating people” but I like to think it’s the Lin Shu part of him, not the Chang Su, that connects with them. Anyway, Fei Liu is like an angry, jealous cat until Chang Su, somehow managing to keep a straight face, gives him a very deliberate compliment to mollify him.

And then: Jing is back! And never mind what I said earlier, HIS costume might be my favourite of the episode. Those strong, vibrant colors? That bright red belt? LOOKING GOOD, JING.

The children scamper off to play, but Ting Sheng pauses to smile shyly at Jing before he goes and I melt a little. Jing is here to check on the boy, but also to let Chang Su know he’s researched his background. Is it just me, or did Chang Su look a bit excited at that? He lights up a little at the prospect of finding out how well he’s duped Prince Jing. A little too well, as it turns out. Jing is particularly cutting as he says, funny story, he tends to be pretty ignorant of politics (heavily implying that politics is the Worst), but he has found out that Mei Chang Su is buddies with both the Crown Prince AND Prince Yu, isn’t that interesting? Coming from someone as forthright and firmly principled as Jing, this is a slap in the face. He somehow manages to even turn how he sips his tea into a diss. Chang Su definitely pauses here; I honestly think Lin Shu planned for this, but that he didn’t anticipate how much it would sting to have Jing think so little of him. He CLEARLY cares a lot about Jing’s opinion of him, which might prove problematic to his persona, I imagine. He says he’s not their friend, they just both want him as their ally, and Jing scoffs: surely the great Mei Chang Su didn’t come to the capitol NOT to try to seize power?

No, that is true, agrees Chang Su. He does want to help guide the next Emperor. Jing looks a little disappointed, but not surprised. He asks with pointed restraint whether Chang Su is going to support the Crown Prince or Prince Yu.

And this is the moment Lin Shu has been waiting for, for who knows how long–you can tell that this is a moment he has been longing for–he doesn’t want either of them. I’d like to choose you.

I did NOT see this coming, but the instant he said it I was like YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! He’s not just tearing down: he’s building up!! It’s not just about ruining the people he hates, he is going to beat them at their own game by raising up an Emperor HE wants!!!! Omg. Omg. So hyped. This revelation made me SO. HAPPY. Because it makes the stakes IMPOSSIBLY higher, and it also makes me love Lin Shu even more. Because this is solid confirmation that this isn’t just a revenge story, and I’m just ECSTATIC because this game Lin Shu is playing is also going to be soooooo much more complicated and multilayered than I had anticipated if Jing as Emperor is his end goal. He’s going to have to play the court like a fiddle, and omg I can’t wait to see him work. Plus, I WANT JING TO BE EMPEROR. So I am aaaaaaall in. This is the best reveal ever.

Jing, meanwhile, almost gets whiplash from how fast he turns to stare at the placidly smiling Chang Su. He looks absolutely dazed for a good few seconds, and it’s adorable–and then he bursts out laughing. This poor man.

He sits down and downs a cup of tea like it’s a shot, which made me laugh in the midst of my giddy excitement, ahahahaha, and then, slightly bitterly, Jing lays out plainly to this strategist just how impossible it is for him to reach the throne. His mother is of low rank, he has no noble family connections through her, he has no connections in the world of politics or in any of the various government ministries, he’s spent basically his entire adult life soldiering and so has no worthy connections there, he is not even a high-ranked prince himself even though he’s 31 because, oh yeah, his dad the current Emperor HATES HIM. So, good luck with that, Chang Su. Hearing Jing list all the ways he’s a (supposed) failure made me so sad. I know basically nothing about him as a person, but I know on instinct that he deserves so much better. Again: the acting is so good. Also the music. The Music starts up in this scene and it’s awesome.

Chang Su looks levelly at Jing. I know you are at a disadvantage, he says. But I have no other choice. And for just a second, he sounds DANGEROUS. It’s one of the few times so far, I think, that Lin Shu is speaking 100% honestly, no restraint or hiding behind masks, but pure INTENT, and the depth of the emotion he had in that one line was just–yes. Yes, do it. Take down those who wronged you, and work impossible wonders to get Jing made Emperor. DO IT. I BELIEVE IN YOU.

(Just … Do it without hurting Jing Rui?)

(Meanwhile, the Princess Supreme tries to visit Ni Huang but Ni Huang is away for the day. So much for that storyline for the moment.)

Back at the Snow Cottage, Chang Su tries to pour Jing more tea while explaining his plan, but Jing is stone-cold not having it–neither the tea, nor this conversation in general. I hate how distrustful he is, but it makes total sense from his point of view. Especially since he was connected to the Event™ somehow 12 yrs ago, if not politically then emotionally. Small wonder that he’s so distrustful and defensive! His continuing bad relationship with the Emperor has to stem from then, because he still believes that the people implicated were innocent. Ni Huang also thinks this, seemingly, but she’s more subtle about it so I guess she got a free pass. Jing comes across as a man who has grown accustomed to being always lonely and unable to trust anyone, let alone grow close to anyone, and it’s horrible even though I believe that the way he has frozen up is what has kept him alive this long, I, Claudius style–if the Crown Prince and Prince Yu thought him a threat, they’d surely have taken him out by now because he is not protected by the Emperor’s good opinion–or, well, by anything, come to think of it. Furthermore, his own father could easily interpret any semblance of ambition as treasonous? Because of his apparent sympathy to the people who died a dozen years earlier, it would be a very small logical leap for the already disapproving Emperor to make. His position in both the kingdom and his own family is terribly vulnerable and I can’t blame him for having adapted the way he has. But I don’t want him to be that way??? I want him to be happy. Gah. WHY CANT THE GOOD PEOPLE IN THIS SHOW JUST BE HAPPY.

(Sidenote: I wonder if he has any sort of subconscious recognition of Lin Shu like how Ni Huang has, but if it’s affecting him in an opposite way–making him even MORE guarded and hostile, instead of instinctively trusting this stranger. Based off the music cues and the acting, Lin Shu and Jing definitely have a Past. I’m eager to find out what that Past is, but also–I’m very scared. The more these two interact the worse I’m going to feel watching it, probably.)

Chang Su tells him he wants to support him simply because political success while backing such a hopeless candidate for the throne will make him, Chang Su, look even more impressive than he would if he worked with one of the other two Princes. Jing seems to believe that this selfish, ugly motive is the truth, which is good for Lin Shu’s goals and secret identity, but also–ughhhhhh. Jing also comments on how he cannot understand how people like Chang Su, who are obsessed with political manipulation and power grabs, think. Again–this is the WORST, because Lin Shu CLEARLY understands Jing really well. So presumably Jing would similarly understand Lin Shu if he knew who he was. But he doesn’t, so. Shu just keeps impaling himself on the sword of Jing’s scorn to coax the stubbornly righteous prince into working with him.

(Sidenote: Jing has THE most beautiful eyebrows. They’re so impressive. Truly worthy of gracing an Emperor. Crown Prince’s sad ‘stache shouldn’t stand a chance.)

Finally, Chang Su asks Jing plainly if he WANTS either of the other princes to take the throne. Jing is visibly upset by this and says essentially that if Chang Su is as great a strategist as everyone says, then he should know the answer to that already. Chang Su smiles and says of course he does: he IS the Divine Talent, after all. I still am amused that he even has that name for himself? But it seems to be well-earned, so go ahead and call yourself whatever you like, Chang Su. Does this mean we can say he actually has four names? Good grief.

Jing gets VERY intense and says that there’s no hope of the throne for himself, but he will do ANYTHING if the Divine Talent can prevent those other two from taking the throne. (Actually, hilariously, the subtitles on dramafever have him say he would “pay whatever prince it takes” but I’m assuming he’s actually meaning he’d pay any price, metaphorically speaking, not that he’d bribe any prince. Because that would kinda go against his whole character as established up to this point, so.)

Chang Su tells Jing that Ting Sheng’s freedom will be his first gift to him. If Jing accepts that gift, then they will be partners in this play for power. Jing is clearly conflicted over this, and soothes his uneasy conscience by telling Chang Su plainly that he does not like sneaky, manipulative people like this, so even if Chang Su does help him to the throne, Chang Su isn’t guaranteed any kind of fame or reward. Chang Su–who, again, looked ever so slightly hurt by Jing’s appraisal of his character–says that’s fine; there is time enough for negotiating rewards later. What really matters to him is how Jing’s temperament is different from the other two Princes’.

(Also, the music, you guys. THE MUSIC. WHY IS THE OST NOT ON ITUNES.)

We’ve never met, Jing tells him coldly. How could you know what my temperament is like? Oh, Prince Jing. I have only known you as long as the fake Mei Chang Su has, and even I know what your temperament is like. Also, did Shu slip in saying what he did, or was it planned? It felt spontaneous. He backs off the statement a little, changing tack and instead reminding Jing that if he doesn’t want the other two princes as Emperor, then Jing is the only other possible successor; no other prince is eligible. The scene ends there, but–I think Chang Su has got him. I think Jing is the type that he won’t be able to get those plainly presented facts out of his head, and he’ll talk himself into actually going for the throne just so he can stop his terrible brother’s. I don’t think Chang Su has to push him anymore, he just needed to plant that seed. I’m so excited.

Cut to Marquis Xie, who is apparently having his wife followed??? His wife, who he drugged and raped decades ago???? He can NOT get any worse, what a disgusting slug of a man. Unfortunately he seems like he’s also very clever. Unfortunate for Lin Shu’s scheming, that is; it’s very fortunate for the story because watching Shu work his magic wouldn’t be anywhere NEAR as compelling or as satisfying if he was just given a bunch of straw men opponents to knock down. Major kudos to the show (and, I’m assuming, the novel) for making basically everyone intelligent. A lot of times stories with brilliant protagonists just write everyone else as stupid so that the protagonist just seems smart; making EVERYONE smart is way harder to write, but the payoff is HUGE. Yes, Mei Chang Su does make some Sherlock-Holmes-esque leaps of logic sometimes that don’t NECESSARILY have to lead to what he concludes, but that being said it’s usually pretty solidly done, plus he has tripped up a couple times anyway, so he isn’t always right. I can live with a handful of convenient deductions when the narrative and emotional payoff is this good.

Anyway, back to what I was saying: Marquis Gross is having people follow his wife. He knows that she tried to visit Ni Huang and that she was not successful. I’m curious about WHY he is spying on her, though. Is he just a jealous husband? Or does he have spies tailing other people, too? I would have thought he’d have had Mei Chang Su followed by now, if that were the case.

Back at the Snow Cottage, Meng is peering at Ting Sheng while the boy sleeps. It’s not as creepy as it sounds. Also, I half expected Meng to accidentally drip candle wax on the kid’s face and wake him up, lolll. He nods at Chang Su like he’s confirming something, and once they are back at Chang Su’s tea table–an already iconic location in this show, tbh–he says something about are you sure that slave kid is Prince Qi’s son? And instantly I’m like ohhhhhhh, wait. Wait. Is Prince Qi the supposed leader of the fake rebellion, the dead grandson the old grandma Empress was crying about earlier?? The oldest prince????? Because of COURSE Jing would care about this boy, if so. But the Emperor can have no idea, I would think? Otherwise this boy would be dead, I’m prettttttttty certain.

Lin Shu lays all this out, and Meng admits the boy looks like the dead prince a lot. He then brightens and says, well, at least this shows the gods have a conscience! The look on Lin Shu’s face when Meng says that–somehow, I reeeeeeally doubt he feels the same, lol. Again, Meng asks what happened 12 years ago and how Lin Shu survived, what horrors has he had to go through, to be here alive but apparently 100% transformed? Once again, Shu sidesteps this question. Once again, I am incredibly frustrated. He says the only thing about his survival that matters is that he will not let this life he’s managed to cling to go to waste.

Then we cut to Ni Huang sitting in what I assume is her manor? Her armor and campaign map are on display in the background anyway, nice touch. She’s reading something. Her brother comes in and asks about the children’s chances against Baili Qi (oh yeah, almost forgot about him after that Jing-Shu talk scene) and Ni Huang doesn’t seem like she was that impressed. Her brother is instantly upset and starts to march over to Chang Su’s house in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT (I love this brash kid) but Ni Huang sharply forbids him. She reminds him, too, that just because the kids might not defeat Baili Qi doesn’t mean SHE can’t. I totally believe Ni Huang could take him, because I want to believe in her. She’s amazing.

Back to the Snow Cottage, Meng is aghast at the notion of Jing vying for the throne. He’s definitely worried that this plan will get Jing killed. Heck, IM worried about the same thing! But Lin Shu has an answer–a terrible, terrifying, heartbreaking answer:

Doesn’t he still have me? Leave all those despicable and ruthless tactics to me. If we are to overthrow those evil villains, the innocent are bound to be hurt. At times, we might even have to be ruthless to them. If Prince Jing can’t bear to inflict such pain, I will.

There is a LOT to unpack from this little speech (once I stop sniffling and blink these drafted tears from my eyes). Firstly! Lin Shu knows how Jing is limited by his morals and principles AND HE DOES NOT WANT TO CHANGE THAT. He is not setting out to make Jing into a more ruthless person; he needs Jing to stay, well, Jing, if he is going to succeed in putting a Good Emperor on the throne. Secondly!! STAY AWAY FROM JING RUI AND YU JIN. It seems my instincts that Mei Chang Su somehow befriended Jing Rui for ulterior motives is were correct, ughhhhh. Thirdly!!! This speech comes RIGHT on the heels of his previous statement that never mind what horrific suffering he has endured; the important thing is that he is alive and thus he must not waste his life. This plan of his seems more and more like a sacrificial suicide of both body and soul; he knows he doesn’t have long to live (according to his conversation in episode 1), and so he risks what little time he has left by going back to the capitol and exerting himself far beyond what I imagine is safe, both mentally and physically. Not only that, but he knows good, upright Jing would never stoop to the underhanded machinations necessary to win the throne on his own, so here comes Lin Shu willing to sacrifice his own sense of righteousness to keep Jing Good as well as to make him win. We’ve had enough clues now that I really, really, REALLY don’t think this scheming and manipulating and cold calculatory nature is something that is actually natural to our sickly avenger. It is simply that in his mind the end goal justifies any means, ANY AT ALL, and that includes not only hurting innocents, but also hurting himself. Before Lin Shu throws any innocent or good person to the wolves for the sake of Jing’s success, he is throwing his own self away. Before his body perishes, he is already attempting this suicide of self: now that he has his life, he has to make sure it is not wasted. He exists only to get his vengeance and to eradicate the corruption in his family and the government that essentially cost him his life all those years ago, and this means he exists only to use himself up as a sacrifice to ensure Jing wins this harrowing political game. Meng has commented repeatedly on how this Lin Shu is physically changed. He is trying to hold to an equally drastic mental change. In light of this revelation, all of his scenes with Ni Huang, who is subconsciously drawn to the Lin Shu that’s still in there, are made approximately 500% more painful. UGHHHH.

I’m still not over this scene; I might never be over this scene; but I have to move on, so now we cut to the Princess, Jing Rui’s mom. She tells her maids to cover for her and then makes a spectacularly conspicuous escape from her rooms, heading to the cottage where Mei Chang Su is staying. Seriously, she is still in her fine silks, she’s carrying a lantern larger than her head; all she did was cover her hair with a lovely hood. I don’t know where her husband’s spies are right now? But they should be fired.

But somehow she sneaks successfully to Chang Su’s door. He looks surprised, but lets her in for a chat after Meng stealths away. She’s come to tell him about the plot she was told about to drug Ni Huang. He asks can’t she put a stop to this without his help? This poor woman looks decidedly bitter as she tells him that her high rank as Princess Supreme really isn’t much use. She can’t do anything herself for fear that her husband and children will be implicated, and she doesn’t have anyone to accuse anyway. Chang Su assures her he will help. I really like this woman; I don’t have her name down yet. Li Yang? Something like that. She’s so pretty and her voice is so distinct, and I feel so badly for her. And how brave she is to take this risk in the hopes of saving Ni Huang from what happened to her!

But uh-oh, there’s trouble: the Marquis is on his way to his wife’s empty room. The Princess Supreme’s maids panic, until this utterly fantastic old maid (or governess, of somesuch? An old servant who knows how to play people just as well as Mei Chang Su, anyway) takes the situation in hand. She tells the Marquis his wife doesn’t want visitors. When he protests that but it’s him, though! She responds with oh, his wife ESPECIALLY doesn’t want to see him. Something happened with grandmother Empress today and she saw a room in the palace that reminded her of something that happened a long time ago, soooo …

This scene was brilliant. He backs down SO fast–and almost looks ashamed??? Too little, too late, you horrid man. I have no sympathy for him at all. But as a result of his guilty response (which includes him exhorting the old woman to make sure his wife is well-cared for and then him walking away comically FAST) the Princess Supreme’s late-night visit remains a secret, and she herself remains safe. Or as safe as she can be while living under that villain’s roof. Take out the Marquis, Lin Shu, do it, do it now!!

Chang Su walks the Princess Supreme out of his house to be polite, looking very calm, but the instant she’s gone his smile drops and he runs–or the closest we’ve ever seen him run, lolllll this poor invalid man–back into his cottage. Meng comes out of whatever cupboard he was hiding in (hey–where was Fei Liu this whole time? I just realized he was absent) and is like who could possibly want to drug Ni Huang???? Lin Shu, very deep in thought, says it has to be either the Empress or the favored Consort, the Crown Prince’s mother. And he says they won’t know which it is until one of them summons Ni Huang to the palace.

Aaaaand, end episode! Hoo boy, a LOT happened in this one, and again–it was all really important! Except for the boys training, I mean it’s important that they ARE training but those were the only scenes I felt like I didn’t have to pay attention to reaaaaal closely. Jing moves further into the foreground of the action in a big way, and we FINALLY get inside Lin Shu’s head a little as he shares at least a major part of what his endgame is. The stakes are sky high, everyone, and I worry that he’s not going to be able to handle what must be an immense amount of stress that will only worsen as things progress. He’s already having a hard time around Ni Huang, and he hasn’t been in court very long. Also, this cliffhanger is the most intense one yet, because it involves Ni Huang’s safety. I agree with the Princess Supreme that Ni Huang is clever enough to keep herself safe once she’s tipped off, so I hope Chang Su really can warn her at the palace fight! Too bad she can’t just punch the Empress or the Consort in the face, or something. That would be satisfying.

Next up: Episode 5! Hopefully I can get the post written and posted before my plane flight on Sunday. Also, I have a dance competition on Saturday, so really I would have to finish episode 5’s post by Friday to be able to post it before sometime late Sunday … I will try, but I can’t promise for sure.

Also! Sunday marks the beginning of my 10-day tour of Okinawa, which means my updates here will largely rely upon when I can find wifi. Adjust your expectations accordingly and just be prepared for my replies to comments and asks to be less prompt for a few days. And thanks again, guys, for making this viewing experience such a fun one, despite me putting off watching the show for about two years now? I only started writing these episode reactions/recaps for a couple individuals who specifically asked to know my thoughts, and I never expected there would be more of you out there who would be reading along, too, considering the show ended so long ago! Being able to chat with you all is really enhancing my first-time viewing experience, so thanks for that ^_^

#nirvana in fire #badpoet watches nif #badpoet watches #nif response ep4 #long post #cdramas

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