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xandriagreat · 10 months

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The Golden Snake Tooth | Chapter 8

Prologue | Last chapter | Next chapter

Author's note: I just couldn't wait to post this

Notice/warnings: interaction, (almost) hitting/fight, heist plan, drinks, food

▪▪▪

Wolff was picked up by the collar of his vest and walked over to Diane, who got a seat ready for him. Mister Wolff was still holding Snake when he was forced into the seat in front of Diane.

Snake got off of him and was a bit off to the side, worried of what’s going to happen.

“So,” Diane started as she looked down at Wolff, “what happened?”

Wolff looked at her and everyone else in the tavern. “Ok… this is what happened.” he started as he sighed. “Lucky Jim, the Bucharest Bandits, and I just got the golden dolphin in my satchel, ok? And we were running through the woods to get away from the guards. Lucky Jim and the Bucharest Bandits got caught by the guards while I got away, or so I think. I didn’t see the guards get them. Anyway, I was about to get the money until the human version of a bloodhound captain appeared out of nowhere, we had a little run, and then we started to fight over the satchel. Then we fell off a cliff, me going one way and the captain going down the other. I went deeper into the woods to hide, that’s when I found a tower-”

Wolff was cut off by Snake covering his mouth with his tail.

Everyone in the tavern started to talk after hearing ‘tower’.

“A tower?” Diane asked to see if she heard him right. “A tower in the deeper part of the woods?”

Wolff nodded, shaking the tail off of his mouth. “Yep. That’s how I know Snakey and his spider friend.” he said, pointing to Snake and Webs with his head.

Snake glared at Mister Wolff while Webs ran on Snake’s tail and slapped Wolff’s snout when she got to the end of the tail.

“Ok, that’s starting to bother me.” Wolff said to Webs.

“I only slapped twice today!” Webs explained angrily.

Snake quickly pulled Webs to him as Diane cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “So, you found this tower with Snake and Webs. Right?” Diane asked, recapping what she was told.

Wolff nodded. “Yeah.”

“Ok, but what happened after?”

Mister Wolff was hesitant as he looked at everyone, hissing through his teeth before saying, “I would rather not talk about it.”

Diane’s ears went back as she growled at him, making him growl back at her. Then everyone, except for Snake and Webs, started to chant, “Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Diane looked at everyone and smiled, liking the idea while Mister Wolff shook his head. “No? Fine… I guess I’ll make you match your posters.” she said, making her hand into a fist and pulling it back.

“No! No! No! No! No! No!” Mister Wolff pleaded, moving his head a lot so that Diane doesn't get to punch.

Shark put one of his fins on Mister Wolff’s head to make it stop moving too much.

Diane nodded ‘thanks’ to Shark and she was about to blow a punch. But before her fist got to punch, a snake tail grabbed her arm and pulled her away, making her punch the floor.

Everyone gasped as Diane glared at the reptile who stopped the fun.

It was Snake and he had a mix of emotions on his face.

“Look, I don’t know where I am and I need him to help me,” he panted as he looked at her, “but I can explain what happened. Just don’t fight me, I don’t want to fight.”

Diane slowly got up, staring down at Snake. “Lou, put Wolf on the hook.” The fox ordered the shark.

Lou Shark nodded as he picked up Mister Wolff and placed the collar of the vest on a nearby hook, making him dangle in the air.

◇

Snake slither, with Webs on his head, to the seat that Mister Wolff was sitting on moments before and sat down with Diane towering over him.

“So, what’s your story with him?” Diane asked, looking down at him.

It was clear that Snake was nervous as he cleared his throat. “Well… moments before he came in, Webs and I were talking about lunch.” he started to explain. “Then we heard a crack sound and we found one of the potted plants was broken by a rock on a rope.”

“You mean a handmade grappling hook?” one of the patertins asked.

“Um, yeah.” Snake said, nodding to the person. Then he looked at the fox as he continued, “Then we hid when we saw the rope being tugged. I peaked out of the hiding spot when Wolff came in, closing the doors. I had one thing that I took him down with, a frying pan, because like I mentioned before, lunch. I sneak up behind him and I knock him out with the pan.”

Diane nodded and hummed while everyone talked to each other. “But what happened to the golden dolphin trophy?” Diane asked.

“Oh, I hid it before he woke up.” Snake answered, not telling what happened in between.

“Wait, you’re telling me that you hid the golden dolphin.” Diane said, recapping with a bit of anger in her eyes.

“Yeah.”

Snake felt some angry eyes upon him.

Diane was about to order some workers to find this tower but was interrupted by Snake, who put his tail up and said, “Before you send anyone, please listen to me… Please.”

Diane looked down at Snake again, very interested. “Alright. We’ll listen.” she said, smiling a bit and her arms crossed as she calmed down a bit. Everyone in the tavern looked at Snake intently as the snake adjusted his robe a bit.

“I made a deal with him.” Snake explained, pointing his tail at Mister Wolff. Everyone looked at Wolff before looking back at Snake as he continued, “The deal was that if he takes to the floating lights and back home safely, then I’ll give him back his satchel with this dolphin.”

Everyone in the tavern looked at each other confused and asked each other what lights that Snake ment.

“He means the lanterns!” Mister Wolff said angrily, his arms crossed as he was still hanging on the hook. “From the Lanterns Festival?” Diane and everyone in the tavern asked together, looking at Wolf.

“Okay, now that’s weird.” the piranha on Shark’s shoulder said.

“You’re the second one to say that!” Webs said angrily at the piranha. “Why does everyone say ‘that’s weird’?!”

“The reason is because everyone from predator, prey, and human species come together in the kingdom. Even though most prey live in the kingdom with the humans. But besides that, everyones welcomed into the kingdom during the Lanterns Festival, a yearly celebration.” Diane explained, looking at Snake and Webs. “It’s the only time of the year that us ‘monsters’ get to go into the kingdom without being charged with anything. Even if you commit a thieving crime a day before without hurting anyone, you can walk in the kingdom without a disguise or looking over your shoulder or back, I should say.”

Snake nodded in understanding. “Ok, I think I got it.”

Diane smiled at him before looking at Lou Shark and asked, “Hey, Lou. Think that you can make this snake an outfit?”

“I can see what I can do.” Lou said, smiling and nodding.

Then Diane looked at Piranha. “Pepe. Music, please.”

Pepe Piranha quickly jumped off of the shoulder of Lou Shark and ran to the stage while the shark guided Snake, who was very hesitant and scared, out of the seat and led him to a room.

Diane looked at everyone in the tavern and said, “Everyone, resume eating and drinking! I’m going to have a talk with Wolf.”

Everyone cheered and went back eating or drinking as music played. Diane got Mister Wolff off of the hook while this happened.

“Look, Diane-” Mister Wolff started but was interrupted by Daine saying, “We’re talking in my office.”

◇

Snake was taken to a room filled with many different fabrics and sewn clothes. He looked at the fabrics with Webs as Shark closed the door.

Snake and Webs looked at Lou Shark as the shark walked over to him with a wooden box. “So… what are you going to do?” Snake asked nervously. “I’m going to measure you and make an outfit for you.” Shark repiled, smiling down at him and setting the box down. Then the shark got the lid off of the wooden box and got a measuring tape out.

Snake got on a wooden step stool as Lou faced him and said, “I hope that you don’t mind but I need you to take your robe off.”

Snake squeaked at that, his tail over his robe as he leaned back. “I'd rather have it on…”

Lou Shark looked down at him with a soft look. “It’s ok.” he reassured softly. “I’m not going to do anything bad to you. I promise.”

Snake looked at Shark as he slowly got his robe off and handed it to him. Webs was on the robe as Shark went to hang it up on a coat rake.

"Do you mind if I still keep this after I get my new outfit?" Snake asked, still looking at Lou Shark.

"I don't mind." Lou said with a soft smile, walking back to him.

Then Shark started to measure Snake, writing down measurements in a notepad before showing Snake some fabric. “Choose your color.” Shark said, smiling.

Snake looked at the different fabrics, thinking of which one he wanted. He was about to choose blue fabric but the red fabric caught his eye. “I would like this color.” Snake said, pointing at the red fabric.

Lou Shark nodded and started to cut the fabric to make an outfit.

While Lou Shark was sewing the outfit together, Snake and Webs were given some food, which tasted surprisingly good. They were listening to a song that was being played in the main room that everyone was singing, even Shark was singing the song too as he sewed.

It was about everyone’s dreams, which sounded more like hobbies than wants than dreams.

“I don’t get it.” Snake said out loud when the song finished.

“What don't you get?” Lou Shark asked, looking up from his work.

“The song.” Snake repiled, pointing at the door. “It is about everyone’s dreams but the dreams are just more hobbies than wants. Those can be reachable things.”

Shark hummed as he cut the thread when he was about done sewing the outfit. “Well, your’s isn’t that too far either.” he chuckled as he checked the outfit in case he missed anything.

Snake looked at the shark and asked, “What do you mean?”

“You want to go to the lanterns, right?” Shark said, looking at him.

Snake nodded and replied, “That’s right. Ever since I saw them when I was very young.”

“That’s your dream while everyone sees it as a celebration day.” Shark said, smiling. “To let you know, everyone’s dreams are different and that’s ok. Those hobbies are their dreams while yours is the lanterns.” Then Shark got up and went to him with the outfit. “Let’s see if this fits.”

◇

Diane took Mister Wolff to her office that was upstairs. The fox opened the door of her office and the Wolf entered the room with her.

There were some lamps hanging on the ceiling that lit up the room and paintings on the wall. There was a desk and some chairs at the center of the room. There was also a table with some bottle drinks and cups.

Mister Wolff went to one of the chairs while Diane got two cups and a bottle drink.

"So… You wanted to talk to me?" Wolff asked, looking up at Diane, who was pouring the drink into the two cups.

“Yep.” Foxington said, handing Wolff a cup. “I want to talk about getting the money and Mr. Snake.”

“It’s just Snake.” Mister Wolff corrected as he took the cup. “But sure. Why do you want to talk about Snake? I understand why you want to talk about getting the money but not Snake.”

“Well, talk about the money first and then Snake. How does that sound?” Diane asked before she sipped her drink. Mister Wolff nodded and sipped his drink.

“I thought about how we would get the money,” Diane said as she set her cup down on the desk, “and since you made a deal about the dolphin and won’t get it back until tomorrow, I have a new plan. Here’s the new idea, it’s taking back the overtaxed tax money.”

Mister Wolff nodded and asked, “Yeah and what’s the plan?”

Diane got a map out and placed it flat out on the desk. Wolff got up and looked at the map, which was of the kingdom and the woods.

“We either get the money tonight as the wagon stops at the last stop,” Daine said, pointing at one area of the woods part of the map, “or tomorrow during the festival while the guards of the taxes are eating or gambling at the kingdom’s inn before they put the money in the depository.” Then she points at an area of the kingdom.

Mister Wolff hummed as he liked the two plans. “I like both plans but I say we should do the first one, it’ll be easier and quicker.” he said, pointing at the woods part.

“Alrighty then.” Diane said, nodding as she got the map rolled back up. “But the kingdom one is a backup plan if anything happens, like the human bloodhound captain to chase you again.”

“Got it.” Wolff said, nodding.

“Oh, before I forget.” Diane started as she got something out of her drawer of her desk. “You forgot your lock picks here.” She hands Wolf the lockpicks. “Thanks.” Wolff said as he took them and put them in his pocket.

As Diane put the map away, Mister Wolff asked, “So, you wanted to talk about Snake. Why do you want to talk about him?”

The fox looked at the wolf as she got her drink off the desk and walked to one of the paintings. Wolf followed her with his drink.

The two were in front of a painting of yellow snakes and they all have golden snake teeth.

“Do you remember the sundrop snakes?” Diane asked, pointing at the painting before sipping her drink.

“Of course I do. I have some memories of them.” Mister Wolff said, looking at the painting too, swishing the liquid of his drink a bit. “They’ve helped everyone with their heal bite. It’s sad that they’re extinct…”

“Well, what if they aren’t.” Diane said, looking at Wolf.

“What do you mean?” Mister Wolff asked as he sipped his drink.

“I think that Snake is a sundrop snake.” Diane said, facing Wolff, who almost choked on his drink. “What?” he chuckled, looking at the fox.

“Listen,” Diane started as she went to her desk, “while Snake was explaining his side of the story, I noticed that his golden tooth was different from any other golden tooth. It’s not shiny like gold tooth replacements but it’s a close similarity to a ray of sun. Like the sundrops.”

Mister Wolff rolled his eyes, not believing this. “Diane, the sundrop snakes went extinct 21 years ago,” he reminded her as he looked at her, “which to remind you, the both of us were four years old at the time. So, there’s not a lot of memories that we would have of them.”

Daine sighed and rolled her eyes at him as Wolff walked over to her and said, “Look, let's make a deal.”

The fox looked at the wolf. “I’m listening.”

“If I’m right, you dye your fur blonde.” Mister Wolff started, smiling down at her. “If you’re right, then I get to-”

“If I’m right,” Diane interrupted as she smiled up at him, “you take Snake with you on your rowboat tomorrow evening, before the lanterns are up in the night sky.”

Wolff’s ears went up for a moment as his eyes became big. “Why?”

“I thought it would be a nice experience for the both of you.” Diane explained. “Snake gets to see the lights and you have someone with you. Also, there is no way I’m getting your dream of that lone island and tons of money that you always talk about. So, do we have a deal or not?”

Mister Wolff thought about it for a moment before raising his glass to her and said, “That sounds like a deal that I like.”

Diane nodded, raising hers to him.

They both clicked their glasses together and finished their drinks.

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Tag list (if you want to be tagged, please let me know): @luonnonvalinnat, @royallydivinelesbian, @monospace13

#the bad guys #the bad guys fic #the bad guys au #tangled au #mr. wolf #mr wolf #diane foxington #the crimson paw #mr. snake #mr snake #mr shark #mr. shark #mr piranha #mr. piranha #the golden snake tooth #the bad guys tangled au

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souryogurt64 · 10 days

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hi Sarah, i am in love with every essay you write like you are so so creative in such a unique way that i have never come across before. i was wondering how you wrote your essays like what’s the process behind them? how do you come up with such unique chapter titles as well as develop your style? sending you all the love in the universe always ❤️

Thank you, that is a really kind and genuine compliment

I usually have some sort of clear idea or thesis statement that goes beyond just like my opinion or a history of something. For example, “Ryan lied about how he and Pete met.” That helps me build out the essay a lot. People are always asking me to “Write a Ryden essay” or “Write an essay about the history of X” but it’s not enough IMO

In terms of style, lately I guess i’ve been mostly focused on trying to push myself by undertaking super challenging topics like the Verlaine/Rimbaud stuff, and with the Films essay I think I was trying to push myself to try actually describing music instead of just writing about emo band history. But most lately I’ve been thinking about how a lot of what is (IMO) my better writing was stuff I wrote quickly instead of picking stuff apart and trying to be pretentious for weeks on end

They chapter titles are not actually very creative, they’re mostly quotes. I’ll run through some of the chapter titles from my last essay

“State of the scene” — I don’t think this is very original but it’s just a thing people say, Pete also says “State of the union” a lot in reference to FOB and I think I was thinking about that. But I felt like it made sense for a prologue recapping where Panic was

“Long live the king” — This chapter is about Pete and this is a line he sings on “We were doomed from the start.” I really like that song because I feel like it encompasses the dynamic of Pete/Patrick very well and Pete’s like lameass mafia boss reputation and that’s what the chapter is about

“Panic!… meet the press” — This is a Panic lyric. This chapter is about James and James was THE emo press. It’s also from London Beckoned which is one of my favorite Panic songs because it is about Ryan as a writer and being on the cusp of fame and like has this kind of raw desperation and panic to prove himself and yet has this unbelievable arrogant bravado and kind of element of destiny in it as well. That song encompasses everything that is so fascinating about Ryan I think—the “fire on your tongue” lyric makes me crazy

“The antarctic-weddingnancy soap opera” This is like objectively what happened, and I just thought it was funny. WeddiNG and preGNancy share a few letters

“Are the good times getting gone” — Lyric from 27, this is about the fall of emo and the great depression so I thought it was fitting. As I mention in the chapter it reminds me a lot of Fitzgerald’s famous quote about the jazz age “Somebody had blundered and the greatest orgy in history was now over”

“Folie a Deux, or the semi-flop shared by two” — PO and FAD both kind of flopped, wordplay on meaning of Folie a Deux

“Panic is alive and very, very well” — Quote from Panic’s official statement post split, paired with a photo of Brendon, Spencer, and Pete in the studio looking busted as hell for comedic effect

“Ryan Ross takes a vacation” — Unclever play on the young veins album title since it’s about Ryan’s music post Panic

“Do it to death” — This is about Brendon’s work with Panic post split and is a track title from Viva las vengeance. Obviously him kind of beating it into the ground

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ruinakete · 2 months

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♡ ・ ORIGINS ━━━ prologue of chapter one, LTTWM, dedicated to zephia & eremiya

teaser,

"step out of my confessional." the abrupt command arched her brow, becoming the catalyst of whatever strange glee tugged the ends of her lips upward; lolling her head in a curious tilt. mage dragon dared to lean forward, her face closer to the thin separation between sinners. "your confessional?" came zephia's low voice, prodding at the invisible gates caging away the bishop's heart. "what of seiros? is this not h━━━" immediately, the noise of wood splintering, ruthlessly cracked beneath a force, cut her off. silence filled the booth until the drawl of the bishop's bitterness festered. "... i refuse to entertain your taunts. you will not make a mockery of my faith." a pause followed━━━her breath ragged and strained. "step out or i will have you escorted myself." dangerous, sure, but the fire of another would not burn a dragon. "hm, how unfortunate. do you not have the patience for my confession, sister eremiya?"

RECAP. none are applicable. this is the first chapter.

DISCLAIMERS. content warnings are as follows, for the discussions, mentions, or implications of religious commentary and trauma; child death, abuse, and torture; unhealthy maladaptive behaviors; light gore; narcissism; pregnancy and childbirth; canon-typical violence; abuse of hierarchy / political power; and mass murder.

final words from the mun. just a quick reminder to all that any of the content warnings in the disclaimer are liable to change until the 23rd, when the drabble is posted. likewise, all chapter prologues will be posted on the 20th, now, instead of the 18th. the word count of the chapter, as well as links to all previous and consecutive chapters, will be added to the posted drabble before the readmore.

#☽ ━━━━━━ ❝ a bleeding dragonstone; her heart crystal ・【 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 】 .#lttwm tags tba.#will actually format these posts better in the future but i don't know how i want the prologues to look yet so! post be upon ye!#so far the first drabble is over 2k so idk how this is gonna end #yeah. that's right. barely is still writing the drabble after restarting four times on it MEMKFEKMWE

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natigail · 8 months

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August 2023 - natigail

It was time for my Posting Every Day In August (PEDIA) challenge, so I posted 31 chapters/one shots/excerpts this month!

I posted all six chapters of my skz ace/sex worker AU - oh, you kissed me just to kiss me

I posted all five chapters of the side piece to my skz wolfpack AU - What if I Told You I'm a Mastermind?

I posted the December chapter of my phan Stardew AU - Broke, Gay and New in Town

I posted four new chapters of my skz wolfpack AU - Rest in the Belly of the Wolf

I posted a one shot prologue of Seungcheol to my svt mafia AU - 돈’t Blink (at least not here)

I posted a chapter to another svt mafia AU prologue, this time about verkwan - 돈’t Resist (at least not me)

I posted both chapters of my Legend of Zelda fic focusing on optaining the Master Sword - to become an immortal dragon is to lose oneself (why did you do it?)

I posted the first chapter to my bts insomniac/baker AU - the donuts are warm for you

I posted my Good Omens one shot focusing on the season 2 finale - contains information in a tuneful way (stop, you’re losing me)

I posted three excerpts from an original novel wip of mine (x, x, x)

I posted a bts one shot focusing on Yoongi getting his 7 tattoo - Future's gonna be okay

I posted my The Untamed one shot about Lan Wangji’s grief - you can’t talk me through the fall if we don’t know if i can land

I posted my phan one shot inspired by Taylor Swift’s Timeless - In another life you still would’ve turned my head

I posted my Nimona one shot focusing on a scene from the film - Say that I'm a monster

I posted my phan one shot about not attending pride - so tell me i’m a rainbow (it makes me feel alright)

I posted my Good Omens one shot about Aziraphale doing an apology dance - it ends with a garden (and a cottage in the south downs)

Bloody hell, that’s one hell of a list. And it’s not likely the last one I’ll do, I think I’m going to do one with their summaries and stuff too but I wanted to have my usual monthly recap, even if PEDIA always messes with everything in the best way. Same can be seen on this pie chart.

I didn’t even attempt to untangle all the small entries that’s about 1-0% in the grand scheme of things. It’s the fics that were done before this month but needed to be edited before posting. I had given myself the goal of 2k a day because I knew I needed write a lot to complete PEDIA but I also needed to spend a lot of time editing, but I still went past the goal and almost hit 75k.

That definitely held true, but man, I’m still so proud of myself for managing to keep up even while feeling burned out and getting sick. Like, look! I did it. Yay. You’ll get my monthly overview of PEDIA as well, because why not?

Over 253k words posted! Not my record for a PEDIA but it’s the third most I’ve ever done during one of these challenges, which I’ve been doing since 2017 (except my thesis year). Like this month is kind of stressful and getting into a bit of grind with it all, but the sense of accomplishment when sitting back is indescribable. And I still try so very hard to keep the quality top notch, because despite how I like to get lost in my stats - it’ll always be the words that matter more than the numbers.

I’m going to take a very chill time in September. I’ll still keep up with my daily writing habit but we’re aiming for 1k a day instead, and for this coming week, I am going to maybe only keep up with the journalling to take a break.

#monthly recap #pedia

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tumblezwei · 2 years

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Wonder when they'll get to the V2 stuff? This was a fairly tidy and natural prologue rendition of V1, so the point in the plot when we'd see V2 recapped, when by all accounts Weiss is going to incapacitated with dreamland by episode 4...I wonder if that's gonna be the thrust of the last few episodes instead of the beginning like word of god implied?.

Honestly either that one post about IQ forgot what events took place in vol 2, or said vol 1-2 but meant a more general "early volume." Because honestly the set up for a lot of vol 2's plot beats just isn't there lmao. I can't see how they'd do Blake's storyline much justice when they sped past the back half of vol 1 to get to the AU stuff. Plus vol 2 is where we start getting the Big Plot stuff happening, and for what IQ is going for I think trying to establish Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, the whole black queen virus thing, and Ironwood would clutter it a bit too much.

Like, I wouldn't make the claim yet that they aren't adapting vol 2, but imo it'd make more sense to keep stuff small scale and focus on the AU. And yeah, maybe it'd all wrap up with "and then team RWBY went to the cafeteria to eat lunch before the start of the second semester" or something like that.

#ask #anon #rwby ice queendom spoilers #ice queendom spoilers

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douglysium · 1 month

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Episode 3 TMP Quick Thoughts

Housekeeping and Prologue

Hello, this is Douglysium and you might not know me as that guy who wrote over 100 pages of analysis on the Eye (which can be read on Tumblr here (https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/735599414228484097/the-relationships-between-the-dread-powers-the) or Google Docs here (The Relationships Between the Dread Powers: The Eye- Knowledge is Fear and Ignorance is Bliss)) or as that guy who wrote an article on the Extinction (which can be read on Tumblr here(https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/717929126195003392/what-would-avatars-of-the-extinction-be-like-a) and Google Docs here(What would Avatars of the Extinction be like?: A TMA Speculation)). Suffice to say I might be a bit of a TMA fan. Also, spoilers for TMP up until episode 2. You can read my ramblings on the last episode here (Episode 2 TMP Quick Thoughts).

However, Protocol offers a very unique opportunity and experience for me because I didn’t actually get into TMA until after it was over and I binged all of it. So this is my first time experiencing something even remotely similar to what the original TMA fans probably experienced when waiting for each episode week by week and slowly having to put everything together with the limited information they had. So I decided to throw my hat into the ring since this might be my only chance to do something similar. However, I’m working on some longer form TMA content so I can’t spend as much time on these articles giving a bunch of super detailed thoughts. I will try to keep these short and that inevitably might mean some could have questions about why I think or predict certain things and in those cases I would probably recommend you read at least some of the two articles I mentioned above to get a better idea of where I’m coming from. This also means I won’t be giving you a play-by-play of every single thing that happens in the episode so I encourage you to listen to or read them yourselves and feel free to comment if you feel something is important.

These reviews are probably going to end up focusing mostly on the Entities and their manifestations as they are what I have thought about the most and spent the most time interpreting and there’s been a lot of… interesting theories floating around about how the Entities are manifesting that I want to go over.

Finally, I’m just going to say it right now, spoiler warning for all of The Magnus Archives. I know that Jon and co said one could start with Protocol and be fine, and while that’s probably true, media like this tends to be made in conversation with or take into consideration what came before it in the irl chronology in order to connect them. While I’m sure you could skip The Magnus Archives, I don't really see the point of skipping over it when we are already getting characters from TMA showing up in TMP in Protocol. So to me it’s pretty clear that if we want to understand the full picture of TMP and all the things it is trying to say then we can’t just try to pretend TMA doesn’t exist or scrub it away. Just because you could understand what’s happening without the context in broad strokes doesn’t mean you're getting all the nuances.

These articles are meant to be quick and short so sorry if there’s typos and if I don’t address every possible question or possibility. I don’t want to repeat myself too much in this series outside of the prologue so be sure to skim some of my other articles.

General Thoughts

I’m going to go through a bit of the episode like usual but this time I’m going to try to be briefer about the recap and focus more on just the bits I notice or think are the most important and see how I like that method. It might make these shorter, faster, and quicker to the point.

Like always, we cut to some sort of device being used to perceive what is happening, a computer in this case. Which is again pointing to the idea that an Entity such as the Web, Eye or maybe even something or someone else entirely is listening through devices in the same way an Entity listened through the tapes. I have to ponder if maybe even something like The Extinction could be listening through these devices. As Leitner pointed out in TMA, all the Entities can manifest as just about anything as long as it produces their fear and we have seen Entities manifest as more modern technology in the past. The Eye has manifested as cameras and the Slaughter has manifested as an entire battlefield that probably included things like guns and bombs. We have statements of the Cult of the Lightless Flame benefiting from destruction wrought by plane bombings and Gertrude postulates that if the followers of The Slaughter had known that the atomic bombings were going to happen in WWII then maybe they could’ve set up a ritual or something similar around it in MAG 137 (Nemesis).

But make no mistake, despite all that it is still very clear that some Entities tend to manifest in certain ways more than others. The Buried is much more likely to involve someone burying you alive than The Slaughter is even though being buried alive can be a very real form of violence. But I suppose manifesting as a gun or knife gets that point across much quicker. Certain manifestations can also be more difficult to use when invoking fears unless you are targeting a specific person. It is very hard for The Buried to make you feel trapped if it is manifesting as wide open areas unless it was just using them for contrast or something. Not that it couldn’t, but the association of being trapped in a tight enclosed space is much more common and easier to understand imagery in regards to being trapped. Likewise, you could make the argument that while all the Powers can and do manifest as certain forms of technology it is possible that The Extinction manifests as more advanced forms of technology more often.

As I mentioned earlier, The Extinction seems to be the fear of catastrophic and large scale change. As postulated by Dekker in MAG 134 (Time of Revelation) “But now the fear is not of a rapture or a revelation. It is of catastrophic change. Mankind will warp the world so much it kills us all, and leaves only a thousand years of plastic behind. Technology will strip us of what it means to be human, and leave us something alien and cold. We will press a button that in a moment will destroy everything we have ever been. Animals are witnessing the end of their entire species within a single generation.” Additionally, some of the names for The Extinction are “The Terrible Change” and “The Future Without Us.” So even in TMA characters were noting connections with The Extinction and technology. Additionally, the thing technology, mutations, and apocalyptic events tend to have in common is that fear of large scale change. That even if what is being added or taken away wouldn’t kill us like The End might, we will live in a fundamentally different and scary world. Tying into this is of course the fear of advancing technology and by proxy gaining more ways to fuck us over or make the world a worse place. Dystopian surveillance states often use technology to help keep people in line. Monitoring via cameras or any other number of things like peoples’ social media. Something that is a lot harder to do without this technology.

We also have to ask if The Extinction did emerge would it be like The Web and The End? Most of the Entities operate in a manner that is simplistic yet alien to us. They just want as much fear as possible at any given time but don’t really seem to care where they get it or what happens after most of the time. However The Web and End have a mind and philosophy that is at least closer to that of a human or one we might understand. The Web and End can both conceptualize the future and sort of plan for it. Where the other Entities are fine enacting The Change even if it traps them, The Web and End seem to not be interested in that and The Web at least realizes if the rituals worked the Entities might end up trapped and die without a plan while The End doesn’t seem to mind and apparently craves finality anyway. So is The Extinction similar? Can it conceptualize the future, does it have a similar sort of understandable philosophy or even a grand plan? Is it using The Eye like the Web did in TMA or something similar. Thematically it does sort of make sense that a being born from a fear so often tied to the future consequences based on current actions might be able to form long term plans like The Web (an Entity tied to plans, schemes, manipulation and control).

Some people might seem confused about how I can call The Web and End’s mindset different from the other Entities when they are all nebulous categories that overlap with each other and in MAG 200 The Web even seems to distinguish itself from the other Entities. But I would argue it’s kind of like how you can’t control every part of your body. Yes, an eye is a part of our body just like our brain is but they serve 2 different functions and we cannot control when our pupils dilate even as your eyes burn from a bright light. They just do so automatically when exposed to light. In more extreme examples sometimes parts of the body can even attack or reject organs as well as other parts of itself in a sort of weird reaction in the same way two Entities might attack each other even if in actuality they are both part of a bigger whole.

Whether or not The Extinction has emerged I cannot say. There is an argument that even if you want to buy that the Entities we are following right now are indeed Smirke’s 14 then they might have been reset and since The Extinction wasn’t needed in Jonah’s ritual you could argue it never got the chance to emerge and is back to square one. HOWEVER, you could also very well make the argument for The Extinction emerging too. The Change might have been just the massive burst of fear the Entity needed to come into fruition and on top of that Dekker seems to imply the Entity is based on the fear of massive change. The Change was literally a universe spanning event that turned everything into a fear hellscape and we do see that some, but not all, people are aware that their lives used to be different and something changed to make it so much worse even if they don’t always seem to know what. Additionally, Jon says this in MAG 175 (Epoch) when talking about The Extinction’s domain “Of course it was real – A-At least in the sense that – it was a thing people feared. Whether it was strong enough in its own right to be considered at a level with Smirke’s Fourteen, or – whether it was on its way to getting there, I – maybe. This sort of thing is always muddy.”

But why is this all important, why am I mentioning this and why now? Well, previously I argued that Smirke’s 14 are probably still applicable and I even argued that for the most part they seem to be behaving and acting the same. The Eye forcing people to see things, The Stranger wearing skin to disguise itself, The Flesh taking advantage of a desire for perfection, etc. and I do stand by this idea being the most likely possibility right now, even if it’s not guaranteed. Or at least I stand by it in the sense that I think Smirke’s categories are still relevant and in play to about the same degree they were in TMA. While I do disagree with the idea that the categories are any more or less vague and are somehow revolving around desires instead of fear now I failed to consider how an emerging new Entity could impact how the existing Entities manifest, and as some people have rightly pointed out there’s clearly a greater emphasis on technology in TMP.

As I’ve mentioned before, all the Entities are connected. They are like parts of a body according to Leitner or a spectrum of colors according to Gerard. So what if The Extinction emerging created a sort of ripple effect across the other Entities? Would the emergence of The Extinction push or pull The Entities towards manifesting with or around more advanced forms of technology more often? If we are using the color example from Gerard you could make that argument (even if you want to say that we’re taking the example too literally). Imagine you can only see yellow and blue due to the limitations of your eyes or brain. These two colors are the existing Entities. Now imagine one day you suddenly get hit in the head and your eyes suddenly mutate or a neuron is knocked back into place and now you can also see red (a new Entity). Did you go from being able to see 2 colors to 3 colors? No, you went from being able to see yellow, and blue along with all the possible combinations those two colors have with each other as well as black and white to being able to not only see red but every possible combination red could have with one or both of those colors as well as black and / or white.

In this example it’s not like red didn’t exist before either. You just couldn’t perceive it but now that you can and your entire view of the color spectrum has changed. To get what I’m saying just look up some color wheels based on color blindness. The loss or addition of a color doesn’t just change one color on the spectrum but all of them.

It might change how you maneuver or navigate through the world as certain things stand out more or less to you based on their color. A rock might suddenly seem more shiny or more dull. Parts of the previous colors are still there but now suddenly you not only see red but more shades of blue with more nuance. It’s kind of like if all the Entities were stretched just a bit to the left or something. It also makes me wonder if something similar happened when the other Entities emerged. For example, with The Dark there are plenty of statements that take place at night, in shadow, or darkness that have nothing to do with The Dark (there’s even statements about The Eye involving strange shadowy figures in the night despite its eyes clearly being visible). However, the emergence of The Dark would have signaled that the fear of the darkness was becoming more common and so adding darkness to something scary could have heightened the fear for the Entities. For example, only The Hunt existed before The Dark and being chased is scary but for most people being chased in the dark is even scarier.

Now imagine The Stranger emerges. Suddenly you don’t even know what’s chasing you in the dark which makes it even more frightening and then suddenly The Eye emerges and now people are making statements about that time this event happened while they are constantly reminding you of it in order to make you relive it. Also, the unknown monster has your house address and knows where you live too AND is threatening to dox you. Of course, you could argue against this by saying this might just depend on the fear and it’s possible not every fear would have this effect if at all. It’s possible that there were just as many darkness related instances before The Dark but it was just tied to The Hunt.

This metaphor could go both ways for both the Entities and people. Since people are becoming aware of more fears and they are becoming more visible then the Entities can get more “nuanced” or “vibrant” with their colors. For people, they may suddenly notice concepts and objects they did not before due to a fear becoming more common.

u/UffishWerf also makes an interesting point about color theory and how the words that evolve to describe certain colors often come about in a certain order(https://www.reddit.com/r/themagnusprotocol/comments/1bm3fja/comment/kwbdv6e/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3). “Berlin and Kay are the guys to read up on for this, but the basics are this: in the languages they studied, black and white were named first, then red, then green or yellow, then the other one of green or yellow, then blue, then brown, then (any order), purple, pink, orange, and gray. (Let's take a moment to remember that in English, the color orange is named after the fruit. Wild.) There's also a theory that in civilizations, before those words evolve, they don't really notice or have a concept for the colors they haven't gotten to yet, like how Homer wrote about the "wine-dark sea," describing something we'd think of as blue as red, instead. Not everyone agrees those theories is are, but I think they're fine for applying to TMA.” I would personally argue that there’s actually a precedent for this when looking at the Entities. The Powers didn’t emerge all at once and most of them are primarily fueled by and born of human fears because they are “more nuanced.” Just like how the mantis shrimp can see more colors than we could ever dream of, humans might be able to perceive more nuanced and different kinds of fears than most animals ever could. It’s not just about being hunted anymore but the possibility of Extinction level events. We also know that both TMA and the TMP universes seem relatively similar to our own (outside of supernatural fear entities) and parallel each other greatly. One could argue that because of this the order in which the Entities occur might remain relatively the same. First, is a fear born of the basic predator and prey relationship of being hunted, then animals like humans realizing all the stuff that could be lurking in the dark, so on and so forth.

Of course, I’m not saying this would necessarily be a hard rule and one could make this argument in support of the idea that we aren’t seeing the Entities from TMA but rather a new set of similar Entities

There’s also time and culture. The fear of The Eye might become more prevalent the more knowledge humans as a whole obtain and the more ways we have to record and track things like statements and various accounts. The Stranger might become more prevalent upon the realization that the world isn’t just determined by gods and magic that we have laid out in detailed creation myths that leave no room for speculation but that we might not know how the universe was created and we still don’t know a lot about most of the universe. Heck, most of the ocean hasn't been fully explored, much less space.

Most of this is just conjecture and I’m not sure how much I even buy all these points but I think it’s just a nice food for thought.

Episode 1 Again

Okay, I’m going back to TMP episode 1 for a second because I’m fucking kicking myself here. In the quick thoughts about that episode (Episode 1 TMP Quick Thoughts) I pointed out that the first statement kind of screams of The Stranger and not only has themes of someone being replaced and the idea of wearing skin but more specifically the monster in question seems extremely similar to the Anglerfish in TMA (a monster that also stole skin).

But let's look at the response in that TMP episode. When Harriet asks “Arthur” if it’s really him he says “Some of him.” Now, when Jon asks Sarah Baldwin if she is still herself in MAG 096 (Return to Sender) we get this.

ARCHIVIST

Are you the same Sarah Baldwin that disappeared in Edinburgh in August 2006?

SARAH

Some of her. Skin. A few memories. Not on the inside.

So when Jon asks Sarah, a victim of the Anglerfish, who she is, what she says is SOME of her, SOME OF HER. This isn’t even my fucking maddest point because the first episode of TMP might actually parallel the first episode of TMA. The first statement we ever get in TMP shares a lot of similarities with the Anglefish and do you guys fucking know what the first episode of TMA is??? MAG 001 (Anglerfish)... FUCKING ANGLERFISH (sorry for the strong language I’m just getting a bit excited).

Something I’ve also pointed out is that sometimes the Entities have thematic roles in the story. The Stranger is the fear of the unknown so when our characters are learning about these new Entities they don’t yet understand they are being thrust into the unknown, so it makes sense that the first statements thematically connect with that via the Entity.

Episode 3 “Putting Down Roots”

Okay, okay, time for the actual episode. The statement in this episode has been throwing people for a loop the most and probably led to the most speculation on if the Entities have changed but I need to slow down.

We cut to Colin trying to fix Alice’s assigned computer while Alice commentates and we just see how shitty the computers are. When Colin tries to insert a command he gets a .jmj error and when Alice questions what that is Colin says “Nothing. It’s just an excuse for the system to ruin my day, is what it is.” Alice suggests trying another computer but Colin says “No. It’s doing this on purpose and that will only encourage it.” Which is odd. First, like I’ve mentioned before, Colin has some traits we have seen with some other Eye related stuff via his obsession with trying to fix things like this. This desire to understand a piece of old hardware is actually similar to an Eye related statement from TMA in MAG 148 (Extended Surveillance) involving a “Security Camera Instruction Manual.” Upon reading the Leitner the victim ends up metaphysically fusing with the camera system the manual is tied to but that’s not the important part. The important part is what led to Samson Stiller reading the manual in the first place. Specifically, a desire to understand and fix the camera system.

Similarly, we have someone here struggling with an old system of technology that might also be tied to The Eye. In case you aren’t completely convinced about where I’m coming from (even if you disagree) Colin says “I know this system better than anyone alive and I still don’t understand how it works. So, I can guarantee you that none of those mouthbreathers would even know where to begin with this steaming pile of.”

In MAG 148 (Extended Surveillance) we get “I remember the smell of dust when Dave went and cracked open the filing cabinet in the back room, before waving his arms in the direction of the drawer and shrugging. I mean, I’d have just left it, obviously, but I think Samson was taking the whole knowing how the system works thing as like – a point of pride? Something he could salvage from the whole situation. Just a way of getting some control over his life, you know?” So here we can see someone else taking pride in fixing an old outdated machine that other people seem not to care about.

But this also shows Colin treating the computer like it's alive. People talking to their computers isn’t SUPER weird or unheard of but considering Colin’s reaction last episode this might be a double meaning.

Colin could be trying to talk to whatever he thinks or knows is watching him through the computer. It is also possible that the computer literally is part of an Entity such as The Eye, Web, or Extinction due to being some sort of artifact or maybe even a being or monster (kind of like the Distortion looking like a weird door for a good chunk of its existence despite being sort of alive). Colin also pushes back against Alice trying to give the computers nicknames and says “Making friends with this god awful program that tries to throw itself into oblivion every time I turn on a console is not cute. It’s hard enough using every nanosecond of my waking life just to keep this byzantine mess from crapping the bed without you taking the piss.” Maybe he’s just annoyed but he might literally think the computer is trying to spite him and wants to keep people like Alice from getting too attached.

Also, pointing back to what I said earlier about The Extinction, Colin says this “Do you have any idea what will happen if this thing finally managed to extinct itself?” So fear of change and we also know the computers don’t react well to updates. Colin manages to fix it, Alice gives a quip, Colin acts annoyed, and then we get to hear the statement.

I’m not going to run through the statement in as detailed a manner as I usually do but I am still going to see if it maps onto Smirke’s 14 (plus the Extinction (So Dekker’s 15 maybe?)). Like I say every time this could be an act of hubris but even if I’m wrong it’ll still be fun to note possible parallels.

Okay, I think this statement is dealing with either The Eye or The Corruption. Let's run through The Eye similarities.

Edit (I Might have Fucked Up)

Okay, on further review I may have misinterpreted some important parts of this statement. Luckily, many of the points I made about the statement’s connection to The Corruption and Eye are still pretty accurate I say but I really don’t want to spread misinformation and it’s my first time doing more active content like this and trying to actually keep up with something instead of chewing on it for a month while I write a 100 page essay on it. I’m just going to run through some of the stuff with some corrections.

First off, I’d still argue themes of The Corruption and The Eye are present although I’m leaning way more towards The Corruption now. There’s also some pretty strong spiral themes.

I’m just going to leave what I said about The Eye here- First off, Dr. Webber mentions this “Today was bedlam. I had it all planned out, all of it! And then a panic attack just choked the nerve out of me. It was so humiliating! Felt like the ground was going to swallow me whole, with everyone staring at me only to roll their eyes at my “hysterics,” as the paramedic put it. They don’t understand. I was so close to getting caught... but it’s done. All I need to do now is disappear. I can’t go home. Not for a few days at least. And I’ll have to avoid the usual haunts until they forgot about me again. That won’t be difficult. What’s one more stressed doctor. Just a grey man in the crowd, unnoticed until I’m useful. One man kept staring at me on the tube. He looked like he was connecting the dots… I’m paranoid, I know, lying low amongst wildflowers in an overgrown garden. The mud has ruined my shoes.” Here we see Webber is having a panic attack and he seems upset that people were judging him. The Eye also includes the fear of being judged. Additionally, he seems fearful of being caught / perceived, and he notes a man staring at him and begins to fear that he’s “connecting the dots.”

Webber mentions he is paranoid which could point to The Spiral but I question what he is paranoid about. The Spiral is the fear that you or something is wrong. You thought it was one way only for it to be another. This can be from someone lying to you but also your senses being inaccurate causing you to see or think about things that aren’t there. But paranoia takes many forms and paranoia isn’t always just uncertainty or confusion. There are all kinds of paranoid conspiracy theories about how we are secretly being watched or monitored that would be up The Beholding’s alley. As I’ve mentioned previously the Eye also connects to the idea of “ignorance is bliss.” That sometimes merely knowing something can put you in danger or hurt you. The idea of “seeing too much” as mentioned in MAG 200. This “seeing too much” can take the form of trauma permanently mentally scarring you but also someone or something might punish you for knowing something or might also want to know what you know. Sometimes knowing something puts you in danger. For example, if you see a murder by the mafia said mafia may kill you or hunt you down because you have seen / known too much and you're now a witness or loose end. If a shady government realizes you know something, such as whereabouts of certain people, they might “make you disappear/”

We also get “It’s almost midnight.(Why isn’t it darker?).” Which is interesting. Usually people prefer being in well lit areas but what’s something the darkness provides? It’s harder to be seen and perceived in the dark. The kind of people often operating in the dark either have a specific job or are trying to avoid being seen. There’s a reason that ninjas performed espionage and assassinations in the dark. If you are operating in well lit areas you are more likely to be seen and it can be harder to sneak around.

Webber talks about changing his identity which further points to the fear of being found out. He also says “I’m cold but it’s worth it; no one will find me here.” and “I don’t have much choice; where would I go? I can’t go home, that’s the first place they’d look. Besides, too many memories there, and then there are the neighbours… Always snooping around with their community watch flyers. I won't miss parking scheme meetings, that’s for sure.”

Going back to the point about how unusually bright it is we get “It’s well after midnight. It should be pitch black, but I can still make out grey shapes in the gloom. The voice is still calling for me. I’ve got to stay still even though my heart is racing.” So yeah, Webber is almost definitely banking on the cover of night and doesn’t want people to see or perceive him.“It is noted that Maddie “makes a good point, though. Doctors do make the worst patients. We are always self-diagnosing, and it’s always doom and gloom.” and “I can see my bones are tangled with the same fine strands as my wounds. It’s fascinating to see.” which I feel could tie into The Eye and extreme curiosity. In MAG 92 (Nothing Beside Remains) Jonah / Elias read a statement from Barnabas Bennett involving a letter being sent to Jonah Magnus for help after Barnabas pissed off Mordechai Lukas. Jonah / Elias tells Jon in the post statement that Magnus could have intervened and saved Barnabas but chose not to. He didn’t choose not to do so out of malice or lack of caring but simply because he was curious about what would happen to Barnabas and wanted to observe the events. So the Eye definitely has a precedent for just staring at things but not actually doing anything about them.

But then there’s that weird rash infection with all the roots. I mean yeah there’s a very real argument for The Corruption, both thematically and physically, but Leitner has mentioned that the Powers can manifest as anything that generates the fear they feed off of. Not only that, but there is a precedent for The Eye manifesting as a disease or infection. Albrecht von Closen had an encounter with The Eye after coming across a tomb and taking a bunch of old books with numerous statements (something Jonah later stole). In MAG 127 (Remains to be Seen) it’s clear Albrecht is being beset by a strange illness and he is becoming sickly and dying (he’s also spouting statements and staring at people). Albrecht later dies from unknown causes (the mysterious illness) and an autopsy reveals that his internal organs, bones, and inner skin had been covered with eyes… but there’s no eyes visible in this TMP episode. It might literally just be a disease caused by Webber not getting medical treatment or it could be The Eye trying to force Webber to choose between hiding and dying or risk going out and interacting with people. To risk being perceived.

Okay, here is where I make my first mistake. I say he doesn’t like how Jasmine talks to Gerard even though he is clearly talking about Maddie and in addition to that I misread and misheard Gerald as Gerard. So she was talking to someone completely unrelated to the Eye. Something that weakens my point for the Eye.

But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. The Corruption is more likely a possibility here. Jane Prentiss mentions that she didn’t like The Eye and her worms reacted to it. She even described it as anathema. So maybe the fear of being perceived is similar to what Jane experienced. Additionally, the Corruption often ties into themes of toxic love. Specifically, forms of toxic love we might find disgusting or repulsive. The Corruption doesn’t just relate to physically disgusting things but also behaviors and mentalities we might find gross. Someone can be physically sick and have a “sick” behavior or be “sick” in the head. Here we see Maddie caring for Webber even as he rots away but she never seems to try to get him the help he probably needs from other people.

You could also argue that Webber seems unhealthily attached to Maddie and is using her to enable his self-destructive behavior. Not to mention The Corruption and disease with all the maggots going hand-in-hand all the time. Something I stupidly forgot in the original version of this was that in the very medical files NORRIS is spitting out, Maddie is “Maddie Webber, age 39 – Deceased— ” and in addition to that the part of the file before this says “journal of Dr. Samuel Webber, age 46. Issued by grief councillor Harriot Manning.” So if this is being documented by Webber as he is turning into a tree that would mean either 1. Maddie is already dead and this is all happening due to the doctor’s unhealthy emotional response and attachment or 2. The doctor possibly straight up killed Maddie. With this in mind that would mean that Webber’s panic attack is linked to the death of Maddie and the thing he is freaking out about is the possibility of people knowing he thinks Maddie is alive or that he might have killed her. The fact that he says “They don’t understand. I was so close to getting caught... but it’s done. All I need to do now is disappear.” points to the idea that he might have killed her.

This part of the statement “Thought I heard someone calling my name. No flashlight though, no movement, just the voice. Sounds like Maddie. My hands won't stop shaking” might have been The Corruption using the feelings of disgust and love Webber has towards himself and Maddie to call to him. So when Webber dies he rots away and can metaphorically join his also rotting life within the garden or dirt that everyone’s body will one day decompose into.

This wildly changes the reading to being way more Corruption coded. Someone who loved someone in such an incredibly unhealthy way he ended up killing the person he loved. There’s also an interesting metaphor here for the garden. Someone being killed and metaphorically or literally being used to allow a garden to grow as their body rots into something disgusting before being combined with feelings of shame, self loathing, and disgust. The Corruption and self loathing is something I haven’t really mentioned but there’s a precedent for it. As I’ve mentioned, corruption is the fear of disgusting things and that would often include the fear that you yourself might be disgusting physically or in terms of behavior. If you hate yourself you might say “I’m a piece of shit” and the idea of that is usually people find shit to be disgusting and repulsive.

You could even argue for overlapping fears or similarities here. The Corruption is basically the fear of disgusting things and The Eye also includes the fear of being judged. So where they might overlap is the fear of you yourself being disgusting and the fear that other people might judge you as disgusting.

Sam also says “What do I even file that as? I doubt there’s a code for “parasitic-garden-that-whisperswith-the-voice-of-the-woman-heclearly-murderd-and-sort-ofturns-you-into-a-tree”” which could point back to The Corruption and themes of a toxic relationship. Alice also says ““Infection” comma “arboreal”. Cross link it with “guilt” if you’re feeling fancy.” And yeah I can see why someone might be afraid of being found disgusting via guilt about a certain behavior or belief.

There’s also an argument for The Flesh and body horror and in TMA sometimes The Flesh had a bit of garden theme, such as with Jared Hopworth’s domain.

In the original version I do mention The Spiral as a strong possibility but I also don’t give it a fear shake. I’m not going super in depth to it but Webber is clearly losing it and you could argue that maybe this Maddie person is connected to the Spiral and Webber acknowledges he is paranoid so he might be plenty afraid of going crazy. Mentions about how, for example, he is having trouble telling what time of day it is due to the unusual amounts of light could point to themes of The Spiral and being mistaken about something.

This statement is definitely more nebulous than the others so far but at the same time I don’t really see it being different than for example the vampire or that one time someone had to watch a video of a guy eating a computer. There are still statements from TMA that are just as nebulous and people are still debating to this very day what Entity these statements or beings might / should belong to.

Due to the additions I am more confident that this statement is probably connected towards The Corruption. Maybe like 85% sure this is The Corruption (If I had to assign an Entity and we assume they are still present) and the other possibilities being The Eye, Spiral, and Flesh respectively. With The Eye and Spiral being more likely than The Flesh.

Gwen enters the scene and offers Alice some sort of job “thing” on the 27th but refuses to elaborate on what it is. Which reminds me of the behavior Jonah had after taking over Elias and how he often held information from people like Jon for reasons that weren’t always clear. But eventually Alice gets Gwen to open up and she admits that it’s dinner with friends. Despite this it’s still kind of weird that Gwen thought to ask Alice of all people. They don’t exactly seem like friends so that’s strange. I can’t say if this means anything though.

Someone pointed out that Gwen is probably asking Alice to take her shift which makes a lot more sense then whatever the fuck I thought was happening. It’s still interesting that Gwen would ask for a favor though and then proceed to not elaborate which I still find really weird. Normally, if you ask for a favor you usually want to say why in order to get sympathy or understanding and trying to just get someone to do stuff for you for no reason tends to come off as shady. I still wonder if there’s a particular reason Gwen is so cagey. She asked what terrible event led Sam working for this organization in a past episode so I wonder if all the characters have some sort of trauma or encounter with the supernatural that is affecting them differently.

Conclusion

I don’t have much to say because I’ve been talking too long. Feel free to reply, maybe I’ll respond with my own thoughts in agreement or disagreement.

Also, make sure to point out if I misread anything or accidentally forgot something.

#TMA #TMP #the magnus archives #the magnus protocol #discussion

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tsukikoayanosuke · 3 years

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A Brief Ramble about the Fangame Drama

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone.

It seems like we've fallen into another drama pit. Nothing special.

Well, usually I don't want to get involved, but I kinda want to give a bit of my own two cents from someone who made fangames in the past.

Before we start, I think we need to recap a bit. I won't be tagging people just in case.

So, kulfidraws created a sweet little fangame titled Twisted Wonderland: Your Story [BETA 1.0]. The official game blog can be view here, and please read it, it'll be important. Or if you want to see the gameplay, you can watch Ami Yoshiko (that's how I know about the fangame).

However, Proud Hufflepuff and The-Heartslabyul-Hatter posted some false information, creating the drama we have today (I cannot find the original Proud Hufflepuff's post but I vaguely remember seeing that, but I'll link to kulfidraws' post about The-Heartslabyul-Hatter's Twitter post since it was deleted now). This includes kulfidraws receiving anons messages, The-Heartslabyul-Hatter spamming the official Twisted Wonderland twitter, and recently about a Discord conversation.

Now, this might not be the best summary of the drama, because I'm not the best at digging deep. kulfidraws posted the timeline today if you guys want to see it. And a few days ago, The-Heartslabyul-Hatter posted an apology.

From what I see, there's a few major discussion here:

1) Misleading Information

Remember how we are pissed of when someone calls Twisted Wonderland an otome game? Well, the same can be said here.

First of all, this is a fangame with no association with the real game, Aniplex, or Yana Toboso. kulfidraws even said it themselves on their game blog.

This game is, as kulfidraws pointed out, "merely a fan project for entertainment".

But this is what The-Heartlabul-Hatter said about it:

Someone made a fake Twisted Wonderland game. This is copyright infringement. Game creators do not follow the rules. This is copyright infringement and should be stopped. Please share this message!

... spread the word on fake Twisted Wonderland games that make fans believe it's real! The game creator blocked the warning. Send a message to the creators!

There are a couple of things that I wanted to point out.

The-Heartslabyul-Hatter called this fan game a "fake Twisted Wonderland games that make fans believe it's real". This contradicts what kulfidraws said in the disclaimer that this is a "fan project". Surely when you read that, you wouldn't think that this game is real right?

However, let's just assume that people don't read that and try another angle. The fan game is known because Ami Yoshiko played it. Now, compare her gameplay of the fan game to the actual game prologue. Surely when you see the difference you can tell which is official and which is fan content. Even her title says that "Someone made a Twisted Wonderland Dating Sim and....💔💀😱 | Ami Yoshiko" and she put a link to kulfidraws's game blog. not an official google play. Surely that's an indication that this is a fangame right?

Want another angle? The news spread about the "fake Twisted Wonderland game" is from Twitter. When you search #twistedwonderland, the first thing that came out is the official Japanese Twitter. You can see that Twisted Wonderland is a gacha game, but the one that kulfidraws made is an Otome visual novel. Sure you would believe the actual Japanese Twitter to be the real thing, right?

There are so many angles to look from, I don't see how people can still make mistakes. There are clear differences between the original game and the fan-made one. Google is free. Do your research.

2) The Copyright Problem

On July 5th (or 4th, depending on your timezone), kulfidraws received an ask, related the copyright problem.

Now, copyright is a tricky thing that I'm not versatile at, but what kulfidraws said was correct. If a single fan game can get copyright problems, imagine what will happen to the fanart and fanfictions. We're all screw if Disney and Aniplex are that strict. But also, following GE1KGQEJWHRKGRQOGRQO's logic, if we need permission to make fangames, wouldn't that mean we also need permission to draw fanarts, write fanfics, and edit the sprites for Discord stickers or incorrect quotes?

However, I also wanted to point out that in the disclaimer kulfidraws stated that "This is merely a fan project for entertainment, non-commercial purposes". kulfidraws won't get anything from making this game, only entertainment. Even their interaction with one commenter on the blog pointed this out:

kulfidraws won't get anything from making this game, just like many other fan artists and fan writers in this community, even deny profiting from this. Us fangame creators are just doing what others are doing: making something for fun because we love this media.

But, if I can give one piece of advice for kulfidraws is that maybe add the disclaimer and credit in the game, just in case anybody only skims through the blog post. Even if the game just a demo, always put a disclaimer and/or credit, just in case.

I asked my brother for a second opinion and he did make a good point. Probably the biggest concern is the use of official arts. Because we can see the art in use, it becomes more noticeable than using OST (where there can also be remixes).

So, speaking from a personal experience. I used to be in the Hetalia fandom. There, there are hundreds of fanmade sprites and facesets for many fangames. For someone who can't draw, this is a goldmine, as long as we give credits. I myself had made two fangames with fanmade assets, so the credits are very long. Twisted Wonderland fandom hasn't reached that point yet and I only know two fan game creators, so using the assets from the game is an option, especially those who can't draw.

So, just in case, disclaimers and credits are needed (like a disclaimer at the beginning of the game and/or rolling credit at the end).

==========

Now, I had a script where I want to address the asks, however, I haven't done much research and I don't think I'm the best person to do that.

I'm only speaking this from a perspective of a fangame creator who also used many assets that's not my own, but I do give credits as much and complete as possible; in the actual game, in the description, in a post connected to the game and a word doc in the game file.

But the biggest issue is the spreading of misinformation. What kulfidraws made was not a remake or "fake" Twisted Wonderland like what The-Heartslabyul-Hatter claimed to be. We always tell people to do their research when they think Twisted Wonderland is an otome game, why can't we do that here as well?

But you might say, The-Heartslabyul-Hatter apologized.

Let's see that apology.

So, from this apology, we can see that:

They are not Proud Hufflepuff, but they share the same Discord server.

They weren't the ones sending the Japanese messages to kulfidraws.

They are sorry for accusing kulfidraws of ignoring and deleting things.

Now, do you see what's missing here?

The biggest issue, the stem of the drama, is Proud Hufflepuff and The-Heartslabyul-Hatter spread misinformation of the fangame, but I don't see any mention of that here. So, if kulfidraws doesn't accept the apology, it's not a surprise. The-Heartslabyul-Hatter and Proud Hufflepuff don't even apologize for that when they're technically the ones who started this.

==========

The bottom line is don't just go spread misinformation about something when you don't have a clear grasp of the thing.

We're here to have fun and creates various content (fanart, fanfic, fangames) because we love the game. Just, don't do any of this.

Thank you for reading. If I made any mistake, I sincerely apologize.

#the captain's rambling #twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twst #twst fangame drama

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spaceshipkat · 2 years

Text

part 1 with the prologue - chapter 10 can be found here. (i was going to have 20 chapters per post as usual but it's getting too long)

part 2 of my h0sab recap will cover chapters 11 - 20

chapter 11: back in Tharion's POV, we learn he was a lazy student, vomits after torturing people, and doesn't know why he was put in charge of the River Queen's intelligence. he hacks into Sofie's email thanks to a system Declan set up for him. Tharion can't live Above (aka on land) bc he needs to be at the River Queen's beck and call. he also needs to return to water soon, after being in his human form for a day. Tharion doesn't live underwater bc he likes tv and food neither soggy nor wet. Sofie has a lot of normal emails in her inbox. as the timeline counts down for when he needs to return to water, he finds some strange emails between Sofie and someone who goes as BansheeFan56 who turns out to be Danika and the mention of a place where Sofie could lay low. Tharion sprints for the water with just three minutes to spare and gets into the airlock before it fills with water and wants to wait five minutes to ensure his body's properly hydrated. he spends the time thinking about Danika being involved with Sofie somehow. the location Danika gave was described as "where the weary souls find relief from their suffering". Tharion returns to his human form and looks through the field reports that came in while he was in the water, finding one that says an abandoned boat had been found in the Nelthian Marshes. the boat registration caught his eye bc it made berth in Pangera, and there was a lifevest from the Bodegraven found in it as had the lingering scent of a young man. Tharion wonders if Emile, Sofie's brother, had any reason to believe that Sofie had escaped the Hind with her life. after a page break, Tharion is on a "wave skimmer" up the Istros River in search of the aforementioned boat. he wonders if Emile was eaten by the sobeks (CCity's crocodiles). he sees muddy footprints in the boat that prove a child was indeed in it. there's plenty of fuel in the boat, so it clearly didn't run aground. Tharion follows the smell of blood to an arm that had clearly been ripped off, but there's no body and the scent is a day fresher than that in the boat. there's an insignia of the Lightfall Unit in the Ophion, the rebels. there are many scents here to indicate the Lightfall Unit was here in search of Emile. he returns to the boat and finds a map, then calls one of his officers to get them to set up a search party through the marshes, and if they find Emile he wants them to follow him to find out who he might meet up with or lead them to.

chapter 12: back with Hunt, he's watching Bruce eat ice cream and feeling horny about it. they're walking together, since her scooter was making strange sounds and she didn't want to risk getting back onto it. she asks Hunt to carry it for her and he agrees, though it's heavy. Hunt says he can take a look at it bc he knows how to work with machines due to his lightning and bc Sandriel wanted him to know how mech-suits worked so he could sabotage them, and he feels a lot of guilt over killing people that way. Bruce says he's sorry Sandriel made him do that. they move on to what they're gonna do about Pollux and Baxian. Hunt hopes Celestina can keep them in line and he says that the five minutes he spent talking with Celestina weren't enough to make a judgement on her character. Bruce says she spoke to Isaiah and Naomi on her way to collect Hunt and both of them seem to like Celestina. Hunt thinks the Asteri sent Pollux to Lunathion for a reason, perhaps to rile Hunt himself up, but Bruce counters that the Asteri told them to lie low so she can't see why they'd do something to make him do the opposite. Hunt finds it hard to believe that Pollux and Baxian being here isn't a sign that shit's about to hit the fan. Bruce tells Hunt she doesn't hold a grudge against Ithan anymore bc she doesn't have time for grudges, but Hunt points out she's immortal now so she technically does. since Bruce and Danika communicated via the Gates during her Drop, the city now uses them for announcements. Bruce asks Hunt to promise not to try to do anything to make Celestina punish him bc she couldn't live through his wings being chopped off again, and Hunt says he shouldn't have let Pollux goad him on. as the sun starts to set, they get up to leave but then a boat approaches the Black Gate with a Reaper on it. the Reaper steps onto the pier and walks past them into the city. they're about to leave when Tharion lands his wave skimmer at the pier and tells Bruce they need to talk. back in Bruce's apartment, Tharion says he found her bc he has eyes everywhere. Ithan says he knows Tharion based on scent and that he's "Captain Whatever" and Tharion says "Ketos". Bruce texts Ruhn to get over to her apartment "NOW". Tharion asks Bruce if Danika ever talked about someone named Sofie, and Bruce asks "Sofie who?" and Hunt asks what this is about and Tharion says he's just updating old files. Tharion says there's a cold case he's working on and Hunt cuts him off, ordering him not to lie to Bruce, so Tharion explains he's looking into Sofie Renast and gives a recap of everything we've already learned. he doesn't know why the River Queen is after Emile and Sofie, but it has to do with Danika bc of their emails. Hunt asks if Tharion is insane bc searching for rebels and not turning them is a good way to be crucified. Tharion tells them to not tell anyone about this and starts to leave but Bruce blocks his path bc she demands to know why Danika was involved with a human rebel. Ithan asks why Emile didn't use his power to get out of the death camp. Bruce says that Danika wasn't a rebel and she wasn't involved with anyone named Sofie Renast, but Tharion says the email account links them. Bruce demands to know what the emails said, and Tharion asks if Dusk's Truth or Project Thurr mean anything to her, but Bruce doesn't know anything about them. Bruce says he's stupid if he thinks she's not going to go looking for Emile and Hunt reminds her the Asteri ordered them to lay low, and Tharion says she should do that, and Hunt says the Asteri will kill everyone she knows if she gets involved with the rebels, that they won't get a trial, only an execution. Ruhn enters then and Tharion accuses Bruce of inviting him. Ruhn asks what's going on and why Ithan is here, and Bruce says that he's a "free agent" now and will be staying with her. Ruhn gapes when Bruce says that Tharion thinks Danika was in league with the rebels and explains everything Tharion has told them, leading to Ruhn wondering if it's possible that Danika really was in league with the rebels. Bruce says

no, Danika was far more concerned about junk food, and Tharion points out she wouldn't have wanted to mention anything to Bruce bc she'd worry it would only endanger her. Hunt tells Tharion that getting involved in this is likely a slippery slope, and Tharion apologizes for coming here bc this must be difficult for Hunt. Ruhn asks if she's sure that he thinks Sofie could be alive, and Tharion says yes. Tharion says the Hind may already be on her way to Lunathion bc Emile's powers will still attract people. Bruce asks why Tharion wants him and Tharion explains that Emile would be safe Beneath; he doesn't know what the River Queen wants with Emile, but he swears she wouldn't harm him. Hunt says the 33rd hasn't heard anything about the Hind coming to Pangera or that Ophion is here, and Tharion explains what he found in the marshes. Bruce accuses Tharion, again, of wanting Emile to be a child soldier, and Tharion says that it's either him looking into this or someone else who might not be as "independently minded". Tharion explains what was in the emails again when Ithan questions whether or not Danika really was a rebel. Bruce says she'll ask Fury about it tomorrow, though Tharion tells her to call her now, though Bruce says that it's date night and Fury won't want to be interrupted. Tharion sighs and gives Bruce a "sampling" of the emails bw Sofie and Danika. he then says to not put anything in writing and that he'll be back around lunch tomorrow. as soon as he's gone, Hunt tells Bruce that getting involved is a bad idea, and Ruhn agrees. there's a lot of back and forth about whether or not this is about saving Emile or learning more about Danika, and she tells Hunt she'll think about it and stalks away. Bruce reads the emails between Sofie and Emile and Bruce decides she can't do nothing. she then orders pizza and sees that Hunt's bedroom door is shut. in Hunt's POV, he turns on the shower and thinks about how Bruce of course wants to get involved and that her longing to help is what makes him like her. back in Bruce's POV, pizza has arrived and Hunt likes something called Carnivore's Delight. over pizza, Ruhn and Bruce have a conversation about how weird it is that Ithan is here, Ruhn points out that Bruce is technically a Starborn Princess and therefore Sabine could take this as an affront, so Ruhn says he can take Ithan in and pretend he's hiring him to work in the Aux, so Bruce agrees but says to give it a couple days so it doesn't look like Bruce is kicking him out. Ruhn points out Ithan never helped her when she needed it and she says she didn't help Ithan when he needed it, so Ruhn relents. Hunt points out that it's rude to have silent conversations. Ithan tells Bruce he heard she had her Ordeal and congratulates her, and she turns to Ruhn and says he had his Ordeal in Avallen and wonders if Cormac was there. then Flynn and Declan enter, telling Bruce that they took Ruhn's fingerprints to gain access to her apartment building after adding their own to the system and they also made physical copies of her apartment keys. Bruce demands the key and says she's gonna change the fingerprint system to something more secure. Flynn sticks the key in his pocket and tells her to come get it, to which Hunt is all huffy. Flynn comments on Ithan being here. Flynn says he heard Bruce mention their Ordeal and that he was there too and Bruce says that it was only Ruhn who got the Starsword. Ruhn says he was 27 and his dad sent him there to "check out the ladies" and Flynn explains that there was a fae the autumn king wanted Ruhn to marry, but so did Cormac until neither of them ended up with the fae. Bruce says she hopes that the contention bw Flynn, Declan, Ruhn, and Cormac isn't over women, and Declan says only partially since Cormac also tried to kill all of them. Ithan wonders about fae being allies with each other and Flynn is shocked and says no, Avallen and Valbaran fae hate each other. Declan, Ruhn, and Flynn talk about their Ordeal. Flynn asks Ithan if he's gonna keep his tattoos, Ithan says "what's it to you?" and Flynn

says he just wants to tell Ithan that Sabine and Amelie are horrible people. Hunt says he's sharing a room with Bruce tonight and Ithan says good bc she snores.

chapter 13: Bruce barely sleeps that night bc Hunt is sharing her bed. the next morning she has a terrible headache. when Ember calls, Bruce immediately suspects her voice is too calm. Bruce asks if they got home all right, and Ember says yes and she also got a lot of phone calls asking when the wedding is. Bruce tries to play dumb by asking if Ember and Randall are renewing their vows, and Ember asks if this engagement is some stunt to get Hunt to confess his love to her, which makes Hunt choke. Bruce says it's not a real engagement, and Ember says it sounds like it's real and asks if she knows who Cormac's dad is, and Bruce says she's not going to marry him. Ember asks why there's a photo of a meeting at work yesterday, to which Hunt's "wings flared with alarm," and Bruce says that Cormac ambushed her but reassures her mom it was in a "nonphysical way" and has no intention of marrying "Prince Creepster" but Ember has to trust Bruce to deal with it, shooting Hunt a look to include him there too. Ember says Bruce is playing games with fae royals who will outsmart her, but Bruce says she has to go bc she has an important meeting. Ember doesn't want to hang up so Bruce reiterates that she has to trust Bruce to handle it, that she doesn't get a say in what she does or doesn't do, and tells her mom to stay out of it, which causes stunned silence. Bruce continues that handling this engagement is nothing compared to what she's been through, so Ember needs to stop. Ember reiterates that she wants to help, Bruce declines, Ember says that she and Randall are there for her and then hangs up. Hunt asks why Bruce didn't tell him that Cormac came by yesterday and Bruce says bc she got a call from Celestina that Hunt was in a holding cell and then forgot to tell him, then leaves to get dressed for a meeting. when she returns, Hunt is in his 33rd gear and she tells Ithan to make himself at home, then clips Syrinx (her chimera pet) to his leash and heads for the elevator, Hunt joining her inside. Hunt asks why things are weird between them, Bruce deflects a little but apologizes for doing so when Hunt says he's serious, and Hunt asks about Cormac again and what he said, so Bruce tells him, and Hunt asks if he touched her while his lightning sparks a bit, and Bruce says no as they leave her apartment building behind, that Cormac is just a creep. before they part ways, she makes Hunt promise that he won't start any fights, and he agrees so long as she calls him when Cormac appears next. she promises and asks Hunt to tell her if he hears from Tharion or learns anything about Emile, though she doesn't say his name with all the cameras in Lunathion. Hunt says that he knows Bruce wants to help and that he commends her for it, but they really must weigh all the options, to which Bruce squeezes his hand and agrees. Hunt says that Tharion threw him last night and dragged up a lot of stuff, but if Bruce wants to move forward with it, they have to talk it through first. she agrees but says she's still going to meet with Fury right now, and he says all right but they're still gonna have to talk about all the weirdness between them. Bruce meets up with Juniper and Fury at a tea bar, Juniper saying she wanted to say hi to Bruce before practice. Bruce asks if they've ordered and they have, though Juniper's is to go. Bruce reminisces about dancing. we learn what Juniper did during the attack on Lunathion and what it might have done to her dancing career. Bruce asks if Juniper's given any thought to another ballet company, Juniper says "yeah" but they're a step down, so she wants to hold out for a year to see if anything changes. Fury and Juniper kiss goodbye, Juniper kisses Bruce's cheek goodbye, and then she leaves. Bruce asks Fury if she's "got it bad" and Fury says she really does. Fury asks what the urgent thing Bruce needs to talk about is, and she says "Danika," because Bruce thinks that talking to Fury about Danika but not Emile or anything else doesn't break her promise to Hunt that they'd talk about it before taking any actual steps. Bruce

thinks it's safe enough to talk to Fury about it here at the tea bar bc it's pretty empty so early in the day. Fury asks if it has to do with Ithan staying with Bruce, and Bruce is shocked she knows about that. Fury says Ithan still has a thing for her but Bruce says he has a thing for Nathalie. Bruce asks Fury if there's anything secret she was keeping for Danika, and Fury asks for elaboration, so Bruce tells her about Sofie etc etc etc. Fury says she believes Bruce but doesn't know anything about Danika and the rebels. Bruce asks if Fury thinks the meeting is in the Bone Quarter, but Fury says that Danika would never have sent a kid there and wouldn't have been that obvious. Fury doesn't know anything about Project Thurr or Dusk's Truth but Danika was always into weird shit. Bruce asks if Danika might have been keeping anything else secret, and Fury says the only thing is that Danika is a bloodhound, able to scent bloodlines and the secrets in them. it's dangerous to be a bloodhound. Bruce asks what the odds are that Sofie knew this, and Fury says no idea but probably slim. Fury asks if Bruce is sure she wants to go looking for Emile, and Bruce says it isn't just for him but also bc she wants to know what Danika was really up to and to find out if Danika really had things to do with Ophion and Sofie. Fury says it's dangerous and Bruce says Hunt said the same thing and that they're both right, but she wants to do everything she can to learn more about Danika's secrets. Fury asks what Bruce will do when she knows the truth and Bruce says hope she can accept it.

chapter 14: Hunt and Isaiah observe training on the rooftop of the Comitium. Hunt could barely sleep last night and Bruce is perfect bc she recognized what he was trying to say but couldn't beyond that they need to talk before shooting. there's an hour before Tharion is due to show up at Bruce's apartment to talk. Isaiah asks Hunt if he thinks they'll wind up back on the battlefields of a war, and Hunt knows Isaiah means the battlefields where Sandriel sent them to kill Ophion rebels when it first formed. Hunt wonders what Isaiah would think about Tharion, and recalls when Isaiah told Hunt that he and Shahar would kill all of them with their plan. Hunt and Shahar didn't agree, didn't listen, and a few hours later she was dead. Hunt shakes the thoughts away in favor of looking over the training again. Pollux and Baxian are overseeing shooting, Baxian in his black canine form. Hunt says it's wrong to see them there instead of Viktoria and Justinian. Baxian notices Hunt's attention and shifts into his humanoid form before approaching Hunt and Isaiah (who had warned Hunt to relax), saying that he expected Hunt was doing something more exciting in Valbara and is surprised he hasn't dropped dead of boredom yet, to which Hunt says some people seek quiet lives. Isaiah leaves the conversation. Baxian mocks him for wanting a "nine-to-five job" and taps the scar on his neck (the one Hunt gave him) and says that the man ("male" but i can't be bothered) who gave him that scar would be ashamed. Hunt says that man always wanted peace. Baxian says it didn't seem like that when Hunt's lightning flayed him, and Hunt says handed "that rebel family" over to Sandriel so Baxian deserved it. Baxian says that Hunt was always literal and couldn't read bw the lines, Hunt demands to know what that means, Baxian says that he may not have been a slave like Hunt but he had little choice in choosing to serve Sandriel. Hunt says it's bullshit, that Baxian served her gladly, and Baxian says that Hunt never asked him why he was in her triarii, not once. Hunt is "surface-level" with everyone and Hunt says fuck off and orders him to return to work, and Baxian says it is work bc the Celestina just ordered him and Hunt to team up. Hunt wonders if Celestina somehow knows about Tharion's search for Emile and thinks that perhaps Baxian is there to keep an eye on him, so he refuses. Baxian says he's been stuck with "that prick" (meaning Pollux) for 100 years and it's therefore someone else's turn (meaning Naomi). Hunt asks why they weren't told during the meeting, and Baxian says he thinks Celestina has been monitoring their behavior all morning and wouldn't want them to put up a front by altering their behavior. Hunt asks to what end and Celestina, as if summoned, texts him that she wants him to show him around the city, ease him into what life is like, teach him about Valbara. Hunt says Celestina put Naomi in charge of helping Pollux adjust, and Isaiah meets his gaze across the way after reading Celestina's message with alarm, but not bc he himself is meant to escort Celestina around Lunathion. Hunt says that there's no way Pollux will let anyone show him the ropes, and Baxian says that they should let Pollux dig his own grave bc he's too upset over being separated from the Hind to understand his new life. Hunt says he didn't think Pollux was capable of caring for anyone like that, and Baxian says he isn't, he just likes to "have control" over his "belongings", to which Hunt says that the Hind belongs to no one though he doesn't know her well. Hunt asks if the Hind really isn't coming to Lunathion and Baxian says no, Pollux heard this morning. Hunt asks if Mordoc (the head of the Hind's dreadwolves) is making his move, and Baxian says the Hind isn't his type and he doesn't want to go up against Pollux. Hunt asks if Mordoc went with the Hind to Ephraim, and Baxian says yeah they're all in Forvos rn, and the delay is pissing off the Hind and the Harpy. this means that the Hind isn't in pursuit of Emile at the moment, which he supposes means Ophion is now

Emile's biggest threat. Hunt says he thought Baxian and the Harpy were a pair, and he laughs and says that she would be a better match for Pollux than the Hind and Pollux. Hunt notes that Baxian refers to the Hind by her given name (Lidia). Hunt asks about someone known as the Hawk, and Baxian says doing what he does best, which is attempting to outmatch Pollux for brutality. the Hawk, a hawk shifter, had been Pollux's main rival for decades. Hunt says that Baxian is free now that Sandriel is dead, so why stick around. Baxian says he could ask the same as Hunt, Hunt says he needs the money, and Baxian says that Bruce must be an expensive girlfriend. Baxian says he likes Bruce bc she has balls. Isaiah calls to Hunt, and Hunt is glad for the excuse to walk away, but first tells Baxian that the first rule to getting adjusted to Lunathion is to not talk to Hunt unless he talks to Baxian first. he outranks Baxian as Isaiah's Second. Baxian says he's taking this assignment seriously, bc he's irritated at Hunt for that comment, and Hunt smiles "savagely" and says he knows and is doing the same. "Baxian had the good sense to look a little nervous." back in Tharion's POV, he wants to own Bruce's apartment but didn't make enough to afford it, nor would the River Queen allow him to live Above. Tharion knocks on the door, Ithan answers and says Bruce isn't back yet, and Tharion says he knows bc Bruce told him and shows Ithan the text exchange. Ithan double checks that the number under Bruce's name is really her number and says that he thought Bruce was involved with Hunt, and Tharion says she is but he and "Legs" have an arrangement about her underwear. Ithan lets Tharion in and he sits down on the couch, then says it occured to him last night that Ithan didn't say much about Danika. Ithan asks what he means, Tharion says that Ithan may be a jock but he's not dumb so he knows what he means, which is that he was referring to what he told Bruce last night. Ithan wonders why Danika would tell him anything about being a rebel, Tharion says that they were close, Ithan says that Danika was his Alpha, Tharion says he wasn't in the Pack of Devils, Ithan says no but he would've been. Tharion prods Ithan for answers about places Danika might have sent Sofie and mentions Connor and Ithan snarls at him to not talk about his brother, Tharion says noted and asks if Ithan really does know nothing. Ithan says they never talked about the rebels, and he hates that he and Bruce are both being dragged into this. Tharion says he has his orders and he's bound to obey them. Ithan says that Tharion is an idiot if he doesn't see the risk in spreading the intel, and Tharion says that what the River Queen would do to him pales in comparison to what Sabine and Amelie did to Ithan. Ithan snarls and Tharion notes to himself how Ithan used to not give anything away in sunball games so he's clearly lost the skill. Tharion says that Danika did a lot of "shady shit" before she died and Bruce knows that, so Ithan isn't protecting anyone by staying silent. this exchange happens. Tharion wonders if he himself is a sappy bastard bc he points at the tv and asks if it's okay if he joins Ithan in watching last night's sunball game against Korinth. Ithan frowns and Tharion assures him he has no secret spy stuff planned, he just wants to chill before Bruce shows up, and Ithan eyes him carefully but only says that there's leftover pizza if he wants some.

chapter 15: in Ruhn's POV, he meets Bruce outside the fae archives at lunch. Bruce puts on her sunball hat and sunglasses to go unnoticed. Ruhn says he's not putting on that getup bc people will notice one day or another, and Bruce says she's sick of the gawking. Ruhn asks if Tharion is already at her apartment, and she says yes "already grilling Ithan" which is why she asked Ruhn to come as backup. Ruhn says he takes it that Bruce didn't invite him to walk her home to provide "muscle" and Bruce says she wants to discuss something with Ruhn but doesn't trust the phone. Ruhn says he knows that everything with Cormac is absurd but Bruce cuts him off and says it's about Danika. Bruce says she saw Fury this morning, who told her that Danika was a bloodhound, and asks if Ruhn knows what that is. he says yes and wonders at her simply telling him this, and Bruce waves her hand and says that Danika kept a lot of things from her and she doesn't see the point in secrets now. Ruhn says it's okay to be pissed at Danika and Bruce tells him to spare her the "self-help lecture" and he says fair enough. he says he supposes this explains why Danika knew he and Bruce were siblings before anyone else. Bruce wonders if he thinks Danika being a bloodhound had anything to do with Danika's connection to Sofie. Ruhn says it seems like a stretch since Danika was a powerful Vanir who could've been approached by Sofie or Ophion for any reason at any time. Bruce wonders if Sofie thought Danika could help her free Emile from the death camp. Ruhn asks if Danika had that kind of sway, and Bruce shakes her head and says she might have been able to but she never tried to do anything, and she doesn't see why Sofie would reach out to Danika when Sofie was in Pangera and Danika was in Valbara. she wants to know what Sofie knew about Danika. Ruhn says he knows that and he knows why she wants to help with Emile, but he reiterates that she should steer clear from what Tharion and the River Queen are up to, especially if Ophion is involved, too. Bruce says nothing as they get in the elevator, and Ruhn says he knows that Hunt already talked to her about this but the Asteri could kill her for even getting involved, even if it's just to help Emile. Bruce says the Asteri could've killed her in the spring and didn't, so she doesn't think they'll kill her now, and Ruhn says that if they want her alive she should consider why, perhaps having to do with the Horn on her back. the Bruce before the spring could've helped find Emile, but not the Bruce now who is watched everywhere she goes. they enter the apartment to see Tharion and Ithan, but Bruce halts on the doorway, Ruhn reaches for his gun, Ithan and Tharion say that Bruce's cat is beautiful, though it scared the shit out of them when it ran in a few minutes ago. Bruce says it's not a cat. in Hunt's POV, he arrives just in time to hear Bruce say that and then Aidas appears. everyone is startled. Aidas, still in cat form, says he thought he and Hunt were friends. Ruhn has his Starsword out but Bruce pushes on past to greet Aidas. Ruhn, Tharion, and Ithan are all shocked they know each other. Aidas says hello in a creepy way. he wonders why Bruce doesn't know how to use her power yet, she says she does, he says that's just party tricks and he meant her real powers, her heritage. Bruce asks what powers, Aidas explains Bruce has the power of the last Starborn queen. Ruhn asks if Aidas knew the last Starborn queen, and Aidas says he does, he also knows the "sniveling prince" whose light Ruhn has. Ruhn doesn't react, but Tharion and Ithan move into position behind Aidas. how Starborn magic differs from person to person is explained. Ithan asks what's going on. Bruce asks if Queen Theia allowed Prince Pelias to "forcibly wed" her daughter, and Aidas explains she was already dead by that point. Pelias killed her and stole the Starsword, and thus the Starsword really belongs to Theia's female heir. Ruhn says he's never heard of any of this. Bruce asks why Aidas is telling them this now. Aidas says it's bc he was powerless

to help back then, arriving too late and with too few numbers, so he asked his elder brother for a favor to face Pelias on the battlefield and wipe him out. he tells Bruce this now so the past does not repeat itself and asks if she's doing anything to help end the endless war. Tharion asks if Aidas means the rebel cause, and Aidas says it's the same war that they fought 15,000 years ago in a different form but ripe for pushing. Ithan says Hel is the enemy, and Aidas asks who wrote the history, Tharion says the Asteri, Aidas says he presumes Tharion knows the truth in some form then, and Tharion says he knows the official history should be taken with a grain of salt. Aidas said the Asteri fed lies to their ancestors, made scholars write down their truth on pain of death, erased Theia from all record. the library Jesiba possesses is what remains of the real truth and the history of the world prior to the Asteri. he says Bruce knew that and kept it a secret all these years, Ithan is shocked at Bruce, the world before the Asteri was ancient humans and gods lived here but now their ruins are below the sea. where did the Vanir come from? Aidas poses to them. Bruce says it's enough with the questions, what does this have to do with her gifts, and Aidas says the war is approaching its "crescendo" and her powers aren't ready, and Bruce says it's such a cliché and she doesn't want her power, no matter what they are, if it links her to Aidas and the Asteri will consider that a serious threat. Aidas says 15,000 years' worth of people have died to get them to this moment and Bruce, so he says don't play "reluctant hero" bc that's a cliché. Bruce seems at a loss for words, so Hunt asks what about Aidas's elder brother's forces. they seem perfectly content to "slaughter innocent Midgardians" and Aidas says those armies are always there to help, not conquer, and Hunt says the attack on Lunathion in the spring suggests otherwise, to which Aidas says it was a mistake. Micah opened the door on the pens of the "pets" that attacked the city. fortunately, Bruce took care of it before the demon princes were needed. Ithan says a lot of people died, and Aidas says a lot more will die in the war but Hel's armies are at Bruce's command. Ruhn says it's bullshit, Aidas is just waiting til they're weak enough to be easily wiped out by Hel's armies. Aidas says not at all bc he already knows a way into the world: through Bruce and the Horn on her back. Hunt growls when Aidas calls her "my Bryce". Aidas says it's her choice in the end and always has been. Bruce says she wants to get it straight: Aidas is there to convince Bruce to rebel against the Asteri in front of all these people and, what, sign up with Ophion? in which case no thanks. Aidas says she should be more careful about where she talks about important things like rebellion with Fury, and says yes by all means she should join Ophion, though he informs her he knows nothing about Danika and Sofie. Bruce says she doesn't even know any rebels, and Aidas says yes she does there's one right there in the doorway of her apartment, and they all turn to see Cormac, who Aidas calls "Agent Silverbow" and vanishes.

chapter 16: Ruhn gapes at Cormac and asks "you're what?" and if his dad knows, or Ruhn's dad for that matter, and Cormac says no, nor will they ever. the star on Bruce's chest flares. Bruce suspects Aidas let Cormac through the wards with his "unholy" power. Cormac demands to know what they do of Sofie (remember, he was her lover and likely believes she's dead). Bruce demands to know what "Agent Silverbow" (as she calls him) knows about Sofie, but Cormac demands answers. Tharion asks who Cormac is in blasé tones, Cormac says he's Cormac Donnall and demands Tharion answers, calls him mer, and Tharion asks how Cormac knows he's mer. Cormac says it's bc Tharion reeks of fish, so Tharion raises his arm to sniff his armpit. most Vanir can apparently smell saltwater to know who's mer. Ruhn and Hunt aren't smiling. Tharion smirks and says he assumes Sofie is Cormac's girlfriend, and Hunt finds this impressive, but Cormac turns back to Bruce and asks if she knew Sofie. Bruce says no she hadn't heard of her before yesterday thanks to Tharion and asks if they can all sit down, taking a stool at the counter. Cormac remains standing. Bruce asks why Cormac's shadows appear different from Ruhn's and Hunt asks if that's really what she wants to ask, and Cormac ignores it to again ask how Bruce knows Sofie. Bruce says she doesn't as she told him and asks Tharion to finally speak. Tharion says he was asked to confirm her death and Cormac asks if he did. Cormac starts to have embers in his hair when Hunt says that he hopes Cormac realizes he's not getting any other answers or out of here alive if he doesn't convince them of a few key details, and Bruce is shocked to realize Hunt means that. Hunt says so sit down, take a breath, and "listen to the lady's advice" by sitting down. to Bruce's surprise, Cormac actually does take breaths, and she and Ruhn look at each other while Ruhn says he didn't expect that in her mind. then Cormac sits down, much calmer now, and the star on Bruce's chest goes dark. Hunt says "good" and asks how Cormac got in past the wards, and Cormac says the cat or not-cat (he doesn't know who Aidas is) left a hole in them. Hunt then asks why Cormac came here at this exact moment, and Cormac says it's bc he believes they're after the same person: Emile. he wants to know what they know about him. Tharion asks if Pippa sent him, and Cormac says no, Pippa is the reason Emile fled the Bodegraven. Tharion then asks who sent Cormac to find Emile, and Cormac says no one did, he was sent to Lunathion for reasons, many reasons, but not that. he says he made "her" (Sofie) a promise to look after Emile. Ruhn says into Bruce's head that either Cormac is an amazing actor or he's really in love with Sofie. Tharion asks why Emile ran, and Cormac says he's afraid of her and wise to be, since she's a fanatic who Ophion is likely desperate enough to soon turn to with so many bases having been destroyed. there aren't any lines Pippa and her Lightfall unit won't cross, and wonders if their news covered the "leopard massacre" a year ago. Bruce shudders and Ithan says "yeah" quietly and Cormac explains it was Pippa's idea. Cormac says that Pippa sees Emile as a weapon and couldn't stop heaping praise after he took down the Omega submarines, and that she wanted to get him on a battlefield ASAP, so he fled before Cormac could explain he himself was there to help Emile. he tracked Emile as far as Valbara, but after that saw Tharion inspecting the marshes, noticed Tharion kept returning to Bruce's apartment, and came to the conclusion that they all had to know something. he hoped Emile might even be here, and again asks for them to tell him where he is. Ruhn asks for clarity about Cormac being part of Ophion but working to keep Emile away from Ophion, and wonders if he worries what'll happen if Ophion finds out. Cormac says they won't bc he has other reasons to be in Lunathion. Bruce demands to know if Cormac really expects them to trust him and what he says after he tried to kill Ruhn during the Ordeal for the Starsword. Cormac says that that

was 50 years ago and priorities change. Bruce says "old school loser" fae never change. Cormac says Valbaran fae are such babies, and wonders if "Prince Ruhn" learned anything about his destiny thanks to him in the Ordeal, and Ruhn says that Cormac put a sword through Declan's gut. Tharion interrupts to wonder, assuming they buy his story, why a fae prince would join Ophion. Cormac says he joined bc it felt right and thus the details are unnecessary, but Bruce says not if he's working for the Asteri. Cormac wonders that she thinks he'd actually turn her over to the Asteri, since he wouldn't wish that fate on anyone. Hunt says he knows bc he was there. Cormac says Sofie became an Ophion agent bc the Asteri butchered her family and thunderbird ancestors, and all she wanted was to find Emile. Tharion opens his mouth to speak but Bruce holds up her hand and explains that Tharion came to her yesterday bc there might be a connection bw Sofie and someone Bruce knew (Danika), and that Tharion needs to find Emile by order of the River Queen. Cormac asks what she wants with him, and Tharion shrugs, but Bruce says she doesn't care about the politics, only that Emile is a lost kid she wants to help, and reminds us again that she wants to know how Danika was involved. Cormac's eyes soften, though Ruhn observes in Bruce's head that he could be faking that, though Bruce doesn't think so. Bruce says that the Hind is a pretty big deal and wonders if she went to all this trouble just to kill Sofie for freeing her brother, or if it's bc Sofie is a thunderbird. Cormac says that the Hind went to all that trouble bc of the information Sofie supposedly died with that could have changed the war. Tharion says the Asteri probably sent the Hind to kill Sofie before she could tell anyone. Cormac grins and says yes, but he suspects the Hind knew Sofie could hold out through torture and decided it was simply better to let the intel die with her. Bruce looks at her own manicured nails and wonders if she could hold out. Cormac turns to Tharion and asks if the Hind at least shot Sofie before dumping her in the water, and Tharion says he doesn't know bc her body wasn't there. Cormac is shocked. Tharion explains he found the chains and lead blocks but no body, and the shackles had been opened. and Cormac's eyes fill with a raw emotion Bruce can't decide is love for Sofie or hope that the intelligence she has lives on. Tharion says he doesn't know, but that's why he came to Bruce, bc of someone she knows (Danika) knew Sofie years ago. he wonders if that could lead him to Emile, and he has reason to believe that a safe meeting place was set up years ago, where Emile might be going, as well as Sofie if she's still alive. Bruce wonders if Sofie passed the intel onto Emile. Cormac explains Sofie made the Drop years ago at an illegal site where it wouldn't be recorded, and he hoped there was a chance she might have survived but she hasn't contacted him. he asks Tharion what else he knows, and Tharion lies and says that's everything, and Cormac smirks and asks "what about Danika Fendyr?" and Bruce is shocked and demands to know what about her, and Hunt gives her a look to shut up. Cormac says she and Sofie knew each other, and he assumes that Danika is the one who set up the safe place, Hunt says Cormac can't know any of that for sure, and Cormac says yes he can bc that's why he agreed to marry Bruce. in Ruhn's POV, he needs a moment to process everything and watches Cormac, while Bruce laughs and says she thought it was bc of her winning personality. he says he agreed to marry her bc he needed access to her and Ruhn. Hunt wonders why it couldn't be just a friendly visit (rather than marriage), and Cormac says that the Valbaran fae and Avallen fae aren't friendly--allies but also rivals. he needed to come here to find Emile so it was a blessing that Ophion also had a different mission in mind for him. Bruce says forcing her into marriage seems extreme, and Cormac says his breeding potential is the only currency he has. Ruhn thinks he and Cormac have more in

common than he realized and wonders why Cormac needs access to him. Cormac says it's bc Ruhn can "mind-speak", which he and his dad have suspected since the Ordeal when Ruhn, Declan, and Flynn moved like one. it's a rare Starborn gift and one Ophion needs, but Ruhn asks about Cormac's cousins the twins who can mind-speak, and Cormac says they're not trustworthy. Hunt cuts in to tell Ruhn to say no, bc the Asteri won't care whether they reject Cormac's pitch or not since he listened to it. searching for Emile on his own is one thing, that quite another. he also reminds them that if one of the Asteri saunters onto the battlefield, the humans are through, since just one Asteri is powerful enough to wipe out armies. Hunt goes on that if the Asteri find out that Agent Silverbow is trying to recruit Ruhn, all of them will be called in for interrogation if they're lucky, executed if they're not. Cormac says that Hunt didn't seem to have such concerns when he fell, and Hunt says he had to learn the hard way and would prefer to save his friends from that. it means something to Ruhn that Hunt calls him friend. Hunt says it's dangerous to tell them this bc they could very well sell him out, and Tharion points out that Cormac could be a mole, and Cormac says he doesn't bandy this information around recklessly. Hunt made mistakes in the past but Cormac won't, and Bruce says "fuck you" to Cormac for that. Ruhn says he won't get involved, no matter what, so Cormac doesn't even need to bother asking him to do whatever Ophion needs. he hates that Cormac knows he can "mind-speak" and that Tharion is now watching him with awe. Cormac taunts them that they can't put their lives on the line for all the innocents in Pangera that the Asteri forces kill, torture, and enslave. Cormac says he thought convincing them to help would make finding Emile a little easier, but it seems they want to put their own lives before others, to which Hunt says "fuck off" and asks if Cormac saw what happened this past spring. Cormac says yes, he saw how Bruce and Danika helped save the city, and how Ithan helped Bruce save the humans in the Asphodel Meadows. he thought that Bruce and Danika being close would make Bruce open to helping him. he asks Tharion where he thinks the meeting point could be, and Tharion says nowhere good and that he'll get the details when they're good and ready "princey". Bruce asks how Danika and Sofie met, and Ruhn realizes that trumps everything for Bruce. Cormac isn't sure, but Sofie told him that Danika suspected something about the Asteri and needed someone to go find out what, and that person was Sofie. Bruce says Danika died two years ago and wonders if Sofie had the intel for that long, but Cormac says no, from what he gathered Danika needed Sofie to go in three years ago but it took longer than they thought to gain access. Danika died before Sofie could get the information to her, and when she finally got it she decided to manipulate Ophion into upholding their bargain to get Emile. Ithan asks if Danika worked for Ophion, and Cormac says no, she was only connected to them; as far as he knew, Danika had her own agenda. Bruce says that, for what it's worth, she doesn't think Aidas would allow Asteri loyalists into her apartment, and Cormac is surprised that that was the "Prince of the Chasm". Bruce says he can talk all he wants about tracking and whatnot but she thinks Aidas made sure he would come to her apartment at the exact moment he says she needs to learn how to use her Starborn gifts, and asks Cormac what he knows about them. Cormac says nothing, so Ruhn says he told Bruce that Cormac learned everything he could about the Starborn fae bc he wanted the Starsword. Cormac glares at Ruhn but agrees that he spent much of this youth learning about the Starborn fae. Bruce calls him a rebel prince and a bookworm and says she'll make a deal with him: she wants out of this marriage but knows that if they ended it too soon her dad would send someone else less motivated to work with her, so they'll team up with Tharion to find Emile

as well as whatever intel Danika needed from Sofie, and in exchange she wants the betrothal over when she says it's time and for Cormac to teach her how to use her magic. if not, he can leave and they'll tell Pippa he told them everything. Cormac agrees but says the engagement can only be ended after his work for Ophion in Lunathion is done bc he needs the reason to be in Valbara. Ruhn expects Bruce to object, but she thinks it over and says they will need a reason to be seen together. Ruhn wonders if he is the only one who thinks this is insane. Ithan says he thinks they're all dead meat for even talking about this. Hunt says they need to talk this over before they agree, and Bruce touches his hand. Ruhn says Cormac has dropped a lot of info on them that they need to process so they'll be in touch. Cormac says he requires their blood oath to not say a word about this. Ruhn laughs and says no, Cormac can trust them so can they trust him, and Cormac says if he can trust "cowards who like painting their nails while the rest of the world suffers" then they can trust him. Bruce remarks at his charm, Cormac says she needs to swear the blood oath, she says no she has a manicure in ten minutes. Cormac says he requires their answer tomorrow and in the meantime he's trusting his life to them. he tells Ruhn that if he desires Cormac's pitch he'll be at the Archer and Ward bar, but Ruhn doesn't reply. Cormac wonders if Ruhn's dad remains unaware of Ruhn's mind-speak power, Ruhn asks if Cormac is threatening him, Cormac shrugs and tells Ruhn to meet him at the bar to find out. Cormac says that beyond Sofie and Emile, the world could be so much more if everyone was free and he can't understand why they don't want that. Hunt says it's hard to enjoy being free if you're dead, and Cormac says he can think of no better reason to die than freedom for all.

chapter 17: Ithan wonders aloud if anyone else feels like they're about to wake from a bad dream. Bruce looks at the time and says she needs to get back to the archives. Ruhn is shocked that, after all that, he's going back to work. she strides for the front door and looks at Hunt, and he follows her. she senses no lingering remnants of any of Cormac's magic. she wishes she had the "serenity" of Jesiba's gallery and Lehabah's friendship to return to. she tells the "males watching her" that they just had a bomb dropped in their laps but she still has a job she's contractually obligated to return to. Hunt puts his hand on her shoulder and she recalls the many times he's stepped bw her and danger, but she knows he can't do that now. she turns to Tharion and asks what he wants, not what the River Queen commands him to do, and he says "this apartment, for starters" and then says he wants to find answers and what he's to face, regardless of his orders. he's also compelled to believe Cormac since he didn't display any "signs of lying" and Ruhn says that Cormac is more skilled than Tharion knows, but Hunt says he doesn't think Cormac was lying either. Bruce wonders if there might be a connection bw Dusk's Truth and the Lightfall squadron, and Hunt says lightfall is also known as dusk. Bruce says that Project Thurr could mean the thunder god which could be some implication to thunderbirds. Tharion says that Thurr could be related to the thunderbird stuff since Sofie sounded really afraid of the Asteri in her email to Danika. Tharion speculates it's bc she was afraid of the Asteri finding out she's a thunderbird. Hunt says these are all hypotheticals and definitely big stretches, but it goes without saying that Danika and Sofie were aware of the Asteri and Lightfall threats. Bruce says she really does have to go to work, and Ruhn asks if she would rather do that than go to the Bone Quarter to look for Emile and Sofie, to which Bruce says she's not going anywhere unless she's certain they're there. Tharion agrees that it's too dangerous to go on a whim so they'll keep searching, and wonders if "weary souls" could mean something else. Bruce says no one talk to anyone about it, Ruhn says one word from Cormac and they're all dead, and Hunt says one word from them and Cormac will be dead. he tells Bruce to carry a gun and she says no, she doesn't even have a way to carry it, so he says she should take the sword instead and she should wear it as some kind of accessory. she glances at Ithan, and he realizes she never gave Danika's sword back, and Bruce says that Sabine can fight her for it. she says they should take the day to think about it and pray that Cormac isn't lying, then reconvene tomorrow, and they agree, so Bruce leaves for work. in Hunt's POV, he rides the elevator down from the apartment with Bruce, he notes how he was free for just a few months before getting tangled back up in yet another rebellion. Hunt feels panicky and tells Bruce he doesn't know what to do, and she says she doesn't either. Hunt explains things he's witnessed on the battlefield, and Bruce says this seems like spywork more than warfare, and Hunt says he'd rather die on the battlefield than in the Hind's interrogation rooms, and thinks to himself he'd rather Bruce die than ever get into the Hind's hands. Hunt pulls Bruce into an alleyway and notices how scared she looks, and she says they were never going to be allowed to have a normal life since trouble always comes looking for them. Bruce asks if Hunt really doesn't think Cormac is lying and luring them in with Danika, and Hunt says it's possible but there was already a connection bw Sofie and Danika in the emails, and Cormac seemed genuinely shocked that Sofie might be alive. Hunt thinks Cormac is now hopeful that the intel didn't die with Sofie, and Bruce asks if Hunt thinks Sofie told Emile any of it before they were separated, and Hunt shrugs and says there might have been time for Sofie to tell him since they were in Kavalla (the death camp) together. and even if he doesn't have the intel, he

might know Sofie is alive and where to find her. yet again Hunt says they need to really consider if they want to go through with this, but Bruce says that if there's a chance to find out what Sofie knew and Danika guessed the intel is worth the risk. Hunt asks why, so they can keep the Asteri from fucking with them about Micah and Sandriel? and Bruce says that Fury told her that Danika knew something dangerous about Fury so Fury learned something dangerous about Danika in return, and Bruce thinks they should do that with the Asteri--the Asteri know something dangerous about Bruce and Hunt (they killed Sandriel and Micah) so they need to learn something dangerous about the Asteri to keep them in line, though Hunt is doubtful the Asteri will even want to play that kind of game. Bruce knows that, but Danika thought the information was important enough to send Sofie after it, so if Sofie is dead someone needs to learn what she knew. Hunt tells Bruce that it's not her responsibility, she insists it is, and he decides he won't touch that yet and instead asks about Emile, to which Bruce says they need to find him too, since he's just a kid caught up in this mess simply bc he's powerful. Hunt wonders if Shahar would have cared as much about Emile as Bruce does, and surmises no, Shahar would only have viewed him like a weapon, same as Ophion or the River Queen. Bruce asks if Cormac's dream of freeing the world from the Asteri matters to Hunt at all, and he says yes of course it does, but he's not sure if it's worth it if he and Bruce don't survive to experience that freedom for all, and Bruce agrees. Bruce says that since they're "dabbling in dangerous shit" she doesn't want to wait until the Winter Solstice, Hunt asks for what, and Bruce says "for this" and kisses him. and then they make out in the alleyway, Bruce pressed to the wall, and Hunt decides he's gonna kick Ithan out of the apartment. Hunt realizes that anyone could walk by the alley and see them and it would only take one photo for Bruce's engagement to Cormac and the agreement they made with him to end. Hunt stops and Bruce asks why and he says that she's technically engaged so they have to keep up that ruse in public. Bruce asks if he's suggesting some "seedy motel" and he says he doesn't know what he's suggesting, and he asks if she's sure, he knows emotions are high rn bc of everything they've learned, and he says that whatever she wants is what he wants. she asks why it's only what she wants, what does he want, he says bc she's the one who mentioned waiting until the solstice. Bruce asks "and?" and Hunt says he wants to make sure Bruce is fully on board with ending their agreement, and she says all right but also wants to know what he wants. he says she knows what he wants bc he's never stopped wanting it or her. he notices her star is glowing faintly and she says they should just keep talking about how much he wants her. he puts his arm around her shoulders and steers her out of the alley, saying that he should show her later, and she says that's definitely what she wants.

chapter 18: back in Ithan's POV, Tharion says Ithan looks like he could use a drink. Ruhn had left a little while ago and Ithan decides he's going to sit on his ass and think about the shit he's now tangled up with. Ithan asks how long Tharion has been up to all this, and Tharion asks if Ithan knows what happened during the Summit, to which Ithan says yes the demons attacked the city and two archangels died, and Tharion asks if he ever learned who killed Micah and Sandriel. Tharion says that he got a call from Rigelus, the head of the Asteri, months ago to warn him to keep his mouth shut or Tharion and his parents would be killed, so Tharion is taking a risk in telling Ithan that Hunt ripped Sandriel's head from her shoulders after she threatened Bruce, and Bruce killed Micah after he bragged about killing Danika and the Pack of Devils. Ithan is shocked as Tharion explains further, and then Ithan wonders why Bruce never told him. Ithan realizes that Sabine knows that Micah killed Danika bc Sabine was at the Summit along with the Prime, but she never told Ithan about how his brother Connor died. Tharion explains that Bruce and Hunt were also given gag orders and says the only reason they're still alive is bc they've been lying low all summer. Ithan starts to shift into his wolf form (claws and fangs first) in anger and pain, and then he realizes he had the audacity to question Bruce's love for Danika and Connor and he stops shifting. he says he needs some time to process this. Tharion says he's sure Ithan does, but a word of advice is to not take too long bc Urd works in strange ways and Tharion doesn't think it a coincidence that Ithan was brought here right as shit started to hit the fan. Ithan asks if he's supposed to go along with it bc fate might be pushing him to, and Tharion says maybe and then says that Ithan should find him when he's done sitting on the couch bc he could use a wolf's sense of smell. Ithan asks for what and Tharion says to find Emile before Pippa or Cormac and then leaves. Ithan wonders if Connor or Sabine knew about Danika's involvement but doubts it, and finds comfort in knowing Bruce was also as in the dark as Ithan was. Ithan opens the closets in the apartment to search for Danika's sword but it's not in any of them so he hesitantly enters Bruce's bedroom and spots the sword leaning against the chair beside the dresser. the sword was gifted to Danika by the Prime, which pissed Sabine off. Ithan recalls how Sabine raged in the weeks after Danika's death while she tore Danika's old apartment apart in search of the sword. Ithan picks it up, recalls memories of Danika carrying the sword everywhere, and starts to swing it himself, fighting invisible opponents as he runs around the apartment. the front door opens and Bruce enters, staring at Ithan as he freezes in place on top of the coffee table. Bruce says she forgot her work ID and then the table breaks under Ithan, and Bruce runs over to find a stack of papers have fallen from within the coffee table. Ithan asks if there was a drawer in it but Bruce says no, so there must have been a secret compartment. the table was Danika's, just like everything else in the apartment, but Bruce has no idea why Danika would hide her old school papers in the table.

after a page break, we're in Ruhn's POV as he sharpens the Starsword, Flynn and Declan cleaning their guns nearby. he thinks about how he had planned to meet with them, see to their weapons, and end the day with a meeting about the new Archangel Celestina, but it clearly didn't go as planned. Flynn finally says "out with it" to Ruhn, and Ruhn asks "what," and Declan says whatever it is that has made Ruhn stand in silence for ten minutes and not once complain about Flynn's playlist. Flynn guesses Ruhn is brooding about one of three things: his dad, his sister, or his fiancée. Ruhn says none of them and slumps into a chair, then listens to make sure no one is outside the room before telling Declan and Flynn everything that happened during lunch at Bruce's apartment bc he trusts them and doesn't have anyone else to talk to about it all the way Bruce and Hunt have each other. Flynn says it should all be exciting and genuinely means it. Declan says he once hacked into the imperial military database and saw footage from the battlefields and camps and it made him sick, and Ruhn asks why Declan didn't say anything, to which Declan explains that there was nothing to be done about it, or so he thought, so whatever Ruhn needs Declan is willing to help. Ruhn is touched and loves his friends, and Ruhn says that if the Asteri find out they'll kill them, their family, and adds that they'd kill Marc too, but Declan says Marc would be the first to agree to help bc he hates the Asteri. Declan asks if Flynn can keep quiet, which offends Flynn, but Ruhn says that Flynn talks when he's wasted. Declan starts to tease him about something that happened twenty years ago and Ruhn says Flynn learned his lesson. Flynn asks if Ruhn is going to go meet with Cormac, and Ruhn says he doesn't think he has any other option.

chapter 19: back with Bruce, she looks through Danika's old college papers from within the coffee table, including documents and old newspaper clippings. it all seems to be about what firstlight is used for, in particular with weapons. Bruce looks through a few academic articles full of redactions about theories as to the origins of the world and who the Asteri even are. Ithan wonders if this is what Sofie discovered since he and Connor knew about Danika being a bloodhound before Bruce did. she wonders why it would even matter if Danika sniffed anything out about the Asteri, since they're "holy stars" aka beings that possess the force of an entire star within them, ageless and undying. but as Bruce reads the articles, she begins to see that the authors challenge that fact about the Asteri. Bruce knows she herself possesses starlight and if the Asteri are stronger than that, maybe they actually possess the full strength of the sun. Bruce wonders if Danika suspected that and that's what she asked Sofie to discover, but if the Asteri do possess the power of an actual sun the rebellion is over. Bruce wishes Hunt were here to see what she's discovered, and then thinks it's probably a good thing he isn't bc they'd bone, and she spends several paragraphs talking about the kiss and how much sex she wants to have with him. she then wonders if Urd sent her to the apartment right now so she could discover the papers Danika hid. the final papers in the stack make Bruce's breath catch bc it says Dusk's Truth. Bruce is shocked that Danika has been looking into this since college, but the next page is blank bc Danika never got the chance to write anything down about it. Bruce says that Dusk's Truth and Project Thurr are two things Danika mentioned to Sofie, but she doesn't know what they are. Ithan asks "what now" and Bruce says she goes back to work, then asks him to find a place to hide the papers and not play warrior hero anymore bc she liked that coffee table. Ithan says he wasn't playing warrior hero, Bruce says he looks good wielding Danika's sword, Ithan says he was just fooling around.

after a page break, we're back with Ruhn as he finds Cormac at the pool hall in FiRo. Cormac, playing a game of pool with a satyr who leaves, says he'd never tell Ruhn's dad and Ruhn says "and yet here I am" and that it seems like Cormac's threat worked, and Cormac says "desperate times". Ruhn picks up the satyr's discarded pool cue, finds the satyr's next shot, and says that satyr was probably going to kick Cormac's ass, but Cormac says he was letting him win bc it was the "princely" thing to do. Cormac says that Ruhn seems like the type of person who plays pool a lot (after Ruhn makes a good shot), and Ruhn asks "as opposed to?" and Cormac says "doing things," to which Ruhn says he leads the Aux and doesn't party all the time, but Cormac says his party suggested otherwise. Cormac says he just wants Ruhn to hear him out, and Ruhn agrees. Cormac says that Sofie was in contact with the most vital spy in the rebellion, Agent Daybright. Ruhn feels unease bc he really doesn't want to know this. Cormac goes on that Daybright has direct access to the Asteri, and Ophion has long wondered if Daybright is an Asteri themself. Daybright and Sofie used codes on crystal-fueled radios to pass along messages, but since Sofie disappeared it's become too risky to to use the old methods of communicating. thus, they need someone who can mind-speak to communicate directly with Daybright. Ruhn asks why he'd work with Cormac beyond telling the autumn king about Ruhn's mind-speak ability. mind-speak is a rare gift of the Avallen fae, given to Ruhn through his mother's bloodline. he was four the first time he ever used it, asking his mom for a sandwich, and when she'd freaked out and wondered if she was imagining things, he knew he needed to keep it a secret from everyone, especially his dad, even back then. Cormac says it's bc it's the right thing to do, since he's seen the death camps and they can't be allowed to continue, though Ruhn counters that the camps have been around for ages so why act now, and Cormac says bc Daybright came along and fed them vital information that led to successful strikes on supply chains, missions, and basecamps. the information Daybright has could save thousands of lives, but Ruhn counters that it could also take that many. he wonders if Cormac told Command about him, but Cormac says no, only that he had a contact in Lunathion who might be useful in reestablishing their connection to Daybright. Ruhn can't fault him for trying and agrees that the mind-speak would be useful for spying, but asks if it was a coincidence that it wound up happening at the same time Emile came to Lunathion. Cormac says "two birds, one stone," and Ruhn asks for specificity of what Cormac needs from Ruhn. Cormac says he's asking Ruhn to pick up where Sofie left off, since Ophion is desperate for Daybright's information since people's lives depend on it: Daybright has warned Ophion three times before an imperial strike on their bases, so they need Ruhn for the next few months, or at least until they learn what Sofie knew. Ruhn says he doesn't see what other choice he has but to say yes, and Cormac reiterates that he won't tell Ruhn's dad, he just needed Ruhn to listen to Cormac's proposal. Ruhn asks how Cormac got involved in the "rebel business" and Cormac says it's a long story but he joined up four years ago. Ruhn asks what Cormac's title is with Ophion, and Cormac says it's "field agent" technically, but specifically a field commander of the northwestern Pangeran spy network and Sofie was one of his agents. Ruhn asks if he's having doubts about the cause since he wants to keep Emile out of Ophion's hands, and Cormac says no, he never doubts the cause, only the people in it. there are only 10,000 people left in Ophion with twenty commanders, some of whom are human but others are Vanir, and those Vanir are sworn to secrecy. Ruhn asks how Cormac knows he can trust him, and Cormac says it's bc Bruce put a bullet in Micah's head and Ruhn has kept quiet about it. Ruhn says he doesn't know what Cormac is talking about, and Cormac laughs

softly and says his dad learned about it before the Asteri shut down the information. Ruhn asks why he treats Bruce like a party girl, then, and Cormac says it's bc she went back to partying after what happened in the spring, and Ruhn says "so did I" then brings them back to the topic at hand by asking what Cormac knows about Daybright. Cormac says as much as Ruhn does, so Ruhn asks how he makes contact with Daybright and what the process would be after doing so and getting info, and Cormac says Ruhn would pass the info to him and he would pass it on to Command. Ruhn says "And again, I'm supposed to simply...trust you" and Cormac counters that he's shared info with Ruhn that could land him in the Asteri's prison. Ruhn asks how he does it, just cast his mind into oblivion and hope someone answered, and Cormac says it's all hypothetical rn bc they've never before had someone with mind-speak at hand, but hands Ruhn a small quartz crystal and says to try to first contact Daybright by holding it, since Daybright has the sister to it, as it possesses the same communicative properties as the Gates in Lunathion. Ruhn asks how it works. Cormac says that there were seven crystals hewn from one rock, six within radios Ophion possesses and one in Daybright's radio. they're beacons on the same frequency, always trying to connect to each other to be made whole again. the other five were destroyed for safety. Cormac hopes that someone with mind-speak powers holds the crystal, they can link with Daybright the way the Gates can send audio to each other. Ruhn asks if that crystal is from Sofie's radio, and Cormac says yes while looking a little pained, and says that she gave it to Command before she went in Kavalla. Ruhn says that Sofie seems like a remarkable person, seeing the pain and grief in Cormac's face. Cormac says she was--is--and that he needs to find her and Emile, and Ruhn asks if Cormac loves her, and Cormac says that he doesn't try to delude himself with thinking his dad would be okay with him marrying someone who's part human, especially one who doesn't have fortune or name, but yes he loves her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Ruhn asks if Cormac really thinks she's out there, and Cormac says Tharion didn't rule it out so why should he. Ruhn notices Cormac's desperation and decides to take pity on him, saying that they think Sofie might have been told by Danika to lie low in the Bone Quarter. Cormac seems alarmed and says they'll need to find a way to secure safe passage to and from there as well as a way to go unnoticed. Ruhn says that, for what it's worth, Cormac should marry Sofie if they can find her. Cormac doesn't smile but says that Hypaxia is beautiful and wise, so Ruhn could do worse. Ruhn says he knows but won't say anything else, and thinks about how Hypaxia is stunningly beautiful but has no interest in him, which she made clear in the months after the Summit and he doesn't entirely blame her. Cormac says that when Ruhn connects with Daybright, he should say these codes to prove his identity and gives Ruhn the codes. as they near the end of their second pool game (they've been playing pool this entire conversation), Ruhn scratches the ball to let Cormac win but Cormac says he doesn't want a pity win, and Ruhn rolls his eyes and asks if there's any info in particular he should ask Daybright about, and Cormac says they've been trying to come up with a hit on the Spine (the north to south railroad that cuts Pangera in half), and that Daybright is their main source on knowing where and when to strike. Ruhn asks why risk the hit, wonders if it's to disrupt supply lines, and Cormac says it's that but also bc Daybright has been hearing rumors for months now that the Asteri are working on a new mech-suit prototype. Ruhn wonders if it's different from human mech-suits, and Cormac says yes, it's one for Vanir to pilot for imperial armies. Ruhn says "fuck" bc he can only imagine how dangerous they'd be, and Cormac says "exactly" and then says he needs to leave for the Black Dock to look for any hint

that Emile or Sofie might have been there, but asks Ruhn to contact Daybright ASAP so they can intercept the Vanir mech-suits prototype for study. Ruhn nods, resigned, and agrees to help, and Cormac says that Ruhn's friends won't be pleased, in particular Hunt, and Ruhn says to leave Hunt to him. Cormac says that when Ruhn wants out, Cormac will get him out and Ruhn says he'll hold him to that.

chapter 20: Tharion is in a dry dock of the Blue Court to repair his wave skimmer. he's sweaty so he stripped off his shirt. reeds got caught in his wave skimmer's engine during his trip to the marshes the other day. he wanted to repair it himself bc he wants the time to think about everything he knows now, especially what Aidas said. Ithan knows pretty much nothing, which is frustrating for Tharion, but at least Ithan agrees to help should Tharion need a wolf's senses to find Emile, since Tharion wants to keep Ithan out of the hands of anyone who would use his power as a weapon. besides, Tharion reasons, Ithan needs something to do. the River Queen's daughter walks into the dry dock and says she knew Tharion was here, and wonders why he continues to do his own repairs, and he says it's bc it gives him a "tangible task". she wonders if his work for her mom is so unfulfilling, and he smiles and says he likes to pretend he knows what to do with machines. she says she hasn't seen much of him lately, he says her mom has been keeping him busy, and she insinuates she thought they could bone. evidently they haven't done so in years, and Tharion assumed it was bc she'd had him once and moved on, since water spirits are capricious. he covers her hand with his and says it's late and he has an early start, and she points out that he's here working on machines, and he says he needs it for tomorrow's work. she asks if it's more than he needs her, and he thinks an emphatic yes but promises another time. she says she heard he went into the city and he says he's always in the city, and she looks jealous as she asks who he saw, and he recalls how these "interrogations" always end with him paying for it, as like what happened to prompt him to discover Sofie's body is missing from the Haldren Sea. he mentions he saw Bruce, Hunt, Ruhn, and Ithan, keeping Aidas a secret. the River Queen's daughter asks if Bruce is the one who saved the city last spring, and he says yeah and says Bruce and Hunt are dating, and the daughter says it's sweet. he lies and says he wants to introduce her to them someday, and she says she'll ask her mother, he says they could go on a double date but she doesn't know what that is, since TV doesn't exist here or in the River Queen's chambers, so he explains what it is. he says he really does have an early morning and he needs to finish working on the wave skimmer, and we learn that he does have some rights in that he can refuse sex and she has to accept it without argument, and that his duties as Captain of Intelligence are more important than her needs. she leaves and Tharion spots four mer guarding her, since she never travels alone anywhere. her guards would have fought Tharion to the death for the chance to sleep with the River Queen's daughter and so they hate Tharion for beating them to it, though he'd happily give it up. he doesn't know how much more of this he can take, since it could be weeks or years before the River Queen and her daughter start demanding a wedding and children and he'd be "locked up in a cage" under the surface until he dies, but he's Vanir so that would take ages. Tharion doesn't care about the rebellion, but thinks the investigation into Sofie and Emile could give him a brief reprieve from the River Queen and her daughter. in Hunt's POV, he's showing Baxian around the barracks. it's almost 10pm, though he'd been on his way out at 7pm before Celestina asked him to give Baxian a tour of the Comitium. Baxian opens the fridge in the barracks kitchenette and complains about the beer choices, and Hunt says "government salary" as an explanation and tells him where the takeout menus are and how to call down to the canteen, and starts to leave but then Baxian asks "what's that" and sounds curious enough that Hunt stops to look. Hunt says it's an "OptiCube" which is a gaming system, though Baxian doesn't seem to know what that is, so Hunt explains you can play games on it. Sandriel hated technology, so Baxian had never really been exposed to much of it before she died. Hunt hears Pollux, Naomi,

and Isaiah coming down the hall. Pollux is in the doorway of Viktoria's old room talking to Naomi and Isaiah and sneers at Hunt as Hunt edges by to take Baxian to Justinian's old room, and Hunt remembers Justinian's death by crucifixion. Hunt thinks how he's fucked up twice now--once with the Fallen rebellion and then this spring with the Viper Queen--and wonders if he's actually going to commit to something like that again. Baxian thanks Hunt for the tour, Hunt says he'll show Baxian how to play video games tomorrow, and they make plans to meet up tomorrow after the morning check-in so Baxian can shadow Hunt all day. Pollux slams his own door shut, so Hunt, Naomi, and Isaiah head for the common room, make sure the door is shut and the bathroom empty, and then sit down on the couch. Hunt says "this fucking sucks" and Naomi says that Pollux should be drawn and quartered, and Isaiah says he's surprised both Naomi and Hunt are still alive, but as their commander he's grateful they didn't brawl. Naomi says that Pollux and Baxian defile the rooms, Isaiah says they're just rooms and that Justinian and Viktoria aren't there, and Naomi snarls that Viktoria is still trapped at the bottom of the trench and Justinian is ashes. Hunt points out that Micah is too. Naomi asks if Hunt was really going to rebel this past spring, and Hunt says not by the end, bc he'd changed his mind after realizing the path wasn't for him, but he meant what he said on the boat. Hunt says that if Cormac and Sofie and Emile etc weren't around he wouldn't do anything, but that isn't how it turned out and it isn't what Bruce wants, and he can barely stomach the sight of the tattoo on Isaiah's forehead. Isaiah says he knows and that Hunt has a lot more on the line now. Hunt wonders if Isaiah intended to use a warning tone, and wonders if Isaiah remembers how he and the other angels had bowed to Hunt after he tore off Sandriel's head at the Summit. he wonders what Naomi and Isaiah would do if they learned about his involvement with Ophion. Hunt asks if Naomi and Isaiah are going to stay here in the barracks now with Baxian and Pollux here, and Isaiah says he signed a lease on a place this morning closer to the Old Square, but Naomi shakes her head and says no bc the barracks are rent free. Pollux and Baxian are to stay in the barracks until Celestina deems them acclimated enough to live in the city itself. Hunt asks Isaiah if he trusts Pollux and Baxian to behave bc he doesn't, Isaiah says they don't have any choice but to trust that they will and hope that Celestina sees them for what they are. Naomi wonders if it'll make any difference if she knows, and Hunt says he guesses they'll see and then says he's going home, but looks back at his two friends and marvels that they don't know the shitstorm that's coming. he knows it might be enough to free Isaiah if he learned about Ophion, Sofie, and Emile and turned that information in, and wonders if speaking up now could spare Bruce from the worst of it and save himself from crucifixion. if he played it right, could he safe Ruhn and Ithan as well? Tharion would be dead meat for not telling the authorities about his mission, regardless of him being ordered to do it by the River Queen, as was Cormac. Isaiah asks if Hunt has anything on his mind, and Hunt clears his throat while imagining himself saying everything, but then shakes his head and leaves.

#anti hosab #myth and kat read hosab #anti sjm #hosab recap #spoilers

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chibimyumi · 3 years

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Kuromyu 2021 - First Review

So, yesterday 05-03-2021 was the First Day Performance of Kuromyu 2021, “The Secret of the Boarding School”. It is no secret that I am no fan of the Boarding School Arc, but even so I was very, very curious to see this arc being translated to a stage media.

This review shall not be without spoilers. Not just the story itself, because I think by now most people know how the story unfolds. I mean the execution of the stage play itself.

I shall not lie and admit that my review WILL contain my opinions, meaning it is by no means objective and might influence your opinions. For people who wish to experience the production entirely objectively for themselves, I recommend NOT clicking “keep reading” to reveal the spoiler section.

For now, I shall give my spoiler-free rating per category.

Faithful to canon: ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Script: ⭐⭐ ★★★

Acting: ⭐ ★★★★

Singing: ⭐ ⭐★★★

Music: ⭐⭐⭐★★

Dancing: ⭐⭐ ★★★

Stage & Costume: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hereunder I shall give the spoiler-section first preceded by “First Impression”, and then followed by the categories listed here above.

First Impression

The stream started, and seeing the Kuromyu logo in present day again after three years really was very exciting. Since 2010 on as always, Kuromyu opened with the contract scene, and I was positively surprised to see the stage set being quite elaborate! This set was the largest and most elaborate one so far without TOHO’s help.

After the contract scene the prologue gave a very quick recap of the Jack the Ripper, Circus, and the Campania Arc. I am not sure whether it was necessary to show the Jack the Ripper and Circus Arc as they provide no information needed to understand Weston Arc. But I think it was mainly inserted to speak to the nostalgia in Kuromyu fans, and as a Kuromyu fan myself, I have to say it did work. It did not take much time, I think maybe 1 minute per arc, so it was fine.

The recap of the Campania Arc was important as it served to equip the audience with the information that there’s a reaper who creates zombies. Undertaker was shown as the main antagonist of the Campania Arc and responsible for the bizarre dolls.

There was a short brawl between Undertaker and Sebastian, which is in fact a very good choice in my opinion to showcase the dynamic between these two supernatural powers...............except that only 10 minutes in, and the musical already MASSIVELY screwed up by portraying the fight as though Sebastian beat Undertaker. The ONLY reason Sebas is still alive is because Undertaker decided so. Normally I wouldn’t care that much about errors in a recap, but this time it serves as the exposition of Undertaker and Sebastian’s dynamic: It should have shown that Undertaker is an incredibly dangerous foe and that Sebas is scared shitless because of that. Especially because this ties in with how this arc was concluded.

“But okay, fine. Maybe the script has other plans, so I shall let it be,” I thought. Moving on. But it did “plant a seed” in me that this musical is either going to contradict itself, or that it is going to defy canon. That was the first impression.

The prologue transitions into the setup of the case quite smoothly, and I have to say it was skillful. You very quickly see Ciel change into the Weston uniform and the admission ceremony was swiftly started. Immediately you get introduced to Agares, the prefects and their fags, and the musical does a good job defining the atmosphere as: “something is off here”.

Faithful to canon: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ★

The overall musical was really quite faithful to canon. Most plot points were as they were in the manga, and enough so that I would recommend anybody who doesn’t understand Japanese to first re-read the arc as homework. If you have the arc fresh in your memory, it is very easy to trace every action back to the canon.

There are some details that were omitted or changed, probably done so in consideration for the stage medium or run-time, and done reasonably so. Unlike the previous Kuromyus, 2021 adds very little new elements that were not there in the manga. No added extra depth, but also no unnecessary additions.

There were a few things that were very off-canon, namely the characters. But I think that falls under the “acting” header, rather than this header.

Script: ⭐⭐ ★ ★ ★

The script was a real disappointment. You might wonder how faithfulness to canon can be 4/5, and yet the script only a 2/5 in my opinion. WELL, most dialogue was based on the text in the manga, but told as dry as possible. It was also as though the script writers didn’t trust its audience intelligent enough to understand things on their own, or even remember something that was said literally 5 minutes ago.

Exposition Ad Nauseam

There was a tremendous amount of exposition, exposition, exposition, ad nauseam. There was exposition about who Ciel is and what the Queen’s Watchdog is and what his job entails, and that is entirely fine. That’s necessary background information for spectators unfamiliar with Black Butler. However, there was also a lot of exposition that could easily have been left out, or concluded through context. For example, there were quite many expositions about the history and status of the Weston College. In my opinion, a competent script writer could have let the audience known that the Weston College is really important just by giving the information that the blood relative of the QUEEN attends the school, and by showing the Red House, since their entrance is based on social status.

In this post I wrote about my following concern:

Unlike tennis, cricket is a very foreign sport to most people. Cricket cannot be shown without explaining the rules. So if Kuromyu were to happen, these expositions that were dry in the manga to begin with, are going to be even dryer on stage. Does an actor narrate the rules? Do we want Sebastian to sing us the rules??? Or do we want the kids to sing us the rules themselves while they are batting the balls?

And alas, true to my fear, Sebas indeed narrates the rules to us... But even worse, he also explains cricket by using baseball analogy... This is an incredibly ineffective and time-wasting method, because:

it takes the audience out of the moment,

it assumes the audience knows enough about baseball to let it help understand cricket,

and it assumes the audience actually cares about the name of every single strike....

Repetition Ad Nauseam

Then there is the problem where many info-dumps sounded like: “LIKE I JUST SAIDDDDD, DON’T FORGET!!!”. The script for Sebas is the biggest offender. There were many moments Sebas was just saying the same thing twice. At times he repeated the same information, and there were some moments where he regurgitated already given information. (Sorry I’m just being nasty here, but that’s what it felt like (;;≽▽≼;;) )

Sebastian has this obsession with constantly proclaiming himself an omnipotent, one hell of a butler, which makes him capable of doing anything... and after a while it just gets a bit tedious. I have the feeling the scriptwriter really has the hots for him, and therefore can’t shut up about how powerful he is.

While Sebas is the biggest offender, he is by far not the only one. This musical is guilty of doing a lot of very unnatural lines that no person would ever say. Soma for example, seems incapable of saying anything without shouting that he is the Prince of India and Ciel’s BFF. First time, FINE. But the entire time? My god....

Characterisation

Then there is the characterisation of characters in the script. Of course in great part the characterisation is dependent on the actors too, but no matter how amazing an actor is, you do as the script demands.

As discussed above, Sebas is done dirtiest by the script. This script also makes him incredibly arrogant and a bit too happy to be in his master’s service. Similarly, Ciel is also written entirely dependent on Sebastian, and equally happy that Sebas is happy to serve. In the first song between Ciel and Sebastian, without any prompt Sebastian asks his master for his orders, as though that’s what Sebas is looking forward to all day. And the first thing Ciel says in response is: “can you take on this reaper [Undertaker] and the large number of moving corpses?” to which Sebas responds: “Leave everything to me, because I am the Phantomhive butler.” ........and then he proceeds to defeat Undertaker effortlessly.........!?!?!?!?!?! When fighting Undertaker, Sebas also says: “what a bother” as though it’s just a bit of an unpleasant chore rather than a life-threatening fight. And just before Undertaker disappeared all the way at the finale of the arc, Sebas seriously says: “I really don’t get along with you”. SERIOUSLY, WHO WROTE THIS?!

Myu!Ciel is CLEARLY the master of this Sebastian as he seems to be on a permanent power trip. He “it’s an order”s Sebastian for the most trivial of things. At the beginning when Sebas was fighting intruders already, Ciel “it’s an order”s Sebas to take down the intruders.... HE’S ALREADY AT IT!!!

In chapter 70 where Sebas and Ciel simultaneously think of Soma, Ciel doesn’t give Sebas an official order. This shows the audience that there is a certain level of trust between master and servant that they’re on the same page AND that Sebas has come to a stage where he will actually do what’s necessary.

In the musical however, Ciel gives a full “Sebastian, it’s an order, get the procedures done to get him here, to the Weston College.”

This is also an example of how unnatural and repetitive the script is. Who would EVER say “get the procedures done to get him here, to the Weston College”???? Of course procedures need to happen first! And “here” alone would have sufficed, scriptwriters. We KNOW where “here” is! We didn’t forget since 5 seconds ago!

Lyrics

The lyrics are technically not the script, but they are ridden with the same problem as the script itself, so I shall take the liberty of discussing these under the same paragraph.

There is a LOT of repetition in the lyrics as well. The P4 especially sing “Weston” and “tradition” like the ENTIRE time. One song literally goes: “this is Weston, Weston, Weston, Weston, at Weston we uphold our traditions, traditions, traditions, traditions.” The other song is: “It’s cricket, it’s cricket, it’s cricket,” and another “I am Ciel’s BFF, BFF, BFF, Ciel, lord Ciel, lord Ciel, lord Ciel’s BFF.”...... *shudders* ((ﾟﾟ((Д))ﾟﾟ)) AAAAHHHH!!!!

Acting: ⭐ ★ ★ ★ ★

The acting was by far the most abominable in the musical safe for two gems: Chesslock and Derek. There are too many characters to discuss, so I shall keep it to the main/noteworthy ones.

The gems

Chesslock has this tremendous energy and something very wild about him, and his jumps are so incredibly precise it’s amazing! Derek has but a very small role, but the moment he showed up as the zombie you already immediately saw there was something “off” about him. It was very subtle, but still clearly unhinged. When he was acting living-Derek, you also clearly saw what type of prick he was. Amazing! These two were the brightest stars of the show.

The....... not gems

The most unwatchable ones were Soma and Harcourt. Soma doesn’t have a big role, but he bothered me so much he is ironically the most memorable one. It’s like Okada saw “loud and obnoxious (in a good way)” in the manga, turned it up to 12, and gave the worst portrayal possible. As said above, the script making him repeat “Indian prince” and “BFF” the entire time doesn’t help, but blaming just the script would be letting Okada off too easily.

Harcourt...... gave me so much secondhand embarrassment I literally got a cramp looking at him. When the diarrhea happened he was screaming like a pig about to be raped and slaughtered... and I am NOT making a rape-joke here. I would never. He really did sound like he was unwillingly aroused and terrified at the same time.

Sebastian

Let’s start with the good things: Tateishi’s Sebas did have his presence and his movements were fairly neat. He was never just standing there. He is quite elegant, and not swaggering or pulling spasms on stage unlike a CERTAIN someoneeeeee. He could work a BIT on the coordination of his extremities, but that’s only when I’m nitpicking.

But otherwise.... he was a bit underwhelming to be honest. The main problem is not necessarily Tateishi’s acting-skill maybe, but his interpretation I think... but I can’t say his acting was amazing even at knife-point. The way he acts Sebas makes him look like a complete fanboy of Ciel... which is just not Sebas. He is incredibly eager and at times I could almost see a puppy tail wagging. Whenever he is getting an order from his master he is just beaming. And with Undertaker there was not a single hint that Sebas is scared of the only foe who managed to mortally wound him.

His interaction with Ciel was also very SebaCiel heavy. In the manga where Ciel challenges Sebas why he didn’t go after Undertaker, Sebas is clearly emphasising the importance of the contract, and half-threatening his master not to dare “it’s an order” him to go after Undertaker.

In the musical however, Sebas is all UWU, as though saying: “I couldn’t let the big baddy hurt you... uwu”. Without exaggerating, Sebas caresses Ciel’s face THREE times and then embraces him.

Ciel

Ciel was very unbearable to watch in my opinion. Not as bad as Soma and Harcourt, but otherwise an “honourable” third place after them. In the manga it was a bit cringey to begin with because he is supposed to fake being (*ÓωÒ*), but seeing a 20 year old man do that... and play it up to 11 was just jarring. Ciel is like “tehe” very often, but never actively skipping like a forest fairy.

This Ciel also has tremendous mood-swings! He is either UWU or actively a ice-cold diva... and at times he is also being UWU when he’s not around others???? There was also not a single moment where I could see him cooking up a plan. No hint of intelligence or cunningness to be found.

Unlike with Tateishi I can’t really come up with anything good to say about him.

Undertaker

Undertaker was the best among the main three (not that the bar is very high). He is making efforts to tease-threaten Sebas, which I think is a very nice added detail (it’s just that Sebas reacts to none of them... sad.) and even though his role is pathetically small (he doesn’t show up as the principal), he still managed to present himself in the spotlights.

Greenhill had his energy, he was funny, and something really funnily militaristic about him. Though, I was missing nuance in his acting because at not a single point could you see Greenhill might have a trauma for killing people.

Redmond was Viscount of Druitt light and he had a very strong emphasis on the BL aspect with Maurice......which was just personally not my cup of tea. But I have to admit that aspect was played up too in the manga. So I guess he was faithful to canon.

Violet was quite charming and eccentric. He did play up the gothicness of the Violet house, which was actually kinda nice! He also had a deep friendship with Chesslock, which I really liked. When Violet didn’t do shit during the tournament Chesslock was really miffed about that, and challenged him. And then Violet showed Chesslock a portrait he drew of him, saying: “you just looked so cool I had to capture that.” That was amazing! He is a bit bitchier and sassier than in the manga, but I really don’t mind.

Bluer.... William light. He was the least memorable of all of them.

Singing: ⭐ ⭐ ★ ★ ★

Nobody really hurt my ears, but also nobody quite hit the notes... and the notes weren’t that hard.

Music: ⭐⭐⭐ ★ ★

Eehhhhhhhhhhhh I’d say the songwriter played most songs a BIT too much on the safe side. Not a single song was memorable, but they didn’t offend me either. The main theme was fairly nice actually, but only when just the instrumentals played. I think it might have been the singing just being too chaotic for me to actually hear the music.

Dancing: ⭐⭐ ★ ★ ★

Chesslock is an tremendously good dancer, his movements were precise and energetic. But otherwise.... nobody really popped out, but there was nobody who looked like a noodle on stage either.

The main problem is choreography; with some exceptions they were very underwhelming and messy. There were a lot of group dances, but often enough people were just a bit out of sync and messy.

Stage & Costume: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Stage Set

The stage set was VERY good. It was well made and mobile; they could be moved around and functioned as different props. Examples include the cellar in which Derek and his gang were committing crimes, and the boat of the parade even. The set also had this really magical aesthetic about it which communicated the glamour of the Weston College well.

Costumes

The costumes were well made. The logo on the uniforms for example were actually embroidered rather than those iron-on plastic things. The wigs were .... very messy after jumping around a bit and they looked very greasy. But that’s fine. They did their job and I realise I’m just spoiled. TOHO makes their wigs using real human hair, and that’d be an astronomical sum for any normal 2.5D company.

My ONLY problem is Ciel’s “lord costume”. This photoshoot photo underneath is doable, but trust me, on stage it is a nightmare. There are no clear photos of this costume on stage, and I think I understand why.

It was glittery velvet which just SCREAMS cheap Halloween costume, it was ill-fitted, almost like it was 2 sizes too large. The costume makers didn’t take stage-lighting into account, so the fabric and details glistened all over the place. Under the limelight the “golden” aiguillettes were PISS yellow. And the suddenly black sock suspenders protruding from his white boots were just...... distracting.

BUT, this was just one costume and he only wears it in the prologue and the finale of the show. Even though it’s God-awful, the rest were well made enough to compensate for this abomination.

Conclusion

So now finally the conclusion! The musical was..... fairly faithful to canon, but the execution leaves quite a lot to be desired. The interpretation/acting of the characters were the most disappointing one, while the stage/costumes were the most charming.

Do I recommend buying the stream/DVD/BD?

Stream: Yes.

I personally do recommend buying the stream as it’s only 3800 yen, especially if you like the Weston Arc itself, and/or are curious to see how they did it. Even though I myself really hate the Weston Arc in and of itself, I was very curious to see how it’d be translated to a stage medium. Despite my mostly negative opinion of the musical, I don’t regret buying the stream at all!

The best reason in my opinion to buy the stream though; it’s a very good and legal way to get a “preview” to see if you want to spend approximately 10000 yen on the proshot.

DVD/BD: Depends on you.

I myself have decided not to buy the DVD because I don’t think I’ll be rewatching it after the stream-archive period is over. The DVD/BD are the most expensive so far, and to me the final product is just not worth that amount of money.

But if you like the Weston Arc, or the performers, or you think you will be rewatching it and you are a collector, I think it is a very nice addition to your shelve.

#Kuromyu 2021 #Kuromyu #Secret of the Boarding School #Review #Weston Arc #Musical

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