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keikotwins · 3 months

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Mokumokuren

Birds of different feathers flock together

Noticed online by head-hunting publishers, Mokumokuren hasn’t waited very long before polarising the attention of Japanese readers. With strange The Summer Hikaru Died, horrific bromance dealing with body dispossession, the mangaka signs a series of sophisticated oddity, that sets itself apart from the predictability of current fantasy productions.

Interview by Fausto Fasulo. Original translation: Aurélien Estager. English translation: “Keikotwins”. Bibliography: Marius Chapuis. Thanks: Camille Hospital & Clarisse Langlet (Pika), Yuta Nabatame, Mayuko Yamamoto & Mana Kukimoto (Kadokawa), Chiho Muramatsu (Tohan)

(T/N: Interview given to ATOM in winter 2023; 2 volumes were out in French.)

In an interview given to the CREA website in November 2022, you confided inventing stories since very young. Did your first fictions resemble the ones you draw nowadays?

It’s true that there are quite a lot of common points between the stories I imagined when I was a child and the ones I tell nowadays in my mangas. Especially a specific motif, that has been haunting me since the time when I wasn’t really aware of the world surrounding me: the presence amongst us of “non-human” beings, that nonetheless have a perfectly normal, ordinary appearance…

And how was this “obsession” born?

Precisely identifying the origins is complicated, my memories are too blurry, I think… What I can tell you is that I’ve always been fascinated by “creatures”. For example, I remember being very impressed by Peter Jackson’s bestiary in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. By the way, still in a fantasy register, I am also a big fan of Harry Potter adaptations… (She thinks.) And I’ve always liked yōkai stories, you know. I think that what I like in all these mythologies is the idea of species classification: each has its own characteristics – physical, biological – its own way to apprehend its environment.

In Japan, yōkai are integral part of regional folklore. Did the place you grew up in have some specific beliefs?

I was born and grew up in Tokyo, and, as you must know, yōkai are mostly associated with rural areas. I was thus never really bathed in this type of regional fantasy folklore. There are all kinds of yōkai and we can perhaps see in some more contemporary urban legends the echo of certain past beliefs? (She thinks.) I am a bit frustrated, because I believe that I could remember a legend that would have impacted me, but nothing comes to mind immediately, sorry!

You have already said so in an interview and it’s quite obvious when reading your work: you are a big amateur of horrific fiction. What has been your first contact with the genre, all medium included?

It was television that introduced me to horror: special shows, television films, series, I was watching these programs with a mix of fear and enthusiasm, a confused sensation that particularly delighted me! (She thinks.) And amongst all the aired shows, I will remember two titles: Hontō ni atta kowai hanashi and Kaidan shin mimibukuro*.

* Inspired by the homonymous manga magazine published by Asahi Shimbun, Hontō ni atta kowai hanashi (lit. “Scary stories that really happened”) is a series produced by Fuji Television that has been airing more or less weekly since 2004. Derived from literary material (a series of compilations of hundreds of short stories by Hirokatsu Kihara and Ichirō Nakayama, published from 1990 to 2005) Kaidan shin mimibukuro is a series made of several short movies depicting ghost stories based on real testimony.

Did you read horror mangas when you were young?

Let’s say that I was more interested in live-action productions. Nowadays, I obviously appreciate some horror manga authors, without pretending to be any expert in the subject. For example, I like Junji Itō’s work, but I am far from knowing it for a long time… (She thinks.) I could also talk about Shigeru Mizuki, who I also appreciate a lot.

The mechanics of fear aren’t the same in occidental and oriental fictions. You like American horrific productions – like Ari Aster movies – as much as ones from Japanese origin – you notably quote Ichi Sawamura novels and Kōji Shiraishi feature films. Can we say that you are tying these two perspectives with The Summer Hikaru Died?

My relationship with horror is more imbued with oriental sensitivity. But what I find remarkable in occidental horrific productions is work on image. In The Shining like in Ari Aster movies, for example, there is real research made on frame composition and choice of colours. I also try to follow this aesthetic reflection in my work as a mangaka.

In Ari Aster’s work, beyond the very precise staging, there is this permanent desire of ambiguity. Do you try to dig this same equivocal trench?

Absolutely. I try to tell complex feelings as well in The Summer Hikaru Died, like fear dyed with nostalgia or attachment, repulsion mixed with fascination, with attraction…

How do you “sort out” the shots that inspire you in cinema?

I don’t draw while freeze-framing during specific scenes. I would always rather watch a movie as a “focussed” spectator. However, I pay a lot of attention to the way the director composes their frame. I sometimes take some notes, but I most often simply keep it in a corner of my mind.

Could you tell us when and how the story and characters of The Summer Hikaru Died appeared to you? Have they matured a long time within you?

I’ve started thinking about this story when I was preparing university entrance exams. I was aspiring to join an art uni, and I was drawing every day. I can’t really say I made my characters “mature”: back then, I wasn’t thinking that the drawings I was making would one day end up being published, way less being serialised! I innocently created characters close to me, without guessing that one day they’d become manga protagonists.

One of your foundational reads was Sui Ishida’s Tokyo Ghoul manga. Can you tell us how you discovered it and what effect it had on you?

I don’t really remember how I discovered this series, but what I know is that I became crazy about it at first read. What I liked – and what I still like – is this idea of telling a story that confronts humans to these “different” beings while following the point of view of a character that represents alterity. Beyond this strictly dramatic aspect, Sui Ishida’s storyboarding and character design have had a strong impact on my work. However, I want to add that Tokyo Ghoul isn’t the only title I took inspiration from, I obviously have other references…

Do you do a lot of researches to define the design of your characters? You seem to draw them easily, in a very natural gesture…

I haven’t spent a long time defining my protagonists. First, there are few in the manga, then, they evolve in a rather realistic universe. My goal was rather simple: they had to look believable in the reader’s eyes. I wanted people to be able to imagine crossing them in the street, you see?

It’s after seeing illustrations posted on social media that depicted the future characters of The Summer Hikaru Died that the publishing department of the Young Ace Up magazine noticed you. How have you reacted when approached?

I was very surprised, because I absolutely wasn’t trying to become a mangaka. I would have never projected in such a future, you see. And, very honestly, if they hadn’t suggested working on this series, I don’t think I would ever had pushed the doors of a publishing house… I am then very thankful towards the persons who have allowed me to enter.

And what would you have done if you hadn’t been solicited?

Back when I’ve been contacted, I was considering – still vaguely – working in the video games field. But I wasn’t really proactive, I wasn’t contacting anyone, wasn’t sending resumes…

Did you want to do chara-design?

Why not, yes. What I like in video games is the range of possibilities they offer. You can then create an entire universe and this is rather exhilarating.

So you’re a gamer…

I have dropped my controller since I’ve started drawing manga. But yes, when I had more time, I played rather regularly, especially Nintendo productions…

Even if you play rather little nowadays, do video games influence your work?

I can’t say whether it really is an influence, but the Undertale game has left a big mark on me. I felt its creator’s strong will to surprise players, to make them feel unprecedented sensations…

Horror manga only relies on art and storyboard to provoke fear, whereas cinema and video games can also rely on sound. Is it from this observation that you have decided to particularly work on your sound effects?

Absolutely. I have thought a lot about the way to introduce and stage sound in The Summer Hikaru Died. The sound effects that you can find in the manga are indeed the result of this approach.

In an interview given to the Realsound website, you mention the use of the シャワシャワ (“shawa shawa”) sound effect. Knowing that occidental readers are way less sensitive to these graphicoustic details, can you explain its meaning?

“Shawa shawa” expresses the song cicadas make in western Japan. It’s a very special noise because in the different regions live different species that make specific sounds. So when I choose this specific sound effect, I convey a geographic and temporal piece of information to the reader, who can then guess the location and season the action takes place in. (She thinks.) When using this sound – that we especially find in the beginning of the manga – my goal was to play with silence, particularly when the song stops. I thus had the idea of representing this sound effect with an easily readable font, so the reader would make no effort to decipher it, as if the sound was asserting itself naturally, you see? I hoped to suggest a saturation they couldn’t avoid and that, when it’d stop, would immerse them in absolute silence.

The Summer Hikaru Died transcribes very well this particular atmosphere of Japanese summers…

Yes, I really wanted to signify this languor in my manga. And the cicadas’ song we discussed earlier contributes to creating this atmosphere: it’s an overwhelming sound, sometimes irritating, you cannot escape from in summer – Japanese readers obviously know what I’m talking about. (She thinks.) I also gave special attention to shadows: summer light being very bright, shadows are very sharp, very deep.

Do digital tools allow you to get this result more efficiently than traditional?

I work on Clip Studio Paint, and it’s true that it sometimes allow me to save time. Consider the work on shadows: I never apply solid black because I like saturating space with hatches and, with digital tools, I can obtain the desired result faster because I can duplicate each of my lines.

Your use of hatches is sometimes reminiscent of Shūzō Oshimi’s…

I don’t know his mangas very well, but it’s funny that you mention him because I recently read his latest series, Okaeri Alice. In any case, I really like his style and I perfectly understand how you can bring his universe and mine together.

The Summer Hikaru Died relies on the concept of body dispossession, that obviously takes back to the Body Snatcher novel by Jack Finney and its movie adaptations. Did you think about it?

I don’t know this book very well, but I know its theme has been approached often, especially in movies. As I was saying at the beginning of this interview, my idea was to adopt the point of view of a non-human and tell his indecision, his moral questions…

We also find this idea in Hitoshi Iwaaki’s Parasite…

I haven’t read the manga fully, but I’ve watched the anime adaptation that was released a few years ago (R/N: in 2014). I remember rather liking it, even if I think I offer something different with The Summer Hikaru Died. What interests me is sounding the inwardness of my non-human character out and expose all his dilemmas. What is his place amongst men? Is he legitimate in our world? Here is the type of questions that pushed me.

One of the impacting scenes of volume 1 of The Summer Hikaru Died is the one when Yoshiki penetrated Hikaru’s body by shoving his arm into his torso. It’s a sequence that is both very sensuaI – to not say sexuaI – and also very horrific. How did you get this idea?

I wanted to put the readers in an uncomfortable position. A stressful situation that could take several forms because, according to your sensitivity, you can feel very different emotions in front of this scene: sexuaI arousaI, fear or disgust. For me, it was supposed to put the reader in some kind of catatonia, you see?

Do you chat a lot with your tantō, especially around these slightly “complicated” scenes?

I have free rein, you know, I can draw everything I want. My editorial supervisor has never asked me to temper some sexuaIIy connotated parts. My discussions with him don’t revolve around this kind of things, but rather around the structure of the scenario itself: where to place this scene in the narration? Is it better to put this sequence before this other one? Nowadays, I am more at ease with all the scripting layout but, at the beginning, I needed support.

What allows you to get, from a dramatic point of view, the mix between bromance and horror?

I wanted to show the differences in sensitivities and values between a human being and an “other than human”, and tell the misunderstandings this can cause when both meet. When Yoshiki “scratches” under the appearance of the one who is supposed to be his best friend, it creates a first point of conflict in the story. I then hoped to make his relationship with Hikaru – or rather with the “entity” that pretends to embody him – a kind of undefinable bond, that wouldn’t be friendship, nor love.

Do you know today where this strange relationship between your two heroes will lead you?

I know more or less how all of this will evolve, yes. I have decided on my story’s general plot since the beginning. I can only tell you that The Summer Hikaru Died won’t be a long series.

How do you explain the almost instant public plebiscite of your series in Japan? You perhaps cannot have perspective on it but, in a saturated publishing landscape, you have managed to stand out…

Hm… Indeed, I don’t really have precise explanations to give you about this success. Maybe the covers’ design has been in favour of the manga? I asked the person in charge of graphics to make sure that the visuals would be noticeable in bookstores. That’s why the books have this monochrome aspect, with the title discreetly placed. I didn’t want obvious advertisement banners, but something simple, like this blue background for the first volume, on which the character stands out. I also wished to create contrast between the jacket’s and the inner cover’s drawings. I thus had requirements that didn’t quite go alongside what we can nowadays see on the shelves of Japanese bookstores.

#the summer hikaru died #hikaru ga shinda natsu #/long post #I'm not a native eng speaker so excuse mistakes!#the fr version has fancy words that I simplified for the eng translation #Feel free to ask any question!#The og article had manga illustrations with funny comments as legends + a short analysis of the manga's narration that I didn't include #The og title was 'Qui se dissemble s'assemble'#which is a play of words saying the opposite of idiom 'Qui se ressemble s'assemble' lit 'who look alike go together'#so I went for a silly equivalent lmao

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cutelootsuit · 2 years

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hi im posting my silly fun idea (theory? idk) for fun here here it goes.

i like to think that Lesley used to be like a Mr. Rogers type of character or blues clues, and yellow guy was like her blue; teaching yellow lessons about things; hence the “you’re one of my favorites” and yellows habit of talking to the viewer like a actual kids show character

the dhmis theme currently was the theme for the version of the show that had lesley in it, hence the “him and you and me” part because it was from Lesley’s pov and she was referring to the (child) viewer

more ideas undercut hehe

so key points, Lesley pitched the show idea to producers; this is HER show my main thought is that Lesley was one of the main characters, yellow being her little guy (not sure what to call him. hes the blue if this was blues clues) while duck and red guy were more supporting characters, popping in and out kind of like mr rogers neighborhood. Lesley would teach yellow things and the viewer (just three of them) through songs in a more normal kids show way and duck and red guy would be there to further said lesson or plot. I think (or my silly funny idea is) Lesley either got into some sort of (car) accident and couldn’t continue being on the show OR they took her off the show because she was getting too old, continuing her show without her and Lesley not being able to do anything about it because she signed it off.

The show continued without her and made some changes like red guy and duck being more frequent and having the inanimate objects be more present. Here things go all down hill, characters start to change, theres less and less lessons to be taught, and its my silly funny idea that our current DHMIS is a result of burnout and a show NEEDING to be cancelled but not being cancelled. idk how Lesley watching them afar and being implied to be a master of their lives takes place in this but i like to think shes trying to take her show back in her own way, and making it a little fucked up because shes a little fucked up.

other things i think are fun:

- roy is a prototype of yellow guy, the first one, then redesigned him to the current yellow guy

- Lesley handmade yellow guy and roy herself, somebody else made duck and red guy

-Duck and Red guy are neighbors of Lesley and yellow guy

- duck in the og show is a grouchy old guy archetype

-red guys og character has been completely lost, being most effected by show burn out. which is the reason why hes so focused on finding where he belongs (ie family ep, and web series)

- the puppets don’t refer to to eachother by name because lesley forgot

- Yellow guy is smart when he changes his batteries because youre SUPPOSED to change his batteries, but only lesley knew that. Yellow guy with new batteries being smart is a result of lesley teaching him so much in the OG show

- red guy longs to get out of the house because in the og show there were more sets, but again, but budget cuts and they only have limited sets.

also heres a little drawing yay

#dont hug me im scared #dhmis #this is insane i feel like im in 2018 analyzing gorillaz songs #/long post #?#tell me what u think hehe

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finalgirlsamwinchester · 1 month

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very important: listen to the entirety of mitski's bury me at makeout creek and think abt samdean

#currently incurring maximum psychological damage #incredibly low effort post but excuse me.#i'm unwell. and i miss my gf #wincest #samdean #mitskinatural #/long post

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betarotai · 2 years

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Forgot to content. Have the Toa Voya.

Old stud.io renders from awhile back; had the urge to make a whole set of the Voya as Toa. Meant to post these earlier but I forgot. Velika’s weapon could’ve been better in hindsight, but other than that I’m glad how these turned out.

bonuses:

back and front shots:

aand comparisons with the og:

aaaaaaaaaaaaand these shots that reference the original voyatoran set renders:

aight see you later

#bionicle #bionicle stud.io #stud.io #bionicle moc #stud.io moc #voyatoran #toa voya #...is that all?#yeah maybe #/long post #didn't give up on the dark hunters thing i just have been very distracted lately

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crazyexdirkfriend · 1 year

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Okay, I've got a sincere ask, since you've got an insanely bright head on your shoulders and I need you to dissect the hell out of Dirkjake so I can use it as a hand guide to navigating smthn in my personal life but like- in one of your posts you state that Dirk's inability to communicate with Jake is (inherently the problem) where as Jake isn't as much at fault (you tagged it with Half Joking, so im treading lightly here) but i was wondering if you could elborate on that? Unless you were actually joking. If you weren't, I'd sincerely like to know why Dirk's communication issues (in terms of fault) highly outweigh Jake's affinity for denial and ignoring all of his issues outright. Are they not both equally at a disadvantage? Is Dirk actually The asshole for his inability to express himself properly?

Hi! Thank you, thank you I'm glad you think so but my supposedly bright head is mush atm. So my opinion on this rapidly changes wrt to post-canon, but that is my opinion on HS proper more or less. I'm not like, super serious on it bc as I've grown up I'm way less hardline on what was basically a messy teenage relationship. But I was very very opinionated on it when I too was 16. I don't remember when the post you're referring to was exactly so just (vague hand wavey) Basically my point is that in HS proper, Dirk and Jake are both bad at communicating, though people typically attribute Jake's lack of communication as being at fault for the ultimate relationship breakdown, alongside Dirk's clinginess. I don't think any of that causes the relationship breakdown as much as the channels of communication being broken on Dirk's end, so I think it's important to look at how Dirk and Jake communicate before any of that.

Okay so for starters, they don't. Dirk and Jake never have an on screen conversation so all Jake's attempts to communicate with Dirk are scuppered. Jake makes genuine attempts to communicate with the real Dirk throughout the first leg of the alpha kid arc, and is blocked every time. When Jake tries to communicate issues via Dirk proxies, he's shut down entirely. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking when Jake tells Hal about Brobot being "tender." Now, I don't ascribe to the belief that the robot is being inappropriate when he says this. I believe Jake is attracted to Dirk and the robot treating him more gently is sending his mind places. However, Hal's immediate response to this is to shut off novice mode, leaving Jake to fight the robot on the harder mode. Hal is not doing this because he legitimately believes this will make Jake more comfortable; he's doing this to fuck with him. Jake speaks up about an issue and is immediately punished for it because Dirk or Dirk-proxy is defensive -> Jake is less likely to speak up. (Side note: a lot of people say that Dirk is not aware of what Hal is doing and does not condone it. This is contradicted in the text when Dirk says he knows Hal is fucking with Jake and thinks it'll teach him to be less trusting in people, and does not contact Jake back himself. Dirk's issues with Hal interfering with Jake only arise later.)

Since they don't communciate, we don't have much to go on about how their conflict styles mesh aside from via Dirk proxies. Which is basically stuff like the above. So when we get to their largely offscreen relationship, the information the audience really has to go on is that Jake appears to have upped and left without saying anything and is hoping the whole problem really just goes away without having to text Dirk back, and Dirk is frantically trying to communicate with him, and assuming that he's too clingy. We don't actually know if Jake HAS communicated with Dirk. All we know is that he's not currently doing so.

My personal belief is that it's a bit of a leap to think that Jake has gone from being vague, dancing around issues, but bringing them up when the issue is actively on the table (brobot, Jane's crush, etc.) to immediately packing a bag and going to the hills without saying *anything.* I just think that Jake is less likely to press the issue if he thinks Dirk is going to take it the worst possible way, and to the worst possible extreme, and Jake is less likely to press an issue if he thinks he's upsetting someone. If "I think the robot is a bit tender" leads to "Ok I'll put the robot on *waterboards you in the sea and beats you unconscious* mode," then "I think I could use some time to myself for a little while" leads to "Ok, guess if you need space so bad I'll stop bothering you and we can just stop hanging out altogether." And Jake, despite wanting space, is very very afraid of his friends all deciding he isn't worth the hassle and abandoning him permanently. So he'd immediately recant and drop it (until he cracks)

Now since we don't know what happens between Dirk and Jake in that gap in the narrative, I'm conjecturing. I suppose my point is that assuming that Jake doesn't communicate to Dirk is also conjecture, and not the natural conjecture I would make based on his actions up until this point. He's avoidant of conflict, not avoidant of conversation. I also don't think Dirk being immediately receptive to Jake asking for space is in line with his actions up until this point- I believe his response would be the above, or continuously "fixing it" until Jake drops it.

My point basically is that if you take all that in isolation, it's a sad miscommunication between an insecure boy who takes things to extremes and another insecure boy who doubts himself and can't stand up for himself. No one is the asshole for that. But it's not in isolation. Dirk allowing AR to interfere with his communication with Jake shuts down the channels of communication before they ever date. If I remember correctly, Jake says at one point that he can't remember when the last time he spoke to the "real" Dirk was. I just don't think it's overly fair to blame Jake for the culmination of a communication breakdown that was months, if not years, in the making on Dirk's side. It's less that Dirk is THE asshole and the only one who did anything wrong, and more that generally when people say there was fault on both sides, Jake is the one who receives extensive criticism on his communication skills. Now ultimately: I'd take this with a pinch of salt. They're kids and their first relationship doesn't work out, it's not hugely important to ascribe fault one way or the other- this is all semantics tbh. I only really argue the point for three reasons. 1. I think it makes for a better narrative reading of Jake repeatedly trying to communicate with Dirk and getting a blank wall pre-game and that wall ultimately crumbling around Dirk's persona during the game. It reads better as a cohesive story 2. I think viewing Jake as "the problem" skewered a lot of people's reading of later scenes in the text, especially when HS was actively updating pre-gigapause, and the portrayal of Jake as "the one who can't communicate" leads to a wooden reading of the other alphas by association. and 3. Hal gets the blame for a lot of stuff people don't want to put on Dirk, which also skewers readings of Hal's actions later on. Now if we were talking EPILOGUES...then absolutely Jake's issues with denial, avoidance, and lack of communication (and terminally low self esteem) are going to play a primary, if not inciting role, in their ultimate relationship breakdown. But that's a whole other post and I'm aware I'm rambling at this point. Caveat: If this is an issue concerning your personal life though as your ask sorta suggests, I'd triple take this with a grain of salt because this is a very specific HS situation and HS is ultimately a story with a plot and characters have to act a certain way and do certain things bc it makes the story go zoom. Real people who may resemble Dirk and Jake are not necessarily going to have matching issues, communication problems, and robo-clone answering machines

#/long post #my read more is broken apologies #i'd go get links to the pages i'm referring to but it's nearly midnight here and i'm supposed to be (shudder) writing cover letters #this was a welcome distraction from a task i didn't want to do so thank u anon #but now i must do it nonetheless

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daecaerys · 12 days

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META , 𝑫𝑨𝑬𝑵𝑬𝑹𝒀𝑺' 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑰-𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑷𝑯𝑬𝑻, 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑰-𝑴𝑬𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑨𝑯, 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑯𝑼𝑴𝑨𝑵 𝑸𝑼𝑬𝑬𝑵: often talking with @ruingod and the tropes around characters, i realized how of an antithesis dany is to the common messianic trope ( unlike paul who absorbs himself in it to gain power ) and since recently there has been going on a discussion about it as if she's the same trope as his ( sigh ), i decided to come here and express my opinions ( which are just that, opinions and interpretations ). well, daenerys does not see herself as anything but a queen, a ruler, and she views it as a duty and not a priviledge. she sees ruling ad a responsability to protect those around her ( coming from the sense that she often wasn't protected ), and does not use their dependance on her and their views of her figure as means to create prophercies or even propaganda about her rule. she never sees herself as above her people, as their savior, but a member of their reality/society with the power of bringing change. daenerys did not conquer the free cities to gain numbers to battle, or to rule them with her iron first of ideals ( in fact, one of her issues is that she did not count with that part and is falling under creating her own ruling ). daenerys conquered the cities to free the slaved and their oppression. she had no need to do it either, with enough gold and ships to sail to westeros before doing so.

there's no questioning that daenerys is doing what she does because she believes in the good, not in vengeance, not out of need for power. she's there to serve the oppressed, and not the opposite. she's not their messiah. there's a reason why mhysa resonates with her: she's mother, she's freeing, amidst the fear of being the opposite due to her roots ( remember the valyrians were slavers themselves ). like dragons, there's no cruel inner nature. there's the singular thing: dany is good. intrisically. she struggles in understandig that good intentions do not make a good realm - it only, sometimes, makes it weak. and to be ruthless to protect those she swore to protect is what makes her shake in fear of becoming entirelly ruthless. losing herself. becoming what people believe dragons to be: monsters, and monsters only.

daenerys does not use speech to gain support. her actions did so, and she did not do them out of the selfish reason: yes, this will have me be their queen. i'll become their god. no, dany did it because she loathed to see such suffering. she acted out of her heart. when she freed the unsullied she did not do it knowing they would follow her afterwards, nor when she fred drogo's slaves. their freedom was theirs, just like hers was hers. they followed her because they saw it as just that, someone worth it, someone who did it because it was right, and not someone who used them.

her iron throne goal becomes secondary in her mind as she decides to stay in mereen to keep things under control. to not let those people back in chains and in even more pain before she met them. if she wanted just to control them, dany would become the tyrant that season 8 wants you to see her as. she'd burn her enemies, and make others follow her with the disguise of being their savior. make them cross the sea and fight in her name only. she'd be flawless before their eyes, she'd see herself as flawless, she'd see herself as righteous. daenerys does not do it, in any moment. she constantly does what sacrifice is needed to help others and not herself. staying in mereen is proof of that, still, we constantly read she's a selfish person who only does what she does out of greed. when speaking of paul, for example, and the parallels, it is just a mirror of different perspectives of similar situations. one leaning towards the opressed for power, and the other leaning towards power to help the opressed.

#𝕍𝕀. DEV. › … i have never been nothing.#/long post #not me @ those saying dany is the paul of the asoiaf universe #she's not !!!!!!!!!!#grrm does not like dune btw he said in a forum once LOL #and he is NOT the bitter person you think he is where everyone is shitty and the ending will be EVERYONE DIES *tragic song*#not everyone is corrupted and the world is dark yes but there's hope #arya jon sansa dany brienne all of them represent that #i love writing w yerin bc we scream abt the parallels but also about how they LOATHE each other since they are the antithesis of one anothe #dany is not a prophet dany is NOT a messiah to anyone #she's a queen and just that #she's mother and her titles are only a symbol of her ACTIONS they are not propaganda #she does not use them against people at alll.............#cmon

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purpleguitar · 1 year

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that confrontation scene went as well as i expected... to be sure, with the characters being the way they are, this couldn’t go down any other way. which is why i think the writers really popped off in that scene!

i might get murdered by the fandom here, but i get where the grandma comes from. no way in hell i condone her actions, just that the writers really used the character’s potential to the fullest. a noblewoman raising her grandchildren by herself, it’s no surprise she is strict with tradition and obsessed with this idea of making them happy. she thinks it’s through controlling their lives, to engineer “perfect lives” for them, since she thinks they are straying away from what will make them happy, and she, their elder and only blood relative around, knows best what will make them happy. she could even be seeing it as her job to do as their grandma, in the absence of a mother.

the way she brings up marriage law, bonus points! for sticking to character and doing social commentary at the same time. she’s a noblewoman. it makes perfect sense to me that she would see the law as the guideline for life, while at the same time the show gets to call out the looooong processing marriage equality law, emphasising the need for such legislation. (and asap & speedily too, idk if that was intended but the scene with song’s lover not being able to sign off the papers, when the doctor was racing with time to save song...yeah like i got the impression that urgency is needed for such legislation, it could literally save lives)

on the other hand, sam is stuck between a rock and a hard place. her only relative, the one that raised her all these years, is there telling her she will not be happy with mon. now, sam knows this is false, but she cannot make the granny see that she’s wrong, you know, with the stick-up-her-ass granny that she is. the decision between her grandma and mon is probably the hardest one she had to make in her life, and i’m thinking she had a lot of those with the way her older sisters turned out. hats off to freen for acting like she’s losing her goddamn mind, because yeah, that’s such a shit decision to make. do you become an ungrateful granddaughter, or an unreliable spouse? tf kind of decision is that?

just...yeah i really liked this episode sapphic drama makes the brain go brr

#gap the series #gap spoilers #/long post #aslkdjkasld idk i had many thoughts i really liked how the confrontation scene panned out #it was so stressful #i aint proofreading all that this aint engl105 sorry

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hecame · 17 days

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❛ you're taking me so well. i'm proud of you. ❜

It didn't come out of nowhere , when they ended up like this . The communication had been so important && Sarah had ENFORCED it , no dispute . She checked in && if she didn't like his responses they didn't go ahead with anything . But today he must have said all of the right things because what had started as their usual lazy making out on the sofa had sparked an almost WILD look in his wife's eyes && suddenly her hand was pushing down over the base of his spine , palm SLIDING underneath his waistband && over his ass .

His body stiffened . He knew what that meant , he knew what she was asking when her fingertips dusted down between the top of his ass cheeks . So now he was thinking about the times before, only once or twice . Her fingers deep inside of him , gentle && warm - stretching him out . She'd made him cum like that && it had been the best thing he'd ever felt in his life . Even if it did leave him with a dent in his confidence .

❝ please . ❞ on a whine , letting himself be pulled quietly to the bedroom && laid down on the bed . He hadn't been able to watch as she got herself ready , but he knew what was happening && the thought of her strapping up made him so turned on that as he undressed himself he's already leaking over himself .

Up . She tells him , guiding her with those soft hands of hers until he's on his hands && knees . Her palms are on his back , smoothing down each little notch of his spine && he's huffing with anticipation. Slowly. Ever so slowly again this time . She's spreading him open before herself , inserting one finger && watching as he squirms && by GOD does he squirm . He drops from his hands to his elbows , face down in the sheets as she adds another && they curl up perfectly against that one spot that has his torso heaving && his legs like jelly .

❝ please please . Baby - ❞ hushed , muffled against the bed. Her fingers leave him && he feels his hole twitch at the absence , a soft sound of disappointment leaving his throat . But he's not left for long && her fingers are back , THREE of them this time . && now they're covered in cool slick . She's coating him inside , getting him ready . GOD he's nervous that he's going to cum before she even gets where she's going .

He's not sure how long she fucks him with her fingers for but it's long enough that when she finally pulls them free again his cock is STRAINING up against his own stomach in a way that's painful .

Fingers are replaced by something thick pressing at his ass . Then slowly , her hands on his hips - she's pushing the length of the strap on down into him . His hands FIST up the sheets , a loud whimper leaving him that spills into a solid cry of pleasure. Fuck . They're both still for a moment && then Sarah is moving && she's talking to him gently with soothing words that he can barely hear under the sound of his own desperate pleas .

&& as she fucks him, rolling her hips with every push - she sounds as if she's getting off on simply seeing him like this because her own noises are gasping. Later he'll wonder whether what she's wearing has a grind-pad on the other side . But he hasn't got enough brain power for that right now .

━━━━━━━━ ❛ you're taking me so well. i'm proud of you. ❜

I'm proud of you . The words are all he can focus on . There are tears in the corner of his eyes && he's panting so heavily that he thinks he might suffocate. His entire body wants to collapse && if it weren't for her strap deep inside of him he might have fallen down .

❝ oh god . oh - ❞ his mouth is full of saliva , he's a dripping pathetic mess && as he nears his peak he's sobbing && begging her incoherently for more . Then he's coming && he's never had an orgasm so strong before . He can feel the heat of his own pleasure spurting across his torso , grunting , panting . It feels as though the pleasure is still building even though he's coming down the other side .

❝ don't stop ❞ he calls back to her , words slurred , cheek pressed into the mattress . ❝ Christ , baby don't stop . ❞

#042. ʷᵉ'ʳᵉ ᶠᵃˡˡᶦⁿᵍ ᵈᵒʷⁿ ᵃ ʳᵃᵇᵇᶦᵗ ʰᵒˡᵉ ~ after dark #/long post #005. ᵃⁿᵈ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ˡᶦᵗᵗˡᵉ ᵖᶦᵉᶜᵉ ʷᵃˢ ᵃˡˡ ᶦ ʳᵉᵃˡˡʸ ⁿᵉᵉᵈᵉᵈ ~ ask response #045. ᵉᵛᵉʳʸᵗᶦᵐᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ˡᵉᵃᵛᵉ ; ʸᵒᵘ ᵗᵃᵏᵉ ᵃ ˡᶦᵗᵗˡᵉ ᵖᶦᵉᶜᵉ ᵒᶠ ᵐᵉ ~ sarah harper #i got SOOOO carried away wtf ghfhdghghdgd #my bad

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epilvgue · 3 months

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Hypnum Insomnum // Drabble

「𝔟𝔞𝔫𝔤 𝔟𝔞𝔫𝔤!」- The gunman was drenched in sweat. Blue eyes were wide. He was awake and gasping for air. His heart was beating so fast he thought it might just pound right out of his chest. And power screamed beneath his skin. It itched and tingled, feathers wanting to manifest, to unfurl and grow and express themselves - but they were still sealed, unable to safely cocoon him.

Vash jerked upright, head falling into a hand. He hadn't gone back to the villa after he discovered what was happening. He didn't want to risk the potential of infecting others no matter what was being said about it not transmitting from person to person. So he was sleeping wherever he could think to, trying to keep away from the moss although that was far easier in theory than practice. It was everywhere.

For now, he had been sleeping on a park bench, sat upright in a spot he had managed to carefully clear off.

Snap snap snap. Buttons were undone. He opened up his duster slightly, peering down at himself. The fingers of his right hand leaving behind faint black smudges over the red fabric.

He had ended up coming in contact with the moss somehow. He hadn't noticed it at the time - it could have been been something as innocuously small brushing into or crushing a bud as he tried to lead others away from it. He was sure that he had breathed in enough pollen by now it have been infected ten times over. Worse was the symptoms - paranoia, drowsiness, hallucinations, nightmares… It seemed almost cruel. How was he supposed to know he was infected when that was how he had lived his life for nearly 200 years?

That didn't matter now though. He was infected. It didn't matter how many times he had tried to wipe it away or scrub it off, the dark taint wouldn't leave his skin. The moss made his body look strange - almost like mold that might crumble at any moment (if it weren't for the spots of blinding pink). He could move his arm, thankfully it didn't appear to restrict movement, but the moss had already begun to encroach over his chest and down his right side.

The moss choked his throat, growing in a collar-like band around it and crawling down the left side of his body. It bloomed around the port of his prosthetic arm.

Vash was just closing up his coat again when he caught something white out of the corner of his eye and looked over. He immediately wished he hadn't.

Rem. In a white t-shirt and faded blue jeans. - A wave of dizziness overcame Vash as he stared at her down the path, surrounded by those bioluminescent flowers and dark tendrils.

He blinked. His head snapped up. She was right in front of him. Vash tried to stand up but she only leaned in. Even though her hands were clasped gently behind her back he felt caged in.

"Vash..."

"Rem -" He cut himself short as she truly did cage him in by placing her hands on either of his face, cupping it. Blue eyes stared straight back into those deep obsidians. Her expression shifted to that of disappointed annoyance he had seen when he and Knives has messed with things they shouldn't. She squeezed his face.

Dark locks of hair tickled his cheeks as she bore down upon him, towering above. Her body obscured the blue moon hanging high in the sky.

"I thought I asked you not to leave Knives on his own, didn't I? You couldn't do that for me? You abandoned him and look at what happened. All of those lives... Was it was worth it, Vash? After all, you both experienced the same thing, didn't you? We both knew that Knives didn't get the same chance to work through it like you did. I wanted you to temper him, Vash. And you ran away."

Work through it? Work through it? Sure he had come to different conclusions thanks to Rem, but it still haunted-

"What happened to make you so cowardly? Don't you remember that you tried to kill me? Where did all of that go - we both know that this isn't the real you. You were always so much less emotional on the surface than Knives, but now the two of you have reversed it seems. ...Or are you just hiding? Hm? Did you really think that you could fit in with humans? How silly, you know you're nothing like them. Do you really look down on humans that much and think that they can't tell how you mimic them?" Her voice was sweet. Soft. She was laughing.

Blues wavered. His throat was tight. Was he even breathing?

#event; hypnum insomnum 2024 #drabble; tales of the stampede #/long post #hallucinations cw

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corvus-rose · 4 months

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incredibly silly question about aki.

please describe to me how you think aki as a twitch streamer would go

it's unethical to put Aki on twitch, for the same reason it's unethical to put a fox on the same boat as a bunch of chickens, or unethical to let mr abel theweek.nd make a show about women in the entertainment industry. but allow me to go into excruciating detail.

twitch has a lot of categories nowadays, including music streaming, which is probably the most likely place for aki to start, but I assume the question works best when talking about video game streaming and its ilk. but i will touch on aki's music career too, since that's his real passion.

and, he'd start streaming in a bid to get some attention to his music. first he'd play some party games with his bandmates, super casual, not at the centre of attention or anything, but he is there. and he is very willing to play to the audience. he's not A Gamer:tm:, not the most skilled, but he is entertaining and hot, and very aware of the power that gives him on twitch. dangerously so.

he starts up his own channel, and at first plays whatever the hell catches his interest, but eventually settles on a few things: dbd (or whatever counterpart of it is in GP's 2030s) and rhythm games. He uploads some edited vods of the latter on youtube as the "Actual Musician Plays Rhythm Games" series. (once or twice one of his own songs got into the smaller rhythm games. he plays those too.)

a notable thing about aki as a streamer is that when chat thirsts, he flirts. he is absolutely shameless about throwing fuel on the fire in that sense, and he's not bothered by the attention, at least at first, and only as long as it's not too chaser-y (while Aki has been on T for a while at this point, whether he passes "physically" kinda flip-flops). also he is not remotely shy about thirsting over dbd (or whatever) killers. or other characters in video games.

ultimately, all the attention (and whatever paltry donation money) he gets through these shenanigans is still for his music. the one part of his streaming schedule that he would really, genuinely look forward to is probably a weekly jam session on twitch, either alone or with the band. some random jamming, some covers of songs, some constructing of original tunes, and occasionally, a demo of a song that will get released later. semi-relatedly, he's also absolutely the sort who would sing little songs while playing video games. especially while killing things in video games. he's as proud of his voice as he is of his looks. chat occasionally (often) has people begging him to sing them to sleep or something. (might have turned that request into a late-night soft jam session. he plays to the crowd. the vod of that did numbers on youtube, probably.)

also he has probably done "trashier" one-off or side-series streams like rating (roasting) his followers' dating profiles. only with people who ask him to and are old enough for it of course, but still pretty trashy.

but here comes the curveball. aki is a guardian. guardians on the internet have a reputation for unhingedness and drama, even moreso than other people on the internet, and it feels like all the guardians of a city know each other. Yokohama's guardian scene is no exception. and if you're at all attuned to guardian news in general, you know that Aki left Arcadia in a high-profile Incident:tm: and explosively broke up with Sadako, Arcadia's Golden Girl, at the end of the whole Mari debacle.

despite his otherwise open behaviour, aki never talks about his time in arcadia on the internet, or really anything about his guardian adventures. there are pictures of him in guardian form on the internet, but he's never acknowledged them. I figure he's on guardian social media, but his bios say "semi-retired", which in guardian terms means he's not actively serving any faction or independent interests right now, but still willing to use his powers, and not opposed to becoming "active" again basically. prior to this era, he was famous on social media for his extensive public arguments online and in real life with Sadako over stupid bullshit, and people remember this.

now, if you're really tuned in to guardian news, you know that Aki is rumoured to have been one of Arcadia's assassins. he and Arcadia took great pains to hide that identity from the public of course, but no scrubbing is perfect, and someone had to get suspicious eventually. especially because people in Arcadia knew, and his commander was holding onto the evidence to keep him in the organization. he destroyed that evidence when he left with some help though.

these rumours eventually catch up to him during his streaming career and suddenly random people (drama youtube, true crimers, among others) are making theory videos and posts and whatnot going "was this music streamer an assassin for arcadia?" and laying out evidence ranging from paper thin to troublingly plausible.

aki ignores it. he really, really would rather not acknowledge that time of his life, one because it sucked, two because it'd be a disaster for him. this lets the stuff just bubble in the background, talked about by nobodies gossiping about nobodies, rather than bring it into the open.

but then some other big-shot leads arcadia. not one of the main plot cast I don't think, the world is a big place and not everything is about the main characters, but this guy isn't as content to keep quiet like Aki. they're gonna tell all. and in one throwaway moment of the video, they offhandedly say something that confirms Aki was, in fact, an assassin for Arcadia. this guy's credible. it would be a really weird thing to lie about, considering it was a really small part of the video. and tbh, most of the backlash isn't even on Aki. but boy does the wave hit him. all of a sudden the assassin thing is the only thing his chat can talk about.

he is smart enough to not make an apology video. he does lay low for a while though, and the twitch channel goes dark.

later, he resurfaces on the arcadian defector guy's podcast and finally talks about it. he's surprisingly frank and mature, and kinda states up-front that he's not looking for forgiveness or to absolve himself, he just wants to add to the story. and since after the plot events aki himself is less reckless, he probably cleared the legal results of doing so before going public (tl;dr the worst and most of what he did (murder) was under coercion or duress, which doesn't give him a total pass, but. this is my story i decide whether we deal with legal consequences.)

this doesn't exactly clear his name, but it does give him some goodwill back, especially since he hadn't gotten into guardian drama of his own after leaving Arcadia. he doesn't return to streaming like he did before, but he does rejoin the band and do stuff with them sometimes. in the end, all he wanted in the first place was to jam, and at least he still has that, so.

#/long post #/guardian project #my.ocs #/ask #this got veeeeery away from me but i did say i'd go into excruciating detail #tl;dr aki's streaming career would be uhhhhh interesting but it had to end eventually

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vullcanica · 1 year

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𝕲𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖎𝖘 // a study on ascension (part I)

It begins in early antiquity, with the lost town of Krilnei and Nikodemus' mother Septima ― a shrewd woman by all means. Even back then, the history of her secret little settlement of magically gifted folk is already long and varied. Hand-picked by her great grandfather, crafted into a society by her grandmother, brought to heel by her father and, finally, overseen by her, as the last by succession, it is a product of her family and the people within it - her subjects in all but name, for her lack of title in the hierarchy. She is no High or Great anything, but the power of her kin to peer into the very soul of man makes her far more irreplaceable than any honorific would suggest, and the mystery of her origin and abilities is enough to bring any naysayer to fearful obeisance.

Like all of her predecessors, her birth coincides with the former leader's untimely death - a circumstance her people have rumoured to be a curse on the bloodline. Her father, ailing and weak-minded with pain, had been taken to spend his last days in the deep wood, and sure enough, a week later Septima was ritualistically carried out of it by his wife, a woman long ago sworn to secrecy. She never breathes a word of finding the babe next to the torn, hollow-chested corpse of her husband, sat upright and feasting on his rancid flesh, nor of the way she had been carefully and intelligently considered that day by the eerily predatorial eyes of a two-day old. In honor of her husband's last wish she names the daughter she never birthed 'Septima'. As tradition instructs, Septima is tested on her soul sight in infancy and after, by virtue of geniture, is crowned with a wreath of young straksa leaves, to denote heirdom as leader when she comes of age. She waits 16 years to be crowned again with araksa, leaves of the Hollowed tree, and, like many before her, steps into her duties with practiced ease. She commands authority just as fearfully as her father. Suddenly it is as if he had never left. ―― He had not.

Septima is the last in line to inherit not only the title of her predecessors, but the soul they had all carried in turn, as well. It is an old thing. Powerful and hungry. A breed of creature gifted with the wretched ability to consume other souls and sustain its own magic through them ― an Eater, who had, like all predators, adapted to survive rather violently. Under threat of mortal expiration before its time, it had long ago taken to creating new vessels to inhabit. It would form fresh young flesh within itself like a tumor, then shed the old skin as a serpent does, in a gruesome process few would call something as savory as 'rebirth'. Or birth, for that matter. Though it would, indeed, re-enter the world as a babe again, with poor recollection of its previous life and a feeble, fragile mind, it would wisen unnaturally fast and even be born with certain instincts, muscle memories and uncanny intuitions intact. Within a few decades, it would remember as well.

But to twist one's form so artfully around sustaining such a beastly soul comes at the expense of certain biological compatibilities. The Soul and its vessels could no longer successfully mate with humans. Throughout all its various iterations, with countless wives and husbands, it had produced nothing but ill, misshapen or stillborn offspring. None had lived to childhood. Septima has prospects for neither marriage nor children by the time she is of age and takes no husband for years to come, well past old maidenhood, further incensed by the return of memories and old, painful losses past. When a new settler group, driven to seek shelter and safety away from mundane civilization, joins their little town, she marries out of pure necessity ― to lead by example and encourage the introduction of new blood and magic amongst her people. Her husband is a good, simple man of no known origin named Tibor and, though he is pitied for wedding a woman whose only ilk would draw air upon her death, he still grows fond of Septima and she of him. He gives her a daughter five years in. And despite being unanticipated and uncelebrated, born ill and premature and expected dead before long like dozens of her poor half-siblings, Avita ― desperately named for life ― lives.

She lives through infancy and well into childhood. Though prone to illness and slow to develop, Avita grows stronger and older yet with less and less complications, doted on by an entire town as its pride and joy ― a living symbol of prosperity. She is never crowned as Septima's successor, however. Septima forbids it. The burden of leadership ― the trecherous web of her own design ― can grace only her shoulders and those of her next iteration. Avita, her small, precious miracle, is to be spared it, predestined to nothing but happiness; set to inherit, of all that Septima has built, only that which she may wish to. But inheritance by blood is a different matter and Avita is her mother's daughter ― powerful and volatile, both in abundance. It doesn't take long for moods to sour in their settlement. Several townsfolk die of illness during that time, Tibor included much to Septima's utter devastation, and talks of an omen begin. The town is plunged into deep mourning. The air hangs heavy. Something ill-spirited lives among them. Septima feels it too - the swell of destructive power that grows within Avita by the day, the terrifying emptiness that denotes an Eater. She can do little to mask it and nothing to stop it from manifesting, not even with the help of trusted, powerful confidants who work tirelessly to reel in and stabilize the girl. Unlike Septima, who can only claim a soul and consume it once it is free of the mortal coil, Avita naturally draws force from every living thing like she is owed it. As recompense, all earthen things she touches bloom and flower under her hand if she wishes them to.

It isn't long before someone bears witness to her potential. And dies for it. A suitor of Septima's is the first casualty, driven to pursue her by the promise of power and puissant progeny now the bloodline curse is dispelled. Yet ultimately doomed by virtue of proximity to little Avita. She misses her dear father and thinks poorly of the would-be intruder, so it takes him but one little misstep alone before she makes quickwork of him. He is left half a man when she is done - half-alive and half-mad, left to the servants who drag whatever remains of him elsewhere. Septima hurries to orchestrate his death away from her home and to secure her and her daughter's innocence, but finds he's died by his own hand in holding. She's told he has left behind a warning as his last words. They are to be kept secret. Nevertheless, of all the ramblings his broken mind could barely string together, one still manages to exit the confidentiality of the few to witness him die: 'The eighth will be the end of all.' Pronounced a profecy and its speaker a seer, the utterance of a madman makes its covert way throughout the town. It isn't difficult to glean who it condemns. Avita is only six when, unbeknownst to her, the townsfolk deem her a curse on Krilnei in hushed whispers. But where many see doom, Septima - once she comes into the knowledge of the quiet rumour - sees opportunity. The eighth it will be...

To save her darling daughter from suspicion and to ensure her peaceful life among the townsfolk, Septima seeks to fulfil the profecy herself. Her grand scheme would leave Avita orphaned, and at such a tender age, but it would absolve her of the town's misgivings and buy her time to spend mastering her power under the tutelage of several trusted mentors whom Septima has gathered in preparation for her own departure. The little girl's care is delegated to them as well. With all her affairs in order, Septima settles down, puts her ear to the town's grapevine and begins the process of her own rebirth. She makes sure to show faux signs of pregnancy suspiciously soon. Regardless of timing, she is with child and without husband, so she soon falls into ill repute. Her people are restless and fearful, perturbed to watch their cattle die and their neighbours fall to illness, prepared to take up pitchforks at the slightest provocation, and she decisively abuses that uncertainty. She's made sure to keep the traitor who'd let the profecy slip close to herself and, to them, she shares the name of her future babe. As she'd hoped, it proves the last nail in the coffin.

The rumors begin. She's copulated with some beast, they say, some trickster or fae or devil. She's struck a dangerous pact to conceive Avita and this child is the wretched payment. The curse on her family has come to a head, with her chosen to end it in blood. Whatever the speculation, one thing is for certain - the child growing in her belly the true source of the scourge that has befallen their settlement, fated to bring ruin and damnation were it to be born. By then it would be too late, for the laws of Krilnei forbid the harm of a child. In the dead of night Septima's fearmongered enemies adjoin for secret council, agree to attempt salvation and send an armed man into her home. He never returns. She does die months later, bearing her new vessel into the world. By then sick and tired, near victim of four attempts on her life and separated from her darling Avita by force, she calmly orders the babe cut out of her and names it her successor. At last, she closes her eyes as Septima forever... and next opens them as the newborn baby boy in the wetnurse's shaking arms.

His name is Octavian. 'The Eighth'.

The scourge has been born. And he is tiny and fragile, yet eerily silent like his mother before him had been. Intuitive as well, personally picking who he wishes to hold him by fussing terribly in the wrong hands. Few dare touch him as it stands. For a thing so small, he inspires fear even among the ranks of Septima's trusted. He is left unharmed, as the law dictates, but the town condemns him quickly. He is not crowned with straksa leaves, nor allowed to live in the town leader's home, with Avita. A servant woman is entrusted with him, relegated to the edge of town. He is even stripped of his own cursed name, unworthy of that morsel of cultural belonging. He is not of their people and Krilnei refuses to claim him. They call a passing foreigner forward, a woman from another land, and bid her name the child kindly - for goodness and benignity, so that he may live up to it. She takes one look into quiet little Octavian's clever blue eyes and speaks a name, unaware of how many would one day whisper it in fear.

Nikodemos.