Mole

🗡 Roses and Daggers 🎕

^{O U T F I T}

_{^{L O C A T I O N : Shooting Range
I N T E R A C T I O N S : Lord Roman Ravewood @ReusableSword, Princess Anastasia @princess
M E N T I O N S : Lady Thea Smithwood @Tae, Lord Leo Smithwood @Helo, Sir Matthias & Lukas @Rodiak}}

A nod was granted to Lord Roman with a gracious acceptance of the offer before he gave Princess Anastasia a handsome smile, "Of course, I am here to support Lady Thea," He glanced towards the range, taking his chances of seeing her disposition, again. His smile faded, as he turned away from her. The jewel dangling from his ear jingled with the motion. He had little else to say to Princess Anastasia. He had not been too terribly impressed with her at the banquet. However, he felt it was necessary to keep some sort of camaraderie with her for the sake of his relationship with Lady Thea. His eyes studied her contempt smile before he continued. "That is not to say it's the sole reason I am here. Archery competitions are rarely dull. And, look, Sir Matthias is also competing." The tail end of his statement ended with enthusiasm and another smile. To see Lady Thea and Sir Matthias compete against each other would be a delight, hopefully.

Sir Matthias looked awfully nervous, and Lady Thea was dreadfully tired looking. Albeit, despite her current state, she still looked beautiful, to say the least. For that, the prince was thankful. He chanced not betting on either. Both were good archers, but he found it hard for him to make a decision on who he wished to win. Sir Matthias was a good friend and confidant. They dueled together often and enjoyed many long talks. He glanced at Lukas. He thought to say something but remained silent.

Part of him thought it would be a great lift for Lady Thea if she won. Sir Matthias could handle a good sportsmanship loss to the Lady. After what she went through last night and how her brother performed earlier in the competition, he thought it might be something to help alleviate the stress. It went without saying that it would also be an honor for her to win as his betrothed. Of course, something still held him back from placing too heavy of an investment in either of the two.

When Lady Thea won, Prince Felix smiled and clapped his hands. It was an exciting and close round. The banjo music only added to the effect. He tilted his head slightly, contemplating Lady Thea. She was a strong woman -- in many different ways. Although, she miss managed them quite heavily. It was like walking into a room, readily furnished but subtle things were out of place. The room itself was still of use albeit in dramatic need of rearranging. He could not say he had the ability to stand in the room for too long of a time, but at this distance, the view of the window curtains was decent enough.

"Your father did well against Lady Thea, Lukas. It was close," the prince looked at the younger boy with a personable smile, and then resumed back to watching the range.

Books!

Currently, I am reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. I recently read The Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I am enjoying 1Q84 more than the other two, but I have skipped several erotic parts of the book. So far, I highly recommend it. It’s a good book with moral dilemmas that circle around sexual abuse of women (and girls) and religious cults while also incorporating an intriguing romance. I have not yet once felt bored with the novel, despite many mundane details.

I also started re-reading Lord of the Rings last night. It’s just as enjoyable if not more so than the last time I read it. (This re-reading is partially inspired by The Rings of Power.) Obviously, this is recommended. The only person I know who wouldn’t recommend this series is Hayao Miyazaki. But he’s Hayao Miyazaki, so he gets a pass.

On the back burner, several of the books that I am reading are The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro, Death by Water by Kenzaburo Oe, The Guest Book by Sarah Blake, and Turning Point by Hayao Miyazaki. I am not too terribly far into these books, but they are interesting and thought provoking. (In fact, The Guest Book pops into my mind periodically when I contemplate parenting my children.) Needless to say, I can’t wait to finish them.

Digimon: The Parallel Visage

K A N N A H I G A S H I

The sun’s warmth kissed Kanna's skin as she drew in quiet breaths. The fingers on her right hand made small movements with her breathing. This went on for several seconds, until her fingers were limp and lifeless, again. “Dad…” her lips spoke feebly through her sleep. And, suddenly, without much morning, the girl opened her dark eyes.

She squinted at first, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. Instead of the plain, tidy walls of her bedroom, there was some sort of sandy jungle in front of her. Instead of lying comfortably on her bed, she was on the hard ground. Slowly, Kanna lifted herself. Her mouth formed an emotionless line as she looked around. Am I still dreaming?

The small sound of someones or somethings was talking. The voices sounded intelligible but different. She could not put her finger on it. Slowly, she turned to look in the direction of the voices. As she did this, she noticed several other people littered around her. What happened? Her face remained apathetic, and then she saw the creatures. She had never seen anything like them before. I have to be dreaming. There was no other explanation.

The creatures were hobbling and squabbling about something or another. She thought about calling after them, but she was afraid to wake any of the sleeping people. Why am I afraid of waking them? She asked herself. A small sleepy breath escaped her, and she brushed a strand of brown hair behind her ear. Her concentration returned to the creatures.

She wanted to be more curious, but her head felt heavy and delirious. There was too much happening. She looked at the palms of her hands, opening and closing them. She was still dressed in her street clothes, and her memory was escaping her. She had no recollection of what she had been doing before all of this, except for the dream she had just been having, and she did not particularly want to think about that right now.

Another small breath left her. It was melancholy. Her hands planted themselves on the sandy ground next to her and pushed her body upwards. As she stood up, she looked down at her boots, studying the skirmishes they had acquired throughout the year of owning them. They seemed just as scuffed as always, no more and no less. She frowned and then scanned the area.

There’s no way I am not dreaming. Kanna straightened her jacket and tugged on the strap of her messenger bag. She looked at the sky. It seemed different than the sky she usually saw — the shape of the clouds and the angle of the sun. She took several steps and examined her foot prints. There was nothing unusual about her tracks.

Without much thought, she examined the contents in her bag. Everything seemed in order, too in order. The dream was bizarrely adequate at duplicating her waking life, aside from the place she was. Something seemed wrong, and she could not put a note on what it was. Her hands grabbed hold of her messenger bag’s strap as she looked around more indefinitely.

Then, she realized what the problem was.

Normally, in a dream, she had some objective, and the dream pushed her forward no matter which decision she made. However, there was no hazy compunction moving the situation right along. She was merely existing in a space, with so many options. No one thought directed her anywhere. She was stagnant. She simply was.

And, then, there were the others.

“Where am I?” Her eyes gazed over the creatures. Her mouth remained in a straight, emotionless line as she stared at them.

The Digital Expanse {Digimon x Megaman RP}

C:\Expanse\Data\User_Data\Suzuki_Takada...

Making a small o with her mouth, Suzi took a step back when the man with the hard hat slumped over. Her eyes examined the body and then stared wide-eyes at the young man behind him. Quickly, her mouth clamped shut. Her foot took a step backwards apprehensively, yet she remained otherwise still.

Aki-senpai began speaking to him, and Suzi felt her cheeks tingle. She wished she had been the first one to speak up, for some reason. However, she continued in silence as the two older ones conversed. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest, trying to anticipate where the conversation was going.

Finally, she brought her step forward once more and relaxed a little. The feeling in her cheeks was pink, and quickly she drew in a quick breath and clamped her lips shut again. A small exhale came from her nose. Suzi looked down at her wrist. This has to do with my omniphone?

It made sense, and for some reason, she did not want to doubt Jacob-senpai. He really looked like he knew what was going on. She felt much safer with him around, especially after what he did to… Her eyes glazed over the slumped body. She drew in another breath but this time through her nose. Her mouth drew a straight line as she looked back at Jacob-senpai.

Post a random fact about yourself.

I do not know if scale worms are edible.

the alphabet game. lol

@Briza

Questions and Answers

Usually, I am inspired by song lyrics, poetry, quotes in books or mash-ups of already used titles. Occasionally, I play around with Google Translate. It’s not too original, but it can definitely be spiffy. (On that note, Kazuo Ishiguro named a book after a song, once, and he is the winner of a Nobel Prize.)

---

Do you prefer to watch a sunrise or sunset?

the alphabet game. lol

Orthodox

Toontown | The Guild's #1 Stop for Cartoon Discussion

@Yam I Am, I have limited time to spend on my hobbies, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners simply did not make the cut. I had zero desire to invest any more time into another episode after the first one. But, I did paint my nails during the first episode, and they look nice and sparkly and pink. So, it wasn't a total waste of time.

Toontown | The Guild's #1 Stop for Cartoon Discussion

@Fabricant451, I quit watching after the first episode, as well (?).