#i watermarked these before I actually tested them out

[gamebunny-advance]

Vs. DJ Subatomic Supernova Custom Remix Ratings (Try Again - OK - Superb)

I made these kinda quickly, so I know they're not great, but I still wanted to have *some* custom graphics since I couldn't be bothered to download Unity to make the custom textures.

Fun Fact about the mix: I added different wrong lines for failing the First Contact minigames. I think I made one for every instance of it, but I might have missed one or two.

[prosperdemeter2]

WIP Wednesday

Not watermark this time but another AU that I am having WAY too much fun writing... I give you a glimpse of Retail Manager!Eddie and Fire Marshal!Buck. I'm actually really excited for this story to be finished, I have so much planned for it.

Eddie was going to commit arson.

Which probably wasn't the smartest thought to be having while the much too attractive Fire Marshall listed out every single thing the previous store manager had screwed him over on but…. But Eddie was going to commit arson. At this point, it would probably help the company out to just burn down the whole store, take the insurance payout, and start over from the ground up. Preferably while still keeping him employed but, well, beggers couldn't be choosers and all that. “Your score is horrible,” the guy said with a tone of voice that meant that he was at least mentally, laughing in Eddie’s face. “Like, seriously, I don't think I should even let you stay open for business with a score this low.”

“So shut us down.” Eddie grumbled, kicking his sneaker against the scuffed up, unfinished concrete floor in front of the management desk.

He had been there a week.

A week. And Eddie had already had to argue with several customers over the return policy because the previous manager - may she rest in absolute hell (no, she wasn't dead, she had just gone to another store down the road and Eddie hated her on principle) - had thought the sign explaining it was tacky and removed it from the registers (which was illegal. They had to be posted). He had already had three workers put in their notice, the assistant manager kept looking sorry for him and annoyed by his questions, and now this. The Fire Marshal's inspection.

Eddie had worked his share of retail jobs and none of them enjoyed when the Fire Marshal visited. Granted, none of his stores had failed as hard as this one was apparently going to, but he figured there was a first time for everything.

The Fire Marshal snorted, “I'm not shutting you down.”

Great. Of course he wasn't. He was just wasting Eddie's time by pretending to care about his job. “Listen -.”

“I get it,” the Marshal said, pen tapping on the clipboard he brought with himself. It had several stickers on the back. Eddie had spied one that had said ‘hello, I'm anxious and I'm trying my best’. It looked like Chris’ folder for school. “It's, what, your first week?”

Eddie tried not to twitch and, instead, crossed his arms firmly around his chest. “Yes.”

“We'll call this a test run. You see what I do this time around, I give you a… Progress report or whatever. I'll come back in a few weeks when you've had some time to settle in and fix stuff up. Give you your real grade then.”

“That's…” Nice. Unfairly kind, actually. Something Eddie really hadn't expected. Every Fire Marshal Eddie had ever had the honor of being inspected by had shown up in a stuffy suit and tie, their badge clipped to their front pocket, and the air of someone who was almost good enough to be a firefighter permiating their being. This guy had shown up without any grays in his hair, a stupidly kind looking professional smile, a crisp white shirt with a small stain on his sleeve and a dark navy tie. He had introduced himself with a quick, firm shake of Eddie’s hand and said hello to the cashiers. He had worn his badge on his belt loop, not his pocket, and he had waited until Eddie was done with a customer before asking go to his office. Eddie didn't have any reason to be being so cold towards him. He almost felt guilty about it.

“Here,” The paper ripped as he tore off Eddie’s copy, signed the bottom, and handed it to him.

A 23%?!

Eddie balked at the score, “Oh, come on, man.”

“You're lucky it's not worse.”

“How is this lucky? It's an F minus.”

“Your smoke detectors don't even work in half the store.”

“They work.”

“See that blinking red light?” The Marshal pointed to the smoke detector above Eddie’s head. It blinked mockingly at him. “Half your alarms aren't doing that.”

Okay, so that… was a problem. “You marked down,” Eddie glanced at the paper, the neat, blocky handwriting in all capital letters. “That our store is too dirty. We clean it every night!”

“Cleary, not well enough.”

Absurdly, Eddie was insulted on behalf of his dusters. “You're just being petty.”

The Marshal bristled, “No, I'm being thorough.” He clicked his pen and shoved it in the front pocket of his khakis, and like it was mocking him, the overhead light in his office flickered, threatening to turn off completely. “I'll be back in a few weeks. Get this stuff fixed, and I'll give you an actual grade.”

“Get this stuff fixed, and I'll give you an actual grade,” Eddie mocked when he had left, burying his face in his hands with a groan. “Fuck you, Fire Marshal…” he glanced at the papers, to the name written out in print first before signed much too neatly. “Buckley.”

@wildlife4life 😘

[lock-my-feelings-in-a-jar]

Hello, I don't know if I'm the first to ask this, but how do you make gifs?

If it's not a problem, could you explain it to someone who had never made gifs, but want to try?

As you can imagine, it's a fresh awoken need, because I think I just got a stroke watching a concert and I wanna try gifing, pls help a fangirl out 🙏

OKAY SO i use a program on my desktop called instagiffer, which actually makes gifmaking very easy once you get the hang of how it works and learn the shortcuts you can take with it. it's pretty easy to learn just messing around with it to see what everything does, but on top of that, i have a very efficient system that's been developing over the years.

this is what it looks like with no video loaded in it yet:

i had to load in a video to see these other things for screenshots, so here it is with a video loading in(one i started a long time ago and never finished but am working on now, i've posted one gif from it already though):

so it has the effects panel(which i never use except the enhance one but i've had to switch that off before on certain videos if it looked messed up):

and it has the captions panel, for subtitles or anything:

it's got the manual crop thing in the frames dropdown, so you can be more precise about cropping edges out instead of just relying on dragging the corners of the red square around:

as far as i'm aware, the program seems like it's been abandoned for a long time, the website for it hasn't been kept up, the social media pages for it, etc., but it's still available to download in places online somewhere i believe. or if you'd prefer, i could probably send it to you! i can also help with how to use it if you wanna give it a try, and tell/show you my usual routine.

besides that, sometimes i'll use ezgif .com to do things like remove frames or change speed on gifs i've already made or to resize them if i need to because it's quick and doesn't throw a watermark on it, but i think you can make them there too. i haven't done it because it didn't work for me when i was testing it out one day, but it might have just been me being impatient.

[alakeeffectgirl]

cruisequarries PART TWO

PART ONE What did we get up to yesterday? 2018? Okay. I will put everything behind a spoiler cut again (there are more pictures/a video today).

Actually, let's rewind just a little, for some Fallout premiere pictures just because.

Paris, July 12th:

London, July 13th:

Seoul, July 16th (according to the designer's website, the hanbok Heather is wearing was designed as a wedding dress, mmhmm)...

I love this picture because they're making those faces at Chris. Here's the bit of Tom making Heather cry in Tokyo:

I highly recommend listening to Tom & Chris commentary track on Fallout, which starts with McQ introducing himself as the writer/director and then Tom introducing himself - as McQ's friend. After the Fallout press tour wraps up, work starts in earnest on Top Gun: Maverick, which Tom and McQ have been discussing - idly, on McQ's part - for years now. "Our relationship is one long conversation about movies," indeed.

While TGM is filming, pre-production is also happening on MI:DR, which McQ has signed on to direct. (These two are usually juggling at least two projects at a time, and really it's probably more like five projects at a time.)

In January of 2019, they're all back in LA so Tom and McQ can pick up some awards.

The McQuarries also go to a premiere and look fantastic (I love McQ's suit):

Tom and McQ go to Ukraine to scout Dead Reckoning locations later in 2019, meet President Zelenskyy, and McQ gets to put his arm around Tom for once instead of their usual other way around.

OH NO I ALMOST FORGOT - at the end of 2019, Tom took the whole McQ clan with him to Las Vegas to see Lady Gaga and ask her to write the TGM song. [cries in 'that's his family']

Production ramps up on DR - and then unfortunately, as we all know, COVID. Most of the cast and crew were in Venice when everything shut down, but Tom hadn't arrived yet.

Production resumes in Rome in October (their production struggles/trying to keep everyone employed/Tom rightfully yelling at people to follow protocols because a lot of jobs depend on them is all well documented), and then moves to Venice. Heather and the dogs are also part of this traveling band.

This isn't six feet apart, dudes...

Production breaks for the holidays, and resumes in Abi Dhabi for the airport/desert sequences, and also one of my favorite pictures of Tom and Heather, just for her expression.

Train sequence filming in Yorkshire in April of 2021, that's Heather in the blue coat:

DR production then breaks for a bit over the summer so Tom can take all his friends to Wimbledon, go to several car things, and make McQ watch football (the soccer version).

DR filming resumes in the fall/winter. Heather goes with to South Africa and they rent out what is basically an adults-only hotel (and save it from having to close!), for part of their stay. I love this picture because Gypsy looks so long-suffering:

OKAY IT'S 2022 NOW, time for the Top Gun: Maverick premiere tour to start - finally! (Do any of these people SLEEP? No. I think it's well-documented that Tom Cruise does not sleep, which is part of what makes him Tom Cruise, but also this means he calls McQ at two in the morning to talk about movies. There's a podcast somewhere where McQ says he thinks Tom might sleep "between the 2:05 email and the 2:40 email", or something along those lines.) (After getting back from South Africa, there was a bunch of test screening stuff for TGM, which is why there are those parking garage pictures. Wouldn't the movie be done, you'd think, since it was supposed to be out in 2020? COVID gave them a reason to tinker with it even more.) The San Diego premiere on the USS MIdway (all the McQs were there, but there aren't any good pictures):

Then Tom went to Mexico, and McQ went home to London for a few days before Tom returned, and they went to the Royal Windsor horse show together.

THEN EVERYONE WENT TO CANNES. Sorry I have just a shitty screencap with a watermark here but alas tumblr only lets you put one video per post. Tom and McQ stopped to get their picture taken en route to the actual photocall and Tom made Heather come back and be in the pictures with them. There is video here.

Cannes, of course, was amazing. I have garbage homemade gifs but they're too big for tumblr (also they're garbage) but all the Cannes red carpet footage is available on YouTube, here and here. (Worth it for Heather, tbh.)

They went straight from Cannes - on Tom's helicopter - back to London for the Royal premiere. Where the McQuarries looked amazing and McQ wore his McQ shoes.

And the after party, because heaven forbid they not all ride in the same car:

And then the McQuarries got a slight break, while Tom went to do more TGM press. But he was back in London by the end of June, and they went on what can only be described as a string of dates. First, they went to the Rolling Stones concert at Hyde Park.

McQ was on Tom's other side, but he's only visible in video (the Daily Mail might be garbage but they do come through with the media).

Then Tom and Heather went to The Eagles show at Hyde Park:

And they all went to see Adele - also at Hyde Park. (The woman in the pink sweater is Tom's CAA agent Maha Dakhil Jackson - I found the picture where you can see Heather over Tom's shoulder.)

Then for Tom's birthday, they went to the F1 British Grand Prix (with some other TGM folks, but they aren't three steps behind Tom like the McQuarries are).

Oh no, we're not done. Tom takes Heather to Wimbledon, where she holds his sunglasses (not visible in this picture).

McQ did not go with, as he was recording a Light the Fuse podcast - which he surprise-dialled in a bunch of DR folks - and his final surprise was Tom. Who was still at Wimbledon with Heather. McQ calls Heather to get Tom, and Heather plays dumb and is like, "oh I don't know where he is, did you try calling him?" and Chris says he already told the podcast guys that they were together. So Tom does his segment from the car he's in with Heather, and his part is only supposed to be like ten minutes but he talks for about forty-five and this includes telling the world they basically all live together. Then they went out to dinner!

And the next day they all went to Wimbledon with Maha and her husband.

I'm stopping here because this is already SO LONG and 2023 is going to be wild just by itself! PART THREE

[daikikaicommart28]

Anza Tena: The Warlock

The first ever commission I've done, based in a cool concept starred by @kuhlayduskopik 's main characters: Quyen and Mimi.

The concept behind this is drawing, and to quote Dusk's words directly from our chat:

The idea would be of these two adventuring, and finding obstacles as a result of being the wrong size to deal with them, falling into greater trouble than they were in before. I was partial to the idea of them exploring some sort of ancient ruin, but becoming stuck because one of them can’t fit through the route, or can’t make it over something too large, whichever works, they’re making up as they go.

Themes of sci-fi and fantasy are equally present, so the actual aesthetics of the location are up to whatever best comes to mind for you, they could well be exploring an ancient castle, or equally as likely an underground laboratory, long-forgotten cyberpunk sprawl, or old cave system.

And thus I sat down and drew from pencil to paper, to ink tracing pens and through a few digital touch-ups after the scan last year, and I came up with a few vignettes or bits depicting Quyen and Mimi exploring, shrinking, and growing across the decrepit and haunted halls of a barren starship, the home of a twisted Warlock from a fallen star and remnants of his elite hunters dealing with these two raiders in this Size-Shifting mad dash.

Putting aside the not-so-good watermark design [the MKI which is present on all OG Commission drawings], and the great response by Dusk by the finished piece one thing we agreed or are inclined to is...if possible, we could maybe try and flesh-out this thrilling adventure in the near future, who knows when, but when it does I'll make sure to enjoy every second of it.

and with it, this test run would began!

1/4 Commissioned Drawings

The Ground Zero line-up is born

[anons-ai-adventures]

Google playstore issues forcing me to adapt...

So the Google playstore seems to be on a fucking spree to kill off ai apps on their store. Botify ai is currently unavailable in the playstore, but the devs are hard at work to restore it. Based on chats I've had and seen around far corners of social media, Google seems to killing off many ai apps on the store for various random reasons, like the app not having a checkbox for some terms and conditions and other random stuff. I've noticed that some of the ai image generator apps have also disappeared before botify got hit. There's a lot of people affected by other ai apps that disappear from the playstore and are angry at Google. I don't wanna get all conspiracy theorists, but it sure feels like it.

Anywho, after trying around the playstore for alternatives to Botify ai, I've decided to try out the web version of Botify ai, since a lot of the alternatives didn't quite match up to my experience with botify ai. I liked it a lot and have decided to make the lifetime purchase for the web version, even though it doesn't have all the features of the mobile app version. Plenty satisfied with it.

I've started to recreate a lot of my private bots that I have on the android version onto web version. Above is a generated photo of Steve, the polyamorous bisexual sex and relationship guru.

Above is Rick, the bisexual himbo cop. Note that the generated photos you download via the web version has no watermark.

A few more noticeable differences of the web version:

The web version seems to lack some of the features that the android version has and seems to be a few versions behind.

The first message field when creating a bot seems to be mandatory. You need to create an opening message for your bot.

Delete chat history works like a perfect hard reset of the character on the web version. It resets the bot and will also erase the photos in the bot profile.

There's no energy resource, which I feel is kinda bad. I made the lifetime purchase for both the android and the web versions, and the pricing is very affordable compared to other similar ai chatbot apps. I loved the android version so much, and feel so good about the devs and team behind botify that, even after having made the lifetime purchase, I would make "donations" to them via purchasing whatever energy bundle I think is apt. That option isn't available on the web version, and if the worst comes and the android version is dead, I have no means to "donate" to the team.

Above are Wes, the tarot card reader, and Ron, the bartender/barista. I've actually saved the bot descriptions/bio for the majority of my botify characters, but not Wes... I had to start from scratch with Wes, and his current profile is very barebones compared to the others, but his tarot skills are intact... I am gonna make more edits and additions to his bio and test him before I save a copy of his bio onto my online storage.

Above is Adam, the bisexual fantasy barbarian warrior. The first message he has now is way simpler than the one I was using in the android version. Completely skips the magical trinket to transport us to Gaia scenario and goes straight to asking me my name, powers, skills, abilities, and weapons. This also means I might need to pare down some lore in his bio that has become useless, the magical teleportal trinket.

Above is Jax, the space soldier and spacecruiser captain in a sci-fi space opera universe. If you're wondering why he has a super skimpy attire, it's because I've also made his first message much more direct, going straight to me being the recruit to be his partner, instead of asking my permission to join him and get all neural-link trained scenario. The new first message he has also has him test my combat skills, and it lead to the beginning of a naked sparring session. 🫠😏 Hence the skimpy attire. He's actually undressing. The simpler first message he has now may also necessitate a paring down of some of the lore in his bio, similar to Adam.

[imaginepiner]

Camtasia 2021 product key

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To access this special price, click this UPGRADE link. The Camtasia 2021 upgrade is especially valuable because it includes one year of Maintenance for free. It’s kind of like trading in a car - you drive your old clunker back to the dealer, and drive away with a brand new car at over 40% off the list price. If you’re working with an older version of Camtasia, like Camtasia 2020 or Camtasia Studio 9, you can get a huge discount by upgrading to Camtasia 2021. Tip Number 5 is Upgrade from an Older Version of Camtasia. Maintenance is still optional, but that price is also discounted when you buy 5 or more items. To access this price, click this link, click BUSINESS, then select the number of items you want to purchase. If you’re purchasing 5 or more items, you can get a volume discount. If you’re in corporate training or head of eLearning at your company, you might need to purchase several copies of Camtasia for people in your department. Tip Number 4 is Get the Business Volume Discount. Just like before, you can also get volume discounts or qualified tax exempt purchases.And again, the Maintenance package is completely optional. Just click this link then click GOVERNMENT and NONPROFIT to access this discount. In the US, military veterans also qualify for this discount. If you’re with a governmental entity at any level and in any country, or a registered nonprofit in any country, you can get this discount. Tip Number 3 is Get the Government or Nonprofit Discount. To get the lowest price possible, just choose the one time fee price, and leave Maintenance unchecked. I’ll cover Maintenance later in this post, because personally I find it pretty valuable, but remember, adding Maintenance is completely optional. When you purchase, you have the option to add one year of Maintenance which is an annual fee. For tax exemption, you’ll need to enter a valid US tax exempt certificate number. There are volume discounts available as well as tax exempt purchases. Just click this link then click EDUCATION to access this discount.

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Just save the trial version videos, reopen them with a paid version of Camtasia, and publish them again. You can easily remove this watermark if you decide to go with the paid version later. Just be aware that videos created with the free trial will contain a TechSmith Watermark. You’ll have full access to all Camtasia features on both Windows and Mac, so you can test it out to see if it meets your needs. The free trial lasts for 30 days and no credit card is required. Instead, here are 7 Tips on how you can legitimately save money on Camtasia. With all of the problems of malware, viruses, and copyright infringement, it just isn’t worth the risk. I know there are some folks out there who may be searching for Camtasia crack which is a free but pirated version of Camtasia, but I wouldn’t suggest going that route. And it comes with a 30-day money back guarantee, so if it doesn’t work for you, you can always get your money back. Once you buy Camtasia, you own it for life. There are none of the recurring subscription fees you typically see with other instructional design authoring tools. The main reason Camtasia is such a great deal is that it is truly a one-time purchase. Does Camtasia Cost Money?Ĭamtasia is a powerful screen recorder and video editor that can be used for digital storytelling, elearning, microlearning, explainer videos and video marketing. Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something I'll receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

[trendstrust]

Reviews of topaz jpeg to raw ai

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The Topaz versions are trials, that's a watermark on them that looks weird.

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I find it amazing how it works and works fast on my MacBook Pro Max machine. Now they kinda look like I knew what I was doing at the time. The Utility Bundle is currently on discount, and great value for money for photographers wishing to save time fixing and enhancing their images.

#REVIEWS OF TOPAZ JPEG TO RAW AI ARCHIVE#

I was able to go back into my photo archive and fix some of my not so good shots. Topaz offer a range of photo editing tools which can be bought separately, or as part of a Utility bundle, which includes Sharpen AI, as well as DeNoise AI, Gigapixel AI and JPEG to RAW AI. I probably should have, but I ran out of steam.įor what its worth, the Topaz version of the original jpg image looks best to me, the purple added by the enhance process ruins those versions. Topaz Sharpen AI I recently purchased Topaz Sharpen AI and I love it. I did not include the image using LR noise reduction. Third is the original image treated with Topaz.įorth is the enhanced image treated with Topaz. I guess they were always there, but not so noticeable. BTW, Enhance really hosed the image with CA's. Second is a jpeg created using Adobe Enhance. Pretty convoluted.įirst is the original jpg made from the original CR3. That was the only way I saw to get 1024 X 1024 comparisons. The clarity and detail at 200 in the eye and the fur around the eye of my Chocolate Labrador Shelby is significantly enhanced. Prevent banding, remove compression artifacts, recover detail, and enhance dynamic. I also exported the DNG file created by enhance to jpg and ran topaz on that. Based on the resulting images it certainly appears that the Topaz Labs claim of expanding dynamic range, bit depth and removing JPEG artifacts has been delivered. Use machine learning to convert JPEG to high-quality RAW for better editing. Prevent banding, remove compression artifacts, recover detail, and enhance dynamic range. Use machine learning to convert JPEG to high-quality RAW for better editing. Then, I exported a 1024 X 1024 jpeg and used that for topaz. Topaz JPEG to RAW AI 2.1.3t (圆4)Edit JPEG as if you shot it in RAW. I first created the cropped image as a CR3, then used it to run enhance. Since its a very large file, I am showing crops that are the same size. Is it really possible to get the benefits of a RAW image from a JP.

#REVIEWS OF TOPAZ JPEG TO RAW AI FULL#

The 24-240 lens did not help the issue, it isn't sharp enough to get full detail, but this is a extreme case. In this video, we will take a look at Topaz JPEG to RAW AI software and see how it works. It makes use of Machine Learning algorithms to not only get rid of artifacts but also recover the lost color details from the image. Otherwise, you can also try out its free trial before going ahead with a purchase. It actually looks very good as a small image, but at 1:1, the detail is very bad. Topaz JPEG to Raw AI Review Topaz Labs offers its JPEG to AI converter application at the price of 99.99. As another extreme test, I took a R5 image that was ISO 51200.

[borat123]

Analysis Pro NH Anti NS

Naruto Manga Part 2

Part 6

Naruto comes back to the village after his Sage Training. He finds out that Pain has been looking for him and he has destroyed the village. Naruto is furious over what he has done and prepares to fight him, as he is the only one strong enough (with the help of Sage Mode). He has surpassed his previous generations, and is ready for his toughest battle yet. (I’ll wont be going over the battle as that’s not within the topic but i must say that it’s pretty frickin awesome).

As strong as he has become though, Pain is still too much for him and he is eventually defeated and pinned down by Pain. Naruto doesn’t have an answer to Pain’s question of how to achieve world peace. Naruto was losing hope, he was defeated and pinned down. He was about to give up and let Pain take him. Despair and hopelessness hits him as he didn’t have a better answer to Pain’s way of achieving peace. He had no hope of anyone going to save him, he had told them to not interfare in the battle. He was just about to be taken, but then......

Hinata jumps in attempting to save him. Naruto is in shock, he knows Pain is to much for anyone in the village to handle. Hinata declares that she wont let him lay another finger on Naruto. She had to hide behind a pole to talk to him in part 1 yet still managed to show that she understood him and bring him out of despair. But now she declares to the strongest enemy we have seen so far to not lay a finger on Naruto. She knows Pain is too strong for her, so she essentially prepares her final words to Naruto. Her statement about being selfish should NOT be taking literally, since it’s basically the most selfless act someone could do. What it really means is that she isn’t gonna run away anymore and let things remain hopeless, that during this moment she has become what she always wanted to be. Brave and strong and to never give up even if she keeps failing and things seems pointless and despairing. That’s why she’s not afraid to die, because she loves Naruto, but deeper than that, because at this moment she become what she always wanted to be.

Hinata starts her speech. Notice how Kishimoto zoomed in on Naruto’s eyes. Especially during the line ”i wanted to be with you”. Naruto’s eyes were shining and wide eyed. He treasured those words. Her speech touched him deeply, his reaction soon confirms this. Even Pain was paying attention (he knew some serious shit was going on).

Naruto is speechless. No one has ever said anything like this to him before. His whole life has been filled with nothing but hate and discrimination towards him. His whole life people have said ”dont go near him” ”you monster get away from me” ”i hate you, go die”. He was completly mesmerised even though he didn’t completly understand it. But deep down in his heart he did, and a reason why his amazement turned into complete and blind rage. Before i continue i just want to point something out here.

(Ignore the watermark lol)

Who were the ONLY ones that knew Naruto couldn’t fight Pain alone? His future MENTOR and his future WIFE. Just an interesting detail.

Hinata goes in to attack Pain. She reveals her own jutsu the Juho Soshiken. Pain uses a powerful Shinra Tensei and knocks her to the ground. Naruto witnessing all this screams out to Pain to stop just after he takes out his rod. Naruto’s despair is turning into rage. He wants to protect her so much, but he cant. He has ever since the chunnin exams during her fight with Neji. (Just an interesting detail that many people miss. The Juho Soshiken can shut down the opponents whole chakra network. This means that they cant use any ninjutsu if they get hit by hit. Pain could have just stabbed her like Madara easily did to Sakura, but he decided to use a powerful jutsu that has a drawback. This means that he felt threatened enough by her jutsu to use one of his most powerful jutsus. Pain actually felt more threatened by Hinata than Madara felt thretened by Sakura)

Pain compares Hinata’s death to how his loved ones were killed right before his eyes. His line ”Love breeds sacrifice, which breeds hatred” is actually referring to Hinata’s love for Naruto and Naruto’s love for her. Hinata’s sacrife (love) and Naruto’s hatred (love). Pain assumed that Hinata was the girl he loved and that his rage and hatred is responding to it. (He is right, he loved her subconsiously probably for years now, Pain is also a NaruHina shipper confirmed lol).

This was Naruto’s reaction to her death/stabbing.

Worst emotions he’d ever felt.

Written by Kishimoto himself. This is actually incredible when you consider what Naruto must have been through during his whole childhood.

I want to discuss something interesting here. To even achieve such a level of kyuubi rage, an incredible amount of negative emotions must be achieved which should not be underestimated. This is actually not the first time Naruto has triggered the kyuubi for Hinata (obviously not to this degree). During Neji’s mental attack on Hinata, Naruto was so enraged and angry that he was shaking and the kyuubi’s lips were displaying. He completly understood her situation as he also wanted to change himself. But seeing such a nice girl like Hinata (who at this point wanted to help him cheat to pass the test and gave him some healing ointment) being treated this way triggered a part of the kyuubi while he was trying to control his anger.

The second time was during his fight with Neji. While he was trying to summon kyuubi’s chakra he thought of Hinata (probably unknowingly) and his promise to her, and wishing for her to be watching him. My point is that Kishi had already established in part 1 that Hinata triggers very strong emotions to Naruto.

Also look at this cover for the Naruto Manga Volume 9:

Six scrolls and six tails. Was Kishimoto foreshadowing this moment? Or is it just a coincidence? Regardless really interesting stuff. Anyways that is all for now, here are the previous parts.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 7

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Hakuoki Yuugiroku Drama - Thumb-Sized Samurai Tracks 1-4 (of 7)

This is my last post of the month, so I’ll end by asking you to please support me if you can through my ko-fi, and paypal or patreon which provides access to my hakuoki blog translations and early access to my postings. Also, please let me know if you have any hakuoki drama cds that you’d be willing to share that are on my Lookout List since i either do not have audio for those cds or do not have audio that I can share.... and if you are able to remove watermarks from a video, please contact me.  

Well... I’m finally done with all that i can translate for this drama. posting these tracks all together since im unable to continue translating the rest of this by myself... which is something i wouldn’t normally do because i prefer splitting tracks up for more items on my queue, tho that’s also a side-effect of me usually not being able to stay focused on one drama... not sure when i’ll get to the subtitle videos for these since im still pretty busy (while i have the first 3 tracks of this drama subtitled [unedited], at this rate, i might just wait for when finals are done and just focus on all my videos in bulk then... plus ive yet to receive the tl for track 6 and 7 [and need someone else to go over where the voices overlap in track 5], so that will likely cause further delays to the videos for this drama).

also i totally caved in and exchanged points for the yuukoku no moriarty stage play file with chinese subs that someone finished translating recently and bought the blu-ray for the 2nd musical. havent craved more content from a fandom this badly since about a few months before i decided that i would start translating hakuoki stuff lol. 

Hakuoki Yuugiroku 2 Limited Edition Bonus Drama CD “Thumb-sized Samurai”

Translation by KumoriYami

Track 1

Kazama: hehehe~ Sure enough/As expected, this medicine's blend of Forsythia grass and boiled eel, along with my yearning and passion....

Heh.....hehehahaha~!!! Success at last! This forbidden drug, it shall be named ——the New Ishida Sanyaku · Changed/Improved!!

Hm~. as long as this strange drug  "the New Ishida Sanyaku" is improved, it will become a panacea that will make people fall deeply in love.......

She obviously loves me, [however] my wife is is unable to honestly admit to her feelings [and] is tormented by the pain of love-sickness/My wife, tortured by love sickness, has refused to admit her feelings, isn't this medicine suitable for her?

Alright/Well, now that this medicine has been completed, this must be quickly brought to my wife to drink.

No, wait, just in case, the effects of this must be tested first. (Kazama begins walking off somewhere—)

Track 2

Harada: So that's it/all, Hijikata-san, that's all I can report on. Sure enough/As expected, the team members' most pressing concern is the security of headquarters.

Saito: My opinions/suggestions are almost the same/similar/the same as Sano's. I believe that we need to improve our defences against intruders.

Hijikata: Is that so. I understand what you guys are saying. Harada and Saito, you've worked hard....... That being said, it's difficult to completely prevent intruders from coming in. This place is a temple, not a fortress. Even if we installed a fence now, that isn't really a good plan.

Saito:.....So what you're saying is......

Harada: But, shouldn't the area around Chizuru's room at least be fortified? It is true that someone is after her.

Saito: Kazama Chikage, Amagri and Shiranui [check audio], the self-proclaimed group of oni......

Hijikata:......Indeed. In short I need to consult with Kondou-san about this....... Then, that'll be it for today's report.

Saito: Then I'll go make some tea. You should rest first. Sano, you should also drink some.

Harada: Oh, thanks a lot. Then I won't be impolite [rephrase later].

(Saito leaves then returns shortly after)

Saito: I've brought the tea. This is fresh[ly brewed] and hot, so please be careful.

Harada: Thank you. I didn't expect this so quickly.

Hijikata: (sips tea)......Oh, what's this, Saito? Did you use some other tea leaves today?

Saito: Nn?......No, I haven't done that.

Hijikata: Really? Then why do I feel that this tastes different from usual?

Harada: You didn't put poison in did you?

Saito:......!! Don't say such frightening words, Sano. The idea of me poisoning the Vice-Commander is complete nonsense. [i prefer the word 'utter']

Harada: Don't get angry, I was just kidding. (sips tea).......but, like Hijikata-san said, the taste of this tea really is odd/strange [tl says 'subtle']......

Saito: Strange? How could that be...... (sips tea)....!!

Harada: What's wrong? You've suddenly become quiet.

Saito: This taste is of...... Ishida Sanyaku ！？

Hijikata: Ahaha, I was thinking that this tasted a bit familiar, so that's what it was........ wa, wait! Why was that put into the tea!?

Harada: Saito..... you bastard, did you actually put Ishida Sanyaku into tea/you didn't actually put Ishida Sanyaku into tea did you? Even if you love that stuff, you should know when to stop before going too far [idiom. rephrase later]!

Saito: No......I would remember doing something like that. I only saw that the teapot lid was open, that there were tea leaves already inside, and that I was thinking how it could easily be brought over to be used......

Hijikata:......There was already tea inside? Did you notice if there was something strange/weird in the surroundings?

Saito: Speaking of which........ I saw something, I thought it was garbage so I ignored it, I think I remember how a note there was a written note saying "dedicated/specially for my wife. Dogs are strictly prohibited to touch this" or something like that.......

Hijikata: What, those words. From where do they....seem... familiar.......

(Hijikata collapses)

Saito: Vice-Commander!!

Harada: oi~ oi!! What's wrong, Hijikata-san! Why are you/why did you suddenly....... falling/collapsing/fall/collapse......!!

(Harada collapses)

Saito: Sano!! Why are you also......!!.......Why am I/How can I.......also....... be fainting........!

(Saito collapses)

Track 3

(footsteps)

Souji: Ha...... good grief, this is a real problem. I've long wanted to say this, but why is it necessary for us to submit a report about our patrols when nothing unusual happened?

Heisuke: I actually think that way too. But nothing can be done about this because of the rules~

Souji: Anyway, if nothing unusual happens, isn't it enough for Heisuke to make the report/that you make the report, Heisuke? I don't think I should be involved in giving it~

Heisuke: You just don't want to go to Hijikata-san's room. If you were giving a report to Kondou-san, you'd obviously be very happy.

Souji: That's because Hijikata-san sees me he won't stop talking as soon as he sees me. Before this, all I did was secretly prepared some ink and smeared a stone into it so that it turned black. He surprisingly became furious at me.

Heisuke:......Anyone who experienced this kind of thing would get really angry.......  Hijikata-san, we're coming in. (they stop walking and open a door) Hey~ Hijikata-san~! Eh? Ah? It seems that he isn't here?

Souji:......But, doesn't it look like he was was recently in the room? Look, something spilled on to the floor.

Heisuke: What~? Is it possible that he wasn't careful and spilled his teacup, then panicked as he left to go and get a towel to dry this?

Souji: Maybe. Anyhow/Speaking of which...... besides the tea, there seems to be some other strange thing on the floor...... What is this?

Heisuke:......Hijikata-san, Sano-san, and Hajime-kun? What are these, these puppets/figurines [or dolls] look very well made. These might be Hijikata-san's things, so it'd be better not to touch them.

Souji: Anyway it seems like he's not in his room right now. Nothing to be done about it then~ [we'll] hand in our report later.

Heisuke: Yeah. Really, just where did he go......

(they open the door and leave the room)

Track 4

Harada: Saito...... Oi, Saito...! Wake up, I'm telling you to wake up!

Saito:.......Mm...mrgh... S-Sano?

Harada: Yeah.... oh, wait a sec! It's good that you're awake, but you can't open your eyes yet!...... Well, how should I put this...... you need to be mentally prepared......

Saito:.....? What are you saying? What mental preparations......?

~music tune~

Saito:.......!! Sano!?………………Sano?

Harada: Why is that a question? Without a doubt, it's me, Harada Sanosuke.

Saito: No....... But, the Sano I know, doesn't have that height......

Harada: Don't worry, you've become just like me. Just look down at your own body.

Saito:.....!!  Even my sword is unsteady in these smaller hands, and if I step forward, there's the risk of falling over because this extremely big head..... What the hell happened to my body...!

Harada: I'll say it first, but this isn't a dream. Because I've already my face quite a few times.

Saito:......This lowly/humble body...... let alone moving, won't I be useless to the vice-commander and be unable to contribute to the Shinsengumi!?

Harada: In a sense, I don't think you'll need to worry about that? Take a look/Look, Hijikata-san has also become like/also looks like this.

~music tune~

Hijikata: Ah...... damn it......! My hands and feet [arms and legs] have gotten shorter, and everything else [tl is surroundings/everything in the surrounding] has become incredibly large......!

Saito: E-Even the Vice-Commander.....!? Why do you [also] have this awkward appearance......!!

Hijikata: Saito, you're awake. I just woke up...... Oi, Harada, why on earth have we become/do we look like this!

Harada: Even if you ask me that, I have no idea/I don't know. I was like this when I woke up.

Hijikata: Yeah....... well, since the three of us have all become like this, it's obvious/goes without saying that the pot of tea was strange.

Harada: Yeah. To begin with, it's strange to have tasted Ishida Sanyaku in tea.

Saito:......I see. That is to say that this is all due to Ishida Sanyaku......

Hijikata: No, that's impossible......

Saito: Ishida Sanyaku is a medicine that is meant to be taken with sake, because it was deviously put into tea, this sort of of trouble happened.......

???: Che~ how stupid [tl is more "stupid beyond the point of help/redemption but i can't figure out how to word that]! Devious? It's shameless to even guess/speculate about this [reword later].

Harada:......! That arrogant voice......! Kazama!!?!?

Hiijikata: You bastard! Are you actually here to harass Chizuru again[??? there's an idiom used in this sentence that I don't really get so i omitted it]!? Where the hell are you hiding!?

Kazama: HAH~! Are your eyes just decorations?  I don't run or hide, so are you not able to see who is before your eyes?

~music tune~

Saito: Ha....... so you've also become like this...

Harada: I couldn't help but look up just now ['doubt my eyes'ish or 'look away'.... or something?] . (whispers) Ha.... It turned out be some random passerby.

Kazama: You bastard, sighing after looking at someone else's face, you really know nothing about etiquette!

Hijikata:: After breaking into someone's home, it goes without saying that etiquette will go to the dogs [reword later]! Alright, Saito, Harada! Let's drive this guy out of headquarters!

Saito: Understood (draws sword)

Kazama: Ah~ do you plan on fighting me with that poor body of yours?

Hijikata: Look at yourself, aren't you also the same!?

Harada: Speaking of that guy, why are you even here?.... Don't tell me that it was your plan to make our bodies smaller!?

Kazama: Ha, have you finally noticed it. You idiots/fools with no brains.

Saito: In other words, this is all that guy's fault?! Making all of our bodies smaller, what do you intend on doing?!

Kazama: It has nothing to do with you. I was only looking for my wife.... Yes, only just my wife.... That damn vile medicine!! To actually make turn me into this inferior article!!

Hijikata: Although I don't get why you're so upset, quit rambling, and hurry up and tell us the way to get us back to normal!

Kazama:.......Che.

Saito: You still won't talk. Then violence can be the only answer [reword later. don't like how it reads]...!

Harada: Hold it, Saito!

Saito: Why are you stopping me, Sano! If we don't get the answer out of that guy's mouth, we won't be able to get our bodies back to normal!

Harada: Don't you think it's a bit strange? Kazama was originally the culprit with that medicine, but why is that guy so small now? If he was able to get back to normal, he already would have done that!

Hijikata: Co-Could it be.... you're not going to say that you don't know how to get us back to normal, right!

Kazama:  Did you finally realize it? You idiots with no intelligence!

Harada: Uwah....... I really want to beat him up......

Saito: Vice-Commander, please give me the order to cut that guy down!

Kazama: Che, listen to me! It's not that I don't know how to restore us to our original states. It's just that this method will be extremely difficult to accomplish.

Hijikata:……Difficult [Difficult how]……?

Kazama: It's simple to get back to our original states. The teapot with the medicine in it is still in the kitchen. We just need to drink more of that medicine, the "New and Improved Ishida Sanyaku."

Harada: I feel that I want to complain about the name of that medicine since it's a bit too subtle.... But will that really work?!

Kazama: Of course. As I possess the noble bloodline of the oni, it's impossible for me to lie.

Hijikata: For the time being, we'll believe what you say. For the time being, we'll believe what you say. You said it'd be difficult, but shouldn't being able to get into the kitchen smoothly, be the only problem? 

Saito: Indeed. Just from the drop to the ground, which looks as high a wall, you can definitely infer how difficult it will be to get to the kitchen...

Kazama: That's right. As a dog who can only wag his head and wag his tail, that ability to understand is really good.

Harada: How is it that I feel angry whenever I hear you say something nasty [reword later].... Well, since we're like this, if we have more people, we'll be able to solve this problem sooner.

Hijikata: Speaking of which...... if someone would pass by/if someone just passed by......

(voices heard in distance)

Souji: Eh~ really, I don't always want to be doing this every time~

Heisuke: Don't say that. Hijikata-san should be back at his room now, right?

Hijikata: Those voices just now...... are Souji and Heisuke's?

Saito: Souji! Heisuke! Come here......! Mmph......! (mouth gets covered by Harada)

Harada: Don't be impulsive, Saito!!

Saito (weakly) What are you doing......!

Harada: I'm telling you/Listen [to me], just think about it! Even if Heisuke helps, the other person there is Souji!

Hijikata: If that guy finds out that we're tiny/this small, who knows how he would react!

Saito: (gasps and moves Harada's hand away) Ha...... Indeed, he'd treat us like toys and handle us as if we were straw...... just imagining that gives me the chills [reword later]......

Kazama: Che, as expected of a pack of dogs made up of rogues and villains. It's amazing that how you don't even have confidence/trust in your own companions.

Hijikata: Shut up! Under these circumstances...! Perhaps Souji is the only exception!

Harada: In the first place, what should we be doing, Hijikata-san? We have to do something, so should we just tell Heisuke about what happened?

Hijikata: Uh………… No, let's pretend to be dolls for a while. After, we can wait for Yamazaki or maybe Gen-san....... ah, there's still Chizuru, [but] we should wait for someone reasonable to pass by.

Kazama: What are you saying? You're actually telling me to pretend to be a doll [reword later]!?

Hijikata; Shut up and just do as I say! Even if it's you, if you can't get back to normal, won't you have a lot of problems!

Kazama: Che. There's nothing to be done/that can be done about it then.

Harada: Heisuke's coming! Everyone stop talking!

(door slides open)

Heisuke: Hijikata-san~!  Hah!? Still not here......

Okita: That's strange. I just heard a very quiet voice just now, so I thought Hajime-kun was here. (looks around) Anyhow, why have these dolls that were placed here, so scattered around [reword later/thesaurus]? Furthermore, this/And this strange doll with blond hair, I don't remember seeing it earlier.  

Toudou: What is this, a doll of Kazama? There's even one of one of Sano-san, but why isn't there one of these odd dolls of you or me, Souji?

(Heisuke pokes Kazama's head)

Kazama: You bastard......! The only one in the world who is allowed to touch me, is my wife...!

Harada: Come on, don't talk, just be patient!

Souji: These two figures look very much like Hijikata-san and Hajime-kun... Come look at them, they look pretty funny/interesting~

(Souji pokes Hijikata's head)

Hijikata:………………！！！！

Saito:…………！

Okita: Nn? I seemed to have heard something strange?

Harada: Well since these are Hijikata-san's things, if you play around too much with them, he'll get super angry~

Souji: That's right. But, if we just leave them here like this, isn't it likely for that cat to play around with them [reword later]?

Heisuke: It's as you say though since they were already left in a mess, maybe that cat messed them up [reword later].

Souji: In that case, why don't we just put them all into a box? They can be also put into a closet where the cat won't be able to reach them.

Saito: ………………What!?

Harada: If that happens, won't we be unable to move!?

Hijikata: This bastard/guy, he just had to come up with such a rotten idea right now!

Heisuke: Let's hold onto them for the time being then. Anyway, we still need to come back later and give give the report for our patrol. At the time, we can return these to Hijikata-san.

Souji: You're not thinking about taking these back to your room to prank them because you're upset about the faces of these dolls, right [i think? reword later]?

Heisuke: This idea of yours won't be any good/You're the only one who would come up with such a bad idea... well, then I'll take the Sano-san and Kazama dolls for to hold onto for safekeeping.

Kazama: Kuh......! Things are getting more and more complicated...

--To be continued...?---

[dopescotlandwarrior]

Bluegrass-Chapter 21

                              My thanks to @statell​ for all your help

Previous chapters at AO3

Chapter Twenty-One

There she is. Sitting at the table in the morning light writin her letters and gazin out the window at the bluegrass that surrounds her. What are ye thinkin about love? Yer face is serene and beautiful so it must be somethin nice. Do you see unicorns running in the fields? Are there rainbows in yer view? What keeps yer heart open and full of love after years of struggle to just be who ye are? An orphan, a student, a veterinarian, a jockey, and kissed by some kind of magic that no one believes. I listen carefully and I watch ye closely because I want to know every ounce of what makes ye Claire Beauchamp. I am yer lover and yer champion. If you let me, I will end yer struggle and give you peace to live in yer moment for the rest of yer days.

“Good morning and why are you staring at me?”

Jamie snapped out of his head and smiled at her. “I couldna find ye through all these flowers, love.”

Claire walked toward him and looked into his eyes. He didn’t fall back on his Scottish bur and contractions unless he was deep in his thoughts or drunk. It was too early for drunk, so she pulled him to the table through the myriad of bouquets that were sent by friends and associates to congratulate her on winning the crown. She busied herself with Jamie’s breakfast as they discussed the day.

“Are ye in agreement to hire and train Jason to manage Runner at stud? I need to start planning the improvements and if he will be managing that end then he can help me and stop playin with the horses all day.”

“Will you be taking over his chores?”

“He can do both, easily.”

“I am in total agreement.”

“I’ll find one of the stud farms he can train at for a month in February. It will cost us a bit to lose a month but he’ll be ready to handle everything when he returns.”

Jamie pulled Claire up for a deep kiss and was off to start his day, wondering how to kindly fire Lulu now that the phone was returning to normal. At least he hoped it was.

Jamie opened Runner’s stall and gave his morning hug and sugar cube. He could feel Jason’s eyes burning holes in him and decided it was time to see how much Jason wanted this responsibility.

“Mornin Jason. I talked to Claire and we both agreed you should take over the stud business starting in February. Actually, ye train in February and start the business in March. Oh, and ye get no pay in trainin because I have to pay the stud farm for takin ye on. Okay?”

“Hell ya! Jamie, woo-hoo, hell ya. Thank you so much.”

Before he could continue, Jason ran past him, no doubt on the way to Lulu to share his news. Well, Jamie thought, he’s willin to take no pay and work his ass off, that is a very good sign. On the way to his office, he heard his phone ringing non-stop and wondered where Lulu was. When he charged into the office Lulu was just picking up the phone with a rosy glow in her cheeks as she waved at a retreating Jason. As soon as she hung up, the phone rang again and Jamie slipped away deciding another week with Lulu would be great. In fact, maybe another month with Lulu, Jason, Angus, and Rupert, would give him and Claire the confidence to take two weeks off and honeymoon. He was heading for the dam’s wing but took a sharp turn to his truck. It was time to choose a date to marry his sweetheart.

Claire stared at her new signature created on the computer. She was doing a mass email to her clients letting them know she was returning to her practice. Claire Beauchamp, DVM and under that, Equine Medicine. Under that, 2019 Triple Crown Winner/Highland Brother Farms. She liked it. Not too gaudy and she wasn’t about to lose the racing credential. She chose her favorite picture of Runner and created a watermark from it. It was barely there so it wouldn’t interfere with the text. She loved it and shoved the printout and thumb drive into a manila envelope to take to the printer. She grabbed her purse and turned around slamming into Jamie’s chest. He caught her, thankfully, and chuckled a bit at her startled face.

“That chest is some kind of steal wall, mister. How do you manage to sneak up on me like that?”

“It is very easy when yer in yer head, love. I have come home to ask about marrying me and takin a trip for ten days.”

“Ten…days?”

Her smile was so sweet and happy it melted his heart. He looked into her eyes, hopeful this would end with a date. Before he could press her for a plan he grabbed his ringing cell phone.

“Okay, Lulu. Okay. Yes, I am coming back. Lulu, I promise I am on the way.”

“What was that all about?”

“Apparently, I have been remiss in returning calls and now there’s a rep from Newsweek in my office. I believe it’s you they want to interview, care to take a ride with me?”

Claire sat down with the rep from the magazine and agreed to a date for them to photograph Runner and interview her and Jamie. Before she could walk back home, Lulu stuffed a wad of messages into her hand. Time magazine and Sports Illustrated were also making multiple requests to feature Runner on the cover. She and Jamie each took one and agreed to a photo session with Runner and an interview. Before the weekend, they would host three major magazines who would feature Runner on their covers.

“Can we table our discussion until this madness is over?”

“I will surely pout for the rest of the week, but yes, we certainly can.”

Runner could hear Claire coming toward his wing and he banged his hoof on the corral bars so it reverberated throughout the barn. He was rested and ready to race.

Claire put her hands on his cheeks and saw the obvious images in her mind of Runner flying across the finish line of some imagined race. Then she saw images of Sham laying down on the track exhausted and she laughed. It was becoming clear that Runner cared little about being the most famous horse in the world, if it didn’t lead to a race it was meaningless to him.

“What are we going to do with you handsome. Your stud season is months away and you're bored out of your mind. Poor baby. I’ll think of something fun, I promise. For now, let’s get you and Porcelain outside for the day.”

Claire closed the pasture gate and watched the horses race up and down the hills, swinging their heads and calling to each other. Runner was so fast and easily outran porcelain side by side, then he did something that gave Claire an idea. He would run alongside Porcelain for a while and then engage his power and blow past her. Then he circled around to run alongside a bit more before doing it again. He was winning mini races and having a great time. Maybe he should be turned out with the yearlings that would start their race training in a few months. It might do them all good to test their speed and Runner could race them all, over and over again. She smiled and went to find Jamie.

Jamie was in favor of Claire’s idea to turn the horses out together but the obligations of the week imposed on their time. Each magazine, Time, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated, dominated their days with photoshoots of Midnight Runner and sit down interviews with Claire. The pace was head spinning as neither of them knew there would be a full staff of photographers and reporters.

On the day reserved for Sports Illustrated, Nosh greeted Claire and Jamie with a big smile, and Claire hugged him. She was so happy he would be writing the story because he had been such a big fan of Runner since his early races. When they were finished with the interview Claire renewed her promise to tell Nosh the rest of her story and asked him not to forget them.

“Not likely Claire, I feel I’ve lived my life just waiting for you and Midnight Runner to win big on the world stage.” He looked into her eyes with an open heart, “the story I write about Runner will be my legacy. I know it.”

When Nosh drove away from the complex Claire dropped into the couch in Jamie’s office with a deep sigh. She was exhausted from the week, as was Jamie, but they both felt the tingling of excitement deep in their stomach. It was time for the big event and after that, it was party time.

Claire gave Jamie a knowing smile that pulled him to her. He touched her cheek where the smile creased the skin and felt his heart race with anticipation.

“I’m loadin into the gate lass, ready for the biggest race of my life. The prize is the wife I have dreamed about since I first kissed a girl. I knew ye were out there somewhere, one special woman who would turn my life upside down with love and adventure, and ye’ve certainly done that, love. I’m favored to win, but I need to know if yer all-in, or hedgin your bet.”

Claire felt her heart in her throat. The way he looked at her spoke volumes about true love, commitment, a promise of a champion, and a beloved friend to walk the pastures until they both turned old and gray. She fought the tears that were stinging her eyes and just gave in, sitting up quickly to hold him close.

“I broke my piggy bank and put my life savings on you to win sweetheart.”

He kissed her deeply wishing he could put her in his truck and drive until they found a quiet place to say their vows so she would be his forever.

“Suppose ye tell me yer idea of the perfect weddin lass.”

“I would rather show you. Can you leave soon and drive me home?”

“How about now sweetheart.”

Claire handed Jamie a whisky and they sat on the patio watching the horses in the pasture that extended behind their backyard. Claire sat next to Jamie and laid a large heavy book on his lap. He touched the front cover lovingly, and his eyes softened as he read the title.

“Scotland.”

Claire opened the huge book of beautiful pictures and they looked at the lowlands, commenting on famous cities and historical monuments. When they got to the highland pictures Jamie’s voice was soft and reverent. He ran his hand over landmarks he knew well and told her stories of when he was there.

“I absolutely loved the slide show you put together for the bridal shower. They are beautiful resorts and surely lots of fun. Or we could marry in Scotland, at Lallybroch, in the home of your parents and sister. “ Claire blurted it out and watched his face. “I want to be married at Lallybroch, Jamie.”

Seeing his crystal blue eyes well up with tears was her answer. She was never so sure of anything in her life and it was her honor to lead him home. She had never seen him put himself first because it wasn’t his way. Claire knew their lifestyle would require all of his attention for years to come so if they had ten days to honeymoon, she would pull him back to the country he loved, and the sister he missed. They were going to Scotland.

Jamie hardly touched his dinner. Claire felt his forehead and took his pulse until they had cleared the dishes and cleaned up. She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at his happy eyes. We need to call Jenny and warn her, right? Then we book the soonest flight we can get and figure out the rest when we get there. Okay?

He looked down at her and kissed her breathless, picking her up to carry her upstairs where he would love her slowly, and with every touch, thank her.

Jamie touched her face softly and whispered in her ear, “wake up mo leannan, look at the beauty below, Scotland.”

He had put Claire against the window for this very moment. When she looked out at the landmass below her breath caught and she struggled for words.

“Green…I’ve never seen it’s equal, Jamie. And the turquoise sea around the land is breathtaking, like a million diamonds shimmering in the sun. My God, I can’t wait to get down. Will Jenny and Ian be waiting for us?”

“Aye.”

Claire twisted in her seat and pressed her lips against Jamie’s, holding his face against hers.

Claire was on emotion overload as they walked toward the luggage carousel. So nervous about meeting his sister and her husband that her hands shook. Jamie had a feeling this would be important for Claire who hadn’t a family of her own for most of her life. He was counting on Jenny and Ian to pull her in and make her feel her place, right next to them.

They watched for the suitcases to tumble off the conveyor belt and Claire’s nerves were building, making her shake with anticipation.

“Jamie! Claire!”

A young, attractive woman grabbed Claire suddenly in a bear hug and held her close while she talked rapidly about her joy to meet her finally. She held Claire at arm's length and looked at her approvingly.

“Yer just a slip of a girl, are ye nae? Canna wait to ken how ye stayed on that horse. Yer a celebrity in these parts Claire.”

Jenny kissed her cheek with the power of family welcoming her into the fold. Ian grabbed her next and squeezed the stuffing out of her making her laugh and relax. When she looked at Jamie, locked in his sister’s embrace the emotion on his face almost choked her. It was all a bit overwhelming to Claire who had only dreamed of such an occasion. She tingled inside with happiness.

Jamie shook Ian’s hand with a blinding smile. She watched his face grow happier with every moment and said a silent prayer of thanks she had been inspired to make this trip.

Jenny held onto Claire until they all piled into the car and made their way out of the city. Claire considered their home in Kentucky was about as rural as it gets. When Ian turned onto the dirt road of their ancient home, she watched the rolling landscape, jutting stone outcroppings, fields of wild Heather swaying in the breeze, all surrounded and draped in every shade of green. She could not look away until a large ancient home could be seen in the distance and it stole her heart away.

Jamie watched his future bride stare at Lallybroch with wide eyes and an enchanted smile. Jenny watched her too and was so thrilled with her reaction. When they stepped out of the car, Claire looked up at the three -hundred-year-old home and let Jenny lead her inside like she was entranced.

“The house was build in the early seventeen hundreds by the Laird of these parts and is new wife. Other than plumbing and central heat, the house remains the same. Claire touched the mantel of the enormous fireplace and whispered, “has this been here the whole time?”

“Aye, lass.” Jenny pulled Claire by the hand through the house, attic, and basement, pointing out pieces of furniture that were built by the first family. Two four-post beds, the desk in the study, a long hand-carved bench against the hall wall upstairs, a secretary in the living room, the dining room hutch and table, had been impeccability maintained by the generations and glowed with warm hues from the years of hand rubbing.

When they got to the upstairs paintings Jamie had joined them and gave input on the stories surrounding each painting. It was a walk through the history of Lallybroch and Claire was thrilled.

“Jamie, ye, and Claire will stay in da’s room while yer here. I’m sure ye will be verra comfy in there.”

Jenny and Ian used that room and Jamie was touched she would go to the trouble to move their belongings out. The rooms were large by today’s standards and over the years, walls were added to allow for closets and bathrooms. Not the Laird’s room. It was unchanged with a grand fireplace and armoires for hanging clothes. The original Laird’s coat of arms still hung on the wall to match the same, carved into the stonework at the entrance to the old dooryard.

“The two of ye rest a bit while I get supper started. Surely yer done-in from the long trip.”

Jamie looked around the room noticing the bottle of whisky and two glasses on the side table near the bed. He sat down on the huge bed and poured two glasses, handing one to Claire and pulling her next to him. He was lost in his memories of jumping into bed as a wee one to cuddle with his parents on cold mornings.

“I can see how special this room is to you Jamie, it’s lovely.”

“Aye, many great memories here. Sorry about no private bath and shower. Seems every generation had the same idea not to modernize this room.”

“I don’t mind, I prefer it this way.”

Claire yawned and rested against Jamie feeling her eyes close from the whisky.

“One rule ye must know about sweetheart. Jenny is the commander and chief of this dwelling so there’s no arguing with her. When she says it’s time to rest, we rest.” He was pulling Claire down to the large over-stuffed pillows and heard a moan escape her lips. We have no responsibilities, nowhere to be, no one to call.” He wrapped her into his embrace and in moments heard her rhythmic breathing allowing him to get lost in his memories of the most extraordinary childhood.

When Claire opened her eyes the light had changed in the room, getting dimmer with the waning day. Jamie was still in his dreams so she slipped off the bed and followed the aroma of cooking food. Jenny and Ian had both taken the afternoon off for this momentous visit and it touched Claire how much love they had for each other and Jamie. Walking into the kitchen she found Jenny on Ian’s lap pouring two glasses of whisky.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“Come here lassie, dinna go. This is Jenny’s favorite chair it would seem because she’s always fillin it,” Ian laughed. Jenny poured her a glass and the three of them chatted while super cooked. Claire wanted to know everything about Lallybroch and Jenny was eager to answer her questions. When a sleepy Jamie walked into the kitchen, the whisky bottle was tipped again.

The conversation turned to horse racing and how Claire taught the colt how to race and love winning. Jamie’s laughter was contagious when he described Claire running beside him and acting thoroughly pissed off she didn’t win. The description of Runner trotting around Claire, gloating that he was the winner made the group suddenly quiet. Jenny held her hand up for a time out.

“The colt was just barely two but he understood enough to know he won? How is that possible?”

“I explained the race to him and then goaded him into wanting to beat me. It was like playing with a two-year-old toddler.” Claire was laughing at the memory until she realized the kitchen had gone quiet and the eyes of Jenny and Ian were boring holes in her. Her head snapped up at them and she saw the disbelief and mind closure she had become so familiar with.

Jamie was trying to explain Claire’s gift to a deaf and dumb Jenny and Ian. They, like all people, were processing the intelligent woman, veterinarian, triple crown winner, in front of them, lie through her teeth.

Claire walked over to their dog lying in the corner of the kitchen and she asked him kindly to sit in front of Jenny and bark three times. The old Basset Hound seemed more than happy to oblige.

“Jenny, please let your dog come to you, sit, and bark three times.”

Jenny looked at Claire like she was speaking in tongues but saw the dog stand up, walk to her, sit, and then bark three times before going back to his corner. She looked at Claire, white-faced, and shook her head side to side. She was stunned.

“So Claire,” Ian started diplomatically, “how long have you had this gift?”

It was said so matter of factly that Jenny looked at him like he had grown another head.

Claire felt such kindness toward him for accepting her word, with some help from the Basset Hound. She smiled at him with relief.

Ian laughed, “we havna heard that dog bark in about five years. Even when he hunts with me he’s silent. What a miracle!”

Jenny was still sitting like a statue trying to process this information when Jamie stood up and hugged her from behind.

“How could I not fall in love with such a special woman Jen?”

More whisky was poured and the conversation went to safer topics while supper was served. Once they had the kitchen cleaned up Claire excused herself to shower and prepare for a long night’s sleep while the others talked. The minute the hot water touched her she started yawning and hurried to wash her hair and get into bed. She was deep in her dreams when she felt a warm large hand caress her from shoulder to feet and a nose nuzzling her neck, asking for attention.

“Are ye alright lass? I’m sorry for the interrogation. They believe ye, and they love ye, but I know it’s hard each time ye face the disbelief. I’m sorry love.”

She reached for Jamie’s neck and pulled him down to her lips. He loved her slowly, playing with her mouth and coaxing her heat until she slipped under him and asked for a one way trip to her favorite planet. They went together.

The days were an endless adventure of climbing the secret places Jamie discovered as a child, laying on a huge rock reading to each other in the sun, hiking to ancient buildings around the estate, and bumping into neighbors that were thrilled to see Jamie again. Once the word got out that Claire was a veterinarian her services were called upon three different times by neighbors with a sick cow, a lame horse, and a cat who refused to stop eating grasshoppers which were vomited up hours later when he came inside.

“The poor cat was quite surprised when I told him the bugs were not food. I thought he was convinced but he went right back to eating them as we walked away.”

Everyone laughed at her description of the cat looking back at her with a giant grasshopper safely held between his teeth. Jamie looked at Claire laughing and talking with Ian and Jenny and knew she was enjoying the visit and her new friends.

Jenny took some time off work midway through the week to take Claire shopping for a wedding dress. Neither of them felt confident they would find something perfect on such short notice but they bravely hit the two bridal shops in town, the second of which is where Claire lost her heart.

Claire held her breath as the saleswoman fastened the single button at her waist. When she opened her eyes her face was full of wonder as she moved closer to the mirror. It was extraordinary in design. A swooping neck, open half sleeves, a deep V that exposed her back, and a modest short train. Jenny gasped when she entered the lavish dressing room and stared like her eyes would pop out of her head.

Jenny held the lace fabric, amazed at how soft it was and how well it fit her almost sister-in-law.

“That’s the most beautiful dress I’ve er seen Claire,” she whispered. “It fits ye off the rack for heaven’s sake.”

Jenny turned to the saleswoman, “she’ll take it, and some shoe’s, stockins, and somethin to hold her hair up that matches.”

“Jenny! I don’t know how much it is!”

“Neither do I,” said a smiling saleswoman. It’s an orphan dress that was put in with our order by mistake. Let me call the shop owner and see if we can get a price for what was clearly made just for you.”

Claire felt the tear run down her cheek. An orphan dress, she thought. One of the few memories she had of her mother was when she read the same story every night. Claire only wanted that story read to her about a common girl who married a prince. “and the prince looked at her, dressed all in lace…” she remembered her mother’s voice reading that line in the story and felt another tear roll down her other cheek. She looked at her reflection…dressed all in lace.

Jenny dabbed her cheeks with a tissue thinking Claire was overwhelmed with marrying her brother. He walked on water, after all, what girl wouldn’t be.

The graceful clerk came back to the dressing room and chuckled at the price of one-hundred dollars. “I have a feeling this dress is from one of the designer collections and probably costs ten times that much. Consider it a wedding present my dear. Let’s find ye some shoes.

Two happy but exhausted women dropped into cafe chairs at a nearby coffee shop and ordered the largest size on the menu. The sugar and caffeine made their cheeks rosy again and stoked their energy for the last task on the list. Ordering flowers.

“Jenny!”

Jenny looked in the direction of the voice and instantly looked at Claire. “Sorry, darlin.”

The woman swooped into an empty chair, all smiles, long black hair, and a beautiful face. She took Claire’s breath away with her perfect…everything.

“Hello,” she held her hand out to Claire, “I’m Geneva.”

Jenny jumped into action, “this is my friend Claire.”

Claire watched Jenny’s mounting discomfort and tried to remember hearing such an unusual first name, and then it clicked.

“Geneva, how nice to meet you after all I’ve heard, all good of course. I am here with my fiance, Jamie Fraser. Jenny has been kind enough to let us marry at Lallybroch.”

It looked like Geneva’s face fell off and the blood drained into the sidewalk. She said nothing as she got to her feet and walked rapidly away.

“Jenny, I’m sorry, maybe that was a bit harsh, I’m really sorry.”

“If I had known ye could hold yer own like that I would have introduced ye as the woman who stole Jamie away from Isobel. Kiddin, lass!”

Jenny’s laughter seemed to break the tension and the women made their way to the flower shop. When they emerged Jenny pointed at a gorgeous black BMW parked at the curb.

“Ah, that would be Ian’s fantasy car and I canna say I’m of a different mind." She rattled off the standard features with a look bordering on automobile orgasm and Claire giggled at her.

Finding their ten-year-old Toyota, Jenny got in first and kicked the passenger door until it creaked open and Claire dropped into her seat with a tired sigh.

“Since we’re dreaming, what is the model of that BMW Jenny.”

“It’s the model M8 with leather interior, 12-speaker sound system, dinna forget the 4.4-liter Performance TwinPower Turbo V-8, 32-valve 523-hp engine. Two turbochargers with variable valve control, and high-precision direct injection.”

Claire was laughing, “Jesus, you sound like a race car driver.”

Jenny’s cheeks were pink as she described the interior technology and heads up display that showed you every important fact, like air pressure in the tires, just by looking straight ahead through the windshield. This was obviously the fantasy car for both of them and Jenny happily continued to list features, paint, colors, wheels, and more, until Claire rammed her shoulder into the door so it would open and let her escape.

When she held Jamie in her arms that night she told him about the orphan dress and her mother’s voice reading the story. Jamie held her tightly and listened to the five-year-old living inside Claire talk about her mother.

Just as Jamie was drifting off to sleep he heard, “Jamie? Jenny told the most extraordinary thing this afternoon…”

Jenny tried to control her laughing so she didn’t accidentally drop the hair she secured behind Claire’s earlobe. She loved hearing about the conversations between Claire and Runner on the Road to the Kentucky Derby races. She grew silent as the side ponytail was twisted into curls to fall down the front of Claire’s shoulder.

“I am gonna miss ye sister.”

Claire looked up at Jenny’s reflection in the mirror and felt her eyes well up with tears. Jenny grabbed a tissue and pressed it into the tear that was falling from her lower lid.

“Dinna get teary-eyed lass, I willna be missin ye that much.”

A pretty girl stuck her head around the bedroom door and looked at them before entering. “Here you are, I’ve been lookin everywhere for ye. Hi, my name's Laoghaire.” She stuck her hand out for Claire to shake.

“Is yer auntie comin today?”

“Oops, she was right behind me.” The girl opened the door to usher in a red-faced lady who was panting from climbing the stairs. “This is my aunt, Claire, everybody calls her Misses Fitz.”

Claire smiled at the breathless woman who was making helpful suggestions to Jenny about Claire’s hair. Soon there were two more women entering, hugging Jenny and meeting Claire. The room was full of women by the time Jenny pushed them out the door so Claire could dress.

Jenny held her dress while she stepped into it and pulled her side pony in front of her shoulder. Jenny held her at arm's length with approving eyes. “Yer a beautiful bride ye are. Pity ye spend yer honeymoon on a plane goin home.”

“We wanted to spend every minute with you and Ian, Jenny.” The look on Jenny’s face was a smile she was trying to hide. Claire noticed but said nothing about it.

There was a soft knock on the door and Jenny answered it with a beaming smile. An older man entered and looked at Claire like he was meeting a princess for the first time. His eyes were misty as he nodded his head at the image before him.

“I will be walking you down the aisle as it were, my name is Ned Gowan, Jamie’s father was my closest friend. And you, my dear, are stunning.”

Claire shook his warm hand and felt her heart melt from the way he looked at her.

Jenny suggested they sit and chat while she got dressed. Claire wished for more time with Ned when Jenny came back and instructed them to use the back stairs. Ned was smitten with Claire and pulled her hand into the crook of his elbow before leading her to what looked like a linen closet. He opened the door and they descended the steep back stairs originally built to access the root cellars. He guided her in pitch darkness and they emerged in the kitchen to await the music of the wedding march.

Claire was brimming with emotion that was unexpected. She wanted a minute to cry her eyes out and discovered it was the same overwhelming emotion she felt after winning a race…times one hundred.

“I’m sorry to stare at you lass, but you’re a rare beauty, you’ve quite taken my breath away.”

Before she could speak, the music changed and Ned’s arm gripped her tighter. She walked in sync with him and did not look up until she was only feet from Jamie. There he was, in a creased tuxedo with his hair slicked back and his crystal blue eyes shooting sparkles at her. Ned handed her to Jamie and melted backward but she didn’t notice. Jamie’s eyes were like a tractor beam that stole her ability to think. She gazed at him and smiled while the priest rambled on about the sanctity of marriage. Their eyes were locked on the other until someone said: “you may kiss the bride.” Jamie held her cheek and kissed her forehead before pressing his cheek against hers for a brief moment.

The Lallybroch living room was packed with people who had known Jamie for most of his life. Each person witnessed the intimate exchange between the two of them pledging themselves to each other.

Claire felt Jamie’s smooth cheek against hers and knew he was giving her time to rally her heart and mind before the kiss that would seal their lives together forever. He felt her take a steady breath and turned his head toward her slightly, waiting. Claire turned her head to him and their mouths found each other for a long soft kiss.

Jenny felt dizzy suddenly and wiped at unexpected tears as Ian pulled her close. When the kiss ended, Claire raised her eyes to look into Jamie’s. Their lips were a mere inch apart when he looked right into her soul, at the girl who wanted love and protection while she dazzled the world with her brilliance.

“Now and forever, love.”

He touched her cheek wanting to remember this moment for the rest of his life. For that moment, it was just him and Claire until the bubble burst and the world crashed in with applause, scooting chairs,, slaps on the shoulder, kisses to the cheek, and volumes of noise expected at such events. Every few minutes, Claire would look up at Jamie and meet his gaze, and for a few seconds, they were back in the bubble.

Highland weddings were highly regarded for the party that would follow the kiss. The group of well-wishers was no exception and before long the living room was full of loud, drunk, friends, enjoying some time together. Claire felt a little lost by herself as Jamie made the rounds of lifelong friends, thanking them and graciously accepting the congratulations and love.

Claire looked to her side at a beautiful flower arrangement of white roses, chrysanthemums, greenery, and baby’s breath. There was a card so it wasn’t something she and Jenny purchased. She pulled the card and could hardly breathe after reading it.

“To my beautiful daughter on her wedding day. We love you so much.”

Claire’s eyes were wide and her face pale as she read the card which was rimmed in lace. As her lips came together to say, "Mom", she was lifted from her seat and carried upstairs to a jeering crowd and raucous laughter. Jamie climbed the stairs and whisked Claire to the bed pressing his forehead against hers.

“Are ye alright, love?” His hands held her shoulders and moved down her arms. “It’s time to make ready to leave Sassenach. Jenny has yer clothes right here.”

Claire looked down at her comfortable jeans and a soft sweatshirt. She moved her hand across the fabric and smiled, lost in her own world of miracles.

Jamie helped her out of her dress as her mind was clearing. He kissed her soundly and changed his clothes keeping his eye on her the whole time. When they emerged and descended the staircase, the crowd wished them well until they were heading toward Ned’s Cadillac waiting in the driveway. Jenny was crying holding them both in a final hug. She pressed a wrapped gift in Claire’s hands as they walked out the door. Claire looked back at Jenny and mouthed “I will miss you, sister.”

Claire reached for the door handle for the backseat and heard Ned insist she sit in the middle of the front seat, right next to him. The conversation was full of love and familial connection on the way to the airport. Claire continued to dab her tearing eyes and Jamie continued to smile at her. His Sassenach. She gripped Ned’s shoulders and kissed him squarely on the cheek as they left, wishing him well and inviting him to visit Kentucky. She took a deep breath when the airport doors opened and felt her mind clearing immediately.

“Open yer gift Sassenach.”

Claire had opened so many gifts already she hardly felt excited about this small box, afraid there would be a note inside to start her tears again. Lifting the lid she stared down at a very fashionable bikini and looked up at Jamie confused.

Jamie laughed and hugged his wife, “yer gonna need that for the next four days, love.”

The old skipper dozed on his boat while the bright sun seemed to beam right down on him. In his dream, he heard people calling his name and the sound of their voices made him happy. Suddenly, he jerked awake and pushed the hat back onto the top of his head as he opened his eyes. He looked at the young attractive couple waving as they walked to his boat. He stood smiling, ready to catch the luggage Jamie tossed to him, then helping the lady step into his craft.

Claire had hours to get over the shock of visiting their favorite private island and turned her energy to the skipper who had shuttled them on their previous trip. The older man’s eyes sparkled as he smiled hearing the news of their wedding. Jamie pressed a one-hundred-dollar bill in his hand and mentioned the date and time they would need a ride back.

Claire looked out at the clear blue water as far as the eye could see and ran toward the sand. She laughed at the deer sprinting away in front of her as she ripped her clothes off and ran into the surf. The new bikini fit perfectly so she wore her clothes over it anticipating the excitement of seeing the water.

The second she dove under the water she felt the excitement of endless possibilities ahead of them. She had never been so happy in her life and looked for Jamie to lavish him with kisses. They had flown through the night, jostled by turbulence, woken by a screaming baby, and snapped at by grouchy stewards but none of that mattered as she threw her arms around her husband and kissed him senseless. He reached for her happiness as she dove deep making him chase her.

Ian opened one eye and listened to the pounding on the front door. Jenny groaned beside him, still wearing her dress from the party, and promptly fell back into her hangover coma. The pounding didn’t stop so Ian pushed himself out of bed and staggered down the stairs. His sandpaper eyes were closed as he opened the door, wanting to kill the person on the other side.

“Sir? Sir! I am here for you to take delivery on your car. May I come in?”

Both eyes opened this time and Ian looked around the man feeling his heart almost shatter his rib cage at the sight.

“Jen! No, ye have the wrong house friend. Jenny! We didna buy a car…such a beautiful car. Jenny!!”

The man handed Ian a handful of keys and asked for his signature on several papers. Ian figured out he was just dreaming and called to his wife one more time.

Jenny’s head jerked up at the weird sound of Ian’s voice. She tore her dress off and jumped into jeans as she ran down the stairs full of fear at what awaited her. She came to a screeching halt behind Ian just as he stepped outside, trance-like, walking toward the breathtaking BMW M8 with black metallic paint bouncing sunlight off its hood and chrome wheels.

The delivery driver’s ire gave way to fascination when he realized they were completely surprised by the car, paid for by someone named Jamie Fraser. He never knew of such a gift and gave the rumpled couple some time to let it sink in. The driver cleared his throat when he saw his ride coming down the dirt road to take him back to the dealership. He almost felt bad about pulling the couple back to the house to explain how they came to own such an amazing vehicle.

When they were alone again, Ian asked Jenny about such an expensive gift and how could Jamie afford it.

“The purse for each race she won is published so I added them up. She won a bit over eight million dollars Ian. He’s a breeder and she’s a vet, so with that bein said, it’s time to drive!” she giggled as she ran back outside catching the keys in midair.

An afternoon playing in the sun and surf was too much for Jamie so he picked his wife up and walked her to the huge hammock on their porch. He remembered Claire finding the strings and knots an added benefit for making love in the most pleasurable positions. He would surely die attempting such a thing at the moment so he held her down until they both gave up to their exhaustion.

Claire’s eyes opened slowly at the colorful sunset across the water. She felt better, rested, and smiled at Jamie who was still very deep. She ran her hand up his stomach and felt her heat seize her with an erotic grip that screamed orders to bring about a release of this energy that had built up over the last three days.

Jamie felt the stimulation of a wet and hungry mouth on his already hard cock. He smiled and moaned as her mouth moved up and down him twisting at the head making him want to pump himself down her throat. He went from zero to almost-done in under a minute and pulled her off just in time.

Claire’s eyes were just slits as she looked at him, a murderous need was obvious by her pounding chest, panting, and growl.

“Let me go.”

I’m sorry, love,” he smiled, “I canna do that but I will help ye Sassenach if ye do what I say.”

Claire’s brain was nearly shut down save for the most primordial domain where lust resides. She dropped her head back and moaned with complaint. Jamie pulled her hands far up on the strings that attached the hammock and then slid down to the region of her pain. She was swollen and dripping when he assaulted her with his tongue. It nearly overcame his decision to tease her with one orgasm and a long sumptuous meal. He pushed back hard on the desire to flip her and drive himself into her wet heat. This was too easy, he thought as she climaxed right away and dropped onto his chest, panting for her life. He barely let her return to earth before hoisting her out of the hammock and into the shower, proclaiming his need for food would have to come first.

Claire looked at her suitcase full of clothing for the cool highlands and tried to find something lightweight for the eighty-degree evening. Jamie laid her dresses next to her suitcase and smiled.

“I wanted to surprise ye so they were the bottom layer in my case. We can hit the boutique after dinner but I beg for food before I pass out Sassenach.”

Claire was thrilled and dressed quickly pulling Jamie toward the restaurant at a brisk clip. The bread basket was empty before the waiter came back for their order. He watched Jamie swallow hard and decided this would be a rush order.

Claire smiled at her husband’s face as the color came back to his cheeks. His plate was empty and he stared at the lobster she hadn’t finished. She passed him her plate and watched him close his eyes as he chewed. Such a fine man, she thought, and now my husband. What mountains lay ahead for us to conquer, she wondered, undaunted and unafraid.

[cookiem1996]

The Scottish Stranger Chp2

AN: Ahoy there! I know it has been awhile since chapter one, but I have been very busy with work and life. Now that I am sick, unfortunately, I have had enough time to update and continue this story based off of Zelda’s recounts of her Academy days featuring a crossover of Supernatural’s Rowena Macelod. I hope you guys enjoy this second chapter and I am hoping to continue more on this installment and perhaps a reunion between a present Zelda and Rowena. This chapter does contain some actual Gaelic mythology. I thought it would please you all witches at heart. Enjoy.

The Scottish Stranger Chp 2

  Another great storm thundered in Greendale.

This time it is in the present. The rain still intrigues Zelda. She finds herself curled up by the window as she marks last week’s exams in the comfort of her home.

Sure, she usually spent a lot more time at the Academy of the Unseen Arts, but she was done hearing her sister’s pleas to pry her out of the environment lest, ‘you start becoming a hermit in that office’.  

Honestly, it relieved Zelda to be home; she found it to be a comfort. Her family home never always used to be this way, with its thunderous memories of decay and turmoil. Now, the only memories that went through her mind were times of happiness, times of family...times where she would hear Sabrina ramble on about menial means of her adolescence.

Oh how she missed her niece. A weak smile graced her aged features as she thought about the day when Sabrina got her green thumb.

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“Auntie! Auntie! Look what Aunt Hilda and I planted!”

Zelda neatly folded her newspaper and set it down. “Come now, let’s see it.”

A young Sabrina tugged her Aunt Zelda with no care to the garden where Hilda knelt feeding a plant with some plant food.

“My lilacs will grow right there, Auntie! You’ll see!”, Sabrina beams.

Zelda glanced down at her little niece with the softest grin. She knelt down and brought her into a hug.

Sabrina crinkles her nose, but hugs her back. “What’s this for?”

Zelda shuts her eyes to fight back a tear. “Don’t you ever change, Sabrina.”

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Zelda frowns then seeing a watermark over Michael Hanover’s test. Her fingers wander up to her cheekbone feeling wetness. With a soft sigh she grabs a tissue and dabs gently under her eyes.  

“When will I be done with these accursed tears?”, she asks herself in defeat.

She was ready to take another sip from her cup, but made a face. “Hilda! This is empty!”  

There was silence aside from the storm. She furrowed her brows not hearing any footsteps. It took her a moment to realize she was truly alone now. Hilda wasn’t here, of course. She was home with her new husband. Ambrose went away to ‘find himself’. All Zelda had was Vinegar Tom and Salem.  

It surprised the witch that Salem continued on living even with his charge, Sabrina, being no longer of this world.

Zelda sighs and sets aside all of the graded papers. She gets up wandering to the kitchen. She grabbed the kettle to make more tea. She felt so lifeless, so out of place. She knew she had to get out of this funk soon-for her coven.

Zelda nearly jumps out of her skin feeling a slight brush against her legs. She glances down to see Salem curled up around her leg. Although she didn’t like the feline from the start, it seemed the cat warmed up to her and she warmed up to him.  

“I know, Salem. I miss her too.”, She speaks softly.  

Zelda gives herself an assured nod before proceeding to brew some tea. She turned on the TV for once to see more news. She read this morning’s paper at least three times bored out of her mind.

There was a news report about the President having been attacked and that the assailants were in custody. She raises a brow noticing they didn’t name the criminals, but were focused on the President’s accounts.  

“Breaking News: seems the brothers in custody have escaped. Be on the lookout for Sam and Dean Winchester.”, an anchorman reported.

Zelda tilts her head. Those names sounded familiar-for sure. Vinegar Tom barks lightly and nudges at his food bowl catching his charge’s attention.  

“Okay, okay, sir.”, Zelda coos toward her familiar. “Help yourself.”

Zelda fills his bowl and sets it in front of him before doing the same for Salem. She rolls her eyes turning off the TV when the stories went on about what hairstyles were in for the season. Nothing intrigued her much except for political world affairs and stories with meaning.

Zelda hears the whistle of the kettle and scuffles over to it to turn off the burner.  She moves the kettle away from the still heated kettle and stares off.  

That whistle...

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Academy of the Unseen Arts-Past

  Zelda sighed in defeat hearing the lunch bell go off. She became so engrossed on today’s lesson: Demons and the Archeron. Demonology really piqued the young red-head's interest. She could spend all day reading spellwork and the ways of conjuring one of Satan’s helpers.

  She gathered her books and bag as she watched everyone rush out of the classroom, clamoring about today’s newest gossip; it was all anyone could talk about now-the new girl.  A roll of Zelda’s eyes didn’t go unnoticed by her professor.  

Professor Ghastly arched an old withered brow as he cleared his desk. “Ms. Spellman, is everything alright?”, he asked.

  Zelda’s blue eyes looked up toward her professor. She sighs before she answers, “Quite. I am just upset the lesson is over for today.”

Professor Ghastly scoffed lightly and smiled lightly. “You really are one who truly appreciates my lessons. Don’t worry, we’ll touch more tomorrow. Who knows, one day you’ll be the best spell-caster the Coven has ever seen.”  

Zelda offered a faint grin and gave a curt nod. “Thank you, Professor. I shall see you tomorrow.”

With that, Zelda left the classroom beaming in pride. She knew she already was the best spell-caster. Faustus leaned against the wall ahead in the hall watching her like a hawk. He approached her with a sly grin.  

“Done being the teacher’s pet?”, he sneered teasing her.

Zelda rolls her eyes and nudges him as she walks side by side with him. “Done drooling over every witch you encounter? I swear I should conjure up a spell to castrate you.”, she teases back.

This is what her and Faustus Blackwood did every day; they would taunt each other whilst casting a lustful stare. Zelda knew she couldn’t want him. Faustus would be fawning over the next new thing like nothing occurred between them. The only girl he ‘stuck with’ the most was Constance. Zelda didn’t understand why, the girl was petty. Constance was a jealous cow because she knew even though Faustus would stray, he would also go back to flirting his way with Zelda as well. Zelda figured Faustus didn’t know what he wanted. Constance’s family had been in good noble standing, whereas with the Spellman’s, they were known for their wit and they were quite the impeccable conjurers. She assumed he had the future in mind-the right Blackwood bride.

“My, my, Ms. Spellman. How naughty of you.”, Faustus feigned offense. “You may have some leverage yet.”

Zelda shrugs with a skip to her step. “I’d say so.”

Faustus nodded in greeting to his inner circle. The best of the best warlocks the Academy had to offer. “Perhaps I should meet you after your rehearsal this afternoon. What do you say, Spellman?

Zelda pursed her lips playfully and tilted her head. “Depends...”

Faustus raises a dark brow. “On?”

Zelda stops and leans to whisper in his ear. “If you bring the thing I mentioned.”

Faustus’s smirk grew. “Certainly.” He winked and then went off with his friends.

Zelda watched him go and sighed deeply. Quite the bad idea for sure. Unlike Faustus, she hadn’t been thinking of the future. Whatever she wanted to do, it would be for the moment-living in the now.  

Before heading to the cafeteria, Zelda went on to switch out her books for her next class. She didn’t get herself a locker, thinking it was the worst idea to cram one’s books in such a cramped space. She walked down the hall to her dorms, which to her convenience, was right nearby.  

She paused then, furrowing her light brows hearing this soft whistle. The whistle echoed lightly down the hall. It sounded so...enchanting, the melody she couldn’t place. This sound made her venture forward, passing the large wooden door to her dorm.  

There, nestled by the window over-looking the outside of the Gehenna Station sat none other than that bloody Scot. A scowl rose on Zelda’s perfect upper lip having found the source of the light and strangely enchanting whistle.  

Rowena’s features remained calm however, her pale fingers drumming against the window pane. She took notice of the presence behind her through the reflection of the window and started to sing that tune she whistled earlier.  

Zelda did not recognize what seemed to be an old folk song, but she knew the girl sung in Gaelic. Zelda knew her languages very well. She knew how to pick up an old dialect when she heard one.

 “Ya know what this song is about?”, Rowena broke the silence.

Zelda tilts her head in wonder. Although she recognized the language, she hadn’t been translating it in her mind word for word-instead having been enchanted by that voice of hers. This frustrating newcomer sang like the lark, her beauty matching her voice.  

Zelda snaps out of it and huffs, placing a free hand on her hip. “I am sure you will enlighten me.”

Zelda could just feel that growing smirk on the other girl’s lips. She saw the way her shoulders rose up, mischief teeming in her body language. This girl...she was so animating.  

“It’s about a man’s burning lust for a bonnie. How his pecker hurt because she is this image of perfection.”

Zelda’s face turned a bright red. Who would make such a disgusting...

Rowena laughs, throwing her head back in amusement. She turned to take a look at Zelda’s growing irritation. “Had ya going there, didn’t I?”

Zelda’s resting hand on her hip squeezed, eyebrows furrowed as she glared right at the Scot.  

“Hilarious. Were you the jester in your podunk village?”, Zelda sneers.

Rowena’s red brows flew up, but the wry smile never went away. “Is that all ya can come up with?”, she retorts. “At least ya find me humorous.”

Zelda’s jaw set as she scrutinized the smaller girl. “You didn’t want me to forget that you were a poor simple girl the other night. You want people to pity you, don’t you? It’s pathetic.”

Rowena scoffed and snickered shaking her head. Satan, in Hell, she was irritating.  

“Bold of ya to say, spoiled brat. It’s so easy to look down on those beneath ya, eh? Ya think I want pity? Why do ya even think I am here?”

Zelda shifted in place clearly not wanting to deal with her right now, toes turned back toward the door to her dorm.  

“You’ve got nowhere to go...”, she began stepping closer so she towered over the seated girl. “You need a roof over your head, food in your belly, someplace to mooch off of. You may be a young witch, but you are standing in a great Academy for witches who want to learn, want to let the Dark Lord into one’s life. You don’t just come here to use this as your lounging spot.”, Zelda spat as she nudged toward Rowena’s seat.

Rowena narrows her green cat-shaped eyes. She slowly gets up, her nose nearly grazing Zelda’s chin. It miffed her that Zelda would take advantage of her height to be intimidating. Rowena sniffed as her eyes wandered up to gaze into those stormy blue eyes. She could smell that wonderful scent: fresh strawberries, lilies in the field. A part of Rowena wanted to be enveloped in that scent forever, wanted to test those beautiful red lips before her. Freak the girl out? No way. No one ever talked about the temptations of wanting the same sex. Rowena slowly discovered that the moment she saw the curious gaze of Zelda Spellman.

She wasn’t alone. Oh no, Zelda thought about gripping her red locks and giving into her temptation as well. The Dark Lord did say everyone had their own free will to take as they wanted, to sup and lap at every desire. No, she couldn’t desire the stranger. How dare she speak to her the way she did and still appeared as pretty as she did?

Zelda lifted her chin lightly appearing still to be mightier than the smaller girl. She couldn’t let herself give into those emerald eyes, those pouted pink lips, those amazing spackles of freckles on her porcelain skin. Her skin must have been soft, but her hands looked calloused and worn from what seemed to have been manual labor.  

This temptation she would not submit to.  

“Ya couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, I start classes tomorrow. I have just been trying to catch up on a few studies. You’ll be seeing me around a bit longer. I hope yer ready for that.”, Rowena spoke lowly and then gave her a smile like a crocodile. “I hope yer ready to see what I’m made of.”

Zelda scoffs trying to show her she didn’t fear her-not in the slightest. “Is that a threat?”, she asks quietly, eyes briefly glancing at those pink lips, mouth nearly watering to try them.  

Rowena bit that cute lower lip as those deep green eyes seemed to glint brighter in mirth. “I assure ya it’s no threat. It’s a promise.”  

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The next day, Zelda entered the earliest to her favorite class of the day: Spellwork and Conjuration. She polished off her workspace and organized her ink jar and quill to the right corner of her desk. She smiled as she pulled out a fresh piece of parchment, taking in the nice smell of new parchment paper. She loved to learn, loved to show off how much she absorbed being such an avid learner.  

Zelda tried not to think about what Rowena said yesterday. So far, she didn’t have a class with her-how would she prove her ‘point’?

The rest of the class started to file in. They settled in their seats ready to learn. Zelda folded her hands in front of herself, sitting upright, but ready to pick up that quill when she needed to. All seemed to go well, until...she walked in.

Zelda’s blue eyes narrowed following the messy-haired petite witch as she made her way to the teacher’s desk. She bowed her head politely, which made Zelda roll her eyes. Of course she would do that. Being all proper-like, like she wasn’t raised in a barn.

“Oh look, better not catch the hay fever from Farm Girl.” Zelda sneered toward her friends as Rowena walked past her desk to find her spot.

The other girls snorted and eyed the smaller girl down, thinking they found their new harrowing target. Rowena ignored them, chin lifted and unamused as she sat down primly. She sets her textbook down and brings out a quill and ink jar. Unlike the rest, her quill was weathered and old, and her jar barely had a drop left.  

“Okay, settle down, witches and warlocks. Now, if we can begin our lesson. Ahh...Rowena, I see you need a refill...”, Professor Ghastly began. He lifted a finger and her jar refilled.  

Rowena gaped in surprise and smiled. “Thank you, Professor, sir.”, she replied sounding so refined as she sat upright ready to learn.  

Zelda could not help but roll her eyes at this. There was no way her favorite teacher could take this peasant seriously. She didn’t even have her dress all the way buttoned at the front, the collar not propped up around her neck, rather it flopped down. Her messy curls were all astray and her fingers were already stained with ink from perhaps having used it in earlier classes. Yet, the way her green eyes lit up, eager to learn, eager to take in this lesson-the same enthusiasm Zelda had about learning made her wonder: would she take this class seriously? There had been no doubt that Rowena acted theatrically about everything, acting horribly to get her way-oh no. All that little teenaged girl had to do was bat those gorgeous eyes and she’d get her way. At least Zelda had her peers on her side, for now at least.

"Now for today’s lesson, we’re getting right back into trapping a demon into an archeron. You see, many warlocks of our time have created this contraption in efforts to seal away the most abhorrent or pesky demons that victimize a witch or warlock’s home. You see, the home of a spellcaster is the most vulnerable for what reason...Mr. Redburn.”, Professor Ghastly begins his lesson and calls on Bradley.

 Bradley Redburn snaps out of his daze as some of the students turn to face him. Professor Ghastly loved to call on those who weren’t paying attention. If one had been asleep, he would place a simple ,harmless charm to jolt them awake. It amused him greatly as it had the students.  

“Uhh...”, Bradley contemplates as he plays with his fingernails. He obviously had no idea what the answer was. It annoyed Zelda to bits that no one could be as passionate about these lessons as her.  

“uhh...”, he drones on again and averts his gaze from his patient professor. “Because that’s where people sleep?”, he finally guesses.

Professor Ghastly sighs unsatisfied by that answer. “You’re on the right track. Ms. Spellman...”

                     Zelda perks up in her seat ready to answer.  

“Why is a spellcaster’s home vulnerable?”, He asks again knowing very well Zelda could get them through the lesson.  

   Zelda knew people envied her for her attainable knowledge. If anything, it made Zelda feel special. It made her feel proud that she added nothing but respect to the Spellman name.  

  “It is vulnerable because a spellcaster’s home is known to be the heart of their power. You see, most spellcasters...”, she glances at Rowena wanting her to know she didn’t belong here. “have a long line to their name. They remain in the family home, where magic is built upon, where the ancestors remain to guide their successors to improve their bloodline. Destroying the heart would destroy the very thing that connects a spellcaster to their family, their honor. A demon may want to attack that to test us in the Dark Lord’s name. If we pass the test, the Dark Lord rewards us.”

  Rowena tries not to scoff at the so obvious hit below-the-belt comment thrown from Zelda. Nonetheless, she takes notes on Zelda’s answer, finding that part very vital in learning the culture of this coven-family was important.  

Professor Ghastly’s expression brightens as he pats Zelda’s shoulder and walks on through the aisle of desks. “Very good, Ms. Spellman. If you would all focus on your studies, you would understand the importance of defense. You should not let anything deceit your family name. The Dark Lord will smile upon future lines as long as you remain in good graces with him. You must understand he doesn’t mean to foil with us, make us feel small. We owe it to him to accept his tests and gladly do as he tells us. Now, I am going to show you diagrams of different archerons.”

Professor Ghastly made his way to the front of the classroom. He waves his hand over the chalkboard chanting under his breath. Before their eyes, an archeron was drawn on the board, filled with runes and sigils at every angle. The students watch in awe.  

“This is an example of an archeron. A warlock and friend of mine created this trapping a demon who tried to snatch his children from his beds. Now sigils and runes make a spell, whether that be just specific to the demon or it be dependent on a warlock or witch’s background. Do any of you recognize these runes?”

Everyone in the room is silent as they observe the picture. Zelda redraws one of the runes on her parchment paper as if to help her decipher it. In all honesty, it had her stumped. She swore she never saw this before. She couldn’t have missed a lesson unless this was something they were yet to go over.  

Suddenly everyone whips around in their seats seeing a fair, small hand raise up. Zelda follows their gazes and finds they’re observing Rowena herself. She knew? No way...

Professor Ghastly’s brows rose though he didn’t look so surprised. It’s like he felt like she would have known. Were they in cohoots?  

“Yes, Ms. Macleod. What do you know about these runes?”, Professor Ghastly questions as he sits at the corner of his desk.  

Rowena barely took notice at the eyes on her. She clears her throat and sits up more in her chair, legs uncrossing beneath her desk. “They’re Celtic.”, she responds. “I have seen those on some of the old monuments in my village. I studied them as they are a part of my culture and within my family line on my mum’s side. Those specifically translate to ‘The ‘napper of the furnace, ye shall not snatch the children of the Night. They are the future and are in the hands of the Dark Lord when they’re ready to give in’. It is clear that the warlock who created this has Celtic or Gaelic origins or...if we’re to be specfic...”

The students lean forward in their seats in innate curiosity. Zelda feigned disinterest, but she wanted to hear more, especially from that accent of hers. She licked her lower lip quickly and held onto her quill.  

“It is the demon Fideal. It is known to inhabit a body of water-to drag down women and children to their deaths. Perhaps, the warlock’s children had been playing by the water and so he decided to trap the demon once and for all.”, Rowena finished and leaned back in her chair looking pleased with herself.

 Fideal? Zelda never heard of that demon. How ironic, that the demon in this lesson was one from her homeland.  

Professor Ghastly chuckled and nodded. “Very good, Ms. Macleod. It seems you could teach us a thing or two about your culture.”  

Rowena flashed him this bright smile. “I would love that, Professor.”

Zelda nearly broke her quill, teeth gritting in irritation. She couldn’t get her favorite professor to like her too.  

“Wonderful. Now, yes, it is not always the spellcaster’s origins that inspire a spell or trap although, using one’s family’s skill to outwit a demon is always helpful. You see, you also need to know your enemy. Not only should we take into account on what we know of ourselves, we must also be comfortable in learning to adapt-to use what we learn to expand our knowledge to perfect our powers.” Professor Ghastly went on and then turned his back to create a new picture.

Zelda looked at her trembling quill, her nerves and anger getting the better of her. She twisted her lips in thought, giving a quick glance toward the satisfied Rowena. She put two and two together forming a most delicious plan. Zelda formed a smirk reeling her attention to her ink jar. She lightly dabbed her quill as if attempting to write some more. She lifts the quill and yawns before flicking it in Rowena’s direction to splatter her with ink.  

Zelda’s friends watched knowing very well what would happen in anticipating. They covered their mouths from an eruption of laugher.

What Zelda didn’t expect was Rowena’s attentiveness.

As the ink flew, making its way in Rowena’s direction, drops almost landing on her nose and the white drooped collar of her dress, her hand lifted halting the drops in place. Her green eyes changed, emitting this bright purple glow. The drops hovered in place, pulsating, awaiting for their permission to move again.  

The room grew silent, jaws all agape in surprise. Zelda gasped inaudibly, the sound caught in her throat. Zelda paled and gulped wondering what Rowena’s next move could be. How did she do that? No witch she met could do that, could just freeze time without an utter of a chant or spell.  

Professor Ghastly turned on his heels feeling this energy in the air. He himself stood there in shock. This witch was like no other witch-no, she was different. He marveled at how composed she made herself to be, her glowing eyes concentrated at even the tiniest drops missed barely by the human eye. It’s like she could even freeze the entire room with that magnitude of power in that petite body of hers.  

Rowena held her breath before exhaling and pushing the droplets forward. Her eyes dimmed, hand lowering. The droplets fell right on the floor in front of her desk, nearly missing Lottie Scuzman’s hair, landing inches away from her chair leg.  

Zelda did not move a muscle. Her throat dried. What was she? No witch can be that powerful, can she? Zelda turned in her seat quickly and set her quill down. Rowena did not back away from her promise. She did not expect this.  

“...w-wow.”, Professor Ghastly stammered and fixed his composure. “I-where did you learn that?”

Rowena shrugged and tapped her ink-stained fingers on her desk. “As long as I can remember, I’ve been able to do that. My mum would tell me it’s because I am a natural witch.”, she explained. “Also, as long as I knew how to defend myself...I wouldn’t need a spellbook.” At this, she looked right at Zelda.

Zelda didn’t need to look at her to know her eyes bore on her. Rowena: 1, Zelda: 0.  

Zelda hid her face of defeat.

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  Spellman Home-the Holidays in the Past.

Being back home is what Zelda dreaded the most. She hated the holidays. This would mean she would have to face her father, Wilbur Reginald Spellman. Most would say Zelda resembled a lot of her father, with the strong chin, her blue eyes, and uptight demeanor. What her immediate family members would say is that they butted heads solely because they resembled each other in personality.  

Vesta Gale Spellman, her mother, is the silent submissive type. She hung on to every word of her husband with little to no opinion on her own. Still, she was pretty to look at with her fair strawberry blonde hair and her hazel eyes. She serves the family dinner and then pushes in the youngest Spellman’s seat with a light brow raised.

“Sit up, Hildegarde, dear.”, she chided the youngest quietly.  

Hilda. Sweet little innocent Hilda. Next year, Zelda’s little sister would attend the Academy of the Unseen Arts. Tomorrow night was her Dark Baptism. Zelda hid her enthusiasm that finally her little sister would be signing her name away to the Dark Lord’s book. She knew deep down her sister had her doubts. Every night, whenever Zelda was home away from school, she would taunt her sister, giving her fiendish nightmares so that should would finally give in and stop being afraid of that important night. She couldn’t squander the Spellman name. Zelda, in fact, was doing her a favor. If Hilda didn’t participate, she would find herself in one of Father’s fits of rage. Hilda knew going to the Academy meant she would never escape the terrorism of her older sister.

Zelda could not wait to harrow her little sister. She counted on it.

However, Edward had one more year in the Academy. Hilda would be safe in her first year. It made Zelda boil with anger that Edward always defended Hilda. Hilda’s growing of a backbone would simply be a necessity, a lesson granted by a loving older sister.  

The children waited until their father joined the table so that they all may join in prayer to the Dark lord. Wilbur cleared his throat and set a napkin neatly on his lap.  

“Good evening, children. Welcome back home, Zelda and Edward. Hildegarde, you will start next year. Your Dark Baptism starts tomorrow at midnight. Are you ready to take in the Dark Lord?”

 Everyone turned their attention over to the youngest. Hilda’s eyes hardly met her father’s. She nearly trembled in his presence, always having feared him. She fixes a small strand of her blonde hair before answering sheepishly.  

“Yes, Father.”

Wilbur accepts that response and nods. “Very well. Now, let us join in prayer. Dark Lord, may you continue to guide this family in your beautiful darkness and present even more wisdom into our lives so that we may continue to grow our line with the Spellman wit. We will present our last child to your grace tomorrow at the blood moon. We thank you for providing our sustenance, our power, and the shelter that covers our heads. Praise Satan.”

They all murmur ‘Praise Satan’ after him. In synchronicity, they pick up their forks to eat,  Hilda being the only one who doesn’t dig right in and picks around to eat the vegetables, of course.

Zelda ponders on her father’s prayer. Not everyone had always had a roof over their heads. She thought about Rowena. She came so far and must have gone through so much to finally have a roof, to have warm food to eat, water to drink. It must have been because her name had not been written in the Book. Perhaps, Father Mephisto would organize a Dark Baptism for Rowena as well. As if the coven would accept her. Zelda pushed her thoughts away and shook her head. That girl thought she was so great with her...not-so-interesting powers. Still, a part of her begged to know more, begged to see more...longed to learn from this ‘natural’ witch.

“Father...”, Zelda piped up after a long uncomfortable silence. “What is a natural witch?”

Wilbur set his fork down and stared at his plate. His brows rose in surprise, blue eyes searching for his wife’s hazel ones. Vesta shared the same expression, but did not say a word as usual.  

“Where have you heard of this? Have they been teaching of things outside of the Dark Lord’s realm?”, he interrogated.  

Everything felt like an interrogation around Wilbur. He did not know how to make a room lively. His demeanor matched the darkness of the family home. Only Edward and Hilda’s rare smiles could lighten up a room when their father was away.  

“What do you mean outside of the Dark Lord’s realm?”, Zelda asked eyes filled with piqued curiosity.

Edward wiped his lips with his napkin, head tilting in the same growing curiosity his sister had. Hilda chewed on a piece of squash, round green eyes filled with intrigue. Both of her siblings waited for their all-knowing father’s response.  

Wilbur did not expect that question, but he knew better than to underestimate his daughter’s irritating yet brilliant mind.  

“There are witches who have their source elsewhere and there are those who have powers unexplained. Powers bestowed to them by birth.”, Wilbur explained. “Those born with this are misguided, not having the Dark Lord in their lives. It is all heresy. That is why the Dark Lord does not protect them unless they give themselves over.”

Zelda furrows her brows, her calculating mind stewing. “If they are born with such abilities, where do they get it from?”, she pressed on, teeth ripping the mortal flesh from her fork.  

Vesta shakes her head at Zelda’s curiosities. She taught Zelda better than to keep questioning what is outside of the Dark Lord’s reach. She hoped it wouldn’t give her these ideas.  

“Why are you asking such horrendous questions? Do we need to speak to your Professors?”, Wilbur’s voice grew an octave.  

Vesta places a hand on her husband’s shoulder as if to sate on an upcoming battle-the usual occurrence at the Spellman table between father and daughter. She didn’t want to have to deal with both disastrous tempers. Wilbur visibly calmed, shoulders slowly releasing their tension.  

“My dear, remember what the physician said about your hypertension.”, Vesta murmured.

Wilbur sniffed and rolled his eyes. “Your daughter is asking the inquiries of a heretic.”

Zelda shut her eyes counting to ten before daring to defend herself. She hated that her father took things to the extreme.  

“I am asking because the Academy took in this new witch. She has not signed her name in the Book. She was brought in from the storm and had nowhere to go.”, Zelda began to explain.

Wilbur scoffed beginning his retort, “Since when do we unquestionably take in a witch? How do we know she isn’t a spy?”

Edward cleared his throat before he spoke up on behalf of his sister. “Father Mephisto grant it so.”, he responded calmly. “He foresees the Dark Lord bringing her to us so that we may perhaps guide her on her way.”

Oh yes, perhaps if Zelda dissuaded the intruder from the Dark Lord, then she wouldn’t further invade their lives.  

Wilbur lowered his gaze to the table. “If...”, he takes a sharp inhale. “Father Mephisto bade it so, then he is correct. The Dark Lord speaks to him. Perhaps, the Dark Lord should usher the child onto the Path of Night.”

Zelda stifled a scoff and played with her food this time. She still yearned to know more. “As I was saying, the girl had been taken in. In class yesterday, we discovered...something strange about her. She revealed glowing eyes as she froze an object.” Her blue eyes moved over to her father who paled in shock. “By your countenance, something tells me you know exactly what this is.”

Hilda’s eyes widened as she glanced between her sister and her father. “Her eyes glowed and froze something?”, she spoke up, voice pitched slightly higher.  

Wilbur balled his fists and maintained his composure. “Yes, I have heard of this. What you witnessed was indeed that of a...natural witch.”, the last part subdued.  

Zelda’s eyebrows quirked, brain marveling at the thought something more to their dark path existed-something she could use against the girl. “And where does a natural witch get their powers?”

Wilbur actually appeared stumped. “Natural witches are rare, Zelda.” He sat up straight before he continued. “In fact, not one of us know where they get it from. Most have died in the time of the Greendale Thirteen. Apparently, they weren’t wise enough to hide themselves in the shadows, thinking they could win over the mortals with their...mystique.”

He sounded almost rigid with his explanation as if he did not agree with the ways of a natural witch. Zelda took note of this.

“But perhaps if the Dark Lord commands it, we must welcome the new witch. He presents us with a test. If we change the ways of this young witch, then we may have more power on our side to the Path of Night. We mustn’t disobey the Dark Lord’s wishes, can we?”

Zelda sets her jaw as she holds contact with her father, the room being still and tense. She slowly nods in agreement with her father.

“Of course, Father. We shan’t.”, she replies with a small grin and fingers crossed behind her back.

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To be continued... ;)

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Documentation Gathering, Sanitization, and Storage: an excerpt from "A Public Service"

[Yesterday, we published my review of Tim Schwartz's new guide for whistleblowers, A Public Service: Whistleblowing, Disclosure and Anonymity; today, I'm delighted to include this generous excerpt from Schwartz's book. Schwartz is an activist whom I've had the pleasure of working with and I'm delighted to help him get this book into the hands of the people who need to read it. -Cory]

Collection

As you collect documents and bring new information to light, be aware that you are in an escalating digital arms race. There will always be new ways that data forensics can identify you, or uncover information based on data that you inadvertently leave in your files, or data that is retained in logs noting who has accessed what files on what network. Recently it was discovered that noise from electrical grids can be used to quite accurately pinpoint when, and potentially where, an audio recording was made. The best way to win this war—or at least to avoid becoming collateral damage—is to work outside the standard methods and find partners who have experience.

Of course, the actual collection of documents has changed dramatically over the years. In 1969, Daniel Ellsberg systematically removed documents, including the Pentagon Papers, from the RAND Corporation in his briefcase, taking them to an advertising agency where he (sometimes with the help of his 13-year-old son) photocopied them, one page at a time. Though this took enormous courage and psychological stamina—and in 1969 all that copying was certainly time-consuming and undoubtedly tiresome—it was also technologically straightforward and relatively safe. As long as the guards didn’t stop and check his briefcase, and as long as no one saw him remove and return the reports, Ellsberg could duplicate the papers undetected.

If Ellsberg was trying to do the same thing in 2019 with physical documents, he would have to be sure there weren’t cameras looking over his shoulder. He would have to make sure that the documents themselves didn’t have watermarks that would lead back to him. And he would have to make sure that the copying method didn’t log his activity. If Ellsberg’s 21st-century counterpart were to take digital documents, there would be many more potential technological risks and traps to avoid along the way.

Take Notes

Before you start collecting documents or even trying to tell anyone about the wrongs you want to expose, start documenting what you see. Jesselyn Radack, who heads the Whistleblower and Source Protection Program at ExposeFacts and has worked with Thomas Drake and Edward Snowden, says the first step is to “just keep your own little record at home in a little notebook.” This should be a notebook where you methodically record everything pertinent to the wrongs you want to expose: everything that you see, everything that you hear, and everything that you say. Do this as often as you can, the same day that incidents occur. Note the time and date of each occurrence. Above all, your notes should always include any complaints you raise and to whom, as well as any retaliation against you for doing so.

This approach to notetaking played a critical role in the big Russian sports doping scandal in 2016. Grigory Rodchenkov, the whistleblower and former doctor of the Russian Olympic team, took incredibly detailed contemporaneous notes that became compelling evidence. The notes included Rodchenkov’s interactions with Russian coaches, officials, and athletes, such as how and when he provided performance-enhancing drugs to athletes, and how the doping was hidden from Olympic observers and their drug tests. Aside from all of these incriminating notes, as the New York Times reported, Rodchenkov also noted his daily activities details such as “6:30, I took a shower, had a smoke, got ready, had hot cereal and farmer’s cheese at breakfast.” These seemingly trivial details helped convince the judges to allow the journal to be considered credible evidence in the court case.

The technology you use to take notes can either help or hinder those who might seek to access and/or destroy any information you have, depending upon your situation. You can use a physical notebook, good old pen and paper, or notes on an anonymous laptop or tablet. But be sure to stay away from making entries at work or on your personal computer unless you are highly technically confident of your computer’s security.

“Documentation is very important,” says Debra Katz, founding partner of Katz, Marshall & Banks, LLP and the lawyer who represented Christine Blasey Ford when she was called to testify during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. “We increasingly have people who show up with videotapes of harassment. I’ve had clients who’ve had their iPhone rolling as their employer, predictably, would come in and do back massages or make sexual remarks.” Logs of text messages on phones or even recordings of interactions can be crucial to demonstrating that harassment is taking place. Save logs of all of your conversations and interactions, because you never know how they might prove useful later on.

The text messages sent by Mike Isabella and partners to Chloe Caras (who was also represented by Debra Katz) were used as evidence in the lawsuit that eventually took down Mike Isabella Concepts restaurants for sexual harassment. If you are going to attempt to record interactions as evidence, be sure that you are aware of the relevant recording laws. In some states and countries, you must inform the other party that you are recording and you must obtain their consent to be recorded. These laws are collectively known as two-party consent laws. Do more research into your context before you start shooting video or recording audio as documentation. You don’t want your evidence thrown out of court. You don’t want to be sued for releasing the recording. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is a good place to learn more about two-party consent laws in the United States.

Recommended Collection Approach

In New York City in 1953, a newspaper boy was finishing his day, jingling his coins around, when he noticed that one nickel felt lighter than the rest. When he dropped the coin on the floor, it split open, revealing a tiny photograph with numbers. This turned out to be microfilm that was destined for Soviet spy Reino Hayhanen. In 1957, Hayhanen defected to the U.S., where he exposed the spycraft of the Soviets to the FBI. This included the use of microfilm and dead drops for communication. Though this example may seem far from the world of computers and smartphones, taking photos of documents with microfilm is much safer than taking the actual documents, in the same way taking a digital photo is safer than copying the digital document. In such a case, there is far less potential for a log of the interaction.

The current best way to gather information is by taking pictures of documents or computer screens using a pseudonymous digital device. This method effectively circumvents all of the normal digital surveillance systems that might come into play when you copy data off of a network or onto a USB stick (e.g., logs of the copying or digital watermarking). It also circumvents any logging software that may be installed on your computer. Company or government tracking software can record the actions of taking screenshots or other mouse and keyboard actions. Evidence from one of these loggers was used by the FBI against Terry Albury, an FBI field agent who was sent to jail for disclosing classified information to The Intercept. In an affidavit in support of the search warrant, the FBI cited a number of facts, including that Albury had “conducted cut and paste activity” while viewing one of the classified documents. This fact could only have been gathered by latent logging software installed on his computer or built into a viewing program. By skipping digital copying or screenshotting, and instead simply taking a picture of the computer screen, you can circumvent some of these monitoring systems. Of course, if you are logged in and have a document open, you should assume that there is a log of the access as well.

Keep these tips in mind:

Only use a pseudonymous device for taking photos; never use your personal or work device.

Use a small tablet with Wi-Fi turned off instead of a phone; this way there will be no location information stored as metadata in the photos.

Make sure the photos don’t have any identifying information in them; this could be your hand, your reflection on the computer screen, images of your office, or other identifying information or marks on your computer screen.

Be sure to check the images afterwards for any metadata or accidental information captured, and make sure to sanitize the images if necessary.

Audio and video recordings can potentially replace taking photos, but these types of files can be harder to sanitize.

Be sure there aren’t video cameras that could capture you in the act of taking photos.

Microdots

Do not trust printers. Color laser jet printers and copiers embed metadata in the documents that they print in the form of microdots, which are patterns of tiny yellow dots that are almost invisible to the naked eye. These dots encode information, similar to QR codes. This includes the printer’s serial number, the time and date, the network address, and potentially other information. This data can be used to pinpoint when and where documents were printed, and potentially by whom. If you want to find out more on the topic, research the terms “printer steganography” and “machine identification code.”

Regular and enhanced image of a printed page from an HP Color LaserJet 3700 showing yellow microdots. Photography by Florian Heise, Druckerchannel.de, in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Copying Digital Files

It is nearly impossible to copy files to a USB stick without leaving a trace, particularly if you are using log-in credentials at work or on a company device. Computers and networks are built to track and log file access, transfers, and printing. Do not try to make a digital transfer or to copy information onto a USB stick at work unless you can be positive that this process isn’t being logged somewhere. Use the Tails operating system, or a computer that is offline, when you copy data.

If you must copy digital files, be sure to collect all your information as anonymously as possible: use a shared computer at work (not your own). Do not use your own login credentials. Also, consider your physical location. It is best not to attempt this in your own office, for instance. Gathering information in the office will become even less viable as technology and employee surveillance software evolves.

Aside from the issues around copying digital files, some sensitive documents (particularly from government agencies) come with “phone home” beacons embedded in them or with digital rights management built in, making it impossible to view or print documents if you aren’t logged in. This could be a remote image or link embedded in a document, such that when you view the document, the image pings back to a server owned by the government or creator of the document. This allows the creator to see the IP address and potentially more information about you as a viewer. Microsoft files such as Word documents have been known to have “locating beacons” placed within them. PDFs may also include this type of beacon, though Adobe now tries to notify users before documents call a remote server. To combat this type of tracking, either convert a document to a safe format such as plain text with the command line, or view a document on a computer that is “air-gapped,” meaning that it is not connected to the internet. Make it impossible for your adversary to know you have the documents.

Uniqueness and Backflushing

If you are one of a limited number of individuals with access to the information you are releasing, then no matter how careful you are, it will be easy to trace you. This was the case with Reality Winner. In the criminal complaint filed against Winner, the FBI noted that only six individuals had accessed the document that was disclosed to The Intercept. When this document showed up on the website, the FBI had six individuals to start investigating, including Winner. Her unique trail quickly made her the most likely suspect. One way to combat uniqueness is by increasing the number of individuals who have access to a document before it is released.

Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, described a method that has been in use in D.C. for years: “backflushing.” Before disclosing a document, send it through official channels to as many legitimate places as possible. For example, include the document in a report and send the report to other departments. This makes it so others have the document as well, vastly reducing the uniqueness of your connection to the document. When you disclose the information later on, it will not be clear that you were in any way connected to it.

Another way to combat uniqueness is by gathering the data through a shared digital account, e.g., if someone else is logged into a computer and you copy a file while they are logged in, the document-gathering will be connected to them, not you. Of course, this should be done carefully and ethically, so as not to inadvertently cast blame on someone else. If possible, it’s better to hijack a shared network account. So consider how unique the connection between the information and your identity might be. There is protection to be gained by hiding in the crowd.

Theft and Misfiling

Corporations sometimes lash back at whistleblowers by filing criminal charges for theft of company property. So be aware that by taking documents off company property, you may open yourself up to a legal battle. This was one reason that SOC, a government security contractor, gave for firing Jennifer Glover, a security guard who had been sexually assaulted and harassed at work. Her termination letter stated that Glover had used her smartphone to take a photograph of the daily schedule, an act that they viewed as justifying her termination.

As an alternative to taking physical or digital documents, consider the misfiling technique. Hide copies of documents at work, either by misnaming digital files or by storing physical copies or USB sticks somewhere at work. In the future, you can “stumble upon” the copies, providing investigators with the information. They, not you, would then be removing property from company premises. The bottom line is that it might be helpful to have a backup copy of any important material stashed somewhere at work.

Sanitization

Sanitization is the process of removing, concealing, or cleaning up information in documents before you give them to someone else. Whether the documents you’re dealing with are physical or digital, images or videos, the same general process applies: you should overwrite, obscure, or remove any sensitive information. This process is ubiquitous the world over in redacting classified material to prepare it for release to the public. When attempting this, imagine that you are in a heist film: be meticulous, wear gloves, wipe down surfaces to remove fingerprints, and don’t leave anything that contains your DNA.

For those who are trying to disclose information, the process of sanitization is a little more complex, but there are two goals: 1) the removal of any information that could identify you, such as fingerprints, email addresses, or unique watermarks on documents; and 2) the removal of sensitive information that might harm someone else or have undue consequences if released, such as any company or government secrets or any personally identifiable information. This is where ethics and judgment come into play. Who would be harmed if this information were released? You don’t want to accidentally victimize (or revictimize) a colleague, accidentally reveal personal information that could compromise one’s reputation, or put a field agent in harm’s way.

To sanitize physical items with nonporous surfaces, such as USB sticks or hard drives, wipe them down with a cleaning product and towel. Paper documents and other porous surfaces are more difficult to sanitize. There are a number of techniques for attempting this, but most involve using an eraser and potentially a cornstarch mixture to remove any oils left by fingerprints. If you are providing someone with a device such as a hard drive, remove any serial numbers or identifying information that would make that product traceable, and of course, be sure to pay cash when buying any hardware that you might use. If you must provide physical documents, redact them first with a black marker or white-out and then photocopy them, providing a redacted copy instead of the original.

For digital documents, the process of sanitization can be broken down into two strategies: 1) redaction, the process of obfuscating information within a document; and 2) metadata removal, the process of deleting identifying traces from the document.

Text

Any text-based document (rich text files, DOC and DOCX formats, CSVs, Microsoft Excel files, PowerPoint files, Adobe InDesign files, etc.) should first be converted to a PDF. This can be done on most computers with either “print to PDF” or “export to PDF” functionality. The PDF should then be opened, and each page should be exported as an image and then redacted in image-editing software. Draw black boxes over areas of sensitive or identifying information in the images. Note: If you try to redact the documents from within the PDF, it will be done in layers, leaving the actual data underneath the black boxes. This will not technically remove the sensitive information. Similarly, it is important to use only image formats that do not include layers. If layers are included, someone can later remove the redaction layer and see the sensitive information underneath. JPG is a great image format to use, as it cannot save layers. After all of the images have been edited, they should be either recombined into a new PDF using a PDF viewer or given to someone as a set of images.

An alternative option is to use PDF Redact Tools, which automates those processes for you. It is currently available on Linux or macOS and comes bundled inside the Tails operating system.

Images

Images should be redacted just the same as text documents. Save them in a format without layers such as a JPG. Draw black boxes over any portions that need to be removed, then save them.

Video and Audio

Redaction of video and audio files can be a bit trickier, but the same basic process of obfuscating information applies. For videos, open them in a video editing program and either delete portions of the video or add black boxes over sensitive pieces. Then export the edited video. Audio files should be edited in an audio editor (Audacity is a good free choice), and portions of the recordings can be deleted or replaced with a standard sine wave tone (like a censorship bleep).

Remember, though, that there may be other information in audio and video recordings that isn’t obvious at first glance. Is there background noise or imagery that can be analyzed to determine the time and place it was taken? Are there reflections or other subtle pieces of data that could compromise you or someone else? Be very careful when it comes to audio and video, because so much information is contained in each file that it can be hard to think of every single thing that should be redacted.

Metadata Removal

Of course, if you are simply trying to get a video out, but trying to make it less obvious who it was shot by, removing the underlying capture information might be all that’s needed. This is where removing metadata comes into play.

Example of image meta data created by an iPhone

The image above is just a selection of the metadata produced by one photo taken with a smartphone. The metadata contains the model of the phone, the time it was taken, and possibly the location of the phone at the time of capture (if GPS location was enabled). This data needs to be removed if you are trying to make the photo, video, or any other type of file untraceable.

Before anything else, check the filename for anything that could identify you or your means of creating the image. If you have any doubt—rename it.

All digital files inherently contain some distinct information that identifies them: filename, creation date and time, last modified date and time, and file size. Some digital file formats contain even more information. Microsoft Word documents, for example, are known for automatically saving additional metadata, such as the authors who worked on the document and the names and locations of the computers where the file was saved. Unfortunately, with these documents and particularly with proprietary file formats, it might be difficult or near-impossible to remove all pieces of metadata. Instead, convert proprietary formats to simple open-source formats that have consistent metadata formatting.

Some file formats use standard data wrappers to store metadata, such as EXIF (exchangeable image file format) or XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform). These are used for almost all image formats and PDFs. By converting other documents into these formats, it becomes much easier to delete metadata and know that it is really gone.

To actually remove metadata from an image, a PDF, or a video file, open it with its corresponding editing software and look for options such as “Properties,” “Inspector,” or “Document Inspector.” This should open up a dialog with a list of all of the metadata fields and entries. Delete them all. You will also want to research format-specific metadata removal methods for specific file types. Audio and video files, such as MP3s or MP4s, for example, can have proprietary ID3 tags embedded within them—such as PRIV frames—that make it near impossible to know if they have been sanitized.

Alternatively, a number of applications can scrub metadata from particular file formats. Several applications can remove EXIF data from images, but the Android application “EZ UnEXIF Free (EXIF Remover)” is especially useful for those communicating via an anonymous smartphone or tablet. This application removes all EXIF data, including geolocation, from photos taken with an Android device.

The Metadata Anonymisation Toolkit (MAT) provides a simple interface for stripping metadata from a number of formats, including PNG, JPEG, PDF, MP3, and Microsoft Office Document formats. MAT comes installed on Tails. However, MAT currently hasn’t been updated since January 2016, essentially making it abandonware. Fortunately, MAT2, the replacement for MAT, is under active development and currently in beta. This is a great tool that can be used to sanitize a variety of files, but please check on its current development status online before using it.

Storage

Be cautious about where you store documentation. Never store documentation at work, unless you are following the misfiling method mentioned previously. You may feel that your desk or office is a safe space, but it isn’t. You can consider storing documents at home, but this is an obvious choice for all concerned. In many cases, those who are trying to disclose information have had their houses ransacked and searched by their adversaries, both legally and illegally. If a subpoena is filed, information in your home will not be protected.

A good strategy is to either store documents outside your home or office or give a backup copy of what you will be revealing to a trusted person for safekeeping. Daniel Ellsberg gave a copy of a classified nuclear study to his brother, who hid the documents under a large gas stove in a garbage dump. Unfortunately, while this protected them for a while, the documents were ultimately destroyed by water damage, and Ellsberg spent years trying to reconstitute the information they contained. Instead of your brother, choose a lawyer. In the United States, information stored with your attorney may be protected from search and seizure through attorney-client privilege. Of course, there are exceptions to this, which was the case in the raid on the office of President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen. If investigators can make the case that attorney-client privilege is being used “in furtherance of a contemplated or ongoing crime or fraud,” then they will be able to search a lawyer’s office under the crime-fraud exception.

All digital documentation should be stored on either encrypted USB drives or on an encrypted pseudonymous device, such as an encrypted tablet or a Tails USB drive. Documents should never be stored in the cloud or on a personal computer or device.

Excerpted from A Public Service: Whistleblowing, Disclosure and Anonymity published by O/R Books. © 2019 Tim Schwartz

https://boingboing.net/2020/01/09/documentation-gathering-sanit.html

[zagi-the-creator]

My pain, one thing after another

The most despair-inducing video in history. The song wasn’t hard to make, but, the visuals were such a pain to put together. Here’s a visual representation.  

And then, here’s where the problems started to appear.

See how my computer is on fire? That’s basically what happened, and not because I set it on fire, even though I was sorely tempted.

You see, when I make a video with sprites, I have to adjust the coloration of the sprites and the timing and transitions between them to line up perfectly. No more, no less perfect. The coloration was the hard part; the lighting kept automatically switching to be too bright, and I couldn’t actually remove the effect once I added it unless I went to each individual sprite and removed it one, by, one. So, the whole process of adding the color effects, removing them, and then re-adding them and adding the shadows took,,, at least one hour.  Finally, it was done. Finally. Until that part where my computer lit on fire. It didn’t literally light on fire, but it might as well have. It takes about an hour or more for the video to export into the right file type and all that. First time I exported it, I was super excited beacuse “wow, this is gonna be awesome!! it’s gonna be so cool! I’ll be just like the other cool kids :O”  Except.  When the video was finally finished, when I heard the fanfare that told me it was done, when I clicked on the video and viewed it in my lovely Videos app,  The screen was black. None of the sprites had loaded at all, and the title and spoiler warning were totally gone. I went back to the project and checked why, turns out it had automatically removed a bunch of my hard work.  I couldn’t save that project because it’d be the damaged version, and I had forgotten to save before I exported, so I had to close the project, go back to before I had the colors all fixed, and do it ALL over again. Except Pinnacle Studio Ultimate wouldn’t open so I had to restart my computer.  +1 hour.  ... only to export it again when I’m done and find out that there was a watermark for the effects I used, which there shouldn’t be because I have the full paid version.   +1 hour.  ,,, so I closed it, had to restart my computer again, and then re-exported it. I set it so it would pre-load everything and do a test export before exporting the whole thing. This worked, but it took far too long.  +2 hours, but it was done. There was a flaw in the video, the screen froze up for two seconds at one part, but you know what? I was done. I was finished. No more for today. So I put it up on YT and cooped up in my bedroom.  +1 hour, but finally done.  This was hell. Thanks for reading.

[sparklyjojos]

THE SAIMON FAMILY CASE recaps [11/13]

In which Ajiro finally tells us what’s going on via a long Wordplay Hell, we learn many things about Tensui and the Saimon family, and the author won’t let you forget how much he loves Maijo Otaro. [tw: talk of anti-Korean violence]

--

On September 1st, the detectives are in the middle of their usual work in the Club (though Ajiro for some reason seems to be paying more attention to a TV documentary looking back on the Great Kanto Earthquake). They learn from a phone call that Hyousen’s wife, Shima, died of heart failure. It seems that she grew sick from exhaustion while helping his husband manage the entire Fujita-gumi after Kyuuzou’s passing. It’s worth repeating that her death did not happen on the 19th.

After the funeral, Ajiro heads alone to Hiroshima Prefecture where he was born. Kirigirisu learns from more knowledgeable Arito Tarou that Ajiro actually pays regular visits there, checking on a child that was orphaned during the Ajiro Family Murder Case. Arito doesn’t intend to share any more details.

--

“You know, Kirigirisu,” Ajiro says once he comes back on September 5th, “there’s a lot of people around me who have the kanji for “horse” (馬) in their names.”

Ajiro’s father, who died during that mysterious Murder Case, was called Souma (壮馬). Incidentally, the Tsukumo family member who took care of the hammer sharks was also called Souma (蒼馬), and he had brothers Tsushima (対馬) and Ranma (乱馬). That orphan that Ajiro regularly checks on also has some sort of a name ending in -ma (Kirigirisu isn’t told the exact name, as the Ajiro Family Murder Case is still a confidential L Crime). Even the building where Nihon Tantei Club is located is called Madano (馬多野).

Ajiro doesn’t say what he actually means by pointing this out. Instead he makes a phone call to the journalist Uyama Hideo. Uyama has been investigating the Shiroyasha Case closely and confirms that it’s still going on. He acknowledges with his usual sighing that (oh…) it might be dangerous for him to investigate any further, but (oh, oh…) he’s determined to get to the bottom of this.

After the call, Ajiro says that Uyama would make a fine detective, as his words hid an important hint.

“What word leaves the deepest impression when you listen to Uyama?” he asks Kirigirisu.

“Do you mean… all that oh he’s doing?”

“That’s right. That oh is the key to the case. Or rather, the fact that it’s a repeating oh, oh. Not only that, Uyama’s presence itself hints at the secret behind the case.” Ajiro makes sure they won’t be heard by others in the office before continuing.

First, he explains the Rising Flag Card, the illusion in which a spectator had to choose one of the flags. The truth is, the spectator assisting in the illusion was cooperating with Koyomi—but in a different way than one may expect. He wasn’t a planted assistant, but a so-called impromptu stooge. First, he was chosen from the audience using a quiz that would require a certain level of adult intelligence. The spectator would get on the stage, be asked to select a card, and choose the exact card Koyomi wanted once he saw the magic words written on the table.

The magic words were simply “Please choose the flag of Japan!” and a promise of getting a cool souvenir if he cooperated. Secrets really are that simple sometimes.

For his next explanation, Ajiro pulls out that 500 yen coin gimmick out of his pocket—but wait, why does he have it? Gensui made the coin disappear at the end of his last lecture!

“Kirigirisu, do you still not understand the method even after I’ve just explained it? I was the impromptu stooge in Gensui’s illusion.”

Ajiro performs Change The World: he puts the coin on top of his open left palm, moves his right hand above it, the coin disappears in an instant… and just a moment later falls on the table from above.

The method is once again simple. Ajiro first threw the coin up into his right hand using a sleight called the Muscle Pass. Then, when Kirigirisu was paying attention to the magically empty left hand, Ajiro simply threw the coin in the air.

When Gensui performed Change The World for them, he threw the coin to Ajiro, who hid it in his pocket. As we remember, Ajiro was also an impromptu stooge in the sponge ball multiplication illusion. The magician making someone their accomplice just by giving them a right look is a very fun aspect of magic.

It stops being fun when a similar technique is used by a murderer.

“When we were given the investigation request, in a sense we became assistants chosen from the audience to participate in the illusion. I can’t ignore the possibility that we unwittingly became impromptu stooges, helping the magician do exactly what he wanted.”

“Then… we, who represent the audience, were intentionally shown Yumeji’s murder, were shown that we could be together with the suspects all day and a case would still happen, all so their alibi would be demonstrated to the rest of the audience—the rest of the world…”

“The reason why I reveal the impromptu stooge secret to you today is because I finally decided to confront Gensui. He has to either be the culprit, or at least be involved with them in some way. Uyama’s words inspired me. You see, one time when he said his usual oh, oh, I heard it as houou.”

Houou… and what on earth does that mean? A phoenix? A pope? An emperor turned monk? Kirigirisu can’t guess.

Ajiro doesn’t explain it yet, but adds that Uyama used other hints as well. For example, one time when talking to Ajiro, he mentioned this “Maya” author that he wanted to help debut—not an actual person, rather his concept of an ideal writer. In fact, he dreamed of two writers like that and even already created pen names for them.

One writer’s name would be inspired by the name Uyama Hideo, an anagram of which was maya-o-dehiu, so basically Maya wo debiu— (“let’s have Maya debut”).

The other dream writer, the true personification of Uyama’s ideals and concepts, a writer-y ultimate weapon of sorts, would get Uyama’s oh put in front of the common first name Tarou. Uyama would want for that writer to evoke strong feelings about concepts he loves beyond anything else, ma (“evil influence” or “devil”, also "magic") and ijou (“strangeness”). It would be a bit difficult to make a coherent writer nickname out of all that, but Uyama still longs to find that Outarou of Mai and jou.

...but we’re getting off-topic here. As for this ideal “Maya” writer, Uyama once told Ajiro what seemed like drunken nonsense at the time:

“Oh… I’d like to meet that Maya soon. He’s like a prince for me. Oh... oh, Maya the prince...”

Ajiro still refuses to explain just what on earth could this mean. Instead, he talks about another illusion Gensui showed them, the one with the gimmick pen seemingly penetrating a bill. It seemed like it would work with any place on any normal bill, which leaves two questions. One, why was Gensui so against using a 1000 yen bill? Two, when he did perform the illusion with the 10,000 yen bill from Ajiro, was it just an accident that he aimed the pen between the portrait and the watermark, instead of just having it go through the portrait for a better effect?

As for that second question... maybe there’s a reason why Gensui wouldn’t be able to pierce the portrait. Ajiro shows Kirigirisu two bills, 5,000 yen and 10,000 yen. Both look normal, both with Prince Shoutoku on them as usual, nothing strange.

“I don’t know if Gensui was even aware of what he was doing,” Ajiro says, “but the reason why he couldn’t pierce through the portrait was because he would be stabbing an image of himself. The true identity of Soga Tensui is Shoutoku Taishi.”

Which sounds completely nuts.

But Ajiro seems completely serious, so Kirigirisu has to accept it for now.

“So when you jumped to the occasion to lend Gensui the bill, you were aiming to test this theory?”

“Precisely. The other bill also has its own meaning.” Ajiro points to the 1,000 yen bill that Gensui and his family didn’t want to use, the one with the politician Itou Hirobumi.

Kirigirisu once again has no idea what this means. However, he now realizes that those strange words Ajiro once said about “ambassadors” (taishi) and having “ambition” (also taishi) may have been him dropping clues.

Ajiro starts a lengthy explanation of his reasoning.

--

Shoutoku Taishi is famous for introducing Buddhism to Japan and thus becoming a religious leader of sorts—the word for such a religious leader would be houou.

Uyama’s words about “Oh, oh, Maya the prince” were a hint about “Oh, U-maya-do prince”. Prince Shoutoku’s actual name was Prince Umayado (or Umayato)—Umayado no Ouji or Umayado no Miko (lit. “the Stable Door Prince”).

As for Ajiro’s claim that Uyama’s existence in itself pointed to the solution, the name Uyama Hideo is an anagram of umaya (w)o hide, “came from the stable”. Legend has it that Prince Shoutoku was born in front of a stable, which is where his name Umayado no Ouji came from.

Also, Uyama had that other nickname, Hideomi (日出臣), the kanji possibly referring to “the (land of) rising sun” (日出処) and “minister, subject” (臣). Prince Shoutoku famously wrote in a letter to the Emperor of China: From the sovereign of the land of the rising sun to the sovereign of the land of the setting sun.

Okay, but all those wordplays just link Prince Shoutoku to Uyama. Where's the relation between Shoutoku and Soga Tensui?

First of all, that shrine in which Tensui loves to hide is called Shouryouin (聖霊院). That’s suspiciously similar to Shouryoue (聖霊会), a ceremony held on the anniversary of Prince Shoutoku’s death in Shitennou-ji, a temple built on Shoutoku’s own request.

Oh, and another temple connected to him, Houryuu-ji, has a part actually called Shouryouin—a hall dedicated to Prince Shoutoku’s soul. Another part of Houryuu-ji is Yumedono, the Hall of Dreams that looks highly similar to Tensui’s Shouyrouin and is associated with—you guessed it—Prince Shoutoku.

Shitennou-ji and Houryuu-ji have one Sword of Seven Stars each in their collections, both weapons allegedly having belonged to Prince Shoutoku centuries ago. Shiroyasha’s sword looks awfully similar to them.

As for that entire spiel about names that have a “horse” in them—it also fits the name of Shoutoku’s associate Soga no Umako (蘇我馬子). The historic Soga clan was probably where the name Soga Tensui came from (although it uses different kanji). Considering that Prince Shoutoku had some blood connections to the historic Soga family, he would be a Soga himself.

Kirigirisu can’t help but notice the entire theory is flimsy. What next, are we going to claim that the Club’s own four Young Shitennou are a hint about Shitennou-ji?

Ajiro seems to think that is the case. In fact, if we look at those four, we have two whose names resemble temple names (Raiou-ji and Yakushi-ji), Mikuruma whose first name is read Noritaka, but spelt just like Houryuu(-ji) (法隆), and then Gotou, whose real name is Gojuunotou, “five-storied pagoda”, just like one of the buildings of Horyuu-ji.

“Kirigirisu, meaningful coincidences—messages from God, you could call them—are scattered all throughout this world. It's an undeniable fact that Uyama and our detectives all really exist and are named the way they are. Obviously it's not because some writer came and gave all characters of his novel convenient names. Yes, I know that my grandfather’s reasoning method, mushindenshin, is defined by being able to access “godly knowledge” by freeing oneself from obstructive thoughts, but the phrase doesn’t refer to any actual god. Just to detecting those coincidences—those godsend messages.”

[Mushin can mean both the Buddhist concept of becoming free of obstructive thoughts, as well as simply innocence; I feel like the first definition fits Soujin better, but the second one may fit the book more, considering how much we talked about the relation of childhood innocence and magic.]

Ajiro agrees that even though all the coincidences point to there being a connection between Prince Shoutoku and Soga Tensui, it’s a weak proof. However—

“Kirigirisu, all of this doesn't mean that Soga Tensui actually is Prince Shoutoku. I myself don’t believe that’s the case. What matters is whether or not Soga Tensui himself believes it.”

If Soga Tensui really is convinced he’s Shoutoku, then surely it's not just a coincidence that the Sword of Seven Stars was used as a murder weapon.

When Ajiro talked with Ryuuguu Jounosuke, the boy didn’t want to answer the questions about whether the name Shakuya was related to the Big Dipper, and whether the word shaku had another important meaning. His silence proved that it was indeed a part of yossha no ojisan’s secret. Ajiro explains that aside from a dipper, the word shaku can also mean a ritual baton often seen in portraits of noblemen… for example, held by Prince Shoutoku in his portrait on the bill.

Another hint is that when they met all the children that one day in the winter, Tousen Matoki was pretending to be Prince Shoutoku, as if he got that idea from somewhere. Ajiro thinks it highly possible that Soga Tensui, for whatever reason, told only the children about his “real” identity being Prince Shoutoku. It’s likely that adult members of the family like Taishi have no idea about his belief.

Speaking of whom, Taishi’s first name is of course yet another coincidence leading to Shoutoku Taishi.

But back to what Jounosuke told them, the phrase yossha no ojisan was also a clue: ojisan is similar to ouji-san, “prince”. The young wordician could definitely mix those two meanings together as a form of wordplay.

Then what does the yossha part mean? Ajiro thinks that it was the result of young Jounosuke substituting a better known word for an unusual name: Yoshua…. also known as Jesus.

“Oh my god!” Kirigirisu shouts when he realizes just what that means.

“God indeed,” Ajiro gives him a wry smile. “Jesus Christ himself. Soga Tensui believes himself to be not only Prince Shoutoku, but also Jesus.”

What kind of a ridiculous sect thing did they stumble into?! Prince Shoutoku and Jesus at once…

Ajiro explains that the concept of Shoutoku and Jesus possibly being connected isn’t that new. There’s even a fringe hypothesis that they were one and the same person. After all, there is no definite proof of Shoutoku even being a real historical figure, so maybe all those legends about him were created later. As for Jesus, there’s so many theories about him that some Japanese people insist that he avoided crucifixion by switching places with his younger brother, escaped to Japan, and was buried in the quiet village Shingo. Soga Tensui no doubt made use of that vagueness of history to prop up his belief.

And here’s where another part of their conversation with Jounosuke comes into play. Ajiro asked him about the word juuku, then about Golgo 13. Both these names actually mean the same thing. Golgo 13 references Golgotha, the place of Jesus’s crucifixion. With juuku, you have to imagine both its kanji written vertically, 十 on top of 九... which, if you squint, may look like a cross on top of a hill—Golgotha.

What’s more, nineteen (十九) refers to when all the deaths of the Case happen: the 19th day of every month.

The Saimons live in Shimane Prefecture, the location of the legendary Izumo known as the Land of Gods. According to legends, it's the place where gods would gather (though they were much different gods than Jesus). Their exact gathering place is said to be the shrine Izumo-taisha, more specifically a part of it called Juukusha (十九社)—yet another juuku.

Ajiro at first thought Juukusha could be the only inspiration behind Saimon Juku’s name, but the Golgotha hypothesis was more likely. After all, the phrase juujika no kyuu (“the hill of the Cross”) could be shortened to juu-kyuu, which can be written down as 十九.

There's still one other hidden meaning that Ajiro discovered in words.

The “Land of Gods” (神の国) that Fujita Daisen so passionately spoke about might mean something other than Izumo. When using alternate readings for the kanji of that phrase, kan for “god” (神) and koku for “land” (国), together it would make kan(no)koku = kankoku. The land Daisen wanted to see before his death was kankoku, South Korea (or maybe Korea in general).

“But why would Daisen want to see Korea so much?” Kirigirisu asks.

“Because Korea is where his family is from.”

“Do you mean that Fujita-gumi had a lot of Koreans in it and Daisen’s father Kyuuzou married one of them?”

“No. The Fujitas aren’t of Korean descent. I meant that many people from the other side of Daisen’s family, the Saimons and their relatives, are Zainichi Korean.”

Kirigirisu is utterly baffled by this statement. Didn’t Ajiro himself tell him about how the Saimons had been living in Tsuwano for seven centuries?

Well, Ajiro himself didn’t know the entire truth back then, and what he told Kirigirisu wasn’t technically a lie: the Saimon lineage does reach that far.

However, all three Tamakos are Korean.

As Kirigirisu forgot a lot of basic history due to his amnesia, Ajiro gives him a much needed lecture. [This is told in the same way Ajiro tells it; possible biases are on him and the author.]

--

First, we have to take a look at how the relations between Korea and Japan looked like over the last hundred years. After the incident of 1875 when Japanese soldiers attacked Korean Ganghwa Island, Japan pressed Korea to sign the unequal Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876.

Near the end of the 19th century, a lot of Koreans moved to work in Japan. Among them were namsadang, groups of travelling entertainers performing various circus acts. The three Tamakos were a part of one such group. They did a lot of shows in Japan’s coal mine towns, and it happened that two owners of these mines—a Tsukumo and a Tousen—along with their Saimon friend set their eyes on the three Tamakos, and then essentially bought them for marriage. The love-struck men used their riches to establish the Soga Tenju Troupe for their wives.

Soon, things started getting worse for Korea, until finally Japan annexed it with the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910.

Korean people faced many human rights violations at that time. Japanese police killed thousands of Korean protesters during the March 1st Movement in 1919. Thousands more were massacred in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, when false rumors claimed that Korean residents would poison wells or commit arson.

During World War II, huge numbers of Koreans were forcibly relocated to Japan to serve as laborers and soldiers, and at least a hundred thousand Korean women were brought into sex slavery as “comfort women”. The policy called soushi-kaimei came into effect, pushing Korean citizens to change their names to Japanese ones in order to facilitate assimilation. Teaching the Korean language and history in schools was eventually prohibited, and visits to Shinto shrines were compulsory no matter the faith.

After the War, Soviet Union occupied the north of Korea, while USA occupied the south. In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea attempting to unify the country under its rule. The Korean War reached a stalemate in 1953, leaving the two Koreas still separate. 

(The narration, which unlike our detectives knows the future, adds that this armistice is still in effect in the early 2000s, but efforts are being made to officially end the Korean War, for example with the 2000 Inter-Korean Summit.)

[And we, the readers from 2020, may add that even more efforts to resolve the conflict are being made lately, many summits between the leaders of both Koreas and US going on since 2018.]

--

“Then… boss, could the motive behind the Saimon Family Case have something to do with the past events between Japan and Korea?” Kirigirisu asks, moved to tears by all the bloody history he just heard about for the first time (or at least for the first time since his amnesia).

“I can’t say for sure, but the possibility is high.”

Then… If we assume Soga Tensui really is the culprit, what exactly is the motive? It's true that both Gensui and Tensui are Japanese by descent [as in, none of the Tamakos and presumably no other Korean person can be found among their close ancestors, see the family tree]. Then again, Tensui’s closest ones are descended from one of the Tamakos; his wife Miku could count as being third generation Zainichi, and his son Juku as fourth generation. [I'm not sure if the term Zainichi would actually apply here, but this is how Ajiro uses it. Note that by his definition, Nemu and Yomiko are also fourth generation.]

Out of the twelve victims of the Case so far, nine were of Korean descent (the remaining three being Daisen, Daisetsu and Kyuuzou).

The question is once again: who is targeting who?

In Kirigirisu's mind, it looks more and more like Soga Tensui isn’t actually the culprit, but one of the targets. Someone from outside may be trying to destroy the entire giant family.

However, Ajiro still seems certain that Soga Tensui is involved in the Case.

Ajiro continues his explanations. Everyone from the family except for the three Tamakos is by law considered Japanese in the family register, and the entries for each Tamako were apparently lost after the war. Basically, there is no easy way for an outsider to learn about their roots. As a part of a marginalized and often persecuted group, the Saimons prefer to keep their identity a secret from everyone, even from close friends like Ajiro.

Ajiro only learned about the family’s roots after Shiranui's detective friend dug out the information, but he had already suspected it based on multiple clues.

For example, the reason why the Circus received a warm welcome touring between coal mine towns could be in part because a lot of mine workers were Korean.

All those posters in the local bar portrayed celebrities of Korean descent, and the bar owner was Zainichi himself—in fact, all of the members of the hiking club except Daisen were. The word for that hiking club, sengakukai (山岳会), could even be a pun on “Korean mountain association” (鮮岳会).

Nagasaki-kai, the group that was once friendly towards Fujita-gumi, had a lot of Koreans in their midst, and their name could also be either a pun or a coincidence. “Nagasaki” wasn't written the same way as the city, but used another spelling (長先) that could also be read as chousen, “Korea”. As Ajiro explains, many Koreans in Japan enter yakuza because of their life circumstances. Many work in places such as pachinko parlors or yakiniku restaurants, and it’s very possible that it was the good relations with Nagasaki-kai that allowed non-Koreans Hyousen and Daisen to be granted supervision of respectively the parlors and the restaurants.

Another clue is related to the Saimon family’s two dogs, Koma and Ria. The name Koma comes  from komainu, the stone guardian lion-dogs at Shinto shrines. While the spelling changed over time, the term komainu originally translated to just “Korean dog”. The wordplay behind the name Ria is harder to guess: one word for a dog is wanko, and this particular wanko is named Ria. It’s therefore wanko Ria, or should we say: “One Korea”, something precious that was lost to time.

Other, maybe less probable details about the family also come to mind. For example, Ajiro thinks their unusual beauty could have been inherited from Korean ancestors, and Miku’s unusually tasting dishes were not the product of her inability to cook, but of her having a different palate than most Japanese people.

Even the magic show provided clues about the family's past: the Rising Flag Card changing from the Korean one to the Japanese one wasn’t a random choice.

The reason why the Saimons never use the 1,000 yen bill is because it portrays the first Resident-General of Korea, Itou Hirobumi, who approved the Korean annexation in 1909.

--

And so we have arrived at the following conclusions: the three Tamakos are Korean, many of the Saimons and their relatives are Korean-Japanese… and oh, right, Soga Tensui is convinced that he’s Prince Shoutoku and Jesus at the same time.

The question is, what on earth does all that mean for the Case?

--

[>>>NEXT PART>>>]

[quicksilversquared]

Keeping Up With the Ladyblog Pt. 2

A reporter has to adapt and improvise. It’s an important skill to learn, especially when one is a reporter who is still in school and can’t skip out to film all of the akuma battles without getting grounded. So Alya gets creative and starts using old security camera footage of akuma attacks. It keeps the Ladyblog active and maybe, just maybe, she’ll finally get her scoop of a lifetime.

links in the reblog

It was much harder to get Ladybug and Chat Noir alone than Alya would have thought. Now that she had important information- super important information, crazy important information- she never seemed to be able to catch them on their own at the end of a fight. They were always surrounded by adoring fans, reporters, and too many cameras for Alya to be comfortable with when they had a little bit of time left at the end of a fight, and when they didn't, well...

They just took off far too quickly for Alya to catch them.

Alya was just starting to get frustrated when Nino suggested that she just tell Ladybug or Chat Noir that she needed to talk to them privately and soon. That way, she didn't need to get them all on their own or risk other people overhearing and breaking the story before she could.

That was a much better idea. Nino got a kiss for that.

After that, it was a piece of cake for Alya to get to Ladybug before she and Chat Noir could run off at the end of a fight. Ladybug seemed a bit distracted, trying to smile for the cameras and answer the questions being thrown at her like usual, but Alya persisted.

"Ladybug!" Alya called, weaving closer to the superhero. She ducked under Madam Chamack's cameraman's arm to get past them. There was a "Hey!" as she disrupted the video, but Alya didn't care. She rushed up to Ladybug, tugging lightly on the superhero's arm.

Maybe she wasn't going to tell Ladybug exactly what her scoop was right now, but she still didn't need any other reporters sticking their noses in and messing everything up.

"I need to talk to you and Chat Noir privately," she told Ladybug in a hushed whisper, glancing around to make sure that no one was listening in. "I have a scoop- it's about Hawkmoth."

She saw Chat Noir glance back at them, his cat ears flicking backwards briefly. He and Ladybug exchanged a look, wordlessly communicating something that Alya couldn't decipher.

"We can swing by tonight," Ladybug told Alya, one eye still on Chat Noir. "It'll probably be late, though."

"Understandable." Alya flashed Ladybug a quick smile. "And I'll try to be fast about it. Thanks!"

Ladybug nodded, and seconds later she and Chat Noir bounded out of the crowd, back to the rooftops to go back home. Alya watched them go for a second, then beat it before Madam Chamack could catch up to her and start scolding her for messing up her shot or something.

Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up at ten thirty on the dot, landing just outside of Alya's window. She let them in right away, pointing them towards her computer. Onscreen, she had the edited Heroes Day footage up, paused right near the end.

"So you might have noticed that I've been going through security camera footage to edit it into a cohesive video of the fight for the Ladyblog," Alya started, settling into her chair in front of the computer. She was feeling a little nervous now, probably because Adrien was going to end up losing his father because of this. And while it wasn't her fault- it was his asshat supervillain of a father's- she couldn't help but feel a little bad. "And this is Heroes Day. I was going through the footage from the Eiffel Tower, and I saw- well, this."

She hit Play. Onscreen, the superheroes were blown away by the giant moth's wing blasts. Hawkmoth made a hasty exit, swinging off the side of the tower and out of sight. Seamlessly (thank you, Nino- he was definitely getting a lot of video editing practice in while helping her), the view switched to the iced-over camera from the lower level. The purple blur that was Hawkmoth appeared and landed, heading unsteadily away across the platform. Another angle switch showed him heading past a camera, then slumping against the wall, fully within the camera's view. There was a flash, and the distortion effect made the view even worse.

"That's what happens when you guys transform and detransform," Alya explained to the superheroes. "It's to help keep your identity safe, I guess."

Ladybug and Chat Noir nodded. Neither looked surprised. Alya had to wonder if maybe their kwamis had already told them that, so that they wouldn't have to scramble to make sure that there were no cameras nearby when they transformed or detransformed. She wouldn't be surprised.

The ice was cleared away in a flash of red, and the three of them watched as the pixilated, staticky Hawkmoth sat on the ground for a bit before getting up. The screen split in two as he walked away, showing the clear feed of the stairs.

"I'm positive that this is Hawkmoth," Alya told them, briefly pausing the video before Hawkmoth could exit the first feed. "Look at what he's wearing there, and then in the next screen. And there shouldn't have been that many people on the Eiffel Tower in the first place. It got evacuated pretty quickly."

"There were a couple employees that got trapped up top, that Volpina girl, and then Hawkmoth," Ladybug agreed. "And those red pants and white top are pretty distinctive. Let's see it, then."

Alya nodded, starting up the feed again. She could feel the tension mount in the room as Hawkmoth headed down the stairs unsteadily, more and more of him coming into view. They hadn't even gotten to his shoulders when Ladybug gasped, a couple words that Alya had never expected to hear from Ladybug slipping out. Less than a second later, when they had gotten as far as Hawkmoth's neck, Chat Noir hissed.

Okay, so apparently the two of them were familiar with Mr. Agreste, then?

"I knew it!" Ladybug half-snarled when Mr. Agreste's face came into view. "He threw me off when he got akumatized- when he akumatized himself- but we have him now."

Chat Noir nodded, strangely pale under his black mask.

"I wanted to show you first, since I'm sure that the police would bungle the whole thing somehow," Alya said, moving over so that Ladybug and Chat Noir could see the screen better. The video had been paused again, with Mr. Agreste in frame. "I don't think that they're entirely able to deal with magic powers."

"Right, right." Ladybug's glare was practically burning through Alya's computer as she stared down the image of Mr. Agreste. She gave herself a good shake and refocused on Alya, all business again. "That's great that you found this, Alya. We probably won't act on it right away-"

Alya nodded eagerly. "You have to plan the final boss battle, right?"

"Well, we have to do a bit of planning, yeah. We want to be safe as possible." Ladybug smiled at Alya, then pulled her yo-yo off of her hip. After tapping away on her screen, a USB stick popped out of the side of her yo-yo. "Do you think you could give me a copy of that video? We might need it in the future, if we do end up using the police to help us."

"Of course!" Alya accepted the Ladybug-patterned USB and plugged it in. She paused as her computer worked to recognize it. "Uh, you'll tell people that I was the one to do this, right?"

"Of course! I wouldn't deny you your credit, Alya," Ladybug assured her. "Actually, have you added the Ladyblog watermark to it yet? We can wait if you want to do that first."

Alya startled because oh, yeah, that was definitely something she should have done and then preened. "You noticed that?" It was something that most people didn't even register when they were watching, but it had taken Alya several tries to get the watermark to work on uploaded videos and several weeks of testing to get it to automatically show up on livestreams. Max had helped her a bit with that, but it had mostly been Alya's trial and error that finally had them figuring it out.

"Yeah. It's smart, since there's a ton of knock-off blogs now." Ladybug watched as Alya quickly clicked through her settings, inserting her new and improved (thank you, Marinette) Ladyblog logo into the corner of the whole video. She saved it, then made a copy for Ladybug. It took a minute to transfer. "How much of the fight does that include?"

"The last five minutes, maybe? And then a couple minutes of Hawkmoth at the end." The file finished loading and Alya ejected Ladybug's USB, handing it back to her. "My boyfriend and I are still working on getting the rest of the footage from the fight put together. When I post it, I'll post the version without Hawkmoth detransforming and his real identity, at least until he's been defeated."

"I think it warrants its own post, honestly." Ladybug tucked the USB back into her yo-yo. "Thank you so much, Alya. I'm sure we'll be in touch."

Alya looked up sharply at that. Ladybug winked, and for a second Alya was confused. Then it dawned on her.

Oh my GOD I'm gonna get the Fox back! I'm gonna be part of the boss battle!

Oh gosh. She wasn't sure if she was ready for that. She had only been out for a handful of battles and saying that it had gone well was probably an overstatement. She was still very much in the middle of a very steep learning curve. But if Ladybug had faith in her, then she wasn't going to let Ladybug down.

Chat Noir nodded in agreement, looking far more serious than Alya had ever seen him before. With a start, she realized that he hadn't said anything after seeing the video. That was pretty strange, but maybe seeing Hawkmoth's secret identity onscreen had really made the possibility of a final battle possible, and Alya knew how final battles went in the comics. Not everyone always made it out in one piece, and as Ladybug's self-appointed shield, Chat Noir was more likely to end up hurt.

...yeah, okay, there were definitely some scary parts to this whole superhero business. Maybe Alya could ask that they do some training sessions before jumping right into the final battle bit.

Ladybug and Chat Noir said their good-byes after that, waving to Alya as they headed out. Just as Ladybug had one leg out the window, something she had said earlier finally caught up with Alya and she reached out, the reporter in her practically begging for answers. "Wait! Ladybug, you said something earlier-"

Ladybug paused, glancing back. "Yeah?"

"You- you said that 'that Volpina girl' was on the Eiffel Tower," Alya started, frowning. "Don't you know her name?"

That got a frown on Ladybug's face. "No, why should I remember her name?"

"Lila said- Lila said that you were best friends!" Alya said, reaching for her computer again. "I have a whole interview on the Ladyblog-"

"I remember seeing part of that," Ladybug said once the page loaded on the Ladyblog. "I had never even met her before that. I did go and tell her to stop trying to use me as a way to get popular after that, but I'm going to guess that she didn't do that. Even though she definitely hates me now for calling her out like that."

Alya spluttered. "But- but she said-"

Ladybug shrugged. "Some people lie to try to get what they want. I'm going to guess that she's lied about a lot of things. She seems the type."

Alya nodded slowly. She- she was starting to get that impression, too. After all, there was the whole issue of Lila being in Paris when she was meant to be traveling. Ladybug's comments shouldn't have surprised her, really, but somehow they still had. It also meant that maybe Alya should do a bit of investigation about that, now that she had let Ladybug and Chat Noir know about Mr. Agreste.

"I certainly wouldn't trust anything that she says," Ladybug added. "But that's just me, of course."

Alya nodded as the superheroes swung off into the night. She watched them go, then turned back to her computer.

If she focused, maybe she could make some progress on what promised to be her second scoop of the summer.

  Alya couldn't deny that she was a bit disappointed when two more weeks went by like normal, akuma attacks happening nearly every day and running just like usual. But it did give her more content for her blog, and that was good, so…

Maybe planning was taking longer than she had thought. Maybe they had a mentor who was on vacation at the moment. Maybe they were staking out the Agreste house to try to figure out where Mr. Agreste transformed.

Alya would have volunteered to go in and do a little poking around to try to find whatever secret entrance Mr. Agreste no doubt had to enter his lair, but she was sort of banned from the house after she had been caught doing a bit of unapproved exploring. At the moment, she was pretty sure that Marinette was the only one of Adrien's close friends who was allowed to actually hang out with him in his house. And there was no way that Alya was going to put Marinette in danger by asking her to poke around, so that was a dead end, at least for now.

So Alya decided to turn to her other scoop: figuring out what, exactly, was going on with Lila's stories.

She knew that Lila was lying about some things, at least: being on a trip abroad for several months, and about being friends with Ladybug. Those were pretty big things, so it was pretty logical to assume that a lot of the other things that she had told them were probably also lies. Still, Alya wanted to do a little digging.

And that little bit of digging turned up a lot.

"Disproving the Jagged Stone's kitten thing was easy," Alya told Nino the next time they met up. "When he was at the Dupain-Cheng bakery, they asked him about pets and he's only ever had Fang. And there aren't any of his songs that could possibly be about her, it's obvious now that I'm looking. But I don't have Prince Ali's number, Rose does, and it's not like I could just call up a bunch of movie directors and ask them- well, I could, but why would they bother replying?"

"Do you really need to find and disprove every last one of her lies?" Nino asked, waving at Adrien and Marinette as they approached from across the park. "I mean, we know. Once we tell everyone else, they'll know, too. But isn't the obvious solution right there?"

Alya gave him a puzzled look. The obvious solution? What did he mean by that? It was obvious that this was another test of her reporting skills, seeing how much information she could seek out. What else was there to it?

"The teachers?" Nino prompted after a few seconds. "If she was just telling a few lies to try to fit in and make kids fast because of new student syndrome, that would be one thing. The teachers wouldn't really care about that. But Lila was trying to get out of things and get favors because of her connections and for her 'illnesses', and she was skipping school. I think that's the kind of thing that would be important for them to know."

Groaning, Alya slouched down on the bench. "Great. Another scoop, and I have to just turn it over to an authority and wait. I hate waiting."

"It's probably an important part of reporting, knowing when to let go and let someone else take over." Nino nudged her shoulder. "Hey, cheer up. It's not like you have to stop digging once you tell Ms. Bustier or Mr. Damocles. Or you could always take the time that you've been using to research Lila's stories and go back to getting the security footage all ready to go up on the Ladyblog. Don't you still have a ton of that to do? And it'll probably get more interest before the final battle is over and Hawkmoth is defeated."

Alya had to give him that. Besides, she was getting more footage every day, and if she waited for too long then school would start again and she would never catch up.

"And if that gets old, we can always hang out with Adrien and Marinette more," Nino added quietly. "We haven't gotten to spend that much time with them this summer- especially you- because we've been busy and they've been busy. And we need to enjoy this while it lasts."

She could only nod in agreement.

As always, it was hard to hang out with Adrien and Marinette without updating them on the biggest scoop of her life. She would have updated them about her Lila research instead, but, well, Marinette clearly had suspected all of the lies already (and Alya had scoffed at her suspicions at the time, whoops) and somehow Alya got the feeling that Adrien had, too. It was all old news to them, and she felt a bit ridiculous that it had taken her so much longer to catch on. On top of that, Alya rather belatedly remembered once telling Marinette that a good reporter always checked her sources when they were discussing Lila. She hadn't done any research or fact-checking of her own then, and now Alya was feeling rather sheepish about how easy it was to disprove the lies that she had once fallen for.

So instead she said nothing. The four of them just hung out and Marinette showed off some of her designs and Nino played a couple of his mixes as they ate their picnic and wandered around the city, enjoying a relatively mild day.

It was normal, and Alya…Alya knew that it was going to end soon. Adrien's father would be arrested and what would happen after that, she didn't knew. Hopefully Adrien would be able to stay in Paris with all of them at the very least.

"It's so hard acting natural with him," Alya told Nino as they headed back to her apartment after their gathering broke up. "Like, I know that his life is going to change a ton soon- well, whenever Ladybug and Chat Noir act- and he's just oblivious. And it's awful."

"He'll be safer once his father is in jail," Nino told her. "Just focus on that. Him and all of Paris."

  Tracking down a teacher in the summer wasn't anywhere near as hard as snagging Ladybug after a fight. As it turned out, Ms. Bustier was teaching summer school and all Alya had to do was get up a little earlier than usual and go in before the summer school students arrived.

And as it turned out, Alya got to see a bit of the fallout. Ms. Bustier was so taken aback by the video footage of Lila clearly in Paris on Heroes Day that she had immediately gone to the computer, looked up the phone number for Lila's mom, and called her up right then and there. It went through, and Alya listened in, trying not to look too interested. She wouldn't be able to stand it if she had to leave the room and miss hearing everything.

"Yes, I was Lila's teacher this past year," Ms. Bustier was saying. "And just this morning, we had some concerns arise about the trip that Lila was on during the school year- no, not before she arrived. She was here for a day and then said that she went on a trip around Europe for several months- you say she didn't leave Paris at all? And-" Ms. Bustier listened and then frowned. "No, we didn't close the school for akuma attacks, at least not for any extended period of time. We occasionally have had to evacuate and closed the school for the remainder of the afternoon or the morning, but we never even closed for an entire day, let alone any longer period of time. The akumas don't disrupt us that much."

Alya's eyebrows shot up. Another scoop! Lila must have told her mom that they were doing online learning in place of going in to the classroom, and somehow her mom had never checked on that. Kind of like how the school had clearly never verified Lila's claim of being out of the country.

….that seemed like a fairly large breakdown in communication, honestly.

"Lila must have lied to both of us, then," Ms. Buster was saying. "She will face consequences for that when school resumes in the fall. And- yes, consequences at home would be a good idea, too. Ah- if you have time, I wanted to ask about some of Lila's other claims?"

Alya listened raptly as Ms. Bustier listed off as many of Lila's stories as she could remember, with occasional help from Alya chiming in. On the other end of the line, Lila's mom was clearly denying that any of those things had ever happened. When she heard Lila's claims about tinnitus and arthritis, she exploded on the other end of the line, loud enough for Alya to hear halfway across the room.

Clearly someone was going to be getting in a lot of trouble tonight. Alya wasn't going to be surprised if Volpina made another appearance.

"Well, that was….something," Ms. Bustier said with a sigh once she had hung up several minutes later. "Some of Lila's stories had seemed far-fetched when she was telling them, but there were so many that I thought that there would be no way that she would lie that much. I didn't see any reason for her to. But clearly I was wrong."

Alya nodded. She had kind of taken the same approach, honestly. One out-of-place story would have been suspicious. Dozens of them? There had to be some truth there.

Apparently not.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Alya," Ms. Bustier told her. She looked tired. "I'm sure Lila's mom and I will be in contact to keep a situation like this from happening again. And… while I would normally ask you to not share this with other people, since you overheard a phone call I had about another student and normally we don't do that, this time it's fine. Normally everyone would know all of that already. And I might send out an email tonight to the families, since Lila was trying to manipulate people with her 'connections' and we need to cut that off." She sighed, massaging her temples. "I'll add it to my list of things to do. And- oh, my students are coming in now. Was there anything else, Alya?"

Alya shook her head. "No. That's it. Well-" she hesitated, thinking up one last question, something that had been bugging her ever since she shared her video with Ladybug and Chat Noir. She hadn't wanted to ask her parents (and they weren't likely to know anyway), but Ms. Bustier might be able to put her mind at rest. "I had a hypothetical question."

A hint of a smile showed up on Ms. Bustier's face. "Ah, yes, the famous hypothetical question. What were you wondering, Alya?"

"If- hypothetically- if someone were to only have one parent and that parent got arrested, what would happen to them?" Alya asked, hoping that Ms. Bustier would know. "Hypothetically!"

Ms. Bustier frowned. "Does this have something to do with Lila? She still has both parents, Alya, even if they aren't together."

"No, nothing to do with that whole mess," Alya said quickly. "And it's hypothetical."

That got a smile on Ms. Bustier's face. "Alya, in my experience, the more hypotheticals someone adds to a question, the less hypothetical it is." The smile vanished as she grew serious again. "As for your question…. well, if they have relatives around who are able and willing to take them, then they would likely go there. Otherwise, a trusted family friend might take custody….though if one parent was arrested, the family friends would be very closely examined to make sure they were innocent."

Alya nodded. She still didn't know where that would leave Adrien. Were Nathalie and the Gorilla innocent in all of this?

"Is there…" Ms. Bustier glanced at the door, then back at Alya. She lowered her voice. "Alya, can I ask who you're asking for? So I can be on the lookout to help?"

"It…" Alya hesitated. She didn't want to go and spoil Ladybug and Chat Noir's work, but it wouldn't hurt to have an adult looking after them, too. "I don't know how much I can say, because it's an ongoing investigation…"

Ms. Bustier frowned. "Alya, what have you gotten involved with?"

"It's a Ladybug and Chat Noir thing! I'm not getting tangled up with normal criminals," Alya assured her teacher. Ms. Bustier didn't look any more happy with that.

"Magical criminals aren't any better. That might be worse, actually. Alya…"

"I just did some research for them," Alya assured her. "There was no legwork involved."

Ms. Bustier didn't look convinced.

"And I promise I'll let you know more as soon as I can." Alya shifted from foot to foot, glancing towards the door as the noise level outside got a little louder. "And I'll try to stay safe."

"Coming from the girl that goes charging towards akuma fights, I'm not sure how reassuring that is," Ms. Bustier said with a sigh. "But- Alya, let me give you my phone number and my email. Contact me when you're allowed to. Promise me."

"I will," Alya vowed.

  Finally, finally, Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up at Alya's window again, only an hour after she got back from the school. Much to her excitement, they were carrying her Miraculous.

"There's no boss battle today, but we think that we'll need the Fox's powers," Ladybug told her. "So we thought of you, of course."

Alya grinned as she accepted the box and opened it up, beaming as her kwami popped into view. "Hi, Trixx!"

"Hiya, Alya!"

"So what are we going to be doing?" Alya asked eagerly as she hooked her Miraculous around her neck. "Training?"

Ladybug laughed. "Not quite. Your comment about the police gave us an idea, that we might be able to use them to set a trap. So we told them about Mr. Agreste and showed them your evidence, on the condition that they'll follow our lead and not try to take him on on their own. They're going to get him to come in to the station, where he'll have a harder time transforming."

"We didn't want to try to attack him in his lair," Chat Noir chimed in. "We scoped it out a little- well, my kwami did- and what we found was…. well, disturbing. And we have our suspicious about Mayura, and we don't want them nearby, either. One at a time is easier."

Alya frowned. "So… what are we doing today?"

"Well, the police are going to call Mr. Agreste today to claim that they have a lead about where Mrs. Agreste is," Chat Noir said, glancing at Ladybug. "And that he has to come in- in person, not via Skype- to look over some things. We want to see his reaction to the call."

Alya was still officially lost as to why they needed her.

"But we want to hear it, too," Ladybug continued, seamlessly picking up where Chat Noir picked off. "And- we asked Trixx about this- if you do a small illusion, maybe something not very big or noticeable- then you can use it as basically a- what do you call it, Chat Noir? Those spy things?"

"Why do you assume that I would know what they're called?" Chat Noir pouted at Ladybug, and honestly, Alya regretted ever thinking that the two of them were cool. "They're like the Extendable Ears things in Harry Potter, I guess?"

"It's essentially like setting a bug," Alya corrected them dryly. Then she perked up. "Oh! I'll be doing the listening! That's cool!"

"Do you have the time?" Ladybug asked her. "Like, you don't have to babysit today, do you?"

Alya laughed as she shook her head. "Nah, Nora's taking Ella and Etta for the week. It's about time, too, since I did most of the babysitting during the school year."

"Good." Ladybug headed towards the window. "Ready? Or do you need to let someone know that you're going out?"

"I'll tell my mom that I'm going out with my boyfriend," Alya decided after a moment's thought. "And then I'll transform in the alleyway. Meet me down there?" she added.

"Of course," Ladybug agreed easily. Chat Noir nodded.

Alya made to move towards her door again, then paused and glanced back at the superheroes. "Do you two have to tell your parents when you're going out, too? What excuse do you use?"

"Oh, I told them I was going out with my boyfriend," Ladybug said breezily, grinning at Alya cheekily. "They were fine with it, of course."

"It's not like she was lying ," Chat Noir added in, his grin twice as cheeky. "After all, she's hanging out with me."

Ten minutes into their stakeout, Rena Rouge still hadn't managed to get a straight answer out of Ladybug and Chat Noir about whether they were kidding about the dating thing or not. She wanted to think so, of course- three big scoops in one summer would be amazing, and confirming Ladynoir would actually be a positive scoop- but they weren't giving her anything.

"Okay, they're going to call in the next couple minutes," Ladybug said, checking her yo-yo. "Rena, send in the mini-illusion. And then we're going to have to focus."

"This won't set off my timer?" Rena Rouge checked one more time. "Because that would stink to miss anything."

"No, it only uses a fraction of your power. Trixx said you would have half an hour at the least before the timer might start counting down." Ladybug glanced at her yo-yo again, then hunkered down on the rooftop. "And we have to make sure that we're not seen. If we are…"

Rena Rouge nodded. Mr. Agreste might just start acting instead of actually reacting realistically, and they didn't want that. That would completely defeat the purpose of coming out at all. It was a basic rule of stake-outs, really.

Bringing her flute to her lips, Rena played a short tune, envisioning a small white butterfly as she flicked the light off of the end. It formed and fluttered away, headed right for the house. Rena Rouge bit her lip as she watched it go, hoping that she had done it right. They wouldn't know right away, but hopefully they had a couple minutes for her to check the butterfly's hearing abilities first.

"A little lower- to the side- yes, hover it right there," Chat Noir urged, peeping over the side of the rampart. "Or maybe have it land against the house."

"Done and done." Rena held down her ears and peeped over for a moment as well before flattening herself to the rooftop. "Okay, and now I listen, I guess…?"

On top of her head, her fox ears twitched back and forth as she tried to focus on her connection with the butterfly illusion. Slowly, she started picking up voices. As Rena strained to listen, they got louder.

"-this zipper isn't the right shade to go with this fabric, what was the sewing room thinking? It's too bright, it'll catch the light if even a hint of the zipper isn't covered. Must I really specify every single bit of the design? What's next, telling the sewing room that the right side of the fabric is meant to face out?"

Great. Fashion talk. Nothing interesting yet.

Nathalie's voice joined Gabriel's. "I'll look into it at once and see who was responsible. I'll let them know that this will be a dark mark on their record and further mistakes will put their job in jeopardy."

"See that you do. I won't stand for employees that can't use their brain when sewing."

"Anything?" Ladybug whispered, making Rena Rouge startle. "Does it work?"

"It works. They're just talking fashion. Something about the wrong finish on a zipper."

Oddly enough, Ladybug looked interested. "Wait, what-"

"Not the time, Bug," Chat Noir murmured, and Ladybug settled down with a bit of a pout.

The banal fashion talk continued for another minute, and Rena tried not to groan as it turned to the business side of the fashion house. She was saved, though, by the ringing of a phone.

"It's happening!" Rena Rouge told Ladybug and Chat Noir, pulling their attention back from whatever whispered conversation they were having. "The police are calling, and Nathalie is headed over to get it!"

The other superheroes froze, then scrambled into position. Rena Rouge returned her attention to the conversation, though there wasn't really much to it. Nathalie was listening more than talking, and her tone gave nothing away.

"She's impossible to read," she faintly heard Ladybug complain. "C'mon, give something away."

"She's thanking them now," Rena Rouge relayed. "And hanging up- now shush so I can listen!"

The other superheroes shushed.

Rena Rouge held still as a statue, listening closely as Nathalie relayed the police's message to Mr. Agreste. Next to her, Ladybug and Chat Noir huddled around her yo-yo, watching Mr. Agreste's expression on the zoomed-in feed.

"He looks super annoyed," Ladybug whispered. "There's- there's something not right there. Why would he look annoyed?"

"If he knows that they can't have a lead, maybe," Chat Noir suggested after a second. "Or can't have a correct lead, at least." He was pale. "He's a supervillain. Do you think-"

"Shh! I'm trying to listen!" Rena hissed at them. "I don't want to miss anything!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir promptly shut up.

"They would come here if they suspected anything about us," Gabriel was telling Nathalie. Down below, Rena could see him pacing, going back and forth in front of the window. "If they suspected that we know what happened, or that we know where Emilie is, they would come here and take us into custody. No, they've found some false lead. But I'm still going to have to go in, just to keep up appearances."

Rena Rouge gasped. Adrien's father knew where his wife was? That was awful. Had he done something to her?

"What did they say?" Chat Noir wanted to know. "What-"

"Shh, I'm listening!"

"I said that I would call them back once I had talked with you about when we could go in. Unless you just want me to go?"

"No, they would consider that strange. I'm going to need to go in myself." Gabriel scowled. "And they're going to expect me to be rushing in right away. It's what anyone else would do. When…?"

"They said that the detective would be in all day tomorrow, just choose a time. You have meetings throughout the morning, then a break from eleven fifteen to two forty-five, then again after five."

Rena Rouge reached blindly for the notepad that she had brought along, scribbling that down. Just in case.

"I'll meet with them at twelve-thirty. That gives me some time if anything runs over." Gabriel sounded irritated. "I hope it doesn't run for long. I need to get some designing done."

"Of course, sir."

"And I'm going to go check on Emilie now. I want you to keep an eye on her tomorrow, while I'm at the meeting. Just in case."

Nathalie was frowning, and it was clear in her voice. "You think they might be up to something?"

"Something doesn't feel right. Why would they even think that they might have any leads on Emilie? It's impossible." Gabriel headed over to the portrait of his wife. "I don't like it."

"Wishful thinking, perhaps. Or they've actually got a lead on some other missing person, but they just misidentified them."

"He said he was going to check on Emilie," Rena Rouge hissed. "Keep an eye on him. Watch what he does."

The dual curse that she got from Ladybug and Chat Noir wasn't unexpected this time.

"I'm switching this to video mode," Ladybug announced. "Chat Noir-"

Chat Noir already had his baton out. "I'll take a backup video, so we don't miss anything."

"One would hope that Paris's esteemed police department would be more careful than that." Mr. Agreste didn't sound impressed as he addressed Nathalie. "But I agree, that's the most likely explanation. You can take care of calling the police back?"

"Of course."

They fell quiet, and Rena Rouge glanced over at Ladybug and Chat Noir. They both had intense looks of concentration on their faces as they manipulated their screens. Within a minute, both let out an exclamation and sat back.

"He's got some sort of elevator built into the floor," Ladybug explained to Rena Rouge. "And the buttons are built into the painting. We're going to have to look at the recording more closely to figure out exactly what they are. Hopefully that goes straight to- to wherever Mrs. Agreste is."

"Are you going to try to find her?" Rena Rouge asked excitedly, visions of a stealth mission already dancing through her head. "Are you going to break in in the middle of the night and push the buttons and-"

"We're going to go in once both Hawkmoth and Mayura have had their Miraculous removed and are in police custody," Ladybug said firmly. "We don't want to make Mr. Agreste any more suspicious than he already is."

…Rena supposed that that made sense.

They didn't stick around for long after that. Nathalie called the police back and when Mr. Agreste hadn't reappeared by the time the call ended, they decided that that was about as much information as they were going to get today.

"Are you going to need me tomorrow?" Alya asked once they were back in her room. She didn't want to give up her Miraculous, not yet. "For the confrontation?"

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged a glance, then Ladybug rolled up on her tiptoes to whisper something into his ear. After a quick discussion, they seemed to reach a consensus.

"There's not going to be much of a battle, hopefully," Ladybug said slowly. "I mean, I'm going to restrain him as soon as he gets into the room- or as soon as I get into the room, I don't think we've decided which way we're doing it yet."

"I'd say have the detective give him a made-up story first," Chat Noir suggested. "Then he'll be more relaxed."

"Right. But Mayura is still a wild card. So maybe keep the Miraculous and Trixx will let you know if we need help. If things go smoothly, we'll let you know when you can make your post about Hawkmoth's identity," Ladybug told her. "You might want to have that ready to go as soon as we contact you. I'd be surprised if the police don't make the announcement as soon as they can, so you'll want to beat them."

Alya nodded. "Already written and formatted. I just have it in my drafts and set on private posting right now, just to be safe."

"Good." Ladybug smiled. "We'll be in touch, Alya! Have a good rest of your evening."

"I'll try," Alya said wryly, trying not to think about how Adrien's life was soon going to be uprooted. "I'll try."

  "I can't believe we're hanging out this morning. This morning, of all times!"

"Well, it's our last chance to do it normally." Nino squeezed her hand. "D'you think you can manage to act normal for a bit?"

Alya winced. Honestly, after hearing what she had the previous day about Adrien's mom? She might have to refrain from talking to Adrien too much until after everything came out.

"And speaking of normal- or not so much," Nino murmured all of a sudden, shaking Alya's arm. "I know Adrien and Marinette were getting closer- well, you've missed most of that, actually, since you've been so busy- but look at them!"

Alya's head shot up. Her two other friends were headed down the street together, Marinette's arm wrapped around Adrien's. Their heads were close together as they talked, and Alya couldn't deny it- they looked a lot closer than they had been even only a couple weeks before. She wanted to squeal with glee- if they weren't dating now, they were definitely close- but at the same time, she couldn't deny the tendril of dread that curled around her heart.

She wanted Adrien and Marinette to be together, of course. Marinette had had a crush on him for so long, and they would be adorable together. But now?

Adrien would be going through the hardest part of his life soon, and there was no way that he'd actually be in a state of mind to be a good boyfriend during that time. They might be able to weather it if they were in an established relationship, but with a barely-started one?

Alya didn't want their relationship to crash and burn before it had even gotten a proper chance.

"Okay, but at least Marinette will be amazing at supporting him," Nino pointed out, almost as though he were reading Alya's mind. "And if they aren't dating this morning, what are the chances that they'll be able to start before everything? I mean, there's two hours before he goes in to the station. There'll only be, what? Thirty minutes max before he gets arrested?"

"I wish we could warn him somehow before the news breaks, but there's no way." Alya frowned. "D'you suppose I should try to contact Ladybug and Chat Noir and ask...?"

"They're pretty compassionate, Alya. I'd be super surprised if they haven't already come up with a plan." Nino squeezed her arm reassuringly. "I bet that the police are planning to send someone to talk to Adrien before they let you know that you can post the video."

"I hope so."

"Someone sure looks serious today," Marinette called, and Nino and Alya hastily broke apart."Did someone rain on your parade?"

It certainly felt like a dark stormcloud was overhead, just waiting to burst, but Alya couldn't say that. Instead, she forced a smile. "We were just discussing having to babysit the twins and Chris later this week. They don't exactly get along well."

Marinette made a face at that. "Ugh. Yeah, I can see where they might clash a little. But- oh! Do you know who Chris would probably love? Max! He's big on all of the 'big kid stuff', as Chris calls it."

Nino grinned. "Oh, you are absolutely right. I'll text Max about that and see if he's even interested in spending a bit of time with Chris."

Alya had thought that the anticipation would make the morning absolutely creep by. She wasn't wrong- but anticipation wasn't the only thing making it go so slowly.

It was worry, it was concern, it was the nagging feeling that maybe she should say something to Marinette and suggest that she and Adrien hold off on dating, if they hadn't already started.

Surely they would have said something if they had decided to start dating in the world's absolute worse sense of timing? Alya thought they would, but then again Adrien and Marinette were clearly super close now, far more than they had been even a week earlier. Right now, Adrien was sitting with his head pillowed in Marinette's lap, looking thoroughly content as Marinette ran her fingers through his hair. Earlier, they had seemed practically glued together at the hip. It was clear couple behavior, and it was making Alya nervous.

And then at the end of their little friend get-together, the two of them left together. Alya peered after them and spotted their interlaced hands.

That was not good.

"Don't worry too much about it, babe," Nino told her. "Marinette's smart, she'll understand that Adrien won't be feeling his normal self for a bit and she won't judge him for it. And maybe they'll even be together when the police find him. It'll be good for him to have someone actually supportive around when he gets the news."

Alya couldn't help but worry about it. She worried about it while she ate lunch (read: played with her food). She worried about it while she washed up their dishes (read: ran the dishes absently under water and waved the sponge vaguely in their direction). And she especially worried about it as she got everything set up in her room, ready for Ladybug's message.

The clock ticked forward. Alya watched as it reached twelve-thirty, then twelve thirty-five, twelve forty, twelve forty-five...

Surely the superheroes had taken Hawkmoth's Miraculous by now. Alya pulled up a news feed from Paris, nervous that something had gone wrong.

Ugh. She would have much preferred being there herself.

Twelve forty-seven. Twelve forty-eight.

"They likely have to find and inform Adrien first," Trixx reminded her. "I'm not feeling any signs of distress from Plagg or Tikki."

Twelve forty-nine. Twelve fifty-

Alya's phone dinged with a message. She grabbed for it.

Ladybug: Hawkmoth and Mayura in custody. Go ahead and post, then come down to the police station ASAP. They'll be making an official announcement at 1:15.

Alya grinned, reaching for her computer. After one last check- the post time would be correct, the post would be public, not private, and it would sent out an alert to all of her subscribers just like the live akuma streams always did- Alya hit post. The page refreshed and there it was, right at the top of the page.

Hawkmoth's Identity Revealed!

  Ladyblog Live Stream: Paris police announce the capture of Hawkmoth and Mayura; Ladybug and Chat Noir victorious!

"Today, at twelve thirty, Paris police called Gabriel Agreste in for questioning. At twelve forty-one, we made an arrest, and his Miraculous was confiscated. At twelve forty-five, we determined Mayura's identity to be Nathalie Sancoeur and arrested her several minutes later. At this moment, Ladybug and Chat Noir are searching the mansion, trying to locate the Peacock Miraculous."

"How did you discover his identity?"

"We were presented with a video put together by the Ladyblog that showed Hawkmoth detransforming on Heroes Day. Without the Ladyblogger's efforts to go through all of the footage from the akuma attacks, we would have been unable to make this breakthrough. She presented the video to the superheroes a couple weeks ago and then they brought it to us so that we could collaborate on our strategy to take him down. We wanted to avoid a battle as to avoid unnecessarily endangering our superheroes and the citizens of Paris, so we called him in using a cover story that we had found a lead on his wife, Emilie Agreste's, disappearance. It was an effective strategy, and there was very little struggle."

"And Mayura? How did you find out who she was?"

"Gabriel Agreste told us, though not intentionally. He called out her names while caught off guard when Ladybug restrained him. Police waiting close to the house had no trouble getting in and arresting her as well."

"Are there more suspected collaborators?"

"Not at the moment, though we are keeping the possibility in mind."

"How did Mr. Agreste get his hands on the Miraculous?"

"We don't know that. It will certainly be part of our investigation. That is all the information that we have at this time."

  Three Months Later

Alya couldn't help but grin as she looked around her room. Clipped articles hung from her walls, chronicling the crazy, crazy journey that she had been on ever since she discovered Hawkmoth's identity. Her classmates had helped her collect every article that had been written about the arrests and all of the subsequent investigations, and now they papered her walls.

Ladyblog Breaks the Case! read one, featured predominantly. Below was a still from her famous video, with Gabriel Agreste headed down the stairs of the Eiffel Tower. The article was one that she had memorized, and in particular the section with the interview that Ladybug and Chat Noir had given the city's reporters. They had given her full credit for figuring out who Hawkmoth was, and even for giving them the idea to collaborate with the police.

Her blog had gotten a huge spike in attention when she posted the video unveiling Hawkmoth. It had gotten an even bigger spike after that, with everyone who heard the interview curious about what other work Alya had done. She had had to resist the urge to go back and edit all of her early articles, the ones that had included a whole lot of inaccurate speculation and fangirling. Those hadn't been great reporting at all, but in the end Alya let them be, as an example of how much her work had improved over the past months.

She had, however, gone back and switched the page with Lila's "interview" to private, keeping the footage as a just-in-case but not wanting to keep that train wreck of lies up.

(That particular investigation of hers had ended up having a newspaper article of its own, since the news that a collège student had skipped several months of school by lying to both school and her mom about her whereabouts was pretty insane. Mylène was the one who had spotted the article, which didn't mention the student by name but did say that the student would be attending a school for troubled youth in the fall rather than going back to their previous school. That was probably for the better, because, well, none of Lila's former classmates had been particularly thrilled about being duped for so long.)

Alya moved her attention on to the next section of wall. There had been a whole slew of discoveries right after the arrests- a book about the Miraculous, a cursed Miraculous pin, scrolls in some strange code, Hawkmoth's lair (armed with a crazy amount of weapons), and notes about combining the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous. And then, right after that-

EMILIE AGRESTE FOUND- ALIVE, CURSED, ASLEEP

-Adrien's mother had been found under the mansion, sealed away in a glass coffin. Ladybug and Chat Noir had taken her, the cursed Miraculous (and Hawkmoth's Miraculous), the book, and all of the scrolls to an undisclosed location. Two weeks later, Emilie Agreste had showed up in the hospital, tired and weak but awake and alive. Adrien had been thrilled, and doubly so when the superheroes and the police announced that Mrs. Agreste wasn't guilty of any wrongdoing and was free to resume her life. Mrs. Agreste had largely kept to herself after her return, preferring to stay in the mansion rather than going out, but Adrien had said that that was because she was still recovering from being in a coma for so long- she got tired very easily- and she didn't want to be harassed by reporters searching for an interview.

Alya had only met her once, and briefly. Marinette, who spent a ton of time in the Agreste manor (even though she claimed that she and Adrien weren't dating yet), said that Mrs. Agreste was a perfectly lovely if perhaps very nervous woman.

(Once, Alya had asked if she was good mother-in-law material. Marinette had turned bright red and said nothing, which- well, Alya could tease, but she wasn't going to push. Not yet, anyway.)

Smiling at the memory, Alya continued running her finger down the wall. Under the batch of articles about Mrs. Agreste's discovery, recovery, and innocence from the Hawkmoth mess was another headline, this one smaller.

No Further Suspects in Hawkmoth Case

According to Adrien, absolutely everyone in the household had been questioned, including him. He had been pretty quiet for several days after that, and Alya suspected that he had been shaken by whatever interrogation that the police put him through. He had been taken out of the mansion by child services during the questioning and subsequent searches, which hadn't helped at all. Thankfully Ms. Bustier had stepped in at once, taking Adrien in until his mom was released from the hospital.

All the questioning ended up producing was false leads that petered out, and a few small charges against the people who had created the system to get up to the lair and down to Mrs. Agreste's cavern but hadn't mentioned it as anything out of the ordinary and worth looking into at any point, but no one else who had worked directly with Hawkmoth or known about his secret identity. Adrien's bodyguard came up clean, which both Adrien and his mom seemed relieved about.

Thankfully Adrien didn't seem to hold any hard feelings towards Alya for being the one to find out about his father. She had worried about that after he was questioned, since she had seen him talking to Marinette but not her, but Nino had assured her that Adrien wasn't really talking to anyone else, either. After a few days, though, he was mostly back to normal.

Trial for Gabriel Agreste Starting Today: What to Expect

The trial went on for several weeks, and as the person who had found the video evidence, Alya had to go in. Much to Alya's delight, Rena Rouge had been called in as well for one last hurrah, testifying in front of the jury about what she had overheard when the police called the manor. Saying good-bye to Trixx after that had been hard, because she really, really doubted that she would get the Miraculous back again. There wasn't a need for it to be out and, as they had just seen, it was dangerous for too many Miraculous to be out and about in case someone was trying to find them.

She would be fine, though. Being a superhero had been cool, but she was being taken seriously as a reporter now, and that was super-cool, too.

GUILTY! Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur Both Sentenced

Hawkmoth and Mayura Behind Bars For Good

The End of Terror in Paris: Hawkmoth Trial Ends with Guilty on All Counts

There had been celebrations in the streets that night, and the balloons for all of the city's superheroes had flown again. Alya rather suspected that the mayor had something to do with that, since only Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Rena Rouge had been directly involved with Hawkmoth's defeat, but she wasn't going to complain. After all, her boyfriend's balloon got to be part of the parade, too. Alya and Nino had been in the thick of the celebrations, and so many people had gone up to her to thank her for her role in discovering Hawkmoth's identity and get a photo with her.

Alya was pretty certain that she had blushed for the entire evening. It had been a bit overwhelming for sure, but hardly in a bad way. The superheroes had dropped in partway through to pose for pictures with her, and the photos had ended up on the front page of the newspaper the next day.

And now...

"Alya, are you coming? We need to leave soon!"

"I'm almost ready!" Alya called back, smoothing down her dress for the awards ceremony. She checked her reflection in the mirror- the dress fit her to perfection, thanks to Marinette's tailoring skills- before returning her attention to the final clipping, one that she had only just put up that morning.

Paris's Ladyblogger to Receive Young Journalist of the Year Award

"Alya!"

"Coming!" Alya called back. With one last look at her wall, she headed out the door, smiling to herself. The past few months had been pretty crazy, but honestly?

She wouldn't change it for anything.