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Maidens of the Shinbutsu Bunri 神仏分離の乙女たち
Side story for #Konbini Idol
•───⋅☾Tomo POV☽⋅───•
I looked up from my reading and looked across the kotatsu at Ume, a cigarette dangling from her mouth. She was staring off into space with the blanket pulled up under her chin. Despite all the work I had put in, the old house she'd inherited was still drafty. "My time would be better spent fixing this house rather than studying this. Whatever #glamour being a Shinto priest had had was long gone.”
Ume paid no attention to my comment, so I kicked her under the table. "It bores you too, does it?" I read a random line to make my point:
"While intended to clarify religious categories, the process often disrupted long-standing community traditions and produced lasting administrative complexities, #pitching formerly cooperative organizations into conflict."
I continued, "Why do we need to learn about this?" and read the chapter's opening line. "The formal separation of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan, known as shinbutsu bunri, was implemented during the early Meiji period as part of broader state reforms."
“I don’t know, but it’s kind of interesting,” Ume said.
Somewhere deeper in the house, I heard Shishi say, "Because Sensei assigned it to you."
She had that right. If Mikito hadn’t assigned it to us, there's no way I would've read this stuff.
I kicked Ume again and asked, "If it's so interesting, why are you staring into space?"
“I was imagining a Buddhist nun and a shrine maiden separated by reformers. It would make a good yuri story, and I think my publishers would pick it up as a one-shot. I’ll call it The Maidens of Shinbutsu Bunri.”
I was proud of myself. I didn't throw the book at her.
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Maidens of the Shinbutsu Bunri 神仏分離の乙女たち
Side story for #Konbini Idol
•───⋅☾Tomo POV☽⋅───•
I looked up from my reading and looked across the kotatsu at Ume, a cigarette dangling from her mouth. She was staring off into space with the blanket pulled up under her chin. Despite all the work I had put in, the old house she'd inherited was still drafty. "My time would be better spent fixing this house rather than studying this. Whatever #glamour being a Shinto priest had had was long gone.”
Ume paid no attention to my comment, so I kicked her under the table. "It bores you too, does it?" I read a random line to make my point:
"While intended to clarify religious categories, the process often disrupted long-standing community traditions and produced lasting administrative complexities, #pitching formerly cooperative organizations into conflict."
I continued, "Why do we need to learn about this?" and read the chapter's opening line. "The formal separation of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan, known as shinbutsu bunri, was implemented during the early Meiji period as part of broader state reforms."
“I don’t know, but it’s kind of interesting,” Ume said.
Somewhere deeper in the house, I heard Shishi say, "Because Sensei assigned it to you."
She had that right. If Mikito hadn’t assigned it to us, there's no way I would've read this stuff.
I kicked Ume again and asked, "If it's so interesting, why are you staring into space?"
“I was imagining a Buddhist nun and a shrine maiden separated by reformers. It would make a good yuri story, and I think my publishers would pick it up as a one-shot. I’ll call it The Maidens of Shinbutsu Bunri.”
I was proud of myself. I didn't throw the book at her.
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Former Bellator Star Keith Lee Wins Creator of the Year at Inaugural TikTok Awards
Keith Lee Credit: Bellator MMA It’s been a long and frankly exciting road to stardom for Keith Lee,…
#NewsBeep #News #MMA #AU #Australia #Bellator #ConorMcGregor #Fighting #gsp #invicta #JonJones #lfa #MartialArts #MixedMartialArts #ONEChampionship #onefc #pfl #rizin #rondarousey #sports #titanfc #UFC #wsof
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/359486/ -
"Witch of the Gathering Wood, I am present to tell my story, if ye would hear it," the young treant was trying to be formal, but sounded like a broken calliope.
"Talk straight, creature. I don't have time to suss out your attempt at fluff speak," Minervie was definitely thinking of this creature as useful potion ingredients at this point.
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"Witch of the Gathering Wood, I am present to tell my story, if ye would hear it," the young treant was trying to be formal, but sounded like a broken calliope.
"Talk straight, creature. I don't have time to suss out your attempt at fluff speak," Minervie was definitely thinking of this creature as useful potion ingredients at this point.
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If I see a lot of calls towards a rare station bd8ccu, is there a simple / quick way to check if my station did hear that dx station?
A grep or ctrl-f filter to show all my decodes on that station.
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🎺 🇺🇸
Per #WSJ
Dozens of Jeffrey #Epstein victims’ names have been exposed in documents that were recently made public by #congress setting off a legal #dispute about the #JusticeDepartment’s plans to release more materials about the late sex offender.
Lawyers for the women have asked two #FederalJudges who oversaw the prosecutions of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to ensure that the victims’ privacy is protected in any additional document releases by the Justice Department. -
@hischeekiness we have a surplus of tetrapak at home, and in trying to find a reuse for them I found intaglio.
I hope to get to a point of having our yp have a go at it, although more experiments needed first.
#WSJ26 - we are lucky enough to have had several yp from our district selected to go (incl. our eldest) so we are talking about it a lot at home. Very exciting! -
@hischeekiness we have a surplus of tetrapak at home, and in trying to find a reuse for them I found intaglio.
I hope to get to a point of having our yp have a go at it, although more experiments needed first.
#WSJ26 - we are lucky enough to have had several yp from our district selected to go (incl. our eldest) so we are talking about it a lot at home. Very exciting! -
@hischeekiness we have a surplus of tetrapak at home, and in trying to find a reuse for them I found intaglio.
I hope to get to a point of having our yp have a go at it, although more experiments needed first.
#WSJ26 - we are lucky enough to have had several yp from our district selected to go (incl. our eldest) so we are talking about it a lot at home. Very exciting! -
@hischeekiness we have a surplus of tetrapak at home, and in trying to find a reuse for them I found intaglio.
I hope to get to a point of having our yp have a go at it, although more experiments needed first.
#WSJ26 - we are lucky enough to have had several yp from our district selected to go (incl. our eldest) so we are talking about it a lot at home. Very exciting! -
@hischeekiness we have a surplus of tetrapak at home, and in trying to find a reuse for them I found intaglio.
I hope to get to a point of having our yp have a go at it, although more experiments needed first.
#WSJ26 - we are lucky enough to have had several yp from our district selected to go (incl. our eldest) so we are talking about it a lot at home. Very exciting! -
Lack of recognition means Jeff has never been here before. More importantly, it means he's never been never been chased out of this place. Perfect, just enough time to clean up before docking and ending this journey.
First order of business is a protein pack followed by fluids. Forgetting that will lead to a really, really bad hangover right around the time of docking. Nobody's going to come around reminding the cargo to take care of themselves to avoid sleep sickness.
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🚨 Breaking news: In an astonishing turn of events, #WSJ bravely reviews... absolutely nothing! 🤯 Get ready to dive into a gripping tale of missing pages and endless dropdown menus. 🖱️✨ Can't find what you seek? No worries, neither can they! 😂📄
https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/killing-the-dead-review-watch-the-graveyard-f54e14f4 #BreakingNews #Review #MissingPages #DropdownMenus #Humor #HackerNews #ngated -
Mating of the Deer and Fox (Part 2: Fox)
Soon, he had lit a fire and started roasting a hare over it. Wrapped in wet leaves and buried under the coals, the mushrooms cooked with wild onions. When they were done, they ate the fare seasoned with salt from a #stash in his pack. Besides a simple compliment and equally simple acknowledgment, they ate in silence—he out of habit, and she out of deference.
Food finished, the Shaw broke the silence. “I’ll show you the way to your village tomorrow. You may keep my cloak tonight; it will be cold.”
“Omnit thanks you. But aren’t you afraid my kin will find and kill you?”
“Aren’t you afraid of being alone in the #wilderness with an oathless Shaw? And to answer your question, no. I will have faded away long before they arrive. Your people make a rutting bear sound quiet.”
“Oh,” she said, silent for a moment. “I’m not afraid of being alone with you anymore. You’re the gentlest man I’ve ever met.”
“Your husband? Father? Brothers?”
“Brutes. They brought us here to settle. I’ve seen what they do to the Shaws they capture. They say it’s their just desserts. As for me, I must do as I am told.”
The man pulled a sour face but didn’t comment.
“It will be cold tonight, and you’ve given me your cloak. I could share it with you.” The woman’s voice was soft again, and her eyes were cast down.
“Your husband?” he asked.
“Arranged.” Her voice was barely audible. “A rutting bear.” Then, looking up, she bit her lip and added in a rush, “For once I’d like to know what it’s like to be with someone gentle.”
When the night fell silent and the woman slept, the Shaw looked up at the stars, tracing Sister Canin among them. He wondered whether his mother’s words were true. Did Canin’s blood run through his veins, however diluted it had become over the ages?
He touched the fox’s tail braided in his hair and thought, “If not literally, then figuratively.”
Rolling over, he traced the flank of the “Deer” woman next to him. He thought sadly, “The deer and fox were not meant to mate. I hope she will be okay. And if the seed takes root, I wish the same for it.”
Then he too drifted off.
They ate in silence the next morning, he from habit, and she lost in memory. When they reached the trail to her village, he bid her stay a moment.
He took a shawl from his pack and said, “It was my mother’s. It’s all I have to give you.”
“But…” she began, but he silenced her with a finger.
“The nameless do not need such things. Keep it and remember that there are gentle things in the world. She was gentle, and so are you.” Before she could protest further, he turned and disappeared.
Note 1: #FanFiction for a yet-to-be-published book, “Soul Fire” by Jesse Sprague.
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Mother turns child in after video of boy being forced to undress at gun point posted
CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) — A video circulating on social media showing a boy being forced to take…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #BreakingNews #BeachHighSchool #ChathamCounty #gunpoint #Headlines #RichardColeman #SocialMedia #Topstories #TopStories #WSAV
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/211140/ -
Paramount+ To Become Exclusive Home Of Zuffa Boxing Beginning In 2026
Dana White, UFC 319 post-fight Credit: Eddie Law/Cageside Press Paramount and TKO Group Holdings have struck a long-term…
#NewsBeep #News #Boxing #AU #Australia #Bellator #ConorMcGregor #Fighting #gsp #invicta #JonJones #lfa #MartialArts #MixedMartialArts #MMA #ONEChampionship #onefc #pfl #rizin #rondarousey #sports #titanfc #UFC #wsof
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/178227/ -
The whole assembly uses 8 of these little custom LED numeral PCBs: PCB size is only 23.2x22mm, featuring 3 numerals, 8 #WS2811 chips with 3 LED driver outputs each, which can be controlled similarly to a Neopixel: with a single pin from for example an ESP or a RaspberryPi Pico, you can provide a datastream providing the settings for the 3 outputs. Each chip takes the first 3 settings it receives and forwards the rest, so you can put them all in series.
The PCB itself has only 4 connections to the main PCB: +5V, GND and data in+out. These connections double as mechanical support. -
Confession of a Yandere
#RegardingSaekiSayaka #BloomIntoYou #FanFiction
“You’re pale as a ghost; what’s wrong?” Saeki asked. The others looked on with sympathy but respectfully remained silent.
“That table… next to the counter. Do you see the girls?” Arisu asked.
“The tanned, athletic-looking girl sitting across from the one with a #rumpled blouse and thick glasses?”
“Yeah, you don’t recognize them?”
“No, should I? They’re not the bullies who were giving you trouble, are they?” Saeki looked from Arisu to her friends. “We had problems with some of Arisu’s ex-friends giving her a hard time. Do you know Ariu Aki? I thought she had scared them off.”
“No, they’re not the bullies. I am.” Arisu bit her lip, her eyes darting between her three companions.
“I don’t understand. You’d never be a bully.” Saeki said.
“There must have been a good reason,” Yuu added.
Only Touko accepted Arisu’s statement at face value. She remembered being bullied when they first met. But that hadn’t gone beyond nasty snark, hardly something that justified Arisu’s current melodrama.
“That’s Edamoto Haru and her girlfriend,” Arisu said, her voice #stiff, so low, that Saeki had to lean in to hear her.
“Right, you said Haru was ‘supposed’ to be my girlfriend.” Touko and Yuu gave Saeki questioning looks. For the moment at least, Saeki didn’t seem to realize how odd she sounded.
“You don’t understand,” Arisu said. “You only saw the time I told you she was cursed. There was more. Things you didn’t see.”
Only Yuu noticed Arisu's knuckles turning white as she twisted her clenched fingers in anguish.
Saeki resumed, “I told you it was all right. I love you and can’t imagine being in love with someone else. I’ve never even talked to Haru, and she isn’t my type. Athletic, she looks like she runs everywhere. So, I’m glad you disrupted this universe. I love only you.” It wasn’t the odd statement that brought a rose tint to Saeki’s face; it was the word “love.” It was so embarrassing to say, even in front of her two oldest friends.
Arisu gave her a weak smile. “It’s not that—I… I… bullied Haru. She must hate me. I told her to stay away from you, slipped nasty letters into her locker, even made creepy phone calls to her house.” She closed her eyes and blurted out, “I spread rumors about her, hoping they’d reach you—dreadful things. I called her a yariman—a filthy slut, a whore—I—I even considered poisoning her.”
“But you didn’t,” Saeki said gently. “I know you feel guilty about it. You’ve grown so much.”
“No, I haven’t! I might do it again if you liked someone more than me.”
“You wouldn’t.” Yuu quietly joined the discussion. “I know for two reasons. First, Saeki-san would hate that. Second, you’re beating yourself up about what you did. Not like someone who apologizes and then does it again, but like someone who has turned themselves around and hates how they once were. What do you think, Touko?”
3 of 6
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Confession of a Yandere
#RegardingSaekiSayaka #BloomIntoYou #FanFiction
“You’re pale as a ghost; what’s wrong?” Saeki asked. The others looked on with sympathy but respectfully remained silent.
“That table… next to the counter. Do you see the girls?” Arisu asked.
“The tanned, athletic-looking girl sitting across from the one with a #rumpled blouse and thick glasses?”
“Yeah, you don’t recognize them?”
“No, should I? They’re not the bullies who were giving you trouble, are they?” Saeki looked from Arisu to her friends. “We had problems with some of Arisu’s ex-friends giving her a hard time. Do you know Ariu Aki? I thought she had scared them off.”
“No, they’re not the bullies. I am.” Arisu bit her lip, her eyes darting between her three companions.
“I don’t understand. You’d never be a bully.” Saeki said.
“There must have been a good reason,” Yuu added.
Only Touko accepted Arisu’s statement at face value. She remembered being bullied when they first met. But that hadn’t gone beyond nasty snark, hardly something that justified Arisu’s current melodrama.
“That’s Edamoto Haru and her girlfriend,” Arisu said, her voice #stiff, so low, that Saeki had to lean in to hear her.
“Right, you said Haru was ‘supposed’ to be my girlfriend.” Touko and Yuu gave Saeki questioning looks. For the moment at least, Saeki didn’t seem to realize how odd she sounded.
“You don’t understand,” Arisu said. “You only saw the time I told you she was cursed. There was more. Things you didn’t see.”
Only Yuu noticed Arisu's knuckles turning white as she twisted her clenched fingers in anguish.
Saeki resumed, “I told you it was all right. I love you and can’t imagine being in love with someone else. I’ve never even talked to Haru, and she isn’t my type. Athletic, she looks like she runs everywhere. So, I’m glad you disrupted this universe. I love only you.” It wasn’t the odd statement that brought a rose tint to Saeki’s face; it was the word “love.” It was so embarrassing to say, even in front of her two oldest friends.
Arisu gave her a weak smile. “It’s not that—I… I… bullied Haru. She must hate me. I told her to stay away from you, slipped nasty letters into her locker, even made creepy phone calls to her house.” She closed her eyes and blurted out, “I spread rumors about her, hoping they’d reach you—dreadful things. I called her a yariman—a filthy slut, a whore—I—I even considered poisoning her.”
“But you didn’t,” Saeki said gently. “I know you feel guilty about it. You’ve grown so much.”
“No, I haven’t! I might do it again if you liked someone more than me.”
“You wouldn’t.” Yuu quietly joined the discussion. “I know for two reasons. First, Saeki-san would hate that. Second, you’re beating yourself up about what you did. Not like someone who apologizes and then does it again, but like someone who has turned themselves around and hates how they once were. What do you think, Touko?”
3 of 6
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Confession of a Yandere
#RegardingSaekiSayaka #BloomIntoYou #FanFiction
“You’re pale as a ghost; what’s wrong?” Saeki asked. The others looked on with sympathy but respectfully remained silent.
“That table… next to the counter. Do you see the girls?” Arisu asked.
“The tanned, athletic-looking girl sitting across from the one with a #rumpled blouse and thick glasses?”
“Yeah, you don’t recognize them?”
“No, should I? They’re not the bullies who were giving you trouble, are they?” Saeki looked from Arisu to her friends. “We had problems with some of Arisu’s ex-friends giving her a hard time. Do you know Ariu Aki? I thought she had scared them off.”
“No, they’re not the bullies. I am.” Arisu bit her lip, her eyes darting between her three companions.
“I don’t understand. You’d never be a bully.” Saeki said.
“There must have been a good reason,” Yuu added.
Only Touko accepted Arisu’s statement at face value. She remembered being bullied when they first met. But that hadn’t gone beyond nasty snark, hardly something that justified Arisu’s current melodrama.
“That’s Edamoto Haru and her girlfriend,” Arisu said, her voice #stiff, so low, that Saeki had to lean in to hear her.
“Right, you said Haru was ‘supposed’ to be my girlfriend.” Touko and Yuu gave Saeki questioning looks. For the moment at least, Saeki didn’t seem to realize how odd she sounded.
“You don’t understand,” Arisu said. “You only saw the time I told you she was cursed. There was more. Things you didn’t see.”
Only Yuu noticed Arisu's knuckles turning white as she twisted her clenched fingers in anguish.
Saeki resumed, “I told you it was all right. I love you and can’t imagine being in love with someone else. I’ve never even talked to Haru, and she isn’t my type. Athletic, she looks like she runs everywhere. So, I’m glad you disrupted this universe. I love only you.” It wasn’t the odd statement that brought a rose tint to Saeki’s face; it was the word “love.” It was so embarrassing to say, even in front of her two oldest friends.
Arisu gave her a weak smile. “It’s not that—I… I… bullied Haru. She must hate me. I told her to stay away from you, slipped nasty letters into her locker, even made creepy phone calls to her house.” She closed her eyes and blurted out, “I spread rumors about her, hoping they’d reach you—dreadful things. I called her a yariman—a filthy slut, a whore—I—I even considered poisoning her.”
“But you didn’t,” Saeki said gently. “I know you feel guilty about it. You’ve grown so much.”
“No, I haven’t! I might do it again if you liked someone more than me.”
“You wouldn’t.” Yuu quietly joined the discussion. “I know for two reasons. First, Saeki-san would hate that. Second, you’re beating yourself up about what you did. Not like someone who apologizes and then does it again, but like someone who has turned themselves around and hates how they once were. What do you think, Touko?”
3 of 6
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Confession of a Yandere
#RegardingSaekiSayaka #BloomIntoYou #FanFiction
“You’re pale as a ghost; what’s wrong?” Saeki asked. The others looked on with sympathy but respectfully remained silent.
“That table… next to the counter. Do you see the girls?” Arisu asked.
“The tanned, athletic-looking girl sitting across from the one with a #rumpled blouse and thick glasses?”
“Yeah, you don’t recognize them?”
“No, should I? They’re not the bullies who were giving you trouble, are they?” Saeki looked from Arisu to her friends. “We had problems with some of Arisu’s ex-friends giving her a hard time. Do you know Ariu Aki? I thought she had scared them off.”
“No, they’re not the bullies. I am.” Arisu bit her lip, her eyes darting between her three companions.
“I don’t understand. You’d never be a bully.” Saeki said.
“There must have been a good reason,” Yuu added.
Only Touko accepted Arisu’s statement at face value. She remembered being bullied when they first met. But that hadn’t gone beyond nasty snark, hardly something that justified Arisu’s current melodrama.
“That’s Edamoto Haru and her girlfriend,” Arisu said, her voice #stiff, so low, that Saeki had to lean in to hear her.
“Right, you said Haru was ‘supposed’ to be my girlfriend.” Touko and Yuu gave Saeki questioning looks. For the moment at least, Saeki didn’t seem to realize how odd she sounded.
“You don’t understand,” Arisu said. “You only saw the time I told you she was cursed. There was more. Things you didn’t see.”
Only Yuu noticed Arisu's knuckles turning white as she twisted her clenched fingers in anguish.
Saeki resumed, “I told you it was all right. I love you and can’t imagine being in love with someone else. I’ve never even talked to Haru, and she isn’t my type. Athletic, she looks like she runs everywhere. So, I’m glad you disrupted this universe. I love only you.” It wasn’t the odd statement that brought a rose tint to Saeki’s face; it was the word “love.” It was so embarrassing to say, even in front of her two oldest friends.
Arisu gave her a weak smile. “It’s not that—I… I… bullied Haru. She must hate me. I told her to stay away from you, slipped nasty letters into her locker, even made creepy phone calls to her house.” She closed her eyes and blurted out, “I spread rumors about her, hoping they’d reach you—dreadful things. I called her a yariman—a filthy slut, a whore—I—I even considered poisoning her.”
“But you didn’t,” Saeki said gently. “I know you feel guilty about it. You’ve grown so much.”
“No, I haven’t! I might do it again if you liked someone more than me.”
“You wouldn’t.” Yuu quietly joined the discussion. “I know for two reasons. First, Saeki-san would hate that. Second, you’re beating yourself up about what you did. Not like someone who apologizes and then does it again, but like someone who has turned themselves around and hates how they once were. What do you think, Touko?”
3 of 6
-
Confession of a Yandere
#RegardingSaekiSayaka #BloomIntoYou #FanFiction
“You’re pale as a ghost; what’s wrong?” Saeki asked. The others looked on with sympathy but respectfully remained silent.
“That table… next to the counter. Do you see the girls?” Arisu asked.
“The tanned, athletic-looking girl sitting across from the one with a #rumpled blouse and thick glasses?”
“Yeah, you don’t recognize them?”
“No, should I? They’re not the bullies who were giving you trouble, are they?” Saeki looked from Arisu to her friends. “We had problems with some of Arisu’s ex-friends giving her a hard time. Do you know Ariu Aki? I thought she had scared them off.”
“No, they’re not the bullies. I am.” Arisu bit her lip, her eyes darting between her three companions.
“I don’t understand. You’d never be a bully.” Saeki said.
“There must have been a good reason,” Yuu added.
Only Touko accepted Arisu’s statement at face value. She remembered being bullied when they first met. But that hadn’t gone beyond nasty snark, hardly something that justified Arisu’s current melodrama.
“That’s Edamoto Haru and her girlfriend,” Arisu said, her voice #stiff, so low, that Saeki had to lean in to hear her.
“Right, you said Haru was ‘supposed’ to be my girlfriend.” Touko and Yuu gave Saeki questioning looks. For the moment at least, Saeki didn’t seem to realize how odd she sounded.
“You don’t understand,” Arisu said. “You only saw the time I told you she was cursed. There was more. Things you didn’t see.”
Only Yuu noticed Arisu's knuckles turning white as she twisted her clenched fingers in anguish.
Saeki resumed, “I told you it was all right. I love you and can’t imagine being in love with someone else. I’ve never even talked to Haru, and she isn’t my type. Athletic, she looks like she runs everywhere. So, I’m glad you disrupted this universe. I love only you.” It wasn’t the odd statement that brought a rose tint to Saeki’s face; it was the word “love.” It was so embarrassing to say, even in front of her two oldest friends.
Arisu gave her a weak smile. “It’s not that—I… I… bullied Haru. She must hate me. I told her to stay away from you, slipped nasty letters into her locker, even made creepy phone calls to her house.” She closed her eyes and blurted out, “I spread rumors about her, hoping they’d reach you—dreadful things. I called her a yariman—a filthy slut, a whore—I—I even considered poisoning her.”
“But you didn’t,” Saeki said gently. “I know you feel guilty about it. You’ve grown so much.”
“No, I haven’t! I might do it again if you liked someone more than me.”
“You wouldn’t.” Yuu quietly joined the discussion. “I know for two reasons. First, Saeki-san would hate that. Second, you’re beating yourself up about what you did. Not like someone who apologizes and then does it again, but like someone who has turned themselves around and hates how they once were. What do you think, Touko?”
3 of 6
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Chapter 12: Bat’s of Mercury
#FanFiction #OthersidePicnic #FateGear
Toriko and Sorawo were soon high in the rigging. Sorawo, bilge-green already, grew greener still watching Toriko swing fearlessly from the ropes.
“Don’t ye get enough danger with youkai?” Sorawo asked, a trace of pirate creeping into her speech.
The question slipped away as they turned their eyes outward. FATE GEAR was sailing low past Mercury at an incredible speed. The ship’s generators labored and throbbed, and steam leaked in thin whistles from escape valves.
Below were molten lakes of boiling metal. Volcanic spires smoked, belching ash that fell sizzling into the lakes or blew across the volcanic plains in mile-high drifts. Above the plains drifted ships and tangled cities suspended from gargantuan balloons.
As they watched, the ships turned toward the pirate vessel. Unless fate intervened, their pursuers would fall behind the shrieking comet FATE GEAR. But ahead, fate took shape in swarms of rubbery, bat-winged creatures rising from the valleys laying between smoking volcanoes. Their screeches shook the sails and set the bells chiming on their own.
“We must win through quickly,” Mina thundered. “The time has arrived when patience becomes a crime and mayhem appears garbed in the mantle of virtue.”
(“Heaven help us, she’s quoting Edgar Rice Burroughs now,”) the ship complained.
“You up thar,” Nana called. “Focus. If a Mergaunt so much as grazes us, we’ll go up like a Roman candle. If ye find thar mother, bring her down. Mergaunt’s be no worse than fruit flies after that.”
In the background, Mina, whipped into a fiery #lather, ranted—“‘We called ourselves Soldiers of Liberty…I was chosen captain,’ and I say, ‘Death, only—renders hope futile.’”—but the Otherside pair, like most of the crew, focused on their stations rather than her words. That changed when the whistles blew all at once in a deafening cacophony and Mina’s voice thundered through the amplifiers, “Twenty thousand savage throats arose with the awful cries of battle…eighty thousand fearsome pirates set the heavens atremble…”
The first Mergaunts came into range as the pirates issued their battle cry with one resounding voice:
Be invincible!
Don’t say “impossible!”
Trample the enemies of this world!
(Be invincible!, Fate Gear, 2022)Oi, oi, oi!
Note: Mergaunts: Bat-like creatures resembling night gaunts, from which they get their name. These hellish creatures inhabit the valleys of Mercury’s volcanic ranges. They are fire-resistant, and their mere touch will set earthly materials on fire. The Mergaunts possess little intelligence, instead relying on hive-mind and directions from a Mergaunt Mother. If their Mother is slain, they wander until they come into range of a new Mother. (“Bats of Mercury,” pg. 66, by Nara Moore.)
#TootFic #MicroFiction #Serial #NMPrompts #NMV366
#UraPi #Steampunk #Pirates #Satire #NMRTTFG #EdgarRiceBurroughs -
Today's poem:
In the Basilica of San Vitale
- by W.S. Di Pierohttps://www.tumblr.com/ukdamo/790867503125512192/in-the-basilica-of-san-vitale?source=share
#WSDiPiero #poetry #ravenna #basilica #SanVitale #prayer #humanity #vergence
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Today's poem:
In the Basilica of San Vitale
- by W.S. Di Pierohttps://www.tumblr.com/ukdamo/790867503125512192/in-the-basilica-of-san-vitale?source=share
#WSDiPiero #poetry #ravenna #basilica #SanVitale #prayer #humanity #vergence
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#WSJ - 15% The decrease in the number of #job postings to #entrylevel job-search platform Handshake this school year compared with last year, while the number of applications per job rose 30%. Companies have long leaned on entry-level workers to do grunt work that doubles as on-the-job training. Now #AI can do a lot of that, jeopardizing an already precarious job #market for #college #graduates. #economy #trump #artificialintelligence #OpenAI #education #studentloans #debt
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Some observations on attending Business Meetings of the World Science Fiction Society #WSFS https://stevendbrewer.com/world-science-fiction-society-first-business-meeting/
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Some observations on attending Business Meetings of the World Science Fiction Society #WSFS https://stevendbrewer.com/world-science-fiction-society-first-business-meeting/
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Some observations on attending Business Meetings of the World Science Fiction Society #WSFS https://stevendbrewer.com/world-science-fiction-society-first-business-meeting/