The mirror questioned me one day:
“do you still notice your scars?”
I was taken aback,
didn’t expect to be talked to like that.
I think I knew the answer,
but what could I say?
I shrugged it off.
I knew they were gone anyway.
And you asked me once:
“what are those scars?”
Back then, I smiled and laughed,
told you they were old
and had nothing to do
with the way I was torn.
Over the years
I tried to forget what they meant,
it took even longer
to realize how deep they went.
Gemini Syndrome release new song "Broken Reflection"
Band: Gemini SyndromeSong: “Broken Reflection”Album: 3rd Degree – The RaisingRelease Date: October 15th, 2021Label: Century Media Records
Frontman Aaron Nordstrom said of it:
“‘Broken Reflection’ focuses on the concept of Indra’s net. Basically saying that every consciousness is a crystal in a net or web and they all reflect the reflections from all the other crystals. The thing about mirrors…
Why do I ponder the life story of some random extra that gets about a 500 word pov with an ambiguous ending that vaguely hints that he died but doesn’t actually say it?
Well, in other news. You see this guy?
His name is Sadao. He’s your average Chunin nobody who is totally in love with his next-door neighbor, Yumi. His friends make fun of him for his obvious crush on the single mom, but they’re secretly cheering him on and betting on when he’s going to finally ask her out. He likes sushi and cannot hold his liquor to save his life. Yumi thinks that’s cute. She also thinks it's adorable how well Sadao gets along with her two-year-old daughter, Ami.
Hey, I’m actually writing today! Wow, it’s been a long while. I just haven’t been motivated to write in the past couple of months. Still had lots of ideas, but every time I sat down to actually type, poof, motivation gone. In any case, I read some comments and got some motivation back the past couple of days. I honestly, can’t stress enough how amazing comments are in that regard.
Currently working on three things right now (yes ridiculous I know), Broken Reflection, For those who lost their way, and a new one for the Code Geass fandom cause I’ve been reading fics and rewatching episodes and they are giving me Emotions™. Broken Reflection will prob take the longest since I have a specific number count I like to reach with those chapters, but the other two should be out in the next couple of days.
Since Broken Reflection will take a bit longer...and it’s been a, uh, very long time since I updated...and I left you on a cliffhanger...wow, I’m a terrible person. Anyway, since Broken Reflection will take a bit longer I’m including a snippet of the chapter in this post. Keep in mind I’m still working on it, so it’s prob a bit rough and liable to change a bit when I post the full chapter.
The hands that held the cards were loose and uncertain allowing them to tilt in such a way that Naruto could see them. Gaara had no idea how to hold a hand of cards. Naruto glanced over the other boy's cards noting how he could have easily won...if he had any idea how to play. Even after Naruto’s explanation before they started.
Without the influence of a deranged biju clouding his thoughts, Gaara was left as an awkward thirteen year old who probably never had a positive conversation with someone his own age his entire life. Naruto watched as Gaara’s hands twitch minutely, too well trained as a shinobi to fully tremble, but it was definitely a close call.
He sighed and set down his own cards.
Gaara’s head jerked up from where he was frowning in confusion over his cards and slowly copied his movement.
“We don’t have to play if you don’t want too,” Naruto said softly, propping his cheek on his palm.
“I...uh…” Pale green eyes darted around as if searching for an answer that’ll please Naruto somewhere on the blank walls around them.
The room was typically used for questioning prisoners, but with Danzo’s permission, Naruto repurposed it to chat with Gaara. He glanced at the mirrored wall behind Gaara, wondering vaguely who was on the other side, monitoring this conversation. One of Danzo’s people? He was definitely the sort of person to have people who followed him. Maybe it was Sai.
(Dark eyes flashed through his mind briefly. Eyes so incredible blank they could have been painted on and Naruto probably wouldn’t know the difference.)
“I just...don’t really know…”
Naruto turned his attention back to the redhead.
“Know how to play?”
Gaara nodded hesitantly.
“You could have said something!” He smiled brightly, trying not to let it falter when Gaara shifted his eyes away from him once more, looking so incredibly small in the prisoner garb he had been given.
Writing Jiraiya is so hard. I think I made him a bit unlikeable, but at the same time he kind of was at first and he has his reasons for acting this way....bleh. Well, I’m getting through it. Slowly but surely.
Current Word Count: 2,365
Still gotta finish Jiraiya’s pov and have two others to start.
He’s only introduced briefly and has like two lines, but I am really excited about including Sai into Broken Reflection. I’ve mentioned a few time before that I haven’t really seen all of Shippuuden, but in the parts I have seen I’ve really adored Sai. His personality, his history, and his growth were really interesting and I think he’s going to fit in well in BR.
For all of Natsuki’s doubts and fears, he was actually pretty good at the whole human thing. Yes, he tended to be overwhelmed by emotions and he didn’t always know how to deal with them, but he started to understand them and understood why people acted the way they did. And he cared. He cared a lot, which led to his rejection of himself (viewing himself as a monster due to his past actions/thoughts) and leading to his more self sacrificing decisions to protect the people he cared about from external enemies and eventually his more selfish decision of leaving to protect himself from those same people he cared about. (His own refusal to accept himself, of course, plays into this. After all, if he thought he was a monster then surely ever one else would think that too, right?)
Sai, on the other hand, despite being human, is not very good at the human thing. He needs help even if he doesn’t realize it at first. He’s been suppressing his emotions so long and has had so little interaction with other people that he does not know even the basics of human relationships. He doesn’t even know why he can’t quite understand why people do the things they do because of Danzo firm grip on him.
They are character foils in their struggles with humanity. Natsuki struggling with suppressing his overwhelming emotions till they reach a breaking point and ultimately rejecting humanity in a way by leaving with monsters (Oro and Kabuto) while Sai has to learn to reconnect with the emotions he was taught to suppress.
One of the themes of BR is that humanity has an incredible amount of emotion crammed into our tiny bodies. These two really expand upon that theme showing both the good (Sai learning to connect with his emotions by coming to care for others) and the bad (Natsuki being swallowed by his negative emotions as he walks down a treacherous path) side of humans having that emotional capacity. This shows humanities complicated dance with emotions and how people handle them in different ways.
