#humanity is

[nightlight-stardust-and-rain]

Humanity is :

Getting your blood drawn for yearly checkup reasons and doing it with your little sister for She Needs A Checkup Too reasons. She goes first and sees after that you're a tiniest bit more freaked out than she is (ironically it's not the needle or the pain. You just hate stuff touching the inside of your elbows) and when the nurse (?) asks a question about your jacket, your little sister jumps on the occasion to start old familiar banter about it. You recognize you are being distracted and you love bantering with your sister anyway, so you gratefully take the invitation. She's so sweet sometimes.

[nightlight-stardust-and-rain]

Humanity is :

Finding a shirt the exact shade of red for your costume but being doubtful about the fit of the shoulders. The old lady who mans the stall comes to your aid in measuring, and pretty much orders you to take off your jacket ("sans vous commander." "trop tard." "tout en vous commandant."). She lays the shirt across your back to see if the shirt would fit your shoulders. It does. She keeps her hand on your hand as she and you chat with your dad. You love touchy old ladies.

[nightlight-stardust-and-rain]

Humanity is :

The good parts of today, because they are the only ones worth remembering.

You :

Got to wear your cool pants you spiced up yourself.

Got a compliment on your general style before even getting out of your village. The bus driver thought it was original and refreshing :)

Got also two unspecified but uncomplimentary comments from men in the street (you're not too fussed about not having understood a word they said) (the good part of this is that you didn't let it bother you and won the battle against social anxiety in the first place to wear the pants and boots out)

Got what you came here to get.

Got! To! See! Your! Friends!

Went to a cafe and spent like 2h30 yapping. You got lore on Cass' family now. Hope you're invited when they get married.

Think about making a shark themed crochet thing for Cass. She has a theme and you respect the hell out of it.

Missed the first train back but after reflection it was probably packed to hell. The next one wasn't.

Met two excellent strangers on the train and spent the ride talking. You have learned some bad details about one specific private school. Yikes. You do not know which school it is, but yikes anyway. They were both excellent company. You also got to brag about your university comrades who heavily contributed to your faith in humanity so, nice.

Having enthusiastic convos with strangers is cleansing to the soul.

6km on foot overall.

So tired good lords.

[nightlight-stardust-and-rain]

Humanity is :

À dream. My magic teacher had asked me to make up a spell for some purpose. Not like the actually spell part, more the concept. And I had a pretty good idea but then I wrote the first two words of one of my favorite songs which of course reminded me of it, and then the paper I was writing on began to sing said song. It was cool but also embarrassing, so I ran to my teacher. I think she was amused too, but then I remembered my dad was here and I had to show him the singing paper, it would surely make him laugh! And it did.

[nightlight-stardust-and-rain]

The weather fucked my hair up but I got to see dead leaves dancing and twilrling in the wind so who's the real winner here uh

[nightlight-stardust-and-rain]

Humanity is :

A very good aikido class. The thing is, at the level you're at, you should roll every time you're thrown. The other thing is, you've not been doing that. It's scary, for some reason. Last week, your teacher gently lectured you about it (you've been here for years, it's pretty noticeable). It gave you the kick to the ass you wanted and needed, and today you tried really hard to roll every time you were thrown. Which you did! And you are very proud of yourself! And also, at some point you showed off to Jul to show him you really were trying hard, and he was really pleased. He said that it was really satisfying when one's advice was actually listened to and followed. Lo (a teacher like Jul) said that it wasn't a feeling they got often. Making Jul happy is a very good side-effect.

[nightlight-stardust-and-rain]

Humanity is :

A - flea market? Too small to be a flea market...... A some-people-selling-stuff-mostly-clothes event. Your mother and sister find some cool stuff. One of the sellers call you he, and then she does it again (and then she calls you she, which is fine if a bit disheartening. It started out so well!). You find a kimono-looking thing that is not a kimono. The sort of flea market is right besides a bar-restaurant, so you go eat there. You and your mom and sister and dad all get different things, and then you spend the whole lunch swiping things off each other's plates, offering stuff to each other, and making bargains (offering part of your duck skewer in exchange for your sister's tomato was not worth it). You don't much like sauce so everyone else mops it off after you've finished eating (and also while you were eating). You don't steal (ask for) any of what's on your mother's plate because she's eating liver and that's a texture straight from hell. The sun is shining on the trees, making their leaves shine bright green.

All in all, a very good day.