#jayaverse

[unravelingwires]

Centaurs

My not-partner and I have spent a lot of time going back and forth on a centaur character she created for the series that shall not be named (due to unfortunate associations with the Queen of Terfs). Because of the centaur’s athlete nature, this has meant I have spent quite a lot of time trying to figure out how a centaur would ride a broom. If anyone else has better ideas, I’d be extremely excited to listen, but this is what I figure.

Any centaur broom would have to be reinforced to hold its weight, obviously, but I’d be more concerned about the aerodynamics of a full horse body on top of a stick of wood. Therefore, I’d argue that any centaur broom should have a full-body seat or harness that can be enchanted with the broom to avoid air resistance or friction. This would also mean the centaur wouldn’t have to be stooped over horribly to hold onto the broom, but the fact that it wouldn’t have to hold onto the broom to fly may give it an advantage in a sport like that which cannot be named (due to unfortunate associations with the Queen of Terfs). Past that, I wonder if a centaur galloping into a take off would be smoother or less smooth than a human jumping up off the ground.

No matter what, and despite my many issues with the concept, I don’t think it would be correct to ban centaurs entirely from the sport that shall not be named (due to unfortunate associations with the Queen of Terfs), as banning people for biological advantages seems backwards to me. The point of sports is seeing the limits of what the human body can do. To avoid having to image a centaur riding a broom for the rest of my life, I removed both brooms and centaurs from my schoolchildren-in-a-fascist-society book. Flying carpets and pegasi only, thank you very much.

[unravelingwires]

Naturalisms

“Alright, but I don’t have a baseline,” Anne said. “What happens when you use magic?”

“Magic is to the heart what one’s body is to their mind,” Jaya explained absentmindedly, still pouring over documents.

“That’s not true,” Lilith cut in. “That’s just what everyone says.”

“Magic is the only force we can wield that warps the mist,” Lara suggested.

“That explains nothing.” Anne smiled awkwardly.

“You can see the mist in gateways—I think nonmagical scientists call it spacetime? It’s the substance that vengeful stars break through.”

“Nonmagicals call those black holes,” Natalie said. “Anyways, I don’t think spacetime is quite the right concept seeing as a lot of magic just moves elements around. I mean, it can break through spacetime, but it doesn’t always.”

“So magic moves the mist?” Anne asked.

“Magic shapes the mist, but strictly speaking, it also is the mist,” Lara corrected. “It’s the part of the mist we can use—do you know how light is both a particle and a wave? Magic is just a wave.”

“I—okay, moving on from that.” Anne shook her head. Why are only some people magical?”

There was a pause. Lilith said, “That’s not perfectly understood. I believe magic is a gift from The Lady—” 

“That’s just a religious belief,” Lara interrupted. 

“I was about to say that,” Lilith snapped. “There’s no need to be snippy.”

“The way I see it,” Raine said, “asking why magic can change things is like asking why your hands doesn’t go through a book when you try to pick it up. The answer is ‘nature’s laws,’ and none of us can really understand the math.”

“There is an explanation,” Lara clarified. “We just haven’t completely finished finding it yet.”

“So nobody knows,” Anne said.

“Not really, no,” Lilith said wryly.

“Great, now that that’s settled,” Jaya sighed, “we have work to do?”

“We all agree Jaya’s explanation was bullshit, though, right?” asked Lilith.

“God dammit,” Jaya muttered.

[unravelingwires]

Propones

Witches don’t exchange engagement rings. They do, however, have moors, worn on the right hand and symbolizing loyalty and safe harbor. Traditionally, these are made from actually woven plant stems enchanted against decay, but in the modern day, these rings can be made from anything so long as their band looks like woven fibers.

Jaya has three moors. The first is for the Narayana family, a dull gold band. The second is for the Chel family, an heirloom with the noble crest bound by strings of bound water. The last is a representation of her sponsorship of Lilith, an extremely traditional weaving of grass dyed gold.

Max has one moor. It's a similar Chel family moor of bound water.

Lara has one moor, made from dragon marrow to symbolize the Ravenswoods. Aster has a similar one.

Ellie has one moor, a meticulously enchanted ring of overlapping flower petals collected by hand by her parents.

Lilith has two moors. One was woven from grass stems by her mothers, enchanted to remain bright green. The other is a ring of ice strands dyed green and bought by Jaya.

Natalie has no moors. She wears a simple black ring she bought when she was twelve to cover this up.

[unravelingwires]

Degarnished

Lara was stripping the ornaments off the balcony when Jaya walked up. Jaya snorted. “I get that this has to be a safe house, but it doesn’t need to look utilitarian.”

“If you could climb up to the window using these, so could someone else. I’m just minimizing the number of entrances.”

Jaya frowned. “What if we need a way out when escaping?”

Lara paused, rubbed her forehead, and started reattaching gargoyles.

[unravelingwires]

Subjected

“Laurena,” Maxine emerged in a swirl of silk, “how are you doing?”

Laurena smiled tightly as he kissed her hand. “Maxine. What are you doing here?”

“My mother is hosting a ball in another few weeks. I thought you’d like to be my date.”

Laurena ran a finger over the ring that had sat on her finger since childhood. She had no doubt it would be replaced by a proper engagement ring at the new ball. “Of course. I look forward to seeing you then.”

Maxine looked uncertain for a moment, clearly not certain if the dismissal was purposeful, before smiling. “Jaya is expecting me for some homework help. I should be off.”

“Pass on my regards.”

“Thank you; I will.”

[unravelingwires]

Sloshing

Jaya heard a crack. Something was wrong. The press of her mask was gone from her forehead, but she couldn’t see right on her left side, like something was blocking her vision. Jaya raised a hand to move whatever it was and felt jagged pieces of—her mask?—wet with—

Actually, there was something dripping down the side of her neck as well, soaking her uniform. Jaya held her hand up again to see what it was; her hand was red, and sticking with small cuts.

Her head erupted with uncentered pain. Jaya collapsed.

[unravelingwires]

Calipering

Dodge-block-right hook-step back-duck-block-dodge-rib pain-stumble-sidestep-punch-leg pain-fall.

Jaya grunted as she hit the floor, glaring for a moment before remembering herself.

“Don’t complain,” Eyre said. “You’re not trying.”

Jaya, halfway to her feet, frowned. “Yes, I am.”

“No, you’re not.” Eyre attacked again—a straight punch to the face, easy to avoid. She twisted her hand around Jaya’s deflecting arm, yanking Jaya’s shoulder forward. Before Jaya could relax back into the rhythm of fighting, Eyre said. “You think you are, but you’re still handicapping yourself.” As though in emphasis, Jaya felt pain bloom on her hip on her blind side. She stumbled back.

Jaya distinctly didn’t growl again, raising her fists. “I’m not handicapping myself. I got my face torn off!”

“Don’t exaggerate,” Eyre responded mildly, attacking again. “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about how you’re ignoring your own magic in favor of a cretin’s idea of sorcery.”

“Excuse me?” Jaya asked.

“You asked me to teach you. The fighting, you’re learning quickly. Your magical abilities are still waning.”

“And what would you know about magic?”

Jaya had just enough time to register pain in her ankle before she was on the floor, slamming onto her back. Eyre landed on Jaya, pressing her knee into Jaya’s chest and her hand against Jaya’s forehead.

Jaya froze as magic cut through her, connecting Eyre’s hand and knee through Jaya. “You are aware,” Eyre murmured, “most people, even those with magic, wouldn’t be able to feel that.”

Before Jaya could articulate a response, Eyre was on her feet and out the door.

[unravelingwires]

Frowsy

Jaya woke up at 8:30 am, after both her partners. Both of them were quiet enough to avoid waking her. A year ago, that wouldn’t have been possible.

Jaya went to the bathroom, changed, brushed her teeth. She lazily smoothed down her hair, tying it up without bothering to braid it. She put lotion on, then powder. Her old jewelry collection was boxed up in the corner, whilst Raine had just integrated her makeup with theirs. She tried to feel like she hadn’t just given up.

She went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, grabbed strawberry and blueberry yogurt. She dumped in oats, strawberries, bananas, honey, and a pinch of cinnamon. The tea pot was already full. There was a wet towel in the hamper, implying somebody had spilled the hot water, so the pot was probably filled by Anne. Jaya wrapped one hand around her thermos as she poured, remembering what her physical therapist told her about compensating for her lack of depth perception. She grabbed her bag, slipped on boots and a worn leather jacket, and headed out the door.

Jaya’s ankles ached by the time she got to the crossroads. She went through the gateway—Anne insisted on calling them teleporters—and had to walk to the orphanage. She was 21. She should not need an ankle brace to get to work.

Jaya was stopped before she could enter the building. Esther was practically bouncing on her feet, her hair flopping into her eyes. It was shaved on one side in a way her parents would have killed her for if they were still alive. She straightened, stilling as she saw Jaya. “Sorry, I’m just—very excited.”

“Oh, please, we went to school together. That feels like enough to leave the formalities behind.”

“Well, in that case, Ms—Vijaya, should we get started?”

Jaya began walking to her office. “Come on, let’s finish out the paperwork. Excuse me,” she flagged down one of the younger kids, “can you send Rosaline to my office? Thank you, dearest.”

The two of them had barely started filling out forms when Rosie walked in. The girl was generally quiet, but she grinned at her sister as she walked in, plopping down next to her. Esther immediately turned. “I set up your room and everything. Do you still want to buy furnishings today, or do you just want me to set up something generic?”

“I already told you I’d come shopping. You know, seeing you isn’t so exciting that I’m immediately exhausted.”

“Alright, excuse me—”

Jaya, not really wanting to interrupt, waved a pen vaguely. Esther saw, though, and snorted. “Alright, back to work. Where do I have to sign?”

The paperwork was completed as fast as possible, and the two left. Jaya smiled a little. Esther had been working towards adopting her sister for two years, fighting to claim her parents inheritance. Jaya hadn’t been able to do as much as she would have if the nobility were still in power, but she’d pointed Esther in the right direction and kept Rosie from being adopted.

Jaya walked out to the balcony to watch them leave. Rosie—the quiet, dignified teenager—was skipping next to her sister. There were other children in the garden, and the more adventurous ones turned to wave. When Jaya had first started working, many of the people she was housing felt like her peers. Now, all of them seemed like children to her.

Jaya leaned her elbows against the railing. Her top was rumpled from the way she’d been sitting. Her hair was escaping its tie. She couldn’t see her face, but she knew the scar across her eye was obvious even at a distance, even to the children.

Jaya smiled. She was so glad she’d gotten old enough to give up.