.shadow of men.

I am officially back off my hiatus and from my little trip to visit my parents. It was a great, relaxing trip that I desperately needed, only marred by a little bout of lactose intolerance-caused illness in the friend who came with me. And now I’m back safe and sound and ready to return to you all!

For all the amazing new folks, hi I’m Bree, she/her and they/them, and I play @adrianregele @xsofiya @sorchvs and @aleksvndcrs. I assume much has happened in a week, as is wont to be the case, so to recap real quick, here’s what my children were up to:

Adrian took his sweet time moving to Dubai. After he and his government finally ratified the legislation for Romania to leave Equanimity and join Confluence, there’s been… well, there’s been a lot of very loud opinions. Surprisingly, most Romanians have had a positive outlook towards this shift, with Adrian’s approval ratings rising from 37% all the way to 61%. So he’s very happy about that. However, opponents of his government have been shrieking their heads off about how terrible this move will be for Romania as a whole, how it will ruin their international relationships, etc. So Adrian took a little break for himself after finally pushing this big policy through successfully, and spent a week or so partying it up in Aruba.

Sofia was called back to Ukraine for a stint. Her father’s government is in a tizzy after their last Equanimity neighbor, Romania, left the alliance and joined Confluence. And he begged her to help come put out some fires that he doesn’t know how to handle. On top of that, her nonprofit is starting to sort their end-of-year fiscal reports, so she needed to take a break from hobnobbing with royals to do some actual work. Plus side: she didn’t have to see her sister. Minus side: literally everything else about it.

Sorcha was summoned home for some not-so-great reasons as well. Her little brother got himself into some extremely hot water, which her mother and the Scottish government were desperately running interference on. Sorcha is one of the only people her brother has any respect for, so her family hopped she would be able to talk some sense into him and help solve this crisis. (She mostly did, but her little bro is kind of a handful, moreso than her, so who knows how long that will last.) Unbeknownst to her, her mother also arranged for some dress fittings for her impending nuptials. Once Sorcha caught wind of this, the Scottish tabloids had another classic Mac Alistair feud to cover. She’s very happy to be leaving—there’s only so much yelling and screaming that can be done before your voice is wrecked. At least her mom got some more solid dress choices picked out...

Finally, Aleks chickened out on talking to Natasja just yet. Running into Rhiannon in Oslo freaked him out, so he did the only thing he knows how to do when he gets scared: run fast and far. Well, not too far. Just back to Iceland for some good old fashioned Icelandic Formula Offroading. He’s making his way to Dubai now, having “exorcised” the fear from himself in his favorite way possible. But he’s still super freaked by the prospect of actually having a conversation with Nat and probably seeing Rhi again.

Adrian is taking his sweet time moving to Dubai. After he and his government finally ratified the legislation for Romania to leave Equanimity and join Confluence, there’s been... well, there’s been a lot of very loud opinions. Surprisingly, most Romanians have had a positive outlook towards this shift, with Adrian’s approval ratings rising from 37% all the way to 61%. So he’s very happy about that. However, opponents of his government have been shrieking their heads off about how terrible this move will be for Romania as a whole, how it will ruin their international relationships, etc. So Adrian is taking a little break for himself after finally pushing this big policy through successfully, and is going to spend a week or so partying it up in Aruba. (If anyone else is in that area, he’ll be happy for the party company. ;) )

Sofia has been called back to Ukraine for a stint. Her father’s government is in a tizzy after their last Equanimity neighbor, Romania, left the alliance and joined Confluence. And he’s begging her to help come put out some fires that he doesn’t know how to handle. On top of that, her nonprofit is starting to sort their end-of-year fiscal reports, so she needs to take a break from hobnobbing with royals to do some actual work. Plus side: she doesn’t have to see her sister. Minus side: literally everything else about this.

Sorcha has been summoned home for some not-so-great reasons as well. Her little brother has gotten himself into some extremely hot water, which her mother and the Scottish government are desperately running interference on. Sorcha is one of the only people her brother has any respect for, so her family is hoping she will be able to talk some sense into him and help solve this crisis. Unbeknownst to her, her mother has also arranged for some dress fittings for her impending nuptials. Once Sorcha catches wind of this, you can be sure the Scottish tabloids are going to have another classic Mac Alistair feud to cover.

Finally, Aleks has chickened out on talking to Natasja just yet. Running into Rhiannon in Oslo freaked him out, so he did the only thing he knows how to do when he gets scared: run fast and far. Well, not too far. Just back to Iceland for some good old fashioned Icelandic Formula Offroading. He’ll make his way to Dubai in time, he just needs to “exorcise” the fear from himself in his favorite way possible.

Camille was unable to stop herself from rolling her eyes once she felt her tape measure get in touch with her shoulders. She stood up straight so looking him in the eyes would be easier. “And you had it with you for how long?”, she asked him as she raised her eyebrow at him.

Ever a child at heart, Adrian decided that he definitely wanted to be entertained. Dear Camille was a good sport, and he never pushed it so far as to make her refuse to work with him again. “Oh, only for about five minutes. Maybe ten? I lost track. It’s fun to play with.” With a flick, he released the bulk of the tape measure so that it unraveled to the floor. “Makes a fun whip,” he added, flailing it a little. “I’m sorry, did you need this?”

As if anyone ever could. A relaxed smile played on his lips and he shook his head. If anything, Adrian was always a promise of good times and he made even greater an excuse to act a bit more freely. An excuse to turn off his brains. “Make sure you try hard. I think we both know what will happen if you forget to make an effort.” It was a condescending statement but he softened it with yet another grin. “Trying to get to know my numerous in-laws. Really, it’s easier to guess what’s going to happen next in a global scale when you see what kind of people are in charge of the future. My stay here is almost like a social experiment.”

Adrian nodded sagely, though the smirk hovering on his lips and making his eyes spark showed his next words were anything but. “And heaven forbid I should forget. I’m liable to be banned from Norway altogether. Again.” He cocked his head to one side, observing and listening his old friend and trying to determine just how that undoubtedly messy affair was going. “I don’t envy you that, but I imagine you’re making a great impression as always, upstanding fellow that you are. And how is that experiment going?”

What ringtone my muse has set for yours:

“Short Skirt Long Jacket” by Cake. Her text tone is a snippet of the song’s bass line.

What contact photo my muse has set for yours:

He literally said “Hey Kitty Kaz!” and snapped a quick photo of her when she looked up, thoroughly unimpressed with his new nickname for her. He knows she probably would not have posed for a picture for him otherwise.

What my muse thinks of the way yours texts:

Adrian doesn’t really mind how Kaz texts. He understands abbreviations just fine, so her more casual way of texting is perfectly understandable to him. He thinks it’s funny how she’s able to convey her annoyance with him through texts. In fact, Kaz likely has stronger opinions on the way Adrian texts. ( Like his use of :) and :( and how he adds more )) or (( when she complains; or how he sends multiple texts at once instead of condensing, or sends her a wall-of-text when she complains.)

How quickly my muse responds to your texts:

Adrian is easily bored by things like staff meetings and reviewing policies, so he’s on his phone a lot to take the edge off how tiresome he finds it. If she texts him, there’s a good chance he’s already looking at his phone, and he’ll respond within a minute. The only time he makes her wait longer is if he’s asleep or if someone on his staff hid his phone so that he would focus for a while.

How often our muses text:

Adrian texts Kaz a lot. Not overwhelmingly, of course—she has a job, and technically he has one, too. But he definitely texts her at least daily, if for no other reason than to say hi and remind her of his presence for shits and giggles. Kaz does not text back nearly as often, and almost never texts first. He finds this hysterical.

How often our muses call:

Once in a blue moon. Adrian doesn’t take Kaz for the phone call type and so doesn’t usually go that route. He only calls her when he has a “legit” question and she won’t answer his texts. This always ends with her sighing heavily, him laughing, and her hanging up on him.

Does my muse purposefully miss calls from yours:

Never, mostly because they don’t call each other. Kaz has absolutely missed calls from him on purpose, though.

Last text sent from my muse to yours:

@ Kitty Kazia: morning ;)

@ Kitty Kazia: you left before i made pancakes :(

@ Kitty Kazia: and you promised to teach me mario kart :((

“This may not be the answer you’re looking for, but I think the most honest answer is... I don’t know. Not in a flippant way. I simply don’t know the identity of the person with whom I have, as you say, the worst beef. But they exist, and I will find out who they are eventually. My people believe I had my brother killed to stop his coup, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth, and I intend to prove that to them.

“Here in Oslo, however? I don’t think I have beef with anyone yet! Though there may be a few who have beef with me. I’m not certain yet. That’s frightfully dull, isn’t it?”

“Ah. The favored topic of most of my staff. In truth, yes, at some point that is the goal. Since my late brother is no longer with us, I risk being the last of my direct line, and I can’t have that, now can I? However, I would greatly prefer my eventual marriage to be to someone I actually like and get along with, and who gets along with me. The former is not so hard to achieve; the latter, apparently, is. And I’m self-admittedly fickle, so my interests can change rapidly. I presume once the right person comes along, that won’t be the case. But one small point of order: while my wife would be queen consort, my husband would be prince consort.”

“Oh dear, what a minefield. Outside? I can’t pretend not to find any of the Portuguese incredibly attractive. They’re a family endowed with excellent genetics. That seems a bit crass, I apologize. I mean that they, as a whole, are very beautiful people. All of the de Bragança women are stunning, and their men are handsome. I presume if there are any of them who fall outside male and female, they are equally gorgeous. The Nassau-Weilburgs do give them a run for their money, though.

“As for the prettiest inside? That’s much harder. I will say at present I’ve been left in awe most often by the inner thoughts of @elysefz, who is always a delight to talk to among other things. Most of my erstwhile fiancees were accomplished and intelligent, else we would not have been engaged in the first place. And I’m coming to find at our dear Austrian king @kingxhenryk has some hidden depths under that pretty face and surprising right hook.”

“Bearing in mind that I have a very high opinion of myself, of course? I’d say my lack of the usual royal decorum is a great place to start. Sure, there are plenty of princes and princesses out there who are a little on the wild side. But how many kings do you know that behave less than appropriately in public and in private?” He chuckled. “I can think only of myself and one other. We are a rare breed. Outside of that—I shan’t pretend modesty here—I’m charming, well-educated, have excellent taste in wines and partners, and underneath it all I am a devoted philanthropist who supports many charitable causes. And I suppose I’m a collector of sorts, though I doubt most people would find that interesting.”