In this life.

"Wasn't Thjazi called Shadow?"

Tossing the Iron nail to Julien.

Quickly cutting through all the noise to reveal the truth.

While playing Thaisha, Aabria is so conscious of the world and Thaisha's worldview. As a woman whose religious culture has been persecuted nearly to extinction. As a person from a race that every other race of Aramán was happy to leave in subjugation; the suffering of the Rungjani was a fair price for their comfort.

You can viscerally feel this in her gentle but clear acknowledgement of Bolaire, her tone when she asked him why he was so angry.

"What exactly do you find to be foolishness, Bolaire?"

The calm, despite the fact that, when it comes down to it, he is angry that the actions Thjazi set in motion blew up his comfortable life. The same actions that liberated the Runjani afterlife. He doesn't think "a couple hundred" Rungjani souls are worth it.

"So you're not angry, you're afraid."

It reminded me of when Aranessa was breaking down and overwhelmed because her life was blown up and she has to make hard decisions to move forward. Thaisha used the same gentle, but firm tone then.

"You always had to make a choice and the world was always chaos. It's just touching you now."

Welcome to our fair city. I hope that you enjoy your stay.

“Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep” – Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep : The main character tells his mom that he’s a man, which is illustrated with a blue Mars symbol in a speech bubble.

I am not there. : The mom turns away from her child, crying and denying him; her speech bubble crosses out the Mars symbol and replaces it with a bunch of pink Venus symbols. Her son reaches after her, distraught.

I do not sleep. : The main character is shown awake in bed with bags under his eyes.

I am a thousand winds that blow. / I am the diamond glints on snow. : In a dream, he falls through the sky crying, his long hair caught by the wind.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain. / I am the gentle autumn rain. : A close-up of the main character’s tears as he closes his eyes.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush : The main character wakes up and puts a hand to his chest. His hair is short now, indicating that time has passed since he came out.

I am the swift uplifting rush / of quiet birds in circled flight. : He puts on his binder with a smile.

I am the soft stars that shine at night. : He looks over to where his cell phone beeps on a nearby table.

Do not stand at my grave and cry. : The phone screen shows a text conversation between the main character and his mom. The incoming message says “Hi!” with a pink Venus sign: his mom is misgendering or deadnaming him. The main character picks up his phone, then puts it back down and turns away.

"Something in him healed, just the slightest."