I had hoped to finish ch17 in February but oh, it’s April now XD;;; So I’m definitely way later than you. But! I’m still very happy to receive your feedback! Yes, I did intend this chapter to be ‘quieter’ in terms of actions, but definitely still a turmoil in terms of emotions. The thing with the ending chapters of Arc2 is that, the characters were not given time to truly absorb the aftermaths. Everything happened so quickly, back to back, and suddenly their world is turned upside down. It’s not just Yoshiko – Dia and Riko are abruptly gone from their peaceful school life. Chika and You learned about what really happened to them but they never got the chance to talk to Riko about it.

I think I mentioned this already, but I’ll stress again that, if it weren’t for the carbonado necklace, Riko would have ended up like Frank and Alice Longbottom. She was subjected to not just one but several Cruciatus Curses on top of many Legilimens. It was a difficult scene for me to write as well, though I still strive to be as realistic as possible given the circumstances.

Riko had immediately Obliviated You and Chika while their… ‘injuries’ were still fresh, so to speak, while it’s already too late for Riko. Her mind was broken already, so there’s no point in Obliviating them. Besides, messing with memories is a crude method to deal with Cruciatus aftermath – it’s not done in canon HP verse. Unlike physical torture, I believe Cruciatus to be a direct attack on the mind to stimulate pain receptors, rather than actual attack on the person’s nervous system. So, if the mind forgets that it ever sent such signals, perhaps there wouldn’t be an aftereffect. Of course, all of this is just my assumption and play around with HP canon material XD;

Back to present, Chika said that being surrounded by friends and family would remind her that the pain from Cruciatus is in the past. What Riko needs now certainly is time and, as the girls have discovered, Dia to be with her too. I can’t elaborate more on this point but indeed, there is hope. Hope is what Aqours is all about.

Dia was raised and shown in public as the heiress of the Kurosawa family. They could not just outright disown or strip her of her title for no reason, that would be even worse shame than the current suspicions she now faced. Hence the best countermeasure they have for now is to keep her from public eyes. There’s the matter of her relationship with Riko as well. Though the Sakurauchis is an old family with prominent background, their lineage is nowhere as pure as Kurosawas. Both women, different social status, and now this incident… Dia and Riko indeed face quite a lot of obstacles.

Grounded in her family home, unable to contact friends and left with only thoughts of guilt and regret, Dia’s not in a good state in many ways (as briefly shown in ch17). Dia is not privy to Riko’s condition, so her mind would just keep wandering and assuming the worst. As Dia-oshi (that’s hard to believe probably, considering what I’ve done), it’s difficult for me to imagine how much pain Dia’s been experiencing but had to keep inside her with no way to vent her stress.

My parchment paper analogy is my attempt to differentiate Magical healing from Muggle healing process. For Muggles, we have equipment like MRT scans, EGG scans etc. So, as I try to rationalize how Healers work, the parchment analogy came to mind. Ink is indeed the stressor and is unpredictable, as in what sort of stain the ink would make on the paper is dependent on how the ink is dropped upon it. Thoughts/experiences change the pattern that the ink runs on the paper. Chika and You mentioned how their minds are like ‘dried parchment, one that’s been stained before but the ink color has long lightened.’ So, just how can Riko’s ‘parchment’ be salvaged?

Yes, you’re correct, she was just having a PTSD flashback upon seeing the person who betrayed and tortured her. She had no idea it was ‘Yohane’ – she still thought it was Yoshiko. She definitely is in no state of mind to think about the why and how. ………… yeah, I deserve to be stoned by Riko-oshis.

Hmm, yeah, can’t comment much on Yoshiko & Riko atm. But yes, Yoshiko will not go anywhere near Riko in fear of triggering another panic attack. I don’t remember what I said to you for ch15’s review LOL I agree, trust is indeed hard to regain.

Can’t comment much on the Yohane-Yoshiko connection either. Just as how Yoshiko can do certain things Yohane can’t (ie cast the Patronus), there are things Yohane can do that Yoshiko can’t either. The how and why shall be revealed in the remainder of Arc3. Yoshiko’s bad Occlumency is due to the fact she’s not ‘whole’. Yohane is definitely more accustomed to handling matters related to her soul, having practically grown up with such knowledge and those wings being a natural occurrence for her. In the alley, Yoshiko was practically losing control and attempting to force her way into Yohane’s mind, and so Yohane abruptly cut off the connection.

Specifically, it was Yoshiko’s emotional attachment to Hanamaru’s broken wand that stopped her from going berserk. To her, the broken wand was a remnant of the ‘old’ Hanamaru, from a period of time where things were still good. As hinted in past chapters, being the one to be able to approach Yoshiko while those tendrils were rampant, Hanamaru is a key factor in calming down Yoshiko.  Emotion is another key catalyst for the black tendrils. Finding out that Yohane had tortured Riko caused such undulated anger in Yoshiko. Clues from past events will be accumulating and adding up, and of course more to come. Good speculations, that’s all I can say for now 😃

Yup, playing around one’s soul definitely isn’t healthy for the long run, especially when you use said soul fragments as a form of weapon or defense. In a way, you could say Yohane-Yoshiko are damaged already. Neither of them is whole after all. Again, great speculations!

Hanamaru is connected to Yoshiko in a way, ever since the Dementor incident as a child. (ch17 sheds some light onto that mystery) She hasn’t been aware of this connection, at least not consciously, but she’s always been able to locate Yoshiko at Hogwarts (between classes and whatnot). After the Chamber of Secrets event though, she becomes aware of it without understanding what it really means. Seeing the Augurey enables her to make a comparison/metaphor, and so she stated that she could hear Yoshiko’s soul crying.

Foreshadowing… welp, ch17 did reveal more things haha

I’ve been fascinated by Augurey since I first read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which listed them alphabetically. So in the very early planning stages of this story, I thought of Yoshiko right away and wanted it to play a significant role. Ch17 does reveal more than it being a symbol. The Hogwarts registry that writes down the names of magical children is an Augurey quill, that’s why I chose to use it for a purpose in this story as well.

Just as how Professor Koizumi coaxed Ruby into letting out her emotions in Interlude2, Hanamaru managed to do so for Yoshiko. The poor girl needs it, it’s not healthy keeping everything inside after all. It’s mostly guilt, she keeps telling herself she doesn’t deserve to be comforted and she’s in no position to be crying when everyone else have suffered so much more. I’m glad that you as a reader find the moment satisfying, as I intended it to be in spite of the overall solemn and melancholic tone. Ch17 presents a different catharsis for her, another one that she needs, and for Hanamaru as well.

<_< ah yes memories. I’ve always found Obliviate a very fascinating spell – a dangerous one too – yet it was never expanded much in the HP canon. The most poignant instances would be Gilderoy Lockhart stealing credit, Hermione to protect her parents, and Bertha Jorkins who got tortured by Voldemort and regained her memories. All of these have different impacts, positive and negative, on characters and the plot.

And so, I did a little variation amongst the members – the Memory Charm saved You and Chika’s lives; Riko extracted her memory into the Pensieve before her mind cracked; Yoshiko’s own memories being disjointed due to the whole Horcrux issue; Hanamaru’s memory repression being purely psychological.

I make them suffer a lot don’t I… (but this is nothing compared to other AUs I had for them LOL *gets shot*) But personally, I find things so much sweeter (or, bittersweet at least) if there was suffering beforehand. The saying of ‘you won’t realize how much you miss/need something until it’s gone’ kind of feel.

Again, I must say I’m beyond amazed at the 3.3k review. Like, holy moly, that’s longer than most some of my blips already! I really appreciate all these feedbacks though – it lets me see how a reader views the story, and it brings me joy to see the little nuances here and there noticed and appreciated. I’m also glad to elaborate upon/share the more intricate details that have no room in the storytelling.

Definitely don’t apologize, I really appreciate any feedback let alone such a wonderfully long and thorough one :’D I remember how stressful exam weeks were like, so thanks for still taking your time to write this! (and yes all those back to back LL related news and then SIF new cards and everything aaaah it’s been a wonderful week so far) I’m pleased I’m somewhat able to keep to my upload schedule though (new chapter every 2-3 weeks, I can only mostly write on weekends)

Yoshiko is the main narrator, main character of this story so I’ll always fret over how she’s portrayed ahaha XD;;; If someone just reads ch15, they’ll probably think why Yoshiko is not herself. Alas, this arc3, so everything’s continuously built up until this point so yup, glad to hear her characterization is fine!

My intention for the interludes are additions to the main story, a side-story for characters whose story couldn’t really be shown through the narrator’s POV, but also so that these subplots would not affect to the main story. The main story should be complete on its own without a reader having to read the Interludes but, of course, it’s preferred that the readers would! Glad you like the flow, it makes me feel like I’ve succeeded in my delivery. I still slightly regret posting the Interlude in the middle of Arc2, rather than after the end of Arc1, since I’m particular when it comes to consistency and this throws the format out the window XDDDD Minor issue ofc, just a personal pet peeve(?).

Yes, theoretical Yoshiko has always been able to call upon Lucifer, except of course back then she wasn’t aware of such situation. But this was also how she was able to find the bat back then, subconsciously attracted to the creature marked by their shared soul. And yes, that’s where those blank states of mind came from – Yohane’s presence was in the Forbidden Forest and the Shack at those instances. I’ll digress from commenting further, and yes some of these questions were sort of answered in ch16 😊

Indeed, why is Maru able to approach Yoshiko in that ‘berserk’ state? Maru is also able to sense Yoshiko somehow in ch16, so... more of that to come later on. The coelacanth and Yoshiko’s Patronus are definitely key points in this story. After all, this whole story was built from that tidbit about her Patronus saving Maru long ago, on the concept art :D

I’m unable to comment more on this for now though. As for the Selkie Chieftainess, she remarked the soul was split almost evenly but again that was the merpeople’s guess, based on what they could sense from witnessing Yoshiko’s Patronus.

Yoshiko and Yohane’s connection is definitely imperfect and not fully controllable. Emotions are a vital part of this bond. Your thoughts on Hanamaru’s part between the two are interesting and you’re astute on certain points (* ^ ω ^) more of that to come of course. This is Arc3, there will be resolutions.

\jimoai/ I’ve kept it subtle but there are always minor jimoai moments within their group scenes. The most obvious one would be the Xmas banquet. The guilty trash in me had them dance together XD Not gonna lie - Yoshiko probably had a minor crush on You since the beginning, at least she’s physically attracted to the charming Seeker. Alas, Yoshiko’s thoughts have always revolved around Hanamaru more. Crush or not though, Yoshiko has always been closer to You out of the Gryffindor trio. You has always encouraged her, is accepting of her and is playful with her.

Through the Selkie Chieftainess, Yoshiko learned more about the Fallen. The group did have major breakthroughs within this story’s timeline, and yes I do confirm this group didn’t just form recently, they have existed long before Yohane joining. Again, can’t comment on this much but you’re perceptive~

Just as Yoshiko can try to talk to Yohane, it’s the same the other way around as well. While I didn’t put a specific date, ch15 took place in early March, while the majority of Ch12-14 took place in the end of January. There was a huge hole in one of Yohane’s wings when the coelacanth Patronus first struck her, and there was another clash before Yoshiko lost consciousness back in ch14. So yes, to put it simply, neither Yohane nor Yoshiko’s HP bar is replenished yet.

Aha 8D I worry if I stress it too many times that Yohane’s using the sakura wand, but yay you noticed. Yes, since Yohane’s first on-screen appearance, she’s only been using Riko’s wand. Can’t answer your questions yet but it’s definitely there for a reason.

In the original HP verse, a Patronus’ strength is based on the caster’s soul/magic, thus some wizards/witches can’t even use it, let alone Dark ones like the Death Eaters. But it’s notable that evil b*tches like Umbridge can use the Patronus Charm, just sayin’. And yes, a Patronus is fueled by the caster’s happy/positive memory. Why could Yoshiko cast it and Yohane couldn’t?

OTL I feel bad, you bring up so many wonderful points but there are only a few I can comment/reply on XD;;;

If there’s no ‘Yohane’ and nothing happened to their group of 9, Yoshiko would’ve definitely found the feathered wings cool af and her belief in datenshi would’ve become even stronger. Alas, it is what it is, and having such ‘loose’ soul fragments is definitely not good, especially in the long run...

All very insightful points, definitely something to keep in mind as we slowly approach the climax of Arc3 (and the whole story).

You’re exactly right with Riko - you definitely don’t bounce back from repeated Crucios and only be a bit disorientated when you wake up. I tried to be as realistic as possible in ch16. In the original HP, we saw what happened to Neville’s parents. I’ll be frank - that’s what would have happened to Riko if she hadn’t worn the carbonado necklace.

Secrets definitely don’t stay secrets forever. The group has yet to tackle their biggest trial just yet.

Thank you again for your lovely review! I eat up every word like popcorn during a movie (*ﾉ∀`*) I definitely have to respond somehow, at least parts that I could answer! You bring up so many good points that I feel would be good for other readers.