#narritive

She had tried sitting still and thinking on her mending rune. She had tried laying down and meditating on it. But she could not… She could not seem to get into the mindset she needed.

She stood now, hands clasped like she was praying. Trying to invoke her changes that way. But the Mending Rune of Perfect order remained as it was. A protective ring with no discernable flexibility, and she herself was growing restless, her need to dance and move when things were dragging on too long becoming stronger and stronger.

…. Perhaps one little break would be okay. She had been at this for days, only taking breaks to take care of her needs.

She swayed, her hands moving to be at her side, lifting up her dress to free her legs more. She started dancing, the music in her head hard and fast and passionate. She spun, jumped, and stomped her feet, and put everything into it.

And slowly, the mending rune of perfect order emanated from her chest, her song and dance unknowingly and very slowly doing what she had been trying to do.

She danced, danced, danced, with no end seeming to be in sight, like she was taken up in a frenzy. She danced for hours without stop, not seeming to notice the strain it put on her body.

In some ways, The Crown represents the culmination and acceleration of a process that has been going on for some time. The show began in the post second-world-war period – the fortunes of the young Elizabeth dovetailing with rose-tinted memories of that idealised period of British life. The country was bruised but unbowed; putting itself back together after a painful victory. As the empire dissolved and global British influence declined, the period was the beginning of an ending. But superficially, it looked like a fresh start. Accordingly, in the early seasons of The Crown, the Windsors strike an uneasy balance between duty and happiness. In many ways, their self-sacrifice seems noble.

But increasingly, the narrative emphasis and the emotional tone of TV portrayals has shifted. Whether comic or dramatic, there’s a distinct scepticism emerging; a republican fist in a respectful velvet glove. Harry and Meghan’s withdrawal from the whole, ever-renewing box set of a story feels more and more like a logical response to the unhappiness and impotence dramatised in The Crown and the frivolity mocked in The Windsors. As long as Elizabeth II reigns over us, the line will hold. But the next generations – of royals and commoners alike – might well wonder whether it’s all worth it.

Here we find our brave wonderer in Sanya City. This city has been plagued by a mysterious colossus that appears every full moon and carries off anyone it sees in the city or surrounding villages far bellow him. Hunters and scouts have tried to track the giant stone creature to wherever it lives but none have returned. Thus our ambling traveler has stumbled into Sanya City on the night of a full moon, unaware of the danger he has just leaped into.

This time it’ll work. This time you’ll be able to get back. This time you’ll be home. How many times have you told yourself that. How many times had you been disappointed by not being able to get out of this place. This void between time and space. How many times have you tried to shoot into where you wanted to go just to be left inside more nothingness. 

This time it’ll work.  This time you’ll be home.  This time.