the bats have left the bell tower, the victims have been bled

(Note from the Editrix: Because these are mounting, sadly, I'm going to start generally indicating when they were written, as opposed to published. This one is from the 12th of July.)

Ran across something that sounded both dire and portentious, but also not original on someone's profile? It's a powerful statement, but I wanted to know for sure.

Turns out I was right, it's the last lines of a poem called "Letter From My Brain To My Heart" by Rachel McKibbens:

You have my permission not to love me;
I am a cathedral of deadbolts
and I'd rather burn myself down
than change the locks.

And...damn. I can at least say I am not that bad, but...I won't lie, that poem does resonate.

In related but dissimilar news, I am still unsettled, but now it's more trying to find my footing on jagged chips of shale, not fractured glass and cinders, so...upgrade?



We move on. I hadn't thought about Transylvania in years, and on a separate search, ran across the name again. Was it still there?



That answer is very much yes, and very much improved!



Admittedly, I never wandered far from the Wall, having mostly gone there for dances, or to see a DJ I was fond of at the time.



But it seems to have really filled out, expanded a bit, and some of the scenery...



If nothing else, it's a lovely night stroll.



And, of course, one must stop and stand in awe of this.



Meanwhile, at Enchantment...



And no, no no no, I wanted a duelling flamingo, not a... *sighs* Oh, well, I guess it will do. (A note, having now gone to the store in question--I'm not sure which event CURELESS made the Alice in Monsterland gacha for? But it's not at their main store, and I picked this drooping fellow up off the Marketplace.)