Twilight in Motion:

Sup internerds, it's Ranza. I'm out with my son/daughter (she's intersex) and my hella fine GF (she said not to say that). At a cool resort in Mexico, courtesy of Emi's friend's parents. She was supposed to bring out "legal guardians", they said, hoping to chase us off. Nope, haha. That's us. Laurela and I are back together, "conditionally". In my opinion, a forty-minute drive is nothing compared to what I gain. Not sure I'd have made it this far without her. (She's blushing!)

Anyway, Emilio's doing really well. Just like me, she's got no problems flying. Her friend looked a little sick, but her parents didn't seem to notice. Her dad flew a lot as a kid, or so I've heard, but I'm not sure if Emi ever has. Tough kid. Reminds me of myself, in a good way. She's difficult to read, and seems to go through moods like a color wheel. One minute she's yelling in the backyard, kicking stuff around, the next she's cuddling up with a pillow in the loveseat. She's going by 'Emi' now, I guess to distance herself from living with Rigordo and his first wife, Marisol. That's probably for the best, those were some dusty and unfortunate circumstances she came from. I would have looked after her myself, but I was still in high school when Francardo knocked me up. He knew that, too, it just didn't stop him. Then again, neither did I. But that's why I made him look after her, so I could have a shot in university. I just wasn't expecting him to die, shortly after. All I found in the news was that it was some kind of plane accident, but nobody's told me any more than that. It all seems very hush-hush. It's only been a year since Emi moved in with me, and she's been nothing but grateful – though I have noticed that sometimes she just gets angry, and doesn't seem to know why. Those are the times when it's the most difficult to talk to her.

But all that aside, things are great. I gotta say, this new vegan diet is doing me wonders. I'd always wanted to try the skyborn, but it reminded me too much of Francardo (who swore by it because he was a pilot), so I pretty much ignored the whole thing. Seemed like a fad at the time, some ancient cookbook which comes back every few decades just to disappear again. People still like their meat, no matter what anyone tries to tell them. But I read that a lot of cravings come from gut bacteria sending signals to your brain? Well, that's what garlic is for. Now I know why vampires supposedly hate this stuff! Haha. Not that they do in real life. All the ones I've met love garlic. Y'know, at costume parties. Anyway, a month of spaghetti and bean tacos set me straight. Did you know that noodles have EGG in them? I didn't! But now I've got this lentil spaghetti, it holds so well in the pot. I can't remember what else is in it, but it works. So, the food's good enough to keep me interested, anyway. Laurela's the one keeping me on the diet, though. Says I look hot, haha. Well, anything for you, girl. I thought a lot of my depression and childhood weight problems were genetic, or circumstantial, but I feel like I switched from whale oil to biodiesel. I'm less swollen, irritable, and pain-sensitive. I dunno, I flunked out of medical school, but it's almost like I was allergic to everything I ate before. Laurela had an easier time adjusting than I did, she mostly ate rice and soybeans anyway. Speaking of, gluten? I had no idea cutting it out would give me my mind back. I practically smoked it away back in uni, but I've been getting clearer lately. Gluten actually has some kind of neurological effect! It's crazy what we don't know anymore. I found some old studies from the 2000's that basically said as much, but they were hard to find. I barely had access to them as a former med student, and I used a LOT of my connections. Weird, huh?

Now that I'm thinking clearly, I'm starting to feel really bad about the way I tried to bring Emi up this last year. I was just trying to help her cope by showing her some spiritual videos, took her to some yoga (she got a few compliments from the other ladies, which looked like it helped her self-esteem). But now it looks like she's running on magical thinking and supernatural paranoia, because it matches what she came from, except more fantastical. Magic is a skill, and a mental exercise, but I'm worried I've made it seem like a permeable fairy world. I thought preserving her innocence would help her, but now she's talking to the sky like it's gonna talk back. I dunno when she started doing it, but it has me concerned. Good thing I'm here, I guess. Someone's gotta keep that kid's feet on the sand.