Bodil is rightly very proud when she presented her finished kinetic sculpture, made almost entirely of oiled and polished wood except for parts such as the stones in the weight and its rope, but these are built in behind and hidden. It looks beautiful where it stands outside the bodyguards' day room. Its lifting mechanism is less efficient than mine, but it can still manage about 28 cycles on one go, and I think higher friction and movement ratio are the problem, but it's absolutely good enough, and Bodil is so pleased with her creation and proud to have it displayed here in the great hall.

Bodil has already started on another one with the same mechanism, but with a lift at the edge and different ball tracks, as building this one has given her so many ideas and experiences, and it's just great to see how proud and enthusiastic she is to make more.

I return to my workshop to finish my radio remote control project. The RC transmitter is divided into two parts, the hand control and the transmitter. Either the transmitter module is screwed directly on the hand control, or with a 1.5 meter cable between them. Both units are made of wood with brass details and screws, but the transmitter is very compact even with the battery, and the antenna can be switch depending on circumstances. I can't make a telescopic antenna, and a long rod can get in the way. So there is a rod and a shorter spiral antenna. The hand controller has a small 8 directions thumb joystick and five push buttons, one of which is duplicated underneath for the index finger. Four of the buttons can only be used if no other signals are given, and they are on/off for two channels. The joystick top is screwed on and can be a short thumb top or a longer top to use thumb-index finger control.

The RC receiver is also two-part, but the radio receiver itself is a small brass box with reinforcement struts, making it difficult to crush and more likely to survive a crash, including being submerged in salt water for a while without leaking. The receiver is connected via a short bus cable to the output box, which is also made of reinforced brass and has seven small mini relays whose sole task is to control something more powerful at its output, either a small electric motor or more powerful electromagnets. I had to do it this way via mini relays as I didn't have many powerful transistors, and I didn't want to sacrifice the few I had for this. The two-part design should also help to isolate the receiver from RF interference as the output box can be placed where it is needed, not where the receiver needs to be. An advantage of the brass casing is that it also acts as a cooling element, even though that shouldn't be necessary. The RC transmitter and receiver are powered by small Li-Ion batteries, and what the external electric motor or electromagnets are powered by remains to be seen, depending on the application. A couple of stacked lipo batteries for the upcoming model aircraft, and lead batteries if it is a boat or land vehicle.

Iselin and Kari are standing on the pavilion checking the receiver's output module while I take Ciara for a short walk, and we have brought the mobile radio with us as a backup to arm-flag signals as we verify the RC control contact, with Caecilia acting as an intermediary to the radio in the bodyguards' day room. The walk also means I can practise using the RC transmitter, both discreetly in my pocket and visibly.

It's a good thing we have radio contact and didn't just use hand signals and telescope, because this works better than expected and at quite a distance when there is a clear view, and Caecilia lets me know that Iselin is very pleased that she managed to carefully tune the receiver and antenna a little to maximise sensitivity.

No one really knows about my plans for the RC control, although Jane knows that I intend to build RC models. It will be fun to test the RC boat and play with it a little on the small lake in front of the guest house, and the large lake in the village. I guess it will surprise and amaze many people. Perhaps I should make a simple spark gap radio control, because it has a use and the receiver with a coherer would be completely Alfheimr and relatively inexpensive and compact. It would be fun to see how well a compact and fairly high frequency unit works.

Everyone has been looking forward to the music evening. Most people here have already heard Midgård music during the wedding and later when they wrote down music and practised, or from the workshop room and other rooms, and seen so much already, so more of the same is not so shocking, even though some music will, but I've warned them that there will be enormous variation. Of course, Haera, Gisela and others have now heard more Midgård music, and more variety, but there will be considerable variation. At the same time, we cannot gently introduce everyone, because the pool here is deep and they just have to swim.

For me, everything is of course something I've heard before, and Iselin has listened to so much already that she won't be shocked, she just doesn't like a lot of the songs. She recognises many of them. I don't know how many hours she's listened to the MP3 player, but it's many hundreds. Ciara still likes a lot of video game and computer game music, which has started to rub off on the music group, and it can be fairly easy to play Alfheimr accoustic versions. Kari and Caecilia are more into classical music like Grieg's 'Morgenstemning', Gregorian choir and epic stuff with a bit of symphonic metal as long as it's not too metal. Jane hadn't expected the variety I have, but has started to get used to it as she's listened. But things like Babymetal, Delain's 'The Tragedy of the Commons', Dragonforce and Meshuggah mixed with calm instrumental songs, The Beatles' 'Yesterday' or Tenacious D are unexpected for her too.

Jane loves that most of the lyrics are in English and that sometimes there are sexual references that only she and I understand, and most elves here now know that English is a big language in Midgård. Iselin in particular knows a lot of English words and phrases, but even Alith has picked up more than I would have preferred.

Kelly Clarkson's 'My life would suck without you' hits a little too close to home, but Jane and I do a little duet of the chorus to each other. Melanie C & Lisa Lopes' 'Never be the same again' is similar, followed by Roxette's 'Almost Unreal'. Jane tries to avoid laughing at Yankovic's 'You don't love me anymore' while she translates to the others, but I have to do it better. Oh yes, that song will be translated, adapted to Alfheimr and written down. Krypteria's 'The Night All Angels Cry' hits Jane hard, which is explained when she says it's one of the songs she played in her room before the stag night and also after we talked in the greenhouse. The lyrics must have felt poignant, but she doesn't want us to skip the song - she likes it. Jane tells us how she now likes several of Krypteria's songs, and she loves the singer's voice. But many of their songs have hit her hard, like 'God I need someone' which has been difficult to listen to.

Jane loves Lambretta's 'Bimbo' and smilingly and poking me comments that she now knows what she will play and sing when Gisela eventually warms my bed, and she will copy it to her mobile so she is prepared. It's fun to see how Europe's 'The Final Countdown' gets some clapping hands and head swaying-nodding along, but apparently that has been converted. Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry's 'There ain't but one way to kick ass' brings a big smile to Jane's face, but she just stares at me when I sing along to the intro and chorus of Alestorm's 'Fucked with an anchor', before laughing and joining in, saying she thinks it's very Scottish. The others like the sound of the music and the singer's voice, and I have to try to translate the lyrics again. It's not easy, but there are more smiles. They'll probably do their own version of that too. Insult contests are a thing here, so yeah, that song fits. Jane is giggling like mad when she hears 'The Reverend's Evil League of Evil application' from Dr Horrible, and I have it as a video clip from my USB stick, which she has definitely seen, judging by the way she's moves her head. Most of them look at Jane funny or slightly amused from time to time, because they know she understands most of the lyrics. But how do you translate something like "The Reverend" into something they can understand? Terry Scott Taylor's 'The Neverhood' at least entertains them with its nonsense, and it makes several of them smile.

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We listen to Queen's 'The Show Must Go On' and take a short break, during which Elvira and Ida fetch drinks and glasses. I tell them how ill the singer was, that Freddy Mercury could barely walk when they recorded the song and how he died a short while later, and what AIDS does to the body. Everyone gathered is happy that they have never heard of a disease like AIDS in this world, even though they surely have similar ones, just not widespread or known yet. Jane did not know that about the recording and the singer. I tell them that he downed a glass of the strongest mead to numb the pain, and then sang the whole song straight off without rehearsal or practice, and they are hugely impressed by his singing voice. I explain large parts of the lyrics, even though I have to interpret some of it, but they understand what the song is about and what he is singing. Jane has heard the song many times before, but this time she is moved when we listen to it for the second time, and she is not alone.

The bodyguards think Freddie Mercury went out like a warrior bard, proud and defiant in the face of death, and he deserves to preform in Valhalla even though he did not die in battle. Freya would definitely have welcomed him to Folkvang. That would probably have appealed to Freddy Mercury.

During the break, Alith surprises everyone except me and Iselin when she says it's such a shame that they can't understand the lyrics, because they are usually really beautiful, meaningful poetry, and there are bands that only sing about heroism, war, honour and famous battles, and she asks me to play one of those songs. She is primarily referring to Sabaton, so we choose 'Primo Victoria', and I give them a brief summary of what the song is about before we play it, and how a few hours later thousands of dead warriors lay on the beach, but the attacking force managed to secure the landings. They notice that Jane reacts when I mention Normandy and D-Day, and the others understand that it's well known because Jane knows the place and have heard of that day. Then I read the song's lyrics I translated for Iselin and Alith a long time ago before we play the song. I like seeing Hillevi start drumming the tempo on the back of the sofa and feeling the song, and she seems to be enjoying it. Iselin sits smiling and slightly headbanging tosses her hair to the sides, and she close her eyes and have a cute smile during the guitar solo. She has started learning to play the guitar, but she has a long way to go before she is good. Iselin's smile widens when 'Swedish Pagans' starts playing afterwards, and Iselin immediately starts chanting along "Ooh oah ooh..."

Considering the theme, the lyrics and the culture, and they notice 'Valhalla' and 'hammer of Thor', Swedish Pagans is appreciated before they've even heard the whole song, and I quickly translates what it is about. I suspect the band has another new song they'll make their own version of. They know and like that the Aesir faith exists in Midgård. It gets played once more.

We return to the random playlist and the heavier music comes to a complete halt when 'Danza Kuduro' starts playing and Iselin begins dancing while sitting on the sofa, but it doesn't take many seconds before she's off the sofa and dancing for real, and quickly gets Jane to join her. My biased opinion is that they both dance divinely. Iselin has heard the song so many times before and loves it, and the song is a favourite on our dance list. Iselin doesn't need to gesture much as she smiles seductively and wiggles her bum before I join her and Jane. What the hell - this is my home and most of them are my staff. We get appreciative cheers and applause when we finish with a deep dip and a kiss, and Jane gets one too.

Jane isn't prepared for A-ha's 'Take on Me (Unplugged 2017)' version. It's a song she's heard many times in its original version, but it strikes a completely different chord in this rendition sung by an old man. Gigi D'Agostino's 'L'Amour toujours' begins, and Iselin immediately recognises its distinctive intro, because it's another one of our dance songs that Iselin loves to dance freely and bounce around to. She likes a lot of 90s and 00s Eurodance, and I'm not complaining. Jane also recognises the song, of course, and joins her once again, and I am drawn in when they signal to me, and we get several others to join us.

Rammstein's 'Ohne Dich' starts playing and several people immediately recognise a shared favourite. The music group and several others recognise the song because they have practised it and can play it themselves, so after a while, several of us start singing along. Ciara comes and sits next to me and gets a little teary-eyed as she hugs me. Before it ends, Iselin whispers to me what she wants to hear and do, which I just nod to, and just before it ends, I quickly jump to 'Ich Will'.

Iselin quietly begins to sing, playing along and moving to the beat of the lyrics, dancing a little while seated, while I help her with the background and secondary responses. The others just gives us funny looks, but we are having fun. Iselin knows this song by heart now, and I have also learned it well enough, and Iselin knows what is being sung as well as I have been able to translate it. No one is prepared for our joint performance, and Iselin overacts more than Jane usually does. We've only done it behind closed doors before, just like we have to other songs, and there's an entertaining silence when Iselin calmly jumps on my lap and gives me a kiss when the song is over. Jane is most surprised and only manage to say:

"You've taught Iselin German, to sing Rammstein!?!"

"She likes a lot of their songs, so of course I've explained and written down the lyrics as best I can, because even though I don't really speak German, I know some simpler words, know what several lyrics are about, and can explain the meaning in about two-thirds of the songs, depending on the song. As you've noticed, she's not alone in liking their calmer songs, such as 'Ohne Dich' or the piano version of 'Mein Herz brennt', but Iselin has listened to the two dozen Rammstein songs I have and likes many of them. Many of you might have seen my little black MP3 player being charged often, at least a couple of times a week since we moved in here? Have you seen me using it?" Iselin just has a big, smug grin on her face. "I think the calmer Rammstein songs were a gateway to the not-so-calm ones, and now she loves heavy metal, symphonic metal and Eurodance. You saw how she rocked out to Sabaton, right? Iron Maiden is another favourite, especially 'Aces High'. But you should see her jumping and dancing around to 'Du Hast', 'Asche zu Asche' or 'Feuer Frei' with her beautiful hair flying, and Iselin's headbanging is just awesome."

The others don't really understand what we're talking about, even though some of them realise that Iselin has been listening to this kind of music pretty much every day for the last few months, but it's just so unexpected for Jane what Iselin has been listening to most. I can see Jane's mental blue screen and it's completely without emphasis and with a neutral face that Jane asks questioningly;

"Iselin headbangs in her room!? To Rammstein!?"

Iselin just has a big smile as she shows double horns with her hands and starts humming the intro to "Du hast" while nodding in sync, then pretends to drum and says, "Du. Du hast. Du hast mich," at just the right tempo and pronunciation, trying to imitate Till's voice. Iselin half whispers that she wants us to have a private Rammstein evening with dancing and sex - which I agree with - so I just tell everyone that the music evening is unfortunately over because Rammstein has just been booked for a private event in my bedroom, and I ask them to continue having a nice evening. Iselin stands up and stretch a hand to me with a sinful smile, so I select the Rammstein playlist and put my phone in my pocket, and the speaker begins to play the introduction to "Engel", which Iselin starts whistling along to. I grab the speaker and giggling and dancing backwards, she willingly pulls me out into the corridor towards my bedroom. When we reach the corridor, Iselin calls back into the meeting room:

"Jane! Dancing, headbanging and sex to Rammstein? Choose quickly!"

I doubt Jane will come along, but as we walk up the stairs to the second floor, while Till Lindemann wonders who is so good during their lifetime that they become an angel after death, Jane comes jogging after us, shaking her head slightly, and when we close the door, it's the start of an energetic, fun evening where we first dance vertically on the floor and eventually end up horizontally in bed, having made our way there over the furniture, the attic, the floor, the striptease pole and the swing.

Iselin likes that Jane has become part of our lives and relationship, and praises her for how much she has contributed to improving my bedroom over the last few weeks. Iselin has been secretly practising on the striptease pole with Jane over the last few days, and we were right in thinking that Iselin likes the pole and the swing. I know that Kari, Caecilia and Ciara have also tried the striptease pole, but that it wasn't for them, with the possible exception of Caecilia. But Caecilia thinks it's silly, and she knows, just like the others, that I had it made just because Jane wanted it, and I don't care whether the others use it or not. Caecilia prefers to spend the same amount of time and energy in bed. Caecilia may change her mind after seeing Iselin's cute sensual dance, or more of Jane's erotic and acrobatic dance, but I'm not complaining if they dance just for me. I love them both. However, extra mounts will be made for the striptease pole so we can install it somewhere else. Jane is also eager to see how good Ryla and Agnes can become. The swing is a very good creation by Jane, and even though it can handle three people, it is far too demanding in terms of balance and more of an acrobatic exercise with uncomfortable pressure points than effective, but fun is sometimes better than efficiency, and Iselin likes how it bounce up and down when she rides me.

Before we fall asleep, Jane agrees that Iselin's headbanging is awesome.

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