Origins

The stone beast woke on a rooftop, came upon two humans being set upon, and leapt in to drive their attackers off; the small human, seeing it covered all over in ivy, gave it a name. Later, when Victor asked who had made her, she said anything before that doesn’t really matter to her. As she sees it, her life began only on the day she crossed the threshold into the home of the Arroyos.

When she calls that household her family, she is not speaking figuratively. She said it once: if it weren’t for them, she would still be wandering the streets; they took her in and made her part of their family. Dynamo calls her “Miss Arroyo,” and the Doorman at the hotel door greets her the same way; she has never corrected either of them.

“I would be still wondering the streets if it weren't for the Arroyos. They took me in. Made me part of their family. If there's one person in New York I would trust to do the right thing it's Carlos.”

“要不是阿若悠一家，我现在还在街头流浪。他们收留了我，让我成了他们家的一员。要说纽约有谁我信得过会做正确的事，那就是卡洛斯。”TL

“Well hello Ms. Arroyo.”

“您好，阿若悠女士”

In this family there is Carlos Arroyo, whom she holds up as the measure of all things. Faced with a hard question, she will murmur, what would Carlos do; if there is one person in New York she would trust to do the right thing, she is certain, it is him. He teaches first grade, and now he is running for mayor as well. Maria Arroyo is at his side, and now and then the two of them have a date night at the Baroness Hotel. There is Sophia Arroyo, who named her all those years ago, “Sophie” as she calls her, now in school and working a job besides; and Manny, younger still, whom she has taken to story hour and whose sleepovers she has fretted over. She speaks these names as though counting off the softest places on her own body.

“What would Carlos do…”

“卡洛斯会怎么做呢……”TL

“First grade.”

“一年级”

“And she was so nice when I took Manny to story hour.”

“我带曼尼去听故事的时候，她人特别好”

Her mission was the Mendoza Syndicate. It was her whole life, she says, a calling. She says, too, that she was able to clean up Spanish Harlem without murdering everybody. With Mendoza gone, what she thinks is that she is ready to find a career.

“I was able to clean up Spanish Harlem without murdering everybody.”

“我成功地清理了东哈勒姆，而没有击倒所有人”

Some could not be saved. When Graves thanked her on behalf of the late Mr. and Mrs. Romero, she shook her head: they were killed by Mendoza’s goons. The dead, came the reply, know it wasn’t her fault; they are just grateful she caught the ones responsible. There and then, she still could not bring herself to believe in that forgiveness.

“I doubt that. They were killed by Mendoza's goons.”

“我不信。他们是被门多萨的打手杀死的。”TL

Old Friends and Foes

Dynamo and Sophie: The Student on Her Mind

Dynamo is Sophia Arroyo’s professor. He told Ivy that his student had lately been falling asleep in class, saying her long shifts at work were wearing her out; it was the first Ivy had heard that Sophie had a job at all. She promised to go home and talk to her.

He told her as well that if they survived this and she needed a reference, she had only to let him know. Later, when she came to blows with the professor, she begged him not to take it out on Sophie. Whenever she speaks of Sophie it is with worry: she should go check in on her, she says, and see how she’s doing.

“Please don't take that out on Sophie, Professor…”

“请不要把气撒在索菲身上，教授…”

Vindicta: The One Who Won’t Be Friends

Ivy announced eagerly that together they were gonna own the skies; Vindicta answered only that there is no “we.” When the ritual is over, one of them goes home to a family and the other counts the bodies of the dead: she put it bluntly. Ivy boasted that she had cleaned up Spanish Harlem without murdering everybody, and that the syndicate was gone. Vindicta shot back: only that you can see; naivety can be mistaken for charm, but it is dangerous, and not everyone deserves redemption.

“That you can see. For now. Ivy; some might mistake your naivety for charm but believe me when I say it is dangerous. And if you don't smarten up soon someone you care about is going to be hurt. Not everyone deserves redemption… and even fewer are capable of it.”

“就目前而言，你明白的。青藤，有些人可能会把你的天真误认为魅力，但相信我，这很危险。如果你不尽快清醒过来，你在乎的人就会受到伤害。并非每个人都值得救赎… 甚至更少有人能够做到”

The two have fought over territory in the air as well. Ivy says the skies are her dominion; Vindicta retorts that the skies belong to her.

“The skies belong to me, Ivy.”

“天空属于我，青藤”

Vyper: The Assassin From an Old Case

Ivy names Vyper as the one who killed thirteen people for Mendoza; Vyper says she doesn’t work for him now. She has since done time in prison, and when they met again she sneered at Ivy as the loyal pet of the Arroyos. Ivy’s answer was simple: I stopped you when you worked for Mendoza, and I’ll stop you again.

“I stopped you when you worked for Mendoza, and I'll stop you again.”

“你为门多萨工作时我就阻止了你，我还会再阻止你”

Wraith: The Visitor Who Would Muscle In

Wraith says she is a big fan of anyone who makes Mendoza’s life hell, but Ivy, wary that she means to muscle in while the ground is unsettled, told her to stay out of Spanish Harlem. Wraith, for her part, has warned that if Ivy keeps coming at her, she will make Spanish Harlem the next place she sets up shop. Fighting on the same side, Ivy said plainly that she is just not a fan of criminals; Wraith laughed that this is only because Ivy hasn’t gotten to know her yet.

“Just cause Mendoza was run off doesn't mean you get to muscle in.”

“门多萨被赶下台并不意味着你可以强行取而代之”

The Doorman: The Polite Prophet

The Doorman knows her name, and knows her family too. She once asked him whether Carlos might host a fundraiser at the hotel; the Baroness must be above politics, he said: for a campaign fundraiser he could not help, but about community efforts a conversation could be had. Another time, he told her that in five years one of the Arroyos is going to die, and there is nothing she can do to stop it.

“That would depend on the nature of the fundraiser. The Baroness must be above politics. So if this is to raise money for Mr. Arroyo's mayoral campaign, I cannot help you. If it is about his community efforts, a conversation can be had.”

“那要看这次筹款活动的性质了。巴隆妮斯必须超脱于政治之外。所以如果这是为阿若悠先生的市长竞选筹款，我不能帮你。但如果是关于他的社区事务，我们倒可以谈谈”

“Ivy, you're a good person and I have no desire to torment you here. Just know this: in five years one of the Arroyos is going to die and there is nothing you can do to stop it.”

“青藤，你是个好人，我不想在这里折磨你。但你要记住：五年后，阿若悠一家会有一个人倒下，而你对此无能为力”

She is pretty sure, she says, that he is not a normal doorman.

“I'm pretty sure that's not a normal doorman.”

“我非常确定那不是普通的门卫”

Drifter and Haze: Those Who See Through Her

Drifter insists that she is a legend, that she knows it, and that she is afraid of it. Ivy only says, again and again: I’m not a legend. He has threatened, too, to pay the Arroyos a visit.

“Yes you are. You know it and you're afraid of it. Don't be.”

“你就是的。你知道这一点，你也害怕这一点。别害怕”

Ivy once asked Haze whether she would be a good fit for the OSIC. Haze answered her in earnest: no; her heart is too big, the bad days would stay with her, and that line of work has no room for it.

“Of course not. But it means the bad days would stay with you. And in our line of work you can't let it.”

“当然不是。但这意味说，糟糕的日子会一直伴随着你。而我们这行，绝对不能让这些负面情绪影响到你”

Billy and Rat King: Those Who Take Her for a Pawn

Billy jeers that she is Carlos’s talking billboard for his mayoral campaign, and says he used her to increase the property value of Spanish Harlem. Ivy answers only: I believe in Carlos. Later, tethered to her on the same side, Billy finally gave ground: she is not as bad as he thought.

“Yeah yeah we all know the stupid story. Lady, he used you to increase the property value of Spanish Harlem, and he's using you sit in the mayors mansion.”

“是啊是啊，我们都知道那个荒唐的故事。女士，他利用你提升了东哈勒姆的房价，现在又利用你坐上了市长官邸”

Rat King is blunter still: she is a rat with wings, he says, which makes her one of his; and after they came to blows he told her she gave her loyalty to the wrong family.

“Ya know what Ivy, you may have saved a lot of humans, but I'm not gonna hold it against you… you're a rat with wings, and that means you're one of mine.”

“知道吗青藤，你也许救过不少人类，但我不会跟你计较……你是长翅膀的老鼠，那就是我的人。”TL

Principles: Where She Won’t Give Ground

She told Calico that people aren’t mad at her for quitting; they are mad at her for choosing to kill people. To McGinnis she passed on Carlos’s verdict: Fairfax Industries is bad for the country. Should Yamato of the 7th Moon think of expanding, Ivy has given fair warning: don’t even think about Spanish Harlem. When Shiv hunted her, she said only: I won’t be hunted by you.

“They're not mad at you for quitting, they're mad at you for choosing to kill people.”

“他们不是气你收手不干，是气你选择了杀人。”TL

“I won't be hunted by you!”

“我不会被你追捕！”

Anecdotes

The Nickname. She hates being called “the Savior of Spanish Harlem”; she just wanted to make her neighborhood safe. When Abrams said the city owes her a debt, she said she isn’t owed anything; when the Doorman said everyone knows her name, she said it makes her a little uncomfortable.

“I really hate that nickname”

“我真的很讨厌那个外号”

Free of Charge. Bebop asked why she fights people for free, and she answered: because if she didn’t, people would’ve died. Silver, half joking, complained that by helping people for free Ivy is killing her business.

Jokes. Her humor comes mostly from an excess of good manners. Wishing Vindicta well, she told her to “have fun shooting people!” and at once fretted that she had made that weird; she called Kelvin Kevin and corrected herself on the spot; when Drifter declared she would be dead long before she was relevant in his world, she replied, “Nice to meet you too.”

A Soft Heart. She told Victor she would help him after the ritual, and promised Rem she would help him later; she had nothing but praise for Calico’s cat; and to Celeste she said she wished she could have been on her side.

“I'll help you after the ritual, Victor, but for now I have to stop you.”

“仪式结束后我会帮助你，维克多，但现在我必须阻止你”

Confession. She has made her confession to Venator, and owned that the whole vigilante justice thing really adds up. After coming to blows with the priest, she muttered, too, that the Arroyos had better not hear about this.

“Thank you for confession earlier. Sorry it ran a little long, the whole vigilante justice thing really adds up.”

“谢谢你刚才听我告解。抱歉拖得有点久，私设公道这档子事积下来真不少。”TL

Venturing Out. She has only recently started leaving Spanish Harlem, and would like someone to do things with who isn’t family, though she has never been to a farm. When Kelvin invited her on an expedition she declined, since she couldn’t be away from the Arroyos that long, and asked him instead to talk to her little brother, a big fan of his adventure stories.

“OK, so that's totally fair: but, if you decide go sight seeing let me know. I've only recently started leaving Spanish Harlem so it would be nice to have a someone to do stuff with that's not in my family. Not that there's anything wrong with my family, I love-”

“好吧，这完全对：不过，如果你决定去观光的话，一定要告诉我。我最近才刚离开东哈勒姆区，所以如果能找家人以外的人一起玩就好了。倒不是说我家人有什么问题，我只是喜欢——”

“I know this is an awkward time to ask, but when this is over would you be willing to talk to my little brother? He's a big fan of your adventure stories.”

“我知道现在问这个问题有点尴尬，但等这件事结束后，你愿意和我弟弟聊聊吗？他非常喜欢你的冒险故事。”

Renown. Her name has long since traveled beyond Spanish Harlem. Holliday heard about the crime-fighting gargoyle on the news, and the newscaster of the New York Oracle says she continues to melt New York’s heart.

Confidences. She always gets a little nervous before she gets shot at, and she doesn’t like being this exposed. When things turn frantic, she tells herself to keep it together.

Open Questions