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ronearoundblindly · 3 months

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For your Valentine's ask game: #7 Jake Jensen x reader, idk why but it seems fitting 😂

Shut Up, Jensen, one of my Valentine's Fics for 2024!

Oh, this poor, poor, awkward perv. He's pervy until there's a naked lady around and then 😳 "...when I was four, I shoved pennies up my nose..." Seriously, boi, shut up!

Warnings for spice, i.e. a setup to smutty times, but mostly suggestive. MINORS DNI, just to be safe. There's plenty for you to read on my Light Masterlist, but this one is not for you! WC 1042

You’ve always had a soft spot for nerds, and now, that’s translating to a damp spot on your fanciest panties you wore for this date.

Jake Jensen goofy-grinned his way through the entire evening, making you almost snort a tequila sunrise through your nose, and he never let up. The humor made you comfortable. It’s endearing to see his nervousness right on his graphic-T sleeve as opposed to being ‘manly’ and aloof.

It’s so, so refreshing to hear someone say, “I’m having a great time,” “I don’t want the night to end,” and know deep down in your bones that they mean “spending this time with you has made me happy” instead of “I’ve done enough to get laid now, right?”

Unsurprisingly, it does mean Jake’s done enough to get laid.

You give him your address so he could park his Jeep outside your building. There are parking meters, but tomorrow is Sunday when they’re free. No big deal. You left the bar (which was after the restaurant, which was after the coffee shop) a minute or two before in order to meet him at one of the open spots and walk him in. He can’t meet you at your door because there is a locked gate to your courtyard, and then a keypad for your building, and then about three corridors to navigate. It’s just easier to show him the way.

You can hear that fucking car coming a mile away.

Jake smiles and waves as he parallel parks—with extreme precision, you note—then hops out, gesturing to the meter questioningly.

“Don’t worry about it,” you shrug, jumping to the edge of the curb before he steps up so you can use the height for a kiss on his cheek.

It’s adorable how flustered he gets at just that tiny bit of affection. Though it’s dark, it’s obvious he blushes ferociously, rubbing at the back of his cropped, short hair, racing to gather his thoughts.

“Did you know there are almost three hundred ways to make change for a dollar? Two hundred ninety-three to be ex—woah—“

You grab his hand to lead him inside.

At the gate, you have to pause for the magnetic lock.

“I’m surprised those things even take change anymore,” Jake muses quietly, courteous for the neighbors’ sake, “because physical money only makes up 8% today’s currency…in the whole world.” He slides past the thick steel grating. “Thank you, digital banking.”

He follows behind you in the maze of concrete paths to the next entry.

“People leave like half a million dollars worth of loose change at airport security. That’s a little shocking,” he whispers when you motion for him to take a left, “think you’d splurge for some decent toilet paper with that kind of dough, or maybe some more cup holders in those row-seats? They could, I don’t know, offset the cost of making pennies. Shit cost two cents. Is worth one. Wild…

“Meanwhile, a dime has 118 ridges on the rim of the smallest circumference.”

Doesn’t even matter what he’s saying, the more his plump pink lips move, the more insanely turned on you get. You have to crowd him through your own doorway before you start stripping in the middle of the hall.

You peel your blouse off the instant your keys clatter onto the dinette table. You spin around to grab him by the screen-printed emblem of his t-shirt.

“There are 1.4 billion $2 bills in circulation.”

He gives a little oof sound when his back hits one of your bedroom walls, and there’s a barely audible whimper as your hands snake up under soft, well-worn fabric.

Holy shit, is this boy cut!

Your thumbs actually catch on the deep ridge of his Adonis belt. Dimes got nothing on you, Jake Jensen…

His breathing has changed significantly. “Did you know they—“ he gasps and swallows “—still make those?”

Ok, why is it hotter when he’s not even trying?

“Fun fact: if you went to Zimbabwe, guess which currency you’d…use?” The neckline of his shirt has to pop over his glasses before he fixes them. “The U.S. Dollar. Seriously! Same damn mon—EH.”

His belt buckle is tricky to navigate from this angle and in the very low light of your bedside lamp. You give up on his pants to unzip your skirt at the hip and let it fall.

Jake stands perfectly still with his hands half-raised.

“You’re…really fucking pretty—sorry—really pret—sexy, not that I—but beautiful. You’re really—”

He sucks in a breath as you step within inches of him again, reaching up to carefully pull his glasses over his ears and place them by the lamp.

“Fuck…”

Your index finger tucks into the elastic of his boxers where they peek out above the belt.

“Yeah, so I’ve been—I’m—I don’t have a—what I’m trying to say is—“ he squeezes his eyes shut and wiggles his fingers higher in the air, searching for the right thought “—the most commonly printed bill is actually the one-hundr—“

“Jake,” you interrupt, gently smoothing your hands over his thick shoulders. He is so ripped, what the hell? You guess there are nerds and then there are nerds, wow…

“Do you want to continue?”

He nods super fast, eyes growing wide in panic.

“Good.”

You smash your lips to his, hauling him down and you up by the sturdy tower of muscle he is.

“Condoms are in the drawer,” you mutter between breaths.

He lets out a high, choked whine before clamping his huge, warm hands to your waist, melting into you and your touch.

You coax the both of you toward the bed, swatting at his belt as a signal for him to help, and he does, though he’s not the greatest multitasker. He huffs and smirks, breaking the kiss so he can unlatch, unbutton, and unzip.

Then he looks up at you.

“So you like movies…?”

You cup his jaw in your hand and pinch, a gentle peck on his lips as encouragement to focus. “Less talking, more fucking, Jensen.”

He opens his mouth, clearly running through a series of replies, but thinks better of it and pushes down his pants and boxers all at once.

Lloyd Hansen and a kiss on a place of insecurity ⬅️ ➡️ Steve Rogers and a kiss on a scar

[Main Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

@supraveng @1950schick @patzammit @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @yiiiikesmish @ashesofblackroses @spectre-posts @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory @brandycranby @buckysprettybaby @ellethespaceunicorn @peyton--warren Y'all getting sick of me yet???

#jake jensen fanfiction #jake jensen x reader #jake jensen x you #jake jensen x y/n #jake jensen smut #jake jensen fluff #ro answers #valentine's day fanfic #valentine's day prompts

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thelaurenshippen · 5 months

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finally taking the time to read through the SAG agreement summary and oof, I hope they have an AI town hall soon because...well, there are things to discuss!

so, in case folks are curious, here are my immediate takeaways from the deal as a SAG actor, a SAG producer, and person who is not any kind of expert but spends a lot of time being skeptical of contracts I sign. this is a summation/commentary, not a holistic breakdown of every point, nor even an in-depth discussion of the points I do talk about. and it is, of course, in no way legal advice or voting advice.

this post is already maybe the longest post I've ever written on tumblr (lol) and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. to be clear, nothing I'm saying here represents how I'm going to vote, how I think other actors should vote, or my be-all-end-all stance on a particular issue. this is me reading through, flagging what concerns me, and asking myself questions. and I'm here to take your questions too! though of course my expertise is limited.

(what?? something I wrote got annoying long?? in my tumblr? it's more likely, etc. huge write-up after the cut)

the good

self-tape stuff: this is one of the more niche/the thing that the general public will find least interesting, but they've put in a lot of provisions to make sure self-tape auditions have limits (# of pages, no stunts, no nudity, doesn't have to be professionally shot, etc.) which is amazing because these types of auditions have gotten out of control since the pandemic. this feels like a great gain

data transparency: in no world did I think the streamers were ever going to agree to any data sharing with either the wga or sag so even though the data is limited, this still feels huge to me.

folks who sing and dance will be paid for both of those things now, which is great

they've added MLK day and Juneteenth as holidays (about time)

a performer cannot be required to translate their own lines

principal performers are required to be given hair and makeup consultation or reimbursed for obtaining their own services - this seems like a small thing, but it's being put in here pretty much entirely because HMU services have generally been appalling when it comes to textured hair/a variety of skin tones. there's also stuff in here about working to hire more diverse HMU artists

it looks like it's going to be easier/provide a path for folks getting IMDb credits even if they're not credited on screen

miscellany: there's a bunch of gains in wage increases, P&H increases, relocation fees, franchise language etc. that all seem good to me, though my limited knowledge on those subjects prevents me from going in depth on them.

this is not important, but it tickled me, there's a term to replace all instances of "telegraph" in the contract with "email & text" which like...why has it taken us thirty years to do that lol.

the "...hm..."

intimacy coordinators: oof. when I watched the press conference SAG gave, I was fucking thrilled when they said that the new agreement required folks to hire intimacy coordinators for nudity and simulated sex scenes. that was almost reason enough for me to vote for it tbh - not requiring it is the exact reason I voted no on our last contract. however, reading the contract summary now, the exact language is: "Producer must use best efforts to engage an Intimacy Coordinator for scenes involving nudity or simulated sex and will consider in good faith any request by a performer to engage an Intimacy Coordinator for other scenes. Producer shall not retaliate against a performer for requesting an Intimacy Coordinator." this....sucks. "best efforts" and "good faith" are not the same as "required". IMO, an intimacy coordinator is the same thing as having a stunt coordinator or, like, any number of health and safety requirements. OSHA doesn't say you must "in good faith" put your "best effort" to providing fire exits. it's great that performers can request coordinators for any kind of scene, and this is still the strongest language we've ever had in a contract but....c'mon guys.

residuals: look, I can't speak to these new terms in any concrete way. there are increases, there are bonuses for streaming success, there's a whole thing about a fund regarding those successes that I need explained to me more in depth, but overall, it looks like we made some in-roads here. as someone who employs actors under digital distribution contracts that has no residuals (podcasts), I know how genuinely cumbersome the unholy trifecta of "views-success-profit" can be (as in views do not equal success, success does not equal profit, etc.). I also have no sympathy when the majority of companies dealing with that cumbersome trifecta are massive media conglomerates. anyway, long story short, idk if this is good enough, I'm hoping to attend the next info meeting sag has.

the bad

the new hair/makeup provisions are explicitly for principal actors. while I hope it leads to better, more inclusive HMU services all around I haaaate that this implies supporting or background actors (who oftentimes also have to sit in HMU) don't deserve the consideration. (then again, background actors are usually required to do their own HMU/bring their own costumes, but for productions where that's not the case, the same HMU provisions should apply IMO)

as with every contract, there's language that could be stronger, clarity that needs to exist, and important things missing - but this isn't the final contract and I'm not a lawyer, so I'm gonna leave that stuff to the experts.

but, "lauren", you say, "what about all the AI stuff? where does that go?" well, reader, I was planning on including that in the above but it's the hot-button issue right now and I think it's wickedly complicated, so I wanted to break it down separately, after I had a chance to point out all the good-bad-in-between stuff that's not getting talked about.

a note: in my career, I've learned there's two big things to keep in mind when reading a contract you might sign:

what is the worst case interpretation of this language (thank you to my lawyer, prince among men, for teaching me how to do this in practice (that said, anything I say here is not legal advice, he'd also want me to say that lol))

what are you willing to lose/compromise on/what are the limits of your pragmatism? contracts are not about a company giving you everything you want out of the goodness of their heart - it is always a compromise. pragmatism has to be a part of the equation.

so, with that said, I'm going to play a little devil's advocate here, and a) try to find the good/the pragmatic and b) catastrophize the worst case scenario. but first, it might be handy to look at this SAG infographic for some basic definitions. let's go.

the AI good

a ton of stuff here requires consent. that is not a small thing, and the consent continues even after your death (whether it was a yes or no; though this can be complicated by your estate/your union)

the language does establish that the consent must be a separate signing from the employment contract, even if its in the contract, which is great (but more on that below - timing matters)

actors often do get paid for use of their digital replicas, though it's different based on the use/type of replica.

the actor must be provided with a "reasonably specific description of the intended use". this language is vaguer than I would like, because it allows producers to decide what "reasonably specific" and "intended" means - there's always going to be some vagueness when it comes to this specific thing, but a good start would be for producers to require not blanket consent, but conditional consent for each significant use of digital replicas.

if the replicas are being used in other mediums, that must also be consented to, thank god.

replicas cannot be used in place of background actor counts on a given day - if I'm understanding this correctly, this means a production can't just have a bunch of fake background actors by themselves, they have to engage real people up to a certain number first (which in this new contract is 25 for TV and 85 for movies). we're already filling in background with digital people or copy-pasting of the same crowd over and over and have been doing so since at least the late 90s, so it's good we're continuing to put up boundaries around that.

the AI "...hm..."

it's unclear (to me) when an actor can be asked to consent. IMO, everything is meaningless if the consent is happening as part of regular contract negotiations. these things have to happen when - and only when - the actor has already been engaged in a role and feels empowered to say no

the use of independently created replicas (replicas pulled from existing footage, not created by the actor) being allowed without consent under first amendment reasoning - this is obviously concerning a lot of people bc first amendment arguments are so broad. that said, there's a pragmatism part of me that understands this is already happening/has been happening for a while and used in ways I think are perfectly fine - I was just watching the new episode of For All Mankind (one of the best TV shows right now!) and it's an alternate history, which meant that in the opening scenes of this season they had some bonkers good deep fakes of Al Gore saying stuff he never said. I think that's okay to do in a fiction show that imagines a different US history! "but Lauren", you might be saying, "Al Gore isn't a member of SAG!" are you sure? are you positive? because I'm pretty certain he is - he was in several episodes of 30 Rock, way more people are in SAG than you think (every NPR reporter for instance), and the two worst presidents we've had in the last 50 years (yes, those ones), are both definitely members of SAG (even if one is dead). now, the other side of this is that public figures like politicians are under a different social contract than actors, and if they wanted to sue, they could, unlike the average SAG actor who might have their image abused. this is why this is in the "hm" column - deep fakes and parody/satire/commentary use of replicas is already here and there's always going to be a 1st amendment argument to make, so we need to figure out how best to limit those and protect the most vulnerable.

alteration: with this language, a project can digitally alter without consent if the script and performance stays "substantially" the same. again, this language is too mealy-mouthed. I don't know that I have a huge problem with a line of dialogue getting replaced with a digital version of that actors voice if, for instance, a word was mispronounced, or wind garbled the sound or whatever - yes, it would eliminate the need for ADR, but if we put some limit on it like..."if there are more than 5 lines in a given episode/movie that require digital alteration in the service of clarity, the actor must be engaged for an ADR session or paid for the digital replacement" then I could see this being workable. I'm also personally okay with things like costumes being digitally altered but, again, we need limitations on that. digital altering cannot replace the art of costuming but, for instance, if a costume needs to be altered to include a hate symbol or something, I think that's fine (example: I have friends who worked at the VFX house for an alternate history TV show that involved a lot of Nazi costuming and set design - a huge part of that VFX house's job was to put swastikas in places, rather than props making nazi flags. I'm okay with that!) but again, these fringe cases do not a compelling arugment make, and this contract language can be interpreted too broadly for my comfort! like everything else in this "hm" category, I need to see the final contract language to decide.

the AI bad

there's a bunch of circumstances in which actors don't get paid for creating their replica/use of it and those circumstances are too broad for my taste.

synthetic performers - this is just awful. no. no, we should not be allowing AI to generate entire actors. just............no. there's some language about the producers having to talk to the union if the synthetic performer is "used in place of a performer who would have been engaged under this Agreement in a human role" but this doesn't apply to non-human characters so....wouldn't that be all roles?? leaving the producers room to be like "this role has to be synthetic, we never would've cast a human!" is bullshit. also, even if we're having AI create a magical talking unicorn whole cloth (which, like, also no, we have artists for this), that unicorn still needs to be voiced by a human person. this whole section is a disaster.

the exceptions to consent for digital alteration are bad-bad. I talked about the potential ADR replacement above and that has a whole host of issues with it that I didn't even get into, but I can see the argument. the rest are very troubling:

there is an exception under "any circumstance when dubbing or use of a double is permitted under the Codified Basic Agreement or Television Agreement" - okay, so does this mean we can replace dubbing artists and stunt performers entirely? this section is about digital alteration, but who's to say alteration couldn't turn an actor broadly miming a fight into an entirely digital, expertly performed fight that usually a stunt double would have done? with AI translation technology, does this mean we're replacing VO artists for dubs entirely? bad!

similarly, "Adjusting lip and/or other facial or body movement and/or the voice of the performer to a foreign language, or for purposes of changes to dialogue or photography necessary for license or sale to a particular market" - Justine Bateman has a great twitter thread on the terrible puppetry potential of this but I want to draw attention to the particular market bit - we all know that selling to china is such a huge part of studios' strategies that they'll remove entire scenes or lines around queer stuff. to me, this clause makes all of that so much easier. I know the argument here is going to be "we can replace swear words and license it for kids!" which.......sure? fine? but, uh, we already have ways to deal with that? and the potential for abuse here is terrifying to me. with all the digital alteration stuff too, there's just so much icky implication for the beauty/body standard to get so much worse.

if a background actor’s digital replica is used in the role of a principal performer, they'll be paid as if they actually performed the days for that role, which, sure, but uhhhh why are we saying it's okay for a digital replica of a background actor to suddenly be a leading role!?!?! I can't think of anything more demoralizing than going to set to act in background (a job I've done! an important job! a fun job a lot of the time! but creatively limited) and then getting a much bigger role (the dream!) and.....not being able to, you know, act that role or be in scenes with other principal actors or do the thing that you've dedicated your life to doing. nightmare stuff.

woof. there's so much more to say but I'm going to leave it there. these are the concerns I'm going to go into SAG's meetings with, and the concerns I'll be considering as I decide how to vote. I know there are things I didn't address and very possibly things I misinterpreted or misrepresented - if you're an actor, I highly recommend a) reading that Justine Bateman thread and b) attending SAG's meetings to ask questions and express your concerns. and I'd love to hear what y'all think! my ask box is open.

#sag aftra #sag #sag strike #AI #me: I'm just gonna look through the terms #me: I'm just gonna do a quick write up before starting my day #clock: it's been almost two hours #not to keep hammering at the 'this is not me saying that I am correct or that I've made up my mind' bit #but this is the piss on the poor reading comprehension website so #I'M NOT SAYING I'M RIGHT #TAKE ALL THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT #i mostly have questions and concerns and am pleasantly surprised at some stuff #knowing that there *is* a degree to which we will have to compromise #and I'm WILDLY concerned about other stuff #would love to hear what other SAG members think

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twisted-wonderland-shenanigans · 7 months

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Hi, I read your monster au posts and they are amazing. Though I was wondering what would Rollo be and how would he handle there being a magicless human given his attitude in canon, as well as how would GloMas go down with Yuu and Mini!Yuu in that au?

So, I’d been holding off on answering this for Rollo until I had a better grasp on his personality and behavior, as deciding the monster/cryptid species that fits best is important. But since the Glorious Masquerade is coming to the ENG servers tomorrow (I’m not ready!!!), it feels like the right time to introduce him into the Monster!AU!

Also, as for whether or not RSA has seen Yuu/mini!Yuu, I think at least Che'nya and Neige and the dwarves have seen them yes! Outside of those, I leave that up to you/whatever direction the game takes us down next! And thank you so much, I'm glad everyone loves the AU's ;;v;;

To answer the question, I decided to base him off the French (and coincidentally Louisiana) cryptid “feu follet”, otherwise known as a Will-o’-the-wisp. Why did I choose this versus creatures like the “Beast of Gévaudan” or the “Gaueco” which will make him a fluffy canine monster? Well, while I think both would be interesting concepts to work with, neither of them really seem to fit the vibe I got from him as he’s portrayed in the beginning (…well, before chaos as usual hits the fan of course). Plus, it was also an interesting excuse to delve into more of the non-animal based ones besides Ortho being a golem!

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD AND MENTION OF DEATH BASED ON THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE FEU FOLLET/WILL-O’-THE-WISP!

Anyway, I picture him being more of a feu follet/Will-o’-the-wisp as a call to his UM “Dark Fire” and his last name Flamme, which translates to “flame” in French. Hence, as a “ghost light”, it seemed more fitting! Feu follets are said to come in various shades of blue, yellow, red, and even green—now imagine him changing color based on his emotions and having to control that side in public! His poker face means nothing behind that handkerchief if he turns colors! 😂 (Especially if you keep in mind color theory!)

While they’re also generally harmless, however, if you’re familiar with the legend of Will-‘o-the-wisps (which has multiple different variations and stories across the world!), following one at night thinking it’s a fellow traveler can lead to one’s death in a marsh, bog, swamp, etc. Typically, they’re seen in a graveyard or one of the above-mentioned areas. Since no one knew how dangerous Rollo was until it was too late, it seemed fitting for him to be one!

By the way, he can be corporeal to handle things or be hugged by someone. He can also phase through things he wants to avoid…now imagine his hat getting caught between the fence bars! 🤣🤣🤣

With that out of the way, let’s discuss his reaction to Yuu and mini!Yuu!

Given that he’s more comfortable with non-magic users, he’d be fascinated and charmed at the thought of humans—creatures of historic legend and cryptic bedtime stories—being non-magic. A world where magic doesn’t exist and no one will be consumed by blot or harmed by spells gone awry? He’d likely want to know more, but he wouldn’t want to get too close—after all, he’s not exactly keen on making friends or showing a vulnerable side. Yuu is gonna have their work cut out for them if they want to give him pets and scritches! Their best bet is in private where he’s less likely to react so strongly (though if he learns that getting the majority of Yuu’s attention is enough to annoy Malleus and the others, I can see him being smug about it and letting them praise him 😌).

As for mini!Yuu though…

Mini!Yuu: *toddling around the room, giggling as they support the large puffy cap on their head*

Azul: “Where did you get that, little one?”

Mini!Yuu: “Mr. Rollo dropped it and let me wear it!” *adjusts the cap with one hand to try and look up at them before bumping into Deuce’s leg* “Oof!”

Deuce: “Oop! Careful, Yuu!”

Riddle: “I’m surprised he allowed you to wear it given his position as Student Council President.”

/Meanwhile/

Vice President: “Uh…President Rollo? Where is your cap?”

Rollo: *holding handkerchief to his mouth* “Yuu wanted to know how heavy it was.”

Vice President: “Y-you’ve never let yourself be out of uniform!” *gets emotional* “But you’re allowing the human child to wear it…that is so precious!”

Rollo: *scowls, his wisp body turning reddish-pink in embarrassment*

///////////

Pfft…I just couldn’t resist a bit of cuteness~! UvU/)

As for how the whole event would go down…well, I can imagine that Rollo would believe he’s doing the right thing, so him possibly trying to separate Yuu from the others using the flowers would be even more terrifying! For mini!Yuu, the whole situation would be absolutely terrifying for the toddler since I doubt the others would have let them come with them to stop Rollo. So, the boys would likely leave them with Grandpa Trein for safety until the whole situation is done and over with.

Once all is said and done, it’s really up to Yuu to decide how they see Rollo after the fact. As for mini!Yuu? Whether they find out it was started because of him or the boys kept it under wraps just like everyone else in NBC being ignorant of what happened, they might just be happy to see he’s okay. Now imagine him dancing with mini!Yuu at the end of the event like Charlotte with Prince Naveen’s younger brother from Princess and the Frog!

#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland monster au #twst monster au #rollo flamm #rollo flamme #twst mini!yuu #twisted wonderland mini!yuu #twisted wonderland yuu #twst yuu #azul ashengrotto #deuce spade #riddle rosehearts #malleus draconia #glorious masquerade event

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cadmusfly · 12 days

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Just spent two hours copying descriptions of auction listings and using dodgy machine translation on them and now I have a document full of excerpts from a bunch of letters written by Lannes scattered between 1800 to 1809, pretty much entirely to his wife, most of them going "why don't you write to me more :( i love you and the kids", one or two going "I am going to retire for real I swear I need to spend more time with you and the kids" (one of those written two years before his death on the job, ouch oof)

but look at these excerpts

6 July 1804 "I LOVE BONAPARTE, I DEFEND HIS INTERESTS OF HEART AND SOUL, I ONLY SEE HIS GLORY. I HAVE ALWAYS SPILLED MY BLOOD WITH PLEASURE FOR HIM."

January 14, 1809 "I have just spent two weeks in good pain, my dear Louise, I followed Her Majesty pandering all the time, without a servant, nor having enough to change my shirt once, so I was loaded with vermin. I do not remember ever having suffered so much, it must be added that I was still suffering from my fall from a horse. I swear, my dear Louise, it takes more than dedication to Her Majesty to have endured all the fatigue, no one has even noticed that I suffer."

Really interesting to me is this one

April 8, 1807 I am very worried about your health, take good care of it. I think the horse will do you good; if I find someone reliable, I will send you the black mare you like to ride; in the meantime, I urge (…) to buy a good horse; I am very pleased that you tell me that the one Bessières bought for me is beautiful. You don't tell me about the second one. It must also be very beautiful, at least it costs me as much. I think the air at Maison will do you a great deal of good, you will have a lot of pleasure in arranging the English garden (…). I am quite well but I am not satisfied (…). It seems one must sacrifice for people who love no one; I confess it takes a lot of courage to endure all the harm they wanted to do to me; you know the affair at Stettin. What treachery, what diabolical politics. I am not at peace; I am outraged, my dear Louise, when I think that at the moment when I was sacrificing my life for his glory, he was trying to ruin me, and always in a revolting way (…)

1. Bessières bought him two horses as gifts? Bessières? That Bessières? The one who he had a friendship breakup in 1801? 2. Him complaining about the emperor at the end is some spicy stuff right there, loyal but sometimes very bitter

fun letters! He does seem genuinely quite fond of his wife in these, I think

#cadmus rambles #jean lannes #napoleon's marshals #napoleonic era #napoleonic wars

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boinin · 3 months

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I didn't want to give too much weight to Hiiragi's tarot reading schtick. Yet, it's an author insert moment, and Kaneshiro loves foreshadowing. I have a worrying feeling that these fortunes may hold true for Chigiri, Barou and Nagi.

Full disclosure: I know very little about tarot, but did some high level reading through Wikipedia and other sources.

Chigiri gets the 15th card of the Major Arcana, the Devil. In the official translation, Hiiragi notes this to represent seduction, betrayal and ruin. Oof.

The obvious connection is to Chigiri's leg—the fortune could be tied to how he was seduced by football, became addicted to it, but will subsequently be betrayed by his leg... leading to ruin.

The Devil tarot card doesn't normally show a bomb, so this is for dramatic effect. Thematically, it implies that Chigiri should find purpose (or know where to seek it) beyond football, ahead of the day his luck runs out. 🥺 Not the outcome I want for our princess, but a second ACL injury has long been speculated by fans. Chigiri himself is aware that it's a risk when playing at this level.

Barou chooses number 12, the Hanged Man. Hiiragi cherry-picks his interpretation; in addition, this card is associated with motifs of self-sacrifice, learning, and change in perspective. It can also be interpreted as a voluntary state, rather than something that befalls a person.

It's a good fit for Barou, who doesn't double down on his ego so much as grow to show why he's deserving of his nickname in the first place. Barou is a king on the pitch, and expects a level of servitude from his teammates, but not without constantly improving his own skills and talent. He's no lazy despot, though despot he may be.

The Hanged Man fortunes supports his emotional outburst during the Ubers match. Barou remarks that he needs the challenge of despair to grow. As such, the trials he puts on himself are deliberate, much like the tarot reading suggests.

Nagi gets #13, Death (because of course he does). This fortune seems to be the most thoughtful of the bunch, unsurprisingly. Hiiragi's interpretation, while intended to provoke Nagi above all, holds up well against what little I've read on tarot.

The Wikipedia page for the Death arcana had some additional nuggets of insight, or rather further ammunition for those of us manifesting a second NagiReo divorce:

Reo is frequently referred to as princely and compared to royalty in the series, with his superfluous wealth and the way he confidently takes on leadership roles among teams. His signature colour, purple, has monarchial associations due to how rare and expensive purple pigments are in nature (prior to the invention of synthetic dyes).

Of course Reo, this royal youth, opposes Nagi's desire to change... seemingly at every hurdle.

It's not deliberate sabotage though, more that they're hamstrung by their co-dependency. Unlike almost every other relationship in Blue Lock, which arose from rivalry or a shared desire to improve, Nagi and Reo's friendship is rooted in the naive promises they made before entering the programme. @thyandrawrites had a great post exploring this recently, which I recommend if you want to delve deeper into the reasons for their underperformance in the Neo Egoist league.

My take is, in essence, if these two could agree to remain friends while moving away from being inseperable on the pitch, they'd both flourish.

Back to tarot: Wikipedia also has a tidbit on reversed cards, which I understand aren't a hardwired aspect of reading tarot (it refers to physical cards that are revealed upside down after being shuffled and dealt). The interpretation Wikipedia gives of an inverted Death card is reminiscent of Nagi's status after he plays against Isagi and Bastard München.

In short: Nagireo bad for one another, and Nagi will undergo quite the metamorphosis in his journey through Blue Lock, if this fortune holds.

---

Analysis aside, I wouldn't put too much faith into what these fortunes mean for the characters. Tarot itself isn't immutable, and for every motif listed above, the characters also have other tropes influencing the paths they take. For example, Chigiri shares the whole hero/princess trope with Kunigami, which has more plot significance than his leg injury at present. Nagi embodies the role of a natural prodigy who has neither the knowledge or experience to deploy his talents consistently. Barou embodies an villain or anti-hero archetype, when juxtaposed with Isagi. Each character has more to the eye than a simple playing card can reveal which is why I'm here yapping at length about them during my lunch break

#blue lock #blue lock manga #bllk #bllk manga #episode nagi #epinagi chp 19 #hiiragi reiji #chigiri hyoma #baro shoei #nagi seishiro #mikage reo #blue lock analysis #bllk analysis #boinin talks bllk

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abybweisse · 4 months

Text

Ch207 (p2), Narrow aptitude

The first translation pages I posted as spoilers were actually the licensed translation. I have no idea how that person got them so early, unless.... 🤔

Anyway, here're those same pages, but all nice and clean. I will get to a page that was somehow left out of the translated spoiler before, though.

Then this page was left out of the spoiler pages I had before:

Oliver just isn't the sort to resort to killing so easily, which is odd, since Layla/Al is.

Artie doesn't trust Susan to actually help them. She would either stab them the first chance she got and/or send them walking right into a trap (like snipers). So, it made sense to just kill her.

Oof, Artie....

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081314 · 11 months

Text

Book 7: The Ruler of the Abyss – Chapter 3 (Part 1)

Following is part 1 of my translation of Chapter 3 of Book 7: The Ruler of the Abyss. This part contains episodes 7-38 to 7-43.

Main storyline spoilers after the cut!!

Episode 7-38

(Beeeep, beeeep)

Idia: ….ZZzz…Z…

(Beeep beeep)

Idia: …..Ugh, would ya shuddup… Who is it?

(Idia answers the phone)

???: Ah, you finally picked up. It’s morning already, come on.

Idia: …Who are you?

Ortho: Who am I…? What, did you forget your own little brother? It’s me, Ortho.

Idia: Ortho? No, Ortho’s in my room…. Huh? Wait a sec…

Ortho: Big bro, we haven’t shared a room together since we were little kids. You sound like you’re still half-asleep.

Idia: But you and me are attending Night Raven College together… Huh. Huh? Ortho, where are you right now?

Ortho: What? I’m…. At Royal Sword Academy. Today’s the entrance ceremony, and I’m a freshman! Isn’t Night Raven College having their entrance ceremony today, too? You were saying before that you absolutely couldn’t oversleep, since this is the first time you’ll be performing your duties as a housewarden and all, and you asked me to give you a call in the morning.

Idia: Is… That right? I guess so.

Ortho: I know we’re going to different schools and all, but I’m still really happy I get to go to a school on Sage’s Island since you’re here.

Idia: Gotcha, so you’re in high school now, huh….

Ortho: Ah ha haha! Why are you talking like mom and dad? Alright, I’ll be going now… You better not go back to sleep after I hang up! Bye!

(The call ends)

Idia: Ahh, my head feels all fuzzy. Maybe I got a little too into my gaming last night. Wait, why did I even ask Ortho to give me a wake-up call? The entrance ceremony here doesn’t start till tonight. …Meh, whatever. Today’s a happy day 'cause Ortho’s finally starting high school. Let’s see if I can’t kill some time until the ceremony. …Guess I’ll just start on my dailies for now. I’ll take a look-see at the items I got from that quest yesterday and clean up my inventory a bit… I can just sell whatever I don’t need.

[Muscle Crimson has logged in]

Idia: Huh? It’s Muscle Crimson-Shi. He usually doesn’t log on this early.

Gloomurai: Muscle Crimson-Shi, thx for going on that farming spree w me last night! The drop rate was ass tho

Muscle Crimson: Ah, if it isn’t Gloomurai. Thank you for your assistance last night, too. Thanks to you, I believe I’ll be able to craft that new weapon I’ve been eyeing.

Gloomurai: Oooh u mean that long sword? u gotta bust it out on our next quest!

Muscle Crimson: Yes, of course. I owe everything to you, after all. Ah, and I ended up picking up the materials for that helmet you’ve been wanting in a drop. Would you please accept them from me?

Gloomurai: WHAT!! fr!? but those items are super rare u could get so much money if u sold them…

Muscle Crimson: How about the two of us take on our next quest together decked out in our new equipment?

Gloomurai: siiiick. man im so happy rn…. ty ty ty～

Muscle Crimson: By the way, it’s quite unusual for you to be logged in at this hour. Do you have the day off today?

Gloomurai: i got plans tonight so i figured id wrap up my dailies now. wby

Muscle Crimson: I am also free until tonight.

Gloomurai: u wanna crush some daily quests w me?

Muscle Crimson: That would be much appreciated. Then please allow me to accompany you.

Gloomurai: k im gonna hop off now. gg!

Muscle Crimson: Of course, today was a lot of fun. Until we meet again.

[Muscle Crimson has logged out]

Idia: Phew. I only meant to do my dailies, but we ended up going kinda overboard and doing a buncha side quests. And thanks to all those super rare materials he gave me, I was able to make some new equipment…. Today’s been totally awesome so far. …Oof, I gotta start getting ready. Got that big entrance ceremony coming up and the whole student body has to be there. What a pain in the ass. I got a bad feeling today’s about to take a 180 nosedive… This sucks. If Ortho wasn’t looking forward to this so much, who…..Huh? Wait, Ortho doesn’t have anything to do with it. ‘Cause he’s enrolled at Royal Sword Academy, not NRC. The heck am I saying. ..Aah, whatever. I’ll just go change into my ceremony outfit… Yikes, it’s still got a cleaning service tag on it and the date’s from last year. And I thought I was the shut-in, this thing only thing leaves the room, like, once a year. LOL.

Episode 7-39

Idia: Ngh… The entrance ceremony’s about to start… I’m feeling weirdly nervous. I got a feeling something bad’s gonna happen, and I don’t like it. Anyways, why do the housewardens even have to go around and greet everybody in the first place? We’re just a bunch of randos to the freshies. We’re gonna go up and be like, “congrats on being admitted” and they’ll be like, “uhh who tf are you?”…

???: Is that you, Shroud?

Idia: Eep!?

Malleus: So, it is you. How unusual.

Idia: M-Malleus-shi… Why’re you here?

Malleus: How long has it been? Ha ha, I haven't seen you much since you became housewarden.

Idia (thinking to himself): (Malleus Draconia….. The crown prince of Briar Valley and Diasomnia's housewarden! He's totally an ultra SSR character who should be headlining the orientation! So what's he doing here?!)

Malleus: And I never thought to run into you outside, of all places. What are you up to?

Idia: Y'know. I decided I'd just, uh...go... You know. Same as you.

Malleus: I see. Same as me.

(beep beep beep)

Idia: Huh? Something’s beeping.

Malleus: Yes… That was this fellow here. It appears it’s hungry. Now then, what kind of food shall I give you today….

Idia: Hold up!!!! That’s a “Gao Gao Drakon-kun!” And it’s a first gen!!!

Malleus: Oh, my. Are you familiar with it?

Idia: Yeah, but I’ve only played with the kind that has color LCD screens. This is insane, I can’t believe you have a first gen unit! I had no idea people even still played with them.

Malleus: …Indeed. It’s broken down more times than I can count, but I’ve always had it repaired. From now on, I intend to take care of it the best that I can, and treasure it… For a long, long time.

Idia: Woooah. I bet your Drakon-kun’s gotta be super happy since you care about it so much.

Malleus: ….Heh heh heh. I do hope everyone else feels the same.

Idia: Huh? What you mean “everyone”…..?

Lilia: Oooi, Malleus! Where are you?

Malleus: Lilia, I’m over here.

Lilia: Goodness grief, I was looking everywhere for you…. Hm? Ah, if it isn’t Ignihyde’s new housewarden, Idia Shroud.

Idia: Ack..! … H-Hello….

Lilia: I see, so you two must’ve been deepening your friendship as fellow wardens. Well, isn’t that lovely.

Idia: N-No, that’s… Not what we were…

Lilia: Nevertheless, the entrance ceremony is about to begin. We can’t have two housewardens - and two seniors, at that - show up late, can we? You’ll set a bad example for everyone.

Malleus: Indeed. Let’s set off for the mirror chamber, then.

Idia: ……….. Huh? It feels like…. I’m having déjà vu.

Malleus: Shroud? What’s the matter?

Idia: Ah- No it’s…. It’s nothing.

Malleus: Heh heh… What a strange one you are.

(Mirror Chamber)

Riddle: Alright, that wraps up the entrance ceremony and dormitory sorting, yes? Listen to me well, freshmen. At Heartslabyul, I am the rule. And I shall have the heads of any who dare disobey me.

Leona: *yaaaawn* Finally, that boring ass ceremony’s over. Let’s hurry up and head back to the dorm already. Savannaclaw students, follow me.

Azul: My dear freshman, let me offer you my sincerest congratulations on your admission to our humble school! As the warden of Octavinelle, I’ll be working hard to support you in your endeavors, so that you may make the most out of your time here.

Idia: (Huh… I was bracing myself for the worst... That was honestly kind of a letdown. I mean, no news is better than good news.)

Ignihyde Student: Warden Shroud, let’s start heading back to the dorm now.

Idia: Ah… Sure. Kay, freshies come with me.

Malleus: I am Malleus Draconia, the warden of Diasomnia. I give you my warmest welcome to our dorm. Come, follow me.

Ignihyde Freshman A: Look over there, It’s Malleus Draconia… In the flesh.

Ignihyde Freshman B: I wonder if it’s true that he’s descended from dragons…. Even from this far away the guy’s intimidating as hell…

Ignihyde Student: Eyes over here, freshman. You’ll get lost if you don’t pay attention.

Idia: ………?

Ignihyde Student: What’re you looking around for, Warden Shroud? Did you forget something?

Idia: No, it’s not that. I just… Forget it. It’s fine.

Ortho: Sweet. Sounds like everything went great, big bro.

Idia: I wouldn’t say it went great… But it did go off without a hitch, so. What about you, Ortho?

Ortho: I remember you really freaked me out when you said you got stuck rooming with four people and had no privacy at all during your freshman year. So you can imagine how worried I got when I found out this school has dorms, too… But I think things are gonna go really well with my roommates. We were having a lot of fun earlier talking about sports and gaming.

Idia: Yeah, ‘cause you’re not all doom and gloom like me. When you got your acceptance letter to Royal Sword Academy, it made total sense to me. Since they’re famous for taking in those sparkly extrovert type of guys, ya know. ….I’m really glad that you got to make new friends.

Ortho: Yeah…. Aww, crap! The warden’s making his rounds. It’s time for lights out. I’ll call you again, big bro. Good night!

Idia: Good night, Ortho.

(The phone call ends)

Idia: *sigh* …..And so starts another year, I guess… …….What the heck… Why do I feel like I’m forgetting something really important…. ……Whatever.

(TL Note: Some of the dialogue from when Mal is talking to Idia is the exact same lines from Idia’s Ceremonial Robes vignette, and I’ve copied the official EN lines from the places that are duplicated because I am lazy).

Episode 7-40

[It’s thundering….]

Maleficent: It’s incredible! Sixteen years and not a trace of her. Are you sure you searched everywhere?

Goon: Y-Yeah, everywhere. We searched mountains, uhhh… forests and houses, and, uh, lemme see… Aaalll the cradles.

Maleficent: Fools!

Maleficent: Search for a maid of sixteen. Go, and do not fail me.

Fauna: You’re already betrothed to Prince Philip, dear.

Aurora: But that’s impossible. How could I marry a prince? I’d have to be…

Merryweather: A princess.

Fauna: And you are, dear.

Maleficent: Touch the spindle. Touch it, I say!

Maleficent: You poor, simple fools. Thinking you could defeat me. Me! The Mistress of all Evil!

Yuu: She’s so obsessed…

Yuu: This is…?

Yuu: That’s right, Tsunotarou used his magic and…

Yuu: I wonder where everybody is?

Grim: Zzzzz….. *mumbles*

Yuu: Grim!

Grim: Waah, it’s rainin’ tuna cans～ I’m a tuna can millionaire…. *mumbles* …Man, I can’t eat all these…

(Yuu shakes Grim)

Grim: This is awesome… I hope things stay like this forever…

Yuu: Grim, wake up already!

Grim: Wha-!? What the heck are you doin’, henchman!? …Huh? …Where’d my mountain of tuna cans go? Wait… Wait! Don’t tell me… I was just dreaming? Aww, maaaan. This sucks…. Actually, when did we get back to Ramshackle? Weren’t we just at Diasomnia for Lilia’s going away party like a second ago? And then… And then Tsunotarou showed up all of a sudden…. Ah! And then he knocked us flat on our butts! And after that… I don’t remember.

Yuu: I don’t see any of the other partygoers around.

Grim: Let’s go take a look outside.

Episode 7-41

Grim: Let’s go take a look outside.

(They try to open the door, but it’s locked)

Grim: Huh!? The door won’t open! Maybe it got busted again? Kay, then let’s just go out the window… AAAH!? T-There’s s-something outside the window!! It’s a huge monster…! Wait, what? There’s a weird drawing on the window! Who the heck did this!? Somebody’s been drawin’ graffiti on our dorm! …Hm? It felt like I stepped on something just now…

Ottoman Dog: Bark bark bark!!

Grim: Uwaah! A dog!?

Ottoman Dog: Grr! Bark bark!

Yuu: The ottoman’s acting like a dog!?

Grim: I’ve never seen any animal like that before! Weird…. How come it’s in Ramshackle!?

Yuu: Wait a second… This room isn’t…

Grim: Huh? Wait, this… This isn’t our room. The vibes are kinda simliar, but it’s not Ramshackle. Where the heck are we!?

Yuu: Let’s look around.

Grim: Ah! Henchman, look at that desk over there! That nut cracker’s havin’ a field day popping open all those walnuts. And it’s eating the hull. I guess it thinks that part is the tasty part? I’m still stuffed from the party, but… It sure would be rude not to eat the nuts he’s working so hard to open. Let’s dig in! *Crunch crunch* …Mmm, it smells so good.

(Grim eats the nuts and grows several times larger)

Grim: Waaaah!? The heck just happened!? I got huge!!!

(Grim shrinks back to normal size)

Grim: T-That scared the crap outta me! What happened? I mean, I always wished I could be a big guy, but if I got that big I’d get totally stuck in this room. Oh, yeah. I remember in our magical pharmacology class… We learned there’s these magic mushrooms in the Queendom of Roses that can make you grow bigger or shrink really little. But I don’t remember anything about magic walnuts! When I see Crewel next week I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind!

Grim: There’s a pair of gloves dancing with a hat! This magic is so cool～ Other than the gloves, there’s also some playing cards covered in ink and …. this. Is this a magical pen?

Yuu: It doesn’t have a magical stone in it. It’s just a normal fountain pen.

Grim: Huh. But it looks like it’s outta ink. …And over there’s a dancing music box, and over there’s a jumpin’ umbrella… This place is filled with all sorts of weird stuff! The heck is this room?

Mickey: There’s a moving sofa and an ottoman that acts like a dog… And a table with a nutcracker on it. Can you see them?

Yuu: Maybe this is the room that Mickey’s always in?

(the room starts warping)

Grim: Aah! What the!? T-The room’s getting all wonky! What’s goin’ ooon!! Waaaaah!!

(the room goes back to normal)

Grim: W-What was that?

???: …Is someone there?

Grim: !! Somebody’s coming!

???: ….Ah, you’re-!!

Episode 7-42

???: ….Ah, you’re-!!

Yuu: Mickey!

Mickey: Waaah! Is it true? Is it really you? This is amazing! We finally get to meet face-to-face, instead of having to talk through the mirror. Here, give me a high five!

(Yuu gives Mickey a high five)

Mickey: Yay! Haha!

Grim: Ah! He’s from that picture you took with the ghost camera! That Mickey guy!

Mickey: Eep! You scared me! I hadn’t noticed I had another visitor besides Yuu. You’re…

Grim: Name’s Grim! I run things over at Ramshackle dorm.

Mickey: Grim? Ah, that’s right. You’re the roommate Yuu mentioned before. I’m so happy I’ve got even more friends I can meet inside my dreams now. My name is Mickey. Mickey Mouse. Nice to meet you, Grim!

Grim: All right! …Nya ha ha! Looks like our “Contact Mickey” investigation was a success, all thanks to me! I betcha Ace and the others are gonna be peeved, heh.

Mickey: “Contact Mickey” investigation? What’s that?

Yuu: It’s a long story, but….

Mickey: So you guys were thinking that since I can talk with Yuu through the mirror and across different worlds, then maybe I could give you some clues on how to get Yuu back to his own world. Makes sense to me.

Grim: Yup. And there’s a whole bunch of stuff we wanna ask ya about!

Mickey: That’s no problem at all. I’ll be happy to help Yuu. Ask away!

Grim: First off, the heck is this freaky room?

Mickey: All the furniture and utensils in here move on their own. Some of them are congenial, others not so much. Recently, I got into a bit of a spat with the card soldiers.

Grim: You mean those cards that are all covered in ink? The ones on that shelf over there?

Mickey: That’s right. They were flinging their heart and spade markings at me left and right! So I took up that ballpoint pen over there and used it like a water gun, and I went on the defense.

Grim: Nyahaha! The cards are made outta paper so I bet they’re weak to water.

Mickey: Exactly. And that’s why they’re all wet and droopy now.

Yuu: How come the playing card soldiers attacked you?

Mickey: The King got jealous because I went dancing with the Queen… But I wasn’t trying to interrupt their little picnic date, you know? And then he went and ordered all the card soldiers to chase after me. We cleared up the misunderstanding afterwards, but still. I did something just awful to those little cards.

Grim: I was thinking you used magic and made all the stuff in the room move around. But since you got in a fight with the card soldiers, I’m guessing it wasn’t your magic?

Mickey: Magic? Oh, that’d be just wonderful if I could use magic! Haha! But I’m no wizard.

Grim: Huh….. Then who enchanted this room?

Mickey: Hmm, I’m not sure either. At first, I thought I’d just imagined up both this room, and you too, Yuu. But that’s not right. Neither you nor this room came from my imagination…. Right?

Yuu: *nods*

Mickey: Ah, it's just one mystery after another.

Episode 7-43

Grim: Oh, yeah. Before I forget, how’d ya even get into this room, Mickey? The door won’t open, and the windows are closed shut, and neither me or Yuu can remember how we ended up here.

Mickey: Whenever I’ll be coming to this room, another version of me will slip out of my body while I’m asleep in bed.

Yuu: Is it like, your consciousness breaks free from your body?

Mickey: Yeah, just like that! And then I just have to pass through the mirror that hangs over the fireplace in my bedroom. And that’s how I get into this room here.

Grim: So you come and go through the mirror, huh. That’s just like how it works with the dorms at school.

Mickey: But when I tried while I was awake, I couldn’t get through the mirror. It seems to only work when I’m asleep.

Grim: Huh? Hey, wait a sec. ….So that means you’re asleep right now, right?

Mickey: Yup. The “me” here is bright-eyed and bushy tailed, but my body is snoozing away in bed right now.

Yuu: Then me and Grim are basically walking consciousnesses right now?

Grim: Whaaat!?? Then where’d my body go!? Don’t tell me I left it behind at Diasomnia!?

Yuu: I don’t think you could even call this an out-of-body experience anymore. This is awful….

Grim: *sigh* …..It doesn’t look like Ace and the others came along with us…. The heck are we supposed to do?

Mickey: What? You can’t find your friends?

(Yuu nods)

Mickey: That’s certainly worrisome…. Well, they might be around here somewhere. Let’s go outside and search for them.

Grim: But the door won’t open.

Mickey: You can’t just give up when you don’t succeed the first time! There’s challenges you can’t handle on your own, but if you work together with your friends, you’ll be able to get through.

(Riiing! Riiiing!)

Mickey: Ah! That sound is….

Grim: Oi, Mickey! Your body’s gettin’ all see-through like a ghost!

Mickey: Oh no, it must be morning already! My body is… waking… up…

(Riiiiing! Riiing! Riing!)

Mickey: I wish I could’ve….helped…. you… more…

Yuu: Mickey!

Grim: Aaaand he’s gone…. Dang it, and we’d finally just succeeded with our investigation!

(The room starts shaking)

Grim: W-What’s going on!? The room’s shakin’ all over!

(The room fills with a black substance)

Grim: Uwaaa! The room’s fillin’ up with a bunch of black wriggly things! They’re comin’ from outside!

Yuu: Is this… ink!?

Grim: H-Henchman! Y-You better stay close to me! I’ll burn up this black stuff with my flames!

Grim: Haaaa, haaaa…. I beat ‘em and I beat ‘em but they just keep coming back! At this rate we’re gonna….

???: *gurgles*

Grim: Take this-! ….Ugh *cough cough* I don’t have any fire left in me!

???: *gurgling*

Grim: What the!? The floor gave way behind us! T-There’s nowhere else we can run to….! S-Somebooodyyyyy!!!!

???: Prefect! Grim!

Grim: Eep! You’re that guy from Diasomnia….

Silver: We’ll talk later! Both of you, grab onto me. Hurry! Those I’ve met before, and those I’ll meet someday…. *Come, and let us dream the same dream.

*This is what he says in the text. Out loud he says “Meet in a dream”

Part 2

Part 3

#idia shroud #malleus draconia #lilia vanrouge #leona kingscholar #riddle rosehearts #twst silver #ortho shroud #twst spoilers #twst #twisted wonderland #ruler of the abyss #twst jp

181 notes · View notes

elllisaaa · 5 months

Note

hello there!! 🫶🏼 first i wanna thank you so much for reading and rb my gunil fic, i appreciate the support truly 🥹

as i saw your hard thoughts are open i’ll let myself rant about yeonjun, he’s my bias from txt and ughhhhh this man, i go crazy every time i see his pretty face

one thing i LOVE about him is his confidence and how he carries himself it’s so attractive !!! i just need him to fuck me SO rough and deep in doggy style i feel his cock in my throat 😣 and i really really need him to talk cocky behind me the entire time, about how good he’s giving it to me and how no one ever has fucked me this good before, and no one else will 🤤 he’s the only one that can make me cum multiple times till i can’t think straight, and he always makes sure that i don’t forget that

oof, sorry if it’s too much, but it’s what he does to me 😭

hiii sweetie !!

thank you so much for supporting me too, and really i'm so happy to have finally found a blog about xh, and you're also feeding my gunil delulu thoughts so it's a win win 🤭 and it's definitely not too much, because i think this man have such an effect on everyone. even if he's not my bias (i'm a soobin girly), i'm still drooling over him, especially those edits with the weeknd starboy... they have me going feral fr ! thanks for the ask !

and you're definitely right, this man is overly confident and it's hella attractrive. but he has every right to be : one look at him is enough to understand why he's so cocky all the time. this man is talented, successful and so, so attractive. everywhere he goes, he has all eyes on him, including yours, and that's the only thing that really matters to him in the end.

his cockiness translates in the bedroom too, because how could he not when he knows that one word from him gets you on your knees in a matter of seconds ?

yeonjun loves to take you from behind, loves to stare at your ass and loves the way your back arch even more to let him reach deeper into you. with every thrust of his hips, the noise of skin colliding was echoing through the room. every time he got home after a show, he had spare energy to lose, and he was also so cocky, spurred by the way you were crying out his name as he pounded your tight cunt.

"that's it pretty girl, scream my name, let everyone hear how much you love it."

another moan escaped you, and yeonjun answered by a low grunt as he sped up his rhythm, fucking you more and more roughly as you let out more whimpers.

"dumb little slut, cannot think of everything beside my cock, huh ?"

he was so full of himself, borderline degrading you but it made you throb around his dick. if it was every other man, you would've been offended, but when it came out of yeonjun mouth, it was almost a compliment.

"fuck, i'm fucking you too well yeah ? that's why you can't talk anymore ?" and you sobbed at his words, tears streaming down your cheeks as you tried to hold on to something. "shh baby, i know it's so good, i know… so greedy, you already cum two times and you still want more ?"

you knew better than not answer him without his permission, so you nobbed your head as best you could in your current position and headspace. you mewled when his fingers digged into the flesh of your sides, using your body as leverage to fuck you even harder.

"that's alright, i know no one has ever fucked you like that before. i know no one could ever fuck you like that, i'm the only one that can make you feel like that."

and he's right, he's always right. he fucks you as if he exactly knew the right timing, the right pressure, the right rhythm to make you fold.

"say it. say that i'm the only one. let everyone hear how good i'm fucking you." your lack of answer earned you a harsh slap on your ass, making you moan even louder. "say it, or you're not cumming." "yes junnie ! only you make me feel like that." "good girl, now you can cum."

your orgasm washed over you as soon as you heard his order, pleasure so intense your vision blurred. your body became limp, and if it wasn't for yeonjun holding your hips up, you would've collapsed on the mattress.

"gonna give my cum to you baby, i know you want it."

you could only whine in response, unable to even shake your head yes or no. overstimulation was stinging, but it hurt so good. and yeonjun knew that, he always knew what to do. when he painted your walls white, and you were reaching your climax again, you definitely knew that yeonjun had ruined you for any other men.

#yeonjun #txt smut #txt hard thoughts #txt hard hours #yeonjun smut #choi yeonjun #yeonjun hard thoughts #yeonjun hard hours #eli answering your questions #eli's moots

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greenhappyseed · 5 months

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MHA #406 review lite

Yeah, normally I do a “leak reactions” post but the timing for that didn’t work out, so instead I’m looking at the full chapter! (Reminder for newcomers: I don’t look at leaked images or fanscans until after the official chapter is out.)

Aoyama and Hagakure are adorable — love how he puts his jacket around her and is using his bare hands to direct his navel laser. Now update me on how Fatgum is doing!!!

We finally get our first view of Gashly and, I believe, our first Ryukyu sighting during this battle!

Tsukauchi is falling apart more and more each chapter. Horikoshi is delighting in torturing this man.

Nagant’s lying down on a rooftop. All Might and Edgeshot are lying down on rooftops. Is the Rooftop Trio on a rooftop?? Only time will tell.

Speaking of not looking so good, Izuku is huffing and has some really dark rings around his eyes. He dramatically says “it ends here, go beyond” and…we cut to Bakugo and AFO just as Izuku looks like his middle finger is about to Gearshift + Air Force flick Tomura into next year.

Love how Bakugo calls AFO a filler character as AFO calls him a pointless pebble. I especially like how the English translation uses the “pebble in my path” phrase that Bakugo previously used to describe Izuku. (I haven’t checked yet to see if the Spanish versions use the same lines.)

I know there’s a lot of discourse surrounding Bakugo’s power up, but it reads to me like it’s not a new “power” so to speak. Rather he’s using his honed instinct and insight into his own body (remember how he’s always coming up with new ultimate moves on his own?). But, instead of focusing on the outcome (e.g., victory, or being the strongest) he’s focusing on the process. Much like All Might recapturing his own smile from the joy of helping others, Katsuki is finding joy in the simple act of pushing himself and his quirk. That’s something AFO doesn’t understand. As much as he wants to live forever and mess around with quirks forever, he really only enjoys simple quirks that combine well with others. AFO doesn’t like the process of exploring his quirks or honing his skills with them.

Seeing Mitsuki and Masaru cry is giving me FEELINGS. Horikoshi didn’t have to include them but he did and oof.

AFO talks about “the hatred I harbor” for Second, whose name is revealed as Kudo. Kudo is, apparently, the one that AFO loathes “above all others” — even All Might, apparently?? — because it Kudo hadn’t reached out his hand to Yoichi, then OFA wouldn’t have been created. This is AFO’s side of the story we heard from Yoichi way back in Chapter 310: “The moment you [Kudo] reached out your hand to me was when One for All was truly born.” After Chapter 369 came out last year, I wrote some meta about why AFO might be crying while he force chokes Kudo, and ventured a guess that AFO harbored a deep hatred for Kudo, either because he created OFA or possibly because they knew each other. I don’t think there’s anything in 406 that changes those posts significantly, though it does seem that AFO’s hatred for Kudo lies primarily in the fact that he reached out his hand to Yoichi….though AFO still knew an awful lot about Gearshift and how it was “supposed” to work…

Ugh, I really, really want the OFA/AFO backstory now. Like if it’s 3-8 chapters of backstory I’m ok with that as a breather/precursor for Izuku vs Tomura (see bullet #5 above re Izuku about to exhaust his body from overuse of Gearshift).

Finally…I LOVE KATSUKI CALLING HIMSELF “KACCHAN”!!!! Izuku reclaimed “Deku” a long time ago with help from Ochako, and now Katsuki is embracing “Kacchan” with help from Izuku. Yes, Bakugo’s hero name is still Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, and that name was fully approved by All Might last chapter. In 406, however, Katsuki is referring to himself as a civilian and using the name “Kacchan” with no fear whatsoever of sounding diminutive in front of AFO (or the cameras) …and it’s absolutely beautiful and I love it. He’s not posturing one bit, he’s free to be fully himself, and even his parents can tell. He gleefully taunts AFO about being senile despite AFO looking like a child, which is just the perfect amount of teen boy prickishness that this fight needs.

#bnha 406 #mha 406 #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #Katsuki bakugo #kacchan #kacchan bakugou #gemg dynamight #AFO #all for one

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nottawriter · 17 days

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Fanfic Writer Questions!

Thanks for the tag, @fazedlight and @thatonebirdwrites

1- How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 16

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

356,960

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Supergirl – Arrowverse/ DC Comics: Primarily Supercorp, secondarily Dansen, Brainia, and J’M’zz, and I have one AgentReign with secondary Supercorp.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

PRIDE and Prejudice – Super gay retelling of Jane Austen’s classic. Every kudos equals $1.00US to a LGBTQIA2S charity I make at the conclusion of Pride month (June) each year (teen)

Tell Me It’s Not Too Late – Post-S4, Lillian believes Supergirl is responsible for Lex’s death. Lena rushes to J’onn’s for game night, to confront Kara on her identity, only to find she’s nowhere to be found (teen)

I Believe in a Thing Called Love – Full alternate Season 6 rewrite (teen)

Wouldn’t It Be Nice – 50 First Dates movie AU (teen)

How Lost We Are – Lena is placed by her Witness Protection team (Maggie, Kelly, and Lucy) in Midvale as a flower shop owner where she meets teacher Kara and coffee/bookshop owner Jess, among others (mature)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes, I do usually respond, though not always right away. I enjoy chatting about my fics, so don’t hesitate to ask questions, but I don’t give out spoilers though.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

When She’s Gone, the Darkness Comes – Oof. It was so sad I had to write a second chapter. I much prefer happy endings (teen)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

All of them have a happy ending of some kind, or they will once they’re completed. Though there are some with happy endings like Speak Now and Tis the Damn Season. Smut. I’m talking about smut (explicit)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yeah, though I’ve been mostly lucky. I don’t know why people leave hate on any fics really. If you don’t like something, close the tab.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes. It started as a small scene here or there when it was a natural progression of the fic, but now I occasionally right full smut fics and pwp like those found here (explicit)

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Kind of, but the characters are all from within the Arrowverse/ DC Comics universes somewhere.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. I don't understand why someone would do this. Please respect writers.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes. I Believe in a Thing Called Love is also in Spanish Creo en una cosa llamada amor (teen)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I’m currently working on one with @thatonebirdwrites, though it's not published. It’s a Supercorp fic where Kara is a building inspector and when she goes to inspect Lena’s home, she meets Lena’s daughter to tells her the floor is lava, so naturally Kara has to ensure that issue gets resolved.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

Supercorp. But I do love most wlw ships

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I intent to finish all of my active WIPs. I have some WIP ideas that may or may not ever get going, but once I start a fic, I intend to finish it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I have no idea… I guess easter egg type stuff or like blending canon into storylines. If your a reader and there's something you think is a strength I have, let me know.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Actually writing. Words be hard. And it's hard to find the time.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I do it sometimes, probably not well. I like to include the translation in the fic (unless the characters themselves aren’t supposed to understand until later). But I'm sure the translations aren't fully right as I only use google translate and the Kryptonian dictionary.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Supercorp. I started writing fiction in Dec 2020. Before that it was all scientific research papers for uni.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I suppose What Has Been Lost (Mature). It was what started this crazy adventure, has been the most challenging piece, and my longest (still ongoing). It truly blends lore and characters from across the Arrowverse and DC Comics into a human world and original storyline.

For Tags, if you'd like to participate: @fyonahmacnally @casualsavant @luthordamnvers @itsalliebitheway @innamorament0

#supercorp #supercorp fanfic #fic writing

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sixpossumsinatrenchcoat · 4 months

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Memories of Touch — Part 2

Just a comfy lil In Stars in Time afterword! An epilogue to the epilogue! Some cozy postgame fluff for those of us who are still choking on our own emotions! Spoilers abound for the entire game, so... you know. You've been warned.

Isabeau has shared a bed with Siffrin a million times before. It’s normal. It’s totally super normal. That must be why he feels so crabbing normal.

[You can read part one here]

The night after the world doesn’t end, the whole party camps out in the Clocktower. It’s the sleepover they were supposed to have yesterday, except that Sif was too busy having a really unkind manic episode. (Not that Isabeau can blame them. It sounds like the past two days have been a really stressful year.)

There are only three beds in the loft, but that’s okay. Siffrin’s never minded sharing.

…Though things are a little different now.

###

“Ehehe,” Siffrin giggles to themself, when they see the bed.

Isabeau can’t help grinning, too. “What, d’you think of a new joke? Lay it on me!!”

“Oh. Um. Not exactly. It’s just… you tried to confess here, too.”

Oof. “Just ‘tried,’ huh?”

Sif nods.

Rrrright. Of course he did. It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise. “Guess I didn’t pull it off, then, huh?”

“It’s okay,” Sif tells him. “It was. Um. Cute. I think it kept me going, the first few loops. When the King still killed us every time.”

(Cute.) “Siiiiif! I don’t wanna be cute!! I wanna be cool and tough!!!”

“You’re cool and tough,” Sif agrees easily. “You can be cool and tough and cute.”

“It’s too many adjectives!!!!”

Sif shakes their head. “Never enough.”

###

Isabeau has shared a bed with Siffrin a million times before. It’s normal. It’s totally super normal. That must be why he feels so crabbing normal.

Even with his eyes closed, he can feel the space between them like a hole in his chest. He keeps catching himself counting their breaths, each one another moment’s reassurance that Sif is still here, alive, with him. Every little rustle of motion pumps the bellows on the fire in his belly. Kindling catching and sparking and curling.

…Aw, crab, he can’t help it. He has to see them.

When he opens his eyes, his breath catches. Sif is awake. Their huge bright eye is open wide, locked onto Isabeau’s face with the single-minded focus of a cat watching a very transfixing speck of dust. Isa opens his mouth to say something normal but nothing comes out. Nothing about this is normal.

“Isa?” Siffrin whispers.

(Be crabbing normal.) “What’s up, Sif?”

“You still won’t touch me.”

Isabeau freezes.

“So. I guess I wondered… Why?”

H-Haha! Ha ha ha!! What an excellent question!!! Why indeed!!!!!!!

Isabeau is— It’s just that he’s!!! It’s not an easy habit to break, okay???

Isabeau has always been a touchy person. It’s the best way he knows how to love someone. Touch is a universal language, one of the few that translates between the geekiest of geeks and the goofiest of goobers. And it feels nice!! It makes everyone feel nice!! Why wouldn’t he hug the people he loves when it feels so crabbing nice!!!

That’s why, when Siffrin joined the party, Isabeau had to work so hard to keep his hands off them. Especially because they were so silly, and so cute. Like a fluffy little kitty in a big floppy hat.

But whenever anyone stepped too close, Sif would flinch like a dog waiting for a kick.

Isabeau isn’t stupid. He can read a room. And he’d rather die than make anyone uncomfortable. So he learned to keep his distance. To bite his tongue and keep his hands to himself and, and—!!!

—and that’s what hurt them the most, in the end. Isabeau never tried to touch them, even though he touched everyone else; so of course Sif noticed, and they just figured he hated them. This whole time Isa was watching them, sitting on his hands and choking on all the things that he was too afraid to say to them, and Sif thought he was keeping his distance because he didn’t care.

“I’m sorry,” Isabeau whispers. “I guess it’s a sort of habit. I—um. I had to... try really hard, to not touch you.” This part is embarrassing, but he has to say it, because otherwise Sif won’t understand. “B-Because I wanted to so much. So it's… I guess it’s hard to stop being careful.”

“Is that why you pushed me away?”

“Huh?”

“In the loop where I kissed you.”

OH, WELL IF THAT’S ALL.

Fireworks. Cataclysm. Continents splitting and colliding. Sif might as well have wrapped both hands around Isabeau's lungs and squeezed.

Isabeau’s eyes burn. His palms itch. Even just hearing it is almost too much. To know that Sif wanted to be closer, too… That they wanted it badly enough to reach out and pull him down by the collar and— Oh, crab, he really can’t think about that. He can’t bear to think about it. He can’t think about anything else. “Um??”

“You pushed me away, after,” Sif explains. “Right after. Like you were. Um. Disgusted.”

“Huh???” But—no. He wouldn’t. Why would he…

Sif looks a little embarrassed. “I… didn’t really warn you. Or ask if it was okay, or anything. I was just… I guess I got impatient.”

Isabeau’s chest aches. The thought of Siffrin yearning for him, burning for him, is a little more than he can think about right now. “Ehehe, umm… Hehe… Y-Yeah. I guess that’s probably why.” He feels a pang of sympathy for his past self. Poor guy must've totally blown a fuse.

“But you want to.”

“To… touch you?”

Sif nods.

“Ehehe,” Isabeau giggles helplessly. “Um. Y-Yeah. Yeah. Yes. I… think about it. A normal amount. Which is a lot. I tried not to, but I… wasn’t very good at it. But I didn’t want to scare you!!”

Sif’s stare sharpens into a glare. “I’m not scared.”

Well, that makes one of us. “Hehe. Yeah. I’ve been getting that impression.”

Sif pouts. It’s cute. Obviously. Everything Siffrin does is cute.

Isabeau beams at them. “Aw, Siiii~iiff. What do you want me to do? Anything. Just say the word.”

“You say that,” Sif mutters. “You always say stuff.”

Isabeau gathers his courage. He can do this. It’s not like Sif is asking for a hug or anything. He’s just got to start small. “Um. Here, um… G-Give me your hand.”

Sif blinks at him. Then they lift one arm, leaving their hand half-curled on the pillow between them.

Move, Isabeau. For crab’s sake, it’s holding hands. You’ve been holding hands for as long as you’ve had hands. This is baby-tier intimacy. So just do it. Do it. MOVE!!!

The tips of his fingers brush Sif’s.

Isabeau can feel it like a wound. A lightning-strike straight to the brainstem. Siffrin’s hands are so small, like raccoon paws. They almost never take off their gloves, so there’s something painfully exposing about seeing them like this. The pale, untouched skin of their palm.

Sif takes an unsteady breath. “Oh,” they whisper. “I see.”

Before Isabeau can remember how to talk, Sif is already moving. The pads of their fingers skate down his, tracing a line down his palm with the most tentative, featherlight touch, like he might break if they don’t treat him gently. Isabeau can feel it like a brand. Sif is touching him. On purpose. They’re touching him and they’re doing it on purpose, because they want to, because apparently they always wanted to. Oh, crab, it feels like his heart is going to burst.

“Warm,” Sif mumbles. “Are you always so warm?”

“H-Haha. Um. No.” That would be his circulatory system totally blowing a gasket.

“Hm.” Two fingers slide down his wrist, climbing a few inches up his shirtsleeve before slipping back down to his palm. Isa’s hand closes on reflex. Habit almost makes him flinch, but he can’t trust Sif not to come to the worst possible conclusion. He holds his breath and forces himself still, waiting for Sif to pull away.

…Sif doesn’t pull away.

Isabeau lets out a shuddering breath.

Sif squeezes their eye shut for a second, their face scrunching in the way it does when their feelings get a little too big to hold. Then they look up at him, frowning. “You’re very warm. Are you sure you’re not sick?”

“H-Haha!! Um!! Not… physically?”

Siffrin gives him a blank stare.

“Um,” Isabeau rushes to explain. “Y-You know, like. ‘I’ve got a fever, and the only cure is—’”

“I’m going to try to kiss you,” Sif says flatly.

Isabeau’s heart stops.

“So.” Sif clears their throat. “That’s your warning. So you can stop me if you want. But—preferably with your words. Um. Now, please.”

Isabeau doesn’t even breathe.

“Okay,” Sif whispers. “Okay. Then, um…” He frowns a little, gathering his resolve, before shifting just a hairsbreadth closer.

Probably Isa should close his eyes—contrary to just, like, everything about him, he does in fact know how this works—but he can’t make himself look away, not when Sif is burning so bright with resolve. Their hand is still trapped in his so he can feel them trembling, shaking all over like a ship in high seas, but they’re being so brave and it makes the fire in his chest flare even hotter. Sif takes a deep breath and that seems like a good idea, so Isabeau does it too, but it must only work for Sif because Isabeau can’t seem to get any calmer.

Sif leans in—

—and then they just. Stop.

“Oh,” they say quietly. “Hm.”

“S-Sif?” Isabeau squeaks. “You’re kinda killing me here.”

Sif looks faintly amused, which might be infuriating if it wasn't so cute. “Sorry. It turned out I couldn’t do it.”

“Why not????”

“Too scary.”

Oh. Yeah. That makes sense. (Not that Isabeau can relate or anything.)

“And it’s probably… rude?”

Ohh. Right. There are three other people asleep on the other side of the room. They're all so exhausted from fighting the King that they could probably sleep through several earthquakes and a hurricane, but it's the principle of the thing. Isabeau isn’t being spineless. He’s just being… principled. Probably.

“And there’s… time, now,” Sif says softly. “So. I can always try again later.”

Isabeau can’t suppress a flinch. Right. Because of course it's all on Siffrin. They already know that they’re sharing a bed with the biggest coward in the whole stupid country. Isabeau already kept them waiting for an entire year of the same stupid day. “Um. Sif?”

“Isa?”

“Am I a huge loser?”

Siffrin snorts a laugh. “No.”

“How do you still like me after seeing what I’m really like???”

“I like that you’re a coward,” Sif says simply. Matter-of-fact. Like they’re just remarking on the weather, and not blowing a smoking crater through Isabeau’s whole worldview. “It just makes it cooler when you decide to be brave.”

Isabeau’s head feels light. “…I really love you, okay?”

Sif nods.

“No, but like. Really.”

Another nod. “I know.”

Of course they do. They’ve been watching him try to say it for an entire time-stuck year.

…Crab, but he’s pathetic.

Isabeau can hear his pulse thudding in his ears. His heart is battering at his sternum like it's trying to fight its way out. But he’s already kept them waiting so long. Sif has done so much for him, so much more than they could ever know, and this is— This is something he can do for them.

Tentatively, with excruciating gentleness, he brushes their bangs to one side and presses his lips to their forehead. He can hear Sif’s breath catch and it’s just encouragement enough for Isabeau to will his arm into motion, carding his fingers through their hair before his hand comes to rest at the nape of their neck. Siffrin smells like ash and moonlight. Like sugar and silver and salt.

When he draws back to read their reaction, Sif’s face is violently flushed. Their pupil is blown wide, like a cat that saw a squirrel. Or like someone who’s been waiting on a total coward for an entire year of the same shitty day.

“Wow,” Isabeau whispers.

Sif nods vigorously. Then they tug on the end of his sleeve. “Take this off.”

(UM????) “Sif???”

“Isa.”

“A-Are you going to ravish me?”

Sif chokes on a laugh. “Stars. You can calm down. No one’s getting ravished.”

…Aw.

“I just wanted to see you. More of you. I guess I want…” Sif looks away, letting their hair fall over their face. “…Never mind. It’s stupid.”

“I bet it’s not.”

“You’ll think it’s stupid.”

“I bet I wo~on’t.”

Sif rolls their eye. “I wanted to. Um. Memorize you, I guess. So I can’t forget. So even if you’re different later, or… you Change into someone who wants something else… I’ll still know you were real.”

“Siiiif!!!!” Isa wails, as quietly as he can manage while totally losing his mind. “You’re gonna make me cry!!!!”

Siffrin looks baffled. “What? Why?”

“And why would I think that was stupid????”

“Because it… goes against Change?”

“Loving someone doesn’t go against Change!!” Isabeau says indignantly. “Love, like, is Change!!! You’ve already changed me so much!! You change me all the time!!!!”

“Nuh uh.”

“Yuh huh!!!!”

Sif rolls their eye. “By—upsetting you, or making you anxious—”

“Nnnnnnnope! By being the funniest guy I’ve ever seen! And being totally stupid-cool in a crisis! And only always doing what you want!”

Siffrin huffs a laugh. “You have no idea what I want.”

“So tell me!!!”

“I—” Sif hesitates. “I just mean. Everything you think about me… It’s just because I got to decide what happened, for a while. I’m the only one who had the script, so of course I could say all the right lines. But the whole time, it was all just—”

“Sif!!!!” Isabeau cuts in. “You were so mean!!!!!”

Siffrin’s eye widens.

“I don’t love you ‘cause you got god-powers for two stupid days! Which you spent being really mean, by the way! And going off on your own! And being reckless and thoughtless and scaring the crab out of everyone!!!”

Sif looks painfully regretful.

Isabeau curses himself. Why can’t he be better at this? “Nonono, I don’t mean— I just meant!! I don’t love you because you time traveled!! I love you ‘cause of all the stuff before!!”

Now they’re really confused. “What? No. But I wasn’t—”

“You were!! Super lovable!! The whole time!!!”

Sif gives him a critical squint. “That… doesn’t seem right.”

“But it is!!!”

“…Huh,” Sif says. “Um. Well. No accounting for taste.” He tugs on Isa’s shirtsleeve. “So take this off already.”

Isabeau flushes. “You—um. Are you—”

“We just did this,” Sif says impatiently. “No one’s getting ravished. I just want to look.”

Isabeau heaves a sigh. “If I take off my shirt, do you promise to stop thinking that I fell in love with you because you ‘tricked me,’ or anything stupid like that?”

“Yes.”

“Sif!! That was too fast!!!!”

Sif shrugs.

“Pffff,” Isabeau sputters. “You’re a real piece of work, do you know that?”

Siffrin’s face darkens. “Yes.”

“Aw, come on, I didn’t mean—” But that’s when he notices the spark in Siffrin’s eye. “Sif!! Are you messing with me???”

“I’m not sure,” Sif says archly. “I haven’t decided.”

###

When he wriggles out of his shirt, Siffrin’s eye gets very wide. “Oh,” they whisper.

Isabeau cringes. Right. Sif didn't join the party till the weather had already started to turn, so of course they haven’t seen his scar.

Body Craft has made a lot of advances in the past few years. If he wanted, Isabeau could have got rid of the scarring. But he kind of likes it. It makes his Change feel more… personal? Like a grave marker for his old life, stamped right on his chest. Or like an exoskeleton or something. Armor that grew around his former self. "…Is it weird?"

Siffrin shakes their head fast. “Pretty.”

Isabeau flushes. “Aw, you’re just saying that.”

“I’m really not."

“It’s okay if you—”

“No,” Sif says quickly. “It’s not like that. It’s just. Um.” They trace the scar with the tip of one finger, point by point by point. Isabeau can feel all the hair on his neck stand up straight. “It’s… like a star.”

“You don’t… mind?”

Sif huffs another laugh. “Isa. I’m— You’re. It’s not… You really shouldn’t like me like this.”

“Why the crab not???”

“I’m not like you,” Sif says grimly. They flash another smile, but this one doesn’t reach their eyes. “I’m—um. Well. It doesn’t matter, because you’re just going to disagree. But I’m really not how you think. I was just pretending so people would like me. There’s nothing really true about me. I’m… not good. Or honest. Or even really real.”

“And I am?”

“...Obviously?”

“Hah. C’mon, Sif, you should know better. You’re the one who said it.” All the stuff that Siffrin said before running off to fight the King alone… Of course it stung. It still stings. But it only hurt so bad because Isabeau knew that they were right. “You’re, like, the only one who knows that I’m a total fake. I only Changed on the outside. Underneath, I’m the same spineless loser as always.”

“You’re not—”

“Sif.”

Siffrin falls silent. Of course they know the truth of it. They’ve seen Isabeau try to be brave a hundred different times, in a hundred different lifetimes. And they’ve seen him weasel out every. Single. Time.

Isa smiles unhappily. “So… you know what I’m like. And you still wanna… um. Be around me, or whatever.”

“…Uh huh.”

“S-So get bent, Sif!! You don’t know anything!! You’re not doing any worse than me!!!”

Sif quirks an eyebrow. “I think I’m doing a little worse.”

“You’re not!!! You’re just—” But it's pointless. Sif has already made up his mind. “Oh… It doesn’t matter!!! No one is more real than anyone else, is all I’m saying!! We’re all just trying not to suck!!!! And sometimes being sucky is our first instinct, but we still have to try!!!"

“Oh,” Sif says quietly. They chew their lip for a moment, like they’re actually thinking about it. “Is that true?”

“Huh? Yeah! Of course!!”

“…Oh.”

“You didn’t know?”

“I didn’t know.”

Pfff. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“I know,” Sif says seriously. “It’s my best quality.”

“It soooo isn’t.”

“That and my pun-derful sense of humor.”

“…Okay, that might actually be one of your best qualities.”

Sif nods sagely. “Why be actually wise when you can crack wise instead?”

Isabeau stifles a laugh against his pillow.

“No wonder I could solo the House,” Sif says airily. “I don't even need Piercing Craft to leave 'em in stitches. Ehh?"

“HAH!!!” Oops. That was definitely too loud.

Sure enough, a half-second later, there’s a blur of white. Siffrin doesn’t even look. His arm flicks out and swipes the pillow right out of the air. “Sorry, Bonnie.”

“We’re sorry, Bonbon!!!”

“Not yet,” hisses Madame Odile, with audible murderous intent. “But you will be soon if you don’t shut. Up.”

“Oooooh!!” Bonnie cackles. “Dile said a swear!!!”

“‘Shut up’ is not a swear, Boniface.”

“So I can say it too???”

“No.”

“You guys,” Mirabelle says pitifully. “Please… I didn’t beat the King just to die of sleep deprivation…”

“Sorry sorry sorry!!!” Isabeau wails. “We’ll be quiet!!! We’re being so quiet!!!”

Sif nods his agreement. “So quiet, you can hear a pun drop.”

“Siffrin,” Madame Odile hisses. “One more joke, and you won’t live to see tomorrow.”

Siffrin’s eye lights up. Oh, crab, they definitely just thought of another one.

Before they can draw breath, Isabeau clamps a hand over their mouth. “Good night, you guys!! We love you!!! And your merciful nature!! And also our continued survival!!!”

“Hrmph,” Odile huffs.

“Gross!!” Bonnie giggles.

“Love you guys so much,” mumbles Mirabelle, already half-asleep.

Isabeau raises his eyebrows at Sif, like, Are you going to be good?

Sif wrinkles their nose at him, then rolls their eye. Fine. But only under duress.

###

Sif passes out maybe two seconds after the room goes quiet. Isabeau can’t say the same. How is he supposed to get sleepy with Sif’s back pressed snugly to his chest? With his arm wrapped tight around them and their little hands still clutching onto his, like even in sleep, they’re trying to get closer? How is he ever going to fall asleep when he's living out his giddiest, most far-flung fantasy in real life?

But when he opens his eyes, it’s already morning.

###

They’ve both shifted a little in sleep. Siffrin’s wrapped around him like a climbing vine, half-awake but still dozing. When they feel him stirring, they give him a crooked smile.

“It’s—” Sif hesitates. “Do you… um. Or. We… don’t have plans to fight the King today, do we?”

Isabeau shakes his head. “You’re okay, Sif. It’s done.”

He watches them take that in. The light in their eye is wondering, reverent. “…It’s really tomorrow?”

“Really really.”

Sif lifts one hand to their chest. They take a deep breath in… and out. “Wow,” they whisper. “Cool.”

Then they tuck themself into the crook of his arm and go back to sleep.

I don't have any particular plans to write more, but I am subject to my own whims, so.... if you wanna find out if I do, feel free to swing by ao3 & subscribe to the series!

#isat #in stars and time #isat spoilers #in stars and time spoilers #isat siffrin #isat isabeau #isat fanfic #this is unforgivably fluffy but i am mortal! fallible! i am but the conduit for the terrible hungers that dwell in my soul!!!#(namely: the hunger to feel okay for even a second)

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artheresy · 9 months

Text

I have like very very specific feelings about Blade and Dan Heng’s dynamic/complicated situation and of course by extension the situation that occurred between Dan Feng and Yingxing and it’s like super particular, not in the way I think I’m objectively correct or fully indulging in fanon but a secret third thing. And the worst part is that I quite literally cannot for the life of me verbalize/write down my feelings and viewpoint to the full extent

They are just so complicated and full of so many tropes I love and it oof, it hurts very deeply. I like just reread the Passerby of Wandering Cloud relic set and I’m hmmm

I will say something as best as I can, I will never stop thinking about “Pairs of objects are destined for an eventual reunion.” In general that whole relic set wrecks me emotionally on a scale that I haven’t had since I read Stormbringer from BSD. They have such a complicated dynamic and I enjoy it so deeply, and see the thing is that they have such contradictory feelings that I don’t know the direction Hoyo will take it in but I am strapped in for the ride either way.

Also theres something like this fixation certain people have on separating the two and fixating on how they’re on their own paths AWAY from each other and I just,, I can’t understand that fixation because first off, even without talking about past selves, just talking about the current selves, the connection between them is extremely important when it comes to characterizing either of them. That is a significant part of their characters and where they currently are and a refusal to acknowledge that even without any shipper goggles confuses me. Additionally, as I brought up before, “Pairs of objects are destined for an eventual reunion” even as Blade and Dan Heng rather than Yingxing and Dan Feng, their paths are destined to cross. Given the earliness of the Xianzhou arc, heavily doubt this is any kind of “eventual reunion” as said by the relic seeing as its not like this is the first time they’ve met and those weren’t the this spoken of reunion. And additionally, I can’t help but think about Dan Heng specifically whether with knowing intent or not, carries multiple tokens of his past from the bracer itself to the jade pendant to literally Cloud Piercer. The weapon that makes him feel safe and yet he also has unfinished business with the creator

Speaking of that line, I’ve seen some people who think that he knows Blade made it. I personally heavily think he doesn’t know, given word choice to how he feels about it etc. But hmm I wonder if we’ll see what happens there. And that voiceline is just yet another thing hammering home how these two are destined to continue to have their paths intertwined.

And I’m trying to find the post again but I saw someone talking I think about the translations of the relic lore for that set and referring to the whole Pairs of objects line and they talked I think about how that statement is not meant to merely represent the actual objects but more so to represent Dan Heng and Blade themselves which may have been obvious from the start, but after reading that I felt like someone had expanded my mind and I can’t stop thinking about it, I can’t

Anyways anyways, I don’t think these two are by any means solely characterized by each other and they shouldn’t solely be seen as only existing in proximity to the other, but I don’t get people who for some reason hate the idea of them being connected in any manner bc of hating ships that they outright disregard and deny like key important parts of their canon. I mean people will do what they do and there’s no reason trying to put logic behind every single thing or whatever, but maybe that’s also just because I feel insane about their lore and again have this specific idea and view of them in my head. Maybe I’ll be able to put it into words better one day

Everything I ranted about arent even the full extent of my feelings about this particular topic regarding them. I just feel so specifically that I don’t know how to put it in words. If only sounds alone could convey my thoughts

Theres so much more I could rant about, so much more I could say but its like 4 am and I cant properly formulate thoughts without tangents starting in the middle of them

#they make me sick #i hate them #and yknow what #its the stuff i went over in this post why I will never be solely liking fengxing/xingyue #the connection between current blade and dan heng is just as interesting and heartbreaking to me as that gay shit yingxing and dan feng had #anyways imma try to sleep #im so tired #blade honkai #hsr blade #honkai star rail #hsr #dan heng #renheng #hengren

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