how about playing with their hair while they sleep for kovak and ilspeth!! 😳
— from this ask prompt.
A candle burns on the windowsill of the gardener’s cottage on the edge of the Zevoraxi estate. Despite Ilspeth’s suggestion to see Kovak moved into the room adjacent the master suite within the main house, Kovak can’t bring herself to abandon this last bastion of familiarity – the last remnants of her father’s legacy. Her father had never had much to his name – but he’d raised Kovak under this roof, and she can feel his presence in every creaking board, every leaky window.
It’s just as well that Kovak has this little pocket of solitude, away from the social intricacies of the barony and the watchful eyes of the rest of the staff. The cottage is one of the few places that still feels like a sanctuary, despite its structural shortcomings. Kovak needs it – warm and cozy, cluttered yet tidy. The cottage is a place to let her mind relax – a place she doesn’t have to defend. This place defends her.
It’s raining outside, a chilly damp blanketing the atmosphere. A tin pot near the front door goes tink, tink, tink, as rain drips into it from a leak in the roof. Kovak tucks a piece of cut firewood into the iron stove keeping the place warm, straightening and wiping her hands on her thighs as she turns to peer at the bed in the corner. A smile tugs at the edges of her lips, a quiet appreciativeness settling over her features.
Ilspeth is tangled up in a blanket, glasses askew on her nose, a book propped open and flipped downward across her chest. Her hair is a thick halo around her head, fanned out against Kovak’s pillow like a peacock’s feathers, like Ilspeth had fallen from the sky as quickly and as thoughtlessly as a drop of rain. She’s fast asleep – mouth open, snoring, earning every second of rest.
This is a familiar dance, though one Kovak hasn’t yet gotten tired of. Her footsteps are light and quiet as she makes her way across the floor, expertly avoiding all the spots she knows will creak and risk waking the baroness. She slides the glasses from Ilspeth’s face, freezing momentarily as the half-elf sputters and sighs, shifting in her slumber. Kovak counts to five before pulling the book from Ilspeth’s relenting fingers, dog-earing the page before folding it shut and setting it aside.
Kovak settles herself on the bed next to Ilspeth, shoulders propped against the wall as she watches the baroness breathe. After a few moments, she can’t help herself – the fingers of her left hand deftly – if not idly – toy with the ends of Ilspeth’s hair, twisting end over end as Kovak ponders the almost cosmic enormity of her situation. How can it be that someone like Ilspeth would fall for anyone like Kovak? How can she sleep so peacefully – so soundly – in a leaky cottage, surrounded by old books and windowsills burnt by old candle wax? Surely a palace would be nicer with its sturdy walls and sealed rooftops.
But Ilspeth never fails to surprise Kovak – even now, even still. Pale green fingers weave their way into the ends of the baroness’ thick waves of hair, both idle and intentional in the same breath. The half-elf moves toward Kovak’s legs, snoring as she goes – it takes a great deal of Kovak’s self control to keep herself still, terrified she might wake her. At this point, however, Kovak ought to know better – the cottage might very well come down around them and Ilspeth would likely sleep through it.
Kovak slides herself down, slotting an arm beneath Ilspeth and pulling the half-elf up and against her chest with little effort. The baroness is a comforting weight against Kovak, her head nestled against Kovak’s shoulder. A stomach-turning fondness creeps through Kovak’s consciousness as she takes note of the way Ilspeth’s cheek smushes against the skin of Kovak’s shoulder. The bodyguard slides a hand into Ilspeth’s hair, rubbing gentle circles into her scalp.
some observations from going down a rabbit hole of japanese language xigbar yesterday
(apologies for the youtube watermarks. i got this clip from this video.)
[Video ID: a fifteen-second clip from a cutscene from kingdom hearts 3D: dream drop distance, with japanese audio and english-language visuals. it's the scene where xigbar tells sora that he's not going to wake up. end ID.]
keep in mind that this clip is just the japanese audio being played over the visuals from the english language release. the subtitles aren't a direct or literal translation of the words being spoken; they correspond to the localized dialogue that the english voice actors wouldve been given
hōchū ōtsuka (xigbar's japanese va) and james patrick stewart (his english va) give, to my ears, pretty similar vocal performances. this is the case for pretty much all of the characters ive seen so far in my xigbar-centric explorations (roxas's vas sound nearly IDENTICAL). the notable exception being xemnas, whose japanese va straight up sounds like he's trying to talk without moving his mouth
in the english dub cutscenes, the character animations often feel...floaty? disconnected? like, because they're not synced up to what the characters are saying and how, their gestures frequently seem random and unmotivated. in retrospect it's obvious that this issue wouldnt be present in the original language because that's the dialogue they would've been animated around in the first place!
now that im actually watching the character animation with the dialogue it was actually done for, i appreciate it a lot more. its so expressive. smiles.
at the end of xigbar's speech here you may notice him saying the phrase "tte hanashi." this is his japanese catchphrase! it means something along the lines of "so they say", "or so I've heard", et cetera. i love "as if" im a big fan of "as if" but i also love the idea of xigbar consistently undermining the information he gives and emphasizing how often he eavesdrops and spies on people.
he says "tte hanashi" very very often. multiple times in most of his scenes that ive seen so far. way more often than the english dub says "as if"
he doesn't say it normal like im pretty sure that's not how you say it in normal speech. like sometimes he does say it normal, but he always draws it out at least a little and often really draws it out, emphasizing it with some kind of gesture, like he does in the clip
seriously if there's a moment in the games where xigbar says something while doing a cunty little gesture he is probably saying "tte hanashi" in the japanese version