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pawschamp · 11 months

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VOL 8#2/CH35: “double team” appreciation

i’m a huge fan of the way nightow encapsulates a certain thematic or specified topic in each chapter, almost making each chapter its own arc with the way a character can change in just a few pages. as an example to appreciate this, i’m using chapter 35 aka “wolfwood doesn’t shoot” chapter aka one of my favorite chapters in the entire series.

warning, this is not a thought out essay, this is just the insane ramblings of a guy that likes trigun and wolfwood. there will be tangents, there will be derails, but overall, it’s a 4k insight into where my mind goes when i read these chapters.

TW WARNING: wolfwood’s backstory pictured (child experimentation, child harm), blood, death

SPOILERS WARNING: mentions of vol 8 events

for consistency sake, i’ll be using overhaul’s translation.

this chapter throws us into the familiar perspective of wolfwood. the readers have been in his shoes, we’re made to understand his thoughts since the very beginning of maximum, considering max started from his perspective. his ordeal and his internal struggle was made clear since the leonef arc, but this chapter serves as a checkpoint of where he is now, paralleling almost to chapter 11 where it had began with wolfwood’s dream + where his internal conflict were first laid bare to readers.

it’s also good to note that this chapter is in vol 6, the vol that takes place after the midvalley/hopper arc. this entire volume consists the internal dialogue of essential characters and where they stand with vash; the first chapter being meryl, then wolfwood, legato, knives, milly (a bit of vash), and then an open ended one, but it leads into vash’s flashback -- obviously, each chapter progresses the story itself too, but the main focus tends to be the thoughts of these characters. i really appreciate nightow writing an immensely thoughts driven and relatively quiet (in terms of action) volume after the heavily action packed previous volume. he does this well in the chapters themselves, knowing when to lead the reader into quiet so we can all feel the scene much more intimately. these chapters become more emotional because we’re settled with each character individually, we lean into their fears, their worry and concerns. the fact we get so little of vash and his thoughts in these chapters aside from the flashback makes him feel distant and lonelier (which, considering his immense guilt of remembering july, it feels purposeful.)

vol 10 will always be my favorite vol but vol 6 is certainly up there... i think it was masterfully put together and nightow’s character writing is one of my favorite parts of trigun. the introspection is such a core part of trigun itself alongside the action and i just appreciate the overall pacing of it and how it eventually leads into vol 7 where we return to vash, to the conflict between the brothers, and then into the harrowing 7 months of destruction on no man’s land where the kind of peacefulness that settled in vol 6 no longer exists for a long time in the future chapters.

anyway, to the chapter now

from the dream alone, we can tell there’s a progression of wolfwood’s risk taking heart beginning to open. from all the time he’s spent with vash and what he’s witness after the leonef arc, he’s starting to change internally, he’s no longer the same as he was at the beginning of trigun. the dream provides a what-if situation, where wolfwood kills off the eye of michael (vague individual, but probably chapel again?), freeing the children.

side note, but it’s particularly sad to me he says “i can never come back, but at least y’all will be safe now.” in an universe where a happy ending could be provided for the orphanage, there still wouldn’t be a happy ending for wolfwood. he can free the orphanage but even the destruction of the eye of michael wouldn’t free him from the man he’s grown into and it’s telling of just how little he believes he deserves to go/have a home.

but the dream then panels to knives and his fear of someone/something other than himself is shown. as i mentioned earlier about how this parallels to chapter 11, in that dream, it showed how wolfwood can’t return to the kids because of the blood that stains his hands, a dream he gets after having killed rai-dei and confronted by vash about his role.

he still feels this way considering his mentioned thought of “can’t return” anymore, but the dream shifts focus to knives because the threat of him looms closer now more than before after having witness vash transform in the previous arc -- and it’s clear him being a first hand witness has influenced his fears considering knives is using his ability within the dream.

overall, wolfwood has sooo much on his mind at this point; he saw vash transform, he came face to face with the rest of the gung-hos, met the strongest gung-ho, seen the price of betrayal with his own eyes (though b/c it was carried out by legato, it doesn’t necessarily hold the same weight)... he’s also done his fair share of trying to get others away from danger, notably when he speaks to meryl in the previous chapter, and tries to ward her away now that she’s seen first hand of vash’s strength, seen below from the chapter right before this. he’s relatively passive in his interactions with meryl so it’s insane how his behavior in ch 35 contrasts with this.

kind of a side note but i’ve always enjoyed this interaction between wolfwood and meryl. this is the first time they actually got to converse and he’s actively reading her and giving her advice; it’s advice he’d give to any average citizen, he’s always been an advocate for regular folks to turn their back so long it can keep them safe, but his advice here definitely felt a little personal considering how he’s gotten to known milly and he Knows for certain that this just isn’t the environment for her. the way he says “This isn’t the place for that cute partner of yers” as a reason to push Meryl to turn away always gets to me, because while there may be an implication for meryl to hightail out of there to protect herself, the discussion ends at wolfwood telling meryl to back out for milly. being with milly in the previous arc, he knows the lengths and sort of reckless, self sacrificial nature that milly has; she who refused to back out constantly, even after having expressed she was terrified, she still stayed, so wolfwood knows that if meryl leaves, then milly would too. he prods meryl, reminds her there’s another life aside from her own she’d be risking if she stayed.

after he wakes up and leaves the bar, he runs into zazie who just drops off a message from knives, as though to taunt him any further lmfao... it’s relevant that zazie shows up here considering wolfwood’s recent meeting with the rest of the gung-hos. zazie in particular is a complacent neutral party amidst the conflict, willing to see things through for knives / legato as long as the worms can be left alone.

one of the funniest lines ever to be delivered to wolfwood, “You’re a scary one. Almost like Bluesummers.” i laugh every time i see it.

but anyway, as stated by wolfwood, he recognizes that the point in conflict has reached far enough that what he does doesn’t necessarily matter anymore. sure, he’ll still keep to his job, but vash is going to end up at knives doorstep no matter what, especially with his recent recollection of july. wolfwood recognizes the minor part he plays, he recognizes how small he is amidst the overarching battle between the twins. i think this realization influences his dream too, being that he had rebelled and felt hope that the orphanage would be left alone, but still, the orphanage can’t avoid the fate that would fall on humanity as a whole. regardless, they would be caught up in what knives does.

then we get to this insane flashback, this Gorgeously illustrated first meeting between wolfwood and knives that haunts me every day of my life. i just want to appreciate this page for a minute, art wise... the tubes forming the composition throughout the panels, trapping wolfwood, encaging him despite him being the one standing over knives. i like how that’s emphasized with the overlap on the top panels and the gun he holds is so small in the bottom right panel. in the bottom left panel, it’s a perspective shot from wolfwood’s eyes, the gun trained onto knives chest (i think compositionally, it just looks cooler which is potentially why it isn’t aimed at knives’ head, but i can also think wolfwood might’ve lost the resolved to kill knives already from fear alone and thus, his gun was lowered.)

also i feel like not only did knives’ presence halt wolfwood but the medical equipment strung to knives might’ve triggered a terrible memory for wolfwood too, considering his experimentation.

above is from ch. 50.

but the focus of this flashback is in knives’ otherworldliness and how despite wolfwood managing to get so far to be face to face with knives, he could not pull the trigger from fear alone. and wolfwood has this humane reaction every time he comes close to death which is a resurgence of a will to live; he feels it in this moment with knives, he feels death closing in on him despite him being the one with the trigger at his finger and knives against the ground.

above from chapter 6.

from the knives flashback, we can see the lack of choice that wolfwood had at that moment. the lack of choice in the mission given to him, the lack of choice in being able to shoot at all. it solidified him into the position where he is today and quelled the rebellion he dreamt of.

from his nightmares to the meeting with zazie to this flashback, remembering knives and his presence and comparing that fear to vash, him remembering the last time he felt that fear from vash at all... although he’s always known vash to be an “other” from humans, when faced with the actuality of it, he starts to think more on their differences and kind of distant himself mentally from vash? by calling him a monster and “the one who can save humankind”, honing in on his inhumane side. he knows vash, but wolfwood is thinking from the memories of knives, he’s thinking from his feelings of fear in that moment with vash, and he probably feels so small, not capable of anything beyond doing his job. as a reminder, this is what he thinks during that scene, similar feelings to how he felt with knives imo although vash’s anger is transformed into outer and inner, almost like he’s trying to kill that anger he holds to upkeep his resolve to not kill.

and in the moment of deep pondering, with brilliant timing, vash calls out to him.

no matter how many times i see this page, i explode with so much emotion. to stay on topic, this panel of vash sitting leisurely on top of a rooftop has a lot of elements to it. the moon he blew a hole into shown right behind him, an ever present reminder of his destructive powers which wolfwood, no doubt, is remembering it distinctively in this moment. but i loooove love how this page contrasts the one with knives. this scene following is just parallels to wolfwood's memory of knives and while in his confrontation of knives, wolfwood was trapped in both a physical and internal sense. the positions being different too, where wolfwood hovered over knives but still remained below in a hierarchical sense while now, vash is above him physically and wolfwood looks up towards him. considering wolfwood's thoughts so far, the positioning is reflective of that. but considering their space, the openness, outside, the expansive sky behind vash alongside the moon, there's so much freedom in where they're both standing. wolfwood is constrained beneath the thoughts he has, his worries, but he has freedom to move around vash and yet wolfwood chooses to go up to meet him.

now i can derail and go a little insane over their expressions here, IDK. im VERY vw-pilled, so excuse me, but VASH'S LOOK TO WOLFWOOD?? "You're a bit of a night owl, huh?" it’s just a plain observation really, the casual nature in how he converses with wolfwood, something he’d recognize over the course of their journey... this also isn’t the ONLY time they’ve met under the moon, they did so in multiple bullets too. gay ass moon couple... whatever... i’ve also seen people note that vash is fake smiling here and perhaps. some days, i can believe that because he is just so goddamn sad during this time, but i also like to think it’s genuine. maybe prior to seeing wolfwood, he was neutrally observing the on going events in the town, but the moment he saw wolfwood strolling about in deep thought, he’s just like “oh, wolfwood! :]” Just being a little happy to not be alone for the night.

it’s a small detail, but i like how nightow incorporates these side missions into the chapter’s arc and the overall theme in little ways. because it’s been these yin-yang brothers that’s been making trouble since the last chapter and in this moment, vash watching these two brothers bringing down mayhem on a peaceful town.

alongside this page, we see wolfwood’s steady approach, vash’s back turned to him as they chitchat before wolfwood quietly

positioned the same way as before, the gun held to a twin that’s positioned lower and wolfwood looks down.

aside from how beautiful he is, i like how wolfwood holds a resolute gaze. he probably feels he has the upper hand, Knows it in some way because vash is seemingly defenseless. if he wanted to, he can shoot.

meanwhile, vash just Looks tired. not necessarily sorrowful, to me, he just looks exhausted. from the many clues later in this chapter, i think the reader can clue in that vash definitely knew wolfwood pointed a gun at him. whether it’s sorrow, a sense of betrayal, or nonchalance is unclear. i think vash might’ve knew wolfwood wouldn’t pull the trigger and if he had, i think vash would’ve felt resigned to it. vash understands the reason why wolfwood kills; in all his instances of killing, it’s been for the sole purpose to protect. when he killed rai-dei, it was to protect vash. when he killed gray, he was doing his part in protecting vash’s home which vash had entrusted to him. there’s tons of thoughts that goes through wolfwood’s head when he does kill and what it means to him personally, but to vash, wolfwood has never killed for a selfish reason so when wolfwood points a gun at him, if he has intentions to kill, there would be a reason that vash understands considering his own beliefs on protecting humanity. i think at the end of it though, he knew wolfwood wouldn’t shoot him.

and wolfwood doesn’t pull the trigger. his hand doesn’t shake, there are no sweat marks on his face, he’s not afraid at all. with a soundless mind, he decides not to shoot. it’s important that we get wolfwood’s thoughts because it’s not as if he has any particular doubts in his own abilities. to wolfwood, if he put a bullet through vash’s head, he may die, he may be immobilized to be easier to kill, etc etc but ultimately, he chooses not to. just prior to meeting vash, he was already riddled with the memory of his rebellions amounting to nothing, so if he had “killed” vash (just like how he had “killed” chapel before), he’d still have to face knives and he’s already experienced once what going against knives was like. he can’t do it, wolfwood wouldn’t be able to kill knives and there would be nothing to ultimately gain from killing vash.

naturally, i think we can also conclude the “reasonable” reasons aren’t the only things keeping him from shooting vash. it’ll be mentioned later, but what wolfwood thinks vs what he does can be fundamentally different because sometimes, wolfwood Just isn’t fully aware of how he acts, doesn’t know it. i think that’s part of the reason we don’t get his thoughts here when he lowers his gun, because he doesn’t know, he doesn’t understand why he can’t shoot vash either. if i had to reason it, it would be what i said before and that’s how i view how wolfwood might reason it, but that isn’t all of it. <-- this thought will be continued later.

i always found it funny how vash looks back because i’m sure he sensed something was weird about how quiet wolfwood was and how nothing was happened, so he just looks at him like “???”

wolfwood hits him with the reminder again of what to keep his focus on, as he usually does, and it’s ironic of him to say “It’ll be pointless if ya get yerself killed before ya meet him.”, having pointed a gun at him literally 2 seconds ago.

anyway, as the story progresses, the yin-yang brothers has started to blow shit up and vash, ever so involved, runs after to stop them. wolfwood, diligent, runs after vash.

i don’t have a lot to note but i like how vash is called a pretty boy. he is the prettiest boy. the page after this, they basically try to run him over, but vash sidesteps just in time to avoid that and turns towards the car to shoot at them. turns out though, the brother hopped off the car and appeared behind to hurl these sharp thingies at vash’s vulnerable back. please read the next 3 beautiful pages carefully

this sequence is just So well done. it’s very simple to bring back the hard ass table that wolfwood had woken up on and smacked his hand hard against at the start of this chapter, a purposefully strong table made to withstand drunkards... but it was pulled into the fight, to cover that split second to defend vash before wolfwood himself makes it to him. it’s important to note that vash doesn’t even look at wolfwood here. he’s not the least surprised, he’s still keeping his eyes directly on the tank. he does briefly look at the enemy behind him on the previous page for one panel, but i think that glance may have been targeted at the table wolfwood threw. i say this because vash moves fast and if he had wanted to target the yinyang brother behind him, he would’ve shot him already.

the both of them focus on the targets they’re aiming at. vash with his gun can’t break the armor of the tank and wolfwood’s punisher isn’t made for a single target unless he wanted to pulverized the dude with bullets and his aim won’t be precise with the punisher either. they’re mainly talking to themselves on this page, but the fact they don’t even say anything to each other, only giving a single glance before...

changing positions immediately -- understanding where the other had lacked in, understanding what they themselves would be capable of doing and what the other could not... like.... wolfwood quickly changing the punisher’s form to activate the torpedo to take care of the armored up tank and vash quickly getting aim on the yinyang brother the moment he turns around. in just fighting together, it communicated everything we needed to know about their teamwork. and taking into consideration how they’ve been fighting alone for their entire lives only to flawlessly come together as a team despite that... they’ve developed a trust on each other, a trust i think vash is relatively aware of at this point, but wolfwood hadn’t realized it.

i’m saying that because of his expression here lmfao

i think wolfwood can be pretty slow on realizing things for himself. i think for vash, he’s already built a recognition that wolfwood was going to be following him, that wolfwood would be there to protect his back, and i think that feeling stems from personal trust, considering how often wolfwood has done that for him already and i think a bit of that is also vash being aware that wolfwood has a job he’s upkeeping to protect/keep an eye on vash, so he’d expect wolfwood to upkeep that too.

on wolfwood’s end, he turns back to vash immediately, realizing that he had left his own back unattended. wolfwood knows vash, he understands the kind of person he is, but he was still anxious because of all the thoughts he held up throughout this chapter. i don’t think wolfwood’s trust in vash was purposeful prior this chapter and really, there wasn’t any particular scene that showed him trusting vash outright because wolfwood has always moved pretty independently throughout the arcs. it tended to be vash putting his faith in wolfwood instead while wolfwood himself was still trying to figure out where he stood with vash. but through battle, through the nonverbal communication and through instincts, i think that provides a lot of context of how his trust is ingrained instinctually and how despite what he states, what he thinks for himself, he internally already knows otherwise that he would never be able to harm vash, that he has already deeply sided with him.

when the fight is over, vash immediately disarms himself, thanks wolfwood, and his back is once again bare, turned towards wolfwood, vulnerable and full of trust. it’s intentional in how vash shows his trust towards wolfwood and wolfwood, processing, realizing that in full... how despite all of his worries, his fears, pondering about how this monster was going to save humanity, he’s ultimately just looking back at someone who’s grown so close to him. and i think this page is wolfwood coming to realize what his relationship with vash has become. overall, this chapter just feels like the moment when wolfwood has come to be honest and frank with himself on where his allegiance lies. in the previous arc, midvalley came at him constantly about who he was betraying and i think wolfwood was like “what the fuck is he talking about” for a good portion of it up until this chapter.

a lot of what wolfwood had to tackle that previous arc was where he stood in the crossfire. being a gung-ho after having killed “chapel” and stolen his spot which in turn led him to working under knives directly which led him to become vash’s guide, merely a job to be his guide until it no longer was just a job. he has a lot in common with midvalley, both being assassins, both having a heart that lied elsewhere and not in line with knives or legato. they both acted out, betrayed before, and midvalley himself mentioned how the twins were beyond them, higher beings while they were mere insects, or something along those lines... which wolfwood basically echoes similar sentiments here. when midvalley died, he most likely saw a reflection of himself. when he comes before midvalley’s grave, he thinks on that, the “can’t make a stand, even with those fangs of yours”, thinking of betrayal that comes about in his dreams. he knows for certainty that he wants to protect the orphanage; beyond that, i don’t think wolfwood believed he sided with anyone at the beginning of chapter 35. it’s a realization he makes steadily throughout the course of it and only when he’s back to back with vash does he realize he’s already sided with him whether he wanted to or not.

the chapters in vol 6, from all these different perspectives, they all end up concluding something new about vash, something they realize from what they’ve observed of vash in the previous arc and in person. meryl recognizes that vash’s fears and shame won’t stop him from shooting his gun. legato recognizing the significance of if vash could collect all the coins that becomes prevalent in chapter 80s. knives realizing that vash is already in the process of dying due to the black hair. milly seeing vash’s muddled up expression, the smiling facade he holds automatically when he doesn’t know what to do and gets a glimpse into the loneliness he feels.

the significance of wolfwood coming to terms with his feelings of vash makes his actions in vol 8 all the more meaningful and comprehendible. granted, i think throughout the previous chapters, we can all sense this sort of change in wolfwood and how much he cares about vash and all that... but i think the trust that wolfwood solidifies in vash goes beyond personal sentiments. after all, i think wolfwood having saved vash in vol 8 is because he trusted vash would be capable of saving humanity and that trust was enough for him to risk his own life... despite being afraid of dying, despite not being Ready to die, despite his own personal doubts and uncertainties and the echo of rebellions falling into ruins, he still went forth to save vash for the sake of humanity and he trusts that vash, despite his lonesome for those 7 months, would be resolute enough to stop knives. --> i’m saying “for the sake of humanity” because that’s just relevant with his thoughts in this chapter. him freeing vash has multitudes of layers that’s both personal and selfless to the fault, but that’s for another post.

and the final light hearted page in this chapter, where they chit chat a bit casually. i feel like every time we see wolfwood in his off time, he’s always eating something/discussing eating, which is kind of cute. he’s on top of his meals!! and of course, one of the best panels for millymeryl, the utter destruction and devastation in that house and meryl looking like she definitely Did not sleep from the chaos (and probably due to her own nightmares too) while milly is refreshed... they’re the cutest ever.

anyway, that was the last page so that means this chapter is finished! the way this chapter went full circle in regards to wolfwood’s thoughts, how all of his worries eventually led to a resolution to his feelings about vash... i think wolfwood’s point of view is always a gift to explore because his thoughts sometimes conflict to the resolution he comes to, especially when it comes to vash. wolfwood never had a presence like vash in his life, never known someone so different but still so similar to him. it’s all very new, so i think wolfwood’s circling thoughts, confusion, and the eventual choices he make when it comes to vash is a precious insight that i’m Very grateful towards nightow for.

i don’t know how to conclude this, but that’s all i have to observe! i hope it’s understandable what i mean when i say this chapter feels like an arc of itself and yet, it’s still so perfectly entwine with the rest of the plot. wolfwood’s thoughts here are not foreign, his development doesn’t come from nothing; it’s all a steady progression and i think it’s valuable for all the decisions he ultimately makes in the future chapters.

#trigun #trigun analysis #trigun meta #???#trigun maximum #also i didn't know where to put this thought but the title of this chapter is double team #double team can signify to vash and wolfwood's teamwork #it can also signify to wolfwood's troublesome allegiance to both knives and vash #anyway know that im also pulling shit out of my ass sometimes because i think TOO much and too deeply lmfao #i also might not be thinking enough and am wrong about things but WHATEVER!! this is just my view #some of these might just be assumptions and are kind of insane conclusions but i hope - above all else - that it's Comprehensible.#it's bene a year since i wrote something this long lmfao but this is just a soft appreciation of this chapter #if possible i would this for the entire manga but i Don't think i have that kind of time

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streaminn · 8 months

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Military School AU

Wednesday gets (semi) seriously hurt in a challenge/Event and Addams' will fight to death (or just literally unable to continue) and Enid has a flashback to the night with the Hyde and her mind goes blank besides protecting Wednesday.

That's how the Nightshades/Wednesday realize Enid doesn't actually hate them/was just hurt and bitter. And how Enid's Pack realizes just how important Wednesday is to their Alpha/realize Enid Imprinted on Wednesday.

Or, Wednesday comes into contact with one of the Pack (handshake, combat, whatever), and has a vision of what Enid's been going through/feeling and how the Pack has been helping/taking care of her. And to everyone's surprise, Wednesday looks absolutely wrecked (but is trying hard not to show it), and gives them her gratitude and thanks for caring for her Wolf when she wasn't there (no matter how much she wanted to be).

[Sorry if this reads weird, I'm typing this in the car on my phone.]

its all good bud! sorry for answering this so late, my ass desperately tried to draw this but my hand is not handing today so lemme set the scene

Incoming huge werewolf lore dump!

Grimwolves are emotional beings. Any overwhelming emotion can lead to a partial shift! from the growing of teeth, a sudden burst of a werewolf paw or the shifting and dislocating of bones to a bigger form-

you can say its part of the reason why enid is so cold. During her time during her 'slump' in the 2nd semester of her sophomore year when the pack all settle into the dorm, there are times where they can see Enid desperately clenching her fists before slipping on her bracers.

Sometimes, when they wake up early enough to catch sight of Enid without them, they can see the way the muscles in her arms twitch and shift before settling.

They keep their mouth shut, all too aware of the fact that enid wears her muzzle during classes too. They aren't really dumb, they know of how Enid got her alpha rank after all but there's a difference between hearing and seeing

Sometimes, during the end of the semester when Enid seems to be coping all the more better and the muzzle wasn't such a need anymore, they can see the way she tends to pant with her mouth open at times. It wasn't anything new, most werewolves do that too at times

But it gives them an eyeful of the way too big teeth that most werewolves don't have

(aka enid still tends to get overwhelmed at times and having the ability to shift whenever isn't as much as a blessing like most think)

so! the pack are aware that enid's different. They don't know the exact name and she's a bit too big for her size whenever its time for monthly shifting but they never see her fully shift in distress

And that changes alot.

So as explained briefly here, werewolves have the whole day to get ready for their shift in the night. Which means that they don't tend to be too aggressive, theyre a touch more rational and their body can properly regulate all that wolf magic hormone stuff

Which leads to them looking more wolf than man. Which was a good thing! Makes it easier to blend in with the normies of back then

But grimwolves?

Their shifts are sudden and there is no period to get ready. It's just snap and you're a wolf but normal werewolves aren't made for that and so the body accommodates

So most of the time, it leads to the image above! Grimwolves were rampant back then along with violence so it spread to normies that these were how werewolves are supposed to look like and thus reinforcing their monstrous nature etc etc you get the point

Obviously it's been disproven by outcasts and grimwolves are totally myths

Now, imagine being in a tournament fully expecting to be able to beat a bunch of trained dogs because hey its not like it's the full moon, what can they do?

They already took down the Addams girl and her flowery friends, what's wrong with besting those smug mutts too?

Anyways I suck at words rn but enid beats their ass. She's been trying to control her shifting since her second semester last year but honestly, Wednesday has always lead to her doing the craziest of things

Revealing her existence on live was certainly not one she expected to do but if it meant keeping Wednesday alive-

Well, it wouldn't be the worst thing Enid has done

#Reference #Military school au #My art #rendered

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romanarose · 7 months

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If You Wanna Be Wild: Bonus Sick Fic

Santiago Garcia x Javier Pena

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Summary: Part of If You Wanna Be Wild, Santi is sick and Javi comes over to take care of him, both realizing something is brewing.

Warnings and content: PTSD (flashbacks), internalized homophobia but like. Its mild. Flashbacks to that one scene in Glee with Blaine and Tina and the vapo rub lololol

A/N: I know it's been a min since the last chapter and I promise it's coming but I thought I'd giving a lil bonus chapter. Takes place before chapter 3.

A/N 2: for those who aren’t boomers like me, MASH is a show from the 70’s about med soldiers in Korea. It was a comedy but also dealt with super heavy themes and makes me cry

1.8 words

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When Javier Peña waltzed into work at 8:23 AM, he was surprised to find Garcia was not at his desk. Santiago was always on time, and usually early, often staying late to make sure his paperwork was just right. Javi had once returned after realizing he forgot his wallet before the weekend only to drag Santi out of the DEA’s office practically pouting at nearly midnight.

So needless to say, Santiago being gone on a Monday morning was certainly enough to make Javier concerned enough to walk back up to the secretary. Maybe he had finally gone out and enjoyed his life a little on the weekend. The kid needed it, he needed to let off some steam, and a guy that looks like him certainly wouldn’t have any trouble finding a nice girl. Well. Javi hoped she was nice. Santiago would get eaten alive.

“Hola Colleen, ¿Has visto Garcia?” He asked, leaning over her desk.

She did not look up at him. “There’s at least 6 Garcia’s in this building.”

Javi cocked his head to the side. “Which Garcia do you think I’m talking about?” A rhetorical question. “He’s late.”

“What’s it to you? You're late every day, your little lap dog probably got stuck rescuing a kitten from a tree or something.”

He would waste time on something like that.

“Colleen”

She rolled her eyes. “He called in sick, Javi, now mind your business.”

“Sick?” How did he possibly get sick, the kid had the best immune system he knew. Didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, ate all his veggie’s off his plate like his mommy was still watching. “How sick.”

“I didn’t press for details. He never uses sick days so if he wants to play hooky for once it’s none of my business.”

“Thank you Colleen.” Javi smacked the desk, not hard at all. “This was very helpful.”

Javi waited until noon to call.

“Hola?”

“Garcia, where the hell are you?” He didn’t want to make it seem like he’d been asking about him, after all.

“Oh, hey Javi.” He sounded awful. “Lo siento, I thought they would have told you I was out sick.”

“Well, no one tells me shit around here, you know that.”

“Except for prostitutes.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, I’m going on break, want me to swing by and get you anything? Some food, medicine, blankies.”

“Oh, actually, there’s some paper work in my top drawer-”

“I’m not bringing you work, Pope! Jesus, were you the kid who had friends bring him his homework when he was home sick from school?”

Santiago coughed and his poor throat sounded so horse. “Well, if I had friends and if I took days off, I suppose I would’ve.”

“Jesus, Garcia.”

“I’m JOKING! But yeah it was my sister. Mamí would have my head if I fell behind.”

That kid was never going to be free of his mother. “Other than work, do you need anything?”

“No, I’m alright, thank you.”

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow? 8 O’clock?”

“I’ll see you when you walk in at 8:45”

“Shut the hell up.”

Javi was getting ready to leave work when he thought he might call Santi again to see if he needed anything on his way home. They didn’t live far, after all.

He called once, but the boy didn’t answer. He called again, no answer. When there wasn’t an answer a third time, Javier got concerned; he must be too sick to answer. Only stopping briefly at a corner store for some medicine, Javi rushed over to Santiago’s, banging on the door. “Garcia? Garcia!”

After a few minutes, Santi stumbled to open the door, looking groggy and messy and so unlike the boy he knew. Santiago shaved every morning, came to work crisp and put together. Right now, in a rumpled t shirt and shorts and a face that looked like he hadn’t shaved since Friday morning, Santi looked like an adorable disaster.

“What happened? Are you okay?” He asked, worry in his eyes.

What a guy. “Am I okay? Garcia I called you three times and you didn’t answer, you look like hell.”

“Oh.” Able to relax a bit, Santi’s shoulders slumped and he rubbed his eye as he coughed and looked at the bad in Javi’s hand. “What’s that?”

Javi glanced at the bag before returning his gaze back to the sick man. “I brought you some medicine. Thought you might need something.”

The smile Santi gave him made his heart leap. “Javi, I appreciate you worrying.”

“I wasn’t-”

“But I’ve had three of my tia’s stop by and baby me already.”

“Oh-”

Santi saw Javi’s slightly dejected look, and it made his heart swell just a bit to see that yeah, Javi was an asshole, but he was his asshole and Javi cared about him. Javi wanted to take care of him. “You know how to make soup?”

“I can try.”

“Good, because I’m starving.” Opening the door to let him in, Santi went back to his couch to watch M.A.S.H.

Javi set to work. “Jesus, Garcia, M.A.S.H? Didn’t you get enough of war?”

“They can’t show anything on TV worse than what I’ve actually seen.” He mumbled, cuddling up in a blanket again.

Javier often forgot that Santiago had a whole life before him, a whole life of seeing things Javi couldn’t protect him from. Occasionally, Santi would mention his friends from the Army, his special ops team he was a part of, but not much, and especially nothing with what happened or why he left. There was his best friend who was a pilot and a pair of brothers. The older brother had been honorably discharged recently with “post-vietnam syndrome” although they hadn’t really spent that much time in Vietnam, comparatively. Vietnam was just the thing that got people talking, finally. This only came up in concern for the young brother who without an older brother’s guidance was hard to reel in.

By the time the soup was done, Santi seemed asleep so Javi walked over to the couch quietly only to find Santi was awake, watching M.A.S.H with tears in his eyes. Javi looked to the TV and although he couldn’t pinpoint what was going on, the scene was somber. “Garcia?” He didn’t answer him. “Garcia, hey, Santi-” Javi touched his shoulder causing Santi to gasp out of his trance.

“Will?!” Santi jumped up, eyes wide with panic and hand going for his hip only to find no gun. No holder. No uniform…

“Hey, amigo, relaje, relaje… It’s okay.” He held up his hands to try and placate him. “It’s just me, you're safe, I’m not going to hurt you, Santi.”

When Santi realized it had happened again he quickly averted his eyes, subconsciously shifting away from his friend. “Fuck, sorry, I was… dreaming.”

Javi knew he wasn’t dreaming. He had been awake, clearly, but Javi didn’t question him. “Dreaming about how you got that scar on your neck?”

He knew him a little too well. That’s why Santi called out for Will, the voice he had heard before slipping into unconsciousness. Santi felt like he had been going crazy. It wasn’t as bad as it had been for Will; Santi could handle gunshots and cross fire and action. He could handle it well, he knew he was capable. It was other things, however, things like dead bodies or funerals that sent him into a haze. One funeral he went to when he looked in the casket he saw himself. He never told anyone and never went again. When he went to mass he prayed he would never have to go Frankie, Will, Benny, or Elena’s. He prayed he’d go first.

“No.” He took a few bites of soup, complimenting it.

Javi just nodded. “Alright.” Turning the TV to the Mary Tyler Moore show, Javi tried to change the subject to distract Santi. “Always thought she was hot.”

“Me too. Had a crush on her when she was on the Dick Van Dyke show.”

Javi chuckled. “Of course you did. Here.” He went and got the cough syrup and put it on a spoon. “Here.”

Like a child, Santi whined. “Asqueroso”

“Shut the hell up, I’m not Mary Poppins and I’m not giving you sugar to wash it down.”

“Fiiiiine.” Santi lifted is head enough that Javi could guid the spoon between his plush and waiting lips, eyes dropping in exhaustion and face flush with fever in a way that made Santi just look… fucked out.

No, fuck, shit, he’s not suppossed to be thinking those things about his partner, or men in general. Not that Javi had a problem with it, but he wasn’t gay. It was just his mind wandering, that’s all.

“Javi?” Santi mumbled half asleep.

“Hm?”

“There’s some vicks vapor rub on the counter, can you grab it for me?”

“Yeah, no problem.” When Javi returned with the rub, Santi was out cold. “Garcia?” He felt his forehead, he was burning up. Poor kid was probably exhausted. Sighing, he opened the vapor rub. With care and precision, Javi rubbed a bit on his neck and a little on his chest, only dipping slightly under the collar so as to not put his hand anywhere untoward. It wasn’t sexual, Santi just needed help. Digging through his medicine cabinet, Javi also found some peppermint and lavender oils and remembered what his own mother used to do when he was sick. A tiny bit of lavender under the nose and some peppermint on Santi’s temples, Javi hopped at the very least he could have a good sleep.

He deserved it, honestly. The young man worked hard, he cared about what he did and the people of Colombia. He was smart, capable, and kind, traits that Javi remembered liking so much in Steve. He was easy to like.

Settling into a chair nearby with some soup, Javier decided to stay for a little bit just in case Santi needed something or in case he got worse.

When Santi woke up a few hours later it had already gotten dark out and he had intended on moving to his bed. When he began to sit up, however, Santi saw Javier asleep on the chair. He must have stayed to keep an eye on him. Santi’s heart was full, overcome with emotion and affection for his partner in ways he can’t remember feeling since… well shit, Santi can’t remember feeling like this. He had friends he loved dearly, he loved his sister and his mother and all his extended family… but this felt… different. He couldn’t put his finger on it.

Standing up, Santi quietly used the bathroom and got another blanket from his room. Before laying down again, Santiago carefully laid the blanket over Javier, tucking him in.

“Buenas noches, amigo. Y gracias."

************

Hope this was enough to tide y'all over!

I was writing the vapo rub scene and it was gonna be a lil more intimate but then I got trauma flashbacks to Glee and ina singing and... I said hmmmmmmmm nope lol

@runa-falls @lunar-ghoulie @campingwiththecharmings @whatthefishh @itspdameronthings @persephone-girl @criticalarchitecture @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog @beelzebeth87 @pimosworld @millerscoffee @heareball @thatwonderouswoman @poolbool @meveispunk @lovable-liar @millllenniawrites @read-and-wip @missdictatorme @the-fox-den @milkymoon2483 @k-ra @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @rosellacwrites @legendary-pink-dot @dreamingofbucky @axshadows @englandsgray @starsthatwatch @laiisleitte @fairlyang @alwaysmicado @theywhowriteandknowthings @casa-boiardi @lostfleur @ninebluehearts @puglover12 @sub-aro @laiisleitte @itspdameronthings @heareball @comfortlessjoy @csarab615 @calaveramangonda @bit-dodgy-innit @stevngrant @nanfafnan @kirsteng42

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tanenigiri · 11 months

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*punches through wall* OUR DINING TABLE

(Thoughts and ramblings on episodes 8 and 9 under the cut. Some manga comparisons but I don't think any of them constitute as plot spoilers since there's one episode left, but if you plan on reading the manga and don't want the differences from the show to be spoiled, fair warning.)

The corresponding chapter of Episode 8 in the manga is actually where we find out all about Minoru's backstory. We see a good chunk of it here in the flashback in the cafe, when he and Tane first cross paths with Yutaka. But most of the other things we've seen about Minoru's past up to this point in the show - that scene with Nao where Tane spills a drink on her, that flashback scene with young Tane which looks like it just happened right after their mom's funeral, and the general sense of Minoru bearing the weight of being a second parent to Tane - all of that comes to head in this chapter of the manga. I know I've said it repeatedly over my previous posts, but I really have to say it again because it deserves the praise - Minoru's plot arc was handled so, so well in this show, and I genuinely think all the decisions they made to spread and flesh it out was to its benefit.

There were already a lot of other posts last week that pointed it out but I still wanna highlight it - the silence that pervades this episode was really effective in conveying the conflict Yutaka and Minoru were facing. Giving them all this space to think about it could be dragging for some, but I found it quite necessary for what they were dealing with. This show has always used the quiet moments effectively and I think this episode isn't an exception.

I also wanted to highlight how that whole idea of "things being the same" is important to both Yutaka and Minoru. Before the events of Episode 1, Yutaka was living a very monotonous routine, down to the meals he was feeding himself. And Minoru's life has been nothing but one massive change after the other, so I don't blame him in wanting to find something that he could keep from changing. But, of course, both of them know that what happened between them isn't static, and that the change is something they either have to accept or have to let go of.

Gotta dedicate a bullet point to Ohata, who finally got her one manga-canonical scene in this episode (Hozumi-kun you're so easy to read!), but really her character has quickly become my favorite addition to the series. She's a much-needed confidant for Yutaka in the same way the dad (and his manager at the ramen shop) is for Minoru, and these past two episodes also bring up the fact that she was having relationship troubles with her boyfriend. I guess I can point out how her own issues seemed a little too convenient in terms of giving the right advice to Yutaka to move the plot along, but I honestly don't mind it - partly because I think those conversations also serve to show how far Yutaka's come in terms of breaking out of his shell and partly because I always cheer whenever her character shows up haha. (And can we talk about how she's constantly the best-dressed character of the show? Like I know she doesn't really have much competition but still?? Did you guys see her hair in that last scene???)

Speaking of which, I'm so glad they added that last scene with Yutaka joining his officemates for drinks. This was only mentioned in the manga, but I think this is as big of a deal as the confession in terms of Yutaka's growth. This is the same character who, in Episode 1 (which was only a few months prior to this), was known by the office as someone who would turn down any invite, and the manga even goes further with this in that they wouldn't invite him at all because they know that he would just reject them. Not to mention that the literal first thing we find out about Yutaka is how he doesn't share meals with anyone! Seeing him in the bar with his coworkers is absolutely massive in terms of how much Yutaka has changed, and while Ohata is right in teasing him that it's because of a special someone, I do think it's a testament to how much progress Yutaka has made over the course of the show both because of Minoru and because of his personal growth.

And since I mentioned it, I'm pretty happy with how they translated that playground confession scene into the show. In particular I enjoyed how generally awkward it was because it was very in-character, and I think giving the scene a more laid back vibe instead of a serious one was a really good decision. That whole "you're very important to me" spiel destroyed me though.

It's only recently I realized that the whole "BL male lead running to other BL male lead" is an actual trope that's seen in almost every series and I find that so funny. I've only watched a few before this and they do all have running involved.

Screaming at Mr. Ueda literally dragging his son out of the house and telling him to get it together before the New Year rings in. We don't really get a lot of scenes between the two of them so I'm glad we got this.

Tane-kun takes a bit of a backseat in these two episodes as the plot shifts to Yutaka and Minoru's relationship (the same thing happens in the manga), but the scenes he does get are still really good. In particular I like that once he realizes that Minoru and Yutaka are "fighting," all Tane says is that Minoru should apologize because, for him, Yutaka would always understand and accept their apology.

Ok so I'm of two minds about that scene with Yuuki (Yutaka's adoptive brother), which I was pretty surprised to see as it wasn't in the manga. On one hand, I'm glad that we do get some sort of closure for this, and that at the end of the day, Yutaka does have an adoptive family that cares for him. But on the other hand, I really don't think that the apology was anywhere close to undoing the damage that Yutaka's had to bear all these years? Like, I get that it's a misunderstanding on both ends and that proper communication would've solved it (and this is, in fact, the takeaway Yutaka needed for his confession to Minoru), but I'm not a fan of the implication that just because Yuuki was apparently not that much of a jerk to Yutaka as we thought that he's forgiven for his clearly traumatizing actions? I don't think they're gonna address this further in next week's episode (though I'd love to be wrong), but I dunno - it's not the note I would've liked that plot point to be left on. Sure, put some forgiveness in there, but I guess I wanted either party to acknowledge that while Yutaka could start mending his relationship with his adoptive family, there's still a lot of damage that they need to process? I know that's a pretty big ask for what is essentially a minor plot point, but eh. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it (and on the show in general).

The preview gave me a glimpse of the one other scene in the manga that's in my Top 3 (up there with Yutaka's cartoonified backstory and Minoru taking care of a sick Yutaka) and I am soooo ready to break down because of it. For manga readers who want to know which one: It's the scene without Minoru.

Love this show so much. I don't want it to end and I'm both anticipating and dreading the finale next week.

#our dining table #bokura no shokutaku

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ddarker-dreams · 7 months

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for some reason nexus, by far, is the story where i felt most 'trapped'. honestly, i loved the way you wrote nexus, it feels a lot like a movie wtfff....

i often get a sense that most of your works are a lot reminiscent to classic novels to me, but this one felt like a movie! its actually amazing how flexible u are lol

mommy issues aside, that will be in another ask- lear. that hurt me.

i have to admit, i didnt really care for lear so much until ch 3 or 4, because i finally realized wow this guy is actually.............. genuinely nice. hes cute. in irl id maybe have heart eyes for a guy like him.

the sequence where reader has flashbacks of lear and lear probably being the first and only person to know her intimately (IN AN EMOTIONAL SENSE NOT THAT WAY) absolutely hit me harder because i eventually thought "WHY didnt i pay attention to lear in the first place?!" i initially didnt care for him because my mind was all BLADEE BLADEEEE, but now... fuck, lear, i shouldve been with you since day 1.

another interesting thing id like to think about is how reader's regrets, are definitely feelings that nona and lear are experiencing as well. all three are most likely, simutaneously although perhaps now lightyears away instead of mere walls parting them, thinking about their regrets over a loss thats almost like death. where will lear ever put his love now that n darling isnt around anymore? he can only look back to his memories and pray that it's enough to soothe him. would nona regret ever being mean to n darling, skipping her studies, and perhaps later on she would viewed herself as a burden to n darling in the past?

so much to think about, and so little emotional capacity i have to hold the overflowing emotions...

i love nexus and especially YOU LOCK !!!!!

omg i think it's cool that you found nexus' style similar to a movie... the scenes i imagined in my head felt cinematic-ish, especially n darling recalls previous dialogue at certain moments for emotional amplification™. i didn't think about it reflecting in the writing much, but i see what you mean now 😌 there's a lot of emphasis on visuals for prose and metaphors.

A LEAR TRUTHER !!! i wanted him to serve as a foil to blade, so i think once blade started pulling more shenanigans, lear's care for n darling stands out more. lear could've fallen in that possessive pitfall but he's simply built different.

aaa regrets and "i should've x" feel like some of the most effective forms of horror, since it's a universal experience. maybe not the exact scenarios themselves, but everyone's had that moment when they realized how they should've done things differently. when the news comes to light, lear will undoubtedly be emotionally devastated. nona will be as well, though her pain would manifest in anger more than depression. she'd be mad at n darling first, then mad at herself for not being able to do anything to help.

i can't leave them in suffering limbo though 😭 the astral express crew will be who take care of the stellaron crisis on eris. inevitably, they'll meet with lear and nona. the grief won't go away entirely, but the express crew will do/say things that help.

THANK YOU SO MUCH !!! i loved reading your thoughts 🥺 thank you thank you!!!!

#sweet asks #nexus #answered #Anonymous

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thehollowone16 · 24 days

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Thanks for the tag, @mugsdontlie

Writing procrastination game!!!

1. What's the name of one of your Wips?

Loyalty's Price; Eternity, I have half a mind to name my next one something Fear and Hunger related.

2. Describe a Wip in the format of __+__=__

Uhhhh, I'll do a non-LP one since LP; Eternity is 1 chapter from being over. Modern AU+Genjutsu = a generally bad day.

3. What tags/warnings will one of your Wips need if you share it?

Usually violence and character death though I don't think any of them have been sad deaths so far.

As for tags.....Loyalty's Price; Reunion will have Urushi, so him?

4. Alternative title to a Wip?

God I wish. Loyalty's Price feels very generic. Uhhh, maybe "No Place Else you'd rather be" a line from Fences by Paramore. It has an irony I kind of like. Doesn't work well for subtitles though.

5. Which Wip are you most likely to update/finish next?

Loyalty's Price; Eternity. Editing the final chapter though it'll most likely be split in half.

6. What is one of your Wip's document title, not its name but what you have it saved as?

LP 3; CH 11; Try 2; D2 (I rewrote much of it)

7. Post any sentence from your Wip?

"He hoped someone else had to suffocate on this putrid victory."

8. A scrapped idea from your wip?

There's two whole scrapped scenes, one is of Kabuto having a nightmare that involves Nonou that's half a flashback if you wanna read it that way, and one is him and Sakura talking about death generally but about Sasori and Yoroi a bit.

9. What's a story you'd love to write but have yet to start?

I'd kinda like to do a "what if Naruto was on Team Kabuto" but I'm still not entirely sure how to tackle it.

Same with a "what if Nonou adopted Naruto and he and Kabuto were straight up brothers". I have ideas for it but they're pretty disconnected and more vibes than a plot. I don't write kids well.

Both are hard in part because idk how much canon divergence I'm comfortable with yet.

10. How many Wips are you actively working on?

1, probably will start something else when LP; Eternity is done

11. Is there a scene you're struggling to write right now?

Struggling to edit in general. The fic has caused a bit of a panic episode that I'm in treatment for. I don't want my mental health to take away something I was really enjoying though.

12. Not a question but a second kudos!

Tagging: @aceonice , @allalrightagain , @ao3dorian-gay , @myulalie , Uhhh @girl-with-goats if any of you want to.

#fanfic stuff #ask game #this was fun!#thank you Mugs!!

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link4eva · 1 year

Text

Kiro’s My Heart Jumps for Joy Mind’s Quest Translation [CN]

Hello, thank you for patience! The translation of this masterpiece of a date has arrived!! 😍

💛 A few things to note before you begin reading 💛

If you haven’t seen it yet, you can find the Exclusive Radio for this date here!

This translation was done with the help of Google Translate and @keliosyfan!

I’m going to be including links to videos about certain moves and exercises that are described/mentioned in the date if you would like a little more detail. I’ve been classically trained in ballet ever since I was 5, so I’m going to leave little tidbits here and there throughout. My bun head self was so giddy while reading through 🤩

I am going to give a slight TRIGGER WARNING in regards to the theme of weight loss in this date. The content of the date doesn’t really revolve around this topic, but it was mentioned enough times for me to feel that I should say something about it. Having been in the dance scene, I know it can be a sensitive topic.

So without further ado, enjoy!

*Spoilers for future content below!*

[First Part]

??: Dear passengers, welcome to Loveland Airlines flight LY0521 from Loveland City to Bern…

Accompanied by the gentle broadcast sound, I quickly finished the work email. After closing the file, I click to open the top chat box–

“Hey, I’ll take off right away~”

The moment the message is sent, a typing indicator pops up with a round-headed bear bouncing around.

Kiro: “Great! See you in seventeen hours and seven minutes!”

After the message arrived, another bear popped up and blew a pink heart kiss to me.

After we “blew kisses” back and forth several times with joy, I turned on airplane mode and looked at the blue sky outside the porthole. *CUUUUUTE*

In order to star in a literary film with a professional ballet dancer as the main character, Kiro decided to go to France for further studies despite the training he had when he was young.

Because this stay is for a month, we agreed to celebrate New Year’s in France so that he could study without apprehension.

(Flashback to MC’s bedroom)

One week ago, Kiro unexpectedly sent a message adding additional plans–

Kiro: “MC, I’m going to Bern to find the teacher who taught me back then to take ballet lessons. See you in Bern!”

(Back to present)

MC: Phew… finally arrived.

After getting off the plane, I pulled the suitcase and walked quickly to the exit while rubbing my sore shoulders.

After walking through several passages, I finally saw the pick-up area. However–

The area was densely packed with golden heads occupying my field of vision. My ability to “spot the blond at a glance” is completely lost here. *I’m hoping this is what the text meant to say. GT made it sound really strange lol*

MC: Hmm…let’s use the power of technology.

Just as I was about to take out my phone, a brown colour appeared in the corner of my eye at a distance, shaking left and right midair in the crowd.

I looked closely and found that it was a little bear hand puppet!

It is wearing a beret and a plaid suit. It is obviously a gentleman’s outfit, but it is waving its bear paws excitedly, and its round head is also swinging back and forth in a rock-and-roll style.

After I waved to the Little Bear with a knowing smile, I quickened my pace.

At the same time, Little Bear also quickened his pace. *Changed some wording*

As I crossed the boundary line of the exit, I finally saw the person I had missed day and night for the past half month.

MC: Kiro!

I let go of my luggage and threw myself into his arms. He tightened his arms, and a laughing voice rang in my ears.

Kiro: It seems that Kiro is also very lucky today.

Kiro: It was supposed to take seventeen hours and seven minutes to see you, but only sixteen hours and fifty-three minutes have passed. *The fact that he counts down the minutes until he sees his beloved again 😭*

MC: Pfft, are you so easily satisfied? It’s just ten minutes early…

Kiro: But for those of us who haven’t seen Miss Chips for half a month, we should cherish every moment we can earlier.

MC: Us?

He raised the Little Bear with a smile, and it leaned down to me in a gentlemanly manner and kissed my cheek.

Kiro: Bear Ro-Ro misses you so much that he told me to kiss you when we meet~

Kiro: But I made an agreement with him a few weeks in advance. He can only kiss cheeks, and I–

In the next second, a softer touch lands on my upper lip and leaves a touch of sweetness.

Looking at the cunning he had in his eyes, I stand on my tiptoes and rubbed my nose with his.

MC: This big star Kiro really has a bunch of tricks up his sleeve. *Changed some wording. GT was giving something about 108 minds and I couldn’t tell you what it meant. I searched forever and couldn’t find anything 🥲*

MC: Even “stealing relatives” needs to find a high-sounding reason~ *This, too...*

Kiro: Don’t you like it? It’s not impossible to omit this step next time…

Just as I was about to smile and pinch his palm, my phone sounded with the company’s notification tone.

MC: …Give me one sec.

Kiro: Is it still busy during this time?

MC: It’s okay~ In order to have a happy New Year with Superstar Kiro, I have already dealt with most of the stuff at work.

MC: Now we are waiting for an overseas company’s cooperation intention to reply.

Kiro: So that’s it…and there’s a lot of time for me?

After pressing the send button, I took his arm with a smile.

MC: Well, almost 70% of the time is yours. The rest I can leave to work~

Kiro: Not bad, I’m accounted for more than half of your time.

He rolled his eyes, took my hand and walked towards the parking lot.

But after walking a few steps, I suddenly felt something was wrong and squeezed his palm.

Like realizing something, I took two quick steps forward, then turned around to face him, carefully observing him as I walked backwards.

Perhaps because of the sunlight, his jawline was more defined, and even his eye sockets became somewhat deep.

Although I knew that in order to meet the requirements of the role, he needed to be thinner. But now that I actually get to see him in person, he was much thinner than in the video call a few days ago.

MC: …

I feel a surge of tears beginning to rise, making my eyes feel a little hot.

Kiro has made such an effort for this role. I want to affirm him more than feel sorry for him.

I sniffled hard, pretending to be cold, and gave him a big smile.

MC: Kiro, you did it, congratulations! You have lost a lot of weight! Now it is very in line with what you showed me before the appearance of the protagonist was set. *Changed some wording*

Kiro: Really? Is it that obvious?

MC: Of course! My Kiro now has a thin and lean beauty.

He opened his eyes slightly and smiled triumphantly.

Kiro: With your words, I seem to have the courage to insist on eating salad for a month again.

MC: You want to lose more weight?

Kiro: Well, after showing the teacher the premise of the character I’m playing, he thinks that the upper body needs to be thinner.

I froze for a moment and reacted belatedly.

MC: Are you talking about the ballet teacher you came here to take lessons with?

Kiro nodded.

MC: It seems that this mentor is really serious, otherwise he wouldn’t have made you willing to “toss” back and forth like this.

He seemed to be lost in thought, and after a while, he grinned wryly.

Kiro: It’s better to say...that he’s a devil teacher rather than just a teacher.

[Second Part]

After returning to Kiro’s temporary residence in Bern, it was already dark.

First, he studied the script for two hours according to the plan, and after half an hour of exercise…

We finally lay down on the sofa and chatted while resting, listening to the stories about him practising when he was young.

MC: What?! Even if you practice until late at night the day before, you have to get up at 5:30 in the morning the next day to practise again? *Can confirm this is 100% true. Had some practices until midnight sometimes and then had to go to school bright and early the next day. Rip 🥲*

Hearing this, I couldn’t help raising my head from his arms in surprise.

Kiro: Well, there are benefits to waking up early, too. You can take your time and have a hot breakfast. Otherwise, you can only just bite a piece of bread and run to class.

Kiro: But what impressed me the most was that if we fell below his expectations even just a little bit, he would force us to stand on our heads.

Kiro: Ah— At that time, I was dizzy every day and often saw stars in front of my eyes in the room.

He paused and poked my nose triumphantly.

Kiro: But under such strict training, I was accidentally trained to be a pro “One, two, three wooden man”! *If you’ve heard of “Freeze Dance”, it’s pretty similar to what I believe he’s saying here (except that it’s not a punishment lol). The goal of the game is to only dance when the music is playing. When the music stops, everyone freezes. If you’re caught moving even just a little bit, you’re out. Whoever is the last one remaining wins. For an added challenge, there’ll be certain poses that the players have to freeze in such as a tree or flamingo.*

MC: Pfft… why is this such a game? Is it some kind of trick to avoid the devil teacher?

Kiro: Hmph, that’s right! As long as I am punished to stand on my head, I will try to “idle” while he is not looking at me~

Kiro: If I don’t, my head will be filled with blood and I will pass out, and I don’t want the ambulance to “wee woo, wee woo” me away. *He actually makes the siren sounds LOL*

MC: …

Listening to him joking about his previous experience, I felt a bit of a tug at my heart.

Even though I know this is typical for professional training, I still feel that this is a bit “wicked” for a ten-year-old child.

MC: Damn, I didn’t expect it to be so “devilish”!

Faced with my belated dissatisfaction, Kiro just smiled, his eyes reflecting the colours of flickering stars.

Then his fingertips wove between mine as if absorbing their warmth and began caressing them gently.

Kiro: I didn’t care about those things long ago, but now that I’m hearing Miss Chips’ cry of injustice…

Kiro: I am still very happy.

I couldn’t help hugging him and leaning my head gently against his chest.

MC: …Then the reason why you came to him for mentoring is that this teacher has an irreplaceable strength?

Kiro hugged me tightly, closing the distance between us silently.

Kiro: That’s right. But at the beginning, I didn’t have such an idea, but when I was training in France some time ago…

Kiro: I found that although the teacher in charge is very professional, he just encouraged me to get used to things slowly whenever I made a mistake. *Changed some wording*

Kiro: But…I don’t have much time to get used to it.

Kiro: I have to practice every movement to the extreme as soon as possible so that I can take on more difficult skills.

MC: Have you communicated with him? Ask him to be stricter?

He paused, his eyes flickering with a complex expression.

Kiro: Well, he said that it was because I have missed the best age to practice professional ballet…

Kiro: So even if one were to follow the requirements of professional dancers, it may not be enough.

He let go of me slightly, the deep sea in his eyes filled the night with more profound emotions secretly surging.

Kiro: But even though he said that, I still can’t accept it.

The classical music flowing continuously from the record player in the room became extremely clear in the “pause” at this moment.

Kiro got off the sofa silently and walked towards the centre of the terrace alone–

Looking at his sudden actions, I seemed to know what he was going to do next, but I also didn’t.

I can only watch him quietly.

After he slightly raised the corners of his lips to me, his body swayed gently to the melody.

*Bear with me as I give some terminology. GT isn’t the best at giving exact details for movements, so I had to get creative to make the steps make sense in word format 😅*

Soon, he seemed to enter the state. Kiro took a round step, jumped into the air and twirled lightly. *It looks like here he is doing a piqué turn en dehors and then going into a tour en l’air. You can watch it here (start at 1:30)*

The moonlight spread across the area, dyeing him bright and clean. His slender arms seem to touch the stars, stretching with supple grace.

Several times, he made difficult moves in the air that I couldn’t put a name to, just like an angel who strayed into the mortal world. *(Video) The text doesn’t say which moves but this link will give you an idea of what is being described here*

He danced like this in the moonlight with the specs of dust, flowing in my unmoving eyes.

I don’t know how long it took before Kiro put down his lightly raised arms and turned to look at me.

Kiro: MC, this is the only episode that was approved by that teacher when I was ten years old.

Kiro: Although I didn’t study with him for long, I still remember this part even now.

Kiro: …Every moment, height, and angle I never forgot.

Looking at the man who was still panting slightly, I couldn’t help sitting up from the sofa and staring at him sincerely.

MC: Kiro, although I don’t know much about ballet, I think the part you just performed was awesome.

MC: Just like the professional ballet dancers I see on TV.

Kiro: Really?

Kiro: But this is not enough.

Kiro: Because I want to play the protagonist who is dancing in the presence of thousands of people on stage.

Kiro: For this reason, he has put in a lot of hard work. He has been practising day and night since he was five years old. In the past twenty years, he never slacked off a single day.

Kiro: And there’s this kind of distance between me and that person that I can’t catch up with.

Kiro: I can only keep practising, keep running forward, and walk through every road he has experienced.

Kiro: Only in this way can I empathize with him and interpret this role more realistically.

Kiro said this softly, his eyes slowly falling back on me.

Kiro: Therefore, his skills must not be treated “according to” Kiro’s own conditions.

Kiro: It is to be worthy of the stage of ten thousand people.

Kiro: I have to be worthy of this pride.

Kiro spoke firmly against the night as if nothing could shake him.

At the same time, a gust of evening wind blows, and the raised hem of his clothes outlines his emaciated body.

The already distinct collarbone is getting deeper now, and even his shoulder blades are clearly protruding.

The emotion called “distress” turned into a thin rope at this time and it slowly twisted, making my breathing more rapid.

I silently walked behind Kiro and hugged him proudly but gently.

MC: Kiro, if you work hard, you will definitely make it through.

MC: And I will always be with you.

He turned around with a smile and rubbed my head.

Kiro: Then I will prepare you in advance. *Changed some wording*

Kiro: I may practice without sleep or food, and may even have some small abrasions on my body…

Kiro: You can’t stop me then.

Hearing his coquettish tone, I couldn’t help smiling and leaning into his arms.

MC: Of course, I know that. After all, you are Kiro who pursues perfection.

MC: Besides, I’m by your side now.

MC: If you feel tired and out of breath because you are too involved in doing something…

MC: I will hold you firmly like driftwood in the water so that you can find support as soon as you reach out. Reach out and I’ll be there.

MC: Let me help you find your breath.

MC: So you can rest assured do your best.

[Memory Silhouette]

It was late at night and light snow fell outside the window.

Kiro sat in a corner of the terrace, quietly watching the world being gradually dyed into a pure white.

He originally thought that the chat tonight was just a shallow recollection of childhood trivialities.

But the sleepless heart lying on the bed seemed to prove that his emotions were not as relaxed as he had thought.

Although he has long forgotten how painful it is to stretch his legs to the right degree. *Changed some wording*

He could still vaguely see a picture in his mind with transparent ink stains dripping on the smooth floor.

It’s just that no one can tell whether it’s tears or sweat. *From experience, probably both 🥲*

Kiro exhaled lightly, stood up on his tiptoes and jumped again following the fluttering white snow.

But even so, he still likes it all.

Whether it is music or dance, they can make one’s heart calm.

And even more so when he was a child.

Apart from KEY’s home, he likes to spend time alone in the practice room.

You can temporarily isolate yourself, and then devote your full being to the melody of each stanza. *Changed some wording*

It’s where no one can bother him, it belongs to him alone–

A secret base.

Thinking of this, Kiro couldn’t help raising the corners of his lips.

He hummed softly, and in the ever-changing dance steps, he caught flakes of white snow with his palm.

It wasn’t until a cloud slowly blows away that the obscured stars finally appear.

Kiro looked at the sky and couldn’t help but speak softly.

Kiro: Miss Chips, the stars are out.

After a brief silence, Kiro looked back at the girl who was already asleep and walked quietly to her side.

The girl fell asleep peacefully, the laptop was still on the quilt, and the screen was covered with program budgets.

Kiro: Trying to work with jet lag must be hard, right?

Kiro picked up the laptop while talking, and after pressing the save button, he closed the screen and put it aside.

Just when he was about to get into bed, he seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly stayed in place.

Kiro: …

In the next second, Kiro began to rub his somewhat cold hands to warm them up and then on the clothes and trousers that were penetrated with cold air.

It wasn’t until his body became warm that he lifted the quilt and lay down slowly.

But before he could find the most suitable sleeping position, the girl suddenly rolled over and hugged him.

Kiro: Are you a koala? You found the right place in one go.

Even though he said this, he still gently took the girl into his arms.

Just as he closed his eyes contentedly, he suddenly opened his eyes as if he had forgotten the most important thing.

Kiro smiled, leaned over and kissed the girl’s soft lips. *This is a reference to his first Exclusive Memory in his Mini House where they agreed to share a kiss in the morning when they wake up and before they go to bed 💛*

Kiro: Good night, my Miss Chips.

[Third Part]

The morning sun gleamed leisurely on my eyelids. I opened my eyes and found that the other half of the bed was empty, only covered with residual warmth.

Thinking that Kiro had already woken up, I also took out the laptop beside the bed and started working.

There is a seven-hour time difference between Loveland City and here, so I can only start work in the early hours of the morning and at midnight.

In order to finalize the cooperation intention with the overseas “TN” company earlier, I have been organizing online meetings with Anna and optimized the planning proposal and budget table many times.

It’s just that the other party hasn’t expressed its intention and my heart is beginning to sink.

After another reminder to keep the staff on track, I got off the computer and walked out of the bedroom in my nightgown.

(Cut to courtyard)

The morning sun shines in through the leaves in the courtyard, casting a peaceful moment.

I walked lazily until I noticed the empty yogurt bowl on the island in front of me and a banana peel in the trash can.

This scene reminded me of the thin frame dancing in the moonlight.

I pursed my lips, stepped forward and opened the refrigerator–

At a glance, there are only fruits and vegetables and unsweetened yogurt on the side door panel.

MC: He’s been eating these every day…there’s not even meat.

I continued to rummage and finally found a steak in the small and exquisite freezer with a sticky note on the sealed bag–

Kiro: “I’ll eat you on Thursday!”

Kiro: “What’s Kiro, who’s had meat for only two days, going to do? Can’t stand it T_T *Changed some wording*

Just seeing the words on the sticky note, his tone of grievance and bitterness filled in my mind.

Feeling sad, I picked up a pen and wrote a cute little sentence–

“I promise that when you accomplish the weight loss, we will find an authentic hot pot restaurant in Switzerland, so come on!”

After closing the refrigerator, I sighed and walked toward the living room. My gaze continued to search for Kiro’s figure.

As if responding to me, after turning a corner, I heard soft piano music playing slowly.

I followed the sound and saw a figure standing against the light.

Kiro stepped on the green grass with bare feet and stretched his slender arms toward the blue sky as if he was stroking something.

His fingertips touch the tree trunk, one arm stretched over the other as his leg extended up in the air.

The close-fitting clothes trace out lean lines and the light is like a paintbrush, leaving traces of lustre. *Once again, GT wasn’t very clear, but it sounds like he is doing an adage which is slower-paced to focus on lines and extensions of the body. The video here will give you an idea.*

Under the shadowy backlight, that unreal figure seemed to make me really see the dream-chasing boy in the script.

The sky and the earth are his audience, the grass, trees and sunshine are his feathers, and the sound of rustling leaves in the wind is the uninterrupted applause.

And like a noble prince standing under the sunlight, the immediate everything is calmly captured in his eyes.

I never made a sound, unwilling to destroy the eternal moment in this “picture frame”. It wasn’t until the sound of the piano subsided that he finally stopped and sat on the soft bed next to him. *It’s interesting that “picture frame” is mentioned because this is one of the techniques used in dance. You can use it for any sort of dance but adage is one where it’s super important to remember. Basically, imagine that as you are dancing, there is a photographer who is taking pictures of you throughout. As these pictures are being taken, you want the photographer to capture each and every position you go through to get to the next. While you want each position to be clear in the picture, you also have to remember to have your body flow rather than have it be rigid.*

I don’t know what he is thinking as he waits for his panting breaths to calm down. Only then did he reach out and lace his fingers into his hair gently, lifting it out of the way.

My gaze was following his movements, and when I found that the zipper was reaching his waist, I opened my mouth in a strange way.

MC: Do you need help?

Hearing my voice, Kiro paused slightly. He stood still for a moment and then looked sideways at me.

The moment our eyes met, the deep blue sea begins to secretly surge.

It’s as if it’s going to drag me into the tide.

Kiro: Well, help me undo it.

His voice was slightly hoarse. I walked over and slowly undid the zipper.

With the movement, the tulle of the shirt slid to the sides, revealing the thin neck and slightly protruding spine.

Perhaps the sunlight was a bit dazzling which made me involuntarily put my fingertips on his.

It is a different touch from the past because it is not so smooth. It is also a little cold.

I pursed my lips and continued to pull down the zipper. Looking at the gradually revealing spine, I finally couldn’t help blurting out my silent emotions.

MC: Kiro, I’ve made up my mind, I want to accompany you. Let’s start with a salad.

MC: I know it will be very hard for one person, so let’s work together to resist the temptation of delicious food. Just consider it a challenge!

MC: But you have to promise me that when the shooting is over, you will eat all the meat that is hidden away.

MC: If Savin disagrees, I will help you to intercede.

MC: Otherwise…you might as well take on some characters that need to gain muscle so that you can eat delicious foods freely–

Without waiting for these words to pour out, he suddenly turned around, put his hands on my lower back and kissed me.

The sudden kiss made me feel overwhelmed, but the instigator just kept silent as he breathed with me.

Slowly, his cold body embraced me and we sank onto the soft couch together, as if immersed in a clear spring in winter.

I opened my eyes slightly and found that the eyes of the person close at hand were still shut, his eyelashes trembled slightly with his breathing.

But soon, he seemed to notice my gaze and opened his eyes.

Kiro: …

Now that his eyes were no longer closed, he looked at me quietly, his fingertips wandering around my lower back.

His fingertips were “cascading”, slowly running over my back and continuously rolling upwards until finally sinking deep into my hair.

The fingertips that kept rubbing made me shiver slightly.

Kiro: MC…

MC: Hm?

I murmured indulgently, but not even a moment after my breath was released, he seized me again.

At the same time, the nightgown was easily untied.

His kiss slowly moved downstream, leaving a ticklish feeling everywhere he went.

Although my body trembled slightly, I couldn’t help but want to do something… I raised my chin and caught his eyes which were as muddled as mine.

MC: Kiro…

MC: Hold me closer.

Kiro: Mm.

Even though I said this, I was the first to wrap my arms around him, making sure to leave no extra gaps.

In this way, we roamed each other’s bodies in this clear spring surging with tides, letting the temperature slowly boil.

Until the sun rises and completely covers the spring–

Only fine layers of sweat were left in the silence between each other which seemed to confirm something.

He finally let me go, but his warm fingertips were still caressing my collarbone.

Kiro: You know what? Before you came, I thought this morning was going to be a repeat of the previous few days.

I lay in his arms, a little confused by the sudden conversation, but he just raised the corners of his lips and continued talking.

Kiro: After repeating the exercises over and over again, my brain began to empty, and I imagined myself coming to the seaside. My feet were no longer touching green grass, but rather soft sand.

Kiro: It seems that you can float in the clouds with just a light jump.

Kiro: At that time, I was thinking, what could be better than now?

He stopped slowly, looking down at me.

Kiro: Then you stopped me.

Kiro: At that moment, all the bubbles of my fantasy disappeared little by little until there was no sea or beach.

Kiro: I came back to reality and saw my favourite scene.

At this moment, looking at those blue eyes that only reflected me, my heart began to softly surge.

MC: Is that what’s best for you?

Kiro: Well, there is no other scenery like yours.

I buried myself in his chest with a smile. We tacitly enjoyed the tranquillity at this moment and felt each other’s breath.

Growl…

Until some sudden sound came from my stomach.

Before I could explain myself, Kiro poked my stomach with a smile.

Kiro: It seems like Miss Chips’ stomach has started to eat itself.

MC: I…

He smiled brighter and lowered his head to rub the tip of my nose.

Kiro: But it’s mainly my fault that I didn’t prepare breakfast for you in advance.

After he finished speaking, he got up and walked towards the kitchen. Halfway through, he suddenly thought of something and turned to look at me.

Kiro: By the way, come to class with me after eating. I already let the teacher know in advance~

[Fourth Part]

In the afternoon, I ended up in a sunny classroom and met the rumoured “Devil Teacher”.

He is warming up at the barre. Although his hair is white, his face is thin and his eyes are as sharp as an eagle’s.

From the slender limbs and elegant posture, it is not difficult to see that even in his sixties, he still has the ultimate pursuit of art.

Kiro: Bonjour, professeur.

Kiro looked at me, wrapped an arm around my waist and continued speaking in French so that I couldn’t understand–

It wasn’t until I caught my name that I realized he was introducing me to the teacher.

I hurriedly nodded to the teacher and wondered whether I should also greet him in French, but my tongue was tied when I opened my mouth.

MC: [In English] …Hi, nice to meet you.

Teacher: Bonjour.

The teacher nodded calmly, and with a wave of his forearm, gave way to the position of the barre as if signalling the start of class.

Kiro: I’m ready to start, so you have to keep looking at me.

He leaned over slyly and looked at me, tilted his head and pecked my cheek lightly.

MC: Kiro…the teacher is still there.

Kiro: Don’t worry, he’s a “devil”, but he’s also a romantic French man.

As he spoke, he took out the dance shoes in his bag and changed into them. After taking off his jacket, he revealed the clothes he wore for practising from not long ago.

Watching him walk quickly to the barre to start warming up, I also went to the corner and sat down quickly.

The piano accompaniment sounded quickly and the classroom is gradually filled with dancing and Bu Bu’s main theme.

Teacher: Non, non, non…!! (No, no, no…!!)

Although I don’t understand French, from the teacher’s passionate tone sounding again and again, I also noticed that the atmosphere is tense and strict.

In just ten minutes, Kiro’s clothes were soaked with sweat, his cheeks were flushed, and he gasped for breath.

But he never stopped. He took a step back onto his left leg with his arms held to the side and bent his knees–

After a burst of momentum, he began to rotate round and round.

Sweat drops were scattered onto the ground following the inertia, and the only sound left in the whole classroom was the sound of the rotation… *(Video) From the sounds of it, Kiro’s doing pirouettes or fouette’s, but I’m leaning towards pirouettes.*

The corrections sounded continuously along with “Non”. *Changed some wording*

Suddenly, the picture in front of me gradually overlapped with a thin golden figure following the story I heard last night.

I thought that when he was a child, in the face of such a “vicious spirit”, he would be trembling.

But looking at it now, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Even if the nay-saying voice is louder, he held his jaw up high and proceeds to jump up in the air, one smooth movement after the other. *(Video) Possibly grand allegro?*

His face stays determined throughout as if nothing could defeat him.

Looking at him like this, the little golden portrait I built in my mind was stroked with “pride”.

Involuntarily, I took out my phone and silently recorded the picturesque scene.

After an unknown amount of time, the light was dyed red-gold by time and afterglow slipped in.

I straightened my body slightly, and the moment the devil teacher stepped out of the classroom, I quickly walked in front of Kiro.

At this time, he was sitting on the floor stretching his muscles. I squatted down, handed over the water bottle and kissed him lightly.

MC: Kiro, thank you for your hard work~

Kiro: It wasn’t hard, I’m just a little tired–

He pouted coquettishly, opened his arms, and lay back on the floor.

MC: The floor is so cold, you’ll catch a cold like this!

Kiro: Then you should come and warm me up.

Kiro smiled and tugged me lightly so that I fell into his lap and open arms.

As if he wanted to rest for a while, he closed his eyes, his fingertips caressed my shoulder restlessly.

Kiro: Miss Chips, how did I do in class?

MC: Do I really need to say? You did very, very well, of course.

Kiro: Hmm…could this be the encouragement of love?

MC: Wrong. To be precise, it is the encouragement and affirmation of love~

MC: If you don’t believe me, take a look at the dance you just did. It was just like a dynamic oil painting~

As I said that, I took out my cell phone and played the video I just recorded for him.

Kiro: Sigh…It seems that the jump is not high enough and the feeling of staying in the air isn’t either.

Kiro: And when controlling the legs, the insteps are not very straight, and it seems that the muscles are subconsciously relaxed.

According to his comments, I carefully observed every frame of the screen for a second and finally poked him with my elbow helplessly.

MC: …Are you sure you’re not nitpicking? *If there’s one thing that most dancers hate, it’s watching themselves dance in a video. It’s like “Omg, not the sickled foot! 😫” “ What is that leg doing?!” LOL*

MC: Or maybe it’s because I’m an outsider, so I can’t see things the same way you do.

Kiro: Maybe both?

Kiro: After all, in the eyes of the professional, you can see at a glance whether the movements are in place.

Kiro: So I still have a long, long way to go before reaching that level.

Kiro: It just so happens that there is no class tomorrow, so why not spend the whole day in the practice room, trying to improve the instep situation…

Even though he said that, his tone was not the slightest bit discouraged. On the contrary, there is still a bit of eagerness to try.

I couldn’t help but prop my head sideways, stretch out my thumb and poke his cheek like a stamp.

MC: Kiro, you are really amazing.

He also imitated me and turned his head sideways and touched the tip of my nose.

Kiro: Huh? Did you just find out that I’m amazing today?

MC: …Seriously?? I’m praising you!

Seeing me pretending to be serious, he smiled and narrowed his eyes like the corners of his mouth. The little bear dipped in honey obediently waits for “praise”.

MC: Because I saw you in class today, I realized that this process seems to be more difficult than I imagined.

MC: It is simply a double tempering of the mind and body…but you seem to be enjoying it, so that’s what makes it amazing.

Kiro: Hearing you say that, I don’t seem to be bad~

I smiled and winked as I handed the microphone to his mouth.

MC: In this case, I want to interview Superstar Kiro. What tips can you pass on to me in this regard?

MC: I also want to have fun on the journey of training~

He rolled his eyes and laid down again with his head on top of his arms.

Kiro: It seems that there is no trick, I just often see things that make me stick to it when I practice. *Such a dancer thing to say haha*

I looked around the classroom, tilting my head in confusion.

MC: But isn’t there just a barre and a mirror here?

Kiro: Not quite, maybe it’s because our perspectives are different?

Kiro: For example, in your eyes, what you see is that I keep dancing and practising.

Kiro: But in my eyes, besides the barre and the mirror, I also see many different things.

MC: What is that?

Kiro: …I’m trying to figure out how to describe it to you.

In the end, his eyes lit up. When he came close to me, his sweet breath stopped at the tip of my nose.

Kiro: Let’s see, how about you practice with me tomorrow?

Kiro: So that you can see what I see.

[Memory Silhouette]

In the evening after Kiro and I got back from class, we began eating a salad.

Kiro: Miss Chips, are you sure you don’t want to add any salad dressing?

Kiro: You know you don’t have to follow so closely.

I nodded with firm eyes, put a vegetable in my mouth and chewed.

MC: No need, I said I want to be with you.

MC: And eating a healthy salad is good for me, too. It’ll help to remove the buildup of the greasy food I ate before~

MC: If I’m really gluttonous, I’ll use the “self-deception method”--

As I said this, I picked up a piece of tofu, closed my eyes and put it in my mouth.

MC: This is meat, this is meat. Just chew this tender and fragrant meat.

Kiro: I’ll try it, too.

Kiro: What I’m eating now is tender beef and eggs.

I couldn’t help but secretly open my eyes halfway and smile after Kiro had followed my example and closed his eyes to eat.

MC: So? Does it work?

He opened his eyes and shrugged his shoulders with a helpless smile.

Kiro: No, it’s just plain white tofu.

Kiro: Ah– I can’t wait until tomorrow to eat that steak.

Hearing this, I suddenly thought of something and opened my mouth while picking up some beans.

MC: By the way, you said that there is no class tomorrow in the afternoon and you can only practice by yourself.

MC: So when is your next class?

He rolled his eyes and bit into a vegetable.

Kiro: Next Monday.

I froze for a moment and couldn’t help being a little surprised.

MC: Is there always such a long time between classes?

Kiro: Well, he has so many students to teach, so the queue is very full.

MC: Ah..that sounds so hard having to teach classes all day long.

Kiro: He doesn’t find it hard. Since he retired from the stage, he has been teaching students who also want to be on the stage. Kiro: In this way, day after day, twenty or thirty years have passed.

MC: Amazing… *I’ve had a couple of professors who were in their seventies. One of them even performed occasionally, too.*

Before I could finish speaking, Kiro took out a tissue, wiped the corner of my mouth lightly, and continued to eat with a fork.

Kiro: Mm, but being able to maintain his fierce character for thirty years is something that is special about him…

MC: You never really talked about his gentle side before. Is it the encouragement method? *Changed some wording*

Kiro thought for a while, smiled and shook his head.

Kiro: He himself said that he can gently praise and encourage just like other teachers.

Kiro: But to do so would smooth out the edges of genius.

Kiro: If ultimate perfection is desired, then indulgent compliments should be an afterthought.

MC: …Hold on.

I bit the fork lightly, pretending to look at Kiro seriously.

MC: Could it be that your perfectionism was nurtured by this teacher?

Kiro: That’s not true, it just happens to be the same idea.

MC: Really…you already had such an awareness when you were ten years old?

MC: At that time, I would only cry and complete all the holiday homework the day before school started…

Kiro put down the fork, smiled and rubbed my head.

Kiro: Of course, at the time I didn’t know what the term perfectionism meant.

Kiro: I just simply wanted to be the best, to be first.

Looking at his smiling eyes, I couldn’t help pinching his nose.

MC: A very ambitious ghost– *I don’t know what this was meant to be*

Kiro: As you said, being a workaholic is not bad~

He pinches my nose in return and then puts the two empty salad bowls in the sink and starts cleaning.

I blinked and ran to help him clean up the table.

MC: After washing, I’ll help you with the lines, alright?

His soapy hand paused slightly, and after a while, he quickly pecked the side of my face.

MC: Pfft…Are you that happy to practice lines with me?

Kiro: Of course, with your sweet self by my side, I’m jumping with joy. *Changed some wording*

Kiro: So how can I be unhappy when I am soaked in a honeypot~

[Fifth Part]

On the second day, wisps of morning light were hidden behind the classroom door. I pushed it lightly and the sun enveloped my whole body at once, making me feel marvellous and causing my eyes to narrow.

MC: Sure enough, a beautiful day starts by being greeted by the sun.

Kiro: That’s right, today’s practice will definitely be “distinction”. *Changed the word at the end because one of the highest levels of marks you can get in a ballet exam is called “distinction” (at least in RAD)*

Thinking about what Kiro said yesterday, I smiled and wrapped my arms around the nape of his neck.

MC: But before starting, let me say this in advance!

MC: If I look stiff and have two left feet, you must not laugh at me. *Changed some wording*

He looked at me who was close at hand, leaned in and pecked the side of my lips.

Kiro: Okay, but before that, go and change your clothes, alright?

MC: …Clothes?

I followed his gaze and looked back to find a brand new dance skirt on the stool in the classroom.

Kiro: You should know that in addition to office supplies and daily necessities in your suitcase, there are only Spring Festival-themed clothes to be worn here.

Kiro: I don’t have any close-fitting sportswear, so I had to ask someone to buy some overnight.

I walked over curiously and picked up the dance skirt. It was like a cicada’s wings, the thin lace looked gorgeous and comfortable.

MC: Why is this different from the practice clothes in my memory, it looks like a performance costume–

Kiro slightly shrugged his shoulders, cunning in his eyes.

Kiro: Maybe that’s because it was bought for the “princess” I talked to on the phone? ….She’s both cute and fascinating.

MC: ……You really didn’t say that, did you?

He smiled and took off his coat and the practice clothes he had changed into were inexplicably matched with the skirt in my hand.

Kiro: Miss Chips is so silly. Actually, I ordered this skirt online myself overnight.

Kiro: It’s just that my eyes are too picky, so I finally chose the one that I think is best.

Kiro: Of course, the prerequisite for choosing is that it has to match my clothes.

After changing clothes and walking into the classroom, Kiro’s gaze fell on me and he laughed.

Kiro: It’s so beautiful. Now it’s time to invite my Princess Chips to warm up with me~

As he spoke, he led me to the barre and I imitated his movements and put my leg on the barre.

In an instant, I felt my muscles being stretched.

Kiro: Does it hurt?

Kiro walked behind me and lightly stroked my lower thigh with his fingertips which made me tremble uncontrollably.

MC: …No, but it’s a bit ticklish.

Kiro: Then just try to bear it? Your body is left vulnerable to injury if it’s not properly warmed up.

Seeing me nodding my head, he also suppressed his smile a little and helped me warm up earnestly.

His cold fingertips moved from my thighs to my waist and then my butterfly bone. After a while, sweat beads began to appear.

His fingertips are no longer cold, almost as if they were absorbing my increasing body temperature.

It wasn’t until the sunlight shifted after a few minutes that I exhaustedly leaned on his shoulder.

MC: Why…is warming up so tiring. I feel that it’s even more energy-consuming than Pilates. *Between the two, Pilates rocked me omg. My body wouldn’t stop shaking after 😖. But ballet warm-ups can be hella intense, too. I had one teacher that used to say that if you’re not pouring sweat after the first exercise, you’re doing something wrong 😅*

Kiro: You can’t stop now, this is just the beginning.

Without waiting for me to make a bitter face, he rubbed my cheek.

Kiro: Or do you not want to feel it?

MC: Of course I do, what should I do next?

At this time, there was a vibrating sound which seemed to be coming from my cell phone on the bench.

I glanced at Kiro, walked over suspiciously and picked it up to find it was Anna calling.

Anna: MC, TN, which had been wanting to talk about cooperation before has finally agreed.

Anna: But the profit they proposed is far worse than our expectation. We don’t even have the authority to plan the programs we cooperate with…It feels like the company has exhausted all its options.

MC: Is there room for negotiation?

Anna: Probably not. After all, TN is an experienced overseas media company, and many domestic media companies want to cooperate with them even after paying money.

My heart sank. Facing this “favourite” in the eyes of the media, I was speechless, so I had to end the call first.

Kiro: What’s the matter? Your expression doesn’t look good.

I don’t know when but Kiro came to my side and rubbed between my brows.

I took a deep breath and briefly explained the incident.

MC: I thought it was good news, but I didn’t expect it to be a sum of money that would almost erase our profits besides increasing popularity.

As I said that, I buried myself in his chest with some distress.

MC: But in the long run, this is a very important step in the strategy of “occupying” overseas markets.

MC: So is it better to agree to cooperate?

Kiro: So you’re conflicted about which option to go with?

MC: After all, it is a matter of choice. No matter which option we go with, I won’t feel very reconciled…

Kiro gently stroked my hair, his eyes filled with light.

Kiro: I don’t think there’s anything to be worried about.

He said this and took me to the barre and put my hands on top of it.

Kiro: MC, in order to achieve our goals, we have to accept that no trade-offs can be made.

Kiro: But it’s not a once-and-for-all decision. Sometimes it’s only an illusion that confuses you.

Kiro: Let you mistakenly think that giving up important things will give you better returns in the future.

MC: Kiro…

Gazing into my perplexed eyes, he just moved closer to me, breathing lightly by my ears.

Kiro: I still remember the teacher telling me in my first ballet class–

Kiro raised my chin with his fingertips, making my breathing stop.

Kiro: Never bow your head so easily.

His eyes are clear and bright in the sun, but also a little fierier.

Kiro: Everyone has their own pride.

Kiro: So we need to continue to maintain it to keep it fulfilled.

No matter how slow I was, I realized that Kiro seemed to care about what he was referring to.

Kiro: And, if you want to let your every move be relaxed and controlled.

Kiro: Then you yourself must first have strength.

In the next second, his fingers moved between my legs. Within seconds, tremors spread all over my body.

Kiro: Squeeze your legs.

Kiro: The strength runs through from the feet to the head, so this way you can stand more firmly and not be easily shaken.

A low but undeniable voice sounded in my ears. I took a light breath and tried to squeeze my legs together according to his words.

I gradually felt his fingertips being squeezed and restrained by my legs, but I still let his fingertips climb up calmly.

Kiro: Your inner strength is not enough, I can still do whatever I want. *Just want to add that this is something that dance teachers stress to their students. Having inner thigh strength is one the most important things to maintaining good balance, along with core strength.*

As if to prove his words, he pulled out his hand and easily picked up my leg with one finger and slowly tightened his palm.

The sudden move made me want to look in the mirror ahead.

He seemed to sense what I was going to do and gently held my jaw. *The position that MC is in is called arabesque*

MC: Kiro…?

Seeing that I was a little surprised, those quiet eyes finally turned into a small smile.

Then he leaned closer and rubbed my shoulder.

Kiro: Miss Chips, remember what I said yesterday?

Kiro: About what exactly I saw in my vision.

MC: Mm…

He smiled lightly and looked into the distance.

Kiro: I’m not actually watching myself in the mirror doing one movement one after another.

Kiro: Nor am I looking at every person and thing in this classroom.

He paused and slowly retracted his palm that was tightly holding my waist.

Kiro: I will look to the end of the distance. *YASSSS!! This is another thing that is taught in dance. You don’t want to just aim your focus at the audience or at an object, you want to project it outside the venue and beyond.*

Kiro: Sometimes there is the sea, the green grass, and the place where I shuttle between cities.

Kiro: They are all my stages.

Kiro: And when I perform on my stage, how can I feel bitter?

Kiro: I just feel satisfied, and I just want to stay on this stage just a little longer.

Looking at the vast sea in his eyes, my heart also ripples like the waves.

It surges endlessly, pushing me to the bright place again and again.

Kiro: Now, do you still feel stuck on which decision to make?

I looked and him and shook my head slightly.

MC: It seems that I no longer am. I know what I should do now.

Seeing that I had an answer, Kiro laughed.

In the next second, he held my waist with both hands like in a classic ballet pas de deux and lifted me into the air.

Kiro: MC, I have one more thing to ask you.

He said this while supporting me to turn and face the window.

Kiro: Can you tell me what the scenery is in your eyes right now?

Following his voice, I looked at everything in my field of vision and my heart began to surge softly.

MC: I…

MC: I see the grass, the sky, and the distance…

MC: I see many beautiful sceneries.

Even though it is an all-too-common scene in front of me, I dare not blink at this moment.

I don’t want to spoil a single bit of it.

Kiro: You said before that if I feel tired, out of breath or frustrated…

Kiro: You’ll be the driftwood that’ll always hold me up.

Kiro: So that I can do whatever I want to the best of my ability.

Kiro: And I’ll be yours.

Kiro lowered me slowly while talking and we were attached to each other without any gaps.

His eyes were shining brightly as if this fine light is enough to light up my whole being.

I couldn’t help but hold his cheeks and smile brightly.

MC: Kiro, you have always been doing something like this for me.

MC: I know you will always be by my side, encouraging and supporting me. So no matter what happens, I won’t be timid.

MC: You have always been my strength. *CRYING RN*

Kiro shook his head lightly with a gorgeous smile on his face.

Kiro: Just this is not enough.

Kiro: I want even more of you.

After speaking, he gently held my head and kissed me tenderly.

His breath is so soft, but it seems to be able to invade my whole world, leaving only the surging sea.

I just lay in the blue ocean, letting it move my body with the tides.

In his arms, I also slowly closed my eyes, feeling his temperature, feeling being surrounded by light–

Because my heart has already crafted the brightest and most beautiful scenery.

[End]

#mlqc #mr love queens choice #mlqc kiro #mr love kiro #mlqc spoilers #周棋洛 #mr love game #THIS IS MY NEW FAVOURITE DATE NOW!!!#date translation #MC BEING SO OPENLY AFFECTIONATE #KIRO BEING VULNERABLE #KUDOS TO YOU PG!!!

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changingplumbob · 3 months

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Not Sims - Just Reign

So I binge watched the final 5 episodes today and... I am emotionally compromised. See below for my ramblings and how I attempted to make album art a decade ago.

If you clicked keep reading I'm going to assume you don't mind reading my rambles so I'm just going to indulge myself here. I need to process and getting it out helps me process.

I first saw Reign during my final year of High School and fell completely in love. Quite aside from English History being a special interest for me at the time, Adelaide Kane and Toby Regbo were so gorgeous. Honestly the signs that I'm bisexual were right there but it just did not click.

If you're my moot you will know by now I am a massive romantic. So of course I would get invested in the Mary Francis love story. Thanks past me for routing for Francis from the start, smart choice.

The outfits took my breath away, as did the wonderful landscapes. I fell in love with everything Mary wore and tried to find a graduation dress that was as close to something like that as possible.

The music! I loved every track they put with the episodes. Shout out to that one youtube channel that was posting full versions of the songs. I have a playlist with the music from the first two seasons and have listened to it on loop so often. There was a website that would post screenshots of the episodes and I would copy paste and make my own album art. Not to do anything with, they were solely for me to see when the songs came up on my iPod.

BUT I only watched the first two seasons before I took a break. History wise I knew Francis would die before they had a child, but the end of season 2 seemed to announce his death was approaching and my romantic self could not handle it. So over the next few years I rewatched the first two seasons plenty, and continued to listen to the music. I tried to watch season 3 in my first year at university, I really did. But things were different back then and I could only find low quality episodes because legitimate streaming services were in their infancy, if they even existed.

During my post grad diploma I would take a train part of the way to my placements. It was on the train that I happened to catch someone watching Reign on their phone. Not just any part of Reign either, the recap that shows Francis dying and Mary saying goodbye to the coffin. You bet any progress I had made towards being able to watch it was reset.

Following the worst of my depression, last year I began to feel a proper interest in things I love again and I wanted to see Reign to its conclusion. So I got myself the DVDs for season 3 (I don't have netflix, plus I like having physical copies of things) and worked my way through. Since I hate spoilers I didn't want to read the blurbs included in the cover so I never knew which episode Francis would die in, I was happy he was in it for so long. The whole plot with Francis having made Mary a sword for taking back Scotland made me love them all the more.

I gifted myself season 4, the final season, for Christmas. I've been watching it in bits and pieces. I have this thing where if something is ending I try to hold off the ending for as long as possible. But today I was so under the weather that I did watch the last disc all in one go.

Side note, Rizzio. I can't believe that actually happened! But wikipedia says it did. It really sounds like something a drama show would make up.

I've always known Queen Mary was executed for supposedly trying to kill Queen Elizabeth. I wasn't sure how Reign would tackle that. I figured they would do a flash forward or do that text over screen thing. I love neat endings but my heart could survive not seeing the end of Mary. I begun the final episode, saw Toby Regbo's name in the starting line up and immediately teared up. If he was in the episode then they were certainly going to show her death. Those end scenes, they made me happy and sad all at once. I loved that Francis was there for her, and I loved the flashbacks through their life together. Damn did it make me cry though.

The main characters have had a place in my heart for a decade. So heck yeah I'm grieving the loss. I know I'll watch it again, so it's not a permanent goodbye, but it's tough to see the end of anyway.

#spoilers under the cut #I love reign so much #ramble ramble ramble #I wrote a whole damn ted talk length thing to process #Don't like reign then don't read

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cinnamonsikwate · 1 year

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Talokanil Clothing, Part Two

thank you to everyone who engaged with this post!

seeing more bts footage plus reading interviews and doing my own research has had me reevaluating some of my earlier assumptions, so here's a part two!

i've been sitting on the idea that the talokan plant is like a coconut (aka the tree of life in the tropics) equivalent to the talokanil for a while, but i wasn't sure if there was enough canon or real historical equivalent evidence to support this.

this post suggests that early talokanil clothing was made of the talokan plant's fibers. initially i was unsure about this bc i thought it was some kind of succulent, but then i came across this post suggesting it's a type of agave & suddenly everything made sense!

this gets long, but hear me out: agave is endemic to the americas and its variants hold historical and cultural importance in central america (pre-hispanic up to present). it takes a long time to mature, the exact length varying from species to species (hence the moniker century plant), and flowers and seeds only once before dying (radding 2012, 84-115). parts of the agave are edible, but its two most prominent uses are for fibers and alcohol production. two agave cultigens, A. fourcroydes (henequen) and A. sisalana (sisal) are known fiber producers, and are both native to the yucatán (trejo-torres, gann, and christenhusz 2018, 366-379).

another variant, A. americana aka maguey (although it seems the term maguey is can be used to refer to other agave species), also produces fibers that can be used for woven and non-woven textiles and even paper (hulle, kadole, and katkar 2015, 64-75), and is a species of agave that can be used to produce the alcoholic drink mezcal. A. tequilana is the sole agave species used to produce tequila (which i believe can be technically called a type of mezcal). both mezcal & tequila are distilled from the fermented, roasted "hearts" of the agave. the method to distill mezcal (and later, tequila) was introduced during the colonial era, likely by indigenous filipinos who arrived via the manila-acapulco galleon trade (walton 1977, 113-132).

pulque is the pre-colonial equivalent of mezcal/tequila, made from the fermented agave sap (many species can be used). its consumption was highly regulated & associated with religious rituals (escalante et al. 2016). described as a white, slightly viscous liquid, pulque does somewhat call to mind the liquid the shaman made from the talokan plant, although the latter was, of course, blue. this is a side note, but a mural in cholula, puebla, mexico, depicts a gathering of people purportedly drinking pulque. the production team may have taken some inspiration from this as well for the flashback scenes.

the goddess mayahuel is associated with maguey & pulque, as well as femininity & fertility (guzmán 2016). (i'm a bit confused bc wiki says she's aztec, but escalante et al. & guzmán don't give a specific indication. her name though is nahuatl-derived.)

so anyway! we have a wonder plant with cultural and religious significance that can provide both food and clothing, and may even be used in construction (including in composites)! it makes so much sense that the talokan plant is a type of agave, albeit of course one with properties that no irl species has.

i've read several hannah beachler interviews but i haven't come across one where she talks about whether or not there was more of the talokan plant. the rest of this post hinges on the assumption that the talokanil are actively cultivating the plant, or something similar (which i'll be referring to as talokanil agave from now on), so if later canon lore proves me wrong — well, i'll cross that bridge when i get there lol.

for additional context, since i'm only here to speculate on the materials used in-universe, this twitter thread here provides a breakdown as to the accuracy of the clothing styles of the talokanil vis-à-vis pre-colonial maya.

now that's done, let's get to the actual speculation:

i'm inclined to retract my previous assertion that coconut coir was used in the warriors' uniforms; instead, what i took to be coconut coir is probably talokanil agave. (although they could probably still use coconut if they really wanted to!)

when i wrote the first post, i didn't realize how many outfit changes k'uk'ulkan goes through during the talokan scenes, but from what i can tell of the textures, they could all very well be made of talokanil agave or even just regular maguey. while cotton was more associated with elites over maguey in irl pre-colonial mesoamerica (tremain 2020, 1-11), i haven't seen anything yet that would indicate that nobility wouldn't wear maguey.

i'd thought namora's ceremonial dress would be heavy but we see it in action in mabel's ig post and it's actually very light! iris van herpen, the designer, has said in an ig post that the cape feathers are made of silver-lined silk organza. underwater, the effect is something like seagrass or kelp moving with the currents, which is very pretty. when i look up silk in mesoamerica, many of the sites are, strangely, associated with the church of the latter-day saints, but one textile-focused website at least indicates that widespread silk production began and flourished during the colonial era, so i think we can rule out actual silk as the in-universe material for the dress. maybe very high quality cotton or talokanil agave (especially for the silver lining. unless it's vibranium!).

we also see one of namora's surface outfits used underwater in a bts clip from mabel, one which i thought would be too heavy to wear in the water. i mean, i guess, technically, you can wear anything you want underwater, but comfort is a different matter. in my previous post, i'd said i'd thought this particular dress and the others she and the handmaidens wore were made out of some kind of barkcloth, but, surprise, again, it's probably talokanil agave or regular maguey (agave sisal is resistant to seawater).

the twitter thread i mentioned above has some insights into attuma's ceremonial outfit, including that he's wearing a jaguar pelt. the talokanil could very well have some kind of coming-of-age ceremony where they go to the surface for the first time to hunt. or attuma could just be an adrenaline junkie lol. hammerhead sharks, jaguars — it's all the same to him. as for the rest of the outfit, i'm gonna say different grades of talokanil agave bc why not!

at different points in the film, namora and shuri both wear body jewelry primarily made of jade. iris van herpen has said that shuri's also has pearls and Spondylus shell beads (the orangey-pink ones). namora's doesn't appear to contain Spondylus but perhaps other precious stones (maybe obsidian?). that might indicate some kind of difference in status, or some kind of oblique reference to namora being a warrior, since obsidian was often used for weapons (saunders 2001, 220-236).

shuri's second talokan outfit has feathers on the back, reminiscent of the tail plumes of the resplendent quetzal (yes, as in the bird associated with quetzalcoatl, the aztec equivalent of kukulcan. this man is never beating the egocentric allegations 💀). however, the color is wrong. resplendent quetzals have primarily green plumage & only the males sport the iconic tail feathers. moreover, resplendent quetzals live in the highland rainforests, not the coastal areas. so i'm not sure if this means that the feathers are from a different bird species altogether, or, like namora's headdress, they are not actually feathers but fish fins. i haven't found a high-res enough photo of the outfit so i still can't be sure.

the rest of the outfit appears to be a mix of fabrics, heavier on top and lighter on the bottom. i'm intrigued that the bottom half is pants, because we haven't seen any talokanil wear anything similar. could this be a leftover from the cut scenes where shuri & riri were supposed to work on something for k'uk'ulkan, & this is an outfit she came up with herself? they might have given her the fabric & told her to go to town, which could explain why the design looks very different from what we've seen of talokanil fashion. i think riri also gets a different outfit but i can't find good photos of it.

now her scenes were cut from the final version of the film, but one of the talokanil extras posted some intriguing bts footage. her character was supposed to a scientist (likely from the cut scenes with shuri & riri). she's not blue & isn't wearing face/gill masks, suggesting her parts take place underwater.

her outfit is pretty unconventional compared to namora's or the handmaidens'. she appears to be wearing more plant life (probably some sort of kelp & seagrass, among other species i don't recognize), but the main body of her outfit looks strangely artificial. i'm not sure if this is intentional or if her final appearance was meant to be tweaked with cgi (the mesh underneath is throwing me off). i would like to say her outfit is probably mostly made of talokanil vibranium, but i'm not sure if that would be realistic in-universe (would that mean she is of high status? another relative of k'uk'ulkan perhaps? or does jade still mean more to the talokanil than vibranium, therefore her use of it doesn't necessarily indicate status?). in any case, she's the only talokanil we're aware of who eschews traditional clothing styles.

additional bts footage from jewelianna ramos-ortiz (the scientist) also show other talokanil who are dressed differently from the regular warriors we see. they aren't blue either, but we do see that they have on red body paint (which we have not seen other talokanil use). google scholar is being reticent but as far as i can tell, body paint in pre-colonial mesoamerica, when not in a funerary context, was associated with ceremonies or festivals. the latter likely used organic compounds such as cochineal or achoite (that's achuete/atsuete for us filipinos), while the former employed the toxic cinnabar (source). with the talokanil, it could really go either way; we don't know if they're as immune to toxins as they are to stab wounds. i'm not sure about the seawater resistance of either type of pigment though.

interestingly, they appear to be wearing the leaves of surface plants (none of which i recognize, unfortunately, even after some googling of native yucatán flora). their different manner of dress may indicate the nature of their role in talokanil society, though as to what that role is remains to be seen.

one funny implication though of practically everyone in talokan wearing talokanil agave is that shuri could've just taken anyone's clothes to re-create the heart-shaped herb, including the ones she was given 💀 but the talokanil still could've cultivated the plant in the past centuries such that the variant they use for clothing differs quite a bit from the original so it wouldn't work as well. like maybe they have a "drink this to save your life. for emergencies only" cultigen & a "for everyday life" cultigen lol.

aaaaand that's it! if you're still reading this, thank you! this was a fun research exercise, although i probably still missed a lot. this was practically a whole damn research paper lmao. let me know your thoughts!

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