#?? technically but its for like the third thing that physically appears in the game | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

saffronstoats · 2 months ago

Text

if scugs to not live a human amount of time change how they would appear to however old that would be in um. probably like age/human lifespan which should be a decimal. * scug lifespan. yeah

i would prefer you dont think of the ships as ages but i tried my best to not make them weird. its hard with rain world ages but i think it could be. plausible in canon and im not doing that gross thing where i age kids up and ship them because. ew. wth

okay so everyone's ages. mostly timeline esque

inv is the oldest actually. originally made to keep order and fix the fabric of the universe should it be broken [ i have NO idea how an iterator would make them. dare to dream i guess. inv is crazy ]. physically inv is probably 4 major cycles old [ ~44ish in human years. i think slugs live as long as humans do though i suppose we don't.. really know. id go off them not aging in game but ummm. only rivulet has died of old age by saint in canon and we don't know when riv died. id go off hunter not aging in the 25 minor cycles they have but thats only like... a third of a human year. ill do further exploration on this later probably. using spearmaster ]

saint is about 10 minor cycles younger [ i count minor cycles as a thing i saw labeling them as ~4 days ] than paincat and was made because they realized that actually inv gets out of hand a lot. inv actually liked to break the fabric of the universe was fun

they did not bestow saint with the same power due to learning from their mistakes. so yay, we have two slugcats. one that makes wormholes in space time and one that can technically reset everything via the egg but pretty much just warns inv about it until they fix their own distortions

saint appears the same age as inv

judge is probably half a major cycle younger [ ~5 1/2 years ] and was made because the iterator group that worked on inv and saint realizee that they did NOT get along

judge appears the same age as inv and saint

inv, saint, and judge are all echoes

spearmaster is probably several major cycles younger than judge whateber this is in major cycles is not a very long time in comparison to how long theyve lived. spearmaster is like. probably 124 major cycles old at least. appears as probably 3 major cycles or ~33 in human years. theyd look older but spearmaster was genetically modified to live a long time because communications would stop working eventually. the beta spearmasters have this too

four and six um. just spearmaster but a couple minor cycles older.

there is NO WAY the gap between sos's death and spearmaster is however much time is between saint and spearmaster. so sos is dead before saint even exists sorry theorists

artificier is probably about 42 in human years. while she isnt bred to be older or anything she is quite the beast. im not actually sure how this reflects on her living longer but think of it as sheer rage

so saint inv and judge are middle aged because they've lived a really long time. artificier is just at that point in ther lifespan which is. shorter than they have lived so far. ill admit karmaflower is still ah kind of weird? i think this is literally the only way i can make it remotely okay ☠️

artificier's pups are DEAD but if they weren't they'd probably appear as 20 or so since they have the same lifespan as her.

hunter has a normal scug lifespan for the first time. yippee! think imof it like this. saint juge inv always have been and always will be. spearmaster has a ridiculously long lifespan. artificer's lifespan is at least quadrupled with that of a normal scug

in this au they were sent a little later and have a lot more cycles until the rot hits strongly, so gourmand cannot encounter hunter long legs. hunter is probably about 39 in human years and in actual scug years? a bit over 3 1/2 major cycles

gourmand is ~37 in human years which is a bit under 3 1/2 major cycles. so the hell's kitchen difference is like 7 years. gourm acts older than inv does. its a similar situation to karmaflower

survivor and monk both fell recently and are still slugpups with a normal lifespan. granted they are 15 [ viv ] and 12 [ monk ] but if you ship them with anyone i just might strangle you

riv is a weird situation. in the actual timeline where riv is supposed to exist riv is like negative 200 minor cycles or less [ as in like. -300 is less ]

but the rivulet that was moved over through timelines / the one we know is 36 minor cycles old

ask for anyone else because i didnt add any of the iterators or most side characters

actuslly ill give examples for characters in their twenties

nectar is 26 while wisteria is 23. nightcat is 28

watcher is on the very cusp and is 30

luci is 31

barry is 16, harpy is 39 and haylie is too

both gourm's kids are 15 i really dont know why i drew them so small

1 note · View note

pingutats · 3 years ago

Note

i just had such a good request for a fic. dom/sub dynamic with dom!harry where y/n is being spanked for misbehavior and she ends up crying during it because she feels like she deserves to be hurt, and harry stops immediately and there’s a lot of fluffy aftercare and physical affection

thank you for the request!! i know it took me a million years to get to writing this but finally did it... i know it strays a little bit from all the details of your request but i hope you enjoy regardless!

warnings: spanking, dom/sub dynamic, descriptions of anxiety (maybe don’t read if you’re in a weird headspace, it’s not exactly pleasant!)

word count: 1.7k

. . . . .

As soon as Y/N hears Harry’s car in the driveway, she dashes from the kitchen to the front door like a kid that’s heard an ice-cream van. After the day of work at home she’s had, of redoing paperwork she’d messed up the first time and struggling through technical issues and communication errors over email—she just needs Harry so badly.

In fact, she’d texted him earlier to let him know. Quite blatantly. With a photo she prays he opened when there was nobody else around.

When Y/N opens the door for him he freezes, taking in her appearance. She’s wearing just panties and one of his shirts, her bare legs completely on display for him. His gaze sweeps up and down her body for a second, then he swears under his breath and strides in quickly. Y/N jumps back to give him room, waiting a few feet ahead in the hallway.

He shuts the door with his arm swinging back behind him, not even glancing over his shoulder to watch it close.

There’s a second of silence as they stare each other down, and it’s in this second that Y/N feels them slip into the roles of the game she’s been wanting to play all day. His eyes go from wide in shock to steady. Her head bows almost of its own accord, responding to the straightening of Harry’s shoulders after he drops his bag.

He inhales sharply through his nose and drops his keys into the bowl on the bench. “You’ve been doing this on purpose, darling,” he says in a measured tone. It isn’t a question. He won’t be asking questions now—she won’t have to think, she can just listen to him, let him take over now.

She plays with the bottom of his t-shirt that she’s wearing, pulling it up enough to reveal the slightly paler skin where her shorts would usually cover.

Harry’s tongue darts out to wet his lips. “Come here,” he says, beckoning her over.

She considers refusing, just to be a brat, but it’s a lot easier to just go along with him now she’s getting what she wanted. She twists her hands in the t-shirt in front of her as she approaches him, averting her eyes from his as he watches her, suddenly vulnerable under his gaze.

When she’s close enough, he reaches out and grabs her wrists to yank her grip on the shirt free, pulling her off balance so the only thing that stops her falling flat on her face is his arms. She tries to relax into his grip, tries to let herself go.

“Been so fucking needy today. That photo — nearly had me getting hard in the studio right in front of everyone, love,” he says, squeezing her wrists almost painfully. “And look how you answer the door, nearly naked for anyone walking on the street to see.” He shakes his head, clicking his tongue condescendingly. “Do you want to apologise for anything?”

She looks at him, pretends to think, and then shakes her head.

He sighs. “Of course not, you little brat.” His grip loosens. “Alright then. Go upstairs for me.”

She blinks at him.

“I’ll be up in a minute. Go on.” He spins her around and nudges her towards the stairs with a gentle push.

She glances over her shoulder at him before she goes and he only raises his eyebrows expectantly. She’s almost tempted to pull the back of the t-shirt down over her ass to cover herself, but that wouldn’t get her what she needs, and what she needs is Harry to take care of her—so she keeps her head bowed as she walks up the stairs, adding a little swing in her hips with each step just as the icing on the cake. She smiles when she hears his deep inhale from the hallway as he watches her the whole time.

Upstairs, she sits on the end of their bed with her hands in her lap, scratching at days-old nail polish she’ll need to redo soon. There’s a knot in her stomach that’s been twisting all day, stresses piling up and morphing into some ugly feeling she can’t shake, not without Harry’s help. She manages to peel all the bright pink colour off her left thumbnail while she waits.

It seems like forever before she hears Harry’s footsteps up the stairs but when she does, she straightens up. The sound of the door opening makes her jump in nervous shock. She flexes her fingers, trying to calm her jitters. It’s Harry. She needs him.

“Being such a brat today,” he says when he’s finally in front of her. “Aren’t you? Don’t know how to behave.” He sits beside her, squishing her cheeks with his thumb and forefinger. “Need me to teach you a lesson, hm?”

She nods at him, eyes moony. Yes, this is what she wants, needs from him—to let him take over for a little while, let him take out his frustration on her, help her let go of her own.

His grip softens a bit. “This okay, baby?” he asks more quietly.

She swallows. “Yeah.”

He leans forward and gives her a quick kiss. She feels like melting against the softness of his lips, pressing against her own, the mouth she knows so well. It’s a comfort in the mess that her mind is feeling like right now.

But he isn’t so gentle as he drags her over his lap a moment later, her face roughly pushed down into the mattress. His hand squeezes her ass, only barely covered by her panties, and her breath hitches.

“Count for me.”

“Yes sir,” she breathes, closing her eyes.

Her exhale is cut short by the force of his palm cracking against her skin, jolting her forward over his lap. The sting dissipates quickly, taking none of the tension inside her with it.

“One,” she says.

“Good girl.” His hand comes down on her again, harder this time.

She screws her eyes shut. “Two.”

It isn’t feeling like how she wants it to feel. She’s too tense, restless, her mind unwilling to float away under Harry’s touch. The pain, which usually is laced with something brilliant and exciting, is just pain today. But with all the mistakes she’s made today, all the things she messed up that have just added to her workload and her stress—maybe this is what she deserves. Punishments are called that for a reason.

So she stays where she is, her head lowered so Harry won’t see anything wrong. She gasps at the third, and it takes her a second to remember she needs to count. “Three,” she says, her voice shuddering.

Harry pauses and she fears she’s made him upset, spoken too quietly, taken too long—she can’t do anything right.

“Love,” he says. His hand comes to rest on her shoulder gently. “Are those good tears or bad tears?”

She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment and in the pause, realises her cheeks are wet. “Um,” she says. Her voice shakes.

Harry’s arm snakes underneath her and pulls her up, manoeuvring her so she straddles his lap and he can see her face. The crease between his brows is deep as his eyes dart over her face, his thumb coming to her cheek to brush a tear away.

She leans her head into his palm that was cracking down onto her skin just a minute ago and closes her eyes, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

“What happened? When did it change?” he asks, his voice soft again, his character leaving.

She shrugs. She doesn’t trust herself to speak without crying more, and she feels stupid enough already.

“It’s alright, love,” he says, shifting so he can sit up straighter and pull her closer to his chest. He rubs her back, kissing her hair. “Let’s just rest for a moment, alright?”

She nods into his shoulder, hiding her face. His hand cradles the back of her head. The panic that she was feeling is dissolving into nothing. All day she felt so tense with so much twisting inside her, and she’d thought she could force it out painfully—she was wrong, of course, and now she feels awful for roping Harry into her misguided attempt to fix herself.

After a couple minutes, Harry taps her to get her to look up at him. “Why’d you want a punishment today?” he asks, without accusation.

She shrugs, raising her shoulders as high as she can and then letting them drop sharply. “Just felt like I needed it.”

He nods. He understands that sometimes she feels like this—needs to lose herself in playing a role for an evening, forget about real life and its responsibilities—because he knows the feeling too. She’s helped him in this way before. They take it in turns: give each other what they need, when they need it. “Wasn’t helpful today, though?” he prompts, his eyebrows raised sympathetically.

She shakes her head, looking sheepish. “Sorry.”

“Hey,” he says. He smiles a little bit and a shallow dimple appears in his cheek. “That’s fine. It’s just a game. We play it whenever you want to, we stop playing when you’re not enjoying it. That’s important, alright?”

“Yeah,” she says quietly. “Sorry.”

“Need to stop apologising, baby,” he tells her. “Just keep talking to me. I don’t want to hurt you.” He kisses her cheek and the gesture raises butterflies in her stomach, even still after all the months they’ve been together. It reminds her that he’s there for her, to look after her, to take care of her when she can’t do it for herself. His lips stay close to her skin as he asks, “How can I help, though, really?”

She buries her face back into his shoulder. “Dunno,” she says, her voice muffled. “Just need you.”

She feels his chin gently knock against the top of her head as he nods, his arms tightening around her again. “You’ve got me, baby. Always got me.”

. . . . .

thank you for reading! if you did like it, a reblog would be really appreciated as well as any feedback/comments you might have! you can find more of my writing on my masterlist.

#harry styles fic #harry styles blurb #harry styles fluff #harry styles x reader #fic

247 notes · View notes

kujakumai · 3 years ago

Text

cleaned up old WIP, 2800 words, AU where Yami Bakura succeeds in switching hosts in DK and Mokuba makes friends with an evil ghost. Not going to be continued but it literally would not leave my brain alone until I finished it.

Things were not going according to plan.

The plan was to take control of a soulless puppet, an easy vessel incapable of interfering with his ends. He had the vessel, had accomplished that much, but he was not expecting the pharaoh and his little friends to succeed and convince Pegasus to give everyone their souls back. So now not only was there a second person in this body he had to keep suppressed, but now he was stuck impersonating a child, smiling through an awkward reunion and then placed onto a helicopter next to a gangly high school student who was watching him like a hawk.

The spirit-that-was-no-longer-Yami-Bakura knew that he was supposed to be Mokuba, but he did not remember the tall one's name. K-something. He had a stupid jacket and hardly took his eyes off him the entire ride, as if he thought his little brother was going to disappear in a puff of smoke when he wasn't looking. Annoying. Infuriating. Luckily it did not seem he wanted to talk, or at least accepted silence. No one expects recent kidnapping victims to say much, which was a boon. A little dazed, a little quiet, a little off, and no one really found it unusual.

They dropped off the pharaoh and his friends, and finally landed at a gaudy and ostentatious house so large it took him a second to realize it was a home at all, an absurd monument to decadence with grounds full of ugly topiaries. Wealth, then. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad. He could work with this. The rich kid in the stupid coat quietly held his hand the entire walk up the driveway, until they entered a foyer just as gilded and obscene as the outside had been.

No, things were not going to plan, and playing grade-schooler was awkward and an insult to his dignity, and he was farther away from the other millennium items as he ever had been. He would have to grit his teeth through it until he could figure out the next step. In the meantime, perhaps, enjoy some amenities.

Richie rich sighed, relaxed his shoulders the moment they got inside. He looked at who he thought was his little brother and gave him a small, exhausted but genuine smile. He struggled with what to say next.

"Mokuba," he said, "I have to check on a few things in my office. See what kind of damage they did. Do you want to come with me?"

"No." Finally, a chance to be out of this idiot's sight.

This answer seemed to surprise him, a twitch of skepticism. "Will you be okay by yourself?"

He nodded. Keep answers short, when you're impersonating.

His face betrayed more skepticism, concern, and the tiniest hint of disappointment. As if rich kid himself was the one who was scared to be alone in his own house. He accepted the answer, though, to the spirit's relief.

Rich kid bent down and pulled him into a tight hug and ruffled his hair. "We'll get something special for dinner, okay? And ice cream."

"I do like ice cream." This was true. Ryou Bakura almost never bought ice cream, and when he did it was the stupid healthy kind that everyone knew shouldn't even really qualify as ice cream, which was another reason he was a terrible host. That and the fact that he was startlingly pale and had the upper body strength of a limp noodle and the personality of skim milk. This would be better, even if he had to deal with the abrupt drop in height.

Rich kid headed off towards the staircase with another tired but trying-to-be-reassuring smile, and it was then that the spirit of the ring felt an annoyance in the back of his brain. A presence. A scratching, biting, flailing presence, screeching mad, which he had been suppressing for a while now but finally broke through.

get out get out get out get out give it back its MINE get out

The host, awake. What a bother. More rambunctious than Bakura, then? No matter. He could handle a child.

that was MY hug and MY headpat and MY big brother and you can't have them he's been gone for ages and they're mine not yours get out get out get out

The spirit pushed back, ignored him. Shush. He had planned to hold this body alone, and he did not intend to go back to sharing. If you're good, I might let you have it back for a little while later.

shut up go away go away go away go AWAY

And then Mokuba Kaiba did something, something the spirit was not accustomed to or expecting at all, something which Ryou Bakura had never been willing or able to do. He shoved, violently, and the spirit of the ring was ripped out of control with some amount of panic.

"SETOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Why you insolent little--

Seto Kaiba was not aware of the mental turf war happening over his little brothers body. What he did see was his brother scream his name and fall down, and the whole room echoed with a metal clatter as his briefcase fell on the floor and he ran towards him.

The ring had been discarded unceremoniously to a side table, and not-Bakura-and-not-Mokuba-either had no choice but to wait and observe, as a pediatrician on a sudden housecall shined lights in the boy's eyes and rich kid, who the spirit had since gleaned was named Seto Kaiba, looked on in worry.

"You said you heard a voice?" The doctor asked.

"Uh-huh. I think it lives in the necklace."

"You got that thing at Pegasus's house?" Kaiba asked, in disbelief.

"I don't remember. I was just wearing it when I woke up."

"What did the voice say?" the doctor continued, professionally ignoring any talk about magic necklaces.

"Not a lot. It was kind of mean."

"I see." She turned to Kaiba. "He's fine, physically. You might want a psychologist." and Seto Kaiba made what could politely be referred to as A Face. This was not what he wanted to hear, this was news that worried and annoyed him in equal measure, and to some degree was news he had half-expected.

"He's had a rough few months. I'll look into it." and she was dismissed, and Mokuba hopped down from the counter.

"Can we order pizza?" he asked, with big pleading eyes.

Kaiba watched him with dry amusement. "Mokuba, you can have anything you want from any restaurant in a forty mile radius."

"And I want pizza. Real pizza, from somewhere that doesn't also serve caviar."

"Cheap pizza?"

He nodded very seriously. "The grossest greasiest cheapest."

"I can do that. Anything else you want?"

Mokuba's eyes lit up, and soon he was dragging Kaiba by the hand towards somewhere else in the house. "I got to this really hard level in my game I can't get past and I wanted to see if you could beat it, and I found this really cool video I wanted to show you, and I got a really good report card you never saw, and--" and months worth of pent up requests were tumbling out rapid fire, and Kaiba was smiling with affection and some amount of relief.

Loud and clingy, then, was the normal and expected behavior. The spirit of the ring made note of this, as he lie abandoned.

The ring was still sitting on a side table, in Mokuba's bedroom, apparently because no one knew what to with it or thought it mattered much. This was a problem. The spirit couldn't do anything without a host, and now everyone was suspicious, these stupid rich people worried too much and paid too much attention.

He was forced to sit there all night, pondering about how he was going to get out of this mess, when at one or two in the morning he observed Mokuba wake up, and rub his eyes, and hop out of bed. He did not turn the light on, but he did check the time, and reach under his bed to retrieve what appeared to be a small backpack. He took it with him as he moved quietly towards the door, and the spirit saw his chance.

Hey, kid. He was near enough to speak into his head. Maybe this wasn't a dead end.

"You!" Mokuba stopped in his tracks and looked right at the ring.

Yes, me. This could be salvaged, he thought, concocting a plan. This was a child. Play friendly ghost and imaginary friend. Surely it would not be hard to weasel himself into the good graces of a sixth grader.

Mokuba glared at the ring with suspicion. "I don't think Seto believed me when I said you could talk, but I knew it." He picked it up delicately by the string to examine.

Where on earth are you going at this time of night?

Mokuba was the current host, technically, so there was a connection, and 11 year olds are not particularly used to or adept at hiding their own thoughts, especially inside their own heads. The answer, if not in words but in abstract concept, was provided instantly as it bubbled to mind. He was going to the kitchen, as he did once or twice a week, not their personal kitchen but the house staff kitchen, where he would move a chair to stand on the counter to reach the very back of the highest shelf of the third cupboard to the left, which was where one of the cleaning staff kept a pile of chocolate so he could cheat on his diet without his wife knowing, a fact Mokuba knew through surreptitious eavesdropping. Mokuba's end was to steal just enough of it that he wouldn't be noticed, and add it to a stash of snacks and other shiny trinkets currently hidden in the bottom of a pile of legos in his closet.

...You steal food to hide in your closet? Why would a child who lived in a three-story mansion need to steal?

Mokuba was only mildly perturbed by the fact that someone had just read his mind. He was mainly curious, now. "Our dad didn't like junk food, so I always took stuff to keep around." he explained, "I guess I don't really have to anymore, 'cuz Seto will let me have whatever I want, but--" he faltered, unable to finish or give a reason.

There wasn't a reason, and Mokuba knew that. There was no need to sneak or stash or steal anymore, but he kept doing it, irrationally, for reasons that confused him, a complicated swirl of things a child could not name or understand but were very easy for the spirit to read. Fear; compulsion; habit; the illusion of safety; the sense that your life was precarious, unstable; a need to exert control over your surroundings. It was not the food or the stealing that mattered, but of the hiding, of having something they could not take away from him.

Mokuba didn't understand any of that, because he was 11 and 11 year olds don't understand why they do anything. He just knew he liked sweets and hated people telling him what to do and that having bags of chips and other people’s lost jewelry at the bottom of an old toybox made him feel better.

Can I come with you?

"No! You tried to take control of me!"

Yes, but you kicked me out, and you'd probably be able to do it again, so I would be stupid to try. I also like chocolate, you see, and it's very boring to be stuck here on your desk.

"Can you even eat? You're a necklace."

I can when I borrow a body.

"You tried to take over me so you could eat chocolate? I'm not stupid enough to believe that."

That and other things. I can't do very much at all, while stuck in the ring. No food, no sunshine, no running around. It's no fun to be without a body, which is why I am occasionally driven to steal one. Terribly sorry about that. he added, in his most pathetic-sounding tone, Please? I don't have anyone else to talk to.

Mokuba was hesitant, but clearly found the fact of his existence too interesting to ignore. "Fine." He picked up the ring and dropped it unceremoniously into his backpack, which had a dragon on it.

Not trust yet, but tolerance and curiosity. One step at a time.

You shouldn't go barefoot, you know. Socks will be quieter if you're trying not to get caught.

"I didn't ask you."

So Mokuba descended down the stairwell, in the dead quiet and dark of the Kaiba Mansion, with no flashlight because he knew it well enough to navigate blindfolded. The place was decadent in the ugly way rich people's houses were, luxury but without taste, soft carpets and gilded banisters.

Mokuba had not quite realized yet how to think at the ring, so he spoke in a low whisper. "What are you, anyway?"

A ghost. So much more complicated than that, but simple words were suitable for children.

"How'd you end up a ghost in a necklace?"

I died, and then someone put me in a necklace.

"That's not an answer." he followed up, "Do all dead people become ghosts?"

No. Just sometimes, maybe, if the way they died was especially violent or gruesome or terrible.

Mokuba frowned. He had caught on remarkably quickly to guarding his own head, but the spirit could tell he didn't like this answer.

This was delicate, but he risked a push. Was there someone you had in mind?

Mokuba said nothing. He reached the staff kitchen on the lowest floor, and opened the door, slow and careful. He was deciding whether to say anything, as he climbed up as quietly as he could and reached far into the back of the cupboard, scrabbling.

"Our dad killed himself last year. Jumped out a window." He finally said, hopping down with his spoils. He said this the same way one might dolefully report the milk had gone bad. Unfortunate but boring.

You don't sound very sad.

"Nah, he sucked. And he never liked me." he said, "Seto was really really upset though. He was pretending not to be, but I could tell." Now there were feelings there, big and weird and sad and clinging ones. For reasons the spirit could not discern, the simple phrase ‘Seto was upset’ carried with it more weight, a thousand million times more weight, than news of a father's tragic death by defenestration. "I hope he's not a ghost. I don't wanna see him again."

Probably not.

Mokuba sat down cross-legged on the kitchen floor, unwrapped candy in silver foil. "You really can't do anything from in the necklace? Like, ghost stuff? Make things float or anything?"

No. It is a bit like being trapped in a very small box.

Mokuba mulled this over for a little while. "If you wanted to borrow a body to do fun stuff, you could have just asked."

Really?

He nodded. "Not being able to eat chocolate sounds lame. It'd be mean to just leave you like that." He put one chocolate into his mouth and dumped the rest in the backpack, where they covered the ring unceremoniously. More indignities. "Not in front of my brother, though. And you have to give it back whenever I say so."

...I could agree to such a compromise. Your candy haul is impressive, by the way.

"Thanks!" He grinned, emanating genuine pride. No one had ever complimented him for stealing before.

Tragic, the work of great thieves. How the very best of it can never be bragged about, the most impressive of skills gone unnoticed by nature, how the very success of a perfect crime relies on keeping your mouth shut about it. An unappreciated art, where even mastery gains you no respect.

You don't care that this poor man has to go out and buy twice as much food to make up for what you steal?

"No, he's a jerk. One time when I was six they confiscated my gameboy, so I went to steal it back and he caught me and told my dad and I got in huge trouble. So every day for a week I snuck down here and moved his keys to a different place so he couldn't find them. They were all so mad at him for losing them all the time, and he thought he was crazy."

Why was your gameboy confiscated?

"Don't remember. I think I bit someone at school." he shrugged, "They probably deserved it, though."

Mokuba Kaiba. he said, I think you and I are going to be excellent friends.

"Okay. Do ghosts watch cartoons?"

#unsure if this is good enough to post to AO3 #but it was fun!

101 notes · View notes

uovoc · 3 years ago

Text

Murderbot privacy

“SecUnit is a very private person, it doesn’t like to talk about its feelings” made me do a double take because I was like, SecUnit, who’s listening to you right now? Since when has it cared about privacy? Because while MB is a secretive fucker, it sure doesn’t extend that courtesy to others. And what I could figure out so far to explain this apparent hypocrisy is some more-or-less coherent stuff.

Summary:

MB conflates personal, private, and secret because these categories could not exist separately under the regime of surveillance and objectification inflicted upon it in the CR. This meant that the development of MB’s sense of personal identity was limited to its internal self. As a result, MB has a good instinctive grasp of the right to privacy regarding one’s emotions and internal state. However, its lack of bodily autonomy and background as a cog in the CR surveillance state have led it to regard physical privacy as a personal privilege rather than a right.

2200 words below the cut. I think about Murderbot a normal amount

Terminology

For clarity, the terms personal, private, secret, and privacy will be defined basically by their Merriam-Webster definitions. Personal will be used to mean relating to an individual’s character, conduct, motives, or private affairs. Secret is defined as kept from knowledge or view; hidden. Private will be used to mean 1) intended for or restricted to the use of particular person, group, or class. Privacy will be defined as the quality or state of being apart from company or observation; freedom from unauthorized intrusion. These are not comprehensive definitions, but for clarity’s sake they’re the ones I will use here.

The connotations that they carry in this analysis are:

Things that are secret are actively concealed. If something is secret, people are not aware of its existence. Secrets carry the implication of potential harm if divulged.

Privacy and things that are private are generally kept as such by social norms rather than active enforcement. The existence of things that are private may be known, but the details are limited to a restricted (trusted) audience. For instance, to quote Beatrice-Otter, “the contents of my underwear drawer are private, but not secret.” If you’re at someone’s house, you could technically go look in someone’s underwear drawer – it’s not like they can stop you – but out of the mutually agreed-upon respect for privacy and definition of what qualifies as private, you don’t. Things kept private tend to be done so for personal-emotional reasons rather than practical reasons.

These are limited definitions and not mutually exclusive. For instance, privacy can be enforced by gates and barriers like secrets are. These definitions aren’t meant to be comprehensive, but just to establish the meanings and connotations that I’m working with.

Privacy in the CR versus Preservation

Murderbot’s approach to privacy reflects the attitudes of the Corporation Rim. Preservation regards privacy more like a personal right and establishes it through primarily through societal norms, while the Corporation Rim treats privacy more like a personal privilege which individuals are responsible for securing and maintaining. In Preservation, freedom from observation is the default, and surveillance is the exception. To MBs annoyance, unless a space is singled out for security reasons (cargo spaces and high-traffic zones on the station), it’s generally left unsurveilled (residential areas, pedestrian corridors, most of the planet that we see in NE). Preservation also has cultural expectations of certain types of spaces being private. MB doesn’t share these expectations, as it notes in NE when it admits that its eavesdropping habit is “a little incriminating with the whole listening to private conversations in secured spaces and personal dwellings thing.” The specificity of “secured spaces and personal dwellings” makes this sound like something someone else said to MB that it’s now repeating, especially since it doesn’t agree that what others consider private conversations or private spaces are inherently off-limits to observation.

Unlike Preservation, MB sees privacy as a privilege rather than an inherent right, because it’s more used to the attitude of the CR surveillance state. In the labor installations that MB was deployed on, everything people did was observed by SecSystem at all times. If you wanted privacy, you had to pay for it, as MB notes in ES when it’s complaining about the lack of cameras in the fancy hotel that it books when it arrives. Even then, you might not get what you pay for, and MB take steps to secure PresAux’s own camera network that they later set up. In the CR, privacy is closer in meeting to secrecy, something that must be actively enforced and secured against intrusion. Corporate entities in the CR are motivated to erode personal privacy for profit in the form of datamining and workforce control. Privacy is thus a personal responsibility, since the surrounding environment is one that seeks to undermine it. This is the attitude towards privacy that MB is working with, and part of why it feels entitled to constant surveillance of its humans. In contrast, privacy in Preservation is a right maintained by the collective expectations and policies of the larger community. Station Security doesn’t exactly approve of MB setting up its own surveillance network, but nor does it do regular drone removal sweeps. MB expects privacy to be actively secured, and sees Preservation’s easily breached systems as the equivalent of leaving your valuables out on the lawn. If you don’t want to be surveilled, don’t go around being surveillable.

Surveillance exemptions

Instances where MB appears to respect the notion of privacy are sex/bodily functions, proprietary data, and feelings talks. However, out of these 3 categories, feelings are the topic where MB’s motivations align most closely with the human understanding of privacy. MB’s aversion to sex is more of an ick factor thing, since it repeatedly states that it finds human bodily functions to be disgusting. (I think touch aversion is also part of the sex-repulsed thing, but touch aversion aligns more with ick factor and also with lack of bodily autonomy, discussed below.)

Proprietary data is another topic on which MB appears to be on the same page as humans regarding “private” as being restricted to a particular group: it doesn’t tell the Mensah parents about Amena’s creepy date, and it removes the audio when it shows Indah the video of Mensah complaining about another councilmember. In both of these cases, there’s the potential for harm if the information is divulged: Amena would get scolded and possibly grounded by her parents, and Mensah’s relationships with the Council and Senior Indah would be damaged by her lack of professionalism. In a business context, proprietary data is information kept within a company because it would give your competitors an advantage, or because your competitors could use it to put you at a disadvantage – pretty much the same results, in the game of capitalism. Although both of these examples deal with personal-emotional information, the concept of proprietary data is closer to secrecy in its potential for harm and complete concealment of the information’s existence.

The third type of situation where MB appears to be on the same page as humans regarding privacy is people talking about their feelings. After Arada gets back from the Barish-Estranza negotiations, MB pointedly does not watch her and Overse make up because of the high likelihood that “they were having sex and/or a relationship discussion (either of which I would prefer to stab myself in the face than see).” Sex falls under the ick factor, but there’s a number of reasons the fandom collective braincell has pointed out for MB not wanting to watch people talk about their feelings:

MB exercising the privilege of not having to care about human feelings, as a formerly enslaved person subjected to human whims.

Secondhand embarrassment because MB would never talk about its feelings.

Related to the above, MB reflexively recoiling out of empathy because if it was in their position, it wouldn’t want someone listening in on its feelings.

Actually, now that I think of it, MB doesn’t go into great detail on why it doesn’t like watching humans talk about their feelings, unlike how it explicitly expresses its disgust for anything involving human fluids. Which is why I’ve got the suspicion that when it comes to feelings, MB does have a strong instinctive understanding of what it means for something to be private and, as a result, gets uncomfortable observing a moment that is not meant for others to see. MB has an easier time understanding how privacy applies to feelings rather than acts because unlike its body, its feelings are strongly tied to its concept of what is personal.

MB’s internal and external self

To paraphrase this one MDZS meta, MB’s body is not its own. MB’s sense of what is personal to it, or its sense of unique identity, applies more its internal self than its external self because of its former nonperson status in the CR. This informs what MB considers to be inherently private. While in the CR, its appearance and configuration were decided by the company. To be fair, humans don’t get to choose our original bodies either, but our bodies and the modifications we make to them tell a story of our personal background. The history inscribed in MB’s body, down to the logos etched on its structure, is that of a mass-produced piece of corporate equipment. MB does not have a particular attachment to its external appearance (“standard human”) because its appearance reflects the company’s choices rather than its own. (This changes after it gains the freedom to choose its own clothes and gets tabletop surgery from ART, discussed at the end.) Although MB’s configuration is what makes it a SecUnit, and being a SecUnit is an essential part of its identity, it’s not an identity that’s unique to MB.

For most of its life, MB’s actions have also been extensions of the company. Its actions have either been dictated by its clients and governor module, or it has had to pretend to be controlled by those things, which means making decisions which could conceivably have been issued with the governor module’s approval. MB is also used to selling its body, since it’s expected to literally sacrifice pieces of itself to keep its clients safe (an expectation it continues to hold). MB has been ship-of-Theseus’d to hell and back. The lack of both bodily autonomy and bodily safety due to its nonperson status in the CR means that MB considered its body to be neither private (restricted to the use of only one person) nor entirely personal (pertaining to its unique character).

As a consequence, MB doesn’t consider its external self to have the right to privacy. Although it doesn’t like being looked at, it’s reaction is to hide rather than ask people to stop. (This is also because MB isn’t used to exercising its personal preferences regarding other people’s actions, but that’s a different angle.) It doesn’t like it when Mensah walks into the security ready room, or when its humans and ART’s crew are watching it come out of involuntary shutdown on the deck, but it doesn’t tell them to stop. In general, MB doesn’t like being looked at because if it’s falling apart, it’s in a vulnerable state, and if it’s not falling apart, then being paid attention to used to carry the threat of abuse/incoming orders/being clocked as a rogue. These reasons are more about safety than privacy.

However, MB specifically doesn’t like people looking at its face are because its face shows its emotions, and its emotions are a reflection of its internal state and, by extension, its internal self. MB considers its thoughts and emotions to have the right to privacy because they are the aspects of itself that it has been able to control, and thus has been able to make personal. When Gurathin reveals its name, it grates out, “That was private.” On one level, Murderbot’s name is an honest expression of what it thinks it is and all the associated self-loathing and guilt. MB does NOT want humans to know its name because then they know how it feels about a topic truly important to it. On another level, its name reveals its self-deprecating humor, something a ruthless killing machine is not supposed to have.

Everything that MB considers personal, it has also needed to keep secret, because in the CR, it’s not supposed to be a person the first place. Conversely, the only reason it’s been able to have personal opinions and emotions is because it has been able to keep these things secret. Anything MB would have wanted to be private – restricted to a trusted audience – would have also needed to be secret because of the pervasive surveillance present in the CR, the nonperson status of constructs, and the fact that it had no trusted audience with which it could share private information.

Conclusions

MB conflates the categories of personal, private, and secret because these concepts could not exist separately under the regime of surveillance and objectification inflicted upon it in the CR. Anything in one category had to be able to fit into the others, which limited the development of MB’s sense of personal identity to its internal self. Although MB has good instinctive grasp of the right to privacy regarding one’s internal state, MB’s lack of bodily autonomy and its background as a cog in the CR surveillance state have led it to regard physical privacy as a personal privilege rather than a right.

Now that MB’s in a safer place (kidnappings by giant asshole research transports aside), it’s beginning to separate out those concepts a bit and allow things to be personal and private but not secret (its desire to be with ART, its affection towards Mensah). It’s also starting to allow things that are neither secret nor private to be personal (expressing preferences in its hairstyle, clothing, and aversion to physical touch), which can also be considered MB reclaiming its external self/body.

#murderbot

143 notes · View notes

frostops · 4 years ago

Text

I have some thoughts about how FGO has handled trans and trans-adjacent characters, and I’m frustrated how many people talk about the mishandlings without discussing the transmisogyny in it, but this is long as fuck, so its under the cut.

Its a good thing that FGO is having more characters with the genderless trait who aren’t given that trait for shitty reasons, but framing this as FGO being better at handling nonbinary characters, while technically true, ignores what caused many of the early issues. That cause is often transmisogyny.

Transmisogyny has been an issue in the game since Da Vinci’s introduction. Da Vinci doesn’t have the genderless trait, but she’s still important to discuss to understand FGO’s mishandling of trans characters. Mash and Romani are both angry at the idea of Leonardo Da Vinci not being a man, and call her a pervert, among other things. This is immediately after both find out King Arthur was actually a woman, but neither seemed to care then. Its understood by the writing that some believed to be a man turning out to actually be a cis woman isn’t deserving of malice, but that person turning out to be a trans woman is. The writing surrounding Da Vinci slowly got better, with characters being less shitty about and eventually respecting her gender. While Da Vinci initially describes herself as beyond gender, she says so in response to Roman and Mash’s reaction to her gender, where as whenever she is referred to as a woman (Lancelot saying he couldn’t hurt a beautiful women in Camelot, Napoleon calling her mademoiselle in LB2), she eats it up. Her early description of being beyond gender feels more like a tongue-in-cheek way of degendering a trans woman. While overall the writing treats Da Vinci better now, there are still times where it gets shitty, even as recent as the event where Van Gogh was introduced, where Hokusai talks about both Da Vinci and Van Gogh having an inherent maleness that bleeds into their art. This event did have a guest writer, but it was still allowed into the game.

The first character to have the genderless trait is D’Eon. Historically, D’Eon was intersex and trans feminine, and very likely a trans woman, but the fate version is introduced saying they were crazy in life, intended to be in reference to how they presented their gender. They are also presented as caring more about loyalty to France than what gender they are seen as, when the real D’Eon blackmailed the king into legally recognizing them as a woman. Transmisogyny, as well as intersexism, is pretty obviously what made Type-Moon take reduce D’Eon to just jokes about gender. D’Eon feels degendered in way similar to how Da Vinci is at time, though D’Eon gets it worse

Astolfo debuted in Apocrypha, where their presentation is used for a joke where Jeanne, believing Astolfo to be a girl, freaks out when she sees that Astolfo has a penis. The joke is that it is such a horrible thing to find a penis on some you think is a girl. I shouldn’t need to explain the transmisogyny behind that, or that Astolfo ostensibly not being a trans woman doesn’t make the joke less transmisogynistic. There are other, better things about Astolfo in Apocrypha, but most of their writing in FGO is in the same vein as the joke with Jeanne. This is crystalized in Agartha, where both Astolfo and D’Eon were used for many transmisogynistic, intersexist, and homophobic jokes.

The third, and for a long time last, character to have the genderless trait was Enkidu. They are given this trait due to changes to their myth. In Fate, Enkidu is made of clay, and had a nonhuman appearance until meeting Shamhat, and modeling their appearance after her. They don’t have a physical sex, but, due to originally being a male character and appearing feminine in fate, the writers and fans alike treat them similarly to how they treat Astolfo and D’Eon, though less aggressively. Usually when Enkidu appears in a fate work, one character has to talk about how they can’t tell whether Enkidu is a man or a woman, before settling on neither, but only reach that conclusion because they don’t have a physical sex. The transmisogyny isn’t as strong in Enkidu’s writing, but its still there.

Until LB3, no other character would be given the genderless trait, and what all 3 of them have in common is being AMAB or originally male characters who present femininely. Technically Da Vinci fits this description as well, but her body is considered female by Type-Moon’s standards, so she gets the female trait. Also, with the exception of Astolfo, have bodies that wouldn’t considered male of female by most people. In Deon’s case, this is the result of intersexism, and even more frustrating when you remember that D’Eon blackmailed the king to be seen as a woman. I’d wager the reason Astolfo is grouped with the other two is itself a continuation of the joke from Apocrypha. It’s a coy “We all know what Astolfo’s ‘real’ gender is, but we’ll play along with the joke.”

I think this also explains other characters who, arguably, could be included in the genderless trait, but were not. Nezha, like Da Vinci, only got a “female” body after dying, so they get the female trait too, despite not really being comfortable with any gender labels. Mordred, who consistently gets violently angry at being called a woman, and whose bio states that they don’t like being referred to as a man either (though this wouldn’t be implemented into writing until LB3, where they are clearly far less bothered by being referred to as man) also has the female trait. King Hassan’s bio has his gender listed as “?????” but he is treated as male by the game and has the male trait.

None of the newer genderless servants fit the same description of amab/originally male and presenting femininely, which does show a more nuanced understanding of gender identity and expression, but it doesn’t show anymore respect towards trans women and transfems. Both Shi Huang Di and Douman have somewhat androgynous presentations, but we still don’t really have trans fem character whose gender and presentation is treated respectfully other than Da Vinci, and that’s frustrating. For the most part, though, these characters are all pretty well handled.

Two of them, Mao Nobu and Romulus-Quirinus, are new versions of characters who already had the female and male trait respectively, meaning the game has at least someone moved away from equating the genderless trait to a character’s physical sex, but not entirely since part of the reason Shi Huang Di has the trait is their inability to reproduce.

There is some disagreement about how Caenis is handled, and I do have thoughts on that topic, but if I talked about that this would be twice as long. The short version is that the necessity to make characters fit into fanservice, something which negatively affects all of the characters I mention here, limits the ways in which Caenis’s relationship to their gender can be explored. Its also why we have Caenis and not Caenus, and why Caenis is rarely allowed to where a shirt.

There is also Dioscuri, who is two characters, one man and one woman, who are collectively on servant, so even though they have the genderless trait, they're not really relevant.

We do have more originally male characters now in female bodies. Vritra and Van Gogh, who were added recently (Vritra’s bio says she was originally male and now has a female vessel and Van Gogh is Vincent Van Gogh in Clytie’s body), Kama, an originally male deity possessing Sakura’s body, is being added to NA this year, and even back in part 1 we had Quetzalcoatl, another male god in a female vessel. All of them are given the female trait, and Quetz in particular seems to be very comfortable being a woman, but this still feels like what happened with Nezha, where the “physically female” body matters more than the identity of the character, especially with Van Gogh, who had no choice in being put in Clytie’s body.

Mechanically, the gender traits only affect certain skills and nps, having extra or stronger effects. The genderless servants are exempt from the extra effects, with one exception. Once of Blackbeard’s skills has an effect for female servants, but D’Eon and Astolfo (And maybe also Enkidu, but I don’t remember) were included in this effect as well. The joke here was that Blackbeard is written to be reflective of the worst qualities of weebs and otakus. many of whom would refer to those two as traps, a transmisogynistic slur, so Blackbeard is into them in the same way. Servants with the genderless trait added afterwards weren’t included in this effect, even though some of them (the ones who transphobic fate fans consider to be women) would still be seen as attractive by Blackbeard. So rather than coding each one individually to be included, they added a new trait, the female looking trait, for Blackbeard’s skill. The genderless servants included in this one all present feminine, but the inclusion of this trait is to make continuing a transphobic joke easier, which almost feels like a step back from some of the previous progress in handling trans characters.

I also think some people are a little too eager to give FGO credit when it may not deserve. For instance, a lot of people liked Douman being included in the genderless trait, and on its own it fine, but the my room line where Sei talks about trying to check under Douman’s robes concerns me. Many people took it as Sei just being horny for Douman, but it could easily be intended as Sei trying to check what’s really in his pants, especially since the canon reason Douman has the genderless trait is that he combined himself with some spirits and deities, one of which is female.

None of this is to say its wrong to view any of these characters as nonbinary (I do view most of them as nonbinary), but I don’t think we should view the genderless trait as equivalent to nonbinary. Not only are there characters included in it who probably shouldn’t be (like D’Eon) and characters who don’t have it who probably should (like Nezha), doing so treat nonbinary as a third and wholly separate gender. And if you’re going to talk about the transphobia of FGO, please be willing to use the word transmisogyny.

#transmisogyny #transphobia #fate grand order #fate/go

114 notes · View notes

rhetorical-ink · 4 years ago

Text

Haikyuu!! Top 5 Ships: Oikawa

** SOUTH AMERICAN SPOILERS BELOW **

Haikyuu!! is wonderful, in part because unlike other series, the sky’s the limit on how many ships can set sail and be embraced by the fandom. I wanted to go through some of my favorite characters from the series and my Top 5 favorite ships for them!

Of course, we have to start with my favorite “Trash King”: Toru Oikawa!

5. Kuroo x Oikawa

The rarest of the pairs in this post, but I find it hilarious that despite these two never sharing a panel of screen time together, Furudate loves to constantly sketch these two characters together.

Personality-wise, these two actually have a lot in common. Kuroo gives off that “con man” vibe in Chapter 401 to those around him, and Oikawa is constantly being described as putting on a “fake persona” in public by Iwaizumi. But, both former captains have the respect of their team and are great leaders.

These two together would be like two gossipy high school drama queens sent on a trip to the shopping mall together. Both physically exude that “sexy, too-hot-to-handle” persona, but in reality are a pair of nerds obsessing over aliens and docosahexaenoic acid. Maybe it would’ve been too much for the universe to handle had they shared a scene in the series together. At least we have Furudate’s sketches...

4. Ushijima x Oikawa

Okay, so I’ll be honest. I was not originally a fan of this pairing -- I mean, Ushijima’s practically Oikawa’s biggest rival outside of Kageyama, so how could anyone picture them romantically involved?

Well, then I read this fan fiction, and I realized that there could be something there. Unlike Oikawa’s dislike/rivalry with Kageyama, that basically stems from his jealousy and insecurity that his kouhai will succeed him as the better setter, Oikawa’s main rivalry with Ushijima is just beating him in a match. Sure, Ushijima aggravates Oikawa in the series by labeling his pride as “worthless,” but we all know how our Grand King comes back to make Ushijima eat those words later on, don’t we?

I think there’s an aspect of this ship that is similar to the Iwaoi pairing -- in that Ushijima’s stoic, genuine, and grounded personality is polar opposite Oikawa’s calculating, put-on, and often petty persona. Ushijima is basically the antithesis of Oikawa in the series, but as a ship, his quiet reserve opens up a lot of avenues for Oikawa to be himself and -- fan fiction-wise -- have a platform to open up and monologue his way through personal growth. It’s not my favorite ship for Oikawa, but after reading the linked fan fiction, I can see the appeal.

3. Sugawara x Oikawa

Okay, so this ship is just fun. There’s such a creative fandom with OiSuga, whether it’s them as Slytherin wizards in a Hogwarts AU, or as college roommates, or pretty much any scenario, there is so much creativity with this pairing, partially because of just how intriguing a concept this ship is!

I think the draw of this pairing is how different it is from the more popular Oikawa ships, like Iwaoi. Sugawara is a “team mom” kind of like Iwaizumi, but Suga’s personality couldn’t be more different than Iwaizumi’s. Sugawara has a fiercely supportive stance as a teammate, but he’s also a setter, and a calculating/manipulative one at that -- much like Oikawa. It’s canon that Oikawa nicknames him “Mr. Refreshing,” because he’s so different from Kageyama in terms of communicating and reading his team -- similarly to Oikawa, it could be noted. And you have two pretty setter squad members who are easy on the eyes, but have much more going on under the surface in terms of insecurities, pride, and goals as third years.

And you wouldn’t think that Oikawa would work paired with another setter, but since Sugawara isn’t a “Kageyama-level prodigy,” it gives Oikawa the ability to be the better player on the court, so his pride isn’t hurt, but leaves Sugawara available as the more emotionally stable, “cool” partner. Plus, the two can share their own insecurities about being “replaced” by Kageyama as the better setter, but Sugawara can shut down any trash talk by Oikawa if it gets too overbearing.

Basically, you have two characters who are more similar than they appear, but still have enough differences to be an interesting duo. It’s like if a sour patch kid and a candy apple hooked up. I’ll let you decide which is which.

2. Hinata x Oikawa

So...Furudate has laid the groundwork for this ship since the first time Hinata spiked that ball past “The Great King,” but it wasn’t until the Rio mini arc that we really got this ship to come into its own. Hence why I put a spoiler tag on this post, for you anime-only’s who haven’t been blessed with the greatness that is the Rio Arc.

Of any pairing in Haikyuu!! One could argue Hinata and Oikawa have done the most “shippy” things, with the exception of #1 below. I mean, they’ve:

* Taken the most epic, beautiful selfie together and sent to their exes rivals * Went on multiple dinner dates together (during the day and at night) * Are on a literal first-name basis * Played two-on-two beach volleyball together (multiple times) * HUGGED ON LIVE TV DURING THE OLYMPICS

I’ve wanted to post more on this, but Oikawa and Hinata actually have a lot in common, besides being Kageyama’s rival. They’re both naturally athletic, though definitely not “geniuses” or “prodigies” like Kageyama or Hoshiumi. They’re just two individuals who literally live and breathe volleyball and try to push themselves to their limits at being the best they can be. And their dynamic works really well -- Oikawa may be petty and snarky, but Hinata takes it all in stride and is a literal walking ball of unphased sunshine. Oikawa would probably think he has the upper hand in the relationship; at least, until Hinata speaks up and shows he’s not quite as naive as he appears. He’s just literally that optimistic/nice. One can definitely see the appeal of shipping these two similar-but-different characters.

While some ship it as just a “fling in Rio,” and some ship it more as a fantastically developed friendship -- I mean, Hinata went on to play for Brazil, so you KNOW those two kept playing each other in matches and at training camps -- it’s still become one of the most unexpected, yet welcomed Oikawa pairing!

1. Iwaizumi x Oikawa

Okay, so this shouldn’t surprise anyone. But yeah, Iwaizumi and Oikawa have been paired up since the start of this series, and for good reason.

There is so much to like about the pairing: The childhood friend aspect; the Setter/Spiker dynamic Haikyuu!! is so infamous for; how Iwaizumi takes none of Oikawa’s dramatic self and pushes past the “bs” to make sure Oikawa takes care of himself; how Oikawa teases Iwaizumi, yet is always by his side; how the two are so in sync, despite their different personalities; godzilla vs aliens...

...but I think I love best how they, similar to Hinata and Kageyama, are rivals who pursued their dreams: Oikawa making it to the Olympics on the team of his idol and mentor, and Iwaizumi as an Athletic Trainer on the team of his idol and mentor’s son. It’s so poetic, and I love in the final chapter that they finally get to face each other...even if it’s not “technically” against each other in a game.

This ship is probably one of the most iconic in Haikyuu!! and it’s hard to say anything that hasn’t already been stated, but I love it. There’s a reason it works so well, and Furudate has blessed us with all the hints and crumbles of canon for us fans to work with. Again, the greatest gift Haikyuu!! has given us is the fact that we can ship so many different characters together, and it all for the most part fits. ^^

#oikuro #kurooi #kuroo x oikawa #ushioi #Oisuga #ushijima x oikawa #sugawara x oikawa #Oihina #Hinata x Oikawa #Iwaoi #Iwaizumi x Oikawa #Haikyuu!!#Haikyuu ships #Haikyuu OTP #Toru oikawa #We love these volleyball idiots

182 notes · View notes

life-0r-death · 4 years ago

Photo

(so this is technically two different templates, but I couldn’t resist the part two. shoutout to @the-kings-of-games and @asix-oud for inspiring me to do this)

Character Profiles:

Jack Atlas - 20, blonde, 6' (anime height I think) “No one loves like Jack Atlas!”

Yusei Fudō - 18, raven with gold highlights, 5'7″ - “Jack it’s alright--”

How it happened:

Growing up together in the same orphanage under Martha’s care, both Jack and Yusei developed a bond of brotherly affection toward one another that they also shared with their third brother, Crow. However, as they got older, Yusei started to realize his feelings for Jack were anything but brotherly. With his growing adoration, he slowly tried to feel out how Jack felt, slowly implying that he had more love to give. It took Jack well after the Fortune Cup, and deep in the WRPG to realize that Yusei had affections for him. And that he returned them. Unintentionally, the two kissed and the rest was history.

Showing affection:

Both Jack and Yusei take initiative when it comes to affection. However, Jack is more of a wild card on whether or not he wants to provide verbal affection or a physical one. Often, Jack will either smirk at Yusei and tell him he’s a dream or he’s his knight in shining armor (This tends to turn Yusei quite red). Or, Jack will pull Yusei into a hug no matter where they are, just to hold him in his arms.

Yusei is all about non-verbal affection. He holds Jack, kisses him, gets him things, or just takes care of him as he needs to. Yusei finds that he never has the right words to tell Jack of how he feels, so a kiss and a hug are his better applications.

Handling Conflict:

More often than not, many of their conflicts revolve around Jack. Whether that be to duel, go out and visit Martha, or the strain of Jack’s worries on Yusei’s health and his own flighty nature, Jack is usually the most vocal on his distastes. He’s one to yell sharply and angrily before taking time away to cool down. He has a fight or flight response and his motions are to verbally fight and then flee. Yusei understands Jack’s needs to just be alone. He is not one to give chase (unless he absolutely needs to).

Yusei is the most neutral. Depending on the fight, he can range from just listening and helping to resolve it, or he can be just as stubborn as Jack, silently seething and also removing himself from the source.

They usually come back to one another eventually, though, and kiss and make up.

Dealing with jealousy:

Both Yusei and Jack are prone to jealousy as both are quite popular in their inner circles. Jack is often seen by his fans who love to latch onto him and ask for his hand in marriage. Yusei’s jealousy certainly spikes, but he doesn’t let it overtake him. He usually just requires a bit more attention after the source departs, whether that be cuddling or Jack just being in the same space while he works on a duel runner.

When Jack becomes jealous, he’s just as eccentric as he normally is. He’s loud and in faces, grabbing Yusei and practically dragging him away or making sure that Yusei knows he’s there. There are no if, ands, or buts about it. Yusei will give him the affection he deserves and whatever the source may be, alive or inanimate, they will feel his wrath.

Relationship Attitude:

When it comes to their relationship, Yusei holds it near and dear, performing all sorts of PDA and making sure Jack knows just how much he loves him. To Yusei, he spent too much time hiding his feelings, playing it safe, and watching Jack run off to become King all alone (when Yusei wanted nothing more than to be his Knight). He had to watch as Jack never understood his advances, watched as Jack would be harmed from the forces that came after them. Yusei had even gotten to the point that he would always appreciate Jack from afar, but know he’d never have him in his grasp. But once Jack admitted feelings for him too, Yusei made an oath to never hide his feelings again. So he devotes everything to Jack, understands Jack’s own fears and anxieties, and puts their relationship above all other projects. A duel runner can be fixed another day. Jack’s tears? Those need to be attended to now.

Jack is just as devoted to their relationship. Hell, he thinks about marriage at times. But he doesn’t perform as much PDA nor does he express how important it is to him as much as Yusei does. He does this for two reasons; one, Yusei obviously initiates it all. Jack doesn’t need to start any PDA since Yusei will begin it on his own. And Jack doesn’t need to overthrow Yusei with adoration since Yusei seems happy enough to give it mostly to him. The second reason Jack is a bit more reserved is because he has a hint of anxiety for their relationship. He’s always been a flighty man, ducking out when something was getting too much. He fears if something should go wrong, then he’d need that escape path to make sure Yusei doesn’t crash and burn.

But both of them are rather happy in their relationship, usually talking about their fears and loyalties in the dead of night.

Attachment:

Each person toes the line depending on their emotions. But they are quite heavily attached to one another. Jack is not overly-protective nor is he hyper lax, and he does value his independence a bit more. This goes back to his flighty nature that should he need to run, he needs that space to get going. But this doesn’t mean he doesn’t adore Yusei.

Yusei doesn’t mind indepence or clinging. He’s just happy to be in Jack’s bubble or to just be in his thoughts. Yusei is, however, quite protective of Jack. Watching his man be flung from his duel runner too often has boosted this feral need to just keep him safe, as well as make sure Jack is never taken advantage of again. So Yusei is pretty quick to do research on events, offer up to go with, and generally make sure Jack is going to be okay.

Things to elaborate upon...

First to confess - both sort of did it at the same time. Yusei never really outwardly confessed until Jack sort of gave him this notion and feeling that they felt something similar. So they both openly told one another than they loved each other.

More popular/charismatic - both are held in high regard, Jack with his fanbase and Yusei with their inner circle as with the City for being the King (since he de-throned Jack).

Sick caregiver - both are pretty on even ground to take care of one another. Jack makes Yusei soups and foods, making sure he stays away from the duel runners to actually rest. Yusei pets Jack, gets him water, and is a constant by his side.

Does the cooking - Jack does it all. He’s a baker, having honed the skill while under Godwin’s foot and locked within his penthouse. When he wasn’t dueling, he was committing his time to something that distracted him long enough to feel alive. So he’s known as the chef in their household, and everyone loves his food.

Does the cleaning - since Jack does all the cooking, Yusei takes it upon himself to do the cleaning. He’s pretty good at making sure all of his tools are set and ready in the garage, so he makes sure those habits follow him into the house (and Jack isn’t too messy to begin with, he’s actually quite organized and proper).

Does most of the speaking - Not that Yusei doesn’t talk, he just lets Jack speak for him. Especially when he’s hands deep in a duel runner. Jack knows what’s on his mind, or knows what he likes to eat or drink, so he lets his man take care of him in his own ways. Plus, Yusei is pretty lax on requested subjects, like what they’d wear to some party. Jack cares about that stuff, so Yusei lets him talk for both of them.

Designated driver - Now, Yusei is deemed this because he is also overprotective. He doesn’t want Jack crashing, so if they have to go somewhere and both don’t have to have their runners, Yusei will be the one to drive and make sure his King makes it in one piece.

Has good penmanship - Jack knows cursive from his time with Godwin. Martha taught both him and Yusei a lot in the orphanage, but cursive and clean writing weren’t the top priorities. Just know how to read and write were. So, Jack honed this skill not only because he wanted to, but because he had to. In order to appear like he was actually from the Tops, he had to be able to write signatures elegantly.

Has more experience in a relationship - neither do. They’ve only ever pined for one another, or never thought about romantic interests or advancements. So this is their one and only relationship.

Sensitive to subtle changes in partner - both are excellent at this. Yusei is already hyper aware of Jack constantly. He knows when he’s feeling a bit more agitated or when he’s on edge. Jack isn’t as honed as Yusei, but he knows what each facial expression and silent grunt means. He’s studied them for a long time, and honestly, Jack and Yusei never have to use words to communicate how they are feeling.

The one who proposes - Yusei will want to, will plan for it and will be sure its a fanfare (as by Jack’s request). But the world will decide that he’s now allowed to, either making him too busy or stealing his attention away constantly at the perfect moments (or more enemies appearing out of the woodwork to ruin his plans). So, in the end, it will be Jack who sets up some sort of extravagant world around them, getting down on his knee and holding Yusei’s hand with a simple yet beautiful wedding band ready to slip on his finger.

(if you want specifics on part 2, send asks! Otherwise, thanks for reading! You can find a lot of these dynamics in my fics on AO3 <3)

#yugioh 5ds #kingcrabshipping #jack atlas #jack atlus #yusei fudo #yugioh #send asks about part 2 #a fun template #not my template though #but my drawings #fanart

69 notes · View notes

radramblog · 3 years ago

Text

I would like Pokemon Legends: Arceus to succeed

I wasn’t planning on making a reaction thingo to the Pokemon Presents this time around. The TL;DR is, I don’t care about the mobile game/Unite stuff, BDSP looks solid as hell, and Pokemon Legends: Arceus looks incredible.

Where Unite is a very cynical property in a lot of ways (I used the word cynical a lot last post, I like that word), looking at PL:A gets me all naïve and idealistic again, and I really like that.

Two main points for Pokemon Legends: Arceus being good.

The first is the departure from the traditional Pokemon gameplay in a main Game Freak game. There’s a level of experimentation on display here that hasn’t been seen in the franchise in a very, very long time, and certainly not from GF. People are making a lot of comparisons to Breath of the Wild, and Monster Hunter, and Genshin Impact, and while I’m not sure about all of those (every open world game in the last half decade has been compared to BoTW it feels like), the new design does look really interesting.

Every other Pokemon spinoff has been an adaptation or a reduction of Pokemon’s core gameplay. Go adapts it to a touchscreen mobile game, Shuffle adapts it to a puzzle game. Legends appears to be the first game in a while that’s truly adding on top of the previous mechanics of the franchise, with the changed gameplay (action order like it’s Final Fantasy?) and structure. The closest thing I can think of is the Mystery Dungeon games, which translated all of Pokemon’s trappings really well to a dungeon crawler/roguelike(?) RPG, but that was still ultimately an adaptation.

Despite being technically in 3D for 8 years, this is the first Pokemon game to actually use the third dimension, and physics, and that’s cool. To be frank, the JRPG genre is kind of ageing at this point, and while things like SMT/Persona and Octopath Traveller are helping prop it up (along with lots of indie games), it’s nice to see Pokemon as a franchise unshackled somewhat from the limitations of its late 90s design.

Legends Arceus succeeding would likely mean more experimentation in this style going forward. I mean the fact that it’s titled Pokemon Legends: Arceus implies that they already might be planning further games in the same vein, perhaps themed around different legendary Pokemon and regions. It’s a promising future for mainline Pokemon games, especially since BDSP is being handled by another company by and large such that Game Freak can actually focus on the game.

Which brings me now to Game Freak.

There have been reports for a decent while that Game Freak has absolute dogshit work conditions, that carrying the weight of the Pokemon franchise is incredibly stressful on their incredibly small team. There’s a good reason that what I wanted from this year in Game Freak was not a game. They deserve a break.

They’ve basically been doing nothing but Pokemon for the last few decades, with very little break in between. In the last 20 years, the company has put out 6 generations of Pokemon, with not a lot of help, and again- a small team. They have been locked into the ‘mon mine, all this time.

And while they have tried doing other stuff in that time, none of it has really gone anywhere for them. The company has put out a total of 6 non-Pokemon games in the last 20 years as compared to 16 Pokemon games (and that’s counting versions together), and I almost guarantee you’ve never heard of most of them. Drill Dozer, a cult classic GBA title mostly known for being an Assist Trophy in Brawl, as well as Pocket Card Jockey and HarmoKnight which are both only 3DS downloadables (the latter is pretty good apparently though). There’s Giga Wrecker and Tembo the Badass Elephant (?) both of which had mixed reviews, and then there’s Little Town Hero. A spotlight from the Nintendo Direct and a soundtrack by Toby Fucking Fox couldn’t save this game from obscurity, with mixed at best reviews and a dearth of support or financial success. Two of the Wikipedia sections for the game, Gameplay and Plot, are entirely blank, and I think that sums it up.

The reason I mention this is because Legends: Arceus allows the company to do something actually different for once, and not get torn to shreds for it. Rather than a side project, this is their headline game, Pokemon’s headline game, for 2022, and so it is going to get the support and funding the team requires to experiment more freely. Probably still not that freely, with Nintendo and TPC being as they are, but it’s something.

I do have concerns, ultimately, linked to Pokemon Legends: Arceus. How are these new Hisuian forms going to interact with other games in the series, if at all, and what the hell are we going to do for the competitive scene (I frankly do not think Sword and Shield have it in them to carry it another year and a half)? But this isn’t the post for that.

I like what Legends: Arceus looks like. It looks cool and it looks fun. And I’m hoping we see more like it in future.

Now watch this space in 5 months when I get proven wrong and the game actually sucks

#ramble #pokemon #pokemon legends arceus #it has bidoof in it it has to be good

6 notes · View notes

capricornus-rex · 5 years ago

Text

What You Fear To Lose (2)

Cal Kestis x Reader

Requested by: Anon | Prompt:

Okay so maybe a fic where Cal keeps having nightmares and visions when he meditates of the reader dying and the events leading up to her death. He starts being really protective and the reader tries to reassure him shes fine. But on a mission things start happening that he saw in the visions before the reader dies and gets really on edge. You can decide how it ends, aka reader dying in cals arms to make me cry or him saving her to also make me cry! Sorry if this is too much!!💕

Tags: Near-death! Reader

Previous: Part 1 | Next: Part 3 | Masterlist

2 of 3

The next morning, Cal woke up realizing that he was late for the morning briefing; he rushed to the room where Cham Syndulla and his fighters are gathered. He finds you standing at the far back, away from the crowd, yet listening intently to the leader.

“Hi,” Cal huffed, gasping for air as quietly as he could. “Did I miss anything?”

“Oh hey, not much. Cham was just getting started,”

You filled him on the minor details before the Twi’lek got to the chunk of the plan; pointing which teams go where, when to strike, and who to avoid. Later, Cham turned to the two Jedi which prompted you to step forward and the people gave way for you.

“This section is the most crucial—and obviously the most well and heavily-guarded—with your weapons and knowledge in better combat, you two are our only chance of ever achieving our objective. You must destroy the main shield generator so we can have a better chance in taking it down with aerial assault. Can I count on you, Jedi Knights?”

There was a pause. You stepped closer to the hologram, your head panned across the very edge up until the blinking red square on the map that indicates the objective. You turned back to Cham and your signature confident smug plastered all over your face.

“Trouble seems to be our only selling point. Why don’t we give the Empire a free trial?”

Cheers filled the conference chamber, brandishing their weapons of all types, and fighters poured out of the mound—a handful rode in their mounts, whilst several continued on foot.

You and Cal were on the vanguard, with a designated assault squadron flanking you for cover.

This was only the beginning phase of the plan. The assault squadron that charged with you traded shots with the baffled Stormtroopers that were standing by and keeping watch at the main entrance. The pair of Jedi assisted the fighters as they faced head on with the melee-wielding Stormtroopers.

“Requesting reinforcements! The main entrance is being overwhelmed by rebels!” a Stormtrooper cried out helplessly before taking a shot from a blaster rifle.

“Go, Jedi! Half of the squad will cover for you once you’re inside!” Cham bellowed.

“Come on!” you beckoned Cal and he ran by your side.

The two of you come across a human barricade of Stormtroopers between the entrance of the stronghold and you. The barricade was spearheaded by a rocket launcher-wielding trooper, he already had a single shot loaded into his weapon, and all he needed was to pull the trigger.

A torpedo comes popping out of the barrel of the weapon. With your combined lightning-fast reflexes, you and Cal worked together—with his Force-Slow, he hindered the slug in mid-air, ripples in the air encased the large bullet, and your ability to manipulate the flow of objects using the Force comes into play: your hands weaved the air in a continuous spinning motion to which the slug motioned in a similar manner until it now faces the opposite direction. Cal then released his focus on the bullet and sends it flying back to the row of Stormtroopers—including the one who shot it.

The entire stronghold is now on high alert, but the two of you eluded the eyes of the Stormtroopers marching across the hallways until you could reach the objective. Neither confidence nor arrogance have a place in this mission, so going in quietly was the best option. The hallway you prowled through was similar to the fortress in Nur, though neither of you sense anything… yet.

“Cham, we’re inside the stronghold. Stormtroopers are coming your way,”

“Copy that. We’ll be ready for them, they haven’t thinned out my numbers yet!”

You and Cal sprinted through the hallway, eager to get to the objective. Along the way, the Stormtroopers have started pouring into your direction and you have no choice but to fight through it.

“Calculating attack success probability.” The Imperial security droid monotonously annunciated as you dodge-rolled its uppercut punch.

This was already the third wave of enemies. The Jedi were beginning to anticipate that the next wave is bound to be more difficult than the last.

“They killed our droid!” a Stormtrooper whimpered.

“Oh no, now they look mad!” another followed.

To the Stormtroopers’ eyes, the blinding beams that are your sabers dazed them, messing up their aim and footing in effect; the Jedi were fluid and lithe with their attacks and general movements that none of the Stormtroopers’ blasters can find its mark.

The arrival of a Purge Trooper in the skirmish somehow became their beacon of relief. Humbled by the presence of the black-clad trooper wielding a massive electrohammer, they’ve technically placed all their hope of survival in their more tenacious, high-tier comrade.

“Two Jedi? Looks like my lucky day!” the Purge Trooper hissed through his helmet.

You made yourselves busy with the inferior Stormtroopers first before setting your sights on the Purge Trooper.

“Puh! They never even stood a chance anyway!” the enemy taunted, striking the floor with the pommel of his weapon.

Cal exchanged glances with you and for a moment, there was an unspoken understanding between the two of you. With each of you running on the walls on either side and leapt off at the end with an overhead strike, you took the Purge Trooper by surprise but he was quick-witted enough to deflect both attacks.

“Oh-ho-ho!! A worthy challenge!” he chortled.

The joint stunt you did with Cal somewhat enabled the Purge Trooper rather than intimidate him, now he’s gotten more brutish with his attacks albeit sluggish—which you took advantage of. Cal immediately engaged him as a diversion while you sneak in and exploited an opening, regardless how narrow that window of opportunity might be.

To your surprise, the Purge Trooper deflected your sneak attack with his own gauntlet! A cocky snicker muffled through his helmet and he literally has his hands full with both of you. A hard kick to the shin from Cal caused the brute to lose his footing and it granted you a short time to finally kill the Purge Trooper.

You pulled your saber away from his gauntlet and while he fumbles, you released a triad of slashes across his body, severing his armor in half until an ember-encrusted gash across his body steals away the last breath in his lungs. The two of you stood there with your mouths agape while sucking in air.

“Well then… that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Cal blurted.

You threw yourself into Cal’s arms, not even as a response to his remark, but simply out of your heart’s content. You took Cal by surprise, he felt your fingers crumpling the back of his jumpsuit as you cling onto him. You drew the strength to pull away and shyly avert your eyes from him.

“Sorry… I just couldn’t help it… I don’t know what came over—”

He ignored your nervous rambling of reasons, he cupped your cheeks and his lips met yours for the very first time. His thumb caressed the fullness of your cheek as his tongue sneakily dips into your mouth. Of course by instinct, you kiss him back—tenderly sucking the bottom of his lip as you held him by the neck.

Even when he has pulled away, Cal followed up another kiss—but tender and short.

“Now isn’t really the best time but… I just wanted you to know it before shit goes down.”

You breathed out a chuckle, “Oh Cal, I know… I know.”

There was an exchange of awkward but endearing smiles, accompanied by snickers in between.

With your heads back in the game, you find your way to the place where the red blip on the map showed.

“There’s the door!” you squealed.

The blast door starts to open, slowly revealing a tall, hulking figure standing on the other end.

Your path was cut off by the Fifth Brother, a gray, hulking brute whose helmet made him resemble a Zeffonian or the guardian in its tombs.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he hummed, brandishing his dual-ended lightsaber.

“Wouldn’t you like to know!?” you snarled back.

Your lightsabers hissed back as you assumed stances. The Fifth Brother remained indifferent.

There appeared to be no room for small talk. The two Jedi faced the Inquisitor head on. Even though the dark warrior was outnumbered, his strength was twice the combination of your strength and Cal’s.

Meanwhile, Cham Syndulla was beginning to get worried why you and Cal were taking so long. He had feared the worst—and it has come true.

The Inquisitor has lured his enemies into the other side of the blast door, leading you into the exact place where you needed to be: the main shield generator chamber. Sitting at the center of the vast room is the pillar coated with electric currents—in other words: your target.

He’s made this duel much trickier. The walkways that lead to the main pillar had no railings, they lead straight into the abyss of the shaft, and it limited your space, thus forcing you to be more tactful with your movements.

“Careful!” Cal cried out.

“I know!”

The Fifth Brother’s fighting tactics was similar to the Ninth Sister’s, however, he moves in a feather-like grace despite his physical appearance—rendering his elusive and dexterous with his attacks. It was too impractical for both of you to keep on charging, it was a given fact that if he saw that strategy, he will just tire both of you out until he emerges victorious.

The Fifth Brother dealt a hit on your shoulder, afterwards he used the Force to push you away from him just so he can target Cal next.

When Cal got a little too close, the Fifth Brother landed his elbow against the boy’s jaw, disorienting him until he staggers backwards. He interrupted his fall by holding onto the edge of the bridge, the Inquisitor stood by the edge and hovered his foot just an inch above Cal’s fingers.

“No, get away from him!” you violently pulled the Inquisitor away from the ledge, making him return his attention to you.

He watched you bring yourself back up to your feet. You winced as you got both feet flat on the floor. The Inquisitor almost gutted you open by the abdomen—luckily, the thick fabric of your jacket only made the strike into a graze but it still burned on your skin. You looked at your arm, deep red blood dribbled and stained your tattered sleeve, and the seared flesh peeked through the slit that the Inquisitor has cut on your clothes.

“Pitiful! Stand up straight, girl!” he roared.

Cal immediately pulled himself up and saw that you weren’t in your best shape, but the Inquisitor had no regard to that and marched right towards you. The Inquisitor’s large hand braced your neck and hoisted you up from the floor, your legs kicked as you struggled for air, your small hands couldn’t loosen his crushing grip around your throat.

“This is the fight I was promised? Pssh, shame.”

Cal’s heart sank the moment the Fifth Brother drove his lightsaber into your abdomen. He didn’t even grant you to dignity to stand up straight as you prepared to face him.

The sensation was excruciating. Your body didn’t know whether to cough to recover from the choke or gasp for oxygen as you felt like you were a balloon that’s been ruptured open and is quickly running out of air.

You found Cal’s eyes, wide and wrought with anguish, and it slowly curdled into a seething rage—a dangerous seething rage that can be weaponized when the tables have turned.

63 notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 4 years ago

Text

The Knick Is An Ugly, Atmospheric Delight

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Most early photographs look haunted. Perhaps it’s because we view these images with the knowledge that the people inside them are already ghosts. In some early photos the subject had actually already expired at the time of their capture. Photography was expensive and the first and best occasion for many families to pay for a portrait was recently after a loved one died.

But some old timey photos are just ineffably creepy beyond any easy explanation. Consider this snapshot of a surgical operating theater in 1890.

Boston City Hospital operating theater, circa 1890 | A. H. Folsom of Roxbury

The experience of seeing primitive surgeons dressed in angelic white, surrounded by seats of mustachioed men wearing their Sunday best and staring down at a lifeless body is so intensely bizarre. Photos like this are dripping with a grim atmosphere that very few documents or art can really capture. One recent entry into the prestige TV canon, however, did a shockingly good job of recreating that eerie sensation and maintaining it over two full seasons.

Both seasons of Cinemax’s The Knick are now available to stream on HBO Max. Cinemax may no longer be in the original content business, but some of its better shows are finally, thankfully making their way to the WarnerMedia streaming venture. In addition to The Knick other recent Cinemax titles arriving to HBO Max include Banshee and Warrior. All three are superb shows and worth checking out, but let us highlight The Knick in particular as one of recent television history’s most underappreciated gems.

The Knick is quite simply one of the most stylish and atmospheric TV shows ever made. Premiering in 2014, it is set in a fictionalized version of the real Knickerbocker Hospital (a.k.a “The Knick”) which was located in Harlem at the turn of the 19th century. The series begins in 1900 and follows Clive Owen’s Dr. John W. “Thack” Thackery, the chief surgeon at The Knick, as he runs the hospital while barely controlling his addiction to injecting cocaine. Other cast members include André Holland as new assistant chief surgeon Dr. Algernon Edwards, Jeremy Bobb as hospital manager Herman Barrow, and Eve Hewson as nurse Lucy Elkins.

The plotting on The Knick from creators and head writers Jack Amiel & Michael Beglerare is tight and effective. The show capably balances multiple story threads at once, from the series- long arc of Thack’s drug abuse and addiction to season-long arcs about infectious diseases spreading throughout New York to episode-long stories presenting patients simply in need of help.

But what sets The Knick apart from fellow medical dramas (and just about everything else) is the imagery involved and the tone it invokes. Watching The Knick is like staring at the uncanny oddness of that old operating theater photo until the people within it start to move around and vacuum blood out of a patient’s open abdomen.

Television has always been seen as a writers’ medium, with the head writer on many shows often serving as de facto “showrunner” and maintaining the visual style. The Knick, however, benefits greatly from the involvement of filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, who produces and directs every episode. Soderbergh’s cameras, era-authentic gaslamp lighting, and superb production design all conspire to create one hell of a visual mood. That’s not even to mention Cliff Martinez’s excellent, synth-heavy score, which one would be forgiven for thinking is the work of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Just about every scene sounds like a tense mission leading up to a boss battle in an NES game.

Thack and his fellow doctors Bertram “Bertie” Chickering (Michael Angarano) and Everett Gallinger (Eric Johnson) are fond of calling the Knick their “circus.” And like any circus, The Knick is only as good as its performers. Thankfully the doctors, nurses, administrators are all more than up to the task.

Despite being only six years old now, The Knick has proven to be quite an acting talent factory. The series was Hewson’s first TV role and the Irish actress is now on her way to modest stardom thanks to roles in The Luminaries and Behind Her Eyes. Jeremy Bobb has since turned up in everything, including Russian Doll, Jessica Jones, and The Outsider. Chris Sullivan, who plays ambulance operator Tom Cleary now plays Toby on This Is Us. And Juliet Rylance portrays Della Street on Perry Mason.

Meanwhile, Owen is a perfect fit as Thack. The actor seems to relish hiding his handsome movie star features behind sweat, matted hair, and a thin mustache. The effect makes Thack physically resemble some kind of familiar early 1900s pugilist archetype more than a Hollywood leading man. The lifelike performance flows out from there.

Holland as a talented Black surgeon extremely unwelcome in a white hospital is also superb. The actor has racked up award nominations for Selma and Moonlight, but he’s never seemed like a more capable protagonist than he does in The Knick, even if his character isn’t technically the lead.

It does at times feel as though this is really Edwards’ story. Which makes sense, given that the most attention is frequently paid to him as a perceived trespasser in a white world. Also: it probably goes without saying, but one should know before watching that The Knick pulls absolutely no punches in its depiction of early 20th century racism. It’s admirably honest storytelling about the time period but it’s also just brutal to sit through. One season 2 plotline even involves a central character becoming a full-on eugenicist.

Thought that understandably all sounds quite bleak, The Knick isn’t just all crushingly real depictions of racism, gore, and nifty camerawork. The show fills an important prestige TV quotient by frequently bringing something new to the table. In the absurdly crowded TV landscape, oftentimes the best thing any show can do is to present something to the audience that they’ve never seen before. The Knick has many such moments…unless you’ve somehow seen someone inject cocaine into Clive Owen’s penis before. The series also has one of the wildest series finale of all time. The finale of season 2 (which wasn’t necessarily a series finale at the time) features one moment that should take even the most veteran drama watcher by surprise.

The show has some sturdy themes to go along with the stylish flourishes and surprising storytelling. In the series first episode, Thack describes what is simultaneously appealing and devastating about healthcare to him, saying: “God always wins. It’s the longest unbeaten streak in the history of the world.”

There is nothing that any doctor or surgeon can do to stop death. The best they can hope to do is forestall it’s arrival. Thack and the doctors at the Knick have done the best they can in this mission. When Thack proudly announces that life expectancy has gone from 39 to 47 in the past 20 years, it’s a darkly funny moment to the modern viewer. But any small medical advancement or deeper understanding of the human body always feels like a sincere victory throughout The Knick – particularly because we see the very literal blood, swat, and tears it takes to achieve them. These drug-addicted surgeons and frightened, shivering patients are indeed ghosts from an stained old-timey photo of an operating theater. They’re also people. And that’s something that the show is able to capture in addition to capturing all the terrifying gore of 20th century medicine.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Back in September of 2020, Soderbergh revealed that he and producer Barry Jenkins were planning to go through with The Knick season 3, with a pilot script having been written. Given that the Hollywood landscape is particularly turbulent at the moment, who knows if that script will ever find a home. Whether or not The Knick gets a third season, its first two will fit in quite comfortably alongside the greats in its new HBO Max home for years to come.

The post The Knick Is An Ugly, Atmospheric Delight appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3dEI37H

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

2 notes · View notes

agallimaufryofoddments · 4 years ago

Text

I’m seeing another copy of the Baccano! DS game novella up for auction and I’m bowled over. If you asked me 3-5 years ago if I thought the novella would ever surface again / whether I, personally, would ever be able to get my hands on it, I would’ve said no way.

(Content under the cut is just me rambling about Baccano! stuff up for auction + a digression on things I’d like to do to celebrate the subscriber increase on /r/Baccano. Put it under cut since it gets long and not everyone needs this taking up space on their dash, haha.)

Though, technically, to be fair... 5-6 years ago I’d never so much as seen or touched the online auction scene and I wouldn’t have known where to start. Did not ever think I’d be the person who’d actually start participating in online auctions. Not in a “I’m not that sort of person” sort of way, more like a “online auctions seem Very Adult (let alone foreign auctions) and would my father kill me if I started dabbling in them (let alone foreign auctions)” sort of way.

Moreover, at the time I never ever thought I’d get my hands on the Baccano! Setting Research Collection...

..and now I own two copies of both the SRC and the timetable DS game novella.

...and another copy of the SRC may or may not be also up for auction, again, whoda thunk.

I am trying to tell myself “no, for God’s sake, spending more money on third copies of the novella and the SRC is not a good idea.”

...On the other hand...

...I’ve been really wanting to plan celebration(s) over on /r/Baccano in honor of our major increase in subscribers since May, and one of the things I think I’d like to do is a giveaway (if not 2-3 giveaways?)--again, talk about things I thought I’d never do in my lifetime.

I’ve been thinking with COVID-19 that the safest type of times to giveaway would be electronic copies of select light novel volumes and manga volumes, since, you know, mailing precautions (+ address concerns, though maybe a PO box would work? Can you tell I’m inexperienced with Internet giveaways?). It would also be the easiest, for obvious reasons (no physical mailing hassle, just “hey, I’ll send you an email with the gift link” depending on the online retailer.)

But man, how special would a giveaway featuring items like the SRC and the novella be? Well, the novella would only be useful to Japanophones (still want to scan one of my copies), come to think of it. And the 8 _gaiden_ novel installments from the DVDs (which I may or may not have found and bought second copies of).

Of course, expenses remain a fundamental issue. The SRC as an individual item is not cheap, and importing goods from Japan is not cheap in general. So that’s another point in the digital books’ favor. A one-day giveaway out of my own pocket != cheap, more than one giveaway != cheap.

I’m probably putting way too many eggs in one basket with all my dreaming, here. /r/Baccano hasn’t had a subscribers celebration post before (because, uh, for the majority of its existence it didn’t have many subscribers to speak of), and I’ve never personally designed/handled/hosted celebratory events before, so I shouldn’t try to go all out or anything. I know I’d like to do a demographics survey at minimum. Maybe plant the seeds of recurring threads (like a biweekly Naritaverse thread). Not sure about contents, but a giveaway would be neat.

Wait, the point of this post was just to say, “Wowee, look at these items surfacing all of a sudden.” Definitely not complaining to see them, I’m just bemused by the change in three years. Hell, the two copies of the novella I have? They both appeared on the market at the same time. I still remember doing a double-take at the double-listings.

And, you know, over the past couple of years, I’ve seen more listings of the Premium DJCD online than I expected. I think there’s at least 3 up for bidding right now? I only have one copy (and thus am worried about losing it), so it’s nice to see there’s more out there than I thought.

Still not over the fact I once upon a time saw the Nice Holystone Zippo Lighter (official merch) up for auction. I would have loved to buy it were it not for the $100 USD equivalent price tag, and, more obstructively, the fact Japan forbids exports/imports of lighters (with maybe an exception if the lighters are dismantled? Regardless, my proxy labelled it off=limits).

I think I saw another copy of the magazine issue with Ronny’s origin story up for auction, recently.

The trading cards are definitely among the most elusive “now you see it, now you don’t” items for sure. I was very lucky to spot and grab what cards I could, and all the cards I bought were (understandably) loose-leaf used copies, i.e. not unopened packs. I swear I blinked once and saw an actual box of cards (not even one of the card packs, but a box with packs) up for sale (not auction, used goods site), but it vanished quickly...

I still kick myself for that. Fingers crossed one of us fans will get our hands on the alleged mini-game(s’) instructions at some point. I’ve tried in the past to crawl various old Japanese blogs/2ch and 5ch forums, etc in the hopes that someone transcribed the instructions online for others’ benefit, but so far, no dice.

Well, this was a very rambling post. Long, at that.

#personal #probably doesn't warrant the fandom tags?#long post

10 notes · View notes

roseyserpents · 5 years ago

Text

Delicate

Summary: after you lose everything you made friends with some Serpents, but you worry your new feelings would ruin what you have

Word count: 2,616

Warnings: mentions of sex (that's about it I think)

A/N: This is a song fic with Taylor Swift's Delicate! this is the first fic I've posted in a few months so it might be pretty bad :|

This ain't for the best

My reputation's never been worse, so

You must like me for me

You used to be at the top of the social ladder in Riverdale High. You walked the halls with Cheryl Blossom and Reggie Mantle and the like. You were a co-captain of the Riverdale Vixens, proudly wearing the uniform and looking down at the people who could only wish to be like you. To be someone everyone knew and was invited to every party. Someone who could get a boyfriend with the snap of her fingers and get everything she wanted just by saying it. You used to be that person. Until your mom lost her job sending you both tumbling from the richest parts of the Northside to Sunnyside trailer park. It was nothing like your old life where you had a closet the size of the entire trailer and any type of food you had a craving for. Now you had a small dresser and two cabinets that held Cheerios, Graham crackers, and ramen noodles. You traded your high and mighty life at Riverdale High for being the new soft kid from the Northside at Southside High. It was as if you were standing on the top rung of the ladder and someone pushed you off, sending you crumbling down to the bottom not even getting a grip of it. Your reputation in Riverdale was ruined.

That's why you were surprised when on your third day in hell a certain Serpent named Fangs Fogarty decided to take a chance on the Northsider that stook out like a sore thumb and invited you to sit with him and his friends at lunch. Fangs didn't have much of an issue with your past but it took the others about three months for them to consider you worthy of being called a Southsider. One of the people who scoffed and rolled their eyes every time you appeared or spoke was Sweet Pea. But he even came around to you eventually, you becoming part of the group. Part of the Southside.

We can't make

Any promises now, can we, babe?

But you can make me a drink

You were finally okay with your new life after a year and a half when the news of Southside high closing traveled around. You were sent a letter in the mail that you would be transferred to Riverdale High effective by Monday of the next week. Riverdale High where everyone who used to adore you would now glare down at you for being one of the transfered students. Riverdale High where you knew there were rumours about what happened to your family and you were had been receiving hate for it. As soon as you read the letter you threw open the door to your trailer and made your way to the Whyte Wyrm, sitting down with a heavy sigh and your face twisted into an expression of rage.

"See the letter?" Sweet Pea asks, appearing in front of you from behind the worn bar counter. You don't reply, simply nodding and drumming your stiff fingers on the wood. "It'll be fine. You already know everyone."

"You don't understand." You say with a humourless smile and a shake of your head, "They're ruthless to anyone with remote connections to the South. I'm not going to be able to walk the halls by myself without getting the shit beaten out of me."

"Serpents wouldn't let that happen." Sweet Pea says referring to you joining four months prior. "That's a promise."

"Might be a hard one to keep." You sigh. "Can you make me a drink?"

As anticipated by you the first two months of being back at Riverdale High was horrid and filled with you getting pushed becoming the students physical and verbal punching bag. They threw words at you about how now you're Southside Serpent scum and no longer one of them. But eventually most of the Northsiders got bored of bullying you all and dropped it, mostly only Bulldogs and Vixens starting feuds. You'd eventually made friends with a few Northside kids you'd never noticed when you went there through Jughead including Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, and Archie Andrews.

"So, I convinced my parents to let me use our lake house for the break." Veronica says as she sits down in the student lounge. "I figured we could all use it as a romantic getaway."

"Sounds great." Betty smiles for her and Jughead.

"You guys have fun with that." You sigh, leaning back in the couch.

"Aren't you going to come Y/n?" Archie asks, everyone turning towards you.

"I would but I don't exactly have someone to go with." You answer.

"Why don't you bring Sweet Pea?" Jughead suggests, raising his hand that rests on Betty's shoulder.

"Sweet and I- we're not like that. We're just friends." You stutter, trying to stop the heat creeping up your necks and onto your cheeks. You didn't want to even admit to yourself you'd grown to like the tall, quick tempered Serpent as more than a friend. The butterflies that flew in your stomach every time you saw your friend scared you because you knew it would change things so you stuffed the feelings way down inside of you and locked them in a box. That nobody was allowed to unlock or even see. Those feelings were off limits and would just turn everything into a mangled knot.

You see Veronica and Betty have a conversation with their eyes before turning towards you. "Bring him, it'll be a friend thing instead of a romantic getaway."

"No, you guys can have your date thing I'll just hang out with the Serpents." You reject, not wanting an extremely awkward week or to ruin theirs.

"Hangout with that Serpent with us." Veronica says with her "I'm not going to stop bugging you until I get my way" look. You sigh and press your lips into a line, looking between the two of your friends before speaking.

"If you guys can convince him to go, I'll go." You finally give immediately regretting it as the two of them look to Jughead.

You'd decided to leave to go to your locker, the others waiting for you to be out of ear shot before talking.

"Y/n and Sweet Pea like each other right?" Archie asks, turning to Jughead.

"Oh yeah definitely." He answers, stuffing a Dorito in his mouth.

"Which means we need them both to come." Veronica adds, quirking a brow as she smiles.

Your stomach flipped at the texts as you realized you just accepted to go on basically a date with Sweet Pea that you were technically forced to do. Still in disbelief the next morning you packed a bag filled with clothes and your basic necessities before walking outside, confused when you see Sweet Pea standing there.

"I was expecting to meet you there." You say, explaining your expression when he quirks a brow at you. He shrugs, hand scratching the back of his neck before falling back to his side.

"I figured I could give you a ride." He says, gesturing to his motorcycle leaning on its stand.

You look to your own propped against your house and look back at his, debating the decisions before walking towards Sweet Pea. He flashes you a small smile before swinging his leg over the seat, you doing the same and wrapping your arms around his torso. He revs the engine before pulling away from the trailer park and makes his way to the lake house using the directions Veronica had sent that morning. You tried to ignore how your heart seemed to stop whenever you remembered how close the two of you were, trying to keep your focus on the passing woods.

After about forty-five minutes you slowed to a stop in front of a house the size of the entire Sunnyside trailer park. The others approached you as you and Sweet Pea gaped at the building.

"You made it!" Veronica smiles, taking back your attention. "You two can set your stuff in your room."

"Room?" You ask, slight panic rising in your chest at the lack of a mention of separate rooms.

"My uh parents only gave me permission to use three so we're all two to a room." She says, not fully convincing you but you say nothing else knowing it would be a pointless conversation as you follow her into the house. "Last door on the right." Veronica says, you nodding and walking up the stairs with Sweet Pea behind you.

"Holy shit." You hear Sweet Pea breathe as you step inside. "This room is as big as four trailers."

There was a queen sized bed on one wall facing a wall made of windows with a door leading to a balcony. Another door sat on the wall next to it leading to a bathroom, the room complete with themed decorations. You both set down your bags and meet the others downstairs, the sun setting below the lake outside as you made small conversation and played a few games.

About an hour after the sun was out of sight you were all sitting in the hot tub with a drink in hand. While the others sat practically on top of one another you and Sweet Pea stayed a safe distance apart sometimes your arms brushing against each others causing your breath to hitch in your throat. You'd easily finished two drinks trying to loosen up and not be so tense when everyone was having fun. You just couldn't stop thinking about every little thing Sweet Pea did from the smile that grazed his lips when the others made jokes to how you could swear he was getting closer to you.

Events seemed to start blurring into each other, you hardly being able to give any of your focus to the others conversation. You hardly realized you were leaning against Sweet Peas side, his arm lazily hung around your shoulders.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." You excuse yourself climbing out of the hot tub.

"Are you okay?" Betty asks, observing your wobbled way of walking.

"I'm fine." You say, waving a hand at her right before slipping, twisting your ankle and landing hard on the stones around the water. You hear multiple people climb out as you groan and turn over on to your back, squinting your eyes.

"Y/n, are you okay?" Sweet Pea asks, helping you sit up as you rub your head.

"Totally." You groan, looking around at the others who give you looks of concern. "I'm probably gonna go uh lie down."

With that you attempt to stand up but wince and lift your leg at the pain from putting pressure on your ankle.

"Need help?" Pea asks, standing up next to you. You nod and he wraps an arm around you, trying to help you walk but you find it awfully hard to hop on one leg in your state. He shakes his head before scooping you up in his arms, carrying you the rest of the way inside. He gets you upstairs, setting you down on the bed but falling over and ending up on top of you, his cheeks burning bright red.

"I uh..." He says, opening and closing his mouth to finish his sentence but no words come out.

Third floor on the West Side, me and you

Handsome, your mansion with a view

Do the girls back home touch you like I do?

Long night, with your hands up in my hair

You look into his eyes, your hand coming up to cup his face before bringing your lips to his. He hesitates a moment before returning the kiss, moving himself fully above you. The once small kiss quickly turns heated, your hands roaming his body. Your lips trail down to his neck, sucking on the soft skin. His hands lace in your hair, tugging on the y/h/c locks occasionally.

That night you did something you'd never imagined would happen between you and Sweet Pea, not even thinking about how many boundaries were bring broken and how you weren't thinking of your delicate friendship.

The next morning when you woke up you immediately felt yourself go hot clammy finding your head on Sweet Peas chest with nothing but the bed sheets separating your skin from his. Your heart tightens in your chest as you back away from him, having to pry his arm from around your waist before retreating to the opposite side of the bed. Sweet Pea groans and opens his eyes as he sits up, the blanket falling off of his upper body as he does so. Your cheeks and ears burn bright red when he looked to you, your eyes holding his for a quick moment before looking down at the mattress.

Is it cool that I said all that?

Is it chill that you're in my head?

'Cause I know that it's delicate

Is it cool that I said all that

Is it too soon to do this yet?

'Cause I know that it's delicate

"Shit..." He mumbles. "Look I um-"

"It's fine." You cut him off in a small voice. You didn't mean to sound so scared but you were utterly terrified of this ruining everything the two of you had. "I just... I don't want this to change anything."

Sweet Pea nods, meeting your eyes again. You don't know why it hurt you to see regret slightly on his.

"I like you, Sweet Pea." You say, everything in you freezing as you say the thing you had barely admitted to yourself. You don't see any reaction on his face prompting you to rant out of nerves. "I thought that if I just ignored it it'd be fine but I can't get you out of my head. I know that you will probably not want to see me after this and I understand that it's just-"

Sweet Pea cuts you off by cupping your face, his thumb running over your cheekbone. Your mouth went dry and you couldn't get any words out as your eyes scanned his face finding something you couldn't quite identify. One of the things on your mind was how you were practically shattering the delicate relationship you had. You felt like you were ruining everything and you just lost one of your closest friends because you were stupid and couldn't keep your emotions to yourself.

"I'm sorry. For all of this." You manage to say.

"Don't be." He says quietly. Neither of you quite understood the reason for being so quiet, maybe not to scare the other away with anything above a whisper. In seemingly slow motion he leans forwards until his lips are on yours soft and warm in a delicate kiss made of rose petals. Everything between you two was delicate from the way his hand gently held your face to whatever your relationship was now. But something that wasn't delicate was the fireworks you were seeing even though your eyes were closed, the colours exploding between the two of you. You both pull away, not getting very far as your foreheads press against each others.

"You're okay with this?" Sweet Pea asks, his breath lightly hitting your face.

"Of course." You smile before connecting your lips again, finally breaking through that delicate phase of your friendship and into a relationship that you'd always thought would never happen in that bed, a kiss being the bond in front of the sunrise over the lake making the whole moment even more perfect and warm and golden.

Cause I know that it's delicate

Delicate

#sweet pea x reader #sweet pea #sweet pea x you #sweet pea smut #sweet pea imagine #riverdale #riverdale fanfiction #riverdale imagine #veronica lodge #jughead jones #archie andrews #toni topaz #cheryl blossom #fangs fogarty #southside serpents #southside high

286 notes · View notes

chanoyu-to-wa · 4 years ago

Text

Nampō Roku, Book 5 (40, 41): the Sō [草] Form of the Display of a Kōro [香爐] (Continued¹).

40) [The first sketch².]

The kaki-ire [書入]³:

① There is no problem about displaying [the utensils in this way] at the beginning [of a gathering], or also afterward⁴.

In the same way, once the preceding [appreciation of] incense has been finished, the tea utensils should be advanced upward [onto the higher kane]⁵.

② If there is no kyōji-tate [香箸立], or, again, when a pair of kō-bashi [香箸]⁶ is not present on the tray, it is best for the hibashi to be in the shaku-tate. Or else, [the hibashi] may be [placed] on the go-sun-ita⁷.

41) [The second sketch.]

The kaki-ire⁸:

③ [The objects on the daisu] may also be displayed like this⁹.

This [shows] the kōro without its covering¹⁰.

④ These two arrangements were both [drawn] on a single sheet of paper [that was not part of the original book]¹¹.

_________________________

◎ The present entry does not seem to have been part of Jōō’s original collection, since it does not have a title. According to a note written in the left margin of the page by Tachibana Jitsuzan, the two sketches were drawn on a single sheet of paper* (which, in itself, is very unusual, since the other sketches are distributed one to a page -- even when a single entry requires multiple sketches), which appears to have been placed into the manuscript (the sheet was not physically attached to Jōō’s document).

The identity of the person responsible for these sketches, and for inserting this page into Jōō’s manuscript, is not known. Nor is the date when this material was added†. The most likely guess, however, is that this was perpetrated by someone acting on behalf of the Sen family (since the details of the arrangement conform with their practices). __________ *The writing on the left side of the second sketch also means that this was a separate sheet of paper that was inserted into (Jōō’s) manuscript, while not originally forming part of it.

†One of the most unusual features of these two sketches is that both arrangements employ an object that is referred to as a “jū-kōgō” [重香合] -- curiously, in addition to a taki-gara-ire [炷空入] (a jū-kōgō already contains a compartment in which the burned-out pieces of incense and gin-yō are discarded, making a separate taki-gara-ire superfluous).

A jū-kōgō consists of a set of three small boxes, and a lid, that stack one upon the other (and is so represented in the sketches): it somewhat resembles an in-rō [印籠]. The uppermost box is used as a container for the incense (with each variety segregated into its own miniature version of the kō-zutsumi [香包]), the middle one holds several gin-yō [銀葉], and the lowest one (which is either made from ceramic, or of lacquered wood lined with a pewter or brass cup, depending on which of the modern schools is using it) functions as a receptacle for the burned-out kyara (which is fused to the gin-yō on which it was heated).

The jū-kōgō, as a combined kōgō (traditionally, the pieces of incense and the gin-yō were placed together in the kōgō) and taki-gara-ire, actually seems to be associated with the Sen family’s style of incense appreciation in this particular context (in the incense schools, while a jū-kōgō is used in specific incense guessing games, it does not seem to have been used when the goal was simply the appreciation of several varieties of kyara incense, as was the focus of the original Shino family’s practice). The Senke style is best known to people today through its inclusion in the Senke shichi-ji shiki [千家七事式] (jointly introduced by Jōshin-sai Sōsa [如心齋宗左; 1706 ~ 1751] and Itō Sōshitsu [一燈宗室; 1719 ~ 1771], this collection of highly-regimented rituals first appeared around the middle of the eighteenth century): this is also true of the other variations introduced in these sketches (such as using the hibashi in place of the koji [火筋] or kyōji [香筋], and the temae habōki in place of the ko-hane that is traditionally used to clean the kōro).

While the Sen family’s method of incense appreciation was probably standardized into something resembling its present form a century or so earlier (most likely by Kōshin Sōsa [江岑宗左; 1613 ~ 1672]), the implication still is that this page was surreptitiously inserted into the manuscript of Book Five as yet another attempt to associate the Sen family’s practices with the way things were done in the classical period.

All of that having been said, it is unclear why, in addition to the jū-kōgō, a separate taki-gara-ire would also be needed (other than to make these two sketches superficially resemble the authentic illustrations that precede and follow them -- since the jū-kōgō always includes a compartment that functions as a taki-gara-ire) -- though this detail amplifies the likelihood that the sketches are spurious.

¹Presumably. As mentioned above, the page containing these two sketches appears to have been inserted into Jōō’s preexisting manuscript by a third party. While, at first glance, it appears to continue on from the previous entry (and is presumed to do so, by Tanaka Senshō*), certain details† show that it is, in fact, unrelated to that entry (and, most likely, inserted here simply because the arrangements superficially resemble that shown in entry 39).

As mentioned above, this entry lacks its own title. ___________ *He argues that these are the two other arrangements mentioned in the title of the previous entry (part 39).

†Such as the fact that while the arrangement shown in entry 39 is explicitly said to be for situations where the appreciation of incense will precede any part of the tea-related activities, such as the sumi-temae, it is mentioned that the two sketches being included here can be used at any time. This latter comment, while typical of Edo period practices, conflicts with the linearly historical focus of Jōō’s intrinsic design: Jōō appears to have been intent on documenting the history of chanoyu through the evolution of its temae, with the purpose being to show where the precedents for his own arrangements (which make up most of the second part of the book) can be found.

²There are, in fact, no titles associated with either of the sketches on this kiri-kami [切紙], or with the page as a whole.

I added the designations of “first sketch” and “second sketch” for the sake of clarity.

³The Japanese texts of the kaki-ire found on the first sketch read:

① kore ha hajime ni te mo nochi ni te mo kurushi-karazu kazari nari, onajiku ha hatsu ni kō sumite, cha-gu kuri-ageru kayoi nari

[コレハ始ニテモ後ニテモ不苦カサリ也、同シクハ初ニ香スミテ、茶具クリ上ルカヨキ也];

② kyōji-tate naku, mata ha bon naka ni kō-bashi naki toki ha, shaku-tate no hibashi aru-beshi, mata go-sun-ita ni arite mo yoshi

[キヤウシ立ナク、又ハ盆中ニ香ハシナキトキハ、杓立ノ火ハシアルヘシ、又五寸板ニアリテモヨシ].

⁴Kore ha hajime ni te mo nochi ni te mo kurushi-karazu kazari nari [コレハ始ニテモ後ニテモ不苦カサリ也].

“This is also at the beginning, and also afterward -- without any problem.”

In other words, the author is saying that the daisu may be arranged in this manner regardless of whether incense will precede the service of tea*, or whether it will come at the end of the goza.

If the kazari is done exactly as shown when tea will precede the appreciation of incense, this means that the tea container will remain above the furo until the goza. This would have struck the chajin of Jōō’s and Rikyū’s period as being highly inappropriate, since it would potentially subject the tea in the chaire to the heat rising from the furo, spoiling it.

In the previous entry, however, the fact that the natsume was in the same place would have no real consequences, since the only fire in the furo would be the shita-bi†, and that would not be enough to warm the kama much more than to evaporate the water from the outside†. __________ *The advocacy of placing the hibashi in the shaku-tate suggests that appreciating incense will take place at the end of the sumi-temae, instead of the host putting the taki-mono into the furo. This accords with the Sen family’s preferred method.

†Consisting of three gitchō [毬杖]. Even over an extended period of time, such a small fire could only make the kama slightly warm to the touch -- before burning out.

‡The same argument could also be made when the appreciation of incense would take place at the end of the sumi-temae. It is when the things on the ten-ita must remain in that way throughout the shoza and naka-dachi that problems could arise -- since, once the kama begins to boil, it necessarily heats the ten-ita, and that would be damaging to the tea. (Of course, by the Edo period, tea shops were selling pre-ground matcha, which would already have degraded to a large extent by the time it came into the customer’s hands, making the damage caused by extraneous heating less apparent to host and guests.)

⁵Onajiku ha hatsu ni kō sumite, cha-gu kuri-ageru kayoi nari [同シクハ初ニ香スミテ、茶具クリ上ルカヨキ也].

“Likewise, when the [appreciation of] incense that precedes [the service of tea] is finished, the tea utensils should be moved upward.”

That is, once the appreciation of incense is finished, the incense tray should be removed (either to the shelf below the chigai-dana, or to the katte). Then, the chaire and dai-temmoku should be moved toward the right -- which, technically, is the higher seat* (though the reason for this is no longer obvious). ___________ *This is because, in the original orientation of the room, the guests were seated on the host’s left, while the katte was located on his right. As a result, moving things toward the right moved them farther away from the guests (and so protected them from any dust that the guests movements might stir up, as well as making them physically less accessible).

The modern explanation (that moving them toward the right moves them closer to the tokonoma) is, at best, forced.

⁶Kō-bashi [香ハシ = 香箸] means the ebony chopsticks used to handle the pieces of kyara incense wood. While the pronunciation kō-bashi is clearly indicated by the text (since hashi [= bashi] is written in katakana), in incense circles the word is pronounced kyō-ji*. As an experienced practitioner of kōdō [香道], Jōō would certainly have been familiar with such details†.

However, this indicates that the person who added this sketch was unfamiliar with the correct, classical usage‡. __________ *This is true whether it is written kyōji [香筋], or kyōji [香箸].

†As we have also seen in chanoyu, such special pronunciations were concocted primarily as a way to distinguish the initiated from those who had not been invited into the inner circle of devotees.

‡The difference in language and idioms suggest that the notes were already present on this piece of paper when it was inserted into Jōō’s collection -- not only is the language of the Edo period, but it seems to be of a different form (dialect?) from the usual kaki-ire that were written by the Enkaku-ji group of scholars (who were primarily using a Kyūshū dialect).

⁷Kyōji-tate naku, mata ha bon naka ni kō-bashi naki toki ha, shaku-tate no hi-bashi aru-beshi, mata go-sun-ita ni arite mo yoshi [キヤウシ立ナク、又ハ盆中ニ香ハシナキトキハ、杓立ノ火ハシアルヘシ、又五寸板ニアリテモヨシ].

“If there is no kyōji-tate, or, again, on occasions when, within the tray, there are no kō-bashi, it is best if the hibashi are in the shaku-tate. Or, again, it is good if they are on the go-sun-ita.”

The abbreviation “shaku-tate” [杓立] is a uniquely Edo period usage, most usually associated with the Sen families. (Rikyū, for example, always used hishaku-tate.)

This kaki-ire seems to contradict the previous entry, where it was said that the hibashi (if made of sawari, bronze, silver, or some other refined metal) should be placed on the left side of the ji-ita (so as to avoid touching the tea-related utensils at the time when incense is being appreciated). The idea (at least in so far as the Shino family was concerned) was to keep incense-related things completely separate from the things that would be used for the service of tea, even when they were occupying the daisu at the same time.

Persons devoted to incense generally feel that metal chopsticks should not come into contact with the pieces of incense (since they can leave a metallic smell)*. This is why ebony chopsticks (or ones made of ivory, which, likewise, does not impart any smell) were preferred. Using the metal chopsticks to handle the pieces of kyara would strike a devotee as lacking in respect -- not only to the incense, but to the guests as well.

Such violations of propriety were considered “wabi” by the followers of Sōtan's school -- though, in that, they only demonstrate that they were as ignorant of the meaning of wabi as they were of many other things that were supposed to have come down to them from Jōō and Rikyū.

Also, while Rikyū placed the hibashi together, with their handles extending toward the right (and so toward the mizusashi), Sōtan and his followers (rather perversely) placed one on either side of the hishaku†, making it difficult to take both of them out simultaneously without disorienting the hishaku. ___________ *Modern people have absolutely no idea how costly -- and so, precious -- imported kyara was in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Far greater than a comparable weight of gold bullion; and, of course, the pieces cut from the original purchase would be destroyed when they were burned.

In the present day, people in Japan can go to Kyūkyodō [鳩居堂], or some such store, and buy a small piece of kyara for several thousand yen -- a fragment large enough to be divided into perhaps 10 pieces, each suitable for burning.

In Jōō’s and Rikyū’s day, however, one had to go to an auction and bid on a substantially larger piece, and such things were luxury items in the extreme -- so much so that they usually became intimately associated with the man who owned them, since it was unlikely that any given individual would own more than one or two varieties. Then, as now, newly imported pieces were tested and, usually, associated with one of the varieties selected in ancient times, and so classified accordingly. (I remember when I first went to Kyōto, and visiting a utensil shop on the corner next to the Daitoku-ji. After speaking with him for several hours, the old man who owned the shop invited me up to the second floor see some of his personal treasures, among which was a small box containing 5 or 10 fragments of kyara, which he said were the most precious things he owned. These had been handed down in his family for several hundred years, and small pieces had been cut off and used -- reverently -- ever so often, when entertaining especially important guests, guests who would be able to appreciate them. Such behavior is probably unknown today.)

†The fact that the hibashi are routinely shown arranged in this way in the Nampō Roku shows how pervasive Sōtan’s style of chanoyu had become by Tachibana Jitsuzan’s day.

⁸The kaki-ire written on the second of the two sketches read:

③ kaku no gotoki mo kazaru, kore ha hadaka kōro nari

[如此モカサル、コレハハダカ香爐也];

④ kō ni kazari kiri-kami ichi-mai nari

[香ニ飾切紙一枚也].

⁹Kaku no gotoki mo kazaru [如此モカサル].

“Also like this [the things on the daisu may be] arranged.”

¹⁰Kore ha hadaka kōro nari [コレハハダカ香爐也].

“This is a naked kōro.”

That is, a kōro displayed without its shifuku, or lid.

¹¹Kono ni-kazari kiri-kami ichi-mai nari [此ニ飾切紙一枚也].

“These two arrangements are [drawn on] one separate leaf of paper.”

Kiri-kami ichi-mai [切紙一枚] means a single, separate piece of paper -- that was not part of Jōō’s original collection of sketches*, but was inserted later. For two sketches to appear on the same page is very unusual for the Nampō Roku -- which is why Jitsuzan felt it was worthy of being commented upon.

This statement does not seem to be found in the Enkaku-ji manuscript (at least as it was published in the Sadō ko-ten zen-shu [茶道古典全集]) -- which does not make it suspect; but, rather, show that Jitsuzan was intent on normalizing things that were not, in fact, part of the original collection of teachings, when preparing his presentation version of the text.

The sense of inviolability that pervades everything found in the Nampō Roku (ultimately, even to the kaki-ire that are known to have been added after Jitsuzan presented his copy to the Enkaku-ji) arose from this kind of attitude -- making it ever more difficult to discuss the contents of the Nampō Roku from the perspective of Jōō’s and Rikyū’s chanoyu.

This kaki-ire was added by Tachibana Jitsuzan himself. ___________ *The original collection seems to have been bound into a notebook, which seems to have been Jōō‘s way of insuring the integrity of the collection -- whether that consisted of sketches or text.

——————————————–———-—————————————————

◎ Analysis of the Arrangement.

The two sketches seem to feature the two trays most closely associated with the machi-shū chajin -- the naka maru-bon [中丸盆] and the naka hō-bon [中方盆].

The first sketch features the former.

The objects arranged on the naka-maru-bon are (from right to left), the jū-kōgō, a meibutsu kōro (this is why it is tied in its shifuku), and a taki-gara-ire*, with the pair of kyōji (ebony chopsticks used to handle the incense) placed in front. The kōro is displayed, as a mine-suri [峰摺り] on the first kane to the right of the central kane.

Because the habōki is displayed on the go-sun-ita, it seems necessary to display the hibashi in the shaku-tate -- though both of these reflect Edo period modifications that arose with the Sen family.

According to the text, after the appreciation of incense has been finished (and the incense tray removed from the room), the chaire and dai-temmoku should be moved toward the right.

The second sketch shows the arrangement of the incense utensils on the naka hō-bon.

In this sketch, only the incense tray is displayed on the ten-ita.

The things on the tray are (from the right) the jū-kōgō, kyōji-tate, hadaka kōro (that is, a kōro displayed without its lid or shifuku), and a taki-gara-ire, with the ko-hane [小羽] (the special miniature habōki used to clean the incense burner) arranged in front. Notice that the kōro overlaps the central kane by one-third†.

In this case, if the service of tea will follow the appreciation of incense, the chaire (and perhaps the dai-temmoku as well) will be brought out and arranged on the ten-ita immediately after the incense tray has been removed from the room. ___________ *While the objects on the tray are not named in the sketch that is found in the Enkaku-ji (perhaps for good reason), in Shibayama Fugen’s teihon [底本] they are clearly marked as being a jū-kōgō (on the right) and taki-gara-ire (on the left side of the kōro).

†Tanaka Senshō adds that the jū-kōgō should also come into contact with a kane. Though he also adds that (contrary to what is shown in the sketches) the ko-hane should rest in front of the taki-gara-ire and the kōro -- and that the tray should be a nagabon (even though even the smallest of the nagabon that were in used during the early sixteenth century would be larger than what is shown). Since he is the only commentator to mention these things, and since they are not substantiated by any of the versions of the sketch, it might be good to take these assertions with a grain of salt.

3 notes · View notes

that-house · 4 years ago

Text

Okay here’s some sexy worldbuilding I’ve been doing while trying to fall asleep/in the shower/on bike rides.

Setting is like Theros/Ancient Greece with a whole bunch of city-states with their own diverse cultures. There are some monsters, but I’ll get to that later.

One city-state gained a pretty big advantage over its neighbors. It’s now called the Empire, controls a hefty portion of the world, and is still expanding.

The Empire’s power comes from the Emperor’s pet gods. In technical terms, they’re people who ascended beyond three dimensions, so they exist outside of and around standard space.

Gods can project their consciousness into constructs called Hands (which are basically just copies of their original bodies, constructed from organic material near the site of their creation).

The Hands are independently conscious, possessing the exact mind of the god that made them at the time of their creation. In other words, they function independently, though the god can refresh their mind to bring it up to date and can influence matter around their Hands when they need to.

What this means is that any natural process that the god understands, they can perform for their Hands at will, such as cause lightning to strike a point, fold space to teleport their Hand, cause plants to grow faster, move matter around, make objects basically indestructible, etcetera. In other words, each Hand is like a D&D Cleric who gets their power from a larger extra-dimensional version of themself rather than from a separate entity.

Thanks to the powers of the gods, Hands have essentially limitless strength and are more or less immortal/invincible. Even if one is killed, another can be made using the organic matter of their killer. As such, conflict between the gods is resolved through secrets and schemes.

A god has basically infinite power, but a limited attention span divided between as many as fifty Hands as well as divine politics. The gods exist as chains of identity wrapped around each other, and as such need to spend much of their focus on keeping secrets from each other.

There are four gods:

Elder: the oldest, the most efficient, and the most knowledgeable. Also the most boring. Uses minimal effort. Serves as an in-between for the people and the Emperor. Hands take the form of eyes and brain set into a diamond skull, and he has a temple containing a Hand in each city of the Empire. Understands natural processes enough that he can improvise just about anything, though he prefers to use his tried-and-tested most efficient options. The simplicity of his Hands means he has the most of them (about 70).

Issa: the second oldest. Works with living things, such as plants, animals, and diseases. Her Hands roam the Empire helping people fight off disease and injury, and painlessly killing those that would take too much focus to save. Her Hands travel with a copy of her pet wolf. If her wolf dies, she just makes another copy. Controls life mostly by using its natural controls (hormones, instincts, etc), just for the challenge.

Zyre: the third oldest. God of war and thunder. Super dramatic. Always appears ina flash of lightning, wears armor and wields a shield/spear even though he doesn’t need them. His Hands break tough sieges or infiltrate cities ahead of time. Wants to kill Elder because Elder is an asshole. Has a specific set of practiced and flashy tricks that he gradually expands upon when he has time. Very busy, as his Hands are everywhere and constantly in need of attention. His secret isn’t that he wants to kill Elder (that’s out in the open but viewed as impossible), it’s that he’s on the tail of a 4th dimensional weapon that could actually do that.

Nat: the youngest. Dreams big. Trying to achieve total global awareness (most “miracles” are worked locally through Hands, Nat wants to be able to do anything at any time without a Hand in place). Working to understand the butterfly effect so that he can create volcanoes and such with no effort. Also trying to separate his awareness from the flow of time in order to foresee the future. Too much of his focus is on studying the world to keep secrets.

The Emperor seems to only exist in the physical realm, though he has god-level power. The idea that I’m toying with is that he is the only real god, and the other four are creations of his imagination that he uses to interact with his people and to explore new points of view, though I’m not sure if I’m using this idea.

I think the Emperor has a sibling with similar powers, who created monsters (off-brand Hands) and the god-killing weapon Zyre is looking for. I haven’t fully thought it out yet. The sibling doesn’t care for their Hands much, releasing them as experiments into the world to kill or be killed, granting miracles specific to that monster (like siren song forcibly moving people toward the siren). Maybe it’s a game between them and the Emperor, I don’t know.

Have any ideas? Feel free to reblog and tell me them!

#worldbuilding #4d gods

4 notes · View notes