#I cannot elaborate on basically anything here yet

[jojo-schmo]

[The Forgotten Land Roleswap: Extra]

The stranger from another land has proven a valuable and welcome presence in the Beast Pack since Clawroline allowed him entry. Leongar can’t deny that. But even though he trusts the Queen with all his heart, he can’t help but quietly wonder about some things he’s noticed…

[theraprism]

Class subtext thoughts on Gatsby, Flatland, and Bill.

So broadly speaking, we've had some idea of what Bill's home dimension was like since the 2015 in-character AMA, when the idea that it was nearly (if not fully) identical to the world of Flatland was first introduced. During the Weirdmaggedon 4-parter, we finally learned that Bill had obliterated his home dimension and called it liberation. (From what I recall the fan concensus on this information was that it was a malicious act of evil on Bill's part -- up until the Book's release, I don't think the idea that it was a tragedy or accident ever had much ground to stand on.) Journal 3 picked up on this again when it established the existence of Exwhylia, which (importantly!) also reinforced the hierarchical nature of existence that Flatland presents.

I'll own up to the fact I've never read Flatland myself (it is on the neverending list of classics that I still haven't gotten to yet) and will be instead be relying mainly on Wikipedia and Sparknotes clones for this analysis, but the good news is that canon Gravity Falls materials have given us the basics of how Bill's home dimension operated at this point, and so knowledge of the work seems less required and moreso recommended. Similarly to Gatsby (the book as well as the character). More on that later.

To be more specific, the important info that Hirsch has given us about Euclydia is that it was repressive in the extreme. The exact ways that it maintained this are left up to the imagination, to an extent (e.g. there is no evidence of the upper echelons of Euclydia carrying out public executions against the lower classes, as there are in Flatland), but the Book does directly pull an image from Flatland that illustrates the class hierarchy there.

Since Flatland was written originally as a satire of the stratification in Victorian society, the work goes to great lengths to specify and elaborate on the different social roles of each shape (for example, women as lines, though the gender stratification isn't relevant in Bill's case). More relevant is the way that the work considers upward mobility through generations, and the fact that isoceles triangles (working class) are considered among the lowest beings in existence, just above irregular shapes. Bill has been referred to and drawn inconsistently as both isoceles and equilateral, but based on what we learn from Exwhylia in Journal 3, it's possible that this distinction is not relevant in the GF multiverse's reinterpretation of Flatland. See:

I'm sure a part of this reduction of the hierarchy in the original Flatland has to do with the work needing to be at least somewhat accessible to younger readers, but it does textually ensure that, regardless of the specific details of Bill's geometry, he comes from a background where, in spite of his exceptional ability to see the third dimension, he saw those around him receive resources more freely. His singling out of irregular quadrilaterals reads to me as a form of internalized classism; he needs someone to punch down to.

And earlier:

He describes his regular shape as an out-and-out "power". Bill explicitly carries with him the classist ideals and values of his home dimension despite its destruction. The way he internalizes different ideas about himself and who he is is probably a subject for another post, but the point is that these qualities Bill is emphasizing aren't simply a matter of arrogance. Bill is trying to sell himself as a gentleman, a respectable individual from an upper-middle class position.

This is where Gatsby becomes relevant, because The Great Gatsby is all about a man who wants more than anything to cross the threshold of inborn greatness and become a true upperclassman. Bill appealing to his innate biological qualities as evidence for his own greatness relates back to the notion that such greatness is an ontological trait which cannot be given, but can also not be taken away. Note what he explicitly says here about the themes of class in Gatsby:

If you walk up to any college English professor and ask them what Gatsby has to say about the American Dream, I really do not think you are going to hear them say the word "bittersweet". The American Dream is a false idol and illusion; Gatsby himself is utterly miserable and meets a miserable end. There is nothing "sweet" about it.

At the same time, it makes sense that Bill would describe it as bittersweet, because for all his powers of sight, Bill cannot imagine a future where he is happy. Throwing crazy parties every night (for Gatsby at his home, for Bill on the Earth's remains), staring at an unreachable desire far out in the distance -- that's his end goal. He emerged from a position where he was repressed and since then his life has been a steady climb/crawl in the direction of power and control. Both Gatsby and Bill seek to reclaim a lost sense of fulfillment and purpose through this ascent, and both seek to become untouchable as gods are, but both are brought down in the end due to the consequences of their own actions, stemming directly from the violence they bring into their worlds of their own volition. In case you've forgotten, or if you've never read it, Gatsby's money is not clean. We may not see Bill use money, but his social currency is not clean either.

I think it's telling that Flatland can be understood as it relates to Bill's character through summary, but with Gatsby, there is so much subtle incentive to actually read the thing. From the GIF originally posted by Hirsch that I included at the top of the post to the PDF link on ThisIsNotAWebsiteDotCom.com to the fact that the gag in the Book itself goes on for multiple pages when it could have ended after one or two, the intertextuality is paramount. I think that's really cool. It's rare to see intertextuality this well-considered in genre fiction, and I think it makes the whole analytical process more fun.

[periwinkla]

1-4 ending JP -> ENG comparison

Keep in mind: -Notes are in small text -The / is meant to separate paragraphs (I'll use it when it gets too visually messy) Disclaimer : I only studied Japanese for a little while. AA dialogue is pretty simple though. Also English isn't my native language either. Feel free to correct me on anything wrong here. Also note that I'm not trying to make the translations sound natural, I'm mostly trying to explain what the words are saying, sometimes I'll be more literal than others. Translation =/= localization.

Phoenix 終わったな、御剣‥‥。 Owatta na, Mitsurugi... So, it's finally over, Edgeworth.

Edgeworth ‥‥‥‥‥‥ … 成歩堂。 Naruhodou. Wright.

Phoenix ん？ N? Yeah?

Edgeworth: ‥‥‥‥‥‥ … ‥‥その‥‥、 なんと言えばいいのか‥‥。 ...Sono... nan to ieba ii no ka... I… I'm not sure how to say this.

Maya そういうときはね。 “ありがとう”って言うんだよ！ Sou iu toki wa ne. "Arigatou" tte iun da yo! I know! I know! Try "thank you."

Edgeworth そ、そうなのか。 So, Sou na no ka. I… I see.

‥‥‥‥‥‥ …

あ、ありがとう、成歩堂。 A, Arigatou, Naruhodou. Th-thank you, Wright.

Phoenix ど、どういたしまして。 Do, douitashimashite. Y-you're welcome. They sound fairly stiff here. Phoenix's response isn't exactly formal by Japanese standards... I'd say it's casual/formal, but the stuttering makes it stiffer, I feel. Also compared to how they behave in 3-5, I think it's very different. Will elaborate in a future post when I get to analyze that dialogue.

Maya うーん‥‥イマイチ、 ハリアイがないなあ‥‥。 Uun... imaichi, hariai ga nai naa.. I think you could have done better than that!

Edgeworth ム‥‥スマン。 こういうの、ニガテで‥‥。 Mu... Suman. Kouiu no, nigate de... Oof! S-sorry… I'm not good at this sort of thing.

Maya もう！　ダメだなあ、御剣検事は。 Mou! Dame da naa, Mitsurugi Kenji wa. You got a lot to learn, Edgeworth!

Phoenix （‥‥やれやれ‥‥） (...Yareyare...) (Dear, dear…) (this is not at all important but I noticed it's an expression Phoenix uses a lot: yare yare...)

Gumshoe うおおおおおおおおおおおおおっ！ Uoooooooooooooh! Whoooooooooooooop!

さすがッス！　自分が見込んだ だけのコトはあったッス！ Sasuga ssu! Jibun ga mikonda dake no koto wa atta ssu! Amazing, pal! You pulled through just like I thought you would!

糸鋸　圭介。この恩は一生、 わすれないッス！ Itonoko Keisuke. Kono on wa isshou, wasurenai ssu! I'll never forget this! I owe you one, pal.

今夜は、パーッとやるッス！ 自分がゴチソウするッス！ Kon'ya wa, paa tto yaru ssu! Jibun ga gochisou suru ssu! And tonight, let's party! Dinner's on me!

今月から給料がちょっ��り 下がったッスが、気にしねッス！ Kongetsu kara kyuuryou ga choppiri sagatta ssu ga, ki ni shine ssu! Yeah, my salary went down a bit this month… But who cares!

Maya ほらほらほら、御剣検事。 イトノコ刑事を見ならうの！ Hora hora hora, Mitsurugi Kenji. Itonoko Keiji wo minarau no! See, Mr. Edgeworth? You should take a lesson from Detective Gumshoe!

あんな感じにやると、カンシャの キモチが伝わるんだよ！ Anna kanji ni yaru to, kansha no kimochi ga tsutawarun da yo! That's how you say "thank you"!

Edgeworth ‥‥ム。 な‥‥なるほど。 ...Mu. Na.... Naruhodo. Mmm. I… I see. Note how he basically says Wright's butchered JP name, which is a pun for the game (it means 'I see' / 'I understand') but it also means that the gap between them is somewhat getting narrower. It could just be for comic relief, but...note that when he attempts to thank him the first time, he calls out to him with 'Naruhodou', but now on his second attempt he says 'Naruhodo' before trying to thank him. Unfortunately the subtletly and ambiguity of this cannot be localized. By the way, he also uses 'Naruhodo' before the final trial in T&T, will elaborate on in at a later date. (I don't know whether there are other times other than these two, I haven't analyzed enough transcripts yet)

コホン。 Gohon. ahem

う、うおおおおおおおおおっ！ U, Uooooooooh! Whooooooooooooop! This is, and I'm completely serious here, one of my most favourite scenes. Note the difference between Edgeworth's and Gumshoe's shouts: in the JP, 4 'O's are missing in Edgeworth's shout, while in ENG, 1 'O' is missing - the localization was careful enough to add that tiny difference, and although I am not sure why they reduced it to one single 'O', it's still interesting they differentiated them all the same.

‥‥‥‥‥‥ …

ダメだ。‥‥ヤッパリ、 私なんか‥‥。 Dame da. ...Yappari, Watashi nanka... I… I feel foolish. literal translation: No, that's not right. As I thought, / someone like me... *'someone like me...' : the underlying message seems to be: 'As I thought, something like this/acting like this wouldn't fit someone like me'

Maya まあまあ、少しずつ 慣れていきましょうよ。 Maa maa, sukoshi zutsu narete ikimashou yo. Don't worry. Take it a little at a time. You'll get used to it.

more literal translation: Come on, come on, little by little / let's get used to it! It seems to me Maya says it in a way to mean something like they'll do it together, so he shouldn't worry - implying he's not alone (anymore), again Japanese can be subtle so I'm not sure, but considering Maya's empathic character, I'd say that's what she meant. In any case, she's trying to encourage him. Very sweet! Phoenix （こんなスナオな御剣を 　���るの、１５年ぶりだな‥‥） (Konna sunao na Mitsurugi o miru no, juugo-nen buri da na...) (It's been fifteen years since I've seen Edgeworth this… unguarded.)

more literal translation: It's been 15 years... since I've seen Edgeworth (act) this honest (with his feelings)... Phoenix is saying that it's been a long time since he's seen Edgeworth be honest/sincere with his feelings/upfront with his feelings. The localization gets the meaning across very nicely. Lotta おっ、いたいた！ O, ita ita! Hey, y'all!

Maya あ、ナツミさん！ A, Natsumi-san! Lotta!

Lotta いやー、アンタら。 カッコよかったでー。 Iya, antara. Kakkoyokatta de. Y'all were great in there!

Phoenix ありがとうございます。 Arigatou gozaimasu. Thank you!

Lotta おッ。ニイちゃん。 無罪、おめでと！ Oo, Niichan. Muzai, omedetou! Yo, Edgeworth! Congrats!

Edgeworth ム‥‥お、おおきに。 Mu... o, ookini. Er… thank y'all very much. ookini = 'thank you a lot' in Kansai dialect (which is the dialect Lotta uses) I find it adorably funny that first he tries to imitate Gumshoe to thank people and now he's trying Lotta's ways...

Lotta ウチには、最初から わかってたんやで！ Uchi ni wa, saisho kara wakattetan ya de! I knew you were innocent from the start, of course.

あんたが無罪だ、ってなあ！ Anta ga muzai da, tte naa! Just look at you! You wouldn't stick your hand in the cookie jar even if no one was there! The ENG adds a lot here which wasn't in the original. in the JP, she basically only says: 'From the start, / I knew! / That you were innocent!!' (I think this is mostly done to convey Lotta's character, since the dialect wouldn't have been enough here to convey that I believe)

Edgeworth ‥‥たしか、初日の 検察側の証人だったような‥‥。 ...Tashika, shonichi no kensatsu-gawa no shounin datta you na... You… were the witness on the first day of the trial, weren't you.

Lotta まま。まあまあ。 細かいこと、気にしなさんな！ Ma ma. Maa maa. Komakai koto, ki ni shinasan na! Yeah, well, let bygones be bygones, eh?

Phoenix そういえば、ナツミさん‥‥、 今は、何を‥‥？ Sou ieba, Natsumi-san..., Ima wa, nani o...? Speaking of which, what are you doing now, Lotta?

Lotta おー、今か？ 大学にもどったで。 Oo, ima ka? Daigaku ni modotta de. Who, me? Aww, I went back to college.

スクープカメラマンにな��夢は、 もうオシマイや。 Sukūpu kameraman ni naru yume wa, mō oshimai ya. I gave up trying to be an investigative photographer pretty quick.

Phoenix そうなんですか‥‥。 Sou nan desu ka... Really? That's too bad.

Lotta あれ？ Are? Huh?

Phoenix ？ ?

Lotta あそこにいるの、公園の マンジュウ屋、ちゃうか？ Asoko ni iru no, kōen no manjū-ya, chau ka? Isn't that the hotdog guy from the park?

Phoenix ‥‥え？ ...E? Huh?

Larry ‥‥死ぬんだぁ‥‥。 ...Shinun daa... It's over, Nick! My life is over!

Phoenix な、なんでおまえが そんなカオしてるんだよ！ Na, nande omae ga sonna kao shiteru nda yo! Wh-why the sad face, Larry!? What happened now!?

Larry 成歩堂ぉ‥‥。 オレ、そろそろ死ぬからさぁ。 Naruhodouo... Ore, sorosoro shinu kara saa. Oh, Nick… I'm not long for this world. (Just funny how he drags Naruhodou's name out in a wail here.)

Phoenix い、いやいやいや。 I, iya iya iya. Uh… you don't look sick… literally like 'n, nonono' but meaning something more like 'wa, wait wait wait' - it sounds like he's about done with Larry's histrionics and possibly shaking his head in denial...

Larry カズミがよお‥‥パリ 暮らすって言い出して‥‥、 Kazumi ga yoo...Pari kurasu tte iidashite... It's Kiyance! Sh-she's goin' to live in Paris! Paris, Nick!

置いていかれちまったんだよぉぉ！ Oiteikarechimattan da yooo! She's leaving me behind!!!

Phoenix （‥‥やれやれ‥‥） (...Yare yare...) (Larry, Larry…) I noticed Phoenix uses this expression a lot. It's quite funny to me, reminds me of an old man that is about done with his youngings' shenanigans.

Larry お。御剣。いたのか。 O. Mitsurugi. Ita no ka. Yo, Edgey! There you are!

Edgeworth ム。そりゃまあ、いる。 Mu. Sorya maa, iru. Um, yes, here I am.

Larry おめでとうな、御剣。 ‥‥コレ、オレからのお祝い！ Omedetou na, Mitsurugi. ...Kore, ore kara no oiwai! Congrats, Edgey! Here… a little gift from me in celebration!

Edgeworth “お祝い”？　‥‥めずらしいな。 "Oiwai"? ...Mezurashii na. Celebration? That's unusual for you.

Gumshoe お。アンタも後で来るッス！ ゴチソウするッス！ O. Anta mo ato de kuru ssu! Gochisou suru ssu! Harry Butz! You come along tonight too! My treat, pal!

Larry は、はあ。 楽しみにしてます。 Ha, haa. Tanoshiminishitemasu. Huh? Uh… thanks! Looking forward to it! （オイ、成歩堂） (Oi, Naruhodou) (Yo, yo, Nick!)

（アイツ、オレを取り調べした 　刑事だぜ‥‥） (Aitsu, ore o toriirabeshita keiji da ze...) (That's the suit that questioned me!)

（ゴチソウって、まさか 　カツ丼じゃねえだろうな‥‥） (Gochisōtte, masaka katsudon ja nee darou na...) (When he says treat… that's not police-talk for prison food, right? Right?)

Phoenix そ、それはないと思うぞ。 So, sore wa nai to omou zo. Uh, I think you'll be fine, Larry.

Edgeworth ‥‥成歩堂。 ...Naruhodou. Wright…

Phoenix ん？　どうした？ N? Doushita? Yeah? What's up?

Edgeworth ‥‥金が入っているぞ。 矢張がくれた封筒。 ...Kane ga haitte iru zo. Yahari ga kureta fūtō. That envelope that Larry gave me. It's got money in it.

Phoenix そりゃそうだろ。 “お祝い”だからな。 Sorya sou daro. "Oiwai" dakara na. Well, yeah. That's not that strange. People give money away to celebrate sometimes.

Edgeworth ３８００円だ。 3800 en da. It's $38.00, Wright.

Phoenix ‥‥また、ずいぶんハンパな 金額だな‥‥。 ...Mata, zuibun hanpa na kingaku da na... Huh. What a weird amount. I mean, it's not a little, but it's not a lot either.

‥‥‥‥‥‥ …

３８００円？ 3800 en? $38.00 exactly?

Maya ‥‥ななな、なるほどくん！ ...Na na na, Naruhodo-kun! N-N-Nick!

小学校のころ、御剣検事が盗まれた 給食費って、たしか‥‥！ Shōgakkō no koro, Mitsurugi-Kenji ga nusumareta kyūshoku-hi tte, tashika...! Wasn't that exactly the amount of lunch money that was stolen from Mr. Edgeworth in school!?

Phoenix さ‥‥３８００円‥‥？ Sa... 3800 en...? $38…!

ままま、まさか‥‥ Ma ma ma, masaka.... No… (I think the shock-induced stuttering in this line might be meant to parallel Maya's previous one. Cute!)

‥‥‥‥まさかああああッ！ 矢張、お前ェェェェッ！ ...Masakaaaaa! Yahari, omaeeee! No!!! Larry, it was you!!! There is a fun pun lost in translation here. Larry's JP name, Yahari, means 'after all/as expected/as I thought' - so Larry's name can be intended both as a vocative and a figure of speech here. "After all, it was you!" = "Larry, it was you!" The phrases basically overlap in JP, as if he were saying them at the same time.

Edgeworth 何をイロめきたっている？ 成歩堂。 Nani o iromekitatte iru? Naruhodou. What are you so surprised about, Wright?

Phoenix え？ E? Huh?

Edgeworth たしかに矢張は、あの日 カゼで学校を休んでいた。 Tashika ni Yahari wa, ano hi Kaze de gakkou wo yasunde ita. Larry was absent that day from school, right?

だが、だからといって 犯人でないという理由にはならん。 Daga, dakara to itte hannin de nai to iu riyuu ni wa naran. But that doesn't automatically rule him out as a suspect.

Phoenix え！ What?

Edgeworth １５年前の、あの日。 15 nen mae no, ano hi. Think back to that day, fifteen years ago.

休んだはいいが、タイクツだった 矢張は、学校に来てみたのだろう。 Yasunda hai ga, taikutsu datta Yahari wa, gakkou ni kite mita no darou. Larry took the day off, but he was bored, he came in to school anyway.

そして、まあ‥‥、ちょっと 手が伸びてしまったんだろうな。 Soshite, maa..., chotto te ga nobite shimatta ndarou na. Then he saw the money lying there… and the rest is history.

Larry 伸びちまったんだろうねえ、 イヤハヤ、これが‥‥。 Nobichimattan darou nee, iyahaya, kore ga... I never was good at History! Heh… The joke is a bit different here, Edgeworth jokes that Larry's hand must have 'stretched out' , but I suppose 'slipped' is more apt. And Larry is like 'Yeah, guess it must have slipped!' The translation would be something like: Edgeworth: And, well, / his hand must have ended up slipping (must have slipped). Larry: Yeah, guess it must have slipped, / eheh, well...

Phoenix ‥‥‥‥‥‥ …

御剣‥‥まさかお前、 ‥‥知ってたのか？ Mitsurugi... Masaka omae, ...Shitteta no ka? Edgeworth… you didn't know, did you?

Edgeworth ‥‥アヤシイとは思っていた。 ...Ayashii to wa omotteita. I suspected.

literal translation: I thought it was suspicious. (I find it endearing that he suspected but didn't say anything - despite how he acts, Edgeworth is really a softie most times, even towards Larry who he has the rightful urge to murder more often than not) いつもの矢張なら、 お前をかばうのはオカシイ。 Itsumo no Yahari nara, Omae o kabau no wa okashii. I just couldn't picture Larry protecting you like he did that day.

みんなといっしょになって、 ここぞとばかり責めたてただろう。 Minna to issho ni natte, Kokozo to bakari semetate daro. Everyone else was saying you did it. The whole class was against you, remember?

Phoenix ‥‥うむむむむ。 ... Umumumumu. Yeah… too well. Phoenix's blabbering is hilarious here. He's in utter denial. Like he's nodding at what he's saying but he's refusing the knowledge to enter his brain.

Edgeworth 成歩堂。もしかしたら お前は知らないかもしれないが、 Naruhodou. Moshikashitara Omae wa shiranai kamoshirenai ga, Wright, you may not know this, but we used to have a saying back in school.

この男は、こう言われていたんだ。 “事件のカゲにヤッパリ矢張”と。 Kono otoko wa, kou iwarete ita nda. "Jiken no kage ni yappari Yabari" to. "When something smells, it's usually the Butz." The saying actually means : 'In the shadow of an incident/trouble, after all, there is Larry' There is the usual pun 'yappari Yahari' so I think the localization of the saying and his name was done very well to render the original meaning.

Phoenix そのコトバなら、イヤというほど 思い知らされてるよ！ Sono kotoba nara, iya to iu hodo omoishirasa reteru yo! I know, I know. I would translate this more to: 'If you're saying that, why didn't you tell me!'

Edgeworth ‥‥いやあ、成歩堂。まさか、 キミが気づいていなかったとは。 ...Iyaa, Naruhodou. Masaka, Kimi ga kizuite inakatta to wa. Really, Wright. I'm surprised you didn't figure it out! '...Why, Wright. It can't be, / you hadn't realized.' This is so funny to me, in both versions. In JP it sounds a bit more teasing and cocky, but still. It sounds like to Edgeworth, shouting objection and reprimanding his classmates and teacher as a 9 year old was no big deal. So he didn't care to mention, thought Phoenix would figure it out. If not, no big deal. To Phoenix, it was life-changing. Phoenix is having a (mid) life crisis.

Larry 意外だねこりゃあ。 Igai da ne koryaa. Well, this is sure an unexpected turn of events, eh?

Phoenix ‥‥御剣。 ... Mitsurugi. Edgeworth…

Edgeworth ん？ N? Hmm?

Phoenix 言えよ！ Ieyo! You should have told me! Here it may look like a whole different thing but it's mostly that there is no other natural way to translate this. 'Ieyo' is just the imperative of the verb 'ieru', 'to tell'. It kinda gives the feeling of 'But (then) tell me, dammit!'

Maya まあまあ、なるほどくん。 もう１５年前のコトでしょ？ Maa maa, Naruhodo-kun. Mou juugo-nen mae no koto desho? Now, now, Nick. It was fifteen years ago!

これって“じこう”ってヤツ だよね？　御剣検事。 Kore tte "jikou" tte yatsu da yo ne? Mitsurugi Kenji. Don't you think the "statute of limitations" has run out, Mr. Edgeworth?

Edgeworth そういうこと、だな。 Souiu koto, da na. I'd say so, yes.

Larry そういうことだよ。 Souiu koto da yo. There you have it! In JP version, I found it funny how Larry parrots Edgeworth's words. 'Souiu koto' means 'it's like that'.

Phoenix ‥‥まったく‥‥。 ...Mattaku,,, Grr…

お前らにカンシャして弁護士に なったぼくの立場はどうなるんだ？ Omaera ni kansha shite bengoshi ni natta boku no tachiba wa dou narun da? Where does that leave me!? I became a defense attorney because of what you two did!

Edgeworth 感動的なまでのお人よし、 といったところだろうか。 Kandō-teki na made no o-hito yoshi, to itta tokoro darou ka. Well, I'd call you a goody-two-shoes to the extreme.

Larry とんだお調子モノ、とも 言えるよナ！ Tonda o-chōshimono, tomo ieru yo na! Yeah! And you get worked up too easily, too!

Phoenix し、死刑だ！ コイツを死刑にしてくれェッ！ Shi, shikei da! Koitsu o shikei ni shite kuree! D-death! The death sentence for both of you!

‥‥こんなことなら、 検事になりゃよかったあ！ ...Konna koto nara, kenji ni narya yokattaa! Man, if I only had known, I'd have become a prosecutor!

Edgeworth ‥‥それは私も同じだ。 ...Sore wa watashi mo onaji da. The same goes for me, only the other way around…

“もしかしたら、自分は父親を 撃ってしまったのかもしれない” "Moshikashitara, jibun wa chichioya o utte shimatta no kamoshirenai" For the longest time, I thought that I might have killed my own father. These are provided as literal phrases he thought: 'Could it be, I myself was the one that ended up shooting my father.'

“自分は罪人かもしれない” "Jibun wa zainin kamoshirenai" I thought I might be a criminal. "What if I'm a criminal, myself.'

‥‥私は、そういう自分を 罰する意味もあって検事になった。 …Watashi wa, sou iu jibun o batsu suru imi mo atte kenji ni natta. I became a prosecutor in part to punish myself.

Basically the same, but instead of saying 'in part' he says that was one of the reasons. He says he became a prosecutor for that reason as well (among others), the reason being that of punishing himself. ‥‥こんなことなら、 弁護士になりたかったよ。 ...Konna koto nara, bengoshi ni naritakatta yo. If I had known the truth, I might have become a defense attorney after all. 'If it were like this (if I had known), I would have wished to become a defense attorney.' The way he says it seems way more heartbreaking in Japanese. Naritakatta = wanted to become, which here becomes 'I would have wanted to become' because of context. I translated it as 'would have wished' because it seems more apt here. Naritakatta expresses a desire for something you had wanted in the past. 'I would have gone for being a defense attorney'... It indicates that someone wanted to become or achieve something at some point in the past, but for some reason, they were not able to fulfill that desire.

Phoenix ‥‥御剣。 ... Mitsurugi. Edgeworth…

Edgeworth かわるか、成歩堂。 Kawaru ka, Naruhodou. Want to switch, Wright? Says the same thing... and it sounds so resigned in both versions. It's curt, and their conversation ends just like that. Breaks my heart.

[subway-boss-jericho]

Queuing posts for most of my AUs! Check out this Masterpost! (Disclaimer! - Please don't comment about their iconic knife bangs! I left them off this reference to keep their faces fully visible.)

how could we have possibly fallen this far?

-Premise- When Emmet comes to, he finds he doesn't remember very much. His name is Emmet. He........... Likes combinations of things..? And he likes... Winning. More than anything else. He feels like there may have been something else, too... Something... A man in black, one who looks like him. Yet, he cannot seem to remember his face. Only... You grow stronger by matching yourself against a strong opponent. He said that to Emmet, he is sure.

None of that does him much help, trying to find a job with no credentials in 'New York City.' He's sure he has plenty of experience and qualification, but any time he strains too hard, his head begins to hurt quite badly. There was a scar, and he was told something about, blunt force trauma. He manages to get a job working for the local subway station- Which feels verrrry comfortable, and familiar, yet wrong. Even though his luck is looking quite poor, his life is not that bad.

All of that changes when, one day, he overhears something familiar on the subway. Two young folks talking about, 'Pokemon!' Yes! Pokemon! That was verrrry familiar! He quickly rediscovers his love for the games, although something feels... Hollow, in that appreciation.

But he looks forward with great anticipation to the new game slated to release! He's purchased a copy early, to ensure he does not miss the chance to play it himself! This, 'Pokemon: Legends Arceus' sounds verrrry fun!

...Oh, how little he knew.

-Noteworthy Points- This AU is almost always just called 2D AU for short!

Welcome to hell! Welcome to hell! Welcome to hell! This started out as a gag between some friends and then I had to stare them in the eyes and say DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE WORDS YOU'RE SPEAKING RIGHT NOW??

Emmet! Is in real world NYC! There's a very elaborate explanation for Ingo but I don't have the space to explain, but basically- He can 'see' metaphorically through the fourth wall upon encountering Emmet for the first few times and he regains his memory! However! He is bound by the rules of the game! So he cannot easily communicate that he remembers who Emmet is and that he is here and aware! This AU is sooo fucked it's genuinely something else. It's not all angst I swear, but I am not going to lie to you there are so many emotions created by this scenario and most of them are Not positive.

-Links- Currently none! I will update this post with links to comics/art/writing if/when I post any!

[rippleclan]

given how much StarClan interacts with RippleClan (mostlt Oilstripe, for.. obvious reasons), could Scrubmask tell them who did it? or was it so quick that even she didn't catcha glimpse of the killer? im assuming it took her moment between dying and becoming a spirit, so the killed escaped the scene, but again.. what about other StarClans that visit the living so frequently.

this one thing always bugs me in canon books, with how much StarClan interacts with living cats and yet just refuse to do *anything*. 'no Redtail, you can't warn the clans about Tigerclaw murdering you, we need the special orange child to do it :) who cares it will take him months to figure it out :)) who cares that Tigerclaw will kill more cats in the meantime and we will then give him 9 lives so he can continue killing more cats :))) also dont worry if your dead sister visits our special orange boy every night, she is here to vibe and talk. no, not talk about your murder lol who cares.'

Ok ok ok, so this was an issue that I brought up in my StarClan lore post, but I’ll elaborate here. The solution I crafted for this plot hole is that there is a greater power keeping the cat’s mouths shut about these issues; the All-Seeing.

If you don’t remember, the All-Seeing is the mass of forgotten cats who guard the river of time and space. They are basically a god. They don’t necessarily have the same sort of logic or morality as living cats or regular StarClan cats. They see everything, and know how the flow of time will progress. They are the one who allows StarClan to send omens and prophecies. They’re also the one who lets you, the readers, alter events! Their main goal is the continuation of the Clans.

The problem with the All-Seeing is that, while StarClan could let cats know about so many of these omnipotent details, they have already seen the Clans work through these issues. They give StarClan power to send prophecies if the Clans would not be able to properly overcome a certain challenge without divine assistance. Like I said in my prophecy discussion, prophecies are tools to guide the cats to the right actions or knowledge. If nothing changes as a result of having the prophecy, there is no point in giving it. While StarClan can predict some things as well, the majority of this specific power comes from the All-Seeing. If they do not want something said, StarClan physically cannot say it.

Let’s take a few examples. When Carnationspeckle was kidnapped, Oilstripe asked Applepelt for news about her mate, but Applepelt was unable to say anything. This was because the All-Seeing already knew that RippleClan would quickly save Carnationspeckle and establish a tentative peace with the Witch Hunters. Giving Oilstripe more information would disturb the flow of time severely. Conversely, Fennelspot received a prophecy about Tempestkit because, has he not reacted to the faint smoke in the air, Tempestkit would have frozen to death and disturbed some of the All-Seeing’s important plans with the flow of time. They have a plan that is hard to fathom, and they will follow it.

There are a lot of nuances to how much power StarClan and the All-Seeing actually have, and how clerics and their rituals can alter this, but that’s for another post. I’ll tackle the issue of Scrubmask specifically. You as readers know it was murder, but in the eyes of RippleClan, they believe the death was caused by a Witch Hunter. They have no reason to suspect a Clan cat of killing Scrubmask. Scrubmask is prevented from casually saying anything to Oilstripe, whose abilities disturb the All-Seeing’s order of things. Should Troutpool perform a ritual in regards to Scrubmask’s murder, StarClan and the All-Seeing may have the power and freedom to say something. However, in the All-Seeing’s future, keeping the killer a secret is important.

[brutally-loving]

Sighs okay here's my stupid borderlands self insert idea we ball

I haven't drawn em yet so just take this concept RAH- They're basically just. Me. But yknow Borderlands worthy.

Let's go with the name Kiran (Key-ran) for now I suppose.

He's an undertaker/hunter. Transmasc, obviously, but only some of his story takes place while he's medically transitioned. He was not born on Pandora, but he does spend time there. He travels round space to take care of business, that being doing funeral rites and such, but hunts actively on the side. He's got a companion creature with him, which he DOES take everywhere. It's a Jabber. What a silly creature... they hunt things together to sell, and normally it's not people- (But sometimes, sometimes it is.)

Kiran is knowledgeable about animals and wildlife because of his own interests, absolutely adoring the idea of Pandora's icy oceans. He also has a great deal of knowledge about major history, funeral proceedings, and murder methods. The last part due to his jobs. He isn't exactly bloodthirsty despite this, he's inclined to try to believe in the best in others so long as he's not wronged in the process.

Uh yeah. He's literally just me. But BL flavor. I'll have to make a whole design for him eventually but I'm not drawing anything right this minute. I think that he'd often be found actively strapped with weapons, and while he's not supremely wealthy he isn't struggling much either. How he got involved with Troy, I cannot say. But involved he is- Uhh yes, that's the base idea. Please feel free to ask questions because otherwise I will in fact end up forgetting to elaborate 🫶

[transmascpetewentz]

A Short Guide To Writing Gay Trans Men

So a few disclaimers before I start:

I'm not going to talk about anything sex-related here because 1) people have made other guides and google is your friend & 2) I'm not very comfortable with it.

I am just one person, and due to the fact that I am white and thin and perisex, I will definitely have blind spots. If you want more information about intersections that don't apply to me, ask someone who it does apply to!

I did get lots of messages from trans guys giving me advice on this, but nonetheless I do not speak for absolutely everyone.

There will be very little info here on how to accurately write medical transitions because that's not something I've experienced. Google is your best friend on this one.

This is not a complete post. I will keep adding to it as time goes on. If you're seeing this post reblogged by someone else, click on the original to see if I've made any additions or corrections before you send me that anon hate and/or comment telling me to kill myself.

What Not To Do

When there is a trans male character written by a cis person, especially a cis man, there's a very solid chance that he is going to check off at least 9 of the following boxes:

Thin

White

Able-bodied

Neurotypical or LSN neurodivergent

Binary

No nuance given to his identity and expression

Sexuality not specified or elaborated on

A cis person's love interest

2 dimensional transmasc stereotype

Usually small and feminine, but not actually femme

Gay transmasc characters written by cis people are very difficult to find because cis authors will often not specify the sexuality of the trans man dating a cis man or elaborate on his connection to the MLM community. This is because many cis authors believe that writing a gay trans man is just writing a woman but switching one of the genders. This is, of course, not true, and there must be more care taken to provide nuance and create a more accurate (and non-dysphoria-inducing) representation.

Moving Past The White Twink Stereotype

This is one of the most basic bars to clear for a cis person writing a gay trans man, and yet so many continue to fail at this very simple task. Ask yourself: is your gay transmasc character a white, hairless, thin person? If the answer is yes, that's not inherently a bad thing, though it may be good to reflect on why you want to create a character like this if this is the only type of transmasc representation you write.

The biggest thing you need to do here is to give him a set of defining traits. Not physical traits, not even gender expression traits. Just personality. What kind of person is he? How does he cope with the transphobia in this world (unless you're writing a fantasy universe without transphobia)? How does he act towards strangers? How does he approach people of different genders? What is his outlook on cis people? Once you have the basics, it's time to think about his physical appearance & expression and how that has impacted his life and his personality.

You also want to avoid the trope where a gay trans man's personality is undeveloped and he is treated as an object for cis men to help them advance their character arcs. It's fine for trans men to serve a purpose like that in the story, but they need to be their own individual humans.

Writing Sexuality

If your trans male characters date men, and I cannot reiterate this enough, make them be open about their homosexuality or bisexuality. Give them a sexual orientation and make them be proud of it. Of course, not every gay trans man is going to identify heavily with a masc/fem role in gay male relationships, but you should seriously consider whether or not your character would.

Additionally, don't follow the flawed line of logic of "trans man -> vagina -> bottom -> fem/femme." It's fine to make your gay trans male characters fem but please, I swear to god please give them a good reason for being so. If you do make your character femme, be very cautious to use language that doesn't trigger actual trans men's dysphoria. Don't constantly point out the character's physical features that may be associated with femininity unless you're making a point either about his dysphoria or about how society treats him or maybe about how he comes to accept his body. However, please be extremely careful with the last one as this trope has been used in so many transphobic portrayals.

Have your gay trans male character exist in gay spaces with other gay men (both cis and trans). Have him be open about being a gay man specifically. Give him cis gay male friends. Give him trans gay male friends. Don't allow your reader to ignore the fact that he is very much a gay man.

Dysphoria

For the love of all things good, please do not write your gay trans male character's dysphoria as "from the day I was born, I knew I was born in the wrong body. I have had no internalized shame or guilting into making me doubt my transness, and it was obvious that I was not a woman." That's not how anyone's dysphoria works, even if they did know from a young age that they were born in the wrong body.

For gay trans men specifically, most of us end up realizing we're trans around either age 12 or age 20. This doesn't mean he has to be exactly that age, but that's generally the safest age to have your character's egg crack. Of course, you can sprinkle in signs that he's trans since he was a young child, but I know a lot of gay trans men and I have yet to meet one who has known since birth and has had no doubt in his mind about it. However you can and should write older gay trans men, even some who find out they're trans in their 40s or older. Representation of older trans people is seriously lacking compared to how many there are.

Don't make your character the stereotype of a straight trans man who doesn't face the specific intersection of being trans and gay. Facing this intersection does affect something even as personal as dysphoria. Many of us will have self-doubt, believe that we're disgusting fetishists of gay men, or simply exist as women in gay spaces for a time. You also have to take into account gay beauty standards & your character's upbringing to figure out what they're likely to be most dysphoric about.

hi :3

That's it for now. I'll keep adding to this post as I get feedback and suggestions. If you want more advice, feel free to send me an ask. When I get enough asks about things, I'll make an FAQ post answering some of them.

[wrose-writes]

*crashes through the skylight feet first and lands dramatically, shards of glass showering around me in an unrealistic yet highly cinematic manner*

HELLO I HAVE A NEW WIP SLIDESHOW

text description under the cut! seriously though don't look at it unless you're planning to read it I know it's a tempting clickable button but it's A Lot of text

@ettawritesnstudies for the WishWIP taglist, @enne-uni, @ashirisu, & @mr-orion for the general writing taglist, and @cloudsthatglowinthenightsky because i mentioned you in the slideshow. Please do ask to be added or removed from any taglists!

THE NEW AND UPDATED ✨WIP SLIDESHOW✨

by yours truly, theroseempress (you can call me Rose) (kind of a comic sans WIP intro, but multiplied) ((multi-WIP slideshow idea credit to @ettawritesnstudies)

~~~

FIRST CATEGORY

MAIN PROJECTS

~~~~

WISHWIP

(I really need to give this an actual name)

Probably my main WIP as you're reading this! Probably.

status: working on the script for it! format: comic

worldbuilding/info

how do Creators, a Guide-

-basic concept is ‘what if art but superpowers’.

-less basic concept is; People who can use this world’s magic system are called Creators. There are 4 types of Creators; Withdrawers, Imbuers, Enhancers, and Invokers. Being a Creator is genetic, though it’s a recessive gene (like green eyes) so parents do not have to be Creators for their child to be.

-Imbuers are the most common and also the type general society is most unbothered by. Imbuers can embed special properties into anything they create, for example a sword that cannot break, a necklace that enhances the wearer’s hearing, or a food that heals. 

-Withdrawers are the second most common, but the type regarded as most dangerous by general society. Withdrawers can bring things they create to life/into existence; said things can be controlled by their creator and are made out of whatever they’re created with.

-Enhancers are regarded as the least common type, and unlike the other two types of Creator, most Enhancers live in their own nation and do not interact with outsiders. Enhancers can enhance the art they perform, for example turning singing into a siren-like spell.

- Invokers are the most rare type of Creator, most people don’t believe they exist. Invokers can force things to happen by writing them down.

featuring-

~hard magic systems my beloved

~everyone  in the cast being slightly unhinged with varying energies and at varying times

~wish trying to solve problems

~song creating problems

~rhythm ignoring problems

~lyric being involved in problems because he knows the previous two people on this list

~quite a lot of mysteries that won’t be elaborated upon until the fourth arc

~Shenanigans™

~a plot that I am overall quite proud of

characters

WISH- -the main character-doing her Best -looking for someone -badass -Withdrawer -very normal,  not oddly powerful at all. -very polite -certainly does not have a Backstory

(STORMSONG) SONG- -a scholar -Not Being Chased By Anyone -A Very Normal Girl -has a pet dragon (Booklet) -high int low wis characters my beloved -disaster -non-Creator

LYRIC- -also looking for someone (his brother/cousin) -very friendly -Imbuer -canonically can’t read since his native language doesn’t have a written form and he hasn’t learnt to read any others yet (he can speak one though).

RHYTHM- -definitely not the brother/cousin Lyric is looking for -busy researching something I can’t elaborate on for spoiler reasons -Enhancer -tunnel vision 1000

SOME OTHER PEOPLE WHO SHOW UP LATER-

RED -menace to society -i love her -Enhancer

JUNIPER -’what do you have’ ‘A KNIFE  -Damask’s sister -Imbuer

DAMASK -nerd -(also badass) -Juni’s brother -Imbuer

GLADIOLUS -i love him  - v fun to write -[spoilier] -Withdrawer

PATTERN -[spoilers x10]  -Imbuer

MERIT -an Angsty Rebellious Teen™ -Invoker (ooo)

ACCENT -just a nice guy, he’s here too -Imbuer

COPPER -[spoilers x100]

ZEPHYR -[spoilers x100]

~~~~

LIBRARIES

(it’s called this because it’s about libraries)

comment

status: status: rotating in my mind with the occasional note being taken format: either a book or web serial idk

worldbuilding/info

so, what are the Libraries?-

~in essence, they’re… well, libraries.

~Specifically, cool fantasy libraries that don’t actually let you check out books.

~I suppose that would make them more of archives? IDK

~Anyway, the Libraries are run by Librarians, who have magic powers because this is a fantasy universe and I can do what I want. 

~specifically, the Libraries’ founder figured out a way to make it so that the staff of each Library can use all the Gifts belonging to the Librarians of that particular Library.

~They also serve as sanctuaries in the same way that cathedrals used to.

(sidebar; what are ‘Gifts’-

~Basically, a long time ago, Something Happened.

~that made what are called Rifts; IE places where the world doesn’t quite… work right.

~Plants and animals that grow/live near the Rifts are Kind of Funky.

~as are people! This is how magic. Magic is called Gifts- you have one specific Gift; ie super-strength, flight, etc. Like superpowers, but fantasy. Ok sidebar over).

featuring-

~Sori doing her absolute best to deal with The Plot

~Mikka being very helpful and supportive of her.

~Firefly being… he’s Doing His Best alright, it’s not HIS fault (much).

~sort of the typical fantasy aesthetic that I’ve been failing at writing for quite a while! Finally it made it into a project. Woo!

~my general love of books

~flying library! No I don’t know how that works. Magic. Don’t ask me.

characters

SORI- -the main character! -Librarian -i would be unsurprised to discover she is autistic -no Gifts aside from the ones she gets from being a Librarian. -[REDACTED] -just vibing until the plot hits and she turns into the This is Fine meme (it is not fine)

MIKKA- -another main character -traveling mercenary who has been staying at Sori’s Library for a while now -considering becoming a Librarian himself -Sori’s best friend. -also non-Gifted. but he has a sword. -generally just a chill guy -absolutely could kill you though. But why would he. That would be mean.

‘FIREFLY’- -that’s totally his real name dw guyss -arrives at Sori’s Library and stays there for No Particular Reason He’s Not Hiding From Anything Trust Me Guys -also non-Gifted, but he is an alchemist. -(that probably means something different from what you’re thinking) -he might not be succeeding but he sure is Trying

MORE PROTAGONISTS (WHO GET HERE LATER ON)

TAI -Nin’s sister -bark is bigger than her bite -non-Gifted but not exactly a normal human either (catgirl)

NIN -Tai’s sister. -bite is WAY bigger than her bark yikes -has the Gift of decay

CARO -traveling scholar -nothing else to see here (or is there)

ASHE -nobleman -has the Gift of emotion sensing -the only person who has ever called themselves ‘an empath’ and not been being dramatic

RENNA -Red Paladin -*loud sigh*

~~~~

FALLENSTARS

(I should probably make an actual name for this but I kinda like fallenstars NGL)

The probably-prologue of this is on my Wordpress (carolinaauthor.wordpress.com) if you want to read iiiit~

status: hmmformat: mmyeah web serial

worldbuilding/info

so why is this called fallenstars?-

~Long long ago, the stars fell from the sky

~Significantly less long ago, Rekha and Ven found them.

~Or at least, they THINK they found them.

~An expedition is being had to figure out if they are right.

featuring-

~shenanigans. many shenanigans.

~me trapping Vivian and Arielle in a cave-in for the simple reason that that is the ONLY WAY to get them to HAVE A CONVERSATION

~Jai being a Little Guy (who could kill you).

~did I mention names have power? because they do

~everyone in this project has a whole handful of names that they use for different purposes

‘magic’ system-

~With either training or immense peril, a human can connect to the aether.

~Once they’ve done that, they fit into one of three categories, and then can Do The Magic In That Category.

~Also there’s Elders.

~Elders are people who have managed to gather a lot of power in one way or another, and now can do special things. Also they live for 1000 years; hence the Elder part.

~Elders can ‘sponsor’ people if they have their names, which means they can grant them some abilities and what-not.

~Also, names hold power. Be careful.

characters

VIVIAN- -the protagonist -short -water coded -a Seer (this means she can see magic, also emotions) -(this is rare) -sponsored by an Elder! you may call him Sapphire. he finds Vivian very entertaining. -has History with Arielle

ARIELLE- -the deuteragonist -tall -air coded -a Channeler (most relevantly this means she can make forcefields. there’s more to it but I don’t have space to explain) -(this is the most common type) -former Warrior (this means she’s badass) -has History with Vivian

JAIREN/JAI- -other member of the main four -fire coded -an Enhancer (this means he can enhance or mute magic/any process) -(this is rare) -(& also very desirable) -Namebound. -(that means he’s effectively a magically-enforced slave) -cinnamon roll of a boy

MIRREN- -other member of the main four -earth coded -glyph user (this means he can do stuff if he has the correct symbol written down for it) -(kind of between rare and common) -has been trying to break into the Academy for a year or so now -wanted criminal, legally

REKHA -you may remember her from the last page -ADHD coded

VEN -Rekha’s partner -autism coded

SAPPHIRE/SAPH -the youngest Elder (for now) -you may recognize him from Viv’s profile

~~~~

THE GOLDEN CITY

(has an actual title 👍) (I might change it though)

the oldest WIP in this slideshow!

status: being rewritten format: text 👍)

worldbuilding/info

featuring-

~me having done way too much worldbuilding that will probably never show up

~Seriously I literally know the different countries’ burial practices When will this be useful.

~Felix responding to being in dangerous situations by either miraculously wriggling out of any consequences whatsoever, or making things significantly worse for himself.

~Felix being mentally unstable and trying to convince himself This Is Fine

~Helen having both my and Felix’s complete and utter adoration. she’s great I love her

~heists! a quest!! adventure!

~Valentin just generally being a stand up good chap

~the plot expanding and elaborating on itself with a rapidity that both surprises and intimdates me

here have some random worldbuilding info 

-there are 4 countries, Solace, Ketra, Shyi, and Amora. Amora is not technically a country. It’s complicated. There is also Tali, which is conquered by Solace and technically not a country but that’s also complicated to be honest.

-Solace is the most relevant because that’s where the protagonists are. The capital of Solace is Solace. It is also called The Golden City because that is confusing.

-Solace and Shyi do not get along. Solace and Ketra have a treaty and generally get along. Shyi and Ketra do not get along (Shyi is mad because they tried to conquer Ketra and it didn’t work). The Amorians do not get along with anyone, though this is rarely their fault.

-A few decades ago, Solace had a civil war wherein they swapped out their old royal family for a new royal family. This part is very relevant to the plot.

characters

FELIX ROSE- -~the protagonist~ -Look it’s not HIS fault he wound up getting into a contract with the Shady Underground that is as a result getting him blackmailed to start a civil war -OK, maybe the first part of that might be a little bit his fault. -He’s Doing His Best, alright. -chronic charmer -dating Helen (one of his greatest achievements)

SHANNON ROSE- -Felix’s younger twin brother -scholar -busy Doing Research -bit naive to be honest.  -we love him anyway -just a Little Guy -can really hold a grudge -really looks up to Felix, good thing Fe isn’t, say, hiding any incredibly big secrets that have the potential to shatter their relationship, right? :)

HELEN WHITEHALL- -a goddess among women -(alright maybe I’m being a little dramatic) -Dating Felix. -pureblooded Solite noble -not supposed to be dating Felix, who is half Amorian. currently ignoring that. -significantly more prone to shenanigans and mischief than anyone really guesses -i love her

BRICRIU CALLAN -friend of Felix’s -morally grey af -great fun to write

VALENTIN -cinnamon roll of a boy -baffled by the plot but doing his best anyway

TAYLOR/TAY -Shadow Guard researcher -spends most of the plot side-eying Felix suspiciously

MARIN CINDER -Shadow Guard, Tay’s partner -has a sword

RAZ LAMORA -oh you sweet summer child -i apologize in advance

NIKOLAI CAHILL -The Prince -generally a nice guy

~~~~

MERCY CITY

(no real title yet)

status: hmmmmmmmmmmmm format: web serial probably

worldbuilding/info

i explain affinities to you-

~So basically, everyone in this world is born with what is called an Affinity.

~This means they can manipulate a little bit of the world (which little bit depends on the affinity).

~list of affinities; fire, water, air, earth, growth, decay, light, animal, aether, sight, humanity, city, fortune, and enhancement.

~Affinities are heriditary and not recessive (IE, if your parents both have fire affinities, so will you), except for the Family Affinities.

~’but Rose what’s a Family Affinity’ 

~Basically, there’s four families (Solena, Lune, Maris, and Itris) who hav affinities that belong only to them. Within the families, they work as above, but once you get a generation removed from the main bloodline, their affinities (humanity, city, fortune, and enhancement) mysteriously just. Stop appearing. Nobody knows why that is.

~I reiterate, everyone has an affinity!

~except sometimes they don’t.

~except sometimes they have aether (can manipulate everything) which is actually VERY BAD.

~this brings us to the plot.

The Plot-

~meet Felice and Kiseki, they’re the protagonists and also twins

~Felice has No Affinity!

~(Felice does not need an affinity, she has a gun)

~(this is surprisingly effective because nobody thinks about guns when they have, say, Magic Fire)

~(Magic Fire is quite a bad defense against being shot, unfortunately for People Who Are Not Felice)

~Kiseki has Aether! This is bad. It means he is probably going to explode, and should really already have done so

~Felice would like that not to happen, thank you very much.

~They are on the hunt for an artifact that is supposed to help with Kiseki not exploding

~They arrive in Mercy City on their search, and are immediately sidetracked by the ridiculous amount of people with agendas in this book.

characters

FELICE VENTURA- -hey remember her she’s the main character -as previously mentioned, No Affinity -this does not make much of an effect on her in any way concievable -it does make it a bit of a pain to get through customs though, as she has to convince them she’s not hiding an affinity in her pants somehow. that usually takes a bit. -knows how to pilot a bunch of things

KISEKI TERRIS- -hey remember him he’s also the main character -as previously mentioned, has Aether -this means he can manipulate the aether. this means a lot of things. -most relevantly, this means he should really have exploded by now since the human body isn’t designed to handle that much energy -constantly wears affinity surpressors, which is very uncomfortable for him -also a pain to get through customs

CADEN SOLENA- -i love him dearly & want to put him in a blender <3 -charming bastard -heir to the Solena family, has the Solena affinity of Humanity. -this means he can heal and/or brainwash people.

SOPHIE LLYR -Caden’s braincells & moral compass -scholar -has the affinity of Air -she can fly!

THOMAS DARIS -Joy’s bodyguard. -very nice -has the affinity of Fire -former soldier. really badass.

JOY ITRIS -heir to the Itris family, has the Itris affinity of Enhancement -this means she’s basically an enhanced version of a human -little menace /affectionate

some Other People- Vega Maris Addison Maris Hope Lilia May Lily Fleuria Itri Stellarion Asteria Cortia Wynn Diamis Prism Ilia

~~~~

SKY PIRATES

(this was called ‘chasing butterflies’ in an earlier draft, and I do really like that name so I’m probably going to use it again)

(this is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin 👍)

status: currently not working on this one format: book with illustrations

worldbuilding/info

featuring-

~post-apocalyptic setting with the wrecks of modern cities scattered about.

(post-apocalyptic is a very fun word to say)

~people called scrappers who go into the ruined cities and collect useful stuff to bring back to the new cities

~a majority of scrappers are teenagers since being a scrapper means you need to be small and agile, and more teenagers fit that description than adults.

~it’s been a while since the Cataclysm (the apocalypse part of post-apocalyptic) so there’s a pretty thriving society set up with a rather baffling mixture of technologies

~the main cast are a scrapping crew

~they live in a flying ship! with wings! (thank you @cloudsthatglowinthenightsky)

~also there’s the Mist. It’s… well it’s mist. But like. Magical mist. It’s concentrated around the old cities for some reason.

~spending time in or near the Mist isn’t good for humans. It makes you a bit funky (and also kills you if you stay in it long enough)

~most scrappers are a bit funky

~Lute is Oddly Normal when you consider that. I’m sure that doesn’t mean anything

~also there’s pirates. forgot to mention that. they steal things from scrappers mostly

rapid-fire chaotic description of the plot-

~the cast is just vibing

~they stop at a port to get supplies

~Lute goes for a little walk

~SURPRISE SUDDENLY THERE’S A GIRL

~the Sudden Girl is running away from the soldiers

~Lute can appreciate that, so he helps

~crew is now +1 Mysterious Girl!

~Mysterious Girl can manipulate the Mist????

~she needs to go to some Old Ruins for Magic Reasons???

~there are three different factions who want to kill and/or enslave her

~OK WE’RE GOING ON A QUEST NOW I GUESS 

characters

LUTE- -the main character! from the last slide. you remember him right -one of the three actual scrappers of the crew -artist (I plan to use this blatantly to put illustrations into the book) -so normal that it might actually be suspicious at this point

VANYA- -the ship’s captain -about ten seconds away from a mental breakdown on a good day -one of his hobbies is pretending He’s Fine -he has done so successfully enough to that he also believes He’s Fine. -He’s Not, Actually. -’ship in a bottle’ by stefan argus coded

?- -the Sudden Girl from the last slide -I. I haven’t named her yet. im sorry -can manipulate the Mist -comes equipped with a Backstory and Motives -she’s fiiiiiine

BLAKE- -the ship’s pilot -also pilots various drones (used for looking for useful things to scrap) -also fixes the ship when required -considers himself very underappreciated for how much he Does Around Here

ROBIN- -the ship’s medic -also one of the actual scrappers -also cooks -if anyone hurt her the rest of the crew would Kill Them Immediately -will absolutely beat you up if you don’t pay attention to her Medical Instructions

CHESS- -third scrapper of the crew -lifts heavy things -(lute and robin are both short, so you can imagine they require assistance on that front) -he’s here to have a good time not a long time

currently unnamed pirate captain -you know how some characters/people you just post a picture of and the entire comment section is just ‘not to be a lesbian but’ and ‘step on me’? yeah that’s her -also she’s evil. btw.

~~~~

OK THAT’S ALL

HOPE YOU ENJOYED

GO CHECK THE REST OF MY BLOG OUT BYE

[themadlu]

What Is It In You I Cannot See?

Astarion fails to sneak on Zelie, but somehow he still ends up with a full belly. Nothing asked of him. He is scared of her and angry at her at the same time. He is also happy. He is in uncharted territory. He doesn't understand if she'll be his salvation or his doom.

He also hates dogs.

TW: references to past SA (nothing graphic), mentions of animal cruelty (if him wanting to eat Scratch counts).

This is a oneshot from a longer fic idea. Zelie is my named Tav OC, but here there is no physical description, aside from eye colour.

Tagging @spacebarbarianweird because she's so talented and kind!

“Remind me again, darling, what are we doing in these godsforsaken woods?” 

Astarion had woken up…happy—with a full stomach (He had forgotten what that felt like) and a clear head (He can hear the stern cadence of her sweet, precious blood being pumped through her heart). 

His restless reverie made bearable by the life essence he took last night. 

No, not took. He was too pathetically weak even for the basic functions of a vampire. It was a gift.

This is a gift—I won’t forget it.

He said as much, head tilted towards her, looking, but not seeing; he couldn’t bear to actually stare at the person he was indebted to now. 

She doesn’t call it debt. There are enough ill-guided, wretched ideas floating in that head of hers, all about justice and fairness and respect, that she hasn’t asked anything in return for her donation.

Yet. 

She will. If he thinks too long about it, it terrifies him.

No one hands their life blood over to anyone (to a monster) without a sizeable payback in mind. Either that, or he’ll have to start believing all her ideals (Her actions) are not an elaborate set of masks to trick him into trust (She’d be more idiotic than he thought, in that case).

Still, her confounding attitude worked in his favour. Not only he wasn’t left to starve the night before (a novelty in and of itself), but he’ll get future access to his dinner for the foreseeable future. 

She said so (“You can feed on me again, IF you swear you won’t hurt others and stick to animals when I’m not around”). Her face carved in stone, unmovable as she always is when establishing her rules. Her boundaries.

(No one ever cared for his boundaries. An object of pleasure doesn't need any.)

But she looked at him like he would actually understand, as if the concept couldn’t be so foreign to him. Something in the world shifted.

Truth be told, you were my first. 

Something changes in her eyes too and her expression softens, but doesn’t relent. 

“Let’s keep me as the only for now. If you wish to tell the others and any of them are willing to donate their blood too, then you can expand your culinary options.”

What?

He knows she didn’t spill his secret to their companions (Gods forbid, someone as noble as their leader did that), but he assumed she would push him to reveal himself. Why wouldn’t she? She made such a fuss about how wrong lying is, and honesty this and fuck him that, and now she is willfully withholding information from the rest of the group. 

Why?

You nearly got us killed at the Grove. Couldn’t keep your little mouth shut with that useless healer about the tadpoles. Foolish idiot, you’ll be our doom. 

Was it a test? See what the hungry spawn does and punish him if he makes a mistake? 

Astarion has an inkling of what she would like him to do, because it tends to be the total opposite of what he would do. He would continue their little arrangement in private, for as long as possible. He may have been a slave for centuries, but he’s not so daft. Why would a vampire willingly oust himself to a group that includes a literal monster hunter in their midst. 

It would be suicidal and he has wished for death more times he can recount—often masked as sensual whimpers and pleas in brothels and alleys—but he doesn’t wish it now. 

He won’t let a presumptuous, sheltered human kill him with her righteousness when decades of torture didn’t. 

Not now he’s finally out of his grasp. 

Not now he can exist in the sun. 

Not now that he’s stuck in the mud chatting to a mutt. 

Wait, what?

The scene in front of him is dreamlike: their stoic leader is knee deep in the dirt, shiny eyes coaxing a clearly aggressive dog closer, Karlach talking to it as if it were worthy of conversation.

Zélie stares at the mutt as if in a trance. Astarion asks her why they were in the woods in the first place to see if the dog isn’t actually a hypnotising hag.

The mutt snarls at him and he snarls back. Filthy beast.

“Hush, Astarion!” Zélie whispers, “he’s scared. You’ll only scare him more”

He takes notice of the corpse near the dog. Clearly dead. Filthy and stupid beast. 

“Sweet thing you are, worrying about it,” he coos.

Hells below, you idiot. 

“But may I remind you we are trying to get to a den of vicious goblins to find the blasted druid who can fix our wiggly issue?” 

He points at his temple and she gives him the look. They’ve been travelling together for no more than a tenday and he already earned a signature look from her. 

All piercing, hardened eyes and the disapproving tilt of the head a mother would give to her child before a good dressing down. 

He wonders what his punishment will be, and his scars burn, his hands shake. 

He quickly fists them behind his back to hide the tremors (A broken toy is worthless), strikes a casual figure, and something in her gaze mellows. Before it could have stricken down a dragon from the skies, now it would only manage a bear. 

It certainly won’t manage a vampire. 

He scowls at her, but her attention is already back on the mutt now within arm’s reach. 

“You know, Astarion,” she murmurs, petting its fur with a care that had to be an act (Tenderness has no place in any realm), “dogs are beautiful creatures. They feel as much as us.” 

Another stroke behind its ears, soft and barely there. Astarion’s own ears twitch.  

“They accept our love, our mistakes, our pain, and still stay by our side. Sometimes they even see past our cruelty, so strong is their loyalty. I think you won’t find a more worthy companion.”

Another caress on its muzzle. The hint at complete loyalty to another would normally tear through him ('Remember thou art mine, useless boy'), but Astarion is transfixed by her hands on white fur (Would they touch his own white hair like that?) and his fangs are dangerously close to peeking through his lips. 

(Two centuries of utter shit, but the mutt runs across her bare moments after his owner’s died.)

If I was alone, I’d bleed you dry. Animals only, so she said.

Fucking dog befriended, Astarion is ripped from his thoughts as Zélie stops her ministrations and stands up. She bows her head at—

“Scratch. Meet Astarion. Astarion, meet Scratch.”

The dog eyes him for a moment, then barks. Astarion almost hisses back. It’s his dear leader standing in front of him that stops him. 

“I know he may look slightly ruffled, Scratch, but I like to think that you can trust him.” 

Excuse me?!

She cannot speak with animals, so why the hells is she making polite conversation with it?!

“And you,” eyes on his, he hates how he has to prove that he can hold her look without squirming. She has the gaze of someone used to having a certain level of authority, and it disgusts him. His hands tremble more, nails now digging in his palms.

('You're nothing but a scared, little boy'). 

The others have moved further along the path, but she whispers it nonetheless, “When I say you should feed on animals, this is clearly not what I mean. Dogs are out of your food chain. Please, Astarion”

He doesn’t remember when it was the last time anyone ever said please to him, when someone kept a secret for him, and it’s enough to shock him into compliance. 

“Thank you,” she says, a little smile on her thin lips (it looks foreign on her stone-like face).

She heads along the path without realising what she’s done. As if people handed thank yous around like nothing. He’s seen her thanking others, occasionally: Gale for his food, Shadowheart for the healing, even Lae’zel for not disembowelling a tiefling  (How disappointing). But to him? 

(He hasn’t done anything, besides taking her blood and her temporary alliance)

He kills and maims what enemies they encounter because he revels in the violence. In the control over another’s life—in not him being the pitiful wretch for once. If she thinks he’s doing it out of some sense of morality, then she’s even more idiotic than he thought. 

She could simply be a pathetic moron with a noble soul. One who follows her way even when she doesn’t want to. Even when they do her more harm than good (Shouting a speech on interracial cooperation from a high rock to stop a vicious group of goblins and humans from killing each other was a terrible idea. Surprisingly, she only got scraps from all the arrows flying at her). 

No. She isn’t. No one is like that.

Phantom touches on his body remind him of this shit world every second of every day and they will do so for as long as he lives. They all have their motives. She just hides hers beside a very put-together mask. An impressive one, if he can say so. 

He falls into step with her as usual (Because he needs to make sure she doesn’t drag them to an unwilling death, because he needs to keep himself in her good graces now she knows his secret) and she acknowledges him with a nod. 

The smile is still there—odd. She looks a moment away from giggling, a sound that he didn't think her mouth could form. 

Now he needs to know. 

“Copper for your thoughts, darling?” he drawls. 

What’s going on in that confusing head of yours?

“I just thought—when Scratch said he’d join us at camp. I pictured Withers and him,” a corner of her mouth lifts, “playing catch. ‘Cometh here, oh chosen canine, and followeth thy ball along its rightful path.’”

  

Her eyes tear up from contained laughter (Have they always been so blue? He just realises one is more of a grey colour), then she coughs a little and her entire face resettles on its usual assessing expression. 

"You're a bad influence, Astarion. I don't usually tease my elders, especially not millennia-old ones."

Astarion blinks (So she does have a sense of humour, even if it’s terrible).

He finds himself leaning into her, testing the boundaries. His sultry voice in her ear. "Darling, as your elder, you can tease me all you like. You have my permission." He is rewarded not with a whimper of excitement, but with the look again.

He finds himself suppressing a stray giggle and his hands stop shaking.  

[canmom]

tsv season 3 ep 1-2 (30, 31)

we finally met VAL, seemingly a fan favourite character going by stuff that floats across my dash. so she's just straight up Rumor from the Umbrella Academy huh? ok, she tends to be a bit more flowery in her declarations of what is retroactively true, but it's basically the same mechanic.

i'm curious to see what other dimensions they add to VAL, because right now she seems like she could just upend any part of reality on a whim, and it's not entirely clear what's motivating her - right off the bat we are told we cannot trust anything she says. and this is the first character we have who is basically 'human with a power', which isn't my preferred territory. that said, the slimy politicians here are very well portrayed - it all feels a bit V for Vendetta-era Alan Moore with how direct it is, but honestly in this setting that kind of tracks!

I am really enjoying Shrue. their hypocrisies are very interesting. I appreciate that they've been given ge scruples, but also where they don't have scruples. they're happy to drop the withermark ('crab nuke' as they called it in the recap episode) on their enemies over the border, and probably sees themselves as doing good by legitimising the Parish on that basis. they participates in a hilariously dystopian system and still rationalises that they're a reformer.

there's really something about listening to a story about two nearly identical neighbouring countries barreling into a pointless, futile, merciless war, for no particular benefit of anyone but a ruthless political class, right as a full scale Iran-Israel war seems on the verge of kicking off (my Labour party prime minister, of course, eagerly rattling sabers behind Netanyahu). but when is that ever not timely, eh?

on the carpenter+faulkner side of things, I don't have a lot of comments to add just yet. it's always good to see them in action. the faulkner-carpenter-catabasians dynamic is tasty. this is a story with so many schemes, and yet it nearly always manages to make every character sympathetic and comprehensible within their context. (this is why I'm hopeful there will be more to VAL than how terrifying she is as a reality-altering killer.)

I listened to the Q&A in between seasons as well, and I'm honestly very impressed by hearing Jon Ware talking about his writing process. the man really has a knack for steering towards interesting conflict, and it's very evident in how he discusses the pitfalls he avoided, or the disdain in his voice when he speaks of how they could end up writing uninspired concepts ('it's a fire god and it makes you a fire monster') if they let the show run too long. or indeed his discussion of Faulkner's transness and how they wanted to approach that. like many creators of good shit, he seems quite self-effacing. it is pretty goddamn impressive that he taught himself the sound engineering that led to the elaborate sequences in the second season.

(I have no plans on adding 'audio drama' to my long list of unfinished ongoing projects, but I definitely appreciated hearing about some of the tool chains they use inside Audacity, since it's pretty closely related to doing the foley for animated films.)

excited to see where they're gonna take all this in this season, now things have escalated so much, and we have these new military elements in the story. though I am a little sad as well, in a way. it's a much bigger story now than it started out - our characters have become big shots, in classic fantasy style. such is storytelling, and the story had to develop, but I do miss a little the smaller-scale exploration of the world we had early on. that said, stories must evolve and become stale, and I am sure they're leading us to go out with a bang.

[imnotsorryforanyofthis]

Cursed into Damnation

So.... I have an idea... of making a Black Butler fanfic so here is a sneak peak... of basically the middle of the fanfic but I just wrote it down before I wrote everything else... so uh yeah.. this can also be a oneshot I guess

-----

Rowan Phantomhive… er.. Actually Rowan Evans. Don’t forget, Ciel Phantomhive is the only Phantomhive in this century. It would be very questionable if there were another Phantomhive that suddenly showed up. 

Now.. Rowan Evans, she looks in shock at the blood on the butler, Sebastian Michaelis, and how he is still standing. 

“How the hell is he still alive?!” Rowan yells, holding onto Ciel as Sebastian and Grelle are fighting. 

“Rowan… you cannot be this dense… He isn’t human,” Ciel says, deciding to tell her sense she is witnessing the fight go down… Plus, she is from the future. 

“He’s a demon,” Ciel states and then shoves her, “Now get off of me!” 

Rowan lets go and stares at the fight between Grelle and the so-called demon, “Huh?” 

Ciel sighs, “You’re shocked that he’s a demon when you are from the future…” 

Suddenly another man intervenes with the fight but Rowan can’t focus on anything else. 

Everything is wrapped up and she stays quiet on the ride back to the manor. 

Rowan gets out of the carriage and makes her way to her room, while Sebastian takes Ciel to his and helps him get ready. She walks to her room but stops in the middle of the hallway. She can’t help but think about the curse of her family. She can’t help but remember when her mother was telling her. ‘Oh Rowan, don’t even think about it too hard. I even looked into the legend and it said a demon cursed the Phantomhive family… It’s ridiculous… and the name.. Sebastian Michaelis doesn’t even exist.’ 

Rowan hears footsteps behind her. She turns around and sees him… the one that cursed her family. 

“Oh… No… No no no,” Rowan says, shaking her head, stepping back away from Sebastian. 

He looks at Rowan, very confused, “Why are you so alarmed, Miss Rowan?” 

“They’re right… they have always been right…” Rowan says. 

Sebastian’s expression turns serious, “What are you talking about? Who has been right?” 

“My.. my family… my mother and I thought that my father’s side was crazy…” Rowan says.

Sebastian folds his arms, “They’ve been right about… what, exactly?” 

Rowan looks right into his eyes, “I truly am cursed… The next girl born in the family will be cursed into damnation…” Rowan shakes her head and continues to step away from him slowly. “My f-father and grandfather were right….” 

Sebastian suddenly pins Rowan against the wall, looking at her with a serious glare, “Cursed into damnation? Can you elaborate what you mean by that, my lady?” 

“There was a legend in my family where it said that the next girl in the family will be cursed into damnation to make the deal sufficient to Ciel Phantomhive’s soul because he found a way out of the deal with the damned… b-but I thought it was just that… a legend.” Rowan says. 

Sebastian is looking at Rowan, not letting her go yet, his expression still serious, “That is a rather grim thought to live your life with. But are you really going to pin your current predicament on a family legend?” 

“Well… I’m in 1888 where Ciel Phantomhive is still alive and his butler… is you.. Who is also a part of it… You, Sebastian Michaelis, the demon who cut ties with Ciel because his soul was no longer enough… And I’m the first girl that has been born after four generations.” Rowan says. 

Sebastian sighs, clearly thinking her logic is solid enough, “Fine, I’ll admit it’s a rather coincidental predicament. But.. the question is then: what are you going to do about it?” 

“I-I don’t know… I don’t even know what cursed into damnation even is but apparently it was so bad that any sign of having a girl, the women that were married to any Phantomhive would make sure they wouldn’t have them,” Rowan says 

Sebastian lets Rowan go suddenly and straightens up the cuffs of his sleeves, thinking to himself. “Cursed into Damnation. A rather open-ended term, if you ask me. But that is also rather worrying… if all the previous generations thought it was terrible they would refuse to have children if they had a daughter. Then they might have good reasons to be so alarmed,” he says.

“I don’t know… You tell me! You’re the one that cursed my family!” Rowan yells. 

Sebastian turns to Rowan, an eyebrow raised, once again arms crossed, “How do you know I was the one to curse your family?” 

“Because! The legend says! Everything else was right, so might as well this,” Rowan yells. 

Sebastian rolls his eyes, clearly not convinced by her logic, “Everything else was right you say? Do you really trust the words of your ancestors that much and their ability to predict the future?” 

“No! I didn’t ! That’s why my mother separated from my father because she thought my father’s family was crazy! Now I've been here, with the person who cursed my family in the first place and Ciel who is alive…” Rowan says 

Sebatian groans, frustrated, “You realize you’re basing your entire theory on the fact that I happen to still be serving the young earl who, mind you, is still alive. It’s all just convenient evidence to back the theory.” 

“Well… Again… He lives until he’s 30 because his deal with you isn’t sufficient anymore for some reason. His son that he had at 25 actually died unexpectedly at 30… Then any boy in the family dying unexpectedly at 30 for 4 generations later.” Rowan says.

Sebastian rubs his temples, trying to make sense of it all, “And what happens to any girl who is born into your family, then?” 

“Apparently cursed into damnation… But I have been the only girl… Like I said earlier, if a woman married into the family had signs of having a girl… They would get rid of it…” Rowan says. 

He closes his eyes, annoyed, “Yes, I’m aware of that. But you still haven’t answered what this supposed curse even is. Do you have any information on that?” 

Rowan rolls her eyes, “I don’t know! I only know what I have been told.”

Sebastian sighs, “I see… so in other words, you’re just making assumptions based on your family’s legend because you got stuck in the past. How do you know that any of these things will even come to fruition?”

Rowan deadpans, “Because… I’m standing in front of the demon who cursed my family… so you answer what that means… You’re the one that did it.” 

Sebastian steps forward, towering over Rowan with his arms crossed, “You’re acting like I’ve already admitted to cursing your family. What if I didn’t have anything to do with your ancestors? Hm?” 

“Well, you are the butler of Ciel Phantomhive right?” Rowan says, rolling her eyes. 

Sebastian looks down at her with a blank expression, “Yes, yes, I am currently in the service of the young earl. I’m well aware. What’s your point?” 

“Well, it says that you are the one that did it… so…” Rowan says. 

Sebastian groans, running a hand through his hair, “It, the damn legend. You’re basing all this off the word of your ancestors. Tell me, what evidence do you have to back the theory that I apparently cursed your family, other than being the butler of the current earl?” 

“I don’t know! I’m stuck here in 1888 with my very great grandfather and his fucking demon butler from hell!” Rowan yells. 

Sebastian rolls his eyes, not seeming very amused by Rowan’s answer, but also not looking angry either, “I don’t know is not a very valid answer. You’re basing all of this off of your personal theory that I cursed your entire family bloodline. Do you not see the issues here?” 

“Yes… I do but I don’t know what to do,” Rowan says. 

Sebastian huffs, “That’s obvious enough. You’re obviously acting without a plan and you’re letting fear cloud your judgement. You’re not thinking anything through rationally.” 

“Oh really?... Why do you think I'm not thinking rationally? I’ve been stuck in 1888 for five months with a demon butler…” Rowan says sarcastically. 

Sebastian rubs his temples, “For one, you’re treating your legend as gospel that I've already cursed your entire family. You’re treating your ancestors as if they could see the future and you’re taking their words as law with no second thought. Do you honestly not see the issues here?” 

“The issue here is I'm in 1888! No way of getting back and talking to a demon!” Rowan yells. 

Sebastian groans again, more frustrated than before. He steps forward and grabs Rowan’s arm harshly, clearly trying to be intimidating, “That’s not the issue at hand right now, miss. Can’t you put your own predicament on hold for a moment and concentrate on the current topic of who you believe cursed your entire bloodline, hm?” 

Rowan winces, “You… You’re the one that did it…” 

Sebastian tries to keep his temper under control, but he’s slowly losing his patience, “Alright, let’s humor your theory for a moment. And if I actually did, so what? What’s it to you?” 

Rowan glares, “I don’t know! I don’t know why my family is cursed. I don’t know why I’m here! I don’t even know what the curse of damnation even means!” Rowan rips her arm away from his grip, “All I know is the legend I was told and what caused it was you… I don’t know why and I don’t know what it even is… All I know is that you’re a demon, Ciel is my fourth great grandfather and I’m in 1888.” 

Sebastian’s annoyed that Rowan got out of his grasp so easily, but he sighs, trying to stay composed, “Fine. We will take your “legend” into consideration as valid information for the time being. I won’t question it further, even if the reasoning makes no sense whatsoever. But do you see that you’re making a mountain out of a molehill? You’re panicking for no reason at all, miss. What good is it to freak out about something you don’t even have answers to?” 

“Because I grew up where women could wear pants and have jobs and have rights and now I’m in 1888 where we have none of that… Also… No modern technology.” Rowan says. 

Sebastian sighs, “So you’re freaking out because you suddenly got transported to a time period without any modern technology and you don’t have any right as a woman and you’re scared of the curse. Is that a correct summation?” 

Rowan nods, “Yup.” 

Sebastian looks at Rowan, clearly not understanding your distress, “That is why you’ve been cowering against a wall, panicking all this time?’ 

Rowan nods, “Well…. I have never met my father because of this so-called curse that my mother thought he was crazy and now I’m here… so … I’m trying to wrap it around my head.” 

Sebastian sighs, rolling his eyes again, “I’ll admit I'm getting a headache trying to process the thought of your family being so paranoid about the legend you believe in that your parents separated because you got stuck in the past… you’re so dramatic…” 

Rowan huffs, looking away, “I didn’t believe in it until now.” 

Sebastian groans, clearly getting frustrated, “Yes, I understand that. But the fact that you’re letting your situation affect you so severely to the point of panicking is a bit ridiculous, is it not?” 

“I still don’t even know if I believe in it,” Rowan expresses. 

Sebastian folds his arms across his chest again, getting a bit annoyed at Rowan’s constant changing of her stance, “You’ve been flip-flopping back and forth about your belief of your family’s legend since this discussion started. Make up your damn mind, you’re making my head hurt.” 

Rowan sighs, “What does cursed into damnation even mean?” 

Sebastian rubs his temples, trying to think how he can put it best, it was a little difficult to explain, “Cursed into damnation basically means you were cursed to suffer a life of misery, a hellish one, so to speak.” 

“Oh… that’s great…” Rowan sighs. 

Sebastian raises an eyebrow skeptically, “I can’t tell if you’re saying “that’s great” because you’re being sarcastic or if you’re somehow being serious.” 

“Oh, it’s sarcastic you idiot,” Rowan says irritatedly. 

Sebastian groans, getting more annoyed, “Watch your tone, miss. I haven’t been insulting you this entire time.” 

Rowan shrugs, “Well, you calling me dramatic is pretty insulting to me.” 

Sebastian holds his breath for a moment, trying to stay calm and keep from snapping on Rowan, but the irritation is apparent in his expression, “Calling you dramatic is a matter of opinion. The only reason why I'm calling your reaction dramatic is because you’re panicking over the simple fact that you got stuck in the past. I understand being startled because of a sudden time travel, but you are acting downright afraid of it,” 

“And I’m apparently cursed to suffer a life of hell!” Rowan says. 

Sebastian rolls his eyes, starting to lose any and all patience for Rowan, “Apparently being the keyword. You don’t even know the full context of your family’s legend or what the curse even is. How do you know you’re definitely cursed?” 

“Because I’m standing in front of you….” Rowan deadpans. 

Sebastian groans in annoyance, getting more and more frustrated, “That does not mean you’re absolutely cursed. You’re letting your paranoia affect how you react to everything happening to you right now, and it’s becoming aggravating to deal with.” 

Rowan rolls her eyes and steps closer to him, “Fine… then help me figure it out. You are the one that did it.” 

Sebastian glares down at her, clearly annoyed and irritated, “Yes, and we’ve established that fact multiple times already.” He steps forward forcing you to back up against a wall, “You’re starting to become insufferable, you know that?” 

Rowan looks up to him as she feels the wall of her back, “You never answered me… Are you going to help me figure this curse out?” 

Sebastian grabs Rowan’s chin as he pushes her further into the wall, his expression getting more and more irritated by the second as he speaks, “Of course I’ll help you figure it out… but i expect you to stop being paranoid, to calm down, and to actually listen to what I have to say. Do you understand, miss?” Sebastian doesn’t let go of Rowan’s chin as he stands there, observing her for a moment, “Good. Now that we have an agreement… I will give you some answers as to what the damn curse is. But I will give them to you in pieces, you are not going to get the bigger picture all in one go. It will probably be easier to process that way, got it?” 

Rowan nods her head and breathes out, huffing. 

Sebastian lets go of her chin but still pinning her against the wall, his voice is quiet and firm, “Good… first of all, let’s clarify something. Your ancestors believed the legend that any girl born into the Phantomhive family would be cursed into damnation, correct?” 

“The first girl… so i’m guessing just the one,” Rowan corrects. 

Sebastian sighs, annoyed that she’s interrupting him, “Yes, I’m aware, the one female child. Don’t correct me, it’s irritating and it’s interrupting my train of thought. Just let me get through with my questions, and you can ask your own later alright?” 

“Well, you didn’t say it correctly. You said any girl…” Rowan says. 

Sebastian groans, getting increasingly more annoyed the second, “You realize the only difference between the two statements is the singular usage, yes? My meaning was clear enough.” 

“Except it wasn’t very clear because I had to correct you,” Rowan states. 

Sebastian groans again, clearly getting fed up with her nitpicking, “You didn’t need to correct me. What purpose did it serve? Your point got across, mine did as well.” 

“Mmmk whatever you say,” Rowan says. 

“if you say one more sarcastic comment, I swear to whatever God is out there…” Sebastian says. 

“Ok ok…. Continue what you were saying…” Rowan says. 

Sebastian lets go of her and rubs his temples, “Finally… that’s much better. Now, as I was saying, your ancestors thought that your entire family was cursed, didn’t they? Is that right?” 

“Yes,” Rowan says. 

Sebastian sighs, trying to keep his patience, “Now this leads to the first part of my next question. Since your ancestors believed in your family’s damnation curse, do you know anything about how the curse even works?” 

“Uh… All I know is that apparently the first girl is cursed into damnation. They never really said any details. Also… If it helps… All of the boys in the family have been dying at 30..” Rowan says. 

Sebastain raises an eyebrow skeptical, “That’s odd. And the reason I find that odd is because if they were so convinced that the one female child would be cursed, why are all the male children dying? That’s just inconsistent.” 

“Yeah… well… Apparently it will be worse…” Rowan shrugs. 

Sebastian raises an eyebrow, interested, “Worse how? How could it possibly be worse than all the male children in your family dying off?”

Rowan shrugs, “I don’t know… Like I said, there weren't many details.” 

Sebastian is annoyed by her limited knowledge, “How in the world am I supposed to give you a full picture of this damn curse if you have no details, miss?” 

Rowan sighs, “It’s not my fault. I’m not the one that cursed my family nor am I the one that read it. I was just told about it by my mother who thought it was crazy.” 

Sebastian rolls his eyes, clearly getting more annoyed by the second, “If you have no answers for me, then I will ask some different questions. Now the most important question I have for you… Is it the case that you believe the legend your family has about the curse, or do you not? Be honest with me for once.” 

Rowan shrugs, “I honestly never did… But the situation right now I'm in… I’m second guessing myself… I mean… I didn’t believe in demons and well… You’re right here.” 

Sebastian leans in closer, he then pins Rowan to the wall, “I was correct in that you were paranoid, weren’t I, miss?” 

“I never was paranoid until I arrived here you ass…” Rowan says shoving against his chest with her hands to push him away. 

Sebastian catches her wrists, preventing them from shoving him away before pinning her wrists above her head so she can’t push him away at all, “Watch your tongue. I won’t tolerate foul language from you. Is that understood?”

Rowan glares, “Well, you better get fucking used to it.” 

Sebastain grabs her chin, forcing her to look directly into his eyes, his expression stern, “You watch your goddamn mouth, you arrogant brat. I’m getting fed up with your attitude. You need to show some respect, miss.” 

“Hey!” Rowan says struggling in his grip, “You also cursed you hypocrite!” 

Sebastian lets go of her chin for a second, “Well, you have a smartass mouth and you’re being extremely rude. I won’t tolerate being disrespected. 

“Eh, whatever… Now are you going to help me or not?” Rowan asks. 

Sebastian rolls his eyes again, “Fine. I’ll help you, if you behave for two goddamn minutes.” 

Rowan rolls her eyes, “No promises… But i’ll try my best… Kind of…” 

Sebastian groans, clearly  getting fed up with Rowan’s attitude problems, “You better be on your best goddamn behavior, miss. You’ve already skating on thin ice. Now, I need you to be honest and open in your answers. Can you manage that much?” 

Rowan huffs and looks away, “Yes.” 

Sebastian nods, satisfied and a bit more calm for the time being, “Ok… good. Now, I’m going to ask more questions, and this time, I want you to truthfully answer each one. Got it?” 

Rowan rolls her eyes and turns her gaze back on him, “Will you please let go of me first?” 

Sebastian sighs, getting more and more annoyed by the second, “If you promise you won’t try to run, or be rude, or be a smartass, or be disrespectful, I’ll release you. But I swear to whatever God is up there. If you try anything, I absolutely will not hold back on you. Is that understood? Because I will not hesitate to put you in your place, miss.” 

“Hold back from what?” Rowan asks, smirking. 

Sebastian glares at Rowan, noticing the smirk on her face, “From giving you the punishment you deserve for acting like a brat. So I'll say it again; are you going to behave, or not?” 

Rowan giggles, “Hey… maybe I will like it….” 

Sebastian raises an eyebrow skeptically, he doesn’t believe that for even a second, “Oh really? You want to be punished for being a brat?” 

Rowan shrugs, “Depends on the punishment.” 

Sebastian smirks, clearly enjoying your reaction, “Well, I can think of a few punishments I could give you for being a rude and disobedient brat.” 

“And that would be?” Rowan asks. 

Sebastian leans in, his voice low and stern, “For example, I could lock you in a dark room with no lights, no windows, and no way to get out until I let you out. That would be the tame example. Would that satisfy you, or do you want something else, miss?” 

“Hmmmm maybe something else?” Rowan asks. 

Sebastian huffs, a bit frustrated that Rowan is pushing the limits, “oh? You don’t think that’s enough? You want to be punished more?” 

“Eh, not anymore…” Rowan rolls her eyes, “Yes, I promise to behave for two minutes.” 

Sebastian’s not entirely convinced by Rowan’s promise to behave, “very well… I’ll hold you to it. But if you do so much as give me an attitude, or behave badly, I’ll make you regret it. Understand?” 

Rowan sighs, “Fine.” 

Sebastian releases her wrists, but he doesn’t step away from her again, pinning her against the wall with his body instead, “Good. Now that we have an agreement, I’ll continue my questions. Are you ready?” 

Rowan looks at his body pinning her against the wall. She raises her eyebrows and looks at him up and down, “Fine…” 

Sebastian rolls his eyes, noticing her wandering gaze, “Did you honestly think I couldn’t tell you were checking me out? It’s extremely obvious.” 

“I never said I wanted it to be a secret,” Rowan points out.

Sebastian huffs, clearly annoyed again, but more so at himself this time for thinking she was subtle, “You didn’t have to say anything. It was obvious. I can tell by the way you look at me that you’re blatantly interested.” 

Rowan glares, “Yes… You’re a demon… I’m interested because you’re… a demon… Now, are you going to ask me the questions?” 

Sebastian groans, having hoped she’d admit to something more than that. He looks down at her again, “Yes, I’ll continue asking you questions. First, I’d like to get some details about your family and this legend they believe. Do you remember the exact statement they used?” 

“I already told you,” Rowan rolls her eyes. 

Sebastian sighs, getting tired of her constant smartass comments, “yes, I know you mentioned a statement they believed. But I mean, do you remember the exact wording used? Every word?” 

Rowan sighs, “I told you the exact words…” 

Sebastian groans, getting more frustrated by the second, “No, you didn’t. You said that the legend they used was that if a female child was born into the family, the first child, that she would be doomed to a life of suffering. You never mentioned if they used an exact statement like a damn prophecy, or if it was just an oral legend.” 

“An oral legend…” Rowan says. 

Sebastian groans again, frustrated by the vague information she’s given him. He pinches the bridge of his nose before continuing, trying to maintain his composure, “Why do I have the feeling this is going to be more difficult than it needs to be? Do you remember anything else?” 

“Nope…like I said. I was told things from my mother… Whom didn’t really exactly like that my father had this whole secret from her and actually tried to kill me so ....” Rowan says, looking away. 

Sebastian shakes his head, a bit stunned by the statement, “Wait… Are you saying that your  own father tried to kill you? Why did your father want to kill you?” 

“I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense to me either. Trying to kill your own child because they would be so called cursed later on seems like the curses already to me.” Rowan says. 

Sebastian nods, having to agree with her statement, “Yes, it does. I honestly don’t believe this family curse nonsense, especially after what you just said. It just doesn’t make sense; your father was trying to kill his own child, that’s absolutely terrible. Is your mother still alive?” 

“Yes,” Rowan nods. 

Sebastian nods, mentally taking notes on everything she has told him so far, “Well then, at least you still have one parent who doesn’t want to harm you. Do you still keep contact with your mother?” 

“Yes, but not anymore because I’m in 1888….” Rowan says. 

Sebastian rolls his eyes, groaning again at how vague her answer is, “That’s a pretty vague answer, miss. Mind elaborating a bit?” 

Rowan sighs, “I’m in college, well… my third year and I would come home on breaks. So yeah, I’m close to her. We talk and everything.” 

Sebastian nods, now satisfied by the clarification, “Good. At least you have a loving parent still by your side. I do have more questions, but is it alright if we pause for a second first?” 

“Why?” Rowan asks, confused. 

Sebastian rolls his eyes, once again frustrated by her constant need to ask “why.” but he maintains his composure, “Because I need a break from all the questions for a couple minutes. So is that ok? Will you be alright for a couple minutes alone while I take a break?” 

“Uh no… What am I supposed to do for a couple of minutes?” Rowan asks. 

Sebastian glares. Getting further agitated by the second, “Just sit still and quietly for a few minutes while I collect my thoughts. Is that really so difficult?” 

Rowan huffs, and flares her arms, “Uh yes, I was diagnosed with adhd… I literally struggle with that daily…” 

Sebastian rolls his eyes at her explanation, “You have what?  Whatever you have isn’t an excuse to misbehave, right?” 

Rowan pouts, “I’m not misbehaving.” 

Sebastian snickers at her pout, “Oh yes, you’ve been misbehaving in more ways than one today. You don’t listen to a word I say, you’ve constantly talked back to me, you’ve given me vague and limited answers, and you’ve even been sarcastic and cheeky with me. You’ve absolutely been misbehaving.” 

Rowan rolls her eyes and laughs softly, “That just called being a modern woman…” 

Sebastian is annoyed by her brazen and overly modern comment, “No, that’s called being a brat. Which is exactly how you’ve been acting so far.” 

“Um no, you’ve been. I’ve told you everything I know multiple times and you still don’t believe that you’re the one that cursed me! Well, that’s what I've been told and I've magically ended up in 1888 with YOU!” Rowan yells. 

Sebastian groans, tired of repeating the same points, “yes, I’ve been the one to curse you, I get it, alright? But you’re still a goddamn brat. You’ve been rude to me and disrespected me throughout our conversations, and frankly, you’ve been a pain in the ass.” 

Rowan laughs and shakes her head in disbelief, “You’ve been a pain in my ass because I’m here because of YOU! You don’t get to take a couple of minutes to rest! Just ask me the damn damned questions already.” 

Sebastian glares at Rowan, now annoyed by how aggressive and disrespectful she’s being, “Excuse me? You don’t get to boss me around, miss. I can do what I please whenever I want. So what if I'm the one who cursed you to be here? That doesn’t change the fact that you’ve been a complete pain in the ass since the moment we met.” 

Rowan puts her hands on her hips, “And you don’t get to boss me around. If you’re not going to ask me now then I’m not going to answer them later.” 

Sebastian is more upset that Rowan is giving him another ultimatum but gives in, “Goddamn it, you can be stubborn and relentless when you want to, can’t you?” 

“Yup! Now…” Rowan says pushing him away from her so she’s off the wall and steps closer to him and looks at him, “Ask your questions.” 

Sebastian is irritated by how pushy she’s being and how she keeps pushing his buttons, “Fine. Do all the men and women in the family believe in the curse?” 

“I personally never believed nor did my mother. I do know for a fact that my grandmother, grandfather, and father did… The others… I don’t know,” Rowan says. 

Sebastian sighs from the unclear answers, but restrains himself from saying something he knows would set her off, “Why didn’t you and your mother believe it, but grandmother did?” 

“My mother was never told until she had me and my father tried to kill me.. My grandmother… she was very superstitious apparently,” Rowan says. 

Sebastian nods, understanding the first reason, but he’s left with more questions about the grandmother, “I see… but what about your grandmother made her so superstitious that she would believe in something as ridiculous as a family curse?” 

Rowan shrugs, “I don’t know. I just know she was. My mother told me stories about her. Like I said, I don’t know my father’s side of the family very well. My father was… crazy to say the least. He tried to kill me when I was only a few minutes old.” 

Sebastian runs his fingers through his hair, “Alright, so you don’t know your father’s side very well because your father was a psychopath who tried to kill you, and your grandmother was a superstitious old woman, apparently the rest of your family. Is that correct?” 

“Yeah… pretty much,” Rowan says. 

“Ok…” Sebastian sighs, wondering if he even wants to continue. But he decides to keep going despite how stubborn and difficult she’s still being, “Do you have any other relatives on your mother’s side? Besides your mother, of course.” 

“Nope,” Rowan states. 

Sebastian sighs, “This isn’t getting us anywhere.” 

Rowan rolls her eyes, “You started it…” 

[reel-fear]

one day I'll snap and write a 234 page essay on why BATDR's ink demon is one of the worst character designs I have genuinely ever seen and how while I'm sure they're well intentioned. People who defend it or say its better than the og are genuine proof that most ppl are NOT qualified to speak on what makes good character design.

Hell maybe I'll even make it a video essay but dear god seeing Mike slander the hell out of batim ink demon while acting like the new one is SO much better like SHUT UP SHUT UP YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO SPEAK ON THIS STOP PRETENDING YOU ARE!! STOP BEING SO CONFIDENTLY WRONG AND STUPID ABOUT THINGS YOU HAVE NOT STUDIED EVEN THE BASIC FUNDAMENTALS OF

YOU COULDNT EVEN ANIMATE HIM CROUCHING THAT'S HOW POORLY YOU DESIGNED HIM. HE HAS TO TRIP OVER HIMSELF AND HOLD OUT HIS ARM TO PREVENT HIMSELF FROM EATING SHIT IN OUR BIG DRAMATIC CUTSCENE BEFORE THE CLIMAX.

Genuinely if you have a character design and you cannot animate it Crouching/Kneeling/Leaning Over without it looking unnatural or stupid. Go straight back to the drafts and do some anatomy studies. The basics of art of anatomy of character design are important to understand and this design fails all of them. They didn't even give him digigrade legs THATS NOT HOW DIGIGRADE LEGS WORK, DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW I LEARNED DIGIGRADE LEGS AS A KID? I LOOKED IT UP ON FUCKING GOOGLE AND STUDIED HOW MY CAT WALKS. ANYONE WHO HAS DONE EVEN THE MOST BASIC OF STUDIES ON DIGIGRADE LEGS KNOWS THATS NOT HOW THEY WORK. HERES A GRAPH-

This is rough cause I didn't want to make anything too elaborate for a random tumblr post, but genuinely I hope you can feel the struggle as I attempt to pose these legs in a way that SHOULD be natural for digigrade legs. But the hoof isn't able to move on it's own [think like how your ankles can move and rotate your foot] so they just follow the legs rotation in a way that is so stupid looking.

The joints are evenly space out so it looks horrifying and I mean just look at this mess! I couldn't even draw him raising his foot or SITTING in a way that looked natural anyone who has so much as looked up "digigrade legs tutorial" or "Mlp hindlegs tutorial" knows this is WRONG. This is the BASICS the FUNDAMENTALS and yet they got it all wrong showing Mike and Meatly haven't so much as gone through the effort of a god damn anatomy study before rushing to make this design and declare the best god damn creature design ever seen. Embarassing UGH-

[levil0vesyou]

Oh hey, I realised I can just ask for advice!

(Note: This is (mostly) not ebegging (nothing wrong with ebegging, just wanna be clear) even if it may sound that way in the first section. Please keep reading. It's pretty long tho, sorry. I'll put it under a cut as I am planning to pin it but please, please read it, especially if we're mutuals. Reblogs are welcome, especially within the german blogosphere, but don't feel obligated.)

So as some of you know, my flatmate has locked me out of the kitchen because I didn't have money for groceries and thus kept eating his food. This includes the electric kettle, microwave and most cutlery but I did accidentally keep a spoon that I still have now. (I have a small bottle of dish soap so yes, I can reuse it as I do still have bathroom access.)

I have since received my first unemployment payment which, due to my previous (necessary) overconsumption is mostly gone again now. I have 20€ and change (cash so paypal and my other debtors can't seize it) left for the rest of the month (new unemployment payment should arrive on the 1st) but I'm struggling to make it stretch.

I've been trying to search up advice on this but couldn't find anything useful. If you have links or anything, that'd be awesome. Here's the key points:

I live in Germany so subject to the German costs of living. Because I also can't afford public transport fare, my store choice is pretty much limited to a small-ish Rewe nearby. There's also a Mäc Geiz and a pharmacy but ofc those aren't grocery stores.

I do not have food allergies but I am a vegetarian and unless I'm literally dying, this situation will not change that.

As mentioned I have no access to a kettle, a microwave, a stove, a fridge or any of that. I do have access to my popcorn machine (many years of trusty service, real mvp) but that's it. I have access to a spoon and a sharp knife. Not a chef's knife tho. I do not have access to spices.

My mental health is still very bad, I cannot leave the house some days and I don't think I'd be able to do anything elaborate. Thus, whatever I eat has to be easily (or not at all) prepared but not easily perishable.

At this point, my standards are very low. My current main thing is eating unheated canned food but I'm prepared to eat basically anything I can stomach (excluding meat, as mentioned) in any way that is possible for me. I'm eating unseasoned chickpeas out of a jar right now. They're actually pretty good. I also (under normal circumstances) sometimes eat dry pasta for funsies so that might give you an idea.

I eat a lot. Less at the moment but still above average. I need plenty of carbs or I will still be hungry after. Essentially, pretend I'm feeding two people here.

I keep craving salt. I'm usually decent at telling what foods my body needs by cravings so I've been eating many crisps since I no longer have a spice cabinet. But they're 'spensive. I've also been craving eggs but I have no way to indulge since afaik boiled eggs are only sold around Easter. Also fruit juice but I can eat some vitamin gummies I still have instead, that'll probably be fine.

As stated, the budget is 20€ for 1½ weeks. I do have a bit of food already, some Zwieback, a pack of Leibniz cookies, a small jar of applesauce, a (hopefully not too spicy) can of chili sin carne, stuff like that. Also some hardtack I made months ago and just now remembered, but not a lot of it and I have no way to soak it, tho I might be able to clean an empty can.

While I'm not hoping to inflict permanent damage on my body, I am willing to take a few more risks than I usually would. That said, I can barely handle one or two short grocery trips a week so foraging isn't a good option at the moment. Also, laundry situation is difficult rn so avoiding diarrhea would be awesome 👍

While I am unemployed and legally homeless (I just haven't left yet) I have no documentation for this at the moment. I mention this because some food banks and similar require such documentation. Also, again, I have a very low travel range rn (like... 200m. 500 on a good day) but if you know like some kind of... delivery food bank?? that exists in Bavaria (dm me for the city) that would be incredible.

No, I can't get a job. I literally just tried that (again) and have reached a personal new low as a result. There were some in-between steps (like that fucking clinic) but yea, that's not an option. No, not even home office. No, not even freelance.

This one might seem entitled but. I cannot keep eating the same thing. I do have my samefoods (tho I cannot cook pasta rn for obvious reasons) but especially lately, eating the same thing for more than two or three days in a row has been low key driving me insane. Might be because I've been mostly cut off from society for months, might be because my body is sick of it, who knows. But I need variety. Same thing twice a week is fine, but more than that is pushing it. I'm very sorry.

As stated, this is not an ebegging post and I want nobody to feel any kind of obligation but if we're mutuals and you have a German bank account (or Schengen and are willing to pay the fee) and you desperately want to, you may dm me about it. But you do not have to!!! And I literally only say this because I know what it feels like to be on the other end of this. No, paypal is not an option, I'm triple digits in the red there. Water droplet on a hot stone etc.

What I am looking for is advice, especially from people who have dealt with severe financial issues and/or homelessness/kitchenlessness before. I've been kitchenless before but I had a fridge, microwave and somewhat reasonable money then so it didn't really prepare me. You can either comment or reblog directly or you can dm me or send me an ask. Anon is enabled.

Either way, thank you so much for taking the time to read all this! I love you, may you have a good day <3

[hornyhermitry]

Hey, I wanted to ask about what you think of what Naoya said to Maki about asking Mai about being an adult. I have not read that chapter yet but a lot people say that Naoya saying that is basically him admiting to have r*ped Mai. But Idk, maybe I'm biased but I think it was just to tease Maki.

Since that is such an often brought up claim, I took the time to write out a very elaborate reply to you. You say you have not read the chapter so beware: My reply contains a few spoilers and screenshots of chapter 191 and chapter 194 that contains this dialogue. It's a moot discussion because the dialogue itself does not spell this out literally in any shape or form. It's a personal interpretation without any proof. So the folks who want to read it that way will not be swayed by rational arguments about what's canonically on paper anyway. That being said, let's get into it~

For context: The whole scene contextually is Naoya having received an upgrade to vengeful spirit. In his eyes, he crossed to the other side - the side of the strong, where Toji and Gojo are.

Now he's out to use his new powers to take revenge on Maki who humiliated him before his rebirth. Due to his evolution to a vengeful spirit, he is mocking human, cursed-power-less Maki from a position above her. He mocks the difference between himself and her by using an analogy of adults and children. He says "There are many things kids cannot do that are natural for adults. Once kids become adults they forget how it was to be unable to do these things. That's how I feel right now." This is him referring to how natural his new skills and strength level feel and he cannot imagine anymore how it was to not be in such a powerful state.

Him saying that a child cannot understand an adult's skills is a very similar meaning and a reference to what Naoya already said in his first fight against Maki: "The sin of the small fry is not understanding the true meaning of strength." Here:

Maki verbally fights back by avoiding his analogy and switches to a literal and personal level and says: "Do you ever act like an adult?" Thereby implying his analogy is bad, because he is a childish guy who will always be childish and no power will change that.

To which Naoya replies "Why don't we ask Mai-chan?", following her switch to a literal level of dialogue and verbally slapping her back for calling him childish by hurting her where it counts: in Maki's guilty conscience for having left Mai at home, while she trained at Jujutsu school. We are shown that this is what she feels guilty about and she apologies to Mai after her death. Naoya knows this, because when Naoya and Maki meet after Maki's bloodbath, she told him - visibly in cold grief - that Ougi killed Mai.

Now that Mai is dead, Maki will never know if and how her sister suffered, but in any case she was alone. Mai wanted Maki to stay in the clan and rot there together with her, but Maki left her. And now Maki is dead.

So Naoya is stabbing her with words - I'm paraphrasing- "Let's ask your dead sister" to upset her once again about Mai's death and her own failure of NEITHER staying with her NOR protecting/saving her when she returned.

And Naoya also perpetually uses the "-chan" at the end of Mai's name (and Maki's name) to reinforce that he is above them and does not see them at eye-level. So this is where the pain in this dialogue between Maki and Naoya stems from. At Maki throwing Mai to the wolves and not knowing what happened at home. And Naoya saying "oops,can't ask her, she's dead haha". There is nothing about rape in this dialogue.

People (FWIW mostly children/teens from what I've seen on Discord and Twitter - aside from a few annoying click-bait and attention-hungry Twitter personas) will say anything if they think it gets them attention, a social media stat boost and another reason to hate a character they already hate.

TL;DR Haters gonna hate :)

There's nothing on the pages about this, it's just a pretty disgusting headcanon disregarding what's actually shown and said. But there's no point in arguing with fanatics about their beliefs. Just ignore it.

A last example: A 17 year old girl in a manga goes to school to write a final exam. She has lunch break with her bf and friends, writes the exam and goes home. When she returns home, her parents ask: "How was your day?" In the next panel she happily says "I did it!" and goes into her room.

Suddenly, a lot of readers and fans start going off about "omg she really fucked that guy". Why do they say that? Because some translator on TW mentioned that sometimes, in a specific context, "I did it" or "to do it" can also mean "to have sex". So they (wrongly) conclude, "ah yes, she's a teen girl with a bf so surely her reply must have meant she DID IT and had sex for the first time!" When of course, within the context of this scene, that reply was about her having (successfully) done her exam.

This is a VERY biased way to read and nothing more than wild imagination. But there's all kinds of people out there and some just want to live out their dirty sex and rape fantasies. A mild jab with a winking eye: Mostly that's coming from people who do not have a lot of real-life experience with sex. Or people. Or reading comprehension. :P

Sorry for the long reply, I figured I might as well explain properly.

Hope that helped!

[queeenpersephone]

Hi it’s the Kaz/Alina/Darkling anon! I don’t really have anything specific in mind there’s so little for the ship that I’m down for anything lol. But I wouldn’t mind another soulmate au☺️

hi there! sorry this took so long, but i finally decided how to write a sequel to this fic so have a peek! (in case you have not read the first fic, it is here, but basically kaz, alina, and the darkling are soulmates. that's the important info haha)

“We should kill them all,” Alina says conversationally, nails gripping the wood of the makeshift War Table, when the council of Grisha cannot agree on the amount of ships that will sail to retrieve their third. Some suggest masking it as a small expedition. Others, a full out armada, prepared for battle. 

The tent is hot. Alina knows that it is because of her. Can feel the sun roiling underneath her skin.

“Pekka Rollins is the problem,” Inej is saying as Alina consciously takes her nails out of the table, twirling her knife in her fingers. Inej is the only non-Grisha in the tent, and yet, the entire war council weighs each word of hers carefully. “We can send a small group in to extract Kaz and be out, no one the wiser.” 

“Ketterdam is the problem,” Alina hisses. “If they do not present my soulmate to me at the docks of their loathsome city, regardless of who took him, I will sink it.” 

Many people in the tent gape at Alina, who is normally the one talking their General down from similar action. “You are suggesting war-” Zoya begins.

“I am suggesting annihilation,” Alina corrects. “War implies that they would have the ability to fight back.” 

“Even if we end the city,” Ivan says, “and I am not against it, we still need to find Mr. Brekker first.” 

“I can find him,” Inej says confidently. 

“Ketterdam will find him,” Alina argues, and the room begins to heat to unbearable temperatures, “when they see Ravka’s forces, with the Darkling and I at the helm, crossing the sea. They will find him if they want to live.” 

“You are too emotional,” Aleksander says, the first thing he has said in a long time. and the tent is so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Sweat drips from Inej's brow.

Alina opens her mouth to scream, raises her hands to choke him or burn him or something similarly painful, just to release what is building inside of her. 

“You are not wrong, Alina, but you need to calm yourself. The sun is leaking from you,” he elaborates, and she bares her teeth at him. “I have a solution.” 

He grasps her by the wrist before she can Cut him, yanks her after him out of the tent, into the woods. 

She readies herself for a fight. He throws her against a tree, and, and, 

Takes her mouth with his. 

It’s not a kiss. Something so brutal, so angry, so primal, cannot be called a kiss. She draws blood from his lips, from his back where she tears his clothes from his body and into his skin. He draws bruises down her neck and along her back where he shoves her against the bark of the tree. 

He fights her down into the grass and dirt, and she burns. A thin layer of shadow protects him from the worst of it, but he still feels hot to the touch. He is never hot to the touch. 

When she comes, she presses her power down, not up. She wants to hurt him, but she does not want to destroy him. 

He does the same, pressing his shadows down into the ground around her, a perfect cut out of her body underneath his. She dreams about that kind of control.

When they come to, it is on a tiny island of dirt. In the middle of a crater, maybe fifty feet in any direction. He helps her to her feet, and they climb down and up, back to camp.

“We will find him,” Alina says. Or I will burn it all down, she doesn’t say. But it does not go unheard. 

“We will bring him home,” Aleksander agrees. Or no mortal will survive my wrath, is left unsaid. Alina, too, hears it all the same. 

There are no saints in the clearing. Leaving a crater of their own making, hand in hand in destruction, are two gods.

[frosteee-variation]

WAIT. WHO IS MISS DIRECTION

my friend you do not know the can of worms that you have opened with those five words alone

I typed up a full explanation before my tumblr crashed because there was so much I put

hang on okay

okay. okay. okay. missy. miss direction. miss interpretation. miss ellaneous. my beloved. my loathed. my cringefail girlboss miss direction.

upon the second time typing this I realize that it’d probably be much quicker for me to get past the context

OKAY TL;DR my friends and I are part of this campaign in a system called Anime Campaign which is also tied to the series Epithet Erased and we’ve been obsessing over it for about three years now even though nothing has actually started yet.

basically, some people have these things called Epithets and they’re random words tied to a person that lets them do cool stuff, yeah. like, someone in the campaign has Project as an Epithet. she can like, make film-style projections that come to life. it’s very cool!!

So Missy. Missy. Missy is my character. She originally started off as a silly evil NPC the first time we tried to start a campaign but I grew attached and started playing her as a PC in this one. Her Epithet is Concept. There’s a whole lot of complicated nuance surrounding how it actually works but bottom line is she can make things act like other things if people believe that, conceptually, the two things are one in the same. Like making plastic money act like real money, which is something she definitely does not do frequently she is a very honest person and not at all scamming people what are you talking about.

So she was silly!! She was so so silly!!! Basically played up the goon bit of “yeah boss” and all that. She was also a massive theater nerd, and made an active effort to ensure that literally nobody could forget that she was an actor and she knew several plays and shit. So when the most recent attempt at starting a campaign came around, I started thinking to myself, “hm. yeah, missy’s funny… but why is she funny?”

worst mistake of my life (/j)

So. Miss Direction (not her actual name) was an actor. Or she was learning to be an actor, at least. Absolutely loved the stage. And she was a really charming person, too!! But then for reasons I SADLY CANNOT ELABORATE ON HERE BECAUSE I KNOW THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THAT CAMPAIGN ARE FOLLOWING ME AND WE’RE PLANNING ON KEEPING THE MAIN BITS OF OUR BACKSTORIES SECRET she eventually booked it halfway across the country to this coastal city, Gallenset Gulf.

And she’s like “hhhhhouGHGGGGGHFUCK my life is RUINED” because of said nondescript Horrors™️ in her backstory that I cannot elaborate on and she’s kind of like. Not doing good. At all. She’s really shaken by the whole thing. Like it’s bad. She basically comes to the conclusion that she’s a horrible person for leaving and eventually gets roped into working for these small time criminals because (because of The Horrors™️) she’s technically a wanted criminal herself now.

So she works for them for a while, until she gets noticed by this woman named Ritz. K. Ritz, to be exact. Terrifying woman. Has a lot of “Hell” symbolism surrounding her for obvious reasons. You know the hound thing? The hound thing I mentioned in the last post? This is where that comes in. Hounds of hell, dogs of war, however you cut it. Ritz basically looks at this pathetic woman and goes “yeah, you know that stuff you said about you being horrible? You’re right. You’re totally evil. Like, holy shit, you’re bad. I’m worse though, so why don’t you work for me and you can go be a lot more honest with yourself.” AND IT WORKS.

After that, she ends up developing this whole brand around herself and takes up the Miss Direction moniker. She does some freelance work as a henchperson for a while and plays up the “VERY EVIL” gimmick to get more business and gets fairly far because she treats it more like a show, than anything. And she’s cunning, too! Really smart!! Absolutely PERFECT hitman material!

Right now, she’s basically easing off the gas and taking a bit of a breather by the time the campaign starts. Most of her attention has gone towards her startup (HenchPeople Incorporated, or H.I.P. for short because she’s a bad guy and doesn’t listen to the rules of acronyms) and she’s absolutely horrible and I love her so so so much.

She’s a dog person. She sings while she works. She failed to intimidate a kid one time and said kid turned around with a nat 20 and completely and utterly disgraced her. She constantly changes her name. Her jacket is this weird fucking white trenchcoat with baroque trim for some reason. She has an irrational hatred of Julius Caesar (the show). I absolutely adore her