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bixbythemartian · 2 years ago

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This is About Oceangate

...kind of. Like, heads up for people who are sick of hearing about it or are too disturbed by this, just scoot on by, that's fine.

Like everybody else my age who had a middle school special interest in the Titanic that was further fueled by the James Cameron movie (and that sounds very specific, but I absolutely know I'm not alone), I've been following this story fuckin voraciously.

I think everybody I know IRL and online is fucking sick of me talking about it. I have been actively trying not to blog much about it here because I'm so obsessed with it that I'm annoyed with myself. I would like to not be this interested in it.

But a lot of the stuff I can think of to say has been said by a lot of people already, I don't want to add to an already noisy environment if I've got nothing new to say.

So, instead, I want to talk about what I haven't seen very many people talking about- something that's stood out to me about the way the media has been handling this story from the get-go. So, finally, I'm inflicting my days long media binge on you.

The media's handling of this was bad. Like, comprehensively fucked.

For the uninformed, a primer on the situation- feel free to skip down if you know all this, there's a bulleted list right after I get done with this part, look for that. But some of this is important to the terms I use, so I wanted to lay it out. (Also I just want to get a lot of this out of my system, please just let me have this.)

The Titan is a 'cyclops-class' submersible. As far as I can tell, 'cyclops-class' is unique to the people who made this submersible, it's not a widely recognized thing.

The Titan can carry up to five passengers. It was supposed to be rated to reach depths of up to 4000 meters below sea level.

The Titan is/was owned and operated by a company known as Oceangate. There's a lot of questions regarding the safety of the submersible, where the math came from on their depth rating, and- basically everything about the Titan is in question, at this point. There's a lot of questions, but that's not what I want to talk about.

Right now. Maybe later.

A submersible is distinct from a submarine in that it requires a surface support ship for many things- the Titan moved too slow to leave port under its own power and go to the site, it didn't have enough life support to do that kind of thing, etc. A submarine is self-supporting and can operate independently. Kind of pedantic, I know, but the Titan is a submersible, not a submarine.

The Titan had a planned expedition to the wreck of the Titanic on June 18, 2023- this past Sunday, at the time of writing. The expedition was supposed to last around 10 hours. It chartered a ship- the Polar Prince- to act as mother ship, the on the surface support that the Titan requires. (The Polar Prince is owned and operated by a different company than the Titan.)

1 hour and 45 minutes into the expedition, as the Titan was still making its way to the sea floor, the Polar Prince lost all contact with the submersible.

The Titanic wreck is at just under 4000 meters deep, right around 2.5 miles.

Now, my understanding is that the Titan was not fully at the ocean floor at the point contact was lost, but it's not clear how deep the Titan was at that time. We may not ever know this for certain.

When the Titan was reported as missing to the coast guard is kind of unclear, to me- I heard 6 hours after they lost contact, I heard 12 hours after they lost contact, I saw something that indicated they reported it missing immediately- I don't know for sure. When the coast guard report comes out, I'm hoping we'll get a more accurate timeline.

However, as soon as it was reported missing, a massive search and rescue operationg was started. Complicating the search efforts were the fact that the submersible seemed to have no type of emergency distress locator beacon (I'm not sure what the precise nautical terminology would be for this).

The search included visual searching of the surface, dropping buoys with microphones, and ROVs (unmanned remote operated vehicles, deep sea robots operated by crew on ships at the surface) searching the floor, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. Deep sea radar etc etc, every tool they had access to.

The search and rescue concluded on Thursday (June 22, 2023) around midday, when they definitively found pieces of the destroyed submersible's pressure vessel (the part of the submersible that held pressure and kept the people safe and alive) in a debris field, approximately 1600 feet away from the Titanic.

The destroyed pressure vessel and reports from the Navy on hearing sounds consistent with implosion at the time the Titan lost contact indicates that the submersible underwent what is being called a 'catastrophic implosion'.

It is now an investigation and recovery operation, while they try to figure out what exactly went wrong.

The five men in the sub are dead. In all likelihood, they died so quickly that their nervous system didn't have time to process what happened. What happened to their bodies during this was probably gory and kind of horrifying, but it's unlikely they experienced any awareness of this.

There were five extremely wealthy men on the submersible- they were not all billionaires, but those that weren't were worth hundreds of millions of dollars. If you want a rough sketch of their biographies, there's a link here. Other than them being pretty wealthy, who they are doesn't play that much into what I want to talk about, so I don't feel the need to go into it right now. (Again, as more information comes out, I may come back for another swing.)

So, my complaint. The number of times I saw a news interview with an expert that went like this is not small:

news host interviews deep ocean expert of some variety (who is not involved in rescue)

host asks expert what chances are that the dudes are alive and will be recovered alive

expert, being honest, says something like 'slim to none'

host responds with some amount of sincere-seeming disappointment, then after interview, pivots to the ongoing search for the definitely still alive people

There were news programs with clocks counting down how much theoretical oxygen was left. There were frequent updates to news stories with nothingburgers of additions, just to pad it out. It was, if they were alive at that moment, fucking ghoulish. That they were dead makes it even more horrible.

And I cannot emphasize enough how many experts said, to generalize and paraphrase here: "Unless they are found bobbing on the surface in the next n hours, they are dead. Even if they are alive right this minute, on the bottom of the ocean, there is no hope to rescue them in time."

This is not a failure of any of the rescue entities involved, by the way. The environment they were presumed to be in- 4000 meters under sea level- is so extreme that there are very few vehicles in the world with the capability of even getting to that depth. Like, 10 or less. As far as I know, none of them are designed to do any kind of deep sea rescue- which would have involved carefully scooping up or netting the Titan and hauling it up very slowly. There's no way to transfer personnel between ships at this depth, and the Titan had the largest passenger allowance at this depth, afaik. Like, the odds were incredibly, vanishingly small that these men would live.

The media, at large, never ever really allowed that to change the way they talked about this story or treated the participants in the story. At around 11 am or noon (central daylight time) on Thursday I saw them talking about how 'oxygen is critical'.

Oxygen was critical 24 hours prior. Even by the most generous of expectations, they were out of breathable air. Given how, to put it mildly, janky the submersible seemed to have been, there was absolutely no guarantee that they had even the 96 hours that Oceangate claimed.

Their likelihood of being rescued alive from the ocean floor was minimal on Monday. By Thursday, they were dead- again, unless they were found on the surface somewhere and had managed to carefully preserve their air somehow, they were already dead.

The media didn't really allow for the reality of the situation to be clear until Oceangate and the USCG came out and said 'yeah, they're dead'.

"Well, what's the problem with that?" you might ask. "The United States Coast Guard was the one who was saying it was a rescue up until that point."

Sure. That's their job. Their job is to treat it like an urgent rescue until it is certain that it is not. A significant amount of what they do is to rescue people from doing damnfool things in the water, and keeping hope alive until they find bodies, or evidence thereof. They were doing exactly what they should be doing.

(Whether they do this to this extent for everybody lost at sea is another conversation that's absolutely worth having, as well as their role in border patrol, but I have no bone to pick with the USCG in this particular instance. They did their all until they could do no more, that's the whole point of them, this is how they're supposed to operate.)

The media was not doing what they should be doing. There's an old quote somewhere that I think is just a journalism truism (everyone I've heard talk about it says their journalism professor said it)- if someone tells you it's raining, and someone else tells you it's not, your job isn't to report that, your job is to go outside and see if it's wet.

James Cameron- director of the aforementioned Titanic movie, as well as being a Titanic and deep sea submersible expert, knew they were dead on Monday.

He reached out to some people, he found out that the mother ship lost contact with the crew as well as their location at the same instant, and that the Navy heard a sound consistent with an implosion at around that time.

The information that the Navy heard the implosion was not classified information- they heard it via a listening system that was declassified in the 90s, I believe. Like, I knew about the system just kind of casually because I know random Navy stuff. (My dad was in the Navy, it's mostly osmosis.)

The people on the scene were informed as soon as the Navy knew. (When that was, I'm not sure, except it was before Monday. Probably they had someone go back and listen to it and weren't actively monitoring it, but it's hard to say.)

The deep ocean submersible community knew, well enough that James Cameron could call a buddy and find out. He was telling people on Monday to raise a glass to them.

The media could have had this information, if they did not have it. Either they didn't want to know, or did know, and didn't say it. And I can't say for certain they were suppressing information, but I do know that they frequently downplayed any evidence that these people were dead.

I know on CNN they ran a story about FADOSS- the FlyAway Deep Ocean Salvage System- that was shipped out to Newfoundland. It arrived Wednesday afternoon. Description in the alt text, link here.

At the time this story was published, the people in the sub would have theoretically had less than 24 hours of breathable air. They hadn't even chartered a ship for the FADOSS, at this point. And the port in Newfoundland is hundreds of miles from the site. I'm not sure how many hours away but, like, hours away. I think I heard it's a 6 hour trip, but I'm not certain on that.

This system was referenced in the news as if it was going to be part of the rescue process. Very clearly, this was never going to happen. The quote, 'a process which can take a full day' is a mild understatement, here.

It could, theoretically, be done in 24 hours, but was much more likely to take longer, unless they had enough crew in Newfoundland to do round-the-clock welding.

The response to the question about recovering someone alive is a polite way of saying 'that's not what we do'. They were not part of the rescue operation and were never intended to be, as far as I can tell.

(If you're wondering what part the FADOSS is going to take in the recovery and investigation process, it's not. It's used to lift heavy objects off the floor, and the Titan broke into small enough pieces that the ROVs are believed capable of handling it. FADOSS is on its way back to wherever it is kept. I suspect it was brought out in the edge case that the submersible was found intact with dead crew, to retrieve the vessel whole, so that the families would have bodies to bury.)

Setting aside the 'oh they definitely blew up' news that seems to have been available the whole time, every single piece of evidence and expertise pointed to these people being dead, and yet the news persisted in sort of breathlessly (sorry) talking about the rescue efforts and how much time was left. They persisted in talking about how definitely still alive these people were until they could not do that anymore.

Other examples of this issue are the knocking thing. There were reports of some of the buoys picking up something that could be described as 'knocking'. Some said it was 'every thirty minutes' but we don't know how precise a measurement that was. As soon as they started talking about the knocking, I looked into it.

As it turns out, this is just a thing that happens. The sea is very noisy, and it's hard to determine the source of a sound. Some geological things sound manmade, vice versa. They had a lot of ships cooperating together to work the search area, it's possible that they were hearing noise from those, or something from an oil platform a jillion miles away, because noise travels far and is hard to pinpoint. They had this issue while searching for the sunken USS Thresher and it was one of the ships doing the searching. Given how many different moving parts there were in this search operation, it's hard to say what the knocking was. This is just a thing in the ocean, there's a lot of fuckin noise and experts can't always pinpoint it down in location or even what it might be.

This is why, even though they heard sounds that were consistent with implosion, at the time that the Titan lost total contact with the mother ship, it was still treated as if there was a live rescue operation. Because they couldn't be certain.

But the odds were extremely poor that these men were alive, and almost everybody involved knew that fairly early on. Again, the rescue operation had to go forward like they were looking for someone alive because that's how that works. The media, on the other hand, handled this in a very irresponsible way.

And, like, I know, news media is bad at being news is not some like hot new thing, I've just been building up frustration for days and so it had to come out somehow.

I'm not sure how much of this was just because they're very wealthy men- only one of whom I've ever heard of before- and how much of it was because it was a very bizarre and unique ongoing situation, how much of it was the intersection of that.

But pretty much everybody with enough knowledge to be worth talking to about this knew, like, Monday that even if they weren't dead right then, they were very unlikely to make it out alive, and watching the news wind a bunch of people up over the hopeful outcome was revolting.

Okay. We'll see if I can go 24 hours without talking about this. If you made it to the end of this absolute fucking novel, congratulations and/or I'm sorry.

#oceangate #titan submersible #this is just a personal rant about the media involved

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cripplecharacters · 5 months ago

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Heya, wanted to, first of all, thank you for your work here! It is very educational and deeply appreciated! Secondly I do have a bit of a question regarding the portrayal of a character with facial difference, specifically a visible and rather big scar on the face.

Character context: an adventurer/mercenary lady in a fantasy setting, comes from a culture that puts high value on perfection in all things, looks included, but stays separate from it for a decently lengthy time period as a part of a mercenary company

Scar context: is acquired (?) as a result of a dungeon delving expedition gone wrong early on in the heroine's career, is not a focal point of a stories with said character, but more of a part of a picture and a life journey

Would you say that any of the following would be asking for revisions to make them better and/or exclude something unintentionally offensive? Unless I would note otherwise, story bits would not be major focal points, just something revealed about the character during the Typical Fantasy Adventure Story.

Character initially struggles with having the scar due to the cultural influence, but thanks to the support of the friends from a mercenary company she is a part of (many of whom naturally have various scars of their own) comes to be more neutral toward it and later on adopts a more "this means something tried to kill me really hard, but I was stronger" attitude.

In the same stretch of time character goes from saving up money to hire a restorative magic specialist (to see if scarring can be fully healed or minimized) to discarding the idea and later on refusing an offer of this nature

While character does face some negative reactions to their scar - and especially they intention to don't "have anything done" about it - from some members of their culture, those events are relatively rare and not a major focus point. And the characters behind this are very unambiguously shown to be rude jerks.

Character meets other people of her culture who either do not share/come to drop the perfectionism view regarding to looks, or other people of her culture who have visible scars and other facial differences and therefore both support character and find support in her, if it makes sense?

Character's significant other from the same culture at some point in the relationship, inquires if she would be still looking for a restorative magic specialist, and if she would want help with either references or money, vaguely knowing that she was originally planning to save up for a visit. Receiving a confirmation that these services are no longer of interest to the character he does apologise for assuming before dropping the topic on a note of inquiring if there are any things that would make character more comfortable in their day to day life

If you would require any additional context and/or need to refer to me somehow, let it be Anon with Perfectionist Elves

Hello!

In short, I do like this. It's pretty obvious you thought about this a lot and I appreciate it. Not only does this help me with answering this, but it also just sounds promising in general.

I don't think you need to change anything if you don't want to, this is more in the vein of suggestions re:societal views you can consider;

You mention that the characters who support her do not share the perfectionist views, but I wonder if there would be a second group of people who do have FDs (or other visible disabilities) and still subscribe to that view. If someone grew up believing that physical perfection=good and suddenly stopped being physically perfect, there are two options;

First is the one you already have, reject the concept entirely; physical imperfection=still good.

Second would be to keep the concept and warp it to fit them: physical perfection=good, and I'm still good, meaning that whatever my "imperfection" might be it's still part of what "perfect" can be. You know how some old people who thought the same thing for the past 60 years and suddenly have something challenge that belief will just... make exceptions? I think that some people in that kind of society would do it too. Expanding the definition to fit their expanding worldview.

In real life context of facial differences, you could I guess see it as the difference between "I'm no longer as attractive as I was before, but I'm still a good person deserving respect" and "I'm a good person deserving respect, but I also think I'm still just as attractive as before". There's no wrong or good way to think about it, these are just views people have about themselves. Some people are fine with no longer being seen as conventionally attractive, others will fight tooth and nail to stay in that category, even if the category dislikes them by definition. Humans are weird.

For the significant other being from the same culture, you have a rare opportunity to give him genuine character development from another person's disability. If his partner does something that is pretty "against" what they were both told since they were children, his worldview will shift to some degree.

The main character's facial difference is something she has to "deal with" pretty urgently in this way; it's on her face and affects her public perception, she has to get an opinion on this societal view of "imperfections" fast, and it has to be a positive-to-neutral one if she doesn't want to be miserable with herself. He on the other hand, probably also has some "imperfection" that just isn't as obvious as hers; almost everyone does. Does he have something he maybe hid really deep down because he was afraid to show in fear of negative reaction? Some sort of failure - or "failure" - that maybe the realization of imperfections and "imperfections" not being the end of the world would allow him to process rather than repress. I imagine that if a close one clearly told him - "I don't want to change this, I'm okay with this" - then it could trigger a thought of "hey, maybe my 'this' could be okay too".

This is just my idea on how you can potentially expand on what you already have going on. I think it's an interesting setup, and honestly just sounds like you know what you're doing with it; good luck with writing your story!

mod Sasza

#mod sasza #anonymous #Anon with Perfectionist Elves #face difference

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0-eclipse · 13 days ago

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Corrections: I was wrong!!!

So as it turns out I messed up on a bunch of spots in this post so here I am to rectify those mistakes:

1 - Just a typo

In the Boso peninsula section, I meant to write that Hayashi Kaoru was Álfheimr's vice-captain, however I just forgot to add the "vice-" part for some reason. Kaoru was NOT Álfheimr's captain, that was (very notoriously, actually) a position held by Takegoshi Chihana at the time.

2 - Something I got my wires a little crossed on

So on the Empathy Phenomenon part, I mentioned that the Empathy Phenomenon is "an ability unique to users of Lunatic Trancer that has so far only been displayed by the Funada Sisters" and that "Fumi has implied that it is a Singular Ability of the Funada Sisters, but other Lilies are implied to be able to produce it as well, such as when Kiito partnered up with Saigo Kurena."

This was only 60% right, the Empathy Phenomenon is actually an ability that Singular Lilies who are Lunatic Trancer users can make use of, with the Funada Sisters being the only known occurrence of it. The reason why Kurena was able to produce an effect similar with Kiito is because she is also a Singular Lunatic Trancer user. The reason I got this wrong is because throughout the plays, the Funada sisters are said to be Singular Lilies because they can do the Empathy Phenomenon, rather than it being the other way around, so i just presumed that it being unique to them was outdated/retconned after Kurena was able to sort of produce it as well. I just didn't think this one through...

3 - Something i was very wrong about

In the Shimokitazawa Expedition section, i said that "the events of the [Team Hitotsuyanagi] stage plays are not implied to have happened in the game continuity". Well, this latest chapter just straight up proves me wrong, as they very explicitly remark how Ran and Raimu's handholding power was "something they've done before that one time". Well you see, that happened in Assault Lily: The Fateful Gift, the second stage play in the Team Hitotsuyanagi trilogy, where just like Ran described, once she and Raimu held hands, her Magie experienced a sudden surge, which allowed her to immediately destroy all the Huge surrounding them.

I don't even have an excuse here, I just completely forgot that this was mentioned in the game and then just went and said that the stage plays are not implied to have happened in this continuity, I'm very sorry, that was ignorant of me.

However, if you'll allow me to explain myself, the reason I had mentioned that in the first place is because as far as Team Hitotsuyanagi goes, it is notoriously kind of hard to put the anime/game story and the stage plays together in a way that fully makes sense. It's hard to figure out, for example, where the events of the plays would fit in the game's chronology, as we don't have a lot of timeskips. But also and i believe more importantly, we don't get a lot of direct mentions on either side of the more major events and characters that are known to be a big deal in each respective continuity, so it's hard to figure out if they actually happened/existed at all in either version.

For example, if you've been following the League of Gardens -full bloom- scanlation, then you're familiar with Toda Eulalia Kotohi. Well, she is like a major, I'd even say one of the main characters in the Team Hitotsuyanagi trilogy of stage plays, not only in her relationship with Yuyu, GEHENA and Ludvico, but also, she is a crucial part of Ran and Raimu's characterization in those plays. Yet you'd probably never be able to tell that from the game alone. Conversely, you have Yuri from the anime, who although admittedly not appearing that frequently, still has a lot of weight in the game side of things (she got a 2 hour event dedicated to her, which i can't say I'm looking forward to translating), but she's not ever implied to exist in the stage plays. Oh and don't even get me started on Misuzu, to this day we don't know if the direction the stage play went with her character actually counts for her anime/game version...

Now thankfully, as I mentioned in the previous post, the two continuities pretty much merge together from Chapter 3 onwards, so I'm confident (or at least hopeful) that I won't be making a mistake as egregious as this one again, or at least not too often.

Once again, I'm very sorry > <. Thank you for your patience.

Translation notes on Last Bullet Chapters 2.1 and 2.2

Or moreso little tidbits of information that aren't really crucial for the story, but that i want to tell you anyways because talking about Assault Lily lore is fun.

The Shimokitazawa Expedition

“We last saw each other in the Shimokitazawa Expedition, so it wasn’t that long ago for me. But I guess Asagao’s a different case.”

The Shimokitazawa Expedition is the event chronicled in the stage play "Assault Lily: League of Gardens" and its subsequent manga adaptation (which is currently being translated by the great folks of the Assault Lily Discord, check it out!).

By itself, it wasn't a particularly special event other than it was Team Hitotsuyanagi's very first mission in the stage play continuity, eventually earning them the Seal of the Holy White Lily, a prestigious internal decoration of Yurigaoka, which among other things, allows a Legion to take part in Expeditions in an official capacity.

The more interesting part about the Shimokitazawa Expedition, or rather, League of Gardens, is that it is part of a trilogy of stage plays focusing on Team Hitotsuyanagi, and it takes their story in a completely different direction, which is totally irreconcilable with the anime/game version of events. In fact, even some characters' personalities are completely different. (also TazuMai is not a thing in the stage plays can you believe that???)

Now, for what it's worth, much of Last Bullet's first two chapters are actually (very) loose adaptations of the events of the plays, and from Chapter 3 onwards, the two continuities pretty much merge together. However, all of the major plot points of the League of Gardens trilogy (as well as a certain pair of characters) have been completely left out, so it does feel a little weird that the Shimokitazawa Expedition was referenced here when the more pressing events that it sets in motion in the plays (which have major implications for the characters, Yuyu in particular) are not implied to have happened in the game's continuity.

Also, little fun fact, League of Gardens was the very first portrayed appearance of Team Hitotsuyanagi (it precedes the anime by a couple months, though the two were developed at the same time), as well as the very first appearance of Kazuha and Kanaho (Which actually makes Yuzuriha's remark above really funny since she and Kanaho don't interact like at all in the play).

Kanaho, Takane and the Funada Reserve Corps

(The source for much of the information in this section comes from "Mashima Moyu's Great CHARM Workshop: Funada Kiito", as well as the Assault Lily Magazine Vol. 05)

As they go on to mention extensively throughout Part 2, Kanaho and Takane were members of the "Funada Reserve Corps" during their time in Odaiba Girls', but what was this exactly?

Like i mentioned on my post on Odaiba Girls' School, a "Reserve" is the equivalent of a Legion for middle school Lilies, which are usually deployed as support for actual Legions. The Funada Reserve Corps was one such team, and they were pretty much one of the greatest Reserves of all time, being regarded as one of the strongest in the whole world, and as Kureha says at one point, having the potential to rival even the legendary First Generation Álfheimr had they not disbanded.

As the name suggests, they were led by the Funada Sisters, who at the time were also the heads of Odaiba's Student Council. Kanaho in particular served as their chief commander, with the incredibly strict and disciplined Igusa Subaru as her vice. Their work together made the Reserve's offensive and defensive capabilites virtually flawless. Takane, meanwhile, served as their centre attacker in the midfield TZ position, and she was so efficient at her work that after she and Kanaho left Odaiba, there were almost no Lilies who could properly fill the void she left behind.

So, Kanaho and Takane eventually left Odaiba, we know that much, but why did the Reserve Corps disband? Well, as I mentioned, the Funada Sisters were also the heads of Odaiba's student council, but the thing is, Kiito in particular had developed a knack for authoritarianism. I'll refrain from going over the whole story because frankly it warrants a post of its own, but basically, she and Ui underwent a very traumatic experience as kids, which left Kiito with a very absolutist view of the world and of the duties that Lilies must undertake. So, when she became president of the student council, she began to implement some very-hard line policies centered around a "power-based doctrine", while abusing her power to snuff out any opposition.

This all came to a head during their final year of middle school, when Kiito attempted to institute a unique, "skill-ranked" training regimen. It was a remarkably tough program for Odaiba's Lilies to endure, and not only that, but it went directly against Odaiba's educational policy of gradually building up a Lily's strength, though unfortunately, that didn't stop Kiito from forcing her program's approval. This, by the way, is the reason why Kiito and Yuzuriha don't get along well, as Momiji was one of the Lilies to suffer greatly under Kiito's rule, which prompted Yuzuriha to become one of the Lilies to openly stand in oppositon to her.

Predictably, Kiito refused to withdraw her policy, which only served to bolster her unfavorability amongst Odaiba's students, and it came to a point that even her own sister Ui had begun to disagree with her methods. The pressure ultimately led Kiito to resign as student council president, and as a handful of the members of the Funada Reserve Corps were also part of the student council, she would also dissolve the team shortly after.

Kiito and Ui would leave Odaiba entirely, going on an year-long travel across the world. Asagao became the student council president before Momiji assumed the role, and with the Reserve Corps now disbanded, a portion of its members went on to integrate Odaiba's Top Legion, the Heorot Saints. A year later, Kiito and Ui would return to Odaiba together with a lil dog girl they found along the way, and together with the Reserve Corps members who still had a positive opinion of them, they formed Legion Hronesnæsse.

B-Type Armament

"She’s generating a barrier of Magie that’s expunging all the Huge near her! Be careful so that it doesn’t touch you too!" "Is that because of the highly combat oriented ‘B-Type Armament’ CHARMs that I hear about so much?"

A B-Type Armament, or B-Type Equipment (the B stands for "Berserk", by the way), is a mod that can be installed directly atop a CHARM's Magie Crystal Core. It is a relic of the Duelist era of Lilies, and they work by encircling the Crystal Core with a "ring cartridge system", a ring-like apparatus that is capable of storing Magie, which it feeds directly to the Core. Once it reaches a certain threshold, the ring then opens up, unleashing Magie over the entire CHARM to the point of overload, which essentially allows every inch of it to be weaponized. The power boost experienced by the CHARM is immense, as it's said to allow a Lily to one-shot a Large-class Huge, and even go toe to toe with a Gigant-class by herself

As you can imagine, a weapon of such great capacity does not come without its downsides. The B-Type Equipment sacrifices pretty much all of the Lily's defensive capabilites once activated, and in fact, a Lily can be left crippled if only a single attack hits, and even with that aside, B-Types require a cooldown time after activation, leaving the Lily particularly vulnerable as the system reboots. As such, while they aren't straight up prohibited (at least not widely, anyways), usage of CHARMs with B-Type Armaments is considered a taboo in modern times, and should a Lily insist of making use of one, it is considered a necessity that her Legion have an Arsenal, or a Lily with the time-rewinding Rare Skill Z in order to shorten the cooldown time.

The Boso Peninsula Liberation

"It’s fine, the Huge haven’t even shown up all that much around here since Boso got liberated anyways."

As alluded multiple times throughout 2.2, the Boso Peninsula had been recently liberated from the Huge's control. At this point, not that many details have been disclosed about this battle, but we do know that it was an operation led by the First Generation Álfheimr. Notably, Álfheimr's vice-captain, Hayashi Kaoru, lost her Schutzengel in this battle.

Empathy Phenomenon

"There’s no cause for concern, as Kiito and I are perfectly capable of bypassing the effects of the Magie interference thanks to our 'Empathy Phenomenon'."

The Empathy Phenomenon is a trait unique to Singular Lilies who are users of Lunatic Trancer, and so far has only been displayed by the Funada Sisters. The workings of it haven't been fully explained as of right now, but it appears to be a product of the resonance of their Magie as they activate Lunatic Trancer, with some of the observed effects including a higher resistance to Negative Magie, increased perception of their surroundings, and also, at least going by the words of the not so trustworthy Inaba Mayumi, the Empathy Phenomenon also helps to stabilize the mental state of the Lilies involved.

While Fumi has mentioned once or twice that the Empathy Phenomenon is unique to the Funada Sisters, more recent media does strongly imply that other Singular Lunatic Trancer users might be able to generate it as well. In fact, in the stage play aptly named "The Empathy Phenomenon", the Lunatic Trancer user Saigo Kurena is briefly placed as Kiito's partner exactly due to the expectation that they can also activate the Empathy Phenomenon. Later, Kiito goes on to say that they were able to create an effect "similar, but not quite like it".

...

And that is all of the more interesting bits i wanted to point out, there were a couple others, but they do get explained within the game itself, so i won't go over them right now. I will try not to take two whole months to release the next chapter, but i'll be i can't really promise that with 100% certainty > <.

See ya!

#assault lily

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nolita-fairytale · 2 years ago

Text

make my heart surrender | carmy berzatto x fem!reader | chapter three: thursday

pairing: carmen berzatto x fem!reader

warnings: lots of swearing, angst, use of she/her pronouns, allusions to sex, eventual smut, no use of y/n, second person pov, mentions of death/mikey's suicide

word count: 3.4k

summary: you and carmy finally find some time to catch up and carmy begins to realize that you're more similar than he thinks.

a/n: thank you to all who are reading, reblogging, and commenting omg. i'm so grateful that someone wanted to read this story. i wrote it in a week because i couldn't get these two out of my head. they were begging to be put on the page. i also have a companion playlist that i'll release when the story is done because i don't want to spoil anything! comment below if you'd like to be added to this story's taglist. i did presumptuously add a few of you i've interacted with, so please let me know if you'd also like to be taken off of it.

read: part two | masterlist

Thursday

You’re grateful that by day three, you’d been able to smooth over some of the tension between you and Carmy. You even looked forward to catching up with him, if the two of you can swing it. Instead of going home early, you had jumped on the line this evening. Ebra was out for the night and Marcus had asked to fly solo on prep so that you could give him some feedback before lunch service tomorrow morning.

It was an easy decision, to fill in and jump on the line. After all, you had checked your bag on the plane so that you could bring your knife roll with you, just in case. There was something about this kitchen – the energy and the people – that you wanted to stick around for. And it didn’t hurt that you got to spend a little extra time with Carmy. When he was in his element, expediting and leading this kitchen… he was… breathtaking.

“Damn, nice knife, Jeff” Tina comments, checking out the santoku you’re running through some parsley. She can hear the crisp, clean cuts you're making, which is what caught her attention in the first place.

“Jeff?” you question, shooting her a look.

“Long story, but trust me. It’s a term of endearment,” Sydney interjects, from her side of the prep station.

You chuckle, “She’s a beauty alright. My first fully Japanese knife. Though the steel is a bitch to take care of. That’s for sure.”

“What do you mean?” Tina questions further.

“Well, it’s just a kind of metal alloy that’s super prone to-,” you start, completing your sentence at the same time as Sydney chimes in.

“Rusting,” you both say in unison, sharing a look.

“Huh,” Tina sounds, suddenly losing interest. “I don’t get it. It’s more work to take care of? Our shit’s part-plastic and does the job just fine.”

“Oh but she’s so smooth,” you playfully swoon, referring to how beautifully the knife performs for you.

“It’s all about the performance, T,” Sydney adds.

Tina hums in response, still unconvinced by you and Sydney’s admiration for the fancy tools.

“So you and Carmy. How’d you meet Jeff?” Tina inquires further geturing her knife towards Carmy’s expediting station, and eliciting another laugh from you and Sydney.

“Uhhhh… we both worked at the same restaurant in New York. I came in to stage and the competitive jerk tried to smoke me. Thought he could show me it was his territory.”

“Like a little bitch,” Tina teases, the shade evident in her voice.

“And you kicked his ass obviously,” Sydney suggests, hopefully.

“Mhm,” Tina adds in agreement.

“Oh absolutely,” you answer, deviously. “I walked out with a job that night. Carmy and I are the classic kitchen staff case of… enemies turned good friends.”

You look up from your station, noticing an exchanged look between Sydney and Tina.

It’s the kind of look that says, Just friends, huh?

“Alright, alright. Enough with the girl talk, gossip girls. News flash: no one gives a shit about fuckin’ Tom Colicchio and Padma Whatserface over here,” Richie interrupts, referring to the you and Carmy, as he passes by with a few empty storage containers on the way to the dishwashing station.

“Asshole / Fuck off, Richie,” Sydney and Tina shout back at the same time.

“Hey! Listen up, everyone! Fire two spaghettis, two short ribs, one chicken,” Carmy calls out to the kitchen. You listen attentively, hearing the chorus of the entire kitchen repeat the order back to him, punctuating the order with a ‘heard.’

You smile to yourself, as you enjoy the feeling of falling into such a familiar rhythm.

You’ve missed working in the kitchen, and you’ve missed working in the kitchen with Carmy. This was so different than any of the bullshit you’ve been through together – even when he is arguing or yelling at someone. It’s not some sterile environment that looks more like a science lab or an operation room than it does a kitchen.

No, this place has soul.

Between the crass kitchen banter, the less than flattering nicknames, and its wild cast of characters, it’s only day three and you feel right at home. Dinner service flies by and you’re eager to check in with Marcus by the end of the shift. Before taking your apron off, you head over to his corner of the kitchen.

“Hey, how’s everything going, chef?” you ask, curiously.

“Good, chef,” he answers proudly. “I got the brioche covered and ready to rise overnight and I prepped the cake donuts so we’re ready to roll tomorrow morning. I went with a blueberry cake donut this time around.”

“Sounds great. I can’t wait to try it, chef,” you reply. “Need anything from me before I head out for the night?”

“Oh no, uh, I’m almost done here,” Marcus answers, inspiring confidence in his ability. “Just workin’ on a curd for the filling, chef. Just like you taught me.”

“Alright,” you chuckle, tickled by how excited he is. “Have a good night, chef.” You pause, wondering if your words will be totally lost on him. “And make sure you get some rest tonight, okay?”

He responds with a nod, as you leave his station.

You make your way to the locker area, hanging your apron up, and slipping off your kitchen sneakers, before taking a seat on the bench. It looks like most of the kitchen staff got a head start on you and have already left, or are out of their kitchen clothes and ready to head home. There’s a strange feeling in your heart. You haven’t felt this kind of… community… in a professional kitchen in a long time and you try your best to name what it is you’ve felt was missing.

“Hey,” you hear a voice say, pulling you from your thoughts.

“Hey,” you say to Carmy.

He removes his apron, folding it over his forearm. It sits further down his arm, right near his tattooed hand, you notice, as he leans his side against the lockers.

“Thanks for jumpin’ in… you know… on the line tonight,” he starts his gaze practically piercing through your soul.

“Yeah, it’s uh, no problem,” you reply, placing your knife roll and kitchen shoes back into your locker. “I had fun.”

“You uh, you still want to go for that drink?” he asks, shyly.

You smile.

“Yeah.”

“It’s fucked up,” Carmy shakes his head in disbelief.

“Oh please. What?” you groan, shooting him a look.

“You’ve been in my city for… what three days now and you already have a hookup at one of the hardest to get into bars here,” Carmy replies, eliciting a laugh from you.

“Oh my god,” you sigh with a playful eye roll. “I’m a New Yorker, asshole. You know that’s how we do it.”

He shakes his head again, before locking eyes with you, “You were always better at it than me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you, Carmen Berzatto, finally admitting that I’m better at something than you? Can you say it again, and I’m just going to-.” you tease, playfully, pulling out your phone as if you’re going to film him saying it.

“Oh shut up…” he shoots back, gently pushing your phone away from his face.

“I mean, you could always make friends with anyone. The bodega guy downstairs. The fuckin’ bodega cat. Our favorite butcher? ‘S why we always got the good cuts of meat when we cooked together on our days off.”

“Which is exactly why I do it,” you point out.

You had always been so magnetic to him. It’s something that he’s always admired about you – something that always reminded him of Mikey.

“No, I-, I used to be a regular at this bar when I was working at Gramercy Tavern – actually, I think it closed right before you came to New York. Anyways, found out my favorite bartender moved to Chicago and I sent him a message letting him know I’d be in town. Said he’d get us in even if they were booked up, and,” you gesture towards where the two of you are sitting together, “Et voila!”

Carmy takes a look around. He hasn’t been in a fine dining establishment since he left New York. It’s as if all the fancy awards and all the dues he’s paid cooking in the best restaurants in the entire world don’t matter anymore. He feels so out of place: the people, the over-the-top cocktails, the overpriced bowls of food called something fancy to justify the high price point.

“From the kitchen” your bartender had said curtly, a mere few minutes ago. He had placed a few plates in front of the two of you to share that you most certainly didn’t order.

You both had thanked the bartender, before digging into the large bowl of soup, stracciatella, and focaccia bread on the plate. You rip off pieces of bread, dipping them into the salty broth, popping them into your mouth. Carmy’s much more of a gentleman about it, using his spoon to try the soup first. You had only planned on drinking here, but your friend at The Aviary had really come through. You’re sure it doesn’t hurt that you’re here with Carmy, and that these guys definitely know who Carmy is.

“So…” you start, taking a sip of whatever fizzy strawberry gin thing you’d ordered earlier. “I feel like there are a lot of long stories I’d like to hear.”

Carmy makes a sound in agreement before taking a sip of his drink. It’s just bourbon on the rocks, and you wonder when he started drinking bourbon like this.

“I mean… we could start here. How the hell are ya?” you ask.

“I…” he starts, before trailing off. He buries his face in his hands, dragging his fingertips across his forehead. “It’s uh, it’s been a long couple of months. Christ. The restaurant was a goddamn mess, everyone hated my fuckin’ guts. And then Syd showed up and, well, she’s been a big help.”

You wait a beat before saying, “As much as I want to hear about the restaurant, Carm, I mean how are you doing?”

Your words stop him, and he looks up at you with those baby blue eyes. He takes his time thinking about it, shrugging before muttering something along the lines of, “I’m okay, I guess.”

He’s searching for the right words to explain how the hell he’s even supposed to answer that question.

“I don’t know. Guess I thought if I fixed the restaurant, if I could fix it-. Maybe I could fix him,” he drags out.

He waits a few beats before finally admitting:

“I miss him. Mikey. And I found out all kinds of shit about him that I-, well, shit I didn’t know. I think-, I think it’s why he kept me away. Why he shut me out.”

You listen as he begins to fill you in: about Mikey, the drugs, the debt he inherited that he now owes to Cicero, how hard it was to win over the kitchen staff that, come hell or high water, weren’t interested in changing their ways. And then he tells you about the meetings he's been going to -- the al-anon meetings. And you begin to understand. While he’s the same old Carmy, this isn’t the exact same Carmy that you knew in New York. The Carmy you knew in New York never would’ve gone to those meetings. He would’ve brushed it off and pretended there wasn’t a problem and taken as much punishment as he could in the kitchen instead of dealing with what he was feeling.

Mikey’s death, and coming home, and this restaurant, it’s all changed him.

And maybe, just maybe, it’s part of the reason why, after months of no contact, he reached out to you now, but he’s not sure if he should tell you that yet.

You’ve got to give it to him. If anything, he’s exceptionally talented at cutting people out of his life. It’s his M.O – the only thing that’s been consistent in his life – even when those people didn’t deserve it. It’s what he knows to do. It’s something he’s learned… from Mikey, from his dad…

But this… what he’s telling you, these are stories of connection and community.

“And Syd’s really helped me pull this shit together. She's kinda like... the glue, y'know? I- I don’t know where we’d be without her,” Carmy concludes.

You agree. Syd is brilliant. You can see just from having been in that kitchen that she’s been the biggest catalyst for the changes — even his.

“I know you only asked me to come for pastry but I’m glad you let me jump in on the line tonight,” you say. “It’s cool to see what you’re doing now and… I don’t know. I know it was a rocky start, but you’ve got something here. Something that could be really, really good, Carm. You’re making real fucking food. Like your mom’s chicken. I haven’t forgotten about that.”

“How can you remember that?” Carmy asks, a little surprised, his eyes lighting up. He’d almost forgotten that he’d once made it for you while you were both still in New York.

You nod, “Best chicken piccata I’ve had in my life.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Hands down.”

“You know,” you start, a mischievous tone in your voice. “If I recall correctly, you made me some pretty bomb meals back in New York. And didn’t I say something along the lines of you really shining when-?”

“Oh no,” he groans. “Not this again.”

“I’m just saying!” you justify, innocently. “When you cook the food you grew up with, Carm, you’re at your very best. And don’t get me wrong. You’re an exceptional chef, regardless of what you do but-.”

“So what? You’re gonna say ‘I told you so?’” he questions, shooting you a look.

You shrug, playfully, “I can’t help it if I’m right all the time,” earning an eye roll from him.

“Especially when it comes to you.”

He’s quiet for a moment, because you do know him. You’ve seen sides of him he’s barely let anyone else see. It feels good and terrifying all at once to be seen this clearly.

“Yeah, well, you always were a little more Mozza than French Laundry, huh?” he shoots back, referencing your difference in preference. While Mozza was more family style, The French Laundry, a restaurant Carmy had worked at once upon a time, was anything but.

“Yeah. Who knew one day we’d switch places?” you reply, a sadness in your voice. Were you… envious of what Carmy had? Was this what you were looking for?

“So uh, you gonna tell me what the hell happened with the restaurant?” Carmy asked, changing the subject – changing the subject to you.

You sigh, you raise your drink to your lips, finishing the rest of what’s in the glass in one go.

“That bad, huh?”

“No!” you’re quick to reply. “Well, yes. But no. But yeah….”

Carmy flags the bartender down, ordering another round for the two of you.

You’re not even sure where to begin in regards to the existential crisis of sorts that you’ve been having, so you just tell him what happened.

“I was juicing blood oranges one day. And-, you know we were going to take the juice and do all that fancy gastronomy shit with it… turn it into like, the same consistency of ‘dew in the early morning’…” you began to explain, quoting what your head pastry chef had said that day.

“And I’m sitting there thinking… what the hell am I doing? I mean, who eats food like this?! Who wants to eat a drop of blood orange juice that’s been turned into the consistency of dew in the early mornings? Like, why the fuck can’t I just make the best blood orange olive oil cake anyone’s ever had, and that be enough, you know?”

“And. I don’t know. It got me thinking a lot about the kind of food I want to make, and what that would mean, and what does any of this shit even mean? Fast forward to a week later, and I don’t feel like I have a fuckin’ clue about what I want to do with my life and I’m quitting the restaurant.”

You pause, noticing that he’s just been listening attentively this whole time.

“I’m tired, Carm,” you admit. “I mean. I’m burnt the hell out. I just. I don’t want to work this hard for something that- something that I’m not even sure I believe in anymore.”

Another beat.

“I know it sounds totally insane but-.”

“No! No, it doesn’t,” Carmy interrupts, quick to reassure you, as he reaches for your hand. Your eyes flicker from his hand on yours, the small tattoo above his wrist, then back to him, feeling the loss of body heat as he pulls his hand back only a moment later.

“I feel like I’ve been thinkin’ about a lot of the same shit,” he admits, empathizing with you.

“I just feel… kind of lost,” you say, and it’s the first time you’ve said it out loud. “I do. I-, I’ve been feeling really lost lately.”

In all the time he’s known you, never could he have expected you to feel lost. He wondered if he’d just put you on a pedestal. You had always been this stunningly charismatic, charming person that could walk into any room and in minutes, have everyone wrapped around your finger. For so long he denied any feelings for you because he knew you were unattainable – that someone like you could ever want someone like him felt impossible. Wouldn’t you be better off with one of those Wall Street assholes that came into the restaurant all the time – wining and dining their clients with their expensive wristwatches and fancy town cars?

But hearing you say it – that you feel lost – it reminds him that you’re only human too.

He waits another beat, guilt filling up his throat, before he speaks again.

“I should’ve been there for you. I’m sorry.”

There’s an earnestness in his voice that makes you want to trust him. Sure, it seems like he’s been apologizing to you for three days straight, but you want to listen.

You take another sip of your drink.

“I started volunteering at a Brooklyn community garden so I could like, pull my head out of my ass,” you share with him.

“Did it help?”

You shrug, “Yeah, a little bit.”

It helped, but it hadn’t fixed anything. You feel like you can confide in him, especially since he told you that he was going to meetings.

“My therapist actually encouraged me to come here,” you confess, gauging his reaction as the words flow from your mouth. “Get out of dodge. Get a change of scenery… give myself some time to think.”

“We both know you do a little too much of that,” he teases gently, and you chuckle.

Between Carmy’s avoidance, and your neuroses, you’re quite the pairing.

“Yeah.”

Carmy pauses, not sure if he has the words to give you the explanation you deserve, but he’s going to try.

“I had… a lot goin’ on. When I got back. And I didn’t know….” He pauses before continuing. “I didn’t know how to do it all at once. How to handle, you know… everything at the same time.”

And it’s just easier to avoid everything – to avoid you, to avoid the way I feel about you, he thinks to himself.

And it’s exactly what he did, he pushed you away, and pushed any and all feelings or thoughts about you into a dark hole, never to be acknowledged ever again.

Until you quit your job. Until his phone call with Tim. Until his phone call with you.

“I know, Carm. I know you’re sorry and I appreciate the apology,” you start, taking a breath. “It’s just that-. I need you to know...”

You pause, suddenly feeling like you’re in the middle of an anxiety dream where you realize you’re not wearing any pants.

“I need you to know that it hurt. It… it really hurt. Not hearing from you. Being cut out like that.”

“I know,” he admits, remorsefully. “I’m gonna be better. At least I’m trying to be.”

“I really want to believe that,” you say, softly.

But I don’t want to get hurt again, you think to yourself.

He looks at you, a soft, shy smile on his face, and it makes you want to take a chance on him.

Who are you kidding? You’d jump off of a bridge with him if he asked, even if it meant getting hurt all over again.

“Okay?” he asks, hopefully.

You’re not sure if he’s asking if it’s okay, if you’re okay, if everything is okay between the two of you, and you wonder if he means all three.

“Okay,” you answer, quietly.

“Okay.”

read: part four

taglist: @lazypeachsoul @bookwormvoyageuse @allthefandomstogether

#carmen berzatto x reader #carmen berzatto x you #carmy berzatto #carmy x oc #the bear hulu #the bear fx #jeremy allen white #carmen 'carmy' berzatto #the bear marcus #sydney adamu #the bear tina #richie jerimovich

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foxymoxynoona · 4 years ago

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Absolutely love amended but I just can't see the happy ending man.. Surely there's affection between both of them, they care and want the best for each other, for sure. However it seems to me like there are too many flaws for it to work? With the big fight, we have a clear view of how they work with their defense mechanism under pressure and shock and it's not good. To me, there will always be an imbalance in the relationship, because no matter what, you say dumb shit you don't mean when you're angry and Jungkook will throw in the fact it's his money, his house and etc. while Belle will threaten to leave with the kids. It's bound to happen again, I think. And with Belle traumas, I'm quite sure she might, no matter how in love she falls, keep in the back of her mind the fact that Jungkook did pay for everything, that her situation now could be gone in a breath if Jungkook wanted to. But that could be entirely different once she starts her new job (so happy for her) and save enough money—again, her mind might just be full of 'secure the money so the kids can be safe if Jungkook ever kicks us out'? Unhealthy. So there's definitely a stronger one on the relationship, dependence happening. That's not good to me, if they're always going to come back to that fact at some point. Belle has always been on her toes, ready to leave to keep her kids safe and I don't see her fully trusting Jungkook, no matter what. And Jungkook could definitely question her intentions as time flies—if she loves him or if she's here for the money to keep her kids safe! The foundation is fragile, unstable imo. Also, Jungkook is quite childish at times, even if he does a lot of efforts for Belle. He gets hurt too and say stupid stuff, making her even more insecure. They don't communicate very well, do they? Patricia won't be here forever, they only speak their mind when she comes around. And she pointed out how Jungkook would go for the 'easy' explanation when the real one would just hurt Belle, but that would help her understand him. It's hard to change that too! And I don't agree on people blaming Belle only. They're to blame together, one is not wrong and the other right—they have flaws, on different levels, yeah, but that doesn't make one less important than the other. But sooo many, and some are yet to come into the mess of it all, like the basement thing! It's exhausting for both of them. And I'm sure they love each other but sometimes, love's not enough—sometimes things don't go the way you want it to and that's okay. I could see both of them being exhausted time after time because they don't communicate well and have awful defense mechanisms. I could also see Jungkook stuck in there bc he loved Belle when he was young and he loves to provide and he's like a puppy you know? Like he did her wrong in the past and now he's trying his best to make it right, kind of redemption? Blindsinded maybe, not true love. And Belle stuck in there bc she likes Jungkook, sure, but it's safer for the kids and she'll do anything to keep them safe and Jungkook does just that? Not that she would force herself into it but you know. Yeah. Just my thoughts, love you! ♡

This was really sad to me to read because it seems like such a fatalistic view of marriage and relationships. People just aren't perfect, and marriage puts someone right there in the mud with you when you going through shitty phases, but that doesn't mean it's not worth it. You don't have to be a perfect person to be loved or worthy of love. You can love someone at their worst, and I really don't see Isabella or Jungkook being at their worst now. In fact, the opposite, both of them actually feel safe and supported and accepted enough that they're starting to crack open pains and fears they have kept locked up --in some cases their whole lives!-- so that they can finally heal.

There's not really an "ending" in life until you die. There are always new challenges, new opportunities, new opportunities for growth. Does that mean that love and intimacy aren't worth it, that you shouldn't even try until you've reached some impossible place of perfection?

You also don't seem to think they're capable of growth but people are! Some things take years to heal or unlearn, sure, and I'll honestly be expediting some of that growth in the story compared to real life. Maybe that's just a difference in our view of people? I think that people can and do improve if the intent is there, and that intention to be better makes a huge difference. I see the ways Jungkook and Isabella have greatly improved in this story. Just because they aren't done yet doesn't negate all the progress they've made.

I've been married for almost eight years and we are still learning how to communicate, how to live together, how to support each other, and how to understand our own changing needs. Neither me nor my husband are perfect people, and we have had fight much bigger than any Isabella and Jungkook have had, but do I think our marriage isn't worth it? Nah. Even though sometimes we fight over the STUPIDEST fucking stuff. We have grown and changed as people, and it's sometimes been rough, but we've made it work so far. Isabella and Jungkook are just at the very beginning of their relationship and are rapidly learning so much about each other, and rapid growth can be painful, but they’re both invested. Why would that mean it's already time for quits? They haven't even gotten to fighting over fruit left on the counter or how to load the dishwasher or why would you ever NOT immediately clean up the bug you just squashed on the wall or why the fuck no one but me will put the empty toilet paper rolls in the bin THAT IS LITERALLY RIGHT THERE and they just line them up on the windowsill... like... wtf?!

You mention the fights as exhausting but you don't seem to be giving fair weight to the joy that they bring each other most of the time. If their relationship was nothing but fighting, that'd be one thing. You do make some good observations about their flaws and struggles! And I could absolutely have written a very tragic story of their marriage based on guilt and obligation and regret. I see so much love and admiration in their interactions though --playfulness and joy and gratitude. You don't see that too?

I guess this made me sad because it just seems like you are suggesting something should get thrown away because it's not perfect, when marriage is really learning about how to love and compromise on the imperfections.

#asks #personal #amended

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hinshinotsuki · 5 years ago

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🖤 Switched 🖤

***

"Hange, no!"

But, despite (F/N)'s endless protests, she still found themselves right outside Erwin's office.

"Name and business." a deep male voice said from within the room.

"It's Hange, and (F/N) and I wanted to show you something unbelievable!"

Silence. But, after just a few seconds, Erwin answered. "Come in."

Hange opened the door and (F/N) was greeted by the sight of the man she feared, who smiled at her like it's nothing.

However, that smile of his reminded her of last night wherein she cried on his arms and positively fell asleep there due to fatigue. As she looked at the man who stood from his chair on the other side of the wooden desk, she couldn't help but feel that the Erwin right now was a completely different version of who she knew way back home. She decided to trust him for now and get this thing over and done with.

"Hange, it's a surprise you didn't just come barging in like always." Erwin said as he went closer to the two of them.

"Well, it's a surprise you didn't show up for breakfast." Hange answered.

"I was finishing the documents on our next sortie to be delivered to the Capital the day after tomorrow."

"Is it finished now?"

"Everything is ready."

(F/N) looked at the two who were casually exchanging conversation like they were not the worst of enemies in the entire city. Well, this is a different world, and two enemies in her world might be the closest of friends here.

Right then, Erwin looked at (F/N), flashing her a bright smile. "How was your day, Miss (F/N)?"

"It's good," (F/N) answered hesitantly. "Thanks."

"Now, about that unbelievable thing you're about to show me?"

"Oh, yes!" Hange said then clasped her hands. She looked at and gestured for her to show Erwin the unbelievable thing. She took the phone from her pocket and handed it to Erwin. He took it curiously and examined it like it was a strange gem or something.

"That is called a cellphone, Erwin. And it can do lots of things!"

"This is a cellphone? I sure never heard of it."

"Of course, you haven't! Since it came from a different world just like our friend here."

Erwin looked at (F/N) suspiciously. Of course, he still thought that she was a lunatic for raving about things last night. Of course, he still didn't believe her after what he just told her last night.

"Yes, I know, I'm a lunatic. Now, if you'll excuse me,..." she said, then took the phone from Erwin's hand, ready to leave the room if it weren't for Hange grabbing her arm. Again.

"Please, (F/N)." pleaded the woman. "You've got to trust him! He only looks like this, but you have to put your faith in him, just like I did to you!"

"Sorry?" Erwin interrupted, clearly offended that Hange just branded him as untrustworthy.

(F/N) sighed and turned around to face the two of them once more. She looked up at Erwin and gave him what she hoped to be a determined look.

"I'll show you I'm not a lunatic." she said, then brought the phone to life, making Erwin astounded just like Hange four hours and thirty minutes ago. Clearly satisfied of the look on Erwin's face, she went to the Videos option and opened one they recorded a while ago. It showed Hange talking and asking questions.

"So, you mentioned a name of a certain place earlier. What was it called again?" Hange on the video asked, making Erwin's eyes widen with both fear and wonder.

"Paradis." a voice that belonged to (F/N) answered, but she's nowhere to be seen because she was the one who was recording the video.

"And what is Paradis?"

"This is what this country is called. Paradis. How come you didn't know about that?"

"You see, we, the people here, are surrounded by three massive Walls - Maria, Rose, and Sina. They were built to protect us from giant human - eating creatures called Titans. We, the Scouts, come out of the Walls in expeditions to find out as much truth about this world as we can. And from what you're saying before, it seems that we're not the only ones here, and that the human race was not as extinct as we thought it was. And they are divided, by different races, by what you call countries?"

"That is correct. And this country is called Paradis."

"Remarkable!" Erwin muttered almost breathlessly, fully entranced by the video.

"And, are there others?"

"Yes. There are hundreds, more than you can count. There is Hizuru of the east, Marley of the west, Arabia on the middle east. just to name a few."

"And where can Paradis be found?"

"About south, but not exactly in Africa. Because, Paradis is just like a small island just above the ring of fire."

"Ring of fire?!"

"No, no, no! Not an exact ring of fire. Countries located in the ring of fire have hot or tropical temperatures. Paradis is almost aligned with Hizuru on the eastern side, so the weather here is not exactly hot or tropical. Hence, the winter season."

"Oh, I see! But, we do have a different kind of Winter Season here, and it is annually celebrated by the wealthy people of Wall Sina. We, higher military officials, do get invited sometimes."

"Oh, tell me, please."

And, just like that, the video went to an end, leaving Erwin speechless and slightly wobbly on the knees.

"So, Erwin, what do you think?" Hange asked after a few moments of silence.

The confused Commander held up a hand and covered his eyes with the other. "I need a moment, please." he said, then went weakly towards his chair, where he almost collapsed.

"Erwin!" Hange quickly went to his side to offer him assistance.

"I'm fine, Hange, thanks." Erwin said and smiled. He looked up at (F/N), who remained rooted to the ground. "The things you just said, are they all true?"

"Positive."

"That we're not the only ones here, and that there are others outside the Walls?"

"In the world where I came from, yes, it's true."

"Where is your proof?" Erwin questioned.

(F/N)'s eyes widened with determination as she opened the mobile data and location functionality of her phone. Knowing in an instant how strangely fast the internet reception here in this world was ( if there's any, at all ) and ignoring it all the same, she went closer to the man and clicked on the World Map option. She showed him a photo of a vast land with hundreds of little writings on it and pointed at the word Trost.

"This is where we are right now." She said, then zoomed out on the screen, making the photo look smaller, and revealing a piece of land surrounded by lots of blue. "This is Paradis Island." she zoomed out once more and showed them multiple patches of land, some big, some small, just like Paradis. "And this is our continent." she was about to zoom out, her fingers ready on the screen, when she decided to give it her all and finally prove to him that she was not crazy. "I'm about to show you the whole globe on this map, would you also like me to show you the galaxy map?"

"Stop! Please,..." Erwin said, holding out a single hand, effectively conveying his lost against his psychological battle with (F/N). "That is enough."

(F/N) withdrew her phone like a gun and took a few steps backwards, letting all of the things she showed the Commander sink in on his confused brain.

After a few moments of silence, Hange finally said something.

"So, Erwin, do you believe me now? I told you she came from another world, and she has proof, which she showed to you. Do you believe her now? Do you now believe that she was an entirely different person?"

"It's hard for me to say this, but yes. I do believe you now." Erwin said, defeated.

"So, you lied to me last night when you said you believe me!" (F/N) argued heatedly.

"No! I - "

For a moment, it seemed that Erwin was full of hesitation, but after a few seconds, he finally had the guts to say what's really on his mind since last night.

"(F/N), I do believe you now, but you have to believe me for what I'm about to say." he began. "You see, you, I mean our (F/N) was really insisting on cancelling our next sortie for an unknown reason. Of course, I have to deny her foolish request. And then, you came along. Or, should I say, Hange found you on that lake, almost dead. I truly believed Levi when he said that you only drowned yourself to gain our attention. But then, you told me your story, about how Levi cheated on you and that you tried to kill yourself because of that,...

"For your information, (F/N), there really was a breakup. Of you and Levi. But, not like how you described it to be. And then, this,..."

Erwin massaged his temples, unable to accept what was truly happening. "What kind of sorcery is this?"

"Don't ask me that, sir. I don't know how I even ended up here." (F/N) answered.

"But, there must be some kind of gateway from your world to here, right?" Hange suggested. "That lake. They say that the lake was the habitat of the Maiden, and that it is enchanted."

"Maiden?" (F/N) asked curiously.

"The night our (F/N) went missing, it was the night of the celebration of the Maiden of the Lake. Legends say that the Maiden could grant any wish to anyone she consider as worthy. So, the locals celebrate her birthday each year, trying to please the Maiden in order for their wishes to get granted by her."

"But, that was just old wives tale." Erwin added. "There really was no enchanted Maiden to begin with."

"But, maybe there was!" Hange answered in a very positive tone. "And she happened to grant someone's wishes that night."

"And whose wish could that be?" (F/N) asked. "Don't tell me she granted my death wish, because if that's the case, she really messed up big time."

"Not you! Our (F/N)!" Hange said, then grabbed (F/N) by the shoulders. "She was frustrated that her request was denied! I know how spoiled she is sometimes. Maybe she just wished to be someplace else!"

"Hange, if that's the case, then,..." Erwin said, his voice sounding ominous. "Instead of (F/N) here dying, she was transported to our world for our (F/N) to get to that someplace else you mentioned. That place where she came from."

"Don't tell me,..." Hange breathed helplessly, absorbing all the incredible information.

The two looked at (F/N), and she knew they were thinking what she was thinking right then.

"I think we now know where our (F/N) is." Hange said. "(F/N), she's in your world. You are switched!"

***

🖤🖤🖤

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#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #levi ackerman #switched #levi x reader x levi x reader #levi x you x levi x you #chapter 7

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