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itsgodepi · 19 days ago

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If I lose my mind | Ch. 12

Series summary: When you're buried under a mountain of problems and can’t seem to catch a break, it might feel like you need a complete reset. But did it really have to come with a one-way ticket to a new dimension? Surely, a couple problem-solving courses would’ve done the trick. Or, one day you go to sleep as a normal person and the next you wake up as a Formula One driver. You've never been a fan but isn't it like, one of the most exclusive sports? Pairing: CL16, LH44, CS55, DR3 x reader Chapter: Previous | Next Word Count: 5,4k Also on AO3

The sun bears down with an almost tangible weight, each ray a fiery tendril pressing against your skin. What began as a blissful oasis—a magnificent sunbed that cradled you in its warm embrace after your swim in the icy water, rocking you to the rhythm of the lapping waves—has betrayed you. The once-soft fabric and plush cushions have gradually transformed into a stifling grill beneath your back. Sweat beads at your temples, and the tingling heat along your shoulders hints at a sunburn brewing just beneath the surface

With a sigh, you sit up, the teak deck creaking softly beneath you. The Mediterranean stretches endlessly in every direction, a tranquil expanse of sapphire shimmering under the sun’s golden touch. You slip into your sandals, the straps warm against your skin, and head toward the shaded back deck. If you're honest, when Carlos first mentioned his latest "shiny acquisition," you’d pictured a sleek little boat, perfect for a casual day on the water. Nothing could have prepared you for the sprawling luxury of the yacht anchored at the port outside his beach house this morning.

Just another reminder that you and Carlos aren't —weren't?— exactly in the same tax bracket.

The shaded area greets you with a rush of cooler air and the sight of Carlos lounging on a plush sofa, still in his swim trunks. His tanned skin glistens with the remnants of saltwater from your earlier swim, his eyes glued to his phone, a half-played chess game abandoned beside him.

You shake your head, smirking. He and Charles had been bickering all morning over chess strategies like two old men in a park. They’d finally decided to settle it with one last match, and you’d used the chance to escape and catch some sun. Clearly, they’d taken their sweet time.

Carlos notices your footsteps before you even reach him. His face lights up with that familiar grin, and as you approach, he puts his phone down and extends a hand toward you. His fingers slip around yours effortlessly, his thumb grazing your knuckles in a warm, unhurried motion. It’s oddly comforting, a habit of his that’s grown on you.

“Did you lose?” you ask, arching a brow at the abandoned game.

“Never,” he replies, the arrogance in his tone undercut by the grin tugging at his lips.

“Where’s Charles?”

“Talking on the phone. His mummy called,” Carlos quips, his tone teasing.

You roll your eyes, leaning in to flick his forehead with your intertwined hands. “Don’t act like you weren’t calling your mum this morning all like, ‘Mami, que nos vamos con el barco, (Mummy, we’re taking the boat)’” you mimic, your voice climbing to a falsetto.

Carlos laughs, the sound rich and unrestrained, though he tries to protest, “I don’t talk like that!”

“Que sí, mamá, que tenemos cuidado (Yes mom, we’ll be careful)” you continue, doubling down on your impersonation, complete with dramatic hand gestures. “Ya me he puesto crema, ¡no traigas más mamá! (I’ve alredy put oon sunscreen, don’t bring more!)”

His jaw drops at your performance, mock outrage lighting up his expression. “Stop making fun of me!” he exclaims, though his laughter betrays him. His free hand darts out to tickle your side, a sudden and ruthless retaliation.

“Hey, stop it!” you yelp, struggling to squirm away, but Carlos is far stronger. His previous grip on your hand prevents any real escape, and with his other hand, he mercilessly tickles you until your resistance falters. You trip in your attempt to escape, tumbling onto him.

“¡Que me tiras! (You’re going to make me fall!)” you gasp, half-laughing, half-protesting as you land awkwardly against him.

“That’s the plan,” he says smugly, locking his arms around you in a triumphant hug

“Carlos, I’m all sticky with suncream and sweating!”

“I don’t care!” he replies, his voice sing-song as he pulls you closer.

Despite yourself, you can’t help but laugh, the absurdity of the situation deflating your protests. The driver’s hold on you is inescapable, his strength far outmatching yours. His next words come as a triumphant whisper against your ear “Por lo menos he conseguido oírte hablar en español (At least I got you to talk in Spanish)”

“Huh?” You pull back slightly, blinking at him. He has a point —you don’t think you’ve ever had a proper conversation with him in Spanish. It’s not a conscious decision, you are always surrounded by non-Spanish speakers, and when he does approach you alone, he usually defaults to English.

It’s oddly endearing how pleased he seems with himself though.

“No tienes que practicar más tu inglés (You don’t have to practise your English no more),” he adds with a grin. “¡Ya sabes más que yo! (Already know more than I do!)”

“Sure, sure,” you reply, skeptical. You don’t really know what he is talking about, when did you ask him to practice your English?

“È meglio in italiano?” he switches languages, his grin widening.

“What did you say?” you ask, narrowing your eyes at him.

“C’mon, Charles told me you wanted to practice your Italian before Monza. You can practice with me too.”

Oh, Charles did mention something like that one of the first times you met him, even talked to you in Italian a couple times. You could never really follow the conversations, only understanding half of what he said because of your Spanish, so he didn’t push any further.

“I don’t know Italian,” you deflect, shaking your head.

“Two years in the Ferrari academy, and you didn’t pick up anything?” Carlos teases, his disbelief evident in his tone. His grin is wide, mischievous, and altogether too charming. You try to shrug it off, but his raised eyebrow signals he’s not letting you off the hook “That’s where you met Charles, right?”

You blink. New information. You really should speak Spanish with him more often if this is the kind of intel you’ll get.

“I guess,” you say nonchalantly, feigning indifference. Inside, though, you’re already planning to search about it the moment you get back.

Carlos narrows his eyes, suspicious of your evasiveness. “I guess?” His voice rises in mock exasperation, and then, before you can brace yourself, his hands attack your sides again in a relentless tickling assault.

“Okay, okay, stop!” you gasp, laughter bubbling uncontrollably from your chest as you twist and squirm, your hands blindly grappling for his wrists. His grip falters just enough for you to catch one hand, then the other, but the struggle only lands you in an even more precarious position: half-seated on top of him. “Fine! Yes, I knew him from there, before he was in Sauber. Happy now?”

Guess playing those guess the driver based on their teams challenges from tiktok had to come in handy at some point. You got addicted at those.

Carlos leans back slightly, utterly unfazed, not putting resistance against your hold. “See? That wasn’t so hard,” he teases, his voice as warm and smooth as the sunlit waves lapping against the boat, cradling you from side to side.

One of his hands settles casually on your hip when you let go, the other remaining loosely trapped in your grip.

“Whatever,” you mutter, but your tone lacks conviction. You let out a soft huff of air, trying and failing to suppress the smallest of smiles when he throws you a wink, boyish and entirely too charming.

You still can’t understand how he always manages to turn your interactions into moments like this — moments so tender and charged that they feel almost deliberate, yet completely unspoken. The way your eyes linger on each other, the way you’re so close, sometimes even holding one another. How easily you’ve slipped into this dynamic with the Ferrari driver.

Why doesn’t this closeness feel strange? You’ve known him for such a short time, and yet it feels natural, like you’ve always been this way. The gentle way your fingers trace patterns along his, the soothing circles his hand draws on your side, a gesture so unconscious it sends a quiet shiver up your spine.

‘It’s just Carlos’ you tell yourself, as if that’s enough. Carlos, with his disarming warmth, his easy-going nature and unguarded affection. He seems so comfortable with this closeness, so unafraid to seek it out with you — it’s simply who he is. With you.

And somehow, without a second thought, you let yourself sink into it.

“What are you thinking?” he murmurs, his voice soft enough to blend with the gentle crash of waves. His gaze is unwavering, those warm brown eyes studying your face with an intensity that makes your breath hitch.

The wind tousles his hair, leaving it a mess of dark strands framing his face. His bracelet catches the light as your fingers toy absently with the cord, the handmade piece adorned with his initials and the tiny Ferrari badge drawn on little white cubes. It’s a fan gift, of all things, but its presence now, between your hands, feels...

A pang shoots through your chest, the ache of it almost too much.

It’s not... real. None of this is real.

“Nothing, I’m…” you smile, the tremble on your lips so easily noticeable and so difficult to hide. “It’s just..., you know, this, and I’m...” you bite down on your tongue, physically restraining the words from escaping.

Forcing yourself to just shut up.

You take a breath in, trying to push down the thoughts that so easily started poisoning the moment. Your eyebrows draw together and you keep your eyes down, letting go of the cord of his bracelet like it’s burning.

It’s fake. Everything.

I’m scared, you want to say, I’m so fucking scared of this —of all of it. Thirty-six days of living this surreal, impossible life, of being thrust into a world of fast cars, flashing cameras, and unimaginable luxury. Of private boats and breathtaking views, of thinking how nice you fit into the arms of this amazing man. And the quiet horror of realizing how easily you could lose yourself in it.

“Carlos,” you begin, the words spilling out before you can stop them. But what are you supposed to say? That this isn’t real? The boat, this life, him? You glance at his expectant face, the furrowed brows, the quiet weight in his gaze. He’ll think you’ve lost it, that you’re going crazy under the weight of it all. “I don’t know how to say this, but I’m… you’re— none of this is—”

The sudden creak of the driving cabin door cuts through your faltering confession, and your head jerks up to see Charles stepping out, his phone clutched in one hand. He doesn’t notice you at first, his thumb furiously swiping at the screen.

He stops just short of the two of you, his gaze flicking up to you, then Carlos, and finally settling back on you. Something lingers in that glance, his green eyes catching the fading sunlight in a way that makes your stomach tighten.

“Think we should head back,” Charles mutters, his voice clipped, as though reluctant to interrupt. “Some weirdo’s been taking photos.”

Guess Charles wasn’t talking to his mum after all. Instead, it was someone from the Ferrari media team, calling to warn him about the photos of you that had been slowly making their way onto social media since this morning. They had just received a fresh batch of unseen ones just a couple minutes ago: a series of candid shots of the three of you, lounging on the boat, laughing, completely at ease, unaware of the long lenses pointed at you from the distance.

Both teams scramble to get the photos pulled, sending messages, making calls, trying to keep the damage contained. But it doesn’t take long for them to see the light. And, as expected, the reactions are far from kind.

_______

“You should stop looking at that” Charles advices, his voice even softer than usual as he sets the pile of plates and cutlery down onto the table on the back patio.

The faint scent of saltwater from the sea mixes with the cool evening air, and the setting sun casts a warm golden glow on everything around you. He moves with practiced ease, placing everything in its place.

You pull your legs from the chair and sit up, stretching as you glance back into the house. Phone left over the table, still displaying the article you found about your ‘escapade’. You hadn’t realized how much time had passed. Inside, the lights are all on, and the shadows of indistinguishable figures move about the kitchen, the soft clatter of utensils filtering through the open window.

“Are they already making dinner? Sorry, you need help?”

The Monegasque stops you with a swift gesture of his hand, starting to place everything on the table by himself. His hair is damp and unruly from his recent shower, the blue shirt he's wearing showing traces of the droplets that must have been falling just minutes ago. He looks so effortlessly nice.

“Don’t worry, Carlos’ mom warned us not to bother you”

“Is that so?” you chuckle softly, a hint of relief creeping in. But you don’t stop yourself from reaching for the forks and knives, setting them in their places on the table —seven seats in total. Carlos’ sister and her husband are joining you tonight. "You should’ve told me anyway..."

"I don’t think she’d let you help even if you wanted to. She even sent the cook home for the night" he calms you, finishing his task and resting his arms on the backrest of the seat opposite to you

“What is she making?”

Charles hesitates, his gaze darting back to the kitchen before turning to you again. His mouth opens and closes with stray syllables that don’t really make any dish you have ever heard before. “Some kind of fish, I think? They’ve said the name a couple times but I didn't get it” he shrugs lightly, but there’s a gentle smile on his lips. "It smells good though. That’s all I can say"

“It does smell nice” you give him, a grin of your own pulling at your lips. You sit down again as ordered, taking your still light up phone from the table and turning off the screen.

She should respect herself is the last thing you manage to read on it, one of the nicest comment of the hundreds hanging on the comment section of the page. You sigh. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks a few meters away filling in the silence that falls right after.

“Try not to worry about it too much, okay?” he almost whispers, his hand moves through his hair, shaking it out of place “I know it’s hard, but... some people are just assholes, no use in reading the shit they put out there”

A sigh slips from your lips as you lean your elbows over the glass table and glance away, the weight of your thoughts pressing on your chest. "A lot has come up about Monaco too..."

While you can hardly stomach the repulsive comments surrounding the supposed relationship between you Charles, or Carlos, or both of them? Some even asking themselves how your closeness with Lewis might fit into the mix. The constant invasion of privacy, the sense that you’re being watched every second of every day, has been weighting on you lately.

They know where you've been. Where you ate. What you wore. They even managed to snap a picture of that tiny clay hedgehog Charles bought you back at the artisan market —a detail so small, yet so personal, and now it’s making the rounds in social media. It’s all out there now, for anyone to dissect, to judge, to speculate.

One thing is people knowing your hotel back in the middle of a Grand Prix, and another thing entirely is being followed back to Charles’ building entrance. There’s even photos of you carrying the suitcase inside the Sainz’s villa just couple days ago.

The thought of going back to Monaco after this trip to Mallorca feels suffocating. You’re not sure if you can face it. Not after everything. You feel so exposed, like there’s nowhere safe anymore.

Charles’s voice cuts through your spiraling thoughts. "No, I don’t even look at those things anymore," he confesses, the finality in his voice talking of a decision he took long ago. The driver has spent years on the spotlight, for good a not so much "Look, I know we talked about this before, but I really don’t care what anyone says."

His words linger in the quite night, his eyes never leaving yours. "I enjoy this. Being here, with you. Spending more time together outside of racing and being normal, you know?" His smile softens, but there's something deeper in his expression, something you can’t quite put your finger on. "And I loved showing you around Monaco, having you at home. So really, why would I care about what some loser has to say about it? This... this is just me and you. Us."

Oh, that’s...

What?

A rush of warmth blooms across your cheeks, spreading like wildfire through your chest, leaving you breathless for a moment. Your heart flutters, faster than it should, that’s so nice, so comforting in a way you didn’t expect. And the way he’s looking at you, the intensity in his gaze expressing a million things more than he can manage to put into words.

But where is all this coming from? He’s never said anything remotely close to this before. Sure, he’s talked about how great it was spending time with you, how much fun the last few days were, but this?

“I...” you stammer, the word barely a whisper as your mind struggles to catch up. You look up at him, heart racing and nerves threatening to unravel you entirely. What are you even supposed to say? His words, his tone, the way his eyes seem to search yours with such quiet urgency. It all feels so much deeper than just this conversation “I had a lot of fun too, Charles”

As soon as the words slip from your lips, you realize with a sinking feeling that you’ve said the wrong thing. The change in the air is almost tangible, as if the moment itself has shifted, taking on a new weight you can’t shake off. Charles’s smile is still there, but it’s different now. It’s more distant, reserved.

You open your mouth instinctively, your mind scrambling for something to say, something to undo the sudden tension. But the words don’t come. They’re caught somewhere, stuck behind the pressure building inside you.

But nothing comes. The words stay lodged in your throat, swallowed by hesitation, and all you can do is watch as he turns and walks away.

“Toma, dale a la cría más jamón, hombre (Here, give the girl some more jamón, boy)” Carlos Senior voice breaks through the chatter, abrupt yet kindly, leaning over the table to take one of the dishes of cut meat scattered around the table and giving it to his son.

You try to wave it off, an awkward smile tugging at your lips. “Oh, no, no, por favor,” you stammer, already chewing on a bite of the rich, salty meat. But before you can protest further, Carlos takes the plate from his father’s hand and places it in front of you. A bit of heat rises to your cheeks, “Sorry, it’s been a while since I last got to eat it and-”

“No, love, eat some more! There’s cheese here as well, do you want some?” Reyes, Carlos’ mother, swiftly diverts the talk, not waiting for an answer before picking another one of the dishes and sending it down the table towards you.

“Tendríamos pedir más y así se llevan los chicos (We should buy some more, so the kids can take them home)” she suggests to her husband, taking her glass in one hand and turning to the other guest at the table “Charles, do you like it too? And the cheese? We’ll prepare some for you to take back”

You laugh under your breath, trying not to look overwhelmed. The plates seem to multiply around you, the family circling you both in a flurry of food. You catch Charles’ eye across the table, his dimples flashing in an innocent smile. He’s probably not understanding half of the conversation, the rapid-fire Spanish swirling around him too much to keep up with.

Your mind drifts briefly to Nick, he's definitely not going to be happy about this. From the delicate codfish Reyes had spent hours preparing, to the fragrant cake Carlos' sister brought over, you’ve already eaten more than you intended. This time you’re truly not sure if you’ll fit on the car.

Well, the trainer had actually seemed quite willing to ease up on the strictness of the diet when you brought up your conversation with Daniel a few weeks ago. He even programmed a new plan just a couple of days later. For some reason and despite their differences, Nick was oddly pleased that Daniel had discussed the topic with you, even admitted he wasn’t really comfortable with such a rigid calorie count either.

So then, why was it programmed in the first place?

“Where are you taking them tomorrow?” Carlos' sister leans forward, finishing her piece of cheese as she watches the scene unfold around them, her eyes scanning the quiet evening.

“We were going to Palma, to see the market, but now that they know we’re all here...” her brother reclines lazily on the chair, a sigh flowing out his lips “I don’t know, maybe take a trip to Menorca?”

Carlos glances over at you and Charles, his eyes scanning for a response. You nod encouragingly, the idea appealing. It'll throw the paparazzies off for a while, the island not that far from you, but enough to be off the radar for a bit.

His father also supports the idea, instantly taking out his phone to show Carlos a restaurant they visited a few years back as a suggestion for lunch “Your mother loved this one, it had a terrace over the sea and all. And there was this plate of roasted lamb...”

Carlos and his sister both chuckle at the enthusiasm in the man’s voice, exchanging a look with their mother. It’s probably not the first time they’ve heard this story, and judging by the way their father dives into every single detail of it —even in English—, the last time won’t be anytime soon either.

The conversation drifts to other places worth visiting before they leave the island. The family has had this house for years, and while they know Mallorca like the back of their hands, they’ve explored the other islands multiple times as well.

After a while, Carlos’ hand fall onto your knee to gain your attention “Like the plan?”

“Menorca? Yeah, at least for tomorrow” you whisper back, your eyes meeting his. They’re the ones who know how to navigate the chaos of fame, so you better follow along with their advice.

The Ferrari driver nods, his hand giving your knee a reassuring squeeze before leaving it to rest there, calm and steady. The warmth of his touch lingers as the evening stretches on. Yeah, he’s getting too smooth at it, you think —but you don’t mind.

_____

Turns out the Sainz family has an excellent taste, from the restaurants they recommend to the activities Carlos is roped into taking you on. Menorca, it turns out, is even more enchanting than the glossy postcards or travel blogs ever hinted at, with its tranquil waters and the shimmering sun. You spend most of the trip in a blissful haze, thankfully managing to avoid too many encounters with paparazzi or curious fans.

That conversation with Charles from the first evening? It’s not mentioned again, by either of you. The air between you settling back into that familiarity slowly but surely. Still, it lingers in the back of your mind, and you make a mental note to talk things through with him once you’re away from all of this.

The days on the islands vanish like grains of sand through your fingers, blurring into an endless string of sunsets and laughter. You try to memorize every detail —the way the sunlight catches on Carlos’ grin, the sound of Charles’ rare and genuine laugh, the warm feeling being with them bring you. But no matter how tightly you cling, the end still comes.

Your escapade to the Balearic Islands has come to an end, and now you’re heading to Monaco for the last couple of days you’ll get to spend with Charles.

When the time to finally part ways at the airport comes, Carlos holds you tightly. His hug is firm, his arms wrapping around you as if they alone could keep you from leaving. He sways you gently from side to side, reluctant to let go.

“So, you’re coming back every break, aren’t you?” his words, though light, strike a chord deep in your chest.

You want to respond, to reassure him, but the truth lodges in your throat. Because this, whatever it is, probably won’t happen ever again. You won’t get to spend your holidays with the two drivers, won’t be able to talk to them again, to see them, to hug them. This dream, or whatever this temporarily insanity of yours is, will come to an end at some point. Right?

But even as you nod and give him a wry smile, the question haunts you: do you want it to end?

The thought keeps circling your mind over the following days and weeks, as you try to convince yourself of the only sane solution. You have to go back, to your apartment, to your work, to your life –How? You’ll have to figure that one out too. Nevertheless, this feeling reaches its breaking two weeks later, at the afterparty of the Belgian Grand Prix, cradled in his arms once again, this time under the crisp chill of his victory night as you lose yourself in his eyes.

Do you really want this to end?

“Thanks again for coming,” Carlos murmurs, looking down at you in a hug that you both refuse parting from. “I know you’ve been a little anxious about parties and going out lately”

You lean back slightly to look at him, the warmth of his presence anchoring you “I couldn’t miss it.”

“Who knows when I’ll win again, right?” he teases, a sly smile playing on his lips.

“Oh, shut it!” you laugh, swatting his chest. The sound of your voice bounces off the quiet entrance, and for a moment, the world narrows to just the two of you.

“What? You’re the one who said it first!”

“Me?! When?” your incredulous glare only makes his grin wider “It’s you who heard that, always thinking the worst of me”

“If that helps you sleep at night”

You push at him in mock indignation, stepping back from the hug to create some distance, but your heel catches on the uneven ground. The world tilts alarmingly, but before gravity can do its worst, his hands are there—firm and steady—gripping your waist and pulling you back upright in one seamless motion “Nope, we’re not having none of that tonight”

“What? can’t a woman fall down with dignity now?” you spurt back, regaining your footing. Your feet hurt with these heels, you thought rich people parties were supposed to be more of sitting down fun, some wine and expensive food. Instead got that undanceable music

“With dignity?” he chuckles, low and warm, letting you adjust yourself but keeping his hold on you. You don’t know if it's in fear you’ll fall again or simply a need to keep you close “Someone just had a little too many daquiris”

You look at him then, big eyes on display and your lower lip pushed out, like a child caught red-handed and whine “They were so good, Carlos, so sweet!”

“I knew you’d like then,” Carlos’ smirk softens, glad you enjoyed the drink he recommended “When I tried the cherry one, I immediately thought of you.”

“Oh, that’s why it tasted like a lollypop!” The revelation feels groundbreaking in your slightly woozy state. His sweets words somehow flying pass you. You point at him accusingly then, wobbling a bit in your heels. “But don’t change the topic, I’m not drunk no more, I swear!”

“No? You’re not?”

“Perfectly fine now. Just the heels, I promise” you nod, you haven’t drink that much and he know it. He is just teasing “I’m, like, tipsy. Fun tipsy.”

“Fun tipsy, you say?” Carlos repeats in a chuckle, voice almost a whisper, and his gaze lingers. The noise of the party behind you fades to a distant hum. He looks at you, really looks at you, and something in his expression makes your chest tighten and your stomach flip in equal measure.

You don’t notice when his hands begin to slide, one moving up from your waist to rest just below your neck. His thumb brushes along your jawline, tentative but deliberate. The gentle warmth of his palm against your cheek is intoxicating, and before you know it, you’re leaning into the touch, your body betraying you.

“Then...” the man’s eyes glimmer, catching the golden glow of the patio lights. His voice is laced with hesitance, searching yours for a question he suddenly feels too shy to ask “Would it be okay if I kissed you?”

The question lingers between you, heavy with meaning. For a moment, all you can do is nod, barely aware of the small, trembling movement. The distance between you vanishes as he leans in, his hand cradling your cheek with a gentleness that makes your breath hitch.

When Carlos’ lips finally meet yours, it’s like the world stops spinning. The first touch is soft, testing, as though he’s afraid to break the moment. You respond almost instinctively, leaning into him, and that’s all the encouragement he needs. The kiss deepens, his lips pressing against yours with a growing confidence.

His other hand finds its way back to your waist, anchoring you to him, steady and unyielding. Your hand clutching his shirt while the other drifts up to his shoulder. The warmth of him seeps into your fingertips, your skin, until you feel like you might melt into him entirely.

Your heart pounds wildly in your chest, the sound almost deafening in your ears. His fingers graze along your jawline, tracing a path as if trying to memorize every inch of you in this fleeting moment. You’re hyper-aware of everything —his touch, the way his breath mingles with yours, the slight tug of his lips as he smiles into the kiss.

When he pulls away, it’s agonizingly slow, his lips lingering against yours as if reluctant to part. His forehead comes to rest lightly against yours.

“That was really nice” Carlos murmurs, his voice hushed, almost reverent.

“Yeah, it was” you agree, your voice barely a whisper. You lean back, looking up at him with a smile that betrays the fluttering in your chest and can’t help but chuckle “A bit unexpected maybe, but—”

"Unexpected?" he asks with a relaxed laugh, his fingers drawing invisible circles on your waist, his touch light but steady. "You can’t even imagine how long I’ve wanted to do that."

Before you can respond, he leans in for a quick, soft kiss, his lips brushing yours one last time, lingering just long enough to leave you wanting more.

“Like two hours?” you guess, playfully, as you play with the buttons of his dark shirt, and he shakes his head in denial

The sound of a car approaching cuts through the moment—the unmistakable hum of your Uber arriving. Carlos glances over his shoulder at the car, then back at you, his expression softening “Guess it’s time for you to go, I’ll tell you about it another day”

The Ferrari driver pulls back and reaches for your hand, guiding you down the stairs and toward the car. You pause at the door, feeling a little reluctant to part ways, but before you can say anything, Carlos steps close again. His hand slides to your waist, pulling you in for a brief but sweet kiss, one that leaves you with a small smile on your lips.

"Send me a message when you get there, alright?" he murmurs, his lips still close to yours.

"Yeah, I will," you reply, a little breathless, before stepping back and getting into the car.

"Goodnight, Carlos"

“Buenas noches, cielo”

Author's note: Thank you all so much for reading, any kind of interaction is greatly appreciated! I know it's been way too long

Taglist: @purplephantomwolf @raye2000 @yuiiimd @drezzerk33 @leclercdream @homie0sapien @minkyungseokie @carlossainzwho @rewmuslupin @kyuupidwrites @raevyng @lazybot @gills-lounge @hiraethrhapsody @jjkclub @darleneslane @therealcap @aespie

#carlos sainz x reader #charles leclerc x reader #daniel ricciardo x reader #lewis hamilton x reader #f1 x reader #f1 fic #f1 x you #formula one x reader #formula one x you

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invisibleicewands · 3 months ago

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Michael Sheen’s extraordinary gesture as he pays off debts of hundreds of people

He plays an angel on screen and he has proven he is an angel in real life by undertaking an extraordinary gesture. In an unprecedented move the actor has used his own money to write off personal debts of hundreds of people in South Wales

It’s been confirmed that Michael, who famously plays angel Aziraphale in Good Omens, has brought light and relief to many families struggling with debt with this wonderful act of benevolence.

The move was not publicly announced by the Port Talbot star, but was uncovered by fans who spotted posts on Facebook in local community groups from a television production company called Full Fat TV.

The posts read: ‘Actor Michael Sheen has been campaigning for a fairer credit system for years and in an extraordinary gesture, he has used his own money to write off personal debts for hundreds of people in South Wales. If you have received a letter from a company called Ten Acquisitions the good news is that Michael has paid off some of your debt and he’d love to hear from you. The details of how to get in touch with him are in the letter.’

Intrigued by the posts which appealed to those who had received letters from a company called Ten Acquisitions confirming that Michael had paid off debts, one fan took to X to ask him directly if the posts were true.

Fans wondered if it was somebody using his name as a scam, but the actor in replies on his X account confirmed the posts were neither clickbait nor a scam.

He wrote: ‘It’s not clickbait. I want to clarify, because we want people to get in touch.’

The campaigning Welshman, a long time advocate for a fairer credit system, has teamed up with the production company to film a documentary about the plight of those struggling due to unfair financing.

On Monday, Michael appeared in Parliament where he joined calls for a fair banking act to tackle the credit crisis affecting people and businesses.

In 2022-2023, more than 9 million were declined for credit, with millions relying on pay-day-lenders and buy-now-pay-later schemes with high interest rates. At its worst, lack of access to affordable credit means hundreds of thousands of people find themselves turning to loan sharks, while viable businesses remain stuck, unable to develop and create jobs. Campaigners are calling for a Fair Banking Act to help ensure that everyone can access essential financial services and support.

Speaking at the event in Parliament on Monday, Michael said: “Anyone can find themselves in a place where they need credit to make ends meet or to get through a difficult time. The lack of affordable credit for people on lower incomes is harming individuals and families, but also businesses and communities. Whole regions are seeing their growth held back. We can’t keep waiting and hoping that things will get better. We need something to change now. The Fair Banking Act could be the thing which really makes the difference”.

"We can’t keep waiting and hoping that things will get better. We need something to change now."@michaelsheen has joined calls for a #FairBankingAct to tackle credit crisis affecting people and businesses.

#Michael Sheen #charity #Fair Banking Act

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crosshairlovebot · 8 months ago

Text

falling for mr. batchbury / hunter x f!reader

pairing: hunter x f!reader

description: your feelings for Mr. Batchbury blossom as he and his brothers train on your father's estate before they go off to war. During his stay, you realise just how deep your feelings for him go, and maybe, just how much he feels for you too.

REGENCY AU

word count: 6,767

warnings: none. kissing. pining. secret crushes. love confessions.

i have loved the regency romance genre for such a long time, and i was struck with this idea and simply needed to realise it. this was SO fun to write. a good challenge, but mostly just an absolute delight. i hope you enjoy this as much as i enjoyed writing it!

also posted this on ao3. feedback is welcomed, reblogs are appreciated.

PART ONE

Naval Officer Lieutenant Hugo ‘Hunter’ Batchbury had always been the kind of man who stood out in a crowd – whether he liked it or not. Not only did he sport a unique birthmark the rich colour of port wine across one side of his face, but his roguish handsomeness coupled with his taciturn air had every debutante of the ton vying for his attentions and hand in marriage.

It was vexing.

It was vexing for you, at least, to watch society fawn over the man who had held your heart for more than half a decade. He had been your secret – no one knew of Mr. Batchbury until after the Napoleonic Wars when he and his band of misfit brothers returned from sea.

Society relished in the gossip that the Batchbury family had made their fortune in the war. The tale of their enlisting was scintillating and circled the ton’s social circles like wildfire, whispers in every ballroom and gentleman’s club. Having initially enlisted in the Royal Navy to support their younger sister and save her from a life of destitution, Mr. Batchbury and his brothers moved through the ranks swiftly with the acquisition of prizemoney – their ship infamous for capturing many enemy ships, never losing a battle.

They were heroes in every sense of the word.

But you knew it before anyone else.

Your first encounter with the Batchbury family was when they arrived at your father’s estate for training with nearly nothing but the clothes on their backs. It was a highly irregular practice, but your empathetic father, a commodore of the Royal Navy, had allowed the Batchbury Brothers and their sister to stay with your family as they trained so they would not be separated from their younger sibling, who was but 13 years old with no other known family.

You and your mother had greeted them all upon arrival, politely welcoming them.

They’d stepped out of the carriage one by one, the tallest and broadest of them first. You wondered how he’d fit inside the coach. Then the spectacled one, then the grey-haired one and then Mr. Batchbury, with his long hair and facial birthmark. You remembered taking in a breath at the sight of him in all his glory. With his brown skin and dark curls blowing in the morning breeze, you were already taken with him, but that only increased tenfold when you watched him turn to help his sister down from the carriage, lifting her from under her armpits and setting her down next to him. You’d been unable to hide your smile when you watched him take his sister's hand in his.

“Hello,” was all he’d said, inclining his head politely before his eyes moved across your mother and then met yours, lingering there.

You were smitten.

You barely remember what words were exchanged between your father and mother and the Batchburys. Just their names. William, Thomas, Carlisle, Hugo, and Meg. You remember curtsying politely when you were introduced, your face hot as you met Mr. Batchbury’s gaze with a small smile. You also remember the whole interaction was slightly awkward and stilted; the Batchbury Brothers unsure of how to accept your family’s generosity.

Meg, however, was eager and talkative. You liked her.

Once they started their training, you spent the coming weeks watching them from afar with Meg, who longed to join them. And boy, were they quite a sight.

The Batchbury brothers were a healthy mix of brash, loud, clever and cunning. All close in age, they drew the eye in both looks and temperament, but they impressed your father astronomically. The four of them were his finest officers.

Finest in more ways than one, you often thought. Every single one of them was handsome in their own way, but the handsomeness of Mr. Hugo Batchbury had drawn your attentions immediately, and they have not strayed since.

You often spent hours looking out your drawing room window at the garden below, watching him train with his brothers and your father. He would grow sweaty and would end up wrapping a tie around his forehead to keep his collarbone length hair out of his face. Sometimes he would look up at the window, seeming to always know when someone was near, and wave at his sister before nodding at you. You’d flush every time.

You lost count of the number of times you had been scalded for daydreaming, thinking only of the way his ivory shirt billowed in the wind as he sparred with his brothers, a determined look on his face. But who could blame you? Daydreaming of Mr. Batchbury was, in fact, a better use of your time than embroidery.

In the evenings, the Batchbury family dined with your family. The thought thrilled you, knowing you would end every day in the company of Mr. Batchbury. He was often seated diagonally from you, giving you the perfect line of sight of his dark brown-grey eyes, his hooked nose, and his full lips. His face was truly sculpted by the Gods. You wished those dinners lasted all night, just so you could stare at him longer.

He would only engage in conversation when spoken to directly, otherwise, he remained quiet, only humming in agreement or nodding. Sometimes, you felt his eyes on you, but you were most likely imagining such things.

His brothers were the same, quiet bar a few snide remarks from Carlisle towards William, who often pouted in response. Meg would giggle until she received a chiding look from Mr. Batchbury. His spectacled brother, Thomas, could chatter on about everything and anything. You rather liked all of them.

You also enjoyed the way Mr. Batchbury’s mouth would quirk upwards at his brother’s ramblings. He truly was the most beautiful man you had ever seen in your life.

There was one morning, early in his stay at your estate, where you encountered Mr. Batchbury outside of these timetabled activities, and from there began your tumbling down into love.

You walked through the gardens, taking the air after a morning of lessons. Meg was a quick learner, but she bored easily of learning tedious hobbies like pianoforte, and so did you. While she snuck down to the kitchens for more food, you decided to go for a walk.

Your mother had these gardens landscaped to include a small hedge maze in the south corner. No one entered it anymore, except for you, which meant there were no chances of being bothered until you reemerged. But as you followed the familiar pathway towards the centre of the maze, you were surprised to find Mr. Batchbury sitting sideways on the stone bench you usually occupied, his legs stretched across as he hunched over something.

“Oh!” you gasped in surprise, stopping in the entrance to the maze’s centre.

Mr. Batchbury startled uncharacteristically and twisted to see you, his strange-coloured eyes wide and curly hair lifting in the gentle breeze. He wore his training gear, sans the tie around his head. The strings of his shirt were open to reveal his deep brown skin with a smattering of dark curly hair right on his sternum. You felt heat grow in your cheeks and tingle between your thighs. You averted your eyes. It was one thing to view it from your window, but another to see it mere metres from you.

“I am terribly sorry, Mr. Batchbury,” you apologised. “I did not expect to find anyone here.”

Mr. Batchbury inclined his head and turned his body towards you. “It’s quite alright.”

His voice was smoky and deep, and you felt it right down to the core of you. You flushed again.

“Please excuse me, I’ll let you get back to your…” You peered down to his lap which held a sketchbook, with a portrait of a woman you couldn’t completely make out. You watched as Mr. Batchbury swiftly covered the sketch with his forearm. Your face burned at the embarrassment of encroaching on his private work.

“I’m sorry. Good day, Mr. Batchbury.”

You turned on your heel, desperately wanting to get out of there, walk into the lake and act out Ophelia’s death when his voice called out.

“Wait. Stay. I will go,” Mr. Batchbury closed his sketchbook and stood.

“That is not necessary, Mr. Batchbury. You were here first; I will find someplace else to hide from my mama.”

Mr. Batchbury’s mouth lifted in amusement, his entire face brightening at the show of delight. “In that case, we both must stay. I am also hiding...but from my brothers.”

You smiled and took a tentative step towards him. “Is that so? I can’t imagine why you would hide from them.”

Mr. Batchbury shook his head. “You would if you were permitted to spend an afternoon with them.”

You laughed lightly and when Mr. Batchbury gestured to the stone bench for you to sit down, you obliged. Your whole body alighted when you felt him sit down next to you, hyperaware of his strong arms inches from yours as he placed his sketchbook on the other side of him. After a moment of silence, you spoke up again.

“Are you quite certain that I am not intruding?” you asked, turning towards him.

Mr. Batchbury nodded. “I am quite sure. It is nice to have polite and quiet company.”

You smiled. “Your brothers do not often speak at dinner. Except for Thomas, of course.”

Mr. Batchbury took in a breath as he stared out towards the hedge. “My brothers and I are not used to high-born life. And I have told them to be on their best behaviour at dinner. In private, my brothers talk and argue often.”

You studied his profile. Up close, you could see the way the edges of his birthmark were not exact lines and instead seemed to fade into the skin around it. You wanted to reach out and touch it, trace the imperfect lines with the tip of your finger softly and feel the roughness of his stubble as you moved across his face gently. But it would be extremely improper, so you curled your fingers into your palm tightly to suppress the urge.

“I imagine it has been an adjustment staying here whilst you train with my father.”

Mr. Batchbury linked his own hands together. “He is a great man. But yes, it has. I believe my brothers are anxious to go to war, just to escape the expectations of being guests. My sister, on the other hand, is quite enjoying her time. She was very pleased to hear your father will be allowing her to stay whilst we go abroad to fight.”

A warm smile danced on his face at the mention of his sister. You knew he was the eldest, and so the care of her fell mostly onto him. But he did not seem burdened by it. In fact, he seemed to enjoy being the parental figure for his sister. And Meg spoke of him often, telling you stories of how he would stay with her at night in their old cottage, curling around her to keep warm when they ran out of coals. Or how he would give her at least half of his food, even if it was their only meal of the day and he was starving. These tales not only solidified how much he loved his sister and what he was willing to sacrifice for her, but stoked the flaming crush you had on him.

He was already a hero to his sister, and he hadn’t even gone to war yet.

“I will be glad to continue to have her company,” you told him honestly.

Mr. Batchbury met your eyes and smiled at you, and you felt the air leave your lungs. He left you breathless, and to receive such a smile from him…one so unfiltered, warm, and so genuine, you felt lucky. His whole face lit up, his eyes bright as they creased at the sides. The feelings bubbling inside your stomach only grew. You averted your gaze, face heating.

You quickly moved the conversation on. “Are you anxious to leave as well?”

“In some ways. But in others…” Mr. Batchbury trailed off, gaze lingering in your periphery before he shook his head and continued. “I will miss Meg terribly. But we have to protect her, do what we can to ensure she is safe.”

You felt your heart squeeze at his words. His devotion was unmatched, and you had the sudden wish to be included in it; for him to be so devoted to you. What would it be like to be loved by Mr. Batchbury? You imagined it would be rather wonderful.

“It was very admirable, what you are doing for her,” you said, smoothing the fabric of your gown.

Mr. Batchbury only shrugged. “Anyone would do such a thing for their family.”

You looked at him with a smirk. “I would not be so certain.”

He sounded genuinely surprised by this, blinking at you as he placed a hand on his rather muscular thigh and turned his body to you. “No?”

“I’m sure there are many out there who would simply send their siblings off to school,” you told him. “I know of men who do that now, who are not at war, so they do not have the responsibility of caring for a child beyond sending tuition money.”

Mr. Batchbury shook his head. “I can’t imagine leaving any of my siblings behind like that, let alone Meg. I don’t even want to leave her behind at all, but war is no place for a child.”

You gazed at him, and you could not hide your admiration. How could a man like this exist and not be a figment of your imaginings? He must have been sent from heaven, for a man on Earth could never be so exceptional, so lovely.

“You are a good man, Mr. Batchbury.”

Mr. Batchbury met your gaze and watched you with an expression you could not recognise. No matter how much you wished, no matter how much you could feel heat rushing to your cheeks, you could not look away from him. His brown-grey eyes bore into you, like they were seeing into your soul, and giving you a window into his. When you looked at him, you saw someone so kind and so unselfish, so devoted to his family and to keeping his sister safe. Someone willing to put himself in danger in the hope that she would be taken care of in his absence. His heart was huge, and he downplayed all of it, acting like it was not a choice, but something he simply did because he loved.

When Mr. Batchbury loved, you'd learnt, he loved faithfully and unwaveringly. His heart found a place to belong, and then never moved. It was a mountainous kind of heart, that stalled and weathered storms for those it loved and shielded them from harm, that remained strong for eternity.

Oh, how you longed to experience it.

You absently parted your lips and watched as Mr. Batchbury’s eyes darted towards the movement. He gazed there, zeroing in on your mouth for a moment too long before he cleared his throat and abruptly looked away.

“I should find my brothers; ensure they have not caused any trouble while I’ve been hiding.” He stood up, gathering his sketchbook and pencils, sounding a little breathless.

“Yes, o-of course.” You could barely string a sentence together, overcome with how much you felt for this man, and how he just looked like he had wanted to kiss you.

“Thank you for the company,” Mr. Batchbury inclined his head before quickly walking away, back through where you came from, his footsteps light against the gravel.

You took a deep breath and attempted to calm your racing heart. But you feared your heart would forever be hurried as long as Mr. Batchbury continued to exist in the same time as you.

In the several weeks that followed, you would have unplanned meetings with Mr. Batchbury in the maze. At least, they began as unplanned, before you both found excuses to meet each other there. It was so easy being with him, to talk to him and laugh with him. Some days you would regale him with tales of your childhood, and then beg him to tell you of his, no matter how fleeting it had been due to their circumstance and his position as eldest sibling. On others, you both did not talk at all, only sat beside each other, you with a book, and him with his sketchbook aimed away from your eyes.

One day, after many meetings in which your feelings for him grew beyond your known capacity, you taught him several dances. By his request, surprisingly.

“I did not take you as one to dance,” you teased him, standing up and walking several metres to where there was a space for you both to dance unobstructed.

You watched as the port wine stain across Mr. Batchbury’s face deepened slightly in colour. Was he blushing? “I am not. I think it will help with…my training.”

You gave him a strange look before you began teaching him.

“Now half turn, and pass by my shoulder,” you told him, and he followed your instruction. He was a fast learner, and as it turns out, a fine dancer. Perhaps the entire Batchbury clan were quick studies.

“Hold my hands, and we turn together,” you instructed.

You felt his hands encircle yours and through the barely there lace of your gloves, you felt the heat of his palms on yours. You hitched a breath as his fingers curled to hold yours firmly; securely. You met his eyes, which were on yours in an intense gaze that left you breathless. You dared not look away from his eyes, one side surrounded by his birthmark, as he turned with you. You forgot what choreography came next as you both turned slowly around each other, moving closer and closer, hands intertwined.

Eventually, you slowed to a stop, but neither of you moved to break apart. Your noses nearly touched, and you’d never been so close to a man in your life. You could feel his breath on your skin, and you were sure he could hear just how fast your heart was beating. Mr Batchbury’s hold on your hands was the only thing that tethered you to the Earth, nothing else could be comprehended but his touch and his eyes. You felt the pad of this thumb gently move across your knuckles in a gesture you’d only read about in books. You inhaled softly, heart expanding in your chest.

“Mr. Batchbury,” you breathed.

“Yes,” he breathed back.

“I…I don’t remember what comes next,” you whispered, not sure what else to say.

Mr. Batchbury blinked several times, as if he suddenly realised where he was and how intimate their position had been, and took a step back, placing distance between you both. He then looked down at your hands and then gently let them go.

“I’m very sorry. That wasn’t…” He paused before he settled on, “Right.”

You quickly shook your head, wishing he would come closer once again. “No, it’s quite alright. Really.”

Mr. Batchbury shook his head. “No. It’s not. Your father would not be pleased.”

“I care little of what my father thinks. And we were only dancing.”

“Dancing,” he repeated like he was unsure himself.

“Dancing,” you confirmed. You held out your hand, desperate for him to take it again. “Please, let us continue.”

Mr. Batchbury looked at your hand hesitantly before he took it again, this time his hold loose and non-committal and you longed for the way he held you just minutes ago.

You raced through the rest of the dance, and when you had finished, Mr. Batchbury thanked you before making an excuse and leaving swiftly. You sighed and sat on the bench, thinking back to the way he had looked at you; the hold he’d had on your hand and the way he’d moved his thumbs across your knuckles. He had been so close…surely…surely he had wanted to kiss you? No one looked at someone like that, held someone like that in a dance without the hope that their lips would meet their partners…right? You put your head in your hands. You did not know, and there was no one you could ask.

You wished he had. You wished he had pressed his lips to yours, and ended your misery. You imagined it endlessly. You thought of the way he would hold you close against him as he moved his lips against yours. His looked so soft, you imagined they’d feel soft too. They’d be gentle, coaxing, teaching yours. You’d place your fingers into his hair, tangling them in the curly locks hoping they’d get trapped in there, chaining you to him forever. He was so proficient in everything else he did, surely he would be when it came to kissing too.

Oh, yes, you thought. To kiss Mr. Batchury would be heavenly indeed.

The next day, you weren’t sure you would find Mr. Batchbury in the maze. As much as you wished differently, you suspected that after yesterday afternoon’s dance lesson, you would not see him again until the evening.

But you reached the centre of the maze and saw him sitting there with his back to you, no doubt his sketchbook on his lap. He had tilted his head slightly at the sound of your footsteps – his hearing was exceptional.

You swallowed and began to walk towards him. He turned to face you, swivelling his body as he made room for you on the bench. He pulled his sketchbook to his chest, hiding the pages from your eyes.

“I apologise for yesterday,” he said. “I should not have been so…”

“We were only dancing,” you were quick to reassure.

He did not say anything, he only looked at you, something indiscernible passing over his face as you watched his hands tighten on his sketchbook, the pages squeezing under his fingertips. You watched him curiously, trying to decipher the crease of his brow. If you were brave enough, and were sure your actions would not scare him away yet again, you would push the pad of your thumb into the lines formed between his brow, flatten them gently until they were gone. Your need to touch him only intensified after how close you’d been to him yesterday. To feel the tickle of his breath on your cheeks tease how easy it would’ve been to close the distance was a cruel twist of the knife into your feelings for Mr. Batchbury, knowing you would not get that close again.

After several beats of silence that seemed to feel endless in your agony, he said, “My brothers and I will be departing tomorrow at dawn. Your father says we are ready.”

Your breath hitched in surprise. “Oh.”

You felt your throat close up. You knew it was coming, but did it have to be so soon? You had grown so used to his presence these several weeks, to seeing him training, to dining with him, to spending these precious hours with him in the maze…how would you do without him? And he was going to war no less…the thought that he might never return was so violent you felt it proverbially slam into you, and you had to grip the edge of the stone bench to steady yourself.

And even if–when, when he came back, so much could change while he was away. Your mother would surely take you to London for another tedious season, desperate for you to make a match. Only none would live up to Mr. Batchbury. And if you did marry at your mother’s behest, he would return, and your feelings would come back stronger than ever, only now there was no chance of anything to come of you both. He would surely find someone else, and marry them instead.

You felt like crying. You wanted him to stay. But he never would, and it would be selfish and foolish to ask.

It seemed as though Mr. Batchbury would be someone you were only meant to know for a short time.

“I’m sure you and your brothers will be missed by your sister,” you managed to choke out. And by me. I will miss you so terribly I fear my chest will break open with the ache of it.

Mr. Batchbury gave a pained expression. “I feel sick at the thought of leaving her.”

You didn’t stop yourself this time, placing a hand on his forearm. “I will look after her. She will be okay. I promise you, Mr. Batchbury,”

He looked at you, brows slanted in a way that broke your heart and mouth stretched into the saddest of smiles. “That is my only comfort, knowing you will be there for her.”

“It is the least I can do,” you strained out, forcing a tight-lipped smile you only hoped fooled him into thinking you did not feel as much as you did.

He looked at you, eyes darting over your face for several moments before looking away, his knuckles white with their hold on his sketchbook. You traced your gaze across his profile, outlining the hook of his nose against the overcast sky. You had already memorised it, but you allowed yourself one last look. If you were accomplished at drawing, you would’ve filled sketchbooks with his face, a visual ode to his beauty, and a eulogy of your love.

“I should go,” he cleared his throat. “Ensure we are ready, spend as much time with Meg as I can.”

You blinked away tears. “Of course.” Would he really say nothing more to you? After all this time spent together?

Mr. Batchbury stood up and in the movement, his sketchbook dropped on the ground in front of you, page splayed open to his drawings. You looked down and inhaled a sharp breath when you finally laid your eyes upon the sketches that had evaded you.

The drawings…they were all of you.

Mr. Batchbury bent to hastily pick up the book and close it roughly and caged the book against his chest, concealing the drawings of you once again. You looked up at him, mouth parted in shock as he pointedly avoided your eyes the port wine stain on his face growing darker as he blushed.

“Mr. Batchbury–”

“I must go,” he strangled out and started to walk.

You couldn’t let him leave like this. Not now. Not when you’d just discovered this; his sketches of you. You stood abruptly and blocked his path, your hand raised in a stop motion which he bumped into. “Wait, please.”

His expression was full of anguish as he finally met your eyes. But you needed to know, even if he wished you didn’t.

You turned your palm up between you slowly, your brows slanted as you looked towards him. You watched his eyes move down to look at your waiting hand and then back to your eyes.

“May I…?” you breathed.

You watched his arms flex as he hesitated, his chest rising and falling behind the sketchbook. After a moment, he reluctantly handed it over. You opened it gingerly and began to slowly comb through the pages.

The book started with florals, landscapes, and portraits of his brothers and sister before they slowly became interpolated with the sketches of you. Your heart raced as you looked through them. There were so many. You knew he had little money at all, let alone for something as frivolous as an art book, and yet he’d filled so many pages with you. With you sitting at dinner, of you laughing, you from the drawing room window, you on the bench reading.

He'd filled a sketchbook with you.

All these weeks, he’d been looking at you as you looked at him? This whole time?

You then landed on the most striking of all – your eyes yesterday, up close as he’d stared into them as you danced.

They were remarkable, and all done by memory – you hadn’t sat for a single one.

You looked up at him, and his eyes flicked to yours, an expression a combination of pain and embarrassment as his port wine stain was still darkened with blush.

Your voice was but a whisper. “They’re all of me.”

“Yes,” he rasped, but his eyes never left yours.

“W-Why?”

“Because you are bewitching to me,” he told you, his voice stronger now. He’d answered it like he could not believe you had to ask, like he was shocked it was not obvious to you. Like it was fueled with the truth. Mr. Batchbury did not lie, and his words were spoken with conviction, as sure as the mountains his heart mirrored. “Because I am unable to go a single moment without you in my thoughts, and I’m not sure I ever want to be free of such notions.”

You gaped at him. “Mr. Batchbury–”

“I apologise if I overstepped.” He spoke directly, as though he had embraced his truth; his actions. Like he was no longer embarrassed, but rather empowered and confident in how he felt. “I should have asked. But how could I?”

You did not know. Maybe if you weren’t reeling from his confession, you would have an answer for him. But even then, perhaps there was no right way to say you wished to capture someone’s likeness tens of times over.

You wanted to speak, but you were shocked. You were bewitching to him ? He could not stop thinking about you ? You could hardly believe it to be true. You could hardly believe that a man like Mr. Batchbury had been occupied with thoughts of you . You, a mere earthling to an ethereal angel such as him.

But Mr. Batchbury did not lie. He was as faithful as the mountains, after all.

At your growing silence, he perceived this as your disapproval of his actions; of his feelings. He took a shaky breath as he slowly took the book from you and closed it.

“I…I have upset you,” he deduced, dejected. “I–”

You cut him off, desperate to tell him of your own feelings. Desperate to say you thought of him the same. “You have not upset me.”

Mr. Batchbury’s brows raised and his eyes widened in surprise. You swallowed as he gazed upon you. If he had been brave enough to tell you, you could tell him. But how? What words? What arrangement of phrases could you string together to fully convey the extent of what you felt for this man? You feared you could not. But you would try.

You blinked at him before shaking your head. “You…are so incredibly cruel for telling me this now, when you cannot stay.”

You watched his expression as he registered your words and what they implied, as they sunk into his bones. You watched his mouth part with a breath and his shoulders relax – you had not even been able to tell how truly anxious he had been waiting to know how you felt.

He shook his head, his voice quiet once again, but still held the strength of his truth. “I know.”

“And yet,” you took a breath as you smiled at him, eyes stinging at the bittersweet moment of the truths you were unveiling. “I cannot be angry with you, not when my heart is completely and utterly yours.”

Mr. Batchbury sucked in a breath at your words. You watched his eyes soften around the edges as the breeze blew through his curls, lifting them off his shoulders at the same time the corners of his mouth lifted slightly too. His grip on the sketchbook slackened. Your heart warmed at the expression on his face, the look of disbelief mixed with joy.

His voice was softer than you’d ever heard it, that smokiness only highlighting the vulnerability of his words. “You truly mean that?”

You let out a breathy laugh, smiling. “I do.”

He dropped his sketchbook, falling to the side of you both as he stepped forward and took your hands in his, squeezing them gently and securely. His palms pressed into yours, the warmth travelling under your skin and igniting your insides. His chest brushed against yours and you looked up into his brown-grey eyes, watching the way light seemed to dance in them when he was happy.

“Tell me again.”

Your heart skipped a beat and you squeezed his hands as the words fell out of your mouth earnestly and easily. “My heart is yours.”

Mr. Batchbury sighed, closing his eyes and pulling you flush against him, pressing his forehead to yours, his arms now encircling your waist. You gasped, placing your hands on his chest. You let your eyes fall closed as your noses touched. You were even closer than you had been yesterday – though now you couldn’t believe you thought that had been close, not when you were pressed against him like this.

You catalogued every detail of his body against yours. Even through your corset, you felt the hardness of his chest. He was so warm and solid, and under your hands, you could feel the steady beat of his heart moving rapidly, matching yours. His breath tickled your skin, and you breathed it in, his hot breath filling your lungs. He smelt of soap and cedar and it was entirely intoxicating. You had to find a way to bottle this smell up, and keep it under your pillow to breathe in. He had completely engulfed you, physically and emotionally.

And you never wanted him to stop.

You felt his throat vibrate, the deep tenor of his voice trembling under your hands. It was like he was speaking inside you. His voice was husky and you felt the breath of his words on your lips.

“One more time.”

You did not hesitate. “I am yours.”

He kissed you then, capturing your lips in a searing kiss that felt like your entire body was on fire. You drew in a breath as you felt his hold on you tighten, his head tilting as he moved his lips against yours. You had never been kissed before, but something told you that kissing did not always feel like this. Just as he engulfed you before, he overwhelmed you now. His mouth was hot, and passionate, his kisses deep as one hand cradled your head to his. He kissed like he loved; faithfully, strongly. You could never guess what was in his heart when he kissed like this. It was obvious.

You had imagined kissing Mr. Batchbury would be heavenly. But it was better than that. His full lips were soft, as you thought, and though his kiss was passionate, it was never controlling or taking without permission. His kisses coaxed you, draw you further into him.

You moaned into the kiss and you felt his hold on your body tighten again. Your mouths opened for air, but you did not end this embrace. You moved your hands into his hair and fisted his curls as you'd always wished to, and drew him in closer again, kissing him once again. You could not get enough. How could you stop? It was dizzying. You felt his groan against your hands and lips as he deepened the kiss once more before pulling back.

He did not go far, and neither did you. He pressed his forehead into yours once again, noses against each other and you both caught your breath.

“Am I dreaming?” You spoke without thinking.

Mr. Batchbury’s chuckle sent every nerve ending in your body tingle. “I hope not.”

You laughed lightly and drew back a little to see Mr. Batchbury’s smile. What a sight to behold, the way his cheeks stretched to accommodate such joy on his features. His eyes seemed to sparkle too. You felt dazed, like you’d just seen heaven on Earth.

You allowed yourself to trace the outline of his birthmark with your finger, just as you’d always imagined doing. You felt Mr. Batchbury’s arms encircle your waist, his eyes never leaving your face as you performed your featherlight ministrations down his forehead, across his cheek and all the way to his chin.

“You have to come back,” you whispered, your voice breaking a little.

He blinked at you, and you felt his face move under your fingers as he spoke, a hint of disbelief in his voice. “You’re willing to wait for me?”

You frowned at him. “How could you ask that when I just told you I am yours?”

Mr. Batchbury shook his head and leaned in again to kiss you once more. This kiss was much shorter than the one that preceded it. And it was sweeter too. You smiled into the kiss before he pulled away. The expression on his face one of uncertainty.

“What about your father? He will not approve.”

You shook your head, fingers moving to his curls, pushing them back and tucking them behind his ear. “He likes you a great deal.”

“Maybe. But I am…” He trailed off and you frowned and cradled his face in your hand. He kissed your palm as if it was instinct.

“You are what?”

Mr Batchbury bit his lips as lifted a hand from your waist and cupped your jaw, his thumb running across your cheekbone as he looked at you with such devotion you thought you might cry.

“Poor. I have nothing to offer you, my love. And I am going to war.”

Your heart squeezed. Had this been the source of his hesitation all along? You shook your head. “I do not need anything but this–”

You placed the hand that held his face on his heart. You felt it pick up under your palm as you gazed into his eyes. You watched his face cycle through several emotions before it seemed to land on adoration. His eyes softened, and his birthmark deepened in colour before he shook his head.

“Bewitching,” he whispered before he leaned in to kiss you again. You felt his every emotion in this kiss as if you truly had fused together, feeling each other's emotions as your own. You felt his love, his devotion, his agony. You wished he did not have to go. But he had his duty to his family. It was cruel that you had managed to know the tiniest feeling of what it would be like to be loved by Mr. Batchbury, and now had to give it up. How could the stars be so vicious? To pull you both together, only to rip you apart again.

You squeezed your eyes shut as you moved your mouth against his, deepening the kiss until tears fell down your cheeks and he pulled away, pressing his forehead against yours, a strangled sound coming from his throat.

You opened your eyes to see his full of anguish and pain. When he saw the tears that stained your cheeks, he brought the backs of his fingers to your cheek and brushed them away gently. You sniffled as he cradled your face with both hands before pressing a lingering kiss on your forehead. When he met your eyes again, his expression was determined.

“I will come back.” He meant it and believed it.

“Promise me,” was all your voice was strong enough for.

“I promise.” His voice was smokey and hard. Immovable devotion – that was Mr. Batchbury. A mountainous heart that loved fiercely. That loved you fiercely. “I will come back and marry you so I can love you forever.”

You could no longer speak in fear of sobbing in his arms. So you kissed him once more, doing everything you could to memorise the feel of him, so when you woke the next morning and he was nowhere to be found, you could fall back into your daydreams, this time knowing what he felt like and that you would feel it again one day.

He promised you.

Now, almost half a decade, an earned nickname, and a conclusion of a war later, you watched him from the other side of the ballroom. And when Mr. Batchbury – Hunter, as he was now known, met your gaze, he smiled at you knowingly, his eyes soft with the same love you remembered from the maze. You returned it before excusing yourself from the conversation you were not listening to, and disappeared from the ballroom towards the gardens.

banner art by @vimse i hope you enjoyed this FIRST installment. yes, FIRST, bc what is a regency romance without a steamy encounter...hehehe ANYWAY stay tuned!!

🏷️ @starrylothcat @sinfulsalutations @moodymisty @nahoney22 @freesia-writes @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius @bobaprint @crosshairsnose @jesseeka @thegalaxys-edge @chopper-base @shredderwest @leavingkamino @r2d2staser @beckbucket @pb-jellybeans @mylifeisactuallyamess @padawancat97 @littlecrowtime @jedipoodoo @ezras-left-thumb @lovelycurls @fruitsaladtree @literallydontlook @burningfieldof-clover @queencousland101 @clonethirstingisreal @skellymom @hopelessromantic727 @rebel-ezra @lulalovez

TAGLIST FORM

#larissa writes #hunter x reader #hunter x reader fic #hunter bad batch fic #hunter bad batch #the bad batch hunter fic #tbb x reader #tbb hunter #the bad batch fic au #regency au fic

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dykepuffs · 1 year ago

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I want to argue that Dracula is the first work of Nokiawave.

-It's heavily concerned with new technology which drives the plot: Telegrams between everyone being collated into the text, Dr Seward's audiolog on the phonograph which Mina types up, mass transit in the form of both trains and Tube, steamships (and specifically the contrast between steam and sail) and loads of minor examples.

-It's concerned with new social technologies and social change: Mina is a typist, a respectable modern job for a young middle-class woman. Jon is a clerk and is working in an exciting emerging market. Dr Seward uses all the modern methods and keeps up with theory and scientific developments. Lucy is pleased to have plenty of male friends, not just to be seeking to marry. And it contrasts this with both the "good" Old Ways - The helpful, hopeless, peasants who give Jon his anti-vampire icon, the "broad minded" but also clearly steeped in superstition Van Helsing - and the "bad" Old Ways - Obviously, Dracula and also the enslaved Roma (Who, oh god, I I have to write about them in the context of Romanian chattel slavery of Roma, which was technically abolished in stages throughout the 2nd half of the 19th century, but where emancipation came with enforced sedentarism and obligation to a landowner - And where many remained enslaved in all practical terms into the C20th, and specifically in Transylvania the effects of Maria Theresia's Four Decrees that were still in effect that meant they would both be indentured to a landowner as "new farmers" and their children would be kidnapped by the state and given to white families for "reeducation" - but most people analysing the text seem to treat them as willingly Evil Minions).

-It's full of the anxieties about what Eastern and Southern Europe will do as they "modernise and open" (ie become financially and culturally available to the West) and specifically the fear of the Rich Slavic* Oligarch (to a certain kind of British mind, anyone east of Berlin and north of Athens is Slavic, sigh) spreading their malign influence in the Capital Cities of the West. Even the touch that Dracula was once a warlord but is now a slick investor and man-about-town.

-It has lots of continent hopping, focusing on the ~local colour~ in Transylvania and the contrast between both the "superstitious" locals and the traveller who finds it all very quaint and interesting but not very serious, and between the poverty of the normal people and the wealth and seclusion of Dracula, and then likewise giving us whistle-stop tours of the interesting bits of Whitby and London, making the city as much of a character as the humans. The Westerner abroad is seen as just a natural phenomenon, but the foreigners* in Britain are notable and exotic.

- It has a mysterious superweapon/monster which is hidden around a big western capital city, where most people (and even the police and regular military) have no idea what it is and are powerless to stop it, and a lot of tension lies on the crux of "What happens if this gets out here, surrounded by all these civilians?" - In a way that treats the mythological East* as a natural place for atrocities to occur, but them happening in London is a shock.

-It has spying: Jon sneaking around the locked-up Carfax with his miniature camera, trying to take pictures to find out what Dracula is doing in there, could have absolutely been in a 1990s thriller. Likewise, meeting in Harrods to avoid suspicion because it's a plausible place for a fashionable young lady to be, surrounded by anonymising crowds.

-It has information warfare: Dracula reading up on British politics, studying maps of London, paying clerks and using shell companies to disguise his property acquisitions, and likewise the heroes using the telegram and port records and the sheer mass of paperwork generated by his activities to track Dracula, which feels like close kin to the Nokiawave staples of finding someone on cctv or by their credit card, or their car registration being flagged at a checkpoint. Jonathan lamenting the lack of an Ordnance Survey in Europe and the unmapped bits of Transylvania specifically really fits with the idea of the "Control Grid" posited by Gregory Flaxman who writes a lot about surveillance and information control in cinema.

-It has a team of both specialists and laypeople who were dragged into the action by circumstance, and much relies on their relationships. The laypeople's "unimportant" skills (Jonathan's knowledge of property and finance especially, and Mina's skills with logistics as well as her innovation and bravery in using herself as a conduit to Dracula) turn out to save the day. The team is multi-national and basically represents The Free World (TM), as well as allowing for jokes about national stereotypes.

-Mina being notably not a damsel in distress, but instead using her personal connection to the villain to absolutely ruin him in ways that nobody else could, is very much like the role of many women in Nokiawave films: She may be traumatised and in danger, more than anyone else because of the villain's obsession with her, but she's smart and deadly and willing to take risks to complete the mission.

-It ends with a massive cross-continental vehicle chase with tonnes of explosions.

#dracula daily #dracula

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animeismyhappyplace · 2 years ago

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Liquid Courage - Chuuya Nakahara x Female Reader

Reader gets black out drunk and doesn't realise she has confessed her love for her boss Chuuya Nakahara.

Word Count: 1,200

TW: Drunken confessions, fluff, some very brief angst, Chuuya is a bit teasing to reader

The Port Mafia has had a lot of wins lately when it came to take overs and acquisitions so most of the lower ranking members have gone out to drink and celebrate, Chuuya Nakahara feeling far too drained to be around some of the more... Irritating members especially when drunk decided he would just head home and get some much needed rest.

Chuuya's phone starts to vibrate loudly against his bedside table which wakes the poor man up in the middle of the night, he rolls over to check his phone to see he has a missed call and voice mail from Y/N. Chuuya rubs his blurry eyes but clicks his voicemail to listen to her voicemail assuming it must be important given the time. Soon Y/N's voice is floating through his speakers "H-Hi Chuuya I was just ringing to say... That I think I love you! A- And your stupid gorgeous face... And your gorgeous hair..." Chuuya listens intently with a frown drawn across his face at first but soon finds himself trying not to laugh or smile as he hears her drunken ramblings about him.

Y/N starts to hiccup mid sentence as the alcohol clearly starts to take over her mind "I just don't know how to tell you that you're so fuckin' perfect you know... I feel like if I tell you to your stupid face you'll just... Reject me" He can hear her sniffling then he can just about make out Gin trying to comfort the girl. His heart flutters when he hears her call him perfect, which makes him chuckle quietly to himself. Chuuya has never thought of himself in that way at all, in fact he often thinks about all the ways he lacks.

Her words are trailing off as she clearly is trying to collect her thoughts "Well anyway... that's all I wanted to say. I love you and yeah... Oh shit I'll have to go Tachihara just vomited all over Higuchi and she looks like she's about to kill him... Bye!" Chuuya hears the woman's giggles fade off before the voicemail ends, Chuuya smiles softly after listening to her message wondering how he should go about acting on his new information he has.

A few hours pass by with Y/N barely rousing from her sleep as the sun blares through the gaps in her curtains, groaning as she lifts her arms up to hide her poor eyes from the sudden intrusion. Y/N starts to slowly rise from her bed she hears furious banging against her door "Open the fuckin' door Y/N, I'm getting impatient!" She hears her boss grumble angrily, as the poor girl blinks a few time thoroughly confused she stumbles towards her door to open it for her boss.

When greeted with his irritated face she frowns slightly before clearing her throat "Chuuya sir... what can I do for you? Please excuse my appearance I was out with the members last night celebrating" She flushes as she looks down at her sleep shirt and shorts. Chuuya rolls his eyes somewhat playfully as he bites back a laugh at the state he's found her in "Oh I know you were one of the members out last night" She tilts her head in confusion "You already know?" She looks at her boss waiting for him to tell her why he's arrived at her apartment so suddenly.

Chuuya nods once again chuckling lightly before taking a step closer to her "Yeah I got your message." He watches the girl expectantly "My message?" She responds feeling even more confused "Oh you don't remember let me play it for you" He smirks at her devilishly enjoying her confusion. Soon her very drunk voice fills the space between them as she hears every word of her drunken confession... To her boss... Shame fills her body and flashes across her face as she stutters out trying to explain the situation "I-I am SO sorry Chuuya sir! I-I... I was very drunk last night and..." Chuuya holds his hand out to stop her babbling before he laughs quietly amused by her reaction "It's fine really" He steps forward watching her worried face before he continues "I was quite relieved to hear your drunken ramblings, when I first saw the notification I was nervous somethin' awful had happened to ya" He folds his arms over his chest trying to look disinterested in the conversation.

Y/N tries to take in his words "You were relieved... You were worried about me..." She stands still as a statue as her fried brain tries to link together what he's telling her. Chuuya smiles softly at her not quite understanding his words "Well yeah, I mean after all who wouldn't be concerned if their friend was ringing them at 4 in the fuckin morning?" He pauses looking into her eyes seeing the worry there "I'd hate to think somethin bad happened to ya and I was too late to help" He clears his throat suddenly "But back to the conversation at hand here, your voicemail was it just drunken fuckery or did you mean it?" Her brows furrow in confusion at his words before her embarrassment takes hold as she looks down "Y- Yeah I meant it... Sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, I know we work together but... I can't help my feelings for you" Y/N can't help but rub her feet together trying to distract from the awkward conversation.

Chuuya sighs deeply shaking his head "Don't apologise, nothin wrong with havin feelings for someone... I'd know I have feelings for someone I work with" He lifts his striking blue eyes to look at her, disappointment shoots through every fibre of her being as she frowns "O- Oh you do? W-Who do you like? Gin? Higuchi? I could try and set something up..." She mutters quietly asking the question even if she doesn't know to know the answer.

Chuuya chuckles lightly feeling his heart skip a beat as he thinks about the question "No you idiot! I'm talkin' 'bout you!" he shakes his head before leans closer giving her a small bashful smile "... Oh ... OH!" Chuuya can't help but laugh as the penny drops and she finally realises what he's said "You ... Like... Me?" Y/N asks still not fully believing it. Chuuya nods slowly smiling warmly "Yeah I do, so much that I've been tryna hide it, not really a great look that a Port Mafia exec has fallen in love with one of his underlings but ya know... you can't help who you fall for." He says softly blushing as he watches her reaction.

She can't help the smile that shoots across her face as she grips his shirt and pulls him towards her to give him a passion kiss on the lips. Chuuya returns the kiss eagerly wrapping his arms around her waist pulling her close against him as they share a passionate moment together before breaking apart panting heavily from the intensity of the kiss "Been waiting a long fuckin time to do that" He chuckles as he gently leads her backwards into her apartment attaching his lips back to hers.

#bsd x reader #bungo stray dogs x reader #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bungou stray dogs x reader #chuuya x reader #bsd imagines #Bsd fluff #chuuya nakahara #chuuya headcanons #Chuuya Nakahara #Chuuya x reader #chuuya x reader fluff #bsd fluff #Chuuya x female reader #soft chuuya

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laiqualaurelote · 9 days ago

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So horribly, horribly late! But for the Directors’ Cut ask game: what are other jobs the Katabasis boys have taken on? Do they always steal or do their services extend in other directions?

never too late for a good time! in The Katabasis Job AU, Edwin and Charles market themselves as "acquisition specialists", i.e. if you need an item acquired, they can do that for you, even if through extralegal means. They're not, however, in it for the money (though Charles is something of a magpie and will not say no to shiny stuff), so their criteria for taking on a job is more often: does it suit their purposes? (for Edwin, this is acquiring items/knowledge that will further their enterprise/protect him from having to go back to Hell; for Charles, it's mainly about passing a vibe check). Their area of specialty is magical artefacts - occasionally magic users will ask them to obtain certain hard-to-acquire items, and Johanna Constantine has hired them to knock over her enemies on several occasions. They will also steal things back: if Charles likes the look of you, they can retrieve your looted family heirloom or your baby that the Fair Folk swapped for a changeling. (They have broken multiple times into Fairyland and are a source of frustration for both the Seelie and Unseelie Courts - how do they keep getting in?) They give each other one free pass a year, which means they have to take a job the other wants, even if they themselves aren't keen on it. Edwin mostly uses his to steal rare books he can't find in the library. Charles used his latest free pass to take Crystal's job, which is how they ended up in Port Townsend and which Edwin is still very annoyed about.

Thank you for this ask! from the end-of-year Director's Cut game (ask me for additional lore or meta about any of my fics this year)

#fic ask game #dead boy detectives #heist au

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witchofthesouls · 1 year ago

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(How the Camien nurse got more attention if the D.J.D. had to be around the regular forces of the faction:)

Vos had no idea what would happen at this particular docking. All optics were glued to Peaceful Tyranny, hungrily tracking everyone's comings and goings as mechs try to get a good look at the D.J.D.’s medical acquisitions and the recent additions of newsparks…

But the gunformer hadn't expected to be pelted from the ceiling of gun range showers.

Tarn's vindictive dovetail stares from above, stripped down to a courtesan's suit, optics sharp and pale, and Energon slowly drips out of the opened vent to trickle down to the floor.

“Can you get me down? And hail Nickel?” A frown pulls your features, distaste and annoyance as you click your glossa. “I've been set up and need to finish a job.”

Two private comms, one vexed Prion, and one helpful and giant Tesarus equals a naked Camien that's indifferent to the crushed, dangling left arm and leaking wells.

Vos shares a long, meaningful look with Tesarus. The X-shaped optic sizzles in a slow blink of agreement, blades creaking in his gnashing pit.

Tarn won't be happy.

Vos recognizes the technique: it's meant to cause as much pain across your neuralnet without destroying the most important connective points, relays, and sensory equipment in your servos.

A common tactic to force compliance in those with specialized sensors, like medics and engineers.

Nickel welds your arm back into proper placement, clipping and soldering the snapped lines, prodding the torn, frayed musculature to knit back together, and picking out the debris and fragments.

You barely grimace, breathing slow and deep as you test your left arm's flexibility, hand clenching.

Your plating for that arm is a lost cause, but at least the rest of your body is covered again.

Nickel and you fall under a grey area. Not pledged to the Cause but under D.J.D.’s direct protection.

No one should have been able to demand your presence at the base's medbay, even as one of the few skilled medical professionals on board, neither you or Nickel have the proper creditionals to log into the Medical Department of the faction.

The destroyed access panel to the medbay unit that trapped you is sparkling's play to Tesarus’ raw strength to brute force it open.

And there lies a delightful sight of Overlord sprawled in the medberth, unconscious and completely unaware of the world.

Before Vos was initiated into the Justice Division, he was the personal weapon to a field engineer. The mech had long been dead, but Vos remembers many tricks from those clever servos.

And his credentials as the terminal accepts Troubleshoot's login.

You bark out a laugh as the medberth comes to life and proceeds to maneuver the Phase Sixer.

Vos spots something shiny in Overlord's mouth, and you smack his hand away to use the forceps.

A dart. A tiny sliver of a dart. Bright pink against the dark mouth, secreting a thin fluid.

“Trade secret,” you say with that strange half-smile, taunting them with unreadable optics, and Vos wonders if he can get Kaon to plot a venture to Caminus if it produced creatures like you.

The medberth finally manages to pry open the downed mech's ports, screens pop up as information is retrieved.

“You know,” you say, very conversational as you read the running scripts of medical glyphs. “The patient here hasn't had any decent diagnostics since the last writer. Someone named Rossum?”

When you relay the date from that writer, Nickel spits out a curse that impresses Tesarus to belt a laugh, the cavern in his chassis hiccups from the force.

“Overlord here hasn't done a proper check up for so long, we should correct it, shouldn't we?”

Oh, Vos can read that savage gleam under that professionalism. It's the same glint you get when you give Vos a live demonstration on the traitor’s corpse - flaying nervecircuits and fuel lines from Deadzone's protoform mass, exposing the endoskeleton in clean, surgical cuts.

(Vos learned a few new tricks, especially after you neatly explained how to pull the lines without breaking them. You keep Deadzone’s frame in a constant cycle of punishment and repairs, showing Vos by flushing out the dead mech and carefully exposing the grey, swollen tubing.

It's very informative.)

Nickel may be the size of an Energon cube, but her returning grin is absolutely feral. “Yes. Yes, we will. And there's quite a few things we should add.”

______

Ever the consummate professionals, Vos and Tesarus get kicked out.

Vos hasn't been this disappointed since he found out Rumble and Frenzy had a type, and it's not him (or Kaon).

He doesn't give into the juvenile feeling to skid his pede on the flooring, nor climb into the vents where you found him to watch the operation.

Instead, he makes himself comfortable in a nearby rolling chair, cleaning and oiling the drills of his mask as Tesarus stands guard by the crumpled door.

Between the grinder's churning sink and Vos’ ghoulish underface, any mech that attempted to step foot here immediately backtracked the way they came.

Time drags and no one hails them, nor does any other medical personnel come to check on the occupied medberth.

The medbay door grinds open, spluttering a rain of sparks. You and Nickel come out with a satisfied air of accomplishment, and Vos can only make out Overlord’s prone frame under a cooling sheet before the door grinds to a full close, and their medbay crew slather the remaining cleanser foam over their arms and hands.

“Done and dusted.” It's one of the strange phrases you have a habit of saying after a procedure or operation. A sense of ritual finality.

Nickel doesn't spit on the floor, but it's a near thing as she sneers, “What's the point of all that downpour if no one is willing to maintain the dam!?”

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dailyadventureprompts · 2 years ago

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Adventure: The Wreck Of the Jelziid Pirates

Though the pirate wars are long over, the scars of the conflict linger on, with the skeletal wrecks of vessels still lost in the kingdom’s waterways and the scattered dozens of villages reduced to ash during the raids. Worse yet are the pirates themselves, hundreds of foreign sailors left stranded after their fleet was shattered and the crown took back the great river, forced to linger on in the wilderness as scavengers and bandits, forever outcast from the people they victimized.

Hooks:

An important figure is kidnapped in the night while travelling, their carriage ambushed, their guard slaughtered and the bodies left behind by the attackers clearly indicate the pirates were behind it. That is until the party investigates, and realizes that a number of the bodies left behind are days older than the incident, and those that aren't don’t might wear the right armour but don’t bear any of the tattoos or cultural markings associated with the Jelziid . Clearly someone is trying to shift the blame here, but finding out who it was who staged the attack may require the party to seek out the pirate stronghold in the high wilderness and ask around for witnesses.

A local merchant is found strung up in the market, his body disfigured in a way that was common for those found guilty by military tribunal to be capitulating with the pirates during the war. The only problems ( other than the brutal death of a well loved member of the community) is that this is well over a decade from the end of martial law, and the local magistrate has been given a tip that it was the party that was responsible. Perhaps they can argue their innocence, or stay on the lam long enough to investigate the charges themselves.

Every year the crown helps fund a grand festival to celebrate the queen’s birthday, a tradition that originally started to celebrate the arrival of a long awaited heir, but revived in modern years as the then crown-princess proved herself a hero during the pirate wars, leading the defence of numerous settlements and playing a key part in the battle that broke the invading fleet once and for all. This year however a shipment of gold was stolen from the provincial governor by a group of pirates who’ve taken off into the deep wilderness, putting the celebration in jeopardy. Should the party manage to find and return this small fortune (after perhaps skimming a little off the top) they can expect a major finder’s fee, the thanks of the governor, and guest of honour invitations to the festival in a few weeks.

Background: For generations the raiders of the Jelziid fleet plundered their way across the world’s oceans in a force that only an empire could hope to challenge, raiding entire coastlines in a single night and then moving on to offload their loot and captives at ports willing to trek with such ruthless acquisition. This all changed with the infamous captain Talalan who fought his way to leadership after the, were chased out of their previous hunting grounds by a newly emergent coalition. Seeing that his bloodthisty brethren had perhaps grown too large, too infamous, to carry on as they had, he rallied the fleet with the idea that they’d become fierce enough to claim a territory for their own, settling on the kingdom of the great river as the place they could turn their mastery of water into a dominion of those who worked the land.

Further adventures:

The pirates who stole the gold are hiding out in the wreck of one of their great warships, a mouldering fortress of sloped decks and rotten wood half submerged in the silt of a nearby river. They were expecting to be picked up by some criminal contacts who helped set the heist up, but they’ve been delayed on the river. As the party infiltrates the dungeon and tries not to get ambushed, consider having a clock run down for when reinforcements arrive, potentially losing the party their prize and chance at making inroads with the court.

Either clearing their names through logical argument or escaping the law to prove their own innocence gives the party a chance to investigate the merchant’s death, which in turn reveals he was buying up food to trade with an enclave of pirates who’d set up a makeshift logging camp. Still technically a crime, but the gang of vigilantes who carried out the punishment were infact a group of thugs hired by one of the merchant’s business rivals, who was resentful of him undercutting him thanks to the pirates' help.One of these envious merchants served in the pirate wars with the magistrate’s most trusted official, and used his war buddy’s old emnitiy to convince the official to turn a blind eye to the powergrab and find a convenient excuse (a troublemaking group of adventurers)

In their interactions with the pirates, the party keep hearing tell of someone called “The Eelmonger”, an innocuous name spoken with reverence , and an apparent successor to captain Talalan‘s broken legacy. Whoever the monger turns out to be, the eels are infact monstrous river serpents, some of which have been meted out to the pirates to use as guardbeasts and weapons, with the promise that more are on the way.

#pirates #swamp #river #bandits #abduction #mystery #outlaw #low level #mid level #town #city #dnd #Dungeons and Dragons #ttrpg #pathfinder

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nogu-d-reamers · 5 months ago

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WELCOME TO PLAYTOWN/POPPY PLAYTOWN- CHARACTER REFERENCE #6.

KICKIN "CHICKEN" LE COQ - DESIGN AND DATA.

INFORMATION AND DATA.

Name: Kickin "Chicken" LeCoq

Age: 27

Height:2'5 mt/6'5 fts.

Species: smiling critters creature. Roaster silkie (chinese silk chicken)

Occupation: bountyhunter/seaplane pilot.

Genre: male (he/him).

Sexuality: bi

Magical usser type: alchemist.

Birth place: Olde River (Playgrounds).

Birth day: July 18th.

Personality:

"Luckiest star" or Kickin usually appears to be the typical tough guy bounty hunter or the flirtatious pilot who has a lover in every port where he lands; a shameless man, without fear of what people will say about him, without any sense of danger or how far he will go. Catnap describes him as a "magnet of chaos who knows no failure."

which he usually repels at first.

Once you get into trust with him, he is friendly as a capybara who loves bad jokes and spending time relaxing or doing a sports activity for pleasure; Noticing many times that they seem annoyed that he does not have enough to go to an event with them, that some work crosses his path on an outing on several occasions.

He is someone who loves to lend a hand to his friends and the people he cares about, even in the worst moment he mentions a couple of times «well, what's next?» taking out in advance a part of the plan that the person has in mind, not very legal from how he obtained it; but better not to ask questions about it.He is a rooster who ignores the opinions of others and tends to be cynical and blunt, especially with authority figures over unresolved or personal issues.

A constant comic gag is that sometimes his methods are… too violent or really crazy. So the critters have to stop him from doing something crazy

A constant comic gag is that sometimes his methods are… too violent or really crazy.

or that when splashed with water, the cheap feather dye falls off and attracts the attention of one of his thousands of rivals and they start fighting at a bad time.

about his work and daily life.

Unlike other critters (and the general public) he does not have a fixed work schedule, but will often depend on being required for the missions or jobs he has as a bounty hunter; which maintains 3 basic requirements to accept a job=

1. does not carry out assassination missions or attacks against other lives.

2. will not accept a mission with children involved (unless they are rescues).

3. He should laugh in your face if you do not offer him a minimum of ₱200.000 or 12.000 carats in galyostro crystals and he sees you as a high class (if he accepts missions of little or almost no denomination, but he hates when rich people go overboard him with their arrogance). When he is at work he usually disappears for weeks on end and catnap or hoppy tell him the news that happens in his absence, having to endure the phrase «SACREBLEU! SO MUCH HAPPENED WITHOUT ME BEING THERE?!» or «bien bien...but don't look for me when you need something dangerous later...»

He often works alongside Catnap on some cases within Main City as an informant or support force if a case turns violent.

In his free time he spends his time repairing his beloved seaplane and other equipment... to end up going to Hoppy's shamelessly asking for a discount, going to Picky's restaurant or arguing with Bubba at work so that he doesn't turn him in to the law.

Magic data (and other skills):

As a bounty hunter he has great physical capacity and intelligence based on survival and street malice; but he also has skills in=

1. knowledge in fights and how to take advantage of their physical disadvantage.

2. knowledge of the use of firearms.

3. non-legal acquisition of valuable items (cursed objects and relics remaining outside of its scope).

Although he is an alchemist, having no formal studies or education; He cannot use a fixed element like Hoppy, but he has the innate ability to alter luck so that it is in his favor and can do a basic transmutation of mutating metallic materials to the size of bullets and firearms.

According to Hoppy, if he had formal training, he could transmute objects into valuable materials.

other random data:

favorite food: veggies barbecue «easy to make, delicious, cheap and with a large number of variants to combine...c'est une bonne affaire !»

Favorite dessert: waffles with ice cream «We can all have a petite luxury from time to time...»

hated food: canned food «specially The military preserved food, ughh!!»

smell: ylang-ylang

strength: physical resistance, insight, charisma.

weakness: braggin.

favorite physical appearance: muscles «they look good yeah?~»

hated physical appearance: plumage colour «When I dye my hair they tell me I look like a poussin, when I don't the stupid! police chase me... GIVE ME A BREAK!!»

person you respect most: Hoppy «Dieu, She's the goat!!»

person you don't want as an enemy: Bubba «Don't send my plane to the junkyard!s'il te plaît!!!»

hobby:gambling, independent studies, and visiting Picky's restaurant.

Some crush?:«The popular kindergarten art teacher who likes flowers, but I know she's out of my league»

#poppy playtime #poppy playtime au #smiling critters #poppy playtown #poppy playtown au #welcome to playtown #welcome to playtown au #kickinchicken #poppy playtime kickinchicken

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rigelmejo · 1 year ago

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Comprehensible Input Study Plans

If anyone would like to go on a Comprehensible Input/Automatic Language Acquisition/Direct Method journey with me, I have got a list of resources for you! This list is basically going to be: if I was studying a language primarily through comprehensible input, this is the resources I would try in roughly this order.

Japanese:

1. Glossika Japanese Old audio course. Teaches approximately 2000-3000 words (the course has around 3000 sentences but I think some sentences have no new words). Course seems to be a few hundred hours (150-300 hours I'm going to estimate), and lets say 300-600 hours if you repeat audio files to re-listen and study. This is "audio flashcards" materials so sentences are given in japanese then english then japanese. They are "comprehensible input" in that you can completely understand the sentences, but they do teach using english. Also, Glossika courses are easier if you have some basic grammar knowledge first as the course does not explain word order, verb endings, conjugations, particles etc.

2. Comprehensible Japanese youtube channel. If you are a total beginner, I would recommend this resource first and go through a LOT of the material. Then use something like Glossika Japanese old audio courses, some japanese anki sentences deck's audio files, some textbook with a few thousand word's audio files, to study 2000-3000 common words.

3. ***While doing step 1 and 2, I would recommend beginning study of the writing system. Look up some app for "learn hiragana and katakana mnemonics" and study for a few weeks until you're roughly familiar with hiragana and katakana, as afterward you will read them so much you'll learn them more firmly. Look up japanese kanji radicals and read through a table, it should take a few hours or less. Understand that all kanji are built with those radicals (so maybe think of radicals as letters and kanji as the 'word' piece). Learn that kana (hiragana and katakana) stand for syllables, and have no meaning besides sound. Anything can be spelled with kana. Hiragana are usually for japanese words, particles, and conjugation. Katakana are usually for foreign words. Kanji are symbols that stand for a word (or a piece of a word like "airport" is air-port, 2 kanji may build a word). Kanji have various pronunciations depending on the word they are building. Hiragana often attach to the end of kanji words to spell out the conjugations. Look up "mnemonics" if you've never used them before so you can learn how to use them: they are stories you make up to help remember the pronunciation, meaning, or 'radical building blocks' of a new word. For studying kanji there are many options, I personally recommend finding one that includes mnemonics. As a total beginner I recommend: Learn Japanese Today by Len Walsh. It is easy to read in a couple weeks, it's mnemonics/explanations include pronunciation and meaning, it's a good introduction and you can find it free in a ton of libraries/e-libraries. I also recommend the books on japaneseaudiolessons.com if you want mnemonics provided for meaning AND pronunciations, and reading practice, but be aware they are in depth and dense reads. Many people will recommend Heisig Remember the Kanji... and I recommend it with one caveat: do NOT wait to continue your studies until you finish Heisig. If you use Heisig's book, keep studying japanese with other materials at the same time. I wasted 2 years on Heisig's books because they didn't include any actual pronunciations or vocabulary, so I waited to learn real words. You should start learning new words ASAP. I personally recommend you look up what mnemonics are, look up kanji radicals and practice making up some stories to remember them, then start learning real words and making up mnemonics to remember the new kanji words as you learn them (or going to kanji.koohi.com and using someone else's mnemonics story to remember). Mejo's bare minimum advice: read an explanation on radicals (2 hours), read an article explaining japan's writing system (2 hours), cram through a hiragana katakana free mnemonics app with quizzes for 2 weeks, look up mnemonics for kanji and learn how to make the mnemonic stories yourself, cram through Read Japanese Today for 2 weeks, proceed to learn kanji as part of words normally. If you are struggling a lot with remembering kanji words or written words in general, I recommend you check out the "SRS" section further down.

4. Look up a pronunciation guide, on youtube or any site with audio. Listen to it, should take a few hours. This is just to help you get used to the syllables and features you'll hear. You may want to hear some explanations of pitch tone at this point. I'll be real with you: I'm intermediate and still don't really understand pitch tone much. So I figure the sooner you hear about it, the more time you'll have to start figuring it out than I did. My obviously amateur advice (but it worked for me): do your best to pronounce new words the way they sound in japanese (sort of the way English puts stress on words "BLACKbird, old-FASHioned, underSTAND"). Try your best to pronounce as you hear the word, and move on. If you notice later you're making errors, correct them then. As a beginner, do not PAUSE your learning out of fear you will make mistakes or miss something. I feel that can be one of the biggest hurdles in learning a language: dwelling on how to perfectly do something before moving on, and so you never move on, and never learn more. It's better to move forward and learn new things everyday then to HALT all progress out of fear you're doing something imperfectly. So yeah... be aware of features like pitch tone, but also understand it's okay if it takes you a while to hear it, to understand what it means, to correct your mistakes. And this applies to anything in language learning.

5. Japanese Graded Readers: you can search the web for graded readers of various levels. I would recommend starting with the free Tofugu graded readers (they can be found here). The Tofugu books are very easy to start, make sense from context, and can help you feel much more comfortable reading in japanese. If you would like a more textbook approach, I like the following two books: Reading Japanese by Eleanor Harz Jorden and Hamako Ito Chaplin (this book goes slow and very in depth if you want a lot of beginner reading practice), A Japanese Reader: Graded Lessons for Mastering the Written Language (Tuttle Language Library) by Roy Andrew Miller (this book goes fast and it's dense but it will prepare you for reading newspapers and literature). White Rabbit Press has some graded readers. Satori Reader app I highly recommend from early-beginner to intermediate but not ready for real novels yet.

6. Immersion with material for native speakers! Get yourself a translator app downloaded on your phone (I like imabi and while it's subpar I like Google Translate to quickly speak in new words when I'm watching anime). Get an on screen reader OCR translation app if you plan to read a lot of manga (I use Ichigo Manga Translator because it's free). Bilingualmanga.net is a good place to start if you want to read manga, they provide english translations of the japanese and you can copy/paste the japanese text into translator apps. Animelon.com has dual subtitles and click-word lookup if you like watching anime. Parallel translations of books app by Kursx is great for reading novels (it has Text To Speech, click translations of words, parallel translations of sentences) you will need to import txt/epub files if you use this app (annas-archive.org is a good place to find those). If you already have a favorite eReader app (I use Moon+ Reader) then know that most reader apps already have built in click-translation features and text to speech audio. If you use Kindle, kindle has click translations (and if you use Android Talkback accessibility tool it will text-to-speech read kindle books aloud). Amazon Kindle app is probably the easiest place to purchase japanese ebooks and manga. I highly recommend when you start immersion: start with easier materials where you understand the main idea of scenes without word lookups or with minimal keyword lookups. So materials you've seen/read before, slice of life daily stuff where most words are common etc. Also I recommend always watching/reading in japanese primarily before turning on things like dual subtitles or parallel translations: basically at least TRY to understand the japanese before leaning on another language. You want to get used to being primarily in japanese.

7. ***A note on SRS: I go through this more down below in the Chinese section, so please skip down to that. In short: SRS can be a great way to push through that "beginner hump" where you feel you will never learn the language, ASAP. At least, if you can get yourself to reliably do 30 minutes+ per day of SRS regularly. My suggestion for you if you're struggling to go from study materials, to immersion in content for native speakers? Pick SOME SRS study resource for japanese that teaches 2000 words or more. Start it and focus on studying new materials, review OPTIONAL only if you completed 1 or more new sections per day (so study at least 20+ new words per day before doing reviews, cut reviews if you have limited study time). If you're a crammer like me, do 50-200 new words/sentences per day and only review if you have time after that. It should take you approximately 4 weeks on a cram schedule (so 1-2 hours of study per day) to study 2000 words. After that, you can do reviews for another 1-2 months if you want of the 2000 words OR you can jump directly into immersion at that point. That plan will get you from upper-beginner (you know 500-1000 words from comprehensible input, graded readers, audio flashcards, but immersion feels exhausting and you can't understand anything) who just CANNOT handle any immersion, to able to study from immersion primarily, in about 1-3 months. Yes it's 1-3 months of studying 1+ hour a day in flashcards... so you need to be able to concentrate on getting through flashcards. But it will push you over the hump. This is what I did after 2 years of japanese study where I knew 500-1000 words and felt hopeless as an "eternal beginner": I crammed through 2000 cards of Nukemarine's Lets Learn Japanese memrise decks for 3 months. Then I tried to read manga and lookup words: to my surprise I could actually follow a manga plot main idea by just looking up some keywords! I tried playing Kingdom Hearts: and likewise realized I could now play with just some keyword lookups here and there every 3-5 minutes (given I was already familiar with the english version of the game). It made immersion possible for me to do. Once immersion was possible, I continued reviews by immersing and seeing words I'd studied before, and continued learning by guessing new words from context in immersion and looking up words every 5ish minutes or when they looked like key words for main idea understanding. I personally recommend Nukemarine's Lets Learn Japanese SRS decks, as I feel getting through parts 1-6 will make immersion possible (that's what i did) and then the other parts are well structured to help you get the words needed to read novels/watch more complex shows. Nukemarine's decks also has combine sentences, audio and text, new vocabulary, kanji, and grammar points. So if you only have 1 resource you use? It covers the key areas. If you like another SRS course more, use that instead. The main thing is find something teaching AT LEAST 2000 words and get through studying NEW words quickly. Part of the eternal "beginner hump" is people thinking japanese is hard, and taking years studying 300 kanji or 500 words, when the sooner they increase vocabulary the sooner immersion material will become accessible.

(Fun little things: Genki textbooks cover vocabulary immensely slowly in my opinion and I wish each book had at least 2000 words, since they're meant to cover 1 year in college each and typical language introduction books for OTHER languages usually cover 2000 words at minimum... which is doubly annoying because with few cognates, you need more basic vocabulary in japanese to start reading/watching compared to a language like French where with 500 common words and cognates to rely on you can start reading nonfiction...which is what I did. Whereas I NEEDED at least 1000 japanese vocabulary words to start reading anything in japanese. Be aware that a lot of japanese learner material is paced slower than some other languages - like french and spanish - because the writer thinks it's more difficult. the problem is... the lower amount of content per chapter/lesson means less learned per minute... and then japanese is going to take thousands of hours more to learn than a similar language to yours already, so slow learning material is extra frustrating to me. When you run into learning material that presents information slowly? Either find a different learning material, or push through it faster than the learning material recommends. Since Genki 1 and 2 only teach 1700 total... I'd suggest getting through both textbooks in under a year, at least studying their vocabulary sections in under a year. Or get a 2000+ word anki deck and get through it in 3 months lol. A typical Teach Yourself introduction book teaches 2000 words, and certainly expects the student to learn those words at least vaguely in under a year. So personally... I think it's a good idea to push yourself to learn at least that many words in japanese ASAP. If you're a beginner, aim for 1 year (and if it takes longer for some reason that's okay). If you've been studying japanese for years, like I was, and still stuck in the beginner rut? Cram 2000 common words NOW. Go find a word list, an SRS anki deck, get glossika japanese audio files, Something, and get vaguely familiar with a few thousand common words now. Aim to get through the words in 4 months or less, then start immersing (or start intermediate level textbooks/courses if you prefer studying that way, or both).

Chinese:

1. Go through a pronunciation guide (2 weeks or less) like the dongchinese one here. Anything with audio. Look up tone explanation guides on youtube, including on tone sandhi, and then look up a few tone trainer quizzes online and do them every once in a while. All of pronunciation beginner study may take 1 month or less. You're getting used to hearing tones, recognizing tones, recognizing language features, and getting used to pinyin pronunciation.

2. Look up how the chinese writing system works. This may take a few hours to a week. Read a few articles that explain hanzi, that explain and show a table of the radicals and how they combine to build hanzi, how often a hanzi is built of a pronunciation component and meaning component from radicals. The main thing is to learn that hanzi usually are pronounced one way, are a piece of a word (or whole word), and a limited amount of radicals build hanzi (sort of like letters build to make a word). Understanding radicals build hanzi will help you break down new hanzi you see into recognizable radical components. Look up mnemonics if you've never used them before: they are stories you make up to help remember a word or hanzi's meaning, pronunciation, and radicals. Mnemonics can be useful later when learning hanzi, so it's important to know how to make them yourself if you want to use mnemonics later.

3. Hanzi study: you will do this alongside whatever else you do early on. You can use anki flashcard decks for studying hanzi (I recommend searching "chinese hanzi mnemonics anki deck" or "chinese hanzi mnemonics memrise" or whatever app you use with "mnemonics"). I personally mostly relied on a book which had pre-made mnemonics for 800 hanzi, and it gave me a solid foundation. (My FAVORITE chinese study book, it indirectly is also how kanji in japanese got eons easier for me, I love it intensely more than Heisig lol: Tuttle Learning Chinese Characters: (HSK Levels 1 -3) A Revolutionary New Way to Learn and Remember the 800 Most Basic Chinese Characters). I simply read through the book for 2 months. After that I just learned new words regularly (through comprehensible input, graded readers, SRS decks of common words/sentences), and made up my own mnemonic stories when I had a hard time remembering a new hanzi. I recommend that if possible you find a hanzi resource that provides pronunciation, meaning, and example words. And that the resource includes mnemonics if they help you remember things better. I recommend using an SRS program if you like using SRS apps, and if that study method works well for you. You will likely be studying hanzi or words with a focus on remembering their hanzi for at least 6 months, possibly 1-2 years, so it's okay to take 1-2 months to search for resources and then decide on using something you really like using. I also recommend getting a hanzi resource that teaches AT LEAST 2000 hanzi, ideally all hanzi on the HSK (but the HSK recently changed so just do the best you can), and at minimum you're going to want to learn around 1000 hanzi (roughly the amount on HSK 4 which is when immersion starts to feel possible). The exception: the book I heavily relied on only taught 800 hanzi, but it gave me a strategy to further study new hanzi as I encountered them later in words... so that book in combination with any vocabulary resource and you should smoothly be able to learn over 1000 hanzi in the first 6 months. I learned about 2000 hanzi in the first 6 months using that book for 800, and then Ben Whatley 1000 Common Chinese Words and Ben Whatley 2000 Common Chinese Words in memrise. It personally helped me to learn a majority of hanzi in the context of words. The memrise decks I spent 4 weeks cramming through, then continued reviewing the words by running into them during immersion. Alternatives: Chinese Spoonfed Anki deck has words in sentences, theres a LOT of anki decks specifically for learning hanzi with mnemonics and I think all are fine if they have audio pronunciation and meaning (and ideally example words).

4. ***Optional: read through a grammar guide summary. This is not part of comprehensible input method, but I did it and it helped me so I figured I'd mention it. I simply read through all the lessons on this site (without doing the exercises) and it took me about 3 weeks.

5. Start Comprehensible Input learning materials. You can start immediately, or after 1-2 months of preparing with the materials above. Comprehensible Chinese is a good youtube channel to start with.

6. Graded Readers. These can be started soon after starting to learn new words with comprehensible input lessons (like Comprehensible Chinese youtube). Mandarin Companion graded readers start at only 50 words so a total beginner could start there, then just gradually read the higher level graded readers until you are reading the highest unique word count graded readers Mandarin Companion has. After that, I recommend downloading Pleco app (***which you will use a lot for other things too), and browsing the graded readers offered for sale on Pleco. They're often 2 dollars for individual stories to 20 dollars for collections of stories/long stories, and reading them in Pleco you have click-translations, text to speech, extensive dictionary entries, and mtl parallel text translations of passages. Some of the graded readers you can buy on Pleco go up to 2000+ unique words, after which you are certainly ready to move to immersion with novels for native speakers. If you want to move to immersion ASAP, I would recommend using graded readers that go up to 800-1500 unique words (I used Mandarin Companion 800 word graded readers and Sinolingua 1500 word graded readers) then going to Heavenly Companion's site (*more details later) and starting with novels for native speakers that start at 1000-1500 unique words.

7. Aim for trying to learn 3000 common words (you can aim for at least 1000 if you're desperate to move on to immersion). Glossika Chinese old course audio is an audio flashcard option to learn 2000-3000 words (audio flashcards teach with chinese sentences then english translation so you can comprehend what is said). The sentences are around 300 hours, then more hourse depending on how much you re-listen to study. Chinese Spoonfed Anki audio files are another good option (have around 7000 sentences, 19 hours, I imagine the sentences teach at least 4000 words). You could use these kinds of resources as a supplement to Comprehensible Input youtube videos and Graded Readers, to keep growing your vocabulary and reviewing things you've learned. (You may have noticed at this point, I'm offering 3 lesson options: videos on youtube, audio flashcards, and graded readers. Depending on the study activity you like best, you may find yourself relying more heavily on one of these 3 and that's fine. Just aim to keep increasing your vocabulary no matter what you rely more on - so if you use youtube videos be aware you may need supplemental vocabulary exposure, and aim to get some listening AND reading practice - so if you use audio flashcards primarily then try to get some transcripts and read along occasionally or anki/memrise companion flashcards to read or turn on chinese subtitles on Comprehensible Chinese when you do occassionally do a video instead of audio flashcards. If you read graded readers mostly, try to listen along to the audiobook or text-to-speech sometimes so you get some listening practice).

8. ***Optional: SRS. Spaced Repetition Study. I did not use SRS much, but I did cram study this way for around 4 weeks in the first 6 months of studying chinese, because it really helped me get vague recognition of 2000 common words in written form ASAP. If you can focus on flashcards/flashcard apps for 30 minutes to 1 hour regularly, this is possibly the fastest way to get vaguely familiar with new vocabulary so you can make immersion doable and easier ASAP. For japanese and chinese in particular, SRS may be the route to go if you feel you "cannot get over the beginner hump." If you are not using graded readers much, you may need some kind of SRS study to get reading practice in and review of written form of words. (You can actually do SRS study with paper flashcards you make or a printed out wordlist you read through or a wordlist website you have open on the computer, all SRS really is amounts to studying the least amount of repetitions you'd need to review information right before you forget it... something like study today, then tomorrow, then in 3 days, then in 1 week, then in 2 weeks, then in a month, then in 2 months, then in 4 months etc). I recommend Chinese Spoonfed Anki deck for chinese since it's got thousands of words, grammar examples, audio, text, and it's a solid foundation to jump to immersion from. I used "2000 common HSK words" deck on memrise, it had no sentences, just audio and text, it worked fine for me and took 1 month to cram through. This is my advice for people who want to get over the endless "beginner hump" or who like me want to immerse ASAP and get past learner materials. It can also be found up in the japanese section. Cram! If you've done hundreds of hours listening to Comprehensible Chinese, audio flashcards, and reading graded readers, but still find immersion too hard or still find you have not learned over 1000 words? Or find you're really struggling with hanzi recognition? Look up an SRS app like anki or memrise, look up an SRS course (again I'd say just use anything with 2000+ words and audio and text, like Chinese Spoonfed anki deck). Do the SRS app 1-2 hours a day for 2 weeks, prioritizing studying 50-200 new words per day. Only do reviews if you have time at the end, after getting through your 50-200 new words goal daily. At the end of 2 weeks you'll het through 1000 words, then spend 2 weeks getting through the backlog of reviews. Then for 2 weeks go through 50-200 new words daily again, 1-2 hours per day, skip reviews unless you have time. After those 2 weeks you'll have gotten through all 2000 words. Take another 2 weeks to do reviews now if you wish (or just skip it). It will take approximately 1-3 months to get through 2000 common words and have a vague familiarity with them. At that point, you can start immersing and stop SRS app usage (unless you like SRS apps, in which case you might want to transition to 10-30 minutes daily with 5-20 new words daily and no more so you don't get overwhelmed). This is how I get vague familiarity with a few thousand common words ASAP. Once there's vague familiarity, when you immerse you might look up those words and 'review' them a few more times by looking them up until they stick in your memory, but they won't be totally unfamiliar. And you will NEED them to understand the immersion content, so your brain will try to remember them quickly since they're needed daily and used daily in immersion. The SRS apps also work well for drilling hanzi when you're trying to learn the first 1000 common hanzi or so. If you find nothing else is helping you get vaguely familiar with hanzi recognition, try an SRS app of 2000+ common hanzi with mnemonics for a couple months.

(***A small warning: a lot of apps "use SRS for their study cards" but how fast you go through new words depends on the app. If you're trying to get vague familiarity with a lot of words quickly, either pick an app that doesn't take you more than 1 hour to get through 50+ words, OR honestly pick a regular word list or a bare bones Anki deck where you know you can easily read through 100 words in 1 hour). One thing that slowed me down a LOT is apps where I'd see 20 new words an hour... I could watch literally any show as a beginner and get exposed to 20 new words in less time. I try to avoid picking resources that slow down my exposure to stuff to learn.

9. Immersion time! If you're extremely tolerant of ambiguity and/or like looking words up, you can immerse as SOON as you can follow the main idea of a scene with just the help of looking up 1-2 keywords for meaning per scene (or without looking up anything). Think about how you felt when reading your first Graded Reader: it probably had more words than you actually knew yet, so it felt HARD, but you could at least follow the main idea of what was going on. And if you couldn't follow the main idea, you could get by on just looking up 1-5 unknown words per page to understand the main idea. And by the end of the graded reader, you didn't need to look up any words to grasp the main idea. If it was a rather easy graded reader, you might even have understood almost everything including most details without any word lookups by the end of the book. That's the feeling you want to get with your immersion materials, at least ideally. And after a few months of immersion, once you've learned more words and gotten comfortable "understanding what you already studied" then some easier immersion materials should feel like a graded reader used to feel. The first few months of immersion I'd recommend picking easier material: shows/books with few unique words (ideally less unique words than you know so if you know 2000 words then picking a kid's book with 1000 unique words), shows you've seen before in your native language (so you can guess what the words mean because you know what happens in those scenes), books based on shows you've seen, books for kids, reading summaries before watching/reading something (so you have prior context to guess what words mean because you know what should be happening). At first, you will have to learn how to "understand what you already studied" so you'll be practicing understanding words you know at speaking speed, in the grammar of actual sentences, reading words you maybe haven't read much, listening to words you maybe haven't listened to much, getting used to accents and emotion and background noise, getting used to understanding stuff you've studied QUICKLY because its all so much quicker than in learning materials. It will feel hard, stick with it for a few months, and eventually you can tolerate immersing for longer time periods and get better at immediately understanding stuff you already studied. At that point, you can gradually start picking more difficult and challenging immersion material.

***If you find immersion INTENSELY difficult and you can NOT understand the main idea, even when you look up key words, or you notice you need to look up like 20 key words per 5 minutes to even guess the main idea? Even after a few months of trying to immerse and see if it gets easier? You may benefit from going to study more words. If you don't like ambiguity and get frustrated by only vaguely understanding things, you'll probably be the kind of person who prefers to study more words BEFORE immersing. I would recommend a. cram studying 2000-3000 words in some SRS app or audio flashcard course like glossika (and if you have time and energy you may even wish to cram study 5000-7000 words... but if it's been over 5 months, you may just be avoiding immersion and hoping Ever More Vocabulary will make it easier... it won't at a certain point. You have to practice immersion eventually for immersion to get easier). b. Reading a LOT of graded readers. Graded readers will feel the most like immersion, because they force you to read a LOT all in the target language. Read increasingly difficult graded readers, so for chinese this is where you'd read 5+ 2000 word graded readers. Practice reading graded readers without relying on word lookups and attempt to grasp the meaning from context, so you can practice skills you'll need in immersion in an easier enviornment. Try to read graded readers through multiple times, attempting to read FASTER the second and third times, to practice comprehending things you have learned faster... this skill is needed for immersion, and practicing it now will make immersion easier. Listen to audiobooks/text to speech OF graded readers, and listen repeatedly until you comprehend most of what you hear. Graded readers in particular will help you both increase vocabulary AND develop the skills you'll be using and relying on a lot in immersion like: learning new words from context, parsing sentences, following audio at spoken speed (if reading along to an audiobook), getting a feel for how difficult a material is to you and if you personally can comprehend enough to learn new words from context alone or if you personally need to look up some key words (and how to identify key words for understanding quickly then move on), being engaged with only the target language for several minutes to an hour without much of another language to rely on.

For chinese, I recommend the Heavenly Path site to find immersion materials if you don't know where to start. You can start with their stuff recommended "Newcomer" with immersion materials that are around unique word counts of 1000, so they should be the most easy to transition into after doing some graded readers and studying 1000-3000 words. In particular I recommed starting with 秃秃大王 if you can read an 800 unique word Mandarin Companion graded reader, or a 1000-2000 unique word sinolingua graded reader. It is excellent for a beginner, it's not too long so you'll be able to finish it in a few days to a month (I think it took me 3 weeks of 30 minutes per day). After 秃秃大王, the other Newcomer recommendations should feel doable to you, and then from there just progressively pick slightly harder novels with slightly higher unique word counts when you're no longer running into as many new words as you wish to. Apps like Pleco (in free version you can copy-paste text into it's Clipboard Reader section, in paid you can import files) and Readibu (copy-paste in a website page to read the webnovel in the app, or find webnovels in Readibu's recommendations) let you read webnovels and click-translate words. Pleco has a ton of other features (and is a great free dictionary app so I suggest downloading it). Parallel translations of books app by Kursx is another good app for reading chinese novels, you'll need to import the novel files though. All reader apps have click-translate and text to speech tools like Moon+ Reader, Kindle, Kybook Reader, so if you have a favorite eReader app you can probably just open chinese epubs or txt files in your preferred app. I use Microsoft Edge for nothing else, but its Read Along tool has the most natural sounding text to speech I've ever heard, if you want to listen to text as you read. All web browsers have click-translate tools (sometimes you need Google Translate installed as an app on your phone, then just hold down any word/sentence you want a translation of when on a web browser and you'll have a Translate option). So honestly, any web browser and webnovel link and you'll be all set to read with click-translations and text to speech. If you like manhua, Bilibili Comics app has english and chinese versions of comics so you can read manhua in chinese, then read the english versions if you want to look up a particular word or check your understanding of the plot. If you like shows, youtube has a ton of free cdramas, often with chinese subtitles, so you can pause shows to see words and then go to a translation app of your choice (Pleco, DeepL, BaiduTranslate, Google Translate) and look up words. LingoTube is a free app where you can open youtube videos and get dual subtitles, audio line replay, click-translations of words.

#comprehensible input #study plan

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tobiizuweek · 1 year ago

Text

Wrap up 2024

How fast a week can go by :c Thank you all for your contributions! I loved all of them <3 Remember: Late contributions are allways possible and you find the prompts and rules for 2024 here. Until next year!

Day 1

Time Travel AND Kid acquisition by @beemosketches

Distantly related by @lexisglitching (prompt: kid acquisition)

Day 2

Ronin & Samurai AND Vampire & Hunter by beemosketches

Ангел by @anonenot (prompt: Vampire & Hunter)

Stay by lexisglitching (prompt: Vampire & Hunter)

Vampire Boyfriend by Glove on ao3 (prompt: Vampire & Hunter)

Day 3

When In Port by lexisglitching (prompt: Any AU)

Any AU (Modern Ninja AU) by meemosketches

Bodyswap by Glove on ao3 (prompt: any swap)

Day 4

Uninvited by lexisglitching (prompt: social disasters)

Blind!Izuna & Deaf!Tobirama by beemosketches

В силу некоторых обстоятельств... by anonenot (prompts: social disasters AND acciediential marrgiage)

Day 5

Daggered by lexisglitching (prompts: accidential marrgiage AND clkan tradition)

Fake Hate by beemosketches

Negotiations by MagritteE on ao3 (prompt: fake hate)

Marry You Knot by Glove on ao3 (prompt: accidential marriage)

A Night To Remember by MagritteE on ao3 (prompt: accidential marriage)

Day 6

Feeling out of place by beemosketches

Day 7

Clan Tradition by beemosketches

#tobiizuweek2024 #tobiizu #tobirama #izuna #izuna uchiha #senju tobirama #tobirama senju #uchiha izuna

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y2klostandfound · 2 years ago

Photo

Rez on Dorimaga Magazine (2001-15)(Video game Magazine)(Japan)(28/12/2001)

Translation in English:

(Page 142)

Strategy No.1

PS2 (PlayStation 2) Sega / UGA (United Game Artists) Now on sale (November 22 release)

(Trance Vibrator included, PS2 only) - 8,800 Yen Regular version - 6,800 Yen 1 player Genre: SHT (Midnight High Shooting) Memory used: Memory card 54kb Compatibility: DualShock 2, Trance Vibrator compatible Homepage Address (URL):https://www.u-ga.com/ Note: Trance Vibrator is a powerful vibration unit that plugs into the PS2's USB port. *DC version is also on sale.

Rez - Beyond Mode All Unveiled

All the conditions for beyond mode, which is a hidden mode of "Rez", have been lifted. Players who are into it are likely to have already played some, but the table on the right should complete them all. There are some pretty tough conditions, but since it's a specification that will appear at the same time even with cumulative play time, it should be possible eventually. Let's fully enjoy the other side of "Rez".

MORORIAN (MOROLIAN)

In beyond, there is also a mode in which the player becomes a Morolian from "Space Channel 5".

beyond

beyond mode A mode that can be entered when any of the stone conditions are met. This is a hidden mode different from the normal mode. There are play through, hidden areas, special modes, and boss modes. The difficulty of the game follows that of Score Attack, and the score is displayed as well. (Other than Trancemission mode).

beyond options Options that only affect beyond mode. Player selection, invincible mode, beam type, infinite overdrive, and camera viewpoint change are now possible. By playing in various combinations, you can experience "Rez" that is different from normal mode.

others The familiar "Up! Chu!" voice becomes the SE(Sound Effects), the Morolian, unlike normal players, do not level up. In addition to having no endurance, the shot speed is slow, making the game quite difficult. Fun is a double-edged sword.

beyond mode:

Direct Assault (Play through Area 1~5):

ambient - Clear Direct Assault [normal] (1st round)

punk - Clear Direct Assault [ambient] (2nd round)

oldschool - Clear Direct Assault [punk] (3rd round)

psychedelic- Clear Direct Assault [oldschool] (4th round)

trance - Clear Direct Assault [psychedelic] (5th round)

normal - Clear Area 5 in play (normal game)

Lost Area (Hidden Area):

Clear Area 5 in play (normal game) and over 18,000 seconds (5 hours) of cumulative play time.

Trancemission (Sound and light special mode):

Rank 1st in Lost Area

Boss Rush (A mode where you fight bosses continuously):

Shoot down rate of Area 1 to 5 in play (normal game) to 95% or more.

beyond options:

player select (Player Selection):

zero form / second form - In play (normal game), set the shoot down rate of one area to 100% and over the cumulative play time of 18,000 seconds (5 hours). third form - In play (normal game), set the shoot-down rate of 2 Areas to 100%, and over 21,600 seconds (6 hours) of accumulated play time. fourth form - In play (normal game), set the shoot-down rate of 3 Areas to 100%, and over the cumulative play time of 25200 seconds (7 hours). fifth form - In play (normal game), set the shoot-down rate of 4 Areas to 100%, and over the cumulative play time of 28800 seconds (8 hours). final form - In play (normal game), set the shoot-down rate of 5 Areas to 100%, and overstay the accumulated play time of 32400 seconds (9 hours). mororian (morolian) - In play (normal game), set the item acquisition rate of Area 1 to 5 to 100%, or overestimate the cumulative playing time by 36,000 seconds (10 hours).

immortal (invincible mode): Clear Direct Assault [trance] (Round 6)

beam type (beam type selection):

1 - Clear Score Attack 5 times or more (Any Area is acceptable)

2 - Clear Score Attack 10 times or more (Any Area is acceptable)

3 - Clear Score Attack 15 times or more (Any Area is acceptable)

4 - Clear Score Attack 20 times or more (Any Area is acceptable)

5 - Clear Score Attack 25 times or more (Any Area is acceptable)

6 - Clear Score Attack 30 times or more (Any Area is acceptable)

over drive infinity (overdrive infinite): Rank 1st in Boss Rush

camera view (Camera Viewpoint Selection):

near view - Rank 1st in 2 Areas of Score Attack far view - Rank 1st in 3 areas of Score Attack dynamic view - Rank 1st in 4 areas of Score Attack first persion view - Rank 1st in 5 areas of Score Attack

Rez SCORE ATTACK EVENT

Score Attack Event Now On! The "Rez" Score Attack event will be held! Players who score high will receive gorgeous prizes such as Eye-trek (Olympus) and vibration headphones! The deadline is January 11th next year!

Address: Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo United Game Artists "Rez Score Attack"

SCORE ATTACK STAGE LOST AREA

The target is beyond mode Lost Area. Let's record a VHS video of this play from start to finish and send it to UGA.

*Don't forget to include your address, name, age, and phone number in the document enclosed with the video! Please note that submitted videos cannot be returned.

SCORE ATTACK ONE POINT ADVICE FROM UGA

POINT 1: 8 locks as much as possible! The base of the score attack is 8 locks.Even in UGA, this method is used to get scores that make you say, "Isn't that a lie!?"For reference, 250,000 to 260,000 points are possible on one page.

POINT 2: Use network openings, too! When you lock on, try using network openings and items well to get 8 locks. Overdrive destroys enemies at once, so refrain from it.

(Page 143)

INTERVIEW - Jun Kobayashi

"Rez" is an active game. If you don't move yourself, it won't start

Thoughts that "I definitely wanted to make it into a game"

- Mr. Kobayashi, please tell us how you decided to create "Rez".

Kobayashi:About 4 years ago, when UGA (then CS4 Lab) moved to Shibuya, a friend of mine took me there to hang out in the middle of the night. When I was chatting with Mizuguchi there, he said, "Wouldn't it be interesting if there was a shooting game where notes would fly out and when you shoot them, they would turn into music? He said, "Oh, that sounds interesting. I said, "Yes, I'll try it" (laughs), and that's how it all started.

-So the shooting part was decided from the beginning.

Kobayashi: Mizuguchi-san had a fixed idea of shooting. I used to make shooters myself, so I know, but to be honest, I was worried. That's why I came up with various ideas such as shooting guns and making it look like a DJ, but in the end I went back to the initial image.

Rez KEYWORD: Wire Frame

Because of the current era, the wireframe is conversely catchy. What was the reason for sticking to this! From the moment I started this project, I knew I wanted to use wireframes for this game. I told the art director, Mr. Yokota, 'You can use realistic backgrounds, but we definitely want to use wireframes as the main element. I was influenced by Atari's "Missile Command" and "Star Wars", which I still think are cool. but there are no games these days that I think are "beautiful" but "cool. I was a bit selfish," said Kobayashi.

- Three years of development was a long time.

Kobayashi: Usually, three years means the amount of work and graphics, but I have been working on the system for three years. Especially when it comes to programming, I have to repeat it countless times.

-What kind of trial and error did you go through before you actually decided on this?

Kobayashi:If you add a little complicated element, you can create various game features. But on the other hand, if you put it in, the pleasantness of the sound will gradually decrease. It was very difficult to strike that balance, and there were times when we argued that it wouldn't be okay if it didn't fit into the shape of the game. However, I was against that, and I thought, "I definitely want to make it a game. So I decided to make the gameplay "just shoot," and to make it "a game that anyone can play and feel the pleasure of the sound.

-I think the system part also had a lot of trouble, but what about that?

Kobayashi: We had a system in place where when you shoot it, it will be combined with the back BPM appropriately. Then, I remembered the DJ-like idea I had at the beginning of the project, which was how to make it more exciting. That's when I came up with the "network opening".By putting that in between bars and lifting it up like a DJ, the feeling of pressing a switch and the sound that comes after that are mixed and excited.On the other hand, those who miss that shot can't get very excited.

(Picture) Director - JUN KOBAYASHI Joined UGA in this work after working as a designer for a major game maker.Despite his light image, he is actually quite a game enthusiast.

PS2 version completed in just two months

-How was the development of the PS2 version?

Kobayashi:That was already a miracle (laughs). We were able to port it within two months after we started working on it in earnest. I think we were able to do it thanks to the hard work of the programmers and technical support staff. We had a lot of trouble with the sound because of the differences between the DC and PS2.

-So you have created exactly the same thing.

Kobayashi:Yes, I think so. But people with good ears might feel the difference in sound.

-PS2 has a beautiful picture.

Kobayashi:PS2's blur is so beautiful. The other point is that we were able to achieve 1 point. Actually, I could have added more textures and effects if I had focused on PS2.

Rez KEYWORD: Sex&Fertilization

A certain secret was hidden in the process of evolution of the character of "Rez". "Actually, the game's initial concept is 'sex = fertilization'. The player is a sperm, and the eden that is saved at the end is an egg. With that kind of setting, players all over the world are playing Rez. Various people are hacking eden using software called "Eden".In the end, the image that players are hacking there all at once is superimposed on "fertilization".The form (my character) is a person It traces the evolutionary process of an egg (zero), a person (first, second, third), a spirit (fourth), and a reincarnation (fifth, final).”

-It is interesting that from the fourth form onwards it develops with a rather religious image.

-Finally, could you give a few words to the users?

Kobayashi: This game is very active, and you have to take action to make it happen. Recently, there are many passive games that are given, moved, and finished. Instead, "Rez" is a game where you have to start the game and make something happen within yourself. If you are happy with that, please buy it. I don't think you will lose anything.

-Thank you very much.

go to next cycle → In the next issue, Mr. Kobayashi will directly talk about the specific parts of the game that were not covered this time. Sharp gouges on stages, bosses, true endings, and more!

#Rez

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