#SO MANY COPIES OF VOL 3 NOW

[bonesblubs]

I restocked these guys!! The manufacturer accidentally sent me a bunch of extras of Vol.3, so if you wanted a copy, they’re here and ready!!!!

[deadclubcity]

preowned books with notes or letters stuck between the pages…….. waough

[vettelsvee]

Hello! I hope this is the correct way to request..., can you write a lewis story for prompt 28? It can be something like, reader is a new wag and there is some online hate, and lewis comforts them. It's completely fine if you don't wanna do this story, Thank you!! 💞

DON'T LET THEM SAY THAT. YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL | Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton x Actress!Reader

SUMMARY: Lewis and you decided to make your relationship public in Maranello before 2025 Formula 1 season starts. However, love from fans isn't there as you expected ↳ REQUESTED: Part of VEE'S F1 PROMPTS LIST (VOL. I)! Feel free to request anything you want <3 Hope you liked it anon! 💖

WORD COUNT: 2043

WARNINGS: Age gap (reader is on her early 20s and Lewis is 40), fans acting like crazy, hate towards Y/N

VEE'S NOTES: I received this prompt on the inbox today and I don't know how I wrote, corrected, translated and corrected once again it today. Also, first ever Ferrari!Lewis fic I'm so emotional right now. Not really happy with the result since like Y/N in this fic, I have many intrusive thoughts about my writing and I didn't have the best of the weekends, but hope you enjoy it anyways! Remember that I appreciate your comments, feedback, as well as reblogs, thank you so much! :)

© VETTELSVEE (2025). please, do not steal, copy or translate my works. thanks for reading!

The whirlwind of emotions you’ve experienced since your relationship with Lewis Hamilton became public has been unimaginable... and that’s putting it lightly.  

Although you were somewhat used to the spotlight thanks to your rising career as an actress, flashes from cameras, crowds shouting for you to turn around so they could get a picture, and the occasional fan asking for a photo or autograph, the world of Formula 1 was completely new to you.  

You couldn’t deny that you were unhappy with how drastically your life had changed. The man who had just joined Scuderia Ferrari had become everything you had ever imagined in a partner. kind, undeniably caring, and, most importantly, empathetic enough to understand how overwhelming this sudden rise in fame was for you.  

Lewis had noticed how down you’d been ever since he decided to post those photos of you both in Maranello. You had both agreed to go together so he could test one of those legendary red cars for the first time, fully aware that people would inevitably start talking. That day, you decided to make your relationship public after keeping it a secret for about six months, agreeing that it was best to do so before the 2025 season began.  

Despite it all, despite how much you had started closing yourself off in the following weeks, Lewis remained by your side, making you feel like the most important person in the world. But it was becoming increasingly difficult for him, especially when all you did was act like everything was fine on the outside while you were slowly destroying yourself inside.  

The nightmare began with small comments on the photo Lewis had uploaded to Instagram, just you, posing timidly in front of the Ferrari while he held you around the waist, smiling like never before. At first, the comments didn’t seem like a big deal, with people just wanting to know more about your relationship or if it was serious. But soon, the messages started pouring in, insults and threats far worse than you had ever imagined, many of them coming from underage girls. Eventually, you had to disable comments on every single one of your photos, no matter how old they were.

However, what truly became a living nightmare for you were the Twitter threads and, especially, the accounts dedicated exclusively to Formula 1 wags. They were relentless, tearing you apart, analyzing your every move as if dating one of the 20 drivers on the grid was equivalent to committing first-degree murder.

“She’s just looking for fame now that her acting career is taking off.”

“She doesn’t deserve someone like Lewis.”

“She’s too young for him.”

“And let’s not even talk about how ugly she is… have you seen her?”

You sighed, throwing your phone onto the couch with such force that it ended up crashing onto the floor. But you didn’t even bother to check if it was broken. You had promised yourself you wouldn’t read any more comments, wouldn’t even open your Instagram account, yet you couldn’t resist. After all, you were human, and the weight of it all was becoming too much to bear, even more than you were willing to admit to Lewis, to whom you hadn’t fully opened up yet.

The hotel room in Tokyo, where you and Lewis had decided to stay for one of your last vacations before the season began, fell into complete silence. The only sound that filled the space was your muffled sobs.

“And who even is she? Nobody knows her.”

“Lewis deserves someone better, that’s for sure.”

Tears welled up in your eyes, spilling down your cheeks faster than you could wipe them away.

You couldn’t understand it. It felt so unfair... Why were you being treated this way just for loving someone? Why did people throw venomous words at you without even knowing you, without even trying to? Did being a fan of Lewis automatically mean they had to hate you?

You tried to relax, to break free from the spiral of thoughts that only led you to overthink, but it was impossible. Once your mind started down that path, the only thing it knew how to do was tear you apart from the inside.

As you tried to steady your breathing and quickly wiped away your tears, a knock echoed at the door.

You pulled yourself together as fast as you could, forcing a smile while glancing at your reflection in the mirror. You swore to yourself that you’d do everything possible to pretend that everything was fine, that you were fine.

But the moment you opened the door and saw Lewis, drenched in sweat from his gym session and pulling out his earbuds, you immediately turned around and rushed into the nearest room, the bathroom, locking yourself inside to keep him from seeing you like this.

“Come on, Y/N...”

Lewis knew you too well by now. No matter how hard you tried to convince him otherwise, he could see right through you, he knew you were struggling, and struggling pretty badly.

He didn’t do anything at first. He didn’t know what to do. He was afraid that whatever he said or did might only make things worse, might make you shut down even more. Instead, he rested his forehead against the closed door, feeling defeated, thinking of ways to make you feel worthy enough to stop torturing yourself over what strangers were saying online, people who knew nothing about your relationship and even less about you.

Eventually, you decided to come out. Lewis saw you, completely defeated, and he cursed himself for letting things get to this point. What had he done wrong to make you feel this way? God, you were just a girl in your early twenties who had recently made the leap to Hollywood stardom after moving to Los Angeles at sixteen, waiting tables in a run-down bar, and facing countless failed auditions until you finally landed the role that changed everything.

“Hey, love,” Lewis spoke as gently as possible, his eyes scanning your red-rimmed ones and your tangled hair. “What’s wrong?”

He knew exactly what was wrong, but he wanted you to be the one to speak, to let it all out.

You took a deep breath and pointed at your phone, still lying on the floor. A nervous knot tightened in your stomach, and your hands began to fidget anxiously. As if on cue, tears started streaming down your face once more.

“I just… I don’t understand why they have to be like this. What did I do to deserve this? Am I not good enough? Not pretty enough for you?”

Lewis sighed. He had known from the beginning that not everyone would accept your relationship, but the amount of hate you were facing was beyond excessive. He was exhausted by the senseless comments and social media accounts created solely to spew hate at you. And even more, he was tired of becoming tabloid fodder, followed everywhere by paparazzi eager to capture any moment they could.

Seeing you like this hurt him in ways he couldn’t even describe, and it made him feel miserable.

“Hey, Y/N… look at me.”

Despite speaking to you firmly and holding your hand, gently rubbing your skin with his thumb to calm you down, you didn’t respond. Lewis then cupped your chin delicately, forcing you to look at him.

“I know I’ve told you this a thousand times, and I also know that with how stubborn you are, you probably won’t listen to me, but don’t let what they say about you bother you,” he wanted to say, but all he really cared about was you. “What matters is that I love you, okay?”

“But... why does it have to affect me? Why did I used to not care about anything, and now I care so much about the opinion of strangers?” you asked, hesitantly, biting your lip in an attempt to relax.

Lewis moved even closer to you, wrapping his arms around you. He hated seeing you like this, especially when before all of this started, you were a light in his life, and it was him who used to lean on you when race weekends got overwhelming.

“Because you’re human, babe,” he replied, pressing a kiss to your forehead and holding you tighter. “Even though we sometimes say the opposite, we all care about what others think of us, especially when all they want to do is bring us down.”

“But... what if they’re right? What if I’m not what you deserve?”

“Do I need to remind you again that they’re wrong?” Lewis said, pulling you slightly away so your gazes met. “You need to remember how much you mean to me, but more than that, you need to remember who you are and all that you’re worth. That’s all that matters.”

You didn’t say anything else. Instead, you buried your face in his chest, once again crying quietly to avoid him seeing you like this.

“I’m ugly, Lew. Really ugly,” you confessed without lifting your head. “I don’t even know how you love me, or how you agreed to be with me after all those months we spent talking and hanging out as friends, or…”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t let them say that. You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful, and you’ve always been, alright? Anyone who says otherwise needs to get their eyes checked.”

You laughed, and Lewis felt that as a small victory.

You closed your eyes, trying to calm yourself down. For the first time in a long while, you pushed aside the intrusive thoughts, the destructive comments you saw daily on social media, and allowed yourself the luxury of, for just a moment, trying to stop torturing yourself and accepting that there were things you couldn’t change.

Lewis’s words, while brief and somewhat familiar to you, brought a peace you hadn’t felt in days. You did your best to let the tension in your shoulders melt away, slowly separating from him and moving your arms bit by bit.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Lew,” you whispered, once again wrapping your arms around his waist, wishing you could never let go of him.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Lewis chuckled, planting kisses on your forehead. “I’m never going to leave you, and I hope you’ll never leave me either.”

Neither of you said anything more. Your bodies remained close, exchanging shy kisses, making promises that everything would get better as you both talked about the changes you’d face in 2025. That was enough for you both to know things were going to be okay.

You both understood that the big, risky changes you were taking, especially your relationship, were going to be difficult, just like what was happening with you and the wave of hate you were receiving. But once you stopped giving it too much importance, or rather, no importance at all, no one would stop you as the newest couple in Formula 1.

“Hey, listen to me, please... I’ve been thinking about something.”

Lewis’s words caught your attention as you were starting to drift off to sleep in bed. You straightened up, your hand still intertwined with his.

“How about we take a walk, and you can get to know the city a bit?” he suggested. “You know… we could go eat out, hit up an arcade, or maybe…”

“Can you get me a stuffed animal from one of those weird claw machines?!” you interrupted him, excited, which made Lewis burst out laughing.

“Of course, I can get you a stuffed animal, or buy you all the ones you want.”

You smiled, and as Lewis went to the bathroom for a shower, you began to prepare for the day. That moment was exactly when you realized you needed to trust yourself more and, specially, just as Lewis valued you. Because if there was one thing you’d learned from him in the short time you’d been together, it was that, no matter what you did, you’d always be the envy of others, so you just needed to remind yourself that you didn’t need to feel worse for living the life you’d always dreamed of and, moreover, you worked hard to have.

[class1akids]

I don't ship bkdk, but it still makes me feel really angry to watch dudebros hunting down the devoted shippers on Twitter who make any kind of negative noise about Ch 431 to just put them down - whether it's the JPN, EN or ES language fandom.

I find it really revolting because it feels like this group of overwhelmingly male fans care more about having "WON" and being "RIGHT" and being able to BRAG and PUT DOWN a group of fans who are overwhelmingly women, who actually supported the franchise by buying the manga officially, spending lots of money on merch and going to events.

These dudebros were spreading leaks and meme-ing them before the official could even occupy any space and even now, all they care about "Deku tapping Uraraka's cake".

If shippers make a well-argued comment about how it feels like Izuku is losing his dreams, and how sad it is, the answer is "LOL, you are just a gross, disgusting, delusional fujoshi".

In the end, I'm sad that Horikoshi and WSJ enabled this exact behaviour, because they knowingly fed this devoted shipping fandom with things like the GIGA cover, making 20,000 yen stickers to sell, releasing official tiktok video with sparkling hearts, releasing BKDK MV with the ending of the official serialization in August with Ch 430 and then pushing out merch after merch during the next 4 months, only to turn around and release Ch 431 with an unprecedented Origin Trio bonus and not even a hint at the Izu/Cha ending.

And yes, there have been volume bonuses before, but rarely drawn by Horikoshi. The only other example of 3 different bonuses drawn by Horikoshi was Vol 33 with the black&white Deku/Iida, Deku/Ochako, Deku/Bakugou cards. But for those, some of the bonuses didn't really sell well and even then, Vol 33 held the sales record until now.

This time, they released it with individual color illustrations of the 3 massively most popular characters of the franchise (mostly supported by female fans, in idol poses made to appeal to female fans). Many fans bought 3+ copies to collect all.

Anyways, it makes me angry not because of the ship ending - because I frankly am not terribly invested in who Deku ends up in canon, and not even the botched bkdk hero office, because in my head it's origin trio office or nothing, not even the thrown away themes because for me the manga already betrayed its themes when it failed to save the villains.

It makes me angry, because it feels like a final betrayal of the female fans. Female audiences have become more than half of this manga's fandom and became a factor in WSJ's business decisions. And I thought that 430 - if nothing else - tried to cater for the manga's diverse shipping community - an implicit recognition that the female audience's preferences are acknowledged and taken into account and maybe will change female portrayal in manga.

So I find it cowardly not that they end on a het ship, but that they do it in a sneaky way, like a total ambush, once they have squeezed maximum money out of these female fans. Not only did they knowingly disappoint these women but they gave a "weapon" at the end to the men, who somehow regained their "masculinity" from the het ship ending to beat down the same women who bankrolled their franchise this whole time.

The same dudebros who called Deku a loser for being a teacher in Ch 430 and the suit pathetic, now cheer on the same ending - where the only thing that changed was that Deku "rejected" Bakugou (the big, scary gay ship), and where a het ship was confirmed.

And to me, now beyond this particular manga, it just confirms that the rampant misogyny in manga spaces continues. That women are not seen as an audience important to consider beyond money-bags. Rather the opposite - WSJ thought it was more profitable to turn on them and reaffirm the toxic masculinity of men who have always seen Deku not as an example of selfless heroism but as a power-fantasy.

Because even if the magical superpowers are taken away, even if the great dream of the once idealistic child is lost, as long as men have power to put women in their place (in-story by conforming to their desires and in real life by being able to tell them that the way they read the story was delusional and wrong) - they feel like they have won.

[yuurei20]

Dialogue Comparison: Twst Manga vol.4

A comparison of vol. 4 of the Twisted Wonderland manga vs. the original manga (vs. the original game vs. EN server)

There have been some changes to the localization of volume 4 to align it more closely to the EN adaptation of the game that may be confusing if you are a manga reader only:

Trey’s UM “Doodle Suit” (vol 2 of the EN manga) was renamed “Paint the Roses" in vol 4.

Both are accurate to JP! (More here)

(In this same scene in the EN game Trey’s Doodle Suit/Paint the Roses was localized under yet another name (“Sleight of Hand”) for reasons unknown.)

Deuce was also changed in vol.4:

During volumes 1 through 3 of the EN manga he referred to all upperclassmen as “Mr. last-name”, but from volume 4 Deuce calls everyone by their first name with no honorifics in the EN manga (in the original game/manga he is consistently using last-name-senpai, with only story-significant exceptions. More here)

There are also several lines from the EN adaptation of the game that have been copy-pasted directly into the manga, similar to the original game and manga.

The publisher remains the same (VIZ media), so the EN manga suddenly aligning itself to the EN adaptation of the game is very interesting!

Original Game/Manga, Riddle’s Mother: Your mother has something to do.

EN Game: I need some time to prepare the lesson materials.

EN Manga: Your mother has some business to take care of.

(There are many fan theories about what it is that Riddle mother was doing for one hour every day when he was a child that may confuse EN-game players, as the EN game invented a reason for why she was leaving that does not exist in canon.)

Original Game/Manga Grim: Dwarf Mine

EN Game Grim: Dwarfs’ Mine

EN Manga Grim: Enchanted Mine

(This change in the EN manga has been consistent from volume 1)

Cater calls Grim “Gri-chan” consistently in the original game and manga, while his EN-manga nicknames include “G-rim” (vol.2) and “Grimmy boy” (vol.4).

EN-Game-Cater’s nickname for Grim is "Grimmy."

Original Game/Manga Cater: Your whole, “not saying what you think” thing is really not good.

EN Game Cater: I should have learned by now that keeping your feelings on the DL is not a great idea.

EN Manga Cater: You have a habit of keeping your thoughts to yourself. And I don’t think it’s such a great idea.

A fascinating example of how even something as important as the subject of a sentence can change completely from one localization to another, even within the same franchise!

(More on the EN game's pronoun adventures here)

・Twst Manga vol.1 Comparison

・Twst Manga vol.2 Comparison

・Twst Manga vol.3 Comparison

[ninja-muse]

My last wrap-up of the year! Featuring one stack of "didn't know what to read, hey, this is on my shelf, also it's short and reading goals", and one stack of Christmas gifts. I'm very pleased about both. The Laurie Lee was as good as expected and the mafia romance was a gift last Christmas so it's nice to have that finished before the year was up. And I'm two books closer to having my Pratchett collection complete! I'm missing one major Discworld tie-in book now, and a handful of the maps that came out over the years.

In other news, whew, another year is over! It feels like it's taken ages, which I'm going to blame on a bunch of long books and general slumpiness rather than the global political climate. After all, this month has felt long due to both factors. A History of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 3 did take me twice as long as a normal book, and I had two DNFs.

As you can probably tell from the list below, apart from the history book, in December I prioritized fun. (It's about all I wanted to pick up after my workdays.) I was also trying to finish one of my Storygraph reading challenges, which I've managed—75 books from a list I set, mostly, at the start of the year. I recommend everything I finished, though Among the Gnomes is not a masterwork of Victorian fiction by any means. It was, however, readily available as an ebook when I needed something goofy.

In non-book news, I got home for Christmas? Barely a visit, but it worked out and I got to see my grandpa, who is getting very old. I'm sure one of the family cats is beside himself now, though, since I am his official lap provider and rarely around to offer that service. And I went on a walking tour near the start of the month, and ate far too many chocolates and baked goods.

I'll save discussion about reading goals and 2025 resolutions and what-not for my end-of-year wrap-up, which is coming soon, and in the meantime turn you over to my list of everything I read this month, in the rough order of how glad I was to have read them.

A History of Ancient Egypt, Volume 3 - John Romer

A history of the last major cultural periods of ancient Egypt, centering archaeology and primary sources and deconstructing traditional Western scholarship and all its baggage.

8/10

warning: discusses racists and colonial attitudes

library book

Swordcrossed - Freya Marske

When Mattinesh Jay hires a swordsman for his wedding, he gets Luca Piere, annoying, attractive, and much more than he bargained for. And that’s before Luca discovers a conspiracy against Matti’s House…

8/10

🏳️‍🌈 main characters (gay), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (sapphic, trans man, nonbinary), brown-skinned main character, brown-skinned secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 author

library ebook

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning - Laurie Lee

At 19, in the 1930s, Laurie leaves his childhood home to walk to London, Europe, and the future.

7.5/10

warning: mildly racist towards Black people and Roma, period-typical misogyny, sexualization of child, sex trafficking of children

off my TBR

Greymist Fair - Francesca Zappia

Empty clothes in the middle of the only road to town. A tailor’s daughter and a witch’s cottage. A wandering prince. A lonely, beautiful girl. Magic, wargs, and Death in the forest.

8/10

major genderless character, 🏳️‍🌈 incidental characters (sapphic, achillean)

reading copy

Saga, Vol. 10 - Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (illustrator)

Hazel and her family are picking up the pieces and getting by, but that doesn’t mean they’re out of danger. The Will is still out there, and so is Landfall.

8/10

🇨🇦

off my TBR

The Forbidden Book - Sacha Lamb

Fleeing a marriage to the rebbe’s son, Sorel adopts the identity of Isser Jacobs, not knowing that there’s a real Isser who’s just stolen a very important, very illegal book.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (genderqueer, lesbian), Jewish cast, Jewish author, 🏳️‍🌈 author

library ebook

Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop - Emmeline Duncan

Bookshop owner Bailey is running the first literary festival in her Halloween-themed town when she stumbles over a murder victim.

7/10

Indigenous secondary characters

library book

The Rivals - Jane Pek

Claudia and Veracity are still tracking synth-bot accounts on dating sites when a prospective client dies after reporting a copycat profile. Was it someone from the app's developer, or truly an accident?

7/10

Taiwanese-American protagonist, Taiwanese-American secondary characters, Indian and Mexican secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (lesbian), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (gay, achillean, lesbian), Singaporean-American author

warning: suicide

reading copy

Broken Whispers - Neva Altaj

To calm a war between the Italian mafia and the Bratva, a ballerina is pushed into marriage with an enforcer. Beauty and the Beast vibes.

6.5/10

main character with damaged vocal chords, main character with monocular vision

warning: mafia-typical violence and torture

off my TBR

Under the Smokestrewn Sky - A. Deborah Baker

Avery, Zib, and their companions have reached the Kingdom of Fire, one “step” away from the Impossible City on the Improbable Road. But that doesn’t mean they’re home free yet.

6.5/10

off my TBR

Among the Gnomes - Franz Hartmann

A scientist travels to the Unterberg to disprove the existence of gnomes, only to find himself living among them. An anti-science satire.

6/10

warning: anti-Irish xenophobia

ebook/off my TBR

DNF

The Stardust Grail - Yume Kitasei

Maya’s put her thieving past aside to pursue academia, but when a chance to find the legendary stardust grail (and save her friend’s species) falls into her lap, she can’t help but be tempted—even if Earth wants to use it to save itself.

protagonist with Japanese heritage, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (achillean, nonbinary, alternate gender system)

library book

Big Gay Wedding - Byron Lane

Barnett returns to his mom’s farm in Louisiana to confront her unspoken disapproval and introduce his fiancé. And possibly get married there, if certain parties in town don’t stop them.

🏳️‍🌈 POV characters (gay)

warning: homophobia

library ebook

Currently reading

In Veritas - C.J. Lavigne

Drawn by her synesthesia and a dog-that-is-snake-is-shadow, Verity encounters a hidden world in an Ottawa theatre. A world threatened by technology and in need of saving.

🇨🇦

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle Victorian detective stories

disabled POV character (limb injury), occasional Indian secondary characters

warning: racism, colonialism

Monthly total: 11 Yearly total: 127 Queer books: 3 Authors of colour: 2 Books by women: 6 Authors outside the binary: 1 Canadian authors: 1 Classics: 2 Off the TBR shelves: 5 Books hauled: 4 ARCs acquired: 1 ARCs unhauled: 2 DNFs: 2

January February March April May June July August September October November

[seedsofwinter]

I have 5 boxes of Good Omens zines and merch in my house and I should NOT by the end of the summer. Did you miss these the first time around? Come talk to me!

🎶 “Don't cha wish your bookshelf was hawt like mine? Don't cha?” 🎶

Over 2 years, with a group of friends and fellow fans, I worked on 6 Good Omens print zines (plus another 7 or 8 digital only?) I wrote and was the editor for ones with stories; I did marketing for all of them. I know these books too well, their rising emotions, their jokes, the sexy bits...

Now, I’m the one who has all the physical overstock. Which accumulates..... Oh, does it accumulate haha

I’ve spent the past few days preparing to let you know what is in these boxes.

So!

Fellow Good Omens fans, drop me a line. I have all the books in the 2nd picture and they could be yours instead. I also have various merch which will need homes. Some more pics of those and books below!

This @oursidezines​ Pride 2022 book could be yours! I have most of the pride flag postcards too. Out of and low on a few.

This @WingZine could be yours! I have all postcards to join it as well. And a spare few bookmarks and stickers.

This @ineffableeraszine​ vol 3: Bookshop 1800s could be yours! I have the postcards that go with it; and a tidy number of bookmarks, the Aziraphale sticker, and the Crowley sticker. Plus the lanyard with PVC card.

This @IneffableEras vol 2: Soho 1967 could be yours!

I have the postcards that go with it, a handful of the “You Go Too Fast For Me” Crowley and Aziraphale charm, and a few pages of stickers. Plus the lanyard with PVC card.

Here's what the lanyards and PVC cards look like, so you can know! For other merch, come talk to me. 1800s' card is half an inch slimmer than 1941 and 1967.

All have an about 16 inch lanyard with "Ineffable Eras” printed in an Era-unique font. All with lobster clasp style hook.

I have a hold on all my remaining @IneffableEras vol 1: Blitz 1941 (if someone decides not to get it, or after held copies reach their destination). These were from my personal stash, so there were not many.

If you’d like to roll the dice I can take your name, but it's a long shot. Those who have a hold on a copy know it’s their last chance to get one.

I HAVE postcards, a few stickers, the Aziraphale charm and the Crowley charm, and the above lanyard.

THE EASIEST WAY TO REACH ME is twitter: https://twitter.com/OlivierHennis.

But you can message me here. I’m doing this all myself, so just give me a little time. I haven’t slept in almost 24 hours bc I hyperfixated on taking stock and doing the pictures. XD So I’m gonna go do that. [11:30am EST, May 10, 2023.]

I’ll make updates on this post if/when zines or merch are fully gone!

Thanks! And HAPPY GOOD OMENS 33RD ANNIVERSARY!

[apothecaryscript]

Drama CD of The Apothecary Diaries vol.9 (2/3) / 薬屋のひとりごと 9巻 ドラマCD (2/3)

Please note that the English lines are just my translation.

This post cannot be reblogged, and please do not repurpose it, since I have no intention of infringing the copyright of this drama CD and I don’t want this post to be distributed to an unspecified number of people.

So if you’d like to share this post with someone, please advise them to visit my blog. I’ll put a link to this post on the home page of my blog.

(back to 1/3 part of the story → Click here)

猫猫（無茶言うなよ… こんなの一人でできるか！―って、投げ出しても終わらない。とりあえず、情報を整理するか）

Maomao (Mucha iu-nayo… Konnano hitoride dekiruka!―tte, nagedashi-temo owara-nai. Tori-aezu, joho’o seiri-suruka.)

Maomao (Don’t be ridiculous… How can I do this alone? But even if I just give up, it won’t end. Let’s organize the information first.)

無茶を言うな(むちゃをいうな/Mucha’o iu): Don’t be ridiculous, Don’t be absurd

猫猫（長らく後宮にいた先帝の妃、佩芳が死んだ。名のある楽人であった彼女は、最後に作った曲を誰かに譲るつもりであったが、相続人を口にする前に亡くなってしまった。残されたのは、後宮外の者との文のやりとり。文の多くは宛名が無く、楽団名のみ。筆跡で探ろうにも、代筆を使っている場合が多く、難しい…）

Maomao (Nagaraku kokyuni ita senteino kisaki, Beifanga shinda. Nano aru gakujinde atta kanojowa, saigoni tsukutta kyoku’o darekani yuzuru-tsumoride-attaga, sozoku-nin’o kuchini-suru maeni nakunatte-shimatta. Noko-sareta-nowa, kokyu-gaino mono-tono fumino yaritori. Fumino ookuwa atenaga naku, gakudan-mei-nomi. Hissekide saguro-nimo, daihitsu’o tsukatte-iru baaiga ooku, muzukashii…)

Maomao (The former emperor’s concubine Beifang, who had been in the rear palace for a long time, passed away. She was a famous musician and had intended to pass on her last composition to someone, but she died before she could name an heir. All that was left was correspondences with people outside the rear palace. Many of the letters were unaddressed, only with the name of the orchestra. Even if you try to find out the handwriting, it is difficult because in many cases someone else wrote it for them…)

猫猫（かろうじて分かるのは、佩芳が気に入っていた曲。結構あるんだよなぁ… あの侍女頭が、もっと意見を言ってくれたらいいのに…。大事にしているように見えて、案外雑な保管方法だよな。たまには日陰干しもしないと虫食いだらけ…あ…）

Maomao (Karojite wakaru-nowa, Beifanga kini-itte-ita kyoku. Kekko arun-dayo-naa… Ano jijo-gashiraga, motto iken’o itte-kure-tara ii-noni… Daijini shite-iru-yoni miete, angai zatsuna hokan-hoho dayona. Tama-niwa hikage-boshimo shinaito mushi-kui-darake… A…)

Maomao (All the information I got are the songs that Lady Beifang liked. There are quite a lot… I wish the head lady-in-waiting would give me more opinions… They seem to treasure the scores, but they’re storing them carelessly. She needs to dry them in the shade every now and then, or they’ll get eaten by moths… Ah…)

猫猫「すみません、嬌嬌様」

Maomao “Sumi-masen, Kyokyo-sama.”

Maomao “Excuse me, Lady Kyokyo.”

嬌嬌「どうされました？」

Kyokyo “Do sare-mashita?”

Kyokyo “What happened?”

猫猫「工尺譜に、わざと穴が開けられているようですが���原文ではなく、写しにばかり」

Maomao “Koshakufu-ni, wazato anaga ake-rarete-iru-yodesuga. Genbun-dewa naku, utsushini bakari.”

Maomao “It seems like holes have been intentionally made into the gongche notations. Not into the original, but all into copies.”

わざと(Wazato): intentionally, deliberately, on purpose

猫猫（手紙には虫食い痕はほとんどない。譜面にばかりだ。形と配置からして、あえて穴を開けられていることが分かる。十年くらい前の物からか…）

Maomao (Tegami-niwa mushi-kui-atowa hotondo nai. Fumen-ni-bakarida. Katachito haichi-kara-shite, aete ana’o ake-rarete-iru-kotoga wakaru. Ju-nen-kurai maeno mono-karaka…)

Maomao (The letters have almost no holes. Holes are in the scores only. Judging from its shape and placement, I can tell the holes were deliberately made. It must be from about ten years ago…)

あえて(Aete): deliverately (わざと and あえて are very similar. Strictly to say there are differences but if I explain here simply, わざと sounds a little bit negative, and あえて sounds positive.)

嬌嬌「あ…申し訳ありません。伝えておりませんでした。佩芳様が読み返せるようにと、指先で触れて分かるように、紙に穴を開けていました」

Kyokyo “A… Moshi-wake ari-masen. Tsutaete ori-masen deshita. Beifan-samaga yomikae-seru-yoni-to, yubi-sakide furete wakaru-yoni, kamini ana’o akete imashita.”

Kyokyo “Ah… I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you that. I made holes in the papers so that Lady Beifang could feel them with her fingertips and read it again.”

猫猫「穴を開けたのは、全てあなたが？」

Maomao “Ana’o aketa-nowa, subete anataga?”

Maomao “Were you the one who made all the holes?”

嬌嬌「はい。こうして…穴を開けます。他の侍女たちは、佩芳様は一度聞けば曲を覚えてしまうので意味がないと、やってくれなかったんですけどね」

Kyokyo “Hai. Ko-shite…ana’o ake-masu. Hokano jijo-tachiwa, Beifan-samawa ichido kikeba kyoku’o oboete-shimau-node imiga naito, yatte-kure-nakattan-desu-kedo-ne.”

Kyokyo “Yes. Like this… This is how you make the holes. The other ladies-in-waiting didn’t want to do it because Lady Beifang would memorize the tune after hearing it just once and they thought there was no point in doing it.”

猫猫（ふん…穴を開けた位置の組み合わせで音階を表すわけか… これなら読めるな）

Maomao (Fun… Ana’o aketa ichino kumi-awasede onkai’o arawasu-wakeka… Kore-nara yomeruna.)

Maomao (Hmm… So the musical scale is expressed by the combination of hole positions… She must have been able to read it.)

猫猫「清書した物のみ、穴を開けているのですね」

Maomao “Seisho-shita mono-nomi, ana’o akete-iruno-desune.”

Maomao “You only make holes in the clean copies, don’t you?”

清書(せいしょ/Seisho): clean copy, fair copy

嬌嬌「はい。清書は二枚用意し、一枚は、送られて来た楽団へと返します」

Kyokyo “Hai. Seishowa ni-mai yoi-shi, ichi-maiwa, oku-rarete-kita gakudan’eto kaeshi-masu.”

Kyokyo “Yes. I prepare two clean copies and return one to the orchestra that sent it.”

猫猫「確か、証拠として残しておくと」

Maomao “Tashika, shoko-to-shite nokoshite-okuto.”

Maomao “You said you would leave it as evidence.”

嬌嬌「はい。先程も言いましたが、佩芳様の作曲、または変奏・編曲を、全て自分の手柄にしている方がいらっしゃいました。今後そのようなことが起きないようにと、送られて来た譜は、こうして楽団の印を押してもらっており、それを添削したものを保管しています」

Kyokyo “Hai. Saki-hodomo ii-mashitaga, Beifan-samano sakkyoku, matawa henso, henkyoku’o, subete jibun’no tegarani shite-iru kataga irasshai-mashita. Kongo sono-yona kotoga oki-nai-yonito, oku-rarete-kita fuwa, koshite gakudan’no in’o oshite-moratte-ori, sore’o tensaku-shita mono’o hokan shite-imasu.”

Kyokyo “Yes. As I said earlier, there were some people who were taking all of Lady Beifang’s compositions, variations, and arrangements for themselves. To prevent this from happening again, we have the orchestra stamp the scores that are sent to us, and we keep the corrected versions.”

添削する(てんさくする/Tensaku-suru): check and correct

猫猫「聞いているとどんどん質問が湧いてくるのですが…構いませんか？多少不躾な内容があるので、答えられる範囲で構いません」

Maomao “Kiite-iruto don-don shitsumon-ga waite-kuruno-desuga… kamai-masenka? Tasho bushitsuke-na naiyoga aru-node, kotae-rareru han’ide kamai-masen.”

Maomao “As I listen, more and more questions come to mind… Is that okay? Some of the content may be a little rude, so you don’t have to answer the questions any more than you desire.”

どんどん(Don-don): more and more, rapidly

嬌嬌「どうぞ」

Kyokyo “Dozo.”

Kyokyo “Please go ahead.”

猫猫「こちらの宮には、多数の楽器があるようですが、正直、先帝の妃の扶持(ふち)で用意できるとは思えません。だからと言って、女官たちが個別で楽器を持ってくるのは難しいと思います。作曲・編曲などで見返りに金銭は受け取っていますか？」

Maomao “Kochirano miya-niwa, tasuno gakkiga aruyo-desuga, shojiki, senteino kisakino fuchide yoi dekiru-towa omoe-masen. Dakarato-itte, nyokan-tachiga kobetsude gakki’o motte-kuru-nowa muzukashii-to omoi-masu. Sakkyoku, henkyoku-nadode mikaerini kinsenwa uketotte-imasuka?”

Maomao “It seems that there are many musical instruments here, but to be honest, I don’t think that the former emperor’s concubine’s stipend would be enough to provide them all. That being said, I think it would be difficult for the ladies-in-waiting to bring their own instruments. Did she receive money in return for composing and arranging music?”

だからと言って(だからといって/Dakarato-itte): that being said

猫猫（先程の話では、実家からの仕送りは期待できない。子がいない先帝の妃となれば、さほど重視しないもんだ）

Maomao (Sakihodono hanashi-dewa, jikka-karano shiokuriwa kitai deki-nai. Koga inai senteino kisakito nareba, sahodo jushi shinai-monda.)

Maomao (According to what Lady Kyokyo has told me, Lady Beifang had not been able to expect any money from her parents. In the position of the concubine of the previous emperor without children, she would not have been given as much attention.)

仕送り(しおくり/Shiokuri): money to be given among family members to support

嬌嬌「お察しの通りです。佩芳様は対価と見返りに曲を作っておられました。受け取った金銭については、音楽隊の運営に使っていました。やましいところはありません」

Kyokyo “Osasshino toori desu. Beifan-samawa taikato mikaerini kyoku’o tsukutte-orare-mashita. Uketotta kinsen’ni tsuitewa, ongaku-taino un’eini tsukatte-imashita. Yamashii tokorowa ari-masen.”

Kyokyo “As you may have guessed, Lady Beifang composed the songs in return for money. As for the money she received, she used it to run her music band. There is nothing shameful about this.”

やましい(Yamashii): feeling a guilty conscience

猫猫「仕事によって受け取ったのであれば、問題ないかと思います。それと…嬌嬌様以外の古参の侍女はいらっしゃらないのですか？」

Maomao “Shigotoni yotte uketotta-node areba, mondai-naikato omoi-masu. Soreto… Kyokyo-sama-igaino kosan’no jijowa irasshara-naino-desuka?”

Maomao “If she received it for work, I don’t think there’s any problem. Also… are there no other senior ladies-in-waiting besides you, Lady Kyokyo?”

古参の(こさんの/Kosanno): veteran, senior

嬌嬌「佩芳様のもとに、先の帝が通われたのは、二年程。その間、子を授かることはありませんでした。当時は、二十人を超える侍女や下女がいましたが、皆離れていきました。お通りが無くなれば、妃としての扶持も減りますので、皆年季を終えると実家へと帰っていきました」

Kyokyo “Beifan-samano motoni, sakino mikadoga kayo-wareta-nowa, ni-nen-hodo. Sono aida, ko’o sazukaru-kotowa ari-masen-deshita. Tojiwa, niju-nin’o koeru jijoya gejoga imashitaga, mina hanarete iki-mashita. Otooriga naku-nareba, kisaki-to-shiteno fuchimo herimasu-node, mina nenki’o oeruto jikka’eto kaette iki-mashita.”

Kyokyo “The previous emperor visited Lady Beifang for about two years. During that time, she did not have any children. At the time, she had more than twenty ladies-in-waiting and servants, but they all left. When the emperor stopped visiting, her stipend as concubine would decrease, so they all returned to their parents’ homes when their term was over.”

猫猫（世知辛い話だ…）

Maomao (Sechi-garai hanashida…)

Maomao (It’s a tough story…)

猫猫「嬌嬌様は、ご実家に戻られようとは思わなかったのですか？」

Maomao “Kyokyo-samawa, gojikkani modorare-yotowa omowa-nakattano-desuka?”

Maomao “Lady Kyokyo, haven’t you ever thought about returning to your parents’ home?”

嬌嬌「私は…引き取られた身です。実家などありません。帰ったところで、私に居場所はないでしょう」

Kyokyo “Watakushiwa… hikito-rareta mi-desu. Jikka-nado ari-masen. Kaetta-tokorode, watakushini ibashowa nai desho.”

Kyokyo “I…was adopted. I don’t have a family home. Even if I went back, there would be no place for me.”

猫猫（…もしかしてこの人の出身って…いや、確認するのは野暮だ）

Maomao (…Moshika-shite kono hitono shusshintte… Iya, kakunin-suru-nowa yaboda.)

Maomao (…Could it be that this person is from… No, it would be rude to check.)

野暮な(やぼな/yabona): rude, boorish, inappropriate, senseless

嬌嬌「それに」

Kyokyo “Soreni.”

Kyokyo “And”

猫猫「それに？」

Maomao “Soreni?”

Maomao “And?”

嬌嬌「自分で言うのも何ですが、佩芳様の笛と私の琴は、とても良く合っていたんです。できればもう一度、佩芳様と合わせてみたかった…」

Kyokyo “Jibunde iu-nomo nan-desuga, Beifan-samano fueto watashino kotowa, totemo yoku atte-itan-desu. Dekireba mo-ichido, Beifan-samato awasete-mitakatta…”

Kyokyo “Even if I do say so myself, Lady Beifang’s flute and my koto matched extremely well. I wanted to play it with Lady Beifang once again, if possible…”

自分で言うのも何ですが(じぶんでいうのもなんですが/Jibunde iu-nomo nan-desuga): (Even) if I say so myself

猫猫（悲しい笑いだ…）

Maomao (Kanashii waraida…)

Maomao (Sad smile…)

猫猫「込み入ったことを聞いてしまいました」

Maomao “Komi-itta koto’o kiite shimai-mashita.”

Maomao “I’ve heard something complicated.”

This line means almost the same as “I’m sorry to ask you such private questions.” But Maomao didn’t say “sorry,” so I didn’t translate it. Actually Maomao expressed her feeling of apology and Kyokyo understood it. That’s why Kyokyo will say “No.” in the following line.

嬌嬌「いえ。これで終わりなら、私は少し席を外しますが、よろしいでしょうか？他の女官を寄越しますので、何かあれば言って下さい」

Kyokyo “Ie. Korede owari-nara, watakushiwa sukoshi seki’o hazushi-masuga, yoroshii deshoka? Hokano nyokan’o yokoshi-masu-node, nanika areba itte kudasai.”

Kyokyo “No. If this is all you need, I will leave my seat for a while. Is that okay? I’ll send another lady-in-waiting, so please let her know if you need anything.”

寄越す(よこす/Yokosu): send, forward

猫猫「お忙しいですよね」

Maomao “Oisogashii desu-yone.”

Maomao “You’re busy, aren’t you?”

嬌嬌「はい。この宮も、近いうちに引き揚げないといけませんので」

Kyokyo “Hai. Kono miyamo, chikai-uchini hikiage-naito ike-masen-node.”

Kyokyo “Yes. Since we will have to withdraw from here soon.”

引き揚げる(ひきあげる/Hiki-ageru): withdraw, leave

猫猫（そうか… 妃がいなくなれば、宮も解体しなくてはいけないか）

Maomao (Soka… Kisakiga inaku-nareba, miyamo kaitai shinakutewa ikenaika.)

Maomao (I see… If the concubine is gone, the building will have to be dismantled as well.)

猫猫「分かりました。もう少し、私はこちらにいますので」

Maomao “Wakari-mashita. Mo-sukoshi, watashiwa kochirani imasu-node.”

Maomao “Okay. I’ll stay here for a little while longer.”

嬌嬌「失礼します」

Kyokyo “Shitsurei-shimasu.”

Kyokyo “Excuse me.”

猫猫（…とは言いつつ…本当に終わるのだろうか？楽団一つ一つをあたれば、誰がどの曲を作ったか分かるかもしれないが、時間と労力が半端ない。原文に何か書いてあればいいのに……ん？なんかやけに赤字が多いな、この曲。…これも。さっきと同じ楽団。この楽団は確か…それに、同じ音階ばかり訂正が入っている。これは…もしかして…！）

Maomao (…Towa ii-tsutsu…hontoni owaruno-daroka? Gakudan hitotsu-hitotsu’o atareba, darega dono kyoku’o tsukuttaka wakaru-kamo shire-naiga, jikanto roryokuga hanpa-nai. Genbun-ni nanika kaite-areba ii-noni…… N? Nanka yakeni akajiga ooina, kono kyoku. …Koremo. Sakkito onaji gakudan. Kono gakudanwa tashika… Soreni, onaji onkai-bakari teiseiga haitte-iru. Korewa…moshika-shite…!)

Maomao (…That said…will it really be finished? If I go through each orchestra one by one, I might be able to find out who composed which song, but it would take an incredible amount of time and effort. I wish there was something written in the original… Huh? There seems to be a lot of red ink in this song. …This one, too. They’re from the same orchestra. I’m sure this orchestra is… and only the same scale has been corrected. This… could be…)

とは言いつつ(とはいいつつ/Towa-ii-tsutsu): that said

半端ない(はんぱない/Hanpa-nai): incredible, awesome, amazing (It’s youth slang.)

―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

猫猫（あ～～、目が痛い。気になったところを調べていたら、もう真っ暗だ）

Maomao (Aaaaa, mega itai. Kini-natta-tokoro’o shirabete-itara, mo makkura-da.)

Maomao (Ahh, my eyes hurt. I was checking something that caught my eye, and now it’s pitch black outside already.)

真っ暗(まっくら/Makkura): pitch black

猫猫「よくもまあ下っ端をこき使う…」

Maomao “Yokumo-maa shitappa’o koki-tsukau…”

Maomao “How dare you work me of lower position hard…”

こき使う(こきつかう/Koki-tsukau): work someone hard, drive someone hard

壬氏「何だ？弱音か？」

Jinshi “Nanda? Yowaneka?”

Jinshi “What is it? Are you whining?”

猫猫「うわ！」

Maomao “Uwa!”

Maomao “Whoa!”

高順「小猫…」

Gaoshun “Shaomao…”

Gaoshun “Xiaomao…”

猫猫「高順様」

Maomao “Gaoshun-sama.”

Maomao “Master Gaoshun.”

高順「夜食にと、ザッ茶?と煎餅、肉入り饅頭と、ついでに葛をお持ちしました。冷えますので、温かくしてください」

Gaoshun “Yashoku-nito, zaccha?to senbei, niku-iri-manjuto, tsuideni kuzu’o omochi-shimashita. Hiemasu-node, atatakaku shite-kudasai.”

Gaoshun “I’ve brought some tea, rice crackers, meat buns, and arrowroot as well for your midnight snack. It’s cold, so please stay warm.”

葛(くず/Kuzu): arrowroot, kudzu

壬氏「そうだぞ。夜は冷えるからな」

Jinshi “So-dazo. Yoruwa hieru-karana.”

Jinshi “Yes. It’s cold at night.”

猫猫「壬氏様… その言い様ですとまるで、私に夜なべして調べろと言っているようですが…」

Maomao “Jinshi-sama… Sono iiyo-desuto marude, watashini yonabe-shite shirabero-to itte-iru-yodesuga…”

Maomao “Master Jinshi… the way you say it sounds like you’re telling me to stay up all night and find out…”

夜なべする(よなべする/Yonabe-suru): stay up all night (to work or study)

壬氏「ん？しないのか？」

Jinshi “N? Shinai-noka?”

Jinshi “Huh? You won’t?”

猫猫「私に、寝るなと？」

Maomao “Watashini, neruna-to?”

Maomao “Are you telling me not to sleep?”

壬氏「そうは言ってないが、ちょっと急いでもらいたい。ここで調べられる時間は限られるからな」

Jinshi “Sowa itte-naiga, chotto isoide-morai-tai. Kokode shirabe-rareru jikanwa kagi-rareru-karana.”

Jinshi “No, I’m not telling that, but I’d like you to hurry up a bit. We only have limited amount of time to investigate here.”

高順「夜でしたら私も手伝��ますので」

Gaoshun “Yoru-deshitara, watashimo tetsudai-masu-node.”

Gaoshun “I can help out at night.”

壬氏「わ・た・し・も・な！」

Jinshi “Wa, ta, shi, mo, na!”

Jinshi “Me, too!”

猫猫「げ…」

Maomao “Ge…”

Maomao “Ugh…”

壬氏「何か言ったか？」

Jinshi “Nanika ittaka?”

Jinshi “Did you say something?”

猫猫「いえ、何でもありません。しかし、壬氏様は明日も忙しいのではないでしょうか？」

Maomao “Ie, nan-demo ari-masen. Shikashi, Jinshi-samawa asumo isogashiino-dewa nai-deshoka?”

Maomao “No, it’s nothing. But I think you will be busy tomorrow too, Master Jinshi.”

高順「私からも、壬氏様にはしっかり睡眠を取っていただきたいのですが…」

Gaoshun “Watashi-karamo, Jinshi-sama-niwa shikkari suimin’o totte itadaki-taino-desuga…”

Gaoshun “I also want you to get a good night’s sleep, Master Jinshi.”

壬氏「何だ、高順？仲間外れか？」

Jinshi “Nanda, Gaoshun? Nakama-hazureka?”

Jinshi “What? Gaoshun, do you make me outcast?”

仲間外れ(なかまはずれ/Nakama-hazure): outcast, black sheep, odd one out (This word has a nuance of bullying or harassment.)

高順「いえ、そういうことではなく…」

Gaoshun “Ie, so-iu koto-dewa naku…”

Gaoshun “No, that’s not it…”

猫猫（従者を困らせるなよ）

Maomao (Jusha’o koma-raseru-nayo.)

Maomao (Don’t bother your servant.)

猫猫「急いでいるのではなかったのですか？」

Maomao “Isoide-iruno-dewa nakattano-desuka?”

Maomao “Aren’t we in a hurry?”

壬氏「そうだったな。三日以内に片をつけたい」

Jinshi “So-dattana. Mikka-inaini kata’o tsuke-tai.”

Jinshi “That’s right. I want to settle this within three days.”

片をつける(かたをつける/Kata’o tsukeru): settle, get done with

猫猫「三日って…ほとんど情報も無いのに探せと言うのですか？」

Maomao “Mikkatte… Hotondo johomo nai-noni sagaseto iuno-desuka?”

Maomao “Three days… Are you telling me to find with almost no information?

猫猫（嬌嬌が近いうちに出て行くって言ってたけど、そんなに早いのか）

Maomao (Kyokyoga chikai-uchini dete-ikutte itteta-kedo, sonnani hayai-noka.)

Maomao (Kyokyo said she was leaving soon, but is it that soon?)

壬氏「残念ながら、お役所の仕事に理不尽は付き物だ。葬儀を終えたら、宮から出て行け。処分できない荷は置いて行けと、先程言われた。���物の中には、例の最後の曲も含まれる」

Jinshi “Zannen-nagara, oyakushono shigotoni rifujinwa tsukimono-da. Sogi’o oetara, miya-kara dete-ike. Shobun deki-nai niwa oite-ike-to, sakihodo iwareta. Nimotsuno naka-niwa, reino saigono kyokumo fuku-mareru.”

Jinshi “Unfortunately, unreasonableness is an inevitable part of bureaucratic work. I was just told to leave the palace after funeral and to leave behind any belongings that they cannot dispose of. That includes the final song.”

理不尽(りふじん/Rifujin): unreasonableness

例の(れいの/Reino): In English, it will be “the”, but this sentence actually means like “That includes the final song, which we were talking about.” 例の(Reino) can indicate the meaning of “which we were talking about.” It’s used for a something special or something which they don’t want to say its name clearly.

猫猫「言われた、ということは…壬氏様の命では、ないんですよね。何だか、どなたかの思惑が感じられるのですが」

Maomao “Iwareta, to-iu kotowa… Jinshi-samano mei-dewa, nain-desu-yone. Nandaka, donatakano omowakuga kanji-rareruno-desuga.”

Maomao “So…if that’s what you were told… then it wasn’t your order, was you? I can sense that someone else has their own plans.”

命(めい/Mei): order.  In case we read as いのち/Inochi, it means “life.”

壬氏「佩芳殿の曲が、それだけ価値があるということだ。急がせて遺言を有耶無耶にし、遺された曲を戴こうとしている輩がいる。生前、文のやりとりで一番多かったのは、宮廷音楽隊だからな」

Jinshi “Beifan-donono kyokuga, sore-dake kachiga aruto iu-kotoda. Iso-gasete yuigon’o uya-muyani shi, noko-sareta kyoku’o itadako-to shite-iru yakaraga iru. Seizen, fumino yaritori-de ichi-ban ookatta-nowa, kyutei-ongaku-tai dakarana.”

Jinshi “That just goes to show how valuable Lady Beifang’s music is. There are those who are rushing to obscure her will and take the music she left behind. When she was alive, the people with whom she exchanged letters most often were the palace orchestra.”

有耶無耶にする(うやむやにする/Uya-muya-ni-suru): obscure, leave unsettled

猫猫「つまり、三日以内に相続人が見つからなければ、宮廷音楽隊が全て曲を持って行ってしまうのですね」

Maomao “Tsumari, mikka-inaini sozoku-ninga mitsukara-nakereba, kyutei-ongaku-taiga subete kyoku’o motte-itte-shimauno-desune.”

Maomao “So, if we don’t find an heir within three days, the palace band will take all songs, right?”

壬氏「ご名答」

Jinshi “Gomeito.”

Jinshi “You’re right.”

ご名答(ごめいとう/Gomeito): excellent answer, good answer

猫猫「火事場泥棒みたいですね」

Maomao “Kajiba-dorobo mitai desune.”

Maomao “It’s like a looter at a fire.”

火事場泥棒(かじばどろぼう/Kajiba-dorobo): someone who commits theft where there is a fire or in such a messed situation.

壬氏「気に食わないのは分かるが、こういうものだ。という���けで、ほんの少しの手掛かりでもいい。誰か、気になるところは見つかったか？」

Jinshi “Kini kuwanai-nowa wakaruga, ko-iu monoda. To-iu wakede, honno sukoshino tegakari-demo ii. Dareka, kini naru tokorowa mitsukattaka?”

Jinshi “I know you don’t like it, but that’s how it is. So even the slightest clue would be nice. Have you found anyone with something that caught your attention?”

猫猫「とりあえず…折角ですので、お茶を用意してもよろしいですか？」

Maomao “Tori-aezu… sekkaku-desu-node, ocha’o yoi-shitemo yoroshii-desuka?”

Maomao “For now… since you brought some food, may I prepare some tea?”

折角(せっかく/Sekkaku): This means “since” in “since you brought some food,” and we often omit other words and just say 「折角なので」. We can only guess what words are following, but it has a nuance of “since we have a chance to do…” or “since you kindly did….”  

猫猫（正直、腹が減った。饅頭食べたい！目も休ませたい！）

Maomao (Shojiki, haraga hetta. Manju tabe-tai! Memo yasumase-tai!)

Maomao (Honestly, I’m hungry. I want to eat some buns! I also want to rest my eyes!)

高順「それなら女官を…」

Gaoshun “Sore-nara nyokan’o…”

Gaoshun “Then let’s have the lady-in-waiting…”

猫猫「いえ、気分転換も兼ねて、用意してきます」

Maomao “Ie, kibun-tenkan’mo kanete, yoi-shite-kimasu.”

Maomao “No, I’ll go prepare as a change of pace.”

壬氏「ならば、白茶と月餅で頼む」

Jinshi “Naraba, hakuchato geppeide tanomu.”

Jinshi “Then I’ll have white tea and mooncakes.”

猫猫「この宮にあるか知りませんよ」

Maomao “Kono miyani aruka shiri-masen’yo.”

Maomao “I don’t know if those are here.”

高順「用意してきましたので、これを」

Gaoshun “Yoi shite-kimashita-node, kore’o.”

Gaoshun “I’ve prepared this, so take it.”

猫猫「さすが高順様ですね」

Maomao “Sasuga Gaoshun-sama desune.”

Maomao “As expected of Master Gaoshun.”

さすが(流石/Sasuga): As expected.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

猫猫「すみません」

Maomao “Sumi-masen.”

Maomao “Excuse me.”

嬌嬌「どうかされましたか？猫猫様」

Kyokyo “Doka sare-mashitaka? Maomao-sama.”

Kyokyo “Is something wrong, Lady Maomao?”

猫猫「嬌嬌様。お茶を入れたいのですが、食器と茶器を貸していただけないでしょうか？」

Maomao “Kyokyo-sama. Ocha’o ire-taino-desuga, shokkito chaki’o kashite itadake-nai-deshoka?”

Maomao “Lady Kyokyo, I’d like to make some tea. Could I borrow some tableware and tea utensils?”

嬌嬌「まあ…それでしたら、下女に言ってくれたらご用意しましたのに…」

Kyokyo “Maa…sore-deshitara, gejoni itte-kure-tara goyoi shimashita-noni…”

Kyokyo “Oh, my… If that was the case, you could have just told the servant and we would’ve prepared it for you…”

猫猫「いえ、気分転換も兼ねております。壬氏様がいらっしゃっているので、席を外すわけにはいかないでしょうから」

Maomao “Ie, kibun-tenkan’mo kanete-orimasu. Jinshi-samaga irasshatte-iru-node, seki’o hazusu-wake-niwa ikanai-desho-kara.”

Maomao “No, it’s also a way to refresh my mind. Since Master Jinshi is here, she can’t leave her seat.”

嬌嬌「かしこまりました。お湯は用意しますので、食器は棚の物を、好きにお使いください」

Kyokyo “Kashikomari-mashita. Oyuwa yoi shimasu-node, shokkiwa tanano mono’o, sukini otsukai kudasai.”

Kyokyo “I Understood. I’ll prepare hot water, so please feel free to use the dishes on the shelf as you like.”

猫猫（お？）「あの…」

Maomao (O?) “Ano…”

Maomao (Oh?) “Um…”

嬌嬌「どうかしましたか？」

Kyokyo “Doka shimashitaka?”

Kyokyo “What’s wrong?”

猫猫「薬草が置いてありますが…佩芳様に煎じていたものでしょうか？」

Maomao “Yakusoga oite-arimasuga… Beifan-samani senjite-ita mono-deshoka?”

Maomao “There are some medicinal herbs here… Are they the ones brewed for Lady Beifang?”

猫猫（あれは…当帰(トウキ)か？横のが知母(チモ)だとすると、牛蒡(ゴボウ)みたいなのは芍薬(シャクヤク)に見える。葛根(カッコン)もあるな。加工した葛粉はあるかな…）

Maomao (Arewa… Tokika? Yoko-noga Chimo dato-suruto, gobo-mitaina-nowa Shakuyakuni mieru. Kakkon’mo aruna.  Kako-shita kuzukowa aru-kana…)

Maomao (Is that…Angelica? The one next to it is Anemarrhena Rhizome? If so, the burdock-like thing looks like a peony. There are also Kudzu roots. I wonder if there is some arrowroots starch that were processed already…)

I’m not sure if these herb names are correct…

嬌嬌「はい。私も体のあちこちが悪いので、使わせてもらっておりました」

Kyokyo “Hai. Watashimo karadano achi-kochiga warui-node, tsuka-wasete-moratte-ori-mashita.”

Kyokyo “Yes. I have a lot of body aches, so I also have been using it.”

猫猫「えっと、やぶ…あ、…医官様が調薬を？」（一気に不安になった… 変な物渡して、それで寿命を縮めたとか、ないよな？）

Maomao “Etto, Yabu…a, …Ikan-samaga choyaku’o?” (Ikkini fuan’ni natta… Henna mono watashite, sorede jumyo’o chijimeta-toka, nai-yona?)

Maomao “Um, Quack…no, the Doctor prepared the medicine?” (I’m feeling worried all at once… I hope he didn’t give her something strange and shorten her lifespan, right?)

嬌嬌「いえ。材料をこちらで指定して、いただいておりました。毎日使う物なので、自分でこさえた方が早いと思いまして」

Kyokyo “Ie. Zairyo’o kochirade shitei-shite, itadaite ori-mashita. Mainichi tsukau mono-nanode, jibunde kosaeta-hoga hayaito omoi-mashite.”

Kyokyo “No. I specified the materials and they were given to me. Since it’s something I use every day, I thought it would be quicker to make it myself.”

猫猫「あ…そうですね。あの…折角なので、葛湯を作りたいのですが、葛粉があればいただけないでしょうか？」

Maomao “A… So-desune. Ano… Sekkaku-nanode, kuzuyu’o tsukuri-taino-desuga, kuzukoga areba itadake-nai-deshoka?”

Maomao “Oh… that’s right. Well, I’d like to make arrowroots gruel. Could you give me some arrowroots starch if you have?”

嬌嬌「葛粉ですね。ちょっと待ってください」

Kyokyo “Kuzuko desune. Chotto matte-kudasai.”

Kyokyo “Arrowroots starch, right? Please wait a moment.”

猫猫「お願いします」

Maomao “Onegai shimasu.”

Maomao “Thank you very much.”

猫猫（他にもたくさんある。どんだけ調薬してるんだ？）

Maomao (Hoka-nimo takusan aru. Dondake choyaku shiterunda?)

Maomao (There are many more. How many medicines do they prepare?)

嬌嬌「どうぞ」

Kyokyo “Dozo.”

Kyokyo “Here you are.”

猫猫「ありがとうご��います」

Maomao “Arigato gozai-masu.”

Maomao “Thank you.”

嬌嬌「あ…お湯が沸きましたね。他に何か要る物はありませんか？」

Kyokyo “A… Oyuga waki-mashitane. Hokani nanika iru monowa ari-masenka?”

Kyokyo “Ah… The water is boiling. Is there anything else you need?”

猫猫「いえ、問題ありません。ありがとうございます」（それより、気になることができたかな…）

Maomao “Ie, mondai ari-masen. Arigato gozai-masu.” (Sore-yori, kini-naru kotoga dekita-kana…)

Maomao “No, there’s no problem. Thank you.” (Other than that, a new concern has arisen, maybe…)

―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

猫猫「どうぞ」

Maomao “Dozo.”

Maomao “Here you are.”

壬氏「ああ」

Jinshi “Aa.”

Jinshi “Thanks.”

高順「ありがとうございます」

Gaoshun “Arigato gozai-masu.”

Gaoshun “Thank you.”

壬氏「お前は飲まないのか？」

Jinshi “Omaewa nomanai-noka?”

Jinshi “Don’t you drink?”

猫猫「お二方が飲み終えた後に」

Maomao “Ofuta-kataga nomi-oeta atoni.”

Maomao “After you two finish drinking.”

壬氏「気にするな。飲め」

Jinshi “Kini suruna. Nome.”

Jinshi “Don’t worry about it. Just drink it.”

猫猫「はい、分かりました」（最初から言ってくれると助かるんだがなぁ～。何はともあれ、いただこう）

Maomao “Hai, wakari-mashita.” (Saisho-kara itte-kureruto tasukarun-daga-naaa. Naniwa tomo-are, itadako.)

Maomao “Yes, I understand.” (It would have been helpful if you had told me that from the beginning. Anyway, I’ll drink it.)

壬氏「ん？何だそれは？めちゃくちゃにかき混ぜて」

Jinshi “N? Nanda sorewa? Mecha-kuchani kaki-mazete.”

Jinshi “Hmm? What’s that? Stirring it up thoroughly.”

猫猫「葛湯です。お湯が冷えないうちにかき混ぜないと、どろどろにならないんです」

Maomao “Kuzuyu desu. Oyuga hienai-uchini kakimaze-naito, doro-doroni nara-nain-desu.”

Maomao “It’s arrowroots gruel. You have to stir it before the water gets cold, otherwise it won’t melt and become sticky.”

壬氏「楽しそうだな…作りたい！」

Jinshi “Tanoshiso-dana… Tsukuri-tai!”

Jinshi “That sounds fun… I want to make it!”

猫猫（目をキラキラさせている！）

Maomao (Me’o kira-kira sasete-iru!)

Maomao (With sparkling eyes!)

高順「小猫…」

Gaoshun “Shaomao…”

Gaoshun “Xiaomao…”

猫猫（準備してやってくれと、目で訴えかけている！）

Maomao (Junbi-shite-yatte-kureto, mede uttae-kakete-iru!)

Maomao (He’s begging me with his eyes to prepare it for his master!)

猫猫「ああ…お湯をもう一度沸かさないと無理ですよ」

Maomao “Aa… Oyu’o mo-ichido wakasa-naito muri desuyo.”

Maomao “Oh… I’ll have to boil the water again.”

高順「火鉢で沸きますが…かまどで沸かしてこなくていいですか？」

Gaoshun “Hibachide waki-masuga… Kamadode wakashite-konakute ii-desuka?”

Gaoshun “It will boil in the brazier, but do I have to go boil it in a stove?”

猫猫「お湯も残ってますし…すぐに沸くと思います。少々お待ちください」

Maomao “Oyumo nokotte-masushi… Suguni wakuto omoi-masu. Sho-sho omachi kudasai.”

Maomao “There’s still hot water left…so I think it’ll boil soon. Please wait a moment.”

壬氏「ああ」

Jinshi “Aa.”

Jinshi “Okay.”

猫猫（たまに変な所で興味を持つから困る）

Maomao (Tamani henna tokorode kyomi’o motsu-kara komaru.)

Maomao (It’s annoying because sometimes he gets interested in strange things.)

壬氏「うん…へぇ…ふっふっ、うんうんうん、ああ…結構楽しいな。てっきり葛湯は、湯を入れるだけでできるものだと思っていた」

Jinshi “Un… Hee… Fu,fu, un-un-un, aa… Kekko tanoshiina. Tekkiri kuzuyuwa, yu’o ireru-dakede dekiru-monodato omotte-ita.”

Jinshi “Yes… Hmm… Yeah, yeah, oh, it’s quite fun. I thought that arrowroots gruel could be made just by adding hot water.”

猫猫「そうですか良かったですね（棒）」

Maomao “So-desuka, yokatta-desune.”

Maomao “I see, that’s good for you.”

壬氏「なんか雑じゃないか？返事」

Jinshi “Nanka zatsuja naika? Henji.”

Jinshi “Isn’t that a bit sloppy reply?”

雑な(ざつな/Zatsuna): sloppy, careless, rough

猫猫「いえ、滅相も無いです～。それより、先程の続きを調べたいのですが」

Maomao “Ie, messomo nai-desuuu. Sore-yori, saki-hodono tsuzuki’o shirabe-taino-desuga.”

Maomao “No, not at all. Anyway, I’d like to continue what I looked into earlier.”

壬氏「ああ…その前に」

Jinshi “Aa… Sono maeni.”

Jinshi “Yes… Before that,”

猫猫（何だ？高順に目配せか？）

Maomao (Nanda? Gaoshun’ni mekubase-ka?)

Maomao (What’s this? Are you giving a signal with his eyes to Gaoshun?)

目配せ(めくばせ/Mekubase): a signal with eyes

壬氏「寒くなったので、戸を閉めようか」

Jinshi “Samuku-natta-node, to’o shimeyoka.”

Jinshi “It’s getting cold, so shall we close the door?”

高順「かしこまりました」

Gaoshun “Kashiko-mari-mashita.”

Gaoshun “I understood.”

猫猫（ああ…あまりこの宮の連中に聞かせたくない話か。演奏の音も途絶えたし、宮にはほとんど人がおるまい）

Maomao (Aa… Amari kono miyano renchuni kikase-taku-nai hanashika. Ensono otomo todaetashi, miya-niwa hotondo hitoga oru-mai.)

Maomao (I see… This is not a story they want the other people to hear. The music has stopped, and there is probably hardly anyone around here.)

壬氏「まずは情報交換だな。何か分かったことはあるか？」

Jinshi “Mazuwa joho-kokan dana. Nanika wakatta kotowa aruka?”

Jinshi “Let’s start by exchanging information. Have you found out anything?”

猫猫「分かるも何も、とりあえず、時系列順から、楽団ごとに並べ替えてみました。おかしいと思ったことは…あると言えばあるのですが」

Maomao “Wakarumo-nanimo, tori-aezu, jikeiretsu-jun-kara, gakudan-gotoni narabe-kaete mimashita. Okashiito omotta kotowa… aruto ieba aruno-desuga.”

Maomao “Well, I don’t know but first I tried to sort them by orchestra, starting from chronological order. There may be some things that I thought were odd…”

壬氏「どこか気になることがあるようだが？」

Jinshi “Dokoka kini-naru kotoga aru-yodaga?”

Jinshi “It seems there’s something that bothers you, isn’t it?”

猫猫「敢えて言うなら、こちらでしょうか。この譜面なのですが、壬氏様は何かお気づきになりませんか？」

Maomao “Aete iu-nara, kochira deshoka. Kono fumen nano-desuga, Jinshi-samawa nanika okizukini nari-masenka?”

Maomao “If I had to say, perhaps it’d be this one. Don’t you notice anything about it, Master Jinshi?”

敢えて言うなら(あえていうなら/Aete iu-nara): If I had to say, If you ask me, If I was to say it.

壬氏「ふむ… 特に気になることと言えば、どことなく、歌詞が下手だな」

Jinshi “Fumu… Tokuni kini-naru kototo ieba, dokoto-naku, kashiga heta dana.”

Jinshi “Hmm… If there’s one thing that bothers me, it’s that the lyrics are somehow poor.”

下手な(へたな/Hetana): bad, poor, unskilled

高順「韻の踏み方が雑ですね」

Gaoshun “Inno fumi-kataga zatsu desune.”

Gaoshun “Its rhyming is sloppy.”

韻を踏む(いんをふむ/In’o fumu): rhyme  韻の踏み方(韻の踏み方/In’no fumi-kata): the way of rhyming

猫猫「なんで気づくんですか？」

Maomao “Nande kizukun-desuka?”

Maomao “How did you notice?”

壬氏「歌を作る時、ダメ出しされていた内容に似ていたからな。何より、赤字も入っているし」

Jinshi “Uta’o tsukuru-toki, dame-dashi sarete-ita naiyoni nite-ita-karana. Nani-yori, akajimo haitte-irushi.”

Jinshi “Because it is similar to the things that were being criticized when I was writing songs. And what’s more, it even has some red ink in it.”

ダメ出しする(だめだしする/Dame-dashi-suru): point out faults, criticize, disapprove, demand better work

猫猫（歌を作るって…どこの雅(みやび)な生まれだよ？）

Maomao (Uta’o tsukurutte… Dokono miyabina umare-dayo?)

Maomao (Writing songs… where are you from, elegant background?)

壬氏「…で、何が問題なんだ？」

Jinshi “…De, naniga mondai-nanda?”

Jinshi “So, what’s the problem?”

猫猫「音を変えることは依頼にあっても、歌詞を勝手に変えるのはどうかと思いまして。気になったのです。すると、同じ楽団ばかり、歌詞に赤字が入っていました。ここの楽団です」

Maomao “Oto’o kaeru-kotowa iraini attemo, kashi’o katteni kaeru-nowa dokato omoi-mashite. Kini nattano-desu. Suruto, onaji gakudan-bakari, kashini akajiga haitte-imashita. Kokono gakudan desu.”

Maomao “Even if the request was to change the sound, I wondered if it was Okay to change the lyrics without permission. So it bothered me. Then, I noticed that the lyrics for the same orchestra were written in red. It is the orchestra here.”

壬氏「リュウリュウタオ楽団？聞いたことないな…」

Jinshi “Ryu-Ryu-Tao-Gakudan? Kiita-koto naina…”

Jinshi “Ryu-Ryu-Tao Orchestra? I’ve never heard of it…”

I don’t know the correct Kanji and spelling of the orchestra name.

高順「大衆向けの楽団ですので、壬氏様は聞いたことがないのかと。大きな楽団ではありませんが、良い曲を奏でます。先帝時代に一度だけですが、宮廷に呼ばれたこともあったくらいですから…」

Gaoshun “Taishu-mukeno gakudan desu-node, Jinshi-samawa kiita-kotoga nai-nokato. Ookina gakudan-dewa ari-masenga, yoi kyoku’o kanade-masu. Sentei-jidaini ichido-dake-desuga, kyuteini yobareta kotomo atta-kurai desu-kara…”

Gaoshun “It’s a mass-oriented orchestra, so I think you’ve never heard of it, Master Jinshi. It’s not a big orchestra, but they play great music. They were even invited to the palace once during the reign of the previous emperor…”

猫猫「高順様が知っているのは意外でした。ちょっと特殊な楽団ですのに」

Maomao “Gaoshun-samaga shitte-iru-nowa igai deshita. Chotto tokushuna gakudan desu-noni.”

Maomao “I was surprised that you knew about it, Master Gaoshun. It’s a bit of an unusual orchestra.”

意外な(いがいな/Igaina): unexpected, surprising

高順「えっと…付き合いで何度か聴くことがありまして」

Gaoshun “Etto… Tsukiaide nandoka kiku-kotoga ari-mashite.”

Gaoshun “Um… I’ve listened to their music a few times socially.”

付き合いで(つきあいで/Tsukiaide): socially (It means he does not do it in private but in his social or business relationship.)

壬氏「特殊とは…どういうことなんだ？」

Jinshi “Tokushu-towa… do-iu koto nanda?”

Jinshi “What do you mean by ‘unusual’?”

猫猫「あ…所属している団長が女性でして…」

Maomao “A… Shozoku shite-iru danchoga josei deshite…”

Maomao “Ah… the leader of the orchestra is a woman…”

壬氏「ほう、それは珍しいが、別に全くないわけでもあるまい。どうして言いにくそうな顔をする？」

Jinshi “Ho, sorewa mezurashiiga, betsuni mattaku nai-wake-demo aru-mai. Doshite ii-niku-sona kao’o suru?”

Jinshi “Oh, that’s unusual, but it’s not completely unheard of. Why do you look so reluctant to say it?”

猫猫「花街を中心に活動している…と言えば、お察しいただけますか？」

Maomao “Hanamachi’o chushin’ni katsudo shite-iru…to ieba, osasshi itadake-masuka?”

Maomao “If I say that they are mainly active in the pleasure district… would that give you an idea?”

壬氏「ああ…つまり、団長というのは妓女か」

Jinshi “Aa… Tsumari, dancho-to iu-nowa gijoka.”

Jinshi “Ah… So the leader is a courtesan.”

猫猫「はい。正しくは、元妓女ですね。妓女を引退し、楽団を作ったとのことで、所属の団員にも、元妓女が多くいます」

Maomao “Hai. Tadashikuwa, moto-gijo desune. Gijo’o intai-shi, gakudan’o tsukutta-tono-kotode, shozokuno dan’in-nimo, moto-gijoga ooku imasu.”

Maomao “Yes. To be precise, she is a former courtesan. She retired from being a courtesan and started the orchestra, and there are many former courtesans among the members.”

猫猫（花街にいた時、何度か演奏を聞いたことがあった）

Maomao (Hanamachini ita-toki, nandoka enso’o kiita-kotoga atta.)

Maomao (I’ve heard their play a few times when I was in the pleasure district.)

壬氏「元妓女の楽団が、拙い歌詞を書いたのが、どこかおかしいのか？」

Jinshi “Moto-gijono gakudanga, tsutanai kashi’o kaita-noga, dokoka okashii-noka?”

Jinshi “Is there something strange about a former courtesan’s orchestra writing poor lyrics?”

拙い(つたない/Tsutanai): poor, unskillful, clumsy

猫猫「妓女の世界は、生存競争が厳しいのです。楽団に所属するような女であれば、芸を極めた、元高級妓女です。そんな人が後宮の、ましてや妃あてに下手な歌詞を送り付けるのかと思いまして…」

Maomao “Gijono sekaiwa, seizon-kyosoga kibishiino-desu. Gakudan’ni shozoku suru-yona onna’de areba, gei’o kiwameta, moto-kokyu-gijo desu. Sonna hitoga kokyuno, mashiteya kisaki-ateni hetana kashi’o okuri-tsukeru-nokato omoi-mashite…”

Maomao “The world of courtesans is a tough place to survive. A woman who belongs to an orchestra is a former high-ranking courtesan who has perfected her art. I was wondering why such a person would send such poorly written lyrics to the rear palace, let alone to the concubine…”

壬氏「たまたま作詞が下手だったのかもしれんぞ」

Jinshi “Tama-tama sakushiga heta-dattano-kamo shirenzo.”

Jinshi “Maybe she just happened to be weak in writing lyrics.”

猫猫「ならば、作詞が上手い者に依頼するくらいできるでしょう。妓女の中には、詩歌に秀でている者もたくさんいますから。なので、ついつい確認してしまいました」

Maomao “Naraba, sakushiga umai mononi irai-suru-kurai dekiru-desho. Gijono naka-niwa, shiikani hiidete-iru monomo takusan imasu-kara. Nanode, tsui-tsui kakunin shite-shimai-mashita.”

Maomao “In that case, she can probably ask someone who is good at writing lyrics. There are many courtesans who excel in poetry, after all. So I couldn’t help but check.”

壬氏「で？確認したらどうだった？」

Jinshi “De? Kakunin-shitara do-datta?”

Jinshi “So, what happened when you checked?”

猫猫「妙な共通点に気が付きました」

Maomao “Myona kyotsu-ten’ni kiga tsuki-mashita.”

Maomao “I noticed a strange similarity.”

壬氏「どんな？」

Jinshi “Donna?”

Jinshi “What is it like?”

猫猫「赤字で添削されている歌詞にあたる音が、全て同じなんです。これだと、同じ「ハ」の音にあたる歌詞ばかり添削されているんです」

Maomao “Akajide tensaku sarete-iru kashini ataru otoga, subete onaji nan-desu. Kore-dato, onaji ‘Ha’no otoni ataru kashi-bakari tensaku sarete-irun-desu.”

Maomao “All the sounds for the lyrics that have been corrected in red are the same. In this case, only lyrics that have the same ‘Ha’ sound have been corrected.”

壬氏「ん？ああ…本当だが、偶然というわけでは…」

Jinshi “N? Aa… Honto-daga, guzen-to-iu wake-dewa…”

Jinshi “Hmm? Ah… That’s true, but isn’t it just a coincidence…?”

偶然(ぐうぜん/Guzen): coincidence, by chance

猫猫「だと思ったのですが…気になって、「ハ」の音にあたる歌詞を書き出してみました」

Maomao “Dato omottano-desuga… kini natte, ‘Ha’no otoni ataru kashi’o kaki-dashite-mimashita.”

Maomao “I thought so…, but I was curious, so I wrote out the lyrics that correspond to the ‘Ha’ sound.”

壬氏「ニー…ハオ…マ…って、文章になるぞ」

Jinshi “Nii…hao…ma…tte, bunshoni naruzo.”

Jinshi “How…are…yo… it makes a sentence.”

猫猫「お元気ですか。と…ごく普通の、挨拶の定型文ですね」

Maomao “Ogenki desuka. To…goku futsuno, aisatsuno teikei-bun desune.”

Maomao “‘How are you?’ That’s a very ordinary, standard greeting.”

壬氏「暗号文か！」

Jinshi “Ango-bun-ka!”

Jinshi “Ciphertext!”

猫猫「はい。でも、後宮の検閲を避けるための暗号かと思いきや、随分のんびりとした内容で唖然としました。歌詞が下手だった理由は、暗号を成立させるためだったようです」

Maomao “Hai. Demo, kokyuno ken’etsu’o sakeru-tameno ango-kato omoi-kiya, zuibun nonbiri-to shita naiyode azento shimashita. Kashiga heta-datta riyuwa, ango’o seiritsu-saseru-tame datta-yodesu.”

Maomao “Yes. However, I was surprised at how leisurely the content was, as I had thought it was a code to avoid the censorship of the rear palace. It seems that the reason the lyrics were poorly written was to make the code work.”

壬氏「なんでまた…。もしかして、さらにここから暗号になっている…というわけでもなさそうだな」

Jinshi “Nande mata… Moshika-shite, sarani koko-kara angoni natte-iru…to-iu wake-demo nasaso-dana.”

Jinshi “Why on earth…? Maybe it’s going to be coded further from here… No, it’s not like that.”

猫猫「リュウリュウタオ楽団は、二十五年程前から文を送っていたようです。内容といい相手といい、文が恋文という訳でもない。一体何の意味があって、いつから暗号でやりとりをしていたのか気になるのですが、初期の原文が見つからないのです。写しで、文の内容が書き換えられているのなら、暗号を読むことは不可能です」

Maomao “Ryu-Ryu-Tao-Gakudanwa, niju-go-nen-hodo-mae-kara fumi’o okutte-ita-yodesu. Naiyo-to-ii aite-to-ii, fumiga koibumi-to-iu wake-demo nai. Ittai nanno imiga atte, itsu-kara angode yaritori’o shite-ita-noka kini-naruno-desuga, shokino genbunga mitsukara-naino-desu. Utsushide, fumino naiyoga kaki-kae-rarete-iruno-nara, ango’o yomu-kotowa fukano desu.”

Maomao “It seems that the Ryu-Ryu-Tao Orchestra has sent messages for about 25 years. Judging by the content and the recipient, it’s not like the letters were love letters. I’m curious as to what the significance is and when they started exchanging messages in code, but I can’t find the original texts. If they’re copies and the content has been altered, it’s impossible to read the code.”

壬氏「最初は原文を添削し、そのまま返却していたと言っていたな」

Jinshi “Saishowa genbun’o tensaku-shi, sono-mama henkyaku shite-itato itte-itana.”

Jinshi “She said that at first they corrected the original text and returned it as is.”

高順「佩芳様が、依頼で編曲を始めたのが、二十五年ほど前。初めの5年程は、原文が残っていません」

Gaoshun “Beifan-samaga, iraide henkyoku’o hajimeta-noga, niju-go-nen-hodo mae. Hajimeno go-nen-hodowa, genbunga nokotte-imasen.”

Gaoshun “Lady Beifang began arranging songs as requested about 25 years ago, and no originals text remains for the first 5 years or so.”

猫猫「二十年前の時点では、もう暗号でやりとりをしていたようです。一度聞いただけで曲を覚えてしまうという佩芳様なら、何度もおかしな歌詞を送りつけてくる楽団の意図を、読めたのかもしれません。あれだけ牧歌的な内容であれば、返信も、一筆書き添えるくらいで終わりましょう」

Maomao “Niju-nen-maeno jiten-dewa, mo angode yaritori’o shite-ita-yodesu. Ichido kiita-dakede kyoku’o oboete-shimau-to-iu Beifan-sama-nara, nandomo okashina kashi’o okuri-tsukete-kuru gakudan’no ito’o, yometano-kamo shire-masen. Aredake bokka-tekina naiyode areba, henshin’mo, ippitsu kaki-soeru kuraide owari-masho.”

Maomao “It seems that they were already communicating in code twenty years ago. Since Lady Beifang could remember a song after hearing it just once, she may have been able to read the intention of the orchestra that kept sending her strange lyrics. If the content was so idyllic, the reply would have been as simple as adding a line.”

壬氏「ふむ… では、仮に、後宮の検閲を欺くように文通していたとしよう。それが何になる？」

Jinshi “Fumu… Dewa, karini, kokyuno ken’etsu’o azamuku-yoni buntsu shite-ita-to shiyo. Sorega nan’ni naru?”

Jinshi “Well… Let’s say that they were exchanging letters to deceive the censors at the rear palace. What would that mean?”

仮に～としよう(かりに～としよう/Karini～to-shiyo): let’s say that～

猫猫「私には分かりません。私は、佩芳様とは立場が違います。解読できる文の暗号を見る限り、怪しいものでも何でもなく、親しい姉妹にでも話しかけるような内容が多いです」

Maomao “Watashi-niwa wakari-masen. Watashiwa, Beifan-sama-towa tachibaga chigai-masu. Kaidoku dekiru fumino ango’o miru-kagiri, ayashii mono-demo nan-demo naku, shitashii shimaini-demo hanashi-kakeru-yona naiyoga ooi-desu.”

Maomao “I don’t know. I’m not in the same position as Lady Beifang. From what I can decipher from the codes in the messages, they’re not suspicious at all, and most of them seem like they’re being spoken to by close sisters.”

猫猫（…あ？姉妹？）

Maomao (…A? Shimai?)

Maomao (…Huh? Sisters?)

壬氏「相手の意図は分からないが、他の楽団と扱いが違うことは明らかだな」

Jinshi “Aiteno itowa wakara-naiga, tano gakudan-to atsukaiga chigau kotowa akiraka-dana.”

Jinshi “I don’t know what their intentions are, but it’s clear that they’re treated differently from other orchestras.”

高順「早速楽団を調べてみます」

Gaoshun “Sassoku gakudan’o shirabete-mimasu.”

Gaoshun “I’ll check out the orchestra right away.”

早速(さっそく/Sassoku): right away, at once, immediately

猫猫（さすが…マメな男は動きが早い）

Maomao (Sasuga…mamena otokowa ugokiga hayai.)

Maomao (As expected… a diligent man moves quickly.)

壬氏「これで相続人がはっきりすればいいが…」

Jinshi “Korede sozoku-ninga hakkiri-sureba iiga…”

Jinshi “I hope this will clarify who the heir is…”

猫猫「そのことで、一つ質問が」

Maomao “Sono-kotode, hitotsu shitsumonga.”

Maomao “About that, I have a question.”

壬氏「何だ？」

Jinshi “Nanda?”

Jinshi “What?”

猫猫「佩芳様が作った曲が、宮廷楽団に渡されるとして、ここにある残りの譜面も文も一緒に送られるのでしょうか？」

Maomao “Beifan-samaga tsukutta kyokuga, kyutei-gakudan’ni wata-sareru-to-shite, kokoni aru nokorino fumen’mo fumi’mo isshoni oku-rareruno-deshoka?”

Maomao “If the piece composed by Lady Beifang is to be given to the palace orchestra, will the remaining music sheets and letters here be sent along with it?”

壬氏「宮廷楽団はそう主張しているが…恐らく焼却処分する気だろう」

Jinshi “Kyutei-gakudanwa so shucho shite-iruga…osoraku shokyaku-shobun suru-ki daro.”

Jinshi “That’s what the palace orchestra claims, but they probably plan to incinerate it.”

猫猫「どうしてですか？」

Maomao “Doshite desuka?”

Maomao “Why?”

壬氏「曲を自分だけの曲にするなら、証拠は残したくないだろ。それに、曲によっては、佩芳殿の編曲がなければ、凡庸すぎるものもある。原曲を大っぴらにされたら、恥をかく人間はいくらでもいよう」

Jinshi “Kyoku’o jibun-dakeno kyokuni suru-nara, shokowa nokoshi-taku-nai-daro. Soreni, kyokuni yottewa, Beifan-donono henkyokuga nakereba, bon’yo-sugiru monomo aru. Genkyoku’o ooppirani sare-tara, haji’o kaku ningenwa ikura-demo iyo.”

Jinshi “If you make a song your own, you don’t want to leave any evidence behind. Besides, some songs are too mediocre without Lady Beifang’s arrangements. If the original song were made public, many people would be embarrassed.”

猫猫（なるほど…。このままだと主の功績がなくなってしまうのに、嬌嬌はいいのだろうか。…いや、もしかすると…！）

Maomao (Naruhodo… Kono-mama-dato arujino kosekiga naku-natte-shimau-noni, Kyokyowa iino-daroka. …Iya, moshika-suruto…!)

Maomao (I see… If things continue like this, the master’s achievements will be lost, yet is it okay for Kyokyo? No, maybe…!)

壬氏「何か言いたそうだな？」

Jinshi “Nanika iitaso-dana?”

Jinshi “You seem to have something to say, don’t you?”

猫猫「いえ、何でもありません」

Maomao “Ie, nan-demo ari-masen.”

Maomao “No, it’s nothing.”

壬氏「本当か？」

Jinshi “Hontoka?”

Jinshi “Is that true?”

猫猫（顔近い！顔近い！）

Maomao (Kao chikai! Kao chikai!)

Maomao (Your face is so close! Your face is so close!)

高順「小猫…。黒光りする虫を前にした表情はやめてください」

Gaoshun “Shaomao… Kuro-bikari-suru mushi’o maeni-shita hyojowa yamete-kudasai.”

Gaoshun “Xiaomao… Please stop making that face as if you’re faced with a shiny black insect.”

猫猫（高順…まだいた。…フッ。ああ、いかん、いかん。顔の体操っと）

Maomao (Gaoshun…mada ita. …Fu. Aa, ikan, ikan. Kaono taisotto.)

Maomao (Gaoshun…he was still there. Oh, no, no. Time to do some facial exercises.)

壬氏「高順の言うことなら聞くのか？」

Jinshi “Gaoshun’no iu-koto-nara kiku-noka?”

Jinshi “Do you follow only if what Gaoshun says?”

猫猫「そういう訳ではないのですが」

Maomao “So-iu wake-dewa naino-desuga.”

Maomao “That’s not the case though.”

壬氏「情報が足りないか」

Jinshi “Johoga tarinaika.”

Jinshi “Is there not enough information?”

猫猫「はい」

Maomao “Hai.”

Maomao “You’re right.”

壬氏「何が必要か？」

Jinshi “Naniga hitsuyo-ka?”

Jinshi “What do you need?”

猫猫「もう少し時間と…あと、やぶ…あ、じゃなくて…医官様に聞きたいことがあります」

Maomao “Mo-sukoshi jikanto…ato, Yabu…a, ja-nakute… Ikan-samani kikitai kotoga ari-masu.”

Maomao “I need a little more time and… Also, Quack… Ah, no, I mean… There’s something I’d like to ask the Doctor.”

壬氏「医官殿にか？別にいいが、明日でも問題は無いか？許可は出しておこう」

Jinshi “Ikan-dono-nika? Betsuni iiga, asu-demo mondaiwa naika? Kyokawa dashite-oko.”

Jinshi “The Doctor? That’s fine, but is there any problem with doing it tomorrow? I’ll give you permission.”

猫猫「問題ありません。今日は、他にやることがありますので」

Maomao “Mondai ari-masen. Kyowa hokani yaru-kotoga ari-masu-node.”

Maomao “No problem. I have other things to do today.”

壬氏「それで、何が分かる？」

Jinshi “Sorede, naniga wakaru?”

Jinshi “What will we know by that?”

猫猫「分かるかもしれませんし、分からないかもしれません」

Maomao “Wakaru-kamo shire-masenshi, wakara-nai-kamo shire-masen.”

Maomao “We may be or may not be going to know.”

壬氏「はっきりさせてほしい」

Jinshi “Hakkiri-sasete hoshii.”

Jinshi “I want to be clear.”

猫猫「私にも、できることとできないことがありますので。むしろ、壬氏様こそ、妙にこだわっているように思えますが」

Maomao “Watashi-nimo, dekiru-kototo dekinai-kotoga ari-masu-node. Mushiro, Jinshi-sama-koso, myoni kodawatte-iru-yoni omoe-masuga.”

Maomao “Since there are things I can and cannot do. Rather, it seems to me that you are the one who is strangely particular about this matter.”

猫猫（故人の意向を聞きたいというのは分かるが、お偉いさんが出張ってすることだろうか？ましてや徹夜してまで）

Maomao (Kojin’no iko’o kikitai-to-iu-nowa wakaruga, oerai-sanga debatte suru-koto daroka? Mashiteya tetsuya shite-made.)

Maomao (I understand that he wants to know the wish of the deceased, but is this something that a high-ranking official should do? Especially even by staying up all night.)

壬氏「皇太后は、佩芳殿の曲を好まれている。もし子がいなければ、皇太后もまた、佩芳殿と同じ道を辿ることになったのだ」

Jinshi “Kogaigowa, Beifan-donono kyoku’o konomarete-iru. Moshi koga ina-kereba, kotaigomo mata, Beifan-donoto onaji michi’o tadoru-kotoni natta-noda.”

Jinshi “The Empress Dowager likes Lady Beifang’s music. If she had no children, she would have followed the same path as Lady Beifang.”

猫猫（皇太后の意向…。なら、こだわるわけか。元はどちらも、幼女趣味の皇帝に人生を狂わされた人たちだものな…）

Maomao (Kotaigono iko… Nara, kodawaru-wakeka. Motowa dochiramo, yojo-shumino koteini jinsei’o kuruwa-sareta hito-tachi damonona…)

Maomao (The Empress Dowager’s wish. So, that’s why he’s very particular about it. After all, both of them had their lives ruined by the former emperor’s taste for young girls…)

猫猫「できる限りのことは、させていただきます」

Maomao “Dekiru-kagirino kotowa, sasete-itadaki-masu.”

Maomao “I’ll do everything I can.”

壬氏「頼んだぞ」

Jinshi “Tanondazo.”

Jinshi “I’m counting on you.”

(Continue to 3/3...)

　

[prinsomnia]

adding another peek to my piece for Vol. 3 of Classics But Make It Gay to tell you that pre-orders are open right now! 🌷🌈 believe me when i say that its an absolutely beautiful book full of so many unique voices and beautiful art that makes any little gay heart so happy. go and snag a copy here (’til June 15th!)

[trigun-manga-overhaul]

TRIGUN ULTIMATE OVERHAUL JULY UPDATE

OVERHAUL UPDATE 07/07/23 - The Japanese Scans.

Hey everyone and welcome to this month's update!

As has been customary the last half a year, work is still coming along slowly, all except for scanning. We do have our occasional spikes of productivity here and there, but the online presence is a constantly trickle of work, something I personally as the runner of the blog am enjoying a lot.

One of the main things currently being worked on right now are the Japanese scans, as we decided to use our scans to help out on that front as well. It comes with its own fair share of preparation, changing how we do our page cleaning and increasing the amount storage required since we'll now be having three versions of the manga lying around.

For those not interested in the technicalities, there's nice 2.0 pages below for you to check out! Beyond that, thank you so much for following and supporting our project!

~~

Read more about the process below:

In order for us to have Japanese scans ready as well, we need to firstly make that version before removing all text. That means it begins as usual; removing paper textures, balancing the tones, repairing page damage, making the two page spreads seamless, general page quality check, and lastly page resizing.

We save the Japanese pages as such and then start on another version where we remove the Japanese text, restoring art covered by text and the bubbles themselves. Then we save the fully cleaned pages in original size to keep the clean art for artist purposes and keep resized versions for typesetting for any language.

We'll still be doing page number typesetting for the Japanese versions, as we've used the Japanese Omnibuses for our scans and to reflect our singular volume release form, the page numbers have to match that of singular volumes.

~~

Below we want to show a few examples of how the Japanese scans that we will release will look like:

Right now the preparations for the Japanese scans is slow, as the idea to release them as well came later. That means that the raw scans were already deleted from personal storage, leaving us with only fully cleaned pages, and therefore we had to redownload the raws. They had to be balanced again but it was easy enough to add the repair work from the fully cleaned pages, as it was simply a matter of copying and pasting chunks of cleaned pages onto the new ones.

~~

Colored pages aren't as easy to work with, however, as it is harder to reach the exact same tone. Luckily there are few of those that require us to put old edits onto new scans. Many of them are like the page below:

Until now, only TriMax Vol 1 is ready in the Japanese version and TriMax Vol 2 is currently in works. Once we reach three chapters into TriMax Vol 3 we'll be able to follow the new cleaning plan and no extra restoration work will be required.

~~

Here's a few more examples of the new scans, take note of the readability of more messy text like scribbles and sound effects:

All the Japanese scans will be released only in PDF format in the future. We'll only share the PNGs of the pages on direct personal request.

~~

Anyway, that's all for today's update. Time for me to go back to blasting PetroDragonic Apocalypse on repeat for another few hours.

If there are any topics that you want to see for future updates, don't hesitate to let us know!

SEE YOU GUYS NEXT MONTH!

[grocerystorephobic]

2, 3, 10, 11

2. Did you reread anything? What?

Not really! I've been itching to reread The Poe Clan and Rose of Versailles, both of which I read super fast via library copies, and now that I have my own I want to give them the space they deserve. That will be a task for 2025, I suppose!

Not technically a reread (and not technically a book, but neither are the previous answers) but I did read the full, original Ms.Scribe account when previously I'd only heard it summarized by secondary sources. That was fun!

3. What were your top five books of the year?

Honestly? This was kind of a bleh year for me. There were no big standout favorites. Here's what I got, though.

(These rankings are mostly arbitrary. There is no world where William Marston is a better writer than Harriet Jacobs)

Affinity by Sarah Waters

I have a particular brain problem where if a book is too similar to things I write/want to write I enter hyper-critical mode and I cannot enjoy it. Sarah Waters writes dark gothic Victorian lesbian romances, but she's so fucking good it bypasses my hater impulse. She is on a level I cannot even comprehend. Gorgeous prose, complex and nuanced characters, it's a well-plotted and riveting mystery. I have some qualms with the ending, but they're the sort of qualms only an invested reader can have.

2. Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Vol. 1

I feel like I will never shut up about this. I had some many thoughts I even wrote a review already! I will link it here.

3. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs

A "real" account of a woman and her life and escape from slavery in the pre-Civil War American south. It was written explicitly as Abolitionist propaganda, and while some moments it is very sickly sentimental to a modern perspective (and the veracity of the specifics can be questionable), it's overall an extremely harrowing book. I listened to the entire second half in a single night because I was so enraptured by the story. I did not want to leave until our narrator was free. Jacobs does not mince her words when it comes to the horrors she endured, and lets loose intense Christian fury at the supposedly devout who could commit such horrors.

4. Princess Knight by Osamu Tezuka

I finally got around to reading some Tezuka this year! I knew how heavy the Disney influence was, in theory, but I was really blown away. It's weirdly coherent to read purely from the average media diet of the American child. Princess Knight is a story about a child who, due to a fuck up by a rowdy angel, is born with both a "girl's" heart and a "boy's" heart. She has to navigate a world that is constantly trying to put her into a box: scheming relatives who want her to become a girl so that she cannot inherit the thrown vs. an evil witch who wants her to become a boy so she can give the "girl" heart to her tomboy daughter.

I really loved this dichotomy, but sadly the story did not stick the landing. Sapphire loses her boy heart and becomes a girl in the last third-- and it's barely remarked upon. The final conflict is some forced amnesia plot brought on by a last minute ass-pull antagonist, and it completely loses the theme in the shuffle.

But again-- I guess these are the criticisms of an invested reader. I can't wait to read more Tezuka, I was way more into it than I anticipated.

5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

It was a charming, comfy read. Genuinely funny. I laughed outloud multiple times when reading. There's not much to say about this that hasn't already been said. Despite expectations, I really like Jane Austen.

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

What, they're still making new books? I coulda sworn they quit at some point in the 20th century....

In all seriousness. The only thing released in 2024 that I read in 2024 was Party Hard. And it was really fucked up (positive). So I guess it wins by default!

11. What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

Discounting the previous answers for variety's sake, I will say that I also enjoyed the Bedford Cultural Edition of The Yellow Wallpaper I picked up from a free book shelf years ago. I also wrote a review back when I read it.

[gellavonhamster]

Tagged by @afoxnamedmulder (thank you!) to share 9 books I want to read in 2025 ✨

Tagging @kashilascorner, @lesamis, @balkanballad, and @fairyhagmother (if you want to answer, of course)

Notes on each book, which I didn't have to do but wanted to:

The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco - I had no idea it existed until recently, but someone left it in the bookcrossing cabinet we have set up at work (I'm so curious as to who left this one, Pratchett, and Ursula Le Guin among all the crime novels of varying levels of quality), so now it's waiting for its turn on my bookshelf, and I think I'm gonna pick it up next as soon as I finish The Left Hand of Darkness.

Books of Blood Vol. 2 by Clive Barker - I'm actually planning to read all the volumes I haven't read yet, that is, all of them except the first and the fifth ones. I started with the fifth one to read the short story Candyman (1992) is based on and found the entire collection so interesting that it made me wanna read the rest.

Jaufre: An Occitan Arthurian Romance - no idea what it's gonna be, I just saw a hilarious excerpt from it on Tumblr and decided I should read it.

Lays of the Round Table by Ernest Rhys - another find on the Arthuriana Tumblr <3 I don't read nearly enough poetry, so it feels like a good pick.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - I decided to reread it while I was watching the new adaptation. It's been at least 15 years since I read it, so in many ways it's probably going to be like reading a new book I've head a lot about. Quite excited for this.

One Piece Novel Heroines Vol. 2 by Jun Esaka - apparently both volumes are to be published in English next year, but I've already read the first one in French. Looking forward to it - the first volume was very sweet, and the second one is going feature some of my favourite girls; I'm particularly excited for Tashigi and Reiju's stories.

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence - for no other reason than I keep stumbling upon various mentions of it lately and it makes me go "this might be a sign I should read it".

The Bird's Nest by Shirley Jackson - Jackson is one of the best, god-I-wish-I-wrote-like-that writers that I've read, and it's high time I let myself be disturbed by another book of hers.

Winter's Gifts by Ben Aaronovitch - another desperate attempt to keep up with this series; every time I think I've read all the books in it, it turns out that, in fact, there's more.

Not pictured: two books by two friends getting published next year <3 I've read both of them already, but owning and rereading a physical copy is gonna hit different. Can't post the cover for one of them because it hasn't been officially announced yet (but I've already seen it because I'm VIP like that) and the other I haven't seen yet, but if any Russian-speaking followers of mine are reading this, keep an eye out for the "Нарушители" cycle by Yelena Yadrenceva and "Хэллгейт: семья" by Astash :)

[vettelsvee]

VEE'S F1 PROMPTS LIST (VOL. I) ⋆ I've been thinking of this for quite a while and I've finally decided to post this! So, if you want to, feel free to requests as many times as you want <3 ─ Drivers I write for: anyone (current F1 grid or retired). ─ Send me your requests via Tumblr Inbox (+ some idea in case you want me to write something specific). Just choose a number from the following ones and tell me the driver you want me to write about! ─ The ones in bold are already taken and will be posted as soon as possible

© VETTELSVEE (2025). please, do not steal, copy or translate my works. thanks for reading!

1. "Your face is so adorable. I bet the rest of your body is" 2. "You want that book? I'll buy you the whole series" ↳ Oscar Piastri 3. "Darling, are you feeling well?" 4. "Would it be all right if I borrowed your sweater? It smells like you" ↳ Lando Norris 5. "I might have slept with your robe when you were gone" 6. "If you steal the blankets, I am going to put my cold feet on you" ↳ Max Verstappen 7. "Here, let's share the blanket" 8. "You have to be quiet if you want to cum" ↳ Lando Norris 9. "But I want to hear you sing" 10. "I'm gonna fuck you until you beg me to stop" 11. "Are you gonna be good for me?" ↳ Lewis Hamilton 12. "Don't get up - I'll do it" 13. "Star-gazing was a good idea" 14. "You look beautiful/handsome in the moonlight" 15. "I think I love you"

16. "I'll always be here for you" 17. "How about something warm? It'll help you sleep" 18. "It's okay. I couldn't sleep anyway" 19. Don't be silly. I want to stay up with you" 20. "It's not morning yet" 21. "Have a nice nap?" 22. "You have sleepy stuff in your eyes" 23. "Time to wake up sweetie. It's a new day" 24. "You stayed up past your bedtime again, didn't you?" 25. "Why don't we take a nap together? We can be nap buddies" ↳ Carlos Sainz 26. "You're exhausted, honey" 27. "Are you blushing?" ✅ "Hey, hey, hey, don't let them say that. You're beautiful" ↳ Lewis Hamilton 29. "Yeah, you're cold. I'm giving you my jacket" 30. "It looks better on you anyway" 31. "You look pretty today" 32. "Can we get married already?" ↳ Lando Norris 33. "Oh, uh, hey. I just wanted to remind you that I love you" ↳ Sebastian Vettel 34. "We should compare hands, you know. Science" "What?" "What? It's not like we haven't done anything worse" ↳ Carlos Sainz 35. "You're cute" "What" "I said you look like a fruit" "That doesn't even make sneak" 36. "Yeah, okay, so what if I dreamt about kissing you? Don't we all do that to our best friends ...No? What do you mean no?" 37. "This sounds like you're flirting with me" "...I have been trying to do that for three years now" ↳ Sebastian Vettel 38. "You're the most important person of my life" 39. "Welcome to fatherhood" 40. "God, I'm never leaving your side again" 41. "I got the mirror so you can see yourself while I'm fucking you" ↳ Sebastian Vettel 42. "Don't touch me. Just watch" ↳ Sebatian Vettel 43. "What are you wearing?" 44. "Just watch them having sex with me. Maybe it'll give us some ideas" 45. "Your hair is really soft after you wash it" 46. "Ssh. Stop fussing. I'm just braiding your hair" ↳ Sebastian Vettel 47. "You smell really nice" 48. "You're my new pillow" 49. "We can talk over dinner" 50. "Don't be stubborn. Try it!"

[theneptuneviolin]

Twenty Books Challenge

Hypothetically, you are only able to keep 20 of your books. Only one book per author/series. So what books are you keeping? Credit due to @the-forest-library. I was tagged by @drasnianfrank (a while ago… ooops)

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon - If I had to narrow down a single favourite book (not list off about five) I would probably choose this one.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - I spent a while deciding which of the Locked Tomb books I wanted to keep and it could be any of them really but I think that Gideon is the most fun of the three of them so far.

Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend - The Nevermoor series really itches the part of my brain that still wants to go on a whimsical adventure like i did when reading fantasy adventures at age twelve. While lots of them still work for me, many of them don’t and the ones that do, I’m coming at from a different perspective now. This series is a rare new-to-me series from the 8-12 shelves that does work for me and Hollowpox in particular unlocked the not-often seen part of me that got properly obsessive and immediately wanted to read the book again from the start as soon as I finished it the first time.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - My copy is one of the books I’ve had the longest and honestly looks its age. I’ve lent it to so many people and now the spine is held together with tape, the cover is crumpled and curled and it smells of cigarettes. It’s definitely not the strongest of Riordan’s books and it’s not my favourite (that might be The Hammer of Thor) but the physical object is special to me - it was also one of the rare spur-of-the-moment gifts from my mum.

The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso - Caruso is really good at fast-paced, compelling novels with interesting characters and I love her stuff.

W.i.t.c.h. vol 6 (Yen Press versions) (this is arc 2 vol 3 containing issues 21-24) - I have several versions of the W.i.t.c.h. comics so it was a matter of deciding which versions counted (I am keeping all of my magazines & single issues in this hypothetical) and which one I wanted to keep. I decided not to go for something after my magazines end (shortly after which the comics get bad) but for an alternate translation of my favourite issue (21; I love this version of Cassidy).

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison - I listened to the audiobook of this recently from the library (I would not recommend the audiobook because the worldbuilding is so intricate that a spent a long time being confused about things that i don't think would have confused me in print) and it’s the first new (to me) thing in a long time that has made me want to read fanfiction. I asked for the physical book for my birthday so I could reread it.

Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott - I originally read this in secondary school and it was the first thing I read that dealt with depression so it did things to me. I read it again a few years ago and it doesn’t hold up (but is still okay if your expectations aren’t too high) and there have been criticisms of one of Marriott’s later books that also apply to this one but I have some emotional attachments to this one and don’t think I could let it go entirely.

Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire - While I think most of the Wayward Children series is enjoyable but not amazing, this one got me in the gender feels, which is something that I don’t get very often (I know i need to read more indie/self published books) and I had a very good time with it.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - I have not read this book and probably never will. My copy was a gift from my grandma from her collection because she thought it might be useful for my English lit A-level. It was not. But it’s still a really nice copy and the copyright date for the introduction and illustrations make it the oldest book (as an item, not oldest from first publication date) in my collection (possibly excepting the matching edition of Jane Eyre, which she gave me at the same time but contains no copyright dates).

Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas - Knowing her current reputation for smut and what a lot of my friends know about me (not into romance or shipping) this might seem an odd choice but let me take you back to 2012 when the first Throne of Glass book came out: It was in the teen section of the discount book catalogue my mum got in the post, which I read and asked my mum to get me the book with the cool-sounding assassin plot, which she did. When I read it, I loved it (I have long been easily pleased by fast paced plots) and yeah it had a love triangle - but what girly teen books at the time didn’t? (also I still had some stuff to figure out) - but I was still desperate for the next one. I did read the rest of the series as soon as I could but Heir of Fire was my favourite for a long time. Some of it was it was the last book where (on first read) it was still what I wanted it to be (I think there was a definite shift post ACoTaR’s success but some of it was absolutely there in earlier books) and some it the book’s own strengths and some of it was that I went to see her give a talk and a signing session. Also I spent years in the fandom; I still have a sideblog even if I don’t use it and am slightly embarrassed by my old interest.

A Pocketful of Crows by Joanne M Harris - We have definitely reached a zone where all these books are somewhat tenuous. 20 books is somehow too many for me under these rules to fill with books I feel strongly about. I read this one on my first trip home from uni when I was sat at the train station for an hour because I missed my connection. I really liked it then (it was not as good on reread but still enjoyable).

Killing the dead by Marcus Sedgewick - I remember this being excellent when I read it as a teenager. I keep meaning to reread it and I don’t know why I haven’t because it’s one of those tiny world book day short stories.

Avalon High by Meg Cabot - Another book I read as a teenager and had strong feelings about. I reread it a few years ago and it still holds up (unlike the movie lol).

Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gale Carson Levine - I read this book as a kid and still have strong feelings about it. I reread it a few years ago and it still mostly holds up (although the rest of the Disney Fairies books that I (re)read mostly do not).

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr - I also read this series as a teenager and had strong feelings about it. I also keep meaning to rereading it.

Ketchup clouds by Annabel Pitcher - “I read this as a teenager and had strong feelings about it” camp again.

Candor by Pam Bachorz - “I read this as a teenager and had strong feelings about it” camp again.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusack - “I read this as a teenager and had strong feelings about it” camp again.

Acid by Emma Pass - “I read this as a teenager and had strong feelings about it” camp again. It’s also one of the few teen dystopian books I read in the post-Hunger Games boom that wasn’t set in North America.

I'm tagging @keeperofthetongatooth, @stormykindofgrey, @tiskycat, @satohqbanana and anyone who fancies this.

[kindaoptimisticsquirrel]

Trigun Bookclub Trimax Vol8 Part1

Vol01: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3  | Vol02: Part 1 | Part 2

Trimax: Vol01 Part 1 Vol01 Part 2 | Vol02 Part 1 Vol02 Part 2 |

Vol 03 Part 1 | Vol03 Part2 | Vol04 Part1 | Vol04 Part2 | Vol05 |

Vol06 | Vol07 | Vol08 Part1

As a warning, I will start babbling about Vashwood in this volume (though not really in this part yet) and then probably in all volumes to come, too. Obviously because I love the pairing but also because their relationship is so important and impactful, and this volume marks such an important milestone.

What I really like in Vash and the talk between him and Knives at the start of Chapter 1 is, that Vash also acknowledges the pain and abuse that humans have inflicted upon the Plants. He totally understands Knive's anger and why he acts that way, but the kind sides of the humans that Vash was witness to as well, Knives never got the chance to learn. And if you'd try to show kindness to him now, he wouldn't appreciate or even see it.

Not the face of someone who's happy to be back with his old crew obviously. (Sometimes some drawings of Wolfwood make him look so much less bulky and more fragile and like the tiny Wolfwood, like here on the right...maybe because we can't see these huge shoulders. I like that!)

Still trying to live by Vash's and now his ideals, even though there's no way these soldiers are gonna get back out of this alive anyway...and how he stubbornly doesn't answer Chapel...(Meanwhile Livio is thinking "Nice! Free banquet! *continues to slaughter the men*)

Oh my boy you've come such a long way :'(

The whole rest of the talk between Knives and Vash at the end of ch1 was a great character insight, and next to what lots of other people already said I wouldn't know what to add to that. So I'm just choosing to save these panels here, sums it up pretty nicely and we get to see the two brothers in a nice comparison!

Chapter 2:

Please take my boy out of this situation. He clearly doesn't want to be there. (the way Wolfwood looks so much not-in-control of the situation....oh man)

Make a pirouette, and I'll give you a 10/10 for this jump, Knives.

If some had not been aware until now, at this point at the latest everybody will have noticed that Nightow doesn't fuck around with depicting some traumatic and cruel stuff. (And boy does he know how to do it)

There are so many awesome pages in these later volumes that I'm basically just copying whole pages in these posts here but HOLY COW doesn't this look epic.

And the whole time, Vash is unable to do anything. At least he's giving Legato a hard time, too.

That above panel damn. And look how it's killing Wolfwood internally. He's seeing all those evil deeds done by the arc, helping alongside Chapel now too, probably, and then he's already got the guild of bringing Vash here to get him trapped....all just because he wants to save his home and the kids there but BOY is it killing him inside. It sucks when you have to be the bad guy to save the ones you care about.

Also, the turn the story takes at this point, with everything falling into chaos so quickly...it's gotten very quickly so much darker now. I do like dark stories too so I was enjoying this with anticipation how it could get resolved when I read this for the first time. Still, very tough stuff to digest.

And then, of course, omg these girls appear again!!! You go!!! However you managed to survive, you're looking well. I'm also glad Luida is still here too ♥

Chapter 3:

If I'm ever in need for a mechanic and had to choose from the Trigun cast you know I'd go for Brad. Look how crafty he looks with that..drill...thingy. Leaking faucets, here's your mortal enemy!

THANK YOU Luida. Yes, Vash has dangerous powers, but he's also Vash and you all owe him so much!! Not letting some fear prevent you from trusting in him!

Wolfwood awoooing at the moon, just like his name says. Also, this was the scene where the plants memories are being shown, and I love that we actually get to see something from their view! The way it's done, with only same-size panels from the same view is also the perfect way to make that clear.

Super neat way to show how all these different memories and plant consciousnesses (?) are breaking him apart

Please look at our queen in all her murderous glory.

oh god oh god oh god (I'm reading this for the 12234th time but still)

oh god OH YES

[twoidiotwriters1]

Copycat: Genesis —(Marvel Fem!Oc)

A/N: Guys tell me how do I get over the GoG Vol.3 movie pls it’s all i can think about -Danny

Words: 1,709

Phase Six Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

xvii: K'uk'ulkan

They were taken to a small housing in the cave, with colorful murals in and out of it. They found K'uk'ulkan there, or Namor, as Shuri and the others had been calling them. Cat still hadn't made up her mind as to which name she was supposed to use.

"Princess," the man spoke in English, he got up to greet them. "Welcome."

His eyes landed on Cat, and she held his gaze unsure of how to feel about him. He looked smart and strong, but not necessarily dangerous. He was also handsome, but for the first time in her life, Cat didn't think flirting was the right call.

"My warriors tell me you go by Co'kat," he said, grabbing a teal-colored cape from behind him. "But I have the feeling you go by many names..." Namor approached and placed the cape around her shoulders, Cat stayed still. "Like me."

"Maybe I do," Cat closed the cape in place, its brooch seemed to be golden vibranium. "But Co'kat is the name my father's people gave me, it belongs to me only, and I felt... I heard you'd be more interested in knowing what I am, instead of who."

He smiled. "Both are good options, in my opinion," he pointed at the table. "Please, feel free."

Although he was being polite, Cat knew she wasn't an equal in his eyes. She was something interesting, but not like them. She wasn't royalty, so she stood behind Shuri while the princess approached the table.

"This is beautiful," the girl pointed at a bracelet.

"That was my mother's," he picked it up and handed it to Shuri.

"These are all Mesoamerican artifacts," she pointed out. "Most likely 16th century... have you been alive since then?"

Namor only looked at them.

"Your mother was human?"

He nodded. "She was. Then she became something else..."

The man then told them the story of their people, and how they were driven to the ocean after colonizers took their land. His mother had ingested a plant to save him while she was pregnant.

"I was a mutant."

His words resonated in Cat's mind. Now she understood why he wanted to meet her. She'd told his warriors she was a mutant too, and probably made him curious. It did not mean he wanted to be friends. He had no love for the world above water, and that was Cat's home.

"Why are you telling us this?" Shuri asked.

"So you understand why I have to kill the scientist."

"What if we took her to Wakanda?" Shuri offered. "Let us go. I give you my word, she will remain in my country."

"I cannot risk that, princess."

"Then keep me instead—"

"Shuri," Cat warned her, but the girl kept talking.

"I'd love to see your nation."

Namor looked at her and then at Cat. "Well, you can't go down there wearing that. Hypothermia will grip you almost instantaneously. Your blood will become toxic, and the pressure of the ocean will break every bone in your body... or you can wear a suit," he smiled. "We have some of them. Come on!"

Shuri looked at her, and Cat snorted. At least he had a sense of humor.

"I guess you won't be needing one," Namor pointed at her.

"Yeah, that's, er, that's my mutant gene doing its magic. I can shapeshift and mimic other people."

"Even powers?"

"Yeah, and sometimes I can see their memories if I mimic their brains right. That's how I was able to speak to your people."

He hummed, walking up to a corner of the little house. "Are you the only one of your kind?"

"Mutants rarely resemble one another. I have a friend— he's blue and has pointy ears too, but he's covered in fur and has three fingers on each hand. He can teleport."

"You copy that power from him?"

Cat paused but decided it was best to say what was on her mind. "You're an exception to our rule. Mutants are not treated with the same reverence as you are. I mean, out there we are..."

"Freaks," he said. "Abused. Locked in cages."

She watched him offer a suit to Shuri. "Yes."

Namor watched her attentively. "Humans don't react well to things they don't understand. Mutants are out of their line of expertise. We're all different, you say, our appearance... our abilities... the nature behind our existence... it confuses and scares them."

Cat's eyes darkened. She placed the helmet on Shuri's head and spoke in a low voice. "There is a man out there hunting me down... just to prove that he can. He's called me a... a pet... his beast..."

The princess looked at her with worry, Cat didn't face her.

"He's insulted you," Namor helped her seal Shuri's suit properly. "Mankind does not deserve to have you at their disposal, Co'kat."

"No," she agreed. Her eyes gained focus again, and she fixed her posture. "That's why Shuri's going to make me a suit," she locked eyes with the man. "Thanks to her I won't be disrespected again."

He smiled knowing what she was trying to do. "Did you know your parents, before you were taken?"

Cat was taken by surprise. "How did you..."

"I've lived long enough to recognize an orphan when I see one," he explained. "Besides, you said it, mutants don't live nice lives on the surface. It is easy to confuse obligation, with acts of love," he placed a gentle hand on her cheek. "Someone that loves you does not ask for things in return."

Cat stared into his eyes, Shuri sensed it was dangerous to let them continue the conversation any further, so she intervened. "I'm ready, Namor."

Cat gave a start, she looked at Shuri and cleared her throat. "Go ahead, princess. I'll be right behind you."

Namor smiled without saying anything, he guided them out.

Talokan felt like it belonged at a different point in time. Their culture had remained untouched and evolved naturally, they had developed their own kind of tech, and this world hadn't been poisoned by wars or evil people. It was a utopian experience.

"Is that... a sun?" She asked in awe.

"It's made of vibranium," Shuri pointed out in wonder.

"Yes. In the depths of the ocean, I brought the sun to my people," he looked at Cat. "That was my act of love, they raised me after my mother passed." Cat felt a lump forming in her throat, she looked away from him. "I know you wished me to spare the life of the scientist. But now you see what I have to protect."

Shuri had nothing to say. But Cat did it for her. "The girl is not responsible for what others did. She had no intention of using the machine, it got stolen from her."

"That is not the point."

"It's exactly the point," Cat pressed. "You kill her, you take away humanity's hopes for a future that's not led by greed."

"And who can assure me this girl won't grow up tainted with your people's ideals? They managed to taint you."

Once again Cat was brushed aside, and the worst was that she couldn't prove him wrong.

"Let's go back to the surface," the man said.

Namor gave them gifts for being the first people from above to visit his home. Shuri was given his mother's bracelet, Cat was given the teal-colored cloak that was just as weightless in the water. If she were to guess, the fabric was strong enough to stop knives from reaching her body too.

On the back of it, there were two jaguars embroidered with golden and silver threads, Namor said she resembled this creature physically, and in spirit, the jaguar looked after the darkest parts of the universe, the ones that were often hidden from sight. Cat felt honored, she would cherish the gift as much as she'd loved the spear the Skrulls had given her all those years back.

Shuri and Namor continued to talk until they reached the subject of Shuri's brother.

"How does that make sense... that the ancestors would give me gifts and skills... to help me save my brother, and I couldn't? Why?"

Cat had asked herself the same question many times in the past. She'd never reached a satisfying answer. Neither had Namor, but he still had words of comfort. "My ancestors would often say... 'Only the most broken people can be great leaders'."

Maybe that was why Fury kept on forcing this idea that she should be the leader of the young Avengers, he saw something in her that she couldn't, blinded by her own grief and anger.

"I admire what you have built here," Shuri continued, "and how you've protected your people. But as princess of Wakanda, I will not stand for you killing that young woman. My nation will not rest until I'm returned. I'm not leaving without her... We need to find a peaceful way to resolve this."

"It is no longer about the scientist," Namor replied. "For centuries, the surface nations have conquered and enslaved people like us. Over resources," he let out in a tone of incredulity. "Since the day I buried my mother, I have prepared my people for the time they will come for us. And that machine is the sign that the time is now."

He leaned closer to the princess.

"I need to know if Wakanda is an ally or an enemy. There is no in-between."

"So you plan to wage war on the entire world... and you want Wakanda to help you?" Shuri scowled. "That's madness."

"There isn't a nation that wouldn't plunder Wakanda if given a chance," he replied sternly. "If we make an alliance, we can protect each other by striking them first. Then, when the threat of these nations has been eliminated... the scientist will be returned to Wakanda."

The mutant remembered the promise she'd made to Kurt when they were eighteen.

"Humans can't even respect each other. What makes you think they'll respect us?"

"We'll make them."

To Cat, Namor's plan made perfect sense.

"And if Wakanda does not accept, what then?" Shuri asked boldly.

"The scientist will die," Namor replied unbothered. "And Wakanda will be the first nation to fall."

"An attack on my people?"

"Yes. And I want you to listen to me, Wakanda cannot win a war with Talokan."

Namora rose from the water. She spoke in Mayan. "You have been summoned, K'uk'ulkan."

He got up and spoke one last time to the princess. "I heard you that night, with your mother at the river... you said you wanted to burn the world. Let us burn it together."

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