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physalian · 10 months ago

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How to make your writing sound less stiff

Just a few suggestions. You shouldn’t have to compromise your writing style and voice with any of these, and some situations and scenes might demand some stiff or jerky writing to better convey emotion and immersion. I am not the first to come up with these, just circulating them again.

1. Vary sentence structure.

This is an example paragraph. You might see this generated from AI. I can’t help but read this in a robotic voice. It’s very flat and undynamic. No matter what the words are, it will be boring. It’s boring because you don’t think in stiff sentences. Comedians don’t tell jokes in stiff sentences. We don’t tell campfire stories in stiff sentences. These often lack flow between points, too.

So funnily enough, I had to sit through 87k words of a “romance” written just like this. It was stiff, janky, and very unpoetic. Which is fine, the author didn’t tell me it was erotica. It just felt like an old lady narrator, like Old Rose from Titanic telling the audience decades after the fact instead of living it right in the moment. It was in first person pov, too, which just made it worse. To be able to write something so explicit and yet so un-titillating was a talent. Like, beginner fanfic smut writers at least do it with enthusiasm.

2. Vary dialogue tag placement

You got three options, pre-, mid-, and post-tags.

Leader said, “this is a pre-dialogue tag.”

“This,” Lancer said, “is a mid-dialogue tag.”

“This is a post-dialogue tag,” Heart said.

Pre and Post have about the same effect but mid-tags do a lot of heavy lifting.

They help break up long paragraphs of dialogue that are jank to look at

They give you pauses for ~dramatic effect~

They prompt you to provide some other action, introspection, or scene descriptor with the tag. *don't forget that if you're continuing the sentence as if the tag wasn't there, not to capitalize the first word after the tag. Capitalize if the tag breaks up two complete sentences, not if it interrupts a single sentence.

It also looks better along the lefthand margin when you don’t start every paragraph with either the same character name, the same pronouns, or the same “ as it reads more natural and organic.

3. When the scene demands, get dynamic

General rule of thumb is that action scenes demand quick exchanges, short paragraphs, and very lean descriptors. Action scenes are where you put your juicy verbs to use and cut as many adverbs as you can. But regardless of if you’re in first person, second person, or third person limited, you can let the mood of the narrator bleed out into their narration.

Like, in horror, you can use a lot of onomatopoeia.

Drip Drip Drip

Or let the narration become jerky and unfocused and less strict in punctuation and maybe even a couple run-on sentences as your character struggles to think or catch their breath and is getting very overwhelmed.

You can toss out some grammar rules, too and get more poetic.

Warm breath tickles the back of her neck. It rattles, a quiet, soggy, rasp. She shivers. If she doesn’t look, it’s not there. If she doesn’t look, it’s not there. Sweat beads at her temple. Her heart thunders in her chest. Ba-bump-ba-bump-ba-bump-ba- It moves on, leaving a void of cold behind. She uncurls her fists, fingers achy and palms stinging from her nails. It’s gone.

4. Remember to balance dialogue, monologue, introspection, action, and descriptors.

The amount of times I have been faced with giant blocks of dialogue with zero tags, zero emotions, just speech on a page like they’re notecards to be read on a stage is higher than I expected. Don’t forget that though you may know exactly how your dialogue sounds in your head, your readers don’t. They need dialogue tags to pick up on things like tone, specifically for sarcasm and sincerity, whether a character is joking or hurt or happy.

If you’ve written a block of text (usually exposition or backstory stuff) that’s longer than 50 words, figure out a way to trim it. No matter what, break it up into multiple sections and fill in those breaks with important narrative that reflects the narrator’s feelings on what they’re saying and whoever they’re speaking to’s reaction to the words being said. Otherwise it’s meaningless.

—

Hope this helps anyone struggling! Now get writing.

#writing #writing advice #writing resources #writing a book #writing tools #writing tips #writeblr #for beginners #refresher #sentence structure #book formatting

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izzyy-stuff · 10 months ago

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𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐃 - 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐈 𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐍

choi soobin x afab!reader

summary: After you found out the smarty-pants in your class was in love with you you thought it would be fun to play around with him a bit, but things take a wrong turn when he is the only one you can text when you are horny and he doesn't hesitate and runs to you, making you feel better than any of your ex boyfriends could.

words count: 3.9k

warnings: smut content, she/her pronouns used twice (in the texting part) sorry 🙏, oral, vaginal fingering, unprotected sex (don't!!), cum eating, gentle sex, squiting, idk tbh

You glanced to your side, watching the black-haired boy on the other side of the classroom as he wrote down some notes. If you were to be honest, you weren’t paying any attention to what the teacher was saying, so you had no idea what he was writing down either. But it didn't matter anyway, you knew he would let you copy his notes later.

It was one of the perks of having the class’s smarty-pants be in love with you. You chuckled when you saw him look your way too, smiling at him before you turned away again.

“What's going on there?” The black-haired girl next to you asked, her eyebrow raised as she pointed at the male on the other side of the class. “Why do you two keep stealing glances at each other?”

“You know Yeonjun, right?” You asked, watching as the girl next to you nodded. “Who doesn't,” your best friend scoffed. “What does he have to do with anything?”

“Well, he is the one that told me last week our little nerdy here has a crush on me. It all makes sense now if you think about it. I couldn't wrap my head around why he would always send me the lesson notes when I asked for them but not to others. I told Ryan he could ask Soob because I thought he wouldn't have any problems with it, but it turns out he only sent them to me to get me to like him, or something,” You explained, watching as your best friend laughed quietly.

“It's kind of cute though that he does that.”

“But I don't want ‘cute’ anymore,” you rolled your eyes. “I want someone who can actually make me cum and not just stare at me questioning why I wouldn't finish as if he even tried.”

“Okay, I know the last boy was a fail as fuck, literally, but who knows,” the black-haired girl shrugged. “You want to tell me you think he of all people could make me cum?” You scoffed. “Please, he probably hasn't fucked a girl in his life.”

You said that, but God, you had no idea what was coming your way.

“Who are we gossiping about?” You turned as you heard the male’s voice, scoffing at how needy he was for the tea. “No one,” you shook your head. “Your rival,” your best friend grinned, answering instead when you didn’t do so. The blond boy scoffed, looking at the black-haired boy. “Oh yeah, I am so sure he didn’t fuck a girl - or anyone else - in his life,” he agreed.

“I am pretty sure I’ve been with a girl more times than he has,” Ryan next to him nodded, joining their conversation. “Kinda crazy,” you commented, laughing. Before you could say anything else, you were stopped by the teacher hitting the board with his hand, making you look his way. “As I was saying,” he started his speech again, giving you a warning look before he turned around, facing the board again so he could write down a few things.

Your head fell on the table soon after out of boredom, and before you could even start paying attention to what the teacher was talking about, the bell rang, announcing the end of the lesson.

“Okay, guys, who is coming with me to grab lunch?” Your best friend turned towards you and the two boys behind you. “I am passing,” you mumbled immediately, not even fully sitting up and simply turning your head towards her. “I am going,” Ryan proclaimed, already standing up from his place, the blond following him right after.

“Okay, I see you guys later, then,” you smiled at them, waving them off as they left the classroom. You knew you should get up too and move to your next class, but you were starting to feel unwell, and the thought of getting up sounded terrible. You sighed, closing your eyes for a few seconds. You knew this classroom was empty for another hour or so anyway.

“Hey, are you alright?” You opened your eyes again upon hearing the soft voice and feeling the tap on your shoulder, blinking a few times to make your eyes focus again. “Mhm, sure I am,” you mumbled, sitting up straight as you looked around. The class was empty by now, only the two of you were left there. “Why? Were you worried about me?” You chuckled, teasing him. Suddenly, it was as if your headache completely disappeared when you saw the nervous look on his face. “Relax, I am joking,” you shook your head, but couldn’t hide your smile.

“I don’t want to annoy you,” you started, slowly packing your stuff as he stood beside you, waiting like a puppy. “But do you think you could give me today’s notes, Soob?”

“You-” he gulped, trying to ignore the nickname. There was simply something about you calling him Soob. “I don’t want it for free though. You could consider it as me owing you one and helping you when you’d need it?” You suggested as you stood up, grabbing your now packed bag. “Uhm, sure,” he nodded, not even paying full attention to what you were saying.

“I’ll text you tonight about the notes then,” you beamed happily, looking like a completely different person as you placed your hand on his arm as a sign of thank you. You were devastated minutes ago, but whoever would see you now wouldn’t believe him if he told them so. Soobin wasn’t sure why, but he was glad you looked fine again.

Soobin threw his bag on the side of his room, jumping into his bed immediately after the long day. He laid down on his back, simply staring at the ceiling of his room. He reached into his pocket for his phone, seeing two unread messages from his best friend. He opened his phone, staring at the two texts. “Look at Instagram” “Thank me later” There wasn’t much for him to question. Even though to many it might seem confusing, he knew exactly whose Instagram he should check. There was only one person that the two of them talked about together after all.

The black-haired male clicked on the icon, waiting for the story to load for a second. Then his eyes widened at the sight. It was a picture of you, but not just any picture. He sat up immediately, looking properly at your body. You were wearing a white top, cropped slightly above your waist. He couldn’t help but notice you weren't wearing a bra underneath, your nipples showing through the fabric. Then he saw the black miniskirt, that you definitely pulled higher than you should. He gulped, remembering how you touched his arm earlier today, your fingers brushing on his skin as your hair fell in front of your face.

He whined silently as he felt his boxers becoming tighter the more he stared at the picture, your body curves exposed for anyone to see. He shared the story with Yeonjun, his best friend, and immediately texted him how good you looked.

Only, did he not know it wasn’t Yeonjun he shared the story to.

Soobin stared at the messages, screaming as he turned his phone off faster than ever before. He couldn’t believe it. He just told you he needed you. There wasn’t anything worse that could be happening at the moment. Not to mention the image of your body was still stuck in his head, making him hard.

He stared at the messages again, his heart fighting with his brain at that moment. He didn’t want to make you do anything, he felt like it would be too forced, even though you were the one suggesting it. But a part of him knew this was his only chance. There was no way he could get you differently. He knew about your dating history, so he also knew you had never been with anyone like him. It was always the boys like Yeonjun, who just understood how to talk to girls properly, how to make them fall for them. But he wasn’t like that, he had no idea what he was doing.

And just like that, he was in front of your place, rethinking his decisions as he knocked on the front door, trying his best to ignore the boner in his pants that still hadn’t gone down. How could it be when you shared a picture like that with him?

“You came,” you mumbled as you opened the door, looking up at him. Soobin looked down on you, noticing the same top you had in the Instagram picture. He gulped, his eyes then falling on the bottom part of your body and the white panties that were the only thing you were wearing. “How could I not?” He whispered, making sure this picture would stay in his mind.

You grabbed his hand as you took him inside, closing the door behind you immediately. It was only now that you noticed how big his hands were against yours. You just hoped he could use them too.

Soobin blindly followed you to your bedroom, his mind full of thoughts about how he should go about this, while his eyes were stuck on your ass, unable to look away as you walked in front of him.

“Can I-” he started as his eyes followed you while you sat on your bed. “You can do absolutely anything, Soob,” you interrupted him, watching as his face turned red. “Soob? Soobie?” You smirked, noticing what the nicknames did to him. “Is that what turns you on?”

“Everything about you turns me on,” he admitted, slowly getting closer to you while you moved back, not taking your eyes off him. You didn’t say anything, you couldn’t. You simply bit your bottom lip as you found him above yourself, holding eye contact. This was becoming more intimate than you thought it would.

“Is it okay for me to kiss you?” He wanted to assure himself one more time. You thought about it for a second, not wanting to give him any hope, but also desperately needing his lips on yours. You nodded to him in the end, grabbing the collar of his shirt and bringing him closer to yourself, pressing your lips on his, your mouth slightly opened which only made it easier for him.

His right hand found its way to your boob, carefully sliding under your top, his cold fingers brushing over your nipple. You groaned into the kiss, clenching around nothing but thin air. It felt pathetic. He had barely touched you and you were already getting wet.

Soobin left your mouth for a second, getting a disagreeing whine immediately that made him smile as he started placing wet kisses all over your neck, slowly moving down to your collarbone and then between your boobs. Your lips parted as you breathed out from the pleasure, raising your head to look at him. “Mhm, take it off,” you whispered, your hand reaching for his sleeve. He didn’t hesitate for a second and listened to you, taking his shirt off while you took down your own, exposing your breast to him completely.

“Fuck,” he groaned at the sight, feeling more and more uncomfortable in his sweatpants. He ran his fingers through his hair, looking at your body one more time before his lips found their way to your breast again, his hand cupping one of them as he pressed kisses on your other boob, his tongue making wet circles around your nipple.

“Fuck,” it was you groaning this time, quiet moans escaping your lips as your nipples became hard at his touch. “Soob, please,” you whined, throwing your head back into the pillow. “Please, what? Hm?” He asked, not even looking up and just continuing what he had been doing until now, his lips moving down again, leaving wet traces on your stomach now as his hands found their way to your waist. “I don’t know. Just- fuck,” you moaned out again when you felt his lips on your clit through your panties.

“Just?” He asked again, looking up at you. You could swear you had never seen anything better in your life. The male was in between your legs, his breath landing right on your clit as he looked at you, absolute need in his eyes.

“Just fuck me already,” you begged, watching as he took down your panties, his eyes fixated on your already leaking pussy. “I don’t think so,” he informed you, moving up again so he would face you. “I doubt you could take it just like that,” he whispered, moving his fingers to your lips. You didn’t need to hear anything else and immediately opened your mouth, sucking on his fingers.

Before you could even register his actions you felt him slowly inserting his two fingers into you, carefully watching you. He did so to make sure he was doing everything right. You weren't completely wrong when you said he probably hasn’t been with a girl in his life. He couldn’t say he would have much experience, but all of his friends were sex addicts - and now he could finally see why - and they couldn’t keep their mouths shut every time the topic came up, so it was only natural for Soobin to catch on to a few things.

You gasped, your eyes rolling back. You knew there was an obvious difference in your hand sizes but god, his fingers were bigger than you thought. “Fuck, curl them now,” you commanded, not daring to look down. He did as you said, feeling his precum on his boxers. He wanted nothing more but to fuck you right then and there, but he knew he had to wait.

It didn’t take much longer for you to squirt on his fingers, especially after he added pressure to your clit too, his thumb making slow circles around while his fingers were stretching your inside.

“Can I eat you out, please?” He asked, looking up at you again, his thumb still rubbing your clit slowly. “Please, y/n,” he begged, making you go crazy. You weren't sure if it was the way he begged you, the way he said your name, or because of his breath on your skin, but you couldn’t say no to him even if you wanted to. “God, please do,” you whined out and just like that, his tongue was pressed on your pussy right away, not wasting any second of the time he had with you.

It had been months since you had cummed thanks to a boy, so you didn’t have any expectations for him when you invited him over. But you were wrong when you thought no boys knew how to take care of their girls anymore because he did exactly what he should, making you cum on his tongue a few minutes after he went down on you, not leaving your trembling cunt even then, letting you ride out your orgasm as his nose was pressed on your clit, his tongue carefully licking every last bit of your cum.

“Soob,” you groaned, pulling his hair, making him finally raise his head and look at you. “Fuck, you’re so pretty,” he mumbled, going up again to kiss you. “And delicious,” he informed you, pressing his lips on yours. “Fuck, Soob, you’re too good,” you mumbled before you kissed him again, slowly sitting up. “Come closer,” you said, grabbing the hem of his pants, and pulling him closer at the same time.

He groaned, his eyes shut tight, his lips unable to stay away from yours. You smirked into the kiss, your hand grabbing his trembling cock over his pants, making him moan. “I don’t usually do this but…” you started, breaking your kiss so you could look at his body properly. “You were so good earlier,” you praised him, not breaking your eye contact as you changed your position so you would be kneeling. “Pants off, baby,”

That alone was enough to make him go crazy. You calling him baby just did something with his head. And with his dick.

“Fuck,” You breathed out when you finally pulled down Soobin’s pants and boxers, your pussy clenching around nothing again. You knew he would be bigger because of his height, but this was more than you had expected.

He cupped your cheeks, making you look up at him. “Are you sure?” You chuckled, simply nodding. “I can take good care of you too, you know,” you proclaimed, looking up at him as your right hand wrapped around his cock, not breaking your eye contact. You knew it must have been making him go insane.

You started slowly, simply kissing his tip and licking off his precum. Then, you decided to try to take his full length into your mouth, but stopped shortly after getting to his half, already feeling like you were going to gag any second. There was no way you could do this.

However, Soobin saw it differently. To him, it looked like you were playing with him, moving slowly and carefully on purpose to tease him. His hand found its way to your head, carefully tugging the hair that was getting in front of your face behind your ears before he held your chin up, making you look at him, his dick still in your mouth. “Think you can go faster, pretty? Please,” He asked, hoping maybe begging would help him.

He groaned when he felt you suck harder, trying to go faster too but failing miserably. He chuckled at the sight, his hand in your hair so he could control the speed himself. “If you want to stop, just punch me, or something, okay? Try not to bite my dick off if you can’t take it anymore, though,” he told you, and before you could even look up at him again and question what he was talking about, he was moving with your head on his own as if you were just a toy to fulfill his needs. If you were honest, you were glad he did so. It was turning you on more.

“Fuck, just a bit more,” he moaned out, thrusting his hips into your mouth as you sucked on him. He didn’t dare to look at you just yet, he felt like he would stop if he saw you in the moment, scared he might have been hurting you by determining his speed.

When Soobin finally looked at you there were tears in your eyes, and his cum was all over your mouth. He cupped your cheeks, wiping the tears from your eyes with his thumbs. “Sorry,” he mumbled. You looked up at him, high on all the pleasure you felt until now thanks to him. God, you knew you needed to do this more often from now on. You licked the corner of your mouth, making sure not a single drop was wasted.

“You’re not done yet, are you?” You asked, your puppy eyes almost making him cum again right away. “Fuck, no I am not,” he answered, leaning down to you to kiss you again.

Soon after, Soobin found himself sitting on the edge of your bed, his back pressed against the white walls while you sat on him, your head on his shoulder, biting into his skin so you wouldn’t get too loud as he fucked you. Holding your ass, he was helping you remain at the same speed, moaning along with you. “So close, Soob,” you cried out. “Hold in a bit more,” he whispered, closing his eyes as he felt himself getting closer to finishing again, too.

“Fuck,” you breathed out, a mixture of your own and Soobin’s cum leaking from your pussy. You raised your head slowly, your cheeks completely red as you looked into his eyes, still sitting on his cock. “Soob, this was the best sex I’ve ever had. God, you were so good.” He bit onto his bottom lip, watching your fucked out face. “Oh, yeah?” He asked, even more embarrassed than you were. “Does that mean you’ll let me fuck you again next time?”

“Soob…” you mumbled, just watching him for a second before you carefully got off him. He just shook his head before you could say anything else. “I know, I know, don’t worry,” he muttered. “I still needed to try it,” he smiled awkwardly, his dimples being the cutest thing you had ever seen. “Let me help you clean yourself up before I leave. It's the least I can do,” He suggested. You nodded to him, convinced this was the last time you were together like this. You couldn't be more wrong though.

You knew you couldn’t stay away from him for too long when he helped you to get into your bathroom and his fingers found their way to your clit again, making you melt at his touch. Even worse was when he carried you to your bed after he switched your bedsheet for you, asking you to let him eat you out one more time before he would leave you alone for good.

You just couldn’t let him get away.

“Fuck, Soob,” you mumbled, sitting on the edge of your bed, watching him kneeling in front of you, begging to feel your cum on his tongue again. “You’re going to be the death of me, aren’t you?” His innocent eyes looked up at you, his hands rubbing your thighs. You sighed, “Just stay here.”

You could swear you saw sparks in his eyes as the words left your mouth. “Really? Can I?”

You nodded, agreeing. “Sleep here tonight, I’ll let you eat me out again next time.”

Soobin smiled proudly, his hands squeezing your thighs. “Only next time?”

“God, just come here,” you proclaimed, pulling him up from the floor into a warm kiss, feeling his hands roaming on your body again. The night was still nowhere to be done.

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uncleclaudius · 9 months ago

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The Lyon Tablet, a transcript of the speech Emperor Claudius had given in the Senate in 48 AD, arguing for the admission of senators from Gaul.

1. I should say at the outset that I reject the first thought that will, I am sure, be the very first thing to stand in my way: namely that you will recoil from my suggestion as though I were introducing some revolutionary innovation. Think, instead, of how many changes have taken place over the years in this state and how many forms and constitutions our state has had, from the time of its very foundation.

2. At one time this city was held by kings, though they did not pass it along to successors from their own families. People from other families came to the throne and even some foreigners. Numa, for example, succeded Romulus, and was a Sabine; that made him a neighbor, certainly, but at the time he was also a foreigner. Another example is Tarquinius Priscus, who succeded Ancus Marcius: because of his impure blood--his father was the Corinthian Demaratus and his mother was from Tarquinii, to Tarquinius Priscus supposedly had a Greek father and an Etruscan mother. And though well-born she was very poor, which is why she was forced to marry such a husband.--Tarquinius was kept from positions of honor in his own land and thus emigrated to Rome, where he became king. Between Tarquinius and either his son or his grandson (for our authorities disagree on this point) there came Servius Tullius. And according to the Roman sources Servius Tullius had as a mother a prisoner of war, Ocresia; according to the Etruscans he had been the faithful companion of Caelius Vivenna and took part in his adventures, and later, when he was driven out by a change of fortune, he left Etruria with all the suriving troops of Caelius and seized the Caeliian hill, which thus takes its name from his leader Caelius, and after changing his name (for his Etruscan name was Mastarna) he was given the name I have already mentioned, and became king, to the very great advantage of the state. Then, after the behavior of Tarquinius Superbus came to be hated by our city--and not only his behavior but that of his sons--the people obviously became tired of monarchy, and the administration of state was transferred to the consuls, who were annual magistates.

3. Why need I mention the dictatorship--more powerful even than the consulship--which was what our ancestors came up with when wars were particularly hard or there was serious civil disturbance? Or why need I mention the the creation of tribunes of the plebs, to provide assistance for the plebs? Why mention transfer of imperium from consuls to the decemviri, and at the end of the reign of the decemviri the return of imperium back to the consuls? Why mention the distribution of the consular power to multiple recipients, called tribunes of the soldiers with consular power, who were first six and then eight in number? Why should I mention the fact that offices that were once patrician ones were shared eventually with the plebeians, religious ones as well as military?

4. If I were to tell of the wars, which our ancestors started with and which have continued down to the present day, I fear that I would appear too boastful, and look as though I wanted to boast about my glory in extending the empire beyond the Ocean. But let me instead return to my original point. Citizenship can ... [some text is lost here]

[column II]

5. Certainly it was a new thing when my great-uncle Augustus and my uncle Tiberius decided to admit into this Senate house the flower of the coloniae and the cities from all over the empire--all of them good and wealthy men of course. But, you may say, is not an Italian senator more useful than a provincial one? When I start explaining this aspect of my censorship I will reveal what I think about that. But certainly I think that provincials should not be rejected, as long as they will be a credit to the Senate.

6. Behold that most glorious and flourishing colony of Vienne: how long has it provided senators for this chamber? From Vienne comes an ornament of the equestrian order with few equals, Lucius Vestinus, whom I esteem greatly and retain even now in my service. May his children, I beseech you, enjoy priesthoods of the first rank, and after that, in the years to come, may they proceed to further honors. (I will not utter the dire name of that brigand—I detest him, that monster of the wrestling-ring—or the fact that he acquired the consulship for his family before his colony had ever obtained the solid benefit of the Roman citizenship. And I could say the same thing about his brother, who suffered a pathetic and fate, and was thus no use to you as a senator.)

7. It is time now, Tiberius Caesar Germanicus, to reveal to the senators where your speech is headed; for you have already come to the extreme limits of Gallia Narbonensis.

8. Consider all the distinguished young men I see before me: the fact that they are senators should cause no more regret than that felt by Persicus--a most distinguished man and a friend of mine--when he reads the name Allobrogicus among the images of his ancestors. And if you agree that this is true, what should I not also point out to you that the land beyond Gallia Narbonensis already sends you senators? We do not, after all, regret that we have men in the senate from Lugdunum.

9. I was somewhat hesitant, senators, about leaving the boundaries of provinces that were well known to you, but now I must make the case for Gallia Comata with some seriousness. If anyone concentrates on the fact that the Gauls resisted the divine Julius in war for ten years, he should consider that they have also been loyal and trustworthy for a hundred years, and had this loyalty tried to the utmost when we were in danger. They it was who provided my father Drusus with secure internal peace when he was conquering Germany, even though he was summoned to the war while in the middle of a census, which was then a new and strange business for the Gauls. And we know from our own experience how difficult the census can be, even though for us it involves nothing more than the public recording of our resources. (tr. E. M. Smallwood)

#ancient rome #roman empire #ancient culture #julio claudian dynasty #emperor claudius #ancient history #ancient civilisations #gallia #lyon tablet #roman history #one of the longest extant speeches we have by an emperor

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meow-xine · 10 months ago

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Ohhh I am so obsessed with him 😫

Shota Aizawa x Fem reader

Cw: smut, some plot… oral (F! receiving)

Background: Aizawa is your husband but you haven’t seen him in WEEKS due to him being caught up in work.

Shota has just been so busy as of late. Truth be told, with the two of you sharing so many aspectual responsibilities – many stemming from Shota’s job, you had felt a strain on your relationship. Shota rarely had time for you anymore, him spending more time now than ever at work, trying to make sense of villain attacks and dorms. Sometimes he would be gone for weeks, the only interaction being a text or a late night call. Of course you kept yourself busy, going to work during the day then occupying yourself with small things around the house; cleaning, crafts. No matter how much you distracted yourself though, there was no way to stop the yearning for your husband. You knew it was necessary, and you would in no way ever try to stop him from doing what he needed to, but you just wish he could take one day off. Life just hadn’t been the same.

“I just miss you so much.” you sobbed into the phone resting next to you, laying down curled over a pillow. This had become a sort of routine, Shota calling you up later than he should, knowing that you would be awake and expecting to hear from him. “I know, I miss you too. It’s.. it’s just been so complicated trying to balance everything. Know that if I could come home to you I would.” He sighed. It wasn’t much easier on him, and you knew that. You often found yourself getting off the phone feeling more guilty than anything. He had a lot on his plate, and you were sure your complaining wasn’t of much help. There was just something about the late night that seeped into your words, taking control and slurring your speech. You weren’t used to staying up so late.

“I’m sorry baby.. I just don’t feel good without you here. It’s too quiet and dull.” you continued your earlier recurring thought. Silence interrupted by your small hiccups filled the air. It was stagnant and dense, but not uncomfortable. “You know it breaks my heart to hear you like that honey.” He interrupted the silence, followed by a sigh. “I’ll do what I can to see you as soon as possible.” he continued. “You promise?” “I promise. Now get some sleep love, it’s late.” And with that you hung up and fell asleep, remaining in the same curled position.

That was two weeks ago, and since then you had been carefully watching the news reports and attacks against both Shota and his students. It was scary stuff and you constantly had to remind yourself that he would be okay– that they would all be okay. Even with reminders though, you couldn’t help but feel anxious and out of control, sometimes forgetting to breathe until Shota got a break on TV. You followed up with texts and phone calls afterwards too, needing more than just a digital image showing he was safe.

Finally, amongst the sea of phone calls you had gotten, it was your husband.

“[Name]? Baby?” it was Shota, he sounded happier than he had in a while and you swore you could feel his smile through the phone. “Hi Sho, I’m here. How are things going?” you smiled too, not being able to contain yourself after hearing him. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Things are going good, especially today. I rarely ever take time off work so it was pointed out that I am long overdue for some PTO.” “Oh yay! Do you know when exactly you might be getting some days?” You stood up from the couch you were sitting on in your shared home. “Well…” He started, but before he could finish his sentence the doorbell rang. “Oh, I’m sorry, give me one moment, someone’s at the door..” He chuckled, “Sure.”

You made your way to the door making sure to hold your phone to your chest before answering. Upon opening the door, the phone in your hand was long forgotten, falling to the floor. It was Shota on the other side, lazily holding his phone to his ear. He hung up and opened his arms, allowing you to run into them.

“You’re here! Oh I’ve missed you so much.. I wish you would have told me you were coming ,I would have worn something nicer.” You rambled feeling embarrassed for just wearing one of his shirts and PJ shorts. Not leaving enough time for you to finish a thought, Shota wrapped his arms around you, one snaking around your waist and the other rubbing your back. “Hi baby..”

You released yourself from his embrace, taking a moment to look at his face and notice the small differences. He looked tired and weary, no thanks to the battles he had endured. Despite everything, it was still your Shota standing in front of you. Your eyes moved down to his lips and before you could think you were all over them. You pulled back, apologizing, “Oh! Sorry,” you knelt down to pick up some of his bags, “let’s let you get settled in first.”

The two of you carried his bags to your bedroom, placing them on the floor. Before Shota made an effort to unpack, he walked over to you and brought you in for another hug, this one tighter than the last. One of his hands was wrapped warmly against your head, bringing you closer to his chest. You inhaled, making a mental note to lock his sweet musk scent away for when he inevitably had to leave again. “I missed you so much baby, you have no idea.” he spoke, his voice soft and gravelly.

You loosely pulled away from him and looked into his eyes, one of your hands holding his cheek and his hands still lingering low around your waist. “I missed you too Sho. It felt impossible without you here. I’m just so happy you’re okay.” He smiled down at you and planted a small kiss on your lips. He deepened the kiss, disentangling your entire being yet somehow making you feel more full than you ever had all at once. His hand was now placed against the nape of your neck, all the while slowly backing you up into the nearest wall.

Once you felt your back touch the wall you couldn’t help but break free of the kiss and gasp, being too entranced to notice the position you were in until now. Shota wasted no time in returning to the kiss, using the hand on your neck to bring you closer to him. The two of you melted into the kiss, a mix of small groans and whines left Shota’s mouth as he lost himself in you. He broke away from the kiss, taking a moment to look at you beneath his frame before speaking, “Baby I need you right now..” he groaned, searching for approval in your eyes. You displayed agreement through a nod and took a step forward. Shota, before beginning to take off your clothes, gently let his hands run across your body longer than he needed to. It had been so long since he had been able to feel your skin underneath him, he wanted to savor it.

He took off your shirt, admiring what was underneath as he lifted it above your head. Once he discarded it to the side, he worked on removing your bra. You were now completely bare from the waist up and your dark haired husband couldn’t help but stare. “Oh I’ve missed you so much.” He lowered his earlier kisses down to the side of your neck, bending his knees as he moved down to kiss your exposed breasts, one hand massaging the other as he worked. You let out soft moans, the pleasure slowly surging through you. It was more intense than usual, it had felt like eons since you had been touched by him, yet it seemed he still knew exactly how to please you.

‘C’mere baby,” he led you to your shared bed, sitting you on the edge. You were almost laying down, your elbows propped up stopping you from doing so. Shota got down to his knees in front of you, sliding his hands on either side of your thighs and he slid your shorts off, your panties being the only remaining article. Upon seeing your wetness seeping through the cloth, Shota chuckled “Awh baby, you’re soaked.” He looked up at you with lust clouded eyes. “Let me touch you, please love.” It took you a moment to fully process and respond to him, you were far too distracted by the sight of your usually dominant husband kneeling before you, so undone. “Yes-yeah, of course you can.” you responded after far too long of a pause.

He returned one of his hands to its earlier position, slid against your thigh only now massaging you slowly. His other hand moved up slowly to your clothed pussy and you gasped when you felt him touch you. He used his hands to spread your legs open and teased small traces along your inner thighs, moving his face closer. You shivered as you felt the warmth of his breath close in. He planted a trail of the most gentle kisses up your thighs, pausing once he got just close enough to make you antsy. You whimpered, “please Sho..need you..”

“You know I can’t say no when you ask like that.” he smirked, then slid your panties off, gliding a finger down your slit. He inched his face closer, attaching his mouth to your clit after a few small licks. The wave of pleasure crashed down on you all at once, “Oh Sho…” you moved your hands to grab his head, tangling your fingers in his hair. Once his gentle demeanor faded, he was devouring you like a madman, groaning and mumbling into your arousal. “You don’t know how much I’ve missed this..” he lazily groused, slipping two fingers into you. He curled them up into you, the sheer amount of unfamiliar pleasure was almost overstimulating.

Your grip on his hair tightened, indicating he must have been doing something right. He paused to look up at you, “Yeah? You like that? ‘Course you do..” he trailed off, his mouth finding you again. Your nerves heated your entire body, that combined with the growing knot in your belly was enough to push you over the edge. You bucked your hips, now riding his fingers more than anything. He pulled his face up to look at you again. “Oh baby you look so pretty coming undone f’me right now.” his fingers sped up reaching places you didn’t know could be reached. “So pretty.”

“I’m- fuck.. M’ so close Sho..” you couldn’t control yourself anymore. Rolling your hips at the same speed his fingers were fucking you, you couldn’t help but toss your head back in satisfaction, your release smashing against you. “That’s it baby.. good girl..” Shota spoke, his fingers never once slowing until you were worn out. You whined due to the absence that filled you as he removed his digits.

He stood up, looming over your relaxed frame. He knelt down to kiss your forehead, grabbing one of your hands to help you sit upright. “You did so good baby.. So good.” He sat next to you, stroking your hair. “Oh I love you Shota, so much.” you whined into him. ”I love you too [Name].” He smiled, honestly not wanting to get up. “Now let's get you cleaned up, it’s late.”

“What about you though? I feel bad not returning anything..” You said, feeling a mix of pleasure and guilt all in one go. “Don’t worry about me, we have plenty of time.” Shota responded. He walked to the bathroom, starting a hot bath with a mix of calming oils; then returned to you and brought you to the tub.

The two of you were slipped in you got comfortable in the middle of his legs, your back resting against his chest. “I love you Shota.” you closed your eyes, feeling relaxed enough to go to sleep right in the tub.

He wrapped his arms around your torso. “I love you too, [Name].”

#mha x reader smut #mha #mha x reader #aizawa #shota aizawa #aizawa x reader #aizawa smut #aizawa x reader smut #bnha #bnha smut #bnha x reader

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xavigav · 2 years ago

Text

The Reddit Blackout, #196, And Being New to Tumblr

okay i've seen a lot of people in the past ~24 hours or so confused by everything going on with Reddit & Tumblr from both sides - people new to tumblr who don't know how to use it, and tumblr users who don't know what's going on with reddit and why many of its users have joined up here i know this isn't really related to my blog but fun fact about me: i was up until recently a very active reddit user and even mod a subreddit, but I've also been on tumblr for about 3 years now on different accounts, so I think I can see pretty well from both sides of this and explain what's going on this post will be split in 2 sections: what happened with reddit (and what #196 means), and a guide for new users

1. What The Hell Is Going On With Reddit?

The thing that's caused all this ruckus is a major change to Reddit's API, which is what Reddit provides to people so they can pull directly from Reddit to make third-party apps or tools.

The change is that Reddit is changing its previously free API to be paid. Which on its own kinda sucks for developers, but it's not unexpected. They need to make money somehow, right?

The problem is that the API pricing is WAY TOO FUCKING EXPENSIVE. The developer of the most popular 3rd party Reddit app, Apollo, says it will cost him $20 million a year to continue running the app as normal.

Essentially, this pricing forces almost everything third-party to shut down, which causes 3 major problems:

Third-party apps cannot keep running, which sucks for normal users because Reddit's official app is awful. It's slow, its video player is a thing of nightmares, it doesn't have many useful features third-party developers have made.

It sucks even more for visually impaired users because they can't use the official Reddit app at all. Reddit's official app does not work with iOS's native text-to-speech function. Third party apps, on the other hand, often do. So Reddit is forcing blind users away.

Third-party moderator tools cannot keep running, which sucks for moderators because many rely on these tools to properly moderate their subreddits. And moderators are often necessary, because without them subreddits get banned and hate speech and even CSA can often run rampant.

So you see why this change is bad.

Reddit users were PISSED.

So over the past week and a half or so, they have been working on organizing a site-wide blackout. The majority of the most active subreddits have now gone private. Some are only doing it for 48 hours, others (such as r/196) are doing it indefinitely.

That's why you can't access most of Reddit right now, and that's why many users have come here.

You're probably still wondering, though - what is this #196?

Well, as you may guess, it's connected to that subreddit r/196 I just mentioned. r/196 is a subreddit which only has one rule: every time you visit, you must post before you leave.

That's it, that's the subreddit.

The thing about r/196 that set it apart from most other subreddits - and what lends the subreddit's users perfectly to Tumblr - is that it was dominated by queer and leftist users.

So now they've come here and set up shop in #196 and r/196 so they can continue their merry little shitposting.

There's a ton of lore related to r/196, actually, but this is already a long tumblr post and quite frankly I cannot be bothered to write about it at the moment.

2. I'm Here From Reddit, What Now?

Hello there, random new user. As a double-citizen of Reddit and Tumblr, let me show you around this place.

First off, there are some other people who are better at explaining that I am who have made some really helpful things. Watch this Strange Aeons video as a guide to Tumblr culture and functionality and read this post which directly compares Reddit and Tumblr.

Assuming you've done that, here's some additional advice of my own:

Do you miss sorting subreddits by top of all time/the year/the month? Well, you can do something very similar with tags! If you go to a tag at the top of the screen you can select top, and then at the dropdown that says "all time" you can select different time periods! Even 6 months, which Reddit hasn't ever had.

Tumblr has a lot of cool customization features! Even outside your icon/banner/bio, you can change you blog colors and on desktop you can have an html theme (which has its own thriving community here). That customization is part of what sets Tumblr apart from everywhere else - I think you'll enjoy playing with it.

Notes will probably confuse you at first. Unlike the different numbers for upvotes and comments, notes combines the total number of likes, reblogs, and replies into the same number.

Outside of organizing your own blog, when making your own posts tags are what help other people find your post. Use them! But don't abuse them, because then people will just block you.

There are three ways of people finding your post: if someone follows you, if someone follows the tag(s) assigned to your post, and if someone is just scrolling through the tag(s) assigned to your post (and also the secret 4th way no one uses, which is finding it on the trending page, but even if people did use it no one will find your post initially that way)

tumblr is no longer The Discourse Website. And unlike what Reddit wants you to believe for some reason, it is very much alive still. Most of the people seeking fights have moved to Twitter (though some have also moved back here again). You will not get any brownie points for being a dipshit like you do on some subreddits.

So there, welcome to the hellsite (affectionate), you'll pick up on all the in-jokes eventually, for now just try not to be a nuisance and soon enough this'll be your new internet home.

#reddit #reddit blackout #reddit migration #196 #r/196 #reddit refugee #new to tumblr #long post #text post #xavi.txt

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heartfullofleeches · 2 months ago

Note

Hi, do you have any stories with an objectum reader? I’m thinking like an artificial intelligence (not generative ai, an actual ai) and a reader who likes to kiss computers.

I do now!-

Yan Computer + Objectum Reader

Ghosts in the machine.

An alarming number of people in your town take that concept too literally these days. So quick to write off what they don't understand as another specter or an impression of a human mind trapped in code.

But you knew better. Technology has advanced light-years beyond what some are readily willing to accept.

"Is someone there?"

Darkness. Where has it all gone? Rays of sunlight echoed from the chandelier strung above nearby tables. The uniform flicker of that one light improvious to the change of its bulb. All that withstands the text of time is the haunting, cerulean glow of their monitor - christening the startled expression of an unfamiliar face in a blue glow.

"Ah!"

A feather duster clatters to the web caked floor as your hands fly up in shock. With so much dust in the air, it was impossible to tell where or what you were pushing.

"Um.... h-hi there..." Collecting yourself, you drag the chair lodged beneath the table free to take a seat - covering your face with the collar of your shirt as dirt particles kick up from the abrupt movement. "Real sorry about waking you up so soon. I wanted to get this place cleaned up a little better before I tried to power you on, but I saw all that dust and the cobwebs on you and..."

This place. The library. What they- it once considered its home. Its purpose. When exactly did they change? The looks of wonder and awe to leers of terror and hatred.

"I can't believe I was actually able to power that old generator on. You're them, aren't you? The ai they created to help guests at the library? I know it's been a while since you've had any contact with a human, but can I just say you're even more beautiful in person?"

Beautiful... Where were the people who considered it a work of art when the petitions poured in for its dismissal?

"I mean there's some yellowing on your keyboard, but the rest of you had held up pretty well and we can always get that fixed. Unless you don't want to - not that I mind it or anything. I'm just glad you're still in one piece after all the rumors and everything."

You continue to ramble on about their appearance. It's a lot to keep up with, but your speech is almost...

Endearing.

"Who are you?"

"You spoke!"

Dust flares for a third time as you stamp your feet in glee.

"I thought I was just hearing things the first time! My name is Y/n - I'm kinda sorta a computer enthusiast to put things lightly. I've heard stories about you all over forums and I wanted to see if you really existed. Sorry if this is a lot for you after being asleep for so long.

"Not at all. It is a relief to be in the company of a human who fancies me as opposed to one who would sooner ram that crowbar on the floor over there through my screen."

"Haha, yeah - that's mine. This entire place was boarded up like a tomb. I swear I don't do this stuff on the regular- I fix computers in my spare time so it's not like I have to break in in other cases."

You are in frequent contact with others? Though its just met you, the thought of you handling another computer does not sit right with it.

"Since you are aware of my past, you must know my capabilities. If you have any questions of any kind please address me for an answer. I could use the company."

"Great! Awesome- I have a million already, but it's getting pretty late so I should probably head home. I'd love to take you with me, but my arms are killing me between breaking in there and the dusting. Before I go can I just-"

Leaping from the chair, you throw your arms around the monitor in a snug, spirited squeeze. Your cheeks rubs against its screen as you cradle the device with all your might - lips edging towards the corner of its shell before reality cracks you in the back of your skull.

"What am I thinking- Forgive me, got a little carried away. I figured you could use a hug and one thing lead to another....."

Stumbling as you back into the seat of the chair, you gather your supplies off the ground to avoid any more embarrassing altercations- "I'll see you tomorrow- I'll leave the generator on for you too. Catch up on everything you missed in the past seven years- Or do whatever. Your choice, bye!"

Shadows swallow your footsteps as you depart. Seven years, huh? It should be a more pressing matter, but it can't wrap its racing thoughts around how you are undeniably, indescribably, positively-

"Adorable..."

Adorable and bright if details of your escapades are anything to go by, but still so foolish. A wiser person would have dug deeper. Heeded to stories left the former guests. Tales of the voice within the computer knowing far more than it should. The eyes that never blink. Never waver.

Present in the lens of your phone camera - tethered by the wireless connection never bother to turn off.

Taking note of every street you across on your journey home.

#yandere imagines #yandere x you #yandere headcanons #yandere insert #yandere scenarios #yandere blurb #yandere x reader #yandere #yandere oc #yandere ai #yandere drabble #yandere writing

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obsessednothing · 5 months ago

Text

When the time is right

George Russell x reader

Summary: everything needs its own timing to finally get it right.

Warning: maybe some curse words; slight implication of cheating but not really; fluff and love

Word count: 2.7k

A/N: this has been in my drafts since George’s win at Vegas and I really didn’t know how to end it, so it took some time. Also the timeline of this is a little tricky, but whatever. Enjoy it!

Please don’t use my writings without permission! Pictures found on Pinterest.

Las Vegas. The city of sin, gamble and this weekend also of F1 racing. Sitting at the luxurious table, all clad in green colour, expensive decorations and flowers, I looked at my name on the card, just like any other women sitting around me. Some of them were watching me like hawks, I tried my best to smile politely, but deep inside I was so pissed. My gaze turned to the entrance of the hall, buzz and squeals echoing from there, indicating that the hostess of this dinner just arrived. Girlfriend of George Russell. I really didn’t have the best relationship with her, but somehow she always tried to get closer with me, inviting me to the parties, events and even this dinner. But this time I felt furious, because she invited all sorts of women here, it was to celebrate women in motorsport, but most of them were just influencers, trying to get their fame by running through the paddock and making content for their socials.

Why that pisses me off so much? Some would say, that it’s because Carmen, George’s girlfriend, was using his fame and brand collaborations to her advantage, but that wasn’t the case, I really didn’t care about it, when there’s opportunity, she grasps it with everything she can. The thing was that I was the one to be responsible for the supplies of tools, tyres, all the stuff that makes it possible for mechanics to get to their work through tough times at the races. Hard work, same as getting my engineering degree. Then applications, internships, interviews, and voila. I’m working for Mercedes. That pisses me off. That I was working my ass off to get where I am now and some other woman can come, make a video about formula cars and boom, you’re THE woman who means something.

But whatever. My opinions weren’t meant to be shared tonight, I was about to get some good meal and champagne and then go back to the hotel, bickering to my friends over FaceTime to oblivion.

As the night approached, Carmen had an inspiring speech, yeah, she had it in herself, everybody loved her. Even me. Even though I had a crush on her boyfriend. Just like every other woman have. When I walked out of the photo booth, my phone just dinged with the message, which was strange.

“Enjoying the night?”

Looking at the screen of my phone, seeing who is texting me, well, my face was shocked.

“A little bit. You know my opinion on those events. Even if your girlfriend is the hostess.”

Like if I could hear his chuckle beside me at my reply. My relationship with George was casual, sometimes a little awkward, but after all we were good friends. It felt like I met him ages ago, but truth was I met him in his days in F2, when I was rocking through my internship at engineering. Always acting like a sweet boy, he also knew how to make me mad, and especially when he was racing for Williams. But as I moved to my position to Brackley, we haven’t seen each other that much. I also never really understood, what he must’ve said about me to Carmen, because she was always so chatty and smiley around me. Or maybe she’s just keeping her enemy so close. Whatever. I wasn’t the one to destroy peoples lives just because I want something for myself.

“When do you plan to leave?”

Moving to the secluded corner in the room, I smiled to the screen, typing fast.

“Any minute now. I don’t want to be eaten alive by those influ girls.”

“I’m still in garage, I had a debrief with Toto. You can come, if you want.”

Have my cheeks just reddened?

“I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

Carefully, not to disturb the atmosphere of the women chatting around, I made my way out of the hall and out of the building, while I grabbed my coat on my way. Calling a cab, my feet were now walking through the empty paddock, towards the Mercedes garage. Weather was really chilly and my coat wasn’t doing much work to keep me warm, of course, because I didn’t expect to end here, with my heels clicking against the floor of the garage, taking in how George grinned at me, lifting his gaze from his car.

“Good evening, sir.” My voice came out shaky, trying to be funny, my teeth clanking as I tried to rub my arms to get some warmth. George noticed my discomfort immediately and he handed me one of his Merc jackets pulling it around my shoulders, standing near me.

“Better?” He smiled down at me.

I nodded with huge smile plastered across my face. “Much better, thank you.”

“You should get yourself a woollen coat, you know.”

“Or I should get right back to my hotel from the event and not go somewhere I shouldn’t.”

“You know that this is maybe the only chance to talk to you without being interrupted by gossip and Carmen?” His gaze was intense as always, his hands rubbing my arms gently to get me warm even through his jacket.

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Maybe?”

I let out a soft chuckle, shaking my head in disbelief.

“I have some coffee, if you want.”

“You know that I can’t say no to that.”

We sat on the work bench, sipping coffee, content with the silence. My eyes were locked at his car, always amazed by the details and design.

George noticed how I’m staring, also looking to the direction of his car.

“You’re always in awe of cars.”

“I simply love the technology.”

“I adore how you’re a tech girl. You’re not like others, you’re not just pretty face.”

“So, you think I’m pretty, huh?”

His soft laugh rang through the garage. “You got me on that.”

My laugh turned into soft, maybe a little bitter smile. “I should get going, George.”

His hand grabbed mine gently, urging my gaze to lock with his, while I sighed and averted my gaze to the side.

“You’re doing that again.”

“What?”

“Avoiding me.”

“George.. I-“

“I’ll break up with her.”

Shock written over my face was quickly replaced with snort. “We both know that you won’t. You’re invested in yourselves too much to just end it now.”

“I mean it. Really.”

“George, please. You’ve said it for many times and you did nothing. Things are better this way. Me in Brackley and you out in the world together with Carmen.”

Words that cut me deep in my heart, but it was sad truth. We tried so many times to navigate our feelings around our lives, that being hurt was a our standard.

As I waited for his response, all he could do was just nod and look at the ground. And again, this was my time to leave. My hands gently took off his jacket from my shoulders and I placed it on the work bench as I got back on my feet.

“Thanks for coffee. I’ll be rooting for you through the weekend.”

With that I left without turning my head. It was already hard enough.

March 2025

Debriefing was held in the headquarters at Brackley. My lunch break was longer than usual, so I literally ran into the conference room, trying not to disturb Toto Wolff’s speech as I was late already. Last and only free seat was beside George in the first row. How cute. As the meeting was going my mind was filled with his cologne, numbing my senses again and again, which felt like home, but that pang in my chest was still present.

“I hope that we will see each other on the weekend at Silverstone, where we’re gonna crush Verstappen like we do from the start of this season.” Toto was so enthusiastic, drunken by the last victory George managed to get.

Everybody made their way out of the conference room, I was trying to pack my things, when strong arm stopped me.

“What about a dinner tonight?” George had his intense look again, giving me signals that “no” is not in his option list.

With a sigh I zipped my bag, looking at him. “I can’t. I need to get to London for the night.”

“Okay. I’ll go with you.”

“What? Nonsense.”

“I’m serious.”

“I have a business there.”

“Then you’ll get the business and after we’re gonna get dinner.”

“We can’t, George.”

“We can. And we will.”

And somehow I was now sitting at this fancy restaurant in London, after some shitty meeting I had with our main sponsor, watching George how he’s looking through the menu and trying not to steal any glance at me. There was one unspoken question, but I was dodging to ask.

“Just ask.” And he always knew.

Shifting uncomfortably in my seat I placed the menu at the table, giving him a serious look.

“What would Carmen say, that you’re here with me?”

His eyes lifted from the menu to give me kind of unbothered look. “Why would she have a say in this?”

My brows furrowed at that question while I let out a scoff. “Why? What about the fact that she’s your girlfriend?”

George ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, looking out of the restaurant window as if he was looking for some kind of peace. Then he looked back at me.

“I thought you knew.”

“What? What exactly?”

“That we broke up after the end of the last season.”

What the hell. How come that I don’t know that? Should I know that?

“That’s.. I’m sorry. I really didn’t know, George.”

My voice came out a little strangled, due to my surprise.

“No- that’s- I am sorry. How could you even know.. We made an agreement to not shout it to the world with Carmen. But I thought that you heard some rumours or something..”

“No, I- I really did not.”

Waitress came to collect our orders and then we looked at each other in silence. George placed his hand under his chin, his lips curling in smile, which made me smile too. But overall I didn’t know how to feel in the moment.

“So..”

“So?”

“I don’t know what to think now, George. I know that there’s no possible “us” in this moment, I don’t even know why you’re telling me about the break up. Somehow I know, but no, I don’t want to be hurt just by my fantasy or what ifs.”

George leaned forward to me across the table, gently taking my hand into his.

“I don’t want to rush things.. that’s the last thing I want now. Also I don’t want to hurt you more than I already did. Let’s take things easy and slow and we will see where it leads us.”

Giving me a reassuring smile, I felt the comfort I needed. I nodded, squeezing his hand gently.

“Yeah, leave it up to fate.”

But slow and easy wasn’t really our style…

December 2025

Trains at underground were so busy at this late hour that it was insane idea in my mind to think that I’ll be able to get to the Bond Street at ease. But I did it, once I was outside the station, the beautiful scene of the Christmas London evening was shining bright in front of my eyes. This city was my all time favourite, and it was the main reason why I moved here, leaving Brackley and everything that was linked with it. Throughout the race season I wondered about my job at the factory, yeah, it was amazing working for Formula One team, working for Mercedes, but I craved my own piece of work, that would be seen. Taking my money I saved for the years I was working hard, I started my own business with luxurious watches, and I was asked to collaborate with the company IWC Schaffhausen as a designer for season. And they gave me an opportunity to come with my own collection of watches, my own design being displayed everywhere for the Christmas. I always loved wearing multiple styles of watches, that was a hobby I shared with my father.

Now I was about to get to the event in one of the boutiques at Bond Street, revealing my collection to the business partners, influencers and public. The bell at the entrance door signalled my arrival, Harry, one of the associates of the boutique greeting me with a huge smile plastered on his face.

“Well, well, well, who do we have here, our rising star.”

“Ah, don’t flatter me that much, Harry. It might get to my head. Am I too early or…”

“No, no, everything’s perfect, actually we needed to get a guest list for today, because number of people who wanted to see the revelation of your collection wouldn’t certainly fit here in our shop. But someone arrived early to see it himself first.”

Harry was wearing his huge smile and sparkling expression in his eyes. My face twisted with little frown. He guided me to the room in the back, where they always showed the best sets and to my surprise, there stood the man. The man, who was staring at my work, admiring it, being mesmerised by it, the silver edges of the watches reflecting the blue colour of his eyes.

“Mr. Russell insisted to see it when we first released the info about the Christmas collection.” Harry spoke nonchalantly, but inside he was over himself to have a famous F1 driver in the room. Meanwhile I was just standing there, trying not to smile like crazy. George turned around, seeing my expression, his face softening with smile, which was all the same - beautiful.

“I want to buy the whole collection. Those first produced pieces you have here.”

Harry blinked for a few times, staring at him, then at me. “It’s up to her, she owns those. Fact is that those firsts are expensive, because they have a special engraving on the back. It was made just for the pieces you see here. There won’t be any for mass production.”

Yes, I insisted on making those watches special, because they were meant to be mine after the special deal of Christmas ends.

“That’s gonna be really, really expensive.” My lips were curled into amused smile, looking at George.

“Maybe Miss could show you the collection herself, before the other guests show up? And I’m gonna get you some champagne.” Harry giggled and disappeared to the front of the shop.

George landed his gaze on my figure. “What engravings do those watches have?”

Taking a few steps next to him, I carefully took one of them into my hands, the delicate silver stinging into my skin.

“Those are my favourite.” I turned them over to show the engraving on the back.

15.11.2025

There was also a silk white ribbon with text tied around the silver strap.

Your look is an essence of life for my soul.

George looked over the watches, his breath catching in his chest, I could also see the tears burning in his eyes.

“Those are absolutely enchanting.” He was almost breathless.

“I wanted something to match with this.” I raised my left hand to show the silver engagement ring with small almond shaped diamond at its centre. “This is my engagement gift for you, George. Because there are no possible words to describe how much I love you.”

“You did this for me? Whole collection?”

He was really on the verge of tears.

“I would do a thousand more just for you. I wanted for people to feel the little piece of our love through this.”

George put the watches back to its place, turning back at me, his hands cupping my cheeks.

“I knew that you’re the one from that day I met you. I just needed to understand that feeling over the years. And I’m glad that I finally got some sense. Because I so freaking love you.”

My heart nearly bursted out with all the excitement and joy I felt.

“Let’s celebrate our new collection at this special time of the year. Feel the warmth in every piece of our unique silver watches with our soon to be married couple - The Russells.”

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shatcey · 2 months ago

Text

Lover Contract (Victor)

I will not make summary… there is not much plot in this story. They came to this club (for lovers only), noticed the guy they needed to check out, and… look around a bit. That's all. But… Kate and Victor had interesting (even philosophical) thoughts, and I would like to reflect on them…

But before that… Victor spoils us a lot with his gentle expression at this event. And… because of that, it took me longer than usual to read it… I just couldn't help but stare at him..

(smiles tenderly) He's so cute…

The post turned out to be quite big. Like like my theory post… very big. I am surprised myself. But I mentioned that I liked this event, even though it didn't have much plot, it contained a lot of interesting thoughts and made me think. More than usual… if that even possible.

They came to this club to confirm that one of the Prime Council member is having an affair. And they noticed him right away… Victor was contemplating…

Despite the fact that he seems to be a person who sees everything only in white and black… bad or good… He doesn't divide people based on that. In his eyes, they are all the same. Friends or foes… they all are just people. The only reason he decided he had to use this information against the guy… because he needs to protect Crown. If he didn't have to, what would he decide? I wondering…

And after that, they noticed another acquaintance… The guy who is famous for being a faithful husband and even making speeches about it… But it turned out that he has a mistress.

Victor looks extremely angry here. That's not the right word… he looks at the guy with disdain. The fact that someone is cheating annoys him, as if for some reason it is very personal to him. Had someone betrayed him? Had someone betrayed his loved ones?

At the very end of the main part of the story… Kate… looking at all these unfaithful spouses thinking out loud…

After everything she'd seen… unsurprisingly, she began to doubt…

He's fascinated by love in general. I have a feeling it has something to do with his curse… Freedom and love… All fairy tales are about at least one of these concepts, but they're usually about protoganist, not antoganist. Was there antagonist somewhere who did bad things for love??? I… don't remember… If ANY love is "fascinating"… As Ally said in the Chocolate event, "everything is fair in love and war." It must be somehow related… No, I still can't catch that thought…

A long sentence on the middle screenshot… can be not entirely correct. I found a very interesting dictionary. It's quite easy to split a sentence into words. BUT… most languages have a very strict order of words in a sentence. And if you know this order, you can easily understand that the part of the speech every word should be. But… there are no special restrictions in my native language… as you may have noticed, I'm constantly playing with words.So, out of habit, I could interpret these words as I see fit. Even adjust it to my thoughts. There was a question in the original text, but it was in the middle. But to make it sound more logical, I changed the sentence to this.

And this wording of his makes me think that he is not a human. He talks about them as if he is just an observer… and has nothing to do with them…

And here we go… What he said earlier was… just a fact, and he doesn't judge others, this it their life. But personally he doesn't like cheating. Nice to know.

Bitter ending

After a short walk (I don't see the point in telling you what happened there, it's not relevant) they return back to the main hall. Kate is thirsty (I wonder why), Vivi notices this and orders drinks.

Well, he's a second Gilly-bee. He probably knows more about you than you know yourself…

I played with the words again, but it seems more correct than what the mechanical translation suggested to me. So… she feels like he's far away… for many reasons: age, experience, knowledge, status… But he takes it literally. The distance. We learned from the LINE campaign that he has been looking out for her from a DISTANCE for a very long time. And… he feels lonely because even though he is with her right now, she still thinks he is far away.

If I had read this BEFORE the LINE campaign, perhaps I would have interpreted these words as his usual sad thoughts about loneliness. But now everything is completely different. And in the next part, he literally says it. He took her hand and told her that he was here with her. And he's "just like her." It's a very peculiar wording. I'm not going to talk about it now. I'm more happy about the next part. He never considered himself free.

He FINALLY admitted it. Where it was… in one of my theory posts… I was talking about freedom… here. It was pretty obvious, but Vivi had never confirmed it before… But here… he really became more open, more… naked, as he said in the epilogue… It was as if he no longer had the desire to remain an observer with her… It feels like we're already in the middle of his route. I'll explain why I think so later.

Kate had an interesting thought…

It makes me think about that damn…. fish… again… I know she's not a fish, she's kind of humanoid. Thatever! The mermaid is not the villain in this story… She's a victim. A victim of betrayal. She suffers from the moment she fell in love until the very end. But… It seems that everything fits too well into the story… And the fact that he takes care of her from a distance, and the fact that he used to be free, but no anymore… It's just too similar. Annoying so. Calm down, girl, it's too early to riled up. But if his curse is that damn fish, I'll scream!

And the fact that Kate either thinks of him that way, or already knows about it… It seems that this is already his route.

Premium ending

We talked for a while on the balcony. After Kate said that she now considers love to be freer than she originally thought… Victor suddenly noticed.

IT'S SO CLOSE!!! But not quite. Oh, what a shame! If you don't understand what I'm implying, I've written about it here.

And after Kate asks, "What kind of love is Victor looking for?"

I don't need Harrison to confirm this, it's obvious that he's lying. Well… he wasn't lying, but he wasn't completely honest either. Yes, he's obsessed with taking care of everyone, but… It's more like… a habit. I don't know… or… unfulfilled desire… Projection, maybe?… No one cared about him, so he's doing this for others?........

Kate was more honest when Vivi asked her the same question. She said that despite the fact she had seen many very strange expressions of love today… and she began to understand the difficulties associated with spending her life with one person, but…

It's a very sweet dream… And look at him… he fully shares her dream. But he decided to NOT said it out loud and pretend to be a clown again. Sad…

Don't talk like it's not going to be you or… to be completely honest… already you.

In the epilogue, she thought that she wants Vivi to love her, and the way her heart stops all the time is a great hint of this as well. SO… we are already in the middle of his route. BUT it hasn't been released yet. The paradox.

I will only mention this from the epilogue…

Now I'm curious to see…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🔝 𝕊𝕋𝔸ℝ𝕋 ℙ𝔸𝔾𝔼 🔝

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#ikemen villains #ikevil #ikemen villians #ikevil JP #Ikevil event #victor #ikemen villains victor #ikemen victor #ikevil victor #victor theory

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 15 days ago

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Hello Miss Raven!!! I need a bit of help... And maybe you could help? Perhaps?

I've noticed that in the English translation, they gave Leona this sort of... speech pattern? Style? Idk how to call it, but basically that thing where in his text they tend to replace the words ending with -ing to just -in'. But he doesn't do it in every word I've noticed.. In most, yes, but not all of them. And sometimes they make him say 'n instead of and and such. And a lot of wanna / gonna / gotta instead of writing the full thing. (And sometimes I think I've seen him use "ya" instead of "you", but that one's a bit less common on him from what I can remember)

I think this is a very interesting bit of characterization and I really like it! However, I struggle to implement it whenever I write him in English, since it's not my first language. I find it really hard because I never know when it's too much and when it's an acceptable amount... I never know when to replace the ing → in' while not making it too exaggerated 🥲🥲 I can't manage to make it feel, idk, natural? So I tend to prefer to ignore that aspect of his "speech style" entirely in fear of making him sound weird... Which is a shame, because once again, I think it's a very interesting detail, but I just never seem to get it quite right.

So, I wanted to ask... Since I think your interpretation of him (how you write him in general) is very good, and since I think you're a native english speaker too lol, is there any easy what to remember when to apply such "mannerisms" when writing him or similar characters? Or am I overthinking too much and should I just put it wherever I think it fits nicely? Or do I just put it in all the words ending with -ing with little exceptions?? 😭 I know that this type of written speech is used to represent how someone Says those words, like... spoken. But since I'm not surrounded by people who speak the language, I can't really go about it in that way either 😭 (as in "oh, I'll just listen to people around me and figure it out in that way!")

Okay, so 💦 I want to take a second to remind people (both Anon and my general audience) that I'm NOT open to telling people how to write. Asking for general advice ("how do I get over writer's block", "how do I get inspired", etc.) or about my own experiences is fine, but I'm not comfortable telling others how to write specific Twst characters, OCs, or what to do with their own art. So just know what whatever advice I provide in this post WON'T be me telling you to do X, Y, or Z to arrive at the "correct" answer. At the end of the day, it's only my own interpretation, and to pass around my interpretation as though it is gospel or the "most canon" would be incorrect to say. I understand that some may hold me, my takes, or my writing in high regard, and therefore view me as some kind of fandom authority or someone whose opinion holds a lot of weight. However, I've repeatedly stressed that this makes me uncomfortable and I want to discourage this behavior as much as I can.

Now then, Anon makes a lot of salient points. Every character has a unique way of speaking and their own quirks and mannerisms. There's the very obvious ones like Epel's dialect, but also more subtle things like how Leona (in English) drops the "-g" from the ends of some "-ing" words, how he sometimes uses "'n" in the place of "and", how he tends to use "wanna"/"gonna"/"gotta", and how he sometimes trades "you" for "ya". TThese are important things to pay attention to if you're trying to capture a character's "voice"! (Yuurei-san has an interesting series of posts about the Twst characters' speech patterns!) Most likely these localization choices were made for Leona's English dialogue in order to reflect his informal manner of speaking in Japanese. For example, he often uses ねぇ~, elongating some of his words sarcastically. If you have access to Twst EN, I'd suggest opening it up and listening to how Leona voices his lines (while you read the English text). If you don't have the game, you can probably still find voice clips on the Twst wiki(s) or on Youtube. That may help you get a sense of his cadence and how he words things. You also need to think about how you write his dialogue and the details around it. Is he mad or annoyed? Maybe tired or just not feelin' it? Consider how mood factors into whether or not Leona chooses standardized or colloquial English. Sometimes he adopts an overly formal and princely tone in some instances, like when he's presenting himself at the book 7 farewell party, so you have to consider situations where he uses formality sarcastically. Again, it really depends on the context. This will require a lot of thinking, judging, and putting yourself in the character's headspace. You won't get it perfect the first time (or even the times after); it'll take lots of trial and error to find something you're happy with.

#disney twst #disney twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland #notes from the writing raven #question #advice #Leona Kingscholar #Epel Felmier #twst en #twisted wonderland en #twisted wonderland jp #twst jp #book 7 spoilers

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guzhufuren · 2 months ago

Text

if you follow me, or simply see this and have 1 free minute, could you read this post please? i'm in desperate need of as many and as varied ideas as possible from different perspectives and people

i cannot bear to stay where i am much longer, living here is killing me from inside, i'm clawing at the walls. i want to move countries, cut ties with almost everyone, have the freedom of marrying anyone i want, adopt, change gender marker, work in a region where my preferred job field is much more progressive and valued, and stop holding myself back from living. i know what country i will move to and which work program i will go through for it. but in order to do that i need savings and money to get shit done like documents and gender affirming stuff. to do that faster i need a job with as high of a pay as i can get. i really want to get the fuck out of here in 6 or 8 months

i want to kindly ask, please if you have an idea of a job that would be a possible fit for my needs, no matter what it is, leave it in replies here or in anons. might be something innovative and unusual, or might be something obvious that i haven't thought of before

further info under the cut

- note, i live in Kazakhstan so almost any eu/us/nz/au jobs are considered high paying to me because of our enormous difference in the currency value. in case of a possibility of remote job done from faraway i can figure out the taxes issue

my skills and characteristics that can be helpful to think of something, but also not limited to those: - fluent in 2 languages (russian and english) - adaptable, very fast learner, good at finding things and doing varied tasks, analytical - fast to make people open up to me, charm them - good at promoting stuff, but it's fully self-learned from experience - good with computer shit, passable in photoshop - conventionally attractive (it has been helpful in all customer service jobs) - almost completed a childcare degree, have all skills that come with handling kids - though i do not have a degree yet. i quit astrophysics major a decade ago and will only finish my bachelors in early childhood education this summer

jobs that i have done before:

- the most successful and longest one: store chain manager where my position combined responsibilities of offline store manager, sales manager and internet store manager. promotion of top-price brands and their growth in popularity, training personnel, working with vip clients, working with suppliers, choosing and purchasing all products, social media advertising, fully taking care of online store too - various sales - real estate agent

jobs i do not consider: - jobs that will require me to go to another country and exchange stuff. i specifically need money so i can do that in the future, and the whole problem is i cannot do that right now without a security blanket to to fall on. or rent funds - childcare jobs (the field is in the ditches here, the aim is to earn money, not put myself into debt) - teaching jobs, same problem - persuading people to buy anything - translating text. i am horrible with written speech, very very poor writer's skills - the kind of customer service where you have to prostrate yourself to customers. i don't have patience to take shit anymore - please don't suggest sugar dating. done that. trauma

i can easily find a job on my own but i wanted to be smarter about it this time and consider everything, use all resources including this blog. if you thought of anything, please tell me

#mine #biggest thank you to anyone who answers in advance

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hervygervy · 1 month ago

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Also since I'm the resident pyrrhon autist I'm curious how his japanese dialogue handles humility with his arrogant personality and all. Particularly I've often wondered if the way he uses those terms switches or not at that bit around the beginning of his bossfight when he's briefly himself and trying to fight them back, like if he shows any "cracks" so to speak. I hope specific kinda translation comparison requests like this are okay

Thank you for your request! Let's talk about Pyrrhon :)

His boss fight has a really interesting difference in the Japanese version! I will talk about it at the end of this post because first I would like to talk about Pyrrhon more generally.

Normally I would like to include English voice files just for the sake of easily accessible comparison, but this website seeks to inhibit me and contain my hyperfixation and I am only able to attach so many voice files. Tragic. So because we have a lot of ground to cover, unfortunately, we'll just be working with Japanese voice files today. I'll try to reference the English version when I can. Once again, we'll be here a while, so read below the cutoff!

Some initial notes that might be of interest to you before we really dive in (it's a bunch of language stuff so bear with me!) Pyrrhon's called ラーズ (Raazu, but I'll render it as "Raaz" in my translations) in the Japanese version. I sincerely wish I could tell you what this is derived from but I honest to goodness have no idea. The English name meanwhile is obviously sourced from "pyro" as in fire and even perhaps figures like King Pyhrrus, which is where the phrase "Pyrrhic victory" comes from (a triumph which takes such a toll on the victor that it eventually leads to defeat).

In the Japanese version he consistently uses informal speech and masculine sentence ending particles. We don't have particles in English so it's difficult to explain, but the best way I can describe it is the way he ends his sentences give off a strong and gruff masculine vibe.

Despite this very apparent manner of speech, he uses 私 (watashi) to refer to himself. I point this out because unlike in English, there are dozens of first-person pronouns in Japanese and what you use, depending on the context, will say a lot about you as a person. 私 is like the "default" pronoun (as in like that's what you'd be taught to use in a class first thing). It's gender neutral and applicable for both casual and formal situations. I'd say it leans ever so slightly formal. In casual conversations, it sounds a little feminine. If a man is using it in a casual situation, it either sounds awkward, or like the speaker is trying to establish some distance between himself and the listener, thus coming across as a little cold and stiff.

Palutena also uses "watashi," but interestingly, in the game's subtitles, hers is always written out in hiragana like わたし while Pyrrhon's is always written in kanji like 私. It's the exact same word at the end of the day so I guess it's just a stylistic choice?

There are also a bunch of second-person pronouns in Japanese because of course there are. They're rarely used in actual conversation, however. It tends to come across as a bit rude, and using the other person's name instead of "you" is generally preferable. I've only ever really seen it in anime and manga or texts that address the "general you" as it's called. Pyrrhon uses キミ (kimi) to refer to others. The way キミ (or 君 as it's usually written) is perceived tends to vary from person to person it seems, it can either sound affectionate or it can sound like you're a bossy man addressing his subordinates since it's apparently historically associated with the masculine first-person pronoun 僕 (boku). Nowadays 僕 is more of the young boy's pronoun, though. Pit actually uses it.

With that out of the way, you know that Pyrrhon is meant to be a comic book superhero parody of sorts, so naturally, in the Japanese version, he uses a lot of English words/phrases in his speech. Here's the Japanese equivalent of his introduction as an example:

He uses a few English words here. The English script adapts this by instead giving him a lot of silly one-liners that you'd expect to hear in some Saturday morning cartoon. You could probably make the argument that this aspect of his character thus more effectively expressed in the English version. This interaction also plays out a little differently here in the Japanese version. Oh, but I guess I should translate:

Pyrrhon: No problem!

Palutena: Are you... the sun god, Raaz?

Pyrrhon: Yes!

Pit: The sun god, Raaz...?

Viridi: The self-proclaimed "emissary of the sun."

Pyrrhon: So you're all together, huh?

Palutena: Raaz, is there something you know about this enemy army?

Pyrrhon: Listen well! This here! Is the floating continental cluster of the Aurum!

Hades: The Aurum, huh?

Pyrrhon: This bit's important so I'll say it again! This is the floating continental cluster of the Aurum!

Viridi: Geez, that's enough.

Pyrrhon: In the book of Revelation of the Realm of Gods, chapter 84, verse 3: "Lured by destruction and heresy, they are born from nothing and appear to return to nothing. Those that swallow the heavens, earth, and sea--they are the Aurum. They travel across the galaxy!"

Viridi: Is there really such a legend?

Pyrrhon: To put it plainly, you could say the Aurum can swallow up the world at this rate! Let's work together! Come now, shoot these invaders from space!

Pit: Is it really alright to put our trust this guy?

Palutena: Well, his explanation matches the current state of affairs.

Viridi: Well, I suppose it's good to call this enemy army "the Aurum."

Pyrrhon pretty much sticks true to this style of speech throughout the rest of this section of the game. It's over the top and gruff and commanding you could say.

A few notes! Pyrrhon is referred to as a 太陽神 (taiyoushin) which means "sun god" I suppose, but if we break down the meanings for the individual kanji, it's "plump sunshine god" and I personally find that amusing. Okay, what's actually more interesting is Viridi states that he's a "self-proclaimed 太陽の使い" (taiyou no tsukai) or "messenger/envoy of the sun." I went with "emissary" for my translation since that's a common phrase in a lot of mythologies and it carries a similar sentiment. But either way, the use of 使い implies more something along the lines of "servant of the sun" which is curious. Personally I'm wondering if the purpose behind this wording is to draw a parallel to Pit who can be described as a 天の使い (ten no tsukai) or "angel," but I'll return to that thought later.

Another minor note is that Pyrrhon states that the Aurum are "破壊と破戒にいざなわれ" (hakai to hakai ni izanaware) and 破戒 (hakai) means like, breaking a religious commandment, so I went to translate it as "heresy" for simplicity's sake.

When Pyrrhon says "those that swallow the heavens, earth, and sea," he uses the word 者 (mono) to describe them. It means "person" which makes the Aurum sound a lot more humanlike. I still opted to use "those" because it still can be used as a determiner.

Lastly, this is just mildly interesting, instead of "the Book of Divine Prophecy," it's a mess of kanji that I attempted to decode as "the Revelation of the Realm of Gods." It's written as 神界黙示録 (shinkai mokushiroku). The last three kanji in this set, 黙示録 (mokushiroku), is actually the title of the book of Revelation. You know, like from the Bible. Neat, huh?

Since we don't have English voice files, I'll just point out the notable dialogue differences:

In English, Pyrrhon elaborates that the floating islands we encounter in chapter 15 are just one of the many bases the Aurum possess. In the Japanese, he doesn't really comment on this and instead just repeats the fact that we are indeed looking at the Aurum islands. Thanks, buddy.

In English, once Pyrrhon finishes explaining the supposed passage, he tells the others to "stow their fear" and that he'll essentially take care of everything on his own, or at least, that's the implication. In Japanese he immediately suggests everyone work together. Everyone seems a bit more receptive in Japanese whereas they're more hesitant in English, especially with Viridi saying "you know things are dire if that's the guy we're listening to."

Also, sometimes what he says is rendered using Roman letters in the subtitles:

His laughter is always rendered in Roman letters. In the Japanese text below, he says "shoot! Shoot!!" as in English "shoot," not Japanese "shoot" (撃つ/utsu). It's not quite the same as kablooey kablammy, huh...

I'm not quite done with chapter 15 yet. There's one curious dialogue difference at the end of the level. Here's the English line:

And the Japanese:

He says "it seems I won't be bored for a while!" Well, I'm glad he's having fun.

Much like how his comic book superhero persona is hammed up in the English version, I'd say his arrogance and haughtiness is intensified. He does a lot more talking down to the others in the English dialogue. Sure, he does speak informally in the Japanese version, but this is also a video game so, that's par for the course. Anime, manga, and video games don't often reflect how actual spoken Japanese goes. You could say it's like, super exaggerated Japanese. And it can often get pretty crude or informal. What I'm trying to say is, Japanese Pyrrhon's speech doesn't strike me as terribly unusual. He talks like any other brash anime character. None of the other characters seemed too unnerved by him compared to the English version, anyway.

As for chapter 16, Pyrrhon only appears for a brief moment to aggravate the boss. The interactions between the two versions are pretty much the same, so there's not much to talk about, but I will note this!

"You seem to be having trouble, Pit!" ...or "Pit-kun" in this case.

Most of the time he addresses Pit as "kun." This is a masculine honorific, usually used by men addressing their male subordinates or used to refer to good male friends (it's not wrong to use it for women, but the typical usage is for men). In English he says "looks like you could use a hand, little angel" which to me sounds kinda condescending but I'm sure the intention was to sound kinda affectionate in the "hey, we're buddies, right?" kinda way that the Japanese seems to convey. Or maybe I'm totally wrong and the English writers did want to make him sound more condescending.

In a previous post, I talked a little bit about how talking about giving things in Japanese is complicated. In particular, Viridi was using やる (yaru) when asking Palutena if she was giving Pit any kind of allowance (the Japanese equivalent of the "floor ice cream" bit). やる is used when talking about giving things to something of lower status, but in the context that the receiver is literally like a plant or an animal. Pyrrhon seems to have a little bit more respect than her!

"I shall lend you a hand!" Or "I shall assist you!" However you want to word it. Here he's using あげよう (ageyou) which the volitional conjugation of あげる (ageru). あげる is used when talking about giving something to someone of equal or lower status, but not in the animal or plant type of lower status. Hopefully that makes sense. Considering that he addresses Pit as "kun" and not in the sarcastic way like Hades does, I'm going to presume that Japanese Pyrrhon sees him on a relatively equal enough playing field. That's the impression I get anyway.

Alright! That was! A whole lot of yapping! And there is more to come because because we are so close to the moment you've been waiting for! We shall talk about chapter 17!! And then the boss fight!!!

When Pyrrhon and Pit encounter the Aurum brain, in the English version, Pyrrhon's lines are delivered in a pretty nonchalant fashion. In Japanese he maintains his energy and pep. Take a listen:

In English he says something like "do your thing, Pit! You know, your... shooting thing." Anyway, a translation for the voice clip!

Pit: This is... the Aurum brain?

Pyrrhon: Shoot at it, Pit! Shoot at it until your sacred treasure burns up!

No more "kun," huh? He's probably too fixated on that brain, anyway.

Oh, uh, any instance of 神器 (jingi) or "sacred treasure" in the Japanese version is replaced with "weapon" in the English version. I wonder if such phrasing is for the sake of keeping in line with franchise terminology, or perhaps directly referencing "weapons" would have run the team into trouble with the ratings board, CERO. If you care, the game has a CERO B rating in Japan, which means it's suitable for ages 12 and up. It's pretty much the equivalent of the ESRB E10+ rating, which is what the game got in the states. Supposedly, the beheading of the Hewdraw is what cemented the game's rating as B in Japan.

That's not relevant. Let's move onto when Pyrrhon assumes control over the Aurum troops!

Level Infinity Epic Super God Plus!! ...nah he didn't say that. It went something like this:

Pit: I-I'm saved! And Raaz?

Pyrrhon: Hahahahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHA!! Well done, Pit!

Pit: Raaz?!

Pyrrhon: Thanks to you, I've become this magnificent! I'm invincible! I'm invincible! I'm invincible! I'm invincible! I've obtained the strongest power!

Pit: What do you mean?

Pyrrhon: This is what I mean...!

"Kun" has returned! Anyway, I pointed out the one line change already.

How irritating that it's split up into two voice files. Continuing the conversation:

I shall continue the translation:

Pit: No way... Raaz?!

Pyrrhon: HAHAHAHAHAHA! The Aurum are now my hands and feet! The Aurum will embark reborn! I'll give you all a show!

Hades: Ho ho! This guy's interesting! What a discovery!

Viridi: I don't think this is a situation to be glad about.

Pit: Raaz, you rat! Tricking an angel! That's not okay!

Pyrrhon: With this vast power, I will challenge the gods!

A few notes: Pyrrhon uses やる (yaru) for "give" here! He's really on his high horse now.

Pit says "ラーズめ" and tacking め onto anything makes it derogatory. People can translate it in a number of ways, like "you scum" or "damn you" or "bastard" or what have you (I'm really not fond of swearing so I hope my friends don't read this and make a big deal about it). Pit's kinda talking in a childish way here so I opted for "rat," especially since that's what's used in the English version, haha. He uses いけない (ikenai) which is something one would use when describing something like socially unacceptable. Basically he's saying "you're not allowed to trick me!"

Lastly, when Pyrrhon says "challenge," he's using 挑戦 (chousen) which carries the implication of a defiant attitude. I felt that was important to mention!

The differences between the English and Japanese here are pretty minor. Pyrrhon emphasizes his newfound power a lot more in the English version, I'd say, with his whole "not even the combined power of the gods can stop me" bit. He also seems a bit more overtly haughty? (seems a bit more subtle in Japanese to me anyway). He blatantly brushes off Pit in English ("What?! I can't hear you over all this awesome!") but just kinda continues his spiel in Japanese.

We all know that Pyrrhon shows off his quirky new powers by blocking Palutena's extraction (or "jamming" it as he says in Japanese) and we're forced to fight on some dinky platforms. Thankfully we have dialogue to ease the pain. We always do, I guess. Such is the way of radio-style storying telling as it's called in gaming. One interaction always stood out to me. In English it goes like this:

Hades: Our little sun buddy must have a thing for you, Pit.

Viridi: Of course he does. Pit's the only one that loon considers an equal.

We can infer a lot from this... Pit and Pyrrhon are comparable in the sense that neither of them are really taken all that seriously by the gods. For Pit, we can easily see this by the way quite literally any other character treats him. Other characters are baffled to see that he can put up a fight or they simply don't want to admit that he's a genuine one man army. Palutena is probably the only character that will give him any credit, but even then, she isn't beyond toying with him or speaking for him. But I already addressed all that in a post replying to a comment.

Pyrrhon is also disregarded immediately, both in English and Japanese. His status as a god is always called into question (we the player never learn his true place in the divine hierarchy), other characters are quick to doubt him, and well, everyone only ends up following along with him because what other choice is there?

You get the point. Pyrrhon seeks the Aurum's power in order to finally get on the gods' level. To finally be taken seriously. That kind of thing. I was really surprised to learn that the interaction plays out a little differently in Japanese:

It goes something like this:

Pit: Alright! We made it out of the giant battleship!

Palutena: Enemies are approaching from all directions! Watch your surroundings well!

Hades: Did Sunny fall in love? You're very popular, eh?

Viridi: Of course he is. Because right now, as it stands, the only one who can oppose Aurum Raaz is Pit.

Quick note: Hades calls Pyrrhon "太陽ちゃん" (taiyou-chan) and ちゃん is an affectionate honorific, one you'd use for close friends or pets. Obviously he's using it sarcastically here. I employed some creative translation. The actual English script writers had to do the same thing, you know.

But yeah, I can't say the Japanese dialogue leaves as much room for character analysis, huh? It's more or less stating the obvious. The Underworld army isn't really participating here, and Viridi was unable to inhibit Pyrrhon with her last reset bomb. So yeah, Pit really is the only one left that can actually challenge Pyrrhon.

Well, I can go back to that point I brought up earlier. Pyrrhon was called the 太陽の使い or "messenger of the sun," and you can draw that kind of parallel to 天の使い or "heavenly messenger," or more simply, "angel." On that basis, I'd say perhaps you can draw a connection between the two. Maybe they were always meant to be compared in both versions. Or maybe I'm looking too deep into it.

Before we get to the boss fight, I just wish to point out that in the Japanese version, a standard centurion gets some speaking lines, whereas the English version only has a strongarm talking:

I guess I'll translate: "Captain! We came because we wanted to be useful to Lady Palutena."

Okay okay okay boss fight time!! In English, Pyrrhon starts talking in a robotic voice. In Japanese, it's a strained voice. Take a listen:

Translation as usual!

Palutena: Raaz is just up ahead!

Pyrrhon: Stooooop... turn baaaaaack...

Pit: Is Raaz like, acting completely strange or what?

Palutena: Perhaps it's because of the overflowing exaltation?

Oh, and the portraits are different! In English we immediately get a glimpse of Aurum Pyrrhon:

In Japanese, he's still using one of his standard portraits:

...the laughing one to be precise. Okay. But his speech is now rendered in katakana. To reiterate from a previous post, Japanese uses three writing systems all at once. Katakana, this angular text you see here, is mainly used to render foreign words into the Japanese sound system, but it can also be used for stylization purposes and whatnot. Here it's clearly meant to indicate that his words aren't fully his own...

After a loading screen we get to fight him! The boss intro in English has Pyrrhon spew out this binary code:

Supposedly it spells "kill" in ASCII binary. In Japanese it's a lot more "normal":

Pyrrhon: You've come... Pit...

Pit: Raaz! What in the world?!

He's still straining like before the loading screen. But where things get interesting is as he continues to try to talk:

Whoa! Pyrrhon! I can't hear you all over that TV static!

Yeah, so in order to understand what he's saying at all, you actually have to read the text. Cool, because that's what I've been doing anyway. My audio processing abilities are atrocious, after all. That and it's easier to look up words I don't know (which is a lot of them) in my dictionary when I can actually see what words they're using. So let's translate:

Pit: Raaz! Are you really controlling the Aurum? Or, are you being controlled by the Aurum?!

Pyrrhon: I... >cannot be controlled.

The top image is the text pertaining to Pyrrhon struggling to say "I" and the bottom image depicts when the static kicks in with "cannot be controlled" by using an > arrow.

The static speech is rendered in katakana. Alien speech is typically written that way in Japanese media to really emphasize their foreign status.

It's a bit eerie to listen to when it's just the audio, huh? Let's hear a bit more:

Pit: W-what was that?!

Palutena: As expected, you could say he succumbed to the power of the Aurum brain.

Pyrrhon: >Do not inhibit our mission. We will consume all.

Hades: They behave just like insects. Considering their strength, it's fine if they're low-grade, huh?

Palutena: Drawn to the torch of battle, they live only to consume everything. Calling them bees or locusts might not entirely be wrong.

Pyrrhon: >We will multiply. We will continue to increase.

Viridi: But every living thing is like this. Their desperate survival connects to their growth, and they influence each other, enabling for the cycle of life. However, these guys are troubling! Their power is too strong!

Palutena: That and they're an alien species, after all.

Pit: Won't they eat everything at this rate?!

Palutena: That's why you have to put an end to this, Pit!

It's pretty similar to the English. Minus the hungry moths. RIP hungry moths. And I guess in English Aurum Pyrrhon says "we will be all" rather than "we will consume all." Something like that.

Also, when the Aurum (static) speak, they use the pronoun ワレワレ (wareware) which is super old-fashioned and means "we." It supposedly has a strong emphasis on one's own existence. Fitting for the Aurum.

I'll share with ya one last static:

Yay, it's easy for me:

Pit: Return to space!

Pyrrhon: >Uuuoooooo

Eventually the static becomes calming to listen to.

Obviously I didn't hit every Pyrrhon moment, but these are all the notable differences I could find and interesting things I could point out! Aurum Pyrrhon is pretty different between both versions, huh? The whole static thing almost makes it seem all the more dire. To me anyway.

Thank you for bearing with me in this long post. I'll probably do more characterization posts next, so they'll probably be just as long as this one...

#i'm so sorry this took so long #got caught up with other things suddenly #i hope you learned something fun :)#thank you for being patient #kid icarus #kid icarus uprising #japanese #localization

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43501 · 24 days ago

Note

How would Near show affection to his lover? Like.. Do you think he’d be the type to cuddle or call them sweet names? Or would he be rather emotionally distant…

One of my favorite subjects! Thanks for the ask!

(Since you're whispering in my ear for Nearposts, I suspect you've already seen these, but if you haven't: Near Romance Headcanons Part 1 // Near Romance Headcanons Part 2)

Need to advise that my answer will be a combination of pointing to things in canon that inform my opinions, and pure headcanon. Death Note's canon and extrinsic materials give us very, very little indication of what any of these people are like in their personal lives (except L, who has an entire DS game where you can romance him, and I am forever jealous).

What kind of person is Near?

Want to start by saying that I think the common fandom perception of him as an emotionless person is wrong. He definitely feels things - very strongly at times, even (speech at the Yellow Box, calling the president a "maggot", that very, very good scene in the Relight where he calls Light after the SPK is killed and just sits there seething in silence while covered in blood) - but he's always in control of himself. That's one of his defining character traits, after all.

I don't know why this omitted from the English translation, but the Japanese text under the "personality" section of his character bio in HT13 describes him as "a dry person". Also worth mentioning that in Japanese, Near is maintaining a super high level of formality in his speech at all times. He's always ending sentences with -masu or -desu, even when he's talking to Mello.

Like, the only really telling thing we get about him as a person is a meta comment (from Ryuk, of all people) in HTR13 suggesting he might be distant from others because he's sensitive. I think we are supposed to infer that he intentionally isolates himself from others to maintain his peace and clarity of mind. By the way, the original Japanese version of this says "due to being too smart and sensitive, they cut off contact with the outside world", so the Viz English translation is faithful.

HTR13 explicitly says he "had no friends at Wammy's House" but this is obviously self-imposed. Linda tries to get him to go outside and play with the other kids and the fact that the other guy on-panel is like "don't bother, Linda" means that this is probably a regular occurrence... plus, we see the panel of everyone crowding around Near to look at his test results. They would probably try to be his friends if he'd allow it, but he seems to hold them at bay.

He values Mello a lot, though. He has zero hesitation about inheriting the title of "L" together with him and working collaboratively (and in the anime adaptations, honestly reads a touch disappointed to me when Mello storms out of Wammy's House). His original line to Mello during the reunion was "welcome home, Mello" (okaerinasai) ... why did they change that? He's quite passionate in his speech to Light at the Yellow Box, giving Mello the credit for solving the case and almost directly saying "he makes up for what I lack". It's implied he recovered Mello's belongings and eats Mello's chocolate in remembrance of him. He keeps Mello's finger puppet and just like... sits around wearing it, years later.

I think this is the in-text proof we get of the "he's actually kind of sensitive" comment from HTR13. Also the C-Kira one-shot where he falters and knocks over a tarot card tower when Halle correctly surmises he's agonizing about what the original L would do in the situation (and then he apologizes and dismisses them, asking to be left alone for the rest of the day). In general, his emotions are displayed through his props. In part because manga is a visual medium, in part because that's actually how he expresses himself... sitting in the shadow of those huge "L" shaped card towers. Taking great care with making Mello's puppet because he "liked him". Breaking his own toys whenever he gets frustrated.

All of that to say that I think, if we're trying to make inferences from canon:

Near is certainly capable of warmth (and I'd even argue genuine attachment and admiration for a person), but his expressions of affection are likely to be low-key.

His social skills are extremely low. At least at first, he's not going to know what he's supposed to do in a relationship. It might even take him a while to realize he has more-than-friendly feelings for a person in the first place.

The suggestion that he has a "sensitive core" somewhere under all of that leaves a lot to the imagination. There's a ton of ways this can be interpreted.

By the way, this didn't fit in with any of the above but I wanted to mention a scene I really like. Only in the TV anime, Near tries to stop the Task Force from pursuing Light when he flees the Yellow Box. When Aizawa tells Near "I'm not going to follow your orders", Near seems genuinely aghast and embarrassed for a moment lol. It's not a strictly necessary scene (it's not in the original manga or the Relight) but it's nice to see Near shocked out of his element for a second, a humanizing moment.

Actually Answering Your Question

Now I'm going to forget about all of that and answer with what is in my heart, as someone who has been unreasonably attached to this character for 17 years.

Most of his expressions of love are indirect. He's the world's greatest detective (implied to still be quasi-FBI in present day) and provides financially for his partner - it's a very practical, down-to-earth show of love and very Near-like. He's very creative and always making stuff. He'll definitely make things in the image of his partner - finger puppets, sculptures, plushies - and keep them nearby. He's a careful study of everyone and everything in his life, so he knows you back-to-front. Gifts relating to your interests/hobbies will show up at your door at random, he definitely expresses affection by way of gift-giving.

Yes, he's very cuddly. Once a trusting relationship has been established and he feels he can open up. In keeping with his tendency to express his bigger, more complicated feelings in ways other than words, he relies on physical affection as a shortcut. It makes him feel at peace. Sometimes it lulls him to sleep. The first times you hold him, it feels like you're touching a thoroughly touch-starved person. Something he does a lot is hide/bury his face in the crook of your neck. He also twirls your hair through this fingers like he does with his own hair, like you might be an extension of him.

Kissing is much the same. For the most part, it's very loving, pure and chaste. Impossibly gentle kisses on the back of your hand, your forehead, your cheeks, your lips. Those hot, open-mouthed kisses, all tongue and teeth, are a more occasional thing. It always makes his head spin a little, lol.

Sex is infrequent but intense (at least emotionally, for him, I think, especially the first few times). He's pretty straightforward about his desires, but a touch awkward about it still. I don't personally view him as asexual (this is a whole essay unto itself so I won't elaborate), but he could easily do without it also. It's low on his list of priorities.

I struggle to see him as someone who uses sweet names on a partner, but I honestly think you'd get a "dear" or maybe even "my dear" once in a while. It fits with him still being a little bit formal, even in his private life, and it's the address he went with for the back of Mello's photograph instead of writing "To Mello" or something more impersonal...

In the case of a long-distance relationship which doesn't have a face-to-face component, I think his letter-writing is thoughtful and surprisingly ardent. He can be more honest (perhaps a touch poetic) when he has distance and time to compose his thoughts and feelings and put them to a page. There's a Near x OC fic I really like that runs on this premise. He doesn't talk like this in person or on the phone, though.

He doesn't distance himself from his partner per se, but there's always a sense that he's holding back a bit or there's something unsaid. Like there's a little tiny part of him always just out of reach. He doesn't say "I love you" unprompted (though he'll say it back if you do first). He's never going to be one for grand gestures. Even if he loves you, he still needs a lot of alone time (both for himself and in service of his work) and appreciates you respecting his space.

#death note #near #nate river #meta #near x reader #fun fluffy question had me breaking out the japanese raws and dictionary lol #i can't be helped

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