#aibou rambles

[aibou-ftw]

Remember that 81k word JohnDave fic I was writing? Well the first draft is finally fucking done.

Final(ish) Word Count: 195,877 words

It's gonna be a fucking *beast*

[getvalentined]

Apropos of nothing at all, I present:

The Nibelheim Doom Triangle Playlist

Big Houses by Squalloscope (Lucrecia and Hojo and Shinra)

I Come With Knives by IAMX (Hojo to Lucrecia)

Labour by Paris Paloma (Lucrecia to Hojo)

Superman by Ivory Layne (Lucrecia to Grimoire Vincent no it's Grimoire)

Between by Vienna Teng (Hojo and Lucrecia)

9 Crimes by Damien Rice (Hojo and Lucrecia and Vincent)

Die Tonight Live Forever by InnerPartySystem (Hojo to Vincent)

Up In The Air by Thirty Seconds to Mars (Hojo to Sephiroth)

Black Eyes by Radical Face (Vincent to Hojo post experiments)

Castles by Of Verona (Vincent to Lucrecia postcanon)

Veins by Charlotte Martin (Vincent and Hojo and Chaos)

BONUS: Song Unsung by Eden White (Veld to Vincent post death)

All's fair in love and science!

[yume-fanfare]

i loooove all the eye - ai puns in ai the somnium files they're absolutely everywhere and all so good

[fortitude-nine-point-eight]

in the Be the One movie, when sento said "he's my precious partner and i need him." all the while the build theme music box ver. is being played... i think about that often...

[amelikos]

First promotional pictures for HZ075 (link here and here).

Ramblings about the original Explorers (Lucius, Rystal, Gibeon).

First recap.. which highlights that the Explorers got founded by Lucius, that he set off to Rakua with Rystal and Gibeon, etc.

The picture showing Lucius, Rystal and Gibeon together is really nice.. lots of casual trust and closeness between all of them as it looks like Gibeon is explaining something to both of them and they are listening to him intently. Seems like Gibeon is someone they could consider trustworthy and reliable as he appears to be the one who is most prepared during his journeys (he carries a bag, a notebook, etc). Terapagos is also smiling! I wonder if Gibeon and Terapagos had a close relationship, but what is certain is that Terapagos didn't always feel the way he currently does towards Gibeon. That trust got broken afterwards because of what happened in Rakua.

(Stray thoughts about that trio, but I wonder if they were similar to Liko, Roy and Dot.. I mean, the mere fact that they are a trio means that we can draw parallels between the two, but. Thinking about how Lucius&Rystal and Liko&Roy could have similarities on some aspects, since Lucius and Rystal both have Rayquaza and Terapagos.. and Liko and Roy are both currently associated with these Pokemon.. which kind of tickles the part of me who is fond of Roy&Liko.. which, in turn, makes me wonder if Gibeon and Dot could be similar on some aspects. Gibeon carries a notebook so he seems to gather information the same way Dot does? I wonder if Lucius and Rystal were hyping up Gibeon the same way Liko and Roy do for Dot.. "Gibeon you're so smart and reliable and what would we do without you, and")

--

Second set of pics. It highlights that Lucius, Rystal and Gibeon all traveled together to find Rakua.

It's interesting to me since our current characters are also traveling to find Rakua, and I love when narratives play on a cycle repeating itself. Same destination at different points in time.

Something I also love is that Rakua is thought to be a "fairy tale". Lucius's story was also considered to be a fairy tale, and Diana, Liko and the others didn't know if he really existed but they chose to believe that he did. It's something that Roy brings up in HZ006, even ("I always believed that the ancient adventurer was real"). It's an active choice they make to believe in something and to chase it. (Also knowing that Rakua wasn't exactly a beautiful fairy tale given what happened, and it turned out to be potentially a dangerous place.)

This already tells us a lot about Gibeon. Even if he could appear to be more "logical" or "rational" (seeking information, etc), he chose to believe in Rakua and to dedicate himself to finding it, even if he wasn't sure about its existence? It reminds me of Dot and Agate's exchange in HZ056 when Agate thought that the occult books were ridiculous, but Dot thought that they could have a kernel of truth to them.

This makes me wonder if Lucius, Rystal and Gibeon were all traveling independently towards the same destination and met each other somehow (Lucius meeting Rystal first, then both of them meeting Gibeon). And they may have decided to travel together as a matter of practicality since they were looking for the same thing anyway. I wonder where they heard about Rakua.. In ancient books?

The mention of Gibeon being wholly dedicated to his goal is interesting (and could indicate how things went wrong for him.. as in being "too dedicated" at the cost of everything else). Zygarde being described as "White Zygarde" as well (in contrast to Lucius's Rayquaza being the "Black Rayquaza"). Zygarde is Gibeon's partner (aibou) so that also speaks of the depth of their bond. Gibeon seems to love his Pokemon properly. I wonder where he met it?

(Also, thought that came to me. It's neat that both Liko and Amethio's grandparents have dogs as their partners Pokemon (depending on the form).. Diana has Windie. Zygarde's 10% form resembles a dog.)

The mention of Lucius and Gibeon having lots of respect for each other also really gets to me.. These two were friends! I wonder how they came to greatly respect each other (because of their dedication to adventuring?), but I'm happy about it. The tragedy is that they all cared about each other and were friends, and because there was love, it makes it all the more heartbreaking the way things ended..

I like what all the pictures infer about the characters. Not sure what Lucius, Rystal and Terapagos are looking at in the first picture but they are all smiling, and it's cute. Lucius being casually in Gibeon's personal space in the second picture shows that there is a lot of comfort between the two of them and that they can talk to each other in a straightforward way and as equals. The third picture is also cute because the original Explorers had their own group fistbump, showing lots of camaraderie between all of them.. and we're meant to think of the Rising Volt Tacklers who do the same thing, too. Gibeon had close friends like that!

The fourth picture is my favorite of the bunch. Almost feels like we're looking at something we're not supposed to see because it feels that tender to me, tbh. They all look close. (And Rystal being in the middle in that scene is also interesting. Kind of neat that knowing that even though Lucius and Rystal were romantically involved, Gibeon still manages to be close to her. They just all mutually respect each other. It doesn't have to be weird. (And by that, I mean that it doesn't have to be about a love-some kind of shape which is three straight sides and three angles.. or about using a female character to further angst/drama between two male characters.. it can be all three of them standing together as equals.. and the love Lucius and Rystal feel for each other is one thing, and the bond all three of them share is another thing altogether.. etc etc.. anyway.)

Also something something about Rayquaza being the dragon of the sky and Zygarde being the dragon of the earth(?) and Terapagos being the bridge between the two? Poetic cinema.

--

While I'm at it, I will also write down my last stray thoughts about the upcoming episode. (Though I could still have more tomorrow depending on what the PR account decides to post.)

Given the insistence on the close friendship between the original Explorers, I wonder if Lucius really sacrificed himself to protect/save Rystal and Gibeon. But then, why does Terapagos react with so much anger at Gibeon's name and looks? Did Gibeon attack Lucius and Rystal and is the reason for Lucius's demise?

Was Gibeon somehow influenced by the Rakurium? Did Gibeon know about the Rakurium's properties before arriving in Rakua? Or did he find out about its possible blessings when he got there, which caused an instant fascination and interest in it for him? Was he so desperate to reach Rakua that when he finally got there and saw the Rakurium, he became obsessed with it?

Was Gibeon somehow influenced badly by the Rakurium, or the Rakurium enhanced his desires (potential great desires for knowledge, mysteries, immortality), causing him to attack both Lucius and Rystal? Was Gibeon fully willing and in control of his actions? Is there an external element that might have set him on the wrong path? Can Gibeon still be saved? Can he reconcile with Lucius (and Rystal, even though she is no longer here)?

I really can't wait to know their story and everything else.. and about what happened in Rakua. What is the Rakurium, what does it do exactly, what happened to Gibeon who was once so close to his friends, what will Rystal's last words be, what will the characters do with this knowledge?

[taldigi]

Whyd I read that "have to go to sleep because of Capitalism" tag as smthn Yuuko has said. Like, Yosuke tryna get her to sleep and she won't stop blaming Capitalism for it <--- she is a toddler [maybe idk how old she is but that's besides the point]

I think I put her aaattttt 5? Still daycare so it checks out.

The inane ramblings of a tired child in tandem with the feral blood of the Hanamuras can only be a good thing.

Yuuko, having been picked up by Yosuke and staring daggers at Yu: Aibou-san, I have to sleep because capitalism.

[sennenpharaoh]

“… Hn.”

He could see there was a little more to it, but he wasn’t about to push him into speaking.

“How brave of you to admit to that,” he said after a moment. “There was a time where you couldn’t be anything less than perfection, so it is… refreshing to know you are being honest with yourself.”

For the first time he was the one to reach out, placing a hand over Atem’s. He still wasn’t quite tangible, but there was a little solid touch, coolness in his skin.

“Sometimes it is all we can do to simply watch the battles we cannot fight, friend. That does not make it any easier to know, especially when in another time you would have been on that front line. I understand that feeling.”

Of being trapped in place while the world changed, watching everything through a haze and being unable to breach.

“These people… I am sure they do not only fight for your sake. Their choices are their own. You are not always responsible for every bad thing that happens, Atem.”

— @majutsukurai

Oh he felt that. It was faint, but it felt cold, right against his hand. He looked at his friend's hand that was on his... and smiled, a little chuckle coming out of him.

"You sound just like Aibou. He's been trying to help me learn those same lessons, bless his heart. Even though I'm no longer the perfect, powerful ruler that everyone looked up to, that doesn't change my feelings of wanting to do... something. Watching those I care about suffer or fight when there was a time I'd step in and protect them... that feeling of being powerless does... eat away at me."

He took his free hand to his chest, the other hand still unmoved from Mahaad's "touch". "But you're right. As much as I hate it, you're right. I can't be so selfish as to think they're only fighting my own battles, even if I can't but somehow feel responsible." And he's... tried to apply that. Once. Maybe.

"But... I will admit that this new life has gotten me to start being more... well... I'm not sure if 'honest' is the right word, but I've definitely noticed a... change from my former demeanor." It was obvious to anyone noticing that he was no longer the stoic, hardened Pharaoh, molded from lessons that he took to heart from the previous Pharaoh, that everyone once saw him as. "I'm... not sure if I'm okay with this 'change', but I can't deny that it's there."

Ah, he's rambling when he should be reminiscing with his old friend.

[thrilling-oneway]

May/June update:

Forgor to do this last month since nothing was changed lol. Toya's birthday show somehow got gayer by saying Akito was blushing (this also happened back during woao) and honakana wedding was left intact bc it was probably too gay to censor.

Anyway for this month the only stuff I put on there was for Pandemonium and fucking somehow the event TL was good. Which is absolutely insane because usually ensekai isn't good with the boys being emotional towards each other. "makes me smile a lot" beccame "given me so many reasons to smile" which is close enough and conveys the same meaning so it can stay and they actually correctly translated aikata as "partner in crime" which was genuinely surprising. I have very low expectations for ensekai.

Anyway the one thing that didn't make it from pandemonium was the Airi/Tsukasa team name "Wrapped Around Their Partner's Finger". Literally translated to "Swayed by their partners" and otherwise TL'd as "Pushed around by their partners". I like to use the first one I listed because I read on some language learning webforum that 振り回され is like the Japanese version of the phrase "wrapped up around someone's finger". Also it makes sense in context more than the third one and makes more sense in english than the second one.

So anyway the ensekai version of that team name is "can't take you anywhere" which is very clearly a completely different sentence. More context. For the cc names this event Rui/Shizuku and Tsukasa/Airi were given matching team names based on the scene where they're shopping for souvenirs. Rui/Shizuku's team name is "Wandering Off". So in context, yeah "can't take you anywhere" said as an exasperated remark makes sense but again that is absolutely not what the original team name was.

My theory is that with the word partner coming into play and in a context where they couldn't TL it in the same was as in the story, shizuai got sacrificed. Anyway because I like learning languages and explaining things I'm gonna go on a ramble about the specific word they used for partner and how it's not the same as aibou and used super ambigously in the context of this team name and why i said yesterday that shizuai gaybaited too close to the sun.

So the word used for partner in the team name and in the story is aikata (相方). Aibou (相棒) is what's used for VBS, which based on what i've read on japanese webforums discussing it's usage and just general knowledge, it seems to be used a lot in (shounen mostly from what i've seen) fiction, though it's less common in real life. Generally it's used to describe a coworker, and it's the word used for detective partners and such.

Aikata has a much broader meaning. It can mean companion/someone who is always by your side, prostitute, comedy partner (mainly for bokke/tsukkomi duos) (ig this is the one used in the story which became partner in crime on en), or, primarily with the younger generation, romantic partner. It's generally more personal than aibou. And they absolutely knew what they were doing when they used it as the team name here LOL.

When you factor in that Airi got this team name in reference to Shizuku, you can't use the partner in crime translation bc it doesn't work for them. While the bokke/tsukkomi thing does apply to them (it was the solid heart/pure heart gimmick) they would have to leave the word as just partner, and no way is ensekai going to do that. Companion could've worked but then again they used that for honakana wedding so maybe they decided it was too gay for the viewers in this event.

It might also be that they ran out of space like the event cc name is literally Umissable & Spirited which is still really funny to me. But they still could've said partner it wouldn't have hurt them.

Anyway rip shizuai you died for our sins.

unhappy emunene censor day my bingo card is a 4x4 now

i cut several quotes bc i didn't want to spam the same 3 ships on this over and over but i will keep track of other censors and edits throughout the year too if i stay in this fandom

[roger-maylor-brian-tay]

Kei x Yaku episode 10 spoiler.

It's the end!!! Nooo I need more 😭! There's a hint of a possible season two so let's beg them to make it happen.

There's no kissing eventually, but that forehead touch means a lot. I like to believe it means love that they have for each other.

Shiro and Ichiro support each other. They have each other's backs. They worry about each other's safety. They feel comfortable being with each other more than anybody else. They can be themselves around each other. They really care for one another and they don't hide it.

Baby, that is LOVE 💘

[deejadabbles]

Shouldn't have had that 2nd margarita cos now, as I'm listening to "we don't talk about Bruno" for the fifth time tonight, all I can do is imagine Yugi and Atem singing the first part (you know where Pepa and her hubby talk about their wedding)

[aibou-ftw]

Sorry I'm not on here that much. I think I need to just stay in my own lane, post my stuff, and then leave. Otherwise, I might succumb to my jealousy and give up.

So thank you to the 10 people who like my stuff. The reason I don't give up is for you. (and for me because I can't get rid of this hyperfixation)

[aibou-ftw]

OH MY FUCKING GOD JFDKSLA;JFDSA

No really this is the first time I've ever seen someone recommend Journeystuck omfggjgksdla;jfdskal; thank youu

DOES ANYONE HAVE GOOD JOHNDAVE AND/OR DIRKJAKE FANFICS

I read silence is golden, space adaptation syndrome, and ontological paradox and they destroyed me emotionally and I need more ❤️

[klug]

Translation discourse makes me so upset I need to stop thinking about this every now and then because it's so triggering for me

[yuneyn]

Summary:

"Even if it was just a dream, just one night, Shirou knows that he’s going to cling to this fantasy world for comfort. Their reality is harsh after all, so of course he wants to escape it sometimes and just pretend. Pretend there aren’t people who want them dead, pretend his sister isn’t living as a dead person anymore, pretend he doesn’t have to do some of the things he has to do as a yakuza… Pretend he isn’t sleeping alone while Ichirou is lying on his couch, obliviously pining for his childhood friend."

Late at night, Shirou remembers the dream he had and muses about his relationship with Ichirou.

——————————————

This show owns my soul so have some more of Shirou's inner ramblings about what happened in episode 7!

[renegadewangs]

I just saw that post of yours about how you were aro/ace. As an ace person myself, I think that finally hit the nail on the head to me as to why the homumiko dynamic in TLP resonates so well. Rather than being purely focused on romance, it’s based on a solid platonic foundation of two partners that have a solid, supportive, cherished bond. Though it can be viewed as romantic, the focus is more on their platonic compatibility and I relate to that so much.

Oooh, I'm glad you enjoyed that! I headcanon Holmes as ace and very clumsy when it comes to romance, so that's indeed part of the reason why The Legendary Pair focuses more on their partnership and how they complement each other, rather than romantic gestures. The Kissing Men is the only chapter where I outright went out of my way to establish their relationship on a more intimate level, and arguably also the Cardboard Box one as a build-up to that.

I also just think there should be more stories with ace characters in it to begin with, because it feels to me like society places a bit too much importance on sex and physical intimacy as a factor of a healthy relationship. It often feels like it's the narrative 'end goal' of a story about two people falling love. As if third base is what you should be striving for instead of, y'know, a healthy relationship built on respect and care. It also feels like that might be part of the reason why asexuals are often dismissed with remarks like "you just haven't met the right person yet" or "wow you must've had lousy sex in the past". Why do they assume it's something to be 'fixed'? Some people don't like the taste of chocolate. It happens. How you interact with one another in any given moment of the day is the most vital portion of a dynamic in my opinion, and stories should show that more.

But I don't mean to ramble on too much, fasdkljsafd, sorry! Point is, if it resonated with a fellow ace, that means I did my job well!

[mikotosredqueen]

Not me thinking about how Sasara was trying to learn from his past mistakes and then getting fucked over by Ramuda and Chuohku.