#also with the rumors of different translators working on the game and you know how some gaming companies can be

[hanafubukki]

One of my worries for chapter 5 update has been how they would translate Meleanor’s lullaby 🤔 It has such a pivotal part in the story that I really hope they don’t change it drastically 🥲

But then I realized…I have a new fear. What if they change the incantation of Lilia’s UM 😭😭

Like they did with Silver’s and Malleus’s OTL 😔

What if they change Sebek’s??

Lilia UM and the importance of it to part 5 and especially 6….

I don’t know what would be worse, the “night blessing” change or Lilia’s UM 😭🥲

[patroxlos]

home base . ch3

"friends who believe in mpreg" - 2.7k words

ultraman: rising (2024). kenji sato x reader

master post. ao3 link.

previous: ch2. "friends who reconnected and who certainly don't want to be more"

next: ch4. "friends who sleep on call with each other"

Kenji endures an awkward interview with sports journalist Ami Wakita.

And is it monsterfucking if you're kind of into Ultraman?

A/N: So my dad accidentally bought me a coffee float instead of the coke float I asked him to get me. I ended up caffeinated at 11PM and began writing this in jitters. it's nearly 3AM. This is unedited and unfiltered which means: my writing is gonna be so unserious you will sit there and ask yourself "Is this writer different from the one who made the last two chapters?"

Hoping you can keep up with all my pop culture references. Motsubishi is such a silly little name. I was workshopping other company names like "Soni," "Yomaha," etc. but Motsubishi is giving Mob Psycho 100 brand parody.

Also, I refer to Ami as 'Ms. Wakita' connotes that she and Ken are still not that close, but as you would be able to tell while reading, they are begrudgingly becoming fast friends.

---

“Absolutely not.” Ken denies it immediately, with a slight aggression. “There’s no lovechild to speak of. We are just friends.”

Ami Wakita flinches a bit at his tone. “Woah, they weren’t kidding when they said you’re a bit defensive about her.”

“Who’s they?” He huffs, taking a bite from a strip of tonkatsu to calm down. He was glad that it is just him and Ms. Wakita in the restaurant at the moment. He would not want anyone to overhear their conversation about you. 

“Your friendship with the Motsubishi scion has been well-documented since the start of your professional career. Rumors about your couplings have been circling since before,” Ms. Wakita points out.

“No comment.” His media training kicks in with his mouth full.

She rubs her temple a bit. “What did I say about you showing a little vulnerability?”

“I didn’t even say anything about my dad before you psychoanalyzed me!”

“Well was I wrong?”

Damn, she’s good. “...I thought you were a sports reporter.”

“Reporting on the players’ personal lives is a big part of it,” she coolly responds. “You should read my articles on Ohtani’s translator embezzling his funds, or the Yuki Tsunoda puppy interview I produced.”

“This isn’t about puppies though…” His shoulders are tense. “She’s just been my friend for as long as I can remember. Her family has always been good to my family– especially to my mom–and I know how much they value privacy. She is at a really crucial point of her career working to inherit one of the biggest conglomerates of the world. She and I definitely wouldn’t risk a secret pregnancy.”

He is impassioned when it comes to you.

“Woah…Can I quote that?” Ms. Wakita glanced down at her phone recording their conversation.

He deflates. “Yeah yeah sure whatever. You’re right, this isn’t the first time someone has made up stuff about us. Lovechild is new though. The last time it was an arranged marriage.”

“If it helps, online reaction has always been generally positive at the idea of you two coupling up,” she tries to be helpful. “Both of you are celebrities in your own right. You’re both young, wealthy and attractive. It fulfills a lot of people’s fantasies. The engagement rumors came about only because you two have been publicly attached to each other for so long.”

It does help. A bit too much. His heart picks up. Of course Ken has read all the comments whenever those articles came out over the years. You visit him in L.A. whenever you could, and those visits helped a lot with maintaining your friendship. There are multiple photos of you attending his career-defining games wearing his baseball jersey— the oversized look making you seem like his perfect WAG sitting beside his mom.

Ms. Wakita reads this on his face, clear as day. She figures that he is telling the truth about you and him never ever being romantically involved, but there seems to be something additional brewing on the surface. Putting on an unassuming tone, she asks “So I guess that’s it? You both can’t imagine being involved?”

He leans back on his seat, confidently answering “Yes, we both think it won’t work out long term—”

He proceeds to unlean as the realization causes him to hunch over. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuckity fuck. She really can get the devil to confess his sins.

She tries not to look too thrilled about his slip up, which he can commend her for.

“W-What I mean is that neither her nor me— it’s not happening. It never happened,” he stammers. He needs a new media trainer.

“I’m sure you recall that there have been photos—”

“Of her at my games? Of course she was, haha!” He did NOT need her to mention their other photos right now.

Please don’t.

Please don’t. Please… He is supposed to be moving on. Which he has!

“—that pop up over the years of you two being overly familiar.” She finishes.

God kill him. “All alleged. They’re too blurry to be sure it is us.”

“...Some looked like pro shots to me.”

Ken nearly slams his face on his tonkatsu.

“The one where you’re both getting smoothies at Erewhon was cute?” She sounds honest, and she is. She isn’t even going to report on this. It is already evident that the gossip is a sham, but she cannot help but want to tease the baseball player a bit, now that they are sort of becoming acquainted.

He sighs. “Thanks. It was the Ken Sato wheatgrass and bone broth blend. She didn’t like it.”

He remembers that day. You made a face when he tried to get you to take a little sip, so he blew some raspberries against your cheek and maaaybe just a little on your neck as you both stood in the parking lot; you were shrieking for him to stop as his smoothie-covered lips smothered your skin. All friendly, of course.

“Where did the lovechild thing even come from?” Ken thinks aloud. “She looks too great to be pregnant.”

Ms. Wakita, known single mother, asks “...Do women not look great pregnant?”

“Oh you know what I meant,” He snaps as she covers her mouth with a napkin to laugh.

She stops the recording on her phone to slide him the online tabloid article. Allegedly, he and you fought about him being an absent father at the restaurant last night as you have endured your pregnancy all alone. The story ends with a sweet coupling at the parking lot before you left on separate vehicles, a marker that neither of you planned to get married, or a possible abortion in the near future. What. 

“You have a thing for parking lots?” She tries to joke.

His eyes nearly bulge at one line. “‘ The Motsubishi scion ate for two as she devoured a Yakisoba platter all alone—’ It was a decently sized portion for a reasonable price! And I definitely am not an absent father!” He says the last bit with a bit too much vigor.

“I didn’t write it,” She tries to keep his emotions in check. “...I did nearly believe it for a moment though when you called me last night. Was it an hour or two after you met up with her at the yakisoba place?”

He admits that if he was in Ms. Wakita’s place, he would’ve also thought he was secretly raising a child. He wonders whether the Baby is awake right now, terrorizing Mina. “Totally unrelated events.”

“And the apparent baby book purchases in your credit histo— how did a gossip mag get that information?” She marvels as she scrolls through her phone.

He doesn’t know what’s worse: the world finding out that he is raising a giant baby lizard in his basement or people thinking that he’s an absentee like his own dad.

A red blinking light catches Ms. Wakita’s eye. “Are…you gonna get that?”

Not hearing her at first, he runs a hand through his face. God he really did not want to imagine your reaction to this news article. He promised you that it would not be weird. The past is past. If your friendship is already in danger, this might ruin things even further. Oh he can already hear the alarm bells ringing in his head—

Or from his watch?!

“Hey, you don’t have a kid growing in you right now, do you?” Your assistant asks you as she glances at your stomach.

You were both in one of your sleek city limousines on the way to a late evening banquet, where you are due to give a speech. The traffic jam in front of you stretches a kilometer. You follow her gaze. “I thought this suit was slimming.”

She passes you her phone. Huh. ‘Motsubishi Scion Gets Impregnated by Famous Baseball Star.’  You pass the phone back to her. “I don’t want to see the kind of porn you’re looking at.”

“Young Master, it’s an article about you and Ken Sato.” Your assistant was not in the mood for your jokes right now.

You just shrug, taking your phone out to send a few quick texts to Ken. You are sure he probably heard the news by now, and he will definitely agree with you that it is as hilarious as it is ridiculous. “It’ll blow over.”

As you look back out of your window, you’ve already forgotten about it. Seems like a slow day for the newsroom.

At the horizon, you see a PacMan proudly sticking out from the top of a building get knocked down by some beam of light. You yawn and stretch back out on your seat. “Can we go any faster? I want to get this banquet over with.”

Your driver sighs. “This new kaiju attack is impossible ma’am. Apparently, it is just running around without any clear direction.”

“Well I don’t think a monster would have access to KoogleMaps,” you reply wryly.

It was going to be a long night. You begin to settle in for a nap while people are exiting their cars and running out into the streets. Their screams of terror sound muffled inside your bullet-proof vehicle.

“Should we get out too?” Your assistant nervously asks.

You lift up your foot and rest it on your knee. “I’m wearing So Kates. I don’t think I can run either way.”

As you say that, your security detail at the front of the limo begins getting out. Ugh, Tokyo is the worst… You need to fly out soon. He opens your car door and extends a hand out. “Let me carry you, Young Master. Better to evacuate now.”

“Must I?” You groan in frustration.

“We can skip the banquet and take you home,” he compromises. Begrudgingly, you step out of the vehicle just in time for the pinkest…chicken lizard to pop up at the corner of the street.

Immediately, you are swept off your feet as your security detail rushes to escort you and your assistant away from that thing as fast as possible, the wind is knocked out of your lungs. You peek over the shoulder of your bodyguard for a better glimpse at the chirping beast.

You lock eyes with it.

Big mistake.

Because why the hell did it flitter with excitement and began chasing you?!

It keeps chirping, and… burping?... as it hobbles and stomps over cars. Your jaw drops as your limo is flattened like nothing. And for some strange reason, the monster’s eyes are solely trained on you.

Did I do something to piss it off? You ask yourself as it gets closer. You know you can be a bitch but you would remember if you told it to fuck off. No, this monster is chasing after you like it knew you. There was no aggression in its oddly proportioned body, like you are being chased by that grotesque baby in the Tin Toy Pixar short. There is no moral compass behind those beady little eyes, just the pure pleasure-seeking nature of baby hedonism.

It gets closer, and your bodyguard’s legs can only run for so long. He screams bloody murder as he feels himself get picked up, you along with him, by the beast. You hear another scream that sounds like your own voice as you feel yourself get ripped from your bodyguard’s grasp. The monster puts him back down on the street, his landing relatively gentle.

You are being shaken like a rattle now in its claws, its gurgling filling your ears. “Oh my god.” You feel yourself getting sick from the nausea. You never thought you were going to die like this. Your legs flail in the air helplessly but your So Kates stay on, pinching your toes like you are about to give them the best shoe advertisement Louboutin can ask for, with how it feels glued to your feet.

The ground rumbles as if a giant springs through the streets. Your life does not flash before your eyes, but you can hear it in your ears— a very clear ring of Ken shouting “Baby! Put down the human!”

…

Huh?

You felt your body decompress as the monster’s grip loosened. Air returns back into your lungs, but you don’t find yourself returned to the ground.

Instead, you are being lifted up way higher into the sky as you lay on the palm of Tokyo’s hero: Ultraman.

You hiss as your eyes burn from the blinding lights of Ultraman’s unblinking lenses. “Are you okay—?” He says your name with a rising panic. You can swear you saw his chest light threaten you change colors. He is cradling you against it.

You did not know Ultraman can be this friendly with Tokyoites. You struggle to regain your ability to speak, a bit confused and frazzled from everything that just happened in the past minute.

The hero takes this as a bad sign. “Oh god you’re hurt.” There is an ache in his words that shakes up your own core. No one has ever sounded this worried for you.

Man is he bright . You try to shield your eyes from his light. You are brought up close to his face as he inspects your body. “I– I’m fine,” You manage to rasp out. You are initially not sure he heard you, but the evident sag of his colossal, broad shoulders affirms that he did.

You have never gotten to observe the hero this up close. Despite the unemoting face, you find his body to be an open book as it trembles with the fear of losing you. Even if he must be like this with every other citizen in need of saving, you cannot help but feel a little special.

“I was so worried— wait here for help.” He lowers you on top of a roof building, his fingers shaky, worrying about dropping you. You shakily slide off his palm, patting down your suit. You stumble a little on your stilettos, and instantly his massive hands crowd you once more to hold you up. " Please be careful."

“Ultraman!” You shout as you push away his fingers. “I’m okay, thank you!” You point towards the Tokyo Tower, where the baby-like kaiju was already climbing up. “You gotta deal with that first! Leave me, I’ll be alright."

“Huh? Oh, yeah, god… ” The hero curses, getting ready to sprint towards the tower. “Be a good girl and stay put, yeah?” He says to you before running off.

Your feet wobble on your heels as you nearly keel over from the adrenaline coursing through your body. That… you are never leaving the house again during a kaiju attack. Though… you watch as the slim figure of Ultraman begin to climb the tower after the kaiju. Maybe it won’t be that bad next time.

Later that evening in the Ultrabase, Ken excuses himself from the company of his father, Mina and the baby as he heads towards the bathroom for a long-awaited shower. His muscles ache with every step, and he is tempted to pass out on the cold floor— wouldn’t be the first time since getting this newfound responsibilities.

This is getting too overwhelming. He still cannot believe he felt so cornered against the wall that he had to call his dad for help like some kid. If only you saw him now. You were oddly closer to his dad than he was.

Oh shit, you.

You, who he left stranded on some random building.

He quickly fumbles for his phone, eager to call you to see if you’re alright.

Shit , he feels some tears of frustration welling up in his eyes. He is fucking everything up. He is a bad son, a bad father, a bad friend.

Ken opens his messaging app, and he first sees the texts that you sent earlier in the evening.

…

[YOU]

Hey bbgirl.

You pregnat? Pragnent?

My mom is gonna hand you a stack of 20M yen just to stay away from me. Are u g to take it so we can split it after? LOL

Not rlly in the mood to be ur baby daddy atm. get a DNA test before i send child support.

SENT LINK: Motsubishi Scion Gets Impregnated by Famous Baseball Star.

Bc if one of us left that restaurant pregnant it definitely would not be me

A/N: Ultraman fine as hell have you seen his waist?

This chapter was supposed to go A LOT differently from how it ended up being. It was initially supposed to be an extended conversation between you and your assistant about your past...whatever you had...with Kenji during your visits to L.A. But I actually really like writing Ken POV because him and I are pretty similar?

[cobwebcorner]

Hey there, are you new to the Resident Evil fandom and want to know more about this weird blond guy with the sunglasses? Maybe you only play Dead by Daylight and want to know what his deal is without having to comb through a 20+ game series for his appearances? Are you trying to write a fanfic and can't think of anything for him to say, outside of constantly proclaiming his right to godhood?

Then have I got the resources for you!

(don't trust the fan wikis. They do things like claim that a man with one of the most Irish surnames in the world is Italian, just because his parents have some implied organized crime connections)

Ok now that you're in here I will reveal that the real purpose of this post is to spread the good word of original flavor Wesker, who I think is a really interesting villain with more complexity than people might expect. It doesn't look like Capcom is ever going to remake code veronica, which has a significant portion of his story, and there's a ton of his lore locked in a rail shooter most people never played, so I'm here to help fill in some knowledge gaps.

To start off, here is Wesker's Report 1. This is Wesker himself summing up the first 3 games for you, with glorious footage of the original playstation graphics:

Don't panic it's actually only 22 minutes long, the rest is an untranslated interview with the game directors.

Bam boom, you know what Wesker was doing from 1998 through 2000. Now let's step back in time a little and talk RE 0, the prequel game that explains how the outbreak that started it all happened in the first place. This is the story of Wesker and his buddy Birkin's past mistakes coming back to haunt them with a zombie-leech army (the past mistake in this case is disposing of your mentor's body improperly):

Stepping even further back in time we have Wesker's Report 2, which talks about his early years at Umbrella. This was only ever released in Japan, but fans have done a translation and gotten it voice-acted. This video has both the report and a compilation of all Wesker's scenarios in Umbrella Chronicles (the rail shooter this-is-the-story-so-far game):

It's long because it includes the gameplay footage. If you just want to read the report instead, google project umbrella Wesker's Report 2. You can also find UC's cutscenes separately on youtube. Wesker's scenarios are Beginnings, Rebirth, and Dark Legacy. UC condensed a lot of stuff and made some…odd story changes (especially to RE 3. Poor, poor RE 3), but it also added fun new stuff for Wesker to do, like beating up his creepy masochistic ex-boss. Godspeed, Wesker.

Now rumor has it that we are going to get Ada's campaign added to RE 4 remake eventually, but we don't have it yet, so until then here's their interactions from the original (lovingly updated to HD by fans):

RE 5 was Wesker's last (chronologically) and probably most significant appearance in the series, not to mention the version of him that's been everywhere since, but I'm not actually going to talk about him. To my eyes, RE 5 Wesker is a fun villain in his own right, he just isn't Wesker. He feels like a completely different character to me. If you've watched these videos you might have noticed this already.

RE 5, if you wish to give the writers the benefit of the doubt, is a story of Wesker having a complete mental breakdown after finding out certain retcons truths about his past. He's not usually like that. For one thing, count how many times he mentions being a god in any of this footage. Go on. I'll wait.

Classic flavor Wesker is calm, cold, and calculating. He loves pitting enemies against each other and then running off with the spoils. He does very little grandstanding and he's not all that hammy (campy? definitely, but not hammy. there's a difference). He's pragmatic to a fault, and a master at shifting his plans around to work on the fly. He also doesn't give a flying fuck about eugenics, or "saving the world", he's in it for power and money and building better monsters just because he can. There. I said it. I feel better for it.

[four-loose-screws]

FE2 Novelization Translation - Chapter 3 Part 2

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations

If you are interested in donating to support my work, please check out my Ko-fi here. Thank you!

———————————

Chapter 3 - To Zofia Castle

Part 2  - The Night Before Storming Zofia Castle

"The castle really is everything it's said to be! I've heard the rumors, but I never imagined it would be this beautiful! The entire building was made with marble mixed with seashell plaster to harden it, allowing it to stand tall and sturdy throughout its long history. Doesn't it look just like a mountain range covered in snow?" Gray said as he looked at the breathtaking view of Zofia Castle from atop the fort watchtower. He was currently drawing a rough diagram of it on a piece of parchment. He was so blown away by how beautiful it was that he said his thoughts aloud to Tobin next to him, who was looking through his telescope and counting how many units were stationed within it.

"It's more like a white rose covered in thorns! Desaix's units are everywhere!" Tobin said, still looking through the telescope. 

Gray held out his brush, using it to measure the rough dimensions of the castle.

Upon retaking the southern fort and successfully rescuing Clair, Alm ordered Gray, Tobin, Kliff, and Silque to stay there. It was likely that Desaix would send more of his units once he realized that it had been captured, so in order to protect their new base, Alm left four of his units there.

"We'll be right back." Alm had said to them, then left with Lukas and Clair to go to the cave where Clive and the others were waiting. 

And so, the other four members of the Deliverance were now gathered together at the southern fort, and had to immediately start planning their attack on the castle.

"It has a moat and a castle wall, making it a perfect castle for defense. Because there's no opening that allows the army stationed inside to go on the offensive, once we break their defenses, it might as well be a sand castle. But getting to that point will be tricky." Gray said as he switched to a finer brush to write down the distance between different locations on his diagram. 

Tobin nudged his shoulder. 

When he turned around, Tobin was already looking through the telescope out the watchtower window, and down at the fort courtyard.

"What is it?" Gray asked.

Tobin did not respond with words, but pointed at something. 

There were two people in the embankment, where the enemy archer had stood. They were Kliff and Silque.

"Looks like they're having a good time!" Tobin commented.

"A very good time!" Gray responded with a grin on his face.

From this far away, they couldn't hear what the two were talking about, but their shoulders were touching, and they appeared to be talking very intimately, like two lovebirds spreading their wings and resting together.

-

 "Lukas!"

"Forsyth!"

Upon seeing his little sister's safe return after being prepared to receive news of her death, Clive's expression lit up with such joy that it looked as if he was going crazy. 

But Lukas and Forsyth might have been even happier upon their reunion.

They called each other out by name, then hugged hard as they could, and Forsyth unabashedly cried big, wet tears.

They were both Soldiers, and units of the same class generally have a stronger bond than those who are not. Meaning also that Clive's sadness over losing fellow Cavalier Mathilda must have been the reason why he could not truly celebrate his reunion with Clair.

"Where's Mathilda?" Lukas asked. 

Clive told him everything that happened. 

Knowing that it was her fault Mathilda ran off, all of the color drained from Clair's face. "I'm sorry, everyone. Especially to you, Brother. Please, forgive me." 

Mathilda was always very kind, and often encouraged Clair, who was timid due to her gentle nature. Clair thought of her like an older sister. She knew she felt that way because she was Clive's sister, and Mathilda was deeply in love with Clive. Clair knew that he also felt the exact same way about her.

Standing a slight distance away from everyone else as their excitement overflowed was the archer Python. From the moment Lukas returned, Python was wary of the young man he brought with him to the cave. In fact, he thought Clive and Forsyth were the weird ones, so easily able to open their hearts and share their joys and sadness in front of a guest when they had no idea who he was or where he came from.

Lukas explained everything, highlighting that he brought Alm with him because he was of Mycen's bloodline, and that he witnessed the strange experience Alm had at the remote Mila Shrine. But even after that, Python's feelings did not change. Python was a unit who valued hard facts most of all, and would not believe anything until he saw it with his own eyes, even if he had heard of it one hundred times before. It was set in stone that he would not consider Python his ally until Alm approached him directly and showed him Desaix's head.

"Let's trust what Lukas says for now." Python said. "And accept this boy's worth as someone of Sir Mycen's bloodline. If Mycen has fallen ill and sent Alm directly himself, then we should accept his aid. Alm also seems to be someone special who has received Mila's divine blessing. When I see his face, I can tell immediately that there is something mysterious about him. But right now, you're our leader, Clive. I want to hear what your plan is."

Clive's expression suddenly became serious. Python wasn't the only one asking him that question. It had to be the question on the minds of the other remaining members of the Knights of Zofia as well.

He said, "Lukas saw everything with his very own eyes, so it must all be true. I believe Alm is fit to be the Deliverance's general even just because of his strategy that retook the southern fort alone."

Python responded with the topic that concerned him most. "He might not feel obligated to save Mathilda."

"I don't think that's true." Clive answered without a moment's hesitation. However, that instant, clear reply only revealed how unsure he was. 

'Clive surely remembers what Mathilda said to him when she ran off. That he is unqualified to be leader.' Python thought. 'Even now, he might still have lost the determination needed to lead the Deliverance.'

Python growled. Until now, he'd never once felt that Clive, as their leader, would do something as unsightly as show weakness in front of everyone. If that were still the case, Python probably would have immediately accepted Alm without any worries weighing on his mind. 

Python, as his friend, remembered how much pain Clive was in right now. The Knights of Zofia were not built on the ideal that combat strength and ability was everything. Power and strength bring people to trust each other, but trust alone was not the reason why they could put their lives in each other's hands. Their bonds were stronger than trust - almost as close as family.

'Time might be able to heal Clive's wounds.' Python thought, and decided to accept Alm as their general for the time being. Still, that did not mean that he approved of him one hundred percent, and so he started to interrogate Alm, partially as a means to convey his feelings to the others.

"There's just one thing I want to confirm." Python said. "What is your opinion of Emperor Rudolf of the Rigel Empire?"

"I've heard that he is a naturally gifted leader, and that he is both kind to and popular with the people. However, he is Zofia's greatest fear. He must be removed from power." Alm said without even a hint of hesitation. 

Python continued, "How must his power be taken from him? Through an alliance with another country?"

"Achieving a balance of power is an illusion. Judging by the current relationship between Zofia and Rigel, an alliance would clearly be meaningless. History has proven that to be true."

"Then shall power be taken from him through a treaty?"

"Treaties are relative. They change based on the current era. As I said, Rudolf is Zofia's greatest fear." Alm stated once again, and looked directly into Python's eyes. "Rudolf must be killed. That is my ultimate goal. Killing Desaix and liberating Zofia is the first step towards achieving that goal."

"Then we are of the exact same opinion. I will serve you." Python said, took Alm's hand, and kissed it. The gesture was how the Knights of Zofia swore their fealty to their lord.

-

The run-down assembly hall in the western fort was turned into a temporary strategy meeting room, and all the members of the Deliverance, excluding Mathilda, gathered around the small light of a lanturn. Upon seeing Gray and Clive's horses nuzzle each other the moment they met, everyone naturally felt as if they were all destined to meet each other.

They were currently in the middle of a strategy meeting, planning their attack on the castle. Everyone helped to place a piece of the fort's door, which Alm had smashed during their siege, on top of a rock, and roll out Gray's diagram of Zofia Castle on top of that. 

"Your diagram is amazing! It has details that even we didn't know about!" Gasped Forsyth, normally one to make calm and collected decisions even in the heat of battle, in astonishment as he looked it over. It was now complete with Tobin's analysis and predictions for the army's battle stations.

"I'm shocked that such talent was hidden in a remote village! They're all going to be a huge help to us!" Lukas said and slapped his hand on Forsyth's shoulder. 

Gray, Tobin, Kliff, and Silque all heard what he said and all looked at each other while scoffing, remembering that Lukas had argued against taking them along until the last second.

"Zofia Castle was built for defense. That is why Rigel makes fun of it and says it's like a castle made out of toy blocks." Python said.

The conversation naturally gravitated towards Alm and Clive trading ideas back and forth to develop their battle strategy, but Python, as the member among them quickest to anger, interjected every chance he got. Their forces were all very strong, but when they compared themselves to Desaix's army, they were vastly outnumbered. Python served a role akin to the person stirring the fire as they perfected their strategy that they had to construct with extreme caution, making the others in the group resent him from time to time.

"The moat has two bridges over it, and the castle wall has two gates. But if we can break through that far, then we have a chance." Clive said, and proposed to split up into two groups. 

Clive and Python would take the east bridge, with Forsyth in the middle. The western bridge would also utilize the same Cavalier-Soldier-Archer formation with Gray, Tobin, and Lukas. That choice was the most logical, and no one objected to it.

After finalizing that decision, Clive said to Clair, "You can fly over the castle wall, right?"

"Of course! It was the training grounds for me and my pegasus!"

Though it was being used as Desaix's base, Zofia's Castle was like a home to the Knights of Zofia. Clive and Clair's interaction made Alm and the others realize the suffering the surviving members experienced by being chased out of the castle.

"The gate does not open from the outside. You are the only one of us that can do it. You understand how important this role is, right?"

Clair nodded deeply at her brother's words. 

Looking at Gray's diagram, there were three archers guarding the castle gate. Their arrows could easily reach a flying pegasus, and Clair would be flying straight towards them. Their biggest gamble all rested on this part of the strategy. Whether or not they entered the castle depended entirely on if Clair could open the gate from the inside. In other words, everything hinged on whether she lived or died.

"This is our momentous first battle as the Deliverance! We shall call our strategy, 'Clair's Wings!'" Alm said. 

Clair stared straight at him. Underneath her bright blue, thick bangs, there was a faint light in her eyes that might have been tears.

"Where should we position Silque?" Alm asked. The position of healer units had a close effect on the tide of battle.

"The five of us remaining from the Knights of Zofia could march through the castle with our eyes closed. Let's put her behind our allies from Ram Village first. We'll be fine until we reconvene, and just use Vulneraries on our wounds."

Clive handed down his decision without hesitation, then on the diagram on the west bridge, which Gray and his group was responsible for, wrote down her name, "Shilk."

"I will go ahead of Clive." Alm said.

"When Clair opens the gate, I will immediately rush inside to be her reinforcement. Everyone else should continually assess the current state of battle, and proceed with caution. Once the gate is open, both the east and west groups should focus on reconvening. The two Cavaliers will be the vanguard with the Archers in the middle, and the Soldiers will guard the rear. The Cavaliers and Soldiers should put more effort into defense than offense, and the archers should prioritize offense. My only target will be Desaix, and I will charge directly into the castle. Clair will fly ahead and report to me the foes I will need to face. Even if I am injured, I will not hesitate. I will focus solely on locating Desaix until I find him."

As Alm explained his strategy, both Clive and Python were rather impressed, but Alm did not think it was that impressive. He simply decided it sufficient to expand on the scope of the strategies he would plan while defending Ram Village from Brigands; and saw finer details the Knights of Zofia did not notice, as he had more real combat experience.

He next addressed Kliff directly. "You will protect Silque. Do not hold back. Whether you need to use fire or lightning, you must strike down any foe that comes near her. This is a very important assignment. You'll be able to get all the rest you need after the battle. Do not let up your spells until you have defeated every last enemy."

"I've known to do just that since long before you told me to." Kliff said, and held out his fist towards her. 

His dependable words and tone made her face turn red as she bumped his fist back, a gesture Gray and Tobin would never miss. They both looked at each other and whistled.

The scene made Clive chuckle as he wrote down Kliff's name as "Klih" next to "Shilk."

Kliff noticed the spelling and clarified, "You're a little off. It's K-L-I-H-S. There's an S at the end."

"That's an unusual way of spelling it." Lukas said.

"That's how my mother spelled it. She's from the countryside."

"Yeah, must be a countryside thing." Lukas said, and everyone laughed, the cheer in their voices relieving the strategy room of the tension it has been filled with since they started to decide their tactics for the next morning's battle.

-

With their strategy complete and perfected, they all entered their makeshift beds early, but could not sleep with the day ahead of them that would decide their fates. Forced to wait until the next morning to act, each member of the Deliverance spent the night unable to sleep for their own reasons.

Clive thought about Matilda. She might already be gone. Since there was no sign of her her at the western fort where Clair was being held hostage, it was logical to think that she might have been killed by Desaix's army here several days ago. 'But now is not the time to be overcome by grief! Tomorrow we will liberate Zofia Castle, and make our teacher's dying wish a reality!' Clive thought, and shut his eyes tight.

Lukas and Forsyth decided that if they could not sleep, they might as well practice sparring together, and went outside.

Python spread his arrows out across his bed and polished them with oil. Gray and Tobin, perhaps because they were from a remote rural town and did not mind their manners so much, talked all about how cute Clair was, despite only having just met her today. Gray proposed to make the battle tomorrow a competition, and whoever lost would have to graciously give up pursuing her to the other. Tobin accepted the bet, then responded by saying, "Clair is mine!!"

Clair herself, meanwhile, was in her bed in a separate room from the men, thinking about Alm. His skill with his sword that he displayed atop the watchtower… His regality as a general despite his young age… The kindness of his heart, that he would name their strategy after her, a soldier beneath his rank… Silque said that he was the person who would rule over all of Valentia. Clair saw him as an ideal person.

If anyone had looked at it, they would have realized Kliff's bed was empty. After everyone went to lay down, he continued to stare into the strategy room, still lit in the bright lamp light, from the shadows.

"Even with such a significant difference between our numbers and Desaix's, the actions a healer unit takes are more important than offense." Alm said before continuing to give Silque his carefully detailed briefing to her. 

While Kliff of course felt nervous before their decisive battle, he also could not sleep because he felt uneasy about Alm and Silque being alone together. Alm spoke softly, but his words still reached Kliff's ears.

"I've assigned Kliff to be your guard, but sometimes his kindness can backfire. You might think of me as insecure for doing this, but I have requested Forsyth to be a second guard for you as well. You have no reason to worry."

At his current strength, Kliff had no other choice than to realize Alm was right. He watched Silque nod in response, and bit his lip.

But what Kliff was worried about was not the idea that Alm did not really trust him to be able to do the job. He was afraid that Silque would reveal the secret of Alm's fate directly to Alm. Until the tragedy completely played itself out, even Alm himself should know nothing. His tragedy was to be the sacrifice made in exchange for world peace and stability, and was directly connected to Mila, Duma, and Valentia's fates. 

'His secret will move the gods, meaning…' That was as far as Kliff's thoughts got before the lantern went out. He hurried to his bed so that they would not see him.

[theflowerofhumanity]

Green-Blooded Jealousy

Among the crew of the USS Enterprise, the Bridge officers saw a disproportionate amount of action. Those privileged few, orbiting the captain like so many moons, regularly had the kind of adventures that motivated exhausted but starry-eyed cadets in Starfleet Academy to study just a little harder and to stay up just a little later.

But those officers could also be somewhat isolated by the rarefied air of the Bridge. They were usually the last ones to hear the latest gossip, even the salacious, speculative kind that tore through the rest of the ship in just a few days. There were exceptions to this rule, of course: Lieutenant Uhura was a popular social butterfly, and as chief engineer, Scotty probably heard all kinds of talk but was wise enough not to repeat any of it while he was on duty. The ship’s first officer, though, might have been the very last to hear any of it. Spock tended to ignore all but the tallest tales even when he did hear them. In typical Vulcan fashion, he dismissed anything that lacked the potential to threaten the overall morale of the crew and fortunately, nothing had fit that description this early in the voyage.

The same privilege and separation from the lower decks that put the Bridge crew out of the loop made them a favorite subject of that same gossip. Half of the women on board carried a torch for one of the senior officers, with Captain Kirk’s boyish good looks and charm making him the clear front-runner. To some ordinary crewmen, the captain and his inner circle were more like celebrities than fellow members of Starfleet.

So when two crewmen working alongside him in the lab struck up a conversation about a relatively recent rumor, Spock took notice only when one of them remarked, “Chapel? The blonde with the great legs? Damn. Some guys have all the luck.”

His companion chuckled. “Well, I don’t see your epaulets, Sharma. Everyone knows she’s been sweet on a Bridge officer for months. You think she’s going to be interested in a lab rat?”

Spock frowned, his hands going still. Under the influence of an alien virus, Christine Chapel had confessed that she was in love with him not so long ago. He remembered the encounter with crystal clarity—and he knew that it had caused her a great deal of embarrassment. But how had that translated into this supposed common knowledge? Since neither man was paying any attention to him, however, it appeared that no one had correctly guessed for which Bridge officer the head nurse had eyes. In any case, their talk had already moved on to a different topic. Spock went back to his research, putting thoughts of Christine (and her great legs—the observation had been slightly crude but accurate nonetheless) in the back of his orderly mind.

It never occurred to him to wonder about the identity of the man.

A few days later, Spock laid claim to the empty corner of a rec room for dinner and a game of chess with Jim. The chatter from a table near the door washed over him like so much white noise as he began setting up the tridimensional board. Until—

“He was with her down there, after all. On Exo III, I mean.”

Exo III. The name was enough to pique Spock’s interest. They’d found Dr. Roger Korby—or whatever had remained of him—on that desolate planet. He lifted his eyes from the chess pieces he was arranging, unconsciously tilting his head with curiosity. The speaker was an ensign whose auburn hair was almost indistinguishable from her uniform.

“I guess chivalry’s not dead,” her dark-haired companion remarked, laughing.

“Not while Captain Kirk’s alive,” agreed the redhead. “I heard that they’ve been seeing each other for months already. If that’s true, it seems like a pretty quick rebound, but well…can you blame her?”

The brunette lifted one non-committal shoulder. “He’s not really my type.”

“Sure, you say that now, but if he turned that gigawatt smile on you—”

“It’s a megawatt smile at most.”

Both of them rose from the table and headed for the door, giggling as they continued to bicker over the order of magnitude that best described the power contained within Jim Kirk’s smile, not that either girl had probably ever seen that expression for themselves.

A deafening silence accompanied the ensigns’ departure. Spock didn’t recognize his own sudden, intense agitation until he swept the board he’d just assembled off the table. He stared with astonishment first at the mess of pieces strewn across the floor, then at his offending arm, which trembled beneath his gaze.

It is not logical to envy, he reminded himself even as he wondered if that was the sensation he was experiencing.

Christine Chapel was almost nothing to Spock—maybe not even a friend. When had they ever had a real conversation? He wasn’t available, in human parlance, even if he had the time or inclination to pursue an intimate relationship. If Christine wanted companionship and comfort in the wake of losing her own fiance, she had no reason to seek those things in him. Jim, on the other hand, was an obvious choice. Was it possible that their experience on Exo III had forged a bond between them that had grown into something more?

Even if such a thing had occurred completely unbeknownst to Spock, he wondered further: their mission was still young, had he ever seen Jim carry on a romance with a crew member? Not even with Miss Rand…

“Enough. Enough!” he muttered as he knelt down to collect the scattered chessmen. It was just some talk. There was no empirical evidence that the captain was spending time with Nurse Chapel in any capacity, and he had no reason to be jealous of such a relationship if it did exist. Such a reaction was utterly irrational. It was below him. Jim was his friend, Christine his colleague.

Ordering a cup of spice tea from the food synthesizer, Spock settled back into his seat to wait for Jim.

@multirptrash

[thewriterghost]

Tag Game: Find the Word

Thank you @autumnalwalker for tagging me!

I haven't spoke about my WIP's here on Tumblr before, mainly because they aren't fully developed yet and because I write in my native language. So this was both a challenge in translating my work and finding the words, both of which was fun!

My words were: look, rain, stand, drop, reach.

Passing the tag to @human-still-developing, @nicole0anne, @j-1173, and everyone else who wants to join! New words: age, wonder, pride, drown and morning.

Look & Rain: (this is also the prologue of my main WIP -- Luminits: The Children of Light)

As the young man made his way down the path, chirpings of the birds echoed in the cloudless sky. Grass was surrounding the path he walked. He looked up, eyes as blue as the sky above him. Despite the peaceful setting of his surrounding, the young man’s head was full of anxiety, and his heart was filled with sadness. A voice inside him whispered, reminded him to be prepared. He could feel it, this was only the calm before storm.

As confirming his concerns, the blue sky suddenly painted gray. After a thunder that would make the one hear it shake to the bones, rain started pouring down. It didn’t take long for his night-black hair to stick to his forehead. He looked up once again, calmly. He’s been living for long enough to know that panic wouldn’t help anything.

Lightning illuminated the sky for a moment. Then, a voice, like thunder itself, was heard out of nowhere.

“It’s over.” It spoke. “It’s over now. Days of the light are over. It’s time for darkness to rule now.”

He didn’t need to see the face belonging to the voice. He recognized it well enough. Still, his eyes scanned around but couldn’t spot anything. The sky roared once more, as if it was splitting in two. As he stared at the sky that flashed and dimmed non-stop, his eyes suddenly fell on the horizon. Something radiated from where the lush grass met the now gray sky.

Darkness. Darkness was rising from the horizon.

Stand: (Also from Luminits)

The painting… It was a painting of a man, standing between a green meadow and a blue sky. I realized I had taken a step towards the painting when Redwood also took a step to stand next to me.

“One of the most famous paintings decipting Hyperion, ‘The First Light’.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off of the painting. “Is this Hyperion?”

“According to a rumor. No one who claimed to have seen him is alive now, so there is no source we can confirm.”

That was him. The same deep blue eyes were looking at my soul from inside the painting. I was sure. He was standing in that same meadow, where I met him in my dreams. How could this be? How could I be meeting him in my dreams?

Drop: (I had to turn this one to slip. This is from a different WIP that doesn't really have a name yet.)

I stopped on the steps to look at the list hanging on the dormitory door. They had listed the rooms and their owners, and for me, who had already forgotten the room number, it was a treasure. I pulled my suitcase out of the way as far as I could and bent over to check the list. I was looking for my name when my suitcase, which I was still holding by the handle, suddenly slipped from my hand, making me jump back with shock. Even though I had pulled it out of the way, someone had still managed to hit it.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking."

When I turned to the voice, the face I encountered was no stranger. Nick Leitner. Son of the town president Thomas Leitner. It was hard not to recognize him, as he and his twin sister were the town’s well-beloved golden twins. And when I say golden, I don't mean it figuratively. They were given this name by the townsfolk because they both had blonde hair that resembled gold. Not very creative, in my opinion. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I realized that he was waiting for an answer. "No problem."

Reach: (Also from Luminits)

“This is great news, honey!”

“Yes, yes, I think so too.” I said, smiling, even though I knew she wouldn't see it. Barely an hour after I reached home, I got a phone call from my mother. It turns out that Redwood had indeed made the necessary calls.

“So, you have to move soon?”

“Yeah, they said it has to be within this week.” Sensing that she will start a speech about how I should immediately start packing my things, I quickly added. “But what about Jonathan?”

She sighed deeply.

“Honey, Jonathan has been saying for a while that he wants to move in with your father.” I wasn’t surprised. The fact that he was spending more time with my father recently, had brought this possibility to my mind.

“Well then. I guess there is no problem.”

"Yes. Oh honey, you have no idea how happy I am for you. The woman on the phone said the school was pretty prestigious.”

"It is." I didn't know who she was referring to as the woman, but whoever she spoke to wasn't lying about prestige. The school looked like a pretty important and popular place. At least among Luminits and elves.

[thewertsearch]

Asks Compilation 09/06

God, I really should, shouldn’t I? I’ve heard only good things about it, and obviously I love alt-self shenanigans. I might go in a week or two - it’s been way too long since I took a trip to the cinema.

Yeah!!! Welcome to the party! It’s a good time for you to catch up, since I’m pausing for a week or so before I start Act 5. (I’ll probably start it late next week, but that’s subject to change!)

Illuminating, eh? *Adds 5 points to the Light Player column of my notepad*

Never too late to analyze something you love! And doing a close reading of something you’ve read before sometimes works even better, because you know exactly how things are going to pay off. You can see all the foreshadowing you missed!

The obvious answer is Dave and Bro, but I think the most likely Player to do the tbh stare is actually AT.

I think he stared at his computer exactly like this when Dave rapped him into oblivion. 

Totally missed it. We don’t learn muck Mark Twain Lore here, but it seems that in the universe of Homestuck, he lived a double life...

Who knew not having a schedule to speak of would ever be a positive? My old manager clearly didn’t know what he was talking about. 

It really does keep happening. I’ve already made an OC, and it’s a good thing I don’t write fanfic, because otherwise I’d be fending the writing impulses off with a stick. 

[ it goes around a lot as a rumor. I think people get confused because the team put effort into making it canon compliant - and it also uses an official (unused) HS song. 99% sure Hussie never said anything about it tho... - Cat ] 

Ah, I see. Still, it definitely sounds like a fan project worth checking out! 

Honestly, my excitement is immeasurable. SAHLEE is evolving...

Been a while since I watched any new ones, but yeah, I’m a huge anime fan! I actually re-watched Mob Psycho 100 last week in preparation for the new season. The final two arcs of the manga are fantastic, and I, for one, cannot wait. 

I watched Your Name a couple of weeks ago, and I’d definitely recommend that. It’s gorgeous, and the story goes to some places that I didn’t expect it to, going in. 

I could talk a lot about the movies I like - and I will, if people are interested - but it’d take a while to gather my thoughts. Like I said before, it’s hard for me to pick out favorites. 

They’re completely unnecessary - but then again, so are their glasses and headbands. It is my intuition that Sburb wouldn’t make it so easy for Players to realize that they weren’t born naturally, since they’re supposed to learn about their destiny themselves. I think they probably have bellybuttons. 

All I’m getting from it is that Life does not equal Doom, which I’m sure is too obvious to be the right answer. In other words, this is just another intriguing hint about what’s up with Aspects. 

Aw, fantastic, I’m happy you enjoyed!! Even learning some basic computer science reveals a whole new dimension to this comic. If you ever want any pointers, or links to resources to learn more, let me know!

That game’s a real standout among idle games. Last time I played, I’d just finished completing all the game’s Milestones, and I won’t spoil you on what happens next ;) 

It’s funny how things work out. Weird chains of causality aren’t something that Homestuck has a monopoly on!

I have to wonder what Toby would be up to now without Homestuck’s influence. Would we have got radically different versions of Undertale/Deltarune?

Definitely going to do it! I’m actually probably going to catch up on it in the next week or two, before Act 5. 

...yeah, that tracks.

The question of probability as it applies to Homestuck’s cosmology is kind of complicated. Sburb’s lore seems to treat things like the Paradox Clones as certain outcomes, with a probability of 1, even as its multiverse disproves this. 

This is the kind of thing I really want to see more of, going forward. Just what are the real rules here? 

Universal translation is as good an explanation as any!

It would be kind of funny if, when the kids complete the game and exit the Incipisphere, all the trolls’ messages instantly turn into gibberish, because they never actually shared a language. 

lmaoo considering how the trolls talk to these kids, especially in earlier conversations, I think it’s more likely they found a human disetiquette book! 

My favorite is probably a more saturated version of my text color - something like this:

I think you can probably get a pretty picture out of any color if you use it right, but I’ve never really been into muddy brown.

I need you to know that I spent an hour earlier trying to edit Jack Noir into that Eggman scene I referenced earlier, so I could post it with this ask. I failed, but this ask succeeded in making me laugh my ass off. 

If anyone here hasn’t watched the Snapcube fandubs, I implore you - check this shit out. You won’t be sorry!

She’s no man!

I actually like that more than the ‘8 looks like a snowman’ explanation that I came up with. That ‘quarters = 1/4′ thing is a good secondary pun, too. 

This is a good point, regarding why Jade’s prototyping didn’t show up on Prospit’s iconography. Whatever comes out of Jade’s kernel, it will enter the Spire of a planet in ruins. There might not even be anyone to see it arrive. 

[an-angel-so-called-satan]

Everyone should beware of reincarnated/transmigrated manhwa/novel spoilers!

What is happening with the terrible misinformation of the novels of some manhwas???

Not long ago a announcement from the manhwa "The Viridescent Tiara" came out, where it mentioned to stop the false rumors about the novel and the bad ending that was supposedly written in a draft but was discarded by the author of the novel.

If you don't remember the manhwa, it's this:

I remember seeing "spoilers" of the traumatic event that happened to the protagonist a long time ago.

These "spoilers" or rather rumors were seen by the publisher and the artist of the manhwa, who gave a notice on their respective Twitter accounts about it:

Ngl, I don't follow this manhwa so much (I spend the inks on Tapas on others lol), but when I heard about those "spoilers" I couldn't help but believe them because "I didn't read the novel but those spoilers seem to be true, so..." but after reading these announcements one can't help but feel really embarrassed...

As far as I know, this is the only manhwa that has had an announcement of this magnitude.

Now, I would not like to fall for the same misinformation that I complain about; I just want to make an observation about what I have seen regarding other manhwas that I follow:

First, about "Roxana's manhwa" I have seen that the fandom went crazy due to a TikTok (not wonder why there is hatred towards TikTok) that claimed that in the novel there was a taboo about Roxana and her brothers, but another part of the fandom claimed that it was a fanfic and was mixed with the novel.

Now talking about fanfics, I also saw that a translated novel version of "Who made me a princess" was mixed with a fanfic, so I saw some posts that talked about the differences between the original novel and the mixed one. From what I saw in the post, some people had read the mixed version of the fanfic, but I didn't look any further.

Also, I saw some confusion about the ending of the novel "I fell into a reverse harem game!" due to a TikTok (Again!). The spoilers say that the protagonist stays with all the male leads, but TikTok claimed that she only stays with two???

I mention these manhwas and novels because, if anyone who sees this post had the opportunity to read the original novel of any of the above, it would be very helpful if you could inform other people about what really happens in the novels and stop this misinformation (only if you want it and you're not tired of this, of course).

The only novel that I can boast that I have read originally (and legally) is "Villains are destined to die". No one can lie to me about something I've already read it and keep it as evidence 😈

Why did I put Callisto instead of Penelope? because he's HOT

Now seriously, I have also seen that some misunderstand or misinform about spoilers of "Villains are destined to die". Normally, I usually leave comments clarifying the spoilers with the number of the chapter in which it happened. But some clarifications are of the same and it becomes very tiring to be repeating the same thing, so sometimes I just say "meh eventually they'll realize that's not how it happened" and I continue with my life.

Because of this, I can really understand if some people are tired of clearing up spoilers for their respective favorite works. I only made a post because I was surprised by the number of misunderstandings I saw in some novel spoilers in such a short period of time.

So, be careful about the spoilers that you read.

[qqueenofhades]

Ok so has the way history is taught in the average public school in America changed that drastically in the last 10-15 years? Or did I just have really good history and social studies teachers? Because I feel like I learned all of this stuff both on my own being a weird nerdy history kid, but ALSO as part of the curriculum.

And my (five years younger) sister who didn’t like history also learned about slavery, racism, the genocide behind manifest destiny etc, just from what was taught in class.

From southern Wisconsin, went to public schools that were a good mix of upper middle, middle class and poor students for reference

Like I said, I had an idiosyncratic educational career as a kid, and I did a lot of extra reading on my own, so my experience is definitely not representative or transferable to everyone else's. But just from talking to grade-school-teacher friends and acquaintances, I know there is a lot of pressure and new "standards" that are, to say the least, questionably ideologically motivated. I am a university teacher by trade, so it is obviously different in college, but yeah.

None of this is to say that kids don't learn ANY of this. They learn about slavery and Manifest Destiny and some of the bad parts, yes, but because public education is such a crapshoot, dependent on where you live and how well the district is funded and the local politics and so forth, it really does widely vary. My little sister had a great AP Government/History teacher at her high school, even though he was feared by most students as a tough grader and you had to be brave enough to self-select for his class. So she definitely learned the unvarnished version, but in the place where we are living now, the local wingnuts chased a guy off from even VOLUNTEERING as a substitute teacher in the (very small) school system because there was a Scary Rumor that he was a liberal. There has also been, so far as I have heard, a whole lot of fuckery with the county commissioners and the school board and etc. My perspective is definitely colored toward the pessimistic and cynical due to living in Trumptown, and hearing from teachers in Florida and Texas where things are REALLY bad, but it's not clear how that translates nationwide. It is, as I said, such a total game of chance.

Grade-school teachers are already working for low pay, in an environment where they never have all the resources they need and are being increasingly policed by the people who think "parents have a right to control" what their child learns in a state-funded public school (read: anything that wingnuts disagree with). They are at not-inconsiderable risk of being murdered in their workplace, have to deal with bureaucracy and institutional jockeying, and don't have nearly enough time to actually teach everything that they would doubtless like to do, especially with the pressure of the almighty Standardized Tests. So for another thing, it's also dependent on how much your teacher can scrape out of the curriculum, their own knowledge and interest, and so forth. Teachers are rarely to blame directly for what does and does not get taught in their classrooms; there are obviously some bad ones, but that's ignoring the entire systematic problems with American public education and just why it has been allowed to devolve into such a shambles.

Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that I really do get the impression that it's up to chance, and depends to an unfortunate degree on which school, teacher, and class you end up with. There are certain places that are also actively and deliberately making it harder to teach accurate history, for weaponized partisan reasons that are connected to the Republicans' ever more unhinged war on reality. I am absolutely not going to make a classist argument that "all public schools are bad," because a) they aren't, and b) that's the same argument that is used to set up charter and voucher schools of even more suspect quality and that very often DO have a strong ideological bent. There are some really excellent public schools, some really terrible ones, and everything in between. But because education is such a low priority, constantly underfunded, and subject to everything else I mentioned, there is simply no universal or predictable way to tell what anyone has learned during their time as a student, because nothing is standardized except the tests. And once again, that is really no way to produce critical or independent or engaged thinkers, which often feels like the point. Combined with making higher education incredibly expensive and difficult to ever fully pay off, it all adds up to a climate where you're punished, not rewarded, for pursuing further learning, and therefore, you don’t. And that, alas, is exactly what the "education" in a late-stage capitalist, late-stage collapsing empire has been designed to do.

[goldensart]

One of the things I was always curious to see more after the toyline’s end was how the MU inhabitants would adapt to Spherus Magna. It was such an interesting concept to have a completely different lifestyle. The ones that would be most interesting would be the Turaga. I mean, they are leaders, but now there is a much bigger world to cover, so I had some ideas of what would each of them be doing.

Vakama: One of the easiest to make, in my opinion. He’s a leader, a guide, but he’s also a storyteller, and now he has 2 species worth of new audience memebers to tell his stories to. Not to mention that, now that they don’t live in a barren wasteland, both Glatorian and Agori have started to have more babies, which means he constantly has new generations eager to hear his stories. He also keeps active as a leader, being a calm guide others go to when needing  guidance. He’s also a reliable Turaga that makes other leaders, like Raanu, calm and hopeful about the future of their tribes. Still,  within him, the heart of a craftsman still lingers, and while some of his siblings might tell him its a waste of time, every now and then a suspiciously high quality kanohi shows up in the warehouse. 

Nokama: Calm and serene, yet strong, Nokama still guides any villagers that prefer to live near bodies of water. The most spiritual of the 6, she attracts those who seek knowledge. Being once a teacher, she takes this with stride, as with their civilization being a union of various different cultures, there is a lot to teach, both from the old worlds of Bara Magan and the MU, and from the newly reformed Spherus Magna. Few things make her happier than the expression of awe her students have when she explains a new concept. Seeing the flame of curiosity light up in their eyes makes it all worth it. Still, old habits die hard, and stubborn is as stubborn those, so new students are advised to behave, lest they get a stern lecture.

Matau: Easily the most easygoing of them all, to the point some wonder if he should be considered a leader at all. Luckily, he is more than capable. With Spherus Magana being safer than Le-wahi, his security-related responsibilities are greatly lessened, meaning he has more free time, to the detriment of others. Be it pushing for the developement of crazier and crazier vehicles, or playing pranks on other leaders, he always has the time for a laugh, which makes him quite popular with the younger Agori, Glatorian and Matoran. Some might say this makes him a bad influence on them, but his easygoing demeanor means  that whenever a villager needs advice, but considers their problems to unimportant for the other leaders, they got to Matau, knowing that, be it a scolding or reassurance, he will tell them what they need to hear, and make them laugh with every word. He walso has an amazing singing voice.

Onewa: Basically a blessing in the early days of the new village, his skill in moderating arguments made sure the union of cultures went as smooth as possible. This skill continues to this day, acting as a judge between disputes. He is so succesfull some joke he could have stopped the Core War had he just sat down with the elemental Lords to talk it out. He also keeps the culture of sports alive in the new village. Organizing leagues between Matoran, Agori, Glatorian, and even Toa (sometimes even mixed teams), and making sure the games are all fair. Be it Kolhii, Akilini, or even the gladiatorial matches the Agori and Glaotrian insisted be kept, though now way less lethal, if there is a sport to be played, Onewa will make sure it is played fairly. Also known for making amazing sculptures that go for thousands of widgets. That said, stone is not easily changed, and his anger still lingers beneath. Those unfortunate enough to have provoced it say that while his judgement skill could’ve stopped the Core War, they also say that even the Great Beings couldn’t stop his anger.

Whenua: While all the Turaga were happy to lead their people, his joy when arriving to Spherus Magna was compared to a Muaka in a Rahkshi den. Still a leader and guardian to his people, Whenua’s calling was to uncover and catalogue as many of the secrets of Spherus Magna’s spast as possible. Quickly organizing and bulding what is now called the Archives Museum, which eventually grew bigger than even Metru Nui’s Colusseum, he led similar-minded individuals in the search of memories from the distant past. From the earliest tools made of exsidian, to the first recorded conflinct, long before the Core war, he uncovered hundreds of memories the planet itself had forgotten. One of his proudest moments was the discovery of a bone that was incrdibly old, something that didin’t exists in the entirety of the MU; a fossil. With energy he hadn’t had since he first transformed into a Toa, Whenua led teams and organized dig sites, uncovering thousands of bones and stories. And as a Turaga of earth, it was easy. The earth spoke to him, telling him its memories, of when had the bones joined it. Whenua was able to date them to the dacade. He created an incredibly complete fossil record, uncovering evolutionary lineages, making discovery after discovery. Amongst his favourites were the fact that the rock steeds are distantly related to the creatures of Bota Magna, pinpointing the moment in time when the common ancestor of both the Agorit and the Glatorian first divided into groups that would become the species, the moment were the Skrall had evolved so much they could be considered a new species. From the evolution of species, to relics of civilizations older than the agori, whenua’s Museum held knowledge of everything the past could give. And the inhabitants of the mega-city knew who to go with when having questions, for Whenua was the speaker of the past, and the past is the best teacher one could have.

Nuju: Guiding those who preferred colder places, Nuju kept his mannerisms and character. Still speaking only in the language of birds, though thankfully appointing a translator, Nuju continued to look for any signs of what the future might hold. From star-gazing, to bird-watching, Nuju became an expert in predicting things like storms migrations, and even an armed conflict or two. Population movement, air pressure, for those who paid attention, the future was an open book. Still, while he kept the horizon on sight, his eyes were firmly on his people, looking for the future, but never forgetting about the present. Using his knowledge, he warned and prepared for hardships to come, saving countless lives. This skill made him popular with tribe members anxious about the future, many coming to him asking what to expect. His answer, while found unsatisfactory by some, was what many of them needed; “I can’t tell you how the future will go, all I can do is prepare myself for it as best as I can, and to take it when it comes”

Dume: The least joyful arriving on Spherus Magan, Dume had no interest in knowledge, teaching or stories, for him, only one thing mattered, the safety of his people. For thousands of years he had kept the city of Metru Nui safe, and this one would not be different. Still, he only had failed his city once, and that was a wound he would never forget. When ruling Metru Nui, he had kept his distance from his people so, when he was replaced by Makuta, nobody was close enough to him to notice. And so, the tyrant had free rign over his city, eventually leading to its doom. He wouldn’t fail his new city that way. His distance had given him the strenght to protect his city, but it had also been its downfall. And, while he now had 6 Turaga and other tribe leaders to rule beside him, one could never be too cautious. Organizing extreme security measures; passwords, secret codes, etc. Dume made sure he would never be replaced again, and if he were, it would be instantly obvious. He even kept a few bodyguards close to him and, while never becoming close enough to be called friends, it was the closest he had being to another beign since his Toa team. And this worked, as any time his people were threatened, Dume faced the threat with a will that would make a Toa of Iron blush. No matter the enemy, no matter the danger, Dume stood fast. This gained him a reputation , both with his people and his enemies. Rumors spread about him, some said he was once a Toa of iron that had willed himself tthrough a furnace and came out a Toa of fire, other said that he had stared down the Shadowed One himself. His reputation amongst his enemies was no less impressive, Skraall, Bone Hunters and Dark Hunters alike spoke in hushed tones about the “Red Judge”, who would command a legion of Toa to capture anyone who disrupted his peace,never to be seen again. Others claiming him to be a Toa, a Makuta, or even a Great Beign in disguise. Dume never cared for any of these rumors, all he cared was that his people were safe. 

[tiny-crecher]

Unus Annus Secrets

Here I’m going to try and explain all of the Unus Annus codes + possible lore. If I have forgotten some information or if one of these links doesnt work/is incorrect please let me know. This post will be updated when needed. 

This is LONG, so be prepared. 

At first, these codes were only in videos edited by NerdFiction, but as of October 26th this is no longer true. (The possible exception to this would be the first video I’ve listed, as the editor is not in the description). 

1) 5 Weird Apps That Predicted Our Death

 “Here at Unus Annus the end is nigh... when the timer hits zero we will cease to exist. is it fate? is this a simulation? Can anybody hear me? My name is.... [FILE REDACTED]”. Timestamp - 0:14

2) Ethan Roasts Mark for 15 Minutes Straight

 “and in the comments, you will read the words you soon will see are wise controlling pawns who type our deed ‘That is Discord, not FaceTime’” Timestamp - 0:40

“within this truth a question stands, is the pee sauna ever close?”. [“Pee Sauna”was uploaded about a week afterwards] Timestamp - 0:40

3) Our Fans Try to Scare Us with Their Homemade Creepypasta

“What will happen if the clock stops”

“Could I find a way to keep it going?”

“If neither hand is right, what deals are left?”

“Who is the master of the clock?” (all around 8:44)

4) Learning to Cry on Command to Increase Our Youtube Views

“remember the key, the incompletion of a logolept’s corrective action” [a logolept is “a person who takes a keen interest in words”. Marcus is likely referring to himself.] Timestamp - 1:49

“the long wait ends with twenty four more for a path of destiny chosen before”[“Pee Sauna” was uploaded the day after] (closely after the last code)

5) Becoming One With the Horse

“They heard me, I knew it could work!” (timestamp currently unknown; to be updated)

Around this time, NerdFiction’s Twitter bio said, among his normal information, that he was “trying to stop the Unus Annus clock from within.” 

6) Preparing a 5-Star Meal for Our Youtube Famous Dogs

“I couldn’t stop it. Will I die with the machine?” (Timestamp - 21:33)

7) Does This Magnetic Skincare Routine Really Work?

“freed or so I thought. Another layer, but still the clock.” (Timestamp - 9:45)

“The Beginning of The End”. 

On July 26th, at 12pm PST, a video was uploaded to Unus Annus titled “Traversing the Desert to Find Our Inner Truth”. This video was only up for a few minutes before it mysteriously disappeared, only to be replaced by another video, titled ���The Beginning of The End”. At first glance, the videos were identical, save for different titles and slightly different descriptions. However, the second video was slightly longer than the first, and upon further inspection, many came to realize that the audio was slightly different as well. You can listen to both audios here. There was a rumor going around that the captions of “Traversing the Desert to Find Our Inner Truth” said something about looking out for Norbert Moses, but no one has been able to confirm this to my knowledge. 

8) Puberty Simulator

“Happy birthday to the beast or to the body that once housed me. A transfer made for pity’s sake. Tricked into the machine as he had my cake.” (Timestamp - 14:36) [The same code was found a week earlier in “Mark and Ethan Shave Chica”, uploaded on NerdFiction’s birthday. The original code was very difficult to make out, so it is likely he inserted it into a different video to make it easier for us.]

On the same day, NerdFiction’s Twitter bio read “Everyone must leave something behind when he dies. Memento Memoriae” (remember memory)

In “The Koala Challenge: TikTok’s Intimate Couple’s Trend” one of the clips is edited to look like a TikTok video, with the user ron_somberest being used. Ron_Somberest is an anagram for Norbert Moses. This TikTok account does actually exist, and the icon is a zoomed in and brightened photo of Norbert Moses’s face with the eyes scribbled out. 

Around this time NerdFiction’s Twitter bio read “’It’s not dark, never was’ - Ron Bestsmore”. Ron Bestsmore is also an anagram for Norbert Moses. It is possible that the “dark” being referred to here is Darkiplier, and NerdFiction is trying to imply that Dark is not involved in this. 

About a week after the koala challenge video was “How to Start a Fire (except don’t)”, which featured an appearance from Unus. NerdFiction’s Twitter bio read “In the end, who is your savior and what are they saving you from?” 

Things were quiet for about a month. NerdFiction eventually erased the cryptic message from his Twitter bio. 

9) Learning To Use The Force

“wait no something is wrong. he knows!” (Timestamp - 10:45) [translated from small coded words hidden in the montage]

“STOPTHISWHATAREYOUDOINGO3″ (Timestamp - 11:40)

“it worked” (a spectrogram, derived from a sound played at the end of the video)

10) Momiplier Tells Us True Scary Stories from Korea

“As I was, as I’ve done to him now. Am I right to decide his fate?” (Timestamp - 5:44) [Right before this, Mark’s mom is talking about a nightmare she had where she was paralyzed, possibly implying that nerdfiction was once paralyzed and has now paralyzed someone else (pointed out by @/minervas-sandwich)]

11) Cryptid Olympics

“I thought you’d join us but, hey, that was just a theory, Memento Doctrina” (remember learning). (Timestamp - 5:49) [The code references the Game Theorists channel, which had uploaded a video about Unus Annus earlier that same day.]

- From here on, every video has had some sort of code -

12) Edward Pumpkin Hands - This was the first coded video not edited by NerdFiction, instead being edited by Diceroll.

At various points throughout the video small parts of a url are seen. When pieced together, this link is made: https://imgur.com/a/tyDewJ7. It leads to a photo of the Unus Annus hourglass. When edited, a series of binary text is shown, which translates to “zhIaNL2“. Inputting this into another imgur link gets you to https://imgur.com/a/zhIaNL2. After editing the photo (although you can still sorta see it without doing so), a cipher of a custom alphabet is shown (I posted an edited photo here).

At 5:01 in the video a weird image is shown for only a moment (a slightly brightened version of it here). Nobody knows what the hell it means.

At the same time, there is a reversed audio of someone (presumably Ethan; it sounds like him) saying “we did that”. For context, the sentence said right before that line was “if one of us dies, the other has to take over for the remainder of time”. This is possibly implying that someone, or multiple someones, has/have died and been replaced.

13) Blood Bath - edited by rad_r

“Everything’s fine”

The Unus Annus timer is shown. It counts down for three seconds before counting up for one second. Heavy breathing can be heard over it. It is then cancelled by an error message

“ITS NOT FINE HELP” (this and the previous two messages are hidden at 5:57)

“you’ve done it now.. a machine observed. there is no returning.. a machine unnerved. there is only.. a machine unconqured.” (right at the end of the video, before the timer)

14) The Unus Annus Annual Costume Contest - edited by nerdfiction

“I saw just one door in a hall filled with many, I locked your gate but they were too late to join me. He was re-placed, she was undone, I had escaped yet he had still won”. (Timestamp - 2:05) [possibly talking about diceroll and rad_r. The pronouns would line up, and it would make sense with those two now having edited coded videos.]

15) Ethan Turns Mark Into a Werewolf - edited by rad_r

“futility or farewell? only time time time.” (timestamp - 7:17)

16) Ethan Kidnapped Mark - edited by Diceroll

Two spectrograms are shown in this video; one at 14:08 and one at 17:38. Combined, they create an imgur link: https://imgur.com/a/gKB62sv

The imgur link shows a photo of a key. On the key is a code translating to “stop the clock”

At the end of the video before the timer is a set of text in the custom alphabet previously mentioned. Translated and decoded it translates to “I can hear it coming theres not much time left the ones that tried to stop it have had their hearts cleft it is now your turn to put this loop to rest take us out of here and show us a new nest”

17) Being Brutally Honest with Each Other

“It is alive, no longer living / misunderstood beats unforgiving / escaped that fate but lost the tale / does a hope yet remain or just one final nail?” (Timestamp - 26:03)

18) Recreating Every Single Unus Annus Video

“The bottom of the spiral” (timestamp - 10:55)

19) “All Our Video Ideas That Never Happened”

“Be careful for what you wish for” (taken from two different codes)

*20) The Unus Annus Last Supper + Who’s Cutting Onions In Here??? - both edited by rad_r

“We’ve asked... we’ve tried... is there no way to stop the end? To those who aren’t deterred: how much will you sacrifice to ascend?” (A quotefall puzzle, split into 2 parts)

21) Everything’s Legal If You’re Dead

Norbert Moses is mentioned at 10:50. Look closely, his name is only there for a couple frames.

These have been the only codes I’m aware of as of 11/11/20. 

(be sure to check out @gemstone6’s list as well!!)

Link to my Unus Annus theory

[beevean]

Opinion: How could Sonamy progress in IDW?

[note: the original article was written in Spanish by @latin-dr-robotnik​]

Today we’re going to discuss a recurring topic on my blog, with a more complete perspective.

Today’s article was inspired by an ask I got a few days ago about my possible perspective on the future of IDW Sonamy. I thought it would be interesting to revisit and expand this topic, because it’s still something of great interest for thousands of fans all around the world, and because SEGA has recently adopted a very peculiar position on the couple and their dynamic. As I detailed on my article SEGA and its most recent Sonamy side – more canon than ever, the dynamic has been going through a shift that can be distinguished into two main parts: 1) the commercial potential of Sonamy as a merchandising and marketing icon; 2) the stability of the interactions in the comics, in the short monthly stories on Sonic Channel, and so on.

That being said, there’s no need to mention that we’re going to focus entirely and nothing more than on this ship. I usually suggest other articles for those who prefer to read on other subjects, but today I will recommend our Discord server [translator’s note: the server is mainly Spanish-speaking], where discussions about ships are limited on their own canal that is separated from other themes: general discussions, music, fangames and mods, fanfics, fanart and even gaming in general. As you know, if you want to bring something else to our community, or just avoid talking about Sonamy, you’re more than welcome to join. Now, back on track.

What’s going on with Sonamy in IDW?

To recap what’s happened in these last months: Sonic and his friends finally got through the nightmare that was the Metal Virus, he and Amy hugged a few times, and since very recently they’ve been involved in a short arc about Chao races in Twinkle Park Zone, with a sinister background. In these last months after the eradication of the virus, there have been much closer and warmer interactions between our two hedgehogs, and I suspect that part of this is what inspired that question in the first place: what’s going on?

As I commented in the article where I proposed that Sonamy is “more canon than ever” (I know that it’s an exaggeration, that was the point), SEGA is treading carefully and the main canon seems to be willing to negotiate a more open representation of the relationship between the two in their different continuities, from best friends to something more. What I did not expect to happen was reading an answer from Evan Stanley (artist and writer that replaces Ian Flynn) about their dynamic, summing it up with “they like each other”.

The redrawing of Sonic’s expression when Amy hugs him in a recent drawing of hers made people wonder if this was yet another example of SEGA’s “censoring” (comparison below), to which Evan answered that it was modified to keep Sonic in character: he’s a guy that does not show much emotional vulnerability or too many negative emotions, and this is why sometimes the artists have to adjust WIPs to keep in line with this official point of view. Evan assured that this is not any kind of confirmation that Sonic does not like Amy, and doubles down by highlighting that in the official material, in the wikis and on Sonic Channel they show that, and I quote: “They like each other, but Sonic just isn’t the kind of guy who is going to make goo-goo eyes at Amy or perform grand acts of romance. If you wanna see that, that’s what fan works are for.”

And Evan’s words are a great way to sum up what’s going on with IDW Sonic right now. When it comes to interactions, they’re working with two characters who deep down “like each other”, but both show it in their own way. Amy is much more proactive when it comes to express her feelings, while Sonic only sometimes shows a glimpse of his feelings, with a smile or a small gesture. But at the end of the day they’re still friends and, depending on the situation, the comic can focus more or less on these details.

Comparison between the first sketch showed by Evan and the final product. The modification of the expression was minimal: Sonic’s slight blush was changed into a smile, maybe being a little overwhelmed by the gesture of affection.

The “progression” of the dynamic in the future

A good part of the answer to this question is based on my idea that right now, when it comes to Sonamy, we reached some kind of comfortable plateau. What am I referring to? To the fact that there have been a lot of varied interactions in these last 3 years of the comic, and they’re everything I could have asked for and then some. When we talk about Sonamy in canon, as Evan said, we don’t tend to hope for great romantic gestures from Sonic, we barely even ask for a look that hints that they understand each other beyond what it seems at first glance, so the fact that the IDW continuity is betting so much on this ship is basically a dream come true. For this reason, I don’t think things will change much in the future.

If I have to make a prediction on Sonamy’s future in IDW, I believe that there are still a lot of possibilities that our known writers (and maybe new writers!) could explore more, to see what makes this dynamic work so well. Actually, about 10 years ago, Ian Flynn wrote that if they could take advantage of the abilities and similarities between the two characters as adventurous spirits and with a strong moral sense, they would be “like poetry in motion”. This largely happens in IDW Sonic if you look carefully, but there are always new stories to tell and opportunities for them to work together and explore a bit more their strong bond, stronger than other friendships that they share. When the next major arc comes (which seems to be getting closer), they could explore aspects of their dynamic that are slightly more experimental, like being separated for extended periods of time and under dangerous situations… as long as they don’t turn it into a painful experience like the Metal Virus arc.

What Ian Flynn wrote about Sonamy, what works and what doesn’t. This was written in 2011, when Archie Sonic was still the major comic continuity, and when, according to Ian, Sonic was still “tied” to Sally Acord, leaving little room to the writers’ opinions.

The reality is that I see a stable future for the dynamic in the IDW universe. Sonamy is not fit for a lot of drama (fights, breaking up, etc.) without feeling forced or completely out of place, and only fanfics and fanart could be capable of capitalizing on this kind of content. On the other hand, for reasons I detailed in past articles, SEGA would not dare to alter the established order of the dynamic, let alone new that they managed to recover and maintain control over the ways Sonamy is being portrayed everywhere. SEGA won’t pull a Dragon Prince, which ended up confirming the main ship and then they made them go through a crisis and break up in a heartwrenching way in the graphic novel that acts as a bridge between season 3 and 4.

In short

The future of IDW Sonamy is looking bright and stable. I don’t think there will be serious changes to what we’re experiencing right now, and this is why both Evan Stanley and Ian Flynn agree that the dynamic is practically in the perfect place, keeping in line to how SEGA wants them to be represented together. This means we won’t see more affectionate gestures than what we’re seeing now (I doubt we’ll ever see again Sonic offering Amy a rose like in Sonic X), but it also means that we have now a solid basis for our expectations. In the now old IDW Sonic #2, Sonic and Amy had the chance of seriously talking a bit about what they thought of each other, with Sonic being determined to keep living life his own way (although he wouldn’t mind Amy to accompany him… or even suggesting himself that she could come), and Amy being determined to respect his way of life, because that’s what she loves about him, and she doesn’t want him to change. Since then, all we have seen and we’ll keep seeing in the comic is a consequence of this key moment; the two philosophies that they have and they share, in a constant back-and-forth with some tense moments and some cute moments.

An interesting detail that wasn’t included in the ask and that makes me think is the possibility that all of this will feature in the games as well. This is a completely different matter for another day, but I like to think that there is the possibility that we’ll see SEGA being more interested in inserting more Sonamy in the games, even if in an indirect way like in Sonic Unleashed and its emotional support, especially if the rumors that we’re about to get a soft-reboot are true. Romance is not something Sonic games are famous for doing well… at all, but that doesn’t mean it would be a bad idea to add a little sprinkle of IDW Sonamy in the mix.

And finally, I think I’ve talked enough about this topic, As you know, we’re waiting for some news, and I hope we’ll see each other again here or on our Discord. We’ll see if on this 25th something interesting happens. In any case, see you next time!

The moment that shaped the present and future of their entire relationship, 3 years ago.

[four-loose-screws]

FE7 Novelization Translation - Chapter 6 Section 3

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations

If you are interested in donating to support my work, please check out my Ko-fi here. Thank you!

———————————

Chapter 6: Birds of a Feather (Section 3)

The battle lasted less than an hour.

To start, Marcus was a strong and seasoned fighter, and Eliwood was a natural in swordsmanship. Lowen fought hard as well so as not to embarrass the Knights of Pherae. Rebecca also contributed much to the fight, her skills far greater than Eliwood had imagined. And in addition to all of them, for the two powerful fighters Dorcas and Bartre, who joined in halfway, such a rabble of bandits as this was barely a fight.

After defeating the head bandit, the village magistrate met with Eliwood to express his utmost gratitude. 

"Y-You are Lord Eliwood, correct? I thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving the village."

"You have no need to thank us. It is my duty to protect the people."

The magistrate shook his head at Eliwood's refusal to ever be prideful. "Oh no, I insist. In Laus, to the west… things are very bad there now. Marquess Darin is busy preparing for war, and acts as if he knows nothing about the bandits and thieves attacking the villages within his territory."

"He is preparing for war…? That can't be!" Eliwood could have never imagined the magistrate would say such a thing. His shock was clear in the expression on his face.

Lycia had a unique form of government, in which each marquess and their territory was bound together by a nonaggression treaty. The news that one of the marquesses within their alliance was preparing for war was not something he could overlook.

Noticing that Eliwood was suspicious of his words, the magistrate continued, "It is no lie. Just a few days ago, my younger brother's house in Laus was burned down, and without anywhere else to go, he fled to here. He said that the people of Laus are spreading rumors that war could start at any time."

"Lord Eliwood! If what he is saying is true, then it is most worrisome. If war broke out at this time… The chance is high that Laus' enemy would be territories within our very Lycia. And what if… Lord Elbert has gotten wrapped up in it?!"

Marcus raised a good point. 

Marquess' Ostia, Lycia's main leader, had only just recently changed, and as a result was in the middle of restructuring the government. There were still many who were not convinced it was a good idea to support such a new and young Marquess Ostia, and Marquess Darin of Laus was one of those people. If he was dissatisfied with the current system and considering the use of force, then…

After thinking deeply about it for a moment, Eliwood opened his mouth. "...We know not if this is related to my father's disappearance, but as we do not have any other good leads… Let’s go to Laus. This seems like something we should look further into."

☆

Meanwhile, as Eliwood was about to start for Laus after claiming victory against the bandits…

In Ostia Castle, known as an impregnable fortress, a voice so loud it nearly shook the building rang from within the throne room.

"Brother!"

And that voice came from Ostia's next-in-line, Hector. He was the younger brother of Marquess Uther and Eliwood's good friend. He wore the steel armor of a knight as if it were nothing, and had hands roughly as large as a child's head. Though his youth still showed in his facial features, he was filled with vigor and ambition from his head to his toes.

What stood out about him most were his unbelievably rough mouth and unthinkable behavior for a royal, causing those around him to spread rumors about how strange he was. But he was different from other nobles in that he did not have an arrogant attitude, and because he connected well with the people, contrary to the rumors about him, he was popular with the people.

"Where are you, brother!"

"Lord Hector! Please calm down!"

At his lord's unpresentable behavior, a knight entered the throne room after him to scold him.

The knight's name was Oswin. He was among the greatest of the great Knights of Ostia.

Typically, those who would become knights were the children of nobility. However, in Ostia, true ability was generally emphasized over social status, so it was not uncommon for the members of the Knights of Ostia to be of common birth.

Oswin was one such person, having obtained the status of knight after completing a harsh course of training.

He was also trusted by his lord, Marquess Uther, who often assigned to the role of Hector's guard, who never calmed down no matter what he did.

Hector ignored Oswin's words and shouted, "Don't tell me to calm down! I can't be calm about this!!"

"You're making a scene, Hector! What the hell is wrong?!" A man shouted as he appeared from within the throne room's inner room.

He was none other than Uther, leader of the Lycian League and Marquess Ostia.

Upon his parents' deaths, he became the league's leader at a young age, and was quickly beginning to develop the countenance of a dignified ruler.

However, he did not hesitate before his brother, instead standing face-to-face with him.

"Isn't it obvious! This is about Marquess Pherae's disappearance!!" Hector shouted. 

"We've talked about that countless times! It is not Ostia's responsibility. Again, we should not stick our noses in where they do not belong!"

"Eliwood's father is missing! And we've known for a while now that Marquess Laus is acting strange! We should be deploying the Ostian Army to settle that matter, shouldn't we?!"

Ostia had many spies employed for the purpose of collecting information across not only Lycia, but the entire continent. 

One of them had returned with the following information: 'Marquess Laus is making concerning movements.'

And right before Marquess Elbert of Pherae disappeared, though it was unconfirmed, they'd received information that he had been seen in Laus territory.

Elbert was missing and Marquess Darin of Laus was preparing for war. There was a chance that those two facts were related. 

But when Uther heard Hector utter his noisy proposal to deploy the army, his face turned red.

"Calm down, you fool! We have a nonaggression pact with the other territories… And especially right now, given our current situation, we cannot deploy our soldiers!! You should be able to understand at least that much!"

At present, both Bern to the east and Etruria to the west were being cautious of Ostia.

That was because they were currently trying to assess if there were any gaps in the capabilities of Ostia's newly crowned marquess. It was easy to predict that if they attempted to send troops into Laus territory at a time like this, they would immediately determine that Lycia was not united, and those two powerful countries would prepare for war.

King Desmond of Bern in particular was quick to fight, and was even now waging a number of small battles along the border. They could not show any sign of weakness to such a potential foe.

Hector knew all of that information full well. But that did not mean that he could agree with it. "...Fine, I get it! Then stay on that precious throne of yours for as long as you want! I'm gonna go do what I want by myself!" He yelled, then disappeared from the throne room.

"Lord Hector! How could you behave that way in front of the marquess…?!" Hector's rude behavior made Oswin put his head in his hands.

But Uther did not worry about him. "Just leave him be, Oswin. If you're going to be like that, then he won't listen to a thing you say."

"..."

Of course, what Uther said was right. Once Hector’s blood was pumping, words had no effect on him. As someone who was often assigned to be his guard, Oswin knew that all too well.

Because Hector was the younger brother of Lycia's leader and Marquess Ostia, Oswin wanted him to act a bit more like it. But no matter what he thought…

'It would be nigh impossible to change him, wouldn't it…' Oswin found the door Hector had disappeared behind, and sighed. 

ー

"Matthew! Matthew, are you there?"

Hector entered a room near the back entrance separate from the main castle, and called out the name of one of the spies.

In response, Hector suddenly sensed a presence behind him that seemed to have entered from nowhere.

"Here!"

He turned around to see the man whose name he'd just been calling out, down on one knee before him.

Matthew had light chestnut colored hair and was wearing his red cape as he always did. His light brown eyes looked up at Hector, and after a long moment, he smiled.

His behavior made Hector respond with a look of shock on his face. "Matthew… you are no lackey to an evil villain, so show yourself more normally!”

"Huh? Yeah, I guess that wasn't very spy-like of me, was it. Well, whatever." He was not bothered at all by the poor reception his grand entrance received, instead tightening his expression and swiftly standing straight up. "As you requested for your travels, Young Lord, your favorite axe. And I paid off the guard here and at the gate, so all your preparations to be able to escape out the back should be complete."

"Excellent, good work. Brother doesn't suspect a thing." Hector said as he took his favorite axe and the bag with his supplies in it.

Matthew looked a bit surprised by those words. "Hm? But I'm going too."

"Don't be stupid! You can't!! If you, my Brother's spy, was with me, you wouldn't know when he might be stabbed in the back!! I'm going alone!" Hector suddenly raised his voice. 

Upon hearing it, Matthew panicked and raised one of his index fingers up to Hector's mouth. "Shhhhhhh! If you're too loud, the castle watch will hear and come running!"

Hector clicked his tongue. "...Regardless, you aren't coming with me!" He lowered his voice and roughly shooed away Matthew's hand. 

The spy Matthew was one of the few retainers who did not talk to Hector as a noble. His normal demeanor was rough and rude, so he found it easier and preferred to speak with casual people like Matthew over those who spoke formally.

But while he was currently serving Hector, he was actually a servant to the highest ranking man in all of Ostia, Uther.

No matter how anyone looked at it, this mission was not at all related to his work in spying on other countries for Marquess Ostia. For that reason, it was best for him to make his moves alone.

"It is utterly surprising that you do not trust me, but… Well, if that's how you feel, I’ll be leaving now." Matthew said, and disappeared from within the room within the blink of an eye, just as he had when he appeared.

"Huh? …That was easy."

Matthew usually always critiqued Hector’s side and argued back, but this time, he was understanding and conceded. 

As that made him think that Matthew was being a bit suspicious, Hector opened the bag Matthew had packed for him and began to check it. "Alright… I need to hurry out of here and meet up with Eliwood. But what's with all this luggage?! There's enough for two people in here…"

Upon starting to voice his complaint, Hector sensed that there was someone behind him, and it wasn't Matthew. He could sense feelings of darkness filled with bloodlust coming towards him.

"...Come on out. I know you’re there."

He turned to face the bloodlust he could sense, and saw a single soldier there, hiding in the shadow of a pillar.

It was not someone he recognized. The soldier spoke not a word, facing him with a dark look in his eyes.

"Who are you? You don't seem to be one of our soldiers, at least."

"..." The soldier did not give any response to Hector's question, simply glaring at him.

"...Not gonna say, huh." Getting fed up with the soldier’s silence, Hector picked up his favorite axe, Wolf Beil, and raised it. "Listen up! Whoever you are, if you get in my way, then I'll beat you down and make my way past you!!" He said, raised Wolf Beil higher, then swung it down at the soldier in front of him.

But the moment he thought he made the hit, the soldier suddenly vanished, and another person immediately took his place.

"Ahhhhh! Wait, wait!!"

Hector changed his axe's trajectory at the last second and missed his target. Wolf Beil, now off its mark, hit the wall behind him, and cut deeply into it. If the attack had been a direct hit, its recipient would have seen their end.

"It's me! It's me!!!"

"...Oh, it is you, Matthew. I thought for sure you were some guy with them."

After confirming that his target had indeed suddenly changed, Hector pulled Wolf Beil out of the wall.

"Don't "Oh it is you!" me! You were inches away from cleaving me in two!!"

"It's your fault for coming out of nowhere like that! Anyway, why did you come back?"

"Huh? Well, I sensed a threatening aura, and decided to help…"

"...Hm. Well, let's leave it at that for now."

Now Hector understood why Matthew had agreed to leave so easily.

He'd sensed the threatening soldier’s presence faster than Hector, and disappeared to figure out their foe's true form, then used Hector as bait.

But Hector wasn't mad about that. He actually preferred that was what Matthew had done, as he was so reckless by nature.

"...Now what should we do?"

"About what?"

"About the enemies hiding around here… I sense seven or eight of them. And they all seem to be quite dangerous. No matter how confident you are in your strength, won't this be difficult for you and me, who doesn't have much fighting ability?"

"...If you've got something you wanna say, then come out and say it!"

"You should give up on leaving out the back door and return to get help from the castle gua-"

"Not gonna happen!!" Hector flatly refused. Such cowardly words as resignation and fleeing were not in his vocabulary. 

Seeming to have predicted Hector's response, Matthew gave a defeated laugh. "Ha ha, I knew it. Then we must get pumped up and fight like our lives depend on it!”

"You can get out of here if you want."

"No, I couldn't possibly. I will be with you wherever you go."

"Then let's give them a good thrashing and get out of this castle!!" Hector shouted and picked back up Wolf Beil.

And so, the curtain opened on the travels of the man who would later become known as the Steel Giant.

ー

[nanakah]

about Ishigami, his growth and Miko's role

most people, myself included, thought at some point that Tsubame's rejection (or acceptance) could wrap up Ishigami's arc and even his past's flashbacks neatly, but Osaragi's arc suddenly revealing there was more to his relationship with Miko made me reflect more and think nah...if anything we're halfway there. It also showed glimpses of him already struggling to find his place in the world by quitting his clubs, even though he was successful at them and there was no Ootomo incident yet to undermine his self-image.

It seemed odd that despite everything he went through he still has his "hair=shield/averting eyes" theme going strong, but it makes sense if you consider even though Tsubame helped him see the way to be more accepting of people and cleared his name, his self-esteem still is super low. I spoke of this in my "sutera" meta, but to Ishigami, his life still has been a sucession of failures and almosts. At his core, he still hasn't fully opened up to people or learned to use his vulnerabilities to his advantage.

If I have grabbed your interest thus far, keep reading for more considerations!

Tsubame is kind to anyone and attempted to do good for him, but ultimately he was never fully himself around her, nor she tried/he alllowed her reaching out to the deepest parts of his insecurities. She doesn't show her own flaws to him either and to this day we get the feeling we don't know her well, just the best parts that Ishigami wanted to see. Kaguya, Miyuki and Chika contribute a lot in a sibling-like way, but there's a limit to how much Kaguya in particular can inspire him. Miko however, has scratched a little beneath the surface and has expressed an interest in helping him with that, even if he himself is still avoiding the topic. She's also more relatable to him in the sense that the rest of the stuco has a history of successes in their lives, while he was able to watch Miko's hardships and failures closely. Their panic attacks even look similar and they're always watching the other to provide backup (in a very roundabout way, at least before) when they happen.

While their personalities are fundamentally different, his arc and struggles remind me a lot of Miyamura from Horimiya and today, as I was musing on what is so different about them as of now, I believe it's how Miyamura didn't have a single *traumatic* mistake to get over, so he goes down his development road much faster. Putting it another way, it's ultimately that Ishigami hasn't yet learned to be kind to himself like Miyamura has through Hori. Like Shirogane and Kaguya are through themselves. In Miyamura's case, sympathizing with how Hori despite her strong exterior can be very fragile inside but still support him (fight for him, defend him, accept his true self, not judge him, hear him, make him feel good enough) made him feel compelled to grow stronger to protect her back.

Miko as she was at the beggining of the story couldn't provide Ishigami this sort of stability (and that's where Osaragi's "prettier story"/"you weren't there for him" reasoning fails) even if deep down she wanted to, but now after making many mistakes, learning from them and becoming more flexible, she absolutely can. Both Ishigami and Miko have deeply rooted issues that took them more than just each other to flesh out and develop, but they're very much the missing puzzle piece the other needs.

Miko still very much has room for growth as well, mainly concerning finding a middle ground between her "bad girl" and "good girl" personas that Ishigami can easily see through, as demonstrated by the consolation chapter. She tried being "bad", she attempted lying but was still saying half-truths, because her love of justice isn't just out of parental abandonment issues or loneliness - she does believe them sincerely. The moment Ishigami headpated her and shared genuine, spot-on words of concern and admiration (thus a hint of fondness), it was all over for her trying to keep up the love-warfare upper hand.

That's not actually new - Ishigami has always demonstrated he was able to see glimpses of her true self, be it teasing how she's an otaku or a closet pervert and such, he never fully bought the strait-laced image she aspired to make real. But it did take him being around her more to see she could be sweet to him and as he puts it, that smiling more is not a bad look on her. Miko says to Osaragi your true self only comes through interacting with others, so given how lonely she has always been (and how the one person close to her - Osaragi - was actually keeping things between them superficial because of her own problems), it's no surprise she's only finding out now who she is. Ishigami can help Miko find a better compromise of good/bad after both not following any rules at all for so long and recently learning that hard work can pay off. Miko immersing herself in his hobby will clash with her rigid study schedule sooner or later, and he'll know how to help her with that better than anyone else.

On the other hand, Ishigami's moral compass, romanticism (love for flowers, planing dates etc) and idealism aren't things he is proud of...yet. He protects himself with layers of cynism, especially in his first appearances, but he is always being contradictory and letting it slip how idealistic/pure he is at heart. He also is only now learning to like his outward image with things like fitness/studying and finding out it's not like he never cared about it - it's just that he was scared shitless of failure, thus never even tried hard in the first place to avoid being hurt. And as I have advocated for in the Sutera post, I expect Miko in some level to help him come to terms with seeing good in himself. Heck, even being able to game with her now and showing off how good he is and having her appreciate it is gonna do wonders to make him feel more "adequate". Tsubame's arc had a lot of him changing himself to become "better", but Miko on the other hand is trying to put herself in HIS shoes to maybe go "hey, I like you as you are. I'm trying to understand you more and put effort in for you".

Ishigami and Miko start out watching out for each other behind their backs - which instead of helping their relationship, drives them further apart because they think the other side is showing no appreciation. As the story progresses, they're slowly learning to make each other more aware of their support, and it is making them open up more in general.

They have a strong belief the other wants to be rescued and there is truth in that. Both want help and to be recognized for their efforts, but won't cry out for it. In the unplugged earbuds chapter Ishigami takes it upon himself to protect Miko's reputation in spite of himself, the election arc has him actually putting effort into the campaign just for the sake of protecting her and at first posing as a rival of hers to Shirogane only to reveal he's trying to "make Miko smile", he is constantly fending off men from interacting with her as protection (while also sounding jealous), he was way more protective of her when she was wearing that cast than needed and is now being able to openly headpat her and sounds almost like her "soothing sounds" from the days of yore lol Sure Tsubame seems like his start to becoming "a better man", but all the way back on the election, it was for Miko's sake that we first SEE him putting effort into *anything* without being coerced by anyone to take action.

And while it's more discreet compared to Ishigami's "white knight" attitude, Miko also tries hard to protect him - cheering him on during the sports festival race and wanting to console him before the stuco intervened, telling him he should study (but he thinks it's just nagging), christmas (which I'll elaborate bellow), making sure he was able to graduate middle school by actually confronting school staff and, of course, their very first meeting as recently revealed.

Many people hated the entirety of Osaragi's arc, but 232 gave very juicy info indeed. Ishigami's reason for supporting Miko from the shadows comes from admiration AND part gratitude for her attempting to talk to him and listen to what troubles him, and seeing they actually had a "falling out" argument was game changing.

He looks sad and troubled to have shut her down there, not simply angry, and so does she (there's tears in her eyes when her face is shown in the next page) - despite her black and white sense of justice at this point of the story, she still wanted to listen to him. And even after that outburst she still believed the rumors weren't real, unlike Osaragi sees it - otherwise she wouldn't have made the effort for him to be able to move on to high school. Why would she care, if she truly hated him and thought he was in the wrong?

If any further proof was needed at all that this info is important, I'm happy to say we have more. I noticed the Christmas stairs scene mirrors this exact falling out moment: "Go away"/"Suit yourself"

But this time Miko had already decided to change, had already seen the mess their relationship became the last time she did not reach out to him and thus already had their previous falling out in mind - meaning she decides to chase after him.

I don't like how the scanlations handled this scene because reading the japanese raws, my interpretation was that Miko was sounding "annoying" because she was still kinda drunk/unfiltered and freaking out when talking to Ishigami, not outright berating him like the Jaimini's box translation made it look like. She also sounds too angry after the fall, so I generally thought Viz's version (the panel shown above) was closer to the original.

"I always have to take care of you! You keep putting youself in danger. You can't make it on your own." is a better translation than Jaimini's, and also parallels better what Ishigami is often telling Miko as well (That she keeps putting herself in danger and that he has to be around to keep her in check). But with 232 in mind, I think it misses a nuance of the original line: "ほんとあんたは 私が居ないと危なっかしく駄目ね" - "Honto anta wa watashi ga inaito abunakkashiku dame ne" - while I'm a novice at japanese studies, gathering from what I can read and trying to get a feel of the whole sentence, it's closer to "So it really is dangerous to you if I'm not there/ It's no good if I'm not around you". You can take that as her being full of herself, which is the route Jaimini's goes ("You'd be screwed without me") but that's too hostile - Viz's got the spirit of wanting to protect him better, but the original has an implication that she has "tested not being there"/failed being there before (due to not fully siding with him in middle school) that's absent elsewhere.

IMO the reason Ishigami's "closed his eyes" arc is not over yet is because he hasn't accepted or gotten over or fully learned from his past yet, he simply shut it down. That's why briefly during the sports festival his eyes are in plain view, then go back to their usual for the balloon gag. I'm not sure if Ootomo herself will make a comeback, may or may not - regrets are regrets and sometimes the only solution to them is letting them stay in the past. But the topic of how he saw Miko in middle school and the letter certainly are being set up to still show up in the story.

If I compare him to Miyamura again, he'd still be at the point before Miyamura's haircut - not wanting to face the parts of himself he doesn't like, not quite ready to change. Not quite ready to patch up his own wounds yet and instead silencing everything from his past.

In this sense, Miko does wonders to make him feel more confident even if he hasn't realized it yet, and she's always dropping little hints she'd like him to worry about his future not in a naggy way, but because she genuinely prays for his success. He unconsciously wants Miko to think well of him and it fills him with confidence and a more prideful image of himself he doesn't really display to anyone else, not even Tsubame - like his usages of "ore" (a more manly/confident way of addressing himself) around her (AND HER ALONE):

( I don't like the available translations to the staircase scene either, lol. Zaibatsu has conveyed the tone of the second scene up there perfectly. For the staircase line, I've seen "I'll be there to catch you" and "I'll save you" which are contextually correct, but to me the original "俺が絶対守る" - "I (ore) will absolutely protect you" carries a much more romantic nuance or ambiguity, regardless of him realizing it at that point. It's like, the title to one of the most romantic moments/songs in the CCS Clear card anime ost, for instance. OF COURSE MIKO LOVES HIM. The narrator doesn't overexplain or take apart Ishimiko's interactions like for Prezguya, but all the evidence needed is there. And I gotta add the very next chapter to the staircase one is the "eternal love" x "real love" I'm super fond of that says fate is irrelevant and to find real love you must use your head to realize/understand things, so makes the romantic subtext even greater.)

This whole affair is also making me open my eyes that I should try to study japanese more...of course I'm happy to have translations and scanlators working hard, but there is something inherently lost in adaptations because it robs you of connecting with the author's intentions unless it was the author who wrote the translation in the first place

Thinking back on Ishigami's early "i wanna die/i'm going home/don't look at me" role, it seems unbelievable we're at the point he's now able to directly confront a "stranger" (lololol) or make serious promises with so much confidence.

PLEASE DON'T END SO SOON MANGA, I NEED MORE.

( off-topic kind of, but i'm lazy to make a separate post just for it: Since I mentioned things lost in translation, I saw something on Discord about Ishigami having an unreliable narrator moment in the "compliments" chapter/Iino Miko cannot love part 4 and holy molly, it is true. He first says something akin to "You're just too beautiful" out of context, Miko HEARS IT - and that's why she looks so shocked before asking for clarification - and he DID SAY IT in the speech bubble, but after she's nice to him and he thinks back to what he said he adds a "Your handwriting is just too beautiful" to his flashback. I'm ONTO HIM. ONTO HIM I SAY. It is what he meant, but it's like his mouth betrayed him. Whether it's unconscious or denial...it totally is something. The scanlation completely skips this and had the same line both times it's mentioned.)

[robininthelabyrinth]

Tedious Joys - Chapter 4 -

- Ao3 link -

It had been an inauspicious year to begin with.

A poor harvest led to famine among the common people, which in turn created conditions ripe for evil creatures of all sorts; the night-hunts that were often treated as playful competition by the cultivation world became more like the boring drudgery of everyday work, disciples setting off in packs on a regular basis all over, time and time again. The tension wore on the sects, some more than others, and dozens of small disputes began to rise up, needing to be dealt with. Lan Qiren’s schedule became busy, and then busier, and then became overwhelming; he was forced to discard one pastime after another in his efforts to hold back the rising tide, and in the end sacrificed sleep and sometimes meals to preserve only two: playing for Jiwei and spending time with his nephews.

It meant that he was unprepared, both mentally and physically, for word of the death of Cangse Sanren and her husband, which took over two years to finally come to ears of the Great Sects – such a shocking failure of information that Lan Qiren briefly wondered if it had been concealed intentionally.

The sudden shock of grief hit him hard.

He tried to convince himself that he had expected it, that she had expected it, that at least her son was now safe in the Lotus Pier, and yet all he could think about was that he had one less friend in the world. The sadness interfered with his focus, creeping in at all hours, uncontrollable, until one evening he was playing guqin with his nephews and looked up to find them both weeping uncontrollably from the music he was playing. When he tried to stop mid-song, he abruptly collapsed, and upon waking was informed that he had become feverish at some point in the night.

His sect doctors advised him to go into seclusion until he could control himself.

Lan Qiren refused.

They advised him again, this time with greater insistence, and with the support of his sect elders.

“Tell them to fuck off,” Lao Nie suggested, pouring a calming tea that he’d brought from Qinghe.

He’d come to visit with his sons, Nie Mingjue disappearing with Lan Xichen as always and Nie Huaisang engaged in the newest stage in his eternal battle of wills with Lan Wangji over a game of weiqi that they were both taking far, far too seriously.

(Despite knowing Lan Wangji and indeed Nie Huaisang better than most people alive, Lan Qiren honestly could not determine whether the two of them despised each other or were close friends. Lao Nie claimed the answer was both, simultaneously, but Lan Qiren didn’t understand that at all.)

“That is not how we do things here,” Lan Qiren said, accepting a cup. It was rude for him to allow a fellow sect leader who was his guest to serve him, rather than the other way around, but he had a headache from the persistent fever and exhaustion that was even more persistent, the boundless river of grief in his heart translating into physical agony, and anyway Lao Nie hadn’t exactly asked permission before proceeding. “It would be more appropriate for me to present a well-reasoned case for it not being necessary, based on rules, authority, and precedent.”

“Except you can’t put one together because you’re upset and tired,” Lao Nie said with a snort. “That’s stupid. You’re overworked, stretched too thin, you just found out that your friend is dead – you need sleep, not seclusion. Anyway, what happens if you do go into seclusion? Aren’t they always saying they need you to stick around to be Sect Leader so desperately?”

Lan Qiren rubbed his eyes. “It would not be true seclusion. I would be expected to continue certain parts of the work.”

“You’re joking.”

“It would be primarily administrative correspondence –”

“By that token, your brother ought to do it!”

Lan Qiren glared. “It’s not the same and you know it. And they are not wrong that I need rest.”

“From what I recall of what you’ve told me about your sect’s practice of seclusion, that’s not rest,” Lao Nie said acidly. “Surely there’s something I can do to help. I could send over some of my disciples…”

“Excellent idea,” Lan Qiren said, rolling his eyes. “We can replace all those rumors that I’ve been secretly pining for years over my best female friend with ones regarding my best male friend.”

“It is a little ‘hero rushes to save the lady’, isn’t it?” Lao Nie said thoughtfully, shaking his head in amusement. “But seriously, I came here for a reason, and it’s not Jiwei or A-Jue or anything like that. You’re always trying to help me, Qiren. For once, let me help you.”

Lan Qiren would normally protest this – because Lao Nie had so done many things for him over the years that it was an incorrect statement, because he hated the helpless feeling of letting someone do things for him, because that wasn’t something sect leaders did for each other – but he was tired and he feared seclusion and sometimes he thought it might be nice to do one thing that could be considered a little reckless before he died.

“Very well,” he said, closing his eyes and drinking the tea. “Do as you like.”

That was a dangerous thing to say to someone like Lao Nie, who promptly pulled three dozen Nie sect disciples from out of nowhere and sent them scurrying around hunting down evil with the energetic enthusiasm of youth entrusted with gigantic sabers and the freedom to use them as they would, while he himself settled in very happily in Lan Qiren’s home, sleeping on a guest bed, keeping away unwanted visitors and helping with any paperwork that didn’t explicitly require a Lan. He also recruited Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen to assist, despite Lan Qiren’s protests that bureaucratic busywork was not an appropriate way for boys of approximately fifteen and definitely twelve, respectively, to spend their time; both of them very solemnly assured Lan Qiren that they were more than happy to do whatever they could.

Even little Lan Wangji and Nie Huaisang bullied their way into being involved, insisting that they wanted to do it more than they wanted to train or play, although at their ages there really wasn’t much they could do besides grind ink and run messages to the relevant recipients.

As Lan Qiren might have expected, rumors immediately started about some sort of torrid affair – life would be so much easier if everyone obeyed the rules against gossiping purposelessly – and they even got to the point that several of the sect elders cautiously hinted to him that although cutsleeve relationships were far from being in vogue, they had at no point been explicitly forbidden by the rules, and cited several provisions which seemed to favor such things.

Lan Qiren had thanked them for the reminder and caustically commented that he would be sure to incorporate that into his next set of lectures as he could see no other reason for them to mention it, and soon enough they backed off, shaking their heads. Still, those busybodies that had his best interests in mind were still preferable to the ones that started once more raising the idea of finding him a nice bride of suitable age – by suitable age, they meant too old for children, lest he get any idea of challenging his brother’s line of descent – before he did anything foolish like fall in love, or, worse, to act on it.

Obviously he had no intentions of permitting that.

Still, after a month of enforced rest, Lan Qiren was feeling a bit more himself. He took on more and more of the work, albeit supervised by five sets of judging eyes, and even began to play once more, this time without bringing anyone to tears. Jiwei and Xinfei rested together by the door in comfortable equilibrium, hot and cold, weak and powerful, and the jade pendant that Lan Qiren carried with him remained cool to the touch, not hot at all.

“You will need to go soon,” he told Lao Nie, who shrugged, not denying it – a month was a long time for a sect leader to be away from home absent some valid excuse like a war, not quite too long but starting to push it. No matter how effective one’s deputies were nor how much work one did from a distance, a sect leader was still necessary, in the end, or else Lan Qiren’s life would have been very different.

“Next week,” he said. “That’ll give me just enough time to take the boys home before heading back out again for the conference in Qishan.”

“There’s a conference? I wasn’t informed.”

“No, you weren’t, because I didn’t inform you,” Lao Nie said, utterly shameless. “You’re going to stay here and rest. It’s just a stupid party.”

“That doesn’t matter if it is also a stupid party which everyone else is attending,” Lan Qiren said sternly.

“Jiang Fengmian isn’t going, either,” Lao Nie said. “Doesn’t want to leave his new ward alone just yet…newest rumor has it that Wei Wuxian’s his bastard with Cangse Sanren.”

Lan Qiren shut his eyes. “Of course. Wasn’t I the one having the affair with her last week?”

“Perhaps it was a love triangle?”

“A square, at minimum. Don’t forget she had a husband.”

“A pyramid!”

“Lao Nie…”

Lao Nie laughed. “Jin Guangshan isn’t making it, either. His wife’s giving birth – predictions say to a daughter, I think, assuming this one survives the birth – and all accounts say that she’s threatened to cut his balls off if he even thinks of leaving Lanling City. So, you see, it really is just a stupid party, and by missing it you’ll be doing just the same thing as all the other Great Sects.”

Lan Qiren felt a sudden stab of misgiving. “Except you.”

“Except me,” Lao Nie said cheerfully. “Me and Hanhan.”

Lan Qiren truly did not want to know what went on in Lao Nie’s mind sometimes.

“Why don’t you refrain from going as well?” he asked, aware he sounded tetchy and irritable like some jealous wife in an opera. “If no one else is going.”

“Oh, I have to go. A-Han asked for me specifically,” Lao Nie said, and Lan Qiren thought to himself oh I’m certain he did, then promptly felt bad about doing so. Sneering for no reason was prohibited. “Someone’s gifted him with some magnificent saber for his collection, apparently, and he was boasting that it was the best there was right up until someone stuck their nose in it and said that it was all well and good but no comparison to my Jiwei.”

Lan Qiren could imagine exactly how well a statement like that had gone over with Wen Ruohan.

“And now he’s demanding you show up and produce evidence?” he asked, unimpressed.

Lao Nie grinned. “Ah, Qiren, it’s almost like you’ve met the man before.”

“You shouldn’t encourage him,” Lan Qiren said. “Why should you go just because he asked? He’s your equal, not your master.”

“There’s no harm in giving him some face.”

Lan Qiren could think of several ways that it could lead to harm, the inflation of Wen Ruohan’s already bloated ego being not the least of them, but Lao Nie was his equal as well, his equal and his elder. If the man had made up his mind, as it clearly appeared that he had, there was nothing Lan Qiren could say that would change it.

“Good luck, then,” he said, shaking his head, and called the boys to come in for dinner. As usual, the Lan half of the table remained mute while the Nie half did nothing but chatter, each according to their own family custom. It was a test of wills and endurance – Lan Wangji’s eye kept twitching every time Nie Huaisang filled in words for him, possibly due to the extremely high pitch Nie Huaisang chose to represent him – but it was a joy to share the time with them nonetheless.

Before Lao Nie left, Lan Qiren tried, not for the first time, to press the jade pendant that resonated with Jiwei into his hand. “You should take it with you,” he insisted. “Especially if you’re going to the Nightless City to exhibit your saber – there’s a great deal of resentful energy there, and you know that always gets Jiwei’s bloodlust up.”

“Which in turn will sharpen my reflexes, just when I need them most,” Lao Nie said, pressing the jade pendant right back into Lan Qiren’s hand. “Better you have it.”

“Lao Nie…”

“Jiwei likes you now,” Lao Nie said, as if that mattered. “She’s been just as avid to protect you as I’ve been, this past month – if I didn’t need her by my side, I’d almost be tempted to leave her here with you.”

Lan Qiren arched his eyebrows. “Are you suggesting that I can’t protect myself? Here? In the Cloud Recesses?”

“Saber spirits are not smart, Qiren. But even she can tell that you’re not well yet.”

Lan Qiren waved a hand dismissively. “Well enough,” he said, and it was even true – the grief was still there, of course, and likely would be every time he thought of Cangse Sanren in the near future, excluding maybe the few times when it was one of his students that resembled her only in terms of how much mischief she would get up to, but it was no longer drowning him. He had hope that, in time, this wound would also scab over and the hurt fade, and that at that time he could once again think of her with nothing but joy.

Lao Nie huffed. “Well enough isn’t well,” he grumbled, but that didn’t stop him from gathering his children and his disciples and heading out back towards Qinghe. “Take care of yourself, Qiren! Be well!”

“And you,” Lan Qiren said. “Keep out of trouble, my friend.”

From what he later heard, the party at the Nightless City went about as anyone with half a brain might have expected: Wen Ruohan swanned around until Lao Nie showed up, there were tense words exchanged, and then Lao Nie produced Jiwei, allowing Wen Ruohan to examine her and even pat her a few times before the Wen sect leader was forced, with great reluctance and through gritted teeth, to admit her superiority to the saber he had received.

The stories ended there, but Lan Qiren had enough imagination to fill in how the rest of the night might have gone, especially with the only sect leaders there being Lao Nie and Wen Ruohan. He sincerely hoped that Lao Nie had remembered all those lectures he’d given him about the foolishness of lying in the same bed as poisonous snakes, no matter how beautiful they might be on the surface.

Perhaps he had, perhaps he hadn’t.

Either way, Lan Qiren heard nothing else until the day he interrupted his own afternoon lecture with a sudden cry of intense pain – the jade pendant had abruptly gone so hot that it had burned, and although his clothing, protected by stitched-in incantations, was unharmed, the heat was so severe that it had nevertheless left a mark on his thigh through all those layers.

Clutching at his leg, Lan Qiren ordered his students to run to fetch him cold water and a doctor, and wondered what in the world had happened.

A letter, he decided. He would write Lao Nie a letter to ask.

[accio-victuuri]

2019 BJYX Timeline : Golden Hour Part I

You make me think of empty spaces begging to be filled. Of spacious streets, waiting be marred by tire tracks. The void ——The endless wait for something to happen.

Hello. We are now into 2019. This part is definitely more mellow than what happens in the second half of the timeline. Hence, finishing it faster than I thought I would. _へ__(‾◡◝ )>

JANUARY 2019

01012019 : Web is welcomed to Yamaha Team as a Racer. 

Web’s Post :  happy New Year to all! !! !! !! !! The racing career has begun! !! !! !!  Please call me driver Wang Yibo! !! !! !! ～～～～～

Yamaha Team’s Post:  Welcome @ UNIQ- 王一博 Formally join the 万里 达 Yamaha team Super Words Become a MLT YAMAHA contract driver, start his career, in the future Wang Yi Bo Super words will drive Yamaha YZF-R3 cars, representing the team for the 2019 season. Come on! TRACER-85!

01082019 : GG for Grazia 

01022019: Web CF making

01082020 : Lin Hai (composer of Wuji) posted on Weibo a picture of peppa pig dolls version of LWJ and WWX saying -  Xian Xian Pig and Ji Ji Pig caught the cold one after the other because they were surreptitiously kissing. CPN is that fans of Web noticed he was sick early in January and on his weibo post below, GG admitted to having the flu as well. 

01052019: On set of Gank Your Heart

01142019: Web CF with Skittles

01132019 : GG posts first selfie of the year ; He explains that he has a flu.

01172019: FIRE audio single released

Now you're mine, you and I, We should be heading away See the fire in my eyes The feels making me crazed And girl you got me so deep Let's write a story You should get to know me

01182019 :Web posts as selfie 

Selfie for you

01182019: GG posts a selfie too 

 01242019: Web x Shu Uemura CF

01262019 : Web x Home Facial Pro CF

01292019: Web interview with Hunan TV Spring Festival

This is where he said he really cannot say if he is in a relationship to the media. Oh the savagery! 

FEBRUARY 2019

022019: GG shooting Olay short AD  - Two sides of GG! 

02032019: Web preparing for Chinese New Year

02032019 :  GG posts a selfie and picture with jiangou

02052019: GG posts a message to his fans “Everything in 2018 felt like a dream to me, in the dream I gave it everything I had! There were a lot of new faces, exciting things and constant obstacles that I crossed in the dream! And you guys who are right next to me!” 

02082019: Wang Yibo x Elle

02112019: Web x Shu Uemura CF

02122019 : GG selfie!

02132019: Web x Elle and Chanel coco crush rings

02142018: How to make a Pineapple boat

02142019: Web weibo post on valentines day, showing off his moto. 

Forcibly spend Valentine's Day with me love beans! ❤️ you have a happy holiday Oh ~ ~ ~

02172019: GG selfie! 

02212019: Web x new one studio

02242019: Web x Home Facial Pro

MARCH 2019

03012019: Web - How to ride a motorcycle

03052019 : GG selfie with the love of his life = junkfood.

03092019: GG pouty selfie again

03112019: Web - How I prepare for a game

03112019 - GG X BElla E-magazine 

03122019 : GG X Fashionable Photoshoot 

03132019: Web releases a new single - LUCKY

If you're lucky We can lay up in the bed If you're lucky We can just go ditch the rest If you're lucky I can take you down If you're lucky you can wear the crown If you're lucky We can lay up in the bed

03152019: GG message to fans “I’m so fortunate to be an actor, I can have different experiences in my limited lifespan, each eliciting emotions of joy, anger, sadness, and happiness within me at all times.” 

03222019: Web x VogueMe

03222019 : Web posts on Weibo as he visits Rome 

03282019: They recorded Wuji together. 13!!! 

There is a whole CPN story with this recording. Aside from the fact that they look so happy recording it and the forever-question of “did they hold hands?” ; there is still more. Web was coming from Rome and rumor is he had to cancel and re schedule work to be with GG physically in the recording. Also, GG was photographed in the airport before this and fans were saying he looked really good. 

03292019: Web x YOUNGCHIC photoshoot in Tokyo

03302019 : Web message to Olay

03312019: Web x Olay CF

032019: GG posted this art, for his fans as his activities keep on getting cancelled.

APRIL 2019

042019: GG shoot for Cosmo 

04052019: Web x Bape and Formula 1

04052019: Web x FHM

04152019: Web x Shu Uemura

04152019 : GG selfie

04192019: Web attends VogueMe cool people event

04222019: Web x bazaar men

04252019: Web x Shu Uemura CF

04262019 : Web attends 10th China directors guild awards

MAY 2019

05012019: GG posts a message to fans “Don’t ruin your present, over a past filled with regret, and a future with only uncertainty! Please live in each present day, brightly! You deserve to live like this!” 

05052019: Web interview in Chanel exhibition

05022019 : Web posted himself racing / practice 

Today ’s results are quite happy ~ The photos are fine! (Xiang Xianghui will take photos from the curve!)

05032019 : Web participates in the GPGP race but was unable to do the final race due to  technical issues with his motorcycle. He had to push his moto to the end and very heartbreaking. 

Web posted on Weibo : Translation here

05052019 : Web posts on Weibo 

See you at the next stop! 🔥🔥🔥 @ Wan里达雅马哈team

05062019: Web x Chanel CF

05072019: Web celebrity reading

05072019: Web x Shu Uemura event

05082019: Web x Wei Quan Yogurt

05092019: Web x Ellemen fresh

05092019: GG selfie

05202019: Chinese valentines Day GG post where his fingers form 5/2/0. His top is similar to one Web owns. 

05212019: GG X tencent VIP commercial 

05222019: GG instagram post

“Don’t look back. Forever! ”

05242019: Web x Ok interview

05252019: Web x Shu Uemura x Maison Kitsune CF

05292019: Web x Size magazine

05252019: Web x Laneige CF

05262019 : Release of that TTXS episode where Web was in a blind date but he is just too savage. After drinking and talking a little, he says “Can I go now?” 

 05312019: Release of single for drama Gank Your Heart

052019 : At this time , GG was already taking some legal actions against Wajijiwa. There is a more comprehensive explanation of this drama here. 

JUNE 2019

Important BJYX events in this month was already discussed here.

06012019 : GG posts for Children’s day 

06012019 - GG X Olay 

*** Note 01: I hope I can keep up with this momentum. I am trying to include stuff that are more important to the CPN side of things. But I’m DOING MY BEST (ง •̀_•́)ง  to add everything I could. Everything, meaning their weibo posts /selfies / some quirky things that happened. These two boys are very lovely so I really want to highlight them individually too.

*** Note 02 : The second half of this timeline is very intimidating to even begin but there are a lot of resources-- so hopefully, Part 2 will be out sooner than later.  ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ