#but the way you phrased it surprised me a lot 😂

[kyoupann]

Hi! I see you reference your job a lot. If you don’t mind sharing, what sort of field do you work in? What type of job do you do? Just curious :)

Omg, do I??? Don't tell me that 😭

It's nothing crazy. I just work a simple desk job in tourism. I work with multiple restaurants, handling their administrative/accounting, and legal paperwork (to the best of my ability, once it's out of it, I call their lawyer). Up until recently I also took care of all HR matters, but my boss realised it was too much for one person so they lightened my load without affecting my salary yey! 🥰 I also do a bit of social media managing and I'm a booking agent for a local content creator ✌️🐳

[revelboo]

Heyyyyyyyyy it's meeeeeee the devilllll back with a figure update and Suprise! It's not blokees! It is however, everyone's favorite cryptic

You have no idea how tempting it is to paint his claws and cables

😂 That’s the Gear Factory Demonic Whisper figure, right? I’d just ordered everyone’s favorite Cryptid daddy, too

Bad Idea Pt 17

TFP Soundwave x Reader

• Making a little sound of protest when his tendrils lift you enough to slide a blanket under you and then you’re eased back down. Head turning to rest on your arm as another blanket is draped over you, you watch him hesitate before touching your cheek with a servo. The touch almost an apology, but you know he has whatever secret alien stuff he does to do and as much as you’d love to spend all day exploring each other, you understand. “Kick ass,” you tell him and he flips the end of your blanket over your head before leaving you, but not before the drone darts inside to light on the berth and give you a very judgmental stare.

• Hates being away from you, but can’t just leave Starscream to his own devices since Megatron’s preoccupied. Doesn’t really trust the Seeker not to be scheming without someone keeping an optic on him. Entering command, he’s not at all surprised to find Starscream sprawled on Megatron’s throne ordering Vehicons about. Though the little human he’s cradling against his chassis and idly petting is new. Staring until the Seeker gets uncomfortable and slides off the throne, wings flaring aggressively. He probably should be a bit worried about Starscream having a human, but if it keeps him from plotting?

• Squawking at you in a decidedly disgruntled tone, big bird flares up his panels. Offended at what you’d done with his daddy, maybe? Does he know what you two did? Sitting up and wrapping your blanket around yourself, you offer him a smile. “Can we maybe start over? Play nice?” You ask and he hisses at you, croaking like a crow. Alright, then. You decide to take that as a no, though to be fair, you have no idea how smart the drone is. Maybe he’s like a big parrot and he just repeats stuff and there’s not a lot happening in that dumb, bird brain. “You can hate me all you want. Not my fault he’s a total DILF.” And that head tips, a calculating gleam in those optics. He doesn’t know what that means. He can’t.

• Working at his console, he vents as Starscream pulls something from subspace and offers it to the little human he’d perched on his own console. Can hear the Seeker crooning to the human he’s apparently calling ‘Fluffy’ and who appears just resigned as they take the package of food he’s offering them. Spotting him staring, the Seeker’s wings flick before he pointedly turns his attention back to fussing over the beleaguered human. At least they’re keeping him busy, he supposes.

• “DILF. Soundwave total DILF.” Hopping around on the berth, the drone croaks at you. Combining that harsh snarling voice saying Soundwave’s name with your own voice while you chases after him, wrapped in a blanket. “Shut up! Delete that right now!” You demand, aware that you have no way to back up the words. Something big bird seems fully aware of as he evaded your clumsy attempts to catch him. While shouting his new favorite phrase and you swear he’s laughing.

• Returning to his habsuite, he pauses in the doorway to watch you chasing after Lazerbeak as the drone shrieks. “Soundwave total DILF!” And you spot him standing there and stumble to a stop looking absolutely mortified, can feel your horrified embarrassment crashing over him in waves. Head tipping, he hooks a thought in the human information network, because that’s a word he’s not encountered before and you’d called him- ah. “DILF!” Lazerbeak cackles as you put your face in your hands and his tendrils restlessly writhe.

Previous

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

skully j. graves halfway checkpoint

Consider this part 2 of my evolving opinion on Skully! My initial impressions of him can be found here. Now that we’re at part 3 (presumably out of 5) of the event, I wanted to check in with updates on my feelings!

A lot of the points in my first impressions post still stand. However, what I’ll say is that Skully’s… villainous side… has definitely come out very strongly, especially in 3-20. A lot of my friends were squealing and getting super excited over this part. I feel like a lot of his popularity comes from 2 factors: 1) his overt flintiness (since much of the Twst fandom seems to long for this kind of (yume) content) and 2) Skully is one of the few characters who consistently acknowledges Yuu and asks for their opinions on stuff. The latter is very in demand, especially for the western fandom, which is very individualistic and often views Yuu or their Yuusonas as an integral character. And that’s valid! It’s just that this alone isn’t enough to satisfy me.

I’m… admittedly less thrilled about the direction Skully’s taking, and it’s completely for reasons related to my personal tastes 😂 I had mentioned in my original post that Skully reads to me as a Halloween-flavored Idia due to his otaku-like obsession with Halloween and how negatively he reacts when people express dissent toward his opinion. It feels very elitist and gate-keepy, which are aspects of fandom culture I find distasteful. (This is also a large part of why I didn’t like Idia at first.)

Edit (noticed this later and decided to tack it on): Another thing that really bothered me was that Skully keeps asking Yuu for their opinion. It SEEMS polite to consider them, but his intentions are way less selfless than they appear. Skully is often asking Yuu for their thoughts AFTER some other character has disagreed with him. So he is literally only consulting Yuu because he wants someone on HIS side. If you ever pick the dialogue option where you disagree with him, Skully insists there must be a misunderstanding and he will explain it to you no matter how long it takes. Don’t you see??? He doesn’t want to know what Yuu truly thinks; he wants validation in his own way of thinking. That’s NOT actually being considerate. The same shit happens when Skully tries to kiss Grim again. Grim dodges but Skully sneaks behind him and kisses him anyway because I guess that’s what gentlemen do according to him. Bro has demonstrated time and time again he does not value consent nor what others’ thoughts are on anything that differs from his own thoughts.

Those aspects of Skully get even more prominent in part 3. Throughout this section, Skully keeps reassuring himself that while he’s going along with the group’s plans for a boisterous and exciting Halloween, he’s certain that Jack-sama will surprise everyone with a Halloween that is more in line with a solitary, depressing one Skully envisions. Once Skully learns that Jack has no such intentions, he is disappointed and proceeds with a series of crimes 💀 Skully:

Tricks the Pumpkin King into drinking a sleeping poison

Does the good ol’ crazed villain laugh

Pulls a serious of expressions not even a loving mother would excuse

Curses and shouts

Assumes control of the Halloween plans

PUMPKINS GRIM when Grim and Yuu walk in on the scene of his crime (even when Grim gives zero indication that he thinks Skully is responsible for the poisoning)

Stuffs pumpkin!Grim into a sack

Colludes with Lock, Shock, and Barrel (for what yet, I don’t know)

Casually decides to show Yuu the best Halloween ever AFTER ALL THAT (it’s still not clear at this point if Yuu also got Pumpkin’d or not); the phrasing is still quite romantic but this is still a hostage situation, no??????

Like, wow, that’s… 😭 I’m not necessarily upset that Skully does bad things in the first place (lots of the Twst characters do questionable things), I’m just not sure if I’m following his reasoning for doing all of this. It seems like a LOT to me. Like, very niche and highly targeted anger.

He seems fixated on his own idea of Halloween—the Halloween he grew up with and was taught about in his village. For whatever reason, he is very sensitive to people challenging this version of the holiday or doing anything new. In fact, he becomes IRATE about it and drops the gentlemanly facade (which also seems to be something he is concerned about maintaining??). Skully is very frustrated that people don’t understand him, and that now his Halloween idol is also letting him down. Notably, his politeness deteriorates when he speaks about those who disregard his opinions on Halloween. He either becomes very gloomy or very mad (usually the latter), venting about worthless idiots who don’t understand his vision. Very strangely, he also mentions vaguely spiritual terms like atonement and his purpose in this world. Skully’s obsession with Halloween is so intense that it is evident even in his UM.

I get that his hometown was into this stuff, but even then, it seems pretty excessive??? Why is he so… insecure about this? Why does he react so violently? It really makes me wonder what the backstory will be for this massive Halloween fixation. Surely it’s not just being bullied by peers for his special interests (though that might play a role in it)? It sems to go far deeper than that. I would like to know, but I won’t be setting my expectations too high in case i end up being disappointed 💦 Historically, backstory reveals haven’t always made me like characters more.

I also feel like he’s not as crafty as previous Halloween villains were. Rollo ran on spite and constructed an elaborate plan to entrap the NRC students, Fellow relied on his UM and smooth talk… Skully is somewhat tricky in that he poisons Jack, but then he automatically gives himself away by pumpkin-ing Grim??? Why didn’t he just pretend he visited Jack and found him already poisoned? It would be so easy for him to play innocent and Grim and Yuu would believe him because he’s been mostly nice and even agreed to follow along with the Halloween plans even if he disagreed with them. He literally could have blamed Boogie’s Boys or Oogie Boogie himself, ANYONE. And how exactly does Skully plan on taking over Halloween after all of this??? He doesn’t exactly command power. Skully just seems a little short sighted and disorganized, and I don’t know if I enjoy this kind of a character.

Skully’s controlling, angry otaku energy is unfortunately NOT appealing to me whatsoever… Again, it feels like the worst aspects of Idia OTL But!! i’m really happy for all the people who really like this about him and I’m of course staying open minded for where this event will take us. Who knows, maybe parts 4 and 5 will completely turn him around for me, maybe once we get the backstory. (This sort of happened with me and Idia?? He’s still not my favorite guy but I definitely empathized with him a lot more after seeing the post-OB flashback.) We’ll see!

P.S. I wonder if the R cards this event will be the first to be pumpkin’d similar to how R cards in Playful Land were the first to be puppet’d?? That would certainly get the biggest threat to Skully’s plans, Malleus, out of the picture quickly. First it was Tamago-sama… Now it’s Kabocha-sama…

P. P. S. Slightly morbid to think about how those skewered pumpkins Jamil was stroking could have been pumpkin’d people 💀

[kurishiri]

Hiiii!! I want to say how much I really appreciate and enjoy reading your translations!! I enjoy rereading them often because it helps me understand something new about the character I am interested in!! Right now it is Darius so I have been reading a lot of your translations on him and I can’t wait to read more about him on his bond levels as I really want to know more about him and how he is with Kate. I am really curious what kind of suitor do you think Darius would be and how his overall character is with Kate? Again thank you so much for your hard work and hope you have an amazing 2025!! 🫶🫶🫶 Please take care!! 💕

haaii, happy 2025! ✨✨ and ty for your kind words too. i’m so happy to hear you’ve been enjoying the translations i do – it makes it all worth it 🥹🙏

and as for darius…he’s indeed one fascinating cookie! i’m gonna put thoughts under the cut bc ,, uh it may or may not have gotten kiiinda long 😂👌

darius vogel essay ↓

HIS CHARACTER.

i feel he, as a character, is quite childlike in the sense he just does whatever strikes his fancy because that’s what he wants to do. but he’s also very calculating and subtle to not show potential weaknesses. i wouldn’t be surprised if he’s gone through a lot of trauma overall, though, seeing how he seems to dissociate from himself, going so far as to think he’s “above” humans, as if he himself isn’t one (and yet, he is also very human, in an almost raw sense – his interest in kate as his “favorite” shows that he is not actually that capable of letting go of worldly attachments, and he is drawn to the idea of the “impure” in his birthday epilogue, when he smeared berry sauce on kate’s cheeks and wanted to keep his eyes on that).

interestingly, how his childlike front and calculating personality interact is something we can witness in one go when we can look at his relationship with food. he probably has had some form of food trauma (e.g. dealing with assassination attempts via poison in his food), as he seems to need to see others eat the same food first before he himself eats. but he doesn’t ask this directly, instead phrasing it like an invitation for the other to eat first. in this way, he doesn’t have to put himself in a more vulnerable state than the other. he eats with proper table manners while dining with crown “out of consideration,” but he prefers to eat messily, likely as an act of rebellion…could he have been in a very controlling environment when he was young?

this could in turn spur him on to be controlling of others in the present. i don’t think he is incapable of love like he claims, but i do think his sense of love, thanks to what could be growing up in a controlling environment, is inherently warped. i mean, if we look at dari and his relationship with ring…i don’t think it’s that darius doesn’t hold any “love” for ring — he probably thinks it’s a form of love in a way — and i think ring does need darius in the sense that darius is the one who can provide him stability and validation. when ring is hesitant to do something, he turns to darius. if darius thinks it’s alright, then ring does too. but also, darius is arguably very controlling over ring and manipulates him too. could be abuse, if we’re speaking bluntly. (one that i think, in a sense, ring can feel too.)

RELATIONSHIP WITH KATE.

so if we extend from that logic, i think his relationship with kate would get a bit twisted and gnarly as time goes on, when kate starts to become more than a “favorite” that darius sorta likes to coddle over like a pet. he seems to hold some yandere tendencies fs over kate — which goes further to show his sort of controlling nature. hell, he joked abt shipping her to germany. darius calm down! we can discuss this ,,!

anw it’s probably more so a relationship where kate chooses to “fall” along with darius. stuck in this cycle of trying to prove love exists to him and whatnot. or, i think it would be cool for it to sort of be that way. i know it’s an otome game, but also i think i kind of like the idea of sort of exploring a more complicated relationship, where whether it’s really truly romantic in nature is sorta left more vague and up to interpretation.

at the moment, though, from what i can glean from these two…kate seems to want to get along with darius, yk, like she would want to do for others. she sort of wants to treat darius as an equal, even though she is a bit cautious of him, very understandably so. she doesn’t seem that afraid of approaching him as a whole, though she also expresses some dissatisfaction at him sort of treating her like a pet and whatnot. however, it feels like in the end, it’s always him who gets the last word. they also seem to be opposites in the sense that darius doesn’t believe in love, while kate believes no one can truly live without love, to which darius says to “prove” that love exists. so maybe there’s a bit of that opposites attract sorta vibe going on too?

basically, kate can either “prove” love to darius, or the “poison” darius imbues in her will act on her first. perhaps that’s a matter of time.

[dramalove247]

Favorite Things: See Your Love

Shows should not be allowed to have this much cute and fluffy. They set the bar way too high, even for fiction! The focus on being seen, embraced, and loved unconditionally tells a really beautiful and touching story and we love it more than is healthy.

This show made us laugh and cry. Below are some of our favorite moments and posts we found on tumblr (spoilers ahead):

Going to start with the ending because we CAN NOT with this scene. This show had so many devastatingly beautiful and romantic moments that we are overly obsessed with. And then they gave us this. The way they see each other and love each other completely and unconditionally is everything. I don't love you in spite of who you are, I love you because it's who you are. FJHHSOIYOIHWKNW!!! Too many feelings!

We love translation posts and this one by @thisonelikesaliens compared the translations of this one phrase on different platforms. We agree that Gaga won on this one! Too funny!

This scene made us choke! Thanks for the GIFS @pointlesscandies

This edit post by @theside-b was so HILARIOUS!!! 🤣 It lives rent free in our brain now.

This scene. Their faces. We were completely destroyed. Had to share these GIFS from @tokkistuff

It's what makes you YOU 😭😭😭 I'm not crying, you're crying! Thanks for the GIFS @taeminie

First @theside-b made us laugh with their hilarious edit, and then made us cry with these beautiful GIFS. This entire conversation was everything. Love this show so much.

This scene was 🥰. But this post by @hughungrybear made us 😂

Some of us have to do mental/emotional gymnastics when dubcon is part of a story. We're not sure being intentionally mislead is much better, but it was definitely a surprise and we'll admit, the scene was a little funny and @pointlesscandies post made me laugh!

Did you love it as much as we did? What were your favorite things?

[moondaepuppy]

actor au!Debut or die

(I love actor au's, so here's my brain rot)

(During the audition process) Ahyeon wanting to ask moondae for a hug after his audition scene with him (because he's a fan!!)but doesn't because he worries it would be weird/make moondae uncomfortable (meanwhile moondae knowing he wants to ask for something and waiting for him to bring it up~), then ahyeon regrets not asking because he thinks there's no way he's getting the role. But he does???!!!! Then at the script reading he finally asks, but for a handshake, but ends up admitting he wanted a hug, so moondae, mid hand-shake, pulls him in for a hug.

(Also: moondae watching ayheon's dance audition tape numerous times.)

Eugene getting banned from the snack table within the first days of filming

Everyone turning up to watch moondae's solo scenes, even if they're not scheduled on set

Having to do far too many takes of moondae's pop*con audition scene because people's laughter kept ruining the take and moondae kept breaking character (the judges reactions were real)

[Lee Sejin's vlog of the BTS of the pop*con filming going viral]

(the pop*con choreo was made by moondae, with some help from ahyeon. Sejin was there also but moondae threw him out of the rehearsal room)

Gunwoo having a cold exterior and seeming unapproachable but his personality is an actual puppy, while moondae is vice versa. The two get along well, the cast and crew joke that maybe they really did swap bodies

Eugene and Sejin pranking the rest of the cast

[Image of Shin Jaehyun with his arm on the back of park moondae's chair during the script read-through.]

The crew watching in awed silence during cheongryeo/moondae scenes (novel readers you know) because the intensity/tension and chemistry is insane. The two just feed off each other so well. Jaehyun also tends to improv a lot in the moment, in ways that may be surprising but work so good. It drives moondae crazy (the control freak haha), but he's always good at staying in character (aside from the one exception 🍿😂) . Jaehyun is usually pretty chill but around moondae his mischievous side is drawn out ~

(also Raebin watching with sparkle eyes, because he's a fanboy of Shin Jaehyun)

That time Kim Raebin (wearing a face mask) was lost and mistaken for an intern and ended up carrying around everyone's coffee because it felt too impolite to say no and then the timing to say something never came. (It wasn't until Eugene came looking for him that people realised.)

On-set, Eugene asking moondae and ahyeon to explain certain words/phrases in the script he's unfamiliar with. His scripts will have notes in their handwriting dotted throughout.

Eugene doodles in his script and others. (Bae sejin secretly likes this, and 'accidentally' leaves his script near Eugene sometimes haha)

That time ahyeon almost burnt down his van trying to make food (the crew left a sign on his stove: 'AHYEON. NO.')

During scenes where they're eating, the director would worry abt Eugene because he eats a lot (he has the same appetite as his character) (and they have to do multiple takes) but the crew quickly realised they needn't waste their energy. (Director: "Eugene, really, don't eat so much during the scene! You'll make yourself sick!" *Eugene pouting, the cast laughing* Lee Sejin: "There's no need to worry, Eugene's stomach is the endless abyss haha~" and then later→ director, stern, ignoring those puppy dog eyes: "Eugene! You have one pizza limit for this scene! I mean it! We can't go over budget!" *Eugene pouts, until the cast give him their leftovers* (this makes it into the final cut).

[clip from bts, director interview: "Lee Sejin is very professional while working, as long as you keep him away from moondae." (Cut to lee sejin who is laying on the floor, crying from laughing, while moondae is stood next to him. "Director, please change the script to me killing him." (Off-screen) "My answer is still no, moondae."]

[neomujinjja]

Bite Me

Pairing: Vampire! Jay x Human! reader

Length: 1.43k words Genre: imagine, drama

Warnings: not edited, mentioning wanting to cry, feeling nervous, slight angst, mini argument, use of the words: hissing & snarled, insecure (or is he?) jay, the phrase 'kicked puppy', regret is brought up a lot, mention of killing people, jay's pov at the end, some long paragraphs (especially in jay's pov)

Synopsis: Your relationship with Jay has developed further, and you're sure that he's the one you want to be with for the rest of your life. Speaking of your life, you tell your vampire boyfriend to change you.

Note: This is continuation of 'Still a Monster' but this will still make a sense alone. I use underline italics for sarcasm and underline for emphasis. I wasn't expecting this ending, but the story had a mind of its own and we ended up here 😂

@kim2005bomi

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

"This was such a lovely dinner" you tell your boyfriend as he gathers up the dishes. "Thank you, Jay" you say as you gently pull him down for a kiss.

"Anything for you, baby" Jay said as the two of you separated. Today was the 5th anniversary of your relationship, still going strong despite Jay's worry that you leave after learning about his vampirism.

"I have one more gift for you". Your eyes sparkling as you thought about the surprise you had for the immortal man. He turned to look at you with his brows furrowed and a slight pout (one that he would deny having if you mentioned it).

"You didn't have to get me anything else. You've already given me a new necklace and watch".

"But I want to". Mummering under your breath, you added "it's more of gift for the both of us".

"What did you say?" Jay asked, looking up from the sink. You only smiled and shook your head in return. Taking his hands, you led the male towards the couch; similar to when you learned about his secret. Your heart was beating was fast as you grew more nervous and you were sure Jay could hear it. The vampire tighten his grip on your intertwined hands, as if to confirm that thought, before leaning in to peck your lips once again. Taking a deep breath, you decided to plainly tell him how you felt and your thought process.

"Jay," you stopped looking into his eyes and the love that you found in his made you want to burst into tears. "You're the love of my life and I want to have a forever with you. And I trust you so much which is why I want you to change me" you told him, trying to maintain eye contact but ultimately looking down to you conjoined hands. You were hoping that he felt the same way, that he wanted a forever with you the way that you did with him. Jay cleared his throat and pulled his hands away from yours. It was enough to make your desire to cry grow stronger.

"And what?! Turn you into a monster like I am?!" he hissed as he got up. "No way. There's no way I would willingly do that to you" Jay adamantly continued. He walked away, back into his kitchen and stood at his sink.

"Jay!" you cried out at his words. While you knew he was struggling with the things done in his past, you didn't think that he still saw himself as a monster. "I don't think of you that way, and I know you don't think of the rest of the boys like that" you said, walking up to him and pointing your finger into his chest. Jay snarled at the action and his fangs glimmered at you in warning. "And I know you wouldn't let me do something that I'll come to regret. So other than 𝑚̲𝑜̲𝑛̲𝑠̲𝑡̲𝑒̲𝑟̲ reasoning, what are you scared about?" you argued back, not backing down from the male, glaring into his eyes now opposite of earlier this evening. You weren't scared of Jay, he was only acting tough and trying to get you to drop the subject, he wouldn't actually hurt you.

"And that's why I'm not going to change you!" the male snapped but despite his demeanor, and proving your point, took a step back to create distance. You rolled your eyes in response as you put your hands onto your hips.

"What part of you being the love of my life, did you not hear?!"

"But that's only for now! What happens when you change your mind?" he screamed and it clicked for you why he was against the decision. He was scared, scared of being abandoned, scared of you leaving him.

"Jay, my love, did I leave when you told me a vampire?" you asked him, stopping to wait for his answer. The vampiric male only shook his head, not verbally responding to you. Jay's demeanor had changed dramatically, no longer acting aggressive. If it wasn't for the situation, you would liken him to a kicked puppy. "I've continued to stay by your side in these past five years. And I would hope that you're not, but hearing you say that makes me wonder if you're doubting the love I have for you" you continued before pausing. Turning away from the male, you let out a shaky sigh. "But either way, I wouldn't want to force you into something that you don't want to do". You walked away from Jay, heading towards the bathroom. You didn't want to leave him alone, for fear that you'd be confirming his fears, but you need a moment alone.

ꨄ︎

Jay crouched as he heard a door close, he wasn't sure where Y/N had gone. He leaned his forehead onto the cabinets, scrunching up his hands into fists. Jay banged his head on the door as the sound of muffled crying emerged from somewhere in the apartment. He hated when Y/N would cried, e̲s̲p̲e̲c̲i̲a̲l̲l̲y̲ n̲o̲w̲ when he was the reason behind it. The vampiric male understood Y/N's why, he wanted the same thing. Jay would love to have Y/N by his side for eternity, but this popped up from nowhere. He didn't want his partner to do something that they could come to regret. Jay stood up, abandoning the spot to find the room Y/N was in. Stopping at where the cries resonated from, he knocked at the bathroom door. "Babe, come out when you're ready to talk?" he told the other before walking off again. Jay sat in the couch, after the heated discussion, he wanted to give Y/N space.

ಇ

Jay turned his head around as the door screeched open. Y/N sniffled as they walked into the living room. He stood up but hesitated pulling them in a hug, despite his want to give comfort. Jay watched as they sat in the arm chair to the side, effectively creating some distance between the two of them. Y/N looked downcast, their head and shoulder curled into their chest. The human's hands gripping their elbows hidden in the jacket they were wearing. "Baby.." Jay trailed off as he stared at them, still standing in the same spot he'd froze in. The vampire cleared his throat before continuing and slowly settling onto his previous seat. "Baby, I just don't want you to regret anything. Changing means leaving a lot more behind than anything that you could gain in the immortal future. It means leaving your family, friends, the place you live; basically everything and everyone you know. I don't want for you to look at me with hatred for having changed you in 100 years" he explained to his partner. While Jay's dead heart had fluttered at the thought of Y/N being a vampire with him; he knew they didn't know everything they would be getting into. Jay stills feels guilt from killing innocent people, but he also hated watching his family age and grow from afar. It was torture, one he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy let alone his lover. "You would never be able to return to the life that you have now. Your family would mourn you with a funeral, the people who care about you will cry over your death. You'd outgrow not only your parents, but your siblings and their children. You'd never get to see them up close again; who knows if you'd ever get to see them the way you know them again. Changing you means changing every aspect of your life" Jay pointed out further to the downtrodden Y/N. They had looked up from their lap, Jay could now see how red rimmed eyes and tear-stained cheeks. They let out a whimper at the immortal's words. It was obvious they hadn't realized exactly the full extent they would be giving up in exchange for eternal life. Jay held out his hand in comfort, leaning towards the other's direction, he was surprised by the hand that overlapped his. He squeezed it as much as he possibly could without hurting Y/N. "But i̲f̲ in a year, you still want to be with me like that. Then we can talk about me biting you more, but for now think about it" the vampire let the human know. Jay knew he couldn't ignore Y/N's wishes and words either. So if they really wanted to become a vampire to continue being with him then he'd make that possible, but only after a fully informed decision.

[munsons-maiden]

Okay I swore to myself I wouldn't read Flight Of Icarus but there's been a very desperate anon in my inbox for a week now repeatedly asking for meta and reassurance and I can't say no to someone with such anxiety so I read it today and I'll put my thoughts in a post later tonight.

Specifically @ anon: I really don't think Eddie's mean or an asshole at all in the book. He's exactly like an abandoned teenager with a narcissistic father who emotionally manipulates him would be, and considering this is set 2 years before the series, I feel it's a well-enough written prequel showing the road to how Eddie became our Eddie. As for the love interest, Paige is quite...bland? He likes her, though, and he is a simp. He's not a player or something like that. She's more into him than he is into her, but it's relatable why he's so guarded - and it very obvious that with the way people perceive him, as a fuckup just like his dad, romance isn't exactly something he deems possible for himself and he's made his peace with that. It's developing into a friends with benefits situation, so no big feeling but he still simps and is sweet and he cares, he's not using her and shooting his shot to get out of Hawkins is very relatable (again, he's using her for that but it's clear he's not playing any games, and that he genuinely likes her). He is a romantic it's definitely there. Paige just isn't The One - I don't know how else to phrase it, bear with me here. He's a bit passive in the romance part; it's her initiating things and he's mostly taken by surprise that she likes him that way when every other girl before that treated him as nothing but a dare, which, I think, is why he's not out for being anyone's boyfriend, actively. But he doesn't say he doesn't want to, he just doesn't think it's in the cards for him and with the way Hawkins treats him, it's relatable for him to have his guards up. And while it's not exactly love, there's nothing wrong with taking what's offered, as long as you actually like the other person and treat them with respect, which he definitely does. It's a crush, for sure, but there's a lot of very heavy stuff on his plate. Again, I'll make a more detailed post but since you were very upset and anxious about it, I figured now that I read the book for you (I'm giving myself a little pat on the shoulder for that 😂) I'd make a post to soothe your nerves a little until then 🖤

Disclaimer: I still don't see the book as canon. More like a parallel universe version of the story of how Eddie became Eddie, if that makes sense.

[pikapeppa]

Year-End Writer's Round-Up: 2023

It’s that time of year, writer friends — time to take stock of what we’ve been up to this year! Tagging to literally ANY AND ALL WRITERS who would like to participate, but I’ll throw down some tags from the top of my head: @contrivedchaos @jadefyre @kittynomsdeplume @iamcayc @hollyand-writes @elveny @johaerys-writes @crackinglamb @mogwaei @alyssalenko @about2dance @cthu-boo @chloefraazers @fogsblue @lordofthenerds97, join in if you fancy!! If you're not a smut writer, feel free to leave out those stats, and feel free to add any accomplishments and "metrics" that are significant to you! 🥰

(Blank template at the bottom for convenience!)

Words written (published or not, WIPs totally count too!!): 999 496 — ARGH IT WAS SO CLOSE TO A COOL MILLION. I did this calculation on the evening of Dec 31 and I was like DAMMIT I NEED TO WRITE A DRABBLE LMAO. 😂🙈 Honestly, I’m surprised the word count was so high this year — I could have sworn my word count had dropped because I wrote very little for a few weeks after BG3 first came out LMAO!

Smut scenes: 42 — I've done better LOL. I’ll blame the slow-burn BG3 ships I’m working on currently. 😂

New things I tried:

I started dabbling in M/M smut this year, in the context of my beloved Horizon F/M/M polycules (Aloy/Drakka with either Kotallo or Nil). Usually when I write F/M/M threesomes, the focus is on the men pleasing the lucky lady of the group, but I headcanon Drakka in particular as being very unapologetically bi, so it’s only fair and right that he get some sweet M/M action. I’m looking forward to putting this M/M practice use on Halsin/Tav/Astarion when my BG3 writing finally gets to that point! 

This was also the first time that I wrote an AU where I gleefully yeeted the canon deaths LMAO. I’m usually a stickler for adhering to significant plot points including character deaths, but the dastardly and darling @iamcayc nudged me into writing Here Come the Dreams, where Varl and Fashav both get to live, and it was a total delight to keep those darling men alive and happy. 

I wrote a smut scene in first-person POV for the first time, using the adorable voice of Karlach from BG3. This was a particularly interesting challenge because I feel that the first-person voice calls for a more urgent in-the-moment kind of narration, which means that I had to alter my usual way of writing smut in terms of phrasing/wording and pacing, so it was a fun challenge! 

With Astarion/Tav/Halsin, this is my first time writing an OC who falls in love simultaneously with two people, and it’s been… interesting trying to negotiate the polycule coming together. Of course I had to get enamoured with (arguably) the two most emotionally complicated male LIs in BG3 and make my own life difficult, LMAO. I’ve been struggling a little with bringing the relationships together and it’s been slowing my writing down over the past month or two, but I’m trucking on because I love both Halsin and Astarion and I really do believe in the dynamics of the OT3. SILVANUS GUIDE MY HAND AS I FIGURE THIS SHIT OUT.

Fic I spent the most time on: 

Even The Hardiest Desert Blooms! I really sank my focus into my beloved Desert boy this year and wrapped up his fic, which is always a bittersweet feeling when you adore the pairing. 😭

Fic I spent the least time on:

Burning Blue (Karlach/Dammon). I was bitten by a sudden bug of adoration for them, and that piece basically came together in a day and a half because I was on fire to get it out. I LOVE THIS PAIRING SO MUCH. 😭🔥

Favourite thing I wrote: 

Even The Hardiest Desert Blooms has always been my self-indulgent pleasure because I just love Drakka to the moon and back, so focusing a lot of this year on his fic was a treat. But Here Come the Dreams was also an enormously fun project because I just went ham and hyperfocused on it for a month and a half. I really wanted to see if I could finish it in a month just for shits and giggles, but AS ALWAYS it ended up being longer than anticipated so I didn’t meet that goal, but it was still a total ball to come up with a fun little project and finish it as quickly as possible. 

Favourite thing I read: 

Hands-down, without a doubt, What’s A Sex Tape Between Friends?  by @auntie-coagulant. I don’t read much fanfic, and when I do, it's only for the ships that I don't write. So when I saw this fic recommended in the Kotallo server and I was like “Travis/Lis?? You have my attention.” My eyes were popping and I was HOWLING by the first chapter, and I’ve been dead in the water for this fic ever since and procrastinating on finishing the fic because MY EMOTIONS ARE NOT READY FOR THE HEARTBREAK.

Writing goals for next year: 

Finish Coming In Like A Western Wind. I’ve been sleeping on this fic since September because Astarion and Halsin turned my head and I feel really bad about it… but I do mean to finish it! 

Just keep on keeping on with my BG3 fics for Astarion and Halsin! I’ve been DYING to write smut for Halsin for months, and I have images living rent-free in my head of Astarion enjoying some very tender sensate focus, so let’s hope I get around to writing these scenes before I explode. 

**************

Template time!

Words written (published or not, WIPs totally count too!)

Smut scenes written (if applicable)

New things I tried

Fic I spent the most time on

Fic I spent the least time on

Favourite thing I wrote

Favourite thing I read

Writing goals for next year

Enjoy, friends!!! And cheers to another fulfilling year of writing! 🥰🥂

-- love from your friendly neighbourhood Pika! xoxo

[yakuzacanons]

Finally, inbox is open! ✨ So, boys finding out that their s/o works at the maid cafe? "Okaerinasai, master ~ You can relax here ~ What will your order be ~ ? Omuraisu made with love or fuwa fuwa pancakes ~ ? ♡ " D A M N ! I just imagined the whole situation 😆😂🤣

Heeheee make brain go BRRRRRR

Kazuma Kiryu

Outwardly, isn't phased and honestly doesn't care what your profession is as long as you're safe. Inside, he can't help but imagine what you might look like in your work outfit or the things you say and do. It makes him blush a little. Maybe he'll stop in sometime? Maybe.

Majima Goro

This man has two modes and two modes only. He's either super cutesy about the whole thing, sometimes even greeting you with a phrase you might say at work in a cutesy voice, or he's very protective, saying things like "Tell me if a guy creeps on ya at work, okay?".

Saejima Taiga

For the most part, he just thinks it's really cute. Also probably one of the only guys to ask how your job ACTUALLY works. Like do you come up with the cute phrases yourself or is there a script? Things like that.

Akiyama Shun

Most likely of all the boys to actually visit your work just to get the adorable special treatment from you. Knows how your job works and will gift you little accessories to wear to work. He secretly think it's really hot.

Tanimura Masayoshi

Kind of surprised but not bothered by it. It's just not a job he would've really put at the top of his list of guesses as to what you or anyone would do for a living. Likes to stop in on rare occassions to share an adorable dessert with you.

Ryuji Goda

As long as you like the job, he's content. He just wants you to know he could easily financially support you and that you don't have to strain yourself to work if you don't want to. Silently cheering you on. In his heart, you are the number 1 maid at the maid cafe and anyone who tells him different can chew on his fist in their face for all he cares.

Nishikiyama Akira

Secretly a little jealous and he hopes customers don't get the wrong idea or try to get too close to you. He tries to work through it himself as he doesn't want to make you feel bad. Might be a little physically clingier than normal, like walking around with his arm around your waist more often.

Daigo Dojima

Similar mindset as Ryuji. He just wants you to be happy and to know that financially you're both quite secure. He does secretly think the outfits look very adorable on you. He won't ever say it though, he just avoids eye contact with you every time he sees you in a new outfit.

Mine Yoshitaka

Actually probably totally gets off on the idea, more so than Akiyama even. He'll definitely visit you at work at least once just to get a feel for it. Of course, he'd much rather it be just the two of you at home.

Tatsuo Shinada

Also sort of the jealous type like Nishiki, although he might actually say something about it. Not necesarily in a way to make you feel bad or that even needs something to be done, he just wants to get the thoughts off his chest and in the open. Totally supportive though, says things like "Knock 'em dead!" a lot when you leave for work.

Ichiban Kasuga

He turns red as a tomato every time your work comes up. Poor man can't help himself, he just thinks it's so adorable! He'll totally help you practice your cute phrases at home. Ichiban can get very into the spirit of things, but for the most part it's not sexual. He just thinks it's that cute!

Tianyou Zhao

Honestly neutral, even more so than Kiryu to an extent. Wants you to do well and hopes no one tries anything that makes you uncomfortable. Packs you work lunchboxes before each shift you have, sometimes with little cute notes inside.

Joon-Gi Han

Probably has the most of an opinion about which accessories go with which outfit. Lots of times he'll be outside and be like "Ah, those shoes would be good... I should get them" and most of the time he's almost scarily spot on with his taste for your work clothes. Seldom stops by your work but when he does, he usually brings you a gift.

[writingrosesonneptune]

Writerly Questionnaire Tag!

🌾Thank you to @cowboybrunch for the tag here!🌾

Gently Tagging: @saturnine-saturneight @tabswrites @magic-is-something-we-create @chauceryfairytales and leaving an Open Tag for anyone who'd like to do this!

About You

When did you start writing?

In First Grade, we had a class project to write a story, and I kept at it from there! Before we had a computer, I used to write and draw on copy paper and staple them together into books.

As far as when I started having longer term projects, that was probably halfway through elementary school, when I gained access to Word (back when it was pre-installed on computers and wasn't subscription based. It also crashed every few minutes).

Are there genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

I don't write much about generational baggage, but I love to read about it!

Is there an author or fellow writer you want to emulate, or one to whom you're often compared?

Not particularly, even though there are plenty of authors and other writers I admire. I'd be flattered if my writing was compared to someone else's, but I try my best to focus on phrasing things in a way that sounds right to me personally.

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.?)

I mostly work on my tablet in the living room! Back issues and vision loss make computer screens too difficult for me to work at in recent years (I say recent but it's been ten years 😂).

My shelf full of sketchbooks, writing notebooks and previous drafts is right next to my chair. As is a rubber chicken. And watercolors/gouache supplies. It's a messy shelf.

What's your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Pacing in the dark!

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

To an extent! I used to write a few contemporary stories that dealt with environments closer to what I grew up with. But. Drawing direct connections like that felt too close sometimes, and for various reasons, I'm uneasy writing fiction set in those environments. Maybe that'll change someday!

That said, some of my early circumstances do find their way into my characters' lives - not as a 1:1, but meshed in there, somewhere.

And as for the climate, I do enjoy writing about hot, dry places as much as other climates. And having camped a lot as a kid (in different parts of the state), the woods also feel familiar to me.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

Oh, they're there. Loss of Stability and Poverty (surprisingly, this one is largely absent from The Scorpion At Dinner) are near-constants.

Recovering after Abusive Relationships, Characters being forced to reckon with their Self-Worth, Societal Isolation - the gang's all here.

Festering Rot also shows up a lot, in both literal and figurative forms.

Your Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, Past WIP, Never Used, etc.)

Unfortunately, I am physically incapable of picking a favorite anything ever.

Which of your characters do you think you'd be friends with in real life?

Guillermo (the chef from The Scorpion at Dinnner) would have some pretty interesting conversation.

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

There are some choice antagonists in Pelican Queen. But as far as just like... personality clash? Inez, Ghost-Hand, or Stryn. They're all too set in their ways of thinking, and we'd get into headache-inducing arguments way too often.

Tell me about the process of coming up with one, all, or any of your characters.

Ghost-Hand is actually a good example for how a lot of my characters develop! In the first draft, he was actually more of a benevolent and even friendly guy, if still very distant. And while he was important, I didn't feel like he worked very well in the story.

On rewrite, I played around a lot with various characters' motivations and backstories. For him, I kept the beginning of his backstory mostly the same, with slight differences, and his personality slowly started shifting until I hit upon a key departure from his original history - his encounter with Stryn. Instead of parting ways, I decided to have them remain in close proximity, story-wise.

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

*Tubthumping by Chumbawamba plays in the distance*

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc.)

I sometimes get a loose, fuzzy idea of what a character might look like, usually like real people who exist only in imagination. Their features are never as clear as people I've met in real life. Usually, if I need to visualize a character, I have to draw concept sketch after concept sketch to get a decent picture of them. The concept sketches veer more towards stylized art, because it's easier for me to exaggerate features to make them distinct from one another.

And sometimes, in spite of this, I never nail down how they're supposed to look. No matter how I render them, the vibes are just off. Maybe I'll figure them out someday!

Your Writing

What's your reason for writing?

I want to read the stories in my head! And sometimes I want to introduce those stories to others, too!

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

Any comment at all is extremely motivating 🥹

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in any way you interpret this question.)

I enjoy rereading a lot of what I've written in the last handful of years! There are certainly instances where the phrasing is not where I'd want it to be, quality/consistency-wise, but overall, I feel like I'm more or less improving.

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

Bummer! I hope something like this never comes to pass! But as long as I had the tools, I would still be writing. It's a nice way to pass the time, and I do get a sense of comfort from it from time to time.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it's a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

I'd love to say I focus purely on what I enjoy (and I generally do, in documents I don't plan to publish), but there is an element of outside influence that keeps me from exploring some of the avenues I used to (where did you go, The Women's Wrongs?). I've been trying to break out of this mindset lately, and dabble in offshoots from what is currently canon in some of my work.

Whether those tangents will ever end up seeing the light of day, who knows?

[pinkcalamity]

Hall of Shame blooper - a quick observation

Coming 2 years late (3 if you count that they probably recorded it in 2020) here I am to talk about some things I observed during the kiss. The first time I saw it I was surprised, even scared because after all the puns about blowjobs, a kiss was definitely not to be expected. I was completely embaressed when I watched it and even after watching it a few more times I still feel a little embarassed. But anyway, let's get to the points:

"Come over here with that sweet lover mouth" this phrase, oh this phrase sounds a lot like a pick up line, the slight and quick look at the lips and back to his face while speaking kills me and then the slutty smile from ear to ear (rascal!! 😂😂😂😂)

Cam understood right away what he wanted but his smile was much more discreet and went in fot the kiss without even thinking twice

The way Cam holds Noel's face is EXACTLY THE SAME way Ian holds Mickey's face when he goes to kiss him, this just gives me chills

In addition to holding Noel's face, gently pull it forward to kiss

The way Cam caresses Noel's face during the kiss is so soft, so tender - maybe I'm emotional but - I dare to say that Noel melted during the kiss and well couldn't stop smilling too

The noise their mouths make when the kiss ends, chills

For a millosecond (you blinked, lost it) Cam arranges his fingers on Noel's neck just before kissing him again

The second kiss is, I can't say exactly, there's something about it that I can't explain, couldn't find the right word but it's there and - maybe I'm emotional again - I think this kiss was a little (very little) deeper than the first; obviously the caress and the smile continue during this kiss

Is the noise when this second kiss ends more intense? (Maybe because this kiss was a little deeper?) I think that's the word for now but I think you understand what I meant

Noel's hands rests very gently on Cam's arm when the kiss ends, I think it's a way of returning the affection, the tenderness

They only open their eyes when the kisses end, simply incredible

The way Noel looks at Cam after the kiss ends is that he simply gave himself completely (and maybe, just maybe deep down, he wanted more)

Cam's voice when he looks at the camera after the kiss is ... softer, let's say

Never ending Noel's smile

I could be very wrong, it could very well be my mind playing tricks on me, things in my head BUT I think if they could they would have given at least one more kiss, at least one more

The fact that these kisses were not part of the script makes this much more impactful, special and the main reason why it left me completely surprised when I watched it

It wasn't Gallavich kiss, it was Cam's and Noel's kiss, jesus THIS IS SOMETHING ELSE!!

And that's all, I know it's been a long time but I just needed to share it somewhere.

[straightfacedstrangeness]

Thought I could just quickly finish episode 30 this morning before work without pausing every five seconds to screenshot and check the manga, cus I thought for sure it would all be sexual tension/misunderstandings/angst (you know, the boring stuff 😂) but turns out A) they cut a LOT of stuff out for time and B) My Dude has a scene I thought was added to the anime but actually I just forgot it was in the manga, so here’s another anime-manga comparison no one asked for

I had to take out some images cus of the post limit, so opening context is that Godai’s at a pachinko parlor, stoops down to pick a pachinko ball off the floor, and sees that the other person reaching for it is Yotsuya.

Anime staff REALLY wanted this episode to be fully 1/2 “the gang mopes around thinking that Kyoko got engaged without telling them” and for it to end on Kyoko finding a scantily clad woman in Godai’s new apartment, so they cut out a ton of scenes. The main thing is that it reduces the amount of screentime for the freeloader couple, so they just seem more annoying and less threatening (for example, the manga version of the pachinko scene has Godai at the parlor with the husband, who’s A: gambling away money he could be using to move out, and B: trying to bully Godai for more money). But a side effect is that the anime also significantly shortens this scene where Godai runs into Yotsuya and they go talk at a cafe. In the manga they sit and stare for a second before the typical “Oh, it’s you, what are you doing here?” kind of small talk, but…

…in the anime, it’s so condensed that the first line is Yotsuya going “Buy me a drink,” and he starts saying it basically the moment they lock eyes 😂 These guys haven’t seen each other in 10 days (a month in the manga) and no “Hello” or “Oh it’s you,” just straight to hitting him up for food. In the manga it’s possible they both went for the pachinko ball and didn’t recognize each other til a moment later, but the anime makes it seem like either Yotsuya being surprised and just blurting this out OR that he already knew it was Godai and bent to get the ball as an excuse to talk to him.

The anime also heavily condenses the following scene to allow it to end on a dramatic note before cutting away to Kyoko finding the mystery woman in Godai’s apartment

Again the scene is very condensed, so Yotsuya just quickly teases Godai (it’s unlikely he would have forgotten WHY Godai moved out) and calmly reveals it was a misunderstanding, that Kyoko (~ “Ms. Manager” subbed phonetically here as “Kanrinin-san”) isn’t getting married. Without anything else shown onscreen, it’s easy to read it as Yotsuya genuinely reassuring Godai, possibly having invited him to the cafe specifically to have this conversation.

The manga plays it VERY differently

Yotsuya goes out of his way to make Godai feel stupid and unloved, telling him everyone’s fine without him, no one misses him, and explaining the misunderstanding by way of “you’re an idiot for taking it so seriously.”

In the vein of my last rant about the anime’s voice acting choices adding a LOT of nuance and clarity to Yotsuya’s ambiguous character (being fairly expressionless and often speaking in vague phrases or teasing/lies, it’s hard to know how to interpret his manga lines), this scene is difficult to interpret in the manga. He often says cruel things to Godai, is he being cruel here for fun? Then again, a following chapter has Kyoko angrily lying to Godai that all the apartments are full and he can’t move back, because she’s so hurt and jealous believing that he moved away from Ikkoku to live with another woman. Yotsuya’s opening line of “I didn’t expect to ever see you again,” and the existence of an earlier chapter where he gets upset about Godai trying to repair the hole between their walls—publicly humiliates him in retaliation—then bothers him for attention when Godai gives him the silent treatment (not even counting his worried tone of voice when he asks if Godai has somewhere to stay in the anime version of the scene where Godai moves out), could mean that he’s behaving the same way as Kyoko, being cruel to Godai because he’s so hurt that Godai left without even keeping in touch, or from worrying about him in the meantime.

I suspect Rumiko Takahashi wouldn’t have talked much about Yotsuya’s character in interviews, partly since he’s a side character and partly to maintain his air of mystery, but I’d LOVE to know what she was thinking about his motivations when she wrote for him, or if she had any secret backstory in mind to explain his actions. It’s entirely probable that she just wrote his character around whatever she thought would be funny in a given scene, though.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Ruggie, Rook: How Tongues Twist

I was late for Vil’s birthday but on time for Ruggie’s ✨ By chance, the third chapter of the Episode of Savanaclaw manga dropped (in Japanese) today. It’s like the TWST fans also got a birthday present!

It sure must suck for Ruggie to be stuck with Rook as an interviewer 😂 (At least his bouquet isn't all yellow like the weirdness of Trey's/Sebek’s all green bouquets-) Ruggie’s Groovy though 🤡 You see where his feet are???? How the pitch of the heel is riding on the broom handle… Dude’s livin’ life on the edge there, I worry he’ll topple off!!

***Note: I use the Japanese term "madol" for TWST's currency; it is the same as "thaumark" (EN). I also use "Magical Shift"; it is the same as "Spelldrive" (EN).***

A Boy in Bloom, and his Flowering Future.

"How do you spend your spare time, Monsieur Dent-de-Lion?"

Ruggie stiffened, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. "... This isn't some kinda trick question, is it? Knowing the weird stuff you do for fun, you already know the answer."

In spite of the pointed accusation, Rook's grin persisted. "Non! All that I am aware of is your enduring loyalty to Leona-kun. I've witnessed you many a time headed to the cafeteria or to the Mystery Shop to fetch his desired goods.

"Why, just yesterday, you obtained a deluxe menchi-katsu sandwich at 12:43 pm, only to spend 2 minutes and 31 seconds picking out the lettuce shreddings from it--on account of Roi du Leon's aversion to vegetables. On the way to deliver the meal, you happened upon a 1000 madol bill and so giddily swept it up, humming a merry tune on the rest of the walk."

"Dude, talk about a crazy amount of unnecessary detail!!"

"Fufu. I can see that you like to keep yourself busy. There doesn't appear to be much spare time to speak of in your daily life."

Ruggie sighed, but he didn't press the matter further. Protesting never did him any good with the huntsman. "I guess you could say that. Between my part-time gigs and Magical Shift practice, that doesn't leave me a lot of wiggle room for myself. I do manage to squeeze some in though, 'specially if there's free stuff involved. Gotta take what I can get, nishishishishi!"

"Oh la la~ What dedication to your work. Your tenacity is truly something to behold. It's as though you were a single red rose blooming in a barren desert in defiance of Mother Nature's harshness."

The birthday boy shot Rook a confused stink eye.

"Anyway," Ruggie continued, "I have to beef up my resume if I wanna land a good job after graduation. Extracurriculars and work experience will definitely help with that."

Rook gave a brief laugh. "No doubt that your linguistic abilities will also be a great boon to you. You already possess proficiency in a number of animal languages, as well as knowledge of common phrases in some human tongues from the jobs you've taken up at resorts and hotels over school breaks."

Ruggie's eyes bulged. "... And how exactly do you know that?"

The huntsman's lids lowered, his irises concealed half-moons. His smile, too, turned just as mysterious, even if his tone was still bright as day.

"Call it a lucky guess!"

"There's nothing 'lucky' about that!" Ruggie cried out in exasperation. Sheesh, this guy's nothin' to sneeze at.

He took a breath, settling his frazzled fur and wrangling his nerves. Calm collected, Ruggie threw an impish response at his interviewer.

"You're not too shabby with animal languages yourself. Not surprising, seein' as you spend so much time around animals. You know the language of the City of Flowers too--I heard it when you were talkin' to some of the street vendors on our outing." He brought a curled hand to his mouth. "So you have a connection to that part of Pyroxene or what? Go on, I'm all ears."

Again, Rook gave a laugh. This time, it was accompanied by the slight furrowing of his brows.

"Oh, it's just something I picked up," he said dismissively, then pivoted. "Language can open up new avenues of exploration and communication. In learning such skills, you're thinking of the future, not solely your immediate needs."

"Obviously. Cuz if I get a fish, then I'll eat for a day--but if I learn how to fish, then I'll never go hungry." A corner of Ruggie's mouth went crooked. "Back home, we had to get by day-by-day, but here at Night Raven College, I've got the chance to prove my mettle and make something of myself. If I work hard, then Granny and the neighborhood kids can..."

He didn't finish the statement, but his face shone like a star, as bright as the yellow of dandelion petals.

"Ah, Monsieur Dent-de-Lion!!" Rook gushed, clasping his hands together. "Your heart is as big as your appetite!!"

"Hah?! N-No way, lay off with that!!" Ruggie frantically waved his broom at him, as if sweeping the suggestion under a rug. "The financial security's just nice! I don't wanna worry about where my next meal comes from ever again!!"

"Fufufu, d'accord. I hope that you are able to recognize that dream of yours, remembering your roots and all."

Ruggie rested the handle of his broom on his shoulders. He leaned into Rook, cocking a brow, teeth bared in challenge.

“I got this in the bag.”

Rook's eyes glittered with wonder. "Come then! Show me the unconventional flying technique you've gleaned from your hometown. I wish to engrave your skyward visage into my mind!!"

“Do you really have to make everything sound so dramatic? No matter how many languages I learn to speak, I dunno if I’ll ever fully understand you.”

There was a soft chuckle. “Perhaps that is next on your list of languages to acquire!”

“Not from you for sure though.”

Ruggie shrugged and dropped his broom. It landed with a clatter on the stone staircase, red and purple and yellow petals flittering into the air.

He grinded his heels on the handle, determination welling in his chest. Ruggie gave Rook a look full of cheek.

“Whatever! If it’s a show you want, it’s a show you’ll get. Check this out… a new move I’ve been workin’ on!!”

The birthday boy threw his arms out to his left and to his right. On cue, his broom ascended in a sea of warm, golden sparks.

Rook’s hair flew in his face from the kickback of the takeoff. Clutching onto his feathered hat, he raced after Ruggue. Bewildered, bewitched.

Joyful howling filled the huntsman’s ears. Ruggie teetered only slightly on his ride, arms still splayed wide as he expertly balanced atop of it.

Colorful petals rained down on him like pieces of confetti. Fur and fabric swaying in the wind, Ruggie was like a dandelion seed, the fluff of it dancing in the breeze.

Living life, loving it, and wondering where the wind might carry him.

A hyena surfing throughly the sky, spotlighted and celebrated by sunshine—imagine that, Rook mused.

His tongue, tied at the very sight of it.

[good-beanswrites]

I DM'd you a passage from the tarot cards fic. Director's commentary, please? ^_^

Ahh this was so fun, thank you so much!! Overexplaining details in a scene my beloved >:3

I wrote all my headcanons and assumptions as if they're facts to save myself from adding "I like to think" to the beginning of every sentence, but just know that I'm aware they don't have canon backing lol. Also my commentary mentions Fuuta and Mikoto's relationship, but the whole fic is pretty vague with it. I love keeping things at the stage of comfortable kindness, where it's easy for the reader to take things both platonically and romantically depending on what headcanons they're bringing to it. It's not necessarily catering to readers since I enjoy both interpretations -- I wrote it with both in mind, and I'll reread it differently depending on the day.

(From What's that Yugioh quote about cards)

“I'm doing this to show you how these readings are just crap. Now. First card.” [Fuuta] flipped it without any of the theatrics Mikoto had enjoyed. “Hm.” He squinted at the strange picture and read the title. “We’ve got a Four of Cups.” 

Fuuta kind of did want to cheer Mikoto up, but doesn’t like how sentimental it sounds to think of it like that. Even if he did admit to himself that’s what he was doing, he wouldn’t know how to comfort him in a nice way, so he’s just picking a distracting activity and hoping it works. Also this spread was actually drawn by me irl! I had to modify one card in Fuuta’s (not telling which one though, hehe). I did consider having Mikoto draw the Hanged Man as his last card, but that felt too forced and cheesy lol

“Reversed Four of Cups,” Mikoto said before turning his gaze to the ceiling. 

“Reversed? It’s right side up to you.”

“You’re doing a reading for me?”

“Duh?” 

It might seem obvious that Fuuta was doing a reading for him given the setup/dialogue, but from Mikoto’s pov, no one’s ever done that before. In all the years he’s been doing tarot, people really just focus on their own future and how to learn tarot for their own activities. No one’s thought to do a reading for him. He’s more surprised than touched right now, though, because of how tired he is. It’ll really hit him later that night, when he realizes that this was the first time someone did that for him. 

Mikoto bit back a comment that he should have gotten to touch the cards, if that were the case. He didn’t feel like getting into it with Fuuta right now, no matter how playful a matter it may be.

Mikoto (and Yuno) are the type who don’t take Fuuta's attitude personally. They can enjoy the back-and-forth of bickering for hours without it exhausting them. Even though Mikoto didn’t experience much during the interrogation, he’d be emotionally tired out in general. Plus, I picture the process of extracting videos to be physically taxing. Something that invades and activates your neurons would definitely leave you pretty wiped afterwards. (<- girl who has too many thoughts about how the mv machine works but will spare you the explanation)

“So… it looks like in the past… you had a lot of cups… and got a weird one from the sky. Are you religious?”

“Huh? Not really.”

“Not God then. I don’t fucking know where it came from. Maybe it’s a ‘life gives you lemons’ thing. You got too much on your plate?”

Mikoto stayed silent.

I messed myself up in this upcoming section because I was too excited about figuring out the card meanings in relation to Mikoto. I should have just looked at them as they were and guessed the meanings the way that Fuuta might. It was difficult having just read this card’s specific meaning and then trying to put myself in the shoes as someone who didn’t know it😂 I left and came back to this section a lot, I wrote the fic over a few months in between other things. It helped dull my memory on the actual meaning and get into Fuuta's character more.

Also I’m adding “life gives you lemons” to the list of phrases I use in my fics knowing it’s an English phrase/idiom they definitely wouldn't use, but I liked its exact connotation so I kept it in. It's cliche and informal and someone like Fuuta would be sick of hearing it from adults. He'd know Mikoto feels the same. I debated on giving Fuuta more lines about religion here – I do think he’s starting to consider it more at this point in time – but decided it brought the fic too off-course from where I wanted it.

“Whatever. Next card… the present. This one’s upside down to you. A knight – hey, I got a knight, too, remember?”

Fuuta actually does know that the specific term is “reversed,” Mikoto just said it, but doesn’t want to seem like he cares so he doesn't use the term. Still, he doesn’t really know how being reversed changes the meaning, so he interprets the picture normally. 

Mikoto blinked. He did remember – he was shocked that Fuuta did. That reading had ended on such a sour note all those months ago. He didn’t think the other had given it another moment of thought. There came the tiniest surge of pride that Fuuta had committed it to memory.

I wanted to play around more with memory here but could never get it to work!!! Fuuta doesn’t really have any themes around memory so it wasn’t that notable that he remembered. Mikoto’s memory has holes specifically around stressful events, so it’s not impressive he remembered, either. So… despite having the perfect opportunity to talk about cool insights/emotions, it simply wasn’t a big deal -_- It still works to reveal that they both care a lot about each other, which is why I left it as is. It was a brief moment months ago, but both held onto the memory all this time.

“Damn, another cup. Well, if it does mean life keeps throwing stupid shit at you, then yeah, this prison has been the stupidest shit of them all.”

Fuuta picked up the final card. He let out a laugh. It was something mocking, but it tickled Mikoto. “Heh, you sure are a fool. That’s some outfit. Still better than yours right now.” He flicked the card at Mikoto’s chest, where it bounced off his mangled uniform. 

As someone who is completely endeared by Fuuta’s awful laugh, I think Mikoto wouldn’t mind either if it sounded teasing/cruel. Especially after all the pain Fuuta’s been through T2, Mikoto probably didn’t hear him laugh in a very long time, and the sound can be contagious. I always wonder about Mikoto's uniform... was like that from his fight with Kotoko, or just from John wrecking his room? Is it like that all of T2, or does Es gives him a replacement? I felt like he would be cleaned up by the time his interrogation rolled around, but his album art is just as much of a mess, so I guess ratty uniform it is...

Mikoto retrieved the card. He sat up as he returned it to the spread. He studied them. 

Mikoto was enjoying Fuuta’s version of the cards, but didn’t have the energy to read them along with him. This is the first time he taps into his own knowledge of the tarot meanings and realizes what a good spread it actually is. I wanted to linger here in this moment more, but everything I wrote became too “telling.” As the fic was from Mikoto’s pov, I felt like I’d need to take the reader through what he was thinking about in the silence. That ended up defeating the purpose of the peaceful moment lol

He allowed himself a small smile. “So,” he asked, “what’s it all mean?”

Fuuta scowled. “I just told you what it meant.”

“No, now you look at the big picture.” Mikoto shook his head. “You left before I could finish your reading, but you’re supposed to look at everything together and make a plan for the future. I… I still remember yours. I was going to tell you to mind your emotions, and prepare for a big change coming quickly. But uh…” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Guess it’s a little late for that, huh?”

“A little.”

Once again wishing I could do more with memory given that Mikoto still remembers Fuuta’s exact reading after so many months, and once again leaving it as a testament to his relationship with Fuuta. I can only hope it speaks for itself when looking at the fic normally ;--; I still haven’t decided if that last line from Fuuta should be read as an angry snap or a disappointed whisper. He’s still very bitter about his situation, and the fact that Mikoto is telling him to ‘mind his emotions’ and reminding him of his pain are enough to make him lash out. At the same time, maybe bringing it all up makes him recognize that his hot temper did caused him harm, several times. He can hear how genuinely Mikoto speaks, and feels guilty for treating him so harshly then. I go back and forth depending on my own mood…

“So, to finish off my reading, what advice do you give me based on these?” 

Fuuta made a show of rolling his eyes and huffing, as if this hadn’t been his idea to begin with.

My favorite way to write Fuuta is having him do something nice, and then immediately get mad at the other person because suddenly he’s embarrassed about it.

 “This is so lame. My advice…?” He jabbed a finger at The Fool. “Don’t do anything fucking stupid in the future.”

I originally wrote out a bit of a longer speech of advice, with Fuuta mentioning how he knows school/work can be overwhelming, and this prison is overwhelming, and not to do anything in the future because there are people relying on him. Fuuta was relying on him. It was a bit vulnerable and finally explicitly mentioned his feelings towards Mikoto. I read it back, heaved a sigh, said “he wouldn’t fucking say that,” and cut it down to just this line 👍I'm not too disappointed, though, since Mikoto can see right through Fuuta (both with his people skills and the fact that Fuuta is very obvious about his emotions). Anything he would have confessed, Mikoto already knows.  

Mikoto looked from him to the cards, then back again.

“...That’s it?”

“What more do you want?” Fuuta raised his voice, and Mikoto found it in him to laugh. 

Mikoto also hasn’t laughed (genuinely) all of T2 :( This one starts off kind of forced – he had to “find it in him” to play along with the way a conversation is supposed to go. But it feels natural once he does, and the next time I mention his attitude he feels “back to his old self.” In this moment he’s considering antagonizing Fuuta by teasing his advice, asking for more, or just poking at his temper. He chooses not to. Instead of avoiding their bickering because he’s tired, he cuts Fuuta a break because he’s really grateful for the kind gesture.

“Alright, alright, I’ll take it.”

[asaka-lucy-dr-rc]

hi asaka! i saw your post about “naughty japanese phrases” and thought it was interesting.

actually, にゃんにゃんする surprised me. i’m russian, and russian anime fans made up “няшиться” (ня (nya, taken from japanese) + the part making it into a verb) as a way to say “to have sex”. then i think it spread to other online communities. i didn’t expect that japanese would have a direct equivalent of that word 😅

Oh my gosh, this is SO interesting! ahaha 😂 Thanks for letting me know! I didn't expect there to be a word in Russian that has almost the same meaning! Languages are strange things, and it's interesting that completely different languages can have almost the same meaning word or idea. I wonder if it is a common idea to associate the state of cats playing with having a sex. For those wondering what we are talking about, here's a link to the ask about naughty japanese phrases:

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This is a different topic from the naughty Japanese phrase, but I often feel that there are words that have the same ideas in English and Japanese. For example, there is the phrase “hats off,” which is the same word in Japanese "脱帽(Roman: datsubou / 脱 means 'take off', 帽 means 'a hat')", and both words are used to praise the other. There is also the phrase “falling asleep,” which is exactly the same expression in Japanese. (In Japanese, it is said “眠りに落ちる".) I find it interesting that people have a common image of "sleep" as being like falling into something.

I hope to learn more about the similarities between different languages. Thanks for your message! 💖