#ch: cyril

[ustalav]

rip malus thorm, cyril would have loved you

[katepeoart]

oh to be a young, long lived socialite with two doting fathers

[soleilocverse]

Chapter 22 Commentary

Before I start this I want u to know I have ELEVEN. THOUSAND WORDS. of scrapped / rewritten stuff for this chapter u have no idea how much this chapter kicked my ass. like. i was writing it for like 7 months, my snips doc is LONGER. than the actual chapter

Cyrill shifts, trying to fix his slipping foot, and Soleil jumps with a flinch.

Initially I had Cyrill reaching out to touch Soleil w/o waiting for an answer. but like, between the BDSM / sex work specifically and scenting etiquette generally, i think Realistically he wouldn't in this case. I think, maybe further along when soleil is used to his touch / hasn't panicked from it in a hot minute he would do it instinctively and it might backfire, but in this case I think there's still enough distance between them + he has enough practice asking "is touch okay" and waiting for consent to touch soleil. (in the draft, cyrill's train of thought is that soleil feels better after a scenting and he announces he's going to touch soleil, just to give him some support, while moving at the same time to do so (instead of waiting) bc he's hoping that once he can start scenting it'll calm soleil down. but on re-read i was like >> he's not quite panicking enough to override the practice of ask then consent. he's just really uncomfortable w/ sitting and letting soleil cry + he desperately wants to do smth to comfort him. but clocks that touching soleil w/o his permission is a p bad consent violation especially wrt his past. even if he Is only trying to/wanting to help)

And then! Omega brain :) in overdrive just trying to make soleil comfortable (and, simultaneously wanting comfort himself but it's not really a conscious thing) Lots of cyrill wanting to help or do things a certain way but holding back this chapter (or trying to hold back and failing lol) I'm hoping the switch up in tone isn't too jarring but cyrill really is happy to have one-on-one time w/ soleil, In His Nest, and like ray (and athena), he's not nearly as concerned about being sick as soleil so for him. oh, AHDKHKHAK "i can fix him" is what just popped into my head but cyrill is like :D we will make it like a sleepover and everything will be fine now and i will help soleil feel better and it'll be great and also, In My Nest :) (also has been horny bc that's what he gets when he's sick but. he knows that's not an option, it still just makes him !!!!!!!! to have soleil scenting things his partners scented and again. in his nest. where he can provide and make him feel save and loved and comforted)

Soleil nods and then promptly ignores that. It’s bad to lie but it’s worse to be loud.

Was rereading for editing and kinda gave myself whiplash bc i was like lol at the first sentence and then got smacked with the second. Especially coming off of cyrill having an honestly p okay time POV

Also I'm like really happy w/ the pacing up to this point?? The pacing on this chapter was SUCH a pain, it was a delightful commenter who mentioned liking when i switched POV's that had me like ohhhhh maybe that's what this needs. bc soleil pov is great but oh gosh can it get long,,,,,,, also like, idk if it's dif for others who r reading this Once (or rereaders!!!! i adore u) if soleil's anxiety pov goes on too long i like, have to go do breathing exercises so ahdkjsahkdhaskjdhksa. it was nice hitting this point, checking the scroll bar and seeing i was exactly halfway through the chapter. that felt like good pacing for me @ okay, now we r in new location and hopefully the back half of this chap will be an upswing in mood

"All that mucus and gross sh-tuff,"

I think it's v funny that the others do their best not to curse around soleil. it's partially that curses can sometimes be perceived as cursing = angry and they don't want to frighten / trigger soleil. but also, i think it's a side effect of not wanting to curse around ness (who soleil is often. attached to) which is funny to me

Soleil’s asked for too much, he shouldn’t have gotten sick; he’s imposing, he’s being a burden, he’s being a mutt— ...but what if he taints him—

Obv the rhetoric is v metaphorically in quotes, I hope you can hear Grey's voice w/o me having to say it. I don't think the others clock just how far Soleil is slipping back in terms of thought process. Bc it's p internal atp and most of his external worries are around getting ness (and others) sick. But i think the fact that he's able to cry about it -> to recognize that it's stressful and he feels awful, is better than him pushing it down / repressing it.

Soleil slumps against the doorway of the bathroom

Wait I was just reading a reddit post about like, what americans do that signal in other countries that they're american and one of the points was "always leaning on things" and then i catch soleil leaning on this doorway for like a 3 second break conversation akdasld. it's partially like, chronic pain on both of our parts but oh boy do i love leaning on stuff <3

Evidence pile, evidence pile, except he keeps coming back to the evidence pile and he keeps. Freaking out.

I thought it was really important to show that Soleil is /trying/ to use some of those techniques he learned in therapy. Genuinely and for the right purpose (we'll get into how he misuses some of them w/ Penny next chapter) and ofc it's still overwhelming and it'd be easier / more familiar if he was able to slip back into old patterns. If he was still and quiet, if he was unseen, even to be hurt/punished would be familiar and therefore "better" than what he's dealing with now so he can't help but "wish" for it. "Wish" in quotes bc I think he knows, as the reader does, that none of the others would approach any of his struggles by purposely harming him. I wasn't sure exactly how to tag that but I don't think it's something unfamiliar at this point / in these kinds of situations and can count under the "misc trauma responses" blanket warning

“I don’t know,” he keens. “I don’t know.” A little burst of anger heats him—if Cyrill would just leave him or stop—stop asking him things like he’s a person— “Why—Just pick—”

I have yet to /really/ get into Soleil not being treated like a Person, partially bc I think Soleil is repressing it and he Does have memories of what it was like living before Grey, so it's not like he can't (re-)adjust at all to walking on two legs and sitting on chairs and taking a hot shower whenever he feels like it. And Grey could've been >> worse in some ways, like it's not as if Soleil Never walked, he was still spoken to (even if in demeaning ways), he was fed >> three times a day >> sometimes but the food was on trays etc. So like, the point being Grey didn't Actually really ever treat him like a dog, he treated him as a person that he wanted to humiliate and dominate. So Soleil never really was not-a-person, just a very dehumanized one, who still knew enough and had enough personhood to bargain when he really needed/wanted to. And sometimes being a person means that accepting or feeling that being told what to do and when to do and how to do it is easier, especially when following all those rules hurts less

He doesn’t think he can pick apart his feelings because he’ll pick himself apart in the process and he’s trying so desperately to keep himself together.

I like the literal sound of this sentence @ the metaphor but again wanted to point out he Does try. it's just that he has SOOO little practice in using his coping methods in the long-run that he just absolutely folds under this high-stress situation. next ch will be better for him <3

[bouquinteim]

“we shall drive every blasted Englishman into the sea, and then”—he rode against him furiously—“and then,” he concluded, half kissing him, “you and I shall be friends.”

“Why can’t we be friends now?” said the other, holding him affectionately. “It’s what I want. It’s what you want.”

oh fuck.

[johnwickb1tsch]

bittersweet + ch 45

a yandere!John Wick x fem!reader sunshine/grump coffee shop AU... all chapters

WARNINGS FOR THIS FIC: NSFW, SEXUAL CONTENT, VIOLENCE, YANDERE SH!T. Plz take care. I luv u all. 😘

45. halcyon daze

With Christmas on the horizon you take a break from your Persephone-inspired series to work on a present for John. There’s not a thing in the world you could buy him that he couldn’t buy for himself; but you have two hands, some talent and creativity: things that can’t yet be bought on Amazon. You’d noticed that he’s been working on an old set of Russian Fairytales. 

It still never fails to destroy your heart, that John favors mending the binding of children’s stories, as though he can recapture and sew back together some aspect of his own broken youth. 

Some of the illustrations in this edition are faded, one is even half destroyed, the paper torn. The writing is in cyrillic, you haven’t learned to read it yet, but with some [you hope] casually peppered questions, you manage to glean enough information to look up what they’re supposed to be. You make some replacements for him, and in the case of the Knight of Night in the story of Vasilisa the Beautiful, the warrior in black might bear more than a passing resemblance to your own dark assassin.  

When he opens this gift the wonder in his eyes is priceless to you. “I didn’t make you anything,” he apologizes guiltily, and while you are sitting amidst the piles of your freshly bestowed loot, which you still can’t help but feel guilty about. He bought you a stylish new motorcycle jacket, a fresh set of artist series gouache tubes and paper, an antique gold art nouveau lavalier necklace in the form of a flowing narcissus flower with glowing enameled accents and a dangling pearl –you are filled with so much love you fear your heart might burst.

You crawl across the floor, into his lap. He barely has time to set the drawings aside before your mouth is on his, and you are toppling him back almost into the Christmas tree with your ardor. By the time you are finished with him, you’re pretty sure he knows how happy he makes you, but just in case you tell him for good measure. “I love you more than I know how to say.” 

***

As winter drags on you look to John’s in-house gym to get exercise, even though you despise running on the treadmill. You feel like a hamster, jogging your ass off to nowhere. You try to keep up with your yoga practice, though you rarely get to finish a session. Somehow, John always manages to time walking in on you when you have your ass in the air. “Have mercy, I’m only a man,” he teases you, like this is an excuse for toppling you over and pinning you down with his body and his mouth on yours. 

It’s hard to get too mad about it, considering. 

You suppose you do still get a stretch and a workout, not to mention a belly laugh, in the end. 

Continuing your training stays interesting, although he wasn’t lying before when he said he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off of you. More often than not when you spar, you end up fucking on the floor. He’s never more beautiful than when his dark eyes glitter with anticipation of the hunt; you’ve learned a lot, but you know you stand zero chance against him. 

Maybe it’s not fair, when he loses patience and uses his experience and his size to put you down on the ground, sweeping your legs or twisting your arm behind you while he pulls down your leggings, baring your ass to the room. But he finds you soaking wet every time he claims his prize, guiding himself inside you, your growls quickly turning to moans for the way he fills you up and takes you down. “I fucking love it when you fight me,” he admits breathlessly, thrusting until you both cum loudly, your face pressed into the rubber floor.

It’s a game you love to lose.   

***

Winter starts to thaw, and you have cabin fever, ready to go outside. John is engrossed in a binding project: you finished your illustrations, and now he seems just as engaged in his side of the collaboration as you were yours. You find him smiling at a rendition of Dog as Cerberus with three heads when you pop into his workshop. “Want to go for a hike?”

He looks around at the mess he’s made on his worktable. “I’m not at a good stopping point,” he admits, and you understand that perfectly well. “You can go, just don’t be gone too long, alright?”

He could have pushed you over with a feather, you are so surprised to receive this clearance for a solo trek. 

You kiss him on the cheek in thanks. “I’ll be back soon,” you promise, still hardly able to believe your luck. 

“Y/n?” he calls as you’re at the door. “Take Dog?”

“I’m going too far for him.” Long walks hurt his paws.

“Then take your pistol.” You nod before disappearing up the stairs. Once upon a time, the thought of going around casually armed would have seemed like pure insanity to you. Now it’s simply a fact of life. You don’t have an official license for concealed carry, but after your intensive training at the Continental you feel perfectly confident that you won’t shoot anyone–unless you mean to. You live in John’s world now: survive first, worry about getting caught later…and pay off the appropriate officials if you have to.

That’s just the thug life, you suppose. 

The air outside is crisp and fresh, leaves and pine needles perfuming the woods in a way that intoxicates you more than any man-made scent. You take off down the trail at a brisk pace, feeling like you have wings on your feet. Knowing you could walk for miles and miles in this mood, you set a timer on your phone so you don’t forget yourself. Scaring John after he’s given you this confidence will not bode well for the future. Once upon a time such a leash would have chafed, but now you understand so much better what his fears are rooted in. You’ve peered into the darkness behind the curtain; there’s no going back. 

It’s the middle of the day in the middle of the week and you haven’t seen a soul, and on such a fine day as this, it is easy to forget that there’s a bustling, seething world of human strife out there. Or so you imagine, as you are sitting on the outcrop of your favorite overlook, your feet dangling out over oblivion. Yet, when you think you hear voices coming up the trail a sudden instinct kicks in to hide, to avoid being seen. Without really even thinking about it you tip yourself off the ledge, grabbing a branch of an ancient tree growing out of the rocks to break your fall, and dropping down to conceal yourself flat upon a narrow ledge.

“Dude, where’d she go?” you hear from above, your heart pounding in your chest, the blocky hardness of your little Beretta pressing into the small of your back as you lean against the stone face of the cliff a reassuring comfort. You realize then that John is not the only one with a residual paranoia from your misadventures. As you listen to the obviously harmless hikers above, you feel utterly ridiculous, and you wait for them to go so that you can make your way back in peace. 

Maybe it’s good to be alert, but at what point does one just have to get on with one’s life? If you live like a paranoid little rat scurrying around out of sight, then Dante has won in a different way. You think about this a lot, as you make your way home up the mountain. 

***

Perhaps it’s fitting, that with the renewal of spring all around you, John finishes the binding of your book. He calls you into the basement to inspect his workmanship, standing behind you as you behold the finished tome. The cover is embossed black leather with gold leaf. There is no title, just a design of an upturned skull grown through with blooming narcissus flowers. Slowly, you flip through the pages, enchanted with how he transformed your loose paintings into something so refined. 

“I love it,” you tell him, caressing a page bearing his likeness, the God of Death embracing his consort (that may bear a passing resemblance to you) in a Klimt-esque kiss. He nuzzles into your neck, kissing behind your ear. “But you didn’t sign it,” you complain, noting the lack of his usual This Book was Bound by John Wick plate. 

“I thought…we could do it together, as a wedding present?” he offers. You realize he means signing it with your joined name, and maybe it’s silly, but the thought makes your belly erupt into butterflies. You haven’t really talked about the wedding much. Though you wear the ring happily, he hasn’t really mentioned it at all, giving you space or otherwise occupied, you’re not entirely sure. 

“I would love that,” you agree, tilting your head for a kiss. His fingers dig into your hips as it deepens, a low moan called up from his throat. 

“Have you thought about what you might like?” he asks, kissing your neck again, his hands slipping under your shirt. 

“I don’t want anything fancy,” you admit breathlessly. “All I want is you.” You find the thought of bringing your dysfunctional family together in celebration only inspires anxiety. You have no lasting affiliations with any church–you do not feel the need to seek any god’s blessing of your union. You find you are just ready for it to be so. 

You feel him pause behind you, letting out a shuddering sigh. You wonder if he’s thinking about the journey you’ve taken, to get where you are today, together. You certainly are, looking at your book, and the allegory it tells of your tumultuous courtship. It wasn’t easy, and you can’t say anything so trite as you knew it would turn out–but you realize you did have the naivety to hope. For once…maybe your forgiving nature has finally paid off for you. You feel like you’ve been living in a halcyon daze, you are so happy. You hope it never changes, even if deep down you know it will. 

Change is the only certainty we’re ever afforded.

“Surely you want something nicer than a trip to the courthouse,” he pries, certain there’s something you’re not telling him. You do still feel embarrassed sometimes, about spending his money on things, even though he gives you free reign with unparallelled generosity. 

“I really don't want a big ceremony,” you assure him. “But…would you like it, if Winston married us?”

John huffs behind you, and you hear the smile in his voice. “I'm not sure that's something he does.”

You giggle at the thought, and you can tell John at least likes the idea of his father figure–one of his few remaining friends, being there. And, you like Winston too. “I bet he’d do it for you, John.”

“Hmm. We’ll think on that.”

It’s not a no.

“You know what I do want?” you pose, turning a page of your new book.This illustration is a rather explicit one, Death kneeling at her feet with his face buried in her pussy, her back bowed in sweet agony, the dark waters of the river Styx glittering behind them. He offered her the most exquisite pleasures, but withheld release unless she agreed to be his forever. Though deep in her heart she knew she loved him immeasurably, still she refused.

Neither John nor you are immune to the effect of perusing this pornographic work together; his long fingers dip into the waistband of your jeans, his fingertips just nearly caressing your mound.   

“Anything,” he tells you, nibbling at your ear. It takes you a moment to remember what you were talking about, your clit throbbing in answer to his seeking fingers and his other hand up your shirt. As a result your answer comes in breathy bursts. 

“I want…to go on an adventure with you. A long honeymoon,” you tell him, writhing against him as his hand finds your breast, toying with the taut peak of your nipple. You know he likes to travel as much as you do. Wouldn’t it be novel to go somewhere and not even need to assassinate someone in the interim?

You feel him chuckle behind you, more than hear it. “I might have guessed. Where do you want to go?” He asks you this while his fingers tease your curls, so close to touching you where you need him most. You are past shame, when your voice cracks. 

“Where can we go?” You assume most of Europe is off the table these days. 

“Hmm. You still have a yen for South America?” 

You nod, and he laughs again, though he catches your mouth in a tooth-counting kiss before you can answer–ie defend yourself from the usual allegations. At last his middle finger dips into your wet slit, and the sound of relief that escapes you is barely human.  

“Young lady…” he growls, nipping at your ear. “This is quite a dirty little book you’ve drawn. Do you know how many times I had to come find you while I was working on this?” You moan as he swipes up your juices, finally circling your clit as his other hand dips into your bra. You feel his erection straining against the curve of your bottom; you press yourself back against him, wanting what’s yours. Your answer is part laughter, part moan–for the umpteenth time, you feel like life is perfect with this man. 

“Probably as often as I had to come find you while drawing it,” you answer cheekily, arching back to hold his neck, opening yourself completely to him. Your knees threaten to buckle as he touches you, but soon you find yourself bent over his table, his corded forearms braced like columns on either side of you as he fucks you silly amidst the smell of old books, leather, and binding glue.  

It really doesn’t get any better than this.

***

When warmer weather comes you start to take out the bikes again. After a few outings you feel sufficiently refreshed, and more than ready to take your test. You make your appointment for next week, and you feel like a teenager again, full of nervous energy for the impending exam. John finds this amusing. “You can ride, sweetheart. And if you fail, you can just take it again.” 

But the perfectionist academic in you wants to ace it on the first go. When you express the desire to go for a practice ride while John is working on a new project he nods, not even looking up from his worktable. “Be careful.” 

“Take your pistol. I know,” you tease. This has become a broken record between you two–remembering a time when he wouldn’t have dreamed of letting you out of his sight, you do not mind. He narrows his eyes at you playfully, before letting you off with that slight smile that still squeezes your heart in your chest. 

You gear up in your kevlar jeans, boots and jacket, gloves and helmet. Concealed carry is ridiculously easy, with such bulk about you. You feel a bit like a commando, every time you put on the jacket with its armored panels. You fire up the Kawasaki and potter down the driveway. You like this bike, it’s been great to learn on, but John has been teasing you about an upgrade if you’re a good girl. 

Considering you feel where he’s been inside you every time you sit down, you’re pretty sure you’re meeting the requirements. You think about this with a smile as you hit a straightaway, and let the machine open up beneath you. 

It really is the closest you can get to flying on the ground. 

Exhilarated, maybe even feeling a little cocky, you make your loop of the mountain roads and then decide to make a quick stop down in town. You’ve worn out your three favorite paint brushes, the chisel tip, the angle shader, and the tiny 3/0 you favor for small details. Mr. Morton will get you squared away. 

You park in the lot behind the art store, and carry your helmet inside. You don’t dally long, even though the smell of oil paint and linseed oil inside the little store is a marvelous thing. You chat with Mr. Morton, pet the shop cat, and tuck your score into your inside pocket before walking back out to the parking lot. 

It’s totally cliché, but the rest goes by in a blur. 

A black SUV rolls up beside you, screeching on its brakes, a man jumping out of the backseat making a B line for you. Too late, you realize your rookie mistake. Your jacket is zipped up to your chin–you can’t draw your pistol under your arm in time. But you have your helmet in your hand, and without hesitation, you introduce it to his face as hard as you can. 

“At least offer a girl some candy first, asshole!”

The driver spills out next, cursing and trying to grab you, dodging your second swing with the helmet. You side-step him, but he manages to snag your jacket. Rather than pull against his hold you let him drag you to him, meeting his groin dead-on with your knee. As he crumples you hit him in the face with your armored elbow, and run for your bike while shoving your helmet onto your head. 

Maybe you should have run back to the shop, to the thoroughfare, to the safety of witnesses. But all you can think in that moment is that John might need you. You have a terrible feeling that something bad could be happening at home, and so you start your bike and tear off faster and more recklessly than you ever have before. The handlebars wobble in your haste but you manage to get a hold of the machine, concentrating on working the clutch and the gears to pick up speed as fast as you can. If you look back, you know you’ll crash. You run a stop sign, veering around a car by the skin of your teeth, leaving the sound of screeching wheels and honking horns behind you.  

Out of town, you drop a gear and take off like a rocket up the mountain, passing cars where you definitely shouldn’t. I’m coming, John. Maybe it’s ridiculous. How much help could you possibly be to John Wick? But you won’t rest until you set eyes on him again. 

Maybe you shouldn’t be surprised, when the G Wagon roars up next to you again. In your peripheral you see the passenger in the window, his extended arm, the blocky black shape of a gun. They veer at you, trying to run you off the road. You brake the bike, letting them whip past you, nearly going off the pavement themselves in the confusion. You decide to turn off onto a sideroad, a winding death-trap of a paved goat trail that you know like the back of your hand, though you’ve never ridden it before, only drove. You hope you’ll lose them in the snarl of tight curves. It will take longer to get home, but if worse comes to worse maybe you can abandon the bike and lose them in the trees. 

Home turf advantage, you tell yourself, not entirely convinced. These guys mean business–and you’re fairly sure the driver’s accent was Italian. 

You don’t really hear it past the roar of your engine and your heartbeat in your ears, when they come up behind you. You do hear the shot, and you flinch, ducking low to make yourself a smaller target. But he wasn’t aiming for you. 

He was aiming for your tire, and when it blows the bike goes wild–and you really get to experience flying.

It’s almost exhilarating, sailing through the air, until you hit the pavement hard, skidding across the unforgiving asphalt, rolling to take some of the momentum. You lay there on the tarmac, alive, but completely stunned. You tell yourself to get up–but your body doesn’t listen. You see the shadow of a man over you. It’s Helmet Man–his face is a mask of blood; it looks like you broke his nose, and he’s pissed about it.

He kicks you in the side before shoving a needle through your jeans, into the meat of your butt. On the verge of puking in your helmet, the world swims, then goes black.

------------

*author's note: Full credit to @discoscoob for suggesting that Winston should officiate, I love it, you're brilliant! 😘 And the yoga scene is totally @treedaddymcpuffpuff 's fault. I love our unhinged conversations boo 🤣 The Brain Rot would not be so strong or so FUN without you!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ :)))))))))))))))))

**maybe i should also add that certain eXplicit panels in the BRZRKR Bloodlines comic inspired a great deal of this dumpster fire 🥵🤣🤣, y'all should definitely check it out, the artwork is great!

--------------- 

all chapters

[justskulkingaround]

Yay some art!!

[call-me-rucy]

Cetaganda ch. 13

Extreme apologies for the lack of updates recently. Since the last post I have: moved, started a new job, spent like 27h going places in various trains and buses, done my last exam.

In these chaotic times there's nothing I'd like more than a little certainty, so I turn to Miles and his chaos instead.

We were with the plan to retrieve the gene banks (thanks, Ivan!)

Staying at the ambassy just in case someone out there tries to assassinate him is reasonable. Too reasonable. Can't wait to see how he's forced out. Rian?

Miles hoped that Lord X was very, very sorry he had decided on Barrayar. And I'm going to make you regret it that much more, asshole.

Oh Miles I have missed you.

I hope the Key is indeed in a cipher lab so I get to see what a futuristic cipher lab looks in the Vorkosiverse, and compare with labs in real life.

I wonder to what degree Miles' excuse, desiring ship duty, is still true. Like, rn he's at the best position for him, answering only to Illyan and Gregor is where he fits best, I'd say, and he must know this, but 20 years of hopes don't disappear easily. And also that line earlier "Hi, I'm a war hero but I can't tell you why, it's classified". Ship duty are were the public heroes are.

Miles pointed to the ceiling with his thumb. Maybe they're listening to us. Ivan's lips formed two words. Fuck them.

I love the idea of Illyan being a sort of god to ImpSect that lives in the ceiling of all rooms, but I love more the idea of very-human Illyan receiving the recordings of Miles and Ivan's rooms days after the fact and having to listen to them while Miles is right in front of him like "Yeah me and my coz possibly avoided a fourth Cetagandan war. On our own. Neat, right? :3"

Forced outdoors by social events! Wow this is the most terrible thing lol

Maz and Vorob'yev are so getting together.

Yeah, what do they want Ivan for. Is this a case of "No, the Fullmetal Alchemist is the short one"?

NOT KIDNAPPING!! I mean, it's narratively fullfilling and all that because Ivan has been complaining all book about being in danger and specifically Miles getting him in danger BUT NOT IVAN!!! My boy!!

Rian!! Things are moving!!! Aaaaaaah!!

(I'm wondering now what languages are spoken in Cetaganda. Like, Miles has been able to go up and effectively communicate with everyone, including Ba which would have no reason to know languages other than those spoken in the Celestial Garden. And I'm assuming he does so in English? I know that the alphabet in Barrayar is Cyrillic but I feel like it would've come up if they spoke Russian? The recruit at the beginning of TVG destined to languages implies that there is not a magic-translate-it-all-gadget invented just yet, so I'm just finding it interesting that the Cetagandans would speak also precisely the same language. And I don't think there has even been a Cetagandan accent mentioned? As opposed of the Betan accent which does exist. This is all a literary tool for making the writers life easier, like making all days day-lengthy-ish and all years year-lengthy-ish, which is something I totally respect btw, but I find that idea of going to an international interplanetary event and be inmmediately understood by everyone to be very anglophone-y)

(Rucy, it's been three weeks, and now you're going on tangents while plot is happening?!)

(Shhh, I haven't thought about Vorkosiverse in too long, I have to make up for it.)

This isn't Emperor Gregor's Birthday Party, dammit.

AHAHAHAHAH POOR GREGOR

RIAN HAS CAPTURED THE KIDNAPPER BUBBLE! Oh I love competent women as well.

Ivan is alive! Yay! Omg using the "not yet" leitmotif on "Ivan is not dead" is genius. Wish I wrote this good.

ETERNAL PLAN A: LETTING MILES TALK IS DOING WONDERS!!! OH I LOVE THIS!! And its not even his usual "Ill convince you", he's stalling for an old woman to go get help/a weapon. This is amazing. I love this book.

(It was, in fact, a case of "No, the Fullmetal Alchemist is the short one".)

Idk how to tell you this, my boy, but Rian is not likely "Empress of Cetaganda until tomorrow". She's probably "Empress of Cetaganda from tomorrow on" as well.

So, Kety still has the bank. And the Key. And he's on notice. -Damn. What idiot came up with the idea of the banks…? Ah, yes…

Give my other poor boy a break, Miles, he's having a very tough day.

Please, not dead yet. I love a good leitmotif.

WE'RE GOING INNNNNN!!!!

[sl-newsie]

American Woman (Thomas Shelby x American OC) Ch. 62: Don't Count On my Sympathy

Masterlist: https://www.tumblr.com/sl-newsie/739551758747090944/american-woman-thomas-shelby-x-american-oc?source=share

I can’t believe I’m doing this. Surely Ada is exaggerating Thomas’ reaction to my coldness. If he’s survived this long on the love of whores and Lizzie then there is no reason for him to act so hurt. 

I’m really doing this. Driving to the home of the man who broke my life. Arrow House is straight ahead, pale against the dim gray morning light. Even after all these years they still kept my Bentley in good shape. Another reminder of Thomas’ financial perks.

In no more than ten seconds after I park there’s a familiar sound of scampering footsteps.

“Hello, Charlie!” I smile as the young Shelby runs up the hill.

“Venna!” His face lights up and he tackles my legs for a hug. “You’re back!”

“Yes I am, dierbaar jongen. My my, you have grown so much!”

He giggles when I try to ruffle his hair and continues running to the house. “I’ve got violin practice now.”

“Oh! I won’t keep you, then. Go on!”

In one hand I grip the briefcase Ada sent with me. The very reason why I’m forced to be here. With my other hand I feel the comforting cross around my neck again. Lord, please give me patience-

What’s that?

Something white in an empty muddy field catches my eye. It’s very faint. Is that a person…? It’s a cross. Off in the distance, a giant wooden cross stands a single cross with familiar clothes. Thomas’ clothes. And the man himself is standing across from it. What is that? Is it supposed to be a mockery of faith? How dare-!?

Bang! Bang! Bang! Thomas lifts up a gun and blasts the clothes to shreds, causing sparks to scatter. What the Hell?! I drop the briefcase and break into a sprint. What the Hell is happening?! I nearly stumble and trip down the hill and by the time I reach the fence my dress is splattered in mud. Is he trying to kill himself-?!

Ka-boom!

A giant explosion rips a crater open in the field, sending dirt and rock flying everywhere. A blast of fire clouds over Thomas and I give a loud shriek. My stomach drops. He really was trying to die…

And he still lives. The cloud of ash lifts and Thomas walks back across the field, covered in mud. I nearly scream again. How can he look so- so… calm?! How far has his mind spiraled since I’ve been gone?

“What the Hell was that?!” I yell at the top of my lungs, my eyes nearly bulging out.

Across the dirty field, Thomas spots me as he walks closer and immediately panics.

“Verena? Fuck! Why are you-?”

“I come here to get your signature and this is what you’re doing?!" I screech and stand my ground. "What the Hell happened?!”

Thomas walks through the gate and looks me up and down with wild eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t know! Just please-” He desperately grips my shoulders. “Please stay off this place. Now… What do you need signed? Wait, wait. I’ve got a call to respond to.”

He takes off towards the house, leaving me speechless and confused as to what to think of this. Did he rig that cross to explode? Was it a trap? A warning? I swear if there’s another bloody vendetta I’m going to punch him clean in the face! Reluctantly, I follow Thomas’ muddy footprints and retrieve the briefcase before going inside.

Grrrr.

A brown mutt walks out from the dining room, alerted to my presence. I calmly let him smell my hand. He doesn’t look too harmless. Since when did Thomas get a dog-?

“That’s Cyril,” Charlie beams from another doorway.

“He’s very charming,” I smile as the mutt wanders to the small boy. “You must be done with your lesson. Aunt Ada also told me you speak Rokka, Charlie?”

He nods. “Bits and pieces. Do you still speak Dutch?”

“Yes, I’m learning. You should be very proud of yourself for holding onto your heritage.”

Another set of footsteps echo down the stairs and I look up to see a little girl with dark hair. When she sees me she freezes and watches me as if I just threatened to shoot Cyril. She's Lizzie’s daughter, for sure. She has her eyes. And her look of judgement.

“And you must be Ruby!” I kneel down and offer a friendly wave.

“Hello,” Ruby says shyly. “What’s your name?”

“This is Veena,” Charlie introduces me. “She’s fun.”

Someone else steps down and now Lizzie herself joins us, wearing a very fancy fur stole. A vast contrast to my filthy dress and simple hair braids. She puts a protective hand on Ruby and looks down at me with the same lowly expression from four years ago. I should have been more prepared to feel her smug victory over me.

“Hello, Ms. Steenstra.”

I show no sign of friendly acknowledgement. “Mrs. Shelby.” 

Her eyes narrow slightly. “Why are you here?”

“Straight to the point, I see,” I quip and hold up the briefcase. “I’m here because Mr. Shelby has some papers to sign, ASAP.”

“What about me?” Charlie whines.

“And I’m here for you too, Charlie,” I assure him with a wink, then turn back to Lizzie with another cold glare. “I am not staying in England for long. Mr. Shelby is currently in the middle of a call but as soon as he is finished I will swiftly accomplish my ordeal with him.”

Lizzie, not amused by my agenda to conduct my visit as quickly as possible, leads Ruby back upstairs. At least Grace eventually let me interact with Charlie. I probably won’t ever be able to talk to Ruby again.

Charlie interrupts my thoughts by skipping over to wait by his vader’s office door. “I’m going to show him what I learned today!”

He proudly holds up the violin he’s holding and I almost chuckle to think of Thomas subjecting his kids to musical practice. Intriguing. Would Thomas ever learn to play music himself?

I lean my head to the door, hearing the phone being set down. Good. Time to get things over with.

Knock knock.

“Come!” Thomas’ voice booms through the door.

I enter slowly, deeply trying to forget about the last time I was in this room, and spot Thomas leaning against his desk. He looks like the walking dead. Lasting remains of mud still stain his white shirt. However, Charlie ignores his vader's troubled state and goes to stand at the center of the room.

“He has something to show you,” I tell Thomas. “Then you-”

“I know, I’ll sign.”

Charlie grips his violin and smiles. “I learned something today!”

Thomas, as usual, holds a whiskey. “So did I. And what have you learned, my boy?”

Charlie brings the bow to the instrument. A screech of strings pinches my ears and I do my best to not cringe. The young boy carries out the thankfully quick Hellish melody and Thomas sits blankly across from him. Perhaps the terrors conspiring inside Thomas’ head are horrendous enough to drown out any outside noise.

“Good start, Charlie,” I praise after Thomas fails to speak. “Why don’t you go get yourself ready for supper, eh?”

He nods eagerly and scampers off. I set down my briefcase and wave a hand in front of Thomas’ eerily quiet face.

“Here are the papers.”

Thomas blinks at me and seems to remember where he is. He slowly stands up and goes to grab a pen from his desk. Time to fire the next shot.

“I am also here for my next payment.”

A quick flash of anger colors Thomas’ eyes but it’s replaced by another blank stare. “‘S that why you came back?”

“For the sake of my familie, yes.”

“Are you sure?”

My eyes narrow and my jaw tightens. If he thinks he can guilt-talk me out of this he is dead wrong. I came for my familie and nothing else.

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” I respond firmly and reroute the subject. “I also heard about what happened to Finn. Please tell me you’re going to talk to him. He’s not the same man from two years ago. He’s becoming just like you. Drinking, chatting up girls, going in guns a-blazing. It’s-!”

“I will,” Thomas says evenly as he signs the documents. “Arthur and I are going to sit him down tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” The shadow of a smirk crosses my mouth. “How did your chat with Mr. Dixon go?”

Thomas takes another drink. “Your country has some of the oddest people. Half the time he wanted to talk about guns and mixing moonshine instead of actual business. I left him to some associates in London. Did your dad really make him come with you?”

“When you’re a single woman traveling alone it’s considered proper to be escorted, according to my parents. Now that I am here I plan to do things my way.”

I hold out my hand expectantly. Thomas hands me the papers and I store them away in the briefcase. Next he passes me a handsome stack of bills. There. Done and done. Now I can tell Ada I talked to him, sort of, and don’t have to see him again-

“Another thing,” Thomas calls once I’m halfway across the room. “Have you been in contact with Michael?”

Despite the raging voice telling me to flee from him, I turn around to face Thomas once more with a lazy head shake. “No. I’ve stuck to the west side of Michigan and practically avoided him, honestly. He’s grown just as arrogant.”

“Yet you still agree to work for us,” Thomas points out as he lights another cigarette.

Stay calm, Steentstra. “Now that the depression is underway, what choice do I have? Anything I earn goes to my familie.”

“Hm. Well, do not trust Michael. That call just told me he was making deals to kill me.”

“Sweet Jesus-!” I gasp and stop myself short.

Nothing could prepare me for this! I’m supposed to distance myself from Thomas, not panic over another death threat! Calm the Hell down, Verena!

“Now don’t get your skirt in a bunch, love,” Thomas implores. “‘S for me to handle, eh? Did you ever notice any strange transactions from Ireland?”

I shake my head. “My uncle would have told me. If you doubt it then you can talk with him yourself.”

“Alright. I might.” Thomas gets a look that says he’s lost in thought again and waves me off. “Now go play with Charlie before he starts whining again. He missed you.”

I slip over to the door and offer one last remark, a sort-of peace offering. “Ruby’s a darling, too.”

“That she is,” Thomas murmurs and looks at me again. “Would you like to stay for dinner?”

No no no! Get out, get out. Lizzie’s going to have my head just for him suggesting that! I’m supposed to get paid and leave-!

“I do not think I will be welcomed by all-”

“Lizzie and Ruby have been staying in the Midland Hotel,” Thomas explains and takes another puff on his cigarette. “‘S just me, Charlie, and Frances.”

So their marriage isn’t so peachy after all. Lizzie finally realized what she dug herself into. Say no. Say no! Thomas knows I want no part of his life anymore. Even though it is nice to see Charlie again…

“One hour.” I hold up a finger. “One hour, and then I’m gone.”

Before Thomas can react I slip through the door and back down the familiar hallway. A few maids give me quiet greetings but for the most part the house is empty. So this is the life you wanted, Thomas? It’s awfully lonely.

“Hello again, Charlie!” I announce when I spot the boy sitting at the long dining table.

His face scrunches with hopeful confusion. “Are you staying for supper?”

“For tonight, yes.”

I take a seat next to him and take a moment to observe the young Shelby. He’s definitely grown up. Instead of a boyish carefree smile Charlie has traded it for a rigid frown. Oh, Thomas. You’re turning your son into yourself. 

A deep whistling sound draws my attention to the window. Outside a strong wind blows fiercely across the pastures. Dark clouds churn overhead, drowning out the little sunlight that’s left of the day. The dark skeletons of the leafless trees sway and stand as ghostly figures left to the imagination.

“It looks really spooky outside,” I observe mysteriously, playing at Charlie’s remaining curiosity.

He shrugs. “That’s appropriate for this time of year.”

I try again. “Do you know about the Samhain celebration, Charlie?”

His eyes widen. “What’s that?”

Bingo!

“It’s a Celtic tradition celebrating the autumn harvest. It was last week on October 31, between the fall equinox and the winter solstice. I went to Belfast last year for the Samhain festival and it was incredible!”

In the corner of my eye I see Thomas appear. He silently makes his way to the end of the table and takes a seat. He's changed into clean clothes. As if on cue, a couple servants appear with trays of food. My first instinct is to stand up and help but then I remind myself I’m not in America anymore. Things are still done differently here.

“So you still celebrate Samhain even though you’re American?” Charlie asks after a few bites of pork.

“Yes. Samhain can be a very spiritual time for me. It’s believed to be a period when spirits can cross over and interact with the living.”

Thomas stops eating for a second. Does speaking with the dead intrigue him? Maybe reconciling with spirits is one way to deal with yourself. And I need to deal with myself before I start feeling sorry for him again.

“Thank you for having me,” I start off and stand up from the table. “But I’m afraid that I need to be going.”

“Really?” Charlie grumbles but doesn’t dare to complain more in front of his vader.

Thomas keeps quiet but watches me leave with noticeable emotionless eyes. One hour, Thomas. That’s all I will allow to make up for nearly four years of absence. After what I’ve seen today it’s not only my life that’s changed. Thomas, Lizzie, Charlie. They’re different. Even Ruby seems different than a normal girl. Not that I would expect any Shelby to be normal.

As I begin the drive back to Birmingham I can’t help but wonder if the Shelbys were right. Do I really have such an influence? That my presence helps in more ways than one? How have things become so gloomy in the past years? Well, now there is a depression to add to this and it will confuse my thoughts even harder.

@meadows5

[kristenlikesvore]

I would like to explain Esperanto. In Esperanto, words are made from a word root and various affixes and particles that indicate part of speech and other things.

Esperanto uses six extra letters: ĉ (as in cheese), ĝ (as in giraffe), ĥ (as in the ch sound in Gaelic or German or Cyrillic letter х), ĵ (as in the zh sound in the word treasure), ŝ (as in shoulder), and ŭ which is primarily used in vowel digraphs such as aŭ which makes an ow sound.

So I will explain with the root labor-. Labor- is not a real word without a suffix to indicate part of speech but it means work.

-o makes it laboro which is a noun. "Mia laboro estas facila sed tre grava" means "my work is easy but very important." -oj (pronounced oi or oy) makes a plural noun, -on makes an accusative noun, and -ojn is plural accusative. You wouldn't really use the word laboroj since work as a noun is uncountable unless you have a different meaning such as the works of a writer but this would be the word verko or verkoj in plural. But something like "ĉu vi ŝatas vian laboron?" would be an example of the accusative—"do you like your work?

We can add other particles before -o to change meaning. -ej- means place so for example laborejo is a workplace. -ist- is someone who does something so laboristo is a worker. "Multaj laboristoj laboras en ĉi tiu laborejo" would be "many workers work in this workplace." -in- makes something feminine ie laboristo is a worker and laboristino is a female worker. It should be noted that the lack of -in- doesn't indicate a masculine person unless the word root is inherently masculine (patro = father and patrino = mother, frato = brother and fratino = sister, etc). There has been some push to add a male particle (usually -iĉ-) but this is not widely accepted and probably won't be adopted soon.

Other suffixes are -i for an infinitive verb, -as for a present tense verb, -is for past tense, -os for future tense, -u is imperative, and -us is conditional.

-a indicates an adjective with the the adjective matching the plural and accusative case ie bona means good in the nominative case but bonan is accusative, bonaj is plural nominative and bonajn is plural accusative. -e indicates an adverb ie "mi vojaĝis bicikle en Berlino" is "I traveled by bicycle in Berlin."

There are many other particles. -il- is a tool ie combilo = a comb ie a tool for combing. -ing- is a holder ie glavo is sword and glavingo is a scabbard. -aĉ- means bad ie hundo is a dog but hundaĉo is a mutt.

So here is what I wanted to actually tell you and what this was prefacing. Ventro is the word for belly. -ul- is a particle meaning a person that is characterized by the root ie juna (young) -> junuloj = youths or young people. So ventrulo would be a person characterized by their belly. The particle -et- makes it smaller while -eg- makes it bigger. Varma = hot but varmeta = lukewarm and varmega = scorching. So ventrego is a big belly. Thus ventregulo means a person characterized by a big belly and you can add -in- to get ventregulino—a woman characterized by her big belly.

La ventregulino volas manĝi min—the woman with the the big belly wants to eat mi. Post kiam la ventregulino manĝas min, mi estos tute en ŝia ventrego—after the woman with the big belly eats me, I will be entirely in her big belly.

The word vorarefilio is the word for vore so someone into vore would be a vorarefiliulo—a very long word. You may know that vore comes from the Latin vorare meaning "to consume" or "to devour." A cognate exists in Esperanto—vori is to consume or to devour. This is the infinitive but it can obviously be in any tense. "Mi vorus vin sed nur se vi volas manĝiĝi"—"I would devour you but only if you want to be eaten." You could also use the word root vor- to make vorulo or voristo as a person that is into vore.

The particles -ig- and -iĝ- respectively change an intransitive verb to a transitive verb and vice versa. You can think of -ig- as "to make something" vs -iĝ- as being "to become something. ie I used -iĝ- which changes the transitive manĝi (to eat) into the intransitive manĝiĝi (to be eaten). You can add this to vori (to devour) to get voriĝi (to be devoured) and similarly to voristo to get voriĝisto—a person that gets devoured or vorulo to voriĝulo—a person that is characterized by being devoured. Fun words to describe prey. You would more likely use the phrase "esti manĝata" to mean "to be eaten" but manĝiĝi works.

Now some of these words are nonce words meaning that they may not exist but are valid Esperanto word constructs that can be used with an understood meaning. Gusti is to taste so combine bona and gusta and get bongusta meaning that it tastes good. We could add -ulo to get bongustulo—a person that tastes good. "La bongustulo volas esti manĝata de tiu belulino"—"the good-tasting person wants to be eaten by that beautiful woman."

That is essentially Esperanto.

I have made several revisions since initially writing this post correct and adding some minor things as I thought about them more. So if you see someone has reblogged this, check the original post to see if there are any further revisions since editing a post does not affect posts that were reblogged prior to the post being edited.

[fireemblems24]

Golden Wildfire Ch 15 (Final)

Guys, I think this is finally it, the last chapter

MAIN STORY

We're . . . not going to get an answer about Shez, are we? Would I if I recruited Byleth?

Which, now that I think about it, that was really anticlimatic death.

Also, Claude wants Dimitri and Faerghus to survive, but Rhea to die. Edelgard doesn't want Dimitri and Faerghus to survive, but also wants Rhea to die. So why the hell is Claude letting Edelgard right Dimitri while he fights Rhea? What's stopping Edelgard from killing Dimitri and taking all the Faerghus land she desperately wants? He knows Rhea was only an excuse for her.

I guess just another "Claude is an idiot" point or the writers not giving a single shit about him or this route and only caring about Dimitri and Edelgard.

Claude is suddenly reading Dimitri's mind. He thinks Dimitri wants him to dissolve the central church. This is . . . beyond stupid. Claude is literally imagining the enemy wants he wishes the enemy would want. This is such a stupid thing to do in war. Dimitri has never showed signs of wanting the church dissolved.

Also, blaming all of Fodlan's problems on Rhea is so dumb and such childish thinking too.

They really were like, go Claude, we'll give you nothing! in the writer's room.

If I cared about Claude, I'd be livid. I doubt many Dimitri or Edelgard fans are upset though.

Man, the character list is so much smaller in this route.

MAP/SIDE BATTLES

So annoyed this one has a bunch of side quests. I'm sooooo close to finishing this game.

Aww, an Alliance NPC talked about how much she likes Seteth and hopes he survives.

Ouch! Yuri! When he questions the validity of Claude's plans, Shez assures him it's the only way to pave the future, and he has the audacity to say "I guess now isn't the time to be wondering who exactly is included in this future we're dreaming about." He's calling Claude out on his shit big time. Yuri just does not fit here.

Ashe keeps talking about Dimitri. He's miserable.

Hapi doesn't want to kill Rhea :(

Ohhh, interesting, so Raphael doesn't like how we've been fighting. Shez can agree or disagree. I agreed in both SB and GW. In GW, she says their actions are too haphazard, but in SB, she says they're being too brutal and not letting anyone surrender. Curious differences (ofc Raphael just wants to eat and party, that's what he disagrees with, it's Shez's perceptions that made me interested).

Gilbert and Dimitri talking. Dimitri arriving has boosted moral. But it's the same for his enemies.

Dimitri's concerned about Rhea and learns that they're prepared for battle. Dimitri can't help them :(

Dimitri ordered his citizens to evacuate because he's worried about what the Alliance will do, but isn't convinced Claude wants to destroy his Kingdom.

I love Dimitri doubling down on protecting his people above all else here. Gustave is upset about abandoning Rhea. Dimitri is too, but he's willing to be the bad guy if it saves a single life in Faerghus.

A side mission involved defeating Cyril :( And now Flayn :(

SHEZ & RAPHAEL A

Soldiers are happier. Shez can guess war turning in our favor or pay raise.

If you ever needed proof that Raphael is an idiot, he argues that wouldn't make sense because not everyone is motivated by money. Like, seriously, tell me a single soldier there who gives a flying shit about what some king says. The only route this wouldn't be true in is AG since they're fighting for their lives.

Anyways, it's actually the food.

Shez talks about how a good meal rather than scapes is a good motivator. And honestly, good point.

Raphael talks about being an innkeeper. Honestly, he'd be such a fun boss to have, but he'll need to hire someone to handle the logistics lol.

Raphael asks Shez to tag along. I can either be nice and agree or not make promises. Being mean to Raphael is basically bullying.

Shez either way still considers being a mercenary, but I love the idea of Shez and Raphael running an inn together.

LYSITHEA & RAPHAEL A

Wonder why they choose Lysithea of all people to reach A with Raphael.

She studied too long and is out after dark, so obviously scared. She tries to convince herself the weird noises is Raphael.

But it's not this time, bc he shows up and asks what's the creepy noise lol. Poor Lysithea.

Now she's properly freaked out. Poor girl.

It's probably just a cat, but she thinks it's a ghost.

Lysithea goes to investigate too or else she'll be alone.

I guessed wrong. It's a puppy, not a cat. Poor doggy is hungry, and Raphael knows the dog.

Lysithea is like, if you knew the dog, how come you didn't know that? lol.

HILDA & DOROTHEA B

A fan gave Dorothea a bracelet, and she appreciates the support. Hilda wishes she had one too.

Dorothea tells Hilda no one is better in the whole army at makeup and accessories.

The support addresses how Hilda makes her own accessories.

Dorothea talks about plant design trends. So like real life lol.

Hilda asks Dorothea about her makeup. She tries to stick for ones that are actually good for the body. Which, is really good considering what they used to use for makeup.

They want to keep chatting over tea.

Honestly, I love seeing two girls just chat about girly things without anyone putting it down.

It's nice, in general, how the Fodlan games don't put down the women who are really into fashion and the ones who don't care. Everyone is allowed to just exist, and it's great.

LYSITHEA PARALOGUE

Does she get her own because her paired up one is in SB?

She apologizes to Count Glouster for all the chaos Ordelia causes, but he apologizes for not taking care of it. She understands how important it is for him to protect the bridge.

Her father is buddies with Lorenz's father.

Shez comes with news about Ordelia under attack.

No one else can help. Lysithea says she didn't realize how Claude could be so cruel. Shez tries to defend him by saying she's all the way out here, and Lysithea claps back. Team Lysithea here.

Shez thought Count Glouster would we dead weight. She was right. Idiot almost died. Shez and Lysithea were fine.

He looks forward to the day both aren't leaders anymore so they can just be friends and thinks Lysithea would be a worthy heir :( Poor Lysithea, she faltered at that.

Glouster did nothing to help Lysithea's father because he led the pro-Empire nobles.

MARIANNE & YURI A

Yuri sees Marianne out late and worried that she was going to leave like she thought about, but she was just walking her horse.

Then we get the classic "..." and "..." response. Since the ye ole days characters have done that in FE supports.

Marianne is like, why were you worried, then goes off how she's just a burden, and Yuri is like stop that, now.

Yuri is allergic to horses and cats? :((( Poor guy. That would suck.

That's why he was always giving Marianne funny looks, because he was about to sneeze and she's always around horses, lamo.

It's nice seeing Yuri be nice. But if he was mean to Marianne, like how can you be mean to Marianne?

Yuri dreams of being able to spent time with the animals he's allergic too, so he accepts Marianne's offer to use magic to try to help. I hope it works.

HILDA & DOROTHEA A

Hilda is trying to figure out what's wrong with one of her accessories. She thinks it's missing something.

Dorothea offers to help out, and is really impressed with Hilda's craftsmanship. And honestly, there's a picture and it looks pretty.

Hilda likes Dorothea's suggestion.

Dorothea also offers to buy the accessories for the opera, and use that to advertise them too.

Hilda is more than happy with that suggestion.

Hilda actually wants to open her own school to teach people craftsmanship, and thinks she can partner with Dorothea on that too.

MARIANNE & IGNATZ A

A pegasus that Ignatz was helping said "bring me more hay, four eyes." to Ignatz, Marianne interpreted. She rightly called it rude lamo.

Ignatz used to ride pegasus with his mother, she used to be a pegasus knight. I wonder if that's why he wants to be a knight.

He was really impressed with the view, understandably.

It made him want to become a pegasus knight, but they're sexist lol. Women only.

That's why he wants to help with the pegasi so much, it's the closest he can get.

Marianne is like "I can feel your feelings in the paintings" and Ignatz freaks out until she keeps going and saying she can tell how much he loves pegasi. I wonder what he was so worried about . . .hmm . . . Liking Marianne just proves taste though.

Marianne thinks that maybe the pegasus will accept Ignatz. But I don't think it went well lol. She grabbed his clothing with her teeth, not on her back. OMG, poor Ignatz.

It ends with Ignatz begging for Marianne's help lamo.

MAIN (& FINAL) BATTLE

Alright, guys, this is it. 2/3 done once this battle is over. Sadly, I'll probably have to kill Rhea though. But who knows, she got to be the hero of SB in the end, maybe GW too, or is that asking too much?

Rhea's like I should've killed these bitches years ago (rather than protecting them after turning her genocided family into weapons, poor woman has seen some shit).

Rhea thinks she'll have the goddesses' protection. Too bad Sothis is dead :(

It seems like Rhea is expecting to die. She's telling Seteth and Flayn to run. And saying her time is at an end.

It's funny that Rhea also thinks she's fighting for the future and humanity because she thinks she knows what's best. She and Edelgard (and Claude in this route) are really the same. Then there's Dimitri, the only sane one who doesn't have a bloated ego that thinks he knows best for every living soul in Fodlan, in some case, without ever even talking to some people from a particular country (looking at you, Edelgard, ding dong thinks she can rule Faerghus better than Dimitri without ever even having bothered to TALK to someone from Faerghus).

OK, so why did Edelgard only get 40 points, but Claude gets 70?

OMG, one of Claude's tactics is to burn the enemies alive (elite archers turn enemies into ash, not sure how else to see that).

I don't want to kill Cyril two times in one night :( Thankfully, he retreated.

Great, now Alois is here, claiming he'll fight to the death, which seems major OOC even with Rhea under attack. This game really forgot that he had a family, didn't it? I think he, Claude, and Caspar got the biggest downgrades in writing.

Oh, shit, he died for real. And he mentioned his family this time.

I had to fight Seteth too, but he retreated, thankfully.

DON'T MAKE ME KILL MERCEDES!!!!

Oh, fuck, Cyril died :((( God.

Jeritza came to save his sister :(((( So he turned against the Empire in GW. That's kinda touching, much better than in Houses. Seems Mercedes is now flipping, better than having to kill her like poor Cyril and Alois.

Now I have to fight Flayn :( Thankfully, she withdrew.

Now I have to fight Seteth and Flayn again, but on the upside, Rhea did badass magic and took away my captured strongholds.

I'm not clear if Flayn died or retreated, but Seteth is pissed off at me.

Oh, thank God, they're both running away.

Time to kill Rhea :(

Cut scene time. Wow, Claude, that's rich. He's telling Rhea to go walk away. But, to like where? The guy's been hell bent on killing her and blaming her for everything from racism to arranged marriage this entire game?

Why the random flower getting crushed? Usually that's a sign of crushed renewal, not a brand new world like Claude's been blowing smoke about this whole route.

Lololol Idiot just realized Rhea's the Immaculate One.

Lamo, even in the final battle Marianne's not convinced Claude not coo coo for coco puffs.

More cut scene. Shez and Claude killing Rhea. Shez turned into Arval. Wonder what happens if you recruit Byleth.

This was such a watered-down version of SB's final battle. They both had Rhea as a final boss, but SB got Thales too and it was A LOT harder because of that. Either that or Lorenz is really that silly stupid good.

Another abrupt, non-ending.

Claude wanted the war to end, and shock of all shock, killing Rhea didn't work!!! The idiot. All those people died, for nothing. I also predict greedy assholes will still enforce hierarchies and be racist, even without Rhea.

This ending may have been even worse than SB's? Because at least Edelgard still has a goal she's working towards, it just cut off mid-way. Claude accomplished his and nothing changed - he only made the world worse.

Are either GW or SB better endings if you get Byleth? I'm betting that's what happens. Because that can't be the real ending, lol.

MVP time. Wonder when it'll turn into the Lorenz show. As soon as Ch 5, pretty much no one but Lorenz got MVP. He's just absurd, but in a boring way. He's invulnerable to damage, but doesn't play very fun. If I ever did GW again, I'd main Lysithea. She's a unit type I like way more, hella strong and fast, but low defense. Lorenz made GW super boring to play since I didn't have to think at all. He's that good of a unit.

It's funny seeing nothing but Lorenz's face on an endless scroll (except paralogues or like, women units only battles)

I can't believe I'm getting a letter from Lorenz. If I knew I'd get a letter, I would've picked a character I actually liked, like Marianne. Hubert's letter was better. Lorenz's was really generic.

Still pissed there's no paired endings.

And these endings are so bad, wtf. I'm glad I did this twice so I know AG is also just going to randomly end.

xxx

[jedi-valjean]

Cyrillic for Huttese

Аа— a as in achuta (ачута) (source: Russian)

Бб— b as in boska (боска) (source: Russian)

Вв— v as in kava (кава) (source: Russian)

Гг— g as in goola (гула) (source: Russian)

Дд— d as in doompa (думпа) (source: Russian)

Ёё— yo as in kyotopa (кётопа) (source: Russian)

Әә— u as in punchee (пәнчi) (source: Khanty languages)

Зз— z as in me jewz ku (мi џуз ку) (source: Russian)

Іі— ee as in peedunkee (підәнкі (source: Rusyn)

Її— yee as in poolyee (пулї) (source: Rusyn)

Ии— i as in kickeeyuna (кикіюна) (source: Rusyn)

Йй— y as in motai (мотай,) kayfoundo (кэйфундо,) choy (чой) (source: Russian)

Кк— k as in keepuna (кіпуна) (source: Russian)

Лл— l as in locktulla (локтула) (source: Russian)

Мм— m as in moulee-rah (мулi ра) (source: Russian)

Нн— n as in nenoleeya (нэнолiя) (source: Russian)

Ңң— ng as in wanga (wаңга) (source: Kazakh)

Оо— o as in che copa (чэ копа) (source: Russian)

Пп— p as in pankpa (панкпа) (source: Russian)

Рр— r as in rocka rocka (рока рока) (source: Russian)

Сс— s as in spastika (спастiка) (source: Russian)

Ҫҫ— th as in eetheen (iҫiн) (source: Bashkir)

Тт— t as in tagwa (тагwа) (source: Russian)

Уу— as in ootmian (утмiан) (source: Russian)

Фф— as in flootah (флута) (source: Russian)

Һһ— h as in howdunga (һаудәңга) (source: Kazakh)

Цц— Huttese contains some ts clusters, but it is preferable to use тс for such instances (e.g. hotsa (һотса.)) Thus, ц should not be used.

Чч— ch as in cheeka (чiка) (source: Russian)

Џџ— j as in jeeska (џiска) (source: Macedonian)

Шш— sh as in shapa-keesay (шапа кiсэй) (source: Russian)

Щщ— sch as in schutta (щута) (only appears in Twi’leki loanwords) (source: Russian)

Ээ— e as in chess ko (чэс ко) (source: Russian)

Юю— yu as in chik youngee (чик юнңгi) (source: Russian)

Яя— ya as in smeeleeya (смiлiя) (source: Russian)

Ww— w as in wonky (wоңкi) (source: Kurdish)

[ustalav]

made the evil alignment boys in this picrew, do recommend

[call-sign-shark]

Heaven Lavey Shelby

Heaven Lavey is the protagonist/reader of the Arthur Shelby x You series Heaven in Your Eyes & Darkling x You series Echo of Shadows

25 at the beginning of the series • Natural white hair • Blood witch (Heartrenders) • French • Cold unhinged bitch

🌙 Playlist

🌙 Theme Song: Bang Bang Bang by Sohodolls

𝒮𝐸𝑅𝐼𝐸𝒮

♢ Heaven in Your Eyes

𝒪𝒩𝐸-𝒮𝐻𝒪𝒯𝒮

♢ From Blood We Will Grow

♢ To Bark and Bite

♢ Kaiser Meeting Cyril (requested)

♢ A Bone to Pick With It (requested)

♢ Perfect Lines

♢ Love Ritual

♢ A Slice of Us (Modern!Arthur Shelby x Heaven)

♢ The Woods Whisper 1 || The Woods Whisper 2 (cannibal!AU)

♢ Savage Daughter

𝒜𝒮𝒦𝒮

♢ Heaven Shelby Headcanons

♢ What if Arthur didn't exist? Who would be her man?

♢ Height difference with Arthur

♢ What does she think of Arthur's boxing hobby?

♢ How much Heaven has changed from her 1st version?

♢ What bedtime story would she tell to John's kids?

♢ Has she seen the ocean?

♢ Do the Changrettas know about Heaven?

♢ Red talks: Heaven vs Linda

♢ Red talks: Heaven vs Linda 2

♢ May x Heaven AU

♢ The best quotes for your characters

♢ Overthinker or not?

♢ How would a love story Eva x Heaven be?

♢ Would Heaven falls for modern!Arthur from Loose Cannon?

♢ Virtuous Ray of Sunshine x Ex Bad Guy

♢ Takes on hearing Arthur speak Romani

♢ What's Heaven's fav memory of Arthur? And his?

♢ Cute Aggressions towards Arthur

♢ Caption This!

♢ Tommy Shelby x Heaven Poll

♢ John Shelby x Heaven Discussion

♢ Heaven’s past Affairs

♢ How did Amos and Heaven meet

♢ What would Heaven eat at a carnival?

♢ What did Amos and Heaven's relationship look like?

𝐼𝐿𝐿𝒰𝒮𝒯𝑅𝒜𝒯𝐼𝒪𝒩𝒮 / 𝑀𝒪𝒪𝒟𝐵𝒪𝒜𝑅𝒟𝒮

♢ Heaven in Your Eyes 2nd moodboard

♢ " Not so much an Angel"Ch.6

♢ "You should be scared of me" Ch.12

♢ Trick or Treat

♢ Heaven in Your Eyes illustrations (by @zablife)

♢ Heaven x Arthur illustration (by @raincoffeeandfandoms)

♢ Heaven x Arthur moodboard (by @runnning-outof-time)

♢ Heaven Shelby moodboard (by @dearshelby )

♢ In Love with An Angel (by @there-goes-thefighter )

♢ Eleanor Shelby & Heaven Shelby (by @dearshelby )

♢ Chiaroscuro, Eva Smith x Heaven Shelby (by @evita-shelby )

♢ Fairy!Heaven Moodboard (by @raincoffeeandfandoms )

♢ Wonderland (by the @evita-shelby)

♢ Partner In Crimes (by @raincoffeeandfandoms)

♢ Party and Trouble (by @peakyswritings)

♢ Shakeaspeare's Play (Kaiser and friends by @evita-shelby)

♢ Bird of a Feather (Tommy x Heaven x Jack x Eva by @evita-shelby)

♢ Bayou Christmas (Mel and Heaven by @cljordan-imperium)

♢ Heaven In Your Eyes ( by @v3n1c3b1tch3 )

♢ Christmas Morning with Arthur and Heaven (by @peakyswritings)

♢ Heaven’s face Imagined (by @heavencanbeaprisontoo)

♢ 18th December with Heaven and Arthur

♢ Heaven As... (Aesthetic tag game)

𝑀𝐸𝒩𝒯𝐼𝒪𝒩𝒮

This part is dedicated to the works of my wonderful mutuals, who mentioned/used the character of Heaven in their stories. No word is strong enough to tell you how grateful I am for your incredibly kind gifts/surprises/cameo. I am utterly lucky to have you by my side, know that I sincerely love you. Thank you again, darlings.

Trailer video:

♢ Pierced By Cupid (video by @brummiereader)

Featured in...:

♢ Killing Me Softly pt. 5 (Cameo by @brummiereader)

♢ Killing Me Softly pt.9

♢ Garden of Eden (Eva Shelby x Heaven Shelby by @evita-shelby)

♢ Garden of Eden pt.3

♢ Girls Night and Broken Glass (for @raincoffeeandfandoms birthday)

♢ Womenland (by @raincoffeeandfandoms about the Eva x Heaven AU)

♢ Garden and Pruning Shears (by @zablife)

♢ Stolen Angel, a John Shelby x Heaven blurb (by @zablife)

♢ Pasts and Future (by @dearshelby)

♢ Snow on The Beach (by @pacifymebby)

♢ Visiting The Bayou (by @cljordan-imperium)

♢ In The Graveyard With Lilith Rose Shelby ( cameo by @chaosinkest1996)

♢ Text Memes (by @rysko )

[soleilocverse]

Chapter 23 Commentary

omg wait I like, made a little chart with all the nicknames people tend to call soleil/ness and as athena called soleil "hun" i was like, hm cyrill and athena share a lot of nicknames and then clocked that ray spends all his nickname currency on ness. Esp now that he's stopped calling soleil, "kid", but for good reason on both these points :)

“Oh you marked things for Ness with an ‘N.’ So smart and thoughtful, wonderful job, Soleil.”

Athena like, I literally don't care what I'm going to find SOMETHING to praise him with this morning but he just makes it so easy.

She reaches out instinctively to run her fingers over his hair before she pauses. “Can I pet you?”

I hope it feels natural when they Do and Don't ask for permission. More often than not he's fine w/ it, Enjoys soft hair touches etc, as long as he sees them coming and is chilling so they don't always ask when there's a casual touch. I think I (and so, they) were worried about being overzealous but I think they've settled into more-or-less knowing what is an appropriate touch and when and when it's better to ask or be a little more cautious about when/how they're touching soleil

(which i think is p natural in an involved relationship? like, of any kind - learning over time where the unspoken boundaries are and checking in when the situation is a bit off)

"And mark anything you think Ness would be interested in trying as well.” It might be manipulative but that finally gets him to perk up and he takes the phone quietly from her hands.

Ah, I didn't realize I was mirroring what Ray pointed out last Sick Days chapter @ distracting one of them with mention of/doing something for the other but that Is just a thing they both do so it makes sense that it would come up organically, i'm just dshkfjhds that I didn't clock how close together those scenes were

I just ADORE athena she's so <333 like some of the "come in. get shit done." is a result of being really hard on herself and some other Things but her seeing the state of things and going

okay we are bringing in outside help by a) ordering food in b) contacting these professionals

immediately distracting soleil with a task so that he feels useful and can't wake up and immediately spiral

getting everybody on the same page + making sure they ALL talk to each other

is <3333 like i certainly wouldn't call cyrill or ray incompetent At All but competency go brrr (this being said, ofc she is not immune from making mistakes etc etc and the others show off their competency at other times. adjksadh i think also bc i haven't seen her in a few chapters i'm like HIIIIIIIIIIII, i forgot how much i love u 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘)

After a few minutes, Cyrill shifts beside her, wrapping his arms around her stomach and smooshing his cheek up against her thigh. She takes her other hand and rests it on his shoulder, rubbing circles with her thumb. He nestles closer.

I just like the image :)

Shout out to Dr. Amelia <3 Just casually and professionally going through Soleil's worries about Ness bc that'll help him mentally and then re-orienting in order to remind him to take care of himself.

I actually did write the video call scene but it made me sad and I was like, i think they are having enough angst as it is and I don't want to draw this out too much longer (Ness was Not happy w/ soleil on the other side of the screen which is what led to what they say in ch 23)

Athena getting more formal when stressed my beloved. who uses semi colons in a text i'm crying

“They might be busy right now,” he says softly. Athena clicks her teeth at him and he winces and tries again.

Cyrill trends towards white lying if he thinks it might hurt less while Athena trends towards open and honest communication even if it might be more hurtful in the moment

I get >> Soleil and Cyrill's names mixed-up when typing more than I would like adgkashkd. It doesn't happen Often but every time i catch it i'm like >> (this usually happens if I name one of them earlier in a sentence or am planning on mentioning them later in the sentence/scene my brain will catch on or anticipate that name)

“I think I might sleep some more, like Dr. Amelia said,” he says, as if he has to give a reason for wanting to rest.

Just. I think it flies under Cyrill's radar here that this is literally Exactly why athena called amelia. they can tell soleil to rest as much as they want, he's still going to be anxious about it and feel like he's taking up space and not being useful enough etc etc, but if /Doctor/ Amelia has said that rest is Important, he can use that as a bit of a prop to actually Do So. It's not just about being reassured for Ness's sake but getting the Professional opinion of someone that the others also obviously defer to.

Then she turns to Soleil and asks him how he’s feeling and Soleil still can’t really avoid a direct question.

I'm still just <333 @ Athena. I think it's fun how she tends to be the Most direct when she decides to do smth about something and is the least hesitant to be "underhanded" or manipulative about her methods

It does sound appealing, to let Athena speak for him [in therapy]

just wanted to note that this is NOT what athena is offering lol but soleil is like ":0000 letting someone else speak for me again sounds nice,,,, take the agency away from me i don't want it, it's scary and i trust u and u will stop fucking things up bc i feel fucked up and it's easier to just do what i'm told (even if it's not Nicer, but i think you would make it Nicer than it used to be)" etc etc

I was so unhappy with the pacing of this ch for a minute bc i didn't want to spend ANOTHER day in cyrill's room and then clocked. this is my fantastical story with a made up organization that employs its own psychotherapists/psychiatrists, ofc penny would be on call. and so :) therapy session on sunday, saving me from having to write sunday afternoon-evening of just waiting for penny

goes insane bc i wrote this when i introduced penny into chapter 23 but then i kept writing more and just now decided to split it up so. another chapter in cyrill's room but i don't think another in-fic day, help. I wanna trim things sometimes and i DO trim things sometimes but............i am just too hooked on showing the minutiae of these convos and interactions

goes further insane bc i see that chapter 22 is back to cyrill's nest like WOW THE TIMING IS NOT TIMING. i feel like this arc has been going on FOREVER because i've been working on it for genuinely a year atp but really it's only been like, 5 chapters. shoutout to the people reading along as i post and have been with me on this arc since like. may.

[spoiledlbleach]

russian cyrillic alphabet for anyone who asked! it's gonna be hell of a ride but that's what you asked for kekw

So the cyrillic alphabet was based on the greek alphabet just like the latin alphabet and therefore theres a lot of greek letters in russian

disclaimer for reading rules (you can skip this part)

i need to mention that the russian letters denote sounds but in russian theres such a phonetical phenomenon called reduction and you can hear this as a part of russian accent in english when bed sound like bet, fog like foc, sob like sop etc (b, d, g & others at the end -> p, t, k). Also o, a, e vowels are pronounced differently in different parts of the word... And sadly for russian learners the stress on the words is flexible and changes bc of different reasons. And theres no way you can see stress marks on the words except if youre looking at them in the dictionary.. yeah. So if the pronunciation doesnt make sense thats why

There are 33 letters in russian alphabet. P.s. ['] means its a soft, palatalized sound, like british l in a word village

Аа - basic, its the 'ah' sound (Алфавит [ahl-fah-v'EEt] -> alphabet)

Бб - the capital letter looks like B without the head and the lowercase one looks like 6 for some. You were right when you thought that it looks like B because its the 'b' sound! (Буква [bOOk-va] -> letter, краб [crahp, no not crap] -> crab)

Вв - looks like B, right? that's a v. Imagine it like this emoji :B this silly lil guy looks like theyre saying vvvvv. (Вишня [v'EEsh-n'ya] -> cherry)

Гг - upside down L, its actually g, like a Бумеранг [boo-m'ee-rAHnk] -> boomerang. Another example, Гость [gohst']

Дд - that's a weird looking one, looks like a house and its Дом [dohm, not dom] in russian. Another example, друг [drook] -> друг

Ее - yeah. the pronunciation is yeah (Ель [yel'] -> spruce/christmas tree, деревня [d'ee-r'EHv- n'ya] -> village)

Ёё - the yeah brother! yo lmao (Ёж [yozh] -> hedgehog) its always stressed so no problems with that. btw if you ask me its the most hated letter. ppl dont put it where it should go and just leave e! wtf! its ё т-т)

Жж - looks like a bug and sounds like one. its zhhhh like in the word garage (Жук [zhook] -> bug, гараж [gah-rAHsh] -> garage, see the reduction there?)

Зз - ah yes the number 3. its the z sound actually (Змея [zm'ee-YA] -> snake, образ [OH-brahs] -> look, image, outfit)

Ии - backwords N is actually a vowel, its our ee sound! (Игра [EEg-rah] -> game)

Йй - и brother, the short и. its y- (Йогурт [yOH-gurt])

Кк - straight up k, always and ever, no example cuz its the same in every position and pretty straightforward

Лл - um... its an L.. idk how you should remember that... (Люстра [l'YOO-strah] -> chandelier]

Мм - an M (Медведь [m'eet-v'EHt'] -> bear)

Нн - you cannot laugh like that in russian, it would be not hahaha but nanana (Банан [bah-nAHn] -> banana]

Оо - oh (Облако [OH-blah-koh] -> cloud)

Пп - p sound (Папа [pAH-pah] -> papa, dad)

Рр - thats not p, its r (Русский алфавит [rOOsk'iy AHl-fah-v'eet] -> russian alphabet]

Сс - not c but s (Собака [cah-bAH-kah] -> dog)

Тт - T

Уу - not y but more like u/oo (Уже [oo-zhEH] -> already)

Фф - impaled o, almost like Q, yet it is ph/f (Фит [f'eet] = Fit)

Хх - never an x, its a h! xaxaxaxa

Цц - upside down п with a tail? erm alright its a ts (Цирк [tsyrk] -> circus)

Чч - upside down h, ch! (Что [shtoh] -> what, more like an exception; Человек [ch'eh-loh-v'EHk] -> person, human being, also чел is the way we say dude, also чувак [ch'oo-vAHk])

Шш - шшш quiet its a sh (Душ [doosh] -> shower]

Щщ - soft sh, sometimes transliterated as tsch or shch. jesus christ (Щека [sh'ee-kAH] -> cheek)

Ъъ - you cant pronounce that. its the glottal stop so you pronounce some sounds separately. like british water you would spell it with ъ in theory, waъer (Съел [s-yel] -> he have eaten; if there wasnt a ъ it would be pronounced [s'ehl] which mean he has sat down. different meaning)

Ыы - okay thats a tricky one. make this face 😬 and now make a sound. thats ы, ive marked it as y in the square brackets (Мы [my] -> we, us)

Ьь - cant pronounce that too. this one denotes the softness of the consonant sound

Ээ - ay without the y (=Эй)

Юю - you (Юбка [YOObkah] -> skirt)

Яя - ya, not backwards R (Яблоко [YAH-blah-koh] -> apple, Pommie ^_^)

Now try to write down your name or the name of a cc/npc/egg/other in russian ! you can leave them in the comments or in my ask box, id love to see you learning :D

some tips on transliterating:

ENGLISH w is generally у, can be в. q is к (qu is кв), j/g is дж, x is кс, h is г in the begging of the names/foreigh words like hannibal is ганнибал

SPANISH ñ is нь, pls google other cases

PORTUGUESE nh is нь, lh is ль, pls google other cases

general advice try transliterating like Fit -> Фит, so every letter/cluster of letters in the original language correlates with similar letter in russian. but in french portuguese and spanish you have to pay close attention to pronunciation, more than to the spelling cuz Ricardo will be Рикардо for spanish but Рикарду for portuguese etc etc

ok i hope you had fun with this long ass post ! ^_^

[llycaons]

only 20 chapters left....good bc I need to know what's going on w the spoilers I saw.

ch 63 - 66

priest saying it's good we aren't killing the witches vs. dante who is literally in love with one of them and still tried to kill him immediately at their last meeting. hmm

priest talking back...

he's so funny. oh that's gayboy innit

aww. they're besties

kind of neat-looking

like genuinely verge seems to care about his comrades and want to look after them

NOOO NOT THE SIDE GAY COUPLE

verge having the non-combatants sent to safety, cyril being killed trying to save erskine, this witch huddled in the corner in terror....the series has presented the church as oppressive before, but flipping the perspective entirely and depicting the priests like the boy and barbara as terrifying, unreasonable powerhouses that invaded their place and started tearing them apart does even more in presenting the antagonists as sympathetic. this isn't a demon lord like the leviathan, who will return to gehenna and rematerialize. these are people. it's more than I had expected, and it makes me really interested to see where things go next, narratively, with the witches and with verge

ohh!!!

his eye looks cool but I can't get over how he looks so cartoony

ohh?

OHHH???

OOHHH?????

HEHE

oh fuck yeah a black cat and a floating skull?

SICK. I love when manga incorporates world mythology its so cool

ohhhhh

oh....she's a third party?

what is his problem

I'm trying to figure out if his borderline victim-blaming has anything to do with him being sloth or it he's just a misogynist who hates her specifically. it's not like priest is entirely right but this is going really far. maybe like...the laziness in reneging responsibility for your actions?

a dampening of curiosity, too. let's just have fun, don;t worry about any of that. a deeply self-centered perspective that's appealing to the priest bc it's so deeply at odds with what his daily life is like

TACHIBANA....pulling out the big guns I see