#ffs i'm old

[parsley-sage-rosemary-n-thyme]

April 3, 1968 • Bookends

On this special occasion, the birthday of this beauty of an album, I'm not only thinking about how great it is. I’m also thinking about my Grandma, and I’ll tell you why via an episode that has stayed with me all this time.

I came to know S&G via my Daddy's audiocassette of Central Park playing in my parents’ car. They knocked me head over feet immediately and I wanted to listen to everything they ever recorded - but we’re talking Italy around 1999/2000, before the internet really was a thing. You had to buy CDs or cassettes, and if you didn’t like ‘em, then what? Lots of money thrown away, so it was basically not gonna happen.

Luckily for me, my Uncle had all the studio albums on vinyl! So I often visited to religiously listen to them on repeat, a goofy 12 yo trying not to scratch them and stuff. I had no idea what the songs were about, I was just starting to learn English, but I was in awe. Those voices! Those sounds!

And the covers of the albums, how unusual they were to my eyes! Not in a bad way, mind you, but so different from what I was used to - I was familiar with Queen, with the Beatles, with lots of other international artists and their pictures, but S&G’s just had their own kind of flavor, if you know what I mean. There were two people and not a whole group, nor a single artist, for a start. They looked so young, so bonded… I didn’t know a thing, I had no idea who they were, but those album covers spoke to me. 

The music told me all I needed to know, really. I tried to follow the lyrics on the back of the albums that had them, but of course I barely understood them - too young to get the whole meaning, but I didn’t mind, because I got the vibes.

So anyway there I was, marveling at the beauty of the harmonies and music and curious about who created such a magic. My Granny walked in one day and something upon these lines happened:

"Who are they? What is it they're singing?" 

"I have no idea Granny - they're American though, from NYC!"

"Oh yeah? What are they like?”

I picked the albums and we started looking at Bookends because you know, it’s the one where you can see their faces better.

“Do you remember seeing them on TV some time, Granny?”

“Not at all.” She paused to listen, I guess Wednesday Morning was on and Go, Tell It on the Mountain was playing. “They sound meh. But they're very handsome."

"I think they sound great and look meh, Granny."

"Hm. Lemme hear something else.” I have no memory of what I chose, but whatever it was, it won her over. “Well, shame they sing in such a strange language, I can’t understand a word. But you're right, they do sound nice. And you'll appreciate the rest when you grow up.”

And I do believe quite a lot of my problems started that day, lol. Anyway, it’s some sweet memory I felt like sharing. Happy Bookends birthday, my fellow S&G lovers!

By the way, I later discovered my Granny knew both The Sound Of Silence and Mrs Robinson because they were both sang in Italian by Italian artists in the 60s. SOS was turned into a love song, Mrs Robinson kinda maintained a pale bit of the original meaning. Anyway, Granny didn’t care about the lyrics, she was hooked by the music. I particularly remember when she heard S&G’s Mrs Robinson: she looked at me with such happiness in her eyes and agreed that it sounded just great - though she was still annoyed at the language, “Why two handsome boys with such handsome voices must sing in such an unintelligible language!”

[eriyu]

oops!!!!!!!! accidentally caught the script up to msq!!!!

i honestly did not think this was going to be possible with the amount of time left after i finished 6.0, but here we are!!!!!!!

the entire msq, at your fingertips!!!!!!!!!

please know that i will NOT be doing dawntrail's MSQ immediately after it drops though. i want to enjoy playing through for the first time without making it into a job. i hope to get to it before TOO too long, though 💖

[genericpuff]

y'all have no clue how wild it is to live in my timeline, because 12 years ago i was a huge fan of these cute lil' zelda strips and at the time i found out through the grapevine that the creator apparently stopped making these comics because they had started drawing NSFW content-

and at the time i was like "oh ok that's wild but respect"

and now in the present the artist who's making the OMORI manga adaption is under fire for being a shota fetishist and it's putting the spotlight back on the OMORI creator themselves for ALSO being a shota fetishist and oh my god the omocat who made those zelda comics over a decade ago is the same omocat who went on to make OMORI holy shit-

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 43

PREV

FF is a pretty good student. Solid Bs in his Gen-eds and As in regard to his major. With one C+ that he’s still working on with Captain Neil but it’s higher than the D+ that he had been pulling before Captain Neil had started to tutor him and he really just needs to pass the one gen-ed required math class.

There was many a deep breathing exercise before he made an appointment with his educational advisor for the next semester back in October but it hadn’t been that bad even though she was the one that had asked if he knew anyone good at math since it obviously was not a strong suit of his. So he dragged his grade up from a D+ to a C+ and he was pretty proud of that.

FF has a preferred spot in each and every one of his classrooms. In his Gen-Ed courses he sits in spots that the Professors don’t even notice and where there is almost always a gap between him and the next person. He arrives perfectly almost late every single day for every single class he can to achieve this feat.

For his Major classes he sits near the front with the few Foreign Language major friends that he has.

FF likes to be prepared. Studying was a nice way to prepare for the future. If he’s already read the entire textbook front to back and taken notes then a pop quiz can’t catch him off guard. He double, triple, and quadruple checks homework. He could probably recite the syllabus for any of his classes off the top of his head. He has read it so much to make sure he’s gotten everything and is on track.

FF kind of likes finals week.

For once, for one week, everyone is as anxious as him.

He sits next to Nicky patting his back as his friend sobs into a pillow. “I’m not going to graduate and it’s going to delay seeing Erik by an entire year!” Nicky yells as he brings his face out of the pillow.

“Nicky, you only got one flashcard wrong how about you shut the fuck up!” Aaron yells from his desk where he seems to have spontaneously developed ambidextrousness as he writes notes with both hands. “Fuck I am NEVER fitting all of this one one index card.” Aaron slams his face into the table.

“I don’t even need this degree.” Matt says looking down at a textbook that he has not turned a page on for the last hour. The fact that Matt had also not even opened that textbook before now was a bit of a cause for concern. “I’ve already got offers for professional teams. I can just play Exy. I do not need to pass a workplace psychology course.” Matt says.

“You think Dan wants an idiot?!” Nicky demands not wanting to go down alone.

“She thinks it’s cute that I’m stupid!” Matt exclaims.

“No she doesn’t!” Aaron points at him, “She said and I quote ‘I love it when you use that big ol sexy brain of yours.’ the last time you had her on speaker phone!” he uses a slightly more…effeminate voice when he impersonates Dan but FF had spoken with Dan and to his memory she did not sound like that.

“Fuck you’re right she deserves an all rounder!” Matt cries, head in his hands.

“Why do I even have to TAKE this Gen-Ed about history?” Nicky demands now holding onto FF as if he were a teddy bear.

“So that we’re well-rounded individuals with a wider perspective on-”

“Smithy, my sweet child, I was not looking for an answer.” he feels Nicky’s hand come up to his hair and maybe he’s being treated more like a favored pet?

“You’re having trouble with a Gen-Ed?!” Aaron asks turning around in his seat, “That’s embarrassing.” he turns his nose up.

“I’m having trouble with something that is going to be useless in my adult life.” Nicky says as if he were not currently an adult. “You are having issues with a class that will have huge ramifications on your future if you don’t manage to learn it!” Nicky points out.

“Eat my shorts Nicky.” Aaron hisses.

“Maybe I could study if you would wash your shorts Aaron. I can smell your laundry pile from over here!” Matt spits.

The fight devolved from there and FF slipped out of the dorm as Nicky was holding a chair over his head to seemingly throw at Matt for his ‘unreasonable number of sticky notes messing up the flow of Nicky’s studying’.

He heard a crash.

“It’s probably fine.” he says to himself and he has his index cards with the speech he has to give for and he really should go over to talk with Captain Neil.

He walks to Captain Neil, Andrew, and Kevin’s door and- “There faster-!”

FF walks away from Captain Neil, Andrew, and Kevin’s door, remembering only in this moment that Kevin had declared that he would be “Living in the library until this paper is done or I am.” to the team at the last practice of the year.

Captain Neil and Andrew were never the type to waste an empty dorm room.

He misses Pepto Bismol as he hears a particularly dirty line of Russian coming from his Captain’s dorm room.

***

Eventually Finals week is done and dusted with only 4-5 more blow-ups in his dorm room that result in Nicky, Aaron, and Matt stopping their fight to see if they accidentally had knocked him out with all of the thrown debris (only happened once when Aaron threw a textbook that Nicky ducked but he didn’t.)

FF came out of his final…final feeling pretty good all around. He had managed to get some extra tutoring time with Captain Neil after Kevin managed to finish his history paper a little early. Despite all of their fears and complaints Aaron, Nicky, and Matt all did manage to pass all of their finals and their classes.

The Tower was closing tomorrow for the rest of the year and despite checking almost every day with Nicky he still was invited to go to New York City with most of the team to stay at Allison’s house.

“Smithy, did you pack a swimsuit?” Nicky asks.

“Nicky, we’re going to New York for Christmas break. Do you think we’re going to swim?” Aaron asks incredulously.

“Two words, my fetus of a cousin: Hot. Tub.” Nicky holds his hand up and putting one finger up and then another. “Is hot tub two words?” Matt asks as he reaches for his own swim trunks.

“Yes Matt hot tub is two words.” FF says nodding.

“Thank you Smithster.” Matt says.

“I can’t believe you don’t know that hot tub is two words.” Aaron says with a huff.

“I can’t believe that you don’t know how to not be an asshole even after you started getting regular sex with Katelyn.” Matt returns, “Look at how not a thing that was when Smithster answered it.” he gestures to FF.

“You cannot compare Smithy to Aaron. Apples and Tomatoes.” Nicky dismisses.

“Whatever, so Allison got a hot tub at her place?” Aaron moves past the conversation.

“Aaron you just made fun of Matt for asking stupid questions.” Nicky says with a hand on his cheek.

“I fucking hate being part of your family.” Aaron says without any real heat.

“Yeah sure.” Nicky says, rolling his eyes and smiling as he saw Aaron packing swim trunks that FF knew he had bought for his cousin.

“Okay, I’ve got the packing list that Allison sent. Do we wanna run through it so that we’re all properly packed?” Matt says holding up his phone.

“Yeah, let’s run through it.” Nicky says with a sigh.

They went through Allison’s provided list twice and then zipped up their suitcases. Smith was going to be driving to the airport with Matt. Neil and Andrew were going to be driving the Maserati up alone while the rest of them were going to be flying up to New York City.

Now onto something that filled FF with far more dread than simply passing tests that determined whether or not he continued to get a free ride in college.

Meeting new people.

NEXT >>

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

[xotis360]

Let it be known I have now drawn shirtless men on my Tumblr page, be afraid.

—

May I just state, yes they are both older in this au don’t even start. 🔫

[justabooknerdposts]

hey, could you make one of estelle finding out that percy and annabeth are demigods? thank u so much i love your works <3

*Okay, I kind of struggled with this one because I don’t feel like they’d hide it from her.  I feel like it would be one of those things she’s always known.  So, after a lot of thinking, I finally came up with this.  Hope you enjoy!* Also, reminder, still closed to prompts, just catching up on a few old ones I hadn't gotten to yet.*

Demigods

It happened during spring break of his freshman year of college.  Percy had come home to New York, catching a ride with Hazel on Arion, since she was visiting Camp Half-Blood as part of the two camps’ exchange program.  Hazel was going to be spending a week at the Greek camp and Malcolm Pace was going to be at Camp Jupiter for a week.  Annabeth had stayed in New Rome to work on a project for one of her architecture classes and to hang out with her demigod brother, who she hadn’t seen in a while.  Percy had to admit he could understand the appeal, since the main reason he’d wanted to go to New York for a week was to hang out with Estelle.

His one-year-old sister was thrilled to see him.  She squealed, patted his face, grabbed his nose, tugged on his ears and hair, and slobbered all over his cheeks and chin in an attempt to give him kisses.  Basically, it was an awesome greeting.

The next day, he volunteered to take Estelle to a nearby park, to give his mom and Paul a break.  The first part was fun.  He pushed Estelle on the swing, grinning back at her when she gave him a drooly, three-toothed smile, her chubby legs kicking excitedly.  Then he sat her on his lap to go down the slide.  Estelle squealed so loudly that at first he was afraid she was scared, but then he realized she was laughing. 

So they went down the slide about seven more times.

Everything was going well.  Percy was having a great day with his baby sister.  Even the weather was cooperating; it was a sunny, warm, early spring day, the trees just starting to be touched by green.

And then, as they turned the corner a few blocks from their apartment, Percy pushing Estelle in her stroller, he froze.

Skulking in an alleyway, flexing their muscles, were two Laistrygonian ogres.  For one moment, Percy thought maybe he could slowly back away unseen.

And then their eyes fell on him.  One glared, one grinned, and both pushed away from the alley wall and started moving towards him.

Percy cursed in his head, even as he reached for Riptide and, in the same move, stepped in front of Estelle in her stroller.

“Hey, guys,” Percy said, trying to keep his voice casual even as he palmed Riptide, still in pen form.  “How’s it going?”

“Better now, Perseus Jackson,” one of the Laistrygonians rumbled.  “Babycakes and I have been hoping you would reappear.”

Percy cursed out loud this time as he realized it was one of the ogres who had attacked him years ago during gym class.  And, apparently, the monster’s girlfriend, who was still glaring at Percy.

“Do you know how annoying it was to have to wait for Joe Bob to reform?” Babycakes crossed her meaty arms, which were tattooed as thoroughly as her boyfriend’s.

“Probably really annoying,” Percy agreed.  “Sorry about that.  Anyway, great to see you all again, I’ll just be on my way—”

“I don’t think so, Perseus Jackson.”  Joe Bob grinned, showing his crooked, stained teeth.  “We were just trying to decide what to do for lunch.  And then here you are.”

“And you brought a baby,” Babycakes cooed.  “I love babies.”

Percy’s skin crawled.  His own voice came out like a growl.  “No one touches my sister.”

The Laistrygonians laughed and prepared to charge.  They never got the chance.  The moment they threatened Estelle, rage rose like a red hot wave in Percy’s chest.  With a metallic shink, Riptide appeared in his hands.  He leapt forward and, in two swift swipes, he dispatched the giants.  They barely had time to look surprised before bursting into piles of monster dust.

“Enjoy Tartarus,” Percy muttered.  It wasn’t something he’d normally say, after having been there himself, but he didn’t have any sympathy for monsters that threatened his sister.

Behind him, Estelle gurgled.  Percy turned to look at her, Riptide still in his hands.  Estelle was smiling and drooling as she chewed on her hand.  When she saw him looking at her, she squealed happily and held out her arms.  Percy scanned the street, but when he didn’t see any additional threats, he capped his sword, slipped the pen back in his pocket, and reached down to unbuckle Estelle from her stroller.  His hands were shaking when he picked her up.  She didn’t seem to notice.  Instead, she babbled and patted his face.  Percy managed a smile.  “Come on, Estelle.  Let’s get home before we run into any other problems.”

His mom and Paul were still out when Percy and Estelle got home.  His little sister started to whine as soon as they got in the door, so after Percy had shut, and locked, it, he bounced her on his hip, which she usually liked.  But Estelle wasn’t having it right now.  So Percy changed his hold until he was cradling her against his shoulder.  Estelle nuzzled her face against his shoulder and one small hand gripped his shirt as she continued to whine.  Percy patted her back, then, cuddling her against his chest, headed to the kitchen to make her a bottle.

After she fell asleep while drinking her bottle, Percy stayed on the couch, just holding her for a while.  Even though he’d dispatched the monsters easily enough, the fact remained that, just for a minute, his baby sister, his fully mortal baby sister, had been in danger.  Because of him.  And that wasn’t a good feeling.

Finally, Percy stood up, Estelle fast asleep in his arms, and carried her to her crib.  Giving her a featherlight kiss on the forehead, he laid her down and tucked her in.  Then he headed across the hall to the bathroom and closed the door.  Sitting on the edge of the tub, he turned on the shower and used his powers to arc the water, letting it catch the rays of late afternoon sunlight coming through the window, creating a rainbow.  Tossing in a drachma, he said, “Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering.  Show me Annabeth Chase at New Rome University.” 

The rainbow shimmered.  A few moments later, Annabeth appeared.  Luckily, she was alone, sitting at her desk in her dorm room, absorbed in sketching.  The sunlight coming through the window made her blonde hair glow.  Percy watched her for a moment, already feeling a little better.  But finally, when she didn’t look up, he said, “Hey.”

Annabeth jumped.  When she saw him, though, an easy smile crossed her face.  “Hey, Seaweed Brain.”  The smile faded, though, as she studied his face.  “What’s wrong?”

“Had a little bit of a run-in with some Laistrygonians.”  He told Annabeth about what had happened, how he’d been on his way back from the park with Estelle, how the monsters had surprised him, how he’d dispatched them with no problem, but how he couldn’t get rid of the sick feeling in his stomach quite as easily.

“I just—” Percy ran a shaky hand over his face and through his hair, “I just can’t get past the fact that Estelle was in danger because she was with me.”

Annabeth tilted her head, as if thinking.  Her gray eyes were intense as she’d listened to his story, but now they softened as she said, “I have a slightly different take on it.  I’d say Estelle was never really in danger because she was with you.”

Percy shook his head.  “That sounds good, but it’s not true.  If they’d gotten the jump on me or something—”

“Percy.”  Annabeth’s voice was a little more stern.  She leaned forward on her desk, closer to the I-M.  “You once blew up a volcano.  Not to mention lots of plumbing over the years.  You don’t think you could blow up a New York City water main to wipe out some monsters if Estelle was in danger?”

Percy took a leaf out of her book and rolled his eyes.  “Well, yeah, probably, but that’s not—”

“That’s exactly the point, Seaweed Brain.”  Annabeth’s expression was earnest as she locked eyes with him.  “I’m not letting you beat yourself up about this one.  Could something potentially happen to Estelle that would be absolutely out of your control?  Yes, possibly.  But would you do literally everything in your power to keep her safe?  Absolutely.  And you have a lot of power to call on, Percy.  More than you even recognize sometimes.  Your little sister is as safe with you as she’s going to be with anybody.  Trust me.  I know you.”

Percy blinked hard and cleared his throat.  “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”  He managed a smile at his girlfriend.  “I believe you.”

“Good.”  Annabeth returned his smile.  “I am sorry that happened, though.  It sounds like a scary moment.”

“It did scare me,” Percy admitted, running his hand through his hair again.  He exhaled.  “Just more to lose, you know?”

“I know.”  Annabeth raised her hand, just barely touching the Iris-message, so that it looked like her fingers were melting into the rainbow.  Percy raised his hand to hers and it almost seemed like their palms were touching, even three thousand miles apart.

Naturally, Estelle chose that moment to start fussing from her crib across the hall. 

“Uh-oh,” Percy said.  “That might be my cue.”

“Give her a kiss for me.  I love you.”  Annabeth blew him a kiss.  “Enjoy your visit, babe.  It’s going to be okay.”

“Thanks, Wise Girl.  Love you, too.”

Percy did feel better, even as he swiped through the I-M and Annabeth’s image faded.  He turned off the shower, then headed across the hall to Estelle’s room.  She was standing up in her crib, hair nap-mussed, whining around her pacifier.  But when she saw him, her entire tiny face lit up and her pacifier nearly fell out as she smiled.  Percy felt a pang in his chest, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. 

“Hey, Estelle,” he said as he crossed the room to scoop her up.  “Good nap?”

She burbled happily to him and Percy couldn’t help grinning.

He kissed one of her chubby cheeks.  “That one’s from Annabeth.”  Then he kissed the other.  “And that’s from me.  I love you, Estelle.  And I’m always going to protect you.  Don’t worry about that.”

His baby sister tugged on his ear and squealed.  Percy figured she got the message. 

“Let’s check out the kitchen,” he told her.  “I think there’s a jar of mashed carrots with your name on it.”

He kissed the top of her head as he carried her down the hall.  Annabeth was right, he couldn’t totally control every situation.  But he would always do everything in his power to keep his little sister safe.

[cakesandfail]

Me: yeah sometimes I'll use phrases like 'the tism', if you don't laugh you'll probably cry right?

Rando: you're infantilising yourself, people with serious illnesses don't behave like this

Me: actually I do have a serious illness and I'm just as flippant and silly about that as I am about being autistic

Rando: you're moving the goalposts!

Girl what are you doing. Disagreeing with you based on my lived experience and watching you get mad about it isn't me moving the goalposts. Also why the fuck are you so upset about a grown woman halfway across the world, who you've never met, having a sense of humour about her own life? Yikes.

[athena5898]

Given the nature of my blog at this point, i tend to shy away from posting about media stuff. Buuuuut I think there are a lot of younger people experience this slightly "political" dude bro phenomenon so I kind of want to walk them through it. So Dawntrail the most recent ff14 expansion. Is actually pretty good. Now if you listen to some aspect of the community you are going to get some other........."perspectives" on that. Dawntrail is flawed, of course it is. This is the expansion that would have been in development during mid to post 2020 AND it's the expansion that needed to come around after Enwalker to build up the new story. Endwalker that spent YEARS building up to a climatic finish. What does this have to do with the first paragraph? Well, I'll tell you.

Dawntrail focuses on the story of a coming of age of a nontraditionally feminine woman lead Wuk Lamat (who is voiced by a trans voice actor) and we, the heroes of the world, are now going to help and take a back seat to this person. Who she and the entire expansion is based on Indigenous people from various parts of "America" so you know, they should be front a center and our out-of-town asses *should* take a seat in the back (some of you will read this and immediately go "oh that's why it's getting extra hate") If you do not know and was lucky enough to not be a woman or non cis het white male in the 90s trying to play video games or enjoy nerd culture....All of what I just stated is a big problem. Dude bros as I like to call them, (aka someone who you will always be curious if they were or would be part of Gamer Gate. Also please note a dude bro doesn't have to be a man...trust me on that) hate this kind of shit. They naturally feel threatened when the media's focus is not about them. So what do they do? They take legitimate criticism of something and BLOW IT THE FUCK UP. Suddenly that thing that was kinda annoying, is now just the fucking worst. A story beat drags on a little long? Worst media ever. A character has a minor plot hole? Worst media ever. dialogue a little blah at one point? Worst media ever. etc etc etc These are the same kinda people mind you who will write a 8 page essay how (insert average mid action movie here) is the most amazing masterpiece of a film. (which I don't really care about, but it shows that these people are not exactly the most objective purveyors of media arts as they like to claim to be when it's suddenly about their misogyny and white supremacy) I'm bringing this up cause I'll notice some well meaning people being confused saving things "well...I kinda get *this* part of the criticism but...not this other stuff. Why is it a big deal" or some version of this. They don't actually care that much, they just care that an Indegenous GNC cat woman is getting more screen time then their precious gods gift to Eorza WoL. If they had made this expansion about a white guy or our WoL and it wouldn't of gotten nearly the same level of backlash. People will disagree with me, but I'm sorry this is just a fact. And because this is the reading comprehension website, no it's not bad to dislike Dawntrail. No it isn't bad to think a character is annoying. But the patterns are there and the chances of this JUST being about the real issues is just fucking zero. You dont' spend that much time complaining about ONE character as the focus if it isn't about the bullshit dude bro gamer pride. Honestly given how fucking gay this game is I have no idea how these people play this game without burning up like a vampire touching sunlight ALSO...I'm a ex wow player who played that game for the story (I was 14, give me a break) from BC all the way up to 7.2. So I kinda know what i'm talking about when it comes to toxic dipshit gamer behavior *looks back at that last paragraph* god that's so fucking sad. Oh fun fact, according to Wuk Lamat's voice actor Sena Bryer, all voice acting for the new area in Dawntrail was given to Latino/Indigenous voice actors for every single character. (from this area of course) *edit* lol yeah anyone saying i'm wrong is just a fucking grifter or liar. Found this while looking something else up. You know it's bad when the god damn director has to step in and say "yo you little assholes cut it out" https://www.pcgamesn.com/final-fantasy-xiv-a-realm-reborn/naoki-yoshida-wuk-lamat

[rei-is-hiding]

reno & tseng for art trade i did with the very lovely @demonmilk💕

[blood-orange-juice]

ok so ive never properly played genshin and don’t plan to but i know a bit about it’s lore and characters and i think it’s really neat. however i have thousands of hours on ffxiv. on that note please explain why graha and childe are similar. i only have very basic knowledge on childe and i gotta know

Fellow ffxiv enjoyer. <3

(anyone asking me about G'raha has a 100% chance of getting a wall of text and I'm not apologising for that. enjoy your wall of text)

I'm not entirely sure I'm not a case of a person with a hammer to whom everything resembles a nail, but I do think they are the same archetype.

Sweet characters who could have been perfect sidekicks (who still are perfect sidekicks) but listened to too many epic tales as kids and found themselves in a wrong place at a wrong time and now have to play a key role in some universe-changing story.

Both are defined mostly by their stubborness, they are not very suitable for the roles they've chosen and fail over and over again until they do it somewhat right (barely).

No matter how badass they look, their power is not their own, G'raha is a glorified technician of someone else's miracle and little else than a living key, Childe wields an art of old Khaenri'ah without fully understanding it. It's all borrowed from someone else who needed them to achieve a goal.

They do look badass, but mostly because they larp. I'm honestly not sure which one enjoys theatrics more.

Civilisations that created the magic they use specialised in perversion of the natural order of things. They try to use it in relatively noble ways and mostly hurt themselves but the flavour is there.

Both are unbelievably tragic and both somehow make their stories seem almost lighthearted. Complete absense of self-pity. I think that's what makes them both so charming, it's a rare trait.

Both have an incredible capacity for loyalty and love and an incredibly twisted view of what relationships look like. "I'll cross time and space for you, I'll die for you, I'll build a city for you, I'll live for you but please don't ask me to share my plans." "I'll sacrfice my own health and respect of my subordinates to keep my brother's happyness, probably my humanity too, but don't expect me to actually interact with him."

Both have something that looks like self-sacrificial tendencies bordering on suicidality while being, if we are honest, a self-serving trait (partially born out of low self-esteem but still self-serving). They want to live in an old myth and sacrificing oneself is a perfectly reasonable price for that.

Huge egos. And I mean Huge Egos. It's a bit less obvious in Graha's case but I know the type, you see guys like that in PhD programs a lot.

Huge dorks. Both of them.

Both are stuck somewhere between human and non-human and, hmm... their ability to remain human is the most astonishing quality of both. By all accounts, neither should have. They somehow did.

Both are incapable of lying to the point where a third of each fandom headcanons them as autistic. Both are somewhat all right with tricking people without technically lying (although Childe had more practice).

Both are secretive because no one would understand anyway.

FF XIV is a kinder story, so it's easy to overlook, but technically G'raha is a case of body horror, accepts the role of a villain for a while and hides from the player way too much. Hmmm... Where else have I seen it. Hmm. Oh right. That ginger guy from Genshin.

Minor things:

Both are little shits and enjoy annoying the hell out of people they dislike.

Abysmally bad fashion sense. There should be a name for this particular type and level of bad. I don't think I've seen this anywhere else.

And then there's the colour scheme. Red+black+white+blue and red+black+light grey+blue (it's an "anime magician" color profile, I think. black-red-white as alchemy colours + blue as pure magic/something elemental). Childe doesn't quite fit but still the combination is rare.

They way they talk. Dear gods. Who the hell talks like that.

Here's where the similarities end.

One is morally grey but ultimately a good guy (technically. I think the point of ShB was that Emet and G'raha are almost the same), another is a morally grey but still (kind of) a bad buy.

At every step of his story Graha is surrounded by people who love or at least appreciate him, Childe is pretty much on his own and surrounded by people who are either shitty or clueless.

G'raha is kind. Truly and astonishingly kind, in a doomed world he chooses to love everything he touches. Silly little priest of hope. Of all the things he has done this is the most wondrous, I think. Not the time travel, not the city he founded, just being able to remain kind after everything that happened to him.

Childe is... well, Childe. I think he is a deeply decent person (to the point of having a visceral distaste for any kind of unfairness) and he's idealistic but he's indifferent more than he is kind. Empathy usually develops only when someone has shown the person empathy first and, as far as we know, he didn't have much of that in his life.

Also G'raha builds things. Childe breaks things. Childe breaks pretty much everything he touches.

One is an archeologist and a mage and another is a warrior.

I think these differences are caused mostly by the settings they were put into. Childe raised in Sharlayan would have been a very different person. G'raha trained by a voidsent and shipped off to Garlean military would look very much like Childe.

G'raha also has a beautiful character development arc. I love his ShB role. He has this huge ego in the raids and is insufferable and then we see an older and wiser him with a bunch of actual achievements and a bad case of impostor syndrome (trying to do anything real always humbles a person, we all know that real world is held together by sticks and scotch tape. honestly, this change alone is beautiful). And he gets to be an actual hero when he abandons all hope to be Important and resigns to die as a nameless villain if it saves everyone and spares his loved ones from heartbreak.

Childe's character development is yet to happen and I'm not hoping for much but we'll see.

The only difference that definitely isn't created by setting is that G'raha is naturally manipulative. In a kind-hearted way and mostly for the sake of better larp but he isn't that straightforward. Childe is spectacularly blunt for all his mysteriousness.

As a bonus, they both compare main characters to stars, but in completely different ways.

"No doubt your heroism will be the star by which I chart my course," says G'raha to the WoL.

Childe mentions the morning star, which is, of course, pretty and a good companion to a lonely traveler, but also it's not a celestial body you can chart your course by.

It's a guy whose signature weapon is called "Polar Star" and his first artifact set was full of nautical themes, so I think he fully understands what he's saying. "You are my friend but I won't change anything in my life for you."

So I don't think his story will be anything like G'raha's, his life took a different turn very long ago. I do think they used to be similar as kids, bookish boys who dreamed of adventure and being special. So it's fun to compare.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. <3

[buckingham-ashtray]

When Alzheimer’s has eventually taken its hold, you can ask John what’s his name and he will not be able to remember even that, but he will smile and tell you “find Sherlock, he knows everything”.

Yes, but being that this is the only thing he can remember, in turn he has forgotten as well that Sherlock has long passed.

[maraune]

Jenmish is insane and no not in the way you think unless you have been in the trenches all this time as well - then yes exactly like that. *starts gripping hair in despair*

[potionwine]

Thinking about Margrace as Joshua's name post-Phoenix Gate.

Mar-grace.

In FFXVI the Undying choose their own names (Cyril explains this in-game), and many of them have names drawn from Final Fantasy XII, including their leader 'Margrace' himself, from Al-Cid Margrace. The page for Al-Cid notes that Margrace is likely an alternate form of the title 'margrave', an old title for military commanders on the border.

That aside. This is the name chosen (by the boy himself?) for the boy who should have rightfully been known henceforth as 'Your Grace', 'His Grace'.

Grace (style of address), from the Oxford English Dictionary:

With a possessive adjective: a title of respect, esp. for a person of royal or noble rank. Frequently (in 'your Grace') as a form of address. Now archaic or historical. Formerly (in England until the reign of Henry VIII and in Scotland until 1707) used for a monarch or prince; now replaced by Majesty or Highness. Even so, "Majesty" for the sovereign of England was not used exclusively; it arbitrarily alternated with both "Highness" and "Grace", even in official documents, until "Majesty" finally became the official style to the exclusion of others (source).

Grace (other meanings):

1. Divine favour, benevolence, or providence bringing about worldly benefit or advantage. 2. A person's lot, destiny, or fate; luck, fortune. 3. The quality of being pleasing; attractiveness, charm; esp. (in later use) refined elegance of manner, expression, form, or movement, esp. regarded as natural or effortless; gracefulness.

Whatever the etymology of margrave, the name Margrace in-game is probably meant to call to mind the meaning of 'mar' as in damaged, spoiled, ruined. All the grace that ever belonged to his family, his home, his birthright—marred, of course.

Mar+Grace, the last heir of the oldest unbroken ruling dynasty in the Twins at the time of the opening events of the game**.

The living ghost, carrying the desecrated corpse of his legacy in his new name. Introducing himself by his humiliation: "Hello, I am Margrace", "Hello, I am the ruined dignity of my house." "Call me Margrace", "Call me the wreckage of one fallen from divine favour." "My name is Margrace", "My name is blemished fortunes and diminished nobility".

It's appropriately brutal and dramatic for such a character, especially since the game is frustratingly silent on how Joshua personally feels about the loss of his duchy which is a rant for next time.

**Footnotes:

In the Year 860 (Prologue year/Phoenix Gate), Rosaria is about 260 years old (est. Y600). Older, if you count from the time of the Rose Alliance (est. Y550). The Rosfields have been on the Rosarian throne since the inception of the duchy in Y600, and prior to that House Rosfield was already known to be the chief of/the preeminent house of the Seven High Houses that united to found the duchy. House Rosfield has held ruling power for 260-310 years at a minimum.

For reference, England's longest-reigning dynasty was the Plantagenets, who held on for 300+ years. Rosfields aren't doing half bad!

Veldemarke would have been older had it not been overthrown by Barnabas; therefore Waloed is the youngest nation state at the time of the prologue (only 17 years old). Also we do not know much about the governance of Veldemarke, although as a 'kingdom' it was likely some type of monarchy.

Sanbreque was formed 100 years after Rosaria, and at any rate is not actually a hereditary monarchy. The Holy Emperor is voted into office by his fellow Cardinals, likely the five who form the Council of Elders. We are also explicitly told that Sylvestre 'won his throne' in 865; there is no indication either way that his predecessor emperor was a Lesage. The wording suggests the throne is not Sylvestre's by lineage or birthright. How this is supposed to relate to the concept of Sanbreque having a 'crown prince' (Dion) is unclear and contradictory, since an emperor by election should probably not have the authority to unilaterally decide on the succession of the throne, and his issue—legitimate or no—should not automatically be in the line of succession.

Dhalmekia is a republic with elected officials.

The Iron Kingdom apparently has a royal family, but nothing else is known apart from it being impotent and sidelined by their state religion.

The Northern Tribes likely do have hereditary rule, and Jill is referred to as a princess, but once again little is known.

Ergo—and I am ceaseless in this propaganda—Clive and Joshua are really, properly posh! Absolutely baffling that Anabella would allow anyone to put down the pedigree of her sons when they are so blue-blooded precisely because she is! For someone with such entrenched ideas of blood purity she should not stand for it, no matter how she feels about her eldest.

[hermitw]

Since Gojo's schedule has come out, I think the realest reason he wore a blindfold was sleep deprivation.

Sleep deprivation makes sensory issues (photophobia, etc) even worse. More sensitive to light and sound, compromised processing, etc. It's amazing that he could use such a delicate technique on three hours of sleep.

I still think the blindfold would allow for more coverage and for the pressure of it to feel good, a pressure stim for comfort and headache relief etc etc

But also, if Gojo wears a blindfold all the time, he's able to fall asleep during meetings without it being noticeable. Maybe his RCT gets past the need for involuntary microsleeps (part of the brain goes to sleep, but you're still awake). Idk. But we know from the beginning of s2 that Gojo fell asleep after summoning the first years.

I used to headcanon that Gojo takes naps whenever he can because of his sensory issues, but God, I didn't expect him to be so chronically busy.

It makes me a bit more upset that Yuki wouldn't take missions - with Geto gone (he did contribute to eliminating curses while he was alive, although separate from jujutsu society), Yuuta only a student (I wonder why Gojo sent him off with Miguel. I imagined that it was an emotional decision, but maybe Gojo was still trying to protect Yuuta from the higher ups? Idk. (I havent read the light novels yet, so if the answer is out there pls lmk). Wouldn't Gojo have it easier if Yuuta is being sent on missions as well? There were only 4 special grade sorcerers. It was only Geto and Gojo going after them for ten years - and now Gojo is left on his own. Why ajcjskqllcldq

Another blindfold benefit is that if Gojo cries, no one will see it. He can just take it off and put a dry one on. It's so hard to be emotionally stable on no sleep, and he isn't one to sit down and process his emotions (like he was ever given the time or tools for that).

The hyper, stupid way that he acts all the time makes so much sense now. It isn't just masking, it's a sleep deprived attempt at being lively and social.

[touchlikethesun]

a very small very minor completely personal reason i don't tend to interact as much with the jiang cheng specific side of the mdzs fandom is that jiang cheng is so agressive(that could be the end of the sentence but there is in fact more)ly aroace to me that i immediately nope out of like any situation where he's being sexualised or thirsted after, like as if he's sex-repulsed ace and i'm just doing the work for him. to be clear i support the jc simps in their thirst good on you but... it's not for me. i am definitely more jin ling and his jiujiu and yunmeng sibling angst side of things

[my-wee-hughie]

I haven't written fanfiction since 2014 but I just had to have a go at rewriting Annie's reaction after she killed The Shifter.