#i bet he reads french literature

[mammonmuffinz]

YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE

For anyone who cares, I am honored to introduce Kin and his official art!

(I spent way too long on that, you guys better like it)

Kin — Magic Meow (circus name)

- He/Him, straight, 19, looks 14, 4,9

Nicknames:

Kinny

Freak

Dude

Show-off (jokingly)

“Rusty” — mistaken old lady

Scardy-cat

- HES A MAGICIAN!! :D (in a sad clown way though)

-“Curiosity killed the cat”

- Prefers a calm, orderly environment

- A victim of Ezzy’s endless bullying and taunts (he lets her continue because he’s terrified of her)

- Frequent headaches from the circus

- Hates bright lights

- Will “make biscuits” on you if he likes you

- He isn’t very funny

- Has sharp claws, but very rarely uses them

- autism

- believes no one can change

- Doesn’t usually talk to anyone (other than Despair)

- weird obsession with raccoons (??)

- he will shut down if he’s overwhelmed

- a sucker for laser pointers

- banned from Britain for smuggling catnip

- he will fall asleep at your funeral

-he’s only happy when Ezzy isn’t picking on him or during a performance

Likes:

Anything shiny

Sleeping

Cats, rabbits, mice

Soft clothing

Dark spaces

Greek mythology

Boxes

His little sister

Ezzy’s mom 😍

Dislikes:

Ezzy

Ugly Christmas sweaters

Anyone who’s taller than him (so, literally everyone)

THOSE STUPID SPRITES FROM MCDONALDS THAT ARE SPICY??

Dogs, he thinks they’re immoral and don’t belong on the streets of society

When his nails get too long

Crying babies

@the-freak-show-circus @turtles-hurtles-with-gurtles

[fragiledewdrop]

WHERE NOW THE HORSE AND THE RIDER-Aka how I just had a Tolkien related freak out on the train

I can't believe what just happened to me. As in, it's such a weird chain of events that it has left me a little dizzy.

I was reading "Les Nourritures Terrestres" by Gide, and I got to a point he cites parts of a poem which I liked very much. The notes informed me that it's a French translation of "an 8th century saxon elegy called 'The Wanderer' "

That intrigued me, and, being on a train with a lot of time to pass (plus being a little tired of reading in French), I took out my phone and searched for the poem.

I found it here. It's the lament of a warrior in exile who has lost his lord and mourns the joy and glory of a world that has now disappeared. I was enjoying it a lot.

And then I got to this point:

And my mouth actually dropped open, because what?

Are you telling me that the Lament for the Rohirrim, one of my favourite poems in LOTR, which I learnt by heart at 13 and later took care to learn in the original English, which I sing when I do the dishes and which routinely makes me cry, is Tolkien's translation of an 8th century Saxon elegy?

Well, the notes at the end of the page confirmed it:

"Tolkien's rendition is hard to resist" I bet it is. I love that professional philologists add notes to their work saying "yeah, by the way, this bit here? It's in your favourite fantasy novel, and I am kinda jealous of how well it was translated, but it's Tolkien, the man spoke Old English, what can you do? Carry on, xoxo"

I mean, I had gathered that the Tolkien poem played on themes used in medieval literature, but I had no idea it was based on an actual, specific text. That makes it a hundred times cooler!

Maybe it's common knowledge, but it was a delicious tidbit of good news to me. Especially since I wasn't expecting it in the least, so I was blindsided by it.

Cherry on top? I had ignored the Old English text, since I don't understand it, but at the end I gave it a cursory read , and the line "Alas for the splendor of the prince"? "Eala þeodnes þrym!"

Now, I have never studied Old English, but I know roughly how to pronounce it (what kind of Silmarillion fan would I be if I didn’t recognize the thorn?). þeodnes has to be where "Theoden" comes from, right?

Apparently yes. I googled the "Lament for the Rohirrim", and Tolkien Gathaway has a nice little parapraph in which they explain all this. I don't know why I had never read it before, but it was a lot more fun learning it as an unexpected detour from my French practice, not gonna lie.

Bottom line: Tolkien was a both a nerd and a genius and continues to make my life brighter, and this is one of those moments in which I am very happy I have spent years of my life learning languages.

Thanks for coming to my impromptu TedTalk.

[icycoldninja]

Hello, how are you? can I request dmc boys with a reader who’s first language isn’t English? instead it’s something like french or Spanish whichever language you prefer

Oh sure! They might be kinda short, but here ya go and enjoy!

Sparda boys + V x Reader who speaks another language headcannons

¤ Dante ¤

-Demons have the ability to adapt quickly, meaning Dante can easily learn whatever language you speech after just a few months of hearin you speak it.

-Thinks it's really cool that you speak a language other than English, because it is.

-If you speak French or Spanish, he'll constantly be handing you things like packages of baby wipes or other things and ask you to read the Spanish or French text to see if the English translation is accurate.

-If you speak Italian, he will try to sing Italian opera songs to you, but he's a horrible singer, and, well, it was awful.

■ Vergil ■

-Vergil is half demon and can learn languages naturally easily--however, he is a massive nerd, and if you speak a certain language, you can bet he'll learn it too.

-He's gonna use you for practice, having you teach him to read, write, and speak in your other language.

-If you speak any of the Germanic or Romance languages, he will locate classy literature in these languages, learn the language, then read said literature to you.

-If you speak an Asian language, then that's even better, cause now you don't have to wait for dubbed anime!

□ Nero □

-Thinks it's awesome you can speak another language because he doesn't know anyone else who can.

-Wants to vacation somewhere where this language is spoken, just so you have a chance to flex your skills.

-Wants to learn too, but doesn't have the adaptability of a demon, so maybe not.

-Always listens to love songs in the language you speak, and would love it if you sang them to him. Even if he doesn't know what any of it means, it's still awesome.

● V ●

-Immediately goes out and buys a book of poetry in the language that you speak and asks you to read it to him.

-Finds that Germanic languages (if you speak one) are oddly soothing to listen to; better than ASMR.

-Also wants to learn the language too, but he'll be taking his time with it.

-If you can translate William Blake's poems to the language you speak, that'd be amazing. He'd melt instantly.

[jinn-mori]

NNT Language Headcanons

You give a world languages major an interest in Seven Deadly Sins and what do you get? You get linguistic headcanons! Or what languages I think the Sins speak. English is our 'No duh' since this is in fantasy Britain, so that's out of the way.

Merlin and Meliodas are in the 'I speak a fuckton of dead languages' club bc of how long they've been around. Merlin knows Welsh bc her real world counterpart is Welsh in origin I believe. Meli knows Latin bc haha the demon knows Latin. This would extend to Tristan knowing bits and pieces of dead languages that he picked up from Meliodas... mainly the swears.

So, Escanor's home kingdom may be based off of an old kingdom in Spain so he'd speak Spanish. He'd also try to pick up Welsh to impress Merlin and you can bet his main way of practicing would be writing Welsh poetry. He'd also tend to default to using the formal version of you most of the time.

I could see Diane speaking German. Like, she stubs her toe or something and you just hear the most guttural shout of 'Scheiße!'. And the rough sound German can have at times could make her attacks sound badass.

Ban knows French. There are several reasons I have this headcanon. For one, there's a scene in the abridged where he speaks French. Secondly, if my memory is correct, the first instance of Lancelot appearing in Arthurian literature was written by a Frenchman. Thirdly, he's my comfort character and if headcanoning him speaking French is what it takes to get me to practice my French then let the autism KICK MY ASS. Finally, French can sound cocky/condescending and this bastard of a man would get a kick out of that. Like, just imagine him babytalking Lancelot in French when the kid is refusing to go to bed. And yes, Lancelot would pick up French from Ban. Also, whenever Ban needed to bitch about something or swear but Lancelot was around, he'd switch to French so that his kid doesn't get a foul mouth.

King picked up German bc Diane reasons. I feel he'd speak a Celtic language of some kind, not sure which one.

Gowther is also in the 'I know dead languages' club but mainly uses it to read stories in dead languages. Just imagine Gowther reading Gilgamesh in cuneiform. That bitch would! He also tries picking up the different languages that the other Sins speak. He finds Spanish and French the easiest to pick up due to their similarities and him already knowing Latin.

Ban and Escanor actually try learning from each other due to French and Spanish being in the same language family.

[tam--lin]

Headcanons: The Leverage team as readers

Nate: Nate's not a big reader, but will occasionally read dense some dense new tome on white collar crime or US politics. Once a year or so, he'll crack open a dense sci-fi classic like Neuromancer.

Sophie: Has a whole shelf of acting books like Blumenfeld's Accents for Actors and that collection on Stella Adler. She reads memoirs of various famous people for work - it's a great way to pick up tidbits of flavor she can bring to cons. When not reading for work, Sophie's partial to untranslated foreign-language literature, especially Russian. We know how she feels about wellness scams specifically, so I think she's read books like The Gospel of Wellness. She has a battered copy of the Nagoski sisters Burnout next to a small library of workout DVDs. When she's really down in the dumps, she'll pick up a romance with half-dressed men and women in bodices on the cover. She sometimes picks up books like The Body Keeps the Score and Unmasking Autism, which she reads mainly to leave sitting around the office in the hopes that some specific other person will read them.

Hardison: Hardison loves modern science fiction, although he generally avoids anything that's too technical because he can't keep himself from picking it apart. (The exception is Andy Weir. He loves Andy Weir.) He likes Star Trek tie-in novels (only the good ones), Cixin Liu, Ann Leckie, and The Expanse. He'll also occasionally dip his toes into scientist or astronaut memoir or non-fiction about crime (he likes Mike Massimino's memoir and tell-alls on Theranos and Scientology, specifically). He loves Murderbot and has somehow managed to convince both Parker and Eliot to read it.

Eliot: Eliot wouldn't deny reading, but you certainly won't catch him doing it. He's partial to food-related microhistories - he's read every Mark Kurlansky book. He's read Emily Nagoski's Come as You Are and is not ashamed about it. He has a sticky-noted, dog-eared copies of The Professional Chef and Mastering the Art of French Cooking in his kitchen, but nothing else - beyond the basics, he mostly cooks on vibes. Every language he knows he's either learned through whatever the US government recommends or through an ex. He read the first Murderbot book because he lost a bet to Hardison. He'll never confess to also having read all of the rest of them, and enjoying them.

Parker: Parker is either reading nothing or spending all her free time reading - there's nothing in between. She's read a few books on crypto because she wants to understand it, but she just doesn't get the appeal. (It's not cash, you see.) Parker has also read all of the Murderbot books, because Hardison got her into them. Parker loves Murderbot.

[purpleandstarlight]

Here are my first thoughts on @hateweasel 's cielois fanfic DLTD, as I share them like 100+ chapters into the journey with my best friend (who hasn't read DLTD nor was ever really into Kuro) trough DMs. Here recapped for y'all.

- I FORGOT!! I DIDN'T KNOW HATE'S PRONOUNS AT THE BEGINNING SO WHEN I SPOKE WITH MY BEST FRIEND (In Italian, where they/them pronouns don't really exists unfortunately) I ALWAYS TRIED TO GET AROUND USING PRONOUNS SO AS NOT TO MISGENDER HER!! At some point (this time on ff.net, bc I usually read on ao3 so that's where I read DLTD first) I read on an author's corner the she/her pronouns and sent an ask to Hate (probably on anon bc that's how I was at first) to confirm and from then on I was finally able to get it together when talking about Hate.

-Hey Hate, remember when I sent you that anon ask talking abt how you reminded me of a French cartoon and you IMMEDIATELY recognized it as Code Lyoko? Yeah related to that whole "school thinks they're adoptive sibling" thing, I wondered why no one at school had questions about why the fuck the supposed siblings had that much non-platonic tension.

-My initial criticism that wasn't actually criticism on Hate bc I knew this was from 10 years ago and i honestly just read it as how teenage boys, especially at the time, behaved. It was criticism to just the boys, not the author. Criticism include:

1)the gay slurs the cast kept throwing around.

2)The way they all said that one in the Cielois was the "woman" - wich is something both homophobic and misogynistic.

3) the "yOuR'E sUcH a GIrL" insult that is, again, misogynistic.

4) Not a criticism to the teenage boys this time but to the girls. WHY are y'all sexualizing these gays?? GET A GRIP!!

-Not a criticism, but since we're talking about their teenager boy behavior that Hate got SO RIGHT: the COSTANT sex jokes related conversation they had. It didn't really bother me so its not criticism, its just very hormonal teen boy minded to bring everything back to that? So I wasn't really annoyed at the teenagers for being teenagers u know. I'm just adding it to the list of what I thought Hate got so well in the characterization of teenager boys.

-at some point my best friend lead me to realize that while everyone in school felt the tension between Cielois, no one had the bets running on when/if they would finally get together. Wich still makes me so sad because HATE, you missed on such a romance fanfic trope 😔 /jk

- Me at the start of the stadium arc when Kris starts being interested in...what the frick was his name?? Cameron?? Idk THAT ONE BLONDE DUDE: Oh so we're gonna have a couple of chill chapters where they are just gonna establish their relationships better!

Me, when the reapers are there and we discover about the bomb: W H A T

-Me: DLTD Suddently became Ouran Host Club? For?? Some reason??

My friend: You know what? It doesn't really surprise me. Imo this story will cover every work of literature ever existed before it ends.

-Mi initial dislike for the name Kristopherson. I still don't really like it but I'm used to it ig? Again no hate to Hate!! I just find it such an unnecessarily long name for his parents to give him? Like choose Kristopher, or Kris, why Kristopherson?? Now I know it's bc Kristopher is his father. And in general i understand that Rich People are Like That TM.

Me, while I was describing Kris's journey of self discovery to my best friend: At the beginning of the story, he was just this random bully who called Alois gay...wich i mean, it was true, but he didn't HAVE to be so mean about it...

Gonna cut this into parts so I don't kill my followers who aren't interested in my DLTD thoughts..i would use the read more thing but idk how to activate that?? Also I wrote this for some time now and I need a break lol

[cwcthzl]

what all languages do you speak? and what languages do we think k the losers speak

i speak turkish, english and a little bit of german!!!! i tried to learn spanish some time, but now i'm practicing to learn french.

and the losers,,,,, hmm. i seriously don't know. i feel like richie pick up languages very easily and knows basic stuff or funny words in most common languages, but i feel like he'd know spanish, french, turkish (def not projecting) a little bit of russian and a tiny bit of mandarin because of a bet. stan learns languages to make a use of his free time, he knows a bunch, don't make me count bro, but he def knows asl. mike seems to know the type to know russian a little by reading russian literature, also knows asl. bill and eddie doesn't really care about learning languages, i feel like they'd learn a language from their family, so i think bill knows german and eddie knows polish. bill probably forgot german and had to like turn on duolingo to refresh his memory. bev def knows french, she learned it because she thought it was fancy, and also she tried to learn russian for awhile but gave up.

[the-invisible-queer]

As I was walking my dog this morning I got to thinking about the Lucas family and grades. Probably I thought more about this than the writers of the show did but w/e, what are early mornings for but overthinking a Disney show that’s been off the air for over a decade? At any rate: I think Sandra & Tom set a rule that a C+ average at minimum must be maintained, otherwise the entire band is on hiatus. Generally the boys probably average a B-/solid B in most classes, minus their favorite- none of them as particularly focused on college as the only path. My thoughts on their strengths and weaknesses are as follows (YMMV):

Part 1-

Kevin L:

Strongest Subject: French. Shockingly to people who don’t know him well, actually has a phenomenal memory for things that he sees/hears. Very much a visual/auditory learner. Has a very good accent. Surprising knowledge of foreign films, I’d bet.

Weakest Subject: English. His attention tends to drift when he has to read extended excerpts from books, and goes off on tangents when writing essays. Has very off the wall and unique interpretations of poetry that his teachers always enjoy reading.

Joe L:

Strongest Subject: History. Actually just genuinely enjoys history and finds it full of wilder characters and more twists than a soap opera or reality show. Goes through obsessive phases of being interested in one period after the other. Tends to like the medieval and dark ages the most. Very good at making it interesting when narrating it to other people- Stella looked forward to his rendition of the War of the Roses more than she did her weekly CW show.

Weakest Subject: Biology. Very squeamish, and sadly has some aspects of “when will I ever need to know this” that causes him to dismiss it. Much more interested in the scientists and their lives than the actual science. Asks if something will be on the test constantly.

Nick L:

Strongest Subject: English. Can get long-winded in his essays, but finds fiction and discerning themes and metaphors in literature easy and probably can read a moderately dense book in a few days. Kind of a hipster when it comes to his book choices.

Weakest Subject: Math. Sort of like Joe in that he has some aspects of “I’ll just hire an accountant” when it comes to math, but also genuinely can’t seem to keep the formulas straight and tends to forget to carry the one a lot. Suffers from gifted kid syndrome when it comes to Math- he isn’t naturally talented at it, which makes him more inclined to give up without fully trying. However, he probably does have the highest general average in his grades, minus math, as opposed to Kevin and Joe who except for their special interest are probably pulling more average grades.

I'm obsessed with this and wholeheartedly agree

[hertzdo]

Wait, why am I even writting this

Finally guetting to watch the Hollow Crown (just after watching Archipelago from 2010, just putting the info right here) and I don’t understand, I think, a half of what is going on ‘because it’s old english drama Shakespeare and it’s NOT my mother tongue so I haven’t what, had english litteratury classes?, so nevermind (I wish I had, somehow, maybe ? The thing is, I’ve actually started reading an old Penguin Book I bought one day at an air-open second hand bookstore on my way back from work, and it’s English poetry, OLD English poetry, and it’s fun to read, even though I don’t understand half of what I’m reading, but it’s okay, it’s fun ‘cause you can learn while reading : it’s poetry (verse) so it rhymes, (yay, that’s, okay nevermind)

 AND THERE IS NO SUBTITLE 

So i’m just like watching something I half understand with my favorite actor* in it; trowing faces and expression and voices (sometimes it’s like he was singing or doing slam poetry/music) it’s fun, (he’s not the only one, but I bet it’s the art’s genre), it’s a play, it’s pleasant to the ear, it’s comedy, trajedy, classical, history) (bravo my dear, you can connect your 2 neurons from time to time) 

Just to clarify, usually I don’t specially need subtitles, but it’s easier for me to understand, but when I really really pay attention, with a good sound etc, for example with interviews I think I can get about 80% of the info I’m watching/hearing without subtitles. 

BUT HERE, HECK,

just don’t know what the fuck is going on mate (50%), and just seeing his face doing things, (and his voice of course), it’s just pleasant to watch (or not), like you don’t have to fully understand wtf is going on to appreciate what you are watching.

And I think it’s beautiful, to be able to, at the same way, communicate with your audience with emotions and not necessarly words ( that’s what we are searching here, with the sounds, the voices, the visuals, emotions, DRAMA, with a capital D, everything here is complementary I think I could pause at every scene and get something to describe like a painting or a figure de style from a writting, and so go on, that’s why I love art in its every forms)) did I just talked about cinema here ?

And also to be able to connect people, at some point, through space and time, to feel things through a media, without even knowing them.

*cough* 

sorry, got carried away

And so, I had to share this ‘cause, I don’t know, I don’t understand half of the words used in the show, but the facial expressions of Tom Hiddleston in this, (of Tom Hiddleston in general you are going to tell me), I mean, they do help a lot, to understand the fuck is going on. That’s one of the reasons why I consider him to be a good (or even, very good) actor. 

Because I’m pretty sure I’m gonna find these f^cking subtitles and even then translations because, YEAH, i’m french, not british, and no, i didn’t pay to watch the show, but I am poor (I’ve lost my job, I can barely afford a roof above the head, I’m burned out by multifactorial problems) and I do believe art should not be reserved to those who can affort it, so yeah sue me, (and I’m making art so bnlnlnlnl if I could pay I would)

again, I digress,

I’m gonna get these subtitles and I will get the details and the rest of the info, like a puzzle, and I will learn culture, maye history, words, language, and I think it’s one of the best ways to learn something, and to get to understand some ways of thinking. In the world. Even today. Even later. This is classical shit, I did some literature in French, a few boring shit actually, but some of them did hit me, in the gut. I also did Latin, a bit, very little lol, my teacher was the best for it. 

And I think it’s interresting to get to know why a person is so important in the eyes of others. I think it’s interresting to get to or at least to try to understand, what it is to be from somewhere else. I think it’s important to try and connect the dots between things. 

And in the end I don’t even know why I’m saying all this, because it must be obvious, or just lame or I don’t know, this is not my field, I’m not doing art for a living, I’m an aborted scientist, with emotional outbursts and utopian political ideas, (or radical, I never know, it’s always changing, they never tell you the same thing twice)

I think I’m doing philosophy at some point, at each appointement, with my psychiatrist. And talking about politics, and Douglas Adams.

But I am glad to be able to enjoy, today, these kind of things, I am glad to be more interested in English litterature thanks to this man (and many other human beings) I am glad to be more interested in litterature in generals, I’m sure we can use these kind of materials to make english classes for example, go, take a ticket, go to the theater with  your class, make some young souls sensible to art, make them sensible to their emotions. That’s how you make humans, that’s how you forge humanity. (wow, that’s some strong words, even for me)

And now bring your friends, and make them discover your passions, because this is what makes us alive. 

* I am watching his filmography because I’m hyperfocusing because I’ve ADHD, don’t mind me

Anyway, thank you for reading, I hope I didn’t boooore you with my thoughts, sorry for this shitload of spelling and grammar errors, I am currently writting other articles, I hope one day I will finish what I’m starting, may the force be with you, take care

[clarajblogdsaa]

Ailleurs et demain, a fifty-year-old future I am still dreaming of. 

At first, this blogpost was supposed to be about dustjacket and their interesting use in the French manga publishing sphere. A very specific topic as you can see... Unfortunately, to gain a clear understanding of this subject stake, I would probably need more time. Finding precise information about the Japanese publishing world was surprisingly hard. Yet, while I was reading an insightful article about the history of book cover in the English and French publishing sphere, I stumble on a shiny gem that made me change my plans!  

Ailleurs et demain, Gérard Klein, Paris, Robert Laffont, between 1970 et 1979, photo by Thierry Chancogne and Catherine Guiral from tombolo.eu. 

In 1969, Gerard Klein started and directed the Sci-fi literature collection Ailleurs et demain (Elsewhere and tomorrow) for the French publishing house Robert Laffont. In Klein own word on his website Quarante-deux, this project was expected to fail yet, the bet ended up successful.   

Indeed, this collection appeared at a time where the craze over Sci-fi was decreasing in France and had a rather mixed image. Science-fiction is often considered as lower quality in comparison with other work, especially with other literature novels. Those novels were primarily paperback sold cheaply, an economical model which made it difficult for authors and translators get a proper wage out of this activity. Klein’s will was to create collection that was like no other Sci-fi collection at the time, and which could show the qualities of Sci-fi as a literature of its own.   

To achieve this, Klein wanted this collection to publish work of high quality in the stories as much as in the form of the book itself, to give the same dignity to Sci-fi books as any another other literature book. In this blogpost, I want to analyze the distinctive feature chosen by Klein in the design of this collection in regard of the image he wanted to give to Sci-fi and Ailleurs et demain.  

The first element that struck me when I discovered this collection is that there are no illustrations used on the covers. My surprise comes from the fact that most Sci-fi books, especially from the latter half of the 20th century, are mainly made with illustrations referencing the story. They were drawn with a very exuberant style that have not really aged well and are rather cheap looking. In other words, tying to depict the future through figurative work will most of the time only highlight kirk and belief anchor in the period the drawing has been made and thus looks quite outdated even few decades after! 

With this idea in mind, it makes much more sense for Klein to have chosen a more symbolical and sensory approach. To embody these novels lasting relevance, the cover of Ailleurs et demain wears shiny patterns of reflective geometric form that allude to what modernity is. They give a sense of surprise, amazement and speed that can better describe the way we feel when we think about the concept of future with a lasting means!    

As a matter of fact, the covers are made using a very specific material which creates those intricate patterns presented prior. This collection uses the technique called Heliophore, a printing process on aluminum foil that mimic the iridescence of blue morpho butterfly. It was in invented in 1930 by Louis Dufay and is composed of a thin metallic layer engraved in various ways to create patterns.Then, this foil is comprised between a sheet of paper and wax to seal it. This process makes it so when the light reflects on it, their pattern shows off and seems to move.  

Klein got the idea to use that kind of paper for the collection Ailleurs et demain when he encounters the vinyl production of Prospective 21e siècle. It is a French series of electroacoustic and avant-garde music curated by François Bayle and Pierre Henry started in 1967. Their use of Heliophore and its cinetic and optical effect are somewhat the same reasons as Klein. To properly allude to the futuristic and modern approach of those avant-garde music, only an abstract yet dynamic form brings the feeling of the future. 

Two vinyl discs from Perspectives 21e siècle, the left one from 1967 and the right one from 1969. 

o create a feeling of higher quality for the book. Their shine and the simplicity of the lineal typographic character used give it luxurious yet timeless style. They easily attract the gaze of peoples in book shop and allegedly were often stolen because of that...   

However, their cover material is not the only characteristic that gives them a higher quality of production. Indeed, this collection is a paperback but not a small one like many other Sci-Fi collection at the time. Klein chose to produce a large format paperback of 135 cm width for 215cm heigh on one hand to give to the books the same size as many regular literature books had thus a feeling of a book worth treasuring in a collection and on the other hand to create a better economic model. Their bigger size meant a slightly higher price which ensures a proper wage for the author and translator! 

Two editions of The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Leguin, the left one form 1971 and the right one from 1975. 

At last, we can note that the strict design layout with only few changes for each title like the random assignation of a pattern to a title and the slight changes of fonts size made by the printer from time to time, bring out the cohesiveness of the collection. Those books work as an entity through the collection and by that it's the image of the collection and its curation work that ensure the reader of the quality of the books produces. This way of considering books and novels is often used for literature to give a sense of care and skills and proof of quality from the publisher in contrary to most Sci-fi books which used to get more singular illustration to focus the interest of the reader on the specificity of one novel.   

The approach of Klein with his use of a strict yet dynamic design and the improvement of the book materiality were able to confer to Ailleurs et demain the lasting impact of an object of collection. This collection is a prime example that, more than an object of consumption, masterpieces of Science-fiction can be recognized as the wonderful work of literature there are with a more profound and honorable appearance, worthy to collect.   

6851 signs 

Ailleurs et demain ou la magie cinétique de l’Héliophore | Tombolo (t-o-m-b-o-l-o.eu)

L'héliophore, le papier animé - Graphéine (grapheine.com)

Robert Laffont - Ailleurs et Demain / Les collections / Forums BDFI

"Ailleurs et demain" : bientôt trente-cinq ans d'avenir | Quarante-Deux/Articles de Gérard Klein

Prospective 21e Siècle Discography | Discogs

[mammonmuffinz]

This is for my YT btw and won’t be posted here

WHY THE HELL DID I JUST DECIDE I WANTED TO MAKE AN ANIMATIC ANF THEM DO IT???

[carpexiem]

ENHYPEN'S REACTION TO YOU LEAVING YOUR DIARY AT THEIR HOUSE

PAIRING! bestfriend!enhypen x gn!reader

WARNINGS! none

A/N! two works in two days, just to fill the void i have created by releasing nothing but smau chapters for the past 2/3 weeks (i think-)

this is just tooth rotting fluff, and heart warming romance so enjoy :]

PERMANENT TAGLIST! @soobin-chois

please note that this does not reflect any of the idols in real life. this is just for entertainment purposes!

NOW PLAYING! wait a minute! ~ willow smith

~♪ L.HS! heeseung would probably spend the next few hours reading every page of your diary, seeing as it only included your lovestruck thoughts of your best friend. an undying smile would grow on his face and maybe, just maybe, you will receive a couple of letters in your locker, soundly placed on the cover of your diary.

~♪ P.JS! the blush that would paint his cheeks would have him extremely concerned for himself. he would read it like it's a whole damn novel, constantly needing to take a break from your words, looking at the invisible camera with his eyes wide.

"god, my heart is beating too fast."

~♪ S.JY! his arms wrapped around his pillow, he would flip throught the pages, eye trailing each stroke of your handwriting. he would bury his head in the cotton cloud every time he would come across the word 'love': your codename for him...which, after a while, you stopped using, for you had fallen so deep for him, and vice versa.

~♪ P.SH! the man would, no doubt, be hesitant to read your diary, but after seeing the first page, which was, flabbergastingly, a love poem written for 'p.sh', the urge to proceed through your sickenly sweet literature swallows him whole. his jaw drops at the revelation of his name surfacing, out of nowhere, in the middle of an entry named 'mon chéri'. french was your love language it seemed, and now, probably his too, 'cause he never expected his stomach to flutter at each french endearment you addressed him as.

~♪ K.SN! truth be told, he probably wouldn't notice your diary until he gets into bed and feels the hardcover of the moleskin book poke his ribs. he doesn't think anything of it, opening the cover with a tired sigh and he becomes absolutely invested in this exploration of your first love. no names used, he begins to feel jealous of whoever you were writing about, to have such loving words associated with their existence. just as he was about to close the book, the pages automatically disclose a section where it had been opened so many times that the spine was about to snap there.

a sketch of kim sunoo, smile wide, eyes shaped like crescent moons.

'him ♡'

~♪ Y.JW! the innocent bean, would just call you to inform you of the possession that remained buried beneath his bed. he doesn't read it, but a few days later, finds a folded piece of paper exactly where he had found your diary. by then, he had forgotten all about what happened a few days prior and thinks nothing of it, before he unfolds it, and reads the unintentional love letter written to him and it's then that he realises: it had slipped out of your diary. but it's the one thing he wouldn't give back.

~♪ NS.R! grinning, niki would proudly open your diary, eyes scanning every page deeply. in each entry you would write about someone, someone who you felt so deeply about, but knew they could not reciprocate that feeling back. he didn't know you were a songwriter, but when he meets the page 'mr mj 2.0' he laughs heartily, before he abruptly stops and comes to his senses: the whole diary was about him. nishimura riki. you bet he would send you a text saying 'your mj 2.0 😉'

COPYRIGHT © 2022 carpexiem. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. please like and reblog!

[lordhelpme0-0]

Ikemen Vampire OC: Nguyễn Thị Định:

Captain Duck Smith made a cameo lol! So traditional art will be here until the digital art will come out~! Also, teaser for next Ikevamp OC!

Date of birth: March 15, 1920

Zodiac signs: Pisces, Monkey [Gold]

Height: 153.6 cm

Occupation: War general, former Vice President, National Liberation front deputy, revolutionary, commander of a all-female army, national war hero, now resident and housekeeper

Vampiric type: Lesser vampire

Ethnicity: Vietnamese

Names/ title: Madam Nguyễn Thị Định, Major General Nguyễn Thị Định, Vice-President Nguyễn Thị Định, Nguyễn Thị Định, Nguyễn Thị Phúc [happiness, good fortune] <- outside name

Family relations: Unknown

Personality: a war general with many titles and awards during the Vietnam war. She was from a commoner family like Ỷ Lan was. She is a cheerful person with a smile. Seemingly calm and precise, she is the housekeeper of the mansion of both Olga and Ỷ Lan. Being the first resident among these women, Nguyễn Thị Định takes care of the household to immeasurable measure. Though, her reasons to be resurrected was unclear.

Likes:

Karaoke

The Vietnam anthem

Some good ol’ Vietnamese soap opera

Cooking food of her homeland

Idle reading

Exercising early in the morning

Walking around in the forest

Taking care of the livestocks back in the mansion

Sitting on top of trees, looking at the scenery before her

Dislikes:

Mentions of the war

Ignorance

Stupidity

Mentions of the French in any way

Rude people

Lack of understanding

Annoying her for no reasons

Being seen as a mere tool than a equal

TRIVIA!!!:

She loves doing karaoke as it gives a sense of home

Hunting for pheasants surprisingly

Teasing Sebastian as she is older than him

Reading some literature

Cooking and exchanging recipes with Ỷ Lan

Swimming in the lake and laughing at the both residents on their failed attempts of herding the water buffaloes

Will literally bet with Arthur and had gotten William in a chokehold

She has a pet, a literal Water buffalos the suitors love to ride (except a few) sometimes whenever they can

Napoleon is a child when she brings it over there

Literally being the sister and aunt figure

Has forced the shuts in into the pens of the chickens

While being amused at Issac failed attempts of catching a chicken

Also, Charles was chased by two big roosters

Jean and Napoleon really did a pretty good job so she patted them on the back

Definitely forced Mozart to have grass in his waist cause his side hurts

He still bitter but was surprised it work

Lines:

“Oh, I’ve haven’t seen you around here before. I’m Nguyễn Thị Đình, but call me Đình.” She smiled at me, I nodded, “pleasure to meet you Đình, I’m [____]!”

“Bwahahaha! If you continue like that, the chickens will peck you dead! Pfft-!” I glared at the running chicken, huffing as the Vietnamese lady was laughing at my attempt. Though, I smiled wryly.

“Well…it seems your gonna leave soon, I suggest we should make this memorable. What do you want to dear?” I looked at the woman before, closing my eyes before opening them. “I need to confess, I…”

Romantic: ???

Storyline plot?: <yes>

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[Yes] [No]

[Yes]

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Tag: @pieground @a-chaotic-dumbass @spoopy-fish-writes @vio-simps-for-purple-characters @evil-quartett @yanderepuck @weird-profiterole @sange-de-romane

Have another Vietnamese woman/ hot woman ikevamped oc~! This one has the potential of a love route~

[freshstartfromscratch]

Roommates AU Shitpost(s)

Maria, Connor and Jacob form the "I don't talk to my English parent(s) club". Maria doesn't talk to her parents since she divorced her university sweetheart (her parents were insisting on the marriage), Connor and his dad always had a difficult relationship and Jacob doesn't see eye to eye with his father either. Especially after his mom died in a car crash when Jacob was 5 (I know that she died in a childbirth but it's an AU). Jacob needed a dad not an assassin but to his dad the Brotherhood came first.

Ezio was once alongside Connor on a tailings mission but abandoned it after noticing a bachelorette party singing "Breaking Free" from High School Musical. He just responded with the Troy part and the girls snatched him to tag along. It wasn't an important tailings mission so he assumed that Connor can do it perfectly fine on his own. Ezio might or might not have hooked up with bridesmaids on that night.

Ezio, Arno and Maria are from loaded families.

Auditore family is well known in the fashion industry. They worked alongside the most recognized Italian fashion houses - Gucci, Versace, Prada - you name it. Maria Auditore is a world renowned gallerist, art collector and critique. She can make or break someone's career in the art world.

Maria Thorpe is from the family of landowners. Old money, noble title and a chair in the House of Lords. Fancy people.

Thorpe family can trace it's noble heritage to the times of the Norman conquest.

Except for Altaïr, nobody really knows that Maria is from a rich family. Like everyone can tell that her upbringing was in a well-off family but they don't realize how rich Thorpe family actually is. It's not that she hides it, nobody asked or cared enough to check it.

(It's difficult to tell whether or not Maria has any siblings, she described herself "I'm what they call the unusual one in my family" which might suggest that she wasn't an only child. I might or might not include her siblings in the AU. If I do, then you bet that her brother was a part of the Bullingdon Club and probably is a politician.)

Arno's family is in logistics. His dad is a CEO of an important company responsible for importing various goods to France but mostly textile (I remember reading that canon Charles alongside other Assassins pretended to be a wool merchant.) Marie Dorian is an editor -in- chief of Paris Match, successful french news magazine that also covers celebrity lifestyle. Overall very busy and very successful people.

Arno's mom was the one that got him into reading and literature. Reading together is one of few memories he has with his mom. He spent more time with nannies than his own parents, because they put work and success first.

That's also why they were furious when Arno dropped out of university. In their eyes Arno wasted his future.

Ezio and Maria can speak French. Maria speaks it better than Ezio.

[newtonsheffield]

Hello again!!!! I'm the Spanish girl back in here!

Firstly, I'd like to send you my best wishes for this tough week of work, and I bet we're going to miss you around here this week. But duty calls! And, look, how many people can say they've got a whole week for relaxing after a week of work? 😌 (Perhaps I've misunderstood the whole thing; I've read your posts quite quick and I've understood sth different to what you wanted to say lol)

Well, what can I say with one of the last prompts you have gifted to us...? Kate, Anthony (and his Spanish!!!!!!) and Spain; you got me there. 😂 I even cried the famous "Ole!" when I read all of it (curious note: not all Spaniards use the expression "ole" in daily contexts; it is more like a regional expression that became worldwide famous bc of several reasons that are too long to post here, lol) and I think it's needless to say I loved it... isn't it?

And, I LOVED a lot Edwina's POV and story (well, I've loved everything you have posted and gifted to us, but Eddie has a special place in my heart)! I don't know, but sometimes I get the impression that, in romantic literature, relationships between sisters are not addressed at all and kinda force them to be friends (if they're not rivals... which I find stupid, tbh), not really deepening in the bond between them. Like, they're sisters and they behave more like "my next door neighbour and friend to whom sometimes I'm distant bc life happens" instead of "this person and I share much more than many people can imagine that's beyond friendship and she's more important than anybody else" -idk if this makes sense anymore... I rewrote it a couple of times bc I got the impression I can't express my idea very well 😂-. And that's something I think both of you, JQ and yourself, have achieved and gifted to all of us! We see Edwina and Kate as sisters: they fight, they tease the other, they can't stand each other sometimes, but always, ALWAYS, they care for and love the other just as sisters do. Because of this, I think TVWLM is one of my favourite books in this genre: they give us a two fantastic love stories, not only between a -heterosexual- couple but also between sisters; which is as important as any other kind of relationship.

After my TED Talk (sorry if it's been too much... 😅), I cannot help but imagine an escapade between Anthony and Kate (sans children) and Matthew and Edwina (oh, Matthew... I love you) to Spain just for Anthony, in his stupid one-side battle against Matthew (I love this, tbh; it's sooooo fun 😂), demonstrate Matthew he can speak fluently another language... Just for Matthew be oblivious to this and enjoy a little escapade to Spain with his girlfriend and her family. 😂

Anyways; I hope you're alright and, again, I wish you all the best for this week.

Besos!!! 🥰 (Spanish equivalent for the "Love!" farewell expression; it means "kisses")

Hola! You’re back again! And I’m so glad! 

I do have a week off once I finish work tomorrow (Saturday)!! Very Exciting! I have a scarf to knit, and lots of writing to do so that’s very exciting. 

Oh Anthony on a Spanish beach in tiny little flamingo shorts? Ole! indeed! That is a curious note, I literally love learning things about other cultures and languages so if anyone wants to share a curious note about their culture, hit me up! I will in turn tell you about the curious culture of The Land Down under, and our propensity to butcher the English language!

I agree, Sister relationships are a very curious thing in media. I’m not a huge fan of very contentious relationships between sisters, I’m not saying they don’t exist in real life, they definitely do, I just think having them as constant rivals is exhausting. And Yes! I Love the relationship between Edwina and Kate very much because I see it as a mirror of my relationship with my own sister. My sister drives me more insane than any other person on this planet. We fight, we bicker, I get absolutely enraged when she steals the last property I need for a set in Monopoly, and yet, She is my favourite person. She can say whatever she wants about me, but were anyone else to? It’s fight on sight. I’ll be honest, that all I’m doing is basing their relationship in these fics  on my own with my sister. Nothing special! 

Okay! Here we go! Anthony and Kate + Goose and Edwina +Spain

Kate Bridgerton was many, many things, but she liked to think an idiot, was not one of them. And so, when Anthony had said, in a tone she was sure he thought was casual. “I think we deserve a holiday, you’ve been working very hard to grow the little broad bean after all and your sister and her little gander should celebrate their engagement.” She had known exactly what he was up to. And she wasn’t really sure why she played along along with it. Perhaps something in her thrived on the chaos she knew Anthony would would create, perhaps part of her just really wanted a decent paella. Surely it didn’t matter, the result was the same: Kate fixed an innocent expression on her face and said  “Where did you have in mind?” 

 And so, surprise, surprise, here she was: back on a beach in Spain. She had to admit, eyeing Anthony appreciatively as he paddled demonstratively in the shallow water, his plan had its merits. though thus far his attempts had been... unsuccessful at best. Matthew Bagwell seemed absolutely thrilled to be in Spain, on holiday with his fiancée, giving them helpful facts he knew about the architecture as they walked through the city, a wide smile on his face, Anthony practically purple when he corrected a fact Anthony himself had said.   “Do you speak Spanish, Goose?” Anthony had said dryly in the hotel lobby shortly after they’d arrived. And Kate had rolled her eyes at Anthony, though Matthew was not paying attention. He had his arms wrapped tightly around Edwina’s waist, whispering something in her ear that made her nose crinkle in delight, the sapphire of her engagement ring glinting in the sunlight. And the beautiful picture they made gave Kate’s heart a little stutter. Anthony tutted. “Matt!” He said sharply, getting the man’s attention, Matthew’s glasses slipping down his nose as his head shot upwards in surprise.  “Do you speak Spanish?” Edwina was rolling her eyes now. And Matthew, for his part was completely unbothered  “oh, no. Sorry Mate, might have to lean on your pretty heavily this week.” He said, and Kate caught the smug smile on Anthony’s face and bit back a groan Damnit Matthew.  “I’m pretty fluent in French, German and Mandarin though!” Matthew said smiling happily, turning back towards Edwina, completely oblivious to the scowl Anthony tossing his way. “Of course you fucking are.” He muttered, fixing Kate with an irritated glare as a laugh escaped her!   

The water surely must be a little cool in early October but Anthony showed no signs of it, Beckoning Kate into the water. She groaned and made her way towards him, laughing happily as he tugged her in, his hand resting on her stomach, still no sign of her pregnancy. “Is he watching?” Anthony whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist, spinning her through the water So she had a brief image of her sister smiling brightly at her fiancée who appeared to be... bless him building a sandcastle. 

“No. He’s not.” Kate said batting her husband’s hands away irritatedly as he scowled.  “Are you really trying to look more in love than they are?” Kate scoffed, disbelief at her husband’s idiocy rising with in her. Anthony looked indignant. “No! A man can’t take an interest in his wife now? Very poor show Mrs. Bridgerton.” He said, but his eyes, darted towards the shore at the last second.  “Oh I cannot believe you! You’re absolutely manic!” She replied as Anthony attempted to pull her back towards him, Kate putting up very little fight as she tumbled against. him, his voice hot in her ear. “Insufferable I hear.” Kate scoffed. “Ugh! If Anyone’s insufferable it’s him!” 

Kate turned to follow Anthony’s gaze to find Matthew waving at them, grinning broadly, completely unbothered. And Kate couldn’t keep from laughing as Anthony went on another muttered tirade.

Besos! 

[lu-undy]

New Sniper/Spy work!

This time I’m going back to the “fluffy request” format. You may send a few lines for an idea, or a bit of dialogue between Sniper and Spy and I will turn it into a short story.

Here is the first one: "Sniper catches Spy reading a book, the title of which is "Solitude, But Two". More curiously, the Frenchman stares and blushes..."

As always, I recommend reading it from AO3, following the underlined link, the formatting is better there. :)

The team's effort had earned them victory upon victory that day, and as it was the end of the week, the mercenaries all gathered in the common room. Some were playing cards, some were watching the television, while others were chatting with a beer in their hands. 

On one of the chairs lay Sniper, his hat on his face and his hands crossed on his stomach, making sure the bottle of beer there wouldn't slide down and fall. His absurdly long legs were flowing straight in front of him, with his feet almost touching the sofa facing him. The noise of Demoman's hearty laughter woke him up from his nap and the Aussie winced as he removed the hat from his face. 

Flash, too bright. He grumbled and blinked repeatedly for his eyes to adjust to the light. When his brow relaxed, his eyes fell on his colleague on the sofa opposite him. His varnished, black Italian shoe was tracing slow circles in the air. Sniper followed the pinstripe pattern of his trousers up to the Frenchman's lap. The man in the mask was sitting with one leg on top of the other, reading a book.

As Sniper's eyes rose lazily from the book, he realised that Spy's cheeks were pink, and his eyes were on the Aussie himself. The second their eyes met, Spy's eyes flashed back to the book and he frowned harder.

Sniper's eyebrows jumped in surprised. He saw his colleague exhale the smoke of his cigarette through his nostrils. Ha, what kind of emotion was the snake trying to convey, huh? 

"Hey, Snipes has woken up, guys. Yo, wanna join up? We're gonna play darts."

"If ye wanna lose again…" The Aussie answered as he adjusted his posture on the seat. "How high's the bet? Wouldn't wanna rob you of your pocket money."

"Right, fine, go back to your nap… Jeez…" Scout turned his back and joined his group of colleagues to play darts. 

Sniper's head turned back to Spy and to his greatest surprise, he found the Frenchman staring at him, with pink cheeks at that!

"What?" Sniper asked. "Got somethin' on my face?" 

Spy's eyes darted back to his book and his brow furrowed. 

"Non. My apologies." 

Sniper frowned for a second, but didn't think much of it. He looked at his bottle and realised it was empty. So he stood up to go and grab another one. As he came back, he tried to read the title of the book. He winced as he managed to catch only the first two words.

Solitude, but…

There was another word but it was hidden by Spy's gloved fingers. Bah… 

Sniper resumed his seat and lazily enjoyed his beer, while listening to the conversations here and there, his ears jumping from one voice to the other. He stretched his arms and legs. "Oh, sorry." He had kicked Spy's foot. The Frenchman buried his head deeper in the book. 

Sniper ignored it and lay back on the chair. When his eyes went around all of his colleagues, they came back to see what was in front of him and again fell on the Frenchman. To say he was absorbed by his reading was the understatement of the century. The Aussie knew that Spy enjoyed reading. It wasn't the first time that his participation in the Friday evening activities consisted solely in sitting on the sofa or the armchair and reading, surrounded by the ambient chatter of his colleagues. And if he wasn’t mistaken, it looked like it had been the same book for the past few weeks at least.

Sniper’s eyebrows jumped in surprise when he realised that Spy had raised his eyes to him. Their gazes hang up in the air for a moment, Sniper’s cheeks turned pink while Spy’s already were. 

Their eyes snapped away from each other and Spy cleared his throat. The end of his cigarette lit up in bright orange before the smoke exited his nostrils in a long laminar sigh.

Often, Sniper didn't even know when Spy would leave. One moment he was there and the next, he was gone. He probably left because of the noise getting to him, or something being a tiny inconvenience for a normal person, but a huge annoyance for the aristocratically mannered Frenchman. 

Sniper's eyes stayed on Spy for a while. He wondered what he looked like under the mask, like everyone else. All he knew was that he had light blue, almost grey eyes, with black and long eyelashes. His nose was slightly hooked and his lips very thin. They always held a cigarette, to the point where Sniper wondered if his colleague slept or showered with them too…

Spy's eyes were scanning the printing lines at a constant rate, and sometimes, his eyes would stop, he would squint and come back a few lines ago to read a paragraph again. Sniper noticed with amusement that whatever Spy was feeling, it would leak through the subtle movement of his eyebrows. Lightly frowning or relaxing them was more than Sniper usually saw him show.

Curious and mysterious man he was that Spy. But a good teammate and undoubtedly redoubtable in his trade. An assassin as loud as a shadow, but his seconds would be counted upon being found out, a bit like Sniper himself. And similarly to him too, he wasn't one to be very talkative. He would say what was required of him to say, and not more. Small talk wasn't something the Aussie was well versed in but no doubt Spy was different. With the successes he was said to have with women, surely he was very good at it but just chose not to partake in it with his colleagues. 

He respected them as far as work was concerned, but beyond that, Sniper didn't think that Spy would call his colleagues "friends". Ah, actually, did he even know what a friend was? Had he ever sat in a pub and enjoyed a few beers with friends? 

Spy’s mind wasn’t in the common room at all. He was in the setting described by that story. Australia, the bushy and red desert. Wide and wild empty spaces, where the only noises would be those of the exotic birds. Ah, the descriptions really made his mind travel. He had never been to Australia, despite being fairly well travelled. His work had never taken him that far from home. Ha, home… If anyone asked him, he would answer that France was his home country, but it wasn’t his home per se. He didn’t feel more at home in France or right there, in the base. Such was the problem with travelling that much, nowhere is really home anymore.

Spy’s train of thought was interrupted when a bottle of beer appeared between him and the book.

“Here.”

Spy realised that Sniper was standing behind the sofa and handing him the bottle over his shoulder.

“Merci.” He accepted the beer and took it in his hand. 

[Thank you.]

Sniper smiled.

"What’cha readin'?"

"Not over my shoulder." Spy shut the book.

"C'mon, you've been stopping every other minute and looking up to me. Just wanna know why, is all."

"I was not looking at you. I was just taking a break in my reading to process what I just read. Not everything has to do with you, Sniper."

"You've had that there novel in your coat for weeks, and you never let it leave your side; must be a damn good one, Spook."

"I enjoy some kind of literature. It takes my mind off of the fact that I live with lunatics."

"Well, I certainly understand the feeling." Sniper pointedly glared at Scout, who was in the process of unwedging his baseball from the rafters. "Mind sharing that little corner of sanity with me?"

"Non." Spy turned to Sniper. "Now, do you mind? I was in the middle of a chapter."

Sniper resumed his seat further away. He put his hat over his eyes and pretended to sleep. He let his breathing stabilise and knew Spy was watching him to make sure that he was asleep and no longer a disturbance for his reading. But Sniper also knew he was certainly more patient than the Frenchman.

Spy resumed his reading, raising his eyes from time to time in another direction. When he was convinced that Sniper was asleep, he raised his eyes and stared.

He stared…

Sniper could fall asleep anywhere at anytime in any situation, a great quality for a spy, when sometimes situations called for gathering strength in the least comfortable positions.

Sniper suddenly moved the hat away and stared back and Spy got startled, almost jumping on his seat.

"Gotcha starin' again, Spook...."

Spy frowned and left the room to go to his private one. He was obviously furious and fuming but Sniper noticed the blush on his cheeks, the embarrassment. God knew that man hated being embarrassed more than anything else.

Sniper decided to wait for a few minutes before he followed and knocked on his door.

"Who is this?"

"It's me."

"Non merci, see you tomorrow on the battlefield."

[No thanks]

"Spook..." Sniper insisted still behind the door.

"Would you understand it better in French?" Spy asked, irritated.

"C'mon, Spook, just a minute.... Or maybe you'd prefer me to say everythin' I want out in the open, in the corridor...?"

Spy rolled his eyes and shut the book. He pushed himself to stand up and stood off of his armchair to open the door.

"Come in and make it quick."

"Right, right... Can I sit down or do I have to pay extra?"

Spy gestured to the sofa, next to his armchair.

"What is it you seek?"

"You were starin'. Just wanna know why. I checked my face, I don't have anythin' on it, so what is it?"

Spy frowned and put a hand on the bridge of his nose.

"Is that about that book you've been reading?"

The Frenchman looked away, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Seems to take you places, that book. What is it about...?" 

Spy reached for it on the coffee table but Sniper had the same idea. Both withdrew their hands.

"Hey... I just wanna understand cause uh... those looks you give me when you stare at me. Even Engie noticed the blush on yer face."

Spy put a hand on his face.

"Oh, merde...." Spy sighed.

[Oh, shit...]

"I just wanna understand, is all. If it was a magazine, I'd thought it was one of those that Scout's gettin' delivered, eh...."

"Bushman!"

"I know, I know, not your style. So I'm just wonderin'. What the hell gets your cheeks red?"

"I hardly blush. And you cannot see it with the mask."

"Maybe, but I can still see it up there...."

Sniper raised his finger closer to Spy's face, on his upper cheeks. Spy’s eyes followed the finger until they got too close to his personal space and slapped the hand away.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

Sniper took advantage of the Frenchman being destabilised for a fraction of a second to snatch the book away and run out of Spy’s quarters.

"BUSHMAN!"

Spy ran after him, racing the man with taller legs than him, until the Aussie locked himself up in the back of his van.

"BUSHMAN, GIVE ME BACK MY BOOK!"

"Hold on! Need to read the back page, what's this about....?"

Spy banged the door repeatedly with a furious fist.

"BUSHMAN!"

Sniper read, loud enough for Spy to hear from the other side of the thin door.

"After a decade out of his job, the retired Frenchman is called again by no less than the Minister of Defense himself. There is a case to solve, that only the ex-spy can deal with. So he puts on his suit and tie again and flies to Australia where his target is.

He does a good job on his own, until a certain wild kangaroo barges into his mission, and his life."

Spy had stopped knocking on the door and gulped down his constricted throat, sweat breaking on his brow.

"Sounds like something you could be in, eh?"

"Bushman, give me my book NOW!"

"Or what? You gonna disguise yourself as a sheet of paper and slide under the door?"

Sniper couldn’t really hear or understand what the Frenchman mumbled under his breath, and just chuckled at how ridiculously Spy had reacted, chasing him down the base and outside, all the way to his van. But now that he had the book, let’s just open that thing and read bits…

“Oh… Oh hold on…” Sniper frowned, his smile vanishing more as he read line after line.

From the other side of the thin door, Spy got his cigarette case out, opened it to retrieve the pins he concealed there, and started to pick the lock.

"Oh bugger... I get it.... I.... Wow.... That's why you were starin' at me and blushin' like a sheila...? Wait, hold on, if you're looking at me like that and all, does that mean you-Woof?!"

The lock yielded and Spy barged in the room full force, tackling Sniper to the floor.

"Give me back my book!" Spy roared.

"Hold on…" Sniper looked at Spy with wide astounded eyes.

The man in the suit took the opportunity of Sniper being distracted to snatch the book back and stand up. He dusted off his suit.

"Spook...?"

"Good night." Spy turned and headed away.

"Hold on!" Sniper jumped to his feet and held him back from his shoulder.

"What now?! Can't I be left in peace?!" Spy was infuriated.

"Hey…"

Sniper’s voice was much softer than Spy’s raging one. Their eyes met.

"How far were you in the book?"

"What?" Spy squinted.

"How far were you in? Beginnin'? Middle?"

“Why do you care?”

“Just answer! Closer to the beginnin’ or the end?”

Spy sighed and his shoulders sank. 

"Closer to the beginning than the end, why?"

"Wanna... Read it together?" Sniper gestured to inside his van. "I don't have a couch or anythin', but there's a bench, or the bed if it's too uncomfy for you…"

"Wh-...?" Spy was at a loss.

"I only read bits. Don't leave me hangin', eh?" Sniper smiled. The Frenchman stared in disbelief.  "C'mon, I wanna know what happens to the French Spook in Australia."

"If you ever speak of this…" Spy raised a threatening finger to his colleague.

“I know, I know, tiny knife between my shoulder blades, yada yada yada.... Now come in and let's shut the door before someone sees us."

“I would do so much more than just backstab you, believe me.” Spy threatened but nonetheless entered the van fully.

Sniper stared in astonishment as Spy removed his jacket and loosened the tie on his neck before removing his shoes and climbing the ladder to the bed.

"Oh alright…"

"Do you have any water in this ridiculous dwelling of yours?"

"Yeah, I'll get you a glass. I'd tell you to get comfy but you already did...."

"Come on, I don't have all day...."

"A minute! Jesus, you're supposed to be patient and all, aren't you?"

Sniper climbed up and joined Spy on the bed before switching on his night lamp. The light was yellow and not too bright.

"How can you take so much space with yer skinny arse?"

"I am not! You are the one pushing me! Also, I could do without any remarks on my behind, thank you very much Bushman!"

"I’m not pushin’ you... Anyway, here, yer bloody water, now... You can pick up where you left off, don't need to start at the beginnin', eh."

"Merci. I was not going to anyway. Now...."

"And I read slow, so don't go and turn the pages too fast, yeah?"

"May I start already?" Spy rolled his eyes up, part of him still wildly surprised. 

"Yeah, yeah, alright, go ahead…"

Spy took a sip of water and started reading out loud.

"Hold on, what are you doin'?!"

"I am reading, wasn’t that what you wanted now, Bushman?"

"Out loud? I know how to read, eh!"

"A pleasant surprise.” Spy answered. “Now, you wanted the story, yes or no?"

"Yeah?"

"So keep quiet."

Spy took a deep breath and resumed the reading. Time passed, pages were turned, Spy only stopped to drink a bit of water from time to time. Sniper enjoyed himself. Spy knew how to read well. His tone, his voice and the way he played the characters in the dialogues were very pleasant to the Aussie’s ear.

Sniper leaned his head on Spy's shoulder, following the text on the page with his eyes. Spy was taken aback for a split second, but carried on, choosing to ignore it rather than making it more awkward. After all, he was in Sniper’s bed reading him a story...

Holy dooley…

Sniper wasn’t expecting that. Spy was now reading a moment of… romance between the French spy and the Aussie in the story. The Frenchman kept his composure, force of professional habit, but Sniper started to get uncomfortable, a bit like when he was watching the TV with his parents and a hot scene came on. What made it all so much real was Spy’s voice acting of the characters. For the French spook, he wasn’t changing his voice at all but for the Aussie hunter, he sounded strikingly like the enemy Sniper. And the flirting written in the story, the banter, it all sounded so real.

"Bushman?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you shaking?"

"I-I'm not. Keep goin'."

"Sniper…"

Spy looked down on his shoulder. Sniper avoided eye contact, his eyes remained glued to the book as if his life depended on it.

"You lie very poorly."

"Well... good thing I'm not paid for it then I guess...."

"Indeed. Now, what is the problem?"

"Nothin'. C'mon, continue, or I'll read it...!"

"You are trembling, you can barely speak and you try to make me believe that you will read this out loud? Go ahead then, humour me." 

A smirk crept across Spy's thin lips.

"Uh... Right... Where were we... Uh... I-I can't find the line anymore!"

"I have my finger on it, Sniper.”

"Yeah, well…"

"Now, what is it? Have you never read un roman à l'eau de rose before?"

"A what now?"

"Literally, a 'novel with rose water', it is an expression we use to describe a romance novel. Have you never read one of those before?"

"N-not really.... They're books for sheilas…"

"Do I look like one?" Spy asked.

"No…"

"Then, it is not."

"It's not what?"

"'A book for sheilas'. Now, shall we resume?"

"Spook...?"

"What?"

"I'm just... It's an Aussie hunter and a French Spy in the story, right?"

"Oui."

"Is that why... I mean..."

"You are trembling for the same reason that I was blushing." Spy answered. “Now, may I?”

"'s bloody ridiculous, I'm sorry."

"It is fine." Spy leaned his head on top of Sniper's.

"Shall we resume now?"

"Uh, hold on... Ahem... I-I'm sorry.... I-it's worse now...."

"Mon Dieu.... Wait, can you hold the book for an instant?"

"I-I can try...."

Sniper held the book open with shaking hands and watched as Spy removed one glove, then the next.

"I can hold it now, merci."

The Aussie gave him back the book, Spy held it with one hand, as he slithered the other to Sniper's.

"Now, where were we? Ah," Spy cleared his throat and resumed reading as if he wasn’t holding Sniper’s hand. The Aussie's heart backflipped in his chest the moment Spy's slender fingers reached his. 

"Can you turn the page, please?"

"Uh, sure… Spook?"

"What now?" Spy sighed.

"Thanks, eh."

"Hm."

Spy’s fingers slid between Sniper’s and he felt the trembling fingers struggle but reciprocate. The Aussie shifted on the bed slightly to adjust his head against Spy's shoulder. Spy lifted his head, and then leaned it again once Sniper was comfortable again.

"Shall we resume now?"

"Yeah, I think I'm uh... I'm better."

Spy started reading again.

"Spook?"

Another, longer sigh.

"What is it, now?"

"Will ya… remove your mask too?"

"Non."

"Oh, okay…"

"It is too cold in your van."

"Hold on…"

Sniper hopped out of bed, turning on the heater. 

"Are you serious?" Spy asked.

"It's just to see if you look like the bloke from the book, is all."

Mundy quickly covered them both with the blanket.

"Alright, carry on, sorry…"

"Now it is too hot." Spy complained, thinking that Sniper would snap at him and ask him to leave.

"Will you remove your mask, then?"

Spy’s eyebrows jumped. He didn’t expect that. 

"Non."

"Oh... So you just said that like that....? Alright...."

Spy resumed his reading but his mind wasn’t on the story. His whole attention was on the hand he was holding, on the fingers that now slithered back between his. He stopped reading sharp. Sniper waited, expecting Spy to take a sip of water but the Frenchman didn’t move.

“What?” Sniper asked. “You didn’t finish the page so I’m not gonna turn it.”

"Would you like to remove it for me?"

“Remove the page?” Sniper was confused.

“Non, my mask.”

The Aussie's eyes snapped wide, his jaw lowering as if it had a mind of its own.

"Wait…" He looked up at Spy. "You serious?"

“Am I ever in the habit of joking?”

“I don’t know, you’re so hard to follow.”

"Do you want to see if I look like Lucien from the book or not?"

"Yeah! I mean…” Sniper calmed down. “If that's ok with you...?"

"Then, go ahead." Spy closed the book and turned to face Sniper, who sat up and turned to the Frenchman.

“You sure?”

“The more you ask and wait, the higher the probability of me changing my mind.” Spy answered seemingly annoyed.

“Right, right…” Sniper raised his hands up and his fingers approached the Frenchman’s neck. He pinched the fabric and looked up at Spy’s face. The man was staring at him with his arctic blue eyes that seemed even more light under the yellow night lamp. Sniper took a deep breath and rolled the fabric up before gently pulling it up.

"Jesus Christ..." Sniper took an instant to discover all the features unknown until then. 

Spy carded his hair back with a nonchalant hand.

"So, does the description fit me?" He smirked, amused by Sniper’s astonishment.

"Ah... I mean... Uh... I... Uhm... Hold on...."

"Come on, just be honest. That should be easy for you, you lie terribly."

"You're gorgeous." The sentence escaped Sniper’s lips and his control. It was one thread of air that slid out of him. Spy’s eyebrows jumped, not that he wasn’t used to hearing it, but as the years passed, he heard it less and less. Besides, it wasn’t anyone who was saying it, but the Aussie hunter.

"Well, thank you. You don't look all that bad yourself. Now, shall we resume?"

"Y-yeah…"

Sniper sat back next to Spy and looked back up at him.

"Sniper…"

"Hm?"

"You do realise that you are staring at my face?"

"Oh, bugger, sorry...." Sniper’s eyes moved away to fall on the book again, but he didn’t see the pages, the ink on the paper, the bed, the van. All that his brain projected on his eyes was Spy’s naked face...

"Sniper?"

"Yeah?"

"I never asked you to stop."

Sniper’s head swooshed to Spy’s with wide open eyes. The Frenchman smiled, sweetly. 

“I uh… What are you doin’? You playin’ with my nerves or somethin’?”

“You were the one to invite me in your bed.” Spy smirked as he knew very well that his comment would make Sniper blush and it didn’t miss. The Aussie exhaled long and hard, before wiping his sweaty hands on his trousers. “Come on, will you play the shy card now?”

“What’re you playin’ at?”

“Your invitation and the fact that I am still here speaks at length for what you think about me. But it is curious that you worked up the courage to ask me to remove my mask, but not to just phrase what you feel.”

“Get out of my head, Spook.”

“My apologies.” Spy chuckled. 

“Although I s’ppose if you are in my head, you don’t need me to tell you anythin’. You’ve read it already.”

“I am afraid so.”

“You’re afraid so?” Sniper repeated.

“Oui, I started reading and could not really stop.” Spy answered. “More seriously, you have not kicked me out yet, so I suppose you don’t find my company to be too much of a burden.”

“Yeah, I guess this tells me that you're ok with me too.” Sniper raised his hand, which fingers were still intertwined with Spy’s.

“You guess correctly.”

Their eyes met again and both smiled.

“What do you think of the story so far?” Spy asked.

“It’s nice. Although I don’t think I’m that shy with you.”

“Indeed. But you should read the rest, you become braver.”

“I thought you hadn’t read more of it?”

“Oh, please. I have read it again and again.”

“You liar.”

“When I need to, oui.”

“So you’ve been readin’ this book on loop, eh?”

“Oui, it was a curious find. There is this bookshop I like in town and I was having a look around when the shopkeeper recommended it to me. I read the summary at the back and it caught my attention. Since then, the book hasn’t left my side. And I am delighted to have shared a part that I enjoy with you. But this book, it is the only company I have besides that of that awfully clingy mistress.”

Sniper raised a curious eyebrow. 

“You have a sheila?” He removed his hand from Spy’s and the Frenchman chuckled, oddly enough.

“I think you and I share her.”

“What?! No! I don’t have any sheila! I’m-I’m with no one!”

“Sniper?”

“What?”

“Do you want to drive her away with me?” Spy asked, looking deep in the lagoon blue irises of the Aussie.

“Oi, not gonna stand between you and your sheila!”

“Sniper, I am not talking about a woman. I mean the Solitude that fills my days as much as it does yours.” Spy finally explained and Sniper saw his light irises half hide behind a delicate curtain of long, black eyelashes.

“I… Uh… Spy…”

The Frenchman smiled. It was egotistical and narcissistic of him, but he loved seeing it, seeing the moment the person he had in his mind fall for him, and with Sniper, it was just then and there. Spy slid his fingers through Sniper’s again and leaned his head on his shoulder.

“Please?” Spy asked in a whisper, a thin thread of air that punched Sniper’s guts out of his body. That voice, that damned voice, that accent… “Spend some time with me.”

“Gosh…” Sniper felt the soft waves of air against his neck and his heartbeat accelerated. He closed his eyes and tightened his grip on Spy’s hand. “Y-you serious?” He whispered back, for no one else to hear, in the secrecy of the dimly lit van.

“What do you think?” Sniper could hear the smirk through Spy’s whisper. “Here I am, in your bed, with you, without my mask. Do you think that it is all staged, all a joke, a prank?”

“I-I don’t know… It’s just… It’s just too good to be true.” Sniper’s breath was hard and fast. He screwed his eyes shut harder and leaned his head on the wall behind him, raising it and feeling Spy’s breath periodically blow on his neck, constantly reminding him that he was there, the gorgeous devil in a suit and tie. Oh Sniper wanted to remember it, he wanted to bottle up those whispers, those intense and secret words, those feelings, bottle them up somewhere and reopen the bottle when he felt too lonely. He wanted to believe Spy’s words.

“Too good to be true? Hm…” Spy smirked and raised a finger. Sniper felt it grazing his skin on his jaw.

“S-Spy…”

The Frenchman turned and slid a leg between the Aussie.

“Let us sleep. You are tense and could do with a bit of rest.” Spy pulled him down to lie and threw away his own tie before opening a couple of buttons on his shirt. He snuggled up against Sniper and used his shoulder as a pillow.

“Spy?”

Sniper raised his head to look down at Spy. The Frenchman looked up at him.

“Oui?”

“You serious?”

Spy graced Sniper with one of those smiles that made the Aussie’s insides burn.

“Oui…” The Frenchman went to his ear. “You can call me Lucien, Mundy.” Sniper’s eyes snapped wide. He turned to look at Spy and his body reacted before his mind could hold it back.

Coffee and nicotine were all he could taste on the thin lips of the man he was holding between his hands, in his bed.