#i know i know the fr translation was inspired a lot by the US one

[bsd-bibliophile]

Survey Dates: 11/15/2024 - 12/15/2024

Number of Participants: 362

Tumblr will not allow me to post pictures of all the survey results, so only part of them are included in this post. You can download and view the complete results here or view them in the BSD-Bibliophile Online Library.

Thank you to everyone who participated! If you are interested in viewing the results from past surveys, here are the results from 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

View the complete survey results here or on the BSD-Bibliophile Online Library.

Comments:

:)

:p

always looking forward to ur survey :)) i love data and it motivates me to read more japanese authors

Another year, another survey! Thank you so much for all the information you provide, it's really some great work you're doing! It's been a while since I had the time to just sit down and read for a while, but I did recently buy The Setting Sun and I read Kokoro this year, which was such a masterpiece I loved it! Again many thanks and love <3

As always, thank you for your lovely work Anne <33

been a fan of this website since i got into bsd (2020) you’re doing god’s work fr!!

BYE BYE BESTIES FROM ME IN THE WESTIES

compiling all these resources is a really awesome endeavor, thanks for all that you do :)

cool asf

Cool survey ^_^

even though i haven't used the library yet, i really appreciate you keeping it up and maintaining it as a resource! thank you!

freaky kunikida 😛😛😛

haiiii

Hey hope everything is going well for you I love seeing your posts and analyses you’ve really done a lot for bsd and Japanese literature fans thanks for everything <33

heyo!! i appreciate all the work you guys do, and while i've had this tab open on my phone for a while, i've not used the website that much. i plan to in the future!!

I cannot choose between Dazai, Ranpo, and Chuuya as favorite characters.

I don't always have time to read or use the library, but I'm very happy it exists and I want to find the time to use it and read more!! You are one of my favorite blogs on tumblr and have done wonderful things for both the BSD and literature community.

i dotn know why i m filling this out

I have not read a lot of Japanese literature but I intend on reading at least 1 work from each author in BSD as a goal

I have not read much, as I would rather read physical copies. Many of the authors' works cannot be found in my country, so I would wait for a bit to read, or just give in and read online translated version. At the moment I can find Ayatsuji, Tsujimura, Natsume Soseki, Dazai Osamu, Yokomizo Seishi...I intend to read more mysteries, so I would focuse on Yokomizo Seishi's at the moment.

I haven't had the time to check out your tumblr, but I have used your website a bunch! I really appreciate the effort you put into all of it, and it made reading Bungou (and other Japanese authors) a lot more accessible and understandable. Without reading some of your descriptions on the authors, I most definitely wouldn't have even picked up their books in the first place. So, thank you very much!

I honestly don’t have one single favorite bsd character, but Atsushi is definitely in my top few, I love his character and his development, and someone very very dear to me is a lot like him <3 ALSO READ STORMBRINGER 💥

I hope you have a great day ahead! This was a lovely survey.

i love dazai

I love entering Tumblr and seeing your posts on my tl, specially if they're from my favorite authors/characters ❤️ I feel like they're always there for me in a way thanks to your posts. I also appreciate the resources, even if I usually read physical books.

I love the BSD-Bibliophile site, it's so helpful when my BSD phase strikes again.

I love the online library even though I haven't used it in awhile. It's a great resource to direct new jp lit readers to

I love the tumble quotes as it inspires my own writing. Thank you and keep it up! x

I love the work that your community/company is putting in. Good luck on everything.

I love this website, thanks for this!

I love your blog! Love from Spain!

I love your online library, and I love how passionate you are about it. If there's any way that we can help add to your collection or just help in general, please let me know!

I loved Bungou Stray Dogs the moment I watched the Anime and started reading the Manga. With this Blog, it was the same: The moment I found it, I loved it! There are so many books written by authors from BSD, that I can't get a hand on in Germany, so that Posts here are my only source. I hope it makes sense... my active english isn't good. Thank you very much for the hard work over all these years!

I originally accessed this website only to search for digital copies of Dazai Osamu's works, but I ended up developing a genuine obsession with classic Japanese literature and reading dozens of books, short stories, and essays from various authors and of different genres. Thank you so much for your hard work!

I prefer reading the Slavic authors at the moment so I haven't read much by the Japanese authors. (I am also learning Russian personally so this is my preference.)

"I really enjoy your blog! It is very fun, informative, and helpful <3 

I haven't read much of the authors featured in BSD but I plan to change that next year! Your blog will be very helpful then! Thank you for all your work!"

I really love how you have made all the translated books available online. It has helped me expand my choice of literature actually. Thank you so much for your hard work! This is a place return to every once in a while because it brings me so much joy!

I really love the BSD Bibliophile Online Library. It comes in handy when I want to read books or search for more information on the authors. Bless you for such a wonderful resource!

I started learning Japanese for a light novel series that I was following (not BSD), but BSD is directly responsible for my seeking out more general Japanese literature, rather than just light novels or anime. Would not have read half of that stuff otherwise, so I am quite happy I picked up the series.

I think BSD-bibliophile is an awesome website! Thank you:)

I use the BSD-Bibliophile often! Thank you for making this website.

I want to start reading

I wish I had more time to explore the real works of the authors

I'm glad that such a page exists. I find it important and useful. Just congratulations to the ones (or one) who came up with the idea and followed through with it!

In the future I’d recommend either including modern Japanese authors (Murakami etc) in the survey, or specifying that the focus is classic (largely 20th/early 21st century) authors. But regardless I love what y'all do and the resources you provide!

in truth i haven’t used the site as i’ve wished due to time but i always have this site in mind when i’m looking for japanese authors to read :) i wholeheartedly love this site and have used it to read shorter parts of writings i can read… thank you for all you do! i can’t wait to open up the treasure trove that is this website and dive deep into japanese authors

Is there a list for BSD writers’ literary significance + how they influenced each other in chronological order? I’m relatively new to JP lit and I’d love to learn more

I've already asked for this correction last year, but I will say it again; please change the wording for "Who is your favorite BSD Japanese author" and "What is your favorite literary work by a Japanese BSD author" questions. The authors don't have anything to do with BSD, and now the questions make it sound like you're asking if people like Asagiri or someone else who has worked on BSD, as THEY are the authors of BSD. Not Dazai and others. Please change the wording to "Japanese authors who appear as characters in BSD" or something like that, and don't call them BSD authors. They aren't such. Also, I would like to point out that you've got Hirotsu's name order wrong in all questions. It's Hirotsu Ryuurou (JP order like for others), not Ryuurou Hirotsu (which is the Western name order). Thank you for the survey as always.

I've been meaning to start reading the works on the Online Library, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I've used your list once!! I haven't had time to read many new things with how busy I've been, but there's a few I've been meaning to get around to for a while.

Just wanted to say how much I appreciate the work you do :) it made Japanese lit way more accessible when I started getting into it

Just wanted to say thank you for all you do!

Just wanted to say thanks for all the work you've put into the blog! It's how I ended up reading Nakahara's poems :)

Keep up the great work!

Love the analyses page! please add more and make it easier to find on the page

Love this blog!!!

love ur website

Love your work 💜

Maybe you should also do a survey to figure out what other Japanese authors are popular. I read mainly translated Japanese, and I'm curious to see just how popular authors like Kawabata, Mishima and Shiga are. Loved this survey btw, can't wait to see the results <3

my interest in Japanese literature was cultivated through the comprehensive list and resources available in bsd bibliophile site even though I started watching bsd much before I found the site for which I'll always be grateful because a lot of my favourite works are from Japanese literature. so thank you!!!

N/A - have a lovely day! :)

One of the Agatha Christie quotes was censored (specifically, the Ten Little Indians poem). I don't think that serves any pedagogical purpose, and it erases the harmful aspects of that story that are worth discussing and acknowledging. Similar to censoring mentions of women in Dazai quotes, it only serves to gloss over and obscure relevant details in the authors' legacies and meaningful context from their works.

"One of the best curated pages. Thanks to you i’ve been able to delve further into the magical world of BSD and some of the greatest authors in literature. 

Thank you. You’re a blessing to the BSD community. 

Love from Vietnam."

"Please help the Brazilian Portuguese speakers to make a way of doing some kind of the same thing (a place with translations) 

It would be great lots of languages on the library"

scurrying here to read tanizaki's works because the games i like reference them is the most brainrot thing i did

stay hydrated!

thank you

Thank you

thank you for all your hard work in organising the online library ♥️

Thank you for all your hard work with the website and the gorgeous posts. I have read many works after seeing them featured on your blog first

Thank you for all your work!

"Thank you for doing these every year, it is always interesting to see the results! If it's okay, I'd like to recommend two books from Japanese authors (altough they aren't related to bsd). First: The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi. It's a funny and surprisingly deep book with a great time loop (and there's an anime based on it that's just as great!) Second: The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda, a gripping mystery that I couldn't put out of my hands.

Have a great year reading, everyone!"

Thank you for everything! I've learned and read a lot about Japanese authors, and even Western ones.

"Thank you for making people more familiar with Japanese literature! Good luck.

Thank you for running this blog! I'm currently working on my masters degree and the blog is going to be a valuable resource for me in the coming months.

Thank you for the google site and everything you've done for the community all these years :-) !!!

Thank you for the survey

Thank you for the survey! : ) I really want to read more books by Japanese authors but there aren't many translations of the ones i want in stores.

Thank you for the work you do!

Thank you for your blog and the website! It really helped me, because it can be hard to find even an electronic version of the book

"Thank you for your continued maintenance and work on the website - I'm incredibly grateful for all of the PDFs, lists, and information on such a broad array of authors. In time, I plan to read every work on the list.

A question - outside of the authors included in the bibliography, who else do you enjoy reading? I am fond of Kenzaburo Oe, Haruki Murakami, Keigo Higashino, Karen Horney, Irvin Yalom, Nietzsche, and Carl Jung (amongst a few others here and there)"

Thank you for your contribution to the BSD fandom!

thank you for your hard work in promoting and providing Japanese books

Thank you for your hard work!

thank you for your hard work! your site has helped me both in terms of enjoyment and providing useful resources for writing my papers and understanding literature better.

Thank you for your hard work!!

Thank you for your hard work, BSD-Bibliophile Online Library is a huge source of information for the community

Thank you for your website and hard work. I'm genuinely grateful.

Thank you for your work!

Thank you so much for making your site. It's one of the main ways I get literature, and it's really helpful because I'm a kid without a steady stream of income aside from an $8 a week allowance, which is not enough to get books at the speed I read them and my family does not go to the library often enough nor does my library have enough to suit my interests. Your online library is truly incredible and I could not be more grateful that you're kind enough to put it out for the world.

Thank you so much for running BSD-Bibliophile! It's such a lovely account, I love seeing the quotes, and also introduced me to new works too — for example, a quote from Dazai Osamu's 'The Villon's Wife' made me realize I hadn't read his whole library yet. 'm inspired by the quotes I read, and it always makes me want to read new stories too! So truly, thank you so so much for running this account.^^

thank you so much for your amazing work!!!!

Thank you!

Thanks for all the work you do!

Thanks for all you do! This is a great resource and an incredibly helpful one!!

thanks for everything, you made it easier for me to read and access Japanese literature

Thanks for your work!!!!:)

The Bibliophile has helped so much thank you!!!! :DDDDD

The website had been very useful, I'm enjoying myself with it a lot :)

The work you do (translating and compiling the works) has given me so much joy when I was obsessing about BSD and looking to read works from the original authors!! The quality of the translations seems pretty great (I'm not fluent in Japanese to know for sure but I've certainly read worse translations) and without BSD Bibliophile, I wouldn't have found a *lot* of works I love dearly. Thanks for putting this together! It's made an impact in my life and brought me closer to works I wouldn't have gotten to know otherwise :)

This survey is really including and cool! Props to the creator

This was fun to take

ur blog is such a wonderful insight into japanese literature through the lens of bsd ^^ i’d like to get more into actually reading the original works esp next year and ur blog is such a great lil sneak peak into them? lovely wotk keep it up (also hopefully gonna start w hell screen cus i read a bit 👍 but idk i like how bsd has such a wide range of authors id never heard of before ^^ literature is such a wide spectrum love it)

Ur posts put a smile on my face! I love ur dedication to the fandom and japanese literature 🫡🫡 you must have been posting daily for more than 5 years? Impressive 😊😌😌

w series literally

What about Fyodor Dostoevsy? (Crime and Punishment is a rather nice book)

Your posts made me buy and read the books. Thank you! 🖤

your website is very nice! it's where i found the english translations for some of the light novels. ive only read 3 so far but hope to read more in the future. thank you for your service 🙇‍♂️

your work is so vast and underappreciated! i really need to take more time to look through your library. thank you for all the work you've put into it!

С:

"こんにちは、翻訳の努力を本当に感謝しています。あなたにはとても感謝しています。正直なところ、お気に入りを選ぶのは難しかったですが、中也の詩が好きなので、結局太宰をクリックしました。とにかく、本当にありがとうございます。良い一日をお過ごしください！"

今年、お疲れ様でした！Thank you for your work. Having access to more of the authors I was curious about led to me conducting a successful research project on Japanese literary fiction last year. This year, I've moved abroad to Japan to learn Japanese at university. I hope that I can contribute to the effort to kindle others' inspiration through translation and storytelling. Please have a happy new year!

[fairer-tales]

In Memoriam Headcanons!!

cus i’m still insane about them and want nothing but happiness for our boys

~spoilers for the book ahead-

• In Brazil, Gaunt and Ellwood almost always wear coordinating ties and handkerchiefs (either wearing the same pattern in different colours, or vice versa, or by swapping so that one has the kerchief to go with the others tie)

• Gaunt tried to write a poem about Ellwood once. He got four lines in and got embarrassed with himself and went to box instead. he left the page in her desk drawer and never found it again.

• Contrary to popular belief, Gaunt is a riot at embassy events in Brazil (when he actually joins in conversation). He just makes blunt, usually unwittingly witty comments that make the tipsy embassy blokes roar with laughter (that tism humour fr).

• Ellwood loves to host. in the beginning, it’s to fill the void of living in brazil and the aftermath of the war, but he finds that he really enjoys it. utter peacock.

• Ellwood loves the flowers in Brazil, but he can’t often find some of ones that align with the victorian flower language. So, he invents a new flower language just for him and Gaunt.

• Ellwood, ever spiteful, used to step on the toes of young women who flirted with Gaunt at balls when it was his turn to dance with them. Despite how much it pained him to risk damaging his reputation as an excellent dancer.

• They used to have snowball fights at Thornycrpft when they spent Christmas hols there together.

• Gaunt rarely speaks german, but when he’s particularly drunk, he starts whispering german terms of endearment into Ellwood’s ear. Ellwood doesn’t have a clue what he’s saying but he’s not complaining.

• Having baths together (partly as an inside joke, partly cus <3 )

• I’m sure they would have a pet, but can decide on what animal. i can picture ellwood getting an exotic bird for parlour tricks when he’s hosting, giving it an eccentric name (like Benedict or Florian) but actually getting super attached. Or, Gaunt having a realy pampered cat (probably a white long haired breed). ORRR Gaunt finds a dog that reminds him of his old dog at home and has a ‘can we keep him’ moment

• Gaunt publishes his translations. perhaps he makes them more accessible for people who aren’t getting that upper class public school education, with english translation accompanying the original greek (inspired by his friendship with Hayes). Maybe Hayes reads them and resolves that they’re just ‘decent’

• If they return to england, Ellwood brings his hosting reputation with him, and holds a party upon his return to england and before their departure back to brazil or wherever their travels take them every time. unwittingly attracts a LOT of upper-class queers.

• they get (fake) married one day. they get matching wedding bands in whatever metal matches the other’s undertones (cus this is the type of thing at least one of them knows). they get to cal each other ‘husband’ in the comfort of their own home.

[shiftingwithmars]

Me and Mattheo’s nicknames for each other<3

(Inspired by a post @theeslutintheroom made. Thanks for this idea babes😘)

Mattheo’s nicknames for me:

“Baby”—He really only uses this one when we’re alone. He doesn’t like showing how soft he is for me in public, but we all know he’s a simp for me (My delusional ass—)

“Mi Amore”—Spanish phrase for “my love” (google translated). He mainly uses this one when he’s feeling really lovey-dovey. It’s mostly used late at night and early in the morning. (The tired, raspy voice?!? You know what I’m talking about🤭)

“Honey”—he uses this one to be annoying a lot. He knows I hate it, and he uses it all the time in arguments.

“Princess”—All the time, ESPECIALLY in arguments.

“Short stuff”—He KNOWS I hate this one. I’m shorter than him and he LOVES to to tease me about it.

“My wife”—He’s only used the nickname in front of me once, and it was completely by accident. He calls me this around other people, specifically his friends. He just loves referring to me as his wife🥰.

My nicknames for Mattheo:

“Baby”—I literally use this one all the time. It’s my favorite nickname for him.

“Matty”—Mattheo’s personal favorite. He always blushes when I use it in public, embarrassed at showing how soft he is for me, but he secretly loves it.

“Babes”—I use this often, usually when we meet up or something. “Hey babes” accompanied by a quick kiss on the cheek.

“My love”—Mattheo loves really any nickname that has the word “my” in front of it. Knowing he’s mine is his favorite feeling.

“Dr Jekyll”—This one is kind of new. I called him this because of his mood swings and how easy it is to make him mad. He didn’t cuddle me for 3 days after this🥲(living up to the name Fr)

“Sweetheart”—I rarely use this one, and I mainly use it to tease him. Mattheo claims he hates it, but we all know he secretly loves any of the nicknames I give him🤭

[honeyandthunderstorms]

Fic Writer Interview! 💗

tagged by: @beensinning (this was so fun!! thanks for the tag, sinn <333)

How many works do you have on AO3?

altogether, I have 33 works… but 21 of them are actually available on my ao3 page, whereas my 12 F1 fics are on anon 😅

What's your total AO3 word count?

351,826 — more than I expected, but also less than what I was expecting out of 33 works. tbf I write more one-shots than I do actual long fics

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

closer I get, can you resist? (1,857)

[redacted] (1,206)

[redacted] (1,100)

darlin’, I will give up everything (828)

[redacted] (819)

redacted fics are for my old fandom (icemav, if you will)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I reallllllly try to. if I don't respond right away, I usually do it sooner or later. on long fics, I tend to reply if I get them instantly when I update or I try to respond right before I upload a new chapter. I super love reading comments and interacting with them because a lot of great ideas form in the comments and a lot of my willpower to write comes from praise lmao. so I figure why not get back to the people taking their time to let me know I've done a good job?

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

okayyyyy, the angstiest ending I've ever written is between can you see right through me? or from my 2020-2021 fandom (the magicians) — hard choice fr but my Daniel/Charles (endgame lestappen) is pretty damn angsty

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

another old fandom fic (top gun). it ended in a marriage proposal (I let @beensinning read this one hehe)

Do you write crossovers?

I'm with @beensinning. do AUs count? bc my bridgerton fic is basically a fusion, but also not? or does it only count as a crossover when other people in the fandom appear? if I'm talking nonsense, just ignore me lmao

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

yesssssss. i once had someone comment and say I had several spelling mistakes — come to find out its bc I was using the American-spelling of English words (I am American oops), but when I asked what spelling errors I had, they came back and corrected my grammar bc they were wrong about my spelling so they had to find something else wrong 😭

also in a lestappen fic (I can take the upper hand and touch your body), I was just playing with a different narrative basically (bc it's fanfic… reminder. FICTION. a place where you can change the narrative to fit your story) & someone started hating on Max in my comments bc I made Charles the “bad guy”. I didn't. I just made him emotional bc of the Spain GP weekend. aka clipping lando, the reprimand, max and Lando gossiping in front of cameras. I just changed the narrative to fit where Charles’ mind was at. instead of the slight collision between Lando and Charles being an accident, I made it where it was hinted he just saw red and then yea. anywayssss, I do not condone hating one or the other. end of story. how do you find enjoyment reading a ship when you hate one of them??? I don't get it.

also I'm pretty sure this comment didn't mean any harm, but in my bridgerton fic (darlin’, I will give up everything) where omegas wear dresses bc I'm playing with the inherrant sexism in women and omegas while also aiding in my feminization kink, someone asked why I couldn't just put Charles in his baggy jeans… lol anyway, it made me mad so I'm counting it.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

oh boy, do I ever. I will write just about any kind of smut unless I don't find a certain kink enjoyable, but I also don't yuck other people’s yums 🤷🏼‍♀️ my fav smut is def breeding kink and feminization kink if y'all couldn't tell though 😌

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that I know of? I think I would actually have an anxiety attack over that if it happened though lol

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have had someone ask, but I do not think they ever went through with it? I never got a message/comment back or a ‘inspired by’ notif on ao3 so I just assumed it never happened

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no, but I love bouncing ideas off of other people. usually, if someone has really inspired me, I always gift them the fic on ao3 because it's my present to them to bring alive some of their ideas 🥹

What's your all-time favourite ship?

my otp is icemav (missing my old fandom heavy lately), BUT lestappen are becoming my will tomkive so there's that. which is sooooo funny to me bc I came into this fandom liking piarles more… which I still love them, but lestappen have taken over my brainrot

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

its a longfic for my old fandom and I severely hate that I never finished it bc so many people loved it… I got burnt out so bad and had to take a step back. I just don't know if I will ever come back to it, but I would love to finish it if I ever get the urge to. maybe one day 😔

What are your writing strengths?

I answered this recently in an ask, I think? it was character building and how they interact with other characters. I feel I’m really good at showing how people react to others and conveying their moods.

What are your writing weaknesses?

commas. I suck at knowing where commas go 😭 this is why I tag ‘grammarly is my best friend’ in fics bc it IS. it is so dear to me.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I'm a native English speaker so I can't speak for people who speak other languages, but I don't mind reading it. on the other hand, I do write it, but I try not to write full conversations and instead just add a word here or there 😭 I know some French because I took it for 2 years but a lot of it is rapidly fading from my mind so I know next to nothing atp. forgive me everyone if I'm butchering things in my fics 😔

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

one direction back in 2012 (I was 12) 😎 I was writing one direction x OFC LMAO

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

oh god um??? I guess I'd like to write a sebchal or choscar fic one of these days 👀

What's your favourite fic you've written?

hands down, closer I get, can you resist? I love it sm. I've put sm of my soul into that fic that it feels like my child. it was the first fic I've written in a while where I'm just going with the flow and having fun

no-pressure tags <33 : @sediciii @formulaocean @mothlau @usedtobetam @carbonmono

[shadale-s-safe-space]

I don't know if I missed it somewhere or if there's a spoiler-reason why it hasn't been said, but I'm wondering if the two Worker Drones from your comic have names? They're both really cute. :3

Of course they do! Z and AleX They've been here before I even considered making a comic about them. (Also, thank you)

Their names are mentioned only once by Uzi in chapter one named "Fate". I kinda used it as an introduction, but not in a way that it explains a lot, the more is learned about them by shattered memories, which to me, seems like a better idea of representing why they mean so much to each other instead of working from scratch. Imma be fr rn. I hate boring comics and comics that try to explain a lot but nothing really happens in them. Now don't have time or energy to work on something long so I'm just keeping it short as possible, I also hate when a comic contains too much text, I specially hate the use of written sound effects. I think readers are smart enough to imagine the noise when they read, it's just distracting from a bigger picture.

Idk if I'm succeeding in what I'm trying to do, this is like a first comic that I've made that didn't abruptly end after two pages. I had a vision, an idea, I think it sometimes doesn't translate well enough, I also think that the dialog sometimes doesn't make sense, I honestly wish I could read it from a fresh mind without knowing anything about it, I wanna see it from others perspective. As I mentioned few times, some parts are inspired by true events, the real things that happened to me personally. And it still it doesn't hit me. I went close and personal and it's so bad to look at your own creation and feel nothing.

Idk how to write and went into a ramble rampage - anyway

Names of the chapters for new readers:

Chapter one "Fate"

Chapter two "Faith"

Chapter three (final) "Visage"is currently on part 1

I'm just hoping that one day I won't regret writing this

[thatstonedwriter]

hello!! since requests are open i'd love to request a ship for the boys <3

i'm a bi & ace jewish brazilian girl, currently in college in the us, majoring in theatre & minoring in translation (i want to be a musical theatre actress and/or playwright and/or translator). i'm 1.72m tall, have long brown hair that i've never dyed (i start thinking about it but chicken out), and no tattoos but very clear ideas of what i'd like to do if i ever got one. fluent in portuguese & english, currently learning french, and i have a life objective to become a polyglot (4+ languages!!).

i'm in love with theatre, literary analysis, linguistics, music, writing, and art in general — will absolutely ramble about anything i am interested in, and also might have strong opinions on stuff that maybe i didn't need to have a strong opinion on 💀 i can get a bit combative about that at times... i definitely take as my biggest skill, besides singing and acting which are quite literally my intended job, eloquence and just my way with words (toxic trait is believing i'd talk my way out of a murder fr fr). friends that know me more recently would even say i'm an extrovert because of that, but honestly i am a pile of nerves of an introvert with social anxiety that simply loves yapping and putting on a show. most notable quirk/habit might be how precise i always am with finding the right words because i simply cannot leave an opening for misinterpretation (and that's on anxiety and a suspicion of undiagnosed adhd oops); that might lead me to be a bit picky (for the lack of a better word), specific, and/or literal with the words other people use as well.

other tidbits: i can't cook for shit, i love cats (i have a rescue named lily) but also like dogs a lot, i love kids and have been told i'm good with them. i'm crazy lucky for some reason and i love crime comedy movies. i'm almost always writing or thinking about writing but i can't ever finish a project (and you may have realized now i write too much). i love arts & crafts & other manual activities, i do knot friendship bracelets to de-stress. my default hangout with anyone ever is grabbing coffee. i'm also pretty proud of my music taste — from alt rock to 20s-40s music, love curating the vibes and i'm a bit of a playlist freak. also i would 100% show brazilian music (mostly rock and mpb, brazilian popular music) to whoever i'm paired with 💥🇧🇷

hope this was good to write with and not too much oops 💀 and thank you so much in advance!! <3

A/n- Hello, and thank you for requesting! I'm so excited to write for a fellow theatre/language nerd! I wish you luck in school, and with your goals of writing and learning more languages. All of that is super impressive! Lots of love to you (and your cat omg give Lily plenty of hugs)

I'm pretty sure this is the first matchup I've ever done, so I hope you enjoy!

I ship you with...

Kimiko!

Your affinity with language and theatrics is what initially caught Kimiko's attention! With how much she appreciates art and music, your singing and acting is such an inspiration for her to express herself.

In the beginning, Kimiko had been incredibly cautious and closed off. When Butcher or M.M would talk shit, you and Frenchie would be the first ones to her defense. Your combative nature is inspiring to Kimiko- she loves how opinionated you are, and how willing you are to stand up for what you believe in.

I’d say one of the first things that got the two of you to bond is making friendship bracelets together. It started out with Kimiko watching you de-stress after a particularly rough encounter with a Supe. The repetitive motion seemed to steady your shaking hands, and Kimiko couldn’t help but wonder if making bracelets with you would help with her own stress and anxiety- after that, it's history

Kimiko's mutism definitely doesn't stop her from joining in the conversation. She began teaching you sign language not long after Frenchie. He would help give you additional lessons/practice.

I would imagine you pick up on Kimiko's SL pretty quickly, given your proficiency with language, but even if it took you a while, Kimiko just appreciates the effort and compassion, not to mention how clear and precise you are with your wording- A refreshing change to The Boys never really saying what they mean.

Your shy nature makes Kimiko pretty protective of you. Even knowing how combative you can be, Kimiko prefers to back you up, no matter what. Every time you say something, Kimiko signs either agreeing with you or emphasizing your point.

I think Kimiko would ask you to dance and sing with/for her all the time. She loves the variety of music you listen to, and can't get enough of your voice. Teach her some new dance moves and she'll be so happy

Dates between the two of you either consist of staying in and watching movies or going to get a quick coffee (you two have snuck out with Frenchie on more than one occasion, to M. M.'s dismay)

Bonus Ship- Frenchie!

It was honestly a tough tossup between Frenchie and Kimiko so I thought I'd add Frenchie in as a bonus, I hope that's alright

Obviously he'd love how passionate and skilled you are when it comes to language- absolutely helps teach you French.

Like Kimiko, Frenchie loves how artistically inclined you are. He'll join in singing and dancing with you, all in good fun. He's probably high as a Kite, so you can expect him to be a bit unsteady on his feet, but the enthusiasm is there

You're gonna get this dude hooked on Brazilian music. His taste is so varied that I think he'd have a great time being introduced to all of your music- even if he doesn't love it, he appreciates you sharing part of your life with him

Frenchie is more than happy to cook for you and teach you if you're interested- but mainly enjoys being able to take care of you, even if its something as small as making you breakfast

Bonus! You and Frenchie/Kimiko more than likely bring at least one stray cat back to the hideout- and no one is allowed to say shit about it or Kimiko breaks their arms

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Bro said Isagi is too plain /j LMAOO ok but I kinda see what you mean?? Like maybe it’s because he’s got the most normal background out of everyone that unless you’re super interested in him it’s kinda hard to find something build off….like everyone at least has something unique about their background that adds a little extra depth (like injuries, medical things, bullying, etc) but he kinda just had the model life besides losing his match LMAO

Stop that ego idea Lowk…..no ok but I’m gonna read through that and imagine his bug eyes staring at me and lose it LMAOO

Ok but when you first told me you didn’t really like the itoshis I was kinda flabbergasted because I was like wait….is this the same person who wrote cherry tree????? If you hadn’t said anything I would’ve assumed you were a Rin fan because of how well it was written LMAO I was already super excited seeing the 6k wc but now after everything else I’m like oh yeah that’s on the lower side for Mira LMAOOOOO

NO FR please fill in the lore holes…..don’t let this end like jjk……I need to know…..you know they really should just hire us as oracles like we know what’s good!!!

I recently got badgered into watching haikyuu and it’s SO CHILL compared to bllk HAHAHA still enjoyable though!!!! But bllk honestly kinda reminds me of the kuroko’s basketball with the battle like aspects of it so I’m sure the hype will keep increasing!!!

Putting my trust in kaneshiro because he usually cooks!!! I’m ngl I’m kinda sick of seeing Kaiser Isagi and Rin though SHOW THE OTHERS

And THANK YOU WHAT A GOD SEND but OMGGG ITS THIS ARTIST!!! I RECOGNIZE THIS STYLE!! Pause I’ll translate this im gonna do Left to Right Top to Bottom

Karasu in Hiori’s Body:

1 - The one with his finger pointing up

Karasu: “The hell are ya lookin at?! There’s nothin to see here idiots!”

Someone else who I assume is Hiori: “Hey you shouldn’t use your middle finger…”

K: “HAH! IF YA LOOKED CLOSELY YOUD SEE IM USING MY INDEX FINGER!!! YOU SHOULD DO THINGS WITH MORE THOUGHT!!”

H: IM BEGGING YOU STOP WITH THAT FACE!!! YOURE DAMAGING MY IMAGE!!”

2 - the hair scene: He’s arranging his hair with a bunch of wax just like usual

3 - face pulling taunt image: Karasu is unsatisfied with Hiori’s stiff facial muscles and small mouth

K: This idiot’s mouth is so small he’s like a baby chick

4- With Isagi: Hiori usually assists him so when Isagi had to face him in a strength/muscle battle his brain glitched.

K: As if I’d let you move around

Hiori’s thoughts: Karasu-kun’s pretty dexterous huh, he’s already moving around.

5- smirking:

The immeasurable damage (to the heart) of a rare scene is very healing

K: As usual, when you fight on your own your feet get stuck. So mid.

H: ISAGI!! STAY COOL! THATS KARASU IN MY BODY!! I WOULD NEVER SAY THAT!! BREATHE ISAGI BREATHE!!

Hiori in Karasus body:

1- kicking: Even with a different physique, his dexterity allows him to continue playing without any problems. His only thoughts are “His legs are pretty long…I wonder if they’d break”

2- hair down:

Hiori, who doesn’t lift a finger to adjust his hair.

H: Does anyone have clippers or scissors? This hairs gettin in the way

K: Wait a damn minute ya dunce!!!

3- smiling:

H: Hahaha yer so dumb, what are ya even doing?

K: OTOYA’S FOAMIN AT THE MOUTH??!!!

4- With Otoya:

H: I couldn’t pass anywhere but there….sorry.

Text: A toxic looking face vs a sincere apology and behavior of someone who tries to compromise with others

Otoya: “…………..ah……..yeah……….its fine…..”

Everytime he says “I” (in a less aggressive tone) Otoya does a double take

Someone: Otoya’s got a hell of a lot of goosebumps!! And that face of rejection is insane!!!

- Karasu anon

i think a combo of that + him being too nice off field makes him a bit difficult for me in the same way yuki is but whereas yuki at least has medical trauma isagi is just chilling 😭 idk maybe one day i’ll be struck w inspiration for him 😰 but yeah out of everyone in bllk who i’ve written for i’d say he’s been the hardest character for me so far!!

NAH BECAUSE IT’S LOWKEY FIRE I CAN’T LIE…maybe young ego when he got enough sleep was fine af 🤔 imagine we get his backstory and he’s the most gorgeous man ever who literally puts yukimiya to shame HAHAHA that would crack me up…ego would be the ultimate side character to write about though because honestly i don’t even think there IS an ego nation 😭 there would be two readers fr (you and me)

LMAOO omg not the undercover itoshi non-fan 😭 pls i actually did start bllk for rin so i must give my king credit but he was a gateway drug to nagi and karasu fr…the day people stick more to his canon than fanon personality is the day i’ll wear my rin stan badge w pride ‼️ and YEAH i always forget that 6k is actually quite a lot of words…like people will post that they got carried away on a one shot and for them that’s like 1-3k words but for me getting carried away on a one shot atp means 15k+ 😩 anything between 5-10k is the normal range and anything less than 5k is quick and short!! but i’m also a wordy gal so 😰

i think i watched one ep of hq in 2020 and just couldn’t get into it!! i’ve heard good things abt it so no hate just wasn’t quite the show for me. i’ve also heard knb is good!! it’s another one i haven’t watched…tbh i’ve watched a very random assortment of animes 😭 but not that many unfortunately i’m not very good abt sitting down and watching tv it’s very rare for me to start a new show (one of my mutuals on here had to convince me to start bllk because otherwise i wouldn’t have…all because of a rin fanart i reblogged 😩)

I’M BORED OF THEM TOO maybe because none of them are my favs…i trust kaneshiro though all of the other matches have been super fun to read all at once so i’m sure it’ll be the same for bm vs pxg!!

MY TRANSLATING GOAT 😭🙏🏻 i hope it didn’t seem like i was trying to get you to do that or anything HAHA i just didn’t know if the caption was smth freaky or not…like pls don’t think i’m crazy i promise i have no idea what it says 👹

[atimefordragons]

ROOP AISA SUHANA MERA CHAAND BHI HAI DEEWANA MERA

☾��; March 12, 2024 ☾♔; 12:19pm ☾♔; sotd: Chammak Challo (iconic forever Akon) ☾♔; cotd: Artizea Rozan Evron ☾♔; Thistle Grove Academy ☾♔; Audition

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: adapted lyrics from Bole Chudiyan, the original lyrics are "roop aisa suhana tera, chaand bhi hai deewana tera", basically translates to "You're so pretty, even the moon is crazy about you", and I just changed the you to me.

urg, remembered why I do not like making sets on urstyle. the page fucking AUTORELOADED, got stuck, had to reload my draft and of course, items shifted. luckily I only finished one tiny corner and didn't have to start over. what bakwas yaar. and I forgot to do the zoom trick the first time I published! I can't see it, but shit probably shifted somewhere. 😩😩😩😩😩

https://urstyle.fashion/groups/thistle-grove-academyhttps://urstyle.fashion/groups/thistle-grove-academyhttps://urstyle.fashion/groups/thistle-grove-academy

a not insignificant amount of my inspiration came from the Ambani wedding, because holy fuck. you might be rich, but are you not THAT rich. And fr, it really highlighted a lot of vieux vs nouveau riche differences, cause the richest man in the world is again Jeff Bezos, but he would not be able to get celebrities to pile onto greyhound buses to attend AND perform at his wedding.

𝐂𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞: Peony 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞: Laila Raichand (hindi: लैला रायचंद, arabic: رايشاند ليلى) 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞(𝐬): Lulu, Laddo (not a fan of either, use of the latter is limited to Dadi and Daddy) 𝐀𝐠𝐞: 17 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫: cis-female 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬: she/her 𝐒𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: heterosexual 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲: Feb 19 𝐙𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐜: Pisces

𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬: her family. asoiaf (always with daenerys, the one true EMPRESS). dior. cold coffees. caramel. journaling (she does exchanges with her cousins, it's fun and cute watching bade bhaiyah try). red lipsticks. seaside views. karan johar films. yash chopra films. FROZEN (lovesss Elsa, though relates more to Anna). villainess manwha. sailor moon. chanel. disney.

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬: game of thrones. the goddamn patriarchy, like come on. america (just as a whole, she's written it off, just become a new country and try again). western perceptions of south asia and the middle east. culottes. bugs, just no. oversharers, like people who've known you for only 10 minutes and proceed to dump their WHOLE tragic life story on you, buddy, I don't know you, I don't want to know about your traumas.

𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭: Recruit.

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Laila is headstrong, opinionated, and very stubborn. She knows what she likes and doesn't like, and has no qualms about making those feelings known. She does not believe in "giving grace" to people's bullshit, you can have grace if you're a kid, if you're old enough to know better, you should act better. She can seem mean, and that's not unfair, she's VERY biased towards everyone who she considers as part of her circle, if you're outside of that, she can be extremely vicious, especially if you dare to hurt even a hair of one her people. She's not a big believer in forgiveness or second chances. One and done, hun.

Laila is very much the spoiled youngest child, and spoiled only child. She's the only child of her parents, and the youngest of all her cousins, thus getting double doting, and that shows. She's always done whatever she's wanted and gotten away with it very easily. She can be a little (a lot) narcissistic, and vain, but she's not naive nor does she live in a delusional, la la land fantasy where everything is about her and she's the centre of the universe. She does not think that, HOWEVER, she is very aware that due to her very lucky circumstances, a loving, powerful family, she can do whatever the fuck she wants, she doesn't have any pressure to do anything, there's no "you must marry a good/rich man, you must do this job, you must inherit this magic or this business", she's the baby princess, and she knows well how to take full advantage of that.

Laila is a little aloof and not particularly easy to get close to, though she can get along perfectly fine with people, she doesn't really bother to get to know them herself, and considers anyone outside of her circle as simply an extra in her life. She's not interested in being the centre of everyone's attention, except of course when it comes to her family, but that's just youngest child things. She has no problem speaking up in class, but prefers to do her own thing with her friends, and can be a little snobby, especially towards strangers. While she's not inconsiderate, she also won't act to spare someone's feelings. If you're not her friend, you're not her friend, she'll absolutely help a girl out in a sticky situation (always be a girl's girl), but you don't need to have brunch with her afterwards.

𝐒𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞: Laila's personal style is "whatever I like", but in general her wardrobe tends towards classic, chic, and preppy clothes. When it comes to "ethnic" wear, she generally prefers Pakistani salwars, and relies on big brands like Sabyasachi and Manish Malhotra for more oppulent event wear. She also prefers salwars and lahengas over sarees, they're pretty but a hassle to wear. She can wear it so long as someone puts it on for her. She also HATES that the culotte trend is back and cannot wait for it die again. Laila is also very much a heel girl, from the first moment she ever got a pair. She's tiny, she needs that feeling of power.

𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲: Daughter of Turkish business woman Aleyna Burakgazi and Indian RAW Agent Vikrant Raichand, Laila is a djinn through her mother, though her father's family is no stranger to the supernatural either. While her father is by all means a normal (aside from his abs, they are not normal), her grandmother is an Astradhari, the bearer of an astra, a divine weapon, specifically the Agneyastra, the astra of the God Agni. She is also deeply knowledgeable about Kala Jadoo (black magic), but claims she does not practise it. It's a very unreliable claim 'cause it's well known that Dadi (paternal grandma) will fuck you up. While their grandmother has not yet decided which heir to make her successor and pass her astra on to, she has made sure to educate all of them of the power of Astras, the Gods, and kala jadoo.

Laila lived with her mother and more immediate extended paternal family (so her father's brother, his family, and their mother) in India until she was about 7, at which point she and her mother moved to Dubai, where her mother took over Raichand Industries Middle East interests. Her father often travels for work, and cannot maintain contact for extended periods of time, so his presence wasn't as constant as his family's, but whenever present he is always doting and spends time with her and her mother. She is definitely a daddy's girl, he's not the whole cause, but a significant amount of her being spoiled is absolutely his fault. But she is also very close to her mother and admires her very much.

Laila does not exactly have the best track record of controlling her djinn abilities, especially when she's angered. It wasn't too much of a problem growing up, she's mostly a homebody and surrounded by family, and people who know about the magical world, so losing control could be easily covered up and often didn't even need to be. However, one time, she, her best friends Kiran and Isabella, and some other friends went to a concert and as they were leaving, some grown ass adult kept hitting on Kiran, and they were literally 12 years old at the time, how disgusting. It was a kids concert too, like what is that guy even doing? Trash. In her annoyance, Laila exploded his hands, she wasn't aiming to do that, but she has no regrets either. That was a little bit harder to cover up, since it was in public, but ya know, it's Dubai, they're rich, buh-bai pedo. This was not the only time she lost control, but she assumes it was probably this incident that got her on the academy's radar.

Before getting the email, Laila was all set to continue her high school level education at the private school she was attending. Honestly, at first she thought it was spam, all the magic training she's received so far has been passed down generation to generation within family, so she wasn't even aware of Thistle Grove Academy's existence. She was unsure of whether or not to attend, she's already got her dadi and taiji (paternal aunt-in-law) for deeper magical instruction, her mommy for the basics, and she's a Raichand, she can get anything she needs at any time. Ultimately, she was convinced to attend by her one of her besties, Isabella, who is a legacy at Thistle Grove and also got the email.

𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬: Djinn (also romanized as jinn, anglicized as genies, as a being can also be analogous to an angel, demon, or fairy, but none are entirely accurate)

𝐀𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 & 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜: Laila has a number of abilities as a Djinn, such as shapeshifting, mind control, astral projection and body possession, however, ultimately each distinct ability is governed by the same factor and all of them can be classified under the singular power of "Essokinesis", the ability to control reality, though Laila was taught that her power is to make HER wishes come true. Some guy touches her friend and she wants his bones to explode? Okay, boom. Papa's work trip is taking too long, oops, suddenly he's back in India. She wants Valyrian silver-gold hair, she got Valyrian silver-gold hair, that one can at least be hidden easily, you know how awkward it is when you're in the middle of a gun fight in an undisclosed location, and then suddenly poof into the centre of a massive Diwali celebration?

Because her magic is linked to her thoughts and desires, it's hard for Laila to control her abilities and prevent herself from making the silliest thing reality, to forcibly keep her powers from manifesting, she usually wears a simple gold taweez (amulet) given to her by her aunt-in-law's father, Zafar Khan Qadri, who is a Sufi of an Indian branch of the Qadiri Order (as a VERY quick, oversimplified explainary, a Sufi is basically someone who practices Islamic mysticism, honestly of the ones I've met and have been told about, they're more like nerds about magic in relation to Islam rather than a magical priest, but whatever, also Sufism is divided into a bunch of orders which all eventually trace back to Mohammad cause he the OG of everything).

𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬: Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Turkish, English, French, Portugese (Brazilian), Italian, Russian

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲? Pretty chooses pretty? She honestly doesn't know, the general meaning of Peonies is shame, bashfulness, and anger, and like, anger makes sense, but shame? bashfulness? Laila is opposite of that, she's not cinderella, she's the Prince, what does she have to be ashamed about? The meaning of Peonies in China however fits her more, or rather her family, prosperity and honour certainly vibe with the Raichand's and how they value and market their family name.

𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦: Bahar Şahin

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝: https://urstyle.fashion/styles/3630790 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: https://urstyle.fashion/collections/229400 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭: https://www.pinterest.ca/evewinterdragon/villainess-barbie/ 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1CHLJ7232UMzgbBRjmzTuh?si=bbaeb3521df34663

[daz4i]

Hi hi my love!! ^^ So you asked for asks right? :3 I realize a lot of the times when I send you these I tend to ask you to rank stuff lol so I guess I'll lean into it? How about top 5 (or 10 if you have enough) anime series or top 5 (or 10) animated movies? :3 It's pretty general but I figure it should give you a lot of room to go over some of your favorites ^^ Sending love and good wishes!!! ❤️

ehehe thank you my love 🥺👉👈🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

i wanted to do both but then i did the top 5 anime and i got very carried away with my explanations so i kept it as just that. anyway:

1. haikyuu!! probably my favorite show ever tbh. i think hq has a perfect story, like it uses its genre to do everything right, and its impact on the outside world is amazing as well. as for the series itself, it's just beautiful (ignoring that one episode in season 4) and has a very unique style, stellar voice acting, awesome soundtrack, delicious symbolism, and it really gets you hyped for volleyball :P it's very easy to get attached even to the most minor character bc the story is written in a way that lets almost everyone in this HUGE cast (well over a 100 or even 150 named characters, i'm pretty sure) shine, and you're guaranteed to find someone you like. the only downside is you'll probably end up rooting for every team so eventually a team you like will lose a game (likely to another team you like) and that hurts every time fr. and still!!!!! it manages to be so feel-good and optimistic and really gets you pumped and inspired!!!! i think anyone who is even just open to try sports anime should check it out, it's def one of the most accessible I've seen in that genre (in a sense that it doesn't expect you to already be familiar with the sport to understand the story)

2. honestly?? osomatsu-san. probably bc it's very dear to me like emotionally, season 2 was still releasing when i was stuck in the hospital for a few months, and it was like a light i held onto every week (i was also following a few mangas back then but those were harder to follow. due to oso-san's skit nature it was always a good time) and i mean, ichi was my first f/o before i even knew that term existed hehe. it's one of these shows i wouldn't actually recommend to anyone unless i know they're ok with gross or edgy humor but i do think it's really good, i love how meta it is, and i think it uses its premise to deliver maximum entertainment!

(oh my god that was so much gushing abt a silly skit show i am so sorry <- guy who wrote most of the hq gushing after typing this part up. he was not aware)

3. ok so this one's really niche, idk if any of you have even heard of it heh. it's called bungou stray dogs-

ajdkflhlh while i have my gripes with how they adapt the manga, i do still think it's a very good anime as is. it was good enough to get me hooked on the story and characters and want to learn more and follow the story further, yknow? it's beautiful and i love its use of colors for symbolism, it has really great voice acting, and the energy is kept up throughout it enough to remain engaging. it's honestly a show I'd recommend everyone to at least try 🤔!

4. persona 4!!!! from one mediocre adaptation to a GREAT adaptation. i think p4's anime is really really well made - it manages to translate a game this long into a coherent and interesting story, gives its characters time to shine, and maintains a perfect balance between fun and emotions. also it has probably the best dub I've ever heard. naoto's anime voice dni. also i think episode 26 is a true masterpiece i think everyone should watch it

5. ngl. it's a three way tie for me. between shows i only watched once and don't have a lot of attachment to beyond that, but i think they're really good for very different reasons. gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun / great pretender / blue period. i won't go into details on why i love them all bc this post is already long enough. but if you're reading this you should check them out 🫡

also if this post convinces you to check out any show mentioned here you legally have to tell me ok? esp if you end up liking it 🧐🔥🔥

[cartograffiti]

January '24 reading diary

I finished a whopping 17 books in January, thanks to picking up a lot of quicker reads (novellas! poetry! manga!), and a bunch of them were really exciting!

At Christmas, my mother bought a copy of Taskmaster: 220 Extraordinary Tasks for Ordinary People for the assembled family to pass among ourselves. It's fun and funny, but there's very little in it I'm likely to try. It's also worth noting that the book was published in 2018 and Alex Horne ran a contest alongside it, which means that there are some prompts with a 2019 deadline, and some that require going to specific places in the United Kingdom.

Some cookbooks! Pieometry: Modern Tart Art and Pie Design for the Eye and the Palate was another Christmas gift to me, by the amazing Instagram sensation Lauren Ko. I've always found her very precise decorations intimidating, and I doubt I'll attempt more than the simplest of the ones she gives instructions for here, but they're inspiring to look at, and I very much want to try some of the recipes for interesting fillings and naturally colored crusts.

I picked up Snacking Bakes by Yossy Arefi after seeing someone claim that an earlier Arefi book, Snacking Cakes, had changed the landscape of home baking in the US. I found the recipes in Bakes really basic, but I hopped into the much longer hold line for Cakes, so maybe in a couple of months I can tell you how much that's hype.

I probably won't make anything from Tasting History by Max Miller, but I like him on YouTube, and expected that. This is a book for reading about historical cooking, and the recipes are a bonus if one really intrigues you. Nice details, well laid out.

It fit in nicely with a couple of reading challenges to read a Pablo Neruda collection--I chose The Essential Neruda on the basis that Hoopla had it--and I enjoyed it hugely. I'd read Neruda poems from time to time as a child and student, mostly ones about nature and love, but this collection has a nice breadth to it, introducing me to examples of his work that deal with labor exploitation and political events. I can't speak to the quality of translation, but even only knowing his work in English, I find the rhythm and imagery really special and memorable. I'm especially fond of "Drunk as Drunk on Turpentine." He's one of the most famous Chilean writers, and I'm glad to be more familiar now with the reasons why.

Last month, I said that my mother and I had started working through a hard Nick Bantock puzzle book, and we were very impressed with it. It's called The Egyptian Jukebox, and it's a succession of interesting puzzles about interpreting the contents of photographed shadowbox "drawers." Mom, who is an excellent codebreaker, worked out a core mechanic pretty swiftly, while I floundered with wrong approaches for a bit and then asked her to confirm whether I was finally on the right track; that made the first few pages the hardest part, and the rest relied more heavily on my strengths of observation and lateral thinking. We both found the final solution extra fun because of a personal connection, but I think the journey will be satisfying enough for most puzzlers.

I've been trying to read literally any Becky Chambers book for multiple years without getting around to it, but this month I listened to the audiobooks of A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy and just adored them. This is a duology about Sibling Dex, a monk whose role is to serve tea and listen to people's problems, and Mosscap, the first robot anyone has seen since robots became sapient and withdrew from human society, generations ago. They travel together, with beautiful writing about nature, spirituality, and various kinds of social responsibility. Every bit as good as I'd heard.

Dumb Witness is a solid mid-range Agatha Christie mystery (which is to say better than most people's), an inheritance murder plot involving a letter sent months after it was dated, interesting poison facts, and key evidence from a dog. It's a bit dated, because it relies on subverting some ideas about mental health and xenophobia that have changed since 1937. I can appreciate what she did, but at a remove.

More than one of the reading challenges I'm doing this year call for reading a manga. I like manga, but I probably haven't read any in about 10 years, since I read all sorts of Clamp and shoujo and shounen with high school friends. I fell off as my tastes moved to series aimed at young adults, which were at the time harder to find in my area. Anyway, I'm excited to have gotten sucked into a manga again! I'd seen some of Shirahama Kamome's beautiful art from Witch Hat Atelier and I quickly fell in love with the story, which surrounds Coco, a young witch being taught to work magic using art supplies. The interpersonal relationships are strong, the apprentices are real people with distinct outlooks, and the larger plot about what kinds of magic are banned, and whether they should be, is fascinating. I tore through volumes 1-5, and I have two more checked out and another on hold. Both cheerful and serious, original, and not set in a school environment. Lovely, and one of several things motivating me to try drawing again lately.

The Emelan group read has gone into the Circle Reforged novels, and we're reading in chronological order. Battle Magic was...fine? Not the most interesting Pierce major arc, but lots of interesting things woven through it. It was written in her period of slower pacing, which I don't like as much.

I know several big fans of Dorothy Dunnett's 16th century historical fiction drama the Lymond Chronicles, and oh man am I on the boat now too. The Game of Kings is so confusing (complimentary), full of emotion and grabby characters, and I fell in love. She expects a lot of her readers. I sent in the chat where I'm live blogging that, "Here's an obscure Ancient Roman. Now understand an allusion to how a particular beetle moves. Jokes in five languages. And there's even a plot." Sometimes it's overwhelming, but it's also exactly my kind of thing, every chapter has at least one perfect scene, and Dunnett does some incredible literary magic tricks. One night I felt like I felt like I was being crushed in a vise. I'm already reading the next one, which has a reveal that made me stop reading for fully 40 minutes while I unpicked what I'd missed. I want to write fanfiction. God.

And yesterday I put on a sim game and listened in one sitting to all of Malka Older's The Mimicking of Known Successes, a wonderful sci-fi novella about a detective (Mossa) on Jupiter collaborating with her former college girlfriend (Pleiti) to investigate a case that touches on Pleiti's research, the study of ecological history with the hope of repairing Earth's ecosystem enough for humanity to return to it. Their chemistry is great, the plot is clever, and the dialogue in particular is shiny and tender. I found a couple of world-building beats underdeveloped--there's a thing about "conservative" being a slur in this future that I don't think stuck the landing of indicating the threat being conservative posed to people who had to change or die--but I look forward to reading the next.

[mishkakagehishka]

no fr i worry abt globalization too. like i 100% actually admire and respect the cultures who value taking it easy and relaxing a little more. the US is basically my own personal hell ^^; i have a very low desire to work and just enjoy doing what i love and spending time with people i love, not slaving away to some corporate overlord that doesn't care about my life. i'd love to skip and get coffee with friends, or relax a little more rather than worrying about grades and constantly go-go-going all the time. but alas.

that's just my take, though ^^; (plus i just hate how everything gets made for americans... even being one i always feel kinda sad when cultures adapt to the us, rather than the us adapting to others... there's so much to be learned from other cultures! but you lose so much when everyone starts catering to the americans...)

Yeah, there's good things to take from America (like, okay okay, i shit on the US a lot, but like looking at the past and how it really was seen as a place of opportunity because you could start from zero and still make it - it's no longer a thing, but when it was it was inspiring, or i think we specifically mentioned "fighting for your rights" and "activism" as "good sides of westernisation" while studying it in high school), but the protestant work ethic.... is not it.

And maybe my own people take it too far in the other direction, i know we're stereotyped as excruciatingly lazy even in the north of the same country, but i just believe there's no reason to... put your entire soul into your career. Sure, if your work brings you joy you can allocate your hobby-time to your job-time, but... friends, family, entertainment, art are all things that need their own time. Imo "job" should be pretty low on your priorities (again, unless it brings you joy on par with a hobby. Like, if i manage to find work as a translator, i'll treat that job like my world, but that's bc it'd be on par with a hobby). I think we also use "work to live, don't live to work" to explain it. But we live in such a world :( it's hard, you need money to live, but you have to work so much now that you don't have the time to live anymore.

[jellyluchi]

i hope you don’t mind me dropping an ask, my reply was too long for the post 😭 hsjsjsk

but anyway, i know how you’re feeling and i’m sorry you feel like this ;; the thing that sucks about art is that it’s a journey; i forget the post exactly but your taste (what you WANT to draw) develops faster than your skills (what you CAN draw) , so it can be incredibly frustrating when you get stuck in a spot where you can visualize what you want to draw, but you can’t ‘translate’ it to the canvas. i’ve been there many times, and the best advice i have is to practice by tracing stock photos and those free to use art bases if there’s something in particular you’re struggling with. i’ve found that it’s really helped me when i felt stuck on something; the reason i can competently draw muscles is because i practiced tracing stock images of body builders to get used to the way the lines move and to gain that ‘muscle memory’ for drawing them. the jojo’s style is the same way i’ve found; it’s incredibly frustrating to copy, but tracing screencaps and settai sheets is the best way to get used to copying it.

i know it can be frustrating when you’re surrounded by other artists, but it will come to you!! it sounds cliche, but practice really is the most important thing ;w;

i’ve said it before but i love seeing how your art has progressed, and i’m excited to see where your skills will be in the future ♡ i’m always around if you ever need pointers on things too ;w;

Oh my gosh I'm so sorry for the late reply but thank you so much for reaching out to me through the asks Kat !!! 🥺💗

I completely understand the psychology behind that feeling bc that's EXACTLY how it feels! 😭 I put off so many projects and ideas bc my skill level didn't catch up yet and that's what gets me down to not be able to do them immediately. It fr is a terrible feeling and I can imagine how much frustration you had to go through 🫂but thank you so much for the advice!!! Honestly I thought of tracing stock images before but I was afraid of committing theft??? IDK AKSJDB like esp with the free bases tho I did end up using them for some artowrks I'm doing now ! I'll do that again to better my understanding of some anatomy I even got a pdf of an anatomy study book for it kajbsd I did try making a jojo style Foca using that method it didn't turn out good but I'll try again ! ;w; I haven't used the settei sheets before tho I think I'll check out some of the female characters ones! I really hope so !!! it's the reason I keep practicing honestly plus it's not a bad thing like other artists like you and my peers inspire me a lot !!!! I guess it's sometimes discouraging bc my social anxiety keeps me from getting into like jojo oc communities like the one on IG even if I really badly wish some day Foca would be accepted into it 😔

Thank you so much !!! 😭💗💗that's so kind of you omg I'll def hit you up if I need help with one thing or another I know I'm a bit scared to bother ppl in the DMs but I'll be brave about it KBAJSBD

[waru-chan8]

Roberto: ...(the problems the jury will have). Let’s go with Jorge Lorenzo because we saw him riding a bike, we always say the same, but it’s the truth, he had an incredibly steady hand. His hands never shake, today he needs them not to shake because he needs to hold/shoot a gun.

Coach: Hold it, so I polish your posture a bit. Very good (impressed). You have shoot before, no?

Jorge: (negative sound)

Coach: NO?!

Jorge: I am precise with the bike This is new, it’s the first time I do this ... but I don’t know if I have marksmanship. I’ll inspire in James Bond to be always in control and not lose my temper I’s such a  peaceable and... (Waru’s comment: the expression he uses it is meant to be I’m oposite to shooting because I recall him as one of the most confrontational riders on the grid) Strong arms, strong abs, dorsal (I might have heard a bad, but I’m not sure). Where is it?

Coach: okay, you are aiming high (in the sense of his shoot being up from the desired point)

Jorge: oh, sure First shot, first fail

Coach: you are too rigid. Move a bit forward

Jorge: well, let’s keep going

Coach: listen too me. Relax. The more tense you are, the worse your marksmanship

Jorge: Finally a challenge I can enjoy as a kid (Waru’s comment: probably there’s a better expression in English because it’s a fix expression in Spanish. It just really menas he is completely enjoying himself wile doing this

Coach: right now, you are at 5% of your true from what you are expected 

Jorge: I’m Tony Montana (from the film Scarface (I had no idea)). Now what? Now who is gonna bully me/pick on me/tease me?

You told me later (I’m not quise sure as it’s supposed to be out of camera)

Roberto: Jorge Lorenzo, focussed. Roberto (coach) good night. How are you, dude?

Coach: How are you doing? Good night

Roberto: His (Jorge’s) coach. Erm, we said it before the start, he... With the bikes he had steady hands, with the gun, and in this case a short gun.

Coach: yes

Roberto: It’s different, of course. He doesn’t have any foothold, hold/clamping or gasket (Waru’s comment: I apology because those a re weapon terms I have no knowledge in Spanish, therefore, I don’t know if those are correctly translated. What they meant, is that Basically it’s all in Jorge, his grip and how he aims)

Coach: it’s a challenge very complicated because you don’t have any foothold. We are shooting with open scope (Waru’s comment: again, I have no idea, so I’m sorry). There’s no optic element, apart from the most basic one... And precision, calm and tranquillity and stay focus

Jorge: we tried

Coach: good. You know how to do it

Jorge: difficult. I’m not in control because I’m, let’s say a machine when I understand things. When I understand them, I can repeat them a lot of times

Roberto: of course

Jorge: very constant. But when I don’t understand them, I’m not in control, I’m not very good, to be honest. And in here, I haven’t understand it very well, but it is what it is.

Roberto: You put a lot of effort into it, a lot

Jorge: No

Roberto: Not a lot?

Jorge: I’d loved to

Boris: but you are a machine/you are terrific

Jorge: I’d love to spend a month training

Roberto: of course

Jorge: to understand it perfectly

Roberto:he is a world championship. He’d love to spend a while month training, but not

Flo: Rest assure,  Jorge

Roberto: but it’s not allowed

Rosa: it’s clear

Roberto: important

Flo: you can also get the 1s

Ana: aim there

Rosa: a range of sacrifice

Jorge: I don’t pretend like you, Flo. I don’t pretend like you

Roberto: Jorge, is currently in 3rd spot in the ranking, he is 3rd. So today he is putting all in again. Let’s explain what the challenge is all about. As always, when we talk about marksmanship, there are 2 phases, 2 parts. The first one, from about 6 meters of distance, he will shoot with this gun, let′s show it. I’m gonna ask Javi (camera crew) to come close. We have it here. As we where talking a short gun with small bullet/shot made out of iron in this case. I drop the weapon. He will need to shot from here and hit this balloon that is in this spinning platform  that won’t stop spinning. 3 opportunities okay to blow that balloon. The next challenge will be explained in a moment after we finish this one, but first, I’m gonna ask, for safety reason, as you where saying on the training Roberto, we need protective gear. We need to put on some protective glasses, specially you, the jury due to the bullet being metal, it can bounce and we could potentially have an accident. Come closer Javi if you want and let’s grab the first glasses. Thank you Ramón , also and this one too. Put it yourself, Jorge,

Coach: I wear this

Roberto: oh you wear those and are enough. Antireflective cristal and against impact, correct?

Coach: against impact. Yes

Roberto: come on. The jury has them on. That’s it. Here are all the glasses

Rosa: oh look

Ana: thanks Roberto (presenter)

Boris: those glasses are going to kill our looks, of course

Roberto: here

Mariló: thanks

Roberto: there

Coach: breath, okay?

Boris: thank you

Roberto: Jorge, total focus. I’m going to be marking you the shoots timing, okay

Jorge: okay

Roberto: I know you are very impulsive. And we have to mark an order

Jorge: I’m focused, and I don’t see anything else 

Roberto: you also asked us so he can concentrate

Coach: shot, shot, shot

Roberto: shot, breath... come one

Coach: Calm. I don’t want velocity, I want accuracy

Roberto: then

Jorge: it’s loaded?

Coach: no. Let’s fill it. It’s ready

Roberto: good luck, Jorge

Jorge: ready

Coach: okay

Roberto: let’s get into it. Let’s start the challenge. First shot.

There’s a good and a whoa. I think one of from Jorge and the other rom Roberto, but not completely sure

Coach: well done

Get it and well done and other appreciation and euphoric coments are said.

Boris: well done Jorge (Waru’s comment: it’s me or Boris wants Jorge’s attention (or in general any athlete/fit coach))

Roberto: well

Coach: incredibly

Jorge: I got it/ I hit it (I can’t hear it very well)

Roberto: dropi it in here, drop it in here.

Jorge: do I dropi it in here (the weapon)?

Roberto: due to the hand gestures. Let’s see that moment with the Slow motion. Jorge, you have it in here. that moment with the the slow cam from the first shot, first hit. The impact to that spinning balloon

Jorge: wu

Roberto: we see it in there.... and there it is. At first try. Let’s go with the second challenge

Coach: let’s do it

Roberto: this one needs or requires from a bit more of preparation. Not only from the crew team, come here Javi. Also from Jorge’s part and Roberto (coach). They need to concentrate because it’s more difficult. In here we are going to take advantage of the inertia of that iron bullet. If it was made out of lead, Roberto told me during the practice that this wouldn’t have worked out because this projectile will be shot from the same spot, but impact in this metal sheet, bounce directly into the second one and come over there and we will show.And impact in this balloon. Bounce in the first, bounce in the second be throw to the objective, that in this case it’s a heart that we will break tonight (03.02.2023), in here. Jorge Lorenzo, also 3 shots. Well then the glasses... our contestants have them, the jury too. I’ll put them on myself. Jorge, I’m gonna ask for you to put the glasses too. And let’s go with that first shot of the second part of Jorge’s Challenge.

Roberto: Shot

Coach: go lower. Lower, lower. Good, good, good. You rub it. Very close, very close, very close.

Jorge: I failed

Roberto: second shot Jorge. Whenever yo want it. Goood

Coach: yeeees. Yeeeeees, yeeeeeeeeees

Jorge: I managed this time

the coach and Jorge had a mini conversation I can’t make decipher

Roberto: congratulations. Motger of cow. Jorge Lorenzo. Come over here with me. But lets see first that moment on the slow motion. There, how the projectile impacts against that sheet, bounce in the second and lastly brakes the balloon. Challenge well-done/obtained/archived

[twentyyearstoolate]

There's a moment of awkward silence between you and your supervisor. He stares blankly at you, trying to parse what you just said.

"It's awful early for jokes, Von." "I'm... not joking, sir." You place a small arrow on the desk, tipped with a tiny piece of very sharp flint.

Your super inspects the arrow. He lets out a sigh and rubs his temple. "So, let me get this straight. You think that these bunny rabbits are a 'bronze age society' now because you, what, found some kid's arts and crafts project?"

You lift up the pant leg of your suit to reveal your calf, wrapped crudely in torn cloth, spots of blood beginning to seep through. The wounds are only superficial, but those arrows hurt like hell nonetheless.

He leans forward, looking for the first time like he might take you seriously. "Well shit."

"What do we do now, sir? The manual doesn't cover this sort of thing."

"Von, I don't think all of recorded history has information on what to do when a species other than your own starts making weapons. Call the cops, or town hall, or... whoever. I'll get the client on the horn, tell 'em this job's officially out of scope."

---

The news spread around quickly after word got out about a rabbit warren on the fifteenth hole of the Emerald Grove golf course using weapons to repel patrons. The area was quickly quarantined, but the crowds couldn't be dissuaded from gathering. Journalists, anthropologists, and hunters alike could be seen snooping around the edges, trying to catch a glimpse of the rabbit society. Eventually, humanity decided on a course of action.

An old woman, a professor from the university nearby, holding a bowl full of root vegetables, stepped quietly into the enclosure. Rabbits armed with bows and spears hopped up, at attention, watching for sudden movements. Slowly, she lowered the bowl to the ground, and walked out through the gate.

Outside the barricades, people watched the camera feeds in anticipation. A couple rabbits slowly hopped forward, poking their noses into the bowl. A couple chirps and chitters. Several more popped out of the tunnels, carrying what they could back into the holes.

About an hour later, a single rabbit hopped up, struggling to lug a flat piece of rock half the size of its body towards the entrance of the enclosure. It then quickly scampered back down into the tunnels.

The old woman cautiously stepped back in and took the stone. It was covered in tiny markings.

---

"...Are you sure?"

"'Am I sure?' Am I sure that I've correctly translated the only existing piece of what appears to be leporidae cuneiform in existence? Carl, the history of language encompasses hundreds of alphabets splintered off into thousands of languages and maybe millions of dialects, and none of them have anything to do with this one. This could just as easily be a love letter as a truce. Or maybe it's some rabbit's grocery shopping. I couldn't be less sure. I'm doing the best I can with what I've got."

"Sorry."

Zoe sighed. "I shouldn't have snapped. It's just... a lot to take in. A bunch of rabbits suddenly intelligent enough to use tools, and weapons, and language? We've heard of octopi and chimps and corvids, any other number of animals with exceptional intelligence, but never in a nascent society like this. It's always something we initiate."

"I know. The rest of the world is finding out as we speak. We've got to move quickly on this, who knows what could happen?"

"Like I said, doing the best I can. A dozen other people across the country are sharing their notes and the only mark we all seem to agree on is the one that means 'Rabbit.' It doesn't inspire confidence. And it doesn't help that half the markings are so tiny it's hard to tell whether they are what they appear to be. But..."

"But?" Carl smiled. Zoe's intuition about these things was usually right.

"...But, if we start with the assumption that certain phrases will mirror entreaties between developing societies that have experienced conflict, it gives us a useful framework that seems to fit the bill. A brief summary of history and struggle. A petition for peace. The words seem to line up with the structure. It's not all there, but enough of it is."

"Enough to defend your translation?"

"No. But I think this is as close as we're going to get without more samples. I'll do my damnedest."

"Attagirl."

---

"Have we news?"

"The giant ones have not attempted to contact for several suns. We report the circle remains closed."

A twitch. The mottled rabbit turns to another.

"What of the escape tunnels?"

"The red root tunnel remains under construction. The rock tunnel and the water tunnel are both watched by the giant ones."

"We must dig quickly. We have seen what they are capable of when angered."

A small brown rabbit nuzzles into the mottled rabbit's side.

"We are afraid."

"Worry not. Our tunnels run deep and wide, our burrowers gifted with the claw-metal. With the offering of the giant ones, we have stores enough to last several seasons."

A grey rabbit crawls into the room. "The giant ones return!"

---

A monitor and a series of small pads had been placed about halfway between the gate and the burrows, each with a set of markings. Outside, onlookers awaited input.

A rabbit hopped forward, cautiously inspecting the pads. A set of symbols appeared on the screen. 'You Rabbit.'

The rabbit hopped back to the hole. A set of squeaks and chirps. It returned to the buttons, and pressed one.

"Yes."

A hushed murmur from outside the walls. Another input.

"Us giant one."

"Yes."

Another murmur, a little louder this time. The rabbit returned to the hole, exchanging soft noises and subtle gestures. It hopped back once again. A series of buttons.

"You give food. We give peace."

A quiet discussion on the other side of the barrier. Then, a reply.

"We give peace. You give write. We give food."

"Yes."

A cheer on the other side of the barrier startled the rabbit. It hurried back to the hole, to share news of the terse treaty.

---

"Thirty-two new symbols this month. Incredible."

"That many? How do they do it so quickly?"

"From how it's explained to us, it starts as a set of vocalizations that one of them invents to describe a new experience, and they do their best to share the source of it with each other. They don't question the concept, it's just accepted prima facie. The tribal knowledge passes through so quickly that by the end of the week they all know it. The markings are linked to the vocalizations, so it's just a hop and a skip from there. Er, no pun intended."

"Uh-huh, sure."

"Well, jokes aside, that's a word total in the mid hundreds. They probably have even more that we just haven't seen written yet. Parrots, eat your heart out."

"No kidding. I never heard of any parrot getting a reserve carved out of a country club for 'em. How much you think it took to buy out McLafferty?"

"I can only imagine."

---

"...Pen pals with a rabbit. Who'd've thunk it?"

"Dad, it's not 'pen pals.' We're collecting the stories of the burrows. This is very important Lagopological research."

"Lagopo- Slow down there, Einstein, we didn't all go to college."

"The study of rabbitkind. The history, the culture, it's fascinating to see something like this unfold in real time. Like watching from the banks of Mesopotamia in its heyday. They talk about the forges and furnaces they've built near the surface, how they use the old tunnels to divert the smoke. Entire cities underground, and how they can navigate by scent and sound. Their art, and their philosophy. Did you know they don't have names? They don't understand the concept of self and others, except when it's non-rabbits, which means you need context for everything. They recognize each other individually, just through smell, but they never refer to themselves as just 'me.' They operate as a collective. Metalworkers, scribes, warriors, foragers, it's all 'we' and 'us.' Even when they form new burrows or find others, they barely talk about it except when it's necessary to describe the location. They've even started including humans that they're friendly with. Like one big family."

"Mm-hmm. Big happy family. Speaking of, you talk to Ellie yet? She's excited to show big sis the pictures from her science fair project. Got to ride on a shuttle and everything."

"Oh shoot, I'll call her back now. Love you dad!"

"Love you too, kiddo."

---

"Chief?"

"Yeah?"

"You're gonna want to take a look at the biopsy data."

"...That can't be right."

"Well, that's what we thought at first. We double checked, it adds up. 412% over the last century. Tapering off, but still, it's far above even the overall growth of an average specimen."

"That's a massive increase for the span of several hundred generations, let alone a few dozen."

"The lab has some theories, a combination of enriched diet, stimulating environments, and, uh, at the far end of the list, exposure to low grade radiation from the habitat's granite deposits causing some sort of... rapid macroevolution, as schlocky as it sounds. The growth seems to be most prevalent in the frontal and occipital lobes."

"...You're not seriously trying to tell me we've got mutant bunnies on our hands, are you?"

"At this point, I'm having a hard time believing any of the theories. But I believe the data. Our burrow scans can't penetrate far enough to be certain, but between the increase in rare earth metal trade and the bits and pieces of conversation we catch, it suggests they're undergoing a rapid industrialization."

"God help us all if they're the harbinger of World War Nine."

---

A bell rang as the door to the diner popped open, just a crack. A short figure gingerly stepped inside, no more than three feet tall. The coat covered most of his body, but the hat did nothing to hide the telltale ears. He hopped to the counter, eartips poking just above its surface. "Well, ain't you just the cutest little thing?" He breathed a sigh of relief as the waiter pointed him over to a seat, grabbing a menu. "Don't get many rabbitfolk around these parts. What brings y'all above ground, if'n you don't mind me askin'?"

"Travel." The rabbit squeaked out a response, still not entirely accustomed to the foreign tongue and its low register. "W- I want to see the world."

"Oh, and y'all speak English so well, too! Well our special today is the chicken fried steak, and the soup of the day is fifteen bean. Can I get y'all started with something to drink?"

"Water please."

"You got it, hon, I'll be back!"

The rabbit mused quietly. What a curious language, where he must refer to himself as a singular, but the locals referred to him as a group, even by himself. A little strange, but comforting nonetheless. The newscaster on the television mounted above the counter spoke of a successful expedition to establish a settlement on Tau Ceti III.

"Here's that water, y'all decided on supper?"

"Is the soup... vegetable?" Not the right word. "Vege-tarian?"

"Mmm, we use a little bit 'a chicken stock in ours, that alright?"

"That is good. Thank you."

"Comin' right up!"

Adjusting to the diet of the surface had been difficult, even where vegan options existed. Most of the time, their dishes used a lot of meat - even rabbit in some countries, though the arrival of Lago Sapiens had curtailed its use sharply.

He pawed over the contents of his bag. Souvenirs and trinkets from each of the states he had passed through. Such a strange custom, to collect cups, or magnets, or chains for keys. What use had they for keys underground? Still, the young were fond of such things. In time, they might find use for them in a life above. Ambassadors of rabbitkind, as the humans were underground, in homes and tunnels humans might describe as 'cozy,' but cavernous to them.

And the scale of such things above ground - Their cities, their houses, so spread apart that giant metal vehicles, on the ground and in the air, were needed just to get from place to place. He tutted and shook his head. Life in the barrens made more sense.

"Here's that soup, hon! Y'all let me know if you need anything, mm'kay?"

"Thank you. You are kind."

The waiter walked back to the kitchen, beaming at the compliment. Still, he thought as he sipped his soup, there was a lot to like about life above ground. He'd be back here again, in time.

“Hey, so… you know that trouble I was having with that rabbit warren? Well, it turns out they’ve developed into a bronze age society, and I just don’t have what it takes to remove them now.”

[c0smic-coral]

Have another TAD Google Translate, this one’s Secret Worlds

That's the day I ate and drank the entire bottle You can buy me dinner, put me to bed Photo taken with your camera (this is my dad) None of us can resist him We hear the sound of the wall We got to the beach (talking). I cried (I heard them cry) when the mountains fell. I will hold your hand and sing If I am (but not you). Should I be him? Can trees tell stories? Yes, but we say it is false He said: Get up. But we continued like this Waking up in the middle of the night Meaning of words: I have seen the magical world you call Then ask if you qualify Everything has changed The leaves are like broken glass You have a window, Fr You are the king and queen and I am If you want to marry my trash, I will burn you I want to get up and call And catch him when he falls I am sorry for your offense And as a writer it is difficult for me to write A beautiful quote, dear, a beautiful saying He wrote to me several times Can trees tell stories? Well, I think you remember that I'm here He talks to the tree He said: Get up. But how should we do it? Get up at midnight Meaning of words: I have seen the magical world you call Then ask if you qualify Everything has changed The leaves are like broken glass Unfortunately, the window has expired Then write your name on the tree Because we all know that we will be different in the coming years You say you don't sleep But if you listen to my heart I look, I look You inspire me Yes, you will hire me Everything has changed The leaves are like broken glass The window Because I got a lot Find out more Everything has changed Feathers are like broken glass (in my head, to me). The window, oh, clean, clean Eight!

[randomnameless]

Do you think 3H is a critic of various political systems? Feudalism, Meritocracy and Theology?

Answering this old ask because something popped out in the replies of a post -

Just like FE16 is NOT a critic of feudalism, it is not criticising theocracy nor meritocracy.

Of course we, as players, know what can go wrong and/or how fast it can go wrong with those regimes.

But FE isn’t a Civ game, it doesn’t promote a regime over another.

FE, is, at heart, a franchise where good guys almost always have to return to their rightful throne to rightfully rule over randoms who are happy to see them return, because they were mistreated by an evil empire/ an evil sect / an evil dragon.

It has been pointed out regarding FE16, but I remember an earlier discussion we had with friends about Jugdral, FE is irrigated by the “Mandate of Heaven” concept. It is not Louis’s divine right to rule, but the contrary. If the people want you, then you have to be their ruler - fit in those shoes whether you want it or not. Of course the “traditional” Lord wants to fit in those shoes, and be a good ruler to his/her randoms, that is, get rid of Bandits (tm), make sure there are no wars and no asshat who wants to conquer the land.

FE10!Elincia is widely regarded to be a compassionate and a good Queen for Crimea, but Brom and Nephenie (two peasants) do not elect a representative to form a parliamentary house to balance Elincia’s powers. Crimea is a monarchy, yes, and we dgaf about it.

Meritocracy? FE also doesn’t care about it.

One could say Ike earnt his “noble status” in FE9 because of his talent and swordskill but 1/ he ditches it when it’s too much work 2/ he doesn’t care about it 3/ we’re talking about the man who “inherited” his Father’s mercenary company not because of his skill, but because it was his Father’s mercenary company. The only ones who complain are a racist and a skirt chaser so we’re not supposed to take them seriously.

Meritocracy in Jugdral? No, of course not. Absolutely not! Seliph and Leif are destined to rule over people and lands, but through their journey, they have to learn about what it takes to be a good ruler and not fall in the pitfalls of their fathers. Jugdral’s lords (FE lords?) are destined to rule, they can’t decide to fig off, and in Leif’s case, he isn’t the best suited to rule because he isn’t as awesome as other people (or so he thinks!). But the Lord has to pull through and become a good/worthy leader (worthy of the mandate) and usher in his/her ending card an era of peace.

Ephraim learns the lesson in the later half of FE8. Hector does too when Uther kicks the bucket.

I know FE16 tries to paint a certain conflict with meritocracy, just like Ashnard did. But Ashnard turned his brother in law in a mindless beast to mount him, ditched his wife when she couldn’t transform in a dragon and couldn’t give a fuck about his son since he wasn’t OP at birth. We are not supposed to care about Ashnard’s ideals, and even if street rats like Sothe and the Dawn Brigade seem to miss him, they don’t understand who they’re talking about (and the guy is dead!). Reyson shot Ashnard’s ideals in their battle quote. Elincia did too. Sothe (kid?) and the nostalgia surrounding Ashnard is only used to show what Begnion does is awful because people miss the crazy war mongerer, but also, that Tellius Twitter doesn’t exist, so no, Leonardo, Kid!Sothe and Nolan doesn’t know Rajaion isn’t a big wyvern.

However, in FE16, it is raised again as a solution against systemic corruption, but again with this game, the localisation/direction went completely off the rockers.

Localised!Hanneman seems to preach how meritocracy and nobility always sucked because it keeps low-born people down.

However, @garlandgerard pointed out, OG!Hanneman doesn’t judge as harshly nobility. OG!Hanneman strives to be a “good noble”, nobility or what it entailed is not completely rotten to the core, but some people use the concept of “nobility” to, well, be rotten to the core.

Just like Begnion Senators abused their privileges to be slave traders, or marry women against their consent, or kept humans as pets, etc etc. No one in FE10 says the Senate sucks because Senator sucks.

Localised!Hanneman doesn’t reach the same conclusion, because some nobles are asshats, nobility sucks. Judith sucks, not because of her actions, but because she is a noble, unless Judith is one of the “good ones” Hanneman mentions how nobility “often” is used to keep people down - but then goes on dismissing it entirely calling it “nonsense”.

And while part of me just want to say “oh it’s just a localised thing” - it is again another grain of salt in the vase about, say, a localisation team not understanding a game, giving directions completely contrary to its meaning which gives us a half-baked product.

To be clear, I am not saying Meritocracy is the bestest thing ever, or it sucks, not am I saying Empires are cool and/or monarchy is OP.

What I’m saying is, FE doesn’t give a crap about political regimes.

The only mention that could be made is about merchant republics, who are always shat on in the franchise, but that’s all.