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wario-speedwagon · 7 months ago

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The Blackjack Essay I thought up at like 3am because Blackjack is a great character if you really think about it hard enough

I had some Blackjack Thoughts yesterday night (cuz I woke up in the middle of the night and I always soothe myself back to sleep by brainrotting over characters or made up scenarios). Cuz yknow, okay:

So Blackjack is the soul, and he's a soul that was blackened by regret yeah? And not just that, but he takes the form of a his childhood dog rather than of himself (which is interesting, more on that later). I think we can agree that, while we never get to know in meaningful detail what the living Jack Kennedy was TRULY like, soulless Corpse!Jack is probably closer to his original living self in personality than the Blackjack we saw at the end of DSAF 3 True Ending, or rather, in most of what we see of Blackjack's coded/capitalized lines (more on that later too). Corpse!Jack is more chill (in a feral way of course) in that he moves on from things like grudges or regrets, which in the good routes manifests in him being able to keep going despite how emotionally hard it should be to e.g. leave his family once and for all, or to forgive his sister's murderer in favor of seeing the good in him. It's not a perfectly moral aspect, as there are things he probably should be hung up on (cough cough Dave), and Blackjack sure is. (We love some moral greyness in this household.) And then of course, in the evil route, it manifests in Corpse!Jack having a very easy time befriending and emulating his siblings' murderers and even killing his siblings himself. Obviously Blackjack could never conceive of acting in any of these ways, and he definitely lets evil Jack know.

So. I am of the headcanon that, all the trauma of Jack's death and the events leading up to it, all of his regrets from it, Blackjack took it all with him, leaving Corpse!Jack with little to none of it left. For better or for worse, Corpse!Jack does not carry the same emotional baggage from his personal tragedy that Blackjack is completely lost in. And then my point about Blackjack taking on the form of a dog instead of himself... and him not really acting like his old self compared to at least TrueRoute!Jack. At least most of the time, as we'll see soon. Because in the True Routes, Dee and eventually Peter are able to recognize True!Jack as their old brother pretty easily even despite the circumstances, but Blackjack? He's unrecognizable to all of them except eventually Corpse!Jack himself. According to her, Blackjack warned Dee about Evil!Jack's true nature in DSAF 2 (when you're doing a route with her as Legacy!Jack), and she didn't realize who he was, she only saw a Shadow Doggo; and of course at the end of DSAF 3, even after revealing who Blackjack is, Peter and Dee sure don't treat Blackjack like their dear old brother the way they regard Corpse!Jack. He's just a stranger to them now, and of course he is, because he's little like how he used to be in life, how Corpse!Jack still is in life. And after a faux eternity of being a Shadow Doggo operating behind the scenes with every opportunity to reveal himself, I'm of the opinion that he wants it to be this way, that he be forgotten in his failures while someone else takes his old role for him and does it well.

And it's because he is so steeped in his hatred born from his regret, that it completely warped his way of thinking to focus on revenge against Henry, or also his hyperfocus on Evil!Jack's wrongdoings. But while that's what most people see him for in his entirety (in both canon and fandom), as it's the front he nearly always puts on, people often forget one really important scene from him that may be the only glimpse of his more authentic self, one that isn't steeped in regret or any emotions stemming from it based on it. Do you remember the little speech Blackjack gives to Corpse!Jack after the True ending in DSAF 2 after the Happiest Day? He talks about him being "proud of us" (hinting at his and Corpse!Jack's link), but then ponders the possibility of redemption and decides, if it is possible, then he is glad that Corpse!Jack has been redeemed. So still excluding himself from that redemption despite just prior finding solace in what Corpse!Jack has done on both their behalf. It's like he sees Corpse!Jack more as himself than, yknow, himself (and you can imagine that this same truth probably also leads to why he despises Evil!Jack so much). And all of this must be very good for his self-esteem /s

Very notably, this one scene is the only dialogue of his that is not Caps locked or coded, and a recurring theme among souls is that caps locked dialogue is always steeped in more powerful (often but not exclusively negative) emotions, while regular lowercase text seems to show much more human authenticity. We see it in Jacob before vs. after he calms down and comes to terms with his death, we see it in Dee always being lowercase, as she seems to always be her honest self, we even see it in Fredbear, as he is always grandly talking in all caps as the powerful entity he is except in his promise with Jack's corpse where he is entirely lowercase and talks much more sincerely like a real person to him out of honest humility. So anyway, this one scene with Blackjack in my opinion is the only scene we really get to see Jack's real personality shine through in him, a personality we see much more readily in Corpse!Jack.

And now to finally return to my point about Blackjack taking on the form of a dog instead of as himself. So lets combine all these previous points: 1) He is blackened by Regret; 2) He is in a nearly constant state of negative/powerful emotions stemming from his regret as indicated by all his his caps/code text; 3) he is still capable, if rarely, of showing his more human personality; 4) Dee and Peter seem to much more readily recognize Corpse!Jack as their brother than Blackjack; 5) Blackjack is proud of True!Jack's good actions in DSAF 2 and implies that only he (but not himself) is deserving of redemption; (and heck, let's also throw in) 6) the fact that he chooses not to hide in an unrecognizable form and seems to estrange himself from his siblings to let Corpse!Jack fulfill his role as Jack for them in his place

What I'm getting at (finally) is that I think Trauma Fucked Him Up™; I think it completely fucked up his self-esteem replacing it with deep-rooted self-hatred and shame. It might be that he simply cannot bear to resemble himself, not after all he's done (leaving his sister's party to bury their dog and drink away his sorrows, which left her to die, lowkey (highkey?) betraying both of his siblings' trust, and then failing in his attempt to right his mistakes by dying instead and making things worse, at least from Blackjack's POV who didn't have any sort of promise to turn his death into a chance at redemption).

Except, he can hopefully make his death into some sort of chance for redemption thanks to his powers born from sheer regret-fuelled hatred by trapping and seemingly torturing Henry. At least, this is how he chooses to cope with all of his feelings in a way that feels productive. But of course, they don't solve the root of his regret, or the root of his low self-worth, as he is really just indulging in and marinating in his negative emotions for a theoretical eternity. And during all this, he is also watching over Corpse!Jack in all of his parallel timelines, seeing both the best and worst versions of himself (literally). He sees his neutral/evil route selves indulging in the worst vices imaginable without care, and he must see himself in them anyway, because Corpse!Jack did inherit his vices after all, naturally including his drinking problem for a start, except now he's actually acting on them much more freely without a soul to restrain him either. He is forced to see the worst of himself played out in reality, and he's the one who feels shame for them. (Now Corpse!Jack also experiences things like self-hate and regret for his actions, but again, he seems to move on from these feelings fairly easily, coping with them instead with a "no fucks left to give" attitude, the kind of attitude someone who knows he doesn't have a future would have. A soul does not have that luxury.)

Meanwhile, though, Blackjack is also forced to see the best of himself in True!Jack; the Jack that actually worked his ass off to right his, or rather their mistakes. And also the Jack to actually be present in their siblings' lives as their brother Jack, the one that actually acts like their brother Jack, like his old self, while Blackjack seems to have either forgotten how or lost interest in doing so. It's easy to forget because DSAF is fiction, but experiencing something like what Jack has experienced is gonna leave severe trauma, and severe trauma is gonna change you pretty fundamentally whether you like it or not. Except being soulless, based on his actions and reactions, Corpse!Jack seems to have escaped much of this trauma while Blackjack is practically characterized by it. I wouldn't say Corpse!Jack is entirely unaffected by any trauma by any means (even Evil!Jack loses his shit when seeing Dee's scarf), but again, he sure seems to move on from it by shoving his negative feelings aside for later or even outright ignoring them, while Blackjack copes by feeling them and acting on them all the time. They both cope with the same issues in completely opposite unhealthy extremes.

So while Corpse!Jack is seemingly not affected enough by what happened, Blackjack is unrecognizable to himself, to anyone who could recognize him (including even Corpse!Jack himself, as Corpse!Jack doesn't realize who Blackjack is till the very end), so Blackjack takes more comfort taking on a form that isn't himself. (Instead, he takes on the form of the only family he got to send off with closure, the only family member whose death doesn't inspire some sort of Regret, hm?) He even doesn't take on his own name, preferring Blackjack over just Jack. Despite holding some contempt toward him, he still allows Corpse!Jack to keep their original name.

And he clearly does have mixed feelings toward Corpse!Jack, even toward True!Jack, as he is "proud" of him at the end of True DSAF 2, but then also spiteful toward him in True DSAF 3, and honestly that's pretty understandable, as True!Jack has done the work and reaped the rewards for redeeming himself and getting to be family with Dee and Peter again, essentially living as Jack for him, but Blackjack, despite his uninvolvement in reality or the Flipside where his family are, he is the one who faces the trauma and emotional burden of what happened to him, and it's not like Blackjack hasn't done anything either (even if what he did was misguided and ultimately harmful). It would be hard not to hold some contempt for a version of you that can move on so easily from your worst regrets and who can get to live your life where you left off for you in your name. And he's happy, and he deserves to be happy, and you aren't, and you don't deserve to be. You don't even deserve to be yourself, you've decided without realizing, because he's doing it much better than you ever could anymore anyway. He's the one who can actually save them all, he's the one who's worthy of redemption, but you? You're the only one who can make Henry face what he deserves, and by god you're gonna do it even if it costs your entire self, it's not like it's worth much anymore.

All of this is to say, yeah, Blackjack's character is perhaps a little disappointing in DSAF 3 due to lack of time to explore it after the reveal, but combined with his character in DSAF 2, he is a much more interesting and 3-dimensional character to explore than people realize. And also I think I might have ADHD. Might.

#another overly long character thoughts essay cuz it's been too long #justice for Blackjack he did everything wrong #my Jack brainrot very much extends to Blackjack because I'm a sucker for identity angst #also just like the other souls in the game Blackjack would also be stuck at age 22 #and honestly yeah his actions and reactions are in line with the maturity of a 22 year old still fresh from trauma #dsaf #dayshift at freddy's #dayshift at freddys #dsaf blackjack #blackjack dsaf #jack kennedy #dsaf jack #jack dsaf #dsaf 3 spoilers

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girlfriendsofthegalaxy · 3 months ago

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tuesday again 9/10/2024

someone adopt this little orange man from me in Houston TX! more details here!

listening

the 1991 Ella Mae Morse compilation Capitol Collectors Series is the official driving-cats-to-the-vet album bc it is so mellow but still fun. this album has previously been featured several times in tuesdayposts but i think you should all listen to it again.

youtube

seven thousand three hundred days IS a long long time to sleep ur so right ella

reading

two different works that annoyed me: Emily Hamilton's The Stars Too Fondly. my first clue should have been that this is my least favorite poem, bc ppl would quote it to me smugly after my mom died. im sure they thought they were being so super comforting to a budding astronomer, but, much like how i can no longer eat lasagna bc ppl gave us Twenty! Party! Size! Platters! Of! Lasagna! after my mom died (they would just Appear on our front porch, frozen), too much of this poem really soured me.

i had this book on hold Forever and then delayed delivery twice bc i have not felt like reading lately. here's the publisher's description:

In her breathtaking debut—part space odyssey, part sapphic rom-com—Emily Hamilton weaves a suspenseful, charming, and irresistibly joyous tale of fierce friendship, improbable love, and wonder as vast as the universe itself. So, here’s the thing: Cleo and her friends really, truly didn’t mean to steal this spaceship. They just wanted to know why, twenty years ago, the entire Providence crew vanished without a trace. But then the stupid dark matter engine started all on its own, and now these four twenty-somethings are en route to Proxima Centauri, unable to turn around, and being harangued by a snarky hologram that has the face and attitude of the ship’s missing captain, Billie. Cleo has dreamt of being an astronaut all her life, and Earth is kind of a lost cause at this point, so this should be one of those blessings in disguise that people talk about. But as the ship gets deeper into space, the laws of physics start twisting, old mysteries come crawling back to life, and Cleo’s initially combative relationship with Billie turns into something deeper and more desperate than either woman was prepared for. Lying somewhere in the subspace between science fantasy and sapphic rom-com, The Stars Too Fondly is a soaring near-future adventure about dark matter and alternate dimensions, leaving home and finding family, and the galaxy-saving power of letting yourself love and be loved.

should be catnip for me, right? wrong. starts out as a chat fic, which i hate.

i had a lot of trouble finishing the first chapter, which also has an extended third-person omniscient narrator flashback in italics, a thing i also hate. i KNOW you can figure out how to integrate this information into the book in a better way instead of dumping it in my lap.

i think part of why this is not hitting like i wanted is the tone, because i think this veers more new adult than i was really hoping for. i think introducing a big group all at once is very hard to do effectively. i do not like a series of character introductions that feel like they are trying to sell me action figures. or perhaps blind-bag figures. i do not like a six-deep list of cheesy puns about someone's name. i do not have the patience to see if this debut novel finds its footing a little later on, though i am glad a sapphic ghost in the machine romance exists in this world.

i also read dean motter's mister x (both the original late eighties through early nineties run and the 2008 follow-on).

let's yoink the description from wikipedia:

Set in Radiant City, a dystopian municipality influenced by Bauhaus and Fritz Lang's Metropolis, the series concerns a mysterious figure who purports to be its architect. His radical theories of "psychetecture" cause the citizenry to go mad, just as he did, and he takes on the mission to repair his creation. To accomplish this he remains awake twenty-four hours a day by means of the drug "insomnalin", all the while coping with a Dick Tracy–like rogues gallery and supporting cast including his long-suffering ex-girlfriend Mercedes. (ed note: the redhead in the santa beard below)

the art in this comic book is really and truly stunning. everyone was firing on all cylinders. beautiful retrofuturistic advertisement vibes, very fun play with panels and word balloons while still being readable, there are airships, you know how it is. looooooooove a hardboiled noir.

the Concept of mister x, this horrible awful futuristic city that grinds its citizenry up and spits them out? both figuratively and sometimes literally? love it!!! love a great wounded beast of a city as a character!!!

unforch the "who is mister x" subplot does not resolve in a satisfying way, imo. there's a lot of flip-flopping, there's a lot of options, he ends up being (maybe?) someone he was very definitively proven NOT to be in an earlier issue, and it really soured me on the whole experience. and also i don't believe it! that specific person makes no fucking sense! who mister x is, is by far the least interesting part of the series. tell me more about how he's fixing the city. show me more of the city. shut up and dance, robot artists

watching

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016, dir. Singer). this movie did not need to be two and a half hours long. appreciated the EXTREMELY divorced energy from charles & erik though, quicksilver rescuing the school scene was also very fun. my bestie's husband has informed me we are NOT watching Dark Phoenix, i'm not sure if we're going to loop back and watch the ??? number of wolverine films or if we're going to see how i feel about deadpool. bc i find this character insufferable through clips only.

playing

there is a feature in the video game genshin impact to turn your World Level (TM) down in order to make overworld enemies a little easier. i am at seven out of nine bc i genuinely can't finish the boss to unlock world level 9, and i am finding some of the overworld enemies too hard at 8 and want to finish the achievements in a more relaxed fashion.

making

this is going to be a lot of previously posted pics so bear with me.

saturday morning/saturday evening. plants? repotted. porch and stairs? swept. old wasp nests? knocked down. different mirror on the porch to go out to the curb when i have the energy? yes. also a giant slab of engineered stone from the top of a dresser but that's out of frame.

speaking of the giant broken dresser that was in my apartment when i moved in just over a year ago, i ripped it apart with a crowbar and threw it in the dumpster. put my pretty zebrawood desk in the empty space and started thinking about what to hang on that wall. the wall across from it is maps, bc i think a cozy office should have lots of maps and it makes a good video conference background. maybe this will be the dedicated cowboy nonsense wall. i did so much dusting and vacuuming and mopping and the girls can't even hang out in here bc the orange boy is in the office bathroom. big sigh.

also a lot of driving around and emailing and calling thirty shelters and rescues figuring out how to get this orange man a home. please take this orange man off my hands.

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem

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jacksgreysays · 1 month ago

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I'm not sure I've ever told you about the idea, but I did end up getting permission to write a poly Kushina/Minato/Shikako for UnexpectedSensei!Verse. It's been a while since I thought about it though. Have you read UnexpectedSensei!Verse? If so, do you think I should go the funny/crack route or the serious route?

There's this specific version of the song "Still Here" that's Nightcore (but it hits different), and it's giving me serious UnexpectedSensei!Verse Shikako vibes. It's created this incredibly unlikely scenario where the initial candidates for Hokage are decided by some artifact or something playing super epic AMVs of those worthy, and Shikako shows up like the dark horse she is when Sarutobi is looking for a successor. If that makes any sense.

Unsure if these asks were directly related--it would be interesting if they were, but I'm guessing not--but I decided to bundle the answers together anyway, if that's cool.

First, I have read UnexpectedSensei!Verse and very much enjoy the series! It's one of my favorite DoS recursive series and truly contains the perfect amount of serious blended with Shikako's I am seemingly omnipotent and omniscient to everyone else but so blasé about it that it reads as funny/crack.

A poly Kushina/Minato/Shikako for UnexpectedSensei!Verse does sound like a fantastic idea! It kind of hearkens to... and I apologize for how CONSTANTLY I am self referential about these things... the spirit of this extremely short ficlet I wrote in which Kakashi overhears Shikako basically imply that had he bothered to learn fuinjutsu from either or both of Minato and Kushina then so many of his life's tragedies would have been avoided. I mean, but less Kakashi self-blame oriented of course. The spirit behind it being that Shikako, Minato, and Kushina would be an absolutely OP triad of mischievous genii, but with vastly different personalities and thought processes who maybe don't always agree but nonetheless respect (and eventually love) each other.

I may need a link for that nightcore "Still Here," lol.

I think an artifact--or maybe, to lean into that whole... Hidden Leaf and the mysticism of Mokuton, it's an ancient semi-sentient ginkgo tree--that decides the next Hokage or at least generates a report (whether that is in the style of an epic AMV, lol) or something that significantly contributes to the decision of the next Hokage is also very fascinating.

Like, this is a little reverse of what we're going for, but in the show Trese, the main character undergoes a coming of age ceremony by entering an ancient balete tree and basically receiving a vision, but it appears to take YEARS before she comes back out. Which doesn't seem to surprise people. So, it could be something like:

current Hokage (in this case the Sandaime--or, if we don't want to deal with him, we could just say, "person who is potentially deciding on the next Hokage") enters/touches/kneels before the secret semi-sentient ancient tree that lives inside the Hokage mountain somehow or whatever

person speaks a potential candidate's name --> tree gives a vision of whether or not they'd be a good Hokage (perhaps in the style of an epic AMV--I mean, ideally we're looking for cool inspiring hero, but even villains and tragedies have epic AMVs, you know? You can still be entertained even while knowing that person probably shouldn't have control over a military dictatorship)

repeat as needed for however many potential Hokage candidates there are

at end of person's list, perhaps the secret semi-sentient ancient tree offers their own suggestions

perhaps the secret semi-sentient ancient tree, being so ancient and mystical, isn't beholden to time and so doesn't really know how time works for mere mortals

perhaps the secret semi-sentient ancient tree, has been continuously showing an epic AMV of Shikako to EVERY PERSON who has asked for potential next Hokage candidates and is confused as to why it is CONSTANTLY being ignored only for it to FINALLY be given the name Nara Shikako and it's like... YES! THIS IS THE ONE! YEAH! I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU THIS WHOLE TIME! HERE!

Anyway, thanks for the asks, aryaokayfriend! I know these were pretty short responses, and squished together, but I hope you got some fun out of them :D

#jacksgreyson #aryaokayfriend #dreaming of sunshine #unexpected sensei verse #shikako nara #minato namikaze #kushina uzumaki #asks #answers #brainstorm #fanfiction

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snowdice · 2 months ago

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Big Bang Editing Story [Day 124]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story years ago, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag ‘proofread stories.’ I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54 Part 55

I have been sick as a dog since I last worked on this story. I'm not even doing any work today lol. I just want to get this chapter finished. Will probably do a couple rounds and then cook myself dinner, so there may be a gap at some point. Mostly I'll just be, like, reading when not posting. Wish me luck.

“Good day for a picnic,” Helen commented as she handed over the basket Thomas had requested from her a few days before. He was taking Logan, Patton, and Virgil to the cliffs today and it was perfect weather for it. Spring was truly here, which meant that those of Thomas’s duties that had laid dormant over the harsh winter were about to start up again.

The world had been on pause for a bit considering no armies or agents from any kingdom could get through the snow the last few months, but the concerns of last fall were showing their heads once again.

Thomas had just gotten word a day ago that the queen of Lamir had routed out a second assassin hiding in her ranks over the winter. The assassin had been sent shortly after it was made clear that the queen wouldn’t bow down after the assassination of her mother. Luckily, the assassin sent for Queen Cecil had not managed to complete her mission during the winter months.

While there had been no similar attempt on Prijaznia soil, Thomas couldn’t help but feel it was only a matter of time now that the snow had melted. They were already working on increasing security in the coming weeks and, though it was doubtful an assassin had managed to hide in the castle all winter without revealing themselves, they’d be closely scrutinizing all of the newer staff members.

It would be a stressful time in the coming months, which is why, despite everything Thomas needed to do, he was still going to take his son and his son’s friends on a picnic today. Logan had already started taking on royal duties as of late, but he still hadn’t taken them all on quite yet. Considering this was last summer before Logan was of age, they should at least try to take advantage of it where they could. Patton was a year younger, but the sentiment held for him as well.

Then there was Virgil. Despite their best efforts, they still didn’t know enough about Virgil, but Thomas was fairly sure he’d never had a summer to enjoy until now.

“Thanks for prepping lunch for us,” Thomas said to Helen with a smile.

“No problem,” she said waving them off. “I put in some of Virgil’s favorites.”

“Great,” Thomas said. “Do you know where the kids are?”

“Patton said they were going to go pet the cats, so I’d guess they’re in the gardens.”

Thomas thanked her again and told her to have a good day before exiting the kitchen. There was a nearby door that led straight towards the part of the gardens Patton and Logan had always favored. He figured they’d either still be around there, or they would have wandered towards the stables by now knowing that they’d be taking horses to the cliffs. So, he decided to simply walk the normal path from the door to the stable, hoping to find them.

His prediction ended up being hilariously correct. They were indeed on the path Thomas had chosen. It was clear they (or at least Logan) were attempting to make it to the stable. However, as was typical, a portion of the party had been waylaid by whimsy.

Logan was standing further down the path, arms crossed and frowning as he watched his friends. Patton and Virgil were surrounded by cats. Patton was sitting down, holding two of them in his lap and watching Virgil’s legs being swarmed by the rest of them, maybe two dozen in total.

Virgil looked confused, but not unhappy about the presence of so many cats. He was leaning down to try to pet them all.

Logan met Thomas’s eyes as he approached and waved a frustrated hand at the two of them. Logan couldn’t help but smile.

“Virgil fed one of them,” Logan complained as though he wanted Thomas to somehow go into the past and prevent this crime.

Patton and Virgil looked over at Thomas, noticing him when Logan addressed him.

“You’re going to make Princess Marisol jealous,” Thomas said. Logan frowned at Thomas as he used the ‘Princess’ label for the cat.

“Princess Marisol decided not to come,” Virgil said with a shrug. He continued to pet one of the cats.

“She’s probably sleeping on my pillow,” Logan said, sounding grumpy.

Thomas just chuckled. Princess Marisol was technically Logan’s cat, at least that’s what the kids said, and she did spend much of her time in the royal rooms. However, she was very clearly actually Virgil’s cat. Virgil just spent a lot of time in the royal wing as well.

In fact, Thomas still didn’t know where Virgil was supposed to be sleeping. He and Mr. Deknis had gone so far as to tail him a couple of times, but he always ended up sleeping in Logan’s room those nights.

Knowing Virgil, he might just sleep in the walls. Though that still did not answer the question of where his parents or guardians were. They still had not figured it out. Thomas would assume he was an orphan who’d snuck onto castle grounds for safety, but Virgil had told Mr. Deknis during their first meeting that he was supposed to be in the castle, and it had not been a lie.

Then again, it had slowly become apparent that Virgil was good at dodging the multrum’s powers. It was starting to seem more likely that he’d somehow inserted a second meaning into his answer to Mr. Deknis that night than he somehow had some ghost guardian no one was able to locate working in the castle.

“She deserves the pillow more than you,” Virgil said, bringing Thomas’s thoughts back to the situation at hand. The look of audacity on Logan’s face made Thomas chuckle.

Thomas cut in before it could become a fight. “I could get Princess Marisol a pillow, so she doesn’t sleep on yours. Or we can get you a new pillow if you’d prefer, Logan.”

“It’s not about the pillow for her,” Logan argued. “It’s about her inflated sense of superiority.”

“She deserves it,” Virgil declared. Thomas could tell he was just trying to rile Logan up, and Thomas was sure Logan knew it too, but still his son reacted exactly in the way Virgil wanted him to.

“You have enabled and encouraged this behavior from the start!” Logan seethed.

“She’s a princess.”

“She is not a princess!”

Patton shook his head while squeezing the cats in his arms, completely used to this behavior. He ran a chin idly over one of the cat’s heads while watching the argument.

“We’re never going to make it to the picnic at this rate,” Thomas said to him, “and after your mother made all of this wonderful food.”

“You’re the dad,” Patton said. “Make them stop.”

And, of course, Patton did just mean that he was Logan’s dad with that statement. However, when he glanced back up at the silly argument still going on between his son and the cat covered boy, it did almost look like a fight between siblings.

Especially with the dark hair and stubborn but mischievous look in Virgil’s eyes, Thomas could almost imagine the boy being his own child.

He shook away the thoughts and glanced at the picnic basket in his hand.

“We do have a lot of food in this basket,” Thomas said, pitching his voice up so that Logan (and more importantly) Virgil would hear them clearly.

Virgil immediately turned to look at him, abandoning all interest in antagonizing Logan to look at the basket curiously.

Thomas was never sure if he should be amused or worried about how food motivated Virgil often was.

“What’s in the basket?” Virgil asked.

“I’m not sure,” Thomas said. “Patton’s mom made it. We’ll just have to see once we get to the picnic area.”

Virgil nodded in understanding and began to gently extract himself from the droves of cats. Logan rolled his eyes, but didn’t seem inclined to continue the argument he’d been dragged into. Virgil and Patton got to their feet, and they continued on their way towards the stables.

The horses Thomas had requested be prepared for their trip were already in saddles, though the stable hand who had been handling Mr. Apples seemed a bit dirtier and more exhausted than the rest.

The stable hand seemed as happy to hand Mr. Apples over to Virgil as Virgil was to have Mr. Apples handed over to him. Thomas received Bella with a smile and Logan and Patton got their own horses as well.

The cliffs were about half an hour's ride from the main castle. There was a mostly well-maintained path to them, though it was easy to get lost if one didn’t know the way. Mr. Apples knew the way perhaps better than Thomas himself and seemed annoyed by the fact that Thomas was trying to lead the way. Virgil and Thomas ended up side-by-side whenever the path allowed it to placate him.

Thomas still marveled at how willing Mr. Apples was to let Virgil ride him, especially when he tossed his head in Thomas’s direction, a horse’s equivalent of giving Thomas a stink-eye.

“Are you excited for the picnic?” Thomas asked the boy beside him.

Virgil glanced over at him and nodded.

“I am too,” Thomas said. “It’s always beautiful this time of year. I’m glad I could find the time to take you all there this year.”

“Are you very busy?” Virgil asked curiously.

“I am king,” Thomas reminded, “and now that the world isn’t snowed in anymore things will be busy.”

“With the war?” Virgil asked.

Thomas paused for a few seconds. “Yes,” he confirmed. “With the war, but you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Virgil asked.

“You’re just a kid,” Thomas said.

“I’m 14,” Virgil said.

Thomas glanced at him. “Exactly,” he said, “a kid, and luckily, you’re in a place that can afford you the luxury of being one.”

“What do you mean?”

“The war has been mainly fought on Mocnejsi soil in recent years. Our boarders have held strong against invasions. Unless something goes horribly wrong suddenly, it would take a long time for the main conflict to get here. The only real threat in the castle would be assassins sent after me personally.”

“Right,” Virgil said. There was an awkward pause in conversation before he spoke again. “You’re winning the war then?” he asked.

“Something could always happen,” Thomas said, “but for the most part, yes, we have quite the advantage right now.”

“Oh,” Virgil said.

Thomas shook his head as they were coming up to a narrowing of the path. “Anyway, today is a day to not think about war. Today we’re going to have a lovely picnic and do some bird watching.”

“Right,” Virgil agreed from behind Thomas as Bella took the lead (to Mr. Apples discontent.)

When the path widened again, Thomas did his best to direct the topic to lighter subjects and soon they made it to the cliffs.

Chapter 57 (Virgil)

Virgil had never been to a picnic. At least, that’s what Patton had informed him when Virgil had described his past experiences of eating outdoors. Logan had agreed even though he’d admitted that the definition of “picnic” was only eating a pre-packaged meal outdoors which Virgil had done plenty of times.

From what Virgil could tell, the main difference was just how much stuff one brought to a picnic.

In addition to the basket full of food (that Virgil still hadn’t gotten to look in yet), the king had brought a large soft quilt that he had Logan and Virgil spread out on the ground for them all to sit on.

Patton and Logan had also packed some things themselves to bring along. Logan had brought along a book to read, and Patton had brought along a board game (thankfully not checkers but something Virgil did not recognize). Virgil hadn’t brought anything (except for the fire knife he was definitely not supposed to have and was definitely not letting the king see) because he hadn’t known he was supposed to bring things. He wouldn’t have known what to bring anyway.

The blanket was soft and a much better alternative to sitting on the ground, especially because, while there was grass at the top of The Cliffs, there were also a good number of rocks.

The king set the picnic basket in the middle of the blanket once it was spread out and then lowered himself down to sit on one side. Patton quickly followed him, already fiddling with some of his board game pieces, though he wasn’t setting it up yet. Virgil highly doubted that Logan was going to be allowed to read his book unless Patton eventually got bored of the game.

However, they would, hopefully, be allowed to make use of the basket the king had brought along.

Virgil followed the king and Patton’s lead and got to his knees on the blanket across the picnic basket from the king. He peered at the basket curiously.

He didn’t quite know what picnic food was, but Patton had told them they’d be getting ‘picnic food’ and he was very curious about what that meant.

King Thomas smiled at him. “Let’s see what Patton’s mom packed us, huh?” He reached for the basket and flipped it open as Logan sat next to Virgil. “There is a lot more food than usual in here,” the king said, sounding amused. “Let’s see.”

He began to pull out packaged food and glanced in each package to identify it before setting it out.

“We have a few types of mini sandwiches,” he said, putting them down, “and some pasta salad.” He set down the bowl.

“We also have… er something else.” He showed it to Logan.

“They’re hot cauliflower bites,” Logan said instantly upon seeing them. Virgil perked up in excitement. That was one of his favorite foods.

“Ah,” King Thomas said, but shrugged and set it down. “We also have two desserts apparently: cookies and mini apple pies. That last one’s a bit extra for a picnic.”

“They’re very good,” Virgil said happily.

“And we also have.” King Thomas paused, looking confused. “Chicken alfredo?”

“Yes!” Virgil said.

“Why do we have chicken alfredo for a picnic?”

“It’s a Virgil picnic,” Logan groaned. “She packed us a Virgil picnic.”

“Hey, at least momma sent us something too,” Patton said.

“I think I’ll stick to sandwiches for today,” King Thomas said. He looked at Patton and Logan. “Do either of you want…?”

“No,” Logan said. Patton shook his head.

The king nodded and offered the entire covered bowl of chicken alfredo to Virgil. “Here, this one’s yours,” he said.

“Really?” Virgil asked tentatively. It wasn’t exactly strange for people here to offer him food, and he’d expected and anticipated getting to eat on this venture, but the king of the country offering him an entire bowl of his favorite food was something else.

“It’s not really my idea of a picnic food and you seem excited for it,” King Thomas said with a warm smile, still holding it out.

Virgil took it reverently. Despite the time it had taken to get to the cliffs, the bottom of the container was still warm. Virgil assumed it was one of the heating spells the kitchen sometimes used.

“Thanks,” Virgil said, setting it in his lap.

“Of course, Virgil,” the king said.

The bowl was enough for four people to have a little bit, but for one person it was a lot. Still, Virgil was offered a little of every other food in the picnic basket (and he ate a good number of the hot cauliflower bites).

“Where do you put all of that?” the king asked when Virgil finished polishing off the chicken alfredo bowl.

Everyone else seemed to have finished eating long before Virgil, though Patton still had a small plate of grapes, and he occasionally popped one in his mouth. King Thomas was currently setting up the board game they’d brought on the blanket between all of them.

Virgil shrugged in answer to his question. “It’s good,” he said, “and I don’t want to waste any of it.”

“You know we can just take the leftovers back to the castle and eat them later,” King Thomas said. “You don’t have to eat it all now.”

Virgil just shrugged again, watching as the king set out a group of 8 figures on the board.

“Here, which character do you want to be?” the king asked Virgil, gesturing at the group of figures. Virgil had not noticed the figures were different at first glance. They were all copper colored and about the size of his thumb, but they had slightly different shapes. He squinted at them each carefully, finding they all looked like people, but with different clothing. Some worse pants and some skirts, a few had hats, and one was even carrying a book.

After a few moments, he pointed at one that looked like it had vines wrapped around its arms and was wearing a floppy hat that almost covered its eyes.

“That’s the druid,” King Thomas told him with a grin. “Good choice, and luckily not one that anyone usually fights over.” He glanced at Logan who didn’t react to his father’s gaze. He just plucked the figure clutching the book off the board for himself.

Patton and the king picked pieces for themselves. Patton picked one with an apron that kind of reminded Virgil of his mom and the king picked one that was in a suit of armor before putting the other 4 figures away.

Unlike checkers, this game wasn’t just for two people, and so no one had to sit watching people play while bored out of their mind.

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They played a practice round so Virgil could figure out how the game worked, though honestly it wasn’t that complicated, so it wasn’t really necessary.

The theme of the game was all about stealing. They were supposed to steal special tokens from other players as well as characters in the game and the first person with 20 tokens won.

The other three players argued that stealing was not the point and not the main mechanism of the game, but considering Virgil was consistently winning the entire time, he would argue they were just playing it wrong. He managed to collect 20 tokens before anyone else. In second place at this time was Logan with 9 tokens.

Logan insisted on continuing to play the game to determine 2nd and 3rd place, so Virgil ended up watching them play for a bit. Virgil didn’t mind sitting and watching other people play this game, mostly because he still had the joy of victory running in his veins.

Thomas was definitely going to lose, he noted. He kept wasting his money feeding the nonplayer characters who lived on his lands. Virgil didn’t mention this faulty strategy to him in case Virgil ever played him again.

When Logan took too long thinking about his next move, Virgil took in their surroundings.

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He’d been a bit too distracted by the prospect of food and then trying to understand (and then win) the game to truly take in The Cliffs. They were settled a good distance away from the cliffside but Virgil could still see how quickly the edge dropped off. He couldn’t see the large river he was told was at its base from where he was sitting, but he did see a few of the promised wild birds (including doves) flying around. The king had promised they’d bird watch for a bit, and Virgil figured that would happen after the game was over.

A cool spring breeze brushed across Virgil’s face, and he put his hand in his hoodie pockets to warm them. Instead, his fingers hit something icy cold.

For a moment, he didn’t remember what it was. The crescent shape of it was familiar when he put his hand over it, but he had never felt it cold before.

It was the protection charm: the first charm Virgil had ever made with Logan so many months ago. It was meant to ward off small threats as well as warn you about larger threats by changing temperature…

It had always been warm.

“What?” Patton asked, having noticed Virgil suddenly tense. Virgil, despite how he drilled into his friend’s heads to stay alert had gone soft. He’d let himself be distracted by a full belly and warm blankets and fun games.

He didn’t answer Patton. He filtered the other boy’s worried face out as well as Logan’s face as he glanced at him and the king’s still focused on the game for now. He filtered out the picnic blanket and smell of food still lingering in the air and the vine covered figure set in the middle of the board on the winner’s space. He filtered out the sound of the breeze and the breath of his companions and the distant chirping of birds.

And he heard a whoosh.

Chapter 58 (Patton)

If Patton hadn’t already been looking, he probably wouldn’t have had any idea what happened.

Everything had been fine. Virgil had been sitting cross legged, idly watching the conclusion of the game they’d been playing when his posture had suddenly changed. Patton had looked over at him only to see an expression on his face he didn’t recognize, but it didn’t seem good.

“What?” Patton had asked, but the question didn’t seem to register to Virgil.

Logan had glanced up confused and also noticed Virgil’s face. He’d just opened his mouth to also ask what was going on when chaos descended.

Virgil was suddenly moving, crashing into King Thomas who hadn’t even looked up to see something was wrong at that point. Patton realized after the fact that Virgil had swiped up the board of the game they’d been playing as he jumped over it, the pieces previously stacked on it scattering all over the blanket. There were three thumps as some things hit the thick board, imbedding themselves into the surface.

When Virgil discarded the board in favor of the picnic basket, Patton saw there were small darts in it oozing a dark black liquid. The parts of the board they touched were dissolving, the grass under the new holes beginning to wilt rapidly.

Logan seemed to notice the oozing liquid the same moment Patton did and was quicker to realize what it was. He grabbed Patton’s arm and yanked him away from the board so hard he almost dislocated Patton’s shoulder, not that Patton was too worried about that. He scrambled away from it when he realized what it must be himself.

He could hear the sound of glassware smashing above them. Logan and Patton had rolled off the blanket in their quest to get away from the smoldering, melting board and apparently Virgil had pulled the picnic blanket fully over the king at some point.

Virgil himself was now gone from where he’d been the last time Patton had looked and it took him a moment to figure out where the boy had gone. The person who had been shooting poisoned darts at them had been drawn out of the wooded area they’d been hiding in by Virgil’s attacks.

They were cloaked in dark green from head to toe, explaining why they’d been difficult to spot when they were in the woods. Whoever they were, they were significantly larger than Virgil, possibly an actual adult or almost adult assassin, but they were also clearly a long distant fighter. They had not been expecting resistance let alone resistance in the form of a so quick he was almost a blur fellow assassin.

They had a bow strapped to their back, but they hadn’t had a chance to get it. Instead, they were trying to fight Virgil off with an arrow they’d managed to draw from their quiver. Virgil, meanwhile was lunging at them with a broken piece of plate in one hand and the picnic basket in the other.

Virgil dodged out of the way of the arrow striking towards his arm, though Patton didn’t think it was because he was afraid of getting scratched by an arrow, but because it may also be poisoned tipped.

Virgil was distracted by dodging for long enough that the older assassin managed to hit him in the face with the arm not holding the arrow.

He went down, but he took the older assassin with him, sweeping their legs out from under them. Patton hadn’t noticed (his mind working too slow for how fast they were moving) but they were on a slight incline. They went rolling in a tangle of arms and legs towards the edge of the cliff and skidded to a stop only a few feet away.

Virgil ended up on top, his piece of broken plate in his hands. He moved to slash it across the other assassin’s throat and managed to draw blood, but the assassin’s fist came out to shove at Virgil’s chest at just the right moment, causing the strike to veer off course and slice across the assassin’s cheek instead.

Virgil jerked to the side to avoid a second strike to the chest and went back for another slash. The other assassin rolled to the side as he did and the plate only managed to nick their ear. The point of the motion hadn’t been to dodge, however. They were lunging for the arrow they’d dropped a few feet away while they’d rolled. They grabbed it with their right hand and in the same motion stabbed back behind them towards Virgil.

Virgil rolled to avoid the hit, already slashing up with his plate as the assassin turned back towards him.

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He didn’t hit them this time but his swipe managed to stop them from stabbing him when they tried again. They shoved themselves back to avoid Virgil’s swing, putting a bit of distance between them. Both of them managed to make it to their feet during the momentary reprieve, but both also stayed crouched, eyeing each other.

They both lunged towards each other at the same time. The assassin went for a stab to Virgil’s neck with the arrow, but Virgil was already ducking down. This time, he wasn’t going for a kill shot. He grabbed the assassin’s wrist and at the same time drove his piece of plate into the assassin’s arm, slicing down from the elbow to wrist. The assassin spoke for the first time, cursing in a language Patton didn’t recognize as they were forced to drop their arrow.

Virgil took a moment to kick the arrow away from the assassin and it ended up falling off the cliff.

However, this pause gave the assassin enough time to regroup. Despite their arm bleeding profusely, they still decided to use it to backhand Virgil across the face viciously, leaving a long line of their own blood across his face.

Virgil lunged back forward, but the assassin was able to get a leg between them, kicking Virgil squarely in the chest and sending him flying back a few feet parallel to the cliff’s edge.

The assassin went to grab their bow and another arrow from the quiver still strapped to their shoulder.

Virgil, however, apparently went for another weapon too and he was much faster with a knife than any archer. A knife appeared in his hand, having been strapped to his ankle and was embedded into the assassin’s chest before they could even full remove an arrow from their quiver.

The assassin promptly burst into flames, fire catching their clothes (and from the smell of it their skin) ablaze. Panicked and dying, they stumbled two steps to the side. They stepped directly off the cliff.

There was a second of silence. They heard the sound of the body hitting the ground far below and then the flap of wings and screeching as birds below fled from the startling sound (and possible soon to be forest fire).

…

“Uh, Virgil?” King Thomas said. He had managed to get the blanket off his head at some point. When, Patton didn’t know, but seeing any of it was probably enough.

Oopsie.

Chapter 59 (Logan)

Logan and Patton had been useless during the fight, but that may have been for the best. Considering the skill differential when it came to fighting (and that differential had never been as clear as it was in this moment), that was probably for the best. They likely would have just gotten in the way.

The moment Logan’s father spoke, however, they both jumped into action.

They both knew their jobs in a situation like this. Patton pushed himself up to his feet ungracefully and all but sprinted over towards Virgil. Logan, on the other hand stood to face his father, putting himself very purposefully between the man who had no idea what was going on yet and the boy who was two seconds away from remembering what was going on.

“I can explain,” Logan said.

His father was still sitting on the ground. “You can explain,” he said slowly, “how Virgil just threw an assassin off a cliff.”

Logan thought pointing out that Virgil hadn’t thrown anyone off a cliff and instead had set them on fire with a magical knife causing them to walk off a cliff, would not be useful in this moment. He glanced back briefly towards where Virgil and Patton were standing and then turned back to his father. “Yes.”

“And what would that explanation be?”

Before even starting to speak, Logan found himself making large dramatic ‘explaining hand gestures’ that he’d thought he’d long since trained himself out of. When he was younger and in trouble, he always used to give himself away as guilty by being overly expressive with his hands (and arms).

“So,” Logan said. He was still not able to stop the hand motions. “Virgil was an assassin. He came here to kill you last fall, but he accidently went to the wrong room in the royal wing. Patton and I were having a slumber party and caught him in the act. Then we reformed him and now he doesn’t kill people anymore.” He paused and glanced back, remembering the body that had just toppled off the cliff. “Er, uh, he doesn’t kill people who haven’t shot poisoned darts at people recently anymore?”

“What?”

“Look,” Logan said. “You’re going to have to tell him you’re not going to execute him soon. Patton can only keep him from bolting for so long.”

#proofreading stories #not writing

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ultratradmalewife · 4 months ago

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I’ll be honest I really love BuckTommy, as a relationship for Buck, it’s written as his most healthy, and on screen it comes across as him being at his most happy, but I am getting kinda scared that it won’t last too long next season (or they’ll break up off screen). And no, it’s not because of the lack of Lou sightings. I don’t really keep up with him, but I’ve seen people are wondering where he is (it’s still too early in my opinion, and I wouldn’t blame him if he’s doing the smart thing of staying off the grid until the show starts).

But what has me scared is what Tim’s opinion of us as a group is. He has made it clear that he’s the type of writer who writes what makes him happy, and although he was happy with himself and the story at the start of the season, I’m not too sure whether that feeling has changed and whether our behavior as a group has soured his perspective. I’m not singling anyone out or removing myself, because I know a lot of us have done that, and I’m not going the B*die route of blaming everyone but myself, but I do think whether people were just reacting to a B*die take or not, he still took that negativity as a bad mark from our side.

Also, I don’t know if the network will keep the relationship around if our side is always calling out Ryan’s questionable behavior (which disappoints me because he definitely should be called out, and they should be smart enough to know that he will always be called out by non BT fans like that tweet from when the season started. Also the big twitter accounts don’t like him so he’ll never escape his scandal).

It really does suck being a BT shipper though. All season it’s been everyone telling us how to react and very rarely telling B*ddie shippers how to act, but that’s beyond the point. The point is Tim didn’t like looking at any negativity, and he was definitely lurking on socials, even if he saw the entire picture there’s some disappointment there.

It saddens me if we lose Tommy. I truly believe he’s Buck’s best relationship to date, and I know we won’t get B*ddie so their side “won’t win”, but it still fills me with a deep sadness that whatever Lou has endured from fans might be brought onto whichever actor comes next regardless of gender (because let’s be honest even Ravi and Josh wouldn’t be suitable partners for Buck in their eyes no matter what they claim now), and this feeling just kinda crept it’s way in me when I thought about Eddie’s next love interest. We need to defend that women when the day comes, because we already know the reality of the situation.

There are times when I wish one of the two would leave the show (whether Oliver or Ryan), but I know that’s not really likely unless a better opportunity comes along for Ryan. The hate from either side is tied to one, and even then him leaving might not appease the toxicity, but I’m just at a loss on how to fix this. The show runners and network won’t do anything, and fans alone can’t fix this problem.

Anyways I just wanted to vent. I’ll only add the bucktommy tag because I want this to stay here, but I know there’s a possibility my words can be twisted and this will find its way outta the tag. Have a good night y’all.

#bucktommy

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kumoriyami-xiuzhen · 8 months ago

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Hakuoki Drama CD - Shimabara Disturbance Track 2 English translation

Heya, I know this is late... but my eye problems continued until the symptoms got better last Tuesday, on April 2nd. Long story short, I had difficulties keeping my eyes physically open without them feeling irritated or hurting after 6pm, which really cut away my time to translate for the past two weeks as I normally translate in the evenings, which didn’t help when I was actively cutting back on my screen time while that happened. Overall, my symptoms seemed to have cleared up for the most part since I started using Hypochlorous acid as recommended by my optometrist and I have thankfully stopped needing to walk around with a damp towel everywhere for relief.

Anyway, I decided to post these as soon as I finish them to make up for the post-less March... I’m about a quarter way through track 3 (it and track 4 are over 10min), but I already have 5 and 6 done so it hopefully won’t take too long? I’m really sorry bout that!

Also, for various reasons, I've decided not to tag the characters for the rest of this drama for the time being. I'll tag them a week after I post the last track... if I remember to.

Anyway, enjoy!

Hakuoki Drama CD - Shimabara Disturbance Track 2: How to use reward money

Translation by KumoriYami

(pacing footsteps)

Saito: There's no need to worry about this myself, I'll just ask Yukimura directly. Thinking this, I came to her room...

But, how do I say this? Isn't it strange to suddenly ask “do you want a a woman’s kimono?” Or should I indirectly ask about what can be done to make her feel happy? No, but not only that there’s....

(door opens)

Saito: Ah! Yu-Yukimura! No, I wasn't doing anything. Anyway, can I have some of your time? There's something I wanted to tell you...

Saito: Nn, then, excuse me.

(door closes)

Saito: Yukimura, um, ermhm... What I'm going to say isn't important, no, not only is it a trivial matter that doesn't matter at all... Um....

(footsteps from outside)

Harada: Hey, Chizuru, you there?

(Door opens)

Harada: Fu... Sorry, looks like you already have a guest?

Saito: No, it's fine, you have something to speak about?

Harada: Ah, yeah, just now, what was her name? That girl named Sen came to visit. I'm sorry, Saito, can you bring Chizuru to see her? I have to go on patrol next.

Saito: I understand. Yukimura, let’s go.

..................

Sen: Chizuru-chan, long time no see! But it actually hasn't been that long. I wanted to see Chizuru-chan quite a bit. The Shinsengumi haven't been bullying you, right? Are you okay?

Saito:....

Sen: Everyone's been treating you well? Really? You're not saying that because of this person next to you?

Saito: I’m sorry, I can’t leave.

Sen: I know that, I just wanted to hear her honest words.

Saito: Uh, hn....

Sen: In any case, Chizuru-chan can't lie. I still remember when you came to Shimabara. Truly, you're really someone who shines the more you get polished! It was really trough after that time. There were a lot of people asking who that geisha was. Hey, would you like to come again? Kimigiku would also like to see you again, you can wear a beautiful kimono again!

Saito: A beautiful kimono...

[recalling]

(Heisuke: If I had a lot of money, I would give Chizuru a beautiful kimono. She was very happy!)

Saito: Sure enough, Yukimura, she...

Sen: Well, please think it about it! You're always welcome!... Now that I've seen Chizuru-can's smile, I should be going back soon.

Saito: Ah, uh... is that okay?

Sen: Yes, although I am a bit reluctant to, I really just came to see her today. Next time, let's go out for tea and chat! See you, Chizuru-chan!

(Sen gets up[?])

Saito: Wait, it's dangerous for a woman to go/leave alone. I'll accompany you.

Sen:, No it's okay. I grew up and Kyoto and will be taking a safe road/route back.

Saito: I have something I'd like to talk to you about. Could I please escort you?

Sen: Something to say to me? I understand. Then, let’s go.

..............

(walking on a road)

Sen: How long will it be before you are all willing to let Chizuru-chan go/When will you be releasing Chizuru-chan?

Saito: That’s abrupt.

Sen: She's confined at your headquarters from morning til night, day after day, and even though she's a young woman, she can't even dress up, She's obviously worried about her father's situation but can't go looking for him. She must be feeling very anxious.

Saito:.....

Sen: Do you understand how cruel you all are to her?

Saito; We have our own circumstances.

Sen:....

Saito: But, what you say is understandable.

Sen: Eh.

Saito: I did say that I wanted to speak to you. I just want Yukimura to be able to dress in a beautiful kimono/I want Yukimura to wear a beautiful kimono [can be interpreted either way]. Would it be possible to borrow a room at Shimabara? If she goes there, she’ll be able to act as a woman as she wishes to

Sen: Ah, Chizuru-chan will definitely be happy! Then, leave all the preparations to me! I'll bring out our most beautiful kimono! I also have to tell Kimigiku about this too!

Saito: No, you don't have to go to that extent. Just prepare a room...

Sen: Just escort me here. I have to go back and start preparing...!

Saito: Hey, wait... listen to what I have to say...

(their voices fade)

Kazama: I see. It looks like this will be very interesting...

----------

My personal bias says that Saito never lets go of Chizuru cuz they get married. xD

#hakuoki #hakuouki #hakuoki drama cd #hakuoki drama translation #Saito Hajime #harada sanosuke #Yukimura Chizuru #suzuka sen #Sen-hime #Kazama Chikage

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your-divine-ribs · 7 months ago

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Drive

Words: 2.2k

Another little something I wrote from 🤍 anon’s thoughts… // the smut part is very brief // I do have another little car fic planned out from a request I received a while ago which will likely be naughtier xxx

Imagines Masterlist Main Masterlist

It's shameful really, how little your boyfriend has to do to turn you on. Most of the time he's all too aware of what he's doing. He's so in tune with you that he knows exactly what his calculated but tender touches and whispered words of sweet praise are doing to you, but there are odd occasions where he's completely oblivious to the effect he's having on you. This is one of those times.

You're on the long drive to Glasgow for the band's headline gig at TRSNMT. Van had chosen not to travel on the tour bus, favouring the drive with you instead, but you both hadn't accounted for quite what an arduous journey it was. He'd opted for the scenic route to avoid heavy traffic on the M74 which meant navigating some winding countryside roads. Whilst this provided some breathtakingly pretty scenery unfortunately it was doing nothing for his pre-gig stress.

"Shit... are ya sure this is the right way love? Feels more like we're driving up to the Highlands rather than into the city. You did put the right postcode into the Sat Nav, didn't ya?"

The hand that's resting on your thigh as he drives gives you a gentle squeeze and you squirm in your seat, your dress riding up an inch.

"I'm sure I did, you told me to programme an alternative route so that's what I did."

You sink down further in your seat, surreptitiously easing your legs apart, your breath catching when you feel the little callouses on his fingertips brush against your inner thigh as he flexes his hand.

"Might have to pull over in a minute," he mumbles to himself. "I know we've got plenty of time but I don't wanna end up driving miles in the wrong direction. Steve'll go ballistic if I turn up late for soundcheck."

He starts rambling on about the last time he'd left only minutes to spare for sound-check for an important gig and the band's tour manager had given him a lecture in front of the rest of the lads, but you're not properly taking in his words. You're too busy longingly watching his hand on your leg, studying his long, slender fingers and the shadows of the raised veins, the way he absentmindedly drags his fingers over the soft flesh of your thigh every now and again as he talks. You know you should be listening to him but to be honest your mind is well and truly at gutter level, imagining how it would feel if he slid his hand higher, his skilful fingers slipping under the lace of your panties to pleasure you as he drove.

"You're not listening to me are ya babe?" His voice suddenly cuts through your filthy thoughts, and you turn your head to the side to look at him, see the little crease of concentration on his forehead as he peers at the road ahead.

"I am!" You protest, smirking to yourself. It's not a blatant lie but you're definitely not fully tuned in. Your flimsy dress is spread out on the seat, the hem only a few inches from indecency but you don't bother to rearrange it. You're just waiting for the moment Van glances over and catches sight of you. He never can resist you when you're looking all pure and pretty in a cute little summer dress, especially when the salacious curve of your lips adds that alluring hint of wickedness.

"So what did I just say then?" He challenges you, a hint of annoyance in his voice as he takes his hand away to place it back on the wheel as he navigates a tight bend. "You never listen, always got your head in the bloody clouds daydreaming about something."

"I was listening, you were moaning on about being late for gigs," you tell him, immediately missing his touch but trying not to sulk about it. "I don't know why it stresses you out so much to be honest... you never are actually late. Even when you're cutting it fine you always get there on time. Steve just likes to complain."

"Yeah well, I just like to be professional, ya know I do. Don't wanna let anyone down."

You hum an agreement, excitement mounting as he positions his hand back on your leg and it's a little higher this time. You're tempted to place your hand over his and slide it even further up but you don't. You're enjoying this little game that you've got going on, even if you're the only conscious participant at present.

You lull your head to the side to study his profile as he drives. He's so handsome with his long lashes framing his pretty blue eyes, the gentle slope of his nose and the scattering of freckles across the bridge of it, the sharp line of his jaw which is lightly stubbled after he'd foregone his usual morning shave. He's got the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows and you watch as the tendons in his arms flex under the skin as he relaxes and clenches his grip on the steering wheel.

Fuck... you'd never realised how much it turned you on simply watching him drive. You're not sure what it is but there's just something about it that raises your pulse. It's a warm summer's day but even with the air conditioning turned up full you swear the temperature's risen by a good ten degrees. Maybe you're ovulating. That must be it, your hormones tend to run rampant at certain times of the month and your uncontrollable horniness has got you into a compromising situation with your boyfriend on more than one occasion. Not that he complains about it or ever denies you, his own libido sky-rocketing whenever you take the initiative in your sexual encounters. In fact he'll often tell you it's his biggest turn on when you make your demands of him.

So you take the plunge in a sudden rush of boldness, darting out your hand to place it over his and firmly sliding it higher up your thigh, spreading your legs as you watch his stunned reaction.

"What are ya... oh... oh fucking 'ell," he splutters, eyes darting between your bare legs and the road ahead. His jaw falls slack before he's licking at his lips and shifting in the seat. You can practically see the cogs in his brain whirring as his thoughts take an unexpected filthy turn, the animalistic arousal you spark in him as you brazenly press his hand between your legs and let out a needy sigh.

"So this what you've been so distracted about eh?" He says, voice tight in surprise as his fingers come into contact with damp lace. "You been sitting there next to me thinking about this the whole journey huh?"

"Maybe..." you giggle coyly, pressing your head back against the headrest as you feel a fingertip rub temptingly over your covered clit. "Mmm... that feels nice..."

He lets out a small groan beside you, all need and frustration. "Christ babe, think ya gonna be the death of me... well maybe the death of both of us if I go and crash the car! We can't do this while I'm driving, you're too much of a distraction."

His eyes dart quickly to you then away, full of longing and desire as he reluctantly withdraws his hand, placing it back on the wheel. You know damn well he'll be fighting with his conscience right now, the reliable, dependable part of him telling him to concentrate fully on getting to his destination whilst his wayward naughty side is clamouring to be heard, urging him to pull over and fuck the living daylights out of you in the nearest lay-by.

"It's okay, it's just a little fantasy of mine. I know it's too dangerous..." You bite back a sulky pout, knowing Van's speaking the truth but still fighting the desire which is pulsing red hot between your thighs. "I’ll just have to wait until tonight after the show I guess."

"It's not that I don't want to..." he starts but you cut him off, leaning over the centre console to plant a soft kiss on his jawline, his stubble lightly scratching at your lips.

"It's okay... really... I'm not that sex-crazed! I can wait!" You laugh, finally pulling the hem of your dress down over your bare thighs, pushing away your salacious thoughts, stashing them away for later.

Van reaches over again, this time entwining his fingers through yours, pulling your hand up to his lips so he can press a kiss against your knuckles. "I'll make it up you... promise."

You drive in comfortable quiet for a while, Van humming a Beatles track that's just come on the radio and tapping out a beat on the steering wheel, you gazing out the passenger window at the pretty mountainous landscape. You're so zoned out that when his voice sounds out and you feel the touch on your thigh again you jolt a little in surprise.

"If I pull over and fuck you we're definitely gonna wind up being late. We'd better have a good excuse for the guys."

"What're you talking about? We just agreed to wait... oh..."

Your voice trails off as your eyes dip down to his crotch to note the bulge in his jeans. Even though you'd managed to temporarily switch off your arousal it seems like Van hasn't. A huge smirk breaks out on your lips, quietly triumphant that it seems like you might have got your own way after all.

"So it looks like someone can't wait until after the show then?"

Van chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. "Babe, I'll fuck you now and after the show. Can't stop thinking about you sitting there thinking all these dirty thoughts. I'm guessing it won't matter if we're a little bit late."

"You've certainly changed your tune," you grin, letting your legs fall slack as he kneads at the flesh of your inner thighs. "We don't have to make up some complicated excuse either, we can just tell the guys that we couldn't find the car keys.”

"Nah," Van disagrees. "I texted Bondy earlier to tell him we were just leaving out. Something's gotta happen whilst we're driving."

"Something is happening," you reply, your voice breathy as you feel his fingertips edging ever closer to the crease of your inner thigh. You push your pelvis forward in the seat, eager to feel more than just his teasing touches. "Just tell them we got lost... I'll take the blame. Tell them I was navigating."

This raises another chuckle from Van as he quickly snatches his hand away to flick on the indicator. "That's totally believable with your shit sense of direction. Here, this'll do, I can't wait any longer. I'll fuck ya right here."

He pulls off the road and you look all around to take in your surroundings, your eyes widening in surprise as you realise he's pulled into a roadside cafe, hardly the most secluded of spots.

"Here? You're joking aren't you? It's a bit public isn't it?"

But your caution isn't shared by Van who pulls into an empty space at the far side of the car park. He quickly kills the engine and unbuckles his seat belt in record time, his eagerness apparent as he leans across the centre console to loom over you.

"It'll be fine, we just have to be discreet. C'mon love, live a little!"

He's already reaching for you, one hand tucking around the back of your neck whilst the other releases your seat belt, his lips crashing against yours with passion, stealing your breath.

You're at once like a pair of horny teenagers, moaning and panting into each other's mouths, pawing at each other's clothing like you can't get enough of one another. It's still too risky to go all the way though, despite your love of pushing boundaries neither of you want to end up on an indecent exposure charge with Van's headline slot just hours away. So you settle for a compromise, needy fingers and hands delving under clothing, hot flesh and whispered stifled groans as you pleasure each other in tune to your desperate desire.

"Fucking 'ell! Look at you!” Van exclaims in stunned approval as he pushes your dress up around your hips to reveal delicate black lace, a new purchase you’d made for your trip with your boyfriend in mind. You know how the sight of all that pretty sheer lace drives him wild and it’s having the desired effect, his eyes blazing with lust as he hooks his fingertips under the lacy edge of your panties to pull them aside.

"Well..." you smirk mischievously, fingers tracing the outline of his erection through his jeans which sees him biting down hard on his bottom lip to stifle a groan. "Thought I should make an effort since I planned on fucking the lead singer of the band playing tonight..."

"You'd better not be talking about our opener," he teases, his mock-serious tone a contrast to the wide cheeky grin that surfaces.

"The pretty boy with the soft lips and the brown hair is the one I desire tonight," you murmur, your words devolving into moans as you feel him pressing two fingers inside you, the heel of his hand sliding slickly against your clit.

You grip hold of his forearm with a gasp, holding on tight as electric currents of pleasure zip up your spine, your body trembling as he hits all your sweet spots at once.

"I'm all yours love... tonight and every night."

#catb imagines #van mccann x reader #van mccann fanfic #van mccann #fanfic #vanfic #smut

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greatwesternway · 11 months ago

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🔥 a character the fandom is loving wrong

Not to be all "I'm the best at Duck" about it, but frankly I am.

A thing I see a lot of people do with him is focus on his rigidity. That is, his unwavering devotion to the Great Western Way. And by extension, I think a lot people relate to this and project that Duck's comfort zone lies in strict adherence to schedules and routes and plans and all of those things being immutable and unchanging.

But the thing is, Duck's not actually rigid that way at all. A TTTE character who more aptly fits that description is Bruno, from the reboot series. (Which, I've only seen two episodes of thus far, but it gets the same kinda heat the CGI does so I am looking at haters askance the same way...)

Duck's quite willing to yield to new ideas and shift to new plans. Like, "School of Duck" is pretty much about this idea that Duck can be given one task and spend his time trying to accomplish it, only to switch to a better and more efficient plan when presented with one or when one occurs to him. A truly rigid character would never have thought of turning Dexter into a temporary schoolhouse because a truly rigid character wouldn't think outside and beyond the given perimeters of the task at hand.

And in "The Thomas Way", he acquiesces to Thomas heading up the train, even though Hatt's order was for Duck to, once he knows Thomas isn't bullshitting him again. It wasn't that Thomas wanted to deviate from the plan originally that Duck was so against; it's that the deviation was just Thomas wanting to fuck around while Harold was in disrepair. Once Thomas was leading the way with the purpose of avoiding bridges and tunnels, which is in line with the Great Western way of delivering Harold directly and promptly to the Search and Rescue, they probably ended up doing all kindsa incidental sightseeing.

The premise of "The Thomas Way" itself is that the day's plans have changed unexpectedly. Duck was surely supposed to be doing something else when he was asked to report to Callan Castle. He is not bothered a bit by this change in plans though; indeed, he's even reassuring Harold that everything will be set right shortly.

The reason Duck is so up and on about the Great Western Way is simply that his old railway worked out how shit should be done most efficiently and to do it any other way is just to waste of time reinventing wheels. In that regard, Duck's very flexible so long as the overarching Way is being observed.

Also, speaking of wasting time, I sometimes see Duck as being characterized chronically late for things and rushing about. I thiiink this comes from the line "Duck liked to bustle about", which does not mean he's harriedly scurrying about all the time, but that he likes to be busy and do his work at a lively 45 mph clip. I don't think Duck's ever rushed anywhere outside of "A Clean Shave". This is a guy who's got his shit on lock; he literally knows exactly when all his trains are leaving the station and how long they'll take to arrive and how much time in between jobs that he has to chill in the shed telling Henry about all the tenders he's accumulated (and how many tenders that is and also casually allotting time in his schedule to make sure they're shunted and coupled up for Henry when he arrives that evening to collect them).

Duck's never late for anything unless he runs himself into a puddle.

#ttte duck #ask meme

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daybringersol · 1 year ago

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i think the reason that i love william wisp so much is that hes literally me when i was younger, like back when i was depressed, self-hating and refused to try cuz i was scared. i felt hollow, like there wasnt any personality left under that pain. at some point, the idea of getting better felt terrifying to me, cuz i didnt know what id find under all the pain and trauma, if there was even anything left under there.

// JRWI prime defenders S2 EP39 spoilers, tw for psychosis, derealisation and dissociation mentions

with this new era of william wisp, i wouldnt be surprised if I ended up relating to him even more. I think theres a lot of directions he could go towards, personality-wise, and even if he ends up not going the same route as me, i know that the idea itself of having to find yourself after so long spent hiding is gonna resonate with me no matter what.

another thing i find interesting is that i also got that moment when i realised that everything i wanted was at my fingertips, which was the catalyst for me eventually getting better. it was during my psychosis, this friend of mine (who i held in very high regards) ended up telling me off, i dont remember for what exactly (psychosis does funny things to your brain) but it was something related to me not trying to get better. they said something that triggered my derealisation, which of course, sent me into a derealisation/dissociation spiral for some months, and basically straight to rock bottom. of course, i wouldnt recommend that you do that for your friends who are going through similar stuff, im pretty sure i could have died multiple times back then, but in the end, its what pulled me through to where im at now.

i dont remember everything, but basically, the thought process was : nothing is real, its all made up in my head, so theres nothing stopping me from imagining a world where im happy and living in it. i wrote a poem about it, not my best work for obvious reasons, but theres still something to it i think. here :

I want to see tomorrow

I’ve been wishing my whole life for the strength to say "I'm doing great!" when someone ask me how I am

I've always had that strength

I can just say it

It's just 4 words

Doing

Great

Easy, see?

It doesn't matter if it's false

Or if the tone of my voice was off

Or if the way my eyes naturally met the ground as soon as you entered the room

It doesn't matter

So what, if I'm lying?

In a fraction of second, I might not be lying anymore

In a fraction of second, I won't be lying

I've been making planets and universes in my head since I could think

I never thought of making one where I was happy

Why should it matter if it's only in my head

My head is real, it's right there

And in the end, all the other stuff too was in my head

I can trust you

I can have friends

I can be myself

I can have my body back

I can be beautiful

Inside and out

I choose what is true and what is not

It doesn't matter if I'm lying to you

It doesn't matter if I'm lying to myself

In the end, we could be both only in my head

It wouldn't matter

So yeah

I want to see tomorrow

Even if it's raining and even if I don't even notice it's raining

I'll just close my eyes, and I'll have everything I've always wanted

so yea ! even if of course the superpower thing and coming back to life thing isnt very realistic, as a metaphor, williams story makes complete sense. i felt dead, back then. and i truly feel like a different person now.

and im looking forward to see where the story takes him in the future !

#jrwi show #jrwi podcast #jrwi prime defenders #solsthoughts #jrwi william #william wisp #jrwi spoilers #tw psychosis #tw derealization #tw dissociation

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crowtrobotx · 7 months ago

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Also i noticed that Wintersberg lovers create similar posts. "Heisenberg has eyes only for Ethan! Why the hell do you think he would fuck you?" Oh boy…There are so much aggression, disgust and negativity in one post towards the people who just don't share their "Heisenberg loves Ethan" headcanon! That's just unbelievable. If, for example, i posted something like "General Wintersberg headcanons: Heisenberg leaves Ethan for a woman" those unhinged folks' asses would get exploded in a second. I am sure they wouldn't like that. (And then i would just go "Hey come on, guys! Why are you getting offended? I'm just making fun of something you like! It's just a joke! It's not that serious!) But i think none of us should do that. None of us should copy their moronic deed! Instead let's just leave them alone and keep enjoying ourselves because we have every right to.

(Sorry I completely left this in drafts and forgot about it bc I have the object permanence of a baby)

I totally agree on both points! As I’ve mentioned before, if I posted my less than positive takes on that ship - which, ironically, almost all stem from my interactions with the actual fucking people who are over the top feral about it and have less to do with its actual content - in the main tags I would get swarmed by people rightfully upset that I’d deliberately tried to ruin their fun. But for some reason it’s “just harmless complaining/a joke” when the opposite happens. How pathetic.

I truly don’t get how these people can post (sometimes repeatedly) about how women are wrong and stupid for having hobbies and then respond when called out like “🙄 saying someone is gay isn’t an attack on women, wow, you must be a crazy person who needs to log off.” My brother in Christ, you are the one posting about how angry it makes you that the girls are touching “your” toys. Trying to pull the Uno reverse card like “actually I’m not a misogynist, you’re homophobic and delusional for being hurt that I said something nasty directed at you” is not the flex you think it is and YOU might indeed be the one who needs to log off if you’re instigating this shit.

Anyway. Yeah, as tough as it is for my Scorpio ass to not launch myself at these people for being dipshits, I am taking the route of “I’m just going to have to get more annoying in the tags and give him more girlfriends out of spite” lmao.

#asks #margaretoakgrove #once again I need to clarify that me not liking a ship is not ‘anti’ behavior or whatever bonkers thing you want to call it.#have fun. just don’t expect me to participate! simple as.

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archoneddzs15 · 2 months ago

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Sega Mega CD - Shining Force CD

Title: Shining Force CD / シャイニングフォースCD

Developer/Publisher: Sega / Sonic! Software Planning / Seraphic / Rit's Co. Ltd. / Winds / Twofive

Release date: 22 July 1994

Catalogue No.: G-6036

Genre: Strategy RPG

If there is one single, great tragedy with Shining Force CD, it’s that so few people ever actually got around to playing it. At the time, the series was just getting on its feet, and the Mega CD itself was still struggling to obtain some decent sales, which it may or may not have ever gotten (depending on who you ask). This combination of sad factors led many to overlook one of the better strategy/RPGs out there. Let me echo the voices of those who stand behind this forgotten classic and sing the praises of everything Shining! Ok, maybe that’s bringing it on a bit thick; you get the picture though. Why, just look at what Sega gave us. Both Game Gear carts (Shining Force Gaiden [1992] and Shining Force Gaiden II [1993]) together on a single disc, with an extra exclusive battle. Four books, 53 battles. How can you not like this? I’ve owned and beaten all the games in this series, and after going back to it, I gained a new respect for it. Not everything is to my liking, I can say that flat out, but the package as a whole is a winner and one solid ride.

What’s not to like? For one thing, the treasured town dynamic has been removed. No longer can you explore and chat with villagers. The game has basically been reduced to the fighting sequences, with some story tossed in for good measure. The plot is now mostly told on the field, and it at least still maintains the same sense of urgency and tongue-in-cheek doomsday atmosphere that the others had. Let’s be honest, none of the bad guys in the Shining Force games have ever been truly menacing, and the CD installment doesn’t detour from that at all.

The adventure opens twenty years after the conclusion of the first Shining Force, with the land of Gardiana having been rebuilt by Luke, Lowe, and Ken; all of whom now serve Queen Anri. Ambassadors from Cypress (not the island nation, mind you) present a gift to her that explodes into a fog upon opening, sending Anri into a deep sleep. A marvelous quest to save her ensues, which culminates with the start of the second chapter, seamlessly attached. Book II’s end in turn sets the stage for the awesome final battle, in which you choose twelve warriors from both forces to end things once and for all (if you meet certain criteria, of course). Did I mention that the main heroes of both books are usable? A neat little touch, that.

Thankfully, it plays as solid as its other 16-bit brethren. I’m not, however, going to get all technical about the gameplay. It’s a Shining Force game, and I’m sure that you’ve played at least one of the other three entries available. Nothing’s changed here, and fans will be able to dive right in without even reading the manual. Newcomers should have little trouble, although they may be slightly turned off by the constant stream of battles that constitute the bulk of the game.

Let me be honest with myself for a second and not let my love for this franchise cloud my judgment. I am more than a bit disappointed by the presentation. Sure, the visuals are a huge leg up from the Game Gear, but when you already have two games done using the same engine, how hard is that? The battles are as beautiful as ever, but where are my animated cut scenes? Moreover, if this is a CD game, why aren’t there any towns? The exploration dynamic could really have been taken to a whole other level here, and it’s a shame that the developers took the short route. Switching between a shop and my HQ just wasn’t the same, and I really did miss being able to wander around. I bet Camelot knew this too and tried to make up for it with Shining Force III Scenarios 1, 2, and 3 on the Saturn.

One thing’s for sure, the soundtrack is simply GODLY. Sega knew how to take advantage of red book audio on the CD system, and this title is no exception. OST-worthy and beautifully scored, the music practically carries the game by itself. It’s by far one of my favorite soundtracks on the Mega CD.

Another plus is the continuation of the Shining tradition of new and hidden characters. As you progress through the game, new heroes will join you, and there’s a bunch that you actually have to hunt down. This has always been cool because it gives a little more replay value to the package and ensures that you won’t complete the whole thing the same way twice.

Well friends, there you have it. A great adventure that was unfortunately given the cold shoulder for too long, is now commanding upwards of $70 on eBay. That’s the price for learning things late I guess, and although Shining Force CD isn’t perfect, it’s so good you’ll forgive its flaws and revel in its strengths. The quest is long, and the characters are lovable, which should be enough to make it worth some of your time. Every Shining fan needs this one, plain and simple.

youtube

#sega cd #shining force #mega rpg project #Youtube

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headcanonsandcupcakes · 9 months ago

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My Thoughts on NATLA :)

Sorry that this wasnt posted yesterday as I had promised, but life got in the way and I wanted to write it without feeling rushed. And I want to preface this by saying that I am not the biggest blogger on ATLA, nor does my opinion truly matter, however, ATLA has meant a lot to me since I discovered it 4 years ago. It is the reason I reopened up my Tumblr since not touching it since 2015 (I know, I'm old). In addition to this, I have also been closely following the live action coverage since 2020 (thanks to the Avatarist on YouTube), so I feel the need to say something about it.

Now with that out of the way, below are my thoughts: The biggest criticism that I have seen is that the plot felt rushed, and most people that are using this point to criticize the live action are not noting that the show was only greenlit 8 episodes. In addition, the show was only greenlit for 1 season, making the writing process incredibly hard to make sure that fans were happy but also getting the main points across. Book 1 of ATLA appears to be considered the weakest season by many of the fans. And as someone who started watching this show back in 2020, I completely agree. There were many filler episodes, and there were some writing aspects that appeared to be all over the place. It should also be noted that Bryke was unsure if they would get another season, so they also had the same struggles as the NATLA showrunner/writers had. However, it appears as though many are holding the live action to a higher standard than the cartoon instead of realizing that both had their challenges. Another point that seems to be criticized is the acting. I think people seem to forget that most of the main cast were kids/teenagers that did not work in many roles besides this one. So of course, we arent going to get an outstanding performance. Lastly, another point that I have seen around the internet is the argument that, "this is why the creators left". Okay, I get it, to not have the creators involved in the series could be reflected as troublesome for sure, however, I think those making this argument seem to forget that Bryke are not perfect either. For one, they executive produced the abomination that is the 2010 film, and were gassing the movie up until the movie was released and was received poorly. Additionally, they also were heavily involved in Legend of Korra and look at how that turned out. So, what do I think of the show? Well, perhaps it is because I found this show later in life and I am not blinded to the nostalgia factor, but I personally loved this adaptation. To me, the changes that were made felt so necessary in order to get the plot moving, as well as please the OG fans, and also ensure that new fans can understand the lore. I also feel like they did capture most of Book 1 and you can tell that they cared about the source material. I also went into watching this with a very open mind and understood that this was an adaptation, not a carbon copy (which was constantly hammered by the showrunner multiple times but still seems to surprise people). I also feel as though you cant make everyone happy. The best analogy I can think of is the Lion King live action. People were upset that it was a 1:1 adaptation and didnt make any changes. I cannot help but think that if NATLA did take that 1:1 route, people would be upset that no changes were made. The SFX and the fan service that was given to us was so good, and it was nice to see Koizilla in live action. Now, I wont say the show was perfect. There were some clunky aspects and the dialogue could use some work, but to me I think they did a good job for what they were given (episode lengths and unsure of a season renewal). I think should they get a season 2 (fingers crossed), Netflix needs to give it at least 10-12 episodes. I mean, if somehow Orange is the New Black had 13 episodes for most of their seasons, why cant an exception be made for this franchise?

My favorite episode was by far episode 6. As someone whose favorite character is Zuko, I guess I'm biased, but I loved everything about this episode and the Pohuai Stronghold escape was so cool to see. I also think that Bumi's characterization made sense in this live action - I know this is a hot take but I feel like realistically, someone that has dealt with 100 years of war would be jaded and angry and hold some resentment. Again, maybe its because I am not blinded by the nostalgia but I thought it made sense. Additionally, I think it was very smart to include Azula in this version. We have to remember that Azula is a teenager just like Zuko and is manipulated by Ozai. To see her struggle and feel insecure doesnt inhibit her character to me. In fact, I think it sets the stage for when she eventually has that mental breakdown, it will make more sense and people will sympathize her more.

I know this is all over the place but I really hope we get a season 2. I think that all the criticisms aside (if you weed out the nitpicking), the NATLA team can make a great season 2.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #natla #avatar live action #live action avatar

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the-al-chemist · 1 year ago

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The Beginning of a Symphony - Chapter 37

A/N: Héloïse’s evening goes from bad to… well, I’ll let you find out.

Warnings: mild angst, hurt comfort, fluff, angry French.

May 1897

The sound of Héloïse’s footsteps on the marble floor echoed around the entrance hall as she strode through it at a pace that was not quite a run. As she turned the corner and reached the grand staircase, she stopped and sat on one of the steps, the heels of her hands pressed against her forehead.

She had always considered herself to be a rational person, one who did not allow her emotions to cloud her usually sound judgement. She could only think of one time she had allowed them to do so, and that had been the previous year, after her father had passed away, and that had been what had led to her having to come here in the first place. She would not allow herself to make that mistake again.

And yet, though reason told her that she had many friends still at the ball with whom she could enjoy the rest of the evening, she found herself unable to pick herself up off the staircase and return. Reason would dictate that one person in a room filled with hundreds should not be so very important to her, and yet it was. He was. For whatever reason, reason was now failing her, and her emotions were ruling in her heart and her head, both of which had tightened and begun to ache. A drop of clear liquid fell onto the material of her robes, and she realised that she had started to cry.

“Héloïse?”

A voice. Jim’s voice. Héloïse looked up, and saw that Jim Hexley was walking towards her.

“Héloïse, are you… You’re crying.”

Héloïse said nothing, but she rolled her eyes at the idiocy of Jim’s comment and rose to her feet. Having spent all evening wishing that he would come over and talk to her, she no longer wanted to speak with him at all. She turned and walked up the staircase away from him, but he followed her, asking questions to the back of her head.

“Are you alright? What is the matter? Why are you so upset?”

Already annoyed, Héloïse turned and snapped at him, “Casse-toi!”

Jim blinked, clearly confused. Héloïse exhaled and recommenced climbing the staircase, only to be stopped in her tracks on the top step by Jim taking hold of her wrist. She wrenched it free from his grip.

“Je t’ai dit de dégager, hein?”

“Er, I don’t… I’m not sure what that means,” said Jim, frowning deeply. “I just… Will you not tell me - in English, preferably - what is wrong?”

Héloïse glared at him. “You. You are wrong.”

“About what?”

“Everything. And nothing, also,” she told him. He still looked confused. “I wish for you to go.”

“I don’t want to leave you when you’re upset.”

“In this case I will to go. Good night, Jim.”

“Héloïse, wait!”

But Héloïse had heard enough. She took another step, and as she did, the staircase began to move away from the landing at the top. This time, when Jim reached for her arm, she did not move away, but instead allowed him to pull her back from what was now a sheer drop from the top of the staircase all the way down to the marble floor below. The pair of them stumbled, and crashed into the bannister at their side, which Héloïse held onto with her free hand as the staircase swung across the hall to meet a new landing. She was now facing the opposite direction to where she wanted to go, but she did not move in any direction; instead she remained with her hand on the bannister, and took one deep shaky breath. Jim’s hand on her arm was also trembling.

“Are you hurt?” he asked her.

“Physically, no.” Héloïse pursed her lips for a moment before adding, “Thank you.”

“You’re… De rien.”

Héloïse nodded curtly before looking at where the staircases now led, trying to work out the quickest route she could now take back to Ravenclaw tower. She could almost feel Jim watching her do so.

“Héloïse, please,” he said quietly. “Tell me what… I know that you are upset with me, and I… Well, I’d like to know what it is that I’ve done. Whatever it is, I am truly sorry.”

Héloïse shook her head. “You did not do anything.”

“Then why-”

“I was thinking that we are friends.”

“We are.”

“But you did not do anything, all evening. You did not speak to me, you did not dance with me, I do not think that you looked at me.”

“Oh,” Jim grimaced. “No. I suppose that… Yes, you’re right. I am sorry. I did not think that it would cause you so much distress.”

“Why would you to think this?”

“Well, my sister said that… She said that I should do it. To vex you.”

Héloïse’s nostrils flared. “So, you were wanting to upset me.”

“No, no. I did not… It was not my intention to make you upset. I only… Er, never mind. It was a ludicrous idea.”

“I agree,” Héloïse said, still glaring. “Why is your sister wanting to vex me?”

“Because… She thought that it might make you… That you may regret your attending the ball with Henry and not me.”

“I am regretting my attending at all.”

“I can see that. I am sorry. I should not have ignored you. I should not have listened to Effy. It was just that… Well, I was upset that you did not agree to attend the ball with me.”

“This is not my fault. You were not asking me until after I said I would to go with Henry. If you wanted for me to go with you, then you should have asked sooner, no?”

“Yes. Perhaps that would have been better.”

“So?” Héloïse asked. “Why did you not ask before?”

“Because… Well, I… I do not know.” Jim closed his eyes. He looked as if he were in pain. “I have ruined everything.”

“Yes,” said Héloïse. “You have.”

They were both quiet for a few moments. Eventually, Jim seemed to realise that his hand still rested on her forearm. He removed it and cleared his throat.

“Well,” he said, “I think that I… It would probably be best if I return to my common room. I have spoiled enough of your evening. At least this way you can enjoy the rest of the ball.”

“I can to try.”

Jim inclined his head and walked down the stairs. He only made it a few steps before he stopped and turned back.

“Héloïse?”

“Jim?”

“I… If I had asked you sooner, would you have wanted to attend the ball with me?”

“Yes,” Héloïse told him. “I was wanting to go with you before you asked.”

Jim frowned. “So, why did you agree to go with Henry?”

“I was tired of waiting for you to ask.”

“Ah,” said Jim. “If I had known that I would have asked sooner.”

“Why did you not ask sooner?”

“I… Now I am not certain. I was worried that you might say no, or… or laugh at me, or think it impossible that you might…”

Héloïse stepped closer to him, her eyebrows furrowing deeply.

“That I might…”

“That you could ever think of me as anything other than a friend. That you may wish to be courted by… a buffoon.”

“I do not think that you are a buffoon.”

“You do not?”

“No.” Héloïse took another step. Her lips twitched slightly. “Although, tonight you are behaving like a buffoon.”

Jim laughed. “I do believe that you are right. I am sorry.”

“You have said this many times.”

“I mean it.”

“I believe you.”

“You do?” Jim asked,and Héloïse nodded. She was standing on the step above his now, with the extra height it gave her, she found that her eyes were level with his lips, which had started to curve. “I am… That is a relief. I thought that tonight… I had hoped it would go differently to this. And I know that you did as well. I am sorry.”

Héloïse laughed. “You can to stop saying this now.”

“I know. I will stop. I’m sorry.”

“You said it again.”

“I did. Sorry.”

“Stop!”

“Sorry, I…”

Before Jim could continue to apologise yet again, Héloïse rose onto the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to his. She lifted both her hands so that they came to rest against the sides of his face, a rosy warmth growing under her fingers as she kissed him. When she removed her hands from his cheeks, she saw that they had flushed pink, and his lips remained parted as she withdrew her own. He blinked wordlessly, and she smirked.

“Et alors, il arrête,” she murmured. She had spoken to herself, and Jim said nothing in response. It appeared that he was unable to say anything at all. Héloïse tilted her head to one side. “Jim?” She took one of his hands in her own and squeezed it gently. “Jim.”

“Héloïse,” Jim replied, his voice barely more than a whisper as he looked down at their linked hands. As he raised his eyes to meet hers, he smiled. It was small, but so genuine that it appeared almost blissful. Héloïse leaned towards him, and he tensed. “We are unchaperoned.”

“This is probably for the best, no?”

Jim let out a gentle laugh that softened him. As their lips meet once more, his fingers intertwined with Héloïse’s, the tips of them running over her knuckles. She had not noticed how soft his hands were before, nor how tall he was, nor-

“Ahem.”

The sound of a throat being cleared cut into the moment, and Héloïse and Jim sprung apart as if burned. They both looked around to see who had caught them. Héloïse frowned. No one was there.

Confused, she looked to Jim, but his eyes were fixed on a point on the wall of the grand staircase, his face redder than she had ever seen it before. Following the line of his gaze, she quickly understood the reason for his embarrassment, and felt the blood start to rise in her own cheeks.

On the wall facing the staircase, several gold frames had become filled with the portraits of more than a dozen witches and wizards, three leprechauns, and one single ring-tailed lemur. Every single one of the portraits had their eyes on her and Jim, their faces displaying several different expressions, from nostalgic affection to stern disapproval to outright disgust. One of the portraits tutted loudly.

“Young people these days. Absolutely no sense of decorum.”

Héloïse turned to Jim. “What is decorum?”

“By Jove, she doesn’t even know the meaning of the word.” The portrait sighed. “I despair for future generations.”

“Perhaps we should to go back to the Great Hall,” Héloïse said to Jim. “I would very much like to dance with you tonight, if you are still wishing to attend the Ball with me.”

Jim took his eyes away from the wall of still muttering portraits and nodded.

“Héloïse,” he said, taking her by the hand, “I wish for nothing else.”

Together, they descended the rest of the steps and walked back to the Great Hall, where the music was still playing and the ceiling bright with a million stars that tonight seemed to shine just for them.

#the beginning of a symphony #heloise perrault #jim hexley #harry potter hogwarts legacy

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