#the squad :]

[uvegotafastcar]

our get along charles’ baggy pants

[suncrat]

Was looking through my old sketchbook and found this:

The sillies

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[street-of-mercy]

Fallout & Cinnamon Roll Squad

[roborain]

Inktober day 6 - trek

[godisarepublican]

[vashtijoy]

terms of address: maruki

I was asked how the squad refer to Maruki, so here goes.

first, the normies

Many of the cast refer to Maruki exclusively as "Dr. Maruki": 丸喜先生 Maruki-sensei. These mentions are universally in kanji.

Ann has 41 of these, and often uses sensei by itself;

Haru has 26 of these, and uses sensei alone a couple of times, during Maruki's Palace;

Makoto has 27 of these. She uses sensei alone quite often;

Yoshizawa has 41 of these total, 14 as Kasumi and 27 as Sumire. She calls Maruki just sensei often.

Noticing anything? Yeah: they're all the girls. These particular characters consistently seem to have relatively colourless and unmarked speech. This may in itself, of course, be a form of marking, since expectations around gendered speech in Japan can be so strong.

the relatively boring

Ren appears to always use "Maruki", apart from one instance very early on when an option, "Ask about the counsellor", includes Maruki-sensei. He also always uses kanji; protagonists don't have to be polite.

He calls Maruki sensei alone once, during his confidant. Kawakami gets it more often, while Takemi gets it constantly.

slightly more edgy

While Futaba always uses "Dr. Maruki", she slurs it a little, making it slangier: 丸喜せんせー Maruki-sensee. She always uses kanji for "Maruki", except in the text chat after he visits Shujin, where she's only heard his name spoken!—which is a cute detail. Occasionally she uses せんせー sensee by itself, which is distinct from her 先生 sensei meaning "a teacher".

Ryuji, again, virtually always makes it "Dr. Maruki", usually Maruki-sensei in kanji; a few mentions very early on, when they're still talking about the new counsellor guy, are just straight "Maruki". Also, in his counselling session, Ryuji almost just calls him that!—ultimately deciding to make it "Dr. Maruki":

Ryuji なあ、丸喜⋯センセーってよ、よく『変わってる』って言われね? naa, maruki... sensee tte yo, yoku "kawatteru" tte iwarene? Hey, Dr. Maru— ah, I mean, Doc. Anyone ever tell you you're kinda… not normal?

The meaning is a little lost in translation here, with Ryuji cutting from the normal form of address to a nickname. Also, in Maruki's Palace, he recognises Maruki on one of the videotapes, and starts off in hiragana before finishing in kanji. It feels a bit as if he isn't initially sure what he's seeing:

Ryuji まるき… 丸喜先生？ maruki... maruki-sensei? Maruki... Dr. Maruki?

He uses sensei by itself a couple of times, far fewer than you might expect; his "Doc" is usually either glossed in, or was originally Maruki-sensei, "Dr. Maruki".

He also uses 大先生 daisensei, "great leader/teacher/artist" etc, as a term of abuse, aimed at palace bosses such as Shido and Madarame. 獅童大先生 shidou-daisensei—"that stuck-up bastard Shido!".

the slightly outlandish...

Morgana overwhelmingly uses katakana for names, and Maruki is no exception. He talks about him a lot, always in katakana, as マルキ Maruki. He never uses any honorifics for him.

He has only one use of kanji, 丸喜 Maruki, in "will you meet with this confidant?" text, around I think rank 5, which looks like it may be a slip.

the strangely polite...

Akechi, of course, fails to grace Maruki with his title of "doctor"; he's just plain "Maruki". The localisation sometimes makes it "Dr. Maruki", but that's a gloss; Akechi never once uses sensei (or any other honorific) about him.

But he uses an honorific to Maruki, once:

That "isn't that right" is ですよね desu yo ne, which might seem startlingly polite for third semester Akechi. In fact, he's rather consistent about his masu forms to Maruki—and only to Maruki—during the third semester.

He has no uses of desu or -masu/-masen, for instance, to anyone else in the third semester. It's actually rather cute, because it makes it clear a number of his lines in the 1/2 and 1/9 Palace are directed not to Ren or Yoshizawa, as it might seem, but to Maruki.

So this looks like a sardonic little aside, and I'm sure there's a lot of that in it—"Maruki-san". But this is also the only time Akechi ever addresses Maruki by name. And since he has all these desu and -masu forms going on around Maruki, then maybe he just calls him Maruki-san, full stop.

Did I mention he's a weird boy?

...and the downright weird

That leaves us with Yusuke, who (as nobody will be surprised to hear) does his own thing that raises some fascinating possibilities.

Yusuke only appears to address Maruki by name once, when they first meet in the courtyard, and as you'd expect, he calls him sensei—丸喜拓人先生 Maruki Takuto-sensei, "You are Dr. Takuto Maruki, correct?".

But every other time Yusuke uses sensei in the script? He's referring not to Maruki, of course, but to his sensei, Madarame. That initial approach to Maruki, stranger to stranger, face to face, is the only time he uses it to anyone else.

So what does Yusuke call Maruki? He calls him 丸喜��� Maruki-shi.

what is shi

氏 shi is a very formal and exclusively third-person term, usually seen in writing, or heard from newsreaders. It's often translated "Mr X", which can be very odd to hear in media that retains honorifics like -san and -kun; "Mr. Akechi's coming on!" is an example, from 6/10. And Akechi is, in fact, usually mentioned as Akechi-shi on the evening news.

Yusuke's Maruki-shi is universally translated as "Dr. Maruki", as if he'd just said Maruki-sensei like everyone else. Which is a little bit of a shame.

Yusuke also uses shi for one other person—the art patron Kawanabe, in his confidant, before you meet up at the sushi bar. Most of the rest of the time, before and after, Yusuke just calls Kawanabe "Kawanabe" in third-person, with no title; he pulls out a Kawanabe-san at rank 10, after he's won the contest—face to face, of course, since shi is only third-person.

On the other hand, Yusuke never mentions Maruki at all without a title.

the other time yusuke uses sensei

Okay, I lied: Yusuke has one other instance of Maruki-sensei. This, like Morgana's single lapse into kanji, is in prompt text: "Are we going to Maruki's Palace today?" Again, I think this is likely an error.

revision history

Click here for the latest version.

v1.0 (2023/12/29)—first posted.

[bunnymajo]

[californiannostalgia]

imagine you're 15 years old and entering high school, which is a terrible time all around for everyone involved. you have this one dream of getting actual teammates to play a sport you really love.

hinata shouyou came into a pre-worn team full of fractures and inertia and proceeded to love and appreciate each teammate so much that he kickstarted a chemical reaction that reforged everyone, including him. he made friends who both challenged and inspired him, and for three straight years, he and his team went to nationals.

can you imagine those three years of rain and cicadas and bus rides and snowfall? how unforgettable that fucking phoenix rise from the ashes was for the boys' teams in miyagi playing volleyball? can you imagine being on the actual team that did that?

karasuno loved and nurtured those walking-open-wound first years so they could grow out their wings. three years later, those same imperfect first years went to nationals and only lost once. they got third place podium, which means they won that bronze medal decider.

these argumentative teenagers who cried and fought because they cared too much, because it hurt so much to be passionate--they went and became one of the scariest fucking teams in the nation.

how unforgettable was that, I wonder?

what was it like to rediscover a sense of belonging and unconditional acceptance, after grief had cost past friendships?

what was it like to tell yourself it was better not to want it if it was going to hurt, and then taking the plunge into wanting it anyway?

what was it like to throw a spear and feel it land, then to go on and represent one of the nation's top 3 teams in front of cameras and crowds?

what was it like to learn how to speak up, how to hold ground, how to be a steady force, how to gain and keep lifelong friends?

what kind of alchemical metallurgy happened there? how fucking incredible was that?

[witless-winion1]

“Shit!” Odysseus squawked, covering his head with his arms as he ran for cover, Polites a few steps behind and ducking underneath every other tree.

“Such language for a future king,” Ctimene shouted at her brother, her grin undimmed by the raindrops that were pelting down harder, faster, larger by the second. Behind the rest of the group, Eurylochus tripped over a tree root and barely managed to catch himself before faceplanting in the squelching dirt that was quickly turning into mud.

“I don’t want to look like a sopping wet cat, ‘Mene! How far are we from the castle?”

“At least two miles!” Eurylochus called over the rumbling thunder, catching up and running between Polites and Ctimene.

“Hang on, I know a place we can use for shelter!” Polites looked around frantically, then grabbed the nearest arm and tugged it off in a different direction, maybe eastward.

“Hey, ow, you’re pulling my arm!” Ctimene complained loudly, glancing back at the other two- Eurylochus grabbed Odysseus around the waist, simply picking him up for efficiency’s sake, and hauled ass after Polites, who knew the forest best of all of them.

It took a few minutes of ducking under branches and frenzied shouting at each other, but Polites finally found a small area where a portion of a mountain had a small cave. Polites waved Ctimene inside and stood at the entrance until Eurylochus caught up and headed in, with a loudly-complaining Odysseus tucked under his arm.

“Okay, you can put me down now!” The prince squirmed until his release, where he huffed and rubbed his stomach. “You two are far too fond of manhandling royals.”

“You both are unharmed, though?” Eurylochus confirmed, looking at Ctimene’s arm as she sat down on the rough rock, to which she simply nodded and started wringing out her braided hair.

Odysseus sat down as well with a sigh. “I guess. Nice save with this little hideout, though, Polites. How’d you find it?”

“Just exploring,” Polites responded, sitting beside him as the rain started really coming down, echoing off the cave walls making it hard to see farther then ten feet past the entrance. It was just tall enough that Eurylochus could stand- not without ducking his head- but wide enough for all of them to comfortably stretch out.

Polites shook his head like a wet dog, making Odysseus groan and shove at him as Eurylochus settled down opposite them with Ctimene, who was laughing at their shenanigans. “I know, convenient! Doesn’t even have critters in it. And probably minimal bugs.”

“Minimal,” Odysseus muttered, looking around the shadows.

“But there’s some!” Ctimene chirped, while turning and holding up something long and fuzzy on her finger. Polites leaned forward to look at it in fascination, while Odysseus groaned and scooted away.

“If you’re sure that’s not venomous,” Eurylochus muttered, watching Polites and the Princess admire the squirmy caterpillar thing together.

“No idea!” Ctimene grinned. “I wonder if it’s supposed to be here. Shouldn’t it be outside?”

“Perhaps it’s seeking shelter from the storm just as we are,” Polites muttered. “Look at those pretty spots..”

“So pretty. I’m naming her Haydes,” Ctimene hummed. “But isn’t it still too cold in here for her?”

Odysseus groaned comically, shuffling deeper into the cave to get away. Eurylochus eyed both him and the caterpillar roaming up Ctimene’s wrist.

Polites seemed enthralled at both the name and his idea. “Perhaps…let’s build her something to keep her warm.” He reached over near the front of the cave and picked up some leaves that had blown in, dotted with rain but holding shape. Ctimene contributed one of the ribbons in her hair.

Odysseus shook his head at them, rubbing his arms. “Saps. It’s a bug. Throw it out in the rain and let it die.”

“Or we could do that to you,” Ctimene retorted with a glare at her brother, as she and Polites started building a little house for the caterpillar.

“It’s not bad enough out there for me to die,” Odysseus scoffed, crossing his arms and crossing the cave to Eurylochus now, who was sitting and watching the bug enthusiasts. “Right, Eury?”

“It’s enough so that I’m sure you’d get a miserable cold,” Eurylochus offered, looking at Odysseus as the prince leaned on his side. “What?”

“You know you’re super warm. Keep me safe from the cold,” Odysseus muttered, almost pouting. Polites chuckled as they put the finishing touches on the little house of leaves, a tiny tent held together by ribbon, as he tried to encourage Hyades to go inside.

Ctimene glanced over at her brother and their tall friend. “I’ve heard quite a bit from Odysseus that you’re like a human fireplace, Eury.”

“Shut up, Mene.”

Eurylochus cleared his throat, shifting and finally allowing Odysseus to lean into his right side. “I’m told that I do run warm.”

“Sounds great.” Polites got up and sat down beside Eurylochus, leaning unashamedly on his wide chest. “It is kinda cold in here.”

“And we are all damp, don’t want to get sick.” Odysseus grinned, waving his sister over where she crouched beside the leaf tent. “Come on, Mene. Eurylochus is a gentleman, aren’t you?”

“I, uh-” it took a moment for Eurylochus to come up with a proper reply that wouldn’t sound too proud or dismissive. “Ahem- I try my best.”

Ctimene nodded as if she knew this already and joined them, squeezing in between her brother and Eurylochus. Odysseus complained at being forced aside, and relocated to Eurylochus’ lap, which naturally led to a seating dispute between the siblings. Polites rolled his eyes as the two bickered over the warmest spot against Eurylochus. The seating himself felt he was growing quite warm in the face.

“Enough,” he groaned. “Polites on my left, Odysseus on the right, and Ctimene, if it’s not too improper, can sit on my lap. How’s that?”

Ctimene shot a smug grin at her brother and settled down over Eurylochus’ thighs. “Fine by me.”

Odysseus grumbled. “I’ll sit on Polites’ legs, between you. Too cold in here to only have one side warm.” He scooted around and glared at Polites until the latter laughed and pulled the prince into his open arms for a hug, leaning against Eurylochus. The royal siblings met eyes for a moment, and when they seemed to silently agree that this was a good solution, collapsed against each other and their respective seatings.

Polites laughed and wrapped his right arm around Eurylochus as they all leaned together into what was basically a large, slumped pile. “See, nice and cozy. Now we just gotta wait the rain out.”

Eurylochus nodded in agreement, trying to keep his breathing even as the princess laid her head below his chin. “How long do you think that will take..?”

“Twenty years,” was Odysseus’ muffled reply, echoing somewhere between Polites’ shoulder and Ctimene’s head.

“Sounds perfect,” Ctimene agreed. “Let’s invite Hyades.”

“Let’s not-”

[brontios-helm]

Destiny 2: A Storm Rolling In

[homuraholic]

打了光的神圣六重奏 by 高粱Sorghum [pixiv] [twitter]

♡ reprint permission was granted by the artist. 

[t-u-i-t-c]

[thecreechurcollective]

Your eridan John sollux and equius bring me immense joy that words cannot express i love a good group of rare pairs they deserve the world

I'm glad it brings so much joy! I do enjoy drawing these dweebs together, it's a fun dynamic. They bring me a lot of joy too! :'3

[harlquinzels]

-Returning here... Who decided on that? -Oh, that's right... I have a letter from Mom.