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aoflameandco · 11 months ago

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GrimmNell: character study

Well-well-well, I mentioned once that my GrimmNel brainrot is far from being over - so here we go! What else's to analyze about them though? Well, this time we have a new subject to focus on... the Bleach personality quiz!

Yes, I know it's a bit questionable source for a character study, but let me explain! June 2011. The third Bleach Official Character Book UNMASKED was released in Japan. This databook was mostly famous for giving Ulquiorra a more detailed backstory and showing more of Halibel and her Fracción. However, there was another small tidbit for Arrancar's fans - the official quiz from Kubo - Which Bleach character are you?

The quiz was extremely simple. Add up the numbers of your full date of birth and don't forget your blood type. Voila! In the end you get a short profile about your Bleach "personality type", which highlights the key qualities of this particular character.

Now, y'all know where I'm going with this. So, what's like to be like Grimmjow- or Nel according to the databook? Let's check it!

And- Even without any translation, we immediately bump into the first problem. There's only Nel's profile. Not Nelliel's.

Well, they're the same person! It would be weird to separate them, right? But yeah... there's a solid difference in a way her kid and adult forms act.

So the question remains - can we apply this profile's info to the adult Nelliel? Let's read it to find out.

a bit messy not word to word translation's incoming, pls take it with a grain of salt

Cheerful and playful

Nel type!

Good at opening people's hearts. Very quick to make bonds, no matter with who - friends or foes. She is attentive and good at conveying information to those around her. But sometimes she says too much.

• works at her own pace • high sense of camaraderie • doesn't run away from difficulties • hero of justice

Ofc this info perfectly fits baby Nel. She quickly befriended Ichigo, even though he was a shinigami; she was a sort of his guide, explaining how Hueco Mundo works; also she is a big chatterbox, saying surprisingly harsh things sometimes. Her attentive side shined during the Ichigo vs Grimmjow fight, when she noticed Orihime's turmoil and gave her a good advice. She is surely down for justice, but it's a little bit difficult to fight for it in her small body. So the real Nelliel has to step up.

Same qualities but a different approach - that's what I would say about adult!Nel. And it's very visible when it comes to her later interactions with Grimmjow, esp in CFYOW.

But before giving some bright examples, let's take a look at his quiz profile as well - to understand the similarities and contrasts between these two characters.

Responsible but mischievous

Grimmjow type

There's still a bit of a boyish heart (shounen no kokoro) in him. But deep inside he's unexpectedly serious and has a sense of responsibility. He catches the information fast and adapts quickly, but his tendency to get bored could be a problem. If he'll improve this aspect, good fortune is likely to come his way.

• has a sense of responsibility • thrives in adversity • quickly adapts • gets bored easily

And - the quiz highlighted thrice (!) that Grimmjow is indeed a responsible person. Something Nelliel didn't expect as well. As a true hero of justice she was prepared to stop Sexta as soon as he starts an unnecessary violence. But to her surprise - Grimmjow was far from an uncontrollable beast and followed his own codex.

A sense of responsibility didn't turn Grimmjow into an obedient boy though. Him and Nel keep arguing due to their different perspectives - especially when it comes to handling the former enemies.

Nelliel easily bonds with anyone - quincy, Aura, etc., meanwhile Grimmjow picks a fight as a first option. This choice isn't just a result of his bloodthirst though. Grimmjow's survival instincts are strong, so he always stays on guard and doesn't trust easily. That's why he warns Nelliel that her pacifism might end up badly for them all.

Another proof that even though he acts as if he doesn't belong to the group, Grimm isn't as indifferent as he pretends to be. Very responsible of him, huh?

Yet there's another obstacle in their dynamic. Their pacing. Grimmjow is quick to adapt and quick to act, meanwhile Nelliel doesn't like to rush and prefers to gather as much information as possible.

Hard to say who's wrong in this case. Quick reaction benefited Grimmjow in general, but ofc Nel likes to remind him about Askin's incident, her favorite argument to cool him down.

And usually her persuasion works, surely Grimm argues back but still stops. When his stubbornness wins though- there's no way that Nelliel will just let him go. She'll do everything to find him, stop him and bring him back.

Nel complaints but doesn't give up on her fellow arrancar, no matter how difficult the other side is. Knowing Grimmjow's past, the sense of camaraderie isn't an empty word for him too. With creak he opens up to Nel, sharing his thoughts with her. Even though she is too bold with her words sometimes, it doesn't look like Sexta feels a grudge against her.

Grimmjow isn't a friendly type. He likes to fight, but a disappointed look quickly appears on his face, if his enemy doesn't meet expectations. He gets bored easily, he always needs some action. And yet- for some reason Nelliel got his attention.

There's no doubt that he sees her as a nice opponent, he even provoked her to fight with a smirk. He easily forgets anyone who didn't pique his interest and yet Nel's reiatsu is safely stored in his memory.

However, it wouldn't be correct to reduce Grimmjow's attention to a desire to fight, when we have several scenes of him watching Nelliel's peaceful shenanigans. He was calmly watching over kid Nel in anime probably wondering about the connection between this brat and the mighty Tres, he was dying of boredom, but still didn't take his eyes off her tea party in the novel. Even Halibel noticed it and offered him to join, but ofc he proudly refused.

So what did we confirm again? Even though Grimmjow and Nelliel share rather opposite views when it comes to socializing or making decisions, some of their character traits are surprisingly compatible. Grimmjow gained some respect points, when Nel started to notice his responsible side, meanwhile he opened up to her pushy yet reliable presence. Nelliel doesn't give up on her persuasion and he doesn't get bored of arguing with her. Covering eo's flaws they make quite a powerful duo, isn't?

So let's hope we'll see more of their rocky bond next season~

#grimmnel #grimmnell #grimmjow x nelliel #grimmjow jaegerjaquez #nelliel tu odelschwanck #meta

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kingarthurflourofficial · 9 months ago

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January + Feb Book Roundup

since i'm not using goodreads any more and also my memory is shit these days gonna try keeping track here this year!

A Memory Called Empire 4/5 (sci fi, great worldbuilding, very interesting MC)

Hearts of Oak 4/5 (sci fi, lovely creepy worldbuilding and vibes)

A Wizard's Guide To Defensive Baking 4/5 (such a fun and thoughtful take on many tropes; lays the seeds for her later more detailed books)

A Rulebook for Desperate Rogues ? DNF; too many anachronisms in the first two chapters

Three Cases for Mr. Campion ? DNF; weirdly gross way of speaking about women

The Dangers of Smoking In Bed 3/5 (very good bordering on horror)

Some Desperate Glory 5/5 (everyone who told me to read this was right etc run don't walk etc!)

Murder in Williamston 2/5 (not half as fun as I remember them being - a little too formulaic and suffers from not allowing the characters to grow/develop)

Grave Expectations 4/5 (VERY fun romp of a book! unexpectedly made me tear up at the end)

The September House 4/5 (horror but the kind of horror i can take where the narrator really holds and carries you through it)

The Ballad of Sir Dinadin 4/5 (i missed these books! i love arthuriana and these are such good classics. sidenote this was the first ace rep i ever read as a kid and i'll always bless it for that)

The Princess the Crone and the Dung-Cart Knight 4.5/5 (LOVE the difficult subjects being navigated here and the interweaving of different source materials. especially enjoyed the heavily implied throuple at the end.)

Parsifal's Page 3.5/5 (honestly didn't really remember this one that well but went back to read it bc my love said it was their fave of the OG tales and i liked it better than i remembered! even if the whole Fisher King scenario still infuriates me just out of principle)

The Scholomance 4/5 (love a naomi novik)

The Last Graduate 4/5 (we love a naomi novik where the characters slowly start to learn to love!)

The Golden Enclaves 5/5 (okay completely forgot i hadn't read this which means this was a complete surprise and so was the CANON GAYS hell yeah naomi u got there in the end!!!!!!!!!!)

Perilous Times 2/5 (listen it was a great premise! let itself down by being far too heavy-handed and using a deus ex machina at the end)

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance 5/5 (very glad i forgot to check the warnings before i read this or else i wouldn't have but DAMN if this didn't cradle me very gently in its arms and carry me safely through the deep waters. absolutely would recommend)

10 Things That Never Happened 2/5 (thank you to Morgan @crimsonclad for listening to my rantings re: alexis hall's books in general but this, to me, was not one of his finest efforts

Gaudy Night 10/5!!!!!!!! (book of my HEART dorothy l sayers you will always be famous even if you insist on putting enormous swaths of foreign language text with no translation in your books)

Busman's Honeymoon 10/5!!!!!!!!!!! (Aupres de ma blonde!!!! ivy trailing in hair! crying over Bunter! damn said distinctly! the port wine!)

Clouds of Witness 4/5 (you do love the Duchess but Peter has not yet been Wilfred-ized and is more of a caricature than his true self)

Whose Body? 4/5 (same as above)

Detection Unlimited 3/5 (a fun Heyer detection romp!)

The Dark Lord of Derkholm 4/5 (I'd forgotten most of this one and really enjoyed re-discovering it!)

The Year of the Griffin 5/5 (stayed up until 3 ack emma reading this rip my sleep schedule but i simply love a group of misfit friends!)

System Collapse 5/5 (MURDERBOT my BELOVED)

Everything on a Waffle 5/5 (i love polly horvath SO much. she treats all her characters and their loves and griefs with so much gentle dignity.)

Lady of Quality 5/5 (this is a superb heyer. absolutely iconic)

And fic over 40k!

metagaming by esama (svsss)

after the storm by perennial (much ado about nothing)

sword in hand by Aesoleucian, leahsfiction (the untamed)

the exploration of a courageous heart (all this unexpected glory) by Stratisphyre (the untamed)

#book report #a BOOK REPORT on peter RABBIT #gonna come back to this at the end of feb but wanted to get these all down before i forgot them lol #personal log

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deusvervewrites · 1 year ago

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What I meant, is how should I plan the writing, like reading the manga or looking for inspiration in different stories?

Ah.

Generally, yes, I would suggest being familiar with the source material if you intend on changing it. Whether that's the anime or manga or binging the wiki is up to you--I personally have a the wiki and a fan translation of the manga up at all times for reference.

Now, over time and thanks to asks on this blog and my various projects, I've become extremely familiar with various parts of canon, but an encyclopedic knowledge is not required so long as you can quickly find any information you need.

This is important for a few reasons. Chiefly, many readers will be familiar with canon and will notice discrepancies, which can be both a good and bad thing. For example, I greatly enjoy using canon events as a form of Dramatic Irony, like in Haigha when the Hosu Noumu attack never happens.

Being familiar with canon is also important for characterization purposes. If you really know how a character acts in canon it's easier to know how they'll respond to changes, making their personalities feel more fleshed out.

(Note that something feeling fleshed out is not always the same as it actually being fleshed out. Both is better, but the first is all you strictly need, and you rarely want to only have the second.)

More crucially to this ask, it makes the planning easier.

I'm assuming if you're rewriting canon and asking about planning things out, you aren't strictly following the way that things went in canon, and are doing something closer to my fics, where I cascade a single change into many more. This is the reason I'm personally so acquainted with canon. Knowing how each event in canon led to others makes it easier to see how changing any event will change the rest.

For example, the League attacked the Forest Camp to discredit Heroes, to acquire Search, and to recruit Bakugou. Either the League could have gone after Ragdoll at any time (presumably, it's possible they couldn't find her, though that seems unlikely), but waited until the Training Camp so they could also deal a blow to UA's reputation and acquire Bakugou. And they only wanted Bakugou because of how the Sports Festival ended. In other words, if the League doesn't have a way to find the camp, doesn't want Bakugou, doesn't want Search, and/or doesn't care about UA, there is no Forest Camp Attack.

As for inspiration, it can come from anywhere. Canon, fanfic, other works of media, random things you see in your day-to-day life, literally anywhere. I generally recommend that writers read lots of things--not just fanfic, either, but consume all kinds of media--to see more plots, narrative voices, technical writing, pacing, etc.

You can learn so, so much by reading books or watching tv or movies or playing games that don't even seem related to what you're actually planning on writing.

For example, here's HK47 in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 teaching you how to kill superheroes Jedi

youtube

I'm not sure looking for inspiration is necessarily the best way to put it. I find that ideas are fickle things, much like cats. They rarely show themselves when you actively seek them out, but come to you on their own terms.

The more stories you read/watch/play, the more familiar you will be with storytelling and common narrative beats, and the easier it will be to see the connections between ideas. This is as true with fanfic as with any canon material.

Here's a practical example. As of writing this, I'm running a series of polls titled Let's Make A Shonen! where I had various selections of tropes, settings, and plot devices necessary to create the barebones of a hypothetical shonen series. At the end of which, I'll write up the plot synopsis of the resulting series. At this moment, Magic is winning the Power System poll by a landslide at more than twice the second-place option, and in the How Does The Protagonist Learn Their Powers poll, the front-runner is the the powers themselves are sentient.

With about 50 hours left in the poll, I've agonized a bit over how I wanted to combine these plot points, before the answer came to me. Magacite from Final Fantasy 6--where Espers are turned into crystal upon death which can be used as a means of summoning that Esper or to teach magic to the party member equipped with that Magacite. By taking this idea and tweaking it, I can fit it neatly into place as the combination of those two polls, and by extreme coincidence I can tie it into several other polls as well, such as the main antagonist being The Government and the first arc being a Fetch Quest. The protagonist needs to get the Legally-Distinct-Magacite before the government does. Easy.

This is something I'd never have thought of if I hadn't known about the plot of Final Fantasy 6, which, while overlapping, isn't a shonen at all.

#asks #writing advice

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dailyrecaps · 2 years ago

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That's why dividends are good - [a couple lunches out per month with your spendy co-workers who throw away their one-source-hard-earned dollars every day.] PAY YOURSELF FIRST, not the restaurant as you succumb to peer pressure.

*Realization 1. when raylyn wanted to check out a huge dragon/fairy chapter book... why don't you just imagine all your hopes reading in this book? What do you think happens? What all would you want to happen? What do you need to read the book for? Skip it. Write your own. Nonetheless, I let her get it.

2. Same. *Brain click. I observed myself outside myself again. Why am I reading this business book like I'm seeking some kind of authority? As if this contains all the answers I'm in need of. Then what? I go to the next book and the next, looking for more authority - someone to tell me its okay, to tell me how. I'm not looking for a book to vibe with, I'm not in need of authority. Write my own, be my own authority. Get help, discover for myself, like literally all the greats did. There wasn't this much knowledge back then. I need guts. Fail or fly. I need W.B. sense. I need structure and to lay out my long-term/overall plan. I need belief in that plan. To begin. It's going to work no matter what, I'll make it.

**+ the day I spent all day searching retail on the internet as if I was at a job, my life out of my control, trying to entertain/distract myself from the fact, like everyone else... no no no more. I'm an entrepreneur; remember, I didn't want to have time for that.

It takes one decision/one desire, then refusal thereafter to happily ever after.

I've made the most of the past 4 days since the start of his new job. I love it. Love how I now get to be/feel "cool mom," spend all day with them, whether it's school or anything else. Having the vehicle all the time helps. No more fucked over. No more helpless feeling of not able to do better when it all starts blending to nowhere. Able to be more responsible. Makes me want to run errands and make dinner.

Imagine, Brittany at home while he's at work in a crush state, on dates where he can squeeze them in on lunch breaks or on days off when they're away, spending it all up- time/money as he pleases in the moment, coming home to her, playing the game, she's easy just buy sugar, faking to stay lovable/delay any of her suspicion, to maintain sex and a home with the kids, bc it's the best of both worlds... [I'm dumb]. Imagine what Brittany is doing with her 8 hours of complete uninterrupted/self-guided freedom, that he never asks her about, and would she honestly tell? Other ppl's realizations and questions: what does she do all day? Investing/homeschooling, what do you mean? How's that going? How much does she contribute? Telling him, you're dumb. His suspicion - what if she's faking her jealousy? If everything about work/etc is truly unappealing to her? Should that make me lose belief in what I'm doing, where I've gotten/ led myself, where I was going to go? Don't for a second think that he has it better; remember. Never give this up. Protect/enhance it, work to keep it.

Here's what I did today. But I'll never talk about my genius-masterminding strategy learned. Only I can make me happy.

Learned how to breathe from guy sprinting past me :) Enough oxygen funneled through and pushed out quickly to regain more faster = energy flow. And the principles translate from one field to another. Didn't grasp it here, then won't do it there.

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noridoorman · 3 years ago

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Would you be able to write something about Frank Morrison receiving a love letter from his crush, please?

I'm a fan of the way you write him so I would love to see it. Of course I understand when it isn't possible.

I wish you a wonderful day.

I've decided to split it into two parts because I kind of ran out of ideas, whoops-

Anyways, hope you'll enjoy!

Tempted [1] - Frank Morrison x Reader

Everybody knows this feeling. The familiar feeling in which all the words in your mind align beautifully, creating a poem filled with your sincerest desires and honest emotions. All the words make no sense when spoken out. It's as if they're the manifestation of one's emotions. The rhymes only work because the corresponding emotions align, sharing the equal source of happiness or pain. And when it's time to write it on paper, to express extremes that you feel, all you can do is sit and watch the empty sheet. Too bad it can't write itself, or some fancy machine can translate your thoughts over to the text. This is the future. But the future just isn't prepared for your lacking communication skills.

You've been staring at the fancy written I, not knowing what should come after it. No eyes are peaking from your shoulder. The students were busy talking to each other as their words scrambled even more with the words you're trying to make sense of. It was the shrill bell of the school that took you out of your trance, making you realize you're a hopeless mess of a lover.

Taking your notebook with all the other faulty love letters in it, you slightly pushed yourself through the crowd that emerged in the hallway. Your hands became clammy as you covered your face using your heavy books. No matter where you go, you always believed that somebody is stalking you down and silently judging you. You never got to prove your theory. Everyone was too invested in their own lives to care about yours. But insecurities always mess with your judgment.

Opening your locker, you shove everything inside in haste, hoping Frank wouldn't have enough time to go to his locker. His locker was next to yours, making everything even more awkward. Your unreasonable anxieties make you think he'll suddenly gain some superhuman abilities that will make him read the failed love letters through your notebook cover. The rustling of the papers always made you nervous. But what made you even more anxious was the oh-so-familiar footsteps of the oh-so-familiar guy that stole your heart. And at that moment, he also stole your courage. Quickly, you took all your books for the next lesson and stuffed your notebook in the locker, resulting in some papers flying off. Frank Morrison eyes you weirdly as you run as far away as possible from him. He shrugs his shoulders and looks at the letters beneath him, accidentally stepping on one. Ripping his locker open, he takes his books out and leans them lazily on his hips.

"Frank!" Susie's voice echoes in the somewhat now empty hallways catching Frank's attention. The students rushed to their classrooms to not be late to class while he leans against the locker, contemplating if he would want to skip maths or not.

"Heya, why the hurry?" Once Susie reached Frank, she hunched down and put her hands on her knees, taking deep breaths. Frank tilts his head to the side.

"Cause!" Susie fixes her posture, but the redness in her face hasn't faded. "You're about to be late for class!"

"What about you? Isn't your lesson starting soon too?" Frank dodged the question and looked down to Susie, who was significantly shorter than him. The letters you dropped caught his gaze again. A newfound curiosity made him bend down and pick the abandoned papers up.

"No! I still got time! But you, on the other hand, have to go to class! Your father promised to buy you a car if your grades improved"

"Mhm..." His eyes skimmed lazily over the letter. Making out the words in the letter became even more of a challenge until he came across his name. From all the slovenly words and the messy handwriting, his name stuck out the most. The one word he could read perfectly. He narrowed his eyes and read through the words carefully, drowning out everything Susie said.

"I don't know how to say it. Whenever I think of you, my heart starts to race, and I lose all words to say. I know this sounds all cheesy, and you hate cheesy things, but I wanted to let it go a long time ago but never had the courage. Frank, I love you, and the reason why I always leave is that I'm really scared of talking with you. Everyone kinda really likes yo-"

Crossed-out words and scribbles filled the rest of the letter. Frank could barely make out the words on it. His mind pieces together the events that had happened a few minutes ago. You who rushes away from your locker, not even noticing the papers flying around on his feet. You who wrote him several love letters, despite knowing who he is. Frank Morrison, the high school student everyone hates and fears at the same time. He gets terrible grades and occasionally skips classes to cause problems in the small town. And you like, no, LOVE him? To say he felt charmed would underestimate the thousand butterflies which are swirling in his stomach. An unusual feeling he has never felt that way for anybody before. Maybe it's your mysterious aura that has drawn him in, like a moth to a flame.

"Do you know who the locker belongs to?" Frank points to your locker, interrupting the not-so-impressed Susie.

"Yeah, it belongs to one of my classmates. Why are you asking?" Susie, taken aback by his question, tilts her head to the side.

"What's their name? Do you know them?"

"Wha-? Why are you even asking!? Their name is (Y/N), I think." She starts walking towards her class with Frank following close behind her.

"Oh, just wanna know. Maybe recruit us 'nother member." Frank leans against the wall next to the door of Susie's classroom. She opens the door and walks into the chaos inside. Frank takes a slight peek inside, scanning all faces until his heart stops for a second. His eyes landed on yours. A smirk etched across his face, he shows his face more and leans against the doorframe. Your face reddens, and your shoulders raise slightly, taking your eyes off his had never been such a difficult task before.

The shrill school bell interrupted your awkward moment together, making Frank roll his eyes. He turns to walk away before shooting you a wink, numbing your mind for a second.

"Oh..." Susie follows Frank's sight and catches the wink. She giggles to herself until the teacher catches everyone's attention.

#dbd #dead by daylight #dbd x reader #dead by daylight x reader #frank legio x reader #frank morrison x reader #the legion frank x reader

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thewidowsghost · 3 years ago

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The Daughter of the Sea - Chapter 9

(Y/n)'s POV

It doesn't take me long to pack. I decide to leave the Minotaur horn in the cabin, which leaves me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover had found for me.

The camp store loans me one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. The coins are as big as Girl Scout cookies and have images of various Greek Gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron had told us, but Olympins never used less than pure gold. Chiron said the coins might come in for non-mortal transactions - whatever that might mean. He gives Annabeth, Percy, and me canteens of nectar and Ziploc bags full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It is god food, Chiron reminds us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it is lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally, Fun.

Annabeth is bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she tells me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She is also bringing a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she gets bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I'm sure the knife is going to get us busted the first time we go through a metal detector.

Grover is wearing his fake feet and his pants to pass as a human. He wears a green rasta-style cap, because when it rains his curly hair flattened and you can just see the tips of his horns. Grover's bright orange backpack is full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket is a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knows two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto Number 12 and Hilary Duff's 'So Yesterday,' both of which sound pretty bad on reed pipes.

We wave good-bye to the other campers, take one last look at eh strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hike up the Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, the Daughter of Zeus.

Chiron is waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stands the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room. According to Grover, the guy is the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he's wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I can only see the extra eyes on his hands, face, and neck.

"This is Argus," Chiron tells me. "He'll drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

I hear footsteps behind us.

Luke comes running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes. "Hey!" he pants. "Glad I caught you."

Annabeth blushes, the way she always does when Luke is around.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke tells us. "And I thought . . . um, maybe you could use these."

He hands Percy a pair of sneakers, which look pretty normal.

Then, Luke says, "Maia!"

White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels. The shoes flap around on the ground until the wings fold up and disappear.

"Awesome!" Grover exclaims.

Luke smiles. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days...." His expression turns sad.

Annabeth stomps down the other side of the hill, after arguing with Percy, where a white SUV waits on the shoulder of the road. Argus follows, jingling his car kees.

Percy picks up the flying shoes and then looks up at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these, will I?"

Chiron shakes his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air...that would not be wise for you."

I nod, getting an idea, "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"

His eyes light up. "Me?"

Pretty soon, we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy is ready for launch.

"Maia!" Grover shouts. He gets off the ground, okay, but then falls over sideways so his backpack drags through the grass. The winged shoes keep bucking up and down like tiny broncos.

"Practice," Chiron calls after him. "You just need practice."

"Aaaaa!" Grover goes flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawnmower, heading towards the can.

But before I can follow, Chiron catches my arm. "I should have trained you two better, Percy, (Y/n)," he says. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason - they all got more training."

"That's okay. I just -" I stop myself.

"What am I thinking?" Chiron cries. "I can't let the two of you get away without these." He pulls two pens out of his coat pocket and hands one to me and one to Percy.

Looking down at it, I see a teal-colored gel pen. Maybe cost thirty cents.

"Gee," Percy says. "Thanks."

"Percy, those are gifts from your father. I've been keeping them for years, not knowing you two were the ones I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You two are the ones."

Instinctively I take off the cap, and the pen grows longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I am holding a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a teal and silver leather-wrapped grip. This is the first weapon that feels balanced in my hand.

"That sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron tells Percy. "Its name is Anaklusmos."

"Riptide," Percy translates.

"I have never seen anyone use that sword that I'm aware of," Chiron says, turning to me. "Yours is named Τυφώνας."

"Hurricane," I translate, surprised that the Ancient Greek came so easily to me.

"Use them only for emergencies," Chiron says, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but neither sword would hurt them in any case."

I look down at the wickedly sharp blade. "What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?"

"Those swords are celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blades will pass through morals like an illusion. They simply are not important for the blade to kill. And I should warn you two: as demigods, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable."

"Good to know," Percy says.

"Now recap the pens," Chiron says.

Percy and I touch the pen cap to the sword tips and instantly Riptide and Hurricane shrink to ballpoint pens again. I tuck it in my pocket, a little nervous because it's pretty easy to lose a pen.

"You can't," Chiron says.

"Can't what?" I ask, slightly confused.

"Lose the pens," he says. "They're enchanted. They'll always reappear in your pockets. Try it."

Warily, I throw the pen as far as I can down the hill and watch it disappear in the grass.

"It may take a few moments," Chiron tells us. "Now check your pocket."

Sure enough, the pen is there.

"Okay, that is extremely cool," I admit.

"But what if a mortal sees one of us pulling out a sword?" Percy asks.

Chiron smiles. "Mist is a powerful thing, Percy."

"Mist?" I ask.

"Yes. Read The Iliad. It's full of references to the stuff. Whatever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go fit things into their version of reality.

I put Hurricane back into my pocket.

For the first time, the quest feels real. I'm leaving Half-Blood Hill. I'm heading west with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cell phone - Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be no worse than sending up a flare. I have no weapon stronger than a sword to fight off monsters and reach the Land of the Dead.

"Chiron . . ." Percy says. "When you say the gods are immortal . . . I mean, there was a time before them, right?"

"Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age."

"So what was it like...before the gods?"

Chiron purses his lips. "Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment. It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall. Of course, eventually, the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born."

"But the gods can't die now, right? I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they're alive. So...even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up everything, right?" I ask, feeling rather uncertain.

Chiron gives me a melancholy smile. "No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, (Y/n). The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endless pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny."

"Our destiny...assuming we know what that is," I say grimly.

"Relax," Chiron tells me. "Keep a clear head. And remember, the two of you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history."

"Relax," I say. "I'm very relaxed."

When Percy and I get to the bottom of the hill, I look back. Under the pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Chiron is now standing in full horse-man form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur."

Argus drives us out of the countryside and into western Long Island, It feels weird to be on a highway again, Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me, Percy on the other side of Grover, as if we were normal carpoolers. After two weeks at Half-Blood Hill, the real world seems like a fantasy. I find myself staring at every McDonald's, every kid in the back of his parent's car, every billboard and shopping mall.

"So far so good," Percy tells Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

She gives Percy an irritated loo. "It's bad luck to talk that way."

"Remind me again - why do you hate us so much?" Percy asks.

"I don't hate you two."

"Could've fooled me."

Annabeth folds her cap of invisibility. "Look...we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."

"Why?" Percy asks.

Annabeth sighs. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."

"They must really like olives," Percy comments, and I stifle a snort of laughter.

"Oh, forget it," Annabeth grumbles.

"Now, if she invented pizza - that I could understand," I add, in a slightly teasing tone.

"I said, forget it!" Annabeth says, hitting me lightly on the arm.

In the front seat, Argus smiles. He doesn't say anything, but one blue eye on the back of his neck winks at me.

Traffic slows down in Queens. By the time we get into Manhattan, it is sunset and starting to rain.

Argus drops us at the greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from my mom and Gabe's apartment. Taped to a mailbox is a soggy flyer with mine and Percy's picture on it: Have you seen these children?

Percy rips it down before Annabeth and Grover can notice.

Argus unloads our bags, makes sure we get our bus tickets, then drives away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulls out of the parking lot.

I think about how close I am to the apartment. On a normal day, Mom would be home from the candy store by now. Smelly Gabe is probably up there right now, playing poker, not even missing her.

Grover shoulders his backpack. He gazes down the street in the direction I am looking. "You want to know why she married him, (Y/n)?"

I stare at him. "Were you reading my mind?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Just your emotions," Grover shrugs. "You were thinking about your mom and your stepdad, right?"

I nod.

"Your mom married Gabe for you and Percy," Grover tells me. "You call him 'Smelly,' but you've got no idea. This guy has this aura . . . Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him o you, and you haven't been near him in a week."

"Thanks," Percy grimaces from Grover's other side. "Where's the nearest shower?"

"You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady. She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy—if that makes you feel any better."

I soften, looking down a the ground. I'll see her again, I think. She isn't gone.

You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, the Oracle whispers in my mind. You will fail to save what matters most in the end.

The rain keeps coming down.

We get restless waiting for the bus and decide to play some Hacky Sack with one of Groer's apples. Annabeth was unbelievable at it. She could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. Percy wasn't too bad either, but I found that I wasn't that great at it.

The game ends when I toss the apple towards Grover and it gets too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappears - core, stem, and all.

Grover blushes. He tries to apologize, but Annabeth, Percy, and I are too busy cracking up.

Finally, the bus comes.

I am relieved when we finally get on board and find seats together in the back of the bus, Me and Annabeth in one row, and Percy and Grover across from us. The four of us stow our backpacks.

I glance over at Annabeth beside me, who keeps slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh.

As the last passengers get on, Annabeth claps her hand onto my knee. "Look!"

An old lady had just boarded the bus. She is wearing a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadows her face and she is carrying a big paisley purse. When she tilts her head up, her black eyes glitter.

I see Percy slump down in his seat.

Behind her comes two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat. Otherwise, they look exactly like Mrs. Dodds - same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dress. Triple demon grandmothers.

They sit in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle cross their legs over the walkway, making an X. It is casual enough, but it sends a clear message: Nobody leaves.

The bus pulls out of the station, and we head through the slick streets of Manhattan.

"She didn't stay dead long," Percy says, his voice quavering a little. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."

"I said if you're lucky," Annabeth murmurs. "You're obviously not."

"All three of them," Grover whimpers. "Di immortales!"

"It's okay," Annabeth says, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."

"They don't open," Grover moans.

"A back exit?" she suggests.

There isn't one. Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped. By that time, we are on Ninth Avenue heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.

"They won't attack us with witnesses around," I say. "Will they?"

"Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth reminds me. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."

"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?" Percy asks.

She thinks about it. "Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof . . . ?"

We hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus goes dark except for the running lights down teh aisle. It is eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.

"I need to use the rest-room."

"So do I."

All three demons start coming down the aisle.

"I've got it," Annabeth says. "Percy, take my hat."

"What?" he says with disbelief.

"You're the one they want. You killed one of them. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."

"But you guys -"

"There's an outside chance they might not notice us," Annabeth says as she glances over at me. "You're a son of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."

"I can't just leave you," Percy says, looking desperately at me.

"Go," I say, frowning and Annabeth hands him the cap.

The old ladies are not old ladies anymore. Their faces are still the same - I guessed they couldn't get any uglier - but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws; their handbags had turned into fiery whips.

The Furies surround me, Grover, and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"

The other people on the bus are screaming, cowering in their seats. They see something, all right.

"He's not here!" Annabeth yells. "He's gone!"

The Furies raise their whips.

Annabeth draws her bronze knife. Grover grabs a tin can from his snack bag and prepares to throw it.

Word Count: 3222 words

#percy jackson x sister reader #percy jackson reader insert #female reader #reader insert #fem reader

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themetaphorgirl · 4 years ago

Note

(1/1) This is at_the_chamber_door from A03. I've got a Boarding Alternate Universe headcanon--study groups! Maybe if everyone's loaded with work, projects, or upcoming tests, they'll get together at night (preferably at a round table, ha) and work. Well, work-ish: The only people actually working the entire time are Hotch, Alex, and JJ. I'm running out of characters so I shall send another ask with a part 2!

drabbles are supposed to be short. this is about 2,000 words. oops.

I hope y’all like it though! I love these kids with my whole heart.

my writing tag | the boarding school AU

----------

JJ rifled through her piles of papers, frowning. Her biology info packet was in there somewhere, she just knew it. But maybe she could wait and work on biology later, maybe she should work on history first.

“Okay, you guys, I’m starting to freak out,” Penelope said, knocking over her stack of rainbow-colored gel pens. “How bad are midterms? Like...really. What should I expect?”

“They’re not bad, as long as you study,” Hotch said absently.

Penelope dropped the gel pens she’d started to pick up. “I’ve forgotten how to study!” she shrieked. “Oh my god! Everything in my brain has been erased!”

Spencer perked up. “Ooh! It could be lacunar amnesia!” he said. “That’s when-”

“Spencer, no,” Hotch sighed.

“Take a breath, baby girl,” Derek said, scooping up the pens and handing them back. “You’re smart, you’ll remember stuff.”

She set the pens back into rainbow order. “You say that now,” she said. “What if I do forget? Or I forget which exam is at which time? Oh, god, what if I sleep through them!”

“You’re not going to sleep through them,” JJ reassured her. “I’ll wake you up.”

She turned back to her own piles of notes and worksheets. This was the sixth time that Penelope had freaked out in the last two hours, and doubtless she’d freak out a few more times until midterms were over. At least since they were studying together, other people could chime in and help calm her down.

They’d agree collectively to spend Sunday studying together for their respective tests. As a group they had overtaken the seventh floor common room, lounging around in their pajamas, piling up textbooks and coffee cups and snacks. Hotch, Alex, and Spencer sat at the round table while Dave sat between James and Emily on the couch; Penelope and Derek sprawled on the rug in front of the silent television. JJ had claimed a corner of the room for herself, spreading out her papers in small piles.

James pulled his binder close to his chest and frowned. “Dave, are you copying off me?” he asked.

“No, never,” Dave said. He ate another handful of pretzels. “Absolutely not. I’m copying off Emily.”

James squinted at Dave’s mostly-empty notebook page. “You are copying off me!” he accused. “Do your own work, Rossi, Jesus.”

“Okay, then I will copy off Emily,” Dave said. “And she won’t know because she’s listening to music.”

“Fuck off,” Emily said absently, her airpods still tucked in her ears.

“She’s not even in any of your classes,” James pointed out.

Dave shrugged. “Whatever, it’s fine,” he said. “I’ll get into college either way.”

Penelope dropped her sticker-covered composition book. “Oh, god! What if I don’t get into college?” she said.

“You’ll get into college, Pen,” Alex said. “Don’t look so far ahead. Focus on this week’s tests.”

Penelope huffed in frustration. “JJ, do you have your notes from biology class?” she asked.

“Uh...yeah, somewhere,” she said. She rummaged through a stack. “Hold on…”

“JJ, can you find anything in there?” James asked. “It looks like everything you own exploded.”

“I have a system,” she explained.

“You can borrow my notes!” Spencer said. He leaned forward to stretch across the table; Alex caught him before he could tip out of his chair. “Here! Do you have any questions?”

Penelope frowned. “That’s it?” she said. “A single piece of paper? And...your handwriting is completely illegible.”

He shrugged. “It makes sense to me,” he said.

“Spencer, sit down before you fall on your face,” Hotch said. “You’re going to give me a heart attack.”

Dave threw a pretzel at Emily. “Hey! She’s not studying!” he said. “Repeat, Emily Prentiss is not studying!”

“Narc,” she shot back, scooping pretzels off the couch and throwing them back at his face.

“Everyone!” Dave said, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Emily Prentiss is online shopping! Shopping for-” He leaned over her shoulders. “She’s bidding on a seventy-five dollar tee shirt on eBay.”

Emily slammed the lid of her macbook shut. “That tour got canceled after three stops, it’s a collector’s item!” she said.

“Emily, didn’t your mom say that she was going to cancel your credit card if you got below a C on your history midterm?” Alex asked, tapping her pen against her chin.

“Just the Amex,” Emily shrugged. “Also, that pen isn’t capped.”

“Oh! Shit.”

Spencer frowned. “Can I borrow somebody’s computer really fast?” he asked. “I don’t think this source is correct.”

“Here, munchkin,” Emily said, holding out her macbook. “Just for Miller’s satisfaction, I’ll study for my history test. You can borrow it for now.”

Hotch caught the laptop from Spencer’s small hands and set it down on the table. Spencer squinted at the keyboard. “Where’s the control key?” he asked.

“It’s a macbook, squirt, it’s a command key.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “God, see, this is why I stick to my chromebook,” she said. “Everything makes sense.”

“Your chromebook is the size of a novel.”

“I know, it’s easy to carry.”

Spencer scrunched up his face, pecking at the keyboard letter by letter with his index fingers. “Can somebody type this for me?” he asked. Hotch silently pulled the laptop closer and typed as Spencer spelled out his question.

With Emily distracted by her argument, JJ stole her pillow from the couch and propped it up with her piles of papers, getting comfortable. She bit back a yawn. Studying was exhausting work.

“Okay, I’m done,” Spencer announced. “You can have your computer back, Emily.”

“Thank god, there’s only ten minutes left in this auction and I need this shirt,” she said. Alex rolled her eyes and put on her headphones.

Derek pushed himself off the floor. “Pretty boy, if you’re taking a break-”

“Oh, it’s not a break, I’ve memorized everything.”

“Show off,” Dave grinned.

“Okay, since you’ve memorized everything, you wanna go down to the vending machine in the lobby and get more drinks?” Derek continued. Spencer frowned. “You can pick out something for yourself.”

“Deal!” Spencer said. Derek handed him a handful of crumpled dollar bills.

“Hold on, caro,” Dave said. He dug out his wallet and handed him several more dollars. “Get enough for everybody.”

“Thanks!” Spencer said, and he took off, his little socked feet thumping down the stairs.

“Walk, please, before you faceplant again!” Hotch called. The footsteps faded, but did not slow down. Hotch sighed.

“Derek,” Penelope said. “Derek. Derek Morgan. Chocolate thunder. Pay attention to me.”

“What?”

She thrust a folded paper fortune teller in his face. “Pick one!” she said.

“Pick one what?”

“You have four options, pick one!”

JJ raised an eyebrow. “You’re making cootie catchers?” she said. “I thought you were worried about getting into college.”

“First of all, where I come from, we call them fortune tellers,” Penelope said. “Second of all, I’ve decided I’m not going to college, I will never be able to pass these tests, so I will never get a college degree, so I will just play my ukulele on street corners for the rest of my life.”

“You can always get a college degree and play your ukulele on street corners,” Dave pointed out.

“Derek, please, pick one,” Penelope begged.

He looked at the phrases. “Uh…koala bear, I guess,” he said.

“Now pick a number.”

“Um...three.”

Penelope unfolded the fortune. “You will fail your midterms, flunk out of school, and play the dulcimer in Penelope Garcia’s busking band,” she read. “Oh, that’ll work out nicely.” Derek shook his head.

Spencer ran up the stairs, arms laden down with soda cans. “I’m back!” he said. He dumped them on the floor. “Maybe don’t open them right this second. The carbonation-”

“We’re cramming enough knowledge in our heads today, we don’t need an extra lesson,” Emily said, scowling at her history textbook.

Spencer’s lower lip dropped in a pout. “Don’t make that face,” Hotch warned. “We’ve talked about how sometimes it’s a bad time for facts.”

“I’m not pouting. And there’s never a bad time for facts.”

“Yes, there is,” Derek said. “Like now, when we’re all trying to study.”

“Except me, I’m going to join the circus,” Penelope informed them.

“I’m trying to study too, you guys,” JJ called from her fortress of papers and books.

James rubbed his temples. “Guys...please…” Dave threw a pretzel at him. “Goddammit, David.”

“I was just trying to explain that the carbonation-”

“No!” Emily said, tossing a pillow at Spencer. It bopped him in the face and knocked him backwards.

“Jesus, Emily!” Derek exclaimed.

Hotch buried his face in his hands. “For the love of god, you guys, stop.” he said.

“I’m sorry!” Emily said. “Spencer, wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to smack you, you were just really getting on my nerves, please don’t tell Alex.”

Alex looked up from her chromebook and took out her earbuds. “Hm?” she said. “What’s going on?”

“Emily hit-”

“Penelope said-”

“David threw-”

“Oh my god,” Alex said. “Okay, okay, stop. Just...stop, everybody. One at a time, please.”

Hotch dragged his hands over his face. “I just want a little peace and quiet,” he mumbled into his palms.

“Spence, I’m sorry, really,” Emily said earnestly. “Are you okay?”

Spencer sat up. “To quote Anne Shirley...I am well in body but distinctly rumpled in spirit,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“What’s the translation?” Emily asked.

He pushed himself up off the floor. “You threw a pillow at my face, and I think I’m mad about it!” he accused. “And yes, I know I’m pouting, and I don’t care!”

“Oh, now you’ve done it, Prentiss,” Dave said.

Hotch got up from the table and stomped over to them. “That’s enough,” he said. He picked up Spencer under his arms and plunked him down on Alex’s lap. “Emily, you are six years older than him. Chill.” Dave snickered. “Dave, stop making it worse.”

“Penelope, you’re not going to busk on street corners or join the circus, if you take a second and stop freaking out you’ll realize that you know more than you think you do,” James added.

“Yes! Thank you,” Hotch said. “Derek, you need to take this seriously. You have to keep your grades up or they’ll move you from varsity down to JV. And Wallace will get your spot.”

Derek scowled. “Fuck Wallace,” he grumbled.

“And JJ…” Hotch paused.

“What?” she said. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“No, you’re the most well-behaved, but...why are you upside down?”

JJ blinked. She hadn’t realized how she got there, but sure enough, she was lying on a scattered heap of worksheets with her heels propped up on the wall. “I don’t know, these things happen,” she said. Hotch sighed.

Emily scrambled off the couch. “Okay, okay, I know tensions are running really high right now,” she said. “And I know some of it is my fault-”

“You knocked me over like a bowling pin,” Spencer sulked.

Alex adjusted him on her lap. “I think you’ll live,” she said, and he crossed his arms.

“Stop reminding me! Jesus, I’m trying to apologize!” Emily said. “What if I order pizza for everybody? It’s almost dinner time anyway and we’re all stressed, we should take a break. Will I finally be forgiven?”

Spencer opened his mouth to argue. “Yes,” JJ said immediately. She rolled over to sit up, shifting her papers around. “Oh my god, yes, please.”

“I’ll always vote for pizza,” Derek said.

Penelope looked down at the half-a-dozen fortune tellers scattered around her. “Maybe a break will help me focus again,” she said sadly.

Emily crouched down next to Alex’s chair. “Spencer?” she said sweetly. “Am I forgiven?” He huffed, blowing a lock of hair off his forehead. She poked him lightly. “Am I? Am? Am I?”

His mouth tilted. “Can I tell you the facts I was going to say?” he asked.

Emily sighed. “Yes,” she said. “Go ahead, Dr. Reid. Tell me everything you know about carbonation.”

“You brought this on yourself, Prentiss,” Hotch pointed out.

“I know. I know.”

#au: patron saint of lost causes #criminal minds fanfiction #caitlin writes things #spencer reid #aaron hotchner #david rossi #jennifer jareau #james blake #alex blake #emily prentiss #derek morgan #penelope garcia #these babies are so precious #spencer keeps ending up on alex's lap and I don't care #emily is a terrible role model #jj is an organizational disaster

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theramseyloft · 5 years ago

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You probably already get this question alot, but could I have some care tips (Cage requirements, food, basic care) and anything that might repel me from them? (Especially for a racing Homer - which is what I'm assuming they have here since pigeon racing is quite a big industry in my country) (I'd love to adopt but sadly that's not an option here since there's barely even dog rescues here) Thanks so much in advance!

I’ll start with what might repel you, starting with things inherent to the species, and then to potential effects of their personal history.

First thing’s first; DUST!!!

If you, or any one in your house hold, has dust related allergies or any respiratory issues at all, pigeons are not the pet for you.

They are dust monsters! For their size, the Columbidae produce more dust that any other domestic bird.

It is also a much finer dust. It floats in the air like thin smoke and takes a long time to settle, so you will breathe more of it with a group of pet pigeons than you would with parrots, chickens, quail, or song birds.

Definitely more than any mammalian dander that I know of.

Pigeons are only really territorial over what they consider a nest space. Away from their nests, they are social and quite friendly, but the fiercely defend their nest from all comers.

If they are in a loft, or have free flight of a room, that aggression is constrained to the actual nest itself and anything with in about half a body length from the lip of it.

But if they are in a cage, the entire cage is space that they feel a powerful instinctive drive to defend.

Any uninvited entry is seen as an intrusion either by a predator or a rival, so I usually advise people not to attempt to physically interact at all with the pigeon in their cage.

Talking to the birds is fine, but all physical intrusion is seen as aggression that they have to defend against.

So, when you want to begin physically interacting with them, it’s best to invite them out into your room in the evening.

I’ll go into coop and home interaction training after the basic housing part.

Unless they are out of a sex linked pair, or you get them as fully mature adults, pigeons are absolute hell to sex.

Homers do become dimorphic as they age.

Karen is an adult racing homer cock.

Bird-bird is an adult hen of the same breed.

Look at Karen’s wattle (The thick skin above his nasal slits, at the base of his beak)

Now look at Bird-Bird’s.

His wattle is much bigger and more intricately developed than hers.

Her face is much finer featured than his.

He stands more upright.

She stands more horizontal.

But as peeps, they are nearly impossible to differentiate.

This is important, because the social behavior of cocks and hens and how it translates to humans tends to be VERY different.

Hens are VERY cuddly! Even into adulthood.

But adult cocks are platonically touch repulsed.

A flock mate is likely to make physical contact with a cock for one of two reasons: Another cock starting a fight, or a hen asking for sex.

They even make friends with flock mates through combat.

Until it sinks in otherwise, all attempts at physical contact with a cock is perceived as a challenge to a fight.

Non-aggressive contact with a cock is seen as an invitation for him to be your mate, and cock love is VERY pinchy!

Pigeon courtship consists of a three part ritual called Driving.

In the Chase trial, A cock will harass and bite a hen until she flees. If she was interested first, she’ll flirt to get his attention, and then fly off.

He HAS to chase her, keep up with her, and out maneuver her, all while herding her towards his nest so that she dives in when she’s too exhausted to continue to fly.

If he cannot out maneuver her, fly faster, and stay in the air longer than her, then her peeps will be more likely than her to be caught and eaten by a predator, and she will refuse that cock the opportunity to fill her eggs.

After she inspects the nest and has rested, she will try to leave. The second courtship trial revolves around blocking her exit and physically wrestling her back in until she is too exhausted to keep fighting him.

If he cannot block the generally smaller, weaker hen from leaving and fight her to a stand still, then he can’t hope to block another cock trying to force his way in, throw him out if he manages to pop in by surprise, or keep fighting him until he gives up.

Only after proving his stamina and strength to the Hen directly may he offer her a sample of the contents of his crop.

This is the sweet kissing part of courtship, after which they preen and cuddle and he’s allowed to step up onto her back and tread her.

This translates very poorly with a human partner, and if you have a cock as a companion, you have to be ok with a LOT of love bites before you can get to the soft cuddly part of the relationship.

Suddenly running up to you and biting out of nowhere is NOT aggression. They give LOTS of warning when they are upset.

Running up to attack you out of nowhere is a misguided attempt to begin Driving you, and he will go WAY over the top with it, because he is trying to impress a COLOSSUS with his physical strength, stamina, and tenacity.

You can understand how this could translate poorly to a human partner!

There are ways to respond to minimize the bitey bit, but we’ll get to those in another ask. This one is going to be VERY long as is.

Now, what we have just discussed is base line pigeon, with no outside components making anything more difficult.

Racers old enough to fly have been through daily training tosses; where they are grabbed, put in a basket, and released every day at increasing distances from the loft.

The best case scenario is a strong fear of hands from being grabbed and stuffed into the basket and occasionally restrained and injected with a vaccine.

The luckiest individuals have only had to navigate for miles every day to return to safety, food, and family.

Racing birds can also have to dodge hawks, or fly through inclement weather during training flights.

Some can even make it home severely injured.

Understandably, adult racers of either sex will need to be patiently worked through a STRONGLY reinforced fear of hands.

We have lots of posts discussing how to work with fearful pigeons, and I’ll be happy to go into it again in more detail, but that’s another for a different post.

Basics of care for pigeons are very simple.

They are strict granivores. Seeds are all they can digest, but they can eat a very wide variety of seeds. The more variation, the better.

Pigeons do not hull their seeds. They swallow them whole, and depend on the hulls as vital dietary fiber, so don’t give them seed that is already hulled.

Their diet should involve as much variety of seed, grains, and legumes as you can get your hands on, the size of an unpopped kernel of popcorn or smaller (Most breeds can;t swallow seeds much bigger than that) with some source of calcium available.

You can have a separate dish of oyster shell, or you can sprinkle powder in a single birds daily meal, or add liquid calcium to their water dish.

NOT all of those at once! Calcium can be overdosed!

Which ever method works most easily for you and your bird.

Pigeons are intensely social birds that get most of their enrichment from interaction.

They are happiest as free roaming house pets, like a cat or dog, that can come see you or go do their own thing as they choose.

Pigeons are smart enough to learn house rules.

Understandably, that is not an option for every one, and free roaming unsupervised before they learn the house rules can be dangerous.

If you cannot let the bird free roam their own room, you can easily modify a dog crate to house them comfortably.

They need square perches. Because they are cliff nesters, round perches put painful pressure on the ball of their feet, making walking painful.

I like to cut garden stakes to length and wire them into place.

A corner bunny litter pan is a decent nest box, but not necessary. They will nest just as happily in a cheap dog food dish.

Pigeons are ground foragers, so they prefer a shallow dish of food on the floor of their enclosure.

Ideally, the modified crate cage for the pigeon should be used like it would be for a pet dog; That is not where the animal lives full time. That is where it sleeps at night or hangs out when you aren’t home to supervise it, until it learns the house rules.

Toys are very simple, because their interaction tools are very limited.

Pigeons can recognize themselves in mirrors and love to play with them.

They enjoy bathing in a dish of water about hip-deep.

They can have sand or straw filled forage boxes to hunt for treats like safflower seeds in.

Stick-shaped, Shiny, and Jingly is their holy trinity of toy characteristics.

q-tips with the cotton tips cut off, tooth picks with the points clipped, wicker kitty balls with jingle bells inside, bread ties with jingle bells that are too big to accidentally swallow twisted to either side, or made into a jingly ring, are all cheap, simple toys that a single pet bird will have fun playing with.

I mentioned coop training earlier, and it’s super simple.

Starting in the evening, open the door to the cage and invite the bird out.

Don’t hang around waiting for it to come. Go settle in to do something quiet and sedentary, like reading a book or surfing the net.

Pigeons are naturally curious, and the best way to work then through the fear of people they may have developed is to be as nonthreatening as possible and reward their curiosity.

Talk to them to desensitize them to your voice and start teaching them how you communicate.

They will eventually grow brave enough to come explore you yourself.

A quiet, pleased greeting will reward them by not startling them.

Have safflower seeds available, but don’t try to reach out to give it to the birds.

Let them discover that you have them, and be still and non-reactive when they take some. Offer verbal praise, but don’t start trying to move until they ease away from automatic flightiness.

I specify beginning this process in the evening because trying to get a bird back into the crate before it trusts you is very difficult and your best bet to avoid making it afraid of you despite your friend-making efforts is to avoid having to chase it back into its pen at the end of flight time.

Starting these in the evening allows you the option to avoid chasing entirely just by turning off the lights.

At the end of out time, give a verbal warning like “Lights out” or “Bed Time”, and then wait a minute or two before actually turning off the light.

Pick the bird up in the dark, and return it gently to its enclosure.

It will begin to associate the “Lights out” or “Bed time” warning with the lights going out, and eventually learn to fly back to the pen in the space of time before the lights actually go out.

That’s about the skin and bone basics of care.

Please, by all means, send more asks for more information on any aspect or detail of pet pigeon keeping.

I am always happy to answer. ^v^

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oh-warrior-mother · 5 years ago

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I'm looking on info on the deities of Matka and Marena. Do you know where I could find some good sources, even if I have to run them through a translator? I was born in Russia and adopted at an early age. I'm feeling a calling that I don't quite understand. And research is slow, so I'm reaching out to see if anyone can help.

Hi there!

I personally know “Matka” as Mat Syra Zemlya, to use the Russian name for her (always feels odd transcribing it) and “Marena” as Morana since I’m a South Slav. I’ve made short posts about both of them, but as usual they’re only scratching the surface.

Matka is the personification of the very Earth itself, and a lot of people seem to agree that Matka sort of evolved into Mokosh over time though this can’t be said for certain. She was definitely in the earliest form of our pantheon, and was worshiped up until well into the 10th century. Take everything you read with a grain of salt, no matter who wrote it, as our ancestors never wrote things down, so everything we have today will be riddled with misinformation or bias to certain degrees. The internet isn’t a bad place to learn, especially tumblr, but avoid The Book of Veles at all costs.

There’s a lot more to be found on Morana, mostly because we still celebrate her, even in Christianity and/or Islam in the Balkans. A lot of the traditions have survived! She isn’t as obscure so what you find on the internet will be much more reliable.

People often come to me for book recommendations, but there is no one book I would say gets it right, your knowledge will be a combination of bits and pieces of many different sources. You’ll have to do the sorting through yourself and as time goes by and you become more well-versed you will have sharpened your eye and you will be able to spot the baloney yourself from a mile off.

It’s also hard for me to recommend real sources not only because my knowledge is a combination of just about a galaxy of them, but also because most of it has genuinely been orally passed down. I come from an old, weird family that liked to write stuff down and tell stories. And while I may suck at quoting, I am always willing to tell you what I know. I’m glad you’re experiencing this call to your roots, and if you need help with any specific rituals concerning either of them, do come back! I’ll gladly explain my favorite ones and/or suggest the type of offerings. Slava! <3

#conflictedpagan #ask #rodnovery #slavic paganism #paganism #slavic #pagan #slavic mythology #heathenry #heathenism #slavic heathen #slavic heathenism #slavic pagan #marzanna #morana #mother moist earth #mat syria zemlya #rodna vjera #rodna vera

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dailyaudiobible · 4 years ago

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03/12/2021 DAB Transcript

Numbers 16:41-18:32, Mark 16:1-20, Psalms 55:1-23, Proverbs 11:7

Today is the 12th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it's great to be here with you today as we continue our journey, the journey that leads us through the Bible in a year. And we’re well on our way in that journey. But there is so much out in front of us to experience and see. And, so, we have a grateful heart for the distance that we’ve traveled and the things we've learned so far. But we also have a grateful, an anticipation, a grateful anticipation, for all that is yet to…to be, all it is out in front of us. But we’re here. We’re right here right now. And, so, the next step forward is before us. We’ve been reading from the New International Version this week. Picking up from yesterday. Numbers chapter 16 verse 41 through 18 verse 32.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. And as we bring to a close the second of the gospel narratives, the book of Mark, we thank You for the witness to Your life and to Your ministry and to Your personality and to Your posture. We've witnessed Your determination to bring the truth out into the open and that the false be eradicated. And yet we’re 2000 years in the future and we’re still in the same struggle. And, so, come Holy Spirit You have promised to lead us into all truth and yet so often we choose to veil ourselves in something false because we’re naked and ashamed and running because we’re afraid to be exposed. And so often that comes because we…we’re ashamed. And maybe for good reason. Maybe we have plenty of things that we’ve been involved in while bearing Your name that we shouldn't have been involved in, and were they exposed we would be ashamed. But we’re here with open hands and open hearts saying remove these things from us, reveal these things to us, reorganize our lives, bring us back into complete alignment so that we are who we are supposed to be, and we have nothing to hide, we are true, we are true and righteous before You. Come Holy Spirit we pray. Make us more like Jesus, that we might be conformed to his likeness, that we would be Christ like, that we would be like Christ. Come Jesus we pray. In Your precious name, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it's where the Global Campfire burns in a virtual world. So, it’s home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can find out what's going on around here using the app as well. Just know about the drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner.

You push that and it opens up a drawer and then you find like the Community section, which is where the Prayer Wall is and where we…we continually pray for each other and ask for prayer. So, be aware of that. That's also where there are different links to social media channels we participate in. So, the Community section, that's where to find these things.

Also check out the daily audio Bible Shop. There are resources there for our journey that kinda cover all kinds of different spectrums.

Check out the Daily Audio Bible Wind Farm coffee. We roast it fresh and send it to you whether you just want to bag or whether you'd like a couple bags delivered per month. We can do that. There's a whole coffee club or coffee or tea club. I have been a coffee snob a long, long time but I have found deep love for tea as well and usually throughout the course of a day drink some of both. So, I’m…I’m kinda in the middle there. But I…I love them both and love what we’re doing in sourcing these and roasting these and offering them fresh. It's a tactile thing. When it shows up its this touch point in the mail that we’re a community and we’re going through this together. And I drink coffee well I'm doing the Daily Audio Bible, while we’re doing this work. And, so, at least for me it's just a reminder constantly of a community out there all over the world seeking God through the Scriptures, seeking direction and clarity for life and seeking community together. And, so, all these little things like coffee and tea, all these different resources connect us together in one way or another. And, so, check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the mission that we hold in common to just keep day by day step-by-step taking the next step forward, bringing the Scriptures fresh every day offering them to the world and taking the journey in community, sailing across a year together on the voyage of a lifetime. If that is something that matters to you then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, of course, as always, we’re a community that prays for each other. And if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello, my dear DAB family this is Maria Missionary in Mexico. So, as you know we are here to be a service to the people the missionaries who work among the native indigenous people groups here. A lot of people ask, “why are you in Mexico? Isn't it a reached country already?” You know what? Missions has evolved through the years and I think of the old days people just kind of thought that if they came spoke the national language to…to the native people, that they would understand, get saved, and that would be that but it just didn't work out like that and a lot of the people have…have syncretism, which is they took Christianity just kind of what they understood of it which wasn't a lot and mixed it with their native beliefs. And, so, for example in the Guataheal tribe they believe that the sun in the sky is god the moon is his wife and they had two children, they had Satan and Jesus and Satan is the older brother. They are the children of god and the rest of us in the world are the rest children are the devil. And their god only speaks Guataheal, he doesn't speak Spanish or any other language. So, if you go to them and tell them we have a message for you from God in Spanish well you can imagine they automatically dismiss you because it doesn't make sense to them culturally. So, that's just a little bit of a taste of what missionaries that work among native groups face as they translate the Bible and love these people and help them with their physical needs and plant churches. So, please be praying. Please be praying for missionaries who do work among them, that they would have wisdom, and that…that hearts would be open to hear the truth. Also praise the Lord with us that there is a church now among the Guadaheal people, a young church and that there are missionaries from among them as well helping with the translation and one lady and her husband are reaching out to an entirely new tribe for her. So, that's really exciting.

Hey neighbors it's Lisa the Encourager. Today I want to reach out to Maria and her daughter Taylor. And I heard your story and it really gripped me. And I just can't even imagine what your heart must be feeling every day thinking about your sweet Taylor that you gave birth to and you never dreamed that something so awful could happen to her. And I just pray tonight especially for Taylor and I just want you to know that my heart aches for you and I know that God is gonna be able to see this through for you and I am going to pray now. Dear God thank You for Maria and thank You for her being brave to call us this evening and tell us about Taylor and Taylor’s story Lord. And we know that You love Taylor so much and You do not want this for her life. And God thank You so much for the ministry of the men that are going to intervene in Taylor's life and do their best to take her out of the horrible situation with somebody. And I pray God that that will be successful. I thank You so much for the bravery of those men and I just pray that they will be…and women…I pray that they will be able to convince Taylor to leave and that You will just break her heart and help her to give up and surrender to You Lord. And I just pray God that You will forgive her and help her to get her life back and lead her with the Holy Spirit back to You.

Hello DAB family this is Greg from Bothell. I…I've called before for…for my own prayer requests but today I just feel led to…to reach out and…and let some DABbers know that I'm…I’m listening to…to your requests and I want to just take the time to acknowledge you all. Just I've been behind a little bit and I'm going through the 5th of…of…of March and I listened to Lynn and her family, her grandchildren, her four grown children and her daughter and this unbeliever husband that's inattentive. I just I'm going pray that Lord Jesus just will open his eyes and…and…and…and reveal himself to…to this this family and this father that…that…that he will take care of you and…and keep you in…in…in his loving arms. Maria follower of Jesus, daughter Taylor 26 that's in this…this relationship with this man that's pimped her out and she's…she's involved in drugs and prostitution and this massage parlor and…and…and team Andrew that's going in to rescue her. O Lord Jesus just…I just pray for Taylor and Maria and Andrew that You would…that You would be there in the midst this that You would come Lord. O my God Lord rescue Taylor and bring her home. O Lord Jesus and…and…and Julie in southern Illinois, your marriage, that God God…that God use you and He knows your heart and He knows your husband's heart. And Lord I just pray that You rescue Julie in her desperation and her sadness. In her loneliness she says she's lost…

Good morning DAB. Good morning DAB family it's Nadene calling from East to Midwest praises to God. Woo…out of breath…I just lifted something, but anyway praises to God. This morning as I was listening to Brian March 9th and listening to the prayer requests. There's so much I could pray for. And add to all who had prayed for all the others…others who had asked for prayer I just want to say DAB family we are a strong bunch. I mean those who are going through things right now it's so difficult. And, you know, of course I won't make light of it, but we are winning. You are on a winning team. It's a fixed fight and we've already won the fight. God is so good and I just love the fact that this DAB team is getting stronger and bolder and we are praying in faith and we are believing in faith and we're gonna to win. We're gonna win. So, let's keep our eyes with eyes looked to eternity and from eternity because it's just one big story, God's story and we are blessed to be a part of it. It's not an easy…not an easy journey. Once you become, you know, a follower of Jesus we have a target on our back and somehow, it's an honor to know that the enemy feels that…feels that we are such a threat. Anyway, God bless you everybody and I just wanted to put my log in the fire. Nadene from East to Midwest. God bless.

Hello Daily Audio Bible community my name is Kelly from Boston Mass and I called in last fall. My husband and I have been separated for almost a year. It'll be a year this month and I called in for prayers of reconciliation and restoration in healing. And we had our first grandchild that was due to arrive or did arrive on New Year's Day. So, it was a beautiful way to start the 2021 year out. We celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary last Thursday night. Ironically, I was listening to Brian because it was his anniversary with DAB. And it was…it just breathed some life into me that there might be some light or some kind of shift in my husband's heart for us to restore our marriage. I can feel little nudges from God here and there and I'm trying to pay attention to them. We have a long way to go but I just want prayers from all of you if you can that this 32 year marriage can be saved. We hadn't seen each other in a couple of months, and we had very little communication, but it was probably one of the nicer anniversary dinners we've had in many years. So, again I'm just praying and hopeful that God will find our way…help us find our way back to each other and have a healing and happy second half to our marriage and a beautiful ending together with our first grandson born on New Year's Day. I appreciate the prayers and I pray for you all on a daily basis. I love this app. Thank you.

Good morning family it is Wednesday March 10th. Good morning good morning. I'm calling in a prayer request anonymously. Hence, I have gotten myself into a pickle. I have taken my eyes off Christ and put them on myself and what I want and what I desire and who I desire and how I can get what I want. And spoiler alert it's a hot mess. O my goodness friends and family, turns out when you take your eyes off Christ and you focus only on yourself it's harmful and sin is the result and sin damages relationships. And, so, I'm watching the fallout of all these relationships be harmed because I took my eyes off God and put them on myself. Friends, cautionary tale. If you would lift me up and just really help me put my eyes back on God and what He wants and the work He has for me and prayers for the healing of the relationships I've damaged through my sin. Thank you, friends and family. Peace to you.

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madartiste · 5 years ago

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Deadly Fortune book 1, Chapters 6-11

These notes are for the rest of Book 1. Again, I’m putting everything under the cut so I don’t clog up people’s dashboards with my notes. There’s some really interesting bits in this part. I will note: There’s a discrepancy in Nero’s age in the book and in what one of the developers said. The book puts him at 16-17, while one of the devs (and I wish I could find the source right now) said that Nero is the same age as Dante/Vergil were in DMC3 -- which is 19. (Which incidentally puts Dante at 37-39 in DMC4 if that’s correct)

Link to the translation: https://originaldmc.github.io/DivinityStatue/Downloads.html

Link to the first section of notes: https://madartiste.tumblr.com/post/186802435475/so-i-started-reading-the-only-english-translation

Stage 06 (Agnus' lab)

Nero feels an 'explicable nostalgia' when he first sees Yamato. Agnus calls him an "arrogant little devil." He's pretty startled when Nero busts the glass of the Containment Room since he shouldn't have that kind of strength. He actually refers to Nero's right arm as "sacred."

Interesting: Agnus says that a "righteous" person who gains the power of a demon becomes an angel. So he realizes they've basically turned themselves into demons, but feels that their intentions make them holy.

When Nero gets pinned to the wall, he's stabbed through the arms as well as the stomach. Agnus kinda tortures him a bit by messing with the lance that's stuck in his abdomen, mainly because he's annoyed that Nero is passing out while he's trying to monologue at him.

The Bianco Angelos are made from pieces of Nelo Angelo's armor. It washed up on Fortuna's shore along with Yamato. Agnus took that as a sign that his work was basically blessed by god.

Oh dang. Angus actually stabs Nero in the left chest when he mouths off, though Nero couldn't tell if he actually got his heart or not. Nero's heart stops.

Dante is upstairs in the master bedroom of the castle --trying on a freaking hat he found -- and Devil Triggers briefly when Nero goes down. The energy he felt, phrased as 'the cry of a soul,' feels like Vergil's, though he knows it isn't. He decides to keep dealing with the Order before he figures out what happened.

Back to Nero: He remembers a dream he had on the day his arm was injured. It doesn't seem to have been during the fight, but maybe later? He saw a man with 'cold eyes' but who also felt 'lonely.' The guy (gotta assume it's supposed to be Vergil) asks what Nero wants, but Nero punts the question back to him. Vergil says "I want more power," so Nero replies that he wants that too.

Nero can feel his Devil Trigger even without looking at it. He refers to it as 'another person' and 'another me.' He doesn't have good control at first, and feels like he might lose his mind.

Stage 07 (Echidna)

People who fail to undergo the Ascension Ceremony turn into demons but lose their ability to think like people. Ah, Credo and Kyrie's parents were killed by some escapees who failed the ceremony, but he never told Kyrie or Nero about it. He acknowledges that if he's going to fulfill Sanctus' vision of an ideal world, there will be sacrifices, and he is conflicted about that. He consoles himself by thinking that many more people will be saved in the future. His main goal is to protect his sister.

Agnus storms into a meeting and grabs Credo by his collar, yelling about how Nero is a demon. Credo didn't actually know about it, and he doesn't actually believe what Agnus is saying -- he thinks Nero just scared the guy by being so aggressive. Agnus blames him for Nero taking Yamato, which, consequently, screws up all their plans.

LOL, none of the other knights want to chase Dante because they saw him beat the crap out of everyone at the Opera House.

Credo consoles himself (again) that catching and possibly hurting Nero is for the greater good even though he thinks of the kid like a little brother.

Back to Nero: He passed out for a while after chasing off Agnus. The book makes a point of saying that his clothes are torn up but his body is healed from getting stabbed. He is convinced he's not human anymore, but he's willing to deal with it for the power.

Back to Agnus: He respects Credo's strength even if he doesn't like him. The power gained from the Ascension Ceremony has more to do with the personality of the individual than with the demonic energy put into them. Sanctus has genuine doubts Credo can beat Nero. Kyrie is already at HQ because that's where the people were evacuated to, so Agnus goes to find her.

Back to Nero: Mitis Forest was an evergreen forest before rather than subtropical. Nero doesn't shoot Dante when he sees him on the cliffside because he wants to know what the flip is going on. Dante, of course, doesn't tell him. There's a funny line from Nero when Dante jumps: "I want to learn from him."

Nero uses his charge shot on Echidna for the first time. He holds Blue Rose in his right hand for it. He also uses Yamato on her and is a bit shocked at his own strength. He still doesn't feel like he can control it.

Stage 08 (Fighting Credo)

Dante POV: The HQ is empty because all the knights are protecting the area where the citizens are hiding out. Trish meets up with Dante and tells him that Yamato was fixed. She's surprised, but he isn't. He correctly guesses that Nero was the one who did it, which also surprises Trish since she didn't know they'd bumped into each other. It's hard to decipher, but Dante thinks that the connection he felt to Nero has been steadily getting stronger as the kid is delving into his devil abilities.

He finally tells Trish that Nero might be his relative, and she asks if he's Dante's brother. Dante considers it but dismisses the possibility because he doesn't think Sparda would come back to Fortuna… and it doesn't seem to feel right. She asks if he'll go rescue Nero, but he says no. I'm not clear on some of the wording, but he says that if Nero loses to Credo, Dante will kill 'him' and take back Yamato. I'm… not sure who 'him' is supposed to be -- but hopefully he means Credo because otherwise that's pretty grim.

Trish asks if Nero is Dante's illegitimate kid, but he just says that the "joke is not funny." He doesn't seem bothered by the insinuation and doesn't even consider it as a possibility.

Back to Nero: His description of Credo's movements --which is how he recognizes him since he can't see his face at first -- is hilarious: 'over the top and neurotic walking posture.' Credo doesn't say anything while Nero questions him about what's going on. It's interesting how freely Nero speaks to him. He jokes a bit about how Credo shouldn't take anything Agnus says series, that Agnus provoked him first.

Nero is really upset by Credo's transformation. He wanted to believe Credo didn't know anything about what was going on, that he, who is like a brother to Nero, isn't the same as someone like Agnus in giving up his human self for power.

Fighting Credo is hard for him because Credo is the one who taught him how to use a sword. There's a long passage where he thinks that he was never good at dealing with other people, that he had no parents, that people thought of him as a burden, so there were a lot of things that Nero didn't know how to do (presumably because no one ever taught him), but Credo was the one who showed him. Whenever Nero was using a sword, he forgot all the bad things in his life, and he wanted to be a Knight like Credo. He mentions that he 'unexpectedly received praise from others' when he became a knight, and that he wants to help other people because he knows what it's like to be abandoned and feeling alone. Nero knows he'll never be like Credo -- their personalities are too different -- but he thinks that Credo is worthy of everyone's respect and love.

Nero asks Credo why he should fight him, and Credo demands the same thing, saying that Nero "betrayed" them. Nero tells him that he didn't betray anyone and just wants to know the truth of what's going on. Credo yells back that the truth doesn't matter to Nero anymore because he's possessed by a demon (ouch). Incidentally, there's a lot of details in the fight that tell you how to beat these bosses. Nero catches Credo's spear and throws it back at him.

There's some back and forth conversation. Nero asks Credo who's really the devil here, him or Credo. Nero thinks that he doesn't want to kill Credo, but he'd better fight hard because he'll lose otherwise. He's always had a hard time reading Credo's moves, but suddenly can now. Specifically it references a 'three combos' that Credo uses when practicing with Nero with wooden swords.

Nero goes Devil Trigger, and there's a funny line from Credo: "Buddy… look at you…!"

Nero is pretty wiped out from the fight, and he puts his sword to Credo's throat -- just like Credo did to him during one of their practices -- which is when Kyrie shows up.

Agnus shows up and outright says that he told Kyrie that Nero was a demon. Credo actually shoves Nero behind him (I feel like it's meant to be protective) when Agnus pulls the sword on Kyrie. Agnus is hella rude to Credo and then starts taunting Nero about being so influenced by a woman. Nero knows he can take Agnus, but if he loses Kyrie, he'd pretty much lose any 'value of existence.' Ooooh, Agnus actually cuts Kyrie in the book.

So, Nero and Credo both kneel on the ground, and Agnus demands that Nero hand over the Yamato, which he does. Agnus then tells Credo to bring him the sword. Oh heck! Credo starts to do as he's told and then basically rams Agnus with his shoulder, getting Kyrie loose. There's a burst of energy which pushes Nero over and knocks Kyrie out. Pissed off, Agnus actually puts his boot on Credo's head -- he was knocked over too -- and calls him a traitor. Unfortunately, Credo is worn out from fighting Nero, so he can't do much other than yell at Agnus about Sanctus using Kyrie. Agnus kicks Credo repeatedly (ow) and Nero runs over to get to Kyrie, though Agnus is too fast and gets to her first with his insect wings.

Agnus says he should grab the sword but he's not dumb enough to try to fight both Nero and Credo. They kind of conjoin this scene with the one in Agnus' lab where Nero tries to grab Kyrie but gets her necklace instead. Before he takes off, Agnus says that if Nero wants Kyrie, he'll have to bring them the Yamato. Again, everyone seems to all Nero "little devil."

Hah! There's a funny interlude where Nero asks Credo if he's still alive and Credo says "... probably."

Credo gets to his feet and says he knows why Sanctus is so keen to get his hands on Nero, that Nero is "a Sparda-born person." Nero is understandably confused, so Credo explains that in order to complete the savior they need the sword Sparda and the "son of the swordsman." Nero is still confused, though he asks why Credo would think he's a descendant of Sparda. Credo just chucks him Yamato and says Nero should go find Kyrie while he figures out just what Sanctus is up to.

Stage 09 (Nero fights Dante)

Nero goes into the HQ and finds no one but sees signs of fighting. Looks like Dante has cleaned house, though Nero ponders why he couldn't find a trace of Dante earlier, but now that he has something else to do, the guy's just waiting for him. But why?

Dante says Nero is slow. He asks why Nero is in such a bad mood (Dante… really??) and just pisses Nero off. Dante asks for Yamato, Nero asks how he knows about all this stuff. "The sword was originally my brother's thing." (hah) Nero is surprised that Dante even has a family. (Hah!)

Definitely different: Dante says that Yamato belongs to him now that his brother is dead and says he doesn't care why the sword ended up in Fortuna. Nero actually seems to feel a little bad? But, as he puts it, the Order doesn't care about him, and he needs Yamato to fight them.

Dante kinda tries to talk Nero out of fighting, but Nero's not having it. Nero gets knocked back when he tries to attack Dante, Dante taunts him about not really making much progress in his skills. Dante calls it a "nostalgic scene," Nero's confused. Again. (Is Dante talking about their earlier fight… or Vergil?)

Nero uses his charge shot to shoot the pillars next to Dante, which Dante assumes was a miss. Until the pillar explodes. Nero uses the distraction to attack, Dante blocks but leaves an opening, Nero is sure he's got the upper hand until Dante catches Red Queen with his other hand. It cuts him, but Dante is too strong for Nero to just pull the sword back. So Nero rams into him. Dante just grins at him and asks if Nero wants him to teach him Kung Fu. Oh man.

Nero has a bit of a crisis because he realizes how much stronger than him Dante is. So Nero says "I want more power!' and goes DT. Dante just avoids all the attacks. There's a line comparing Dante to a matador. Which is the bit when Nero charges at him and gets knocked to the floor. Nero is annoyed that Dante wasn't fighting him with his full strength before, but Dante sort of compliments him by saying he hasn't had a workout like that in a long time. The phrasing is something along the lines of "I haven't had to breath this hard."

Nero notes that while he was trying to kill Dante, Dante was definitely not trying to kill him. In response, Dante simply says that he has more experience, and that he's been doing this for a long time. Nero is actually willing to give him Yamato, but he is uneasy because he feels like he needs the power.

Dante calls the sword a loan. He says as "rent for the loan" Nero has to tell him his name -- even though he already knows it. He calls Nero "little devil" again.

Dante calls Trish's disguise a "masterpiece." She dressed like that because she thought it was funny since the Order is so prudish. Ah, it was a spell, and while getting rid of it isn't hard, casting it again takes a while -- which is why she didn't reveal herself earlier.

Trish is uneasy about letting Nero go with the sword since "Vergil's Yamato" could fall into the Order's hands. She doesn't know the details of the Savior, and it's been a big secret. (I'm guessing only a handful of people knew about the thing.) She knows that the Order can use Nero to complete the Savior and points it out to Dante. He says that if things go wrong, he'll help Nero -- and even go a little further because they're related.

Stage 10 (Nero vs. Sanctus)

Lower level knights aren't allowed in the bottom areas of HQ, so Nero's never been down here. He goes by a room with numbered cages. (!) They contain demons that are being experimented on. He sees something that his half human, half demon, and wonders if this is what happens to people who fail the Ascension Ceremony. Oh HECK! He sees Tonio, who's left side is demonic, and Tonio shrinks away from him in the cage when he leans in to look. Nero is unnerved because the guy was always so grim and sneering and now he's cowering. Sagan is there too. Nero is pissed off. He realizes that these are no longer the people he once knew.

He thinks about the fact that he never liked those guys, and they didn't like him, that they resented how much he got away with because he was close to Credo, and that they both had a crush on Kyrie. Nero feels like he'd probably be just like them in terms of having a thing for her even if he hadn't been raised like a family member by her parents. (There's a strange phrasing that says "it's too old fashioned to be raised like a family," which may be a reference to Kyrie's parents' general outlook.) Nero essentially says he didn't want this to happen to Tonio and Sagan even if he didn't like them.

Okay, so Nero has never told Kyrie about his feelings for her (Pretty sure she knows, dude), and he wonders if she'd be disgusted to know someone like him thought of her that way (Nero, plz).

He promises Tonio and Sagan that he'll save Kyrie and get revenge for them. Nero wants to rescue them, but he can't let them run free the way they are now and doesn't know how to turn them back -- which makes him feel incompetent.

Agnus POV: The Savior was produced in a manner similar to the Bianco Angelos, by extracting the 'shell' from a demon and using the demon's soul to power it, but the Savior is more complicated. The Bianco Angelos are mass produced. The Savior is powered by a 'magic heart furnace' which functions like an actual heart, using the power extracted from 'millions' of demons to power the rest of the Savior. It's not enough to actually make the thing work, though.

Agnus had given up on finish it when Gloria showed up with the Sparda. The intention was to use the Sparda to power the Savior, but using the Sparda to its full power requires someone related to Sparda. Sanctus was definitely aware that Sparda had at least one son, and that Dante sealed up Mundus again. The Order kept him under watch. There's a passage that says that some of the Order suggested inviting Dante to Fortuna to "sacrifice as a living god." Pffft. They decided not to because Dante is too human -- he runs a business in a shitty part of town, listens to rock music, eats pizza, and uses guns. (I'm wondering, just by context, if that actually means they intended to worship him, not sacrifice, but decided he wasn't worthy of that because he's a bum.). So they changed their plan to use him to power the Savior.

The plan changed again when they realized Nero was also a descendant of Sparda. Him repairing the Yamato would be impossible otherwise. No one is sure how he is related, but it's possible Sparda left someone behind on the island since he used to live there. Or that's what Agnus thinks. Also Dante is too much of a badass, and the Order can't handle him.

Back to Nero: Nero thinks the Savior is ugly as hell. Sanctus gloats. Apparently the two have never met before. There's a nice Nero vs. Sanctus illustration. Sanctus looks pretty freaky, actually.

Sanctus goads Nero to use Yamato. Nero fights the statue a bit, realizing that he's not doing much damage and that it can heal. He uses the same trick of a 'missed' charge shot on Sanctus, which shakes the guy up a bit. Sanctus acts like he's going to drop Kyrie out of the Savior -- causing her to fall and possibly die -- and distracts Nero enough for the statue to grab him. Sanctus then tells Nero he should thank him since Nero will get to be with Kyrie inside the Savior.

Sanctus ponders that Nero must be around 16-17 (I think one of the game devs says Nero is 19 in an interview, though, so not sure if some of this timing is retconned.) and goes on to say seventeen years ago, the year he became head of the Order, he met a man. This was after the previous 'pope,' Soleimani, died of disease. Sanctus was previously a knight and then became Supreme General of the knights. (Does this mean Credo would've become pope if he hadn't died???) Sanctus and Soleimani were the same age, so it was a question of which of them died first if Sanctus could succeed him as head of the Order. Sanctus had a grand vision of 'paradise,' basically making everyone grateful to god and devout etc. etc., that Soleimani just couldn't grasp. (Probably because he was sane.) Sanctus decided to kill the guy with poison, which he did because as a 'bishop' he regularly dined with the pope. It took two years for the guy to die, so everyone assumed it was disease. Aha, Sanctus was the oldest of the 'bishops,' and no one had any problem with him so that's why he became 'pope.' (I'm just gonna use that word since the translator does and it takes too long to type "head of the order of the sword" every time.)

So, the new pope is expected to spend a night up in the Castle in what they thought was Sparda's bedroom to 'inherit the noble soul of Sparda.' Vergil sneaks into the room to poke around, which understandably spooks Sanctus. Sanctus asks what he's doing, Vergil says he just wants to 'follow in the footsteps of Sparda' and won't kill him if he's honest. Not being utterly useless, Sanctus realizes he has no hope of beating this guy. He asks if Vergil is human, Vergil replies "If I'm not human, what would I be?," but Sanctus has fought demons before, so he asks "Are you a god?" The guards come, and Vergil decides to yeet out the window, but Sanctus is desperate to find out who he is.

Vergil takes a moment to say he doesn't mind these people worshipping his dad, but they should remember that Vergil will surpass him, and says they should consider who they should admire… their old god, or the son who surpassed him. And then he jumps out the window.

Sanctus says he's sure that the man he saw that night is Nero's father. Nero thinks he's nuts. Credo drops in and gets stabbed just like the game. Trish and Sanctus exchange some words. She asks him if he thinks she should "dress more plainly."

Haha! When Sanctus is taunting him about how he's won, Dante says "I think this little devil is still a little bit motivated." Nero chose to smash Sanctus against the statue because he didn't think he could get a good enough grip to crush him with the Devil Bringer. He also didn't want to throw Sanctus at Dante because he 'didn't want to rely on that guy.' While he's getting sucked into the Savior, he thinks that he can rely on Dante to win, though.

Nero asks for help, but Dante says "I don't care about you, just give me the sword back." (Yeesh! I'm hoping that's a mistranslation.)

Stage 11 (inside the Savior)

When Nero sees Kyrie inside the Savior, she apologizes to him and blames herself before she disappears. Nero thinks that if he's in the core of the Savior, that means they aren't trying to kill him. As long as he's alive, he has some hope of saving Kyrie. Then he passes out.

End of the first book.

Link to the next section of notes: https://madartiste.tumblr.com/post/186847616290/deadly-fortune-book-2-chapter-00-1-15

#Devil May Cry #DMC4 #My Notes #Deadly Fortune

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ettadunham · 6 years ago

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A Buffy rewatch 3x19 Choices

aka everyone’s just dying to give each other a piece of their mind

Welcome to this dailyish text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and rant about it in 10-3k words. What you can expect: long run-on sentences and disjointed observations, often focused on one tiny detail about the episode. What you shouldn’t be expecting: actual reviews that make sense.

And I’ve been waiting forever for today’s episode to finally discuss some quality Willow and Faith feelings... And it turns out that it was just a 2-minute-scene all along? Still, we’ll be making the best out of those 2 minutes, folks.

There’s actually a lot going on in Choices, but I want to get the main rant out first, before I get lost in all the small details of it.

So... Willow and Faith.

Fun fact, did you know that that is actually the 5th most popular BtVS F/F pairing tag on Ao3? Right after the popular canon, the popular “it’s basically canon and you can fucking sue me” ship, the pairing of the two main female characters (shout out to the Wuffys, I got you) and the less popular canon ship.

Which... wasn’t really what I was expecting? I mean, I also wasn’t expecting #6 being Faith/Dawn (having a 2 fic-lead on the ultimate OTP because you’re all heathens), so I guess I know nothing.

Some of those switch though if you filter for the F/F category, look, I have charts:

(Meanwhile Buffy/Kendra has like 12 fics, you really are all heathens.)

Anywho, thanks for coming to my Ted talk about the math of Buffy femslash. Now, back to Willow and Faith specifically.

Once I thought about it, it did make sense that this is actually a popular fandom pairing I guess? On one hand, it’s a common denominator situation, as in note which characters pop up consistently on that chart... On the other hand, in this episode alone Willow taunts Faith to which she responds by punching her and threatening her with a knife... And that’s pretty much how foreplay works as far as Faith’s concerned.

Faith just likes it rough, okay? Remember the screencap I used for Consequences after Buffy punches her?

I rest my case.

But I’m already way off topic here. Because what I was actually planning on talking about initially was how Willow felt about Faith, and the source of those feelings.

I already pointed this out, but I feel it’s worth repeating - Willow’s dislike of Faith goes back to two episodes in particular: Bad Girls and Consequences. As far as I was able to discern this time during my rewatch, there were no previous signs of animosity between the two preceding that two-parter.

In Bad Girls, Buffy blows Willow off for their study session to go out with Faith, and starts rambling about how Willow and Xander wouldn’t understand anyway what she and Faith do.

Willow is deeply hurt and jealous... She actually blows Buffy off too in return when she tries talking to her at school in the next episode, and only listens once Buffy shows up crying at her doorstep not knowing what to do about the whole Faith killed a guy situation.

In the same episode, Xander lets it slip that he and Faith had sex... And Willow is once again obviously hurt and jealous. She even has a good cry about it in the bathroom.

And I guess that that seems like a stronger emotional response than how she reacts to Faith stealing away Buffy from her, but it’s still coming from the same place. Note her line in that episode when she acknowledges her biases:

I'm not the most objective, I know. I kind of have an issue with Faith sharing my people.

“Sharing my people” - she’s pointedly talking about both Xander and Buffy here.

And there is a specific kind of betrayal that she feels from Xander, and that’s going to translate to pretty much all of Xander’s relationship... But at this point, it’s not really about her wanting that relationship with Xander. She had the option and she rejected it.

Still, if Xander has that with someone else, that makes their shared experiences feel less special. It makes her feel like less special in his life. (Which unfortunately tracks with a lot of Xander’s behavior about how he’s always chasing the new, shiny and unattainable thing in his life.)

Meanwhile with Buffy, Willow is mostly supportive of her relationships... up until to the point that she feels like they’re taking up the space that she occupies in Buffy’s life. And that very much happens with Faith in those moments, as Buffy suddenly feels like she can’t share with Willow what she and Faith has. (I swear, I’m not even trying, these sentences just turn out this way.)

So... yeah. Willow is super pissed at Faith for having the audacity to try and take away her people from her, and then hurting the both of them.

And I guess we can see some of that same kind of jealousy with Faith (I can and I will read parallels into Willow and Faith’s characters, just you wait) and her whole thing with Buffy and Angel in Choices... Except it’s weirdly misdirected? Like is the Mayor and the show seriously trying to tell us that Faith is jealous about Angel not wanting to make out with her, when that whole thing was all about Buffy in the first place?

Really, Mayor Wilkins? Really?

Well, I guess he is evil.

Back to Willow though, we have this scene where she gets taken hostage, and after she murders her vampire guard with a pencil (amazing), she decides to get comfortable in the Mayor’s office and read through all 5 tomes of the Books of Ascension??? It’s such a delightful nonsense.

Of course, I’m definitely with her on the whole “knowledge is power” notion. Even if they were to prevent the Mayor from having this Box of MacGuffin, there’s no way to tell if that would actually stop the Ascension. But knowing what’s to come and what they could do about it? That’s a definite win.

The issue is that as Faith puts it, being caught red-handed while gaining that knowledge makes Willow some very strong murder material for the bad guys. She could’ve just put the books in a bag, and tried escaping with them, or get the hell out there the moment she discovered those sensitive pages.

But do you know what I think? I think Willow just wanted to have the chance to confront Faith. She was ready to die just to give her a piece of her mind.

Willow: It's way too late. You know, it didn't have to be this way. But you made your choice. I know you had a tough life. I know that some people think you had a lot of bad breaks. Well, boo hoo! Poor you. You know, you had a lot more in your life than some people. I mean, you had friends in your life like Buffy. Now you have no one. You were a Slayer and now you're nothing. You're just a big selfish, worthless waste.

That’s commitment.

Notice also how she highlights Faith having Buffy in her life and not appreciating it enough to keep fighting. I do feel like Willow is deeply offended by that. I talk about her jealousy a lot, but her commitment to the people she loves is usually her more dominant character trait. Feeling like Faith stole her friends from her hurt her; but her anger mostly comes from the fact that Faith hurt Buffy and Xander in unimaginable ways.

I guess this episode did give me a lot of Willow feelings.

Someone else who shared Willow’s need to impart some wisdom in the most inconvenient times was the Mayor. And honestly? I didn’t care a whole lot about it. Angel and Buffy has a million other conflicts that come before him being immortal.

Like, I get that it’s supposed to shake them out of their own little bubble a bit, and face the fact that they don’t really see a future together. I believe the phrasing I previously used was that being together prevents them from becoming the people they want to be.

Their initial exchange at the graveyard is kinda hilarious though. “You never take me to any place new” - I’m still laughing, ngl.

At the same time, Xander and Cordelia still appear to be having their bitter verbal conflicts. Which is weird, especially after Earshot, an episode that I praised for including Cordelia in the group once again. (I guess maybe Earshot was written with a different place in the season in mind for it initially? I know that it didn’t air when it was supposed to too, because of the school shooting aspect...)

Here, the two of them are once again out to get each other. Even Buffy ends up in the crossfires, as Cordelia aims one of her pointedly cruel jabs at her. Yikes.

But we also find out here that Cordelia is working in a dress shop now, so there’s that.

And this episode of course is also about everyone’s futures. Willow decides that despite being accepted into literally every school ever, she’s going to attend UC Sunnydale with Buffy. Not just to be with her, but because she enjoys saving the world and all that jazz.

Oh, Willow, if you only knew...

This of course also presents a welcome contrast for Buffy, who feels like she doesn’t have a choice but to stay in Sunnydale. It’s a really nice moment between them, as Buffy realizes herself that she too very much made that choice herself. Because that’s who Buffy is. Someone who could never turn her back on the people who need her.

Buffy: I kinda love you.

We all do, Buffy. Just ask Oz, and his decisive ingredient smashing move that annihilated the whole argument about whether or not they should rescue Willow. (”That’s your future wife!” - me @ Alexis Denisof in that scene.)

Also, shout out at that whole Mission Impossible heist premise we got going on in this episode. I always appreciate a weird clash of genres.

#buffy rewatch 2k19 #btvs talk #btvs

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abybweisse · 8 years ago

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Hello, hello. I'm kinda new to the BB fandom (omg I feel so soooooooo behind time...*cries*), I got hooked on the anime version weeks ago and now I want to delve deep into the manga. I'd love to know where I can read the best/more accurate translations from the manga (e.g, is Mangafox a recommended source)? Thank you in advance for any tip! ^.^/

As far as fan translations go, I’m not sure which one is the “best”. For comparison to the licensed translation, I also read it on kuroshitsuji.org (aka mangatip.com). Usually, the generally correct meaning is captured in the fan translations, but sometimes they get something completely wrong. I always recommend reading the licensed translation.

Now days (since about ch112), when a new chapter comes out through Yen Press, I buy an e-reader copy (usually ibooks, sometimes kindle) and load it on my main blog (this one). I also buy the printed volumes, so I essentially buy the chapters twice. LOL!

However, I highly recommend buying your own licensed copies… as you can afford it. It’s not like Yana-san is exactly strapped for cash, but there is a whole staff of people involved… actually, not just her staff but also the publishers and their staffs (and they done needs to gets paid!). Besides the legal issue of copyrights, these people all *deserve* to get the money they have worked so hard to earn.

An e-reader chapter is about $2. An e-reader volume more like $8. Printed volume copies might run anywhere from $5 to $14, depending on the volume number, volume condition, and seller. I suggest looking around used book shops, like Half Price Books….

Hope this helps :)

#black butler #fan translation #licensed translation #yen press #ereader #printed #ibooks #kindle #support the creators #support the artist #asks #answered asks #i answered a thing

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defunctzombie · 7 years ago

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Greetings, sorry for the sudden ask, ummm.... Can you summarize tamago no hi volume 3 please~~? I've read the translation for vol 3 chap 1&2 but I can't seem to find anything beyond that and I'm dying to know what happens after Weiss proposing to platin for them to disappear from the rests for a week.

Okay. I don’t know if you have access to any pictures or not, so I’ll just repost the summary of the whole book I wrote a few years ago. I was at one point working on the spinoff of this title Gravitation (and summarizing bits of this to at least get the story out there; this isn’t my title), but I got hit with the worst luck in the world and developed a lot of medical issues and had to put translating on hold. But I can at least give you an idea of what’s going on with this story. :D

(I apologize in advance if I’m not romanizing the names the same way as you are used to, or if this summary is a little different that what you’ve read.)

Tamago 3 starts right at the end of Tamago 2. In vol 2, after the mermaids, there’s a chapter about Jade. That little baby he picked up (back in the first volume I think) is still following him around and calling him mama. After a big monster fight, Weiss asks Jade to make a contract with her. But something happens, and his egg like, explodes. Or says he’s dead.

Volume 3 opens with them scrambling to get Jade back to the egg source. They teleport using Platin’s power and get there, but Platin collapses from the strain (this is important for later). Jade’s egg is either healed or replaced, thanks to the little baby, and there’s a little ‘good-bye’ moment. :( He comes back out of the egg tank looking like an older man. He makes his promise with Weiss, and is turned out to be a silver wolf (that looks EXACTLY like Koma from Yami ni Toge, tee hee). Platin is worn out, and keeps out of the next monster fight, but wakes up and says “Where is Jade? Who’s this old guy?” and there are some laughs. This is where the 4koma I put on tumblr is from. (When I find the post, I’ll link it here.)

The last 2/3 of the book are a storyline called Privacy. Remember how when Or met Weiss, he thought she was his dead mentor? Well we get to see a little more of that story. The group is having a battle, when Platin seems more worn out than usual. Or is helping him when a monster attacks, but Weiss steps in the way triggering a flashback of Hori, Or’s mentor. We see that Or was basically a suicidal hellion, but Hori made friends with him and ended up giving his life to save Or. Meanwhile, Platin storms off.

Weiss finds Platin in a hot spring, and because she’s a nut ball, rips off her clothes and joins him. She gets freaked out when she sees blood in the water, and runs over to Platin thinking he’s injured. In one of the funniest panels in the book, Weiss feels Platin all over and discovers that he “doesn’t have one”. (You know, down there. XD ) Just as Jade shows up thinking he’s going to catch a peek at Weiss bathing, Platin transports himself and Weiss away to his secret place, the lake where he was born.

Platin tries to swim away and hide, but Weiss demands an explanation (you know, about the lack of certain parts and bloody water). He says no and buzz off, she says she’ll just go tell everyone that Platin is really a woman. Platin explains that’s not the case, but he admits he gets a period and had to get away from where the others were because they would be able to smell the blood. (Remember kiddies, Japan is not afraid of making period jokes on TV or in comics.)

After Jade can’t find Weiss, he goes back and tells the others. He shows them a bloody piece of Platin’s clothing, and of course Or freaks out thinking they were attacked. Or guesses that Platin used his power to teleport them away to safety in Platin’s homeland, and the crew decide to go after them. Or has to ride on Atrum’s back, though, because he never made a promise with Weiss and couldn’t transform (there’s something about promising Hori here, and how they all question why Or lives if Hori died).

There’s a flashback to how Or and Platin met at Platin’s home lake. Platin is drawn without a mask, and looks like a prettier Rakamu (from Doku no Aji). Or notices his purple eyes, and passes out from an injury, noting that his first words to Platin were “beautiful”. Platin explains to Weiss that he is NOT female, but instead an XXY male. There are no women in the dragon species, only XY and XXY. XXY can get pregnant, but there aren’t very many of them (something like one every 20 years). Platin knows that he’s going to be attacked by the XY dragons, and right on cue one does.

The XYs name is Mercury, and he and Platin seem to know each other, like maybe they fought before. Mercury insists that he will take Platin’s first child, but Platin adamantly refuses and they fight. At first, Mercury thinks Platin is refusing because he likes Weiss, but then Or and the others show up. Or wants to know what’s going on, with that creepy Naono smile that says “tell me or you’ll get it”. Mercury starts taunting, realizing that Platin likes Or. Or tells Platin that Platin belongs to him, while at the same time Mercury says “you are my woman”.

Or gets wide-eyed, and says “woman?” right before Mercury knocks Or’s skull open. It sets Platin off into a rage, and Platin agrees to battle Mercury in a few days (for some reason Mercury is perfectly fine with waiting). Meanwhile, Weiss and the others retreat to take care of Or. Once he’s back awake, Weiss explains the whole deal. Or seems depressed, and goes to talk to Platin in Platin’s lake. Platin initially refuses to come out, until Or orders him. Or wants to know why he kept all this a secret, and Platin says it has noting to do with him because they can’t be mates. Or agrees that it’s probably not possible, but the whole time his mind is lamenting how he can’t be with Platin anymore. He notes that their last words were that they can’t be together.

Or then goes into a slump, staring out the window like he’s lost. Jade wonders why they’re just sitting around when Platin could be getting killed, to which Or answers that it’s not any of their business because they’re not dragons and this is what Platin wanted. Weiss flips out, questioning Or if it’s fine for Mercury to rape Platin, and that Or is seriously thick headed if he could go all these years without realizing how Platin felt. Or snaps and says he can’t give Platin a child so he has no right to be by his side. Weiss and Jade squabble over Gaito having babies, and Weiss starts flipping on Jade for forgetting about Rouge, her son (see volume 1). Atrum steps in and reminds her that it’s Gaito -men- who can’t have babies. Or remarks that it doesn’t matter anyway, because Platin is a dragon. Jade makes a comment about how Platin can’t do it anyway because he has no parts (I love the new Jade).

Weiss reminds Or that having babies shouldn’t matter because the two love each other, and Or remembers how he made Platin cover his eyes so that he’d be safe while they travel (I guess purple eyes are rare and can cause trouble). Or admits that Platin is his everything, and the group transport off to save him.

When they get there, they find Platin half dead and about to lose, because Platin absolutely refuses to mate with Mercury. Mercury starts taunting Or (before realizing he is there) and how Platin is weak for holding onto someone who just left him. Mercury says that Or has no right to interfere in the dragons’ affairs, when Or speaks up and tells him he’s right. But he does have a right to interfere in Platin’s affairs, and changes into a golden bird. Turns out he was able to make a promise with Weiss because she got Hori’s egg (I think, it’s a little vague). After a battle, Mercury admits defeat and leaves. Platin is shocked, but grateful. Weiss then reminds him that he is loved.

Two weeks later, Weiss is looking for Platin and finds him being spoon fed by Or. Or is very lovey-dovey now, and Platin is a little embarrassed. Weiss wants to talk to Platin in private, but Or says no, telling her that there are no more secrets between the two. So Weiss blurts out that Platin is pregnant. She goes into a long winded talk about how Platin was still female when Or saved him, and that Gaito sperm are some kind of super sperm that can conceive with other Gaito and dragon people (and there’s an actual drawing of sperm and eggs, more crazy Naono humor). Needless to say the boys are all stunned, except Or who just goes over to Platin and takes off his blindfold. Platin admits it’s true because he didn’t revert back to male right away, and Or just hugs him in what has got to be the cutest panel ever. He then says that above all else, he’s thankful for Platin being alive.

The book ends with some humor, with Weiss calling the two “mamatomo”, kind of translates into mama buddies, and Platin revealing that the baby will take 3 years to be born. They leave to return to Weiss’ hometown, this time making Jade carry all Platin’s luggage. When Jade complains, one of them says “What? Elderly abuse?”. Atrum comments that Weiss smells good, and she blushes and yells that it’s only the soap.

So the two oneshots “Tamago No…” and “Tamago no Hanashi” probably make a lot more sense now. I kind of like how nowhere in the book is it mentioned that the two slept together, just BAM! pregnant. Reminds me of a Disney movie, except with men. XD

#naono bohra #tamago no hi #tamago no hi 3 #summary #long post

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