#wow that sounds WAY too vague XD

[hualian]

Almost could say there has been a theme with the character count down so far... unlikely it will continue, still it jumped out at me, like I needed that sorta hit to the face to make up for the good karma of Season 2 dropping on my birthday. Thank you for your posts.

Hi anon!!! I have a feeling at what the theme could be but it might be a spoiler so I'm going to keep wondering if our thoughts are the same XD also it drops on your birthday, no way??? HAPPY BIRTHDAY in advance for tgcf day 🦋💖 we're both libras they really dropped tgcf season 2 as a gift for all the Libra/October babies :')

And it is only my pleasure! Thank you for this, your message really made me smile :)

[tobiasdrake]

And then there's THIS asshole. Okay. Sure. I have emotional bandwidth for this. Why not.

I've been suspecting it since my first case in Kanai Ward but I guess I'm built different. *insufferably smug*

...I forgot how stupid his chin-dick is. XD Who put that on your face, man?

Oh wow, fuck this guy with an iron pole. Can we hang up on his stupid face? We have way better things to do with our time, like talk about how much we miss Yakou or open that bomb-present Makoto gave me.

That sounds like a you problem, to be honest. You said you're withholding intel 'cause it's better if we figure out what the vague bullshit you're on about means for ourselves. That's a crock.

If you want me to care about the Great Global Mystery then you need to start selling me on what those words you're using mean. Otherwise, you can solve it yourself.

Halara's over here saying the same thing I am but much more civilly. I suppose there are more diplomatic methods of information gathering than flipping double-deuces at your boss but honestly I've had a lot of upper-class privileged dipshits in my business today and I'm rapidly running out of fucks to give.

See, now we know and can do something with this information. These people are probably related to the corpses allegedly being trafficked into the Restricted Area. Y'know. For homunculus research.

By chance, did that happen to begin three years ago? No reason in particular, just curious.

Allegedly it's super-toxic because of a gas leak from a mine but, as stated before, "There's this one place where nobody ever ever ever goes" sounds like the perfect place to stash a big secret. It's the most obvious candidate for the secret secret lab.

SPILL. Forget what I said about wanting to go home and mourn. I am hungry for this intel.

BINGO. That's gotta be our homunculus lab.

This has come up many times over the various cases. The Peacekeepers remove bodies from crime scenes quickly for this reason, but it's never been discussed what happens to the bodies. Does Kanai Ward do burials? Cremation? Dump 'em in the river? Cannibalism?

That last one's mostly a joke but. Like. KANAI WARD SIGNATURE MEAT BUNS. I type it like that because something feels weird about the whole town's obsession for this one food product, which various food vendors keep mentioning.

In any case, what becomes of the dead once their body is taken away by Peacekeepers is unclear.

But now we know. We've been told even Peacekeepers don't set foot in the Restricted Area. But that doesn't mean that nobody goes there.

SON OF A BITCH. Peacekeepers don't go to the Restricted Area because that's Makoto's turf.

This is it. This is our homunculus lab. It has to be. That's why Makoto took us to the secret classified lab in a Restricted Area. He gave us the run-around for the sake of his power play against Yomi.

You've got intel too, huh? Lay it on me, Viv.

Oh shit. There is? Even Kurumi hasn't mentioned that, so it must be major.

Then again, Kurumi though the Restricted Area was a completely unassuming location and the last place you'd ever expect something shady to be concealed at. So it's possible this is just her poor judgment cropping up again.

That's. Horrifying, the more you think about it. Like. We're already neck-deep in corporate conspiracies, eldritch secrets, shady organizations, and homunculus research. And guess what, it turns out the town has a full-on fucking

in effect. That's. Great.

Fucking hell. This rabbit hole goes deeper and deeper.

Number One's getting on his shit. "Never give up, never surrender, I will guide us to glory, we are the ultimate detectives, we will--"

...

...

...

Oh.

Shit. Oh shit. Things are heating up now. I was expecting Number One to eventually join us, but. I guess. He's been killed in a bombing?

Fuck. We don't know that this is related to the Kanai Ward investigation but c'mon. But then. That would mean....

Makoto? He's consolidated his power and taken out his only rival. He doesn't need us anymore. Now that he is the unambiguous God-King of Kanai Ward, he could be making moves to--

MOTHERFUCKER. It wasn't a bomb but I was in the ballpark. Makoto's eliminated his business rival, and now he's eliminating his foreign threat.

I don't know why he'd bother taking us alive, though. But I'm sure we'll find out.

Traditionally, chapters 5 and 6 are where shit gets real. It feels like we've entered endgame.

Didn't do so hot with this one. Made a few mistakes. And. Well. Sephiroth Vader's attacks weren't easy to dodge.

This chapter was intense. Chapter 2 hit me a lot harder; The fact that Yakou was already dying when we killed him numbed a lot of the grief. It's hard for me to mourn him when he went out on his own terms, doing what he wanted.

Even though Yomi manipulated him, that remains true. Yakou wasn't under duress. He had weeks to weigh his options and think about it. He made his choice. I respect him for it. In a way, this feels less like Yakou being taken from us and more like shaking Yakou's hand and bidding him a fond farewell.

The mystery itself was fun to try and figure out. It was hard, complicated, and the true answer (Kung Lao hat) was a lot of fun. I enjoyed cracking the Most Locked-est Room Ever more than I enjoyed cracking the four standard Locked Rooms in Chapter 1.

This was great. Chapter 2's my fave but chapter 4's a close second. Now we're moving into chapter 5, and I'm excited to see what fresh hell Makoto has waiting for us.

I know I said "We'll fuck up Yomi today and if he sucks then we'll fuck up Makoto tomorrow" but I wasn't expecting Makoto to take that literally.

[barlowstreet]

I am so fucking proud of you! May I ask how your group project ended up going?

Thank you!!!

Honestly yeah I have tea, let's spill.

Under a cut for long math drama because WOW that a whole thing

Alright, so for anyone who missed it, the group project assignment was fairly simple. It was literally just pick an article about mathematical modeling (he suggested using covid 19 as a topic), read it, present our findings to our class. Four people in my group, 10 minute long at most presentation, could have all probably be done in 30 minutes, right? We started this March 20th and it was due April 10th, today.

I picked the article, sent it to my group partners, they were like "yeah sure that works". I set up a word document through office 365 which we all have access to through our school that we could all just put our notes in and I put my part in March 20th. And then I took a whole bunch of cold medication because that was when I was sick.

Then no one did anything. I emailed them again reminding them, hey, we do gotta do this April 5th. The one girl did hers that day. The guy in my group did his April 7th. I also made a powerpoint at that point because I was like "I am not just talking to the camera here, I need a prop". (I get camera shy and do a lot better if I have props.)

The other girl in my group? The last email I got from her was never. She never replied to a single one of my emails. We talked in class once in a breakout room, where I said "I will email you all, I have no voice and am very sick and it's probably easier to just use email" and she was like, "Yeah, sounds good." So to be clear, she knew I was going to email her.

I get to class today and the guy in my group is not there. Okay, sure, fine, one of us can read his part. GirlA messages me in the zoom chat and is like "did GirlB ever send you anything?" and I have to be like, "No. I have a slide with just her name on it, do we want to just be petty and pause on it for a moment when we get there?" and she was like "Yeah tbh she didn't reply to any of our emails and do any work, what else do we do".

(Meanwhile we were talking about grades and GirlB asks the instructor why he never gave her a time slot to do one of our quizzes. It was a take home quiz. He said that SEVERAL times in class but I suspect she isn't actually there a decent amount, she just opens the zoom link and does other things. But our classes are recorded. Watch the recording at least?)

And then GirlB messages me. At 7:25pm. And says, "I sent you my notes."

My class, I will tell anyone who doesn't know, is 6:30pm to 9:30pm. We were in class. Other people were presenting, and I'm frantically adding things to the powerpoint presentation that I made. AND she somehow didn't actually change the online version of the powerpoint (because I enabled editing for that too) so she had to send it to me.

And she sent it as a PDF.

Anyways, me and GirlA sounded like we knew what we were talking about. I fake being good at speaking well and she made a good joke that made her seem a little more relaxed. I will say that the other girl did send me a couple of diagrams which made things look nice, but she really struggled with presenting it and sounded very awkward.

Oh and the guy showed up literally in the middle of our presentation, which, you know, I'll take since I didn't have to present his part.

We sorta could tell that GirlB handed in a bunch of assignments technically late and her grade was probably Not Good so honestly the fact that we all got 100% on the presentation probably did her a lot of good.

And I swear to god, most of it is because people are impressed by powerpoint. GirlA, when we were gossiping, she thanked me for doing "all that work" on the powerpoint when, like, it took me 10 minutes because I downloaded a vaguely math-y looking powerpoint theme XD So, life lesson, a good looking powerpoint presentation will take you a long way.

[breannasfluff]

IM BACK! First of all, thank you for your work 🩷🩷🩷🩷 u have 43 works!! Thats like,wow omg I still remember when I read ur first one (I think?) But the one with wild and four fighting over if a tomato is a fruit or not. Now, Wolf Pack? I LOVE IT!! So cutee I love how Time and Twilight take care of Wild (and when wild was playing/experimenting with Kass instrument, such a mood, I did the same when I was younger and with a doorknob it was never the same) also your avian boys? Precious, I love them too and, even if Twilight with Wild are my favorite dynamic, seeing Wild-Hyrule-Legend is also cute, I like how their personalities contrasts, the most recent one, the Wild with Warriors about memories is bittersweet, I feel so sad about warriors situation (trying to be vague to avoid spoiling anyone) but the ending was pretty sweet, and finally and my most beloved, Eldritch Wild 🩷🩷🩷🩷 I love him soooo muchhh, I still feel sad that the chain are still scared of him but yeah, I don't blame them, still, the scene with Sun and Wild was pretty funny, when Wild started sneezing like crazy I could only think of a kitten after taking too much catnip XD also! With the fierce deity!!! I agree with warriors, It was like watching a Dog (more of a puppy if u ask me) asking to play with a Wolf xd I'm happy Wild finally has someone else who isn't scared of him! I'm excited to see what else will u write (and kinda hoping we get to see when Wild claims twilight 👀👀)

Ahah! I have gained a computer for easier typing!

First off, THANK YOU I love your rambles so much! And that sounds about right; Tomato Fruitcake I think was the first thing I posted! It's fun to go back and read that and compare it to now.

Wolf Pack! That one has been fun to explore little bits and pieces; very relationship and character-based vs plot. And it's fun to have a Wild who's fairly non-verbal and relies heavily on the wolves to learn how to act.

My sweet wing bois; it is such an excuse to write Triple Threat dynamics since we have a few stories of Wild and Twi/Wolfie! I have a lot of fun with unique spins on each story, which helps keep it interesting to write. Especially when some of the ideas are the same each time (there's only so many times you can write out the same starting character growth before you need a break lol).

Poor Warriors. I actually relate to his personality the most, which means he gets the short end of some sticks.

Eldritch Wild! I think I mentioned last night that I never expected him to be so popular, yet here we are. It's been fun to build out lore and (hopefully) weave some of it in chapters. And seeing people's thoughts and guesses is super fun! I do plan to have something more focused on Wild and Twi for E!Wild, but it's probably a ways out.

Thank you again for the wonderful message <3

[loopy777]

So im guessing you've at some point heard about Tolkien's original draft for lord of the rings, pre his many rewrites, where frodo was names Bingo Bolger-Baggins(A name tolkien hated, so ita hilarious he used it all the way up until the group reached Rivendel), the fellowship was composed of 5 hobbits, Gandalf and boromir, and that Tolkien originally envisioned Aragorn as a hobbit with wooden feet named Trotter.

He was eventually reworked into the character of Aragorn, with the original name(originally there because he always made sound on his wooden feet) being changed to strider, but did you know that Trotter's role and actions through the story was not changed much at all? Tolkien had the fellowship reach all the way up until Balin's tomb, before he finally decided he needes to fix the issue that was trotter... But not because he had any problem with the Hobbit's role.

No, Tolkien had no issue with this inexplicably badass, protesis wearing hobbit from a secret society called wild hobbits, skilled enough with steel and flame to chase away the nazguls at weathertop, lead the fellowship through eriador, knew history and lore well enough to retell the stories of beren and luthien, and on and on it went. He for all intents and purposes WAS Aragorn... No what Tolkien had an issue with was his backstory.

Tolkien created an intriguing character, with lots of memorable moments and actions, but he could not figure out a way to make it all fit together.

He had been captured in mordor, tortured, and had his legs cut off. Why? How did he escape? Why did he know so much? How did he become such a good friend of gandalf? Why was he so dedicated to the cause? How was he so skilled?

Tolkien created what was a very intriguing character, but when he sat down to think about it, and hammer out the characters backstory, he could not think up a backstory or timeline of events that would make sense of trotters life.

So he reimagined him several times, eventually settling on him being the same race as elrond, and a descendant of Earendil.

The only reason we got aragorn instead was because tolkien's famous imagination failed him on one character backstory. Imagine if tolkien had decided to just do what many other writers do, and just keep the exact details of his backstory vague, and go with the character anyway XD

I kinda doubt he'd have gone with the making him king angle, but honestly that could have been hilarious. Probably would have required some sword in the stone kinda plotline to make it work though.

Wow! I'd heard of "Trotter," but not any of the details.

(Unfortunately, I never got all the 'The History of Middle-earth' books. It's one of those things that was always my next purchase but now I'd either need to get mismatched covers or rebuy the ones I have. Sigh. The pitfalls of book-collecting.)

I love everything about this history. When I was reading LotR for the first time, I actually thought Aragorn was a bit of a Gary Stu and crafted to be so cool because he was going to replace Gandalf. Then Gandalf came back to life and I had to reevaluate Tolkien's intentions. (It didn't help that I didn't know anything about Tolkien at the time.) It ended up working pretty well with Aragorn becoming king and the way it was done, but I find it hilarious that the character didn't start as thoughts on an ideal king, but just Tolkien wanting a Gary Stu. And that Gary Stu was a hobbit! XD I someday aspire to write with that level of self-indulgence.

(Oh, wait, I write fanfic. I already do.)

It's a shame Aragorn didn't keep the wooden feet, though. That would have been an interesting addition, although I guess it might be too darkly funny for a character named "Strider," and LotR wasn't going for that tone in its finished version.

Thank you for sharing this! It might be one of the best stories I've heard of accidental genius in story development.

[self-shipping-doll13]

Hi hi!! How about 👻, ⚓ and ⏳?

Thank you for the ask, its very kind! Also the s/i is just me atp xD 👻 — If you could be any type of creature, differing from your current self, what would you be? Any little creacher that is loved and gets to sun herself all day, like a cat probably... ⚓ — What are some of your strengths? What about your weaknesses? Do you have any special talents?

Strengths, I'm a creative and sensitive person who likes to string words together that sound and look vaguely nice. I'm dreamy, a romantic, I care for my friends and small animals. I try to be kind. I've always been attentive to details and things others miss, but I know how to keep quiet if I see things I shouldn't :) im obedient, I can sit still and do work quietly. I see beauty in small places, which Liam loves about me. It's why he shows me his 'junk' in the backrooms. Weaknesses... wow theres a list haha. I'm reserved, I guess shy, insecure, hesitant, overthink everything and I'm sensitive in a painful way too, I can be weepy and beat myself up on the littlest thing. I'm not confident at all, even though I'm working on it. I don't have as many practical skills as I could. Easily overwhelmed. I'm lazy and peevish at times! I procrastinate horribly, I'm needy. I doubt myself to the point of paralysis. Liam's very self-assured and capable and I often still feel like a kid playing at being a grown up lol.

Special Talents feels lofty but I'd point to my writing I suppose! ⏳ — What's your favorite thing to do while spending time with F/O? Are you more adventurous or more of a homebody?

I love the quiet moments with Liam. Sitting in the pub during a slow night where I can hog all his attention to myself (i would anyway) and drink cokes.

Or maybe when we’re sprawled on the sofa, Patch curled up between us, and he’s reading something old and dog-eared while I do my own thing beside him. It's not grand or exciting but it feels peaceful, like everything is okay in the world. He's always been able to make me relaxed around him even when we were strangers which is a feat!

I'm a homebody for sure, even a little bit of a hermit at times. I can lose myself in my own little world and be content. By contrast he's more adventurous, fishing by the lough or chatting to patrons in his bar, looking for hidden treasures amongst antiques or doing his illegal business things :) haha.

Sometimes he'll coax me out with him, and its always worth it. Like going for a drive somewhere unexpected, or picking blackberries. When he's there, he makes the country I grew up in more beautiful somehow. Maybe he'll recite a poem or two, even. And I'm the one who hangs on his every word...

I think this balance works for us. He posits himself as the older, more worldly man who makes sure I learn things on his terms, drawing me out of my shell, and I ground him in a more private and domestic sphere and remind him of the sweeter and more innocent joys in his life. A place where he can be the himself that's normally hidden away.

[fwoopersongs]

《红颜旧》 - afterthoughts

We were talking about the three songs 《红颜旧》, 《风起时》 and 《赤血长殷》 from Nirvana in Fire in Langya Hall back in January. Someone wanted a poll to find out which was our favourite among the three, and thinking of how to answer that made me realise I couldn’t remember which I liked the most! So of course I had to go listen to them again, right? As it turns out, though it’s been about five to six years since first hearing them all, I still have quite a bit to say…

This will be the first of a three-parter on the NIF drama songs. I'll be rambling on (really just a whole lot of rambling lol) about my thoughts, feelings and new stuff found in the elapsing time between 2016 and now for 《红颜旧》. There’s also been so many translations! WOW. At least 6 full ones from English to Chinese - some of these have really interesting notes! One retelling in classical Chinese following the style of the Classic of Poetry (Shijing) and one tumblr meta about its use in the drama. There are many things I love about everyone’s work so I’ll definitely be mentioning them later as we go on.

Feel free to join in and chat, because nif song talk will always be welcome in this blog ~

The non-exhaustive list of 《红颜旧》 translations: 19 Oct 2015, Changing Face by 墨白妈妈 04 Dec 2015, Aging of a Beauty (and translation notes) by Joyce 02 Jan 2016, Fading Beauty by Fwoopersongs 03 Feb 2016, Bygone Beauty by xjc396 24 Jun 2016, 《红颜旧》by Yvonne 23 Mar 17, Shijing style classical chinese by 之梦轩主人 06 May 2017, Faded Beauty by Kana @chiyanjun 30 Jan 2021, The Aging of Beauty, chorus only & meta on its use as an insert song in Episode 54 by @hunxi-after-hours.

All the kudos to Joyce’s ‘Notes Made When Translating: Aging of a Beauty’ because her cultural notes and analysis are just so good!!!! She did it for the other two songs and also the NIF game theme too. Would strongly recommend checking those out as I learnt a lot and had a fantastic and rather educational time reading them \o/ rabbit holing in song translation is such a MOOD.

ORIGINS

Lyricist: 袁亮 Music & Arrangement: 赵佳霖

Originally released as 《忍别离》 Endure Separation, the third song of Cui Zige’s guofeng themed album 《小美人》 The Little Beauty in Dec 2013, 《红颜旧》 was later adopted as an insert song of the 2015 drama, Nirvana in Fire. I thought it was specially written as Mu Nihuang’s character song, but apparently not! But it’s really the beauty of music and credit to whoever picked it that it’s just so easily relatable to her.

The one difference I can spot between the two songs would be in the last line, likely as an improvement for better flow:

不变是此情悠悠 - 《忍别离》 bù biàn shì cǐ qíng yōu yōu 唯不变此情悠悠 - 《红颜旧》 wéi bù biàn cǐ qíng yōu yōu

TITLE

As both Joyce and Yvonne have noted, 红颜 | hóngyán is used here to refer to the lovely features of a beautiful woman. 

Although 红颜 is more often used to refer to a woman, sometimes in poetry it also evokes the image of a youth, young men or boys in the peak of health with fresh faces and pinkish-red cheeks. For example, this poem by Shen Yue of the Northern and Southern Dynasties and also this one by Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty. Before, I vaguely knew of the word 红颜 through the chengyu 红颜知己 | hóngyán zhījǐ, which one would call a close female friend and confidante. A relationship with a 红颜知己 is somewhere between platonic and romantic. Something like how we imagine Lin Shu and Nihuang’s relationship would have been like once upon a time.

Then comes 旧 | jiù, a word with many meanings! Yvonne covers most of them in her little preface; something worn out, something old, something from the past, perhaps an old lover.

Most of us seem to have gone with the ‘old’ or ‘growing old’ shade of meaning; choosing to use ‘beauty’ for 红颜, and rendering 旧 either as an ongoing process of aging/fading or as something of the past that is faded or bygone. There is something melancholy about this title I think, in the passing of a lady’s youth and beauty, but something strong in there too, in a young face that is aging with grace.

My first attempt at the title before making any attempt at translating the song was ‘Lady Love of Old’ and it was left as that for some time before I gave in to a nagging feeling and changed it to ‘fading beauty’, then eyed ‘bygone beauty’ for some time. I can still see it as all the options though. Especially when squinting (figuratively xD) and that’s why I prefer to call it hongyanjiu to this day. That way you don’t lose any shade of the meaning...

And oh! An interesting exception among us would be 墨白妈妈 who went with Changing Face, as a reference to the William Butler Yeats poem ‘When You Are Old’.

“But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face”

And you know what? This is so valid. I like it a lot as well!

OKAY, and now for the song! I’ve gone as literal as possible for all the interpretations. I’ll go over it line by line for interesting points in the original lyrics, plus across the various translations. Maybe a little bit afterwards on more feelings and/or why I chose to deviate a bit sometimes.

INTRO

西风夜渡寒山雨  A west wind blows past in the night; in the cold mountains, rain falls. 家国依稀残梦里  With home and country indistinct in fragmented dreams, 思君不见倍思君  thinking of him but not seeing him, my longing doubles. 别离难忍忍别离  Parting is hard to bear, but it is borne.

One of the things I’ve learnt since 2016, is that 西风 | xī fēng, a wind from the west is often associated with autumn wind, and with it a certain heaviness, sorrow, grief and loneliness. As an example, this poem (in English here) by Song Dynasty minister and poet, Ye Mengde, which I love for its imagery in the first two lines.

《水调歌头·霜降碧天静》 - Water tune prelude · after the snow falls // 霜降碧天静 秋事促西风 | after the snow falls, the azure sky is clear and all is quiet; autumn preparations are hurried by west winds. 寒声隐地初听 中夜入梧桐 | the whooshing of that chilling wind, indistinct in the beginning, rustles the parasol trees as we enter into the night

Photo source

渡 | dù, a word I’ve been thinking about lately, has multiple meanings. Crossing (a river), to cross, ferry or move pass. Here, because the location is in a 寒山 | hán shān cold mountain, the 渡 would be referring to the west wind blowing past. Both 墨白妈妈 and Kana used ‘sail’ in their first line as a nod to the word’s other meanings, which is very clever and a really nice touch because it calls the same associations to mind.

残 | cán, the word for fragmented of 残梦里 | cán mèng lǐ - within fragmented dreams - is the same as that of the word for cruel, 残忍 | cán rěn. When I first heard the song with the lyrics in front of me, I didn’t know 残梦 was a word by itself and understood it as ‘cruel dreams’. Home and country as you remember them being dangled in front of you, but barely in sight and out of reach. I still like that interpretation right now, and thus kept the line as is.

For the line 思君不见倍思君, the word 君 | jūn here refers to a man who could be her husband, could be a beau, could be a friend - Joyce covers it all already!

Special mention for 倍 | bèi, meaning many times over or double in this context of 倍思君: it was difficult to express that feeling (I gave up xD) of thoughts reaching out for someone, finding a void and only able to settle back - not subsiding but growing instead. It was so cool to see that someone did manage to capture it in the end! In Kana’s ‘Missing you but not seeing you, twice does the yearning grow’, that return of the yearning twofold is expressed so elegantly!

The fourth line of the intro along with some of the lines from the next verse calls one of Li Shangyin’s untitled poems to mind, so I’ll introduce it below.

VERSE 

狼烟烽火何时休  When will the beacons of war rest? 成王败寇尽东流  Victors become king, losers - outlaws; it all flows east (to the sea). 蜡炬已残泪难干 Although the candles have burnt till only reside is left, it is difficult for tears to dry. 江山未老红颜旧 Before the mountains and rivers grow old, the beauty ages.

For the first two lines, Joyce already covers them with a really detailed explanation and pictures. Do go check that out if you haven’t already! I especially enjoyed learning about 狼烟 | lángyān, beacon fire, or more literally, ‘wolf smoke’, possibly being named that because a component of it may or may not have been wolf dung. She also digs into the next line pretty thoroughly. I’d just like to add on something I found out about the origins of the chengyu! (It’s a bit of a rabbit hole, so feel free to skip!)

The exact phrasing of 成王败寇 | chéng wáng bài kòu, succeed - hailed king, defeated - condemned outlaw, originates (at least, this exact phrasing does) from one of six short poems by Liu Yazi (1887 - 1958), a Chinese poet and political activist, for his review of the book《太平天国战史》on the Taiping Rebellion by Sun Yat Sen.

Rough interpretation following as I’m not familiar with the context, and none of this information is available in English:

成王败寇漫相呼，直笔何人纵董狐 chéng wáng bài kòu màn xiāng hū, zhí bǐ hérén zòng dǒng hú Victors are hailed king, losers condemned as outlaws, on this, all are in accord. (But) when it comes to penning down history, is there anyone who will give Dong Hu free reign?

(Confucious praised Dong Hu as a good historiographer of the Spring and Autumn period. His rule for writing was not to never conceal the truth.)

Snapshot source

Alright, back to 《红颜旧》!

Special mention to the Chinese classical poem rendition, because I really love the rhythm of this line: 王兮寇兮，滚滚东流 wáng xī kòu xī, gǔngǔn dōng liú, which is like (you can ignore 兮 unless it amuses you to read it as HEY! it’s actually a slightly gentler dragged out sound, but I heard it sung once in hokkien and the heyyyyy stuck fast xD) king, outlaw & the river surging east. But the word for surging is 滚滚, which also reads as boiling/raging/surging. When pitted against overwhelmingly powerful forces of nature, like raging rivers, like time, titles and labels are just words that feel so insignificant.

For line 3, 蜡炬已残 | là jù yǐ cán, is like ‘of the candle, only remnants are left’ and the following photo is roughly the image that pops into mind.

Why candles? Because recall:

a west wind blows past in the night; in the cold mountains, rain falls.  with home and country indistinct in fragmented dreams, thinking of him (but) not seeing him, my longing doubles. parting is hard to bear, (but) it is borne.

It is still that cold Autumn night. 

The last line of this verse is, 江山未老红颜旧, literally ‘before the mountains and rivers grow old, the beauty ages’. And the beauty of this (if you’ll pardon the pun) is that both the kingdom and the mountains and rivers? They are ageless. The passage of time will only be apparent to and on her.  For this, I love love love how xjc396 puts it as ‘lands 'nd rivers are in bloom, but my beauty is past’, because of that wistful? mournful? feeling evoked by the contrast of placing something at its zenith and another in decline side by side.

And oooooo, so as mentioned before, there’s a little poem rabbit hole for the last two lines which extends also to the chorus. I’ll introduce it at the end of all this.

CHORUS Part 1

忍别离， Bear the parting, 不忍却要别离， even if you can’t, we still must part. 托鸿雁南去。 Entrusting the geese to go South, 不知此心何寄。 I do not know how to send this heart.

Again, Joyce has our backs with her Notes Made When Translating (thank you!!!!! haha I don’t know how you did it, and with such beautiful pictures too!).

It’s pretty obvious even at the first glance that we all have rather different styles. After all, in translation - at least, how I see it, the differences come from how we’re always balancing between these three things:

And of course, any personal associations we have with certain words in both the source and target language. Maybe there are more things? Idk hahaha. I’m just a hobbyist >.<. Back to the song!

So so so there are two versions that are similar which I like a lot, and then one which surprised me at first but then grew on me more and more. Starting with the two that I like:

Faded Beauty: I plead the birds to bring my message south. But how do I send my heart with them? 《红颜旧》: I entrust the swan-geese flying south with my heart, but I don’t know where to tell them to send it

The main difference being in their interpretation of 何 | hé in 不知此心何寄, which can mean both how and where. 

‘I may write my hopes and longing into a letter and send them to you, but that isn’t enough. It does not convey my heart - would that I may be by your side too!’ - That is my understanding for ‘how’.

‘I would send my letter and my heart to you, if only I knew where (because you are no longer here)’.  - This is my understanding for ‘where’.

I leaned toward the latter for my final version because 《红颜旧》, with its melancholy and resolve, feels like a ‘after Chiyan’ song. But really, I love both interpretations and regret that they must be split in English (but aha therein lies the awesomeness of multiple translations. It’d be weird if I post several versions of one song, but if a bunch of people do it together…)

The one that surprised me: 墨白妈妈: Letters may reach you. Envelopes fail to bear my heart

And just as as another example of a poem in which the poet sends his longing home with the returning geese (um metaphorically).

《次北固山下》- Stopping at the foot of Beigu Mountain // 乡书何处达 归雁洛阳边 | Where might my letter to home be delivered? With the returning geese to Luoyang.

CHORUS Part 2

红颜旧， The lady ages; 任凭斗转星移， Let the Big Dipper turn and the stars shift (and time fly), 唯不变此情悠悠。 with only these feelings remaining unchanged, unwavering.

THIS. This is the turning point of the song. Parting, war, home and country distant, pointless conflict, passing time wasted - keenly felt, lost bearings. But the bedrock of her resolve is love. And with that, though it is painful, even when she’s grieving, feeling unmoored, her love is unwavering. 

The fact that it’s the last line but sung without calling any attention to it just before the verse and chorus repeats... it’s like, blink and you’ll miss it. But after that when she repeats the chorus again and again, it really hits home - the vulnerability but also steadfastness that comes with that love. I’m just so in awe, and usually in tears. Tao-jie’s singing + these lyrics are so emotive.

I want to specially mention the Shijing version here because how this last portion was ‘rephrased’ there is exquisite. But first to break down the last (and most important) line: 唯不变 | wéi bù biàn, (the) only (thing) that does not change 此情    | cǐ qíng, (is) this love 悠悠    | yōu yōu, that goes on and on 

And then how it is said in Shijing version, starting from the line about the shifting stars (references not included...that would be a whooooole ‘nother post of its own): 浩浩河汉，无情之游。 The vast, boundless sea of stars, cold and unfeeling on their paths 我心匪石，永以弗休。 My heart will not be turned, forever shall it refuse to rest.

- and isn’t that just SO very much like Jingyan, Nihuang and Mei Changsu in spirit? 

Final Comments

Overall, I feel like both  Faded Beauty and  《红颜旧》 come the closest, in their own ways, to expressing the vibe of the song while very close to the original lyrics <3 all my kudos to them as a fellow translator. 

I really love xjc396′s version (Bygone Beauty) as a whole. They have somehow managed to preserve the meaning of the song while also being very poetic and beautiful.

墨白妈妈 took the phrase ‘artistic license’ and ran with it, in Changing Face, keeping the core but getting there in a slightly different way. I really enjoyed their creativity!!!

I’m honestly still very impressed and blown away by the shijing version?????? IT’S SO GOOD. 之梦轩主人 \o/ \o/ \o/

Also, hunxi’s answer about its use in episode 54? so insightful! Seriously, go look at it.

Oh and one my tags from 2016 was this: #loving how this shows her as a warrior/general/princess/lady. And yes !!!! YES I still would shout this from the rooftops. Usually, these - forgot the word for them, but there is like a genre (?) theme (?) of poetry written from the perspective of ladies longing for their men who are garrisoned far far away, worrying for their safety while in the war. But it’s a little bit of a play on that trope here, because framed from Mu Nihuang’s perspective, certain lines can take on very different meanings from how they would ‘traditionally’ go.

For example, 家国依稀残梦里 | with home and country indistinct in fragmented dreams, as a general leading her troops in the South, who is doing so while grieving her father and her betrothed - very likely dead, labelled a rebel and forever disgraced… All these identities and the responsibilities on her shoulders. And her home and Da Liang forever changed.

Another example: 狼烟烽火何时休 成王败寇尽东流 | When will the beacons of war rest? Victors become king, loser - outlaw; it all flows east (to the sea). Instead of a deeply worried wife, resenting the pointlessness of the war, Mu Nihuang gets the front and center seat for witnessing the clashing of vipers and conflict stemming from the Emperor's painstaking balancing of power. Which is another, probably even more infuriating and disheartening POV to be experiencing to be honest.

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

Okay and the final rabbit hole is another Li Shangyin poem! 

Intro 别离难忍忍别离 // parting is hard to bear, (but) it is borne Verse 蜡炬已残泪难干 // although candles have melted, wax hardened, it is difficult for tears to dry. 江山未老红颜旧 //before the mountains and rivers age, beauty fades. Chorus Part 1 忍别离 不忍却要别离 // Bearing with parting is difficult, yet we must part Chorus Part 2 托鸿雁南去 // Entrusting the geese to go South,

《无题》- untitled 相见时难别亦难 | It is difficult to meet, difficult also to part; 东���无力百花残 | spring’s east wind weakens, its myriad flowers withered. 春蚕到死丝方尽 | Only unto death does the silkworm cease to spin its thread; 蜡炬成灰泪始干 | only when candles are burnt to the quick do tears begin to dry. 晓镜但愁云鬓改 | She sits before the mirror at dawn, distressed at the change in her hair; 夜吟应觉月光寒 | murmuring poems in the night, how chilling the moonlight must feel! 蓬山此去无多路 | Between here and the mythical Penglai mountain, there are few roads; 青鸟殷勤为探看 | may the blue bird often visit on her behalf.

That is not to say that the song either does or does not allude to this particular poem, because there are many mediums of creation that do use these themes and imagery. But just that I found the poem while googling that line about the candles’ remnants and tears drying, and it added an extra dimension to my reading of it. Because wow. This is so desperate and intense O.O 

[champion-leon-imagines]

Chronicles of Galar - Prologue 1: Taiko Hirebayashi

Some Info beforehand. This is going a pretty long fic with several chapters. But the chapters are somewhat different than normal fanfictions. Because they are just in chronological order but some of them are not actually connected to each other and some may have a greater timeskip than others. Imagine it like a readable diary of your adventures with just the mention worthy adventures added. But be careful, because this story is like a HELL OF A TOOTHROTTING-FLUFF fic. The main pairing is of course You x Leon. A side Pairing is Taiko(OC) x Raihan and a mentioned Pairing is Leiko(OC) x Piers Although, you won’t have to deal much with Leiko. But Taiko will get a bigger role since she becomes your best friend. Oh and if you wanna look for the Fic and it’s parts, make sure to follow the tag: Chronicles of Galar. Now enough Chatting, here is the introduction of the first character: My lovely tsun Taiko! And don’t forget: This is NOT proof read. English is NOT my first language. So please be gentle with mistakes.

[Prologue: Taiko Hirebayashi]

[9 years before  the timeline in sword / shield]

“Taiko, honey. Don't run too far away from the camp. The wild area is teeming with Pokemon. ”, a woman, around her late 20s to early 30s with purple hair that was tied in a pigtail, spoke in a warning tone. She wore glasses and petted a Flareon, her loyal partner Pokemon. "Yes, mommy.", a 9-year old girl with fiery red hair replied cheekily. "And stop using this word, please. Did you learn that here in Galar? Please just call me mother. ”, she corrected her daughter. Ever since the holiday in Galar began, the child seemed to have increasingly adopted the linguistic peculiarities of the inhabitants of this region. "Okay, mother.", Taiko muttered and rolled her eyes in slight annoyance. She didn't thought it was that bad, because she loved everything in Galar. Much more than at her home in Ecruteak City, in Johto. Her mother was one of the dancing geishas at Ho-Oh's temple, which was why Taiko was promised an Eevee for her 10th birthday as a starter Pokemon. Like all geishas, ​​she should learn the art of meditation dance one day, in order to command the awe of the holy phoenix pokemon. But now they were here, in Galar, enjoying a few days of vacation.

Taiko quickly got bored, however. In her tent, she started to felt shut in. Her toys were only entertaining for a short period of time. She wanted to explore the wild area and see Pokemon! No matter how much her mother told her not to.

The young redhead sneaked out of the tent, while her parents were talking to an employee of the Pokemon Rangers, because a wild Dynamax Pokemon attacked the Lake of outrage nearby. Therefore, a warning was issued to all traveling coaches and tourists to stay away from this lake in any case.

If that didn't sound like an adventure ..

Without even thinking about it, the girl simply ran through the wild area. Lake of outrage was relatively in the middle of the area and her parents' camp was quite far to the south, at a popular campground for out-of-towners. Because there were only weak Pokemon running around, which did not pose any danger to hikers.

So Taiko just had to walk south, right? ... But she didn't knew where the south was.

The extroverted redhead remembered her days in the scouts camp, which had taken place near Cianwood City. She remembered that moss grows  on the northern side of trees because they are often in the shade due to the rays of the sun on the other side and the moss can spread there. So Taiko examined the surrounding trees and based on the position of the moss, she quickly knew where north was. She nodded proudly and then strutted north, full of energy.

Meanwhile in another part of the wild area.

“Pokeball, go!” an 11 year old boy with dark skin, casual clothes and a red headband that hid most of his hair, shouted. The pokeball hit a small, white spherical pokemon, which was vaguely reminiscent of a slug. The dragon pokemon Goomy. The ball wobbled three times before stopping and trapping the Pokemon. "YES!" the boy smirked and put himself in a victory pose, which, of course, nobody could see because he was alone. Shortly afterwards, he took his Rotom smartphone out of his pocket and took a picture of himself and his latest catch. Then he opened a social media page that was similar to Facebook.

'Look, I caught a Goomy! The dragon tamer Raihan has struck again! : D Soon nobody can stop me, so take a good look @Leon! I will be champion before you!'

With a grin, Raihan tapped 'Publish' and waited for the many likes from his friends and “fans”, as he liked to call his followers. It took less than 5 minutes before his best friend and rival had already made a like and comment.

'Wow, congratulations @Raihan! This Pokemon is totally rare! Unfortunately I haven't seen one yet. But don't be too early! Who will be champion first is still to be decided! '

Raihan grinned and replied, in his cheeky way. 'You have to find the stadium for our decisive fight first! XD I have enough time to train my Pokemon. '

The young man put his smartphone back in his pocket, he knew that Leon never accepted his provocations and therefore it was a waste of time to wait for an answer. “Come on, Vibrava. Let's see if we can find more cool Pokemon! ”He said to his partner Pokemon. The green, dragonfly-like Pokemon nodded eagerly and flew over the area, while Raihan grinned and followed his companion. He just loved looking for Pokemon in the wild area.

Back to Taiko. The young redhead was already regretting her spontaneous ideas and had to admit: she was lost.

This part of the wild area was so heavily overgrown by dense forest that hardly any sunlight penetrated through the thicket and consequently the moss grew on all sides of the trees. So it was impossible for her to determine in which direction she had to go.

"...MUM? DAD? DO YOU HEAR ME? ”And then she gave up and called desperately for her parents. Why the hell was she always so .. stubborn and had to give in to her curiosity?

The girl fell on her knees and began to cry. She was just too spontaneous and didn't think about the consequences. Now she was here in an unknown area, far away from her parents and who knows what else was lurking in the dark thicket?

A bush near her began to jiggle and that frightened the little girl. She stopped her emotional outburst and looked frightened at the bush. She crawled a few feet back from her almost sitting position and shivered as the rustling increased. Taiko swallowed lightly, trying not to make a sound to attract the attention of this unknown creature in the bush.

Suddenly a small, white rabbit pokemon rolled out with some somersaults. It had a kind of red fur in the shape of a plaster on its nose and its long ears wiggled and twitched as it straightened up and looked around. Taiko looked at the little Pokemon, which noticed her now too. It looked back. Neither of them moved for a few moments until Taiko blinked several times.

"How cute ..", she beamed and crawled forward on all fours. The little Pokemon stopped and tilted its head slightly as it watched the humans movements. "Scor? Scorbunny!" the little creature said. Taiko knew that Pokemon could only say their name, so now she knew the species. So that was a Scorbunny! She had never seen it before. Was it a regional Pokemon from Galar?

"Mmm, I think I have some candy somewhere …" the redhead mumbled. At least the situation calmed her down enough to forget about her outbreak minutes before ... She searched her pockets and actually found some fruit gums made from red haban berries. A very sweet type of berry that was perfect for sweets. Taiko smiled and offered the Pokemon some fruit gums. "Little one? You're are hungry, aren't you? ”She asked.

Scorbunny bounced closer and sniffed the girl's hand. Probably a first approach as to whether it could trust the person. As it took a fruit gum on its paws, it sniffed the gelatine again and stuffed it into its mouth. Taiko giggled as the Scorbunny gleefully chewed the fruit gum and then happily hopped up. "Scor! Scor Scor Bun?"

Taiko didn't knew what the Pokemon was trying to tell her, but from it's hopping around and staring at the fruit gums, it was obvious. It wanted more candy. The redhead smiled and gave Scorbunny a few more fruit gums. This time the Pokemon was braver and patted Taiko's hand with its paws before pounding on the fruit gums. Taiko had to laugh gently when Scorbunny let 5 fruit gums disappear into it's mouth at once and chewed contentedly. "You remind me of me." Taiko giggled.

Scorbunny finished snacking and as a token of gratitude, leaned it with its head on her arm and cuddled up to her. Taiko blinked slightly in surprise. Who could have guessed that wild Pokémon would approach humans so quickly? So obviously love goes through the stomach. Taiko smiled again and ruffled Scorbunnys fur behind it's ears. The Pokemon let out a satisfied purr and closed its eyes.

After a while, the Pokemon hopped onto her lap. This action surprised Taiko and she put both hands around the Pokemon. "It's so trusting .. it definitely belongs to someone ..", the redhead sighed, disappointed. She would have liked to keep the Scorbunny to herself. The two lingered like this for a few minutes until Taiko noticed that she was still in a quandary. She still didn't know how to get back to her parents. And the Pokemon was certainly not a sign back.

Slowly, the girl got up and let Scorbunny on the floor. “Go, your trainer is probably already worried about you.“ Taiko smiled and gave it a few last fruit gums before she continued on her way.

For the next 10 minutes she already missed Scorbunny .. She sighed softly to herself and stopped to lean against a tree. "Scorbunny ..." Taiko's eyes widened when she heard the Pokemon's call and turned around. Scorbunny was a few meters away from her. Taiko didn't even think for a second that it might be another Pokemon. It MUST be the same ..

When the Pokemon saw the girl kneel down, it ran into her arms and snuggled against the redhead's chest. Taiko straightened up and hugged the Pokemon. "You probably missed me too ..?", She asked and as if Scorbunny wanted to answer, it's nose nudged her fist when she raised her hand in front of it. Taiko smiled. "Then let's find a way back together." Scorbunny nodded and climbed onto her shoulder, where it made itself comfortable.

Taiko went on for a while, she didn't know how long, but it was already getting dark. Her parents were probably worried ... Then suddenly a huge lake was before her. Scorbunny sniffed the new surroundings and then tensed up with a menacing growl. The redhead swallowed at this cautious behavior. "The Lake of Outrage ...", she realized then. She wanted to run in the other direction when suddenly a giant Pangoro blocked her way. Apparently she had invaded it's territory because it looked angry. And aggressive.

The redhead stepped back, startled, and tripped over a thick branch. She fell on her bum and held her aching foot after she fell on it with her weight and cried out in pain. Pangoro seemed angry at the noise and stepped closer. It's dangerous threatening gesture made the girl's blood run cold. Scorbunny growled loudly and jumped in front of the girl as if it wanted to fight Pangoro.

"No..! This is an evolved Pokemon ...! It's too strong .. ” Taiko warned, but Scorbunny tried to attack with a double kick and jumped on the evolved Panda Pokemon. Pangoro held up Scorbunnys leg with one paw and tossed it back so that it landed in the mud next to the girl. "Scorbunny!" Taiko shouted distraught and took Scorbunny in her arms when Pangoro came closer and raised his paw for a blow. The redhead closed her eyes tightly and tears ran down her cheeks. "I don't want to die yet ..."

"Vibrava, dragon rush!", a boy's voice penetrated her ears and Taiko looked up when something enveloped in a blue aura slammed into the menacing Panda Pokemon from above in full speed. Pangoro was staggered by the recoil and  Raihan jumped in front of Taiko, ordering his Vibrava to make further attacks. "Super power, now!"Raihan ordered, causing Vibrava to launch a wave of attacks on the Pangoro. The fighting Pokemon appeared to be extremely robust and put up with all attacks. "Damn it, well then we have no other choice. Vibrava, use sandstorm! "Raihan shouted. Then he turned to the girl behind him. "Cover your mouth and nose!"

Taiko nodded and pushed the scarf, that her mother had given her over, half over her face. Vibrava created a dense sandstorm that made the entire area so opaque that you couldn't see anything. It was only when Taiko felt someone put a hand on her shoulder that she recognized the outlines of the boy, who helped her. "Let's get out of here before the storm subsides," he said. Taiko tried to get up, but a strong pain in her leg made her fall back to the ground.

"Ouch .."

"Hey, are you okay?" Raihan asked, holding her to keep her from falling again.

"I must have broken my leg when I tripped earlier .. I can't step .." the redhead sighed in frustration. Raihan blinked for a moment and saw his Vibrava land on his shoulder. He knew the sandstorm wouldn't hold up the enemy Pokemon much longer. An idea occurred to him without further ado and he turned his back on the girl while he knelt down. “Climb on my back. I'll carry you. ", He said.

"T-I can't ask that of you ..", Taiko mumbled and shook her head vigorously.

“Come on, my tent is not far from here and the storm won't hold back Pangogo for long. We have to get out of here. ”, the young trainer explained and Taiko probably had no other choice. She sighed and climbed onto his back, the Scorbunny clinging on her shirt and holding onto her as the boy carried her away from the lake.

It really didn't take long, a maximum of 10 minutes, until the boy reached his tent and gently laid the young girl on his sleeping bag.

"Here we are. Uhm. What's your name anyway? ”The boy then asked with a smile.

"T-Taiko and what's your name?"

"Raihan. Are you a Gym Challenger too? " Raihan asked and saw how the Scorbunny had snuggled up with her and was sleeping. The redhead shook her head. “I'm not from here and I'm only 9 .. My parents and I are only here for vacation. I live in Johto. “, She then explained.

“Then why were you alone at Lake of outrage? It's not an approved campsite at all. On the contrary, it is strictly forbidden for travelers to enter here.“

"Uhm .. well .. I was curious because I was bored in the tent and .. then I somehow got lost ..", the redhead explained, embarrassed, and tugged on a strand of red hair. Raihan just looked at her before he laughed. This reaction offended Taiko now that she thought he was making fun of her situation.

"Hey, that's not funny, I was really scared!" She said with a pout and turned away with slightly flushed cheeks. Raihan wiped a tear of laughter from his face and grinned slightly before winking at her. "Sorry, I didn't laugh at you. Just .. I've done so much nonsense too. When I was 5, my father was camping here with me too and I saw a Trapinch and followed it to Lake of outrage too. My father had to save me from a wild Gyarados in the water. And I was just thinking that I was having a deja vu when I saved you, ”he admitted with a laugh.

Taiko blinked slightly.

"Uhm ..", she just wasn't quite sure what to say to that. "Thank you for the rescue ..", she said quietly, but still slightly offended, and turned her head away from him.

"You are welcome. But let's take care of your leg first. ", Raihan said and got a first aid kit from the corner of his stuff. Taiko lingered as quiet as a mouse, a rarity with her otherwise extroverted personality, when Raihan exposed the leg by lifting her pants up the affected leg and pulling down her socks to inspect the damage. “That looks bad. No wonder you can't walk. ", He said and took a rag that he moistened with a kind of disinfectant spray. "That could burn a bit now," he warned her.

The redhead bit her lip and squeaked softly as he placed the rag on the wound on her leg. Raihan smiled and praised her for how bravely she got through this action. She even had to laugh a little when he confessed that he had screamed like crazy when he was injured and his father wanted to treat him with the stuff too. She didn't know why, but somehow Taiko didn't feel so helpless anymore.

She watched spellbound as he expertly cleaned the wound and treated it with a bandage. "You don't seem to be doing this for the first time," she said then. Raihan blinked and then looked up at her as he kneeled in front of her to put his foot on his lap.

"Yeah. I have a clumsy best friend. His injury rate is pretty high when he's got lost. I don't even know how often I've been bandaged his falls and grazes. ", Raihan said thoughtfully and Taiko giggled. “Sounds like me. I am also at risk of injury. A miracle it was only the leg. ", She sighed. Raihan smiled and put her leg down again.

“You would certainly get along well. He exudes the same positive energy as you. ", Raihan said, whereupon Taiko went a little red in the face. However, she didn't know why. "I exude positive energy?" She asked.

"Sure, of course. You can see that just by how Scorbunny has taken you to its heart! I thought to myself that it wasn't yours when you said you were only 9 and not from here. So it's a wild Pokemon, but it behaves like you've been training it for years. ", The boy remarked, whereupon the girl's cheeks turned even darker. "Uhm .. I'll take that as a compliment .." she whispered, slightly embarrassed. "It was one." Raihan winked and was amused by the shy behavior of the girl. At the lake she had behaved differently. Then there was a short silence between the two of them until Raihan reached for his smartphone. For once, he wasn't interested in his social media activities. “Which campsite are you at? In the east or in the south? ”He asked.

"Uhm .. south?"

"All right." Raihan smiled and started dialing a number.

"Who are you calling?"

“Mr. Pascal. He is practically the lessor of the campsite. Your parents surely miss you. So I'll give him our coordinates so that someone can come and pick you up. Because I can't carry you the way to the campsite. ”At this comment the redhead blushed again and turned away slightly. “Your last name would still be helpful to find your parents more easily. "..Hirabayashi."

Raihan called and talked to Pascal for a few minutes until he had passed on all the informations. About the aggressiveness of the Pokemon at Lake of outrage, about the injured girl and also their whereabouts. Then he thanked him and hung up. “They can't send a rescue team out until tomorrow morning because they'd have problems finding us and transporting you. I told them that you can spend the night with me in the tent and that you are safe. ", Raihan said. "Uhm .. but you only have one sleeping bag." Taiko spoke. "But that doesn't matter .. I can sleep on the floor."

Raihan sighed.

“There is no way of letting a girl sleep on the floor. You sleep in my sleeping bag, I sleep on the floor. " He said.

"Never."

"Well, then we'll both sleep on the floor if you don't give in." Raihan shrugged his shoulders, whereupon Taiko rolled his eyes. "Then give in.", She said and shrugged her shoulders. Raihan grinned slightly and folded his arms behind his neck.

"Only if you sleep in my sleeping bag." Was the devious answer. "To what extent is that giving in for YOU?" Taiko asked now and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The two just looked at each other for a few moments before Raihan sighed in defeat. "Well, let's make a compromise.", He said, which made Taiko sit up and take notice. “It gets darn cold here at night anyway. If we cuddle up a little ... together, we can both sleep in the sleeping bag and the body heat prevents us from half-freezing to death. "

His suggestion made Taiko look shocked. He wasn't really serious, was it? She didn't know this boy at all. But now that he said it, it was actually quite fresh. "..."

"You can of course also become a living Vanillite if ​​you prefer that.", Raihan said and spread out the sleeping bag. "Okay, okay. It's only for one night. ", She gave in, whereupon Raihan had to laugh again.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The next morning, Taiko's parents and some of the wild area staff members went to the location of forest that Raihan had described for them. It wasn't long before they found the tent, which was guarded by a Duraludon. “This is Raihan’s tent. It has to be. " Pascal remaked, before Taikos parents ran to the tent. "Taiko ?!"

Taiko blinked, she was still half asleep when she yawned and snuggled into something warm. This warmth moved slightly, from which the redhead woke up. She wiped away the sleep on her eyes and then saw how she was snuggled up against Raihan, her legs tangled and his arms pressed her to his chest.

The girl quickly broke away from him and Raihan woke up too. "Woah?"

The redhead ignored him and let her mother hug her tightly.

"What kind of things are you doing?" Her mother scolded her. "I'm sorry .. really .." the girl apologized and was then pulled into a hug by her father. "Never do that again," he said then. "You're hurt, aren't you? I'll carry you back. ", He said then and wanted to pick her up. "Wait, dad ..!" Taiko stopped him and then turned to Raihan. She made a beckoning hand gesture that signaled him to come closer. "Thanks again for everything, Raihan. I hope to see you again. ", She smiled and hugged him goodbye. Raihan smiled and hugged back. “Well, if you ever want to visit Galar again, you are always welcome. Until then, I'm champion and you can visit me in my palace. ”He laughed. "The champion lives in a palace?" Taiko asked and her eyes widened greatly.

"I dunno, but definitely!", Raihan laughed then, whereupon Taiko had to laugh too. "Well, see you at some point, hopefully. And take care of yourself, you risk-of-injury. ", He said teasingly.

Taiko was then carried back to the campsite and was even allowed to keep Scorbunny.

And what should she say?

5 years later, she set foot in Galar again after her divorced mother wanted to start a new life over there and Taiko seized the opportunity and followed her to see the cute boy from back then again.

[el-therodactylus]

Howdy stranger! 1, 15, 27, 40, 41, 45, 54 (the answer is no but answer if u want anyways lol), 64, 82, and 97. You don't have to answer all of them ofc, just pick favorites I guess.

Oooh thank you so much for the ask, you picked the hard ones, that's so cool ! Sorry for my english, it's not my native language, but i'm tryin' !

1. Are you bothered by your cosmic insignificance ?

It tortured me for a while, I felt totally overwhelmed by it, but growing up I got used to it, and I realized that it’s not so unpleasant, to have no influence, no impact on something so immense. It’s actually quite reassuring ! And it’s good to know that with or without us, some things will not change.

We are all insignificant on one scale, all important on another ...

15. Do you think you’re special, or just another person amongst billions? Can you be both?

I like to think I’m special to the things and the people for who that matters. I’m special for my parents, for my plants, a little bit for me too I guess. But on a larger scale, I’m not that much ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It doesn't really matter, i've always feel better that way.

I guess we all can be both, once again, it’s just a question of scale. You can easily be special in your family, your friends circle, and being no one at a larger scale.

27. Are you afraid of growing old?

Yes, and No, and Yes again.

Yes, because, I’m not really in a stable situation, I’m just a student, who has no idea what to do with his life. Every day that passes is a day when I do not understand better what I will become ... It scares me.

No, because, this situation can only change if I grow old, and one day I will have a job, a home, a stable and reassuring context to live in.

And .. Yes again, because .. I am reassuring myself by thinking that things will be easier later, but ... I’ve been telling myself that for 23 years and life spends its time proving the opposite !

40. What makes a person ‘good’? Are you a ‘good person’?

Oh god, that's one is so hard. Can I still say it’s a question of scale ?

I think that no one is really good in the eyes of everyone. Being good at the eyes of certain person implied that you're not at the eyes of others ..

In my opinion, a good person is just someone who doesn't make others suffer. But it’s very summarized and a bit reductive ... I mean, you can act like a good person, and think like a dork (i don't know that much insults in english, I'm not even sure that it's one, hope it's not offensive, i really don't know xD) ; but does that matters if you keep your thought for you ? Sounds like the Paradox of tolerance…

And, on a certain way, that's just the definition of “Not being bad”, not really of “being good” …

I personally don't think I'm a good person, I’m white, european, I was raised with bias, that sort of thing. I’m kinda misanthrope btw, and if i’m truly doing my best to not being bad, I cannot consider that i’m good.

41. What fundamentally matters do you?

I’m not sure I’m understanding this one… It seems to be kinda vague or is it just me ?

Wow, I’m thinking, and I realize I don’t care about a lot of things.

I guess we're supposed to answer something like "My family" or "My friends" ?

If it's this kind of question, I’ll look like a monster, but like ... My stuff ? I give a lot of importance to some of my possessions, even insignificant ones, because all these things have, at least, a small symbolic in my eyes. Humans are cool, but that train ticket which brings back some memories, isn't it even cooler ?

If the question is more about the things we need to be happy like "Money", "Time to do what I love", I guess my answer is just... some calm ? A peaceful place, a time without too many anxiety sources.

45. Do you want to be remembered after your death? What for?

No, I don’t care at all. Let’s keep room in our minds for the things and the people who really matter, who have done something important.

(If I had to be remembered, I'd hope It would be for something truly dumb, "Darwin awards style" : "The guy that died muffled under 2548 plushies" sounds good.)

54. Can human really understand the complete nature of the universe, space and time?

You've said it : No. I truly wanted to develop but like .. There is nothing more to say, all of that is just too much, and every mystery just hides another one ...

64. How consistent is your perception of time?

Another one I’m not sure I understand, but my perception of time is a freaking chaos. Sometimes, it's just like there is no perception at all. Time is both something completely absurd and too impractical.

82. Are you a deep person?

I hope ! And I like to think that I am. But, isn't that kinda .. narcissist ? And, on another hand, Wouldn’t everyone be a little deep ? Humans are so complex, I only know a few people that are "simple" and they still are complex on a certain way.

By the way, compared to these people, I’m not so deep. In my actions, my way of thinking, I'm someone pretty logical and mathematical. Nothing really complicated. Knowing me, It's easy to guess what I'm thinking of something …

97. Are you overly analytical?

Ahaha. No. Not. At. All. *Ironic laughter* 🐸

I’ve always blamed it on autism, but yes, I’m over analyzing everything.

Sometimes, it's truly practical, being able to analyze a "complex" situation to make a decision is the best way to not make a mistake.

Sometimes, it goes to far. Reading ten times a message, like "Ok, see you tomorrow" because "Oh god there is no smiley, does they hate me ? But there is not punctuation, don't seem like they angry" etc …

And like, choosing what you're going to wear tomorrow is not supposed to take an hour, but you know .. It depends on the weather, on where you'll be, at which hour.. If I have a class in a computer room, it will be hot, but less if it's the morning or if it's north-facing ... And it's that for everything, every social interaction, every tiny decision. That’s not healthy, and I’m tired just talking about it x)

Oh gosh It was something to answer all this! Thanks again for these great questions. I feel like I’ve questioned things (including my ability to express myself in english) and that’s so satisfying. I want to think about all of that even more ! Tysm ♥

(It was missing something, so here is an happy doggo)

[alatismeni-theitsa]

1/ ? I love your anti LO tag and the recent post about how badly Demeter is portrayed dragged a foggy memory from my brain about an american book that went better at it ? ( I'm not to sure of the specifics as I have yet to find it and re-read it - I am spring cleaning at the moment ':-) ) But I distinclty remember some point that I wanted to mention in this book that plays fast and loose with the myth since Demeter comes off as nicer ? 3 books by Molly Ringle, I think ...

... it starts with Persephones Orchard and the ground rule is that the 'gods' are humans that can't die / have an infinite amount of rebirths ( gods don't die easily ) and have some non- human powers. The story flips between present day, in the US where reborn Persephone goes to uni, slowly remembers her past lives, falls in love with reborn Hades and finds out that there is a plot from humans who found out about them and now want their power, and the past ( greek myth) about how Hades and Persephone got to know each other.

Demeter and Persephone are close in modern day and in the past they were kinda too ? Like 1. Persephone had a health issue ( can't remember the specifics ) that made Demeter worry that she might be a normal human, and so she was worried that going into the underworld where Hades lived alone would have averse affects on her. She tries to set a 'good' marriage for Persephone to the nice human Adonis ( who is in love with Aphrodite ) and makes Hades stay away but after Hades and Persephone get married anyway she is kinda accepting - as in she helps her daughter move even if she grumbles about it.

Plus Demeters concern is treated as not a bad thing, Persephone ends up 'curing' herself by using the knowledge of the underworld plants she gained and even Hades has a wow moment bc of that. ( Plus Hades has Cerberus bc Persephone taught him about healing herbs that he used to help a stray which then became his dog ) In modern day he respects her wishes like he doesn't press her about eating the pomgranate again, helps her talk to Demeter after the evil group manages to kill her and Persephone even tells him off ? Like the 2 book starts with Persephone agreeing to eat the pomgranate but it turnes out the fruits where stolen which makes Hades act out in frustration and she calls him out on it, while being a grown up about her own disappointment?

Greek coffee gets mentioned as something Hades makes for her in the modern day as they talk.

So yeah your LO tag makes me think it's wild that 12 years old me picked up a myth-inspired book that is not that butchering compared to others? Like I remember about the greek coffee bc Persephone described it vague so I googled the living daylights out of it. Ofc Persephones Orchard has greeks with really curly hair but that seems to be a humidity issue, so it at least tries ? XD In related news I know 2 books with greek gods in the modern age with the US as the setting that makes sense?

It's comedy ' Zeus is dead' and it's sequel by Michael G. Munz. (Zeus gets better) But it's set mainly in the US in a way that is explainable by logic ? You see a group of gods were unhappy that Zeus forbid them from directly interacting with mortals and murderred him ( the plot is about Apollo trying to find out who did it and resurrecting Zeus ), and after the deed the gods make their presence known by sinking an island and having a tv interview on which they stress that they want to be

__________________________________________ [END OF ASK] Those stories sound so much better than LO! There might be some parts that didn’t come :(

[yuvon-writes-letters]

Paper Clip

(Huh. It seems like all the letters from Yuvon and from others so far have arranged themselves in order, all clipped together. You can see the first few sentences of each. How convenient.)

(...Now that you think about it, you’re not entirely sure how so many letters manage to fit in this paper clip. You put it down to entity antics.)

(You could read them all from the beginning. Or are you looking for a particular letter?)

(Or maybe you’re looking for the recap? :) )

To whoever reads this...

Yeah, that’s working. This is so weird.

Your formatting is fine, don’t worry.

Yes, the parallel universe theory!

“Efficiency” would be a good motivation

Honestly, the fever dream theory is sounding more and more likely.

Better than I’d feared, but worse than I’d hoped.

I'm more of an emoticon girl, anyhow.

Ah. Lovely. Symbols of death. Just the thing I want to see.

Well, today’s been more than a bit of a trainwreck.

It almost sounds as if you and I are in inverse situations.

If so, that’s actually pretty relieving, knowing it CAN mess up.

It’s hard to tell time, here.

Yep, we might be trapped in cosmic horror stories, but no one could ever say this is boring XD

I’m really glad to see someone else here with us :)

Your theory’s a pretty solid one, but obviously there’s no evidence of anything

Maybe I freaked out prematurely.

The reason I was worried about chess...

I’m still alone here, thankfully.

Even if I’m physically alone, I’ll be alright.

This all sounds like it could get dicey fast.

Apparently, I’m not the only person who can lie.

I’ll try to hide as little as I can from now on.

Has the MWAF sent you another message?

Everything’s complicated and this is time-sensitive.

Here’s the first letter Lis sent.

I’ll take a risk and speak mostly plainly.

I think anyone concerned about Lis should see this.

That’s the most I can do right now.

Like hell this is the end.

Even for us, this is kind of insane.

Wow, your entity is pretty straightforward.

Seems like we’re actually pretty similar.

This has all grown so insane, I sort of wondered when it’d start getting to us.

Everything comes down to time, doesn’t it?

It didn’t work. What a shock.

I FUCKED UP

We have our Jakes.

Wasn’t exactly my finest moment, I’ll admit.

He’s sort of hypervigilant, I’ve noticed.

“A result you’ll like” seems to use a fairly vague definition of “like.”

The Crow Crew drama is fading a bit.

I sort of thought they were finished until we massively fuck up again.

I am very sorry for your loss.

We now have an issue.

I don’t think there’s exactly a way to avoid being rude in a situation like this.

I spoke to her about her false assumption.

That misunderstanding could’ve snowballed into something bigger.

Let’s review the evidence you’ve told me so far.

I have no plan I have no plan I have no plan I have no plan I have no plan I have no plan I have no plan

You’ll make it, I know you will.

Your defiance was amusing, sweetling.

I do not know if this letter will ever reach anyone. (Proceed with caution.)

I do not blame you.

She will recover.

It is admittedly difficult to remain calm.

When you are living a cosmic horror story, four days is quite a long time, it seems.

That is enough for now.

I dont know what her relationship with Lilly is like in your world.

Hello, all.

I don’t seem cold blooded anymore.

It’s been sorta quiet.

There’s absolutely a point to it.

It’s been awhile since she wrote.

As I am sure many of you know, I am occasionally slightly overzealous when it comes to withholding information.

I feel like I’m on a soap opera or something.

Thanks for the luck, I’ll need it.

They must’ve talked about this offline, too.

I see you.

RAI WHAT?!

Those of you who have received the letter...

Recap

You don’t command me.

Well, welcome to Duskwood Detectives Inc., then :)

Yeah... that sounds like Rai XD

That’s got to be the third person, at least.

It seems to like doing that.

I’m glad Rai seems to be doing well. / The screenshots

Are you... alright?

Yuvon is sleeping in right now.

If you show any signs of hostility...

How? She’s asleep.

I would attempt an ounce of skepticism, but in all honesty it’s probably not any odder than this entire situation.

That is an interesting description, yes.

I bought a little time.

I live! Good morning :)

Please don’t give Yuvon ideas.

Jake caught me up on the basics of what happened.

I don’t like not knowing things.

My lines are going a little crazy right now.

I’m not going to make excuses for myself.

As I said before: commence the yelling.

No, no, you’re right.

Agreed. I think.

At least she woke up.

Sincerely, Jake

I’m sorry.

I don’t even know how many Detectives are getting these letters. / No, you definitely didn’t phrase it that way earlier.

Am I human?

That is indeed unfortunate.

Damnit, Black Ink has zero sense of privacy.

In my defense, it’s early in the morning and there’s no coffee here.

I’ll say what I remember.

You are quite the jokester, aren’t you?

I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Why anyone would wish to speak to that thing is beyond me.

Hi, welcome back.

I am unclear if reading up on the backlog would be of use to you, under your circumstances.

GET SOME SLEEP.

Asking if you’re alright would be incredibly stupid.

Lovecraft wasn’t big on happy endings.

Hooray. Cue the music and canned applause.

How do you really define innocence?

That is pretty unnerving.

That doesn’t seem too likely.

Okay, then...

Ow.

She’s not too talkative.

Your entity just wrote a letter doing that whole evil gloating thing.

And my proof is what again?

This is no one’s fault but that entity. (Proceed with caution.)

As you may have gathered by my previous letter...

Thank you.

There is little use dwelling on what-ifs.

Jake is... taking a break.

I truly cannot comprehend your purpose in this.

That is unfortunate.

That’s an interesting theory.

I would presume that your diary somehow stood out.

Neither of us are sure how Yuvon did it.

Whatever shall we do.

I’ve got an iffy track record on nicknames.

Nothing is even vaguely legible of the first letter from Jake in this chain...

For fuck’s sake, I start looking though old letters for like five minutes and shit starts going down.

First things first, this is Yuvon.

I can get like that sometimes too.

You should know...

I’m trying not to fall asleep right now, but… losing battle.

Yuvon will wake soon.

I’m back to normal!

Many answered, some didn’t.

Don’t worry over the logistics.

Hiya. I’m Yuvon, yes.

It was for privacy first, but then it stuck.

I figured I should make that clear just in case.

But it doesn’t seem to work all the time.

I remember your friend mentioning you.

I appreciate your sentiment.

You’ll fit right in.

That Well, that’s something, at least.

The reason I’m asking...

IF YOU TRY THAT AGAIN, I’LL MAKE YOU ALL WISH I’D STUCK TO LETTERS AND BUGS.

You have pretty interesting timing. / I feel like you might not have... / Sorry.

Whaddya got for me.

I don’t know anymore.

I think we might be in trouble.

I’m still getting letters.

Part One

Something else has broken.

Part Two

The letter has been acknowledged.

What a coincidence.

I should explain what I can.

Tell me or suffer. / I’m losing patience.

You’ve all been pretty quiet recently.

I managed to split without going insane.

She’s, shall we say, busy at the moment.

Here I am, writing on her behalf again.

Thanks for the clarification.

H__lo?

Shh.

How DARE you?

I’m sure you all saw that.

Hello.

Why?

Why aren’t we...?

Something’s seriously wrong.

I’m fine :)

Sorry for disappearing.

This may be a long letter.

It’s literally been months.

Is that you?

Yeah, I’m reading this.

Is this working?

Chaotic angsty bullshit is our bread and butter :)

I’m glad your boredom cleared up, at least!

Sorry for freaking out.

My phone is dead.

I’m shocked I’m keeping it together as well as I have so far.

Things happen. People change.

The transcription. I recommend you read this one.

I... wow. Thank you? You’re welcome?

Oh, great, you again.

Damn, I was afraid of that.

I wish I could :(

Hello.

Well... / ...Okay.

Did you miss me?

Not again.

I’m not mad. You meant well.

Where am I?

I only just saw the letter.

I’m... conflicted.

I didn’t send that letter.

j̴͕́1̶̻̕q̷̤̒h̶͍̓a̷͉̿4̴̻̀m̵̘̽o̸̜̿f̶͔͝g̸̜̍y̶͓̓u̶̼̒2̷̤̓t̶͔̾8̶̳̊f̶̼͒

Apologies.

Were you just trying to talk to me over the link?

Well, when is there ever good news? XD

Not your fault.

What the hell, Domino?

(Mild TW for described gore.)

Troublemaker here. We’ve got issues.

Another transcript.

Oh, aren’t you adorable.

Bitch.

Say hi to the camera, Yu! (Proceed with some caution.)

Get this to Walker or use it yourself.

Carry a bag of baking soda with you.

Innocence and survival are antonyms.

Shit I need to figure out

Is there any news on how Yu is doing?

I’m okay.

As of today, sweetlings...

A whole year has already gone, dear Inky?

Let me tell you a little story. (Rennie)

Let me tell you a little story. (Dream)

Oh, Genesis, dear, I think you might have dropped something.

Let me tell you a little story. (Inky)

Strings on strings on strings.

What just happened

I’m awake. Again.

I’ve admittedly fallen behind on the letters a bit.

Hi, there.

Hello? Is this working?

[eternalstarrlight]

The longer version of what Marinette should’ve said in response to choosing ice cream for herself, Adrien, and Kagami in the S3 Finale. (The shorter version can be found in my previous post Mari’s Ice Cream Decision.)

Hmmm... as for a name... I’ll think I’ll call this little re-imagining Banana Noir! XD

                                          ______________________

“I’ll take chocolate!” Marinette’s eyes widen at the answer that just flew out of her mouth. 

Her head immediately turns to see Adrien and Kagami silently staring at her, probably in wonder of why she hadn’t simply chose one of Andre’s suggestions.

Her feet shuffle nervously, eyes darting between her friends’ two faces. Not sure how to continue, she leans back on her heels, hands awkwardly meeting behind her back. She bites her lip, “Uh... You guys can get whatever you want.” 

Not waiting for their response, she turns away to see Andre scooping a large portion of chocolate ice cream for her. Without thinking, she blurts, “Could I also get some banana slices on that? With extra chocolate drizzled on top?”

Andre’s boisterous reply comes quickly, singing its way across the bridge, “Of course, Mari~nette!”

Shortly after, she’s handed an ice cream that’s fulfilled her request to perfection. “Wow,” she breaths, beaming with admiration at the creation she’s holding. “Thank you! I can’t wait to eat it!”

She looks back to her friends, who are still standing to her right. “Um,” she starts, a small questioning smile tracing her lips, “I’ll meet you guys by the water?”

Kagami nods in affirmation, “We’ll be along shortly.” She then departs, taking initiative to approach the cart and peer at its contents.

Adrien’s emerald gaze burns into Marinette’s as he matches her smile, “Yeah, we’ll be right down, Marinette.” He gravitates toward the cart, his eyes flitting from flavor to flavor. One arm stretches up awkwardly behind his head as he pauses to give a short laugh, “There are so many options, I don’t know where to start.”

A besotted grin quirks her lips at the sight of him; windblown and bathed in sunlight. Ahh... He’s so handsome... and tall… Has he gotten taller? 

Momentarily lost in her thoughts, she stays there a few seconds more assessing his form.

That’s when her mind takes the opportunity to remind her of another boy she knows, one with messy blond locks, piercing green eyes, and a quick wit. One who never fails to bring a smile to her lips whenever they’re together. 

She sighs. Yeah, he’s purrfe—

Her inner monologue reaches a screeching halt as she catches herself mid-thought. Nope, no way! Now is not the time to be thinking about him! She gives her head a small shake to stop that train in its tracks. 

However, it doesn’t stop reality from crashing into her as she realizes she’s still staring at Adrien like an absentminded idiot. Gah! Move, Mari, move!

Spinning around, she hurriedly descends the awaiting stairs of the bridge to plop down at the edge of the ravine. It’s so peaceful; she takes a moment to close her eyes and enjoy it. Underneath her feet, the river rushes noisily, drowning out the rest of her disgruntled thoughts. She breathes in the silence, contentment washing through her. A gentle breeze playfully tugs at her hair, throwing a few loose strands into her face. A giggle erupts from her as one tickles her nose.

When her eyes re-open, they immediately land on the forgotten dessert she’s holding. Excitement fills her as she grabs the miniature spoon to take a bite of her treat. A hum of satisfaction escapes her as the perfect blend of chocolate and banana melt on her tongue.

“That good?” A teasing voice interrupts from nowhere.

Her head jerks up in enough time to see Adrien taking a seat beside her. A blush sweeps over her cheeks. “Y-Yeah,” she mumbles, embarrassed.

“So, what made you choose that flavor combo, Mari?” He asks as he continues to settle down, his legs swinging over the side of the concrete to mimic her pose.

She blinks owlishly, glancing from the ice cream in her hands to the golden-haired boy next to her, “Oh, I don’t know…” Her hands unconsciously tighten around the cup in her palms, “No particular reason… It just sounded good to me, I guess.”

“Oh?” He says with a small smile and a slight raise of his eyebrows, “I never took you to be a banana and chocolate kind of girl.”

“Yeah,” she awkwardly laughs, “me either. But you know,” she says, squinting at the ice cream in consideration, “it actually tastes really good.” She proceeds to take another bite before continuing, “In fact, I think it’s good enough to deserve a name!”

Adrien lets out a low chuckle, “Really?”

“Truly!” She says earnestly, licking some runaway chocolate form her lower lip.

“Well then,” he leans forward, elbows touching his knees as an eyebrow arches conspiratorially, “let’s hear it.”

Marinette grins at the thought of how her partner would laugh if he heard this, “Banana Noir!” An ironic snort of laughter spills from her lips as she continues, “An unlikely pairing, but it’s purr-fect!” 

Yes, she decided, Chat definitely embodied this unique mix; especially after the other night he showed up in a banana suit!

Still chortling at the thought of her kitty, she glances over at Adrien, expecting to see amusement on his face. But what she saw there was quite the opposite. He seemed to be completely frozen. His eyes were huge, his mouth agape, he didn’t even appear to be breathing. 

Marinette’s eyebrows drew together in concern, “A-Adrien...” She whispers softly, her cobalt gaze clouding with worry as she intently searches his face, “Are you alright?”

Despite the whirling in his head, he tries to inhale to form a response, but he must’ve not done it right because as soon as he attempted to take a gulp of air he started to choke. Bad enough to where his own ice cream almost falls into the foggy waters of the river below.

A gasp parts her lips as a hand automatically flies up to his pat his back in hopes of helping his hacking cease.

When the wheezing in his lungs subsides, he sucks in a much-needed deep breath before trying to reassure her, “F-Fine. I’m fine.” He vaguely wonders if he’s muttering that more to himself than to her.

He then notices how Marinette’s comforting pats transform into soothing circles against his back and he swallows. He had to ask her. Out of all the names why--

Mouth dry and body tense at the possible answer, he rasps lightheartedly as possible, “Why that name?” 

Surprise flickers across her face as her hand stills, probably because she didn’t expect him to keep talking about her invented ice cream name when he almost suffocated from his own inability to breath like a normal human being. 

He sighs internally, she must think he’s so weird.

He continues to gaze at her inquisitively, lush green eyes locked with endless blue depths. It stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity, before she lets her hand fall and glances away, breaking the strange current that had been connecting them.

She allows one shoulder to rise and fall in a delicate shrug, before her sapphire gaze locates and settles on the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

A tiny smirk plays at the corners of her mouth, “It’s kind of a joke between a friend and myself; so the opportunity was just too ap-peel-ing to pass up.” Her eyes sparkle with mischief as they briefly collide with his before returning to the monument filling up the sky.

Struck speechless once again, all Adrien can do is sit there and stare at her as she snickers in response to some unvoiced musing and takes another bite of ‘Banana Noir.’

                                        ______________________ 

Kagami walks over to them a few minutes later--having finally chosen her desired ice cream flavors--for some reason Adrien is flushed bright red and Marinette is grinning ear-to-ear...

[britishchick09]

1984 livewatch

the time has finally come to watch the full movie! it’ll be sad, it’ll be disturbing, it’ll possibly be cringy, but it’ll be a lot of fun! :D

we start out with the mgm lion! noice ;)

epic quote B)

wait why is opera music playing i thought we’d start at the 2 minutes hate

OMG what if they’re gonna hate on opera

this looks like a drive-in movie tbh

narrator: “this is a land of peace and hope, a land of plenty...” OH SHUT UP YOU

they’re showing wheat like it’s little house on the prairie BOI YOU’RE IN LONDON

this is epic propaganda B)

what if the war footage was taken from ww2 and thus... isn’t real :o

HOLD UP is the eurasian war racist?

THE QUEEN HAS ENTERED THE CHAT

WHAT ARE THEY ALL SHOUTING I CAN’T HEAR WHAT THE FDR GUY IS SAYING SHUT UPPPPP

oh no it be u (his face is like ‘WHAT IS GOING ON’ and it’s very lol)

julia’s so into this! :o

o’brien’s like ‘ohhh!!!’

look who decided to SHOW UP FINALLY

he pauses a bit before reluctantly joining in yas ♥

OMG THIS IS LIKE A SCHOOL ASSEMBLY STOP TALKING GEEZ

good they stopped!

WOWWW DON’T EVEN LIST SUZANNA HAMILTON’S NAME WITH THE OTHERS GIVE HER A ‘WITH’ CREDIT WOWWWWW

this IS a school assembly they’re going back to work!

winston in glasses *chef’s kiss*

ooh a rotary dial! great use of tech from when the book was written :D

winston’s looking over at syme WITH SO MUCH JEALOUSY lol

what if the words they speak are just random stuff with no meaning

OMG confession!!!!!

poor winnie with his cough :(

this confession sounds JUST LIKE WINSTON’S OMG!!!!

winston: “bugger!” he’s a brit lol :D

epic B)

OMG this guy read goldstein’s book SO DID WINSTON!!!!

i love how the diary is in a brick hole that’s so cool :D

the diary scene was filmed on april 4th just like in the movie so that’s way rad man :D

i want you valley!!! :D

ooh they’re put a smol scene of his childhood in there coolio! :D

he  s l e e p

this violin squeak tho :o

OMG THIS IS THE STANDING UP SCHOOL SCENE

it’s not but i can easily imagine it lol :D

he’s a stick omg ;o

when the lady talks to him you know it’s not a recording ;)

lady: “anyone under 45 is perfectly capable of touching his toes” BOI

oh no PARSONS

parsons: “choco rations are going up” c h o c o

parsons: “i seem to have run out of razor blades for some reason’ yeah,,, for some reason... ;)

this is so a cafeteria scene at school

THEY SAW EACH OTHER OMG

♫ i suddenly see him standing there, a beautiful stranger tall and fair, i wanna stuff this weird food in my faaaace! ♫ :D

me: “this is so romantic!” winston’s thoughts: “lemme smash HER WITH A ROCK”

wait did the lady say pineapple grenade???

HIS FACE LOOOL

syme rip boi

the 11th edition isn’t thicc :/

aww winston’s smol nod ♥

parsons: “by 2050 we won’t have conversations like this!” yeah because of screens lol

OMG the food looks and taste like meat but isn’t IT’S PLANT BASED MEAT!!!! :o

parsons just pulled a ‘hey need help with that?’ and put winston’s food on his plate EPIC

julia’s lookin’ at u ;)

YAS PROLES HOPE!!! :D

oh no DON’T TALK ABOUT THE 50 YEAR OLD WOMAN SEX WINSTON

OH NOOOOOOO

he liked the ‘bright red lips’ yet...

THIS CHICK’S LIPS AREN’T BRIGHT BOI

poor baby desperate for money :(

let’s GET THIS BEAT

hand on cheek = doublepluscute ^_^

epic foreshadowing B)

OMG CHESTNUT TREE POEM FORESHADOWINNNGGGGGG

OMG a couple is making out in the bar EPIC

winston’s just like ‘nnope’

OMG THE THOUGHT POLICE WERE FOLLOWING????

he’s at an antique store in prescott bless his heart ♥

mr. charrington sounds so kind WHYYYY

THE BIRTH OF A QUEEN ♥

mr. charrington says ‘4 dollars’ but they’re in london??

YAS BELLS OF ST. CLEMENS!!!! :D

winston: “what was that?” mr. charrington: “something old.” no DUH

they see each other againnn!!!!! :D

winston writes that he hates her SAME WITH A LOOK LIKE THAT

OMG SMOL WINNIE BIG O’BRIEN????? :o

his mom is lying dead in the field like the erza kid in ‘kirsten’s promise’ :(

he’s just... staring

OMG SPYING ON THE SPICY STARING ACTION :o

she PLONKED

that ‘ow!’ was so fake jules!

this is like anna and hans but not as bad underneath!

julia: “it’s nothing!” but this is turning out to be something... ;)

we’re half an hour in and wowza it’s gone by so fast! :D

winston: *gets a cute love note from julia* YEET!

THE HELICOPTER IS BACC!!!!! they’re really not making the spying subtle

OMG THIS IS THE THOUGHT CRIMINAL SCENE YAAAAS!!!!! :D

winston is the best plummer confirmed

kid: “you’re a thought criminal!” winston: *gives a slight ‘wha’ face and smiles* ICONIC

:)

the crowd is clapping and cheering over the war yet winston’s not doing anything SAME

jules is just scooching by lol

HAND HOLDING WHILE PASSING A NOTE OMG ♥♥

the sky does exist! :o

the telescreen has some great music :D

winston’s joining the ‘big man’s hiking group’ suure you are... ;)

the train is going to the beat of the kids’ singing coolio! :D

big brother is called ‘bb’ yas bby!

YEEES THE I WANT YOU VALLEY SCEENE!!!!!

the lq audio made the twig crack and the leave brushing really weird lol

winston: “i want you.” I-CON-IC!!!! :D

THAT SMIRK THO

winston: “i want everyone corrupt.” julia: “i’ll suit you, then. i’m corrupt to the core.” *mal screech*

OH NONONONOONO SHE GONNA TAKE HER TOP OFF BI PANIC BI PANICCC!!!!!

she really went commando huh

ALL THE WAY

the sex looks like it hurts NO WAY MAN NOT FOR ME NNNNOPE

i’m glad it was only a part you couldn’t really see and not a full on thing I DON’T NEED THAT

awww she’s so peaceful after big naughty :)

this is vaguely gay...

aww winston’s hair ruffling in the wind ♥

c r o n c h

also did he just cronch into a potato???

OMG THIS IS JUST LIKE SCHOOL

teacher: “when the orgasm is finally eradicated...” totally julia: “NOT ON MY WATCH”

winston is the kid who smokes in glass while julia is the one kid who Just Doesn’t Care lol :D

thoughtcrime THIS IS THOTCRIME

wow syme is still alive?

julia: “you dropped your ink pencil” you mean pen?

winnie’s back in prescott! :D

the room is 4 bucks a night noice B)

BACC TO THE H8 BBY

the modern say 2 minutes hate is probably just a livestream with kids texting ‘h8 xd’ in the chat lol :D

winston’s thoughts: “she who is so careful...” boi she threw a dictionary at the telescreen in the book THAT’S SO NOT CAREFUL

hey girl CUTE LQ SMILE YOU HAVE THERE!!! :D

YAS THE REAL COFFEE SCENE!!!!! :D

she has so many smiles YAS!!!!

she’s so eager with showing him I LOVE YOU SO MUCH JULES ♥♥♥

she says ‘real sugar, real bread’ and... jam

winston: “how did you manage to get all this?” jules has her ways... ;)

winston: “i want you” julia: “i want you too” YAS :D ♥♥

the thiccc singer is here!! :D

she’s so pretty! ♥

aww the stroke ♥

his hands are shaking as he touches her :(

winston: “freedom is the freedom to say two plus two equals four. if that is granted, all else follows” iconic!

YAS THE PAPER!!! :D

it be gin time ;)

he scratches the face off the gin bottle woah :o

I JUST REALIZED THAT THIS IS O’BRIEN :o

winston’s little ‘yes!’ at getting the 10th newspeak dictionary ♥

that’s a look of longing my friends! :o

winston: “the call has come. all my life i’ve been waiting for it...” and now he’ll go into the unknown... ;)

AAND we cut to naked julia eating an apple! slight bi panic

she’s touching the paperweight queen love it ♥

SHE KNOWS THE CLEMENS YAS!!! :D

julia: “i just know it!” BOI YOUR G-PA HELPED OUT

winston: “the only thing to do is to walk out of here before it’s too late” thus my ‘julia lives’ au comes in! :D

winston: “never seen one another again” ...oh he was talking about that NOT IN MY AU SON

julia: “you do, i do.” omg marriage :o

YAAAS JULSTON KISS!!!!!!! :D

fluffy! ♥

julia: “i love you.” awww :)

winston: “julia. do you think the resistance is real?” julia: “none of it’s real.” STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER!

♥

OMFG THERE WAS AN EXPLOSION :o

work is scrambling like eggs!

poor headache bby! :(

epic B)

winston’s dreaming of his bishy selfish chocolate mom adventure!

the rats were there when his mom and sister were vaporized! :o

she’s in the dress! ♥

they’re talking about betrayal and julia’s like ‘they can’t do that!” OH BOI BUT THEY CAN!!!!

julia: “they can’t get to your heart” aww :)

awkward...

winston sees o’brien WITHOUT JULIA THE F????

this feels like the principal’s office lol :D

o’brien’s voice is so deep and british ♥

the way he clutches the newspeak dictionary is so cute! :D

aww he’s stroking the pages as he reads :)

the oceania anthem sounds russian :o

YAAAAAAAASSSS!!!!!!! :D

so soft ♥♥

winston: “julia, my love.” MY LOVE MY LOVE AHHH!!!! :D

YEES THE COFFEE SMILEEE!!!!! :D

she’s hungry... she wants coffee... who’s gonna tell her coffee isn’t food?

omg i saw winston butt :o

:)

winston: “she’s beautiful.” julia: “she’s a meter around the hips easily” winston: “that’s her standard of beauty.” YAAAS!!! :D

winston: “the future is ours.” YAS

OH CRAP THEY SAID ‘WE ARE THE DEAD’ NOOOO

mr. charington is loud compared to how i thought in the book

his ‘you are the dead’ should’ve been quieter like winston and julia’s then he could be loud!

FBI OPEN UP!!!!!

charrington: “here comes a candle to guide you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head!” OHHHH NICE ONE MR C!!!!!! :D

RIP TO A QUEEN :’(

i should be a bit more heartbroken BUT THAT MR C RHYME MAN

OMFG THEY JUST BEAT UP JULES

SHE’S IN SO MUCH PAIN NOOOO :’(

why does he look old

awww :(

delete the drunk old lady BUT GIVE US PARSONS SUUURE

i dread the scene to come...

parsons didn’t say that he said ‘down with big brother’ so that’s a bummer :/

aww poor parsons he’s crying! :(

oh SNAP room 101!!!! :o

poor parsons but at least that scene wasn’t a thing!

OUCH THAT SMACC LOOKED LIKE IT HURT

is this leading into the bloody mouth scene? I STILL NEED TO KNOW WHAT THAT IS

winston doesn’t know where he is IT’S THE I WANT YOU VALLEY!!!

hold up this is just a vision ok BUT WHERE’S THE BLOODY MOUTH SCENE

frankenstein and spirit halloween called!

also o’brien flipped the switch without warning BISH

o’brien: “you suffer from a defective memory” and you suffer from a BISH MEMORY SIR

remember winston it’s all in the mind... ;)

WHY DID O’BRIEN SHOCK  WINSTON HE SAID FIVE

'how many fingers’ is a trick question because winston sees four YET WE SEE FIVE OHHH

mother gothel vibes...

awww winston’s little scared squeak :(

winston: “i don’t know... i don’t know!” SAY FIVE WINSTON SAY FIVEEEEE

o’brien’s voice is so calming yet it spouts evil words...

julia immediately betrayed winston BECAUSE SHE HAD A ROSEMARY KENNEDY yet she’s somehow still alive without damage by the end???

ooh a new shot! :D

they just faded to black and showed a new angle which is a bit weird...

o’brien: “you’re thinking that my face is old and tired...” because it belongs to poor richard burton!

o’brien just yoinked winston’s tooth out tho :o

mother gothel strikes again!

winston to o’brien: “i love you.” you don’t say that back to jules YET YOU SAY IT TO O’BRIEN BOIIIII

o’brien: “you’re one of us. one of the chosen.” one of us gooble gobble! also ANAKIN IS THAT YOU????

winston just said ‘i love you’ oMG OMG OM WAIT WWAIIITIT

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

seconds after she says ‘i love you too’ SHE’S FREAKING SHOT DAAANG NO PUNCHES PULLED BACK!!!!!

aww he called her ‘my love’ even in a dream

so that was the infamous bloody mouth scene and it was quicker than i thought it would be? at least i have a bright julia smile! ♥

OMG winston’s calling for her yet it sounds so weird WHYYY

he’s much improved!

they’re skyping lol

after all he’s been through he still hates bb! :o

ROOM 101 :o

room 101 is a personalized experience just for you! :D

also IT’S A DREAM MIRROR

omg the rats are GOING AT EACH OTHER GEEZ

winston’s squeak at the rats no!!! :(

‘do it to julia’ sounds a bit selfish but it’s the betrayal we’ve been waiting for!

...NOT

uh oh here comes the awkward reunion...

they should’ve said “...sup.” to each other

the bartender saying “on the house!’ tiredly each time is great :D

winston: “thank you for coming.” julia in her thoughts: “yeah whateves bro.” :/

at least they can still bond over something :)

jules gin time ;)

they ratted out on each other true love???

julia: “we must meet again.” winston: “yes, we must meet again.” ...they never met again

but if they did it would be a bro time!

winston: “i have seduced party members of both sexes” BI NANI???? :o

since his crimes are like the guy’s from earlier... what if he didn’t do them and was convinced that he did? :o

in the book he says i love you to bb, but here he turns away and says it... what if he still loves julia? :o

and with that question, the movie has come to a close! it’s a fantastic little film that closely follows the book. while i would’ve liked to see julia with winston at o’brien’s and the drunk jail lady, the cutting of the gross parsons scene, the addtion of the bloody mouth scene and the possibly hopeful ending make up for it. overall, this is an amazing adaptation of such a great book! :D

[claramurphyqueenoffandoms]

Well, I had a weird dream last night. At least, I think it was all a dream. Parts of it might have been me imagining it while I was half-asleep, I don’t know.

So, it starts out, Milo is in a coma. He was on an adventure with Cavendish and Dakota, but Murphy’s Law happened. Some alien generator or a portal exploded or something, and he got hurt, like way worse than usual. Now he won’t wake up. The doctors called Milo’s family, and Cavendish and Dakota are there waiting for them. They feel just awful because they let him get hurt (though it wasn’t actually their fault) and Cavendish takes out this pocketwatch. I think he was gonna give it to Milo as a birthday present, but now he can’t. But he gives it to Dakota, who loops it around and puts it on Milo like a necklace. I could see them saying something like ‘please, kid, come back.’

 But this whole time Milo’s asleep or in a coma, he’s aware of what’s going on except he can’t hear them. I couldn’t hear them either (but the dreamers get special privileges like knowing what’s being said without hearing it, I guess). All he can hear are these weird ethereal singing voices that keep glitching in and out. Suddenly, the whole world kind of glitches, and he wakes up, and he and his hospital bed are in this weird room with these four other people.

 …Okay, this might be a good time to tell you, this dream was basically VoicePlay’s “Queen in 5 Minutes,” but with all Disney XD characters. (I think it was because I’d been watching the video on loop basically all afternoon, including right before I went to bed. Because that video is seriously awesome.)

 So these four other DXD characters are the gods of Death in this multiverse.

-         Varian was Layne/Guardian, and he was wearing this grey furry vest and carrying a sword. But as soon as I saw him, I thought, he’s got Cass’s sword and Quirin’s vest. So that was super cool.

-         Stan Pines was Eli/Yama Nirvana, and his 8-ball cane was gold.

-         Scrooge McDuck was Geoff/Baron, and he was wearing his normal clothes, except the collar was red and the rest was black.

-         Wander was J. None/Anubis. He was wearing this jacket with the star from his hat all over it.

Also, they all had the face paint on them. It was probably not very much like the video, it was kind of vague, but they did all have some kind of face paint designs.

 Okay, so they’re the gods of death in the DXD multiverse. All of them died at one point or another (and most of their shows died too), so they were given the choice to either pass on or become gods of death. Scrooge was a little different, because his show wasn’t dead, but I think what it was was kind of like the Doctor, but also kind of like that Greek myth about Persophone, where every time something happens that kills him, he goes and has to do a shift as a god of death, then comes back. I just kinda knew that was the case, though, I don’t think they said it. I kinda want to figure out how on earth he got into a situation like that. (Now that I think about it, though, that’d probably be why there are so many hiatuses.) But the whole point is, when Milo went into his coma, they saw he was gonna die, and so they shifted reality to bring him into this special inbetween room. If he gives in here, he gets to be a god of death with them (basically forever).

So they all got introduced to Milo, by their names appearing beside their heads like in the video. Which Milo could apparently read. And after they’re all introduced, Wander just dances over to Milo and yanks his heart out, singing cheerfully. Man, he don’t care. He takes the scales out of his hat to weigh it. Once he’s done, he puts it all back in his hat, and throws that off to the side. Then Milo falls out of his bed, and in this he knows they’re all from cartoons and stuff, and he’s like, I think my writers are forgetting about me, so that’s why I’ve been so weak ever since I got back (from Octalia I guess?) So he’s actually getting scared, because he doesn’t have his backpack, he’s not being backed by his writers, and he’s not strong enough to fight back on his own, and he’s all alone. His friends won’t find him here.

 And he was imagining them wandering through this weird mystical dimension hospital—Zack, Melissa, Cavendish, and Dakota—sneaking around, trying to find him without getting caught. They kept avoiding the other people in the hospital. I’m not sure what qualified as a patient and what qualified as a doctor or nurse or something, but they had to avoid them both. They kept almost running into Bill Cipher as a human, which was something they had to avoid or something very bad would happen to them. They met Baby Cavenpus, I think. And Richard Maxwell. Which didn’t quite make sense, because he’s not from a DXD show? But whatever. They also kept seeing these five shadowy figures down at the end of hallways, and I kept thinking they were like the ghosts of VoicePlay or something. But the MML group met some of the patients in the hospital, which were… let me think, I seem to remember Ford, and Quirin, and… dang it, what was the purple horse’s name? … yeah, I don’t remember. Maybe it’ll come to me later. But anyway, they were all patients, and trying to escape, and find their friends/family (I guess not knowing they were now gods of death). So they teamed up with the MML gang to find their friends. But they passed right by where Milo’s room was, because it didn’t have a door, or maybe it was invisible.

 Then it went back to Milo. He thought they were actually passing by his room, or thought he saw them, and he yelled for them, but they didn’t hear him. And he wonders why they couldn’t find him. Then Scrooge puts his cane under Milo’s chin like in the video and says this isn’t a plane of reality people can just find. Milo is actually scared now, too scared to move. Where did I go wrong, he wonders? Scrooge lifts his cane and makes him stand, and he tells him he’s done nothing wrong, it’s not about that. No, it’s not exactly fair, but neither is life. And he takes his cane back and starts singing the part from the song. The other three are just glaring at him the whole time, partly because he’s the only one who’s still technically alive. But he slams his cane into the floor and makes Milo fall back onto the bed, and he sings the part about bad mistakes, and “I-I-I-I’ve made a fe-e-ew.” He didn’t even sound like Geoff, he literally sounded like Scrooge McDuck singing. The others are rolling their eyes, like, yeah, a few. But he’s ignoring them, and says he’s had to deal with all that, but he came through in the end. And the others are singing the background parts about “He could go on and on and on…”

 He does this evil laugh (well, maybe not evil, but you know what I mean) and he looked like he was about to continue, but then Stan and Wander and Varian start singing “We Are the Champions” all together, and Scrooge just gives them a death glare like, you wicked warblers, ye stole mah part. But they’re totally ignoring him, except for Stan, who’s just flaunting it. And Milo’s here in the middle of it, watching this whole rivalry thing play out. Wander and Varian are ignoring all that, though, just singing at the top of their lungs, and Wander dancing around, and being so friendly to Varian and getting him to have fun and dance around with him, and they seriously looked like they were having a super fun time, those two. #cinnamonrolls  I think they’re trying to get Milo to dance and sing too, and he almost looked like he wanted to, but he held back. But while Wander and Varian are completely ignoring the rivalry of the other two, Stan sings right in Scrooge’s face, and Scrooge does the thing in Stan’s eye like “No time for losers,” and Stan starts to get mad.

 So then he starts yelling at Scrooge, and everyone else shuts up to watch. I’m not entirely sure how this whole part went, but it was a lot about the rivalry. I think it might have played twice in the dream. The first time he was getting mad specifically at Scrooge, because they were partners(-in-crime) and worked together to make money, but Scrooge went on and did his own thing, got rich and successful and all. Oh, wow, just like his brother. But yeah, he was mad about it, and he’s like, yeah, you happy about that? Then… you know, I think it did play twice. The second time, he was just talking about his life in general. And Stan’s like, you think you had it tough, Mister Zillionaire? Look at all the crap I had to put up with, and all the stuff I had to pull to fix that stupid portal, and save my stupid brother, and I still died trying to stop a stupid triangle, and you’re talking about troubles? I had to stand ALL the heat, how long can you do it? How long before you have to face the bullets and die like the rest of us? And guess what, you might still have some kind of life, that might be your little solo here, but death is OUR beat. This time, it’s our call. We get to decide what happens now. It was actually kind of a cool speech.

 And I think it kind of gets the others on his side about this, and they join in the argument. They all want to decide what happens to Milo now, so they’re going back and forth about it. I think Stan wants to decide for himself, Wander wants to take him somewhere else, Varian wants them to stick to the rules, and nobody is sure what Scrooge wants. Then they all just jump in at the same time to grab Milo, to pull him to whatever fate they decide, or to keep the others from taking him, because they all have different ideas of what his fate should be. And it’s like in the video, where they’re all surrounding him, and Stan’s cane and Varian’s (well, Cass’s) sword crossed over his chest.

 Of course, Milo is freaking out over this whole process. I mean, how would you like four gods of Death fighting over you with their weapons at your throat? He shuts his eyes tight and just screams PLEASE STOP, I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!! The others stop pulling at him, but just stay right where they are. I can’t handle this, he says, it’s just too much pressure. All of you trying to drag me away to my death. But then he starts singing “Pressure” from his show, instead of the song from this part in the video. Musical accompaniment from nowhere, of course, for literally the only time in the dream. And… wait, were there words? I think there were. I think he sang his own lyrics to it, but I have no idea what they were. Dang it, why can’t I ever remember the songs in my dreams??

 But the others are like, well fine, fair point, but we’re the gods of death here, whaddya WANT US to do? And he just replies by singing the part from the song “I want to break FREE-E-E-E!” and throws his hand in the air. And for some reason that knocks all of them back, and they’re all really confused. But Milo just looks at them and he’s like, you really don’t care what happens to me, you just care about yourself and this crazy rivalry. You don’t need me, and I don’t need any of this. Well if your so smart, what do you think you need, they ask? And he says, I don’t know what I need. All I know is I want to break free from all this. They shake their heads as they step closer. ‘Fraid you can’t do that. It’s not your choice. And the lights go dim, because time’s almost up. Milo realizes now: he’s about to die.

 I think here it went back to the MML gang and the patients. Because apparently they aren’t just in Milo’s imagination anymore, and they’re just randomly really there. The whole thing could’ve been Milo’s dream, but I kinda don’t think so. But they saw the lights in the hospital go dim, and somehow knew that meant Milo was going to die. Maybe the patients knew, like Ford or something. So they rushed to find him quick. But then they went around a corner and ran right into the human Bill Cipher. He looked a little like the tall red guy in Hazbin Hotel, except yellow and black, and, you know, BILL. (I haven’t watched the show, but I’ve seen a few clips in music videos) So they all ran away, and he kept chasing them through the halls of the hospital. Here it kinda turned into nightmare, because it seemed like we just couldn’t get away. (oh and in this part of the dream, I was seeing it through Cavendish’s eyes, not just watching it happen). At one point, I think the patients turned around to fight him, but he made the blue chains appear around their necks and pulled them back to him. Then he started chasing us again. When he was chasing us, they weren’t there, though. We couldn’t get away. It was like almost every time we turned a corner to get away from him, he was there where we were about to go, ready to spring. We kept running, but he finally cornered us. The patients were there again, floating chained in the air behind him and struggling to get free. I think it was only Ford and Quirin this time though? Not… SYLVIA! That was her name! Sylvia. But she wasn’t there at the time for whatever reason. But we were cornered, and I was just so upset (well, Cavendish was). Cavendish said he let Milo get hurt and he’s about to die, and now he’s led two more kids and his best friend right into Death’s hands. He says he’s sorry to them, and whispers it to Milo, like “I’m sorry, Milo.”

 Well, I don’t know if you’d say Milo felt that or what, but I think he did. In his last few moments, Milo looks down and finds the pocketwatch Cavendish and Dakota gave him, and he touches it and thinks about them. They’re like these crazy sci-fi uncles to him, but they’re really his friends. And then he remembers his family, and Zack and Melissa and his other friends, and he just really hopes they think of him after all this, because he misses them a lot. The moment he gives in, he’ll be losing all of them.

 I feel like there was a part of the dream that I remembered here that didn’t actually happen before, where Bill said that Cavendish and Dakota were supposed to die, and he’d let the other two go if they agreed to stay, because he’d been cheated out of getting Cavendish way too many times, so he wanted them both now. He couldn’t let Milo go, because he was in with the gods of Death, nobody can get him out of there. And I think Cavendish and Dakota just looked at each other and nodded, and Dakota told the other two to say bye to Milo for them, and Cavendish stepped up to shake Bill’s hand. Of course the thing about it is that I just kind of remembered this as happening, in the middle of the scene with Milo, but I hadn’t seen it happen. Dreams are weird.

 But I remembered that happening, and I thought, well, Milo is still losing them all. He’s losing C&D to death and losing all the others to life. He can never see any of them again until the moment they die. And this time, the others around him are just quiet. They all had to leave people behind when this happened, too, and they know this is the case for all of them. Most of them are also remembering the people they lost in life too (Scrooge lost Della, Stan lost Ford, Varian lost Quirin). So they know how this poor kid feels. But they’re like, they say it should be easy, but even though it isn’t, these are the rules. This is how you gotta play the game, and now it’s your turn. Just give in.

 And it was at that moment that I suddenly thought, wait, did you seriously just invite Milo freaking Murphy to play a freaking game?

 Well, I think Milo must have had the same thought, because he stands up on his bed and rips out all the cords and IVs hooked up to him. Then the lights suddenly undim and he looks around at them and he says, you know what, you can knock me right down with whatever you’ve got, but I’m always getting back up again! Then he points right at the camera (or whatever it is in a dream—I remember thinking he was talking to Dan and Swampy) and he sings, you think you can love me and leave me to die? Well, sorry, but you can’t! I’m getting out of here, and I’m getting back to my family and friends, because I’ve got something no game and none of you can beat!

 So then, Varian draws Cass’s sword, and he’s like, careful, I like you, but if you try anything crazy, I’m gonna have to use this. But then Milo looks down at his hand, and it starts supercharging with this red energy: Murphy’s Law. He then shoots it right at Varian, who vanishes in a puff of smoke. And here I was aware of two scenes going on at the same time, this one and the one with the others. When Milo shot Murphy’s Law at Varian and made him disappear, Quirin’s chain snapped. When Milo turns and does the same to Stan and Wander, the chains for Ford and Sylvia (who’s back now I guess) snap too. Bill is freaking out because he doesn’t understand what’s happening (and neither do the MML gang). But I think they can hear the song going on, and they know Milo’s doing something. And Milo does the exact line from the song, “I’ll face it with a grin, I’m never giving in, oh no,” while Scrooge is giving him this smile that says, go on lad, you’ve earnt it. He shoots Scrooge with Murphy’s Law, and he vanishes too. Bill gets knocked back on the ground when that happens, and the wall nearby turns into a door. So the MML gang run toward it, because it’s Milo’s door. Then Milo turns right toward the camera and sings “SHOW MUST GO ON!” before turning around and walking up to the curtains behind his bed. Behind him, the others come through the door. He opens the curtains…

 And wakes up in his bed. Cavendish and Dakota sit up straight in their chairs and gasp. They look at each other like, wait we’re still here? Was that real? But then Milo groans, and they see he’s there and he’s alive. And they both come over and hug him. Milo just says, thanks guys. Then Zack and Melissa rush in, and when they see Milo, they give each other the same kind of looks C&D just did. Then they run over and hug Milo too. It’s a very happy tearful reunion, and then it fades out into white, just like the video.

 And I mean, that’s not exactly the end of the dream, because then there was this kind of dream epilogue or something, where the four guys are just watching the happy ending from the white place that the ending faded into. They’re actually looking pretty pleased. I think they cheer when Milo’s family comes in a minute later. They start talking about how it was better he didn’t become one of them just yet, he’s still got his life to live. Stan looks over at Scrooge and is like, I bet you just set the whole thing up to prove it, huh? Prove the kid? And Scrooge replies, believe me, I wasn’t about to rouse your rivalry without a very good reason.

 But what about that dreamtime death demon, he asks? And Stan’s like, don’t you worry, I think there’s some people that’ll be more than ready to give him his. Cue Bill getting up surrounded by Ford, Quirin, and Sylvia. He laughs and says, you really think you’re gonna be able to stand up to me, with the power I have over you? Ford says not really, but they probably will, and thumbs behind him. And the ghosts of VoicePlay come up and they look mad, because Bill messed with their reality and put it together with all these others and made it all crazy like this, so they go beat him up.

 Stan and Scrooge laugh. But now they don’t have anything to do, because Milo was the last thing on their list. So Wander is just like, let’s have a dance party, and Varian’s like, yeah man, let’s do it, and highfives him. Or however many fingers they have. And they just start dancing, to… I don’t know what the song was. It might’ve just been made up. Or maybe it was part of the actual song? I don’t know. And I think there might’ve been more, like another dream, but I don’t really remember it. I think it was another one with VoicePlay.

 So yeah, that’s about it. I just spent the last three hours typing that up, as soon as I got up, so hopefully it’s good? It’s just so bizarre, but also kind of cool? And I haven’t had cool dreams like this in a while, so it was definitely welcome. I guess it’s kind of an indicator of what’s going on in my brain these days.

 (now I kinda wanna fic it)

[blooms-of-ice]

RP Log: Lin invites Barengar over to meet Wyda!

( @lettersnorth​ @autochthonousone )

Barengar Requingris had been somewhat surprised. It was everyday that he received a missive from Aislinn asking that he come visit so that she could introduce a friend of hers to him. Needless to say we wasn't about to let a request from her go unanswered. So he found himself leave so that he could make the trip to Heartwood headquarters for an evening. It was fortunate that it wasn't too far of a jaunt from Ishgard. It left more time for actual time spent with dear friends. So -- as he entered the building -- he heard the subtle murmur of chatter from below and made his way downstairs. He peered around the corner as he made it to the bottom. "Aislinn. Y-ou down h-ere?"

Aislinn North "...so here's the thing. Zorah and I were ready to sneak quietly by but that wasn't good enough. He had to jump out and yell at half a dozen pirates, all with loaded weapons." she shook her head. "/That's/ why he ended up all shot up. Something's not right with him. The Raen has a death wish." she paused as she heard Ren's voice. Looking up, a smile flashed briefly across her face as she hopped to her feet. He had made it. "Over here." she motioned to Barengar with a certain degree of excitement.

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn was eager to meet Barengar, having been told about the man by Aislinn for several months now. This made her a bit more scatterbrained than usual. Whatever Aislinn was talking about, Wyda wasn’t quite listening, although she did a good job of /appearing/ to be. Lots of nods and ‘you don’t say’ and ‘oh wow, interesting.’

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn - The moment he made it past the corner, Wyda got up from her seat, a wide smile already set on her face. The sudden motion sent the stool clattering. “It’s the man of the hour! Welcome to Heartwood!”

Aislinn North saw the stool begin it's downward journey and neatly sidestepped out of its way as though it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Aislinn North once it hit the floor and stopped, she merely bent down and set it back to rights again.

Barengar Requingris offered a subtle smile of his own upon sighting the two women. One decidedly familiar and the other vaguely so. He dipped his head forward in a firm nod and his customary grunt in way of greeting. "It's good t-o see y-ou." He offered to Aislinn before blinking and turning his gaze to Wyda's exuberance. "I ... ah ... " He cleared his throat before letting out a low chuckle. "Thank y-ou. Aiswyda, aye?"

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn nods once, and pats herself on the chest. “Yup, that’s me! It’s great to have an opportunity to meet you proper. Only so much could be said on your wedding day.”

Aislinn North Glanced between the two. "Aye, Barengar this is my good friend, Aiswyda. Aiswyda, this is Barengar, practically, nearly, might as well be family." she said by way of introduction.

Barengar Requingris glances back over to Aislinn and gives another subtle smile, dipping his head forward slightly. "Aye. Family in ev-ery way tha-t it matters." He glances back to Aiswyda. "An-d it's good t-o meet anyone tha-t Aislinn calls friend. They're a friend in kind as far as I'm concerned."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn gave Ren a good, long look. “Ah, yes. I can see the resemblance.”

Barengar Requingris blinks at Aiswyda.

Aislinn North a small smile of amusement danced around her lips.

Aislinn North shook her head. "You know, most people don't." she quipped.

Barengar Requingris blinks again, looking over to  Aislinn now. He just stares for a moment .. and then lets out a low and easy laugh.

Aislinn North motioned Barengar further into the lounge. "Come in. Can I get you a drink?" she did her best to look him over surreptitiously. He appeared to be in good health, which was a relief to her. "How's Ishgard?"

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn: “You both have that same, kind look in your eyes!” Wyda noted. She nodded to Lin’s statement, the idea of drinks always welcome in her book. “Right. Why don’t we all settle down somewhere? Would be rude to have our guest stand by the stairs...Unless you feel the need to run at all times.”

Aislinn North tilted her head. "Not Ren."

Barengar Requingris has certainly kept to the advice given to him. He was keeping his activity low. At least as low as he could. There still was the occasional pulse of aether from him but it wasn't anything beyond what had already been observed and he'd been keeping to the breathing exercises. It helped. He looked to Aislinn and nodded. "A porter if y-ou h-ave one around." He answered lowly to the first question. There's a slight look of amusement at Aiswyda’s observation regarding the eyes, his head shaking slightly before he answers the second of Aislinn's questions. "Cold an-d full o-f folk tha-t think they're more importan-t than they are." He grumbled slightly before offering up a single chuckle. "Bu-t it's well."

Aislinn North nodded. "Porter. Got it. Wyda?" she asked as she moved behind the bar. She shot Barengar a look of humor. The way he put it didn't make it sound 'well' to her. "Imagine that's mostly on account of Ellie. How's she doing?"

Barengar Requingris: "Hale an-d healthy. Good spirits too. Though it's gettin-g a bit hard f-or h-er t-o work as h-ard as she's used to." He laughs quietly, shaking his head. "Which was, admittedly, too much."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn: “If there’s any rum left, that’s what I’ll have.” She takes the corner seat by the bar...just in case Ren wants to stretch his legs and sit on the far right. Tall people problems. “Ooh, Ishgardian high society?  Now that’s something I know next to nothing about.”

Aislinn North rummaged behind the bar for a pint glass. Finding one, she set it on the bar and then lifted herself up on her toes in order to read the draught taps. "Hmm. You and me both." she murmured a bit distractedly. Finding the porter, she 'ahha'd' and poured the highlander a glass and passed it his way. "But, Ren here's a knight of the realm." she said with a smile the belied the pride she had for him in rising so high.

Aislinn North dipped under the bar and popped back up  with a bottle of dark rum and a glass. She poured the Seawolf two fingers worth, neat. And left the bottle on the bar. For herself, she found a decent whiskey and did the same.

Barengar Requingris reaches his head out to slide the glass the rest of the way toward him. His head shaking with a gentle amusement as Aislinn brings up his knighthood. A notion that he'd only recently become used to. "Suppose tha-t's true, aye."

Barengar Requingris: "Though I tend t-o leave all th-e ... "high society-ing" t-o Ellie." He wrinkles his nose slightly before laughing and taking a drink.

Aislinn North slid a good-natured glance to Aiswyda. "He's still won't let me call him Ser Ren, though."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn gratefully takes her glass with a nod. “If he’s a knight, then that’s what he is though, right? Ser Ren.”

Barengar Requingris rewards AIslinn with a flat look. Look what you've done now, Lin. He lets out a low laugh all the same before taking a drink and shaking his head. "Maybe when I'm in Ishgard." He conceded. "Bu-t h-ere?" He glances between the two women with a subtle smile. "Jus-t Ren."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn senses Ren isn’t used to what she imagines Ishgardian society to be (stuffy, fancy, very... cold?). That said, she can recognize what Aislinn is playing at. The sort of good-natured jabs that only old friends can make.

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn: "Ser Just Ren."

Barengar Requingris blinks.

Aislinn North let go a huff of laughter in reply to his look. She slid her glass to an empty seat and came around the bar. She pressed her lips together at Wyda's response in an effort to keep back another laugh.

Barengar Requingris is frozen half-way from a sip as he slowly turns his attention to Wyda. Did she just ... he can't help but laugh at the sheer audacity. He finally takes his sip, murmuring into the cup. "I'm out numbered."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn doesn’t bother holding herself back. Seeing Ren’s reaction, she lets out a bark of a laugh and heartily pats him on the shoulder. “Hah! Just pulling your chain. But yeah.” In a lower voice now. “You're on our turf now, hehe.”

Aislinn North shook her head, taking pity on him. He did, after all, come all this way because she asked. "Alright. Supposing 'Ren' has worked so far." she said, taking a sip of her drink.

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn hasn’t tasted her drink yet. Blasphemy! She quickly corrects that.

Barengar Requingris takes well enough to the clap on the shoulder, an amused expression upon his features as he dips his head toward Aiswyda in silent concession before looking back over to Aislinn with a simultaneously mirthful and grateful smile. "We can reassess 'Ser Ren' once 'Ren' stops workin-g." He offered, grunting. Coarse as it might sound, it was good natured and friendly.

Aislinn North tilted her head in concession, a twitch at the corner of her mouth compromising her expression. "Fair enough."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn is happy that Ren is rolling with the punches. And while she’s got ten thousand questions buzzing in her brain (what your favorite food? Color? How do you like your eggs?), she figures that Aislinn probably has her own need of Ren’s time. She holds back the floodgates for now.

(Aislinn North) ((ahahaha! I kinda want to see that!)) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) LOL just rapid fire 0-context questions! Quick!! Does Ren put his left boot on first, or his right? xD )) (Barengar Requingris) (( Oh no!! He'll never be able to keep up! )) (Aislinn North) ((ooo...cake or pie? That's always a good one)) (Barengar Requingris) (( Pie!!! )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) is this Ren's pref or yours? :D )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) because this is a hard choice for me.......cake is so good.....so is pie )) (Aislinn North) ((It definitely depends on the day)) (Barengar Requingris) (( Pie is ... definitely mine! But I also contend that cheesecake is a pie, so ... your mileage may vary! )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) fdklsf cheesecake is a pie?!? )) (Barengar Requingris) (( I mean ... it has a crust!! LIke a pie!! )) (Barengar Requingris) (( And it's more like a filling!! )) (Barengar Requingris) (( But I'm a dangerous radical in this regard. )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) fkldsjf but it has cake in its name!! but I feel like I get your reasoning )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) it's not like other cakes...... )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) cheesepie )) (Barengar Requingris) (( A pie is a pie ... by any other name ... )) (Aislinn North) ((Isn't cheesepie a totally different thing?)) (Barengar Requingris) (( I ... oh no ... is it?! )) (Barengar Requingris) (( I think some folk put cheese on apple pie?? )) (Aislinn North) ((That's awesome and I recommend it)) (Barengar Requingris) (( Well now I have to!! )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) I can attest cheese + apple is an A+ combo )) (Barengar Requingris) (( I've been living a life of deprivation, apparently! )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) I have never heard of cheesepie though. My god, it looks incredible )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) It also kinda looks like just a bunch of humus in the shape of a pie slice. I'm flip flopping between hunger and confusion )) (Aislinn North) ((It also confuses me. I mean, it's /almost/ cheesecake. I'd try it.))

Barengar Requingris leans forward to take another drink from his porter as he glances over each shoulder to his company. "I don't think tha-t I asked. How are y-ou both doin-g? Well, I h-ope."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn instead finishes her drink with the very clear intention of getting a wee bit tipsy. As soon as it's emptied, she finds the rum bottle left on the bar and irresponsibly fills her glass. "Hm, you want the long answer or the short answer to that?"

Aislinn North settled in, shifting in her seat and getting comfortable. At his question, she studiously does not look Wyda's way, keeping her face a study in mildness.

Barengar Requingris tilts his head to the side slightly as his attention is draw Wyda's way. "Ah ... I suppose whichever y-eur more inclined t-o answer wi-th. I'm no-t th-e sort t-o pry."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn shrugs her shoulders. “Well enough. We went on a picnic recently, actually!” The Seawolf leaves out the part where she slept in jail for god knows how long. Weird topic to bring up to a new friend. Maybe if she’s feeling bold after a few more glasses..

Barengar Requingris bobs his head to the side slightly. He didn't precisely understand what the *long* version of that story was but he -- as he said -- wasn't about to pry. It sounded nice enough. "A picnic?" He glances between the two. "T-o somewhere in particular?"

Aislinn North now safely glanced their way, a measure of a smile at the memory. "Well, we ended up near the Drydocks. We were in search of a box Wyda had buried awhile back. Only, she couldn't quite remember where. So we were all there to help jog her memory. Found it too, in the end." she said by way of explanation.

Barengar Requingris tilts his head curiously again. A missing box? This definitely sounds like a smaller part of a bigger story. So he nodded. "Tha-t ... sounds like a nice place f-or a picnic." He offers with a quiet laugh, taking a drink. "I h-ope tha-t all was well wi-th the box?"

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn: “I buried the box awhile ago, mind you,” Wyda added. “Lin found it stuck underneath a bunch of blackberry roots. But! We had a picnic before that, and one of our mates brought pie.” She smiled at the memory. Potlucks...are objectively the best. This is FACT.

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn: “Do you go picnicking in Coerthas? Or would that go by another word...”

Aislinn North took a swallow of her drink. "A bloody miserable time?" she offered. Aislinn would never grow to like the cold or snow.

Barengar Requingris nodded his head slowly as the box was explained a bit further. Though his nose wrinkled at the question regarding Coerthas and picnics. "Ah ... " He couldn't keep himself from letting out a single laugh. "Aye. Lots o-f picnics inside." Is that even a picnic?

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn is interested by the idea of indoor picnics. "Wow, I've never done one of those. We should have our next picnic inside too." Wyda is completely genuine, braincells already working hard on the logistics of such an event.

Barengar Requingris can only laugh at the sincerity of the expression. Who was he to say that you couldn't have a picnic indoors? Picnic was a state of mind, after all. "Jus-t pull up next t-o a fire an-d eat w-ith y-eur h-ands."

Aislinn North not at all dissuaded or surprised by Wyda's train of thought, she had known the Seawolf long enough by now, she glanced up towards the ceiling and the floors above. "There is the indoor garden upstairs. Suppose that would work just as well too."

Aislinn North: "Really not a bad idea when it gets cold outside."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn: “Ooh, yes...A bit of fire, a bit of finger food, and have it in the garden upstairs...Everything’s shaping up! Ren, you and your wife would be welcome to come by too!”

(Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) during potluck q/a: ok who's bringing the fire for our indoor picnic )) (Barengar Requingris) (( I nominate Aislinn! )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) that's a safe bet :D )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) ren brings the 'cheesepie' )) (Aislinn North) ((You can definitely put her down for fire XD)) (Aislinn North) ((Wyda can cover the rum)) (Barengar Requingris) (( Barengar, arriving to the potluck with a wheel of cheese: "Cheesepie.")) (Aislinn North) ((Change of plan. Ellie can bring the cheesepie)) (Barengar Requingris) (( *laughs!* )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) LOL )) (Aiswyda Nuthalwyn) A picnic of just fire, a wheel of cheese, and rum. All indoors. this is the sort of irresponsible fun I live for, both OOC and ICly xD ))

Barengar Requingris: "An-d it's definitely always cold in Coerthas..." He grumbled quietly before glancing over in Wyda's direction. He lets out a quiet laugh. "Indoor picnics are -- probably -- h-er favorite sort o-f picnics. So th-e invitation is appreciated."

Aislinn North corner of her mouth curled up in a warm smile as she took another drink, glad that Aiswyda and Barengar seemed to be hitting it off.

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn dutifully saves the idea for later. “Hah, keep an eye out for a letter then! I can hardly wait.” And this is truth. The time for partying is always now.

Aislinn North nodded to Ren, letting him know Wyda was indeed, serious.

Barengar Requingris lets out a quiet laugh as he glances to Aislinn just as she gives the confirming nod, bobbing his head to the side. "I'll keep lookin-g forward t-o it." He offered with a low chuckle. He pauses for a moment to take a drink from his glass. "H-ave y-ou been at the mercenary life long?" He asks Aiswyda with low rumble.

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn: “I think so?” A terrible answer, all around. She gives a pleading look towards Aislinn, like a student seeking hints from a teacher during a pop quiz. Except there's really no reason to /not/ know the answer to such a question. “A year maybe?”

Aislinn North nodded, jumping in to help Wyda without another thought. "I think that sounds right. You signed up only a short time before me, aye? Only been one Starlight here." an odd way to track time, but an efficient way for her to tell how long she's been in a place.

Barengar Requingris followed Wyda's gaze to Aislinn, his brow rising slightly in question. That was ... weird. Though he lets it be and simply gives a slow nod of his head. "A-bout th-e same as y-ou then." He observes, speaking to Aislinn. He looks back to Wyda. "It was an amusing thing. Jus-t as I was leavin-g th-e business." He chuckles quietly before looking back to Aislinn again. "It's good tha-t y-ou h-ave such solid comrades."

Aislinn North leaned forward on the bar so she could look at Wyda. "He made it look so easy, mercenary life." she explained to her friend. Flicking her gaze back to Ren, she gave a lopsided smile, a dimple appearing in one cheek. "It is. They've kept me in one piece, that's for certain."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn is always grateful to have Lin as backup, whether it was to answer questions she rightfully should know the answer to, or catching chairs, or literally saving her life in combat. “It can get tough, but we’re a good crew of people. And if anything bad happens, there’s nothing G’lewra can’t patch up.”

Aislinn North raised her glass before taking a drink. "Nymeia's Blood, that's true. We're lucky we have a medic like her on board. Some of us more than others."

Barengar Requingris bobbed his head forward in concurrence, a slight smile upon his lips. "Hells know tha-t I benefitted f-rom th-e same when I f-irst started. I owe a lot t-o Bastion." He wrinkled his nose slightly. "Jus-t don't tell h-im I said that." He grunted and took a sip from his glass, glancing over to Aiswyda. "Tha-t's wha-t it's all abou-t afterall. Bein-g in a comp-any."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn smiled, and raised her glass. “Aye, aye! No truer words have been spoken.”

Barengar Requingris lifts his glass in turn, grunting a solid chuckle.

Aislinn North tipped her head up to eye Barengar questioningly. "Do you ever miss it?" she asked. It was a question she had pondered but never found the time to ask.

Barengar Requingris glances back to Aislinn. "Mercin-g?" He asks.

Aislinn North simply nodded

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn attentively leans forward.

Barengar Requingris draws in a slow breath, leaning forward onto the counter as he considers the question. "I'd be lyin-g if I said I never missed parts o-f it." He offered without hesitation. "Both bein-g in a comp-any an-d bein-g freelance. Each ha-d their draws." He glances down at the meager remnants within his glass, swirling them slightly as he held the rim with his fingers. "Freedom. Excitement. A chance t-o put m-y ability t-o the test." He stops the swirling, briefly setting the glass down and letting the liquid come to a gradual stop. "Bu-t ... I don't regret leavin-g. Even if I miss it sometimes. It was ... simpler. In a lot of ways." A small smile touches his lips. "Bu-t complex isn't always bad."

Aislinn North eyes fell to his near empty glass and she rose to pour him another as she considered his words, letting them roll around inside her head. "It does have its ups and downs. I like that every day you never know what might end up on the job board. But aye, complex isn't bad. Not if that's where life takes you."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn listens thoughtfully, idle hands winding a lock of hair around a finger. Freedom, excitement. And on the flip side, loss and danger. Adventuring was by no means the perfect pastime, but then again...what was? She nods, agreeing with Ren’s words. “We just make do with what we got. Strive for more. And the way I see it, nothing truly ends. It all sticks with you for as long as you can remember.”

Aislinn North nodded along in agreement with Wyda as she passed Ren another porter.

Barengar Requingris dips his head toward Aislinn and then glances over to Wyda and does the same. A slight smile pulls upon his lips. "Aye." He murmured lowly, thoughtfully. "Jus-t changed it all out f-or a whole different kind o-f excitement in a way." He dips his head gratefully toward Aislinn as she refills the glass. "An-d, aye. Y-eur righ-t. It doesn't really go away. Not when y-ou remember."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn: “...that said, if you’re ever in need of an escape, you know where to find us. To get a fix of some adventuring proper.” Wyda whistles innocently.

Aislinn North looked swiftly at Wyda, unable to keep the look of alarm from her face. "Ah...just. Not at the moment." she felt the need to say, as if Ren didn't already know he couldn't be putting himself in harm's way and fighting.

Barengar Requingris lifts his brow slightly as he slowly turns his attention over to Aiswyda as she makes her nonchalant offer. He just stared in her direction for a moment before letting out a steady and pleasant chuckle. "I can't deny tha-t bein-g a temptin-g offer." He pauses looking back to Aislinn as a single corner of his mouth tugs back into an amused smile. "Righ-t. Doctor's orders." A slight sigh came after it as he took a drink. It was hard being patient.

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn looks between the two, a lightbulb lighting up above her head. “Ah, right! Not saying you should go out and make things worse...? And I wouldn’t want to explain to your wife why you came back from your ‘night out’ bloodied and battered.”

Barengar Requingris emits a single laugh at that. "Ah ... I'd definitely get an earful t-o be sure. Though it'd likely be somethin-g along th-e lines o-f 'Why didn't y-ou bring me?'."

Aislinn North nodded solemnly, reaching for her glass. "As it should be."

Aislinn North shook her head. "But also, again. 'Not at the moment' applies to her as well."

Barengar Requingris looks back to Aislinn and gives a much wider smile at that. At least for him. "Y-ou won't get any arguments f-rom me on tha-t front."

Aislinn North glanced at Wyda with a smile of her own. "Ren here is going to be a father in a few short moons."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn: “Ooh, she sounds fun! Let’s bring her along!” Wyda corrects herself on Aislinn’s answers. “Ahem. Right, the responsible thing to do is to not bring her along.” She doesn’t know the reason why, but she’s not going to risk it.

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn and now...she knows the reason! “WHAT. Wow! That’s crazy! How exciting!”

Barengar Requingris glances over at Wyda as she does the quick verbal about-face. An amused expression crossing his features. Though it softens slightly as Aislinn reveals the impending fatherhood. He prepares his reprisal. "An-d Aislinn a godmother." He added, giving a firm nod.

Aislinn North: "I've been recalling as many sordid stories about our youth so I'll be prepared to tell them all about all the trouble their father got into."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn sheds a single tear. She’s so proud of Lin. Perfect godmother material.

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn: “Be prepared...when the baby comes, it’ll be nothing but sleepless nights for you. A formidable challenge to be sure.”

Barengar Requingris barks a single laugh at that, shaking his head. "Already lookin-g to undermine m-y authority." He smiling, of course. The man positively beside himself with happiness over the fact. He pauses a moment, dipping his head toward Wyda. "An-d it's goin-g t-o be all the more o-f a challenge wi-th three." He glances down at his cup for a moment. "A blessin-g tha-t Ellie's family is as excited as we are."

Aislinn North shook her head. "They're going to outnumber you."

Aislinn North ever the strategist, she knew those odds did not fall in his favor.

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn: “By the Twelve...I suppose I should be saying, by the three!” Wyda shakes her head in disbelief. “All the more joy! But Lins right, you have to be careful.”

Barengar Requingris laughs and bobs his head slightly to the side, conceding to both of their warnings. "If our childhood taught me anythin-g, Aislinn." He glances back over to Aislinn with a slight smile. "It's tha-t three's trouble."

Aislinn North He was treated to a flash of a wide smile and a bubble of laughter. "At the very least, you're forewarned, which is forearmed. Should help you to stay at least one step ahead of them for awhile."

Barengar Requingris felt his own smile widen slightly at that. "Aye. Though ... y-ou can expect me t-o call f-or back-up." He pauses and looks over to Aiswyda. "An-d y-ou should bring Aiswyda as well."

Aiswyda Nuthalwyn beams at Ren. “AH yes! I’d love to see the rascals! Show ‘em how to climb trees and...hm, when do kids learn to walk...” Wyda is counting someone else's eggs before they hatch.

Aislinn North took a moment to weigh the joy of seeing three children run circles around Ren against stepping in and mercifully helping him out. She slowly nodded. "I think that's part of my duties as godmother."

[totaldramafan-lauri]

OK, home stretch! Almost done!

France

Ummmm......will this build, please.....?

OK, that’s something.....Not much, but.....

OK, it’s getting faster.....

Awwww, I was kinda liking that last bit, but it was too short....ah well....

Yeah, this might be my new least-favorite. It didn’t do much for me, sorry....Maybe if I understood the lyrics, I’d like it more, and maybe it’ll grow on me later, but.....compared to everything before, I don’t see this changing, at least by much.....Sorry

Better than 2019? Not even close

Germany

Germany didn’t bring back their artist from last year and I’m sad, that was such a fun sooooooong

.......?

Excuse me-

What in the world is this-

I mean, I feel sorry a lot too! But what IS THIS

OK, it’s winning me over....if only because I wish I thought like this XD

Then again, is this song passive-aggressive in a way? O.O

I mean, it seems so.....happy? Like....huh?

OK, uh......this song kinda leaves me at a loss of words, but in a different way than others that did that.....This song just....BAFFLES me.....Like.....is it passive-aggressive? Or is it actually about not letting words effect you? Am I too tired to understand it right now? Argh.....either way, it’s fun and unique and I wouldn’t say I don’t like it! I do like it a bit! I just.....don’t LOVE it necessarily.....XD

Better than 2019? Ehhhhhhhh.....yes?

Italy

OK, this seems to be......rock. OK! Italian rock! That’s new!

I’m rocking along. OK

This is reminding me vaguely of “Midnight Gold”. That’s good!

Wow, he’s talking really fast...

I’m just kinda worried cuz songs like this don’t normally do well in Eurovision....(Oh god in that case what about Finland-)

But uh, yeah, I got into this! I like catchy rock songs!

Better than 2019? As someone who didn’t get into “Soldi” quiiiiiiiite as much as other people, I’ll say yes

Spain

Ballad? Ballad

I hope Spain aren’t giving up after being so underrated in 2019....

Though this isn’t awful.....There’s just a lot better

I can’t even say much about it.....It’s just there, sounding pleasant, but not amazing. It could grow on me

Better than 2019? Nuh-uh

United Kingdom

Insert comment about how “Bigger Than Us” didn’t deserve being last place here

Y’know how I said that it’s the year of dance songs with fun instrumentals? Well, maybe fire is another theme. There’s been multiple fire mentions I recall

This is fun! It’s just a shame it’s the last song I’m hearing, which means I’ve heard everything else before it. XD

I’m liking it more and more

Please don’t start any fires sir

Better than 2019? NO