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monocotyledons · 4 months

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Soobin's MBTI and what it actually means

So Soobin went live today and retook the MBTI test, and he's an ISFP-A! Since he took the test live we actually have a record of his MBTI trait percentages, his responses, and even his thoughts on some of his responses. I thought it would be fun to do a little breakdown of his results and what they really mean from a personality psychology perspective! (Full disclosure: I am a research psychologist-in-training so I'll be applying what I know from my irl experiences.)

DISCLAIMERS: I don't know Soobin personally so all of my analyses will be based on his answers to the test as well as how he presents himself in public, such as lives, interviews, variety show appearances, etc. Also I am not affiliated with 16Personalities so I can't say with 100% certainty which test items are linked to which traits, and I don't know how their scoring system works, but I can make informed guesses based on my experiences with other personality tests.

Let's begin!

Prologue: The 16Personalities Franken-MBTI

For this case it's important that we talk about the version of the MBTI that Soobin took and how it works. He took the 16Personalities test, which is not the official version of the MBTI; that would be run by the Myers-Briggs Company (whose website is down as of this writing). The model of personality used by 16Personalities, called the NERIS model, is actually Frankenstein-ed from two different personality models - something they admit themselves in the theory section of their website:

With our NERIS® model, we’ve combined the best of both worlds. We use the acronym format introduced by Myers-Briggs for its simplicity and convenience, with an extra letter to accommodate five rather than four scales. However, unlike Myers-Briggs or other theories based on the Jungian model, we have not incorporated Jungian concepts such as cognitive functions, or their prioritization. Jungian concepts are very difficult to measure and validate scientifically, so we’ve instead chosen to rework and rebalance the dimensions of personality called the Big Five personality traits, a model that dominates modern psychological and social research.

Let's break down the two models used here.

The first is, of course, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, developed by Katharine Cook Briggs & Isabel Briggs Myers based on the work of Carl Jung. Classical MBTI is not based on personality traits but on cognitive functions, which are different ways of processing information around us: for example, the thinking function refers to the use of logical reasoning, while the feeling function refers to the use of value judgments. The goal of classical MBTI testing is to figure out which cognitive functions you use: which you default to, which helps your default, etc. This collection of cognitive functions is called a "stack," and your four-letter type tells you what the stack is made of.

The problem with cognitive functions is that they're virtually impossible to validate scientifically (even typologists can't agree on what a cognitive function is exactly), which is why they've fallen out of favor within mainstream research psychology. I don't know if the official MBTI test uses them (since their website is down I can't check), but plenty of unofficial MBTI tests don't, instead preferring the trait approach we're all familiar with. Are you introverted or extraverted? Are you a thinker or a feeler? etc.

This approach has its own issues (which I touch on a bit here), but it's the approach that 16Personalities also uses. Which brings me to the second model they use...

While the 16P test looks like MBTI, its content is actually based on the Five-Factor model, also known as the Big Five. The Big Five is actually a really good model with lots of scientific research to back it up, and (full disclosure!) it's my preferred model of personality. The premise behind the Big Five is that even though there are hundreds or even thousands of ways to describe human personality - just open a dictionary and look at how many words can be used to describe people - there are underlying patterns in our descriptions. For example, a person who is honest will most likely also be trustworthy. A person who is gregarious will most likely also be friendly. And so on.

By collecting real-world data from people in different cultures and using some special statistical techniques, researchers like Paul Costa & Robert McCrae were able to uncover these patterns as five personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. (More on those later.)

I want to emphasize here that none of these personality traits are inherently good or bad. They can be bad in extremes, but the vast majority of people don't fall on those extremes anyway, and being high or low in a certain trait has its advantages and disadvantages. Your score in a trait can be good for some things, but not for others.

In the 16P NERIS model, each letter in your type corresponds not to a classical MBTI function, but to a Big Five personality trait. To make up for the fact that the Big Five has (duh) five traits and MBTI only has four, a fifth letter in the type was added. The resulting test from this is what Soobin took today.

Soobin's results, a Big Five perspective

Here I'll be looking at Soobin's results for each of the 16P traits and discussing what they mean. I'll support this with his responses to the test items (credits to translatingTXT on twitter for saving all of them), as well as things he's done or said publicly in the past.

Introverted/Extraverted

In classical MBTI typology, introversion/extraversion actually refers to your orientation when processing information: an extraverted orientation uses the external world (such as real-world rules and norms) as a frame of reference, while an introverted orientation uses the internal world (such as your personal beliefs and interpretations). But in the modern sense - including in the Big Five - this trait refers to the kind of energy you seek in the environment. This includes sociability - the social environment that you seek - but it also includes how stimulating your environment is overall. Extraverts are generally energetic and like stimulating environments, and are also more prone to positive emotions like joy and excitement.

Soobin scored 74% Introverted, and he's an introvert through and through; he likes being by himself and doing his own thing, and he finds social situations exhausting. But I also think that he's a great example of personality traits being different from skills. Sure, Soobin's an introvert, but he's got really good social skills; his personality probably means that these skills don't come as naturally to him, but he's still capable of learning them. He probably learned a lot during his time as Music Bank MC, and he's not afraid to go up to people and talk to them for life advice. And even though leadership isn't something he prefers especially compared to an extravert (see his answer below), it's clear that the members respect him as a leader and seek him out for help.

Observant/Intuitive (Openness to Experience)

In classical MBTI, this aspect of personality is called Sensing vs. Intuition, and refers to your use of two different cognitive functions: sensing refers to reliance on the five senses for information, while intuition refers to reliance on inner meanings and hidden symbols. The NERIS model reworks this into Observant vs. Intuitive (neither of which start with S or N, I know) to better fit the Big Five trait that their version is based on: openness to experience.

The trait of openness reflects a person's attitude towards things that aren't necessarily grounded in day-to-day reality - the abstract, the unconventional, the creative. People high in openness enjoy abstract ideas and intellectual pursuits, are often creative and imaginative, and don't mind ambiguity. People low in openness prefer things that are conventional and concrete, want things to have straightforward utility and a clear message.

Soobin's score is 64% Observant ("observant" here meaning low openness) - generally he prefers conventional, but I think he's close enough to a 50% average to say that he isn't purely a practical guy. He is, after all, an idol - people high in openness are often drawn to artistic pursuits, which includes music and performance. He has mentioned being interested in artistic things, like wanting to play the electric guitar.

But while Soobin definitely has a level of artistic interest, he seems more content in enjoying what he knows rather than expanding, and he's pretty secure in what he likes and dislikes - and I think this is where his Observant score comes in. Like, this is a guy whose favorite song in his own discography was Our Summer for the longest time before it was dethroned by Skipping Stones. He's also mentioned that he only participates in songwriting when the topic interests him, but isn't necessarily invested in it as a craft:

"I participate in writing the lyrics if the theme interests me. The tracks in this album [Temptation] all have interesting themes, you'll see when you get the album and see the lyrics too. They all have topics that I personally think and imagine about my life, so I participated in the lyric writing this time." (The Name Chapter: Temptation Recording Behind the Scenes)

Thinking/Feeling (Agreeableness)

I struggle with interpreting this one because I'm not exactly sure what the NERIS version of this trait is trying to measure. In classical MBTI (as mentioned above), the thinking function is about processing the objective content of information (logic, truth value), while the feeling function is about processing its subjective content (e.g. how well it conforms to certain values). The version of T/F commonly seen in pop-psych is "head or heart" - do you make decisions based on just the facts or on your feelings? But psychological research shows that this is a false dichotomy - we rely on our emotions to help think through things, and they often provide us with useful information. Happiness tells us things are going well, fear and anxiety tell us something is threatening us, and so on.

Nevertheless, NERIS tries to incorporate elements of this together with the Big Five trait it's drawing from, agreeableness. While extraversion is about how well you fit into social situations, agreeableness is about how you treat people in them. People high in agreeableness try to live in social harmony by getting along with others and practicing virtues that make things easier for them. People low in agreeableness might come across as abrasive, but they're also less sensitive to hate from others and more willing to take actions that might be unpopular.

Soobin's score is a 54% Feeling ("feeling" here meaning high agreeableness), and here we see the limitations of trait-style MBTI. The dichotomous nature of a trait hides what's going on; Soobin uses Feeling on paper, but in reality he's in the middle. This should be more apparent when we look at his responses and how he acts around others.

His agreeable side seems to come out more often when it comes to his circle of loved ones: his friends and family, the members, and MOAs. He's not afraid to show kindness and gratitude towards them and is touched when they do the same for him. One of his motivations for being an idol is wanting to give love to fans and appreciate the love they give back, and he clearly treats the idol-fan relationship as a special one.

On the other hand, Soobin has no problem brushing off or even standing up to haters, and he's said that he has no intentions of trying to please people who dislike him. A person higher in agreeableness (or Feeling, in this case) would be a bit more concerned about trying to appease them.

This in-the-middle mix of agreeableness is, honestly, a pretty good thing to have in a leader or an idol. You need a healthy amount of it to express love for your members, your staff, and your fans. But you also need a thick skin to withstand unfounded criticism, as well as a tolerance for conflict even when it's socially unpleasant.

Judging/Prospecting (Conscientiousness)

In classical MBTI, this dimension is called Judging/Perceiving. It's not a pair of functions but instead a reference to help you figure out the functions in your stack: thinking and feeling are judging functions, sensing and intuition are perceiving functions. Like with S/N, NERIS renames this into Judging/Prospecting to better fit the Big Five trait it's drawing from, conscientiousness.

The trait of conscientiousness refers to one's ability to get things done and follow things through. People high in conscientiousness like to plan things in detail, are organized and goal-oriented, and generally finish what they start. People low in conscientiousness are more spontaneous and adaptable, dislike routine, and prefer to go with the flow.

Soobin's score is 86% Prospecting ("prospecting" here meaning low conscientiousness). I feel like this trait is harder to see for idols because they're always on company-mandated schedules of activities, but a really good example of this trait in action is his vacation in Japan vlog. Planning an itinerary doesn't come naturally to him, and he's okay with not following a strict sightseeing schedule so that he can relax more. For example, Soobin and his friend plan to go straight to an onsen on the second day of their trip, but they oversleep and have no problems changing their plans to just shopping and eating. They do get to the onsen eventually, but they're in no rush to. At one point in the video he even mentions his P trait as why planning is so hard for him (his score at the time was 96% P).

"This is my first time planning a trip abroad by myself. I boarded the plane myself, moved around, booked the hotel and planned everything myself. [...] Whenever I take an MBTI test I get like a 96% P, I didn't realize traveling was so hard." (15:47 - 16:39 of video)

This Weverse magazine quote also captures his spontaneous approach towards activities pretty well:

Assertive/Turbulent (Neuroticism)

This trait is exclusive to the NERIS model and was added to the four existing letters of MBTI to accommodate the additional trait of the Big Five. My biggest criticism of the NERIS model is that it treats A/T as an accessory to the other four traits instead of a trait of its own; ISFP-A and an ISFJ-A are treated as different types, but ISFP-A and ISFP-T are variations of the same type. It's not uncommon for people to leave out their A/T score when they talk about their 16Personalities results.

A/T is based on the Big Five trait of neuroticism, which is just as important as the other four - it predicts depression and anxiety disorders, for example. This trait reflects how we handle negative and stress-inducing events; people high in neuroticism feel stress easily, are prone to negative emotions like sadness and anxiety, and are more likely to self-criticize. People low in neuroticism might feel stress less, but might have a harder time registering risks and threats.

Soobin's score here is 65% assertive ("assertive" here meaning low neuroticism), again close to the average but with a leaning towards the low side. Again, this isn't an easy trait to observe in idols because a lot of the processes and actions associated with it are private and internal. But it does crop up from time to time, usually in per-performance nerves and jitters, but Soobin has mentioned that he's not the type who gets nervous easily. His answer here on how he handles stress also reflects this trait:

"I'm optimistic if you put it nicely, or some could say I'm shallow. So even if I get mad, I forget it quickly and easily. I believe that time will solve everything. So it's either the case gets resolved or my emotions die out, making me struggle less. I just think like that." (11:44 - 12:04 in video)

He's also not too critical of himself, which is pretty valuable in a profession where you're subjected to constant criticism as early are your trainee period. Not that Soobin is blind to his flaws; rather, he's not the type to get too worked up about them.

Final Thoughts

The major flaw of personality systems based on type (like classical MBTI and NERIS) is that the nuances of one's behavior are often lost in an easy-to-remember acronym that puts people into strict categories. The Big Five in its original form refers to the traits as continuums - you can be low, average, or high in a trait, often reflected as a percentile ranking based on how you compare to other test-takers - but even then, you don't see things like context or learned skills that may or may not match up with one's personality.

I've tried to untangle Soobin's personality here not just based on a catchy acronym type, but based on what those traits actually mean, how high or low they actually are, and on how they appear in context. I hope this little analysis will give a bit more insight not just on Soobin himself but also on how personality works!

—

tags for those interested: @goldennika @starburstfloat @mazeinthemoon @huenation

#soobin #txt soobin #tubatu #also sorry for any typos or incoherent bits i did not proofread this lol #feel free to ask questions and i can explain!

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synergysilhouette · 8 months

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Making a tracklist for a Kingdom Hearts musical

If you haven't seen my previous post about pitching a Kingdom Hearts musical film made by Walt Disney Animation, please check it out; you'll probably be confused if you don't, as I've changed some things. As the title suggests, this post is an idea for the songs that would go with this musical. I haven't really established if in my mind there's a different voice cast for this movie, or if it's the same speaking voices but mostly different voice actors doing the singing. NGL, this was difficult to make since I only had the concept; now I gotta iron out the plot! I may edit this later.

"Scaela Ad Caelum" By Xehanort, Eraqus, the Foretellers, and chorus--I like the idea that this is an epic opening track in a similar vein to "The Emperor's Dream," an alternate musical opening to 1998's "Mulan," as well as "Prologue" from Raya and the Last Dragon. I'd like it to explore how the kingdom was created by the foretellers--though in my mind, the design is widely different to incorporate The Land of Departure, Radiant Garden, and Destiny Islands, with SAC would as the capital. It'd be a long song, since it would cover Xehanort's childhood and friendship with Eraqus, as well as how he descended into darkness.

2. "Destiny" By Kairi, Sora, and Riku--This song would mainly concern their dreams of traveling, visiting Scala Ad Caelum, as well as concerns of drifting apart as they have different dreams. Kairi wants to visit her hometown where she lived with her grandmother, Riku wants to find adventure, and Sora, despite wanting to visit different places himself, tries to find a compromise so that they don't have to separate, at least not yet. As such, Kairi gives them a paopu fruit to share, telling them that her grandmother used to say that the people who share it will always be a part of each other's lives. (I'm also fine if they sing a revised version of Hikaru Utada's "Sanctuary.")

3. "Something Greater" by Riku, Ansem the Wise, and Xehanort--Following a fallout with his parents about traveling, an insecure Riku is invited by Xehanort (in his younger form to appear more inviting; essentially Ansem, seeker of Darkness) to come to Scala Ad Caelum and allow him to learn under Ansem the Wise and learn magic (since Ansem the Wise is conflated with Yen Sid here and is thus a mage or mage-like scientist). Riku reveals that he's afraid of losing his friends as well, and while Ansem consoles him, Xehanort privately stokes his fears, telling him to forget them because they'll forget about him as they travel. This starts his own descent into darkness as Xehanort begins to manipulate him. When he's not there, Xehanort convinces Ansem the Wise to appoint Terra (one of his assistants) to supervise Riku and monitor the darkness taking over his heart.

4. "Chasing the Sunset" By Kairi, Sora, and Chorus--Believing that Riku has left them, Sora encourages Kairi's dream of returning to her childhood home and goes with her. They enjoy their time traveling, but both of them worry about Riku; Sora is worried that he abandoned them, while Kairi is concerned that something much darker occurred. Their romance also grows at this point, while Xehanort shows this to Riku to convince him that they don't care about him. Xehanort also uses his powers of shapeshifting (again, read my previous post) to pose as Riku and make Kairi and Sora believe that he is annoyed at them leaving him behind and abandoning their friendship, making the two feel guilty over giving up on looking for him so soon.

5. "The Master" By Ansem the Wise, Sora, and Kairi--Eventually the duo makes their way to Scala Ad Caelum, where their appearence makes Ansem suspicious of Xehanort, and sees the kindness in Sora and Kairi's hearts. Posing as DiZ, he teaches them limited magic, where Sora manages to summon a key-shaped weapon. Kairi, inspired by him, summons one as well, which Ansem dubs "Keyblades." He tasks them with using them to get rid of Vanitas' unversed that lurk around the city and spy on the citizens, and promises to help them find Riku, not revealing that Xehanort has corrupted him. He also keeps his assistants in the dark, worried about what Xehanort may do if he found out they knew.

5. "Nobody" By O10 (excluding Xehanort, Terra, and Vanitas) and Kairi--By this point, Kairi has been kidnapped by Axel because of her pure heart that Xehanort intends to exploit in order to bring balance to the world and bring it into a golden age and rid the world of its impurities. (Saix is the only one who knows that this means she'll likely die, but Luxord has his suspicions). Kairi manages to befriend Axel and Demyx, as well as somewhat amusing Luxord, but Saix, Xigbar, Larxene, and Marluxia are all about business. It's explained to Kairi that by using her light, she will be restoring their hearts, as they are creatures called Nobodies. The backstories of Axel, Saix, Marluxia, and Larxene are explained here, while the rest are left enigmatic.

6. "Wayfinder" by Vanitas (featuring the Wayfinder Trio, Eraqus, and Sora)--While Sora attempts to find Ventus and restore his heart, he is intercepted by Vanitas, who wants to kidnap Ventus once he awakens and returns him to Xehanort. In this particular universe, I imagine Vanitas has a soaring, amazing voice, and he's essentially telling Sora the story of how the Wayfinder Trio and Eraqus stood against Xehanort, only to be defeated. Terra was one of them, and believed that his friends died against Xehanort, so it was easy for Xehanort to break him and recruit him into their ranks. One of them--Vanitas' "brother" Ventus--so strongly resisted Xehanort's attempts to control his light that his heart fled to Sora's, resulting in Vanitas looking like Sora. Sora attempts to appeal to Vanitas and tells him that he could be his own person. Vanitas says that he doesn't know who he is without Ventus (and now Sora), and tells Sora that he needs to abide by his "older brother." During this, Xehanort summons Aqua from the depths of the Realm of Darkness, tricking Aqua into battling him Spoiler: He does indeed defeat Sora and capture a restored Ventus.

7. "Don't Think Twice" by Axel, Saix, Vanitas, Xehanort (featuring Riku, Ventus, Terra, and Kairi)--This is an emotional song where Axel and Vanitas attempt to convince the Kairi and Ventus that trying to fight Xehanort and the organization is futile. At this point, Axel's allegiance is failing, at which point Saix is telling him not to think twice, and to think about their childhood friendship instead of his new friendships with Kairi and Ventus. Meanwhile, Xehanort attempts to continue to have Terra and Riku embrace their darkness while Aqua and Sora appeal to them.

8. "One Sky" by Ensemble--This song is a bit of a two-parter, with some during the battle and then a reprise at the end (elements of "Face My Fears" could be thrown in there). As Sora, Riku, Terra, Axel and Aqua battle against the organization, they show Xehanort that they represent light and darkness, while he and his group simply embody darkness, having casted a pall on Ventus and Kairi's light. As such, he realizes that his goal of harmony was achieved--just not by himself. As he is defeated, Ventus and Vanitas become one person, while Sora ventures to rescue Kairi and disappears, and he gives his life to restore hers after Xehanort seemingly shatters her body (but her heart was intact). In the end, the people of the kingdom marvel at the concept of light and darkness, and that selfish deeds eventually led to peace. The nobodies are restored to their original bodies, and Elrena and Laurium tell Riku and Kairi that Sora is out there somewhere: "Sora didn't die. He just went somewhere else. Wherever he is, he's watching the same sky we are." Maybe tie it into the wishing star Disney motif by having Kairi wish on it, and the star begins to fall...

In the end, we'd hear that iconic KH1 quote.

Lemme know what you think! I may add or change a song based on how I feel later; I'm still on the fence about having removed Namine.

#kingdom hearts #sorikai #sora #riku #kairi #destiny island trio #destiny islands #wayfinder trio #wayfinder #organization 13 #organization xiii #disney #disney animation #hikaru utada #ventus #terra #aqua

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genshingorlsrevengeance · 2 months

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OC Story: 916

Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Newcomers

Twelve years has passed since 916 joined the mercenaries known as "Wolf Company". An upcoming mission has the PMC tense, with the client being a complete unknown to them...

Genre: Scifi (Mecha) Content Warning: General descriptions of violence, swearing, long text jumpscare after you press Keep Reading lmao Word Count: 9.1k

A/N: Coming up with titles is hard, man. Nothing too in depth to say here this time until the end, which is where of course a more in depth author's note will be. Also if you want an "opening" song to this series like how shows/anime do it, "Dream In Drive" by the Oral Cigarettes is what I chose. Thanks for taking the time to read this if you do, feedback is always appreciated!

The year is 1177.

Thirty-four years have passed since the battlefield had been introduced to the bipedal warmachines known as Soldat D’acier. Though they did not stand above twelve meters, their appearance revolutionized how war was waged.

Entire armored divisions were reduced to scrap metal, and fortresses once thought impenetrable transformed to piles of rubble.

The entire continent of Anis rushed their militaries into an arms race to have their own versions of these steel behemoths.

In the name of expansion and rightful conquest, the country of Florence had declared war on Cumbria in 1155. The invasion saw countless deployments of Soldats on both sides, and death quickly followed in their wake. Cities once populated with thousands of people were reduced to a quarter in the first year alone.

Five long and bloody years later, a peace treaty was signed by both leaders, hoping to end their peoples' suffering.

The hardships endured during the conflict had led to resentment for both sides, their grudges never truly have disappeared.

Dyson Incorporated, an engineering company that focused on electronic appliances and Soldat development, sought continued profit from the conflict. They developed a new project to keep their cold war ongoing indefinitely under the guise of new Soldat-led private security companies.

Due to their connections within the government and their monopoly on technologies in the country, Dyson Incorporated sided with Florence. Their most successful project had led the company to their greatest profits achieved, and their downfall.

This project was called the “Enhanced Human Initiative”, led by Doctor Moreau in 1160.

Kidnapping orphaned children from the war, they began experimenting on them to create the perfect super soldier. Implanting them with mind controlling chips and heavily augmented with machinery to enhance their combat prowess.

The company disguised them as adults on the battlefield, working alongside the oblivious Florence Military. The normal sluggish and heavy movements of the standard Soldat were surpassed by the Enhanced Human pilots, their machines speeding past even the fastest tank with human-like grace.

However in 1164, the Enhanced Human known as 403 suddenly went berserk alongside every child of generation one, drawing suspicion towards the companies as to the pilot's true nature. Feeling tremendous guilt for what she had done to the children, Doctor Moreau leaked her research to the Florence Government, causing a massive investigation into the company.

Thanks to their contribution with the inner works and development of the country, they were able to hold investigators back for six months before the Military Police finally discovered their pilots’ sinister origins.

Twelve years after the raid, Dyson Incorporated had been disbanded, its leading members arrested, and their Enhanced Humans were thought to be extinct, the nightmarish project seemingly over for good.

In truth, only a single generation one Enhanced Human remained, and he had been accepted into a PMC known as “Wolf Company”. Ever since then, he had fought alongside his new family, quickly skyrocketing the PMC’s infamy into new heights, unsure of what his future held in store…

…

916 slowly opened his eyes, his surroundings slowly coming into view. The R1-N0’s cockpit hatch was still open, seeing the blue skies above him illuminate the chair and the Soldat’s controls. 916’s hands rested on his stomach before he began to stretch in the small space he had put himself in. He made a small hum of acknowledgement, having accidentally fallen asleep in here yet again.

He had his own room and it was not uncomfortable by any means, yet on some days he preferred to rest in the cockpit. Whether that was due to always piloting and performing maintenance in it or he just felt safer within the Soldat due to his past with Dyson, he could not say. Before he could fully begin to wake up, he heard metallic clanging grow ever closer before seeing a short red headed girl’s shadow emerge above the hatch.

“Figured you’d be napping here, Vi,” Chloe said, a smile growing on her face. “Boss has got our next job and wants us all in the meeting room!”

“Understood,” His calm voice replied, slowly getting up from the cockpit and grabbing onto Chloe’s extended hand, pulling him out with no effort. Although he stood almost a foot taller than her now, she could easily kill him with her strength alone. A fact she constantly reminds him of, proudly at that.

His ponytail slipped from his shoulder to the end of his neck, slightly adjusting the bangs out of his violet eyes as the wires coming out his t-shirt moved with his body. Chloe energetically slid down the R1-N0’s waist, clumsily landing on the metal platform as she eyed his Soldat.

“I feel like it’s been FOREVER since we finally got to be involved in a real job that wasn’t just ‘Stand here and watch these crates move into a ship for ten friggin' hours’.” Chloe grumbled as she tapped her foot impatiently.

“Chloe, those jobs have ended with us coming under fire. I am sure that qualifies as a real-”

“Bah, anything’s a real job to you! Come on, demolition, stealing, or even busting a few heads, that’s what really gets the blood pumping!”

916 exhaled through his nose, his shoulders slumping. His expression betrayed nothing of what he thought but Chloe already knew.

“Don’t give me that condescending attitude, you little shit!” Chloe pouted, her hands resting on her waist.

“I am not little.”

“I don’t care how much taller you grow than me, you’re still a little shit! Now get your scrawny ass down here before I kick it down!”

916’s face did not change as he gracefully leapt down onto the platform his R1-N0 laid on, turning back to look at it. The original corporate colors of the white and blue accents had long disappeared, instead being replaced by a dark brown with green accents marking the armor plates. The emblem of Wolf Company proudly lay on its shoulders. Other than the aesthetics, fundamentally his R1-N0 had not changed ever since the day he had escaped.

Even the Soldat’s armaments still contained the 60mm autocannon and heat dagger, much to everyone’s confusion. 916 recalled the conversation he had with David regarding his new colors and weapons.

…

“You sure you don’t wanna change anything else, Vi? The yellow horn I can kinda understand, makes it look snazzy, but forgoing any new equipment?”

“I can procure equipment on the field and utilize it there. More than likely it will be used as a close combat weapon, so it will at least not cost you anything to replace it.”

“...Eh, fair point. Better you break their stuff than mine. Y’know, Chloe and Hayes still don’t shut up about that whenever you’re outta the room.”

…

Deciding it would be better to not anger Chloe further with that reminder, 916 simply gestured for Chloe to lead the way, which she happily did so.

They walked away from the hangars as the other engineers greeted the two on their way out, performing maintenance on the rest of the company Soldats. Their numbers had not grown too much over the past decade, with some members either departing, falling in battle, or extended family taking their place. David allowed anyone into Wolf Company, so long as they were sure it was the right decision and after an extensive background check.

What had remained constant was that David, Chloe, Hayes, and 916 were the main combatants, and the other six Soldats were used more for defensive and utility purposes. The four’s combat capabilities had grown considerably since their first battle together, with each battle giving them more experience.

916’s data relying on makeshift and faulty equipment versus the reliability of his high end corporate funding gave him a new perspective on how to improvise in the heat of battle. He could not rely solely on his onboard learning computer forever. It was not only their skills that had evolved, but the technology of Soldats as well.

Newer Soldats were fielded every single day versus their aging machines. The Guardian Types had long since been replaced in the main Florence Military with more sleek and reliable versions. The only reason David kept theirs was to use them as construction tools. The main four Soldats of Wolf Company had been updated to keep up with the times and their ever improving reaction speeds.

While 916 performed all the upgrades himself thanks to the Dyson data implanted in his head, overall his Soldat was still the most unchanged of everyones. He was not sure that was entirely a good thing, given the nature of weapons are to be constantly upgraded and replaced.

Looking back to Chloe, it gave him the reminder that everyone also changed physically. His vivid memory recalled when he barely came up to Chloe’s stomach, and now he stood exactly thirty centimeters taller. Her face had aged but it still had her fiery and youthful energy, which was unsurprising given that she was thirty-five years old. Though amusingly, only Hayes and himself had really changed. Back then, Hayes’ blonde hair was far shorter, and now the length of it reached to his shoulders, complementing his fair skin and green eyes. David and Chloe hardly looked any different.

“Lost in thought again?” Chloe asked, giving 916 a smirk and crossing her arms.

“Hm. As much as things have changed over the years, we have remained relatively the same…"

“Yeah, you’re still as stoic as ever, Vi,” She teased, giving a slight bump to his arm.

916 exhaled through his nose again, his shoulder slightly jumping up as he did so, portraying his amusement. Working with a group like this was bound to make his emotions flare up again, and while it did so, it never showed on his face. No one had ever seen him smile, cry, or even laugh. However, it was apparent when he became annoyed when his brows furrowed ever so slightly and the tone of his voice dropped lower than usual.

Incidentally, it was Chloe and Hayes who managed to find that out after their constant recommendations of how to spend his first paycheck. Chloe recommended newer weapons while Hayes recommended going out to a ‘Strip Club’. 916 had thought it was a mechanical shop and agreed to it before David and Chloe vehemently put an end to that idea.

The database in his head had nothing on what a ‘Strip Club’ was as it only contained Dyson information, his missions and other miscellaneous info pertaining to combat. It could learn and store memories or information like a file for him to review, but he’d be required to learn it first. Which was a problem, given everyone’s reluctance to tell him what it was in the first place.

That memory began to make him think of the time spent with 403 and the other Generation One children. They got scared, showed sorrow and happiness, but more importantly, everyone visibly portrayed their emotions before the chips were implanted, including himself.

He wondered if the chip had scrambled with his brain’s function of his emotions, because even now he did not feel them that intensely. Not since the day he had broken free of Dyson. But he at least understood other people's emotions on a basic level, enough to let him play along with their antics.

“It has its benefits,” 916 verbally jabbed back after returning his mind back to the present.

“Yeah, in being boring as hell,” Chloe chuckled. That could have been seen as an insult, but he knew Chloe’s vulgar and unfiltered language. She was just messing around as usual.

Strolling through the metallic catwalks, 916 and Chloe heard the rushing waves of the ocean crash upon the sand. Wolf Company had established a base on a small abandoned island far off the coast of Cumbria. The trees on the island were left relatively untouched, both to camouflage the base from potential attackers, but also keep morale high by having something pleasant to look at. While 916 did think it looked somewhat nice, that was the extent of his thoughts.

He truly had no preference on where Wolf Company was located, as long as it was safe. This island fit his requirements. The command center they were headed into was more of a bunker than anything, surrounded by metal and electronic lights, but it was not nearly as high tech as Dyson’s command center. As the door slid open, they were greeted by a guard wearing a gray ballistic vest.

“Hey Vi, Chloe. Boss just went into the room.” The guard casually gestured with his head, his hands on the rifle but not in any way that would indicate he was on alert.

916 gave a nod of acknowledgement while Chloe was far more energetic in her wave back.

“Got it, thanks!” Chloe passed the guard and turned back to 916. “Least he can’t bitch to us about being late.”

“Hm. Assuming Hayes woke up in time.”

Walking through the corridor and turning right into another sliding door, they saw David, a group of engineers and soldiers, and Hayes all inside the room. David stood up front, an electronic board behind him as the others sat in simple steel chairs.

They were not comfortable by any means, but they were there more for function than anything else. David gave a nod of acknowledgement while the others simply waved. Hayes gestured a hello with his head as he motioned the two to sit next to him.

“Just in time. Sit your butts down and we can get on with this briefing. This ain’t gonna be a normal one.” David offhandedly waved towards the seats. He held a small tablet in his hand as the light from the board illuminated the entire room in a dark blue, portraying information about the upcoming job.

Chloe rushed to the chair, almost tripping over as she caught herself and began tapping her foot rhythmically. 916 calmly sat down and remained unnaturally still, his eyes on David as he fumbled with the buttons.

“Ah, here we go.”

The board projected a screen showing a company logo, which immediately caught everyone’s attention. It simply read “Phenom Industries.” What stood out the most was that the logo had no symbol or anything fancy decorating the name. In fact, no one in the room appeared to know who they were.

“See what I mean? Already things are lookin’ shady.” David crossed his arms, frowning at the company.

916’s eyes flashed several colors for a few brief seconds. Nothing in his data matched up. Pre-existing records made no mention, nor did any past mission have any sort of reference towards the company.

“Who’re these nobodies, Boss?” Hayes raised his hand, leaning back in his seat while his foot grounded him. “We’ve been hired by big names who could barely afford us, I doubt these guys have anything we want.”

“Did as much research as I was able, they apparently ship raw materials to Florence and Cumbria, but other than that? Nothing. No history with any other PMC, no corporate squabbling, nothing. It’s just…blank.”

The room’s silence was replaced by murmurs, the uncertainty of the company had everyone on edge.

“Eh? Then why the heck are we even accepting a job from them?” Chloe leaned forward in her seat as 916 put a hand on the back of it to make sure she didn’t fall, while still trying to examine the screen.

“That, Chloe, is why I’m bringing this up. Normally a company with an empty history like this means they’re a startup, you don’t hear me mention them because I usually throw their requests in the trash and get us another company.” David pressed on the tablet’s screen with his finger, changing the board and showing the client’s words. “This time, I’m making an exception.”

“We request the services of Wolf Company to protect the transportation of valuable minerals from a rival company PMC. In exchange, we will safeguard the location of Wolf Company’s island base, and any damages incurred on equipment will be wholly covered by Phenom Industries.”

The murmurs exploded into exclamations and questions, David did not bother to silence anyone until the noise died down naturally.

“This island does not appear on any map.” 916 commented, turning from the screen to David. “How do they know we’re here?”

“Exactly why this job’s our next one, kid. Whoever these guys are, they’ve got connections, and we’re gonna find out how.”

“This has got to be a trap…” Hayes put his chin into his palm, muttering. “They say they got no beef with anyone, yet a company is supposedly hiring a PMC against them? Not even mentioning the blackmail…”

“Tch, guess I should be more careful with my wish about an exciting job. Fuckin' monkey’s paw.” Chloe sighed, leaning back into her chair and making 916 let go.

916 managed to stifle his question on what a ‘monkey’s paw’ was and focused on more important matters.

“The Den should be prepared for an attack while we are away. I doubt that we are the only ones in danger for this job.”

“Agreed.” David stated, turning back to the rest of the room. “Everyone’s to remain on high alert until we send word back. Vi, Chloe, Hayes, and I will be going to the coordinates they provided and see the mission done. Once it is, we’re gonna make sure to get a nice long talk with those punks and how they know so much about our movements.”

“I’ll be moving to the Rhino and remain on standby, then.” 916 dismissed himself and hurried back to the hangar.

Everyone began to do the same as David nodded.

“Chloe, Hayes, join Vi and switch to callsigns once we get in the Soldats. We’ll assume that this company knows our usual frequencies, so we’ll switch to emergency comms only. Let’s get this over with, folks.”

As 916 approached his Soldat, he removed his shirt and the wires on his chest began to pulsate a faint blue. The segmented visor of the R1-N0 activated and remained still until he climbed up into the cockpit. Letting the mechanisms latch onto his spine, he took a deep breath as the systems merged into his brain, data rushing in.

After the hatch closed, 916 slowly stood up and shook the metallic ground underneath him, watching everyone else enter their Soldats. In the distance, he could hear the whirring engines of the transport ship rev up, ready to depart.

On his right monitor, small windows showing his allies blinked into existence, springing the previously black screen to life. Everyone had a pilot suit of their own as they adjusted to their cockpit. Hayes’ suit was a stylish white with red stripes, Chloe’s was dark red accented with light gray and a flaming fist over her heart, and David’s was his usual well-worn military fatigues with the symbol of Wolf Company.

In contrast, 916 only had his pants and shoes on while the wires began glowing a bright blue, his spine jutting outwards as the seat’s connection wrapped around it. 916 finally put on a tactical headset, allowing him to hear his squad.

“Juggernaut’s good to go. Ammo’s full and no damage reported.” David stated, his usual levity notably missing. 916 saw the pink monoeye activate as it looked around rapidly before its gaze rested upon the other Soldats who began to stand up.

“Mantis, ready to deploy. I’m ready to smash their fuckin’ heads!” Chloe smirked, excitedly putting her fist into her palm. Her slim bright red Soldat’s head shot straight upwards and looked rigidly left to right, true to the insect it was named after as its two eyes activated, pulsing a bright yellow.

“Phantom’s rarin’ to go, Boss.” Hayes nodded, pushing his blonde hair away from his face. His Soldat had been upgraded ever since 916 first saw it, being outfitted with more armor, but not enough to hamper his movement. The goggles on its head slid down, covering the visor and shone a bright orange.

“Rhino is fully operational, awaiting orders,” 916 blankly reported. His R1-N0 turned towards the Juggernaut, as did everyone else.

“Head to the transport ship, and park your asses in the hold. It’ll be a longer trip than usual before we reach the coordinates. We’re takin’ a route we normally don’t in case anyone's tracking our movements.”

David saw everyone nod on the right monitor and their Soldats began to move towards their transport. The ship itself was quite strange as far as transport ships went. The way it held the Soldats was essentially putting them in a giant cargo crate that opened on both sides, sitting underneath and carried by what looked like a giant helicopter.

It was an obvious target for anyone to shoot, but its main job was simply to transport the Soldats or personnel inside far away from the active combat zones. Given the nature of this job, it made David worry more about the safety of the pilots than usual.

The Juggernaut entered first and parked itself on the farthest right of the crate, powering down its engines as the Mantis stood directly to its left. The Phantom and Rhino stood behind them on the opposite side, watching the crate’s hatches slowly rise up from the ground and enclose them. The ship took off within a few minutes and began to fly over the ocean and towards the coordinates.

The squad left their visual comms open, everyone able to see David cross his arms as he began to explain the mission further.

“The AO isn’t too far off from the coast, so we’ll hoof it towards the area they want us to guard for about ten minutes.”

“The waters will be trapping us should we get attacked.” 916 commented.

“It will, but at the same time we shouldn’t have to worry about us getting shot in the back by the PMC. Unless Phenom does it first.”

“If that happens, Vi and I will fuck ‘em up and make those assholes regret it!” Chloe angrily slammed her fist into her seat.

“What’s the area look like? I might be able to hide myself somewhere high and make sure nothing gets the drop on everyone, Boss.” Hayes shrugged as he made his suggestion.

David pressed something offscreen before a map of the area they would be defending appeared in front of them. The facility appeared to be some sort of dock, with ships in the waters next to a massive warehouse-like facility. The area was enclosed by a valley heavily covered by trees, which disappeared the farther it went inland. Their coordinates to meet up with the company was right in front of the facility, which was almost completely empty, giving them no cover.

“This is a goddamn kill box!” Hayes slumped into his seat as he examined the screen further. “Now I’m really convinced this entire job is a setup!”

“Screw is right. Should the PMC decide to attack from the valleys, they would have the high ground,” 916 agreed, his tone slightly deepening.

“DO THEY THINK WE’RE MORONS?!” Chloe yelled into her mic, making everyone slightly recoil from the volume before Hayes motioned for her to quiet down on the screen. For the first time today, David let out a smirk as a chuckle gave away his plans.

“Looks like they do, Flare. I bet they’re expecting us to waltz right in and play to their tune thanks to the blackmail. But when has Wolf Company ever followed a plan to the letter? We do things our way only.”

Chloe and Hayes saw his expression before being calmed down and smiling alongside him. Their anxiety was now replaced with anticipation. 916 only nodded in response with a grunt of affirmation. Whoever was attempting to make a fool out of them was going to sorely regret it.

…

David sat inside his cockpit, the Juggernaut’s monoeye slowly shifting left to right as it stood on guard, directly in front of the facility’s entrance. Hayes, Chloe, and 916 were nowhere to be found, to the surprise of his client when he arrived. His arms were crossed and his finger was slowly tapping on his arm before noticing his communication monitor was blinking. A call from Phenom Industries.

“Boss here-”

“What in the hell are you doing?!” An angry man’s voice called out. The voice sounded old, but not any more than David’s.

“My job. What’s it look like?”

“By parking your Soldat directly in front of the facility?! Where are your other mercenaries?!-”

“If your company really did its homework on Wolf Company, then you already know we do some risky shit. Oh, and my two other buddies are around. Won’t disclose the location, seeing as we’re the only security. All the better to complete the job, I say.”

“You’re completely alone! If an enemy attack came in, we would-”

“-Get hit, and explode. Which is precisely why I’m here. They’d be an idiot to hit me and detonate all the sweet cargo ya’ll are packing. So they won’t fire without making themselves known.”

“Tch, we will discuss this when it comes to your pay!”

“Sure thing, big man. I’d like to discuss the blackmail while we’re at it, too…Hey, quit your bitching for a second. Need to take a call.”

“The nerve of-!”

The voice promptly went offline as he scoffed, switching to emergency communications.

“Screw?”

“See a buncha Soldats approaching. Couple hundred meters out. Think that’s our rival for today.”

“See the logo?”

“...The Lightning Griffins. Hoo boy, I bet they’re still pissed.”

David frowned at the mention of them. The Lightning Griffins were a PMC they had shamed three times now for the unfortunate crime of being on the opposite side. Just like everyone else, he mentioned it was nothing personal, and just like everyone else, they wanted revenge.

No doubt they probably set this up, but as far as he knew, they were just a regular, albeit on the technological lower-end, PMC. How did they manage to get the information on Wolf Company’s Base?

“Hmph, questions for later. Flare, Vi?”

“Loud and clear boss, getting into position!” Chloe energetically replied.

“Following the plan as ordered. Awaiting signal.” 916 blankly reported.

David smirked and turned his frequency back to Phenom.

“Speaking of attack, your buddies just got here. I’d haul ass if I were you.”

“What?!” The old voice shouted out in surprise. “Why did you not notify us earlier?!”

“You just were.” David shut off his communication as he looked at the workers hurriedly trying to get out of the way and towards the docking area. He just shrugged seeing them. “Poor bastards probably don’t even know they’re just here to make this look legit. Guess I should move so I don’t hurt ‘em.”

The Juggernaut slowly moved forward, readying its weapons for use and David turned to his right monitor, activating his speakers to hail the Griffins. Thanks to the formation of the valley, there was only one real entrance, one that David’s Soldat could see the entirety of as it was just an open field of dirt and rocks.

Right now, he was the only one visible standing in front of the facility as he saw about twenty lower end Soldats approach. They all were construction Soldats, little more than small rectangles with arms and legs and no doubt just rigged for the bare minimum threshold to fight.

They barely stood up to the chest of a normal Soldat, but even then, their laughable specs were still nothing to completely write off, for there’s a quality in quantity after all. And they were all armed with weapons that could damage a Soldat, a mixture of rifles, machine guns and explosives.

The one in front was their leader, inside an actual combat Soldat. It was a white bipedal humanoid machine that stood about the same height as a Guardian, but was far bulkier in all respects. All of the limbs, including its head, were heavily armored and the back carried a massive makeshift sword that could cleave the Juggernaut in half. Most distinct of all, was its damaged head, where a proud antenna once stood above a cracked green visor was now split in twain, accompanied by a black mark on its formerly pristine white shoulder.

“Damn it, kid! Why’d ya beat the hell outta him like that?”

“Because you ordered me to, Boss-”

“Bah, shut the hell up! That wasn’t meant to be answered!”

“Understood, shutting up.”

Chloe and Hayes snickered, while David glared at the monitor. None of the team were currently visible, but they could feel David’s death stare as the noise suddenly died off.

“Stay right where ya are, punks.” David announced to the Lightning Griffins, adjusting his controls in his hands.

“Wolf Company. I suppose it’s fitting that we’d find you here.” A younger and angrier voice replied.

“Heh, find us? We decided to find you first, figures it beats letting you waltz up to our home.”

“This little dock is the home to Wolf Company? Tch, that’s even more insulting!”

David frowned at their response. If they were the ones blackmailing, they’d know that this is just their employer. They were either playing dumb or…

“Are we both being played?” David muttered to himself. The Juggernaut’s Monoeye looked to the side, noticing that the dockworkers were still doing their jobs, albeit at a much more panicked state. It’d probably be best if he played along for now. “Now, I’ll repeat this for the fourth god damn time so it can go through that thick skull. This. Ain’t. Personal. Neither were any of the times before!”

“Oh, it isn’t personal? Then why did one of yours almost beat me to death with my own weapon, that feels pretty fucking personal!”

“...Alright, can’t even argue that one. Just turn back around, and we’ll forget we ever saw each other-”

“Sorry, that ain’t happening! We're promised a lot of money to take that cargo!”

“You even know what’s in it?”

“Do you?”

Truthfully, David had no idea what Phenom was doing. Hayes was in the trees, looking down on the facility with a sniper in case they actually tried to betray them in the heat of combat. He had assumed it was a fifty fifty chance that it was either an ambush getting set up or actual cargo getting sent out. But that was a detail that did not need to be shared to the Griffins.

“Besides,” The leader replied. “What matters is we finally put Wolf Company down once and for all! We already know your other buddies are hiding in the trees!”

David felt like he should be bothered they knew that, but he instead felt nothing. Even without the insider knowledge Wolf Company’s blackmailers had, you’d have to be absolutely stupid to not utilize the terrain around you in a battle. Especially in an open field like this.

Knowing their voices were being broadcasted aloud, David knew the other three were adjusting their plans.

“Pretty optimistic thinking considering we kicked your ass the past three times. If you wanna throw the first punch right now, it’s about to be a fourth.”

“Bring it, old man!”

The Griffin Soldat unsheathed its sword and pointed it straight at David.

“This time, nothing’s gonna stop you from-”

A shot rang out as a blast from the trees immediately blew apart one of the construction Soldat’s arms, catching everyone off guard, including David.

“What the hell?!” David shouted. The pink monoeye suddenly moved where the flash came from, and saw the Phantom in the trees, rifle aimed straight at the Griffins.

“Uh…A-Are we not fighting?” Hayes nervously asked.

David looked like he was about to say something, but in the end he just sighed.

“...Eh, fuck it.”

The Juggernaut’s cannons lowered and opened fire at the Griffins, all of them scattering in time before the explosions sent a cloud of dirt into the air. The leader skirted around the explosions and rushed forward, before quickly sliding to the right to avoid another of Hayes’ shots, a massive round sinking into the dirt and exploding. A small number of the construction soldats flew up to the left side Hayes was on, using the trees as cover as they began their slow advance towards him.

“Screw! Watch your ass up there!” David shouted, focusing on reversing the Juggernaut and trying to shoot down the others trying to move onto the other side of the valley.

“Don’t worry, Boss! I saw ‘em!”

Aiming the Juggernaut’s machine guns at the Griffin Leader, he unleashed a torrent of gunfire to drive him back. The leader’s Soldat boosted around the shots, but was hit by a few strays, faltering the advance. The lack of cover was both a blessing and a curse, as David suddenly felt his Soldat shake. The pink monoeye looked to its right flank and saw three of them moving behind, rifles firing at his treads.

“Flare!”

The Mantis leapt out from the trees, with many of the construction Soldats sent to attack Hayes came tumbling down the hill.

“YAHOOOOO!” Chloe screamed out, reloading her shotgun as she fired at David’s attackers. Each shot tore apart the bodies of the construction soldats, making them explode. Before they could turn to retaliate, the Mantis’s legs planted itself onto the floor and jumped dozens of meters into the air, all the while spraying its shots wildly.

Landing right behind David, she sheathed her shotgun and drew out a sword instead. Catching the construction Soldat’s attention, she continued to quickly hop away from the facility and David as they gave pursuit, leaving only him and the leader.

“Drawing my men away? Fine by me, I’ll take you down myself!”

The Juggernaut moved rigidly, but its expression was clear to the leader. It was shrugging nonchalantly, taunting him.

“Much better than you have tried, kiddo.”

The cannons lowered and immediately fired, creating more craters onto the floor as the Juggernaut rushed forward.

…

“The enemy sniper is around here somewhere!” One of the mercenaries called out, their machine guns facing out as they dashed around the trees at a relatively quick speed. They could not utilize their full boost since there was the risk of collision, but they had at least seven present to rush the sniper in case it fired at them.

“It came from near the coast, so we can-”

A shot soared through the trees as it went directly through the cockpit of one, making it explode and causing the entire squad to scatter.

“Shit, did anyone see where that came from?!”

“I think it was to our right-!”

A shot came from the left, going through the cockpit again, and a small explosion setting some of the trees on fire.

“I-I can’t pinpoint it!”

Sheathing the sniper, the Phantom instead drew out a combat knife as the goggles slid back up onto its head.

“Doubt they’re stupid enough to fall for the same tactic over and over.” Hayes commented to himself, preparing for close combat. A sniper was almost useless once the enemy knew his location, so now it was time to improvise.

He knew that his armor could hold up against their shots, but not if they were all concentrated and hitting him at the same time. Deciding to take a page out of Chloe’s book, he figured the best way out of this situation was to slice his way out.

Quickly sliding around the tree and rushing an unsuspecting Soldat, he stabbed through the chest and forced it onto the floor. Several machine gun rounds began hitting his side armor, making him quickly retreat. Feeling the Phantom shake violently from their retaliation, he drove through the trees ahead, with everyone skirting around the trees to pursue.

…

Chloe sliced another of the Soldats in half, it exploded into a mess of parts and limbs, allowing her to use the smoke as cover from the shots. From what she could count, there were about six that pursued her, and four that remained. She had to stick to her hit and run tactics. Everytime she came close to attack, the shots would chip away at her armor’s durability. It was only a matter of time before they managed to damage something vital.

“For a bunch of trash cans, these fuckers are pretty resilient…!” She grumbled.

“Flare, switch places, coming up on ya, now!”

“With pleasure, just get these goons off me!”

The Mantis’s head turned to the trees and leapt towards them, sword drawn as the Phantom emerged and slid down, aiming its sniper at the Soldats chasing Chloe. It fired twice, one exploding an arm while another pierced through the cockpit. Meanwhile, the Mantis landed right in front of four that flew out the trees, managing to slice one in half before the others scattered hastily.

“Guess we’re all out in the open now, huh?” Chloe laughed, the adrenaline kicking into overdrive in her body.

“Not everyone.” Hayes cooly replied, his left monitor catching movement in the trees on the right side of the valley, overlooking the facility. Some Soldats had managed to sneak through the fight. “Though, that’s about to change.”

…

“Sir, we see the dock. Attempting to seize!”

Static.

“...Sir, do you copy?”

The one leading the squad of five turned around to face them before suddenly raising its gun to open fire. A single shot pierced through its cockpit and caused it to explode. Everyone else spun around and dashed down the hill, a massive gray Soldat leaping out after them, with a single yellow horn and a segmented blue visor.

“This is Vi, entering combat.” 916 said, taking no particular pleasure in having caught them off guard. His eyebrow slightly shifted when he realized that the Griffin Soldats could not contact their allies. As far as he knew, he had not initiated any kind of jamming program. Yet his mind felt a slight buzzing sensation, a feeling only present if his systems were active. The feeling made him suspicious, but decided to focus on the more pressing matter.

The soldats began opening fire and the Rhino slid down the hill at an accelerated pace and made them aim toward the empty coast. Though he would have preferred to attack them from behind utilizing his speed, they would hit the facility, and void any chance of getting paid.

Rushing straight at them as their stabilizers struggled to keep them upright, he smashed straight into one of them before forcing them all to collide, shoving them all away from the facility. Using the claws on his Soldat, he stabbed through the cockpit before using the machine as a shield from any incoming fire, then tossing it at another causing them both to erupt into a small inferno.

“Two more.”

The Rhino unsheathed its 60mm autocannon and aimed it at the escaping Soldats-.

<Hm…~...J-...f-...> A cheerful woman’s voice called out. 916 stopped for a moment to register the noise. It sounded like it came from the comms. The voice was too high pitched to be Chloe’s which meant-

“Screw. Please disable your videos of the naked women during a mission.” 916 requested, feeling slightly annoyed.

“The fu-?! Tch, little busy right now, Vi! I’ve learned by now, I don’t make the same mistake twice!” Hayes replied quickly, and from the tone of his voice and the lack of a flustered reaction, he was telling the truth.

“Pfft! C-Come on, don’t distract me like that!” Chloe chuckled, her voice obviously contrasting the woman’s voice he heard.

“When the hell has he been the type to make a joke in the middle of a fight?!” David’s voice came next, sounding surprised. "Kid, what're you hearing?"

The Rhino turned to the Wolf Company pilots fighting, all of them were busy fighting off the Lightning Griffins. Focusing his attention on the escaping Soldats again, he was prepared to fire before they were quickly shot down, falling backwards towards him. 916’s expression suddenly darkened. The shot came from the front, but no one was paying attention to his skirmish.

<...-tar-…-aiti-…-> Another female voice spoke out, this time much deeper than the previous one.

<...-stood-...ging pres-....> A third female voice spoke, her tone softer than the other two.

The buzzing feeling in his head was beginning to intensify, his monitor now picking up three targets approaching from the entrance of the valley.

“Boss, incoming Soldats!” 916 said louder than his usual tone, beginning to hear the voices much clearer.

<...-engaging Wolf Company.> The third voice reported, in a tone not too dissimilar to 916’s.

The Juggernaut quickly backed off from the Griffin Leader, as an overhead shot soaring past them caught their attention. David didn’t have a chance to ask who they were, as a single shot pierced straight through the Griffin Leader’s armor plates and unceremoniously annihilated the cockpit, causing it to explode and catch everyone’s attention.

The Phantom and Mantis spun around to see three black Soldats quickly closing in on their location, all sliding across the ground with a trail of dust following them. Now everyone had stopped fighting and scattered, Griffin to the right and Wolf Company to the left of the valley.

The three black Soldats sped past the Griffin ones, seemingly not paying them any mind and instead gunning it for Wolf Company.

“Back the hell off!” Chloe shouted, the Mantis aiming its shotgun at them.

The middle Soldat snapped towards her and with one well placed shot blew up her weapon. Before anyone could react, one of the Soldats quickly closed the gap and leapt up, kicking the Mantis as it came crashing down. The Soldat danced around their gunfire as it activated its thrusters, skirting around the exploding debris. The Rhino, Juggernaut, and Phantom continued their attempt to pin it down as the three quickly scattered. The Juggernaut moved in front of the Mantis, noticing it wasn’t getting back up.

“Flare, respond!” David called out her name with a tinge of panic before 916 spoke up.

“No serious damage taken, I believe she is unconscious.” He said, closely examining the movements of the unknown Soldats. Their responsiveness to dodging attacks were far too fast and natural to be just ace pilots.

The remaining Griffin Soldats moved towards the facility while everyone was occupied before being mercilessly put down by the third Soldat using some kind of burst fire rifle. The unknown Soldats quickly backed off and stood together, all pointing their weapons but none actually firing at Wolf Company.

“The hell are they-?” Hayes did not get to finish his question as one of their Soldats stepped forward.

“Wolf Company. You are ordered to stand down.” The woman’s tone was relatively friendly, unsettling David and Hayes considering the circumstances.

“Who the fuck are you supposed to be?” David shouted out defiantly.

“We are The Pale Riders.”

916 searched his records for any mention of this PMC or to identify their Soldats, and again failed to find any information. The Soldats were pitch black, each with a different colored stripe across their shoulder armor. It looked eerily similar to a Guardian Soldat, but the armor plates were far bulkier than its supposed predecessor and the visor was a dark pink.

It looked about the same height as the R1-N0, but the weapons it had were far more advanced than his own and he could not tell where it stored its close combat weapons, if it had any at all. The one that had attacked Chloe had what appeared to be a cannon and a gatling gun mounted on its shoulder, but it was the only one with those weapons.

“You are in possession of a Dyson R1-N0. You are to exit the suit immediately for confiscation.” The same voice announced, the head turning to the Rhino.

“We will not harm your allies if you comply. Failure to do so will result in termination.”

916 tightly gripped the controls as he tried to have the systems in his head try to connect to the Pale Rider pilot. Generation One and Two pilots all had a chip in their brain to allow them to communicate directly, forgoing the need for external communication.

If they truly were Enhanced Humans then-

A connection. 916’s heart rate began to steadily increase.

<Ah, so you really are an Enhanced Human, how interesting!~> The same friendly voice replied, though her voice was far clearer, as if they were right next to each other.

<Identify yourself.> The deeper voice cut her off coldly, every one of their Soldats now facing 916’s direction.

<No,> The softer voice answered. <We are an independent group.>

<Identify yourself.> The deeper voice repeated.

<...My name is Vi.> He finally replied, stepping forward and away from the rest of Wolf Company.

<Hm.> The friendly voice idly hummed. <Guess you’re our guy.~>

<Beginning test.> The deeper voice stated, its weapon aiming at the Rhino.

The Rhino immediately leapt towards the three, autocannon firing as it slammed onto the ground they were standing on, all of them scattering.

“Boss, Screw. Escape with Flare. You cannot handle them.” 916 said, immediately rushing the closest one to him.

“What?! We can’t just leave-”

“Run, now.” He said, each of his shots missing despite the fact they were at point blank range. “They are like me.”

It took a moment for the two of them to realize what 916 meant.

“Aw shit.” David’s voice dropped upon the realization.

“Booking it!” Hayes shouted, the Phantom grabbing the Mantis.

The three of them began to escape, and to 916’s surprise, they were left alone instead of getting gunned down. Which meant they were only here for him. 916 made no comment as he quickly dodged incoming fire.

The Rhino swerved left and right as a barrage attempted to pin him down. The open field they were in provided no cover to hide in as his armor plates were getting hit, the durability wearing down each shot.

Despite the hits taken so far, he was still able to dodge a significant amount of their attacks. If these were Dyson Enhanced Humans, he’d be dead already.

All combat data was shared between Dyson pilots, and his tactics were well documented. While his fighting had changed significantly over the years, accessing that information beforehand would have already decided the fight.

He began to notice there were subtle differences as they dodged each other’s attacks. His Soldat had almost no issue responding instantly to what his brain commanded, giving it a human-like motion whenever he moved, while these Soldats were fast, they did not have the same fluid movements.

They still moved like machines.

However, their coordination was almost the same tactics the other children of Generation One and Two performed. Focusing on blitz and rush strategies, never giving the enemy a chance to rest.

“You’re pretty good!” The friendly voice complimented 916, dodging his autocannon shots by rapidly changing directions of her movement.

“It will not save you.” The deeper voice commented.

The suppressing fire coming from one of the Soldats kept him too busy to focus on retaliating, while another kept attacking his flank. Each shot that connected rattled his brain and the Rhino. Despite the opportunities, he noticed none of their shots had aimed for his cockpit.

“...I will die if this continues.” 916 blankly told himself.

If they were Enhanced Humans, that meant they had some kind of CE-Drive system as well. But he was running low on options and ammo. He quietly exhaled through his nose as the R1-N0 shook violently, finally being knocked down to its knees. 916 hit his head as he fell, a notification appearing on his eye that he was bleeding.

The firing quickly stopped afterwards. Sparking from the monitors caught onto his skin which burned it, but he quickly dulled the pain with his inhibitors. Ignoring the bleeding, he began to collect his thoughts.

“...As long as they can escape, we can fight another day.” 916’s face had hardly changed, but his heart rate began to spike as his mind began overflowing with data.

“CE-DRIVE, ACTIVATED.”

The R1-N0’s visor turned Scarlet as it quickly launched itself, slamming into the heavily armored Soldat. The visors of all three of them turned into a bright green and charged 916. Although they were moving at a faster pace, it was nowhere near as fast as him.

One of the Soldats pulled out a knife and attempted to stab his head before he punched the arm’s joints, severing it from its body and sliding around to its back, using his attacker as a shield. The two didn’t fire from the front and instead quickly shifted to his sides, hitting him with pinpoint accuracy, making 916 let go of their comrade and leap back.

Grabbing one of the construction Soldat’s limbs from the ground, 916 rocketed towards the right Soldat and slammed it against the chest, making it fly back from the sheer force of the blow. Quickly turning around, the one with a severed arm stabbed into his left shoulder, disabling the function of his left hand and making him drop the makeshift club.

The Rhino slammed its head into the visor of the Soldat, shattering it and disabling its main camera. He grabbed one of the Griffin’s rifles and aimed right at her cockpit. He was quickly intercepted by the remaining Soldat who crashed into him, both of them falling to the ground and unsheathing knives.

“Pale Riders, stand down.” A fourth unfamiliar female voice commanded.

Suddenly the battle came to a screeching halt. The black soldats had stopped moving completely. The two standing immediately sheathed their weapons while the one on top of him didn’t move. All their visors turned back to the dark pink color, and seemed to power down significantly.

916’s red eyes blinked in confusion, before the head of the Rhino looked up and saw a massive flying ship above them. It looked like a naval carrier with massive rotors jutting out from the sides keeping it afloat. It was colored pitch black with the symbol of the Pale Riders, at least what he assumed was their symbol from the distance he saw it.

Turning back to the Soldat on top of him, he saw that it finally began sheathing its own knife, 916’s eyes turned back to his normal violet color. The Rhino’s visor reverted as well, but it was still powered on in case this supposed cease fire would resume.

“Am I currently speaking to the Dyson Enhanced-Human Pilot?” The fourth voice asked on an open channel. The quality was somewhat less than desirable, but it was coming from the machine itself rather than a brain to brain connection. Which meant she wasn’t an Enhanced Human. Hopefully.

“You can call me Commander Ava. I am the leader of the Pale Riders, and I’d like to apologize for the deception and the damages. You and your friends are in no real danger.”

“...Deception?” 916 asked.

“Red. Explain it to him.”

The friendly voice from before rang in his head.

<Our hostility was merely meant to invoke feelings of real danger in order to test you. That being said, if you weren’t an Enhanced Human, we would have killed you and taken your Soldat.> The deeper voice tactlessly added.

“Earlier you had mentioned a test...This is logical.” 916 responded. If they had actually wanted Wolf Company dead, they would have done so without announcing themselves. They had several opportunities already.

“VI! VI! THE HELL’S GOING ON!?” David’s voice suddenly interrupted.

“I’m okay, Boss. Someone wants to speak to you.”

As Commander Ava began to explain herself, 916’s attention was brought back to the front camera, watching the cockpit open and reveal the pilot.

She was wearing a mostly black uniform with white stripes on her shoulder. Her long white hair fell behind her back, revealing blue eyes and a somewhat pale skin that stared into his own cockpit. She stepped down and waited for him to open his.

916’s spine disconnected from his seat and he stepped out, the blood slowly falling against the side of his head. His wires were still pulsating a faint blue, making sure the R1-N0 was still active.

His heavily augmented appearance did not seem to faze her. In fact, there were no visible augmentations she had herself. Considering her clothes were similar to Chloe and Hayes, it was safe to assume their spines did not connect to the Soldat either.

Which meant none of the Pale Riders were from Dyson after all.

“Your skills are admirable.” She calmly stated.

“Yours as well.” 916 nodded in response. "The Pale Riders are a formidable team."

Despite the fact she wasn’t as heavily augmented, she seemed to be as aloof as he was. Was that from becoming an Enhanced Human or-?

“Aw look at that, White’s made a new friend!” Red teased.

“We are not friends. We are simply allies.” White responded.

“Allies?” 916 asked.

“The Pale Riders and Wolf Company will be working together. It is the sole purpose of why we tested you, because we need your help.”

“...Boss?” 916 called out behind him, looking at the cockpit. He could hear David’s voice respond back.

“Yeah, just confirmed it with that stone-cold bitch of a lady. She says she’ll clear up any misunderstanding, but if she tries anything else, we’re shoving a boot up her ass!”

“...Understood." 916 replied. He did not understand why they needed his help, but he at least was thankful that none of his friends were seriously injured.

“It’s like we just duplicated White. Don’t you think so, Black?” Red chuckled, which was promptly cut off by the deeper voice.

“Shut up, already.” Black ordered.

White extended her hand as a friendly greeting, but her face subtly shifted to a more positive expression.

916 glanced past her, seeing the two other Soldats remain still, as the Juggernaut, Phantom, and Mantis slowly approached them.

He turned back to White, and shook her hand firmly.

“I will reintroduce myself. I am Vi.”

…

CHAPTER 2: END

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading, I think this chapter is a lot more engaging to read than the previous ones thanks to the banter and Wolf Company!

From everyone who's read the story so far among my group, that seems to be the general consensus, Chloe and Hayes especially.

It actually took me very little time to edit and write this Chapter since it came to me a lot more naturally.

As for the newest additions to the story: the Pale Riders!

...Yeah, I won't even lie to y'all, the Pale Riders are basically just Task Force DEFY. In fact, they're who directly inspired each character. You'll get to see their names mentioned in the next chapter, but:

So if you were reading this and going "Hang on, they sound familiar!" that's why. I apparently cannot make a character that isn't directly inspired by someone I like, but I guess that goes for a lot of OC's huh?

When it comes to the names, I sorta threw stuff at the wall. Morgan is named after Fire Emblem Awakening Morgan, Sofia and Ava were the first names I thought of, while Allison is a reference to a character of the same name from Red vs Blue (aka Agent Texas).

As for the "Soldats", I decided to start adding visual references of what their inspirations are to give anyone reading an image to attach names to.

Starting off with the Pale Riders:

(RGM-96X Jesta from Mobile Suit Gundam: Unicorn)

White(Softer Third Voice)/Red's(Friendlier First Voice) Soldat:

===

(RGM-96X Jesta Cannon from Mobile Suit Gundam: Unicorn)

Black's (Second deeper voice) Soldat:

===

And Here's Wolf Company, courtesy of my google docs page of my notes:

(MaILES Byakuchi from AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline)

916's Soldat (The R1-N0)

(Zaku Tank from Mobile Suit Variation)

David's Soldat (The Juggernaut)

(GM Sniper II from Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket)

Hayes' Soldat (The Phantom)

(NACHTREIHER from Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon)

Chloe's Soldat (The Mantis)

===

As for the Lightning Griffins, there was no real inspiration, besides the MT's from Armored Core 6.

If I could draw the mechs myself, I would.

I'm still drawing the visual references of the main characters as it is, and that's even slower than my writing.

But that's it for right now, thank you for reading as always, and see you next chapter!

#916 #oc story #original story #mecha story #oc scifi story #long post #long chapter

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slotumn · 1 month

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You guys ever think about how Shez and Byleth's rivalry in Hopes actually doesn't end up mattering too much in the grand scheme of things. And yeah maybe the Doylist explanation for it is that the writers just weren't good at incorporating it into the main storyline.

But if we just look at things strictly in-universe: notice that, weird magic powers aside, they are both very much commoner mercenaries from beginning to end. Their job is to fight, but they never get a say in how the war starts or ends, because they're a couple of commoner mercs, being hired and ordered around by people of higher status.

Hell, even the conflict at the prologue set everything off wasn't something they began themselves; they were there to fight on behalf of nobles who'd hired them. It's not hard to extrapolate that there had been plenty of other skirmishes like that— and the vast majority of people who died fighting in those were never considered significant enough to be recorded in history.

It's the nobles' war and the commoners' fights, in other words, and Shez and Byleth's rivalry was the latter. A superpowered commoner fight, to be sure, but still a commoner's fight.

The reason why it's treated as a sideshow in the war is because it is. When the war ends and treaties are signed and history books are written— that's most likely what their story will be treated as. In a way it might be impressive that it even got to be a sideshow, because plenty of others who'd lived similar lives to theirs (save for the superpowers) must not have gotten that far.

And I like to think that is something both of Shez and Byleth know deep down. They're aware that no matter how skilled they are with a blade, in the grand scheme they're pieces on a board to the people who are actually in power. It's an awful feeling, and they both find ways to distract themselves from that existential despair— whether that's Shez obsessing over beating the Ashen Demon or Byleth repressing emotion and trying not to get attached to others because people die so damn much in that field of work (see Khadein Byleth lv 40 quote).

Following from that, I think the worst and most miserable versions of Shez and Byleth would be a Shez who took their revenge but did it alone without ever meeting the students, and a non-recruited Byleth after they killed Shez. They got their revenge, now what? All they're left with is their sword and the realization of how (politically) powerless they are in the world.

And following from that, the best versions of Shez and Byleth are clearly the ones where they team up and use their powers to start a commoner uprising across the continent that fucks over the three lords and the Church at the same time, ending 3H discourse once and for all.

In conclusion, Shezleth is based and I think the true message of Fódlan duology was that they should kiss and then guillotine the lords.

#fe3h #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem warriors three hopes #few3h #shez #byleth #byleth eisner #shezleth #fe3h meta #slotalks #sorry claude you're a fave but you would still get guillotined in the shezleth being based route

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violetequus8 · 2 years

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Angels, Demons, and Everything In-Between Bibliography

Beatrix of Nazareth (1200-1268). On Seven Ways of Holy Love. Taurus Press, 2016, https://www.sofiatopia.org/equiaeon/7ways.htm.

Bovey, Alixe. Monsters and Grotesques in Medieval Manuscripts. University of Toronto Press, 2002.

In the prologue, Abbot Mayhew mentions Hob reminds him “of a beast.” This is an allusion to the concept of the Beast Man, which is an illustrated figure appearing in some manuscripts, which is a non-canonical story about a grotesque man who wandered the earth (hairy visage included). Not to be confused with the Beast (the devil).

I also used this book hoping to find human-like illustrations, but unfortunately, the monstrous bodies (see Oswald) meant that all of them appear directly ghastly. I imagine that Hob, looking at the illustrations such as the ones I saw in this book, would immediately discount them against the Stranger.

Bovey also mentions an interesting fact: by the 12th century (that is, the 1100s) both laymen and women were beginning to read in greater numbers. While illuminated manuscripts remained expensive and valuable, it would not be unheard of for a layman to know how to read.

Cameron, Euan. Enchanted Europe: Superstition, Reason, and Religion, 1250-1750. Oxford University Press, 2010.

References in-text:

James’ mention of exorcism of the woman (chapter 1): “certain women were believed to be capable of experiencing an out-of-the-body flight in which they traveled great distances in the company of other women and a pagan goddess.” (47)

Text of the ritual exorcism (chapter 1): lifted verbatim from page 60. The exorcism text is from the Dominican Prierias.

There were two schools of thought about angels and demons, which Hob mentions in chapter 2. The first of these, Augustine, believed that “demons gave vision and prophecies, but these failed to have edifying moral content” (81). However, he also argued demons had souls and that God had created them for divine purpose, and should be treated as expressions of divine power (Bovey, 10). He was, as Hob notes, unsure about whether demons had physical bodies.

Thomas Aquinas, who came much later, had different opinions. He said that angels were the following

incorporeal

can not and do not know the future

could not know the inner thoughts of man

faster, stronger, and wiser than humanity

had the power to cause “certain marvelous things” including the presentation of images

cannot express lust or anger

Aquinas believed that fallen angels (demons) could do all of these things as well (91-97). Of course, the incorporeal nature of them means Hob couldn’t much use Aquinas’ opinions.

Coulton, G. G. Medieval Village, Manor, and Monastery. 2nd ed., Harper, 1925.

Used for a quick look into serfdom. Learned more than I’d like, and also realized I can’t make Hob a serf, because by definition he’d belong to some lord and I couldn’t have that.

Coulton had an obvious vendetta in this book, and it became particularly clear when he spoke about the monks. Of them, he says “the monk was […] a slightly better landlord than the layman”

Holy Bible. New International Version, International Bible Society, 2007.

Chapter 3 references:

A demon, by that name, only appears in the New Testament, not the old. The New Testament references are as follows:

Mark 1:21-28 (Jesus drives out an evil spirit. The spirit shakes the man violently and comes out when Jesus commands)

Mark 9:14-32 (Healing of a boy with an evil spirit. Whenever the spirit seizes the boy, he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. Jesus commands the spirit to leave and it does.)

Acts 16:16-18 (Apostle Paul is followed by a slave girl who has a spirit inside her which predicts the future. He gets annoyed with her and commands it to leave. It does.)

Ephesians 6:10-18 (These are the verses detailing the armor of God. The metaphor of being armed with Christ protects against evil [spirits])

Chapter 4 References:

Matthew 1:20 (the angel of the lord appears to Mary and tells her she will give birth to Christ.)

Ezekiel 1:5-14 (description of angels non-human)

Genesis 19:1-4 (this is the beginning of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, which starts with two angels who appear like men)

Hobs first dream:

the pale white horse: Revelation 6:8 (“I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him”)

Elijah - 2 Kings 2:11 - Elijah was a prophet and miracle worker, and a chariot of fire and horses of fire took him to heaven, ergo, he did not die but was in fact taken directly to heaven.

Hob’s second dream - wrestling: Genesis 22:22-32

Karras, Ruth. Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing Unto Others. 3rd ed., Taylor & Francis, 2017.

“In Medieval times, distinction among the three [sex, gender, and sexuality] was not just blurred, it did not exist.” (7) Thank you, Ms. Karras, for that absolutely enlightening line. I knew that I had made for myself a harder challenge by using the time period between the 1389 and 1489 meetings, but I really struggled to write this because I couldn’t just say “Hob’s bisexual” or “Dream is genderfluid.” Medieval sex was drawn on different lines than we use: there is a difference between penetrator and penetrated, and reproductive and non-reproductive sex. Obviously, the burden on women was much greater, and combined with the “passivity” (29) that was supposedly natural to women, drew further lines. Sexuality, when it was spoken about, was within the realm of the church, particularly in the area of virginity. There is indeed a hierarchy of virginity: women were believed to become a different kind of virgin (43). Of course, neither Hob nor Dream are virgins. The canon is very clear about that. But Hob is a sort of virgin; he hasn’t had anal sex, which would be sodomy, and although it was hard to find information about anal sex in the early 1400s, I interpolated the above thoughts about penetration. If sex was something “done to someone else” (4), then if Hob had anal sex with Dream (Dream recieving), it would be arguably better than if it was the other way around. This is why Hob’s reaction is so severe. Dream is having sex with him in the second arc, and this is a more flagrant violation of Medieval sex standards than the first arc, which would be Hob having sex with Dream. (It should be noted that the first arc of sex is more permissible in Hob’s mind because he is having sex. Technically, Dream isn’t.)

Additionally, there is a clear distinction between celibacy and chastity in the Medieval times that is blurred in modern understanding (leaving kink aside). Celibacy meant the unmarried state (38), and chastity was a state of purity. A married couple having sex were both chaste, but not celibate. A husband who cheated on his wife was neither celibate nor chaste. A monk who abstained was celibate. A monk who had sex with his buddy was celibate but not chaste.

I’d also like to leave this quote here: “To Medieval people a vulva might have looked like a wound, rather than a wound like a vulva.” (70) I thought this was particularly metal of Ms. Karras to write, and also highlights how our modern brains have shifted.

Lawrence, Clifford. Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages. 2nd ed., Longmang Group UK Limited, 1989.

This book provided the names and times of the prayer-hours for service (113-114).

In chapter 1, James references a charter or loan for books. Books were still valuable enough at this time (though becoming more available, see Bovey) that if one monastery wanted to borrow a book, they might have to send a runner with an amount of money or a letter from the king, and only then would a book be lent (116).

“Map of a Medieval Monastery.” Britain Express, https://www.britainexpress.com/History/medieval-monastery-map.htm.

Mittleman, Josh, and Brian Scott. A List of 15th Century English Men’s Names. 2002, https://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/agincourt/.

Many thanks to this page for providing me with period appropriate names for the original male characters.

Oswald, Dana. Monsters, Gender, and Sexuality in Medieval English Literature. D. S. Brewer, 2010.

“To make monstrosity visible is to assure people will know a monster when they see one--which assures them they are not monstrous” (114). In my half-hazard research, I spent a lot of time thinking about monsters, because demonization (ha!) occurs through the Othering of people, and this is what is occurring in Hob’s mind when he sees Dream. The Middle Ages were dealing with multiple identity crises: war, conquest, the Black death, and the increasing literature reflected an unstable identity. The literature used “the bodies of monsters to demonstrate the way in which boundaries of identity or culture might be breached” (125), and this fear was reflected in manuscripts. People had always had a fear of the unknown, but in combination with both folk beliefs (the mara, chapter 5) and the Biblical ones, there was ripe ground for genuine fear. If they could die and change so easily, why couldn’t monsters/demons?

Reeves, Compton. “Gardens.” Pleasures and Pastime in Medieval England, Oxford University Press, 1998, http://www.godecookery.com/mtales/mtales16.htm.

“Researching the History of Monasteries.” Researching Historic Buildings in the British Isles, https://www.buildinghistory.org/buildings/monasteries.shtml.

“The Rule of St. Augustine ca. A.D. 400.” Fish Eaters, https://www.fisheaters.com/ruleofstaugustine.html.

Trueman, C. N. “Positions of Responsibility in a Monastery.” History Learning Site, 5 Mar. 2015, https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval-england/positions-of-responsibility-in-a-monastery/.

#my fanfic #equus talks

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ghostly-wisteria-tea · 7 months

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The Melancholy of a Moon God lost in another world - 2

<- Prologue ....Next->

Fandom: Moon Knight - MCU Rating: Mature, everyone will be VERY out-of-character, I'm still a newbie. Summary: Isekai time!! Welcome to Earth 616. AO3 Link: Here!!

I have to admit that this is not an accurate version of Earth 616, more like a weird amalgamation of the comics since it's hard to get a single coherent fact without it being ignored or retconned an issue later. So, I'm cherry-picking parts, or making a weird fusion of all of them. Basically, my own version of Earth 616. Word count: 3084

Chapter 1

He woke up feeling disoriented, like someone ran him over on the head. No, that’s simplifying things. He feels like someone took every part of his body piece by piece then attempted to put him back together, 3 times all while he is conscious and without anesthesia. It’s absolute torture.

Not exactly something he is unfamiliar with. But then he felt like he was being squeezed into the size of a golf ball, before being stretched out like slime.

Speaking of being stretched, he looked up at the night sky.

Funny, he thought. Khonshu is supposed to be dead.

No, not died.

Erased from existence. Yet he is looking up at the very sky he ruled over. But something is very wrong. The Stars, he can’t hear them. The stars, the planets, the millions of celestial bodies that he loved and found comfort with. He can’t hear them sing, nor can he feel them within himself. As if they aren’t even there. He never felt so disconnected to himself more than ever. He raised his hand to the night sky hoping to find something, anything.

At the edge of his vision he saw a tan-skinned human hand. Very human. It took a while for Khonshu to realize it was his own hand. Now he’s very alarmed. In panic he quickly sat up, inspected his hand, his back and touched his face. He’s still alive. And his body is now human.

How? How did this happen? Khonshu thought to himself.

He should have been erased from existence. No afterlife, or second chances. Just nothing.

Yet he is still here. He can touch his face, his arms and torso. He can touch the grass that he is sitting on. It’s both cool from the night air and warm from his body.

He found himself stroking his hand on the grass, finding the sensations rather nice. It’s been a very, very long time since he touched things like a normal person, since his body became an incorporeal mummy ghost. It was one of the things he missed.

Khonshu ended up laying down again. Just enjoying the ticklish feeling of the grass on his skin. He found that he is also not naked.

Thank Ra. He thought. He does not have good relations with his father since Ra slowly became senile, but he still uses his father’s name out of habit. His mother raised him to respect his elders, despite that respect deteriorating over the years.

Khonshu spends a few minutes just laying down, moving his arms and legs as if he is making a grass angel. He did sacrifice himself to save the world, his world. So he thinks he can indulge in his suppressed child-like curiosities. He looked down to see what he was wearing. A white T-shirt, a pair of beige Khaki shorts with rubber sandals. The kind that you wear on the beach. He inspected his feet to look at them and found them to be very simple; brown leather that goes across the top of his feet and wooden sole.

He looks at his now human body and finds it completely free from any injuries, not a simple blemish or mark. Like his body is completely new.

What in the stars is going on ? He thought.

Khonshu then tried to stand up, he found that his balance as a large mummy is very different from that of a human. He found himself wobbled up a bit, trying to find his center of gravity. Acting more like a newborn deer until he managed to stand up on his own.

There, I got it . He said to himself.

Khonshu then looked around. He found himself in a park. There are trees but beyond are skyscrapers and buildings. He can also see a walk path, and some light posts.

Now Khonshu is curious but even more alarmed. If he is in a park then he didn’t die. But something about this park unnerves him. It is not the layout of a park in London where Steven’s flat is, or any park he is familiar with, and he has been traveling for 2 millennia. He is somewhere else he does not know.

He needs to find out where he is. So he tried to tap into the moon he personifies, but found nothing.

Wait, He can still feel some signs of his powers, his godhood and divine energy, but something is blocking it. He can’t access them completely anymore, and if he can’t access his god powers, then He can’t find where he is on Earth anymore.

Shit. Now he is very, very alarmed. He is a powerless human, alone in a place he does not know. He never thought that he would be scared, not in a long time.

Actually, he was always afraid, afraid that he made a mistake of choosing banishment over his family, for choosing to fight against an evil that will never stop for a race that will never return the favor, for choosing to not be honest to his Avatar and to himself.

Think Khonshu, you survived 2 thousand years of banishment, you can work with this.

He said to himself, trying to get his thoughts back on course. First thing first, he needs to figure out where he is. And since he can’t use his internal divine GPS, he will have to do this the old fashion way.

So he picked a direction, and walked toward it. Standing there, He felt the wind on his face.

Wind coming from the East . He thought even though he didn’t know where the East was. It seems to him that some of his godly navigation is working enough for him to know the wind direction.

Khonshu turned to face the East, as his internal navigation senses told him. Then he looked around to find some exit to this park. He decided to follow the walk path to the Park Entrance.

As soon as he reached the streets, he noticed the cars and people outside even though it was past midnight.

Rather lively, does anyone even sleep? Khonshu wonders. The streetlights and neon signs illuminate the ground and people. Both old and young go about their business, as if it is daytime. Khonshu looked up to the sign on the Park entrance and read. Central Park.

Wait, I’m in New York? He thought to himself. He knows New York City as the place where the Avengers defeated Loki. Most people in the world knows of New York, he was aware of Loki and the Chitauri Aliens, but they were defeated so Khonshu found no need to interfere.

But he wonders, why is he in North America of all places? He remembered he was in Tibet.

Did I really die? Are Marc, Steven and Jake okay? He thought while standing there. He had no idea how long he was still until he heard someone yell out to him.

“Hey kid, you okay?”

Khonshu turned his head to look at who yelled at him. On his right, a little distance from him, Khonshu saw 2 guys, one wearing a gray hoodie, another with a Mohawk and black leather jacket.

Clearly street punks. He thought, looking at their attire. But the tone of their voice shows some concern, at least to the one talking to him. He can also clearly tell that they are both wary of him for some reason. Khonshu deems them to be harmless bystanders, probably curious at the random kid staring at nothing.

Why are they wary of me anyway? He thought. He didn't want to alarm them so he called out. “Yeah, I’m fine”

“Oh, Okay then. Shouldn’t you be at home?” Hoodie guy said.

“Shouldn’t you?” Khonshu said back immediately. The guy in the gray hoodie just chuckles, “Sassy kid” he commented to his companion. The street punk then said, “Just checking if you're real. You never know, lots of weird stuff around here”

Khonshu just raises his eyebrow at this, he is not one to trust strangers, nor talk to them. But those words sounds more like a warning. “What do you mean by weird stuff?” He asked.

“Dude, You're in New York city. The world capital of superheroes and villains, mutants, inhumans, ghosts and other weird stuff that can get you killed, or brought back. You never know.”

"That's odd", Khonshu said. He knows of ghosts and vampires. There are plenty all over the world, with plenty of different varieties and subspecies. But now it sounds like it’s common knowledge.

“...Are you new here kid?” The hoodie punk asked, coming closer. Khonshu ends up tensing himself, alert now in case they might try to attack.

“Whoa, calm down kid, just asking.” Hoodie said. Noticing Khonshu’s hostile stance.

“Hey, I’m not just a kid.” Khonshu said more loudly now.

“Looks like a fighter. Don’t know why you were so worried J.” Mohawk guy said, he is less enthusiastic about talking to Khonshu and is trying to get them to leave.

“Right, are you going to be okay then kid? You’re on your own in the big apple.” J asked.

“I’ll be fine. It’s not exactly smart to go with strangers. Besides, I know where I’m going. Just looking at the address before heading home.” Khonshu is obviously lying in that last part. He can’t go home; he never had a home for a very long time.

“Really…Okay kid" Hoodie sounded hesitant, but his Mohawk friend is already saying that they are already late, and they need to leave right now. He glanced at Khonshu one last time before saying. " Take care of yourself kid, you’ll need it”. The two punks turned around and walked away. Khonshu just watches them until they disappear on the next corner. Now he is alone again.

This does not sound normal to him, Khonshu is wondering why would they just let a kid go on his own, in the middle of the night. While he is thankful that they didn’t push to bring him to the police or someone else's home, the idea that they willingly let him go struck with him. Is it normal for them to just find kids walking on their own in the middle of the street?

He knows that New York has more super people. But this is a bit odd to him.

Where exactly am I , Khonshu ask as he once again looks at the Park sign. He then looked up to inspect the night sky, but the stars are barely visible.

Damn this light pollution, He thought. The amount of neon lights and artificial bulbs are blocking the sky, making it unable to see the stars clearly.

This is not going to work. Khonshu remembers every night. So, he has perfect memory of the constellations the night he sent Marc to Tibet. By comparing that to the night now, he hopes to have a better grasp as to where and when he is by reading the stars.

On the wall next to the park entrance is an old poster. The lost god r checked the scheduled date and read it to be April. He is not sure if that is last month or last week. Regardless, decided he needed to get out of New York first, to a place with less artificial lights and clearer night sky. He is also not sure if he needs sustenance now. His divine status allows him to survive without He hopes he can unlock more of his God powers because it means that he will need to find food and sleep to maintain his human body.

So he walked down the street. Passing by stores and people. Some talked like normal and others were obviously drunk.

Khonshu avoided them and avoided eye contact. Hoping they don’t notice him. As he walked, he tried to see if he knew where north was. He senses a tingle on his left side, so that must be north. Then he tried to find the east, and felt a tingle in front of him. The tried again to find the west and south, and felt the respective tingle on his right and behind him.

Good, I can still find the cardinal directions.

Khonshu decided to head to the coast, follow the shoreline south until he is outside of New York. At least until the sky becomes clearer and easier to read.

Khonshu does not know how long he was walking but he estimated to have done so for 3 hours, 23 minutes, and 10 seconds. His association and power of time allows him to measure time no matter what, at least earth time.

While walking across the city, he noticed something or many things flying across the sky. He is very aware of Ironman, everyone does since the playboy idiot made it public. As well as Thor and the Avengers. He is already expecting to find them in New York, but the amount of super people he noticed every few minutes are more than what he expected of the Avengers.

I don’t remember those people. Khonshu thought. And he knows any and every one who walks under the moonlight. He saw someone walk up the side of a building and 2 guys with wings. While walking further, he saw a floating machine being attacked by people in costumes he had never seen. The mortal god had to hide in the shadows when the super people flew by, hoping that they would not see him. From the outside, it looks like he is trying to run away. Some people think that he is an ordinary kid and for now he will have to play that card.

He kept walking towards the coast, trying to find a way to reach it through the maze that is New York City while trying to avoid the wreckage from the fights. He suspects that he is halfway there by now. There is just so much going on at night that he needs to take detours.

How does anyone sleep here? Khonshu thought to himself. The amount of noise and damages are enough to keep you awake. Not to mention the construction cost from all the collateral damages.

When he finally reached the coast. He found it to be as lively and loud as the rest of New York. He also saw more super people fighting what looks like some secret shipment.

There's always something going on every second.

Usually Khonshu would be slightly annoyed, having this many super people would mean more are fighting to protect the innocent. It would also mean that there are way more and powerful crime lords that would require this much super people to fight back. Like a never-ending cycle.

Hopefully, he won't be kidnapped while staying in the coast. Looking up, the stars are still not clear enough. Annoyed, he walked across the shore south, looking at the dark waters. He eventually came across an abandoned newspaper on the sand. It still looks fresh, so it should be dated today. Khonshu inspected the date, May 2. Not too far off from the Poster, but he can't read the rest.

Khonshu was reminded that his human eyes can’t see in the dark. So He looked around, trying to find a light source. There is a lamp post on the coastal road, with a light bright enough to help. So, he walked there and skimmed the page.

Since when did Ironman live again, Didn’t he die? Why is Captain America a girl now? Isn't Captain Marvel somewhere in space? Mutant Nation? Where did all these inhumans come from? How many Spider people are there?

His eye's widened further as he continued to read the contents. There are so many events that he doesn't remember, or rather, never happened in his universe. The Avengers are still around. So at least that appears to be a constant thing in this world.

Khonshu is still trying to process what he read when he started to feel tired. Strange, he thought. He doesn't normally feel tired. Until he realized he is human now. He had hoped to feel the downsides of having a human body later. He is way used to not sleeping so this need for sleep is pretty much new to him.

Khonshu estimates it to be 4 am. A few hours before dawn so he will need to find a place to rest for now. He did remembered he passed by an old shack. It is clearly abandoned and was used as a drinking spot for visitors. Khonshu thinks it is enough for tonight and walks back to the shack. There are some freshly used bottles that can be thrown out and a little cleaning is needed, but Khonshu now has some shelter.

As he lays down on the sand, he wonders what will happen to him now. He still has his mission to protect the innocent but he is not sure how he will do it without his powers, he has no knight, no servants. Ever since his banishment, his mission has been the only driving force to keep moving. So much that he let his ideals destroy himself from within.

Khonshu is practically starting from scratch now. Almost like a second life.

He scoffs at this. How can a God be given a second chance? Damnatio Memoriae is the worst punishment to be given to a divine being, to anyone really. Yet he didn’t blink out of existence, he is still here.

Well, he probably blinked out of existence in his world. Marc already forgot that a god named Khonshu existed.

Is he back together with Layla? Is Steven still working in that museum? Is Jake still driving around as a cab driver?

These questions haunted his mind as he fell asleep. Khonshu doesn't normally ask these questions about his family. The Overvoid is timeless and he knows his family is fine. But humans are finite beings that change rapidly in a short period of time.

Reminiscing on the past never worked though, but it would be hypocritical for him to say it, as Khonshu has been living in the past in a way, letting it dictate his actions and affect his emotions.

Regardless of that, Khonshu can’t risk being a hypocrite, not anymore now that he is practically mortal. In this new world, he will have to do what he was supposed to do. Time always moves forward, so will he.

Next--->

#MCU #marvel #moon knight #khonshu #out-of-character khonshu #kid khonshu #god turned mortal #earth 616 #crossover #isekai #egyptian gods #marvel comics

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mediamixs · 7 months

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Alone In The Dark: new and creepy gameplay

Alone in the Dark is an upcoming survival horror game developed by Pieces Interactive and published by THQ Nordic. It is a reimagining of the 1992 game Alone in the Dark and the seventh installment in the Alone in the Dark video game series. The game is scheduled to release for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on January 16, 2024. The game will feature an original plot that incorporates characters from the first three Alone in the Dark games. Mikhail Hedberg, the writer and director of Amnesia and Soma, is heading up the development of the game. David Harbour, known for his role in Stranger Things, will play the protagonist Edward Carnby. The game was first revealed at THQ Nordic's Showcase in August 2022. A free playable prologue was made available in May 2023. The game was initially set to launch on October 25, 2023, but was delayed to January 16, 2024.

There is no specific information available about the new features in the latest version of Alone in the Dark. However, according to, the game will feature an original plot that incorporates characters from the first three Alone in the Dark games. The game will also have an "over-the-shoulder" third-person perspective, doing away with the fixed camera angles of the original. Combat is available with a firearm or melee weapon as shown by the reveal trailer. The game is set to release on January 16, 2024, for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. The latest version of Alone in the Dark is a reimagining of the first game in the series, which was released in 1992. The game is set in the gothic American south in the 1920s and features an original plot that incorporates characters, places, and themes from the original trilogy. Players can choose to play as either Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood, both of whom are trying to uncover the secrets of Derceto Manor. The game is a survival horror experience that includes combat, puzzles, exploration, and story. The game's story is written by Mikael Hedberg, the writer and director of Amnesia and Soma, and features monster designs by Guy Davis, a frequent collaborator of Guillermo del Toro. The game's voice cast includes David Harbour, known for his role in Stranger Things, and Jodie Comer, known for her role in Killing Eve. The game was initially set to release on October 25, 2023, but was delayed to January 16, 2024.

#horror #video games #alone in the dark

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tarnishedxknight · 1 year

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Side Muse: Ashelia (Ashe) B’Nargin Dalmasca

[Bio and other information below the cut!]

Full Name: Ashelia B’Nargin Dalmasca

Nickname: Ashe

Alias: “Amalia”

Live Action FC: Aurora Aksnes {x, x, x}

Race: Hume (human)

Age: 17 (FFXII prologue); 19-20 (FFXII main game); 20+ (Revenant Wings); 30 (Fortress)

Romantic/Sexual Orientation: Biromantic/bisexual

Occupation: Princess; resistance fighter; queen (verse dependent)

Family: Father (King Raminas B’Nargin Dalmasca, deceased); mother (deceased); eight older brothers (deceased)

Potentially Triggering Material in Threads: War; sexism; patriarchal social structures; violence; imprisonment; murder

Negative Personality Traits: She’s headstrong, stubborn, quick-tempered, outspoken, and at times naïve and childish.

Positive Personality Traits: She’s resilient, brave, hopeful, optimistic, and some would argue that being headstrong, stubborn, and outspoken are also good qualities too, heh.

Background: I am much too lazy to write everything out for her, but here’s an excerpt from the Dark Ivalice AU I’m writing up, which again is my fleshed out and more edgy version of the FFXII story for Basch, Noah, and Ashelia. I keep all events in the FFXII main game canon, but I have significantly added to her childhood background, altered some aspects of her life/personality, and I incorporate the Fortress story as well. Below is what I’ve written so far regarding her childhood, which contains a lot of what’s different about my version of her as compared to canon:

When Basch was twenty-four, the queen, Ashelia’s mother, died after a long illness. It was also around this time that King Raminas received word that the last of his eight sons had fallen fighting the war on foreign soil. Understandably, the king was devastated, and little Ashelia, who was seven at the time, was lost without her mother and a grieving father. The war was escalating, he was grieving, and he unfortunately had not the time to spend with his daughter. Additionally, Raminas became somewhat paranoid about Ashelia’s safety at this time, for she was his last heir. When asked if there were any responsible and capable men they would trust to look after his daughter and make sure she came to no harm, both the Captain of the Royal Guard and the Knight Captain said… Basch.

This began Basch’s somewhat awkward task of being Ashelia’s bodyguard and mentor. There were no set hours, but rather, if she was to be alone with naught but servants and Basch had no pressing duties that needed to be immediately done, he would spend time with her for the purpose of protecting and guiding her. He was content to stand outside the door to her quarters, but Ashelia wasn’t. She wanted to know more about this man her father said was going to protect her. It took some doing, for Basch was young yet and very much adherent to the etiquette and propriety of their stations, but she finally got him to come inside and read things with her, play games, have lunch, etc. The more time they spent together, the more they learned about each other, particularly Ashe from Basch. She learned about Landis and that Basch wasn’t Dalmascan by blood. She learned that he had no family anymore, for Basch had long since heard what became of those who stayed longer in Landis than he did, and believed both Noah and their mother to be dead. Even so, he didn’t speak of his family to her. That was his personal and private pain. He did teach her about Landis, though, and by the time she was twelve, he was teaching her the sword as well.

Raminas strictly forbade little Ashelia to learn weapons, citing that in Dalmascan culture, only the men were soldiers. How would it look for a royal princess, then, to take up arms? This was an entirely foreign notion to Basch, for in Landis, both men and women fought equally. Even in Archadia, which he despised, there were female soldiers. There was even a female Judge Magister, he had heard. Trying to reason with Raminas on this point earned him only strict verbal discipline, and so Basch dropped it for a time. However, he thought the princess ought to learn how to use at least some kind of weapon, if only for her own protection. And the more he listened to Raminas talk about how Ashe needed to remain a proper princess and a symbol for Dalmasca, the more Basch realized the old king was just terrified of her going off to fight like her brothers… and not returning. Nevertheless, he was king, and Basch felt he should not defy him. It was not until Ashelia spoke to Basch herself about learning a weapon that he began to consider it.

Ashe resented not being permitted the choice of going to war like her brothers. She did not see being spared, protected, and sheltered at home as beneficial or right. In fact, as she confided in Basch by the time she was twelve, being denied the freedom to learn to fight simply because she had been born female had left her at a distinct and major disadvantage. Perhaps she might not die on the front lines abroad as her brothers had, but should war reach the safe haven of Rabanastre, she would not be able to defend herself at all. Basch actually agreed with her on this, and so one of the scant few deliberate deceptions he ever perpetrated in his entire life was to teach a very young Ashelia the sword behind her father's back. For five years, Basch met with her in secret, usually at night, and taught her what he could. It was not easy, as she could only learn so much under those limited and clandestine circumstances, but by the time she was seventeen and Dalmasca had been plunged into the chaos of invasion and occupation, that basic knowledge of a blade had kept her alive.

In secret, Basch obtained a thin sword about three-quarters length of a standard sword of that style, of the sort used to train young children. Even that was heavy for Ashe, but he told her to do some exercises with it to build up her arm strength. Once she could hold it without getting tired too fast, Basch started to teach her some basics. He was sure to impress upon her that their training sessions needed to remain secret. He knew that if he was caught doing this, he would likely be dismissed outright from any and all military positions, but he felt it was very important that Ashe learn. Ashe was grateful to Basch for teaching her, looking up to him as perhaps an uncle or big brother by this point. She was often chided by members of her father’s court for referring to Basch as “my best friend,” citing that he was just a knight, and one of foreign and nearly common birth, no less. Ashe didn’t care about that, and when the aging Knight Captain retired and chose Basch as his successor with Raminas’ blessing, she loved to shove his achievement in the faces of the court. Their sword lessons continued until she was seventeen, at which time Basch was accused of assassinating Raminas. She was a fast learner, but her progression was slow, as there was very limited time that they had to practice in secret. She did progress, though, and Basch was proud of her. Had Ashe never been taught basic to moderate proficiency with a sword before that time, the Archadian soldiers she encountered in the Garamsythe waterway shortly after her father was assassinated would likely have killed her. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

As Ashelia grew, she became more tomboyish, more rebellious, and more resistant to the idea of being a traditional, demure princess. Her brothers had been treated differently than she had, and although she was still young with the last of the eight of them died as a result of the war, she had still been old enough to understand that she was being held under a glass dome of sorts, more of a display piece than a future leader. And with regard to her even being a leader at all, her heart was broken when she learned that she would never be Queen of Dalmasca. Dalmasca only had kings, for one thing, and for another, as a young princess of a patriarchal nation caught between two empires at war, she was needed and expected to marry a prince, king, or high member of state for the purpose of ensuring a political alliance that would aid Dalmasca.

What’s more, that union was already decided for her, she learned. She would marry a boy around her age that she had met several times and befriended, Prince Rasler Heios Nabradia, the son of Nabradia’s king. In doing so, she would become his Queen Consort, not Queen of Dalmasca. Dalmasca would become a protectorate of Nabradia. The reason for this was purely sexist. If Ashelia had been born male, she could have been king someday, but as a female, her value was as currency to buy an alliance. Ashe didn’t want to be a payment or a trophy, she wanted to be a queen. She felt it was her birthright and she knew she could be a good queen. The older she grew, the more she rebelled against the idea of simply being another’s consort instead of the leader she knew she could be someday. She held nothing against Rasler, whom she liked and even loved but was not in love with. He was kind to her, and a good man himself, but she was far too independent and headstrong to be his consort. Neverthelss, out of respect for her father and because she had been raised to believe that this was her duty, Ashelia went along with the marriage.

There was another reason why her arranged married bothered Ashelia so much. As her seventeenth birthday approached, she had realized after much soul-searching that she was actually bisexual. While it was the fate of most princesses to have their marriages arranged for them, and for love to not be considered in the matter, Ashe’s arranged marriage was particularly painful for her because she felt she was being locked into the role of a heterosexual woman without anyone even so much as asking her opinion. Being bisexual was socially and politically unacceptable for both Dalmascan and Nabradian royalty, as both countries were patriarchal and quite antiquated in their social views on sexuality and gender roles, and Ashe was afraid to say anything lest she be disowned by her father.

Although Ashelia loved Rasler as a childhood friend, she had never trusted him enough to share with him her true sexuality. She did, however, tell Basch, if for no other reason than to have someone she could confide in. Basch was supportive, reassuring her that marriage did not change who she was at her core, and that he understood that she felt stifled and invisible. He encouraged her to try and find her own happiness and agency within her situation, even if it might not be her first choice of what she wanted, politically, socially, or sexually. She was never going to stop being headstrong and outspoken, he said with affection, and so she may as well try to find ways of making herself heard and seen in positive ways that could help sustain her heart and mind as she performed these duties for her country. Ashe took his advice to heart, but unfortunately never got to employ any of it, for the marriage did not go as planned.

Ashelia and Rasler’s wedding was wholly political despite them being good friends, organized to form an alliance between the kingdoms of Dalmasca and Nabradia because they were both small and vulnerable. Sandwiched geographically speaking between the Rozarrian and Archadian empires, the tiny countries stood little chance alone. One could argue they stood little chance anyway, but they tried to make the best stand they could nonetheless. The wedding was symbolic of the alliance but also a symbol of hope for the masses. As Ashelia battled her own internal demons on the subject, she put on a brave smile for the sake of her people and took comfort in her shared dream with Rasler that both their lands would survive this war. Their marriage didn’t remain hopeful for long.

The rest everyone knows if you’ve played the game, and if you haven’t, feel free to ask about anything you don’t understand. The only other important thing for Ashelia that I will add is that I do ship her with Basch, but in kindof a sad “two ships passing in the night” sense. Basch didn’t develop feelings for Ashelia in a romantic sense until she was seventeen and about to be married. He realized he felt this way because of how sad the prospect of her marriage to someone else made him. He hid this from her, however, because he understood his feelings for her to be wrong. He was too old for her, too far beneath her station, and he was certain she did not feel the same. Also with his self-imposed punishment of remaining alone because of abandoning his mother and brother at sixteen, Basch did not want to pursue any romantic relationships.

Ashelia, having grown up with Basch as a child, viewed him as a mentor, an older brother, or an uncle figure. Having thought extensively about her marriage to Rasler before it happened, she realized Rasler wasn’t who she wanted, but at the time, she didn’t know who or what she wanted. She didn’t realize she loved Basch in a romantic sense until the end of the main game, when he goes to Archadia to impersonate Gabranth. It had taken her all the events of the game to realize that his kindness, honor, bravery, selflessness, stability, and wisdom were exactly what she wanted in a partner. But by that time, he was beyond her reach geographically, and she was beyond his politically. The mounting reasons why they could never be together caused them both to never admit their feelings... until Fortress’ plot, which I honestly haven’t decided how I’m going to handle that yet in my canon, so I’ll just leave this where it is, heh.

In the years following the events of the main game, Ashelia makes a lot of changes in Dalmasca, particularly to her military. She opens doors for women to have guard and soldier positions, as well as other supportive field positions that previously were not allowed. She changed Dalmascan law to allow for the eldest child to be heir to the throne, not just the eldest son. She also organized expeditions beyond the concentrated cities of Dalmasca to the mountains and oceans that surround her desert, considering future expansions of Dalmasca proper into unclaimed territories.

Muse Playlist:

“Cry No More” by Vaults (lyrics) - This makes me think of Ashe transitioning from princess to resistance fighter. She doesn’t want to be a victim and just roll over, she wants to take action, and she’s just hoping she can live up to the challenge.

“No Light, No Light” by Florence + The Machine (lyrics) - This makes me think of Ashe’s pivotal decision to use nethicite to destroy Archadia or not, as presented to her by “Rasler’s ghost,” a.k.a. an Occuria that was trying to manipulate her into choosing violence in order to control the trajectory of humanity in Ivalice. It’s her struggling with Rasler’s loss while also feeling so pressured to make the right decision and feeling like something’s off about this “ghost.”

“Queendom” by Aurora (lyrics) - This is Ashe at the end of the FFXII main game, having regained a throne she thought she’d lost. She’s leading Dalmasca forward, not backward, and that means making some positive changes for herself as well as her people.

#{ out of dalmasca } ᵒᵒᶜ #side muse: ashelia

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deyageka · 3 years

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DeyaGeka’s Dream Smp AUs Masterpost

(Updated: 6/14/21)

Here’s a list of the AUs I have for easier viewing. (Will be edited and updated in the future)

(Most of these are centered around c!Tommy since he’s my favorite character in the Dream Smp)

Current AUs (Ongoing):

Community Garden AU

Description: Set after the Disc Saga Finale. A mostly light-hearted and fun AU where Tommy builds a community garden in the ruins of L’Manberg instead of a hotel. He is later joined by other members in the server as they come together and heal from past conflicts.

Tags:

#community garden au (tags all asks, art, and updates of AU)

#community garden AU log entry (specifically tags the art)

Log Entries/Parts: Prologue // 0 // 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // TBC...

Hotel Arc Childinnit AU

Description: Set during the beginning of the Hotel Arc where the Big Innit Hotel was just being built, before the Prison Arc took off. Awesamdad + Childinnit focused. Where Tommy is hit by a spell from a random witch that de-ages him into a toddler and Sam has to take care of him. Shenanigans ensues as the majority of the server becomes attached to the younger version of Tommy.

Tags:

#hotel arc childinnit au (tags all art, asks, fan works, and updates)

Parts: part 1 // part 2 // part 3 // part 4 // part 5 // part 6 // part 7 // part 8 // TBC...

Eggpire Hotel/Egginnit AU

Description: Previously tagged as just Egginnit AU. Set before the Prison Arc took off and canon divergent to the current Egg arc. What-if Tommy went through with his plan of keeping a piece of The Egg inside his hotel, and it turns out he wasn’t as immune as we thought?

Keynotes: No one is immune in this AU, Dream is still in prison, the Dreamon Hunters are involved

Tags:

#egginnit AU (former tag that includes all asks, art, and updates of the AU)

#eggpire hotel AU (current tag used; I changed the name cuz it will involve more than just eggpire!Tommy)

Parts: extra // prologue // part 1 // part 2 // part 3 // TBC...

Discontinued/One off AUs:

Snowchester AU

Description: comfort/crack AU made after L’Manberg’s final death where Tubbo takes both Tommy and Quackity to live with him in Snowchester. Shitass makes an appearance.

Part 1 // 2

Dreamon AUs

Description: one shot AUs that incorporated the Dreamon to the canon at the time.

If the Dreamon was in the exile arc (last image)

Dreamon Hunter!Tubbo vs Dreamon Possessed!Tommy

Dreamon disguised as Tommy after Prison Arc

As a Final Request (Disc Saga Finale AU)

Description: discontinued AU where Tommy dies in the final showdown against Dream, leaving one of his discs (Cat) in Tubbo’s possession. That disc is needed to properly resurrect Tommy, but Tubbo makes a promise to Tommy not to do so before he died. Made before the Disc Saga finale.

Part 1

#dream smp #deyageka dsmp aus #community garden AU #hotel arc childinnit au #eggpire hotel au #egginnit au #snowchester AU #dreamon au #as a final request au #long post #masterpost

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tsukiyadori · 2 years

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Nagiko no Hanashi (and me getting hyped for its announced drama adaption)

It's been about a decade since I last tried watching a good bunch of live action drama series. And I hadn't planned to come back to it, since I thought I can't stand the notorious overacting. (No amount of good actor skill helps when they are made to act what you dislike.) So I didn't particularly care about some drama adaptions announced for some manga titles of my liking. Until Kieta Hatsukoi came about, and I thought that given how the manga is already like, the notorious overacting might actually act in its favor. (And because I was curious how the drama translations fare after being bugged over the official manga translation.) Turns out, the drama has the expected well acted overacting that works perfectly well with a plot that has had some great tweaks to the source material to make it work in this format. (Anime take a slice of this skill please.) Turns out people kept mentioning it alongside Utsukushii Kare. Turns out that one's drama adaption is also having some really good acting performances. Turns also out, gasp, it's got actually non-overacting performances with good direction and visuals.

Me: holds breath

...

Can I?

Can I actually?

Oh yeah, let's just do it.

Hyping Nagiko no Hanashi's announced Japanese drama adaptation.

... which weirdly (or maybe not so very weirdly given the lack of translated exposure and lack of further info) is someone not a single soul seems to be talking about. Well, here is me trying to change that now.

Nagiko no Hanashi is a 1 volume BL Manga by Gotou. In July 2021 a drama adaption was announced for it via an obi-ad on Gotous next work Amagasa wo Tojiru Natsu and a Twitter announcement. Zero further info as of yet, on format, cast or whatever. Given that Gotou only has two serialized paperbacks in Japan, talk even on the Japanese (googleable) internet seems sparse.

But if it's going to have at least Kieta Hatsukoi and Utsukushii Kare levels of being a good adaption, then oh my, this is probably going to be good. Good. And if they incorporate some Gotou's extra content that exists outside the official volume, then it might even be great.

But before I jinx it, I'll just WoT about how I really like the manga a lot. Because more people should read it. Really.

(If you want a shorter version of me gushing over it, you can also look here.)

Title: Nagiko no Hanashi (凪子の話), translates to: Nagiko's Story Mangaka: Gotou Publisher: Taiyo Tosho Published in magazine: ihr HertZ Volumes: 1 A summary first, since no other place will offer you one:

Kazuya and Kouhei are childhood and best friends for 23 years and both have a secret buried within them for about as long with no intention to ever voice it. As the second death anniversary of Nagiko approaches, the childhood friend of both since age 15 in high school and Kazuya's late wife, memories resurface again and the dead Nagiko herself has a story of her own to tell. A tale about her own first love towards the upright and gentle Kazuya and befriending his best friend, the somewhat showy and easygoing Kouhei. As well as finding out about the feelings about the two...

Also a bit on the origins of this one:

"Nagiko no Hanashi" is a 2 chapter short, that first showed up on Gotou's pixiv account in 2014. And it's still there. A while after official serialization began 2015-16, which was compiled to a single volume. The official version takes the pixiv version, updates the art massively (but otherwise the content is the same) and adds another double chapter Osanajimi (eng: Childhood friends) to it, as well as a prologue. The first double chapter already works perfectly as a stand alone, Osanajimi takes off right where it stopped in the first chapters. And then there are the pixiv shorts, little manga sketches and short manga episodes that Gotou releases about once a year in a little batch. Those have extra content sprinkled across the timeline of those 23 years of the official manga timeline and beyond by offering a number of little sequels that go as far as some 10 years after. And they are all so good. SO good. And just prove it has so much going for them beyond that tearjerker frame plot of the official manga.

... OK, i'm realizing I can't really go over this without making an account for the whole plot. Sorry, spoilers, but since it's literally unreadable unless you know Japanese at this point, bear with me.

Color Page: School Girl Nagiko holding a bouquet of red roses.

Prologue: Kouhei visits Kazuya. He just got dumped by his 18th girlfriend. They banter around his gloomy theater over a future where he won't find a girlfriend at all, but Kazuya just tells him that it will be ok, somewhen the right one will show up. Says his intuition as his close/intimate friend (親友). Kouhei can't help but glance at the ring on his hand, and they proceed to talk about plans of Kazuya visiting Nagiko's parents over the second anniversary of her death. Nagiko's last thoughts/words to Kazuya surface and the 8 page chapter closes with both Kouhei and Kazuya thinking about their 23 year old secret. Which, at this stage, is something there is no way they'll ever tell.

Nagiko's Story part 1 (ch1): The first chapter gets back to high school. Nagiko tumbled over and bruised her legs. Kazuya helps her out by taking her piggy back to school, which gets her immensely flustered. She gets further acquainted to Kazuya and through him also to Kouhei, his childhood friend, whom she first instinctively is bad with since he's the showy extrovert type, but soon warms up to him as well. They befriend each other and get very close. Kazuya and Nagiko are both introverts, sharing the same sweet tooth for sweets and they have fun times (the art is just adorable). In her crush for Kazuya she does sometimes see glances of him spacing off that she can't interpret. School ends, uni starts, and they are still very close and Nagiko still hasn't managed to confess. And she misses her chance, because Kazuya gets a girldfriend. That evening she and Kouhei are on a rooftop. She is full of regret, why she didn't say anything. Kouhei instead has words of explanations for her, of being scared to have what you have to end by saying something. Their lives continue, they become a bit more distant, but still close and upon upcoming graduation they celebrate together and stay overnight. Nagiko randomly wakes up and witnesses how Kazuya is sleeping on the couch, Kouhei is awake and wanting to touch his face, but firmly holds back in pain. It dawns on Nagiko why Kouhei was able to say, he understood why she didn't, couldn't confess.

Nagiko's Story part 2 (ch2): Some more time passes. They are all working now. Their lives are busy, and they don't intersect as much, but they are still close. Kazuya broke up with his girlfriend after uni graduation, which had him down, but looking at Kouhei trying to cheer him up, Nagiko can't help but muse about that she would have been happy over the news, if she didn't know anything. A while after she begins to have chest pains, and once while visiting Kazuya she collapses. In the hospital, she gets the news, upon noticeable symptoms emerging, it's already spread too far, and a time limit has been set on her life. Under tears and mute apologies to Kouhei she speaks out a one in a lifetime request. Kazuya and Nagiko get married. Kazuya even bows for her parents to have them allow this sad marriage. Kouhei has only words of support for them, while she can't look him into the eye even once. Upon moving together with Kazuya Nagiko sorts some boxes and finds an old photo album. Her eyes widen over a picture and a memory surfaces. Back in school, Kazuya once forgot his student ID book at Nagiko's place, and she's returning it. She couldn't help but look inside. Kazuya bows to her deeply and asks her not to tell anyone. It's a wristband and upon asked if it's something important of someone he loved he just smiles lonely and says it's nothing that even entertains a hope. It's something that even as a child he knew would never be rewarded, and he has long since given up. Now Nagiko is sitting before that photo album and seeing a child Kouhei wearing that same wristband. Kazuya is out doing groceries. Nagiko can't help but cry alone. Three days later their marriages is put into the family register. Thoughts about what she should have done, break it all up and support the two vs. her own 10 years long love wanting to have Kazuya for herself. It's her sin and she apologizes. At the end of her days she leaves a letter behind, which Kazuya is to receive on the second anniversary of her death. It's late to say this now and unfair. Knowing Kazuya he would never had abandoned her. And he probably still wouldn't even with her gone. But after two years passing, could he look forward now? In all this time Kouhei surely was there to support him. If he was still holding her in his memory, if he held some pity for her, then please, may he lighten her sin. "Please find happiness". Kazuya is reading this letter, he just received from Nagiko's mother, in tears. The mother thanks him for having married Nagiko, because he might not know it, but she had loved him since way back. The chapter ends on Kazuya returning and exchanging messages with Kouhei. Kazuya thinks about what he has to do. It could be that she got it wrong. It could be his feelings have changed. It could still not work out if they felt the same, it could mean they couldn't be together anymore at all. "I'm scared." But over his trembling fist, Nagiko's smiling face is in his mind. He goes back. Kouhei is waiting for him and greeting him. Kazuya replies, he's back. And with determination thinks. "But still. Move forward."

Osanajimi part 1 (ch3): "Eh?" out of Kouhei's mouth. On the second anniversary of the wife of his closest friend, he got a confession from him. Kouhei wakes up in his appartment with a headache. Staring at the ceiling of his apartment filled with beer cans he muses that it wasn't a dream. "Nagiko knew about my feelings." a flashback on Kazuya's words. And going even further back when he was 6 years old, his first time meeting Kazuya, his new neighbor. Their mothers befriended each other quick, as did they. Kazuya easily got sick, while he got in all sorts of trouble. He doesn't know why, but he just wanted to spend time with him. If he had put the name "reason" onto something, it was at age 11, when his mother was hospitalized and his grandmother was to care for him. But she ghosted him. And in a most sly manner. She would act all normal with somebody else around. Just with him alone, she acted like he didn't exist. Eventually he gave up, but still feels bad. His grades even drop. His mother gives her a wristband as a charm to hold strong. But he hides his pain before his mother or anyone. Kazuya however picks up on this and happens to watch how Kazuya went to his grandmother to request her to stop this. "He's a good guy. If you do something cruel to him, I won't forgive you." He's fighting tears as he says this. Before he knew it Kouhei has tears flowing out himself. After that the grandmother started behaving in a way aknowledging his existance. Kouhei works on his grades getting better, so he can go to the same schools with Kazuya. He desperately keeps up to to everything that he can stay by his side. They are not blood related, being connected by marriage is impossible, so being "friends" is the only thing he has left and he will do anything to avoid loosing him from his life. At age 15 Nagiko enters their life. He quickly picks up on her crush for Kazuya, the way she gazes after him, but just like him she never moves a step further. Kouhei gets girlfriends, but they dump him. And he keeps doing it hoping to find a girl he can love more than him. Nagiko cheers him up on one of these occasions. Kouhei muses that if Kazuya was to find somebody, it would be nice if it was somebody like her. His thoughts move on to uni, and her regretful self after Kazuya starting to date "Please don't cry." Memories move on to them annoucing their marriage to him, he thinks to himself, that her wish was granted. "よかった" (Thank God/I'm glad.) Juxtaposed to a face with one of the fakest smiles ever. Back in reality, Kouhei wakes up beaten up from his overdrinking and getting a cold. He still goes to work, but does a terrible job. His boss spanks him verbally and sends him home. He goes to hospital for medicine and memories of visiting Nagiko being in hospital and never leaving again surface. He didn't know about her terminal illness. But she's getting more haggard everytime. He's loosing courage to even ask, when she will be discharged. She's happy for his little presents when he comes. Kazuya isn't there because he's buying a book that seems interesting that she picked up from TV. They smalltalk. "But really, as usual he's head over heals for you, isn't he~" - "That's not it. Kazu-chan is just incredibly kind." - "As I'm saying that is..." - "I couldn't become like that. Kouhei-kun. I'm sorry." Nagiko dies. On her deathbed Kazuya is crying his eyes out. First time he ever hears such tearful cries from him. Nagiko's "I'm sorry" rings in his ears. "Why did she apologize? Because she knew his feelings? Because she noticed mine?" Kazuya's words haunt him, too. "I've always... loved you." If he answered his feelings, what would happen to that gaze of hers? Where would it be saved?

Osanajimi Part 2 (ch4): Kazuya is standing before Nagiko's photo. On the second anniversary of his wife he confessed to his friend of 23 years acquantaince. But it doesn't look like heÄll be able to fullfil her wish. Memories surface from his side. How he met Kouhei, how he was sickly, how Kouhei would always pick up on his wants he couldn't voice, how they would get onto an accident, where he fell off a cliff 4m down, how Kouhei would profusely apologize and in tears that it was his fault and he be allowed to still play with him. How he saw how he suffered and found out how his grandmother caused it, how it pains him as if it was his own suffering. How Kouhei gives him his wristband, he got from his mother. Looking at the ring at his finger he remembers meeting Nagiko at age 15, how she was kind, her innocent laugh, how the air became peaceful with her around, and all the precious times together with her. How he witnesses Kouhei flirting with a girl. "I know. In order to protect things that don't change there are things that need to change." A girl confesses to him, he goes along and starts dating her. It goes well with her. He even thinks that eventually he might even marry her. But she broke up on the last day of graduation. Under tears she tells him "I wanted you to love me." Just how much did he hurt her? "I won't ever go out with anyone again." Is what he thought. But there is Nagiko, coming out from the hospital room after she collapsed. "Kazu-chan... The say I don't even have 2 years to live. Please, just until then is all I ask, please be always by my side... I'm sorry." He doesn't ask why or why him. He didn't ask anything. 'I will make her happy.' was his all from this moment on. They marry. They have fun times. Until her deathbed. "I'm glad. Happy. It's like a dream. Thank you. Thank you. I'm sorry." Kazuya wakes up from his dreams late night. Kouhei is ringing on his door. He get straight to the point. He wants to undo it. Make it to have never happened. "Let's go back to being close friends like before. I'm sorry, I...." Kazuya's hand is in a trembling fist. "Of course..." He was resolved for that result to happen. He also thought it would be better to just stay friends. He knew how much this would torment him. But, this is where it ends. He can't go back and he also can't hurt him more. He departs, annoucing to delete his mail adress and phone number. "Sorry." As he goes Kouhei can only stare. He sees his wrist and a childhood memory comes back, when he gave him the wristband. "Kouhei, but then you'll loose your good luck charm. It's alright, I'll be fine even without something like this. - .... then, I'll be its replacement. - Huh? - I'll be you good luck charm replacement." A beaming boy proudly holding up the band on his wrist. Before he knows it, Kouhei grabs his wrist. And has him locked in embrace. "No. I beg you. No. Why. Because if we stayed just friends" in tears he remembers Nagiko. "I love you. I'm sorry." Kazuya hugs him back, also crying. And just answers. "yeah". Fast forward to morning. Both are in terrible shape after crying their eyes out. Kazuya shows him Nagiko's letter. He wants him to read it. "Kouhei, you know. I really liked Nagiko. I know it wasn't what Nagiko wanted. But still. Even if one year, two years pass or even more than ten, I will always yearn for her smile. I want to meet her." Another flashback memory of their school days at her birthday. She gets a bunny teddy and some flowers. Kouhei admits he was thinking of giving her roses, but after all he thinks he wants to reserve that to the girl he likes most of the world. Nagiko says the girl who gets them surely will be very happy. Both of them are standing at her grave. Two huge red roses bouquets put in place. The two worry about what her parents would think if they see that. Kazuya will tell his mother in law. They banter and joke. Talking daily life things. Kouhei steal a kiss from Kazuya. "If you are going blushy, then don't do it. - Shut up, you're beet read yourself. - We're almost 30, what are we doing...". They're

laughing. It closes with Nagiko's first impression over Kouhei. How she's not good with his type of person. But when Kazuya is with him, he would laugh like he really has fun. "I love this laugh the most."

4 page digital exclusive extra: The two are sitting there and Kouhei has Kazuya locked in a hug. The later rectantly saying that he'd like to eat soon though. They joke about whether Kouhei was this clingy of a person. Kouhei say, actually he isn't. "You're words and actions are terribly misaligned." He asks to let it slip, since he had to hold back all this time. Kazuya muses didn't they hug back too? Kouhei says it's different. Touching while supressing everything he felt desperately, is completely different. "But if only I get to monopolize you like that, would Nagiko-chan get mad at me? - I don't know." They kiss. "What would it be." Then some screw falls on Kouhei's head and they joke maybe Nagiko is mad after all.

(Maybe I should just translate the whole thing directly already?)

So what's so great about this? In case my recount is bad.

The characters. How everything is just filled with so much kindness and affection towards one another. It's like that kindness and selflessness you can get from the cast of Kieta Hatsukoi, but next level with much higher stakes and painful decisions and a much more thorny path. Every single one of them misses to communicate the most important thing in words, they self-sabotage, they fail to meet despite being so, so close to each other. They fail to give another closure, while still all alive, but even with Nagiko's one time selfishness everything is fueled by kindness and guilt. And oozes so painfully out of the pages. And it's more painful, because there should not be any reason for all this pain. But somehow it is.

The closets. How terrible living with closets is. Desperately hiding, desperately trying to distract oneself from onself. The constant fear of losing what there is, if the closet ever is open. And this is entirely not even focusing on what damage out of hostility there is. It's just about fear of loss. And it's not just there for them, it's there for all, but others get to openly cry about it. And maybe get over with it. Maybe even with kind words.

It's a different take on internalized homophobia. It's not a suffering sob story about being scared the hell out of what the world would do to you, as you are constantly being served over and over nowadays. It's just this casual, but almost categorical imprint of "it's impossible" and "it's not to be" with no questioning. None of the two even entertain the idea it could ever be. Nothing every dispels the idea and least do they do that to themselves. It's ignorance on their own part and they don't even notice. It's taboo that just stands there as a wall, invisibly, untouchable.

This reminds me a lot of how I would never get sparkles on male fellows and people would ask the typical cliché question you sooner or later get asked if you're being late with your sexuality or simply aro-ace to begin with: "Are you from the other shore then?". I still remember how I categorically answered "No?" right off the bat. But later had to notice, that never actually ever considered the idea of the gay option whatsoever at all until then. Did I even had the right to answer so quick and categorically? (I then took a look around with that in consideration and observed it made no difference, but that's a different tale.)

Times are changing, yes, but it hasn't been this different all too long ago and still isn't in a whole lot of places. That question I got is only a few years old. And this tale just nicely concentrated on this one piece of it. Because this, unlike all the hostility, is the part of it, that has no shape. You usually don't notice it. And that makes it the hardest to dispel of them all. But it's actually the most important, because it's the core of it all. If it weren't for this, the hostility and ignorance would have no reason to exist and couldn't also be so easily abused by powers that be for agendas of actually other underlying purposes.

Personally this volume has also been pretty big to me. That desperate statement of "I wanted to you to love me" that Kazuya gets from his girlfriend, that one thing that is missing, despite everything else stated as being in place and working well: This is a fear my little aro-ace mind didn't even know it held and probably one heavy unsconscious demotivator to even ever start entertaining trying to find a relationship. There is a sense of pointlessness to even try, when you neither want to fake love, nor want one of these ones tied over only materialism or family politics. That's probably just as imprinted of a sense of "impossibility" just like how Kazuya and Kouhei simply never took each other into consideration in the first place.

And then there was this whole relationship between Kazuya and Nagiko, the way Kazuya sees her:

Not as family nor a lover. But even so, for the first time I learned that someone could become so much of a beloved existence to me.

Now, these lines exactly aren't so special on first glance. You will get this often, this thing that friends could be as important and yada, yada. But that's not it in this one if you read the entire volume and see how he acts towards her. This tale is giving something a shape, that has no real proper name in any language yet that I know. (And I know 5.) Even this story ultimately resorts to worlds like 愛おしい (itooshii, dear) or 恋しい (koishii, dearly missed) when he's using expressions stronger than 好き (suki, to like). 愛 is language wise typically reserved to the love of family bonds and lovers' and 恋 is exclusively reserved for the latter. And it's also differentiated further from 親友 (shinyuu). 親友 is mostly translated as "close friend" or "bosom friend". It's build up of 親 (intimate) and 友 (friend). It's an extra close, intimate friend level, that Western languages typically don't have a word for. (The best I can think of is when a close friend conflates with a trusted confidante.) It's the next closest thing that Kazuya and Kouhei desperately work on to keep on having officially for another while in their closets. It's the word Kouhei desperately continues to use in his mode of confusion and denial after Kazuya's confession. And Nagiko explicitly is never called that. It's clearly stated that what Kazuya feels for Nagiko isn't that love. (That's reserved for Kouhei.) But still, there are so many components to it that would look like that love to the laymen's eyes. He's devoted. He has an absolute wish to see her happy. He'd cry and wail this heavy over her death. He continues to cry for her even afterwards. His wedding ring is something he says he will never take off again. Nagiko's mother only sees that deep love of a husband for her daughter. Even Kouhei uses 惚れる (horeru, to be head over heels in someone), that is expressly reserved for romantic and sexual love. One of the manga shorts from the pixiv extra materials feature Nagiko's friends from work returning from her funeral and seeing a very depressed Kazuya and being relieved that "Thank god, she was deeply loved by Kazuya." In another of the shorts Kouhei supports a Kazuya who can't stop his random crying attacks right after her death, noting that she left a hole behind that no one but herself will be able to bury.

There was a little firefly popping up and swirling in my little aro-ace brain after reading and parsing this story ever since. Because this work gives shape to a fuzzy something in between that is extremely hard to quantify. It falls short on a name in this work, but it paints such a tangible picture of it instead. I still haven't seen any depiction quite like it anywhere. (The only other thing close to it that I found after that to date is Tsubaki's relationship and his late wife Katsura in Fudanshi Kazoku contrasted with what is more than obviously a gay crush on clearly romantic interest Hiiragi. The fact that those two single examples however have the girls both dead seems slightly troubling, though... But I digress.)

(Yes, I know that somewhere in the queer community, some appear to have started on this "queerplatonic" coining recently. But try mentioning this and get only question marks back, or watch them google it and come back with headaches of confusion. And personally, I'm eyerolling over the naming sense on some things in there. I mean, like zucchini. Of all the things. Zucchini?)

What's making this bit that is already great even better: Kazuya completely treats the importance of Nagiko and Kouhei to him on equal levels. And Kouhei does the same.

There is this really endearing little short story in the extras that encapsulates it so well: A while after the events of the official volume, Kazuya and Kouhei move in together. Clearly they are prepared to stay in their closet, given that they arrange for each of them having their own rooms and beds, just in case their mothers (who are of the type to come visiting with no prior notice) happen to drop by. There is a lot of cute banter and memories. Then Kouhei gives Kazuya a present to celebrate the event of moving in. It's a wristwatch.

Kouhei: Ah, by the way, put this onto your right hand. Kazuya: Eh? Even though I'm right-handed? sfx: Isn't that hard to put on? Kouhei: Because your left hand belongs to Nagiko-chan. That's why, give your right hand to me.

THIS IS SO GOOD. (All the while pulling off a kinda cute de-facto proposal on the side.) Needless to say, Kazuya winds up wearing it on the right hand. (And his work colleagues muse, he found a new love that will get him over his depression about his late wife, which had just been back around when the anniversary of her death was getting close.)

And it's just so sad that Nagiko dies thinking that all Kazuya felt for her was just "kindness".

There is also simply the entire set up of how it ends. How it just trolls the "the queers must suffer" trope to hell. In that trope, it's like a curse that implies to outright dictates, that they are not to find happiness. Those two however, after the events of the official volume and every after, are also in a way under a "curse": They must absolutely not become unhappy, but find happiness together. And they are working real hard on that, because they owe that to Nagiko.

There is another hilarious, cute and heart-wrenching short that encapsulates this so well: In the middle of the night, Kouhei crawls onto Kazuya's bedside, after coming back from a real long drinking night with a customer. He's late, drunk and dejected. Because it's their first anniversary of living together, and he wanted to celebrate that. Kazuya goes, is something wrong with his head? This is Kouhei, who even got dumped by a former girlfriend for forgetting her birthday. Kouhei says he wanted to do that what Kazuya mentioned, about with living with Nagiko: To pile up a lot of memories. Kazuya tries to placate him. But, well, this time didn't work out. They could still do that next year. "But what if we can't?" It could end any time, and they should know that plenty well.

That's why, I want to treasure my time with you. I want to pile up lots of memories, to come back to and laugh about. Nagiko's share, too.

and then Kouhei gets sick with nausea, and it's all hilarious and the next morning Kazuya suggests that they go to an onsen by the place where the drunkhead had to leave his car, which he has yet to get. Because then next year they can laugh about how the anniversary day itself was terrible, but the next day they had a great day at the onsen with yummy ramen and having this and that fun. And they go. And next year, Kouhei is super embarrassed about it as Kazuya teases him about it.

IT'S SO GOOD.

The main focus of the official volume is clearly on the drama, but you'll still be served a full course dish spanning more than two decades from earlier childhood to work-life adulthood. It manages to be funny, cute, fluffy, adorkable, sad to downright heartwrenching, but ultimately also very optimistic and uplifting, all in the spade of just two double chapters and a prologue. And the pixiv extras just showcase it doesn't need any huge dramatic event as the driving plot force to keep a narrative together. These characters have so much going for them.

So if I got anyone interested, this is where you can get it:

Official volume: Amazon JP (digital and print), Animate (print), Toranoana (print), Yesasia (print), cdJapan (print), booklive (digital), cmoa (digital), pixiv store (digital)

Gotous canon, unofficial extra materials can be found here on their pixiv account.

Note that the 4 page extra mentioned in above summary is digital-exclusive.

There are also some bookstore-exclusive extra short manga that came out right when the volume was released. They are fairly hard to come by nowadays. I tracked down three of them, one is a cute story about the trio's adventure with yuzu fruit, one is them in Yukata on a summer festival, one is them in a cake buffet shop and Nagiko and Kazuya getting enthusiastic about the sweets offerings. All are nice slice of life extra offerings from their school/uni times, but not essential to the plot. Personally, while a physical book is great, I would suggest going for the digital copy. The 4p extra is great, since it's a sequel, and has, within the space of just 4 page heart-wrenching closet pain scars, adorkable cute and fun moments and more of an actual physical intimacy that the main story is falling short of, since it ends before their relationship starts fulfilling itself. (Also an extra drop, just in case anyone would still have doubted this to be bromance despite all the clear wordings that are being used.)

As for English readable versions of this.... Tough luck.

As of the beginning of 2022 there is no official English release (or any other language that I've seen) nor a full scanlation of this piece to be found. The 8-page prologue however appears to have a prototype version. (Like with the Pixiv chapters version of the first half of the official release, the content is basically completely the same, but with less polished art. It does look much more refined than the Pixiv chapter's rough art state though, so maybe it was the magazine release version?) and a scanlation of it done in 2015 seems to float around as 'Unrequited Love/両片思い'. The Pixiv version of the first double chapter appears to also have had a scanlation of the same scanlation group, but it seems like it's become pretty much untraceable.

Other than that also be aware that the author's page on MU for Nagiko's Gotou (後藤) seems to be mixed with some other Gotou (後頭) who produced a bunch of smut BL. (Anime-planet's entry is the most accurate out there.) Aside Nagiko no Hanashi's print release in 2015-2016 there is only Amagasa wo Tojiru Natsu that came out 2021 compiling chapters that were released 2018-2020 in the ihr HertZ magazine. There was also a short called Ragnatela published in the magazine that remains uncollected outside of it. The short stories compilation Nakeru BL also features a very cute BL short called Home Sweet Home. (Read about that one here.)

There isn't much out of Gotou's pen yet, so there also isn't much name branding yet. (Doesn't help that 後藤 is also not exactly a rare name to begin with.)

In any case, I'm definitely getting hyped for the drama now. (Please make the dramatic parts have as good acting as Utskushii Kare. But maybe with a bit less shacky cam at the end)

Anyone want to join the bandwagon?

(It'd be so great if these extras would become their own serial about of an ongoing relationship of two working adults and their domestic life. But I'm not complaining, I take the yearly batch that Gotou graces pixiv with, too.)

#manga #nagiko no hanashi #凪子の話 #gotou #後藤 #nagiko's story #ramblings #drama #jdrama #kieta hatsukoi #vanishing my first love #my love mix up #utsukushii kare #my beautiful man #japanese drama

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girlfriendsofthegalaxy · 3 years

Text

tuesday again 11/9/21

ALMOST birthday problems

listening short ride in a fast machine, john adams. i listen to a lot of instrumental stuff throughout my workday and there are only so many video game soundtracks i actually like.

this version is nearly a full two minutes shorter than the version on spotify i liked best. this piece looks fucking exhausting to both play and conduct, and the comments are full of conductors complaining about it lmao

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youtube

read the wiki page like “okay what is this About is it an experimental piece about spaceships bc that’s what i want this fluttering-adrenaline-pulse piece to be about” no! it’s about eighties sports cars. it does not sound like it should be about eighties sports cars.

i know just enough about classical music to be dangerous. i know what i like, which is when people incorporate folk music into their style (copland, dvorak), music featured in the barbie ballet movies (tchaikovsky), and a very small number of bach chamber works (one specific doctors’ waiting room music). this doesn’t really fit into any of those and sounds more like a movie score to my (bad, deaf) ear but it’s a pretty cool four-minutes-and-change.

reading Has Witch City Lost Its Way? by Kathryn Miles for Boston Magazine

the author asks this question and then kind of shrugs at it. this was a weird one! i’ve been to salem quite a few times. it’s a very charming little town on the sea with good nightlife, you can take the train into boston, the rhythm and flow and concerns of a tourist town are very familiar to me, it’s almost the perfect place for me to live, and i could never ever live there bc 1) money and 2) i find it absolutely fucking insufferable in large doses. i think the intersection between queer people and astrology/witchcraft/woo is fascinating, and it probably is a great way for some people to reclaim the concept of religion, but please god get all that as far away from me as possible. i like nondenominational spookiness and vampires and that’s about it.

it’s very difficult for me personally to think of witchcraft without thinking of both queer people and terfs. it’s odd that the author did not address this, nor did she mention that many of the “witches” killed were people of color. the author does point out that hey! it is super weird to disneyify a place where atrocities were committed! but she also flinched away from any real criticism about the modern white witchy movement trying to make itself as palatable as possible though commercialization. except in a very oblique way, bc all her interviews were with people who have a vested commercial interest in “Witches Are Nice And Friendly Actually”

this is quite long for a puff piece, with several interviews conducted for background info, and i get the feeling there was a very heavy editorial hand here. massachusetts people are fucking terrified about losing out on tourism, since historical events are really the only thing the state has going for it (unlike jersey, where yeah tourists drop a lot of cash, but there’s a sort of indifference about how the state is viewed? they’re assholes and proud of it and massachusetts ppl are assholes and really defensive about it).

watching not quite a fallow week, but bouncing off a bunch of anime while trying to find something just okay enough to handsew. bouncing off things for very petty reasons, let it be clear. saving The Harder They Fall as little a treat for myself tonight, bc i have YET ANOTHER work call w/japan.

playing one cycle/playthough of The Remainder (act 1/free prologue) free on steam by Square Weasel Studios.

i like to keep an eye on the LGBTQ+ tag and this one is in fact gay, people have hair and pronouns. there's a sea-based magical and religious system! please pay attention to the psychological horror content warning up top!

art style is delicious- there's been a rash of "magical otome protag with amnesia" lately (the arcana is i think the most famous), and i do like how they're like "what do you look like? hah just kidding, this is u :)"

romance/otome/dating games have consistently been some of the most fucked up games ive ever played, for reasons of Genre that could be several theses on its own. i appreciate the content warnings at the top, but even though this is not a game specifically tailored for a fanbase (i think it would work better without the name customization, actually) it does have a beautiful tragic sadperson whomst i expect to see some cosplay/fanart/fanworks for. there isn’t a good gender-neutral term for sadboy. bear with me.

inside baseball industry musings, my company does not rep them, all thoughts my own &tc: i cannot immediately find a ton of info about this studio, other than they're canadian. this is odd, bc finding info about games and studios is literally my job, esp bc they are also doing all the Indie Marketing things right EXCEPT for social media- releasing a free teaser like this, doing episodic drops with completely different SKUs so they keep getting fresh eyeballs, and a very high-effort and polished art style. they also have a very well thought out steam page that properly sets expectations and gives a good teaser of the game. their thumbnail is fucking killer and drew me in in the first place, and the whole thing (aside from one! one singular typo in the actual game itself! very forgivable!) is very polished. this team knows what they’re about. i'm sad nobody's really talking about this, but we are experiencing an absolute glut of games right now.

it doesn’t really look like anything i’ve seen before, which is always very exciting. it’s got flashes of dry humor that i like very much and i probably will pick up the full game when it’s out in feb (ep 2 is out but i like consuming completed things bc i Never remember to come back to them)

making hey remember this bad boy? finally washed it on cold/delicate/with woolite and on the extreme-low-heat dryer setting, then absolutely crisped it again on high for a bit bc i am quite paranoid about moths and carpet beetles. i would like to hang this on the wall adjacent to my work desk bc there’s been a bad echo on all my calls lately, but this blanket is very hard to look at. so it is folded up small and thrown artfully over our maroon futon and they kind of cancel each other out.

the fringe is in okay shape, i started combing it out before realizing that’s an insane thing to do and i only have a limited number of hours on this here earth. the thing i DID do was reattach the fringe in the seven or eight places it was peeling off. i think it was originally machine stitched on, which makes sense. although if you hand-embroidered and hand-quilted a blanket of this size, a little bit of straight stitch is going to be Nothing to you.

teaser of next week’s tuesday again no problem, bc god willing i will have cleaned/deodorized/built a proper frame for this thing and hung it up

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem #oh my god i passed out so early last night and i still feel like Death

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oberlincollegelibraries · 3 years

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GPO, the Government Publishing Office and the Law Library of Congress released the first, totally free, online, publicly accessible version of the United States Congressional Serial Set collection on govinfo.gov.

American as apple pie, the United States Congressional Serial Set, is not sexy but the content is oh so good. For years, only the most wealthy libraries located in public and private academic institutions and large public library districts with enough real estate could house tangible copies of the United States Congressional Serial Set in print format. When commercial vendors such as LexisNexis and Readex created and released the first online versions of the Serial Set in 2003, only the same wealthy libraries could afford to buy the product for their patrons to access. Then in 2018, HeinOnline another commercial vendor, released its version of the online Serial Set and its cost was more affordable to a greater number of libraries.

Ever mindful of James Madison's observation that "a popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both," Congress and the GPO have been answering the charge to make government information accessible to the public for more than two hundred years. As early as December 10, 1813, Timothy Pickering, a member of the House of Representatives from

Massachusetts, submitted a resolution for the purpose of distributing “one copy of the House and Senate Journals, House and Senate documents and reports to each University and College in each State, and one copy to the Historical society, incorporated, or which shall be incorporated in each state.” As libraries and colleges became more numerous, a designation system was established in 1857, whereby members of Congress could nominate a library of their choice to become a depository for Federal publications. Oberlin College was designated by the Honorable Philemon Bliss in March of that year. And in 1895, the Federal Depository Library Program was officially launched. Fast forward to 1994 with the advent of GPO Access, when the World Wide Web was beginning to bloom, the GPO began to steadily release newly issued government publications in online format. And within the last 8 years the GPO has stepped up the pace in digitizing some of the classic, treasures of American history. The Serial Set is the latest release and it has created a buzz in the academic and research environment. Its release should create a buzz in the hearts of all Americans. It is free; anyone, anywhere with mobile or internet access can now view the Serial Set. There is no more need for John Q. Public to walk into a brick and mortar building and ask a librarian to point him in the right direction. At last, America has moved into the direction that Madison hoped we would go -- making popular government information popular and, as a consequence, creating the pathway for the development of an informed citizenry.

What exactly is the Serial Set and why is it such a big deal?

The Serial Set are the House and Senate reports and documents issued by the United States Congress. However, Executive department reports, including annual reports of the several executive agencies, and messages of the President to Congress are also contained in the Serial Set. Non-governmental publications such as Annual reports of the Boys Scouts, annual reports of Howard University, and the reports of the Daughters of the American Revolution are contained in the Serial Set. Statistics, maps, beautiful botanical illustrations and even compilations of the prayers offered by the House and Senate chaplains are all included in the Serial Set. The Serial Set is unsurpassed in its historical value for researching and understanding the American experience from the nation’s infancy to the present time.

Do you have an interest in the development of American education? How about the War of the Rebellion, more commonly known as the Civil War? What about the Lewis and Clark expeditions or the sinking of the Titanic? You can find information about all these events in the Serial Set. No, you won't find too much about the wild wild west, only a passing mention of a "Billy the Kid, so called." Some of the more interesting content includes the early memorials and petitions against slavery; divorce petitions from residents of the District of Columbia to Congress, one of which caught my attention as it reported an adulterous interracial affair between a couple who had the audacity to flaunt their relationship in public. Hallmark pieces such as Senator Robert Bryd’s Addresses on the History of the United States Senate, the United States Senate Catalogue of Fine Art and the various memorial tributes providing interesting biographical details of Senators, Representatives, Presidents, First Ladies and others are all part of the Serial Set.

To find out more about the Serial Set and what it contains, view the following resources:

McKinney, R. J. (rev. 2021). An overview of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C., Inc. https://www.llsdc.org/serial-set-volumes-guide#overview

McMullen, J. E. (2003). U.S. Congressional Serial Set Finding List. The College of Wooster Libraries. https://libguides.wooster.edu/c.php?g=124060&p=811705

Saunders, V. (1998) U.S. Congressional Serial Set: What it is and it's History.[Presentation, Depository Library Council/Federal Depository Conference in Arlington, Virginia]. https://www.fdlp.gov/about-fdlp/mission-history/u-s-congressional-serial-set-what-it-is-and-its-history

Sokol, D. (2019). Library of Congress and U. S. Government Publishing Office digitizing U. S. Congressional Serial Set. Library of Congress. https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2019/10/library-of-congress-and-u-s-government-publishing-office-digitizing-u-s-congressional-serial-set/

U.S. Government Publishing Office (2018, January 26). A brief history of the FDLP. https://www.fdlp.gov/about-fdlp/mission-history/a-brief-history-of-the-fdlp

U. S. Government Publishing Office. (2021, September 28). GPO and Law Library of Congress Make Volumes of Nation's Most Treasured Publications Digitally Available. https://www.fdlp.gov/news-and-events/5141-gpo-and-law-library-of-congress-make-volumes-of-nation-s-most-treasured-publications-digitally-available?utm_source=newsletter_2631&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=gpo-and-law-library-of-congress-make-volumes-of-nation-s-most-treasured-publications-digitally-available&acm=3627_2631

#oberlin college libraries #oberlin college #government documents #gov docs #United States Congressional Serial Set #government publishing office #GPO

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phoenixtakaramono · 3 years

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Hi! :) I was reading your post about SQH in TUT and it got me thinking. Since this version also wrote SVSSS, when he transmigrates does he realize his "dream" was real? Also, you hinted that he recognizes SY as the same person who transmigrated into SQQ, so now I'm wondering if he tells SY that, and how SY would react to learning he's the protagonist of SVSSS in another universe. I just love thinking about how meta this could potentially get, haha.

Can't wait to find out more! Keep up the good work!

(Follow-Up Post to: Part I, Part II)

@the-legend-of-chel 👏👏👏 Luv, good to see you in my Asks! I’m glad to hear that you’re looking forward to finding out more in The Untold Tale! And thanks for your support and encouragement. 💖

(TUT ch1 - Excerpt)

You’re right. There is a lot of meta potential with older!Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky being the MXTX equivalent in this AU—or, rather, I like to imagine him growing up to be the Stephen King equivalent of modern day China with a prolific portfolio of written works (novels and short stories, and extras). In canon, he churned out a great number of words per chapter and in a speedy amount of time! Do you guys know how miraculous that is, as a writer? I envy him so much! To be able to churn out that much content in a short amount of time, and in a scheduled regimen, is amazing! That’s basically my angle having written this into the prologue of TUT. That’s partially the reason why I wrote ch1. I liked the idea of paying homage to SVSSS and saying that it’s an actual book series in TUT universe that Airplane wrote (as funny as the idea would be, I wasn’t about to let SY be the one to write it, lol, for intellectual property reasons since the PIDW characters belong to Airplane, which would necessitate SY changing names and character appearances if he published what we know as irl SVSSS, so the best I can give SY is saying he wrote his own PIDW fanfic which basically launched his novelist career because he’d realized, hey, I actually have a knack for writing and the ever so spiteful I feel like practically every writer has had this thought before: fine, if I don’t see what I want to read, then I’ll write it myself!)

(TUT ch1 - Excerpt)

We’re approaching TUT spoiler territory so skip below if you don’t wish to be spoiled.

TUT (Meta) Spoilers

I personally love meta. If I’m to be writing a lovestory to SVSSS, there will be attempts at meta thrown into TUT. And this is one of them:

Airplane did “dream” about canon SVSSS. He basically “dreamt” about his favorite black powder fan, Peerless Cucumber

changing events of Airplane’s biggest regret Proud Immortal Demon Way. (As a writer, it embarrasses me to read my old writing. So I imagine it could be the same for Airplane.) As an author, Airplane recognized what he dreamt had potential to be a commercial success as a danmei transmigration story so basically every time he woke up, he would write pieces of what he remembers in a dream journal when the memory was fresh in his brain. It also allowed Airplane the opportunity to show his readers through the perspective of SY! Shen Qingqiu what Airplane had originally wanted to write, but integrated in a way that blends seamlessly into the reading experience. He would’ve thought it was a bit weird and strange that his brain dreamt about his past critic—whom he’d considered a small celebrity in the PIDW forums back then—aka his anti-fan-turned-accomplished-novelist in the writing industry, so he felt embarrassed that his unconscious brain must have thought very highly of the man.

So Airplane omitted any mention of Peerless Cucumber from the final draft of SVSSS (if he mentioned both “Shen Yuan” and “Peerless Cucumber,” then even SY would be like, Hey, wait one moment....). This detail will be included in a later chapter, but did you know the name “Shen Yuan” has come up in other works? Let’s ignore the variations on the Chinese written characters for the name “Shen Yuan.” There was the evil older brother character Shen Yuan from The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage, a side character named Shen Yuan from a C-drama (I think he was an old minister?), and there’s even an irl visual artist named Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan (Shen Garden) is also a famous romantic garden in Shaoxing, known for the love story between Lu You and Tang Wan.

(Shen Yuan Garden - Trip Advisor Review)

Basically “Shen Yuan” in itself is not a particularly uncommon name in China (imo I would not say it’s super popular either). So when SY saw his name mentioned once or twice in Airplane’s SVSSS—aka rebooted PIDW—during his read-through, he was like, Huh, what a strange coincidence. And then dismissed it as circumstantial and thought nothing of seeing his name come up in a cutsleeve novel as the new protagonist, haha. It’s like a book written by Anne Rice; one of the titles coincidentally has the same name as mine. Now, obviously the book and main character is not based or inspired by me; I just coincidentally share the same name. If I see books which have characters with my same first name, generally I like to read them and sometimes even collect them for my bookshelves. Because there’s something just so fun and interesting about seeing your own name in a fictional piece of work.

There’s also meta joke potential about Airplane dreaming of himself being transmigrated into the cannon fodder Shang Qinghua and seeing the romantic miscommunications between the younger version of himself (his self-insert essentially) and the fictional Mobei jūn character. I can certainly say seeing such dreams would make Airplane question his sexuality and awaken something dormant in him, haha. He’d realize he might not be not as straight as he thought he was, if his brain was capable of dreaming of SY!SQQ being crushed on by LBH, and SQH being crushed on by MBJ and essentially following MBJ around calling him “my king” this and “my king” that. He’ll be sweating bullets when he meets this world’s version of MBJ, because Airplane will definitely remember how the younger Self-Insert version of himself acted toward MBJ in the SVSSS world. (It’s the classic “Just because I dreamed about it happening doesn’t mean it’ll happen here, right? ...Right? Cucumber brother, you’re a fortuneteller! Please check our eight characters for me! I have to know my marriage compatibility with Mobei jūn!”)

In a later chapter, there will be the reveal where Airplane tells Shen Yuan that he “dreamt” of a universe where a younger version of Shen Yuan—having choked on mantou (馒头) (paying homage to the donghua) or just being transmigrated in general after raging at a younger ASTTS’s writing (paying homage to the books)—transmigrated into the Shen Qingqiu we know from SVSSS who married Bing mèi. Because I think it will be hilarious when TUT’s SY finds out about the true source of Airplane’s inspiration, and he’ll naturally freak out over the fact that this is the very same Bing gē from Airplane’s Bing-gē vs Bing-mèi extra and that he’s essentially somehow stumbled on the same path as the alternative younger SY!SQQ “from Airplane’s imagination.” I will leave this open to interpretation if this does show up (it’s just an idea I’m playing with) but I might hint that there might be a higher power at play which allowed Airplane a peek into another universe—which manifested as his dreams.

I very much like this dynamic (we might see this exchange, verbatim, in a future chapter in TUT):

SY/ LBH —> He gave him a disdainful gaze.

Airplane cried inwardly at the oppression and the feeling of being wronged.

Haha, none of this is really Airplane’s fault^ though. It’s a fun parallel and if I’m still motivated when we get to the wedding and consummation chapter, we might see an epilogue where SY and Bing gē from TUT meets SY!SQQ and Bing mèi maybe. Because I think it’ll be funny with the two LBHs getting into a shouting/ fighting match about who has the “superior Shen Yuan” while the two SYs just shake their heads at their silly husbands (and potentially TUT’s SY, as the older party, can impart his fortunetelling wisdom and advice to SY!SQQ).

Personally I can’t wait when we get to those chapters, because I know it’ll be entertaining to write, haha. Personally TUT is a fun project because there’s just so much meta potential that can be incorporated and I have a lot of fun imagining the scenarios.

*Note: like always, keep in mind that these are just my current thoughts. Details are subject to change; things aren’t considered official until they show up in the final draft on AO3. :)

The Novelists’ First Impressions

The first impression SY and Airplane will have of each other will be fun. Because in their perspective, written in my notes it’s essentially like:

(Airplane seeing SY):

His first reaction was shock. Shock because the mere mortal he used to be could not conceive so much charisma being emitted by this guy.

This is definitely a man who had put all of his stats into CHARISMA.

(SY seeing Airplane):

He's suspiciously good looking in ways that normal people are not.

Ah, the Cucumberplane friendship in TUT is going to be so much fun. Not only are these two older souls who transmigrated (both are mid-aged in this universe), they’re both accomplished novelists in their own right in the writing industry. Which means with these two being celestial beings, there’s so many clichés we can playfully poke fun at.

It also makes me laugh because imagine being SY, and seeing a guy (mortal!Airplane) who exudes the same energy as these two imperial princes GIFs:

#svsss #人渣反派自救系统 #shang qinghua #moshang #shen yuan #bingyuan #binggeyuan #the untold tale #phoenixtakaramono #ask #the-legend-of-chel #phoenix talks #reply #replied #answered #I’m almost done photobashing older SY #so there’s gonna be additional visual context #for how he appears in TUT (my headcanon at least)

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destiny-smasher · 3 years

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DownRight Fierce Dev Update (9/2021)

Not sure if this is something folks here would want to see, but I'll share this update I shared with patrons for the original visual novel I've been working on, DownRight Fierce. It was conceived back in, like, 2014, but since just before the pandemic hit, I've been working on it as a visual novel. It's sort of like...if Street Fighter and Butterfly Soup had a kid? That was born before Butterfly Soup came out? And has been slacking off for a few years? There is a fully playable, mostly presentable demo of the prologue and first three chapters, feel free to contact me if you're interested in trying it out and providing feedback.

Thanks to the support I've received on Patreon lately, I've been able to commission more outfits for the main characters, new expressions, and was able to pay Hayley to re-organize the sprites so I have some more control over mixing and matching different things. We've also implemented a new pose for Nishiko's sprite when they're sending text messages (on their antiquated cell phone).

(all of the character art so far I have commissioned from my friend Hayley Sakura-Rose12)

I ended up deciding to have that sprite made when I implemented a whole text convo with Seiko near the end of Chapter 3. (or partway through the chapter, depending on what the reader chooses - OR they can even skip this conversation altogether, potentially)

The biggest updates to DRF lately have mostly been cosmetic: adding in more facial expressions and effects.

One example of this has been incorpating a more seamless and atmospheric effect for moments when Nishiko gets lost in thought.

There will be a recurring and increasingly important component tied to this, so I'm glad Jenny helped inspire me to pursue this kind of idea. You can also see here a version of Nishiko's sprite which has been visually updated with more texture, alternate color, etc., and that's something she intends to do with the other characters when time allows (she's been very busy for like, over a year now).

Fire and smoke are key visual symbols for Nishiko's character, so Jenny has been helping me figure out ways to express this more through the UI, etc.

(my wife Jenny has worked on the UI, giving it a more gritty look, and she's modified Nishiko's sprite in this image to give extra atmosphere to the character sprites; she also took a placeholder image and did work on it to showcase a potential art style for the backgrounds; we're considering something like this, though maybe including more color, perhaps intentionally depending on the setting)

But it's not just been visual stuff. I've also been adding in extra content, and incorporating more choices and elements that affect and are affected by the stats running in the background.

I've added in new short classroom scenes to help better illustrate Nishiko's experience inbetween social activities, while simultaneously using them to imply elements regarding Nishiko's attention span, as well as flesh out the lore of the world.

I've been a bit inspired by Tuca and Bertie in some weird ways, as well, trying to build lore within my own fighting game inspired world with references that double as, well, world building (like alluding to Street Fighter antagonist M. Bison via a political dictator who existed in this universe's history), including entire chunks of conversation that go in different branches based on weird Capcom humor that also serves to establish backstory.

Nishiko and Kayla bond over love of a dumb cheesy horror flick that's essentially one big meme featuring the 90's Street Fighter cartoon. The drinks in the vending machines are all Capcom references, but serve as a means of letting the reader more manually increase a stat of their choosing - and since they're vending machines, they recur, so as the reader might get to know what each drink is, they might make a deliberate choice to increase a specific stat on purpose, in a similar way to choosing to exercise, or meditate, or study.

A convo about Nishiko's prior schoolyear incorporates Dark Stalkers references while also, again, letting the reader affect stats in a narratively retroactive way.

I've fleshed out conversations in Chapter 3 to have lots of dialogue most readers won't see in a single playthrough, as well as making more efforts to lean readers toward experiencing certain scenes or moments they might have missed earlier, while allowing the possibility of skipping or missing out on scenes entirely should they choose.

For example, the end of Chapter 3 is focused on Nishiko's relationship with Seiko. There is a text chat convo that can happen in one of two different parts of the chapter, and an in-person convo I'm currently working on (the last planned new content for the demo). Both can be experienced, or one or the other, or the can both be skipped. I don't want to make the entire social life something optional, but I do want to have there be parts like this where the reader can choose to skip interacting with a character if they truly don't want to, to help reinforce the idea that every interaction is, in a sense, a deliberate choice.

Even something like picking 'the BAD' choices is something I want to not just feel like, say, Undertale's infamous 'genocide run' but rather something that is an expression of anger at the world around the main character, which even has some specific benefits - because people don't just become jerks because they like to feel bad, but because it serves them in some beneficial way. As a slight example, if the reader pushes Nishiko to become aggressive, their 'Psycho' stat will increase, which can lead to them having even more aggressive choices later, which further increase that stat. But as that stat increase, Nishiko will become more physically perceptive to certain details about the world around them, but in material ways rather than social ways. For example, they might sense certain inklings of things that allude to later plot points earlier than someone who is more cooperative and might learn more social backstory elements. It's likely not going to be some huge, monumental difference, but it hopefully will make a second playthrough feel noticeably different and give the reader more insight into certain things.

The planned demo will feature the prologue and the first three chapters. By the end, all four main characters will be introduced, and the reader should get a pretty good idea through bits of writing and visual presentation that the choices they make won't change the primary narrative, but will affect certain details and aspects of how things play out. This is actually related to a big plot element itself that will become important later. But for now, it's been really fun adapting content I wrote over five years ago into this format, fleshing it out, and trying to work out ways to not only make that content function better in an interactive format, but also just how to lay more foundation and foreshadowing for what's to come.

While the visuals are still far from finalized even for this demo, I do have a private build uploaded for anyone genuinely interested, as I still haven't received much in the way of feedback so far. I'm planning on releasing a public demo to itchio later on when we can get the visuals to look more finalized.

#DownRight Fierce #visual novel #lgbt #indie games #game development #fgc #fighting games #street fighter

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ayuuria · 4 years

Text

Yashahime Translation: Animage November 2020 Issue

Please do not repost this translation without my consent! @officialinuyasha will be making a video version of this so stay tuned!

The Three Girls’ Incident Fill Journey

While carrying the expectations of “Inuyasha” fans, the story of the 3 girls begins to move. What sort of fate awaits the 3 girls with different personalities and grew up in different eras?

The original anime that succeeds the world of “Inuyasha”, “Hanyou no Yashahime”, has finally begun broadcast! (We are) sure there were a lot of people who were surprised after watching episode 1. Afterall, not only were the trio of protagonists on screen, but also the characters of “Inuyasha”, Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Sesshomaru, were freely moving around!

In episode 1, the story started with Towa being told the story of Inuyasha and Kagome (A priestess who came from ‘Tokyo’ 10 years ago and the half demon that exterminated demons with her) while she was captured at the Kanto region’s governor-general’s mansion of Ougigayatsu-Hiiragi. As Inuyasha and others live while exterminating demons, after ending the battle with the half demon, Naraku, it is said they fought a demon called Root Head… Familiar scenes are jammed together showing everyone’s traits such as the black Tessaiga unleashing Meidozangetsuha and Kagome’s “sit”. It truly was a festive curtain opening.

However, this was just the prologue of the Yashahime’s adventure since as Setsuna’s voice actress, Komatsu Mikako, put it “Episode 2 is the first episode “Hanyou no Yashahime”. A “new age of feudal fairytale” with the 3 girls has finally begun!

Moroha Inuyasha and Kagome’s quarter-demon daughter. She makes a living as a bounty hunter. She doesn’t have any memories of her parents, but she inherited “demonic powers” and “spiritual powers of a priestess”.

It really is the daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome! Moroha’s voice actress: Tadokoro Azusa

“Moroha is Inuyasha and Kagome’s daughter so from the time I auditioned for her, I wanted to incorporate elements from the two of them. I focused on things like how Inuyasha sits like a dog and his beast like manner when he speaks as well as Kagome’s strength as a woman and her suppleness. However, when I really thought about it, I thought the two of them had similar dispositions. It’s like they became similar as they journeyed together. Things like the kindness of when they end up saving people and how quickly the blood rushes to their heads when angered; (these) are traits they both have. That is why I thought Moroha might be like that too. I truly thought she was a child born from Inuyasha and Kagome from how emotional she is and how lightly she carries her body.”

Setsuna Towa’s younger twin sister. She is a member of the demon slayers and has a calm, collected personality. She was separated from Towa when she was young and does not remember anything from that time.

Staying calm while thinking of Sesshomaru Setsuna’s voice actress: Komatsu Mikako

“I was directed to “remember the way Narita Ken played Sesshomaru” when it came time to play Setsuna. During the audition, I did a version that had a cool aura at the forefront and a version that focused a little on being a realistic girl. At first I wasn’t sure which one to go with so I acted lightly but was told “More deeper, it’s okay to have a threatening quality in your voice.” Now I diligently act with complete collectedness while thinking of Sesshomaru. While I haven’t done any recording work with Narita-san yet, I worked with him a little over a year ago on a different work where we had a parent/child role so I can’t wait to show how happy I am to be his daughter again (laughs).”

Higurashi Towa Sesshomaru’s daughter and Setsuna’s older twin sister. She time traveled to the modern era when she was little. She excels at martial arts to the point that she can beat up gangs by herself.

She is good at fighting but she is still a regular girl Towa’s voice actress: Matsumoto Sara

“Since Towa spent 10 years under Papa Souta and does not remember her real parents, I think she’s more of a Modern girl than a Feudal girl. The first audition tape I submitted, I really focused on her being the daughter of Sesshomaru and had her sounding completely boyish. However afterwards I was told “Sounds too much like a boy.” Based on that, I think I got it just right with sounding like a 14-year-old middle school girl who’s good at fighting. Also just like Mikako-san, I have played a role as Narita-san’s daughter in a different work. As of now, I’m curious to see if there will be any parent/child interactions from here on.”

Cycling in Feudal Lands!?

The figures of Towa and Setsuna riding a bicycle while Moroha follows after them reminds one of the scene that unfolded in “Inuyasha”. In episode 1, Towa was presented with Kagome’s bicycle seat at Ougigayatsu-Hiiragi mansion. Does that mean a bicycle will be a key item in “Yashahime”?

Round Table Discussion with the Cast of the 3 Girls

The 3 of them who grew up influenced by “Inuyasha”

Everyone, (speaking) purely as “Inuyasha” fans. First, please tell us your favorite character or episode from “Inuyasha”

Matsumoto: Once we start talking about “Inuyasha”, forget the interview time, we’re going be talking past midnight! (laughs) For me, my favorites were Miroku and Naraku.

Tadokoro: Miroku! He’s precocious!

Komatsu: You liked Naraku?!

Matsumoto: First, I was overwhelmed by Miroku’s adult sexiness. I loved that fraudulent part of him. You know how whenever the air got tense within the Inuyasha group, Miroku would chime in with “Now then” and the air would soften. I felt that that was really cool. Back then, I ended up drawing Miroku’s wind tunnel on my hand and copying him (laughs).

Komatsu and Tadokoro: I did that too~! (in unison)

Matsumoto: On the other end, I felt charmed by how Naraku was too evil. I thought “There’s someone this evil!”. I was shocked that even though he was originally human, as a result of getting all sorts of humans and demons involved, he became like that. I became completely enamored by the “true villain”.

Komatsu: If I were to speak in terms of Naraku’s faction, I loved Kagura.

Matsumoto and Tadokoro: Aah~ Kagura~! (in unison)

Komatsu: Naraku is an existence that became a demon from the negative aspects of humans such as tenacity and envy. Yet from that, Kagura in a sense was born with a human like heart and I felt that that was attractive. Her life was always in Naraku’s hands. In reality, she wanted to join Inuyasha’s side but she couldn’t. Even so she wanted to be free like the wind and ironically at the end, she became the wind by Naraku’s hand. Then, in her last moments when she met Sesshomaru she said “I got to see you”….!

Matsumoto and Tadokoro: Yeah~!!

Komatsu: Kagura was the only character on the enemy’s side that I liked. On Inuyasha’s side, I’d have to say I liked the Inuyasha and Kagome pair. “Inuyasha” had a romance element to it; for me it was both a shounen and shoujo manga and it was a work that was truly like a textbook on life. I did things like ask my parents to make the Japanese style room in our house “my room” and bought folding fans because I said “I want to become a wind user too!”

Tadokoro: Mine is mainstream but I liked Sesshomaru.

Matsumoto and Komatsu: Aah~ Lord Sesshomaru~!!

Komatsu: Well our Papa is too cool.

Tadokoro: I can’t go against that charm. He doesn’t say much but despite it all, he does look out for the others. At first, he kept going after Inuyasha in order to take his sword but in the end, he ended up helping Inuyasha grow right? Something like that (laughs).

Matsumoto: He’s too tsundere!

Tadokoro: Exactly! Rin obviously but despite everything, he does consider Jaken important. My favorite episode was the one where Rin gets taken into the underworld.

Matsumoto and Komatsu: I feel you!

Tadokoro: To think that that Sesshomaru would say “There’s nothing that could ever be worth trading Rin’s life for”… I think that was the moment everyone fell for Sesshomaru (laughs). Also Kohaku. He went through something extremely painful and continued to suffer for a long time so that makes him do unnecessary things. He tends to value his life poorly and because of that, there are a lot of scenes where he’s saved by others. At first I thought “Please stop”, however in the anime because of Yajima Akiko’s voice, I really felt “It’s not that he’s getting in everyone’s way, he just takes action because he’s tormented”. Yajima-san’s acting of Kohaku is what made me want to be become a voice actor so I have a lot of feelings this character. When I saw him become an adult in “Hanyou no Yashahime”, I had this feeling of “Thank you for choosing to live”.

There is no end to the “Inuyasha“ talk. Then please tell us your impression of “Hanyou no Yashahime”. Did all of you audition for all 3 girls?

Tadokoro: I only did Moroha for the tape audition but afterwards I did all 3 girls in the studio audition. It’s just that there’s the fact that I just did Moroha for the tape so I was interested in her the most. My very first impression was that I was moved when I saw that the child born from Inuyasha and Kagome was this girl, and I was so happy to see their child. She really looks like them and she’s so lively that I thought she would actually come to life. I arbitrarily thought “I wonder if she’s living a happy life?”.

Matsumoto: I only auditioned for Towa. From her appearance, I thought she was cool but before anything else I was so shocked at the idea of “Sesshomaru’s daughter” that I was at a complete loss. I was like “S-Sesshomaru had a d-daughter…?!” (laughs)

All: (Laughs)

Matsumoto: I ended up thinking “How did he give birth when he’s a guy?”

Komatsu: With Sesshomaru, I can certainly see him doing something like cutting off his hair and breathing life into by blowing on it (laughs).

Matsumoto: I can see that smoking up and turning into a baby (laughs). While Towa has a twin sister named Setsuna, there was that setting of Towa spent time in the modern era. I felt there was a lot of ground for thought like “What happened between her and Setsuna?” or “Do they have different personalities?”.

Komatsu: In my case, when I received the notice for the audition, I only saw the title “Hanyou no Yashahime” and thought “This is going to be a title like “Inuyasha”” (laughs). When I read the explanation it really had “a work that succeeds the world of “Inuyasha”” written on it so I was really surprised. Not only that but it had the catch phrase “Sesshomaru has a daughter” so I was like “That Sesshomaru!?”. In any case, I was completely surprised. For the audition, I only did Setsuna but upon seeing the documents, her facial features and the white fluff (moko moko) around her neck, I thought she really is the daughter of Sesshomaru. In the audition manuscript, there were a few lines that showed that she didn’t seem to really remember her father but her closed off aura gave me the sense of ‘like father, like daughter’.

As you got into acting your roles, have there been any changes from your first impression?

Komatsu: Each of their backbones are slowly being dug up but among them, there a lot of scenes where you can tell that Towa has been heavily influenced by the modern era from having lived there so long.

Matsumoto: Yes. There’s a contrast like when they’re confronted by a demon; Towa will pull back where as Setsuna and Moroha will go on the offensive. Also when Towa hesitates to make the final blow, the two of them scold her.

Komatsu: For Setsuna and Moroha, exterminating demons is a job but for Towa, she exterminates demons with the idea of saving others. Hence, due to the difference in their way of thinking, they butt heads but as the 3 of them spend more time together, their sense of comradery will gradually deepen… I feel my impression is slowly changing as the story progresses like how Setsuna surprisingly participates in the joke scenes and how they move as a 3 person team.

Tadokoro: With Moroha’s change, I was first directed with “It’s okay to make it sillier”. Actually, while she does act on her emotions like a child and she can be a little stupid, in battle she’ll give out directions like “Do this” and I think she’s good at assisting. Based on appearances, Towa and Setsuna seem like they would be better at combat but the fact that Moroha has a sharp mind is something that surprised me.

Matsumoto: My impression of Towa hasn’t really changed but I’m curious to see how Towa will adapt to the Feudal Era and how the 3 of them will work as one. Even when Towa returns to the Feudal Era, it’s not like she forgets the modern era and she will show things to Setsuna, Moroha, and Takechiyo like “In the modern era, we have something like this”. Towa doesn’t seem to find it hard to go from the modern era to the Feudal Era and when recording began, I once again thought “It’s like this afterall”.

Komatsu: … I think the way Towa closes the gap between herself and others is similar to “that person”.

Matsumoto: You just made a big statement like it was nothing!

Komatsu: I thought the way Towa concerns herself with Setsuna and Setsuna responding with “Shut up! Leave me alone!” was a relationship similar to that of their parents… If you look at Towa, I think you can figure out who the mother is.

Tadokoro: Definitely get an idea. Then how about the possibility of Jaken? (laughs)

Matsumoto: The ‘Jaken is the mother’ theory huh! (laughs) What makes me get emotional is when even though Setsuna pushes Towa away and goes on ahead, she’ll stop, look back, and watch Towa complain behind her. She’s just like her father when she does that!

Komatsu: I feel! She’s totally concerned about her.

Tadokoro: To Moroha, despite what Towa and Setsuna say to eachother, they’re pretty lovey-dovey so she feels a little “left out”.

All: (laughs)

Matsumoto: The other day when we were recording a preview, Azusa-san said to me “Towa really doesn’t call for Moroha does she.” When I thought about it, it’s true that there’s a lot of “Setsuna and I did this” sort of talk (laughs).

Tadokoro: Moroha’s there too~! (laughs)

Matsumoto: To Towa, Setsuna is very precious. Even though Setsuna and Moroha are veterans when it comes to surviving in the Feudal Era, Towa still wants to be an older sister to Setsuna. That aspect is pretty amusing.

That is definitely something to keep an eye on in future broadcasts. Now then, please tell us your thoughts on episode 1 that was broadcasted.

Komatsu: The story of “Inuyasha” since then was drawn so I don’t suppose fans felt as if they had “come home”? I think it was a first episode that was like “First of all, welcome back and welcome to a new world of Inuyasha!”

Tadokoro: It really is moving isn’t it… I was also really excited for the broadcast.

Matsumoto: All the more since during the recording, the different casts recorded their scenes separately, so we never got to watch the “Inuyasha” cast acting directly.

Komatsu: Also there were nostalgic scenes that were just as they were in the original anime which is something that got me excited.

Matsumoto: There were. From episode 2 onwards, there will be lingering remnants of demons that appeared in “Inuyasha”. When past scenes come in, I myself become moved like “There was a scene like that!”

Komatsu: Episode 2 in a sense is the first episode of “Hanyou no Yashahime”. The first enemy demon that appears is a little similar to the first demon that appeared in “Inuyasha” so I think that’s a point that will make fans happy.

Tadokoro: Also in the TV anime, demons that appeared in scenes in the original work will also appear as “Hanyou no Yashahime” versions. That also makes me emotional.

Episode 2 onwards will be exciting for production key points that strike “Inuyasha” fans. Even in this edition’s illustration (P. 36-37), connecting with the bicycle Kagome was always rode in “Inuyasha”, we have a bicycle and the 3 girls.

Matsumoto: My heart is skipping seeing Setsuna wrap her hands around Towa’s waist.

Komatsu: She’s really looking (at her)! (laughs) Within the work, Setsuna hasn’t opened up to Towa yet but I wonder how much time has passed for the gap between them to close like this?

Tadokoro: Setsuna’s completely riding like a “girlfriend”! Moroha’s been taken off the bicycle (laughs)

Komatsu: We need to attach a side car to the bicycle for her (laughs)

Do you have any situations that you want to see illustrations of from here on?

Komatsu: I want to see everyone in a school uniform!

Matsumoto: Yes! Please put Moroha in Kagome’s sailor uniform.

Tadokoro: Yeah, I definitely want to see her wear that! Going along that line, I want to see Towa and Setsuna dressed like Lord Sesshomaru.

Matsumoto: Each one dressed like their parents, I like that. Not just a sailor uniform for Moroha but also in a priestess’s attire too.

Tadokoro: She has black hair so I’m sure it will look good on her.

Matsumoto: Moroha and Setsuna normally have their hair tied back so I want to see them with their hair down.

Komatsu: A situation where the 3 of them are in a hot spring. There were scenes like that in “Inuyasha” where there were monkeys in the hot spring. (laugh)

Matsumoto: Me personally, I want to see Setsuna and Moroha fully dressed in modern clothes. Something like all 3 of them going to an amusement park.

Komatsu: I want to see them taking tests for school!

Q. What do you think will happen when Towa and Setsuna reunite with Sesshomaru?

Komatsu: First, what will they call Sesshomaru? Will they call him “Father”? To begin with, I’ve been curious as to if Sesshomaru was the one who named them.

Tadokoro: That’s true. Who did name them?

Komatsu: “Towa = Eternity” and “Setsuna = Moment” … What sort of meaning do these complete opposite names have?

Matsumoto: I feel Setsuna’s is more fleeting. The wild ideas (translators note: head cannons to put it in western terms) won’t stop.

Tadokoro: Kagome’s was too but the names tend to have an uneasy nuance implied about them. For Moroha, the words “Double edged sword” and “Fragile” can have a close resemblance. There was a meaning to Kagome’s name so I tend to think there’s also a meaning in Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha. Also, Moroha’s red clothes is the robe of the fire rat Inuyasha wore that apparently, she remodeled herself so I’m really curious about that. Is it by chance… a memento? I don’t want that~!!

Q. Among the 3 of you, who resembles their character the most?

Komatsu: Probably Towa (Matsumoto)? Her aura is similar to Towa in a gutsy, cheerful sense. It doesn’t feel like an “act” when she’s acting.

Tadokoro: Me too, my first thought was Towa. I thought they looked similar in appearances.

Matsumoto: That makes me so happy….! There are times where I feel I’m similar to Towa but I think everyone has something similar (to their characters). I feel like Azusa-san is mischievous and sparkling like Moroha and Komatsu-san has Setsuna’s cool beauty.

Komatsu: No, I have zero coolness within me (laughs). I think the rock essence that Koroazu (referring to Tadokoro) has during a concert performance is close to Moroha!

Tadokoro: That’s true, I try to bring out a wild flavor (laughs).

Episode 1 Play Back: Inuyasha Since Then

Inuyasha and Kagome exterminated Root Head with there superb combination (?)… or so it was thought, but in actuality, it entangled itself with the roots of the Sacred Tree/Tree of Ages deep within the earth. The still living Root Head extends its roots to the fates of Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha. And the true identity of Munehisa, who told the tale, comes to light as the demon Yotsume (the 4 eyed owl). Just what is he is something to keep an eye on from here on.

Inuyasha Moroha’s half-demon father. After winning the battle against Naraku, he chose to live together with Kagome in the Feudal Era. He also drove back Root Head combining his power with Kagome’s but…

Sesshomaru A greater demon who is Towa and Setsuna’s father. While Inuyasha was fighting Root Head, he did not lend a hand but rather he quietly watched over Sango’s house where Rin was taking refuge.

#hanyo no yashahime #yashahime: princess half-demon #Yashahime #translation

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