#// let me know if its a problem.... orz

[bmpmp3]

the villainess flips the script is a really fun manhwa with gorgeous art and my wonderful son luca who is a little bitch who i love so much BUT i will say. the family tree situation as the story has gone on makes my head hurt

[hapfish]

Hey! I'm making a F!Leo cosplay and I was wondering if you have any advice for how to do the shell? The plastron, specifically. Yours was amazing! Ty xx

Yeah of course!!! Luckily the rise plastrons are very geometric so its pretty easy to make a pattern from it! I dont have pictures of early steps so pls bear with me <3 info n pictures below the cut

First thing i did was make a pattern of my torso with plastic wrap and tape so i could see the curve of my stomach and chest. Cant say this helped a TON, but i cant imagine things in my head, so it helped me conceptualize the size and dimensions i would need the front panels to be to cover my torso.

Next i started sketching small patterns for what the cut outs may look like. DEFINITELY make a paper pattern, this took a lot of trial and error and you dont want to waste too much foam. I cannot for the life of me find my paper patterns unfortunately, but hopefully you can see part of where im coming from with the detailed pictures of the plastron!! I made patters for 1/2 of the plastron, and flipped the patters over to make the other half mirrored and symetrical.

Now the cutting. I used .7mm foam (i think?? I got it from micheals. Joann fabrics has some but only small sheets. If you want less seams you should get the bigger ones, or buy massive sheets online. EVA foam isnt too hard to find, but make sure your density and width is appropriate for what youre making. When actually cutting the pieces out, some cuts will be flat while others may work best at an angle. I used mostly 90* and 45* angles to make clean edges and corners.

Bear with me bc the pictures in this next part are kinda uglie </3 ill explain why later.

For matching the curve of the body, i used a fresh blade and made shallow triangle cuts on the backside of the foam as can be seen here:

It would have worked better if the chest pieces were also vurved by i was on a time crunch and didnt have the time to make a 3rd or fourth plastron (yes this was a second fully completed attempt orz). Im also a bigger dude so it may be easier if your torso is smaller. I also had the benefit of making my pants from scratch (using a demon slayer uniform pattern that i altered) so i made the waistband big enough to tuck the shell into, which helped with keeping it curved around my body.

(This but only applies to future leo and i did post gluing the pieces together, but for his Top Surgery Scars™️ i cut into the chest at a 45*angle, then glued those pieces back onto the back side to seal the cut)

For gluing, i tried a whole lot of types but jothing worked as well as cement glue. It is toxic tho so make sure you do it outside or with good ventilation, and wear gloves/a mask. I did two layers on each edge then stuck the edges together, 3 if i noticed the foam absorbing it to much. Make sure you take the gluing slow and really put pressure on the pieces to lock them together. Follow the instructions and youll do fine.

For painting, i did 2 layers of modge podge, 1-2 priming layers (depends on if foam is white or black to start), and then whatever layers you need for a smooth coat of color. I topped it off with modgepodge again to seal it, but that may not have been the best idea for the following reasons....

EW YUCK. WHY IT LOOK LIKE THAT.

Well. It didnt always. Turns out when youre wearing approx 3 laters in the summer then cover your body with insulating foam, the heat and moisture makes the modgepodge MELT. and like i said before, this bottom portion was tucked into my pants so it did not breathe. I have yet to even try to find a solution but just keep it in mind when making your cosplay (and if you find a solution PLEASE LET ME KNOW! My one idea was tryna find a sealant that wont melt (obv) but idk what that would be)

And FINALLY. how to secure it to the body suit!! I used snaps!! So easy and nice (besides the melting issue but thats a different thing entirely.) They never came off or gave me problems (minus the melting) and made the shells easy to transfer/travel with and put on.

(Heres a pic of them on the suit sewn in by hand, and above you can see them on the shell itself.)

All in all, The plastron was so so hard and im honestly still not happy with it, planning to remake it before i wear him again. Please show me your cosplay when you finish it, id love to see!! Please lemme know if you have any other questions!! 🐢💙

[sonocomics]

Did you change the way you upload your comics? Until recently they were always fitting in their spots. Now they seem to be like twice the size and are cropped, needing me to click on each comic frame separately to see the full picture. This goes for everything: comics, stream announcements, fanfiction announcements etc. I thought it might be just something wrong with my browser, but the older ones (e.g. Zelda lucky ladder dodge comic) still look fine.

No... Unfortunately tumblr seems to have changed its post editor and that's what's doing it orz

I'll likely have to start uploading panels at a smaller size rather than letting the post do it for me - which sucks bc the dashboard does it just fine

that or I jump into the theme of my page and tinker with that but I don't even know if that would actually do it seeing as seems to be a problem on the editor side (I noticed the change once the post editor switched over to the new version for good)

Whatever I wind up doing I'll fix the old posts too, but for now I've just been kinda swamped so it'll be a bit;;

[honey-deku]

hey there @mew-ya! twas i who wrote your @onepiece-blorboexchange gift! i hope you’re in the mood for some Maren and Katakuri feels!

i hope you can forgive me for being a few days late, university has been kicking my ass orz

i drew some inspiration from one of your works in particular for this idea! i also ended up combining a few themes and wishes together so i hope you enjoy!

i had to resist liking all your KataMaren posts during my research on the lore ahhh!! finally i can stop bookmarking and properly show support

Pairing: Maren x Katakuri

AU: Demon/Priest, no devil fruit tomfoolery

CW: NSFW, religion (not specified), demon priest relations, size difference, demon has a huge pen15, intracrural sex, latex and leather lingerie, sex in church, hanging out in an empty church on a rainy evening

Word Count: 2,943

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rain trickled down a stained glass window that highlighted the church’s religious figure head. The hall was dark and empty; the lights had been shut off. The light erratic rhythms of the water droplets hitting the glass soothed the priest. He was standing underneath the window, staring at the figure. He let his head go limp, rolling his head side to side in an attempt to release some tension and pressure he felt in his shoulders. The last mass for the evening had ended but Katakuri didn’t want to go home just yet.

He raised his hands to the back of his neck and started rubbing the trapezius muscles. He softly whimpered from the slight pain but it was a much needed pain. This was the kind that reminded Katakuri to not stress out so much and to enjoy the smaller things in life more often.

Suddenly Katakuri’s hands were encased in a chilling warmth, a familiar one. He cocked his head slightly to see his own hands being covered by another set of larger hands, the owner of the cold hands chuckled behind Katakuri’s ear and leaned in:

“You look stressed.” the apparition squeezed Katakuri’s hands somewhat.

“I am.”

“Would you like me to help?”

“Go ahead.” Katakuri sighed as his arms fell back to his sides while the demon ran his own hands up and down the shorter man’s neck. The demon loomed over the priest with all his spines and claws extended, easily surpassing the priest in height by a good two heads.

Anyone else would have been horrified to be in his presence, anyone else would have screamed in terror at the sight but Katakuri on the other hand, was well acquainted with the sea demon.

The ghastly figure behind Katakuri began to massage the knots out of the priest’s shoulders, enjoying how Katakuri was turning into jelly at his touch.

“Mhmm thank you Maren.”

“No problem”

Katakuri leaned his head back to kiss Maren, the demon chuckled to himself and happily returned the kiss. The two move a little closer; Maren wrapped his arms around Katakuri’s waist and started to rocked the man gently.

“Happy Valentine’s day” the demon whispered. The priest’s eyes shot open like he had an epiphany of sorts and he wriggled himself out of Maren’s grasp.

“Oh! You just reminded me, I got you a little something.” He said as he pointed in the general direction of where Maren’s gift was. Katakuri began walking over to the podium and crouched down to dig out a box from within its caverns. Maren was behind him and tilted his head in every direction to try to get a quick peek. It was sort of pointless in doing so since father Katakuri’s broad shoulders blocked any possibility of seeing his gift earlier. He just chuckled in defeat.

“Oh yeah? You’re too kind father.”

Katakuri rose up, turning around and facing Maren with a pink bakery box. He gestured for Maren to come and receive his gift.

The spiny demon accepted the Priest’s gift and promptly began to shred the tape off the box. He laid his eyes on the delicious contents inside and Maren smiled, raising an eyebrow. “Really Katakuri? Donuts?”

“I know how much you love ice cream but I couldn’t exactly leave it in the church to melt.”

Maren laughed softly. His boyfriend ever so serious.

“No no it’s perfect. Thank you.”

Maren looked back down and opened the box, his pupils grew large at the arrangement of Valentines themed donuts. He never thought a box of donuts could remind him of Christmas decorations in the way people will throw more and more decorations, ornaments, lights, and candies on the tree and houses. Similarity, with all the brightly colored frosting, fillings, and decorative heart sprinkles suffocated the poor donut underneath. It was amusing to say the least.

Maren leaned in, invading Katakuri’s space and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Words weren’t needed at that point as Maren started to devour two donuts at a time, the strawberry filling spewing out from one with the jelly landing on the demon himself.

Katakuri chuckled at the sight of his demon boyfriend sullying himself.

“You’re how old again?” He smirked.

Maren looked over, grabbing two more donuts to shove in Katakuri’s face. “That’s irrelevant. Come. Eat.”

Maren used his free hand to grab Katakuri’s and guided him to one of the benches in the front row. The two took a seat and sat in silence, listening to the faint sounds of the rain and soft chewing.

Maren glanced at his boyfriend struggling with eating his donut, carefully trying to catch any unwanted filling from staining his robes.

“Heheh, you’re adorable.”

Katakuri’s eyes popped, he started to turn pink at the compliment and turned his face away from his demonic partner, “Don’t look at me while I’m eating…”

“Awww ok.” Maren solemnly replied. He loved watching the priest get flustered whenever he got the chance. Something about seeing the oh so stoic and straight edge Katakuri turning into a mess entertained him.

There was no need for any more exchanges as the couple were entranced by the sounds of the storm outside, finishing the box of donuts. Maren felt his toes growing colder and colder as the temperature continued to drop. Aside from being a demon, another thing he hated about this church in particular was the fact that it wasn’t insulated. No warm for those cold nights and no cool air for the heat. Thankfully his body could withstand extreme temperatures but…

He glanced to his side and noticed Katakuri put his hands between his thighs in an attempt to conserve warmth and energy. He was shaking a little.

“You look cold” Maren stated flatly.

“I am”

“…."

“…"

Maren coughed, “Since it’s Valentines and all, do you want me to warm you up?”

“What are you thinking of?” Katakuri shivered. A slight blush appeared on the priest’s cheeks that didn’t go unnoticed by the demon.

“Well… there’s a few ways to go about it… Do you have anything in mind?” he smirked, feigning innocence.

“Don’t be coy with me… You know what I mean” Katakuri’s blush spreading faster on his face.

The demon laughed softly as he gently pushed Katakuri on his back and started to unclip the collar. The priest gasped, more from the sudden chill on his back from the cold bench than what Maren did.

“Maren come here” Katakuri raised his arms to invite the demon in for a hug. He smiled sheepishly as Maren yielded and lowered himself to be hugged.

“The bench is a little cold… and cramped. Do you think we can take this elsewhere?”

Maren hummed to himself, “Like the attic? It’s probably a little warmer, no?” He raised himself slightly to look into the priest’s eyes.

“Yeah, the attic sounds good. I think there’s some material we could use as blankets”.

“Perfect, I’ll meet you there”. One quick kiss to the temple and just like that, the demon vanished into vapor. Katakuri smiled warmly as he rose from the bench. He walked back over to the podium and found a candlestick, lighting it with the zippo lighter that laid next to the others. He quickly made his way to the hallway on the side and carefully climbed up the stairs to the attic.

Katakuri pulled the handle of the attic door and let the stairs fall forward completely before taking a shaky first step. Once more the nerves were swallowing him whole until he looked up and saw that familiar fishy face.

“Hey! I got everything ready. It’s way warmer up here.”

“Is that so? That’s good to know.”

The demon extended his arm out and clutched the priest’s hand, impatiently pulling Katakuri up and into his muscular arms.

“Careful now Maren” Katakuri teased, leaning his head on Maren’s shoulder.

Maren leaned into Katakuri’s ear: “Don’t worry, I’ll be taking good care of you”, his breath sending shivers down Katakuri’s spine causing him to arch his back. “Lay down” he said, using his head to gesture to the makeshift pile of mylar sheets and dusty blankets on the floor.

Katakuri shook his head in amusement. “You’re so sweet.” He walked over to the pile and laid down on his back, his view of the ceiling quickly obstructed by his boyfriend.

Maren began with rubbing Katakuri’s shoulders and down his arms softly, something to get the priest to relax a little more. The two started making out with Maren leading, swiping his tongue across Katakuri’s lips, teasing and enticing the other man. Eventually the demon slipped his tongue in, letting his hands run up Katakuri’s arms and back down to his chest, teasing his nipples through the robes. The demon felt the shorter man gasp and whimper at his touch.

Maren started to unrobe Katakuri only to where his neck and chest was exposed. Powered by the soft moans, Maren stopped kissing the priest and rested his lips a little lower, biting his neck and sucking enthusiastically.

“Really Maren?!” Katakuri groaned.

The demon ceased and looked back at Katakuri; he teased back mischievously, showing off his sharp teeth. “Would you like me to stop then?”

Katakuri’s face became more flushed than before.

“No… Continue…”

“Hmmm” Maren hummed. He returned to the tender spot on Katakuri’s neck with more gusto than before. “Don’t worry, this part can be covered up,” he explained.

“God damn it Maren. I still have mass tomorrow.” The priest grumbled.

“Oh hey…Speaking of mass…” Maren joked as he stood up on his knees. Katakuri looked down and noticed his boyfriend’s bulging cock, precum pooling at the tip and trickling down the shaft.

“That quick?”

“Shush. Put your knees up together for me.”

The priest did as he was told, he raised his knees up and together as Maren directed. He started to unbuckle his belt as Maren reached for the waistband, tugging it off him in haste until he noticed something.

“Oh ho ho! Katakuri! All this for me?” Maren said enthusiastically.

Underneath the garb, Katakuri was wearing some latex lingerie that only further accented his figure. The garter belt hugging the priest’s thighs were so tantalizing to the demon; he wiped away some drool that escaped from his mouth, dribbling dangerously.

“There’s more to see y’know“. Katakuri’s voice cut through Maren’s daze. He shook his head.

“Right. Well let’s see what else you got”. Maren unbuttoned the rest of Katakuri’s top. Oh how he wished he could tear off his stupid robe and devour him entirely. But alas, his boyfriend needed these clothes to go to work tomorrow. He slowly, tediously, unbuttoned the last one before finally opening his present. Maren was not disappointed.

Katakuri donned a few leather straps connected by rings that wrapped nicely around his tattoo’ed chest and upper arms. His entire being was nicely decorated in latex and leather, only adding more kick to the ardor and desire within.

Maren was at a loss for words, only being able to mutter out phrases in his trance. “So beautiful… God damn… look so good”. He opened the priest’s legs apart and noticed how much tighter the latex looked than it did a minute ago.

“Change of plans, turn around” he ordered.

There was no need for any more words as Katakuri did as he was instructed. He whined when Maren pulled his hips towards his own, feeling Maren’s huge dick slip between the back of his legs. He desperately cried out, “Wait!” His boyfriend grunted, waiting for Katakuri to slip a ball of blanket underneath his hips to elevate himself. Katakuri then nodded his head at him once he was comfortable.

Once he was given the green light, Maren shut Katakuri’s legs around his cock and started thrusting wildly; the poor demon couldn’t wait any longer. The feeling of Katakuri’s soft yet strong legs drove him insane especially when Katakuri would give them a slight squeeze.

The attic was full of moans and creaks from floorboards, sounds of bodies moving amongst other things. Katakuri already knew the latex and leather would make Maren get horny as hell and loved it when the demon lost himself during sex. Maren looked over his smaller boyfriend, observing all the muscles on his back clenching with each thrust, trembling with pent up desire; he licked his lips and placed a kiss on Katakuri’s back, inciting the priest to cry louder and harder. Peppering his back with tiny bouts of affection made Katakuri feel more sensitive to his every thrust, moaning more when he felt Maren’s large hands grip his hips, holding him steady as he pressed his cock harder.

The feeling inside Maren was about to boil over and reach its destination, it made his vision blurry yet brought his attention to focus on the incoming orgasm. How he wished this burning sensation would last forever, to just stay enraptured for however long time would allow him and being the petty demon he was, he was going to try to ride out this feeling of ecstasy, chasing the high until the very end. Maren leaned in towards Katakuri’s ear and nibbled on it, causing Katakuri to arch his back some more, squeezing his thighs together.

One final thrust did the trick as Maren came all over Katakuri’s thighs and stained the blankets underneath him, the two panting from how intense the experience was. Maren let body roll off to the side, placing his arm underneath his head to rest and caress Katakuri’s hair, giving him a pat on the back.

Katakuri turned to face Maren and gave him a deep, post coital kiss, avoiding the spikes on his back as he hugged him while Maren slid off his latex bottoms, finally freeing his boyfriend’s cock. He noticed how wet the tip was, finding it so cute that Katakuri was enjoying himself as well and how it probably smeared the inside of his bottoms. The mental imagery roused him once more. Katakuri ended the kiss, looking into the demon’s eyes and smiled warmly at him.

“Happy Valentine’s day again Maren”

He stared back intensely into Katakuri’s eyes; they were gleaming with desire. He would be unsatisfied with just one orgasm for tonight. Smiling mischievously, he grabbed Katakuri’s dick and started to rub him off slowly and carefully.

“Oh we’re not done here”

Maren sat up, guiding his boyfriend to sit between his legs and placing Katakuri’s legs over his. The priest groaned a little from being handled so caringly like this, his hips jerking slightly from every pump Maren gave him, biting his lip to try to muffle his voice but his demonic boyfriend wasn’t going to have any of that.

“Ah ah. Let me hear you enjoy yourself.” He demanded, putting his free hand on Katakuri’s bottom lip and pulling it down, revealing Katakuri’s own set of sharp teeth. “My what big teeth you have, father”, he joked endearingly. Katakuri could only moan in response as Maren’s pace became hasty, his grip on his cock getting a little tighter. Maren licked his lips at the sight of the precum leaking out, itching for a taste later tonight. Using his thumb, he drew circles on the head that only made Katakuri tense up in pleasure.

Katauri’s hand wandered towards the back of Maren’s head, pulling on some hair out of desperation, which only seemed to encourage Maren even more; he needed something to grip while his devilish partner was jacking him off, making him so entranced in the moment.

Seeing how worked up his boyfriend was getting, Maren deduced that he was getting pretty close, he wanted to make this moment more intimate before he finished. Maren closed the gap between him and Katakuri, capturing his mouth and gently biting the bottom lip, aware of his own sharp teeth as to not accidentally draw blood from Katakuri, kissing him feverishly.

“Maren, I’m-”

“I know. Come for me.” he ordered.

That’s all Katakuri needed to hear to finally come undone, strings painting Maren’s torso relentlessly, laying down the mess of blankets and the chilled wooden floorboard once he let it all out. He looked into the demon’s eyes again and huffed, “Maren… I… wow”. His mind was foggy and Katakuri couldn’t think properly, the words he wanted to say became so garbled up, they were no longer in his vocabulary at this time.

Maren was glowing, happy to see his boyfriend blushing, happy, and blabbering. The few times they get together and spend some time with each other means a lot to Maren, finding a partner who really understands him, making him feel less lonely and more fulfilled.

He held out his hand with his fingers extended to the priest, interlocking hands when Katakuri reached out, pulling him up again into one of his strong arms. Katakuri’s body was still limp from the sex but it only made Maren laugh quietly, thinking of a rag doll as he hugged him tightly. For the next few moments, he kissed Katakuri’s sweaty temple repeatedly, almost comically.

The shorter man chuckled and broke the silence, “Heh Maren, you’re wonderful. I’m so glad you’re here with me”. Maren continued to kiss Katakuri, now trailing down to his face, lips, and neck, leaving no area untouched. Katakuri continued.

“You can’t bring yourself to say it?”

“Why should I?” Maren whispered, giving one last kiss on the forehead, “It’s already obvious”.

[aisy15-chan]

HELLO its me @titsoutfortntduo which is the most embarrassing thing ive ever written. im so sorry

I was going to send an ask a while ago but I kept forgetting orz anyways I have some questions for the tntduo dp au (shocking) mostly just wanted to ask about peoples' roles! You put quackity down as valerie which is perfect, but I wanted to ask if there's a paulena figure? Or would her position be nerfed and let Q/Valerie take her role I also wanted to know if Phil and Kristin are as absent (idk if thats the right word) as they are in DP canon? As well as how tommy and wilburs dynamic works since tommy is younger Anywayz thank you!! I love ur au and ur art :3

Owwwh hii too!!! Hehehe thank you so much for the ask! 👉👈

About the who become Paulina?

I'm not quite sure if there someone become Paulina in this AU because I decided this AU is not 100% similar to the series! I'm still debating the cast like who will be Vlad? Is it Dream or not? Well you or anyone can give cast suggestions ^^

Edit: i think Sally is good as Paulina!

2. Phil and Kristin are as absent?

Unlike in the original series where Danny's parents were unaware their son was dead for most of the show- I decided they started to slowly and surely discover that their son was behaving (very) strangely and had a clear resemblance to the boy ghost they were hunting and the climax was the incident at the end of season two (right in the episode where Dani/Techno appears and leaves). And when Wilbur is honest about everything & his identity, they accept Wilbur for who he is as their son no matter what.

3. Tommy and Wilburs dynamic!!?

I can say Wilbur & Tommy's relationship is very interesting in AU! :D

Wilbur is like Jazz but with Danny's problem: Wilbur always covers up events + is evasive about what happened in the lab, acts mature and tends to be overprotective to Tommy.

Tommy is like Danny but with Jazz problem: Tommy is always annoyed how Wilbur treats him like a child! He didn't like how Wilbur was always hiding and hiding something from him…

Yup! Very interesting isn't it? :]

Bonus:

Well i was say Techno as Dani?

Yup Techno is a clone of Wilbur but he has a different personality and behavior because [Vlad] wants a 'perfect half ghost son' so Techno is trained and raised differently from the way Phil and Kristin raised Wilbur so even though he is a clone with a face, body & power of 100% is similiar with Wilbur, Techno acts more mature and different from Wilbur. In this AU I decided that the time difference between the Kindred Spirits episode and the D-Stabilized episode is 1 month, Techno's body starts to get unstable and he starts to melt the rest is similar to the one in D-Stabilized but I will make it a bit different where it's the opposite with Dani & Val, Techno and Quackity didn't get along even after that unless Wilbur was around them ahaha & Techno adopted the Wilbur family and dyed his hair pink to give him his own identity not as a Wilbur clone.

I hope this can answer your question! 👍

[flowerinyourcare]

Reminiscence of the Unfinished Wine - Chapter 5

🍷 September seasonal permanent event; banner characters Shylock, Murr, Bradley; 2022/09/11 - 2022/09/19 JST 🍷

--

(Location: Bacchus' vineyards, daytime)

Bacchus: …Why even bother looking at this?

Bacchus: Ironic, isn't it? We've been praying year in and year out for a bountiful harvest.

Shylock: Are you certain about this?

Shylock: You're letting go of everything you've nurtured, everything you've accomplished.

Bacchus: …Shylock.

Bacchus: It's fine. I don't need it anymore. Just leave me alone.

Shylock: …Is that so. I understand.

Shylock: Then, if you're sure, then I wish to claim this vineyard in my name.

Bacchus: …Huh?

Shylock: I so dearly anticipate receiving your wines every year.

Shylock: But if that is no longer possible, I would like to have control over your fields; that way, when you wish to make wine again, your vineyards will be in excellent condition for you to resume use.

Shylock: Now, if you'll excuse me. I have some preparations to attend to.

Bacchus: Hey, Shylock…!

(Location: Bacchus's wine cellar)

When Shylock returned, he surprised us all with his declaration.

Bradley: A game?

Murr: Us against Shylock?

Shylock: Yes. I challenge you both to a game for the Bacchus vineyards.

Murr: Motion dismissed! The vineyard is already ours.

Shylock: Objection. If Bacchus threw away the rights to the vineyards, I have as much a right to pick them up as you do, do I not?

Bradley: Big words from someone who's bargin' in late. Well, no harm in hearin' ya out, I guess.

Instead of thanking him, Shylock smiled thinly.

Shylock: Oz. I have one small favor to ask, if I may…

Shylock leaned close to Oz and whispered in his ear. Then, Oz cast his spell.

Oz: <<Vox Nox>>.

Immediately, many bottles of wine appear in front of them.

Akira: Ah?!

Rutile: Tons of wine…!

The wines were all different. The shapes of the bottles are all varied, and the style of the labels all give different atmospheres. Each one was elegant, but somewhat old-fashioned as well.

Peering at the bottles, Murr piped up.

Murr: This must be Shylock's collection!

Nero: Seriously?

Faust: I've only heard rumors…

The older wizards all seemed awestruck.

Apparently, Shylock's collection is legendary among older wizards for the rarities he has amassed over the years.

Shylock opened his mouth leisurely, well aware that his wines were attracting attention.

Shylock: Now, let me explain the game I proposed.

Shylock: At the harvest festival in town, you two will sell the Calamity-influenced wine. I will sell wines from the collection you see before you.

Shylock: Whoever sells the most bottles of wine will be crowned the victor.

Shylock: …What do you think? You're both men who enjoy playing the odds, aren't you?

Shylock smiles, tilting his head with a provocative look.

Bradley and Murr both smiled equally fearlessly, their eyes twinkling and alight.

Murr: Alright! It's a deal!

Bradley: Don't come cryin' to us when ya get stomped, though.

Subsequently, Murr and Bradley declared a strategy meeting and left.

Faust: I'm not sure if it's appropriate, a game like this.

Akira: It seems that Shylock's wine collection is really valuable…

Shylock: You're right, each wine in my collection is very valuable. But the wines Bacchus creates are of equal importance to me.

Shylock: If it's to preserve and return my old friend's vineyards, I will fight and sacrifice whatever I must.

Akira: Shylock…

Arthur: Shylock. Please, let us help you in this competition.

Arthur: If this is something that our friend Shylock truly values, it's valuable to us as well.

Rutile: I agree with Prince Arthur. Let us work with you to protect the fields.

Rutile: Let's all pitch in to get Mr. Bacchus's vineyards back!

Shylock: …Are you sure?

Akira: Of course. Please let me help you. Will you all lend a hand as well?

The Eastern wizards and Oz all nodded.

Oz: If it is what the Sage wishes.

Faust: I may not be much help, though.

Shylock: Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Your presence alone reassures me. Our opponent is the leader of an infamous band of thieves, after all.

Nero: That guy is crazy smart in these kinda battles. But he still ain't a mind reader, and we got a shot if we play our cards right. Let's give 'em hell.

Rutile: Mr. Nero, you seem to know a lot about him. It's like you've known him for a long time…

Nero: Ah, not really, I've just heard rumors along those lines, or somethin'...

Akira: A-ah, well, let's not waste any more time and start preparing for the competition.

Shylock: Yes, I agree. Let us begin with a discussion about how to run a storefront.

And so, we began our preparations for the festival in earnest.

(Location: Wine town plaza, daytime)

Before we knew it, the day of the harvest festival arrived.

The small town was packed with tourists who had come for the wine.

Murr: It's this year's most desirable wine! One sip and you'll go to heaven! Or maybe you'll drown in it and go to hell!

Murr: Come one, come all! You'll regret it forever if you don't buy it! We have tastings, too!

Tourist: What's all this crowd for? Is this wine that good? The bottles don't seem to have labels…

Tourist: It's the best wine I've ever had! It just has a bit of an unusual name - "Calamity Wine"!

Tourist: "Calamity Wine"?

Murr: A special, exceptional wine, born from the influence of the Great Calamity itself! There's nothing else like it in the world!

Tourist: This one…? Mmmm… Ah! It truly is excellent!

Tourist: I've never tasted anything like it.

Bradley and Murr had removed Mr. Bacchus' label from the bottles, and began marketing it as "Calamity Wine".

It seemed to be a strategy to attract attention using the fact that it was affected by the Great Calamity as a thrilling sales pitch.

Bradley: In any other country, folks would steer clear of it, but I know this Western crowd can't resist curiosity and stimulation. They ain't gonna pass up a drink named after the Great Calamity. 

Akira: A-ah, I see how it is…

Still, some people were hesitant.

Tourist: If it's "Calamity Wine", that means it was made with some kind of calamitous influence, right? Wouldn't that make it dangerous to drink?

Murr: Maybe! It could be super dangerous! What if you drink it and grapes start growing out of your body? Or all your blood turns into wine?

Murr: Doesn't the mere thought of it make your heart race with excitement? What a treat to be terrified and tipsy at the same time!

Tourist: Huh, is that right…!? Okay, I'll have a drink! Give me a bottle!

Murr: It never fails!!

Murr used his skillful storytelling to win the hearts of one customer after another, sparking their interest and sometimes even provoking them, resulting in a steady influx of sales. 

Bradley, on the other hand, sat at the storefront and drank his Calamity Wine without saying a word to a single customer.

--

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10

[sinfulforrest]

Train and droplet for Maple (forgive me if I got the name wrong orz)

Train - What is their answer to the trolley problem?

It might surprise you to hear that the usually passive and timid Maple would actually choose to let the trolley run over the larger group of people! From it's perspective, all of these people can see it by the lever, which means that there's a whoooole lot of people that now know of Maple's existence as a Flytrap, which is a pretty big fear it has. And it doesn't really want to kill them by it's own hand as well! The guilt would be crushing! So...Maple would just let the trolley go on its way, removing these witnesses, and then it'd go over and put down the other person on the opposite tracks with its own hands. There's still some guilt with this option, which still sucks, but Maple would much rather have that outcome than having to remove many others.

Droplet - Random angst headcanon

Maple will freeze up and panic if it's in a public area with too many people in as the delicious smells and sounds of all the people take it back to it's people hunting days, which makes it feel sick with dread. This has definitely led to panic attacks down grotty alleyways as it realises that people will never be safe around it when it's undercover up town, and that it truly is no better than the rest of it's kind and will forever be a slave to the primal urge to consume human flesh, no matter what.

[seoafin]

tbh,, i havent read the raws of the interview yet, only the translated ver from fan-translator and b4 i start, i think that this will be just me talking in circle and in no particular order AND a real mess (my brain does weird things after exams) but uhh here we go

gojou collects talented people, and by doing so he finds the people he can most probably relate to, except that he can't, not really, because something in the universe shifted when he was born. and it makes me think of how he's always known it, that he is special, and he's proven it, time and time again— he wants to take in talented ppl and he does, but there rly isn't much he can do for them. for they are talented, more talented than the world can understand,,

but they aren't gojou satoru

gojou took in megumi, bc he knew megumi was strong, and would grow up to be someone even stronger, but gojou can't facilitate or encourage his growth, bc for all they're similar, they are so fundamentally different. ALSO,, while geto was in his life, gojou rly judged everything according to his understanding of geto’s moral compass. gojou wears a human suit and geto is how he learnt to wear it well 🏃

the dragonfly analogy regarding to geto’s response to gojo, who was shown wearing a dragonfly patterned yukata in HI arc,, i’m trying to not think abt the fact that dragonfly symbolized victory in jpn....pain. i quoted from a web here for more explanation : In Japan the dragonfly is known as the "victory insect", or kachimushi, because of its hunting prowess and also because it is known to never retreat. Dragonflies are agile and fast fliers and can even hover, but never fly backwards

and bringing this up again, matricide and patricide are 2 of the 5 worst act to commit in buddhism, and it was said that if u commit one of those act u’re going to spend a real long time in the deepest pit of hell before continuing the samsaric cycle (higher chances to be born as an animal after that probs)— this might be geto’s divine retribution. held no power over his own body and could be considered that he’s the same as those “monkeys” 💀

ALSO the fact that sukuna's interest is "eating" rly drives home his hedonistic philosophy of seeking pleasure for himself. and he’s a cannibal...makes me think if he’ll just chomp on ppl with the mouth on his stomach

randomly, to date i think he hasn't really called himself a human, shaman, or a curse, and has held himself apart from all 3, and we've also the intro of the cursed wombs so i wonder if he’s trying to become, or is, a different entity altogether

so onmyoji got mentioned in the interview and what they practice is called onmyodo and abe no seimei and kano no yasunori were the notable practitioners,, and the kamo in jjk is the same as irl who served the imperial court back then

maybe i was right when i said that the relation between the govt. and jujutsu elders are similar to how the shogunate and imperial court work (ie, the former holds the actual power) but... lets see later,,

and i cant believe that i actually nailed it on the analogy of jujutsu practices by religion,,, so mahayana buddhism, shintoism, and taoism is present in jjk along with their respective jujutsu practices...but between the 3, it shld (?) be taoism > shintoism > mahayana buddhism (which could took a path to pure land buddhism)

it’s weird that the number of curses are supposedly higher in jpn comparable to other countries when taoism was brought from china....tengen sus

so the zenin family tree is sth like :

brothers: [toji's dad] ; naobito ; ougi

so toji, naoya, and maki & mai are cousins of the same generation

[toji's dad] → jinichi (probs) ; toji → megumi

naobito → other brothers, naoya

ougi → maki, mai

but yea i’d call anyone who’s within/close or below my age range as cousins and others above 30 as uncles/ aunts LMFAO,, i dont rly memorize my own family tree 😭😭 especially since most call the other by honorifics instead of names : aunt, uncles etc or attaching said honorifics at the end of a name for an older sibling figure/ older cousins [but like ppl in my country also call the other who are older with sibling honorific even if we’re strangers,,, rly similar to korea’s hyung/oppa—eonnie(unnie)/noona but some uses more genderless honorific] (1)

tw // topic of incest, mentions of abuse

if anyone got the wrong idea when reading this : i am not glorifying/ romanticising incest(uous themes),, i’m looking at this with absolutely no lenses of bias even tho im rly against it

初恋 = literally : first love, or puppy love

恋 = romantic love/ deep longing

i literally don't know how else to put this...🧍and with language barrier...using a western interpretation of the eng word "love" to explain a jpnese term is not quite that simple, unfortunately

that thread omg,, i rly do understand how exactly someone could associated kindness with love bc of my upbringing, it was when i was slightly older that i was just...oh so its not like that orz,,, so the most plausible explanation would be that

but the problem is that,, akutami never specify when exactly she had a crush on them,, and when megumi answered todo’s question she had a “♡” reaction 😶,, uhmmm there’s rly no way to look past this if its this way or be in denial

i’ve seen some of "why wouldn't mai react that way after hearing megumi say he'd like someone who's compassionate when she's surrounded by men like naoya",, well I MEAN,,, that, but also mai probs admires that megumi grew up so well out of the clan, regardless of the fact that he had the foundation (10 shadows) to do so. imo she seems happy for him the way she can't be for maki, bc maki ultimately had to leave her behind

hate to say it but yea,, the 3 clans most likely still practice inbreeding in order to preserve their power and presumably their wealth too 😀

i had an idle thought abt it at first but i filed it deep in the back of my mind asap,, bc i ont wanna jump to conclusion abt this out of all things too early. it’s probably not even in jjk, but all those elite clans in other ani/mangas that produce powerful heirs and whatnot also do the same,,, but this way of (my personal) thinking was influenced when i first got into tsukihime (type-moon),,, i read abt the nanaya family background and found out that they practice that in order to keep their bloodline “pure” (to keep it short : they have an optical power),, and i had this kind of assumption ever since so there’s that

i’m,, convinced the zenins' inbreeding made it more difficult for them to get powerful shamans bc they got 2 jujutsu technique-less children with heavenly restrictions in the same generation: toji & maki

even more convinced that maki might be a bit stronger than toji bc toji could see curses without aid while maki can't so the pay-off must be higher,,, SJJASN IDK ,,, plus naoya sort of implies his older brothers are nothing compared to him, and idk if we should take that as his arrogance or that his older brothers rly are weak/powerless. it would make sense as to why naobito had a lot of sons, ig, as head of clan

i feel so bad that if one of the factors that can caused heavenly restriction is inbreeding,, toji and maki and mai had no say in how they wanted to be born but are scorned for it,, typical asian families projecting their traumas and ideals onto their kids but get mad when they realize that those ideals are ugly...😁😁😁

since the zenin are conservative,, i wonder if they still hold onto old jpnese dining traditions. where in ancient jpn, hierarchical relationships were made readily apparent even within families. a dining table where everybody sat down and ate as equals would be unheard of. rather, each individual is given their own table that indicates their status,,, someone who is not considered “strong” according to the zenin’s views most likely have no place at the table, and probs eat when those who are “strong” finished/ serve them when they are eating

if toji was tossed into a swarm of curses,, i dont think abuse during said time is below them,,,

the zenin clan was already great, but they further amassed power and strength by, what i assume to be, marrying and adopting powerful individuals into the clan 🤔 ,,, i imagine they're like the hiiragi but without doing what they did to shinya (ons reference)

BUT after all that, i like to think that since akutami’s a big horror fan, jjk might be an outlet to explore said topics or even darker ones, so i wouldnt be that surpised abt it. given that there’s more than enough “red flags” before this was dropped : a reference to “tale of hikaru genji” when a grown woman asked for gojou’s number in HI arc (out of all things); granny who transformed into the man’s daughter, sat on his lap and man just touched her waist; mei mei and ui ui ; and...this (incestous theme is in the novel btw)

lets not start with whatever the fuck in kubo’s head in the interview otherwise i’m writing paragraphs with every curse words possible,, those big 3 mangakas are so— UGH,, a planet w out (cis) men like him sounds real good rn 😌 if one of yall out there decide to do it,, pls hmu rly cant do this shit anymore

akutami said i like my men pretty and i like women who will step on my neck and spit in my face (I REMEMBERED TATSUKI FUJIMOTO’S INTERVIEW WHEN HE WAS ASKED ABT MAKIMA AND IT WAS SO 😭😭😭😭) but ykw,, love that for both of them <3

when i said 3 : one piece, bleach, naruto. aside from the blatant depiction/ characterize of women in those 3,, idk if some ppl arent aware yet but oda is friends with two (2) convicted pedos,, man...the major disappointment and disgust when i first find out abt it

anyways this is just my 2 cents (which i think rightfully belong to the trash can) so pls just take this w a lil to no grain of salt - 🐱

YEAH THE ♡ LMFAO I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A “good answer ♡“ heart BUT NOW IM RE-EXAMINING?????

honestly i wouldn’t be surprised if the three clans practiced inbreeding. but ik people are going to be  😡😡😡😡😡 about it when the queen of fucking england is literally married to her (something) cousin. i’m not justifying it but like....love the double standards, just as always with the west 😍

DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THAT FUCKING PED* LIST THEY SHOULD ALL BE IN JAIL. JAILLLLL. it’s all so gross. that’s why i fucking hate when people look towards manga for positive representation because the chances of that are super slim to zero, especially since the industry is saturated with misogyny and ped******* and a lot of other gross stuff.

i think ppl forget jjk is a horror manga LOL so obviously it’s going to confront darker themes. the question is whether it’s going to be done tastefully or not......

[omniswords]

Maybe 19 with Felinette?

19. One person stopping a kiss to ask “Do you want to do this?”, only to have the other person answer with a deeper, more passionate kiss.

leave me a pairing and a number and i’ll write you a kiss! [CLOSED FOR NOW]

read more of the Fake Not-Dating AU here! this is a long one, but it explains more of how Félix and Marinette’s relationship was established… i hope orz

If there is one thing Félix has learned about Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng in the last year, it’s that she is horrible, abysmally horrible, at it.

It was easy to excuse away the first few times: they were getting to know each other better in a different setting, the internet or the messaging app could be unreliable sometimes, they were both plenty busy with their own affairs. But as the weeks—and then months—dragged on, he noticed the checkmark and the SEEN notification underneath his messages far more than the ellipsis that should have showed up just underneath it.

Perhaps that second date had been much worse for her than it had been for him, which was… awkward, at best. So perhaps she was trying to let him down easy, but was uncomfortable with being direct about it—no, that didn’t make sense. If the way she’d treated him when they snuck out on New Year’s Eve was any indication, she would certainly have no problem telling him outright that she wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

It’s not as though he’s desperate for her attention. Certainly not. He’d hardly consider himself desperate about anything; that would be too unbecoming. But it would have been nice to know, right out the gate, whether whatever it is they’re cultivating—whatever it is he’s trying to cultivate—is going to go somewhere or not. It’s not his job to ask. It’s hers to tell.

It’s been hours since his last message to her. Little more than a Hello and a Hope you’re faring well and perhaps a slightly spiteful I’m fine, by the way. He’s been checking their message history a few times, just on a whim—because he’s not desperate, just curious—and he’s about to give up hope and put his phone away for the night when his mother knocks on his door. She actually waits, thank God, and by the time she opens the door she’d never know that he was hung up over something so silly as a message from a girl. Or lack thereof.

Or perhaps she would. He’s half-scared of what mothers know.

“I was thinking,” she says once she’s closed the door and taken a seat at the foot of his bed, smoothing out his covers for want of something to do. “Since you’re on school holiday next week, what do you say we make a trip of it? Paris, Sunday to Saturday.”

To his credit, Félix tries so, so hard for her not to see the way he wrinkles his nose. “That depends…” he starts carefully. “Would we be staying with Uncle Gabriel?”

“Heavens, no!” His mother laughs behind a hand, but he hears her own spite in it, too. How she can only stand to be among the Agrestes as long as she has to. For her sister’s sake. “This is for us, Félix. I’ve reserved two rooms for us at the Grand Paris. Only the best for you, and for your own privacy, of course.”

Somehow, his cousin’s place just became more appetizing. And besides, what does she expect him to go around doing in Paris, anyway? “Mr. Bourgeois’s hotel?”

“I thought you and Chloé got along when you were children.”

“I didn’t like her, mother. I tolerated her.” Toleration is a skill, of course. That, and leverage.

“Well.” His mother gets to her feet again, claps her hands together. “Why don’t you start getting your things together and packing. I’ll set on train tickets for us. Nine o’clock, bright and early.” She kisses his forehead on her way out—even now, years later, it softens him at the edges—and he turns to his phone, face-down and unassuming next to his open textbook. He hesitates a moment, then opens the messenger app yet again, because, well, it wouldn’t hurt to check one more time.

Still nothing.

And yet here he is, stewing in his own bitterness, with hope after hope stacked against him,  and holding onto the one thing inside him that says, maybe things will turn around.

Félix feels himself cave in, and types out one more message—hits the backspace on if it means anything to you.

To: Marinette Dupain-ChengI’ll be in Paris in two days. For a week. Whether or not you’d like to see me is up to you.

There. Now all he has to do is wait. As though he hasn’t been doing it all these months already.

Except in seconds, the checkmark notification appears. And almost immediately after that, there’s the ellipsis.

His chest goes tight. He holds his breath. Damns himself for it all, too.

From: Marinette Dupain-Chengreally?? when?we should do something when you get herei know it’s supposed to be valentine’s tomorrow but, we could still… hang out?

Félix sighs, and pinches the bridge of his nose, and as he’s replying to her and pulling his suitcase out of the closet, he wishes he weren’t such a sucker for her.

———

He doesn’t understand it. All Sunday morning Marinette’s been messaging him, like a puppy waiting for its master at the door. What is she getting at? Why the sudden flip in her attitude? The fact that he doesn’t know is driving him half-insane, all through the train ride, and even as he’s unpacking in his room. (That is one thing he’ll credit the Bourgeois family with: they know how to set up a comfortable space.) He decides, in the end, that she’s the desperate one—even if he did agree to meet her early in the evening—and pushes all thought of her to the back of his mind when he asks his mother where she’d like to go for lunch.

Félix will admit that Paris is lovely during the day, and even lovelier without the obligations of an extended family or other people who talk with their wallets instead of their mouths. He and his mother don’t have to rely on itineraries—they’ve been here enough times, especially before his aunt, as they say, disappeared. It’s simply pleasant to walk the streets with her, to pop into the shops she’d like to browse and study the foreign-language books. To take tea with her in the afternoon while they watch the city from her window and, admittedly uncomfortably, to confess that he has plans to meet someone soon.

Of course it piques her interest. Why wouldn’t it? “Oh? Who?” she asks. “Adrien?”

“No, no. An… acquaintance, from that New Year’s party we went to last year. Do you remember it?” It’s not entirely a lie, but these little things are practically second nature to him at this point. Thank God she doesn’t ask any questions after that, simply reminds him to hold onto his room’s key card and to be safe, and it’s as he’s freshening up in his bathroom, one last time, that his stomach… flutters. Stupidly.

He’s certainly not nervous. Why should he be? If anything, he should be bitter. Is bitter.

Mostly.

By the time he arrives at the Galerie Vivienne, which is only a ten-minute drive away, Marinette’s already waiting for him; that’s the first thing that surprises him. The second is that she’s dressed up—well, more so than she was the last time they met. Her fit-and-flare dress is wine-red and sits off the shoulders, and she’s even got a small heart-shaped purse to match, and a small box in her hands. Her hair is down, too; he doesn’t think he’s ever seen her wear it that way before.

He doesn’t think he’s ever stared at her like this, either. Or at anyone.

Still, she seems awkward when he approaches her, doesn’t even offer her hand for him to kiss. “What’re you all dressed up for?” she says by way of greeting, and for some reason it stings.

Félix looks down at himself. Trousers, button-down, waistcoat; the only thing that really sparkles about him is his wristwatch. “This is how I always dress,” he says flatly, “but I should ask the same of you.”

“Because… I wanted to? Sheesh…” Marinette scuffs the heel of her ballet flat against the sidewalk, looking hurt; the way the words caught in her throat isn’t lost on him. “Come on… I know a place.”

He’s never been inside the Galerie, but it almost feels like a combination of a museum and a shopping center. He walks stiffly as he follows Marinette’s lead, noticing the things around him without really looking at them or taking them in. Eventually she takes him to a small bistro called the Petit Valentin, which seems a bit on the nose even for the fifteenth of February—except when he says as much, she scowls and pushes a menu toward him. He sighs, tries not to roll his eyes. He’s here to keep civil, he reminds himself, and if he didn’t really want to come, then he wouldn’t have at all.

They eat in relative quiet, talking softly to catch up. Marinette talks far more than he does, which he doesn’t terribly mind; it’s simply that he’s counting every opportunity she had to tell him these things in chunks, instead of unloading it all on him at once. If she’s offput by his hums and occasional nods and the way he so pointedly stares at his food, she doesn’t make it very obvious—only awkwardly sits back in her chair and looks around as if the conversation might have hidden from her in the corners. Honestly, he didn’t think the time they spent together could ever get any worse, and apparently, he thought too soon.

It isn’t until afterwards, when they’ve each paid for their half and passed by bookstores and postcard stands on their way to the streets, that Marinette stops him with a hand on his wrist. He tenses, looks to her out of the corner of his eye, and waits.

“I brought this for you, you know,” she says, holding out the box to him. She’s been safeguarding it all evening, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little curious as to what was inside. “Handmade and everything.”

Gingerly, he takes the box from her, undoes the ribbon wrapped around it and peeks inside to find several small chocolates, laid out on wax paper. He says nothing in response—only closes his eyes and presses his tongue to the roof of his mouth and shuts the box again.

“What?” Marinette says. “What is it?”

“I don’t like chocolate.” He spits the words out, tries so hard not to crumple the box and to keep his voice even, because the last thing the second arrondissement needs is a scene. “You would have known that,” he adds, turning on his heel, “if you’d asked.”

Any other girl—any other person, really—would have let him walk away. But Marinette doesn’t. He should have known she wouldn’t. “That’s what this is about?” she says, tailing after him, her flats clicking harshly against the sidewalk. “Are you serious?”

“Incredibly serious.” He keeps pace just fine, weaving through people in long strides and not bothering to look back; he knows she’ll keep up. “Because, Miss Dupain-Cheng, somehow you’ve managed to perfect the art of contacting so little that someone should lose all hope in you, and yet so much that he should still hold onto some of it. You’d best learn to go one way or the other.”

“Félix—Félix, stop! Stop walking, Jesus—”

He does, still with his back to her, still holding onto that damn box, and she stumbles into him, panting and scuffing her heels. She catches her breath soon enough, and the first thing she says, in that voice he wishes he hadn’t come to adore, is, “Would you at least look at me?”

He does, begrudgingly, at the entrance to a nearby park. She’s got her arms folded, when he turns, her face flushed and flyaway hairs rebelling against her look. And the first thing he thinks—fool that he is—is that one year later, she still looks gorgeous in streetlight, and he still wants to thumb the wrinkle from her brow. “Very well,” he says. “What do you want?”

“I want to explain—”

“You’ve explained plenty.” He raises an eyebrow, counting the reasons—the excuses—on his fingers. “You’ve been studying for the baccalauréat and assembling your portfolio, as though I haven’t had A-Levels to worry about. You’ve been absolutely inundated in clothing commissions and helping your family’s business—because for some reason you assume that I fail to understand what that feels like. You’ve got friends. You’ve got a life. Had you never considered that there was someone,” he says through the way his jaw clenches, “who wanted to be a part of it beyond more than your own sense of convenience?”

The way Marinette bristles is almost palpable, makes half of him want to take back what he said. But if he didn’t, then what? He’d stew for the rest of the night? The rest of the week? “I…” She grips the chain strap of her purse. “I didn’t know if I wanted you to be part of it yet.”

Félix narrows his eyes. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

Marinette squints right back. Even hurt, she holds her own; it’s admirable, really. “Félix,” she says slowly. “You couldn’t seriously expect me to fall at your feet in an instant and just not care that you’re my old crush’s cousin.”

He gawks. “That’s what this is about?”

“Of course that’s—” She sighs, exasperated, and drops her face into her hand. “You think I respect you so little that I’d just bounce to you and risk making you think you were sloppy seconds? Or worse, that I was just using you to get to him? I…” There’s a tremble in her voice, and now she’s the one who can’t bear to look at him. She probably can’t look at all, the way she’s wiping her eyes with the heel of her hand. “I was waiting for the right time to figure out… to tell you that I liked you. I wasn’t gonna do it over text. Or in public like this. And I wasn’t… wasn’t gonna do it if you still had any reason to doubt me…”

Félix’s heart cracks. He doesn’t touch her. Doesn’t feel worthy of it. Instead, he says, like a complete idiot, “I should assume, then… that you used past tense for a reason.”

“It’s not past tense! Félix, I…” She balls her hands into fists, breathes out at the same time she releases them. “I think I should go home.”

He didn’t think, before now, that hearing Marinette Dupain-Cheng actually talk to him would kill him so much.

———

Félix turns in early—as soon as he gets home, in fact—and only chances one message to Marinette before he puts his phone away: Please forgive me. Good night. She responds within minutes—Good night, Félix.—and the perfect punctuation makes him wonder if he would have been better off with nothing but that damned checkmark.

He sleeps so fitfully that by morning he has the sense that he didn’t sleep at all, and the first thing he thinks upon half-waking is that Marinette Dupain-Cheng liked him. Likes him. Tried to give him no reason to doubt her, and he pushed himself into it anyway. Tried to give him the best circumstances possible, and he manipulated them the way he does with just about everything.

When his mother asks, over breakfast, how his “acquaintance” is doing, he says, “Fine,” in that hollow way that begs no more elaboration. Then he pushes the little box, tied up rather messily now, across the table. “I got these,” he murmurs. “Would you like them?”

It’s worth the way she coos gratefully, hugs him sideways, and kisses the top of his head.

It only takes a half hour or so of brooding at the foot of his bed, phone in hand with not even so much as a good morning, for him to make a decision he vaguely hopes is the right one. With only the brisk announcement that he’s going to pick something up and will be back soon, he walks with pinpoint purpose out of the Grand Paris Hotel, already punching the address to the Tom & Sabine Bakery/Patisserie into a rideshare app.

He bounces his leg in a backseat for all of twenty minutes, thanks the driver with a nod and a tip—hesitates—then pushes the door open, cursing the bell above it for announcing his entrance. Instantly, he feels like a deer in headlights, unsteady on his legs as the proprietors—no, Marinette’s parents, damn it—meet his eyes.

“Good morning,” he says with an uncomfortable cough behind his fist. “Might Miss Dupain-Cheng be around?”

Her parents look at each other, apparently just as uncertain as he is, and then back to him. “She’s right upstairs,” her mother speaks up, squinting at him like she’s seen him somewhere before but can’t quite place him. “There’s a side door just outside that will let you in. Are you a friend of hers?”

“Something like that.” He gives a short bow in thanks, doesn’t bother to give them any more chances to find the resemblances between him and Adrien, and with every muscle still stiff, he climbs the stairs up two at a time to their apartment. He adjusts his tie just before knocking, and his chest goes tight upon actually doing it, as though this may never have been the right choice after all.

The door opens before he can turn tail, and there is Marinette, swimming in an oversized sweater and some leggings, cocking her head at him as she clings to the doorknob and looks him up and down. He doesn’t want to fathom why her eyes are red-rimmed. “Why are you here?” she asks, slow with her words.

He thinks he can hear the invitation in them—the gratitude, the second chance—but he keeps his distance all the same. “I have something of yours,” he replies, flexing his hand in his pocket. “I wanted to give it to you before I lost the chance to. If you’ll take it.”

“Félix…” She sighs. “I really don’t want the chocolates back—”

“I’m not talking about the chocolates,” he says, and waits for the spark in her eyes that tells him the pieces have clicked together. He looks down at himself, his gaze lingering on his chest as his fingers brush his heart, and then back up to her. “If you’ll take it, it’s yours. If you won’t, well.” He clears his throat. “I’ll be on my way.”

“I…” Marinette hesitates, longer than he was expecting and yet somehow just the right amount, but he catches how she opens the door just a bit wider. “I meant what I said. Yesterday. And I haven’t told anyone else… anything. It’d be… weird, if Adrien found out. If any of our friends found out—”

“And whose business is it if you take it?” Félix asks, all breath and his pocket bunched in his fist. “Whose business is it, Miss Dupain-Cheng, if I let you?”

She searches his face, and he lets her. Her hand’s still on the doorknob. His hide away. “Fine,” she says, little more than a breath of her own. “Give it here.”

He steps past the doorway then, and gives her no more reason to hold onto it as he bends and gathers her up into a kiss. It feels clumsy, and his hands seize up with the urge to feel out everywhere they can—her hair, her face, up and down her back. But he braces himself for her to push him back… and she doesn’t. Instead, she wraps her arms around his neck, and lifts up on her toes to press into him, and moves one of his hands to her chest as if to say, Take mine, too.

He draws his hand back like he’s been burnt—he’s never touched a girl so… intimately… before—and Marinette breaks the kiss instantly. “Sorry,” she stammers, her face bright red. “Look, are you sure you want to—”

Félix doesn’t give her the chance to finish her question; he only kisses her again, nudges her back into her living room so he can try and kick the door shut. It isn’t until then that he realizes just how he missed her tugging on his coat and taking her own lead. And it isn’t until he seizes the opportunity to clumsily slide his tongue past her lips, the way he’s heard his classmates brag about, he understands just one more thing.

All of him is catching fire, and he wants, he wants, Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng to make that noise again.

[pilferingapples]

i like to headcanon about les amis' first names ?? i dont really know why, but i think its because it gives the amis more depth like valjean and even fantine?? idk. i like amis having first names.

Neutral-disagree I guess,for Personal Reasons ; I always find the Extra Names just get me confused as I mentally scramble trying to remember which one was which. And then I just..don’t have the same emotional freight attached?  Like these characters have One Name that sticks with them in every fanfic and iteration, and then another name that is specific to this One Incarnation, and it makes them more specific! but it also takes them out of the Infinite Stream of Selves..?  It’s like, no , I don’t actually want the Youngest Child in a fairy tale to have a name, they’re the Youngest Child! Stop giving them names! Let them be archetypal! 

(...which may be a big part of why they only have one name..? Hugo knew about archetypes and as I’ve discussed before the Amis are where the book goes Mythic instead of Dramatic so maybe?) 

.., then yeah,  on a Probably Relevant personal level, I’m someone who just forgets names all the time,  if I don’t see someone’s name regularly for at least five years I will  forget it, and if I do then...I am still likely to forget it.. orz  Definitely a Me Problem and IRL of course I try to work around it !but in fiction Extra Names are like someone just handed me a little paper and said “ here! forget this!” 

(this actually doesn’t  make it harder to keep track of characters as long as there’s narrative voice but it gets real hard when other characters are discussing them and my brain just starts playing the Jeopardy theme??) 

[elliekayy]

I just read your fic "Alternatively" and although I assume its discontinued I read your author's notes and thought I'd let you know that your writing was beautiful and super engaging. I hesitated to read it because it was unfinished but even in its current state it didnt feel 'unfinished'. Either he goes back a day and fucks it up again and continues the cycle until Ryuk claims his reward or he'll figure out a way to have his cake and eat it too. And as much as id enjoy reading that journey, I am content with how it currently ends. Hope that made sense lol im riding the high of a good fanfic and immediately went to ur tumblr. Thanks for ride :)

🥺🥺🥺 Omg thank you??? QAQ I'm so glad you enjoyed the story up to this point!! Yes, unfortunately this fic is on an indefinite hiatus right now because I'm swamped in other writing projects for a different fandom and my inspo for this fic is running very low... Not to mention irl problems and responsibilities... I've been meaning to let people know in the A/N and the summary, but I forgot because my brain is scrambled egg, I'm so sorry orz

But seriously, thank you very much for reading and coming over to let me know your thoughts on it! And I'm so glad to hear that it didn't leave you feeling discontented with its incomplete state 🥺 hopefully I'll go back and finish it in the future 🖤🤍

[zeiva]

It has been over 5 years since Area X was released and the story never leaves me. I honestly don't understand how your complex story-lines can be so niche! Now that I'm thinking of being my own otome writer one day, Area X has become one of my inspirations. Do you have any adivce on how to develope these complex points? I know the lore must be alot to keep track of and connecting them together is mind jumbling and tedious. What makes you stay motivated?

Thank you. I’m glad to be your inspiration! ^^

This is how I normally work with my stories: 1) Choose a genre and sub-genre: In the case of Area-X, it’s Otome and time-traveling inspired by Chrono Trigger.

2) Choose a theme: This is especially important in the long run. It’s like the glue that keeps everything together. Without a theme, it’s easy for a story to lose focus. In the case of Area-X, it’s survival and sacrifice.

3) Choose a setting: This is the start of world-building and an aspect that many stories tend to ignore in favor of plot and characters. I personally think that having an interesting world-building is crucial to a good story. In the case of Area-X, I choose a setting that is similar to Chrono Trigger. From there, I build it up to be my own.

4) Write the basic premise: This will be the main plot. In general, I don’t put too much detail, just something simple and straightforward. In the case of Area-X, I want it to have a mysterious dimension that links to Elcia’s past.

5) Create the main characters: Points 3, 4, and 5 can be done at about the same time. With Area-X, I follow Chrono Trigger’s idea of having each character comes from a different time period, and since this is Otome, the main character has to be a girl, and the rest are guys. I asked Nitarou to roughly create some designs, and based on her design, I develop their personalities. At this point, everything is still basic and not in-depth.

6) Write the basic outline: After we roughly have the basic idea, it’s time to put the rough progression of the story on paper. I normally focus more on the beginning and the end and leave the middle part open for changes and expansion.

7) Do research: It’s time to refine the details. I would research on the subjects related to the story. I was intrigued by the idea of an undiscovered continent, so I did plenty of researches on that and discovered its relation to Atlantis. From there I tried to incorporate the ideas I found into the story.

8) Connect and refine the plot: This is a bit like piecing a jigsaw puzzle together. How the story connects, how the character relationship connects.

Spoiler to Area-X (Skip to point 9 if you don’t want to be spoiled) - Rexus was originally meant to just be a Yankee, but I wanted him to be more involved with the main plot, so I made him into the creator of the time machine. - Yuras was originally meant to be a descendant of ORZ corporate just like Belph, but I thought it was redundant, so I made Brash into one instead. - I made Yuras’ story connects to Ferim because he doesn’t have much involvement in the main story.

9) Write the script: When I feel I have a pretty good grasp on the story, I begin writing the script. This is where the final refinement comes in. I’m a pretty spontaneous writer, so every time I have a new idea, I will try to incorporate it into the story. For example, Belph’s original role is supposed to be self-contained in his path, but I ended up giving him a bigger role in Rexus’ path.

10) Edit the script: I do this together while writing, and this is perhaps the hardest part of them all. Editing is extremely important. This is basically where I decide what stays in and what gets cut. Let’s say I wrote 1000 words, you can bet 500 will be cut in the final version. I like my story to be succinct, so I don’t like to add useless details that can harm the pacing.

Generally speaking, I have a rule for this: If it’s not pertinent to the plot, and it’s not funny or interesting, it will be removed.

11) Feedback and final polish: So, after I finished everything, I ask for feedback, usually Nitarou first, and I’ll fix the things that are commonly cited as a problem. For example, Livan’s ending wasn’t that well-liked, so I ended up revising his ending 5 times before I’m satisfied with it.

That’s the rough guide to how I do my stories. Hope that helps you somehow.

Last but not least, in regards to motivation, this is a hard one. Especially if it’s a long story. One thing I usually do every day, like a ritual of some sort, is when I wake up, I told myself “I’m going to finish *insert game here* today!!!” It’s like Luffy keeps telling everyone he’s gonna be a pirate king. Ψ(￣∀￣)Ψ

[yakocchi]

Be My Princess Social // Yakov Chernenkov, Season 1, Episodes 2&3

The Job of the Exclusive Designer // Prince Yakov’s Dance Partner

1・2/3・

yeahhh boi 2 eps in one post, trying to do the zoomies with progress so i can get to the better parts in terms of being less judged by ikemen elsa sorry for potentially clogging the tag with this stuff. i’ll see if i can do larger chunks as this goes along to prevent that... but i also don’t really want to make these posts too large tho... i’m noticing with the new dash it just extends the post on the dash directly when you click the read more break, which...........huh

on an unrelated note - tbh there’s not that... much “actual” content going on in the other otome mobage i’m playing rn so i’m more inclined to move this along. sorry for those who follow me for other stuff, but we’re at the boring july lull where it’s just swimsuit/beach stuff. zzz maybe in a week or two i can wake up

Image-heavy!! Please credit if you take any of it, thenk u (･ω･*)

blog link of this post here, if you’d rather read this on my blog directly than on dash. otherwise:

Episode 2 // The Job of the Exclusive Designer

➤ as an aside, i’m going to start using italics on dialogue for emphasis more often. takes less brain power than having to restructure the sentence and the like just to utilize emphasis based on word use and/or adding words or phrases........ i’m not a trained editor ok orz i’ll try not to overkill with it tho.... otherwise it’ll be italics overkill with the (internal thoughts italics)

I had received an invitation from Lord Nobel himself to become the exclusive designer of Sanct Sybil― And earlier, I wholeheartedly decided to accept that offer.

However, I know for sure that the Prince is someone I’ve encountered before. (I would’ve never considered that these two were the prince and steward of Sanct Sybil...) The Prince takes a seat on the couch, and Zain presents a few documents to him.

[Zain]: “Here is Miss Kara’s resume, along with her past design sketches.” [Prince Yakov]: “...I shall take a look.” Taking the documents, he sets the design sketches aside on the table. The face and overall mood the Prince wears as he scans the papers are unreadable. (Ahh...I’m so nervous...) I shift my eyes away from the Prince, breathing out a soft sigh. In doing so, my line of sight stops right at the butler standing next to him. (If I’m remembering correctly, I’m pretty sure his name is Yuri.) (Prince Yakov certainly is terrifying, with an intimidating aura to boot – but... This guy’s scary in a whole different way.) With a sidelong glance at Yuri, the smile he’s been wearing this whole time doesn’t even crack in the slightest. Though it was visually the same smile as the one he wore while pinning down that man in the courtyard,  the Yuri before my eyes only has the vibe of a mild-mannered steward today. (Neither of them have said anything out loud regarding that past incident... but, without a doubt, they definitely remember me from that time.)

My body buckled down thinking about it when Prince Yakov then looked up from the papers in his hands. [Prince Yakov]: "I understand that she hails from the offices of the famed Jean Pierre.” [Prince Yakov]: “However... from these documents, it appears that there are no records of previous accolades of any kind – but?” His brows cross slightly as he inquires Lord Nobel about it. With a nod, His Grace turns his gaze to the design sketches on the tabletop.

[Nobel]: “It’s true that given her very brief time under those offices, she has yet to gain any formal accolades for herself.” [Nobel]: “But, you should take a look at these designs. Surely then you can notice her capabilities.” [Prince Yakov]: “...I see.” Paying no heed to the design sketches, the Prince places the resume over the table.

(The work of a designer with no actual accomplishments – it’s something he’d have no interest for, I would think.) (Even though the likes of Lord Nobel and Jean Pierre have especially recommended me... I’m pretty sure I’m going to get rejected.) Feeling uneasy as I look over his expression, the Prince slowly exhales. As if contemplating something, he makes a bit of a troubled face while meeting Lord Nobel’s gaze. [Prince Yakov]: “―If someone like Your Grace is sponsoring her, I suppose that the lack of past achievements will not be a problem.”

[Prince Yakov]: “I shall invite her to be the exclusive designer of Sanct Sybil castle.” (Huh...?) [Nobel]: “I see. Well, when can Kara come to Sanct Sybil?” [Prince Yakov]: “About that... As soon as the formalities have been taken care of, we shall arrange to let her live in the castle at once.” [Prince Yakov]: “―Yuri, proceed with the proper formalities.” [Yuri]: “Understood.” [Yuri]: “With that, Miss Kara, here are the documents detailing the contents of the position.” Yuri, disregarding my surprised state, hands me some papers. (Without looking at even a single one of my designs, he’s decided to accept me as the castle’s designer...) (Is this really okay?)

With my apprehensive thoughts, I...

➢ Question Prince Yakov. ❆  ➢ Question Yuri.

  ➢ Question Prince Yakov. [Kara]: “P-Please wait...!” I call out to the Prince, who looked like he was about to take his leave. [Kara]: “Um... is this really all right?” [Prince Yakov]: “What of it?” [Kara]: "Without even reviewing my designs, you’ve accepted me as the castle’s designer.” Questioning the Prince, his eyebrows slightly knit. [Prince Yakov]: “The appointment of high-level positions has been entrusted to me by the King himself. There is no problem.” [Prince Yakov]: “―This discussion is over for now. Finish looking over those documents as soon as possible.”  ➼

  ➢ Question Yuri. Seeing at the Prince engaged in conversation with Lord Nobel, I look at Yuri next to me. [Kara]: “Um... Yuri. Am I really the right one for the job?” (Even if Jean Pierre and Lord Nobel have recommended me, this still seems like too much for a fresh newcomer...) [Yuri]: “His Highness made his decision, so there is no need to worry.” With a smile etched over his face, he presses the documents towards me once more.  ➼ 

   ➼ [Yuri]: “Thus, please do review these documents.” [Yuri]: “First– On the contract, can you sign here?” [Yuri]: “If His Highness ends up also signing this, your position will become official.” [Kara]: “...Understood.” Dissatisfaction wallowing within me, I receive the papers.

Kara, visibly perplexed about something, proceeds with the contract formalities. Lord Nobel, who watched this state of affairs from a distance, then turns to face Yakov.

[Nobel]: “Kara, make no mistake, will be an essential figure for Sanct Sybil.” [Nobel]: “And then I believe that the day you, Prince Yakov, will become a great power will surely come.” [Prince Yakov]: “...Your Grace, you hold her in high regard.” [Nobel]: “I sense this great enthusiasm and potential within her.” Lord Nobel beams, and speaks as if to emphasize its importance. [Nobel]: “I’m earnestly entrusting her with you, all right?” [Prince Yakov]: “...Duly noted, Your Grace.” The Prince nods at Lord Nobel’s words, his expression unchanging.

➤ ok from this moment forward i’m only labeling him as [Yakov] bc i don’t like how it doesn’t line up with the other names when it’s long. the prince title is still there and all ye

(At long last, I've come...) Stepping out of the arranged car, I stop in my tracks and look up at Sybil Castle. The castle differed from that of Nobel Castle in that I was quite overwhelmed by its solemn appearance― When Yakov’s personal steward, Yuri, greets me with a smile on his face.

[Yuri]: “―Miss Kara, we have been awaiting your arrival. Welcome to Sanct Sybil.” [Kara]: “Thank you for everything so far.” While exchanging fellow greetings, I shiver from the chilly air. Yuri then guides me towards the entrance of the castle. [Yuri]: “Your luggage will be brought in by personnel. Over here, come in.” [Kara]: “Ah-...Thank you.” Nervous, I follow Yuri and head into the castle.

[Yuri]: “The climate of Sanct Sybil and Charles are significantly different from each other. It must have given you quite the shock.” [Kara]: “Yes. ...I’m glad that you told me about it in advance.” On those work documents I had received in Nobel Castle, it included an explanation that informed me of the country’s climate. [Kara]: “But I didn’t think it would be this cold.” [Kara]: “If I hadn’t been told, I would’ve came here without preparing for anything like it.” [Yuri]: “It is because we are expecting snowfall very soon around here.” [Yuri]: “Everyone who comes to this country for the first time always is astonished by the cold, too.” Smiling, he urges me to walk ahead of him. [Yuri]: “So to start off, I shall show you around the castle.” [Yuri]: “We will stop by the studio first and then Our Lady’s room right after.” [Kara]: “...Thank you very much.” [Kara]: “Um, Yuri. As we’re both just employees working under the same castle, I’d like it if you didn’t call me ‘Miss’, but...” Expressing my thoughts, Yuri nods, smiling. [Yuri]: “Understood.” [Yuri]: “Then, Kara, let us head to the studio.” [Kara]: “Okay.” (A studio, huh... I wonder what kind of place it is.) 

[Yuri]: “This here will be your personal studio.” [Yuri]: “You can use anything in here to produce to your heart’s desire.” [Yuri]: “If you ever need more of anything, I can make the proper arrangements for you – So please, tell me when that is the case.” [Kara]: “Y-Yes...” (...You wouldn’t expect anything less from the castle of a royal family; the facilities here are just superb.) Surveying the studio, I sigh in admiration of the room. I had been also shown the more important areas of the castle– and the dignified atmosphere of it all just easily overpowered me entirely. (With this level of equipment prepared, it’ll be even more inappropriate to make anything half-baked.) Feeling the pressure once more, Yuri then grins. [Yuri]: “There’s no need to be so anxious.” [Yuri]: “–I suppose it would have been better if I had handed these to you beforehand.” Yuri pulls out a stack of papers from the studio shelves. [Kara]: “And this is...?” [Yuri]: “These are the documents that you will be taking up from the previous designer.” Accepting the documents, I flip through the pages. (This, is...) On the sheets were essential notes regarding designs used for Prince Yakov in terms of public business, ceremonies and similar matters, along with a compilation of things like patterns that had been used in the past. [Yuri]: “His Highness is not the type to fuss over design details and the like,” [Yuri]: “so it will not be necessary to make any major alterations on the designs we have used so far.” [Yuri]: "Since you just have to follow these references to produce the garments, I do not think it is a difficult task.” (That’s... something that doesn’t require my capability as a designer...) [Kara]: “Um... These documents passed down to me – the previous designer was the one who drew them up, right?” [Yuri]: “Indeed. Because of the replacements we have made nowadays, they have already been forced to resign from this castle, but.” [Kara]: “Uh... Why did that happen?” (If I’m being made to produce solely based on their previous work, the past designer must have been at least recognized for their skill.) (So, given that, why would they be made to retire...?) Thinking how strange that was, I ask Yuri and he gives further explanation. [Yuri]: "It was so they could be replaced with the fresh, new talent that you yourself are included in.” [Yuri]: "Various departments in this castle have undergone massive layoffs.” [Yuri]: "And because of that, several individuals in the castle right now, including yourself, are newly hired.” [Kara]: “Layoffs...” As far as I can see with these old documents, it looks like the previous designer was definitely competent. So, with that– why would they think it was necessary to go out of their way and replace them? (Not only that, but replacing the majority of the castle faculty as well...) Completely stunned by the reality of this place, Yuri clarifies this in an indifferent tone. [Yuri]: ”Those who had been laid off were simply the type of talent the Sybil of today is not looking for.”

[Yuri]: ”...I had been thinking that you were going to learn about such things sooner or later.” He said this to me with that unbreakable smile of his,  and I was at a loss for words.

[Yuri]: “―Kara, this will be your room.” [Yuri]: "As soon as His Highness’s conference concludes, I will be coming back to pick you up. Until then, please feel free to spend your time however you wish.” [Kara]: “Got it.” (For now, I might as well unpack...) When Yuri took his leave, I began to organize my luggage; but with my grim mood, it was considerably hard to make any progress with it. [Kara]: “Make the clothes according to the provided diagrams, huh...” Don’t “design”― In other words I was practically told to be a designer, but not to actually work as a designer for the most part. (Something like that is going to be my real job here in this castle...) The documents that had detailed the job read the same as any other designer position, but the actual work ended up being completely different than from what I had initially pictured. (And to think, both Pierre and Lord Nobel took effort to recommend me for this...)

(Well, if they were truly willing to hire someone with no experience... anyone would’ve sufficed, then.) I hung my head with a sigh, when my hand slips and drops the bag I was holding. [Kara]: “Ah-...” My work tools and design sketches scatter all over the floor. (Jeez... What am I doing...) Gathering up my sketches in a fluster, one of the designs then incidentally catches my eye.

It was a sheet of one of the most particularly memorable designs I had made since I became a part of the Jean Pierre offices.  (This... Pierre scolded me about it, and then I reworked it several times...) [Kara]: “...Takes me back a bit.” (The first time I received praise for my work, I was so happy that I even forwarded the message to my parents too, I recall.) Going through page by page of my saved designs, they were filled with my personal tender thoughts from those times. The shabbier designs too― every single one was a precious treasure to me. (If I make designs by just following those old documents to a T, I’m certain... that the resulting designs wouldn’t make me feel this same way.) (Besides...)

[Jean Pierre]: “From your designs, I feel this power to them.”  [Jean Pierre]: “There are some parts that are rough around the edges, but there’s this energy, one that can completely transform people, hidden within!” [Jean Pierre]: “Lord Nobel definitely sensed that too, I bet.”    [Jean Pierre]: “Please believe in yourself.” [Jean Pierre]: “I, as well as His Grace, would never recommend someone who we’d feel couldn’t do the job.” [Jean Pierre]: “I believe in your potential, ma petite.”

(That’s right – I’ve... been recommended by the likes of Jean Pierre and Lord Nobel.) (I want to do work – work that can actually be called that of a designer!) Determined, I hastily round up the design sketches.

[Yuri]: “ ―Pardon me.” [Yuri]: “I have brought the designer, Kara.” At Yuri’s cue, I come into the office and see Prince Yakov surrounded by a great mass of documents. One after another, he scans through each page before giving it his signature – and while in surprise at his current state, I bow my head.

[Kara]: “Starting today, I, Kara Go, will be at your service.  ―Pleased to work with you.” [Yakov]: “Mhm.” His eyes continued to focus on the documents as he replied, never looking away.

[Yakov]: “Getting straight to the point― I am calling on you to produce apparel for a party that we are hosting two weeks from now.” [Yakov]: “As it has been planned that you will also attend this party as the castle’s designer, make sure to prepare your own dress.” (Two weeks from now... that sudden?) [Kara]: “Um... Do you have any requests regarding the garments themselves?” [Kara]: “I’d like to hear if you have any preferences concerning things like design, color, material, but...” [Yakov]: “You can design your own dress however you want – however,” [Yakov]: “provided that you do not make anything disgraceful as the exclusive designer of this castle.” Along with these severe demands, he somehow has even more to say. [Yakov]: ”Regarding my own attire, you may refer to the prior templates.” [Yakov]: “After this, you will have to produce clothing meant for official business; but as long as you do not deviate from those templates, that will be adequate.” [Yakov]: “―That is all to be discussed, so you may leave now.”  Without looking in my direction, he declared these matters bluntly. Apparently consenting to his demands, Yuri bows with that same perpetual smile. [Yuri]: “Then, please excuse us. Let us depart, Kara.” [Kara]: “...” [Yuri]: “...Kara?” When Yuri had turned to the door to leave, he then tilts his head as he saw me still frozen in place. (If I back down now, I won’t be able to show my face to Jean Pierre and the others who bothered to recommend me...) With that in mind, I...

➢ "I can’t do that.” ➢ “Give me some more of your time.” ❆  

➢ "I can’t do that.”  [Kara]: “...I cannot.” [Yuri]: “Kara, what are you saying?” [Kara]: “I cannot... produce clothing according to the prior templates.” ➼  

➢ “Give me some more of your time.” I take a single step toward the Prince and say this directly to him― [Kara]: “I must deeply apologize for such, but I would like some more of your time.” [Kara]: “There are some things that I would like Your Highness to take a look at.” [Yakov]: “But I do believe that I had said that this discussion is over?”  [Kara]: “There are still things I’d like to hear from you about. Please, just give me a little more of your time...!” ➼

➼ With these words, I put the file I was holding onto over his office desk. [Kara]: “These here are some of my best designs.” Opening the file, I spread the design sketches over the desk space. They were a variety of designs I’ve drawn so far. [Kara]: "I’m still lacking a bit, but I shall study more starting today. With that, I'll be able to create a great multitude of clothing.” [Kara]: “So, given that – please tell me about the types of designs that Your Highness likes.” [Yakov]: “...Did you not hear what I had just said?” [Yakov]: “My own preferences are irrelevant. As I said before, you may use a design from the notes of the previous designer.” He finally takes his eyes off the documents and looks at me for the first time. Though I felt like cowering beneath that chilly gaze, I attempt to convey my intentions to him. [Kara]: “So as to not destroy the current image of Sanct Sybil, I will also refer to the previous notes at times.” [Kara]: ”However, I’m thinking that Your Highness would just prefer to continue wearing the designs that have been used until now.” [Kara]: “Is that your preferred fashion style, sir?”  

[Yakov]: “...What is your point?” [Kara]: “If that’s indeed the case, then as a designer I will make such designs accordingly.” [Kara]: “But if I’ve gotten the wrong idea, can you please tell me what you actually prefer?” [Kara]: “From now on, rather than to simply just make clothes for Your Highness – I want to know what types of designs you like.” [Kara]: “I’m a designer, so my job is to make clothes that people actually want to wear...!” [Yakov]: “...” At the end of my explanation, the office was greeted by silence. The tension engulfs my body, the prickly sensation almost piercing my skin, when the Prince rises from his chair and approaches me. [Yakov]: “...Giving my opinion here―“

[Yakov]: “In terms of that encounter back at Nobel Castle, and of now… You’re quite the spirited woman.” [Kara]: “Ah…” (As I had previously suspected – he did remember me from the actual first time we met.)

[Yakov]: “To start, I will say this to you.” [Yakov]: “I only desire one, and just one thing from you.”  [Yakov]: “―It is the very fact that you are a designer that Lord Nobel himself has recommended, and that is all there is to it.” [Kara]: “...So, concerning myself– anything other than that fact is of no value to you, is what you’re saying?” [Yakov]: “Correct. It would have been better if you had prior achievements, but I shall compromise on that.” He takes yet another step closer and levels a sharp gaze at me. [Yakov]: “Of course, you are not the only one under these circumstances. In this castle, all of the human capital assembled here are renowned in their respective fields...” [Yakov]: “By hiring these types of individuals, the reputation of Sanct Sybil will increase dramatically.”

(I was called to this castle for such a reason…) (And this must be why the previous designer, as well as some other employees, had been laid off.)

➤ haha did u think this was gonna be a route where she actually got hired out of genuine appreciation of her work

While I was struck silent in shock, Prince Yakov extends his hand towards me. Tucking his fingers under my chin, he lifts my head so I directly face him.

[Yakov]: “―There is also one more thing.”

[Yakov]: “If you wish to hear of my tastes - you will have to ask me more alluringly.” His blue irises, like brilliant sapphires - narrowed mockingly. Being stared at such a close range made my cheeks flare in an instant. [Kara]: “Th-That’s not what I had meant, so… please excuse me!”  (How mortifying... He’s just totally messing with me...!) I swiftly detach from him before hurriedly bowing my head and rushing out of the office.

[Yakov]: “Kara Go, hm…?” With a low murmur, he turns through the pages of design sketches over his office desk. A moment later, having finished looking through them, the memory of his conversation with Lord Nobel a few days ago drifts into his head.

[Nobel]: “Kara, make no mistake, will be an essential figure for Sanct Sybil.” [Nobel]: “And I believe that the day you, Prince Yakov, will become a great power will surely come.” [Prince Yakov]: “...Your Grace, you hold her in high regard.” [Nobel]: “I sense this great enthusiasm and potential within her.”

[Yakov]: “...Someone based on Lord Nobel’s hopes alone is like this, hm?”

Having observed his master’s countenance, Yuri speaks his inner thoughts. [Yuri]: ”When I had first met her, I had thought that she appeared to be the timid type with no self-confidence – but...” [Yuri]: “She seems like quite the intriguing individual, instead.” [Yuri]: “I did not think that she would have that sort of conviction to her character.” [Yakov]: “…” Not responding to Yuri’s comments, Yakov signs a single sheet from the pile of documents on his desk. [Yakov]: “I have finished confirming this. Take it away.” [Yuri]: “Of course.” When Yuri removed the sheet, atop the stack of remaining sheets sat Kara’s official employment documents. On it, was the Prince’s signature of approval― 

To be continued...  

(Letter)

From: Yuri Title: The Unexpected

You appear to be quite firm in your own beliefs. We do not often come across those who are able to plainly express their own opinions in front of His Highness. ...I am, just a touch, interested to see what comes in the future. From here on out– I look forward to working with you.

Episode 3 // Prince Yakov’s Dance Partner

Two weeks after coming to Sanct Sybil to serve as the royal castle’s exclusive designer― Coming to the party hall, I’m overwhelmed by its extravagance and grand scale. (Such a massive amount of people have gathered here tonight...)

[Guest A]: “It seems that Sanct Sybil has finally started to seriously put their plan to join the Alliance of the Six Kingdoms in motion.” [Guest B]: “Mhm. This time, it looks like they’re holding this party for the announcement, but... famous figures around the world have come here to see.” (Really?... This is a spectacular party, huh.) Along with famous figures from every country, several media outlets have come as well, and once again I sense the sheer level of attention focused on this country right now. (Ah-... If I’m not mistaken, that person’s a famous pâtissier.)  In this party, those who had been brought here for this castle, like me, have also been chosen to attend. Within that group of those serving under this castle, several of them are internationally renowned, and each of them respond to the media reporters and journalists in kind. As I watched the crowds at a distance, I overhear them talking about having been hired at around the same time frame as me. [Guest A]: “Since that pastry chef over there was the sole winner of that championship, it’s no surprise they’re getting a lot of attention from the press.” [Guest B]: “Same as the rest of us, the main task they have here is to respond to the media.” [Guest B]: “Well, if I do my work exactly the way the documents told me to, that’s good enough.” [Guest B]: “The rest is just 'fun’ work where we just have to smile in front of the cameras.”  (Like I thought, others in the castle have been made to work in the same fashion as I had been directed.) (It’s been the same for me, too... Ever since I came to this castle, I’ve been receiving a lot of media coverage about me.)

It had been decided that my position as Sybil Castle’s designer is to be permanent, and in the studio I promptly flip open my sketchbook. (The deadline is in two weeks... There’s not that much time for me to think up ideas for my own dress.) For the party they’re hosting two weeks from now, I must make both a uniform for Prince Yakov and a dress for myself. Just as I immediately began to start on my designs, Yuri appeared.

[Yuri]: “Please excuse me. Kara, can you come into another room as soon as possible?” [Kara]: “Um... Is there something?” [Yuri]: “Starting today, those who have been brought to this castle are to receive the presence of news reporters and similar outlets.” [Kara]: “News reporters...?”   [Yuri]: “Yes. His Highness had also told you about it the other day, I recall.” [Yuri]: “Those appointed to work here as a result of the immense scale of the layoffs have been brought here for the purpose of attracting the media’s attention and to increase our reputation.” (Since that’s yet another part of this job that I was specifically sought out to do, I don’t have a choice here...) [Kara]: ”...I understand.” [Yuri]: "It will be all right. As most of the media’s questions have been chosen in advance, we have also prepared answers for you to use.” And so during the days preceding the party, I had countless interviews with the press.

(With stuff like this, I can’t really call myself a designer, now can I?...) I did somehow manage to sew together the requested garments in-between interviews, but other than that, for the most part, I haven’t done anything that can be considered the work of a designer. Letting a sigh leave me as I stood in the corner of the party hall, the press took notice of this and began to come over in my direction. (...Must be another interview, huh.) I think over the words I had decided on for these sort of media interactions in my head, when Prince Yakov then appeared atop the stage platform. That was enough for the eyes of the everyone in the venue to then gather over in his direction.

[Yakov]: “―Today, I would like to make an announcement to those who have congregated here.” [Yakov]: “Sanctis, Sybil, Versurk...”  [Yakov]: “From the unification of these three lands, they were reborn as a brand new nation, the country of Sanct Sybil. [Yakov]: "Of course, not much time has passed since our new country has been founded. However, as of recently, this country has assembled a great number of talented people with promising futures.” The figure of the Prince as he surveyed the large crowd of guests was so gallant and majestic that I was completely entranced.

However, seeing the Prince clad in a uniform that strictly followed the templates that the previous designer had left behind stabbed my chest with a dull pain. (I wanted to make a design that was based on the Prince’s preferred colors and designs, after all.) Since his formal request, I didn’t have much time until the party to begin with, and then there were other things like those interviews― So ultimately, I ended up producing a uniform according to those old notes from the previous designer. (...It’s clothing that I made, but it doesn’t have that sort of feeling to it at all.)

[Yakov]: "Henceforth, Sanct Sybil will now direct its attention towards the early stages of joining the Nobel Michel Alliance.” [Yakov]: "As one nation united, we shall surely endeavor to accomplish joining the Alliance.” Thunderous applause erupts from the crowd of guests. (I have no real connection to this... It’s like I’m listening to a speech for the events occurring in a faraway country...) While further applause was granted to the Prince, the reporters from before begin to move closer again. (I’m not confident that I’ll put out a good interview right now...) As if to escape from this place, I head to the balcony.

(Like you’d think – Even with a dress made for winter, it’s cold out here...) Even wearing a dress and capelet made of thick fabric, the Sybil night still carries a chill of stinging cold. While shivering, I gaze up at the sky above, and there were stars twinkling over the clear horizon.  (Prince Yakov’s speech was absolutely magnificent.) (But...) A little before that speech, I realized that I don’t truly feel like I’m the designer of Sanct Sybil Castle. [Kara]: “...With the way things are now, I wonder if the day I can be honestly called the exclusive designer of this castle will actually come,” I murmured as I vacantly stared deep into the sky, when―

[Yakov]: “―It appears that the party is not to your liking.”

(Huh…?) Turning my head at hearing a voice behind me, I see Prince Yakov walking over in my direction. [Kara]: “Your Highness…” [Kara]: “Is it all right for an honored prince to sneak out of the party?” [Yakov]: “This is merely a small break. I cannot endure such things without at least resting for a moment.” Replying with an indignant look on his face, he comes up to my side. Leaning against the railing to gaze over the courtyard, a small sigh escapes him. [Yakov]: “Every time I pass by someone, I get asked the same things, and then I’m made to answer with the same things over and over again like some sort of cockatoo.” [Kara]: “That... I feel the same about that.” [Kara]: “Every time I have an interview I get asked the same things, and then I just answer with the replies Yuri had prepared for me, over and over again.” Looking over the courtyard like the Prince was, I think back to the things that have happened since I’ve come to this castle. Even though I should be called a “designer”, it’s just pitiful that I can’t receive the essential work for it. [Kara]: “But... that’s the sort of thing I was brought here to do.” [Yakov]: “Are you contempt with that?” [Kara]: “Ah―“

At the Prince’s question, I reply with...

➢ “It’s more a feeling of helplessness.” ❆ ➢ “It’s frustrating, yes.”

➤ for some reason i don’t have the text for the latter choice, rip. maybe i can try coming across it (and the other missing answers) on my bmp2 alt later idk

➢ “It’s more a feeling of helplessness.” ❆

[Kara]: “Rather than feeling contempt... it’s more that I feel helpless about it.” [Yakov]: “’Helpless’?” [Kara]: “Yes. I can’t express anything in my own words― and while it doesn’t mean I haven’t accomplished absolutely anything here...” [Kara]: “At the very least, if I was able to accomplish just one thing by myself, that’d be all right... but I can’t even manage that and I’m just useless.” [Yakov]: “...I see.” I heard a sense of immediate realization in his voice. (I say all of this, but you didn’t ask for such things.) (After all, you said if Lord Nobel was the one recommending me, then that would be enough...)

Thinking such things, I stay silent, when the Prince gives a trace of a wry smile.

[Yakov]: “Certainly... considering someone like yourself, that is simply absurdity.” (Huh...?) With his unexpected reply, I instinctively turn my head in his direction. Meeting my eyes, the Prince continues to speak in a tone... where I could not tell if it was of admiration or of exasperation. 

[Yakov]: “I realized it from before when we had conversed in the office―” [Yakov]: “You are the type of person who thinks for oneself, and acts according to their own beliefs and convictions.” [Yakov]: “You do not intend to gain recognition as a designer by adopting someone else’s brilliance and being a mere imitation of them.” [Kara]: “Th-That’s...” The Prince saw right through the misery I’ve been harboring ever since I came to Sybil, and my eyes widen in surprise. His eyebrows knit in apparent suspicion as he stares straight at me.

[Yakov]: “You look as if you want to say something.” [Kara]: “N-No... Your response was just different from what I had expected, so I was surprised.” (―As I didn’t realize that His Highness, in reality, actually understood me a lot...) [Yakov]: “...It is not like I have been at peace with things either.”

[Yakov]: “As the prince of a country, I believe that I have a good judge of character.” [Yakov]: “From your words and actions up to this point... and also from looking at your designs, anyone would have a firm grasp of your character.” [Kara]: “The design sketches... you looked at them?” [Yakov]: “Incidentally, while confirming your documents.” Asserting haughtily, the Prince’s blue irises subtly glint.

[Yakov]: “I know what must be going on in your head. However, even recognizing that – I cannot afford to end this farce.” [Kara]: “Why... is that so?” [Yakov]: “...Things are not limited to only when the country’s desires and my own thoughts are similar.” (That’s...) Opening my mouth, I was about to ask him what he meant by that― But before I could, a voice speaks up from behind me.

[???]: “―Yakov. So you were over here, in a place like this.” [Yakov]: “The King...” (Eh-...the King?!) Turning around, standing over there was the King and Queen. Prince Yakov’s face stiffens and he suddenly bows his head. I follow his lead and bow as well when the Prince’s voice resounds with a rigid tone. [Yakov]: “My sincere apologies. I was getting a bit of fresh air.” [King]: “Is that right...” The King’s direct line of sight casually falls onto me. The Prince takes note of this and he gives a brief introduction. [Yakov]: “The subject before you is the designer I had hired recently.” [King]: “Ah, the one recommended by Lord Nobel, is it?” [King]: “Having secured a connection with Nobel Castle, we are making more and more progress in opening the path towards becoming an ally.” [Yakov]: “...Yes.” At the Prince’s answer, as if remembering something the King continues to speak. [King]: “By the way, what of the new Minister of Foreign Affairs? I heard that the previous Minister on that seat showed considerable resistance upon the notion of dismissal, but...” [Yakov]: “The newly-appointed Minister is doing a favorable job.” [Yakov]: “As he is well-known in other countries, he performs all according to plan.” [Yakov]: “There is no need for concern.” [King]: “I see. Strive to maintain these conditions.” [Yakov]: “Understood.” Satisfied with the Prince’s words, the King takes his leave with the Queen. (...Even though they’re father and son, it’s much more like a chief and his subordinate.) (The life of royalty is like that, huh...?)  From the beginning to the end of their businesslike conversation, the Prince and King did not smile at each other. As I recall the uncomfortable feeling that hung over their entire exchange, Prince Yakov speaks with derision towards some part of himself.

[Yakov]: “...Right now, what this country needs is status – One could also call it ‘brand power’.” [Kara]: “’Brand power’...” [Yakov]: “For this country of mine, a country that only recently came into existence, to be on par with a developed country,” [Yakov]: “brand power that can be boasted among the other countries is necessary... That is the current way of thinking for Sanct Sybil.” (But, it doesn’t seem that His Highness himself wants that...) The “farce” he had mentioned earlier, along with the unspoken words he had purposefully left out, appeared to be of Prince Yakov’s true opinions on the matter. (But... Given his position as a prince, I wonder if he just can’t set things in motion based on his true feelings alone?)

➤ ok i get that it’s supposed to be his future job and all but why does it feel like yakov is doing all the legwork for this alliance while the king is sitting in the back eating some doritos. excuse me u seem pretty alive and well portraitless king what are u doing with everyones taxpayer money

Pondering these complicated thoughts, I look up at the Prince – and noticing me, the corners of his lips quirk up.

[Yakov]: “What’s the discontent face for?” [Yakov]: “If I rejoin the party, bringing in a woman that’s sulking like that – I’ll be quite troubled.” [Kara]: “It’s not that... I’m sulking, precisely...” I was about to refute his statement when he takes my hand to cut me off. [Kara]: “P...Prince Yakov...?” [Yakov]: “The piece has changed.”  ➤ musical piece fyi [Yakov]: “Let’s go.” [Kara]: “Huh....?!”

Prince Yakov returns to the party venue, and makes his way to the center of the dance hall. [Guest A]: “My, it seems that Prince Yakov is going to dance!” [Guest B]: “I’m so envious of his partner~!”

➤ mmm idk about that one friend really ot but thinking abt it... i shouldve used that one dance cg as the one for this header bc spoilers, there’s no more formal dancing after this....... fuc i assure u this is very important bc there’s only like negative 7 yakov cgs i can use that aren’t riddled with unrelated clothing (weird knight uniform, yukata, apron, no clothes at all, etc.)

(We’re attracting a significant amount of attention... with me, someone who can’t dance at all...) Feeling under pressure from the eyes of the crowd, I inadvertently hang my head. In doing so, Prince Yakov whispers to me at a volume that the surrounding guests would be unable to hear.

[Yakov]: “Even if it is just for this moment – As my partner, you must face up.” [Kara]: “’Partner’…” [Kara]: “I can’t really dance for the most part... Surely, I will humiliate Your Highness.” Even at this point, I want him to stop. I was about to call for his sympathy when I lifted my head up at him,  and unexpectedly see his face so close to mine. (Ah…) Illuminated by the glittering chandelier above, Prince Yakov was the most captivating figure out of everyone in the entire hall. His dignified appearance, along with an expression that was brimming with self-confidence― easily stole away my gaze from looking anywhere, anything else.

[Yakov]: “I already know that you cannot dance and the like.” [Yakov]: “Without thinking about unnecessary matters― if you simply look only at me, and leave your body to me – you will be fine.”

[Yakov]: “―So, do not resist me?” Taking my hand, he drops a kiss along my fingertips. His eyes gazed provocatively up at me, and my heart skipped a beat. [Yakov]: “Your face is red, you know.” [Kara]: “Th-That’s, Prince Yakov’s…” [Yakov]: “With that attitude, it shall be all right.” 

The piece began to play, and Prince Yakov pulls my waist towards him before slowly stepping in time to the rhythm.  In contrast to his high-handed words and demeanor, he leads me gently. (Amazing… even though I honestly believed that I couldn’t dance…) Just by entrusting myself to him, I’ve somehow transformed into the visage of a dancer. (Something about this is really fun…) Having fun at this party for the very first time tonight, a smile begins to naturally bloom on my face, and I nearly tread on Prince Yakov’s foot. However, the Prince elegantly evades my step before knitting his brows, muttering in a low voice.

[Yakov]: “…You truly cannot dance whatsoever.” [Kara]: “D-Didn’t I tell you that before?” [Yakov]: “But, you have the feel for it.” [Yakov]: “After tonight, be sure to practice your dancing.” [Yakov]: “―As there will be more parties akin to this one from this point forward.” (“From this point forward”…?)

At the prince’s words, I…

➢ “I must refuse.” ➢ “Understood.” ❆

 ➢ “I must refuse.” [Kara]: “I must refuse.” [Kara]: “The level of anxiety I just experienced was already too much to handle.” [Yakov]: “While dancing with me, the look on your face seemed to be as if you were enjoying yourself– so I am not so convinced.” (Ugh... I definitely was having fun dancing with him, thinking about it...) [Yakov]: “Besides- it has also been a long time for me too, enjoying myself while dancing.” ➼

 ➢ “Understood.” [Kara]: “…Understood. In-between design work, I’ll be sure to practice.” [Kara]: “Dancing is unexpectedly pretty fun.” We conversed quietly as we danced, and it somehow became even more enjoyable like that. The Prince smiles, and pulls me closer with a single sweep. [Yakov]: “Glad to hear that.” [Yakov]: “If you continued sulking about,  there would be no point in you taking the time to dress up beautifully.” ➼

➼ (Huh…?) I was surprised by his unexpected words when the piece concluded. With the end of the dance, a large applause was bestowed to the Prince. (I didn’t mishear what he just said, right...?) As I feel my cheeks heating up, the Prince leaves the dance floor. At that same moment, as if on cue – all of the princes of the other nations come and approach me.

[Roberto]: “Your dancing was soo cute!” [Keith]: “Well, for a commoner it was pretty good, huh?” [Keith]: “But if you took a better look, you could see that Prince Yakov taking the lead salvaged the entire thing.” [Edward]: “Not only the dancing - but the dress is quite stunning too.” [Edward]: “It was just as if a snow fairy came to descend from the clouds.” [Kara]: “Th…Thank you.” The Princes of the Six Kingdoms line side-by-side around me, and the atmosphere becomes especially cheerful. (Everyone– for you to treat me, someone who is just barely associated with you all, so kindly and warmly... I’m happy.) Cherishing this joy of getting to meet with the Princes again, Prince Wilfred then raises his voice.

[Wilfred]: “Now, I only heard this... But apparently, you officially became the exclusive designer for Sanct Sybil Castle.” [Glenn]: “Even though you’re still a rookie, to be suddenly put in a position like that of an exclusive designer– You’re amazing, you know.” [Wilfred]: “I think there will be things that you won’t be familiar with, but I’ll be cheering you on. Do your best.” [Kara]: “…Okay!” (There’s someone out there who’s supporting me like this...)

➤ i love.... wilfred...... this is why wil used to be numba won. his POWER so strong they had to create claude to ruin his love life. to weaken that perfection!!

 (Let’s do our best while doing things you can manage, bit by bit, in this country.) The Princes spoke to me warmly, and I strengthen my resolve once more. Prince Roberto then strikes up a conversation with Prince Yakov. [Roberto]: “By the way, I heard that Sanct Sybil will be joining the Alliance, hmm?” [Roberto]: “The Alliance hasn’t had any later additions until now, so I’m really looking forward to it.” [Yakov]: “…Mhm. I think the day Sanct Sybil will be on par with your fellow countries is soon approaching.” With Prince Yakov’s statement, the other Princes show their excitement. [Keith]: “If that happens, we’ll definitely have to celebrate, yeah?” [Roberto]: “We’re suuuper happy that we’re gaining new companions.” [Yakov]: “I am grateful for such words, but the first step is going through the discussion regarding the deliberation.” Prince Yakov’s face hardens. Seeing this, Prince Glenn then brings up something he seemed to have remembered. [Glenn]: “Speaking of which, being a member of the Alliance has all sorts of conditions to meet, right?”

[Joshua]: “That’s right.” [Joshua]: “The terms - like the stability of the economy and of public safety - are fully detailed in the treaty.”

➤ i was this close to just not giving joshua his screencap time bc this boi.... bloody useless this episode- we still stan u riceball king.... but still

[Wilfred]: “First, the most important requisite is that the country must be stable; if a major incident or form of discord comes up, it seems that one will lose their qualification to join.” [Wilfred]: “Well, there hasn’t been a case like that so far, but.” [Joshua]: “I would think that things along the lines of an ‘incident’, and prominent matters that arise, just do not happen, alas.” (Joining the Alliance is a difficult thing, huh...) I think for that reason alone, Prince Yakov thus has no choice but to act in accordance with the country’s policies. I think about that, when I hear Prince Roberto pipe up in a bright tone. [Roberto]: “Well, regardless~ I was really surprised by the cold of Sanct Sybil, but…” [Roberto]: “I was also surprised by how lively the town by this castle was.” [Joshua]: “He’s right. You can feel the passion of the country from it.” [Glenn]: “I think it might be because it hasn’t been that much time since the country unified, but it has an ambiance to it that the other six countries don’t have.” [Keith]: “The people working in this castle too only consist of those who’ve made a name for themselves. It’s to the point where I want that sorta thing for my place.”   [Edward]: “I’m looking forward to the day Sanct Sybil joins us.” [Yakov]: “…Mhm.” Prince Yakov nods, and the other Princes encourage him with their smiles. Then, Prince Roberto, looking out the window, cries loudly. 

[Roberto]: “Snow…! Everyone, look! There’s snow falling.” (Huh…?) Spurred on by Prince Roberto I shift my eyes to look out the window, and within the darkness, I see snowflakes fluttering about in their descent. [Wilfred]: “I think it only makes sense that it would get this cold. It seems Sanct Sybil has the earliest winter season out of all the other countries.” [Roberto]: “It’ll pile up ‘til tomorrow, right? If so, I wanna have a snowball fight~!” [Glenn]: “I’m not a child, so…”

  While the Princes get noisy in their lively chatter – Coming over to my side, Prince Yakov smiles with a light huff. [Yakov]: “As one would expect, it will not accumulate up until tomorrow, but over the next few days, it will all become a snowy landscape.” [Kara]: “How pretty…” [Yakov]: “I am used to such a sight, so I do not feel particularly moved by it in any way.” [Yakov]: “As you live in this country, soon you too will get used to seeing it.” [Kara]: “Is that right… I think I’ll definitely get used to it, soon enough.” (When I had listened to Prince Yakov’s speech, I felt that I was listening to the words regarding a faraway country, but...) Listening to the princes’ conversations and words of encouragement, I now truly feel that I am indeed here to be the designer of Sanct Sybil. Smiling at Prince Yakov,  I get to enjoy the first snow with the Princes for this brief moment―

To be continued...

(Letter)

From: Yakov Title: Go Practice

While dancing, I was astonished when it seemed very likely that my feet were going to be trampled on– but you appear to have some sort of potential. Dancing with you was not bad, no. Additionally... your dress was also not too bad. As the designer of Sybil Castle... you have passed.

―Yakov

Next Episode...

“But, why are you in a place like this?”

....how does yuri bother to dye those brows red every time. dedication to the craft i suppose

lol sorry about this one. i feel that ep 3 is even shoddier than what i usually put out, but when i finished ep 2 i already had a good chunk of ep 3 done so i wanted to get it over with bc this ep is mostly bad/awkward vibes ehehe

i think the next chunk will maybe be just ep 4 + special story 1. i want to include each ver of the special story (so 3 versions) so........ might take a good minute to do but idk we’ll see tbh i wanted to put ep 4 in this chunk so special story 1 could be by itself but i figured some of u would prefer to have more frequent updates. it’s been over a week since the last one so i felt like that was a bit long of a wait after just episode 1

Again, thanks for reading!

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

so i just heard on twitter P5S had some development problems, thus the issues with the story, the lack of character development, and the switch performance. It would explain quite a bit, but I haven't really heard anything from legit sources. Did you ever see or hear anything about that?

I....I’ve been very sparse on Twitter today tbh. So I’m a bit behind. So I don’t know the tweet you’re referring to. ;w; orz 

(oh boi, under the cut cause weeeeeeeeee 8U buckle up novel time)

If P5S had development problems with story/chars, that would’ve been with the JPN release. Which might explain why it started developing before P5R but released later (doesn’t help that Atlus apparently just signed off on the story rather than write it themselves >.> think that info in particular can be found on another personacentral article). But AtlusUSA isn’t involved with writing the story, just translating/localizing it. 

Switch performance, I doubt AtlusUSA is the one who is in charge with fixing that too. If anyone is gonna patch that mess, that’s gonna be KT (hell not even AtlusJPN, cause KT is who developed it iirc). Now I DO know that AtlusJPN is working on a patch for having SMT3 run better but that’s not P5S sooooo 8U

Now my personal theory/theories about why P5S was taking so long was:

Covid

Covid

Covid

Localization rights (KT America vs AtlusUSA/AtlusWest, I’mma still use USA screw west sorry its one letter too long and I’m lazy >8U)

PS5

Swap PS5 out with Steam and there we go. Should’ve seen the hints before but yeah....we’ll get to that in a bit. 

Covid really screwed a lot of things up, like REALLY REALLY. I don’t think I can stress this enough. It pushed back a lot of stuff because people couldn’t gather. Not just “in public” like literally at work. It took awhile for people to implement ways to still do their job (either by working from home, or having a small bubble). We know anime and dubbing got delayed because of that. Hell some games got delayed because of that too! So I cannot stress enough how much Covid screwed everything up. But how much did it screw everything up? Well......that’s when I decided to look at the past few games AtlusUSA had localized. The result was usually 5-7 months, that includes PQ2 which infamously didn’t have a dub (ah should’ve included SJR..... uhhhh oh same time, 6 months). Anyway I predicted August-November if they skirt the marketing, otherwise we’d get it early 2021. And a-yo wouldya look at that~!

Anyway that post was in July, by that time I think companies figured out how to safely gather for dubs. But keep in mind AtlusWest was also doing other translations beside english now so........yeah......people who say the dub is the reason for the delay, I don’t think that’s right (heck even in this case I don’t think it’s right). Considering that SJR/PQ2 both took about the same time, I have a feeling that AtlusJPN doesn’t want AtlusUSA to release their game until a set time (thankfully it seems that might be changing with SMTV tho!) 

So we’ve addressed Covid, and my mini conspiracy of AtlusJPN forcing a later release date on western releases..... What about Localization rights? So.... ok, there was a post I wanted to make sometime around 2018 but never did. In around 2018 BBTAG was coming out right? So fun fact, at Acen I was there and lo and behold a rep from Arcsys was there showing off an arcade of BBTAG~! And not just any rep, a marketing rep iirc! Well let’s just say I had a few questions, as a fan I’m not a reporter fksjdkflja didn’t come in swinging with a recorder sorry (anyway the questions were something about VAs like getting old Kanji/Chie/Teddie back, changing Aigis’ name back to Aegis....iirc Teddie wasn’t out yet so yeah I’d ask why the wishy washy stance but ey didn’t know that info yet, if they’d be working on Arena 3 rather than AtlusUSA, yadda yadda). Well the thing that stood out was when I asked if Arcsys’ new western branch would be in charge of localizing this hypothetical Arena 3 or any other Persona Fighting game if made. And he said “yeah, if Arcsys JPN works on it, we’ll be localizing it!” Now, that was then this is now. Things change, it’s also a diff company compared to KT so things might be different. (btw Arcsys didn’t have a western branch with Arena/Ultimax so yeah obvie AtlusUSA did the localization). Or it could’ve been bad info. Or it could’ve been that-that was the case but it isn’t now. But here’s the thing, KT does have a western branch (that or google is lying), and IF, IF what Arcsys’ rep says applies here....then there might have been a dispute between two companies on who might localize it going on behind the scenes. Which might explain why AtlusUSA wasn’t talking about P5S cause....yeah....you don’t really talk about that stuff when it’s in dispute. >.> BUT that’s just a theory. 8U A SILLY THEORY! Thanks for-oh wait I have one more. 8U (but low key that could’ve been happening behind the scenes, so like I wouldn’t be surprised, but the next theory also makes sense why it was delayed so eh, could be both, could be one or the other doesn’t matter)

So the last theory I had was originally the PS5. So like, we didn’t know till very late that when the next gen consoles were coming out. :) Thanks Sony. :) And Microsoft. :) *cough* Anyway, so I thought maybe AtlusJPN wanted to do an update or something and might’ve been holding AtlusUSA back so they could do that because YEAH WHY NOT! ANYTHING GOES ATM! But....BUT..... after the leak.....it made sense. I wouldn’t be surprised if they held back because of.....Steam. sajdkfla Esp with those teases of other games coming to Steam....I can’t believe I didn’t see it kdljsaf It also makes a lot of sense timeline wise. So we know that CHN/KR got their own versions of P5S right? Yeah so those dropped around the time of P4G’s WW release on Steam (4-5 days after P4G iirc). Now, CHN/KR tranlsations are probably faster than the western releases for a number of reasons, similar cultures (so localizing isn’t as bad), and the languages are closer than their romance counterpart so it’s probably easier translating too (they also don’t have to dub but as SJR/PQ2 have shown that’s a non issue). But here’s the thing, AtlusJPN wasn’t expecting such a success on Steam....and then it happened. So that leads me to believe that they probs got to work right away on a Steam release (or at least got more serious about it). And now all of it is probably basically done (translating, dubbing, Steamming, yadda yadda), now they just have to market it, and VGA is the best time this late in the year.

*inhales* So yeah, that’s my theory on what happened. Again, it’s a theory, all speculation from info I have available. Not saying any of it is true, it’s just what sounds plausible. 

[venus-says]

Kamen Rider Movie Wars #1-#6

So... what is all this stuff?

When I decided on starting my Kamen Rider watch I was determined to watch as much as I could, everything seemed okay but there was always a huge problem: the movies.

I didn't know where to look at for information so most of my research was done in the Wikia and if you visit the Kamen Rider Wikia you'll see that the way they list the movies IS CONFUSING AS HELL so I set my mind in watching only the stand-alone movies and any extra released after the show ended that wasn't part of any crossover project.

I decided to do this way to try to avoid spoilers of the previous series that I haven't watched, not necessarily because I didn't want to know what exactly happened in those series, but because I didn't want to have a certain impression of a Rider before I could watch their own show and don't be so judgemental about it before actually knowing that character and the set of extras that'll orbit around it.

But then we cut to 4 months later and I'm watching a video on youtube about W and they comment about how in the crossover movie they explain the events of Beginning Night and I go "shit, these movies DO have necessary information, I think I'll need to watch them orz", so here I am.

Before I go talking about these movies let me just say I think they're all pretty stupid. Like, even calling them movies is a low move, they're extended episodes of each series that converge on an awful CGI battle scene at the end, it's not a lot of fun considering the thing that sells the movie usually don't last longer than 30 minutes. I think the thing that just really pisses me off is how they aren't very considerate of people who didn't watch these movies and they'll usually bring up in the show events that only happened in the movie to the show itself, don't explain them, and expect that the audience will already know what the things they're referencing means. I know it seems like a dumb complain since I'm watching these seasons after they aired so I can watch the movies in the proper time if I want to, the thing is I shouldn't need to watch a movie to understand a thing that happened in the show, the movies should be extra material. And I'm not saying these movies shouldn't be canon, but they shouldn't be integrated with the main continuity in a way that would exclude people who didn't get the opportunity to watch said movies to understand them.

But that's enough for my rant let's get to these movies.

Movie War 2010

So, for the original Movie Wars, I watched only the W's portion, I didn't watch either the Decade part or the conclusion because of the reasons I mentioned up there.

This movie was more or less just a huge flashback, this is also the movie that pisses me off the most because it introduced Skull and the Lost Driver that are things that would become key elements not just for the show but also for their movie and well I already made a huge paragraph about this issue so I won't repeat myself.

I honestly don't remember much about it, but as many problems as I have with this whole set up, I enjoyed this movie. Huge part of it was because Skull was there and he's cool as heck, I'll admit, but I had fun. Though nothing will change my mind that this should've happened in the show not isolated in a movie.

Movie War Core

The next one in line is Movie War Core, I had more fun with this one but this was still pretty bad.

W's portion of it was pretty decent, seeing more of Skull was great, and it was also nice seeing what would lead up to the events in the Accel movie. My biggest problem here is that Akiko never seemed so against the Kamen Rider before so it seemed a little off that she would freak out like that only now, but oh well, it was still nice seeing Skull, I wish we had a movie exclusive to him he's so cool he deserves it (I know it's probably late for me to ask for this, just let me leave XD).

Sadly from that moment on the movie got really boring. I wasn't interested in the attempt of reviving Nobunaga plot, I feel like things were happening way too fast in that, and also Kamen Rider Core was just awful as a final villain, I hated that.

Movie War Megamax

The Fourze x OOO movie is probably my least favorite of the bunch. I really didn't buy that thing of a Kamen Rider from the future coming out of a black hole after meteors were falling, the implication that the medals weren't destroyed in OOO's final battle kinda weakens the ending of the series and the fact they didn't explain Ankh being back just shows how this plot wasn't very well thought. Also, the Kamen Rider from the future coming back at the end just to give OOO the Super TaToBa medals was very dumb, that form also doesn't look good either.

And the Fourze portion was awful because they decide to "give" Gentarou a "girlfriend" and that was just the most stupid plot EVER. They gave the girl a rider form but even that they screwed up, it still baffles me they made the girl attack with her butt. I know this is a show that has primarily boys in mind but you don't have to make every female character like that, especially in a live-action where real people have to act that with their bodies.

Gosh, I hate this movie so much.

Movie War Ultimatum

The next movie wasn't as bad, it was just way longer than it should've been. I watched the director's cut and that is almost two hours, that's absurdly long for a movie where not a whole lot happens. This movie was also pretty weird to watch because they did a whole bunch of homages to older tokusatsu, and while having those didn't make the movie any less good or bad it was still off, you could tell those weren't creatures that originated in this world/franchise. I also wasn't really here for this time travel concept, especially in here it was done in a very messy way, it wasn't cute.

But you know, for the part while I was still paying attention I enjoyed it. The Fourze cast is way more bearable when they're not stupid teenagers, seeing them as adults was quite fun, I like how it started like an actual action movie with Ryusei and that girl from the Fourze movie doing some spy work, and I also like to see that he and the goth girl still have their thing. Gentarou as a teacher looked like a mess, but I like that they put him to be a teacher, it makes a good amount of sense for his character. The students were also a bit interesting so watching Fourze was actually fun for me for the first time! But once again Fourze was there being nasty and doing a whole bunch of close-ups in the girls' tights during the fighting while one of those two was supposed to be a teenager in school and that's just gross. Nadeshiko also comes back for this afterward and ew the butt attacks came back, she even jumped at a monster once where it looked like she was reverse cowgirling him and that was very uncomfortable to watch.

The Wizard portion was quite decent as well, I like the concept of the "farm of monsters", I wish they had used more of these smart ideas in the actual show, Poitrine was fun and I like the reveal that in the end, she was actually the Donut Shop keeper, but I think this portion was longer than it needed to be, especially considering they don't do much. But I guess this is the best way to describe this movie. The joint part was pretty bland, but I like that they had a good amount of out of suit fighting, that kept my attention for a while.

Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle

This was an odd one, kinda like Core this one had a decent first portion and a meh one for the current season but overall it was still pretty bland. It was good seeing an actual epilogue for Wizard, I wanna complain about jetpacking in this plot because Haruto was in Brazil for some reason and then in the next scene he was in Japan again, but he has a teleport spell so I can't call them out. But it sure was funny to see they randomly put a Rider on Brazil for the second time in this movie series. The thing of using a 3D pen to make another Koyomi and make her the villain was a fun twist, but I feel like it wasn't used at its fullest.

The Gaim portion was just awful, I didn't care for this parallel world where they revived a Sengoku battle, I feel like this is one of the things that works better with people who actually have knowledge of Japanese History, but I believe that even if you have knowledge this would still such because we're in those Gaim early days where the characters aren't very likable yet so it's really not enjoyable to watch.

This movie also introduced crossover power-ups and Holy Jesus, this is probably one of the worst ideas this franchise has ever made because none of them look good. And speaking of things that don't look good, they ruined a very good design Bujin Gaim had going on for it in order to make him this weird CGI flower thing that doesn't look good, neither intimidating, it was just awful.

Movie War Full Throttle

Last in the list is the Gaim x Drive movie and while this isn't the movie I disliked the most, this is the movie I less cared about, this is the movie I less remember about, which is weird because I watched it twice. I think my problem comes from the villains for this movie, I didn't buy the idea of this apparently alien race defeating an actual space god and capturing another one, I also didn't care for their designs they were pretty bland. But this movie gave Gaim an actual closure so I guess it wasn't so bad. The Drive portion was weird because it seemed very disconnected from the plot. I like this story and I like Lupin's design, but this should've been, if not an actual episode, a TV special, especially considering they give Krim's backstory about how he ended up being in the belt and nothing can change my mind that this should've been explained in the actual show.

Ironically enough, the part of the movie I remember the most is when Gaim and Drive use each other's powers and they get in those awful crossover forms. Again, this idea was a mistake, Drive's hat looks like a fucking trash can lid, it's awful.

Just like these movies. I had fun at moments, but I'm not gonna lie, I wish I could have those hours back, these movies aren't good, they completely drained my energy. I think I'm gonna wrap up for now, what are your thoughts on the movie wars, let me know in the comments. I'm gonna try to be happy again now. I'll see you guys tomorrow for the second Drive review.

[teddystrap]

Drama CD: [幽幻ロマンチカ・有頂天] ~Baku: Utashiro~

I didn’t sleep well last night, a mosquito was using me as a blood bag >;(... So thanks to that I was wide awake and had time to listen to another drama CD.

Character #2 in the Yuugen Romantica series, Utashiro (cv. Kimura Ryouhei), is a baku: a mythical creature that survives by eating dreams and helps people get rid of their nightmares that way. It’s too bad he doesn’t eat unwanted insects in my room as well.

‘Sorry dude that’s not part of my regular diet.’

Anyway, going back to Nanagiri High School. This time there is a rumour about the only stairway that leads to Heaven the rooftop. Usually there are only 12 steps, but if you get to the 13th step, that means that you are on your way down into Utashiro’s nightmare territory...

After you try (unsuccessfully ofc) to escape, Utashiro takes possession of your body and makes you solve some hard maths problem in 5 seconds, threatening to eat you if you fail. Thankfully he stops possessing you, and you grab a mop nearby to defend yourself. With the mop handle you push him into a row of lockers, and he is forced to end the nightmare to prevent them from falling on him - which allows you to escape.

Gotta admit that’s pretty badass for an otome heroine. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ“ﾌｧｲﾃｨﾝｸﾞ!!

The next day he seeks you out disguised as a human boy so you don’t recognise him. He’s been looking everywhere for you for revenge for your counterattack yesterday. He throws you back into the nightmare high school world but you still don’t recognise him Orz. So he changes back into his demon form. And this time he got rid of the cleaning equipment so you can’t attack him lolol.

Instead, he has prepared a bed, where he lulls you to sleep. He plans to frighten you with monsters hiding under the bed, but... his brilliant plan backfires because you fall asleep sooo soundly that even demons screaming in Hell can’t wake you up. XD

Turns out you have been sleep-deprived lately because of a mosquito recurring nightmares. In fact that’s why you went to the stairwell in the first place - to investigate if it is related to the Seven Supernatural Wonders of the School. After some further failed attempts to intimidate you, Utashiro finally gives up and gently rocks you to sleep, swearing that he will get you next time. Lmao.

Next day you go and thank him for helping you sleep and he is still feeling salty. After school you stay to prepare for the bunka-sai (cultural festival) exhibition, and he tags along. You class is planning to make a haunted house, and he warns you that it might attract unwanted spirits,... but you cheerfully invite him to come and visit too ^_~.

Utashiro tells you that the state of the Seven Supernaturals has been changing due to the fickleness of humans. E.g., the Youkai with the Flowers in the Toilets [*voiced by Midorikawa Hikaru... I haven’t listened to his discs but I have a hard time taking this character seriously...] has disappeared, and he himself has emerged (since the original series). There is also a strange rumour going round that the nightmare on the 13th step is killing people in their sleep, and he’s offended that people think he’s that kind of demon.

You stupidly agree with him. To show you that he’s not all nice, he possesses you and touches and kisses you, knowing that you can’t fight back/react since you are in public and he is in invisible mode. So you run off to hide in a dark corner, secretly hoping that he will rip your clothes off and have his way with you. (ฅωฅ`)ﾃﾚﾙｰ♥

But alas Rejet is trying to keep it safe for the kids here so nothing happened calm your tits woman!! He ends up walking you home and carrying your bag for you (how sweet is this guy seriously). As he’s leaving he senses a... supernatural energy from you. So at night he sneaks into your house and, sure enough, you are having night terrors.

He consumes your nightmare, and is about to leave when you wake up. To hide his identity, he changes into his chibi-baku form. But you know it’s him anyway. You are scared to be left alone, so he becomes your reluctant dakimakura ԅ(≖‿≖ԅ). As he watches your sleeping face, he realises how he used to live for people’s happiness, before he became this yakuza demon from the ‘hood who terrorises people for fun.

Ok yeah Utashiro is that Moomin-looking thing from the Hifumi picture.

One day you bring him lunch on the rooftop as a token of your gratitude, but he seems to be having... indigestion pains from eating your nightmares every night. #youkaiproblems. He tells you that he used to do this for people regularly and they would come and visit him, but now times have changed and they don’t need him anymore, and all his friends are dead, but for some reason he’s still alive. He has remained in Nanagiri High School because of rumours that there might be another fellow baku lurking around.

At night you tell him not to eat anymore. He wants to insist, but his body is almost at its limit. He tells you there’s another way to end your nightmares - which is to confront the demon behind them directly. To protect you, he enters your dream along with you.

The demon uses the same haunted school grounds as his backdrop. However, there is an abandoned dried-up well in the courtyard which doesn’t exist in reality. As you approach, a baku emerges from the well and tries to kill you both despite your goodwill.

Turns out this thing is a youkai-kuzure, the remnant form of a demon that has been neglected, but still maintains a strong will to survive and holds a lot of resentment towards humans. Utashiro thinks he will end up the same way and sinks into a bout of “look kids, this is me in 20 years’ time” nihilism.

He begs you to run away but you refuse. You want to let the youkai-kuzure baku use your body and regain its energy so that Utashiro can restore his faith in humanity. In the end Utashiro ends up possessing you, and diplomatically talks the youkai-kuzure into exorcising itself. Basically what he says can be summarised as follows:

‘You are not alone. Me and this human girl are here for you... Now fuck off R.I.P.’

And so fuck off R.I.P. it did.

Then both of you wake up from your nightmare. Utashiro is about to leave but you stop him. So then he asks you if he can stay with you forever, because he has nowhere to go now anyway, and he doesn’t want to become that troll that lives under the bridge and throws rocks at people’s shins and glances at porno magazines through the konbini window.

*

[Thoughts] Very important update: The mosquito that was biting me is now dead now, too. And I killed it by force instead of using diplomatic exorcism.

This disc was really entertaining, I actually laughed out loud several times throughout. Kimura Ryouhei has a way of drawing out your emotions, idk, I mean most otome games/dramas are meant to do that, but his voice is just more... vivid to me in some way, I guess.

Utashiro is a totally adorable character. The way how he acts all tough and threatening but immediately panics and surrenders when the heroine is upset. Kimura-sensei calls him a ‘cute clumsy tsudere’ and thinks that he could be a good sleeping aid/pillow for people who... need that I guess.

[Reminds me of Tsuda Kenjirou’s commentary on Yomei Kareshi (a series where your guy has a terminal illness), where he’s wondering if we actually listen to it before we go to sleep. YES TSUDA-SENSEI WE DO I use drama CDs to help me sleep. With Vol.1 I was new to the series and cried buckets when the boyfriend was dying, but by Vol.7 I had got used to it and was already numb to all the tragedy. Yeah sorry.]

Actually I really enjoy listening to the Free Talks because they give you a glimpse into the cast’s personalities. I got the feeling that Kimura-sensei doesn’t really think through his replies and just blurts things out, and the spontaneity gave me a kind of a Mukami Kou vibe (in a good way though, I don’t think/hope he has Kou’s split personality lolol). I also get the feeling that he and Tsuda-sensei have similar temperaments and would get along great...

But anyway, back to the main story. Utashiro is really pretty tsun and he didn’t reveal very much romantic feelings until the very end, where it felt almost like he suddenly went from zero to sixty. It’s really different from Hifumi’s original story, which had romantic moments steadily throughout, like the date and the star-making/gazing event at night. But I think Kimura-sensei makes up for it with his very 色気のある voice.

I also liked the heroine’s personality better in this one. Hope she keeps up the epic-level KYness in the later stories.

...Aaaand now I really need to go get some sleep.@_@