#Hisam Hit

[strawberrysapphocake]

the BB fans ate well tonight, huh?

[chickenmcnuggies]

Update 2.0.0 of Unofficial Gay Fates is here! After over three years of working on this project, we've finally hit 2.0.0, and wanted to make this update a little more special. This update adds in a new title screen for the mod, changing the 'Fates' on the title screen to a rainbow. This is edited for each route of the game! In addition, the cutscene that plays upon attaining your first S support now has two gender-neutral figures, instead of a man and woman's. Big thanks to Tru for making both of these edits!

In addition, we've also added another paralogue edit, this time for Shigure. As both Jakob and Felicia appear in the intro depending on your Avatar's gender, there are two different variants. One for if Jakob is married to Azura, and another if Felicia is.

As for added supports, 28 have been added! They are as follows:

Romantic: Effie x Nyx S, Laslow x Ryoma, Hana x Effie S, Reina x Benny, Silas x Saizo, Niles x Izana, Nina x Hisame, Saizo x Camilla, Jakob x Leo, Niles x Azama, Anna x Orochi, Jakob x Izana, Saizo x Xander, Asugi x Siegbert, Scarlet x Hinata

Platonic: Silas/Gunter, Niles/Soleil, Elise/Beurka

Parent Child: Hinoka/Soleil PC, Camilla/Asugi PC, Azama/Nina PC, Niles/Mitama PC, Silas/Asugi PC, Saizo/Sophie PC, Izana/Nina PC

Sibling: Shiro/Soleil Sib, Mitama/Nina Sib, Sophie/Asugi Sib

As per usual the mod can be found at it's gamebanna page here (X), and you can watch all the uploaded supports here on youtube (X)

[just-whump-and-suffering]

Knockin' on Closed Doors

Plot: Gotenba Tori and Katanashi Hisame are private detectives who work together and run the detective agency Knockin' on Locked Door. They are partners and, at the same time, rivals. They use different methods to solve cases and also have different personalities.

Language: Japanese

No of episodes: 09

Gotenba Tori played by Matsumura Hokuto

Ep 01:

Scar on his neck

Ep 02:

Found unconscious and bleeding from his head

Ep 03:

Flashback to ep 02; is attacked and pushed. Falls and hit his head

Ep 04:

Arm twisted behind his back

Ep 06:

Flashback to when his neck got slitted; blood running down his neck

Collapse from the wound, trying to stay awake but eventually passes out

Ep 07:

Kicked in the shin a few times

Ep 09:

Flashback: In a struggle-fight (I don't know the word for this), his neck is slashed during the fight. Collasped

Is discovered by his friends, pressure applied to his wound

Wakes up in the hospital

Katanashi Hisame played by Nishihata Daigo

Ep 02:

Flashback to a traumatic memory after seeing blood and an unconscious Tori

Passes out

Ep 09:

Flashback: manhandled and shoved

Angst; his secret is revealed

Crying

[spicyveggiesub]

[ENG] Revue Starlight -The LIVE- #4 Climax Pamphlet Interview

Happy 6th anniversary to Revue Starlight! I managed to finish translating this interview just in time. Among other fun things, the cast of #4 left a message to each of their characters, and it's very sweet :') Translation under the cut.

Q.1

What do you think the highlight of this play is?

Mimori Suzuko: The brilliance of youth. The anxiety and anticipation of facing the future with graduation just around the corner! This world is huge, so do your best! Don't give up, Stage Girls! Without realizing it, you'll end up wanting to encourage them like that... for sure!

Kadoyama Yoko: After all, it's the Revue. It'll light a fire in the hearts of everyone who has watched and supported the plays up until now, without a doubt!

Ozaki Yuka: The theme is "Climax", so each of the Stage Girls must choose their own futures and part ways with their friends, and personally, I can relate to a lot of the feelings they're going through. Plus, there are interactions between members of the three schools of Seisho, Siegfeld, and Seiran that we haven't seen yet, so it'd be great if you paid attention to that.

Tomita Maho: It's "Climax", so there are a lot of moments that make you feel nostalgic. Please look forward to it! (laughs)

Iwata Haruki: Everyone's different paths! The different thoughts everyone's having with graduation just up ahead... and the Revue this time sure is a sight to see!!

Ikuta Teru: For Futaba, the highlight is that I'm using the most physical strength so far this time...! We're renewing the standard of what makes you feel like "there's no way Starlight can surpass this", and it's really difficult, but I'm able to feel the growth Futaba and I are experiencing together each time we practice, so every day is really fulfilling. I'll charge through with a fighting spirit!!!

Koizumi Moeka: Just like the title, it's loaded with a feeling of "Climax"! In #4, what will the Stage Girls fight against, and how will they overcome it? And there's maybe a Revue that will hit hard for the people who know about the plays so far...?

Q.2

Please tell us about your favorite song or line from the Starlight stage plays so far, as well as any related memories!

Koyama Momoyo: "Gunjou [Ultramarine]" from #2 is super super cool! It's so beautiful!!! Oh... Karen didn't sing in it, but... I watched over everyone from the back during every performance! I remember just itching to join in.

Koizumi Moeka: Through the words I said to Hisame-chan in #2, "It'll be colorful as always", I learned about Nana-chan's middle school days, and it gave me an opportunity to think once more about how Nana felt when she went to Seisho. She loves everyone in Seisho, but she also loves Hisame-chan, who she met in middle school.

Tomita Maho: I think it'd be "3･7･5･1･0", which we sang every time. When I hear it, it makes me feel like, "Stage Starlight is starting!"

Ozaki Yuka: "Grand Symphony", the curtain call song for Siegfeld's first stage play. During each performance, when all of our eyes met, everyone's expressions were brilliant, and I can't forget that moment. With the strong message of the lyric "I've made my decision to live on stage", it's a song that gives me a lot of encouragement.

Nomoto Hotaru: "I'll become the star of everyone's lives!", Yukishiro Akira's line from Delight. It makes me think "she's such an idiot~", but I can't hate her, and I can't help but think that it'll actually come true. I think it's a line that really represents Akira, and I've always loved it.

Itou Ayasa: The song "Position Zero e! [To Position Zero!]" from #1 is catchy, and the acting-like choreography was fun, so it left a deep impression on me. The lyric "I want to aim even higher" was so memorable that I thought the title was "I want to aim higher". (laughs)

Shiina Hekiru: The line "No matter which path you choose to advance on, the curtains of your lives will remain open". Once they enter this industry, these kids in the same class will make different decisions for their lives and go their separate ways. It's up to each person which path they choose, and there's a sight they can only see after they've made that decision.

Q.3

Episodes about your graduation ceremony/memories of graduation

Koyama Momoyo: Just like how Karen looked up to Starlight, I also had a play that I'd admired since I was a child, and the final audition for that play overlapped with my high school graduation ceremony...! I chose the audition, and in the end, I successfully passed. I was set to appear in the play of my dreams! I remember thinking, "You really don't know when your life is going to change, huh..."

Sato Hinata: On the day of my elementary school graduation, I didn't have any stick-on body warmers at home, so I attended with a non-sticky warmer on my stomach, and right before I received my diploma, it fell, and it was so embarrassing. I'll never forget it. I'll also never forget accepting the diploma while gripping the warmer in my right hand. 

Haruki Iwata: I happened to be working on my Bachelor's thesis during the #1 revival, and during rehearsals I had everyone from the cast and staff fill out the questionnaire for my thesis...! I graduated thanks to everyone's help!! (laughs)

Mimori Suzuko: On the day of my high school graduation, there was snow piled on the ground, which is rare for March in Tokyo, and before I got to school, I fell on my butt and my skirt was soaked through...! I borrowed a spare skirt from the nurse's office and participated in the ceremony. It was a girls school, but I was popular with my juniors (laughs) so after the graduation ceremony, all of the buttons on my blazer were gone. Even the buttons on my sleeves♪

[T/N: It's a middle/high school graduation tradition for girls to ask guys they like for the second button on their blazer (more here), but if you're as (understandably) popular as Mimorin that extends to the rest of the buttons too.]

Ito Ayasa: I did a homestay abroad for two weeks in March just before graduation, and having stuffed myself full with all the food there before coming back, the photos from my graduation ended up being something incredible (laughs).

Aiba Aina: I remember staying up until midnight putting on flashy false nails, and then waking up at 5 AM to do my hair and makeup by myself as best as I could, but then it was ruined pretty quickly when I cried.

Q.4

A message to the members of your school

Maho Tomita: Every time we spend time together for a play, I realize how truly happy I am spending time creating plays together with all of you! Thank you so much for coming into my life♡

Ikuta Teru: I  L O V E  Y O U  !!!!!!!!!!!!!! LET'S HANG OUT TOGETHER AS NINE AGAIN, OKAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aiba Aina: I really can't thank you enough for coming into my life and becoming my friends. Thank you so much. When I couldn't do various things, without caring about anything like age or background, everyone gave advice to everyone, and including the ensemble cast, I just love Seisho's vibes. Let's keep sticking together from now on and forever! J'aime beaucoup tout le monde! [I love all of you so much!]

Nomoto Hotaru: To the Edel juniors. Yuka-chan and I are both doing our best as Edels. Let's stand on stage together as five again.

Kadoyama Yoko: I love you. Let's keep standing on stage together.

Shiina Hekiru: Keep on struggling. And, do not regret the path you have chosen.

Q.5

A message to the character you play

Koyama Momoyo: To Karen. The view I see from the stage with you is always colorful and radiant. I'll work hard to not lose to your brilliance, Karen! From here on as well, let's continue leaping into a yet unseen, beautiful future together! From Momoyo.

Mimori Suzuko: You went off to London without telling Karen again, I see...! The way you always decide where to go based on however you're feeling—I don't have that kind of proactiveness, and it sure is incredible. And the teacher did say that actresses are always selfish, so I think it's a good thing.

Maho Tomita: Let's go eat some yummy baumkuchen next time!!!

Sato Hinata: To Junna-chan. I can still vividly remember the moment we met. Your personality was so similar to mine, and I was a kid who thought it would be easier to give up when I was losing to someone. Since then, over the years, I was able to see many of your expressions, and before I realized it, I had gained courage from you. In order to make a decision, you need to take a big step forward, and in order to take that big step, you need an even larger amount of courage. But, Junna-chan, you taught me that taking that step can allow you to feel how big the world is. Thank you so much!! And let's keep doing our best from here on out! I hope you will continue shining brilliantly on stage with wonderful friends.

Haruki Iwata: I think you're feeling unsure about a lot of things on your new path, but you're a Stage Girl who's many times stronger than you think you are! May you continue shining on stage with strength, lovingly, and beautifully.

Koizumi Moeka: A lot of time has passed since we first met, Nana. I wonder if I've grown a bit since I met you? Up until now and from now on as well, my star is Daiba Nana, you and only you. I'll work even harder in hopes of being able to stand next to you proudly one day. Please watch over me, always.

Aiba Aina: Thank you for always pushing me forward. It's thanks to you, Claudine, that I could meet treasured friends and staff members, and overcome various obstacles! I'm really, truly happy to be able to play you, Claudine. You're "the best woman in the world" in my heart! I'll continue to work hard while looking up to you! Merci♡

Ikuta Teru: Futaba, I truly think you're amazing for deciding to go to Seisho with just a single word from Kaoruko, and then graduating from there and aiming for a new stage with your own will. I'm always learning from your hardworking and single-minded attitude. I'll do my best with all my strength so I won't lose to you! Thanks for always showing me a wonderful view!

Ito Ayasa: With how strong you are at your core, I'm sure you'll be fine no matter where you go from here on, Kaoruko. I'm looking forward to seeing your beautiful dancing in the future as well! Almost as much as Futaba-han is, I'm your number one fan too♡

Nomoto Hotaru: You're wild and free, and just live honestly on the stage, and you're so annoying, but I love you!!

Ozaki Yuka: Michiru, having walked with you thus far, I have so much respect for you and your charming personality that's hard to guess from your appearance. Please allow me to continue portraying your thoughts about acting and feelings about Akira, as dearly as I can. I'll keep working hard and aiming for greater heights in sword fighting, dancing, and acting so you won't be ashamed of me, so even when you're in Germany, let's do our best together♪ I'm worried that people will see you as a kid in Germany, Michiru~(laughs)

Kadoyama Yoko: There are so many people in this world who love you. Be confident and push forward towards your dreams. I will always be on your side.

Shiina Hekiru: You're lucky to have such wonderful students. The things you can pass down to them because you're you—please wrap them up nicely with deep love and strictness.

(JP text)

[waffleweirdo]

Thinking a lot about Junna and Nana today.

Nana started her loops to protect the other stage girls from the future (obviously in her own twisted way, but she still believes this). Yet Junna is constantly looking for a star in the future and seeking growth. Especially considering the Revue of Hunting, it seems like Nana wanted to protect Junna from a future where Nana believed she would fail.

It makes me think a lot about their relationship. In the Overture manga (the chapter where they both run for president) it’s pretty clearly shown that they both have been incredibly lonely and how that has affected them. They have had struggles with people believing in them for choosing to become stage girls. Junna with her family, and Nana with her being abandoned by Hisame. They have had a lot of shared experiences, and I think most crucially shared fears.

The two of them relate to each other a lot. And rely on each other for support too. But they still don’t really understand each other. I mean they had been roommates for months before they ever started using each others first names. Junna remarks how she doesn’t know anything about Nana in episode 9. The two of them are simultaneously transparent to each other, and obscured. They understand each others weaknesses incredibly clearly, but due to their own fears of loneliness and connect they fail to be honest with each other and truly connect. They are disjointed.

Don’t get me wrong they both deeply care about the other, but I believe they both think they understand the other perfectly yet are very wrong. They each perceive the other with their own biases. For instance the repeated use of, the other not being the person they know in the movie.

Junna sees Nana’s kindness and loneliness incredibly clearly. And tried to support her in those ways, but fails to see how her insecurities have led to Nana’s need for control in the revues.

Nana sees Junna’s determination and fears of inadequacy. But doesn’t recognize the strength she has to keep going.

That’s just a small portion, but it’s what first came to mind.

I think this disconnect is really the motivations behind the Revue of Hunting. Nana specifically doesn’t believe Junna can survive as a stage girl. Nana herself has faced pain and suffering as a stage girl. She locked herself in the loops out of immense fear of the future when a stage girl is supposed to grow. She doesn’t even realize that she was still a stage girl until Junna comforts her. She hates Starlight, and hates the idea of people being torn apart searching for ‘the lead’. When she sees Junna struggling. Who she had found so dazzling and who had once given her solace she thinks it’s a mercy to crush her dreams. Because ultimately she misunderstands Junna. She doesn’t believe in Junna and so takes it upon herself to end her.

For Junna’s part she has found comfort with Nana. Being able to comfort her, in episode 9, in the cafe chapter of the Overture manga, in the live#2 (shhhh I don’t know what canon is I’m just pulling examples to show their relationship I know I’m talking about the movie and that’s separate from the stage plays I’m sorry). For Junna who feels inadequate and alone being able to help Nana helps to motivate her and give her a purpose. But when she sees Nana in the revue of annihilation she genuinely can’t process it. She doesn’t at all understand Nana and just shuts down, only furthering her struggle for what to be as a stage girl.

I didn’t mean to just talk so much about the Revue of Hunting, but it’s such a good character moment between the two of them I got carried away.

The moral of the story is I love Junna and Nana’s relationship so much. It feels so special between the two of them and how they support each other. While still having conflict that hits so hard because it comes from the same core as their love for each other does. The Revue of Hunting is so cool. So is the Revue of Annihilation. So are all their revues in the show, show is- okay they’re just cool

I haven’t read through all the events yet, but Junana while Nana writes a phantom of the opera script on re live??

The fact that Nana admired Junna for helping a lonely kid who she related to in the overture manga? And then Junna helps Elle too???

I’m sorry I just love them both so much

[aces-and-angels]

hisam's karma hits different

[soya-ix]

AnS Ask Game - No one asked but here's my full answer sheet;)

1.Favorite character

It's too hard to pick one because the dynamics among the characters is exactly why I enjoy AnS so much🤔. Let's just say I love everyone equally🥰 (Maybe less for Mitsu tho) (I resemble Hisame even in this regard lol)

2.Character you hate with a passion

Nah I really don't have one either. Sensei's really good at building up characters and it's hard to genuinely hate any one of them.

3.Character who grew on you eventually

It wouldn't be a surprise that it's Hisame but it would probably surprise you that he grew on me simply because sensei's art improved so much and I just can't get enough of his pretty face lol. But of course his personality growth is particularly interesting to me as well.

4.Character with the best hairstyle

Tariga!!!! Let me do your braids!!!!!🤩🤩🤩

Also Kazuki's ponytail yes yes yes🤩🤩🤩

Hisame's casually messy hair has a unique style too😎😎😎

5.Character with the best design

You mean clothes?🤔 I'd say Shirayuki, and Hisame has the potential to be a model as well lol.

6.Character you would date in real life

After some serious thinking I would say🤔……Kazuki!😋 (Wait he's underage isn't he???) But let's just say if it's not illegal to date him x), I think it'll be fun to date someone who's a bit (you sure it's 'a bit'?) younger than me and who's always so cheerful and energetic wherever he goes. He's also simple-hearted and I think it's super cute(ˊ˘ˋ*)♡. Last but not least, JUST LOOK AT THAT FACE💗💗😍😍

Oh and yes I'd definitely date Tariga too just for his pretty face💕💕🥰🥰

7.Character you would marry in real life

Ahh…This one's hard. To be honest I don't think I'd make a good marriage candidate for any one of them🤔. I'll probably choose Izana cause he seems to be busy with work all the time and I get to live a good life but still get lots of free time of my own😈. (yeah i guess marriage is not my thing…at the moment…) But if it's marrying into a noble family I'd rather run away with Kazuki and the Lions😈. (Power and duties❌ Adventure and Freedom✅)

8.Character that is most like you

Hisame, as MBTI and @sabishi-tomo 's quiz show.

Fun fact: I totally anticipated it when I found out Hisame was ENTP (tho ENTJ works for him too) cause I myself as an INTP can't help but noticed how we both enjoy being snarky and sarcastic just for the fun of it x). And also in tomo's quiz I got Hisame as well. I do especially agree with the "self-centered", "live to be entertained" and "like to tease people" parts. Apart from that apparently I'm better at forming close connections with people than he is lol. But the point is I'd be a great match for Lady Kiki YES🧎‍♀️

9.Character with the best redemption arc

I'll have to say Raji. Never thought he could actually transform from an annoying arrogant prince into an adorable royal heir, thank you Shirayuki.

But let's not forget the Bergatt twins. The confession they made about finding their light was so touching I almost cried T T.

10.Ships or characters who you think deserve more love

IT'S NEVER ENOUGH FOR HISAKIKI. They deserve all the love in the world. I'll only stop saying this when everyone on earth ships them.

And of course Kazuki. You know what I mean and I'll save the ranting for your sake.

11.Favorite “villain” or morally grey character

If Raji still counts as "villain" as he previously was then yes I appreciate him but in a comedic sense.

12.Favorite arc

Bergatt!!!!! THE PLOT AND THE PANELS!!!!! My heart was pounding so fast and I just couldn't help rushing through pages as if I was the one in the story trying to seize every second to save Zen💓💓💓. Bergatt will always be the best arc. End of story.

13.Favorite scene or line

I HAVE SO MANY FAVORITE SCENES HOW COULD I NOT??? But I'll present you with one that hit me different during my first read and that is Hisame's proposal to Kiki (the one where he actually succeeds). I wasn't even shipping them that much but man the scene was like🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯and I just couldn't help but go awwwwwwww for them💗💗

And now favorite line, I bet no one can ever guess it's this one:

Sorry I only have the Chinese version with me but basically it's Shirayuki saying: "It would be nice if we get to see the new flower this winter^^." To me, this line symbolizes the very feeling AnS gives me: consistent hope and never-ending positivity in every corner of the simplest daily life.

14.Most hated arc

Not exactly hating or disliking them but the science part in the phostyrias (is that right?) arc is a bit difficult to read for me, and I wouldn't mind if the perfume arc were a bit simpler and shorter. Just saying😜

15.Your controversial take

I'm glad you asked cause I finally get to say this out but also a bit afraid cause it's gonna upset some fans. Just to be clear, I don't intend to throw shade on any ship or characters or people who enjoy them. I'm just sharing my pov👀.

So here it comes: I don't see how Mitsu and Kiki make a good romantic couple, and I don't understand how Kiki fell for Mitsu.

I mean at the very beginning of the story (when it was supposed to be a short series) it was apparent that Mitsu and Kiki were going to be a couple and I could tell that. As the story goes on, we see hints that Kiki has romantic interests in Mitsu. And since Kiki confessed her feeling to him it seems to have become canon that Kiki did/does love Mitsu, and I fully accept that. But still, despite all the hints and confessions, I just don't see when/why/how Kiki fell for him. (Not saying Mitsu is not good enough, just examining their relationship development.) As far as I'm concerned, Kiki takes Mitsu as her most trusted partner and cherished friend. She knows she has to marry someday and of course she'd be looking out for the right candidate. And Mitsu would certainly be her best choice in many ways. But that's it. I don't see how Kiki actually developed romantic feelings for Mitsu. Perhaps sensei just didn't elaborate on that, or perhaps I missed something, in that case please lecture me lol^^

16.Something that you had wished had happened

Man I really wish we get to see more of Kazuki. It's illegal to waste that pretty baby face like that. I mean sensei couldn't you get him a job around Shirayuki? Like being an aide to Obi so that they can take shift to look out for Shirayuki's safety when Obi's away to help Zen or something??

And also I'd love to see more of Hisame's days at Sereg as well, like how he usually tries to be a pain in the ass every time the trio visits^^.

17.Your OTP

HisaKiki (because no I cannot separate ObiZenYuki.)

18.Your favorite rare pair

KAZUYUKI IS UNDERESTIMATED.

Love the chemistry between Tariga and Shirayuki too.

19.Your BroTP

Obizen. That night the way they dealt with their triangle on the deck was absolutely mind-blowing. I've never seen anything like that and I just didn't know it could work this way🤯. Obi&Zen definitely share special bonds and have a unique way of interacting with each other that is essential to both of them.

(Yes I take them mostly as broship but I'm open to other interpretations. I mean I don't really mind what type of relationship they have as long as they're together and they're happy. This applys to obiyuki/obizenyuki as well.)

20.Your NOTP

MitsuKiki. I'm truly sorry. (Not at all😜)

21.Favorite trio

HOW CAN IT NOT BE OBIZENYUKI???

22.Favorite fancontent

I LOVE THE ANALYSIS POSTS ON TUMBLR I LOOOOOOOOVE THEM!!!!!! I enjoy reading every 2000-word essay about how someone think this character has been misunderstood or how this plot is so well-designed or how this detail is supposed to mean something or how……I just love it💗💗💗. Thank you to every amazing AnS scholar who's so profoundly enriched my understanding of the original work💗💗💗.

23.Favorite fancontent that you've created Snow On The Beach. It's just so beautiful. (Credit goes to Sorata and Taylor of course.)

24.A random headcanon that you have

Shirayuki is 100% Tariga's type. The girl of his dreams🥰. (He just doesn't know it yet🥰)

25.Why you picked it up

Haha this one's pure personal story. Two years ago I was binge watching shoujo anime/manga during summer vacation and AnS was one of them. But I only watched the anime back then. It was not until half a year later when I decided I needed some lighthearted mental relief that I thought of it again. So I rewatched the anime, and when I searched about it online I accidentally saw these amazing illustrations from the manga and got totally stunned by the style. Before that I was even criticizing how strange the anime art style is🤣, and the manga was a total surprise!

26.How long you’ve been a fan

A year and a half now.

27.Best part of the series

As I've said before I love how this work is full of consistent hope and never-ending positivity. It's the ideal world in my mind.

Also salute to Sorata's art style and amazing designs.🧎‍♀️

28.Things you would change about the series

Nothing, really. I'm happy with the way it is. It's enough a blessing for me🥹.

29.Things you still don’t understand

Like I said in Q15, I don't really understand how Kiki fell for Mitsu.

30.Did you watch the anime first or read the manga first?

Anime first.

31.Which one is better: manga or anime?

OF COURSE MANGA.

32.The best part of the fandom

Everyone's so positive and kind-hearted and nice and cute and witty and fun just like the characters in the work🥺. Love you guys🥺.

33.How will you feel when AnS ends?

I'm gonna be so sad. On the one hand we won't get any more stories about these people that we love so much, and on the other hand I feel like the community will become much less active when the series ends😢. It's like our days will be gone😢.

34.If you could ask Sorata-sensei anything, what would you ask?

Aside from the loads of questions I have about AnS, I'm genuinely interested in what influenced her most as an author/artist. I love the consistent positivity in almost all of her works and really wonder what works or things perhaps have influenced her in this regard. Or does this positivity just innately run in her blood? Lol. But it's not just the attitude and vibes in her work, I'm overall curious about what influenced her most as an artist.

[icancirieclearlynowthegameison]

Okay so almost certain Hisam hits the block. I'd personally like Jag to win because I think Hisam v Cameron would be very interesting end of week noms. 🤷

[timotey]

Oh, the reveal of who slashed Tori's throat and why! And Tori, Hisame and Mikage knew the whole time. Only Ugachi, poor, poor Ugachi had no idea. Gosh, them three are kinda wrong in the head, aren't they? Like, majorly wrong!

But I think that Hisame was right. Tori has always been the kindest of them. Despite being brash and aggravating, he really is kind but he's determined to keep it hidden. Like he said to their client once, it's for the best if people don't know the real you. Which makes me wonder. Was he always like that? Or only after his injury? I think the latter.

It's shown in the flashback. For Mikage, Hisame and Ugachi, the cold case they had been given for their final exam was just that, an exam. But Tori felt it down to the bone. And he couldn't stand the injustice. The others were okay with letting the murderer walk because they had no solid evidence, but Tori would've gone and... actually killed the guy if he had to. If his slashed throat hadn't stopped him and put him in the hospital, allowing the murderer to walk - or so Hisame thought.

Goodness gracious, so many secrets. Between Tori and Hisame, between Hisame and Mikage, between Tori and Mikage... Tori's "Why did you try to stop me back then?" truly hit me because he kept quiet about his assailant despite not knowing why the person had done it. He still didn't want to make said person a criminal. I mean, he almost bled out, if they had come a few minutes later, he would've died. And yet, he still kept the identity of his assailant secret. Like Hisame said, Tori was really kind.

And their agency? It was Hisame who suggested that they became PIs? I bet he had done it to keep an eye on Tori, to make sure that Tori didn't turn criminal like Mikage. And Tori let him. Wow, just... wow.

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

AnS (and I know I'm going to hurt you with this) uncomplicated makeouts

An unparalleled sensation, Hisame quickly learns, is the moment that Kiki believes she’s won. She must never know that this alone leaves him defenseless.

Tell me, she likes to whisper. Just one thing. Actors who know the game, each pretending the other does not. To what end? It’s hard to care. Not when he smiles toothlessly and spins her three-quarters of a lie. One portion of truth is inoculant enough- for his reward, she sinks her teeth into his throat. He arches under her, gasping answers to her gentle questions through his bursting heart. She laughs into his hungry kiss then, usually. He’s burning, twenty years a Northern loyalist, undiscovered, and he learns from her little indulgent boasts: that she doesn’t hate his wit. Likes that they’ve crossed swords and he has not quite lost.

That her partner has never had anyone. Not even her.

So stubborn, sheathed in sheer power and agility, and Mitsuhide’s back still hits his mattress with the slightest shove. Tell me, Hisame likes to whisper, swinging a leg over him. Just one thing. Usually he’s too busy crushing Hisame to him, too starved for an enemy’s praise, for the shreds of terrible understanding that only another soldier can give him. When he does talk, Hisame forgets-

No matter. Loose lips are a fine prize. But two knights’ yearning is weapon and armor both.

Prepare for a long winter, he writes eventually. Regret has no place where he is the victor. I’m ready to begin.

[swiftscion]

garden of the mind

Money talks here, and you could use some of it. In addition to your usual stipend, soldiers here like to trade services and knowledge for a little bit of coin. If your morals are particularly dismal today, you might even accept a bribe or two. 1d4 +1 Obols for every post.

“Huh? Are you sure you didn’t hit your head on something? The soldiers are offerin’ to pay you to... Cut leaves?” 

Larcei has to take a step back. Examine her surroundings. Before her are a number of projects to be worked on: tiny trees potted in the way flowers often are, and great hedges, uncut and somehow dragged into their base camp. Larcei doesn’t know if the soldiers put them here, or if Hisame, whose idea this whole thing is, saved them the effort. 

Whatever the case may be, she’s skeptical. The people of this war are an oddity, and her experience with these dreams tells her that oddities often spell one’s doom. This could totally be a ploy to get them to waste their time doing menial labor, not pay up, and thus sabotage the resistance’s efforts. 

In a way more mocking than sincere, she draws her stellar Brave Sword. Its gleaming edge is pointed to one of Hisame’s trees, Larcei’s moon-hued eyes sizing it up as a target. “What am I supposed to do then--slash it up with my sword? If they want some extra lumber, they could’ve just told us to grab an axe and head into the forest!” 

Crusaders forbid she find the value in anything that isn’t nonstop action.

Roll 1d4+1 = 5, +5 Obols! 

//starter for @hisatana and @atypicalsenerio

[magical-site]

I don't know why Tumblr didn't let me post pictures for some days, but anyway...

I got Rhajat

My son with blue hair, pronouns that says "rawr xd derp :p".

I did Shura's map, and right before saving I wanted to pause it and accidently hit another button and basically had to do the map once again :( Hinata died on this map

I got Hisame who actually looks like a pickle, good for him, I hit one faceless with Nyx and realized too late that had Countermagic (I reset it). I also didn't know if I could actually get him, since Hinata died, but I got him!

[normanblogs]

Mister International Philippines 2022: Official Headshots

Mister International Philippines 2022: Official Headshots

Above are the Official Headshots of the 33 Official Candidates for Mister International Philippines 2022. They have leveled up nicely in these photos taken by Jai Murcillo. In the photo grid below, allow me to share my twelve (12) favorite images: MJ Ordillano of Paranaque City Michael Ver Comaling of Leyte Mico Teng of Davao City John Ernest Tanting of Cebu City Andre Cue of Cagayan de Oro…

[hotmenphilippinesblog]

MISTER INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINES 2022 @themisterinternationalph | Preliminaries | Hot Men Philippines - TOP 16 PICKS Carl Joseph Abueg @thecarljoseph_ ZAMBALES Jay Cordovales @jaycordovales ALBAY Jomarl Pabalan @jomarl_pabalan PAMPANGA Kitt Cortez @_kittco_ SAN JUAN CITY Michael Ver Anton Comaling @michaelv3r LEYTE Myron Jude Ordillano @mjordillano_ PARAÑAQUE CITY Godfrey Nikolai Murillo @godfrey_nikolai_murillo MACABEBE, PAMPANGA Mico Angelo Teng @tengmico DAVAO CITY Christian Villarin @ctian1oo8 ILOILO Andre John Cue @andrecue75 CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY Gerald Fullante @geraldfullante NAGA CITY Michael Jhun Andrew Lucas @andrew.lucas0 BATANGAS Mark Avendaño @markk_avendano BIÑAN, LAGUNA Kristzan Karlo Delo Santos @kristzan IMUS, CAVITE Hisam Hit @hisamjehad QUEZON #misterinternationalphilippines #misterinternationalphilippines2022 #hotmenphilippines #hottestmeninthephilippines #hotmenphilippinesjune2022 https://www.instagram.com/p/CfQVDQGL_cG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sabraeal]

Sic Semper Monstrum, Chapter 6

[Read on AO3]

Obiyukiweek 2021, Day 2: Death Upright: Change, Ending, Release Reversed: Refusal to Change, Unfulfillment, Stagnation

A seam strains along a well-worn shoulder, so stretched he can actually hear it creak over the din of the canteen. That clinches is: that asshole’s got to be picking out too-small fatigues from the GI bin.

There’s no other way for him to look like that, biceps testing the tensile strength of cotton every time he takes a sip of his coffee. Sure, this guy’s jacked the way all the active rangers are, ready to heave 750 tons of metal onto their backs at a moment’s notice, but he’s not Mitsuhide. It makes sense when he pops buttons off his coverall, or stretches out one of their dingy cotton tees. But that’s not this asshole.

He’s lean, the kind that telegraphs that taking an elbow from him might be career limiting. There’s no reason the general issue tee should cling to his back like it’s painted on, his coverall hanging off his hips like he’s got an occupation other than freeloading. Shirayuki leans over, fingertips brushing over his sleeve with a laugh--

“Just punch him already,” Kiki drawls, “get it out of your system.”

Zen blinks, suddenly aware there’s still some Taco Tuesday left in his mouth. “What?”

“Kiki.” Dark bruises circle the skin beneath Mitsuhide’s eyes, underscoring the weary strain in his voices. “We shouldn’t be encouraging that sort of behavior.”

“Why not?” Her elbows dig into formica as she leans over her plate, shoveling rice into her mouth. At her father’s table, Kiki knows the use of every spoon, the name of every fork, but this deep in the dome, Ranger Seiran’s never met a meal she can’t inhale in five minutes flat. “I did it.”

Air hisses right through his perfect teeth, the only sign he’s annoyed besides the tense bar of his shoulders. “And you’re lucky you didn’t get caught.”

Kiki hums around the lip of her mug. “You mean like you did with Lugis?”

Mitsuhide doesn’t have skin like his, the sort that flares up like flash paper at the barest hint of sun or taunting. But still his neck flushes red as a burn, so bright Zen’s half tempted to slap it, just so he knows what it’s like.

“T-that was an accident,” he insists, even as his mouth settles into a satisfied smile. “Even the inquiry said so.”

It’s a struggle to keep his own from curling at the edges. “Only because Lugis didn’t want to press charges.”

“Only because he didn’t want it getting out that a girl ran circles around him on the mat,” Kiki corrects, each word a scalpel’s slice, excising those particulars from that shitshow with surgical precision. They can talk about this; Lugis’s challenge and the way Kiki swept him; that he was hardly on his feet when Mitsuhide somehow mislaid his fist and found it in his face, but everything else, the whys of it--

Those are all off the record. Forever. Or at least they would be, if Lugis wasn’t crawling through the dome like a stoat that’s caught whiff of an egg.

But that’s not what this is about. “And you want me to do that with that asshole?” Zen mutters. “Since it made Mitsuhide such good friends with Lugis, after all.”

“Obi isn’t Hisame,” Kiki informs him with the kind of steel in her tone that suggests she won’t be taking critique on that particular assessment. “All your issues with him are external.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he snaps, teeth gritting down.

It’s a mistake, a rookie one at that: never ask a Seiran a question you don’t want the answer to. “He’s got Shirayuki’s attention and you don’t.”

Mitsuhide clears his throat, shoulders set like Zen better plan to shelter in place. This particular storm isn’t about to hit its usual conversational breakwall. “Attention you’d have, if you hadn’t skipped out on your session.”

Zen grips the table to take that hit. But it’s not nearly the last; the stare Kiki turns to him is wide-eyed, half-betrayed. “You didn’t say anything about that.”

“It’s none of your business.” Even as the words fly from him, he knows it’s not fair, that he’s spitting nails into the wind so that they’ll hurt someone else instead of him. It doesn’t stop him, it never does, but a guilty knot settles in his gut. “The sessions are voluntary. They always have been. I don’t need--”

“Someone to keep your head on straight?” Every syllable snaps like ice, her eyes twice as cold. “That was the whole point, wasn’t it? So if something happens to us, you’d have--”

He can’t listen to this, not another word. “That was never the plan! I would never plan for you guys...”

Not coming back. For Redwood Dancer to be left a ruin on the sea floor, their bodies strapped in, hermetically sealed until the ocean wore the jaeger down to parts.

“Nothing is happening to you guys,” he grits out. “Shirayuki was always an addition, not a-- a replacement, because you’ll never--”

“No one can promise that.” Mitsuhide’s never one to throw a first punch, but oh, does he know how to end a fight. All the breath’s knocked clean out of him, and there’s Dancer’s right hand, shoveling down another bite of rice like it’s nothing. “Every time we go out there it’s a flip of a coin. It doesn’t matter how good we are, one day there’s going to be a kaiju that kicks us clean off our feet.”

He shakes his head, wishing the words would fall right out of them. “No. That’s not--”

“Zen.” He’s never heard a siren’s call, but it can’t be as inexorable as Mitsuhide saying his name in that tone, both firm and pitying and mournful all at once. “You know better than anyone. Rangers don’t grow old.”

There’s no thought when he levers himself up from the table, just up with away chasing its heels. He just can’t be here listening to this, not now, not after they just barely crawled home from another kaiju clawing its way across Korea’s shoreline. Not when he knows he should be fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with them-- that he would be if they stopped trying to saddle him with every rookie that rolled out of the simulator and finally put him with the only person that could fill that brace beside him.

“Zen!”

It’s easy to ignore Mitsuhide’s shout over the dinner rush; it’s just part of the noise, a buzz at the edge of his senses. Something to goad him, to push him out of there before either of them think to follow after. Their pity’s the last thing he needs, the last thing he wants. After all, it’s not him that won’t climb in the Conn-Pod, but his--

“Boss!”

Zen blinks, the empty corridor resolving around him. He’d let his feet carry him, their only imperative away-- and now he’s all turned around, every bulkhead the same. He’s heard about this happening to rangers when they lived in the dome too long; chasing the Minotaur, a ranger called it, three drinks down at the local hangar. And no fine little princess to give you string to find your way out.

Except he did have one of those. A person to help him through the labyrinth, even if she couldn’t show him the way. He’d been avoiding her.

That seems stupid now. It’s not like she’s on that asshole’s--

“Hey! Hey, boss.”

Speak of the devil. Zen turns, and there he is, too-tight t-shirt and all: his own personal problem. “What do you want?”

“Nothing.” He holds out his hands, as if that’s proof enough to clear him of ulterior motives. “I just...saw you head out and it looked like...”

Zen’s shoulders square, body braced like they’re back on the mat. “Looked like what?”

Obi’s breath rushes out of him. “It looked like you shouldn’t be alone.”

It’s not until he lifts his hand that he realizes it’s trembling, barely able to push his bangs back where he needs them. “Yeah? And you thought-- what? I’d want to see you?” Even to his own ears, his laugh is bitter, wrong, like it came from someone else’s mouth. “You, the guy who won’t get out of my way?”

Something ripples across this asshole’s face, too fast for him to catch more than its wake. “You think I’m the stick stuck in the mud here?” When those strange cat’s eyes stare at him, it’s out of placid waters, but that grin on his face-- it doesn’t reach them. “Rock, meet hard place.”

Zen’s hands clench, so hard his knuckles creak. “You think this is a joke? You’re trying to shove your ass in a seat that isn’t for you, and you--”

“You think I want to be out there?” He lets out a bark somewhere between pitying and derisive, arms folding over his chest. Zen takes special care not to check how stressed his seams are. “I did my time, Your Highness. I got out. I got told no one would ever look for me again.”

“Then why are you here?” Zen spits. “No one wants you.”

“You don’t know how true I wish that was.” A hand pulls at his shoulder, long fingers digging in around the blade. “But your brother dragged me down the coast because I’m not done. I’ll never be done, because I can’t sit on the sidelines and watch Snotju or Head Banger or whatever cosmic asshole crawls out of the rift wreck another wall.”

His hand lifts, scrubbing through the bristle of his hair, just a shade too shaggy to be regulation. “It’s fucked up, isn’t it, Master? I’m the one who doesn’t want to be here, but I’m the one who’s got the balls to get back in that jaeger. And you--” a cold gaze rakes over him-- “you’re content to sit there and watch the world burn just because I’m not--”

“Shut up.” He’s trembling, every muscle straining against his self-control. “Shut the fuck up. You don’t know a goddamn thing--”

“I’ve been in your head,” that asshole reminds him. “I know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“You don’t.” He can’t. “You don’t fucking know a thing about me.”

He cocks a hip, grin loaded like a bullet. “The prove it.”

Kiki’s right: in the instant where his knuckles hit that cut-glass cheekbone, Zen feels great.

Shirayuki’s office has always put him at ease; he stepped in here the first time before she’d even properly covered the walls, the tension seeping right out of him into the push carpet under his boots. There’s just something about how she fills a space-- something that has nothing to do with furniture or wall hangings or motivational posters-- that makes his brain put out whatever chemical that means safe. He’d never understood why the other rangers avoided her, not when they could have forty minutes in the room equivalent of a warm hug.

But it’s different this time.

“Izana made you call me here.” He’s ramrod straight on her worn couch, hands clenched in his lap. Or rather, right over the throw pillow he moved to sit. “Didn’t he?”

“The Marshal’s personal feelings have nothing to do with this.” Her words snap like a window on a sill, closing on that topic with a sense of finality he expected from the top brass, not their therapist. “The PPDC’s code of conduct is quite clear on the procedure to be followed after a non-sanctioned physical altercation between personnel.”

There’s a loose thread right by the fringe; he’d noticed it months ago, but never dared to tug it. Every time he’d felt the urge, he’d think of dominoes and load-bearing pillars, of the whole edge unraveling in his hands right as she looked at him.

Today, he pulls. It comes right off with a snap. “And that’s the only reason you brought me in?“

Shirayuki turns to him, one incredulous brow raised. “You were the one who cancelled our last session--” her mouth twitches as she twists the knife-- “last minute.”

Well, he deserves that one. Sure, he’s had his reasons, but Shirayuki-- well, she deserved more than one step up from ghosting. If the thought of having to look anyone in the eye after all that hadn’t made his stomach turn for three days, maybe he would have come to that conclusion before Kiki ripped him a new one over it.

“Sorry about that,” he mutters, aware with every word that it’s not enough, that there’s not enough apologies to patch up the trust he broke. “I wasn’t...ready to talk.”

He expects the clap back; yeah I got the message, or but you were ready to take a swing? But he should have known: that’s not how Shirayuki works. She’s a professional, whether that’s what he wants from her or not.

Instead he face softens, right back into his friend. “I know. What happened in the drift can be...intense.” She hesitates, teeth sinking into the plush bow of her lip. “I just wish that you had felt comfortable conveying that to me. As my patient, you’re supposed to be able to control--”

“I don’t want to be your patient.”

Her mouth closes with a grunt, hand pressed to her stomach as if he hit her. “O-oh,” she murmurs, breathless. “I hadn’t realized that you, ah, wanted to terminate our sessions--”

“No!” God, it would be nice to be able to say this all smooth like he’s sure that jacked asshole can, leaning against a wall with his hand right by her head, sexual tension rocking the Richter scale. “I just meant--” his teeth try to grind down his thoughts into something palatable-- “Shirayuki, I don’t want to just be your patient.”

He could fall into her eyes they’re so wide, rounded ‘o’s that match her mouth’s geometry. “Ah, Zen, that’s...”

“I don’t mean because I-I like you.” Even though he does, but there’s rules for that. The kind the PPDC will look the other way on, but not Shirayuki. She’s not from under the dome; she still worries about what people might think outside of it. “I just...wish you were on my side.”

“I am on your side.” Her shoulders pull straight against the back of her chair, her soft look hardening into resolve. “Which is different from telling you want you want to hear.”

He jerks back, cheeks stinging like he’d been slapped. “I didn’t say I wanted that,” he mumbles, hands clenching over his lap. “But I don’t need you to tell me to do whatever it is Izana wants me to either.”

“I wasn’t going to.” The notebooks in her lap closes with a snap, and with trembling fingers, she sets aside her shield. “Izana wants you back in a jeager for the legacy. For the unbroken line of Wisterias standing between humanity and the rift. But I...”

Her eyes lift to his, and they’re no longer the lush, leafy green of a forest, but the hard glint of emerald. “If you get back in that cockpit, you need to do it for yourself.”

It’s an effort not to say, I don’t see the difference.

“I saw you when the siren went off.”

Zen scrubs a hand over his face; he remembers. Their eyes had met over that seething mass of fear and competence, and-- and he’d been so sure that if he saw her, something more than that glimpse of red in the corner of his vision, he’d forget every inch of his resolve and go to her. That he’d just take her in his arms and tell her all the thoughts roiling in the sea of his mind, but--

But he hadn’t. He’s taken one look at her and, without even a pang of guilt, left her there. A real hero.

“Zen.” She says his name so firmly, so seriously, that his head jerks up, gaze tangling with hers. “You don’t want to be on the sidelines. You don’t want to be the general hiding being his troops. You want to be out there, Rex Tyrannis shoulder-to-shoulder with Redwood Dancer. And you could be.”

It’s his breath that’s rasping, the death rattle of the man he’s let himself be these past few years. “How?”

There’s not an ounce of hesitation in her when she says. “You have to choose to move forward.”

And cozy up in the cockpit with that asshole. He thinks about that grin, cocked with a confidence he’s never been in the neighborhood of having, and...

It’s so familiar that his double vision makes his head pound. “I can’t work with that-- Obi. I won’t.”

“I know that...” Her lips press together, bursting apart with a pop. “I know there’s no limit to the amount of people a ranger could potentially drift with, but there’s something...special when you find the right one. That there’s something right about it than can’t ever be replaced.”

He stares, head galloping in his chest. She shouldn’t know that-- there’s no way she could. Most rookies out of the academy just drift successfully once, and that’s it-- that’s their partner, for better or worse, like marrying the first kid you kiss. There’s exceptions-- emergencies, injury, irreconcilable differences-- but even though this job has a high turnover...rangers rarely die alone. There’s not enough people for a paper.

“Yeah, I’ve...heard that too.” Probably from the same mouth she did, though it seems Mitsuhide’s polished the speech since he last gave it. To him, at least.

“I understand that you have a vision of who you want beside you in the pod,” Shirayuki presses, voice growing tighter, more tense with every word. “But Atri’s gone.”

Every drop of blood in him turns to ice. “Atri?”

Her breath hisses out through her teeth, relief slumping her shoulders. “I know no one can be him, but--”

“You think this is about Atri?” A giggle bubbles up from him, bitter on his tongue. “I’ve been sitting here for weeks-- no, months! And you think all this, the whole reason I won’t climb in a jaeger with just anyone off the street is because of Atri?”

Every corner of her face lost. “Isn’t it?”

“No, I...” He pinches the bridge of his nose, like it might stem the pounding of his heart behind his brow. This whole time he’d been so careful, trying to be understood for once, to let someone see him instead of his mistakes--

But he should have known; as long as his brother is obsessed with sending him an endless parade of nobodies which he sits behind a desk, it’ll only be his hang ups hung out for everyone to rifle through.

“I should go,” he finally manages, levering himself to his feet. The room spins, his heartbeat thrumming in his ears, but he can’t stay here, not when she thinks-- when she’s always thought--

“Zen,” she murmurs, voice muffled by distance. “Are you all right?”

--That he’s pathetic. “Yeah.” He stumbles to the door, swinging it open. “I just need to--”

And of course, standing right there is that asshole, hand half-raised to knock.

“Boss,” he breathes, clearly stunned. “I, uh, didn’t think you’d be...”

The awkwardness in the office is palpable, so thick that he might as well be moving through molasses. Before this guy showed up, he’d though he had half a chance; he was practically the only one outside of K-Science that would even look at her, and his sessions always felt like more, but now--

Well, it’s no wonder he didn’t stand half a chance next to him, if she thought he was waiting for Atri.

“Don’t worry about it.” Zen pushes back him, shoulder clipping his. Or at least near enough to claim the feat. “I’d hate to keep you two from your--” date-- “dinner plans.”

Shirayuki’s breath gasps from her. “Zen, wait, we’re not--”

“It’s fine,” he lies, every muscle tense where he stands, fighting the urge to look back. “A couple of things are clearer now.”

It’s not just her. They all think he’s waiting for him, that one day he might stroll back in here like nothing happened, and Zen--

“Please.” Shirayuki’s voice trembles, and even if he’s not looking, he knows she’s at the door, vibrating in its frame. “Let’s just finish the session.”

-- and Zen’s been giving them nothing else to work with. All these years, looking like a kid stood up on prom night.

“No, I just remembered there’s something I’ve got to do.” He forces a smile on his face, giving her a bare hint of it as he peeks over his shoulder. “I’ll see you next week.”

It kills him how much hope lights in her eyes. “Next week?”

“That our appointment, isn’t it?” he says, light tone limping. “Unless I see you around the dome before then.”

“Right,” she breathes, cheeks flushed at both corners of her smile. Obi’s watching her, concern writ large in his eyes, and well-- maybe he’s not as much of an asshole as Zen wanted to believe. “Until then.”

He gets halfway down the hall, before Obi calls out, “Hey, boss...”

It’s clear when he looks back that Obi hadn’t meant to speak, but now that he has, he clear his throat, giving himself a visible shake.

“You could come with us,” he says, hesitant. “If you wanted.”

It’s an olive branch, one he doesn’t deserve. One he should take, if he wants all this to heal over without a scar. But he’s not ready for that, not yet.

“No.” He shakes head. “I wasn’t joking about having something I got to do. Go enjoy yourselves.”

This is a terrible idea.

He knows it the entire time he’s walking, the anxiety cresting the second he sees the plate on the door, engraved and letters painted black: IZANA WISTERIA. MARSHAL.

“Well,” Izana hums from his desk. “Are you going pace outside my office all day, or are you planning to come in?”

Zen lets out a rush of breath and pushes the door open the rest of the way.

“You win,” he says, all in a rush. “I’ll do it. I��ll give him another chance.”

“I think at this point, he’s giving you another chance,” Izana tells him, barely glancing up from his pile of papers. “But...I’ll arrange it.”

He nearly says, I figured you’d have it all arranged already, but bites it back. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure. And Zen.” His brother looks up, capping his pen calmly before he folds his hands over the desk. “It’s not me who wins. It’s humanity.”

“Yeah,” he breathes, meeting that steely gaze. “But I’m not doing it for them.”

For once, his brother doesn’t have anything to say.

It’s Obi who’s locked in first this time.

His cheeky smile is already waiting when Zen steps on deck, body gripped by Rex Tyrannis’s hydraulics when he throws him a wink. “Second time’s the charm, right Your Highness?”

“Third time,” Zen mutters, keying in his code. “It’s third time’s the charm.”

“Right, but you were top of your class.” A guy like Obi shouldn’t be so comfortable when he’s got twenty tons pinning him in place, not when he’s got a face just asking to be hit. “So we can shave one of those off, right?”

“Depends.” His mouth twitches. “Where did you rank?”

Obi’s grin grows stiff enough to float. “I think you’d say I’m a natural talent.”

“That bad huh?”

A laugh saws out of him, raw in the loud silence of the pod. “You have no idea.”

“I think I could take a guess.” The hydraulics hug Zen tight; even lifting to his arm to the panel is a chore. “Ready?”

“For you?” Obi’s mouth stretches into a leer.  For once, he feels like he’s in on the joke. “Any time.”

Don’t chase the rabbit. It’s Obi’s voice that says it; not the way he had before, serious and concerned, a scolding and a reminder. No, this one is a laugh restrained, sing-song. One pill makes you big and one makes you small.

There’s a faint riff of guitar, and Zen’s about to tell him to can it, that putting trash in the drift just clogged up the flow, but--

But between one breath-- one blink and the next, he’s lost in the tide, rolling through his memories rudderless. When a hand grips his shoulder and--

“I’m ready.” Zen’s always too honest, too eager but he’s young here, younger than he ever remembers being wearing the badge. “To pick up the legacy. To be what father meant us to be.”

The memory runs true, his younger self still chatting away with Shidnote, unaware that his whole world’s about to be cut off at the knees. But he’s not watching that now, he’s watching the way shadows crawl across his brother’s face, a storm front that appears and vanishes in the moments no one looks.

“About that.” Izana settles his hand on the desk, but the drumming is no longer bored but...nervous. An asynchronous beat that runs at the speed of his thoughts. “I meant to tell you. I’m being promoted.”

“Promoted” The word still kicks his legs out from under him, still knocks the wind out of his lungs as efficiently as any punch to the gut. “But I thought we would--”

“They want me in a command capacity now that Mother’s taking over Anchorage.” Izana won’t look at him. The man who has built his career on being able to stare down Orochi in Sagami Bay can’t bear to look him in the eye. “I’m being taken off active duty.”

“But--” He looks between them. “But--”

“But--”

“But--”

The memory stutters. It’s him, he’s the one who’s pushing away. He’d always thought he couldn’t give this to someone, to some guy right off the street, someone who might pity him, but it’s-- it’s him. He can’t look at this. He can’t face failure another time.

And he doesn’t know how to stop.

Hey. Obi’s voice is too close, but he’s just an outline in the drift, blues and grays fuzzing between misfiring synapses. Hey, we don’t have to watch this.

They do. They have to, if he’s going to get through this.

Right. There’s no way for Obi to sigh here, where there’s no air, but he does, long and loud. It sounds...different. Almost...feminine. I have worse. Want to see me wet the bed when I was--?

The words fuzz before they can continue. Go ahead, Obi says, sounding like himself. Take as much time as you need. It’s not like we have clocks here.

Zen can’t nod here, not without a body, but he breathes, one solid in and out--

“It’s supposed to be us.” Even with the distance of time, every word is carves straight from his flesh, laid out on a platter for his brother to see. “We’re supposed to carry on the legacy.”

“Shidnote will continue on in his current capacity,” Izana explains, bored, as if he didn’t even speak. “He’s served me well. I’m sure you’ll both be sufficiently compatible.”

“But--” Zen grits his teeth. “It’s supposed to be us. Why are you giving me an excuse--?

He blinks. He never said that. He’d been thinking it the whole way to his bunk, but in the moment it had only been a yes sir. I understand, sir.

Then why--

“It’s an excuse.” The shine’s all worn off Atri’s grin, baring the raw edge beneath. “That’s all I’ve ever been to you.”

Scrap litters the floor at his feet; he’s never known what jaeger-grade parts sold for on the black market, but he knows it’s not pocket money. This is a small fortune if someone knew where to sell it.

Which clearly Atri does.

“You’re going to blame me?” Zen’s laugh limps with bitterness. “I catch you with stolen goods, and it’s my--?”

“It’s not stolen, it’s salvage,” Atri snaps, snatching a length of steel from his hands. “It’s not like they’re using it.”

A lie-- there’s not a shred of steel or wire that’s wasted in the dome. Jaegars come with a price tag that only governments can pay, and any corner that can be safely cut on maintenance is considered savings passed onto tax payers. There’s no way he can’t know it, not after six months, but--

He doesn’t care. He never did.

“This is why you agreed to be my copilot.” Every word aches as he births them from his lips, a truth that cuts even as he speaks it. “You didn’t care about protecting your friends. You just wanted access to parts.”

Atri shrugs, the barest twitch of his shoulders. “I never said I gave a single fuck about all that hero shit. You just assumed I did, because you do.”

“But the drift...” His breath wheezes, the way it did when he was a kid, before his dad paid for all that to be fixed. “How did you...?”

“I just thought about the stuff you cared about. Friends. Kaiju. Me.” Atri’s grin turns smug. “Some of us don’t wear our heart on our sleeves, Wisteria.”

Wow. Obi’s outline fuzzes as he circles behind Atri, a single brow raised. He’s a real fucknut, huh?

His memories are jumbles, him-now and him-then all tumbled together until his first instinct is to jump to Atri’s defense. He may not be an academy-trained ranger, someone who has a lifetime worth of experience in a simulator, but put him in Rex Tyrannis and he’ll--

Steal the toilet cover? Obi offers, mouth canting into that insufferable grin. The one that always reminded him of--

Ah.

Obi darts a glance to where Atri stands frozen beside him. Jeeze, you really know how to hit a guy where he lives. You think I look like this asshole?

Just the grin, really. He’s almost a head taller, broader in the shoulders, and Asian besides. Better looking too--

Obi’s smile stretches into a leer. You don’t say, bossman?

Maybe Atri’s right. He’s got to get better about what he thinks about in the drift. Especially with someone this insufferable around.

If anything, Obi’s more amused. So it’s this guy though, he’s whole hold up you have with me? It’s not--

Against his will, Atri springs to life, mouth curled into his nastiest sneer when he says “I don’t know why you’re acting so betrayed. After all, you only wanted me to get back at the Marshal, and I played my part, didn’t I? I’m sure he’d jump in the pod if that meant he could be rid of me.”

“That’s not--” true, he should say. He can’t though, not when he’s not this-Zen, when he’s just looking out from his eyes, straight into Obi’s.

“Yeah.” There’s no spit to swallow in the drift, but he does anyway, a force of habit. “It is.”

The memory fuzzes away from him, and it’s just them now, two men braced in the Conn-pod, staring at each other through their visors.

“Right hemisphere, calibrated.” Zen blinks, watching as his hand opens and closes, the robotic voice’s dulcet tones washing over him.

“I never wanted this, you know,” he murmurs, “not if it wasn’t with my brother. That’s how it was supposed to be, me and him versus the kaiju.”

“Left hemisphere, calibrated.” His arms seem to move on his own, and it’s strange how he can’t keep the smile off his face this time. It feels good, moving like this again.

“No,” he breathes. “It was supposed to be me and him versus the world.”

“Ready to activate the jeager.“

Obi’s arms lift, a fighting stance to mirror his. It’s easy, so easy. Easier than he ever thought it could be. “What changed?”

He’d shrug, if the hydraulics would let him, but this isn’t Redwood Dancer. “Seemed like a shitty reason not to save the world.”

“Calibration complete.”

Obi grins, teeth shining bright under the lights of his visor. “Doc tell you that?”

Zen laughs. “Pretty much.”

“She’s got a gift,” Obi agrees, hands moving in sync with his. “And it’s making you feel like an asshole.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Looks like you jokers are getting along,” Kiki deadpans through their helmets. “How do you feel about taking Rex out for a drag?”

“After being cramped under this dome for months, Princess?” Obi drawls, tossing him a conspiratorial wink. “It’d be my pleasure.”

“Just give us a sec!” It’s been a long time since Zen’s talked much with the crew in CIC, but he recognizes that voice-- Yuzuri, one of Shirayuki’s friends. The peppy one with the cute accessories. The one that told him she’d give him cement shoes if he made her cry. “Let’s see if we can get you off your leash.”

He’d always liked her. Hopefully the feeling’s mutual, since she’s right next to the plug.

“Hey, boss.”

Zen blinks, glancing across the cockpit. “Yeah?”

“I know Atri was supposed to be a big fuck you to His Majesty, but...” He hesitates, thoughtful. “You drifted with the Big Guy for a while after that. Why?”

“Ah--”

It’s impossible not to think of it, the siren rising in the air, the men running past them, voices drowned out by the drone.

“I’ll do it,” he says, glaring up at the man across from him. “At least you know you’re just a seat warmer.”

“Zen--”

He blinks, the memory stuttering beneath him. That’s not what Mitsuhide called him then, that wasn’t until after--

“Zen.”

That’s not inside the memory, that’s inside his helmet. “Mitsuhide?”

“You’re out of alignment.”

He shakes his head, uncomprehending. “What do you--?”

“You’re out of alignment.” He repeats, each words strained. “You both chased the rabbit, and...Obi went straight down the rabbit hole.”

It doesn’t make any sense. “But I--”

“You have to go get him,” Mitsuhide says, dire. “He’s pointing the plasma cannon at Mission Control.”

[emblemxeno]

There was a reason as to why Fates's localization was that way, and different from Awakening where it seems only Henry got hit with the mistranslation. Basically, before Fates was localized, Kotaku launched an article claiming that the Sol*il and M Corrin support featured r*pe (it doesnt) and drugging (it doesnt) of a lesbian (Soleil isnt). It spread like wildfire and in order to try to curb this negative press (part 1)

(part 2) The localization tried to remove every possible controversional thing from Fates, and slamming humor where there wasnt before. As an explanation on the Sol*il thing, she is based on a sexist and homophobic trope where the girl likes girls as a sign of immaturity and when she grows up she "matures" and likes man. So, her OG support featured her being sad over how distracted she was over cute girls and wanting to be able to focus on the army. Corn gave to her a potion that made

(part 3) That made her see woman as man and man as woman. Then she runs off excited that she will be able to see more cute girls that she never saw before (the guys). A support featured Soleil, already off the effects, and Corn both apologizing, and promising to be more focused. It is indeed a shit ass support because its based on a shit ass trope. But no news article talked about that and instead made clickbaits and then Localization tried to damage control and you know how it ended up.

Oh don't worry anon, I know exactly about the Soleil thing, haha.

I actually made an entire post about why I personally don't like her, referencing the same points you bring up.

It just boggles the mind that Treehouse would see that, and then change so much besides that. Like, Hisame is now more pickle obsessed when him liking pickled vegetables is just one aspect of his quirk of behaving like an old man. Effie is now a brash gym bro who seemed to only care about Elise instead of a soft spoken girl who happened to be freakishly strong and cared about everybody to the point where she talked a lot about being the army's shield. How Xander was made more "prince charming" like, Camilla's "mommy" traits were made more pronounced, Rhajat's more rude and abrasive instead of just being antisocial and awkward.

One or two instances of character's being overtly different from how they were in the original JP script is fine, not everything can be done perfectly. But when it happens this much, it begs multiple questions: why do that? was there nobody who checked the work to make sure it was okay? did anybody actually care?

I know that too much meddling from the home JP company can cause problems on its own (Sonic Adventure 2 is a good example of that) but I honestly think that someone from IS should've been brought on to observe or help communicate the intent of things properly within reason of localization.