#and i translated the excerpts from the novel myself

[ueasking]

Decided to turn my late-night ramblings on Starstruck into an actual post for the three people who might be interested in a little bit more of Yoojae's characterization in the source material. Yoojae reacted poorly to Hanjoon's confession, to say the least, but the novel gives much more insight into why Yoojae reacted the way that he did.

Now the show didn't really explain how Yoojae found out where Hanjoon lived, but in the novel, Yoojae goes to see Hanjoon at his old home the day before the college entrance exam to give him something, only to be told by the landlord that Hanjoon and his mom moved out ages ago. The next day, after the college entrance exam, Yoojae goes to see the owner of the boxing club, who has been feeding Hanjoon meals because he doesn't have enough money for his meals. It is the boxing club owner who fills Yoojae in about Hanjoon's current predicament.

After Yoojae says, "Don't try to preserve your dignity in front of me," to Hanjoon, he also says the following:

Throughout high school, I often went to school hungry, so you invited me to your home to eat. This happened countless times. Why did you do so? Wasn't it because we're friends? So why can't I do the same for you? Why is it that I am allowed to rely on you, but you can't rely on me? If things are difficult, just say so. What's so difficult about that?

Both of them grew up in poverty in the same neighborhood so neither are strangers to not having enough money to buy food. However, while Yoojae's family has made a small fortune and moved into an apartment in a fancier neighborhood, Hanjoon and his mom have been kicked out of their home. Nevertheless, having been through similar situations himself, Yoojae is painfully aware of what it's like to be so poor as to go without meals, as well as not wanting to be seen as a charity case and pitied by others. Thus, after Yoojae's family escapes poverty, Yoojae treats Hanjoon the same as he always has, save for small things like occasionally buying a few snacks and offering to pay for Hanjoon at the comic cafe. Yoojae did not want to tell Hanjoon about his family's newfound wealth on account of Hanjoon's family's finances. Especially after witnessing his parents show off to everyone, Yoojae had no desire at all to show off or even tell others about his family's wealth. As for Hanjoon, he did not want to be a downer about his own situation in the face of Yoojae's "good fortune."

Both of them do what they think is in the other's best interests, but they still struggle to understand where the other is coming from. Moreover, a lot of Yoojae's thoughts and experiences on love and relationships seem to reflect what he has witnessed from his parents, who constantly fight and blame one another. At times, they also force him to take sides. Therefore, it's no wonder that he has such a warped view of love and relationship. And this isn't even taking into account the internalized homophobia that others have mentioned as well.

Hanjoon loves Yoojae so much, and has loved him for so long, that he takes the opportunity to express his love to Yoojae through an expensive heart-shaped box of chocolates, under the pretense of wishing Yoojae good luck on the college entrance exam. We see how happy Hanjoon is to buy the box of chocolates and give them to Yoojae, and then how crushed he is when Yoojae throws it on the floor. But all Yoojae sees is that Hanjoon spent money he doesn't have on the fancy chocolates.

Yoojae reacted poorly, there's no question about that. However, I do think that the rest of the dialogue, which was cut from the show episode 4, gives more insight into what was going on in Yoojae’s mind at the time. [edit: portions of this dialogue were in episode 5]

Are you threatening me?

Are you saying that if I don’t go out with you, I won’t be able to see you ever again? How could you say something like that to me?

You must have known that there was no way that I would ever agree to something as ridiculous as that. So why did you say it to me? Are you really going to never see me again? Are you really going to give me up just for that sort of reason?

Contact me once you’ve sorted out your feelings.

My interpretation is that Yoojae viewed Hanjoon's confession as emotional blackmail of some kind, which coupled with his own confusion regarding his feelings toward Hanjoon, led him to react even more strongly. All this is to say that yes, Yoojae was behaving like an immature teenager, but his life experiences shaped him to be that imperfect person, and he wasn't simply being a jerk just for the hell of it.

That's all I have to say about Starstruck for now and if you're still reading this, thank you for reading my word vomit💕

[suffarustuffaru]

Hello!

A bit of a weird ask, so sorry in advance.

What methods/sites would you recommend using for reading Arcs 5-8 of Re:Zero?

I’ve almost finished season 2 of the anime, and I’m pretty sure this has become one of my new favourite anime/works of media in general. 

And considering I keep spoiling myself anyway when I look at Re: Zero tumblr blogs, I figured I should just find a way to catch up with the rest of the series. 

You seem smart, and have clearly read Arcs 5-8, so I was hoping that you would be able to provide some advice. 

Thanks!

hi there!! :D no worries for the ask, its cool to have another rezero fan join in the fandom especially on tumblr (which is a very small, curated circle of a bunch of us trading posts around a campfire HAH) and i hope youve really been enjoying the anime and your stay here so far!! :o this is absolutely one of my favorite media as well (if. if you couldnt tell by the blog pfft) and thanks for the compliments haah i am glad to seem smart.

but yes i gotchu on where to read!! ill be giving you a pretty detailed explanation/guide. (this explanation also goes mainly for english speakers / people who wanna experience rezero in english.) (and of course if any other seasoned fans are seeing this feel free to add on if i miss anything or correct me if needed)

Main Route Stuff:

witchculttranslations is where you can find the translations for the entire main route (which is arcs 1-8). this page is where youll find the main table of contents for each arc and you can find arcs 5-8 there!

note that arc 8, at the time of me writing this ask, is still a work-in-progress and the team of translators in this fandom are always hard at work to translate each chapter. also note that arcs 7-8 are "conjoined arcs" - think of it like arc 7 is part 1 and arc 8 is part 2. so if you happen to get caught up to where rezero is currently at, the rezero subreddit regularly updates chat + update threads whenever new rezero novel content comes out in general. youll find updates on translations or summaries for new chapters there.

there's also distinction between web novel and light novel - web novel are the chapters that tappei releases online, light novel are the official finished versions of the chapters that are released for sale. sometimes there's changes between the web novel and the light novel, but for the most part it's either minor changes to improve on the web novel - sometimes it's major, but for arcs 5-8 iirc there isnt any major changes that you need to worry about.

just note that in the wn translations, all/almost all dialogue is written in script-style. let me show a small excerpt from arc 5 chapter 1:

???: “Good job, Subaru, I suppose.” A small silhouette enters Subaru’s view from above. A loveable girl with long, cream hair and an extravagant outfit—Beatrice. Her fluttering dress looks out of place in the meadow as she presents Subaru with a towel. He accepts it and vigorously towels his head dry. Subaru: “Ah, thanks. Was looking to cool down so this’s perfect.”

so yeah the wn will be formatted like this by the way, just in case you didnt know this yet!! i hope thats not much of a turnoff or anything, but dont worry you get used to it - and the story is still pretty great anyway!!

also dont bother with arcs 1-3 wn. its not so important (and you already know all the major info because youve seen the anime) and also arcs 1-3 wn doesnt have the Best writing. tappei himself had to make extremely major changes for the light novel and the light novel (along with the anime and manga) is the finished and polished result.

and of course the light novel comes with illustrations for each arc. the web novel sometimes includes images as well at the beginning of each chapter, but if youd like to see finished and official illustrations for various scenes throughout arc 5-8 its easy to find them if you search them up online!!

the anime also has a few bits of Important cut content from arcs 3-4 - unfortunately i dont have any resources on hand for this ;-;;; but you can look this up on rezero reddit or online in general since a lot of people have made summaries about this. from what i remember in arc 3 (which is the royal selection/white whale/petelgeuse half of season 1!), the main thing is just the reveal that al has some sort of connection to ram (and rem by extension), some sort of connection to satella possibly, and he is ALSO someone that was isekaied into rezero's fantasy world.

as for arc 4 (which is season 2 of course), the anime got down almost all of the general important info you need to know, but there's a lot of important information in the last parts of arc 4 that the anime didnt include. the anime may include this information (and the al stuff from arc 3) later, but you'll need to know it for arcs 5-8. you can find the witchcultranslations guide for arc 4 here - scroll down and youll find the chapter called Appendix: Advent!! you'll need the info in that chapter for later.

if you want, you can also read the chapters after that - theyre sorted under One Day II and are the official arc 4 interludes that take place before arc 5. i do recommend reading through them, but theyre mainly characterization stuff, character dynamics post-arc 4, everyone trying to recover after arc 4, etc etc. the most important info in there is leadup for arc 5 (all the post-arc 4 aftermath stuff) and also some info/introduction on clind and annerose (who are characters that are briefly shown in the anime for like two seconds). these two do play minor roles in arc 4/beginning of 5, but theyre hinted to be important for later. if youre in a hurry to get to arc 5, totally fine to just skim through it, get basic info on clind and annerose then continue into arc 5 or something. or you can look at their wiki pages - totally cool to enjoy rezero however you wish. it's a LOT of reading dont get me wrong HAH.

as for the manga - this is not required reading or anything, the manga has only done arcs 1-4 atm so it's not really super relevant to you since youre almost done with arc 4 already via the anime!! but of course if you havent done so youre welcome to check it out if youd like, the manga artists are pretty great imo. im just gonna show some art from the manga artists here:

isnt it pretty? :O very nice stuff.

anyway thats it for main route content!! now i gotta explain side content.

Side Content:

you can find witchculttranslations' side story table of contents here, which very neatly shows you Every Single Side Story and is updated regularly every time tappei comes out with new side content. and trust me, tappei makes A Lot of side content. i guarantee you a lot of rezero fans havent read every side story (and i still have a lot of side stories to catch up on myself), so theres absolutely no need to read every single side story!! honestly just read the ones you find interesting + the ones that are required reading! im not sure how much of the side content youve heard about, but ill give you a rundown:

this extremely helpful google spreadsheet here (thats also regularly updated) tells you how important each side story is and where you can find it so you dont have to go on a wild goose chase wondering which ones you need to read for the main story. rezero side stories are on a sliding scale of just silly stuff tappei wrote for fun to this is VERY crucial for the main story. that google spreadsheet should help you out with that - both the spreadsheet and witchculttranslations have links to almost every side story available.

(the spreadsheet also tells you important details and who it's centered around + when each side story is safe to read free of spoilers after a certain point - so it's easy to decide when you wanna read the side stories and WHICH side stories you'd like to read!)

also i guarantee you that if you have a favorite character in rezero that character Probably has a ton of side content theyre featured in - so i recommend just hunting down all their side content and devouring it whole because im sure youll have a fun time with that. a lot of side content also fleshes out a ton of side characters as well in general - people who Looked shallow in the anime ARENT shallow at all, i promise. many people have hidden depths, which is one of the fun parts of rezero!

witchculttranslations and the google spreadsheet also tell you what order you might wanna read in terms of when each one takes place. i recommend following that order for the most part if youd like, but if you wanna binge read side content or something later you can also do that after reading arc 6.

that's how i experienced the side stories myself (i started reading them after finishing up with the arcs 5-6 plot) and in a way, i would say that might just be the easiest way to do it given a lot of the side stories take place during arcs 1-6 or before the events of arcs 1-6. itll make you go "ohhh thats what was happening with these background characters during *insert event here that was focused on in the main story*" or "ohhh thats why These Guys are like this" a lot pfft. so its easier to just get out the most important ones / the ones thatre most interesting to you all in a row after finishing up with arc 6 👍

The Ex Novels:

these are THE MOST IMPORTANT side stories. :o theyll be extremely important for arcs 7-8 especially!! also because these are light novels the dialogue is written in normal narrative format so hooray for that!!

anyway theres five ex novels. i recommend reading these after arc 6 so you got them fresh on the brain for arcs 7-8.

however if you happen to be a crusch camp fan, you can read ex novels 1-3 at any time youd like!! these flesh out characters like crusch, felix, wilhelm, and theresia (some of the wilhelm and theresia content was shown a bit in season 1 of the anime!) so youd probably enjoy these even more if youre a fan of any of them. ex novel four also features felix, julius, and reinhard too, if that interests you! (as a knight fan ex novel 4 was my favorite akdndn and i loved ex 1!!). but yeah in general though read the ex novels in order (from 1 to 5 of course) so you dont spoil yourself for other ex novels, but as i said - you can read 1-3 at any time, and in general its best to read the rest of the ex novels after arc 6.

the ex novels in general mainly focus on important historical events in the rezero world and stuff that happens before arc 1. the ex novels are also our first introduction to the nation and empire of vollachia—this is also the country that priscilla is from (and al also came from there)!! you get introduced to vollachia's whole deal in these novels. youll need this info for later!

anyway witchculttranslations and the google sheet dont have links to them because theyre published + officially translated light novels that are easiest to access by buying them, so harder to get a free pdf of them. however i got you (and your wallet) covered because i got pdfs for all of them right here (if these links dont work let me know!):

ex novel 1 - crusch and felix-centric

ex novel 2 - wilhelm and theresia-centric

ex novel 3 - wilhelm and theresia-centric

ex novel 4 - felix, julius, and reinhard-centric

ex novel 5 - priscilla and al-centric

anyway thats the ex novels in a nutshell!! and of course if you want a physical copy of these books (or any of the rezero light novels in general) in english you can buy these online (sites like amazon has them) or at a bookstore. if you live in the US like i do, barnes and noble has them irl as well. or if you happen to live near a kinokuniya store, they also sell rezero irl. kinokuniya is also specifically for japanese media so i highly recommend giving it a try if you happen to be near one (i got a rezero keychain from there also hah, rezero merch is a little hard to get a hold of sometimes).

rezero light novels are also translated in a few other languages (iirc spanish and polish are some of the other languages its translated in) so if youd like that too you can look into it and buy some!!

The If Routes:

if youre not familiar with these by now, theyre basically "what if"/ alternate universe stories where subaru makes a different and Very Major choice at different points of the main route. theyre not necessarily required reading, but some do have some important lore regarding several of the characters and in general most of them are extremely important AUs for rezero that emphasize all the themes of the story. they also show the Insane butterfly effect of subaru’s decisions.

and if youve gotten this far with the anime already im gonna assume you probably like subaru at least a little bit? :o yeah his character gets fleshed out in Very Interesting ways in these routes. other characters also get changed in various ways due to his decisions!

new ifs are also released typically every year on subaru's birthday - april 1. so with every april 1 the entire fandom plays russian roulette because either the if will be a super silly one or a Very Important one LMAO.

also these ifs tend to be mentioned a lot in fandom bc theyre very beloved and interesting side stories, so i highly recommend choosing which ones you find interesting and just have fun reading them!! you can find them on the spreadsheet, if you want to read them in a more chronological order, or you can find them on the main witchculttranslations website as tabs on the side underneath Re:Zero If Stories. (but ill provide the links to each separate one in this post also.)

all current if routes at the moment take place somewhere in the arcs 1-6 range, so you can look at them either after arc 6, like i said, or in order as you read along with the main route. ill give a quick breakdown of each if just in case!!

Pride If - diverges from arc 1; subaru doesnt call for help when fighting the three thugs in the alleyway. slight spoilers for one part of arc 5 in like One Scene of pride if.

Wrath If - diverges from arc 2; subaru accepts beatrice’s offer to help in the loop where rem dies + subaru tries to run away from the mansion. very minor spoilers for ex novels/arc 7-8 (characters who appear in those arcs appear in wrath if).

Sloth If - diverges from arc 3; subaru gives up and runs away with rem instead of dealing with the arc 3 conflict. very minor spoilers (a character who later appears in arc 8 appears here).

Aganau If - diverges from arc 3; in the loop where rem dies in the cave and subaru carries her back to the mansion, he decides to go down another route away from the mansion instead. years later, he’s now older and still alive after almost everyone else has died. this if is one of the routes in the now discontinued lost in memories mobile game (and this is The Most Important route out of the whole bunch anyway). you can find a playthrough + english translation of it here.

Greed If - diverges from arc 4; subaru accepts echidna’s contract. major spoilers for arc 4 of course. minor spoilers for arc 5+ (small plot beats are mentioned iirc). a bit of important lore for characters like echidna and clind. the first edition of it can be found here - make sure to read this first. this is because this if was also given a longer and polished light novel version of it (it was a special that came with some of the season 2 blueray dvd packages?) and you can find an english translation for the extended + final version under the Blueray Novels and Databooks section of witchculttranslations' side content page.

Gluttony If - diverges from arc 6. major spoilers for arcs 5-6.

Mimigau If - this is just a genderbend au that tappei made that starts from arc 1!! almost nothing is changed besides the characters’ genders, biological sex, names, etc. i sadly dont have a link to this one, but iirc this hasnt been fully translated yet? and it's also very much not that important of an if lore-wise so you're not missing out on much. the genderbent character names are really fun though!

Lust If - this is, supposedly, an if that tappei wrote in one sitting and then decided to delete off of the official rezero wn site. this if is just an april fools joke where subaru gets a harem of various rezero girls. and imo its not Particularly Good, but it was meant to be a joke and tappei just wrote it for no reason so ig the quality makes sense haah. and also sadly that harem includes petra iirc which. yeah. not what id call great.

Vainglory If / School If - basically a canon high school au for all of rezero! not a necessary read at all but it's super silly and fun. and if you like anastasia and/or priscilla they have a lot of Fun Interactions in this one. im not sure if all of this if is english translated yet, but you can find chapter one here.

Other Various Ifs from Lost In Memories - i dont have the links to all of these, but lost in memories has a lot of other more minor aus as well, aganau if is just the most important + the darkest one. the other ifs are more lighthearted and just extra stuff for funsies. other big examples include a julius if (subaru calls for help in arc 1 and julius is the one who comes to help), a reinhard if of sorts (takes place around arcs 1-2, it's a sillier story where reinhard just keeps appearing out of nowhere to help subaru every time he needs help), and also an otto if (arc 1 divergence; subaru gets involved with otto and the two of them decide to start a mayonnaise business).

A Side Note About Rezero Video Games:

ok i know your ask is mainly about how to READ rezero but i figured i might as well explain this really quick just in case!!

there are a bunch of rezero video games and none of them are really Necessary, so dont worry about it. theyre either like - silly alternate universe stuff or theyre a bit more of the serious au variety (like aganau if, as mentioned earlier. i dont know every single rezero video game out there (and i think theres still new ones in the works at the time of me writing this??) and also almost none of them are english translated so its hard to experience them if you dont understand japanese.

the two most important ones (aka the ones with more story in them) are gonna be prophecy of the throne and lost in memories (which i mentioned earlier!). and again, these games are not necessary content - theyre mostly just side content that you can look at/watch/play through for fun and if you just wanna see more of your faves. you can check them out at any time since they dont have any major arc 5-8 spoilers.

Prophecy of the Throne - this is visual novel + a divergence of arc 3 where a new and sixth royal candidate emerges and it looks like emilia is the fake royal candidate here.... so yeah the plot is just. it's like a game of among us. but it's a fun story with a lot of different character interactions (so if you really like the entire cast of rezero youre in luck!!) and features a tiny bit of lore about some powerful groups in the fantasy world. a few of subarus failed loops in this one are also Particularly Brutal. you can watch gameplay of it on youtube or play through it yourself (i know that the game IS on steam too) since it's fully english translated (and all the jp vas and english vas reprised their roles as well).

Lost In Memories - as mentioned earlier, this is a now discontinued mobile game. iirc it was a gacha game? a sort of fighting game? and also it's narrative driven with a bunch of different routes. you can find the wiki for it here - it summarizes a lot of the main story beats. theres no official english translations for this game, but theres a lot of fan translations that you can find on stuff like youtube if youre ever interested in any part of the game. also it has a really fun opening song and animated sequence. nonoc's rezero music is great <3

A Side Note About Rezero Youtube:

theres a lot of summary videos for both main content chapters and side stories on youtube. im not sure how accurate these videos are, but i know that at the very least they can give you a brief rundown on the main points for certain chapters/side stories if thats something youd like to have!

theres also an entire team of people making a fan-run audiobook for arc 5. ive given some of their episodes a listen, and i can confirm that theyre absolutely great. you can find their readings of chapter 1-47 on spotify, and on their youtube channel theyre up to chapter 62. i think theyve also expressed their interest in branching out into other rezero content as well? :o so if thats also something youre interested in you can check them out there!

In Conclusion

anyway, that should be all you need to know - thats a summary of basically all important rezero content from here on out!! i know this is like. Super detailed. so i hope that this was helpful and didnt scare you away or anything hah. and i hope you have fun reading through rezero :o !! you got a lot of content to choose from thats for sure!!

but yeah ty for the ask, i hope i explained everything clearly enough :o !! and if you need any clarification feel free to ask!!

[tamayula-hl]

Show Ominis making the baby 🥵

Lol 🤣🤣🤣 Of course I will draw it one day! I want to draw it so badly! In fact, I have written a scene in my novel where Ominis is about to make a baby! Below is a relatively wholesome excerpt from that novel that I translated. It is a machine translation, so there are probably some unnatural parts. I hope one day to turn this novel into a manga ...

**********

"(Y/N)…!"

Before I knew it, my body had risen from the sofa and I found myself hugging (Y/N) tightly. I don't know what reason I gave her a hug. But right now, if I didn't hold (Y/N)'s body like this, I was so anxious and uneasy that I couldn't stand it.

I hear (Y/N) gasp again at my sudden impulsive action. Her body was clearly strong as if she was surprised, but there was no room for me to care about her like that now. I just put my arms around her, driven by anxiety, and (Y/N) let out a thin voice like a rat about to be strangled by a snake.

"…, I'm in pain, Ominis…. What's wrong…?"

She calls out to me in a completely bewildered manner. The body shook as if it was struggling in my arms.

I know she is doing so reflexively because the hug is too strong. But I foolishly imagine that this is what it will feel like one day when my beloved girlfriend hates me and rejects me.

"I want to make love with you right now. I really want you right now, I can't stop wanting you…" "I……." "Please take my love right now… please…"

I beg for forgiveness, but I don't even have time to wait for the answer, and I put my face to (Y/N)'s lips as it is. The most important thing to remember is that you can't see it, but it's a magnet. Even though I couldn't see it, I easily caught the position of her lips as if they were attracted by a magnet, and I roughly placed my own lips on top of hers as if I was going to smash them.

The warmth and softness she knows so well - I feel their rawness through her lips, and I am instantly filled with pleasure. It seems that the lips are the second most sensitive part of the body to touch after the fingertips. For me, as a blind man, it was very important to kiss her body in this way, in order to understand the current state of my beloved girlfriend. I taste her lips, which should be tasteless but for some reason feel irresistibly sweet, and peck at them roughly and urgently. As I relaxed my arms with the satisfaction that welled up behind the ugly feelings, I felt the strength in (Y/N)'s body disappear. A kiss that was too mature, jealous and hasty. (Y/N) does not reject me in such a one-sided way, but just quietly accepts me. The moment I felt those lovely lips gradually becoming hotter and hotter - I finally couldn't resist and lifted her body up while continuing to kiss her.

"Ominis…" "I'm going to take you to bed. I want to touch you as much as I can right now." "But… I need to take a shower…" "No need. I can't wait any longer. To tell you the truth, I don't even want to wait to go to the bedroom like this.

I hold her body in my arms, but we don't forget to keep our faces close to each other, and in no time at all we reach the bedroom. I have never been so grateful to have only rented a small room due to financial problems. I place (Y/N)'s body on the bed as gently as possible while suppressing my impatience, and then without hesitation I cover her up. I heard the inorganic creaking of the cheap bed somewhere in the distance and resumed rough kisses, making sure to wrap my fingertips around both of her flaming cheeks.

'… haha ……… kissing you is really perfect and great… Even after all these years, just kissing you like this makes me the most horny ……."

Even though I'm just assembling her on the bed and kissing her, I'm overcome by a strong arousal that seems to shake every cell in my body, and my breathing naturally becomes shallow. And it's not just me - (Y/N), who's being left under me, is breathing hard too - I can't help it anymore, I can't stand it.

"(Y/N)…… all I've ever known is kissing you… That kiss in the Undercroft of Hogwarts was my first kiss. (Y/N) would you be the same as me…?"

Although she is a little confused, she nods her head in embarrassment (Y/N). The moment I felt that with the friction between my fingertips and lips, I felt a strange, eerie sense of pleasure welling up inside me - and my spine shivered slightly.

"I'm so glad… I'm the only one who knows how wonderful these lips feel. ……"

My own mouth tried to draw an arc as if to pull back. I try to hold it back somehow, but however I could not hide the ecstasy in my own muttering voice. A rapt, dark sense of pleasure runs through my body, along with the blood invaded by arousal.

"Y/N, you even gave me your Virgin. I was really happy at that time. …… I knew that you loved me enough to do such a reckless thing, and I didn't want to let you go again. You gave me your first kiss, your Virgin, your love for me, everything, and I… never want anyone to steal it from me…'

While I was taking away (Y/N)'s clothes one by one, I revealed my feelings to her in a whisper, but like a stormy wave.

[fictionfixations]

what

...my. my notes...!???? i put ALL my notes in the summary so they don't crowd the main text area. i dont use the comment thing

(you have to go to google drive now and look at file information and scroll. gee thanks. i put it in summary because it was easy to look back to while i was writing instead of switching tabs. guess thats fucked now.)

..now im glad i write down my notes on discord first lmFao. so i can STILL avoid drive (i barely even use drive as it is..). with the exception of notes i wrote down there instead of on disc. at least its usually story-related notes that i write down as a part of the fic so it doesnt matter that much... haha.

(spoilers for jjk shibuya arc)

and that i decided to put my notes in the main writing area for once because. because! (idfk my reasoning)

anyway while im here take another wip excerpt!

continuation from my previous wip excerpt

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

Book 1 and 6 spoilers, slight novel spoilers (havent read it myself but ive seen ppl talk about parts of it, which is where the embrace and umbilical cord comes from)

the lack of honorifics on trey after he used his UM (thats the right abbreviation right?) is what cater actually does to trey in book 1 (and is intentional. in the novel its mentioned that cater only uses yobisute with trey when he's being serious)

also this is a mix of canon dialogue and non-canon dialogue

also i cant remember what honorifics teachers use with their students. or what crowley uses. i know he uses last names, but idfk if he uses kun or, say, san. shrug. teachers in general use like kun and chan tho i think so.

-ryocho means like. dormitory leader, or dormitory director, i think. ive seen fan translations use it so im taking it.

--------

anyway thats a lot.

i dont know when cater ended up as one of my favorites (i wanted to write him to get used to writing his character cause he and idia were the ones who i admittedly struggled with the most. but now im here with this super long cater-centric fic.)

[dykepuppet]

i ought to write about this at length, but my awful high school never made us read any classical novels with any mind for analysis. I remember reading excerpts of a Merchant of Venice at 14, a modern translation of Hamlet at 17, Of Mice and Men at 16... Catcher in the Rye at 13 and the Outsiders at maybe 12? The other books we read were, in no particular order, the boy in the striped pajamas, the notoriously fabricated Go Ask Alice, Divergent, the Maze Runner, the Hunger Games, the Breadwinner (which they were teaching to a grade 8 class after I had already read it for school in SIXTH GRADE)... In each and every case, these books, especially the classics, were not given any historical context, to the point where I don't think that the English teachers were very sure what exactly was so special about something as simple as the Outsiders or Catcher in the Rye, leaving us high and dry, unable to make connections and just eating up YA slop.

All this to say, I honestly think that people who grew up being forced to read classical literature to not know how good they've had it, how much I wish I had grown up in an environment where someone had the nerve to ask "why are the curtains blue?" And yes, absolutely I could have picked up Brave New World or 1984 when I was 16 and enjoyed it, but I think discussing literature in guided groups is a net positive for someone's development, definitely more than.... writing chapter summaries of what Beatrice or Katniss did in whatever book on a Q-card. I remember my grade 11 teacher would come in and put on the divergent movie for 2 weeks straight. Obviously there is an onus on me to have done more for myself, and im making up for it in spades now, but it doesn't change the fact that I find myself jealous of the learning environments other people had access to, even if it was garbage. Fuck the callouts, I would have had winston smith kin drama if I read that book in high school.

It makes me feel extremely juvenile to love books like BNW and 1984 so much because kids are essentially already "over it" but so many times it feels like having these books prescribed to you as a young person is maybe not a privilege but such a stark difference from the complete ignorance i grew up in. No one encouraged you to read classic literature. no one encouraged you to read, period. i am envious of people who were permitted an environment with which they had some freedom to exercise their critical thinking skills in some capacity.

Has no one else ever gone to a shitty high school where they don't care about literature or history or like anything that makes life worth living? It's so dry and isolating and awful.

There's also the idea that maybe i wouldn't have understood the basics of these books to begin with if i had read them in high school bc i had no context and I was pretty stupid, or at least not confident in my takes. so i guess in that respect i should be glad i had the opportunity to read these books now that im older. But i remain, i'm jealous of the formative experiences lost. I'll just be on Aldous's dick as a 30 yr old.

[bloodplussharp]

Excerpt from Blood# Novel

軽やかな歌声が夏の木漏れ日の中に響いていた。 その歌声を子守唄に双子の赤ん坊たちは寝息をた てていた。 ふたりに名前はまだなかった。 名前をつけることで、双子の母親はふたりが個々 の存在として育っていくことを嫌っていたからだ。 永遠に離れることなく、ふたりはずっと一緒にい てほしい。 それがこの母親の願いだった。 自らが叶えられなかった、たったひとつの願いを 代わりに遂げてもらいたい。 母親の手が優しく赤ん坊の髪の毛を撫でていく。

Machine translation:

A light singing voice resounded in the sunlight filtering through the summer foliage. With that singing voice as a lullaby, the twin babies fell asleep. I was Neither of them had a name yet. By naming the twin mothers, they are Because I hated growing up as an existence. We will never be apart, we will always be together I want you to. That was my mother's wish. The one wish that I couldn't grant myself I want you to do it instead. Her mother's hand gently runs through her baby's hair.

Another translation: [source]

A light singing voice was echoing through the summer sunbeams through the sun. The singing voice was lullaby and the twin babies were breathing. By attaching a name that was not yet given to their names, the twin mothers hated the fact that they grew up as individual individuals. I want you to stay together forever without leaving forever. That was the desire of this mother. I want you to make only one wish instead that you could not fulfill. My mother's hand gently strokes the baby's hair. And with the singing voice that flows from its lips, deliver that love to the baby's ears. "My tomorrow is you guys, please sing along and get along." That dream is always over here. I wonder why I still see such a dream. It surely will not come true. It is too different from our current reality 11.

[tsukiyadori]

Positivity is a curse?

Whenever I get a chance and somebody's looking like they're willing to listen, I throw out a recommendation for The Case Files of Jeweler Richard. I have to date managed to 'recruit' two new readers for the series and one being probably the tip off the scales reason for another one to start it. So that makes it three. Only 3.

Everyone else?

Either they weren't very interested (perfectly legit), but among those otherwise: 'Sounds interesting', 'Oh, I watched the anime and have it in positive memory.'

'But Seven Seas.'

'But Seven Seas.'

'But Seven Seas.'

And there I read v1 of the manga in Japanese before when there was a free reading promotion and v1 of the novel matched contents enough with my memory, then started comparing free excerpts, then I bought all originals anyway and while I haven't reread all, I did some criss cross random page picks comparing them to the original and yes there were some lines being a bit off, but there were also so many more lines being such great translations I could never come up myself. There I was running my mouth that really the translation does make a good impression.

'But Seven Seas.'

I was citing they made it right for 5 vols now, the debacles of omissions or editorial changes of what the translator submitted where from 2021, and while OtoTsuku was last year it sounded more like a good faith mistake rather than not with PR going helluva wrong. Hell, they even included the extras of v4-5 that were digital or shop store booklet exclusive, something probably nobody expected them to bring over.

'But still, Seven Seas.'

I was short of just making a side by side comparison of the versions to get that fear levitated.

And then it goes round that v6's ebook apparently omitted Sinhalite's second part. (Supplying screenshots for proof.)

And while I haven't checked it personally myself (I preordered print), it feels like, that doesn't even matter at this point. Because, I probably will as good as surely not manage to convince anyone to pick up the series anymore. Not in Anglosphere anyway.

And that's just D:

[some-interests]

excerpts from Nesta's long-lost autobiography

this is just lovely. no flexing or myth-making or self-help garbage to be found here..

google-translated from a chinese translation posted in 2006 when someone must've known both that and italian to make this work.

Early years: Every time I go to see my grandmother, I often unconsciously take a detour to see the place where I played football when I was a child. It was a small open space in Cinecitta, a suburb of Rome, only ten meters away from my primary school "Margherita Bosco", and now a car repair shop has been built. I still remember me, my brother Fernando and some good friends coming here every day after school to play football. We had a good time playing makeshift goals with some roadside branches.

My father decided to send me to a football school not far from home to learn football, but I was too timid to go to a school full of big, strong kids. I thought that if my brother went with me, then I would not be afraid of being bullied by others, and I would have a helper in case of a fight in a conflict. Unexpectedly, both my father and my brother agreed to this nonsense decision. I know that my brother doesn't like football, he is there just for me.

Lazio: That year I still took the bus to the Lazio training base for training every day, because the traffic problem in Rome was very serious, so it often took me two hours to get to the destination. I exhaust myself before every training session. My good friend Favalli in Lazio asked me why, and he gave me a motorcycle the next day, saying that it would save me from being crowded. I was really touched at the time, and to this day, I still keep this precious gift.

In the game, Signori took a pretty free kick, and Boksic headed the ball into the opponent's goal, and the audience was boiling. All the players are hugging together, but I'm not used to that scene yet. While I was hesitating, Boksic ran up to me and hugged me. I ran over and hugged him too, and it was a wonderful feeling. I always feel that the scene of the whole team hugging together during the game is the most touching. It's just that every time I go to celebrate, I have to run a little more, but I'm luckier than the goalkeeper because he can't leave the penalty area.

More on that first year: There is still something worth remembering about that season [1994-95]: that I returned to Lazio's youth team to play in June and helped them win the Italian championship that season. The reason I went back was because my trainer, Caso, needed me. He had cancer at the time, and he was losing his hair because of chemotherapy. So when he is commanding from the sidelines, I still worry about whether he can hold on. I discussed with the team members that this time we must dedicate a championship to him, because he has sacrificed too much for us. On the day of the final we faced the Perugia youth team at the Stadio Olimpico in front of 40,000 spectators, including of course my family. We are very satisfied with the result of the game, and I, as the captain, dedicated the trophy I got to him. But what I am most happy about is not that we have won the championship, but that coach Caso has overcome his illness. He is indeed a great coach and has won the games with us.

In July 1995, we went to Japan for training in Asia, which was a strange and novel country to me. Most of my favorite video games are from Japan, and the enthusiasm of Japanese fans is something I will never forget. The coach asked us to pick the number for that season and considering my first Lazio exam was on June 13, 1985 and my first match was March 13, 1994, I chose number 13 to be my number. This number has been with me for more than 5 years now.

That brief hilarious cameo in a film: During that time, many people gave me a lot of care, including family, friends, coaches, teammates, and of course fans. A friend even asked me to make a movie while I was recuperating, to try other things, not to focus too much on football. I don't want to think about that again because I feel like a real sucker when I watch the movie. Filming is not the same thing as playing football. On the pitch I can control everything very comfortably, but in the film, I am very unaccustomed to everything. However, my friends and the director at that time thought I was not bad. They told me that if I can no longer play football in the future, then I can think about changing careers and making movies.

Dogs: I have a good relationship with many players, even Totti, the captain of the city rivals Roma. I've known him since we were 8 years old, when he was an aspirational blond boy[...] We kept in touch after that because we lived so close together, and sometimes we would run into each other on our dog walks in the morning, and we would take a slow walk to the park together.

I also have a very special friend - my dog ​​Pino, he is a very ordinary dog, but has followed me for several years. I like to take him for a leisurely walk in the morning, but he has never been to my game, but I believe he is definitely a fan of mine.

On home and the home fans: I love my hometown very much, I love the beautiful country of Italy. I once said that I can go on vacation in a foreign country, but it is absolutely impossible to settle in a foreign country. Even when I was injured in 98 I refused to fly all over the world to find the best doctor, I would rather be with my family to recuperate. So I can also be regarded as a family lover. In Collevecchio, where my parents lived, people even wanted to name a street after me. Of course I am very happy, but I always feel that such things are done in memory of the dead. But I'm only 24 now.

But the most memorable are two things[...] The other was after the tragic death of my sister. When I returned to the training base after attending the funeral that day, the fans did not crowd up to ask me to sign autographs and take pictures as usual when I got off the bus. I was kind of taken aback, and then saw they put up a banner that I will never forget, saying "Captain, we will always stand by you!". My eyes were moist right then because I was so moved by them.

Others on Nesta:

His first coach: Another reason why Nesta is liked is that he is very sincere, which is also the advantage of his father, and fortunately he has inherited it. I still like to call him "the boy," as we did when we first met. Because even after so many years of training as a professional player, he is still as sincere as a child.

Mancini: I knew Nesta when he was very young. He suffered a serious injury that time, but he recovered faster than we expected. Our team decided to make him the captain of Lazio, which made him very happy. I remember him whispering to me after accepting the captaincy that I was the real leader of Lazio and he wanted me to help him a lot. His humility touched me, and it turned out that he is the most suitable candidate to be the captain.

Maldini: The first time I saw him was at the European Championships in '96 when Sacchi called him up for the national team because of Ferrera's injury. His performance surprised me because he was only 20 years old, but he showed a calmness and superb technique that few others have. At the end of that game, my teammate Costacurta and I returned to the Milan team and told the coach and owner that if you want Milan to continue to be invincible in Italy in the next few years, you must buy Nesta. [...] There are also many people who say that he is the heir to the captain of my national team. I am very happy to be able to give the captaincy to someone like Nesta.

Di Viao: Nesta and I have known each other since 1987, when we were both studying at football school. He is a very nice man and you are lucky to be friends with such a man. I remember when we went to Spain for summer training, he made sandwiches for the players every day.

[eruverse]

Anyway, Shiki.

I’ve moved on from this series. — After all, I learned of this series in 2010, the anime coming out in 2011, and the novels translated starting from 2013. It is a very introspective (yeah, deep) series and I had done a lot of thinking about it and had since moved on. It’s also really dark and actually depressing, ahah, so for me it’s not that good a thing to be dwelled upon all the time? So yes. Moving on from it is good.

And yet it remains the fact that this is the only work so far that has philosophically upset me so. I loved it, I hated it, I loved it due to its ability to lay myself bare, or at least some part of it, like an unlocked Pandora box. It forced me to face these parts of me, forced me to name them clearly if I was kind of unable to before.

Below are excerpts from the novel, translated by Sinnesspiel on Dreamwidth [spoiler]

[darknessqueenrc]

Interview with Arina (Theodora author)

Hey Arina!

Congratulations on the season 1 finale and the start of a new one! Thank you very much for Theodora, for giving us the opportunity to gather together in such a cozy corner dedicated to a magnificent and beloved history. We have been preparing for the interview for a long time and anxiously awaiting the final. To say that he impressed us is an understatement! We hope that you didn't drown in the ocean of fan tears after the players finished the last episodes of the first season ;) and are ready to chat with us for a while...

Hello! I'm very happy, thanks for inviting me! Let me quickly digress: I want to thank the administrators of this and other communities on Theodora - your work is amazing 💜

1) What are your impressions of the final?

Let me just say that I like it. I am satisfied with the work that we have done - everything turned out the way I imagined.

I admit honestly - I was afraid of the reaction of the fandom, I tried to mentally prepare for a large amount of negativity. But I was pleasantly surprised by the comments that I received after the release of the June update.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - thank you very much for your support!

2) Tell us about your mood. Combat?

Now I try to learn to approach work with due patience, including myself. I try to reason with my perfectionism and desire to satisfy every reader - I understand that this is impossible.

3) How is the work progressing? Where are you located geographically now?

I'm traveling with my boyfriend - behind Estonia, Turkey and Mexico, and our journey continues :)

Work is progressing steadily. We try very hard and hope to please you in August with high-quality chapters!

4) Do you read Theodora theories? Were the players able to predict the plot?

Yes, I read! I really like to watch how people interpret certain hints left by me in history.

5) Why did the choice fall on Italy in the 1960s? What historical facts, media inspired you?

I just read articles and watched excerpts from the cinema - I haven’t gotten around to whole films and books on this period (at least not yet). There was no break between the first and second season, and I had to dive into a new time period in express mode.

The 60s were chosen for "logistical" reasons - they are just somewhere in the middle between 1914 and 2019. I just like Italy for its architecture and special atmosphere.

6) Are you closer to the theme of the First World War or the one that will be in the second season? What is easier to write and what is more difficult?

The 1960s are easier to write in terms of collecting information, because there are more articles on the Internet about the life of this era.

I love both of these themes. When you get used to it and start to feel comfortable in what you write, the process is very exciting.

7) Was it morally difficult to kill your heroes? How did you live these moments?

Sobbed, of course, how else :)

I became very attached to them, and thinking through and then prescribing the death scenes of the characters was like a knife to the heart. I felt like I betrayed them, or something ... It was difficult, in general, but I think it was worth it.

8) We noticed that Theodora had no children in her marriage. Is it related to immortality and will be revealed in the future?

Let's get to the question of children in history.

9) Was the patron's name a reference to Lucien Lachance? Or is the translation from French more important?

There was no reference - before the release of the novel, I had no idea who Lucien Lachance was. She chose the name herself.

10) Tell us how the characters of the story were created? Who showed up first? And it is very interesting to know which favorite appeared first.

John showed up first, and Lawrence was drawn first (because he shows up before all the other favorites).

They all created themselves when I started writing :)

Of course, I did preliminary work, collecting the "skeleton", but many features became clear along the way.

I'm not one of those writers who come up with every little thing about a character and only then start writing (this approach certainly takes place, it's just not for me). I'm used to "listening" to the characters in the course of the story, to understand their behavior in various situations in which I put them. Sometimes, I must admit, this interferes with the process, as it can be difficult for me to establish a connection with this or that character.

11) How was the plot itself created? Did you first write down the present and the already immortal Theodora, or did you go in chronological order, starting from 1914?

Everything was created in approximately the same order in which you see events in history. When the backbone was made, I went through the plot in the second circle in order to throw fishing rods from the past into the present.

12) Does it happen that after the release of the series you want to change something in them? Are you always satisfied with the end result?

It happens, of course. We all have mistakes. For example, I regret that I chose an unsuccessful mechanic in the exit to the opportunity to bring Friedrich and Kurt together in the absence of a branch with the first.

But most of the time I'm happy with what comes out—I don't turn in a chapter until I'm reasonably satisfied with what I've got.

13) In this update, the third stat has finally appeared - Energy. It seemed to many players that it carries a negative character. Is it acceptable to assume that we have the opportunity to follow the path of the antagonist? Is it worth hoarding it?

To save or not is your choice. I don't want to reveal all the details, but I will say that this stat gives Theodora a power that can be useful in the future. The path of the antagonist does not shine for her.

14) Will the Energy stat be linked to Romantic or Cynic stats?

No.

15) In the first episode of the second season, we met the mysterious Antonio. Will we see the development of a love relationship with him? Will this thread be complete?

I decided not to divide the branches into complete and incomplete - they either exist or not. I usually try to give all my favorites about the same amount of screen time.

There is a branch with Antonio.

16) Do the options with decorations left from our favorites affect the plot?

No, the choice simply allows you to add embellishments to your 2019 wardrobe.

17) How do you feel about adding branches with your favorite heroes at the request of the players? Would you rather stick to your own plans, or would you be willing to go along with it?

I definitely won't do anything that I think could potentially harm the plot.

18) Would you like to create your own alternative/fantasy world, or would you like to write more about events in the real world, but with elements of mysticism?

I think realism with elements of mysticism is closer to me. But who knows where it might take me in the future :)

19) We have already been lucky enough to watch the gorgeous cut-scenes of your authorship in Theodore. Did you draw with your boyfriend for the June update?

Yes! In the June update, we drew Theodora's death, scenes on the liner in the USA, a letter to parents, Lawrence's death.

The novel begins with an interview with a mysterious philanthropist. We could not pass by this scene and decided to feel like Theodora we love. Therefore, we invite you to answer the questions that Madame Fleming asked in her interview to Monsieur Lachance :)

"Why did you agree to the interview?"

Because I love you!

"Who is your favorite composer?"

Tchaikovsky, hehe.

"Who is your favorite artist?"

Ivan Aivazovsky.

"Who is your favorite writer?"

I don't know :D

I love Russian classics, John Verdon, Agatha Christie, Carlos Ruiz Safon, Robert McCammon... But I have not yet found one favorite author who would leave me absolutely delighted.

Thank you so much for such detailed answers! We were happy to chat with you and look forward to new episodes of Theodora!

Credits

[kyofsonder]

Find the Word

I was tagged twice by @on-noon to find two sets of words in my WIPs, so I’m combining both sets into a single post. Thank you for tagging me, and giving me a chance to play my favorite writeblr game after being away for a few days.

My Words: train, trying, stressed, intricate, translate, front, frame, freeze, free, friend

I’ll tag: @wynter-of-dusk, @houndsofcorduff, @junypr-camus, @aohendo, @365runesofwriting, @calicojackofficial, and as always anyone who wants to join in the game can use the following words and say I tagged them!

Your Words: skate, stall, brush, crave, veil

With so many words to find, this post is going to get long – so I’ll put the WIP exerpts themselves under a cut as usual. If I can’t find a word, I’ll share a fun fact related to the word instead.

I found train(ed) in my novel WIP “A Place to Return”:

Still... he takes a moment to read more recent entries instead of the script itself. Owen sounds so excited in them. He's been having so much fun figuring out how to hunt, how to refine his fishing techniques, how to use weapons so he can (shakily, according to his mentor) replicate the skills Leo had trained in before leaving home, how to use magic items. Every other sentence asks a new question, not only curious but also clearly eager to make it so that when they do swap back Leo returns to the best conditions possible.

I found trying in the same WIP, a little before the last excerpt:

"I can... ask her to transfer some money... if you need it?" Kelly is trying so hard to act like the responsible older brother. It's like he's standing there with a handful of sunset berries, dropping a few as he struggles to hand them over. Wait. Not that. On Earth it's an olive branch, isn't it? Like he's holding out an olive branch, whatever that looks like, and hoping his little brother will take the other end.

I found stressed in the script draft of my Sk8 the Infinity Matchablossom fic “Flipping a Switch”, in a scene where most of the Sk8 cast is having a meal at Joe’s restaurant:

Miya: (rolling his eyes): Give him a break, guys. He might be an idiot, but it's not like he controls how busy this place is.

Hiromi: He controls how many employees he has serving people!

Miya: Oh, so now you know what it takes to run a restaurant?

[Hiromi and Miya devolve into an argument about restaurants in general, completely ignoring their friends.]

Reki: Seriously, though, Joe, I was just messing with you. We came here to hang out, not to get you stressed.

Langa: I really am hungry, though.

Reki: Yeah. That's true. But Joe's got work to do, so...

Langa (only a little sad): Yeah.

Kojiro: Thanks, but I don't want to leave any customers hungry. Especially when they're my friends. Just let me get these last few people at the counter, and I'll take your order myself.

I didn’t find intricate in any particular WIP, but I did find it in some worldbuilding for a world in my story collection WIP “Love as Indicated”:

The year on Ait'kulith KIT 1B, in many countries, starts in May because that is the month when common Nightingales, known to have particularly complex/intricate mating songs, begin advertising for mates. Birds in general are seen as heralds of the Goddess of Fate, and nightingales in particular embody the importance of music in this world. Their mating season ends in late August, and so the first 4 months of the year are marked by their singing.

I didn’t find translate in any particular WIP, but I did find it in some worldbuilding about one of my magic systems, Soul Magic:

There are materials available for studying the basics of Soul Magic. These usually recount what other Soul Mages have found useful in the past, like materials that have worked well as vessels for spirits and techniques that have kept souls themselves from losing focus or misinterpreting a mage’s requests/orders. However, there are no materials to translate the language of the dead, which is at the core of Soul Magic itself. Souls speak in a way that simply cannot be translated unless you've learned directly, through sustained exposure to their language – especially from a young age. If you can't speak their language, then trial and error is your best chance to figure out how to communicate. Good luck.

I found front in my novel WIP “To Be Honest”, in a scene containing a brief mention of blood:

"You can't even see what's right in front of your face! This is what you want!" Micah opens his eyes and immediately regrets his decision. The shadow walking towards him glimmers with magic and the reflective shine of liquid, only the barest semblance of a human being beneath a coat of blood. There's no trace of David here. He probably hasn't been talking to his actual brother at any point. Just this. It stomps its formless feet across the dirt and reaches out its arms until there's a squish against his chest and a pressure that pushes him toward the ground.

I found frame in an unfinished, untitled short story from back when I was trying to write a complete story every day back in February – about a guy asking a dragon for an insomnia cure:

He catches himself looking around at the source of that blue-green glow, surprised by the sheer size of some of the holo-screens that fill up every open space on every wall in the room. They're not all the exact same size, but a few of them take up so much space that he wonders how they hadn't blinded him the second he'd arrived. The largest screen sits across from the couch, stretching to the corners of its wall. The display itself is either frozen or paused on what looks like a still frame from a movie. The scene shows two people offering wound up circles of flowers and clovers to a third person under a tree in a meadow. Everyone's smiling. The one being offered flowers even looks like they might be laughing. If he could stop holding his breath and make the scene un-pause, he knows he'd hear words and sounds that would... that would... he's not exactly sure what they would do or how long he's been holding his breath, but nothing happens when he starts breathing again and he can't help feeling disappointed.

I found freeze in the second draft of my Danny Phantom fic "Lingering Scars":

She's probably feeling some of the same things he'd felt in that bathroom, watching the marks of his own emotional turmoil disappear and reappear as he'd transformed. Shell-shocked and horrified, realizing that the things they'd thought were simple paths from infliction to recovery are actually more winding trails with forks that lead to unwanted places. He doesn't let his clone linger in that space, turned around at the road behind her and letting its twisting maze overwhelm her. The first time you see it can be a paralyzing and heavy moment. It can freeze you in the most literal way -- even without ice powers.

I found free in my short story WIP "Kiyo":

"Sure thing," I get my own words out as steadily as I can manage. I'm not really sure what else to do, so I place my free hand over the vines on my wrist and gently pat them. "Thank you, too," I realize I'm still talking before I know what I'm trying to say, "I probably didn't do a good job keeping you healthy, but you've done a really good job at... I guess I never said it to you before, actually. Thank you for keeping me alive. That's what you've been doing these past few months, but I didn't say it until now. So. Thank you, Kiyo. You've helped me with so many things, just by being there. I'm grateful for that. I'm glad I got to know you."

I found friend in my novel WIP "To Be Honest":

"You went all quiet. Oh. Oh, did you see a friend and not want to be seen talking to your cousins in front of people you actually like?" Finn gasps, drawing the sound out so Micah can imagine them holding their palms dramatically over their mouth -- vivid enough to make even Micah roll his eyes at the phone involuntarily, "Micah! You're making friends in college? That's amazing!"

This ended up being a really long post, as expected, but I found more of these words than I'd expected. This was a really fun challenge!

[man-reading]

The End of Eddy by Edouard Louis

An autobiographical novel about growing up gay in a working-class town in Picardy.

"Every morning in the bathroom I would repeat the same phrase to myself over and over again ... Today I'm really gonna be a tough guy." Growing up in a poor village in northern France, all Eddy Bellegueule wanted was to be a man in the eyes of his family and neighbors. But from childhood, he was different - "girlish," intellectually precocious, and attracted to other men. Already translated into twenty languages, The End of Eddy captures the violence and desperation of life in a French factory town. It is also a sensitive, universal portrait of boyhood and sexual awakening. Like Karl Ove Knausgaard or Edmund White, Édouard Louis writes from his own undisguised experience, but he writes with an openness and a compassionate intelligence that are all his own. The result - a critical and popular triumph - has made him the most celebrated French writer of his generation.

Excerpt

An Encounter

From my childhood I have no happy memories. I don't mean to say that I never, in all those years, felt any happiness or joy. But suffering is all-consuming: it somehow gets rid of anything that doesn't fit into its system. Two boys appeared in the hallway, the first tall with red hair, and the second short with a hunchback. The tall redhead spat in my face How do you like that, punk. The gob of spit dripped slowly down my cheek, thick and yellow, like the noisy mucus that obstructs the throats of old people or people who are ill, with a strong, sickening smell to it. Shrill, strident laughter from the two boys Look, right in his face, the little pussy. It is dripping from my eye right toward my lips, ready to enter my mouth. I don't dare wipe it off. I could; I'd only have to lift my sleeve. It wouldn't even take a second, a tiny movement, to prevent the spit from coming into contact with my lips, but I do nothing for fear of offending them, for fear ...

[deerfests]

in the shadow of the altars!

Title: In the Shadow of the Altars Fandom: Sherlock Holmes Chapter One Relationship: There are relationships in this but the focus is on Sherlock in it, so not naming them as of yet (until I see what becomes most interesting/prominent). Summary: SHCO AU where after the game's resolution, the plot of "In the Shadow of the Altars" takes place (sort of...kind of...there are alterations to the actual plot). Comment: I am still early in this concept but I do have the whole outline of it done... for the non-Lithuanians, "In the Shadow of the Altars"* is a three-part novel (pretty lengthy one, too) telling a tale of a priest and his path to renouncing priesthood. That's the shortest way I can describe it. It's a romance novel, from one perspective, and a somewhat psychological in another. I still gotta write more of this AU, provided I will ever actually finish this... but I've been distracted lately, whoops. I don't foresee myself having well over 1k pages of this like the actual novel... but one can dream, right? Well, the fic itself-- as I said-- has a whole outline ready...paired with some interesting alterations to the actual plot of the book-- or well, I hope they are.

*("Altorių šešėly" actually, seeing as the book has no official translation I know of)

Excerpt:

Mycroft Holmes was aware his brother was rather…fragile. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was after all—his mother’s son. That came with quite some pre-determined variables. Even now, as ‘Jon’ was gone, Sherlock still seemed uneasy. Most likely, he was not at all coping well with this. His imaginary friend had assisted him all through life till very recently, so when Sherlock came back to London and a week after announced his latest decision of what he was going to do—Mycroft was more than slightly perturbed, to say the least. The anxiety and worry from one sentence alone was more than he could have expected—it simply made no sense.

“But Sherlock! You aren’t exactly the most devout person… so why?” Usually, Mycroft could read clues and come to his own conclusion, deduce the reasoning behind a choice. But Sherlock announcing he wanted to become a priest, let alone a catholic one in England... It simply seemed like such an odd decision to what had happened in Cordona. It didn’t add up no matter which angle Mycroft looked at it. Unless… “Is this because I didn’t permit you to be arrested?” Eventually, Mycroft spoke up again as an uneasy silence settled atop of them. He barely had managed to talk his brother out of turning himself into the police, over something so unreasonable, too. For Sherlock, this just had to be another way to punish himself after what had happened.

“I’m sure I can only learn to become more devout as time goes by!” Sherlock said, sounding exhausted more so than sure of himself. “Either way, I’ll be leaving in a couple days.” His eyes managed to seem almost dead… what was happening here? Sherlock glared up at the man sitting across from him, furious enough to confirm this is exactly what this was about. Mycroft nodded, unsure how saving his brother had become such a problem in both their lives, a separating conflict as it was.

If only Sherlock managed to realize he did it all for him. He wanted to provide stability and security, to work side by side instead of against each other. By the end of the day, however, it seems his brother will never forgive him.

[chrisjake-cp]

[ENG TRANSLATION]

[Interview] A look into the <Trade War’s> Jake Hsu’s treasure book list

BY EACHEN LEE AND SUNNY TSAI

PUBLISHED: 2024/04/30 in Harper's Bazaar TW

Jake Hsu, who graduated from the Drama Department of the National Taiwan University of Arts, started his acting career by participating in works of the ‘Q Series’, and then successfully gained popularity by taking on roles like Meng Shaofei in the 2019 BL series <HIStory3: Trapped> and the heart-warming twin brother Lin Zhenye in the 2022 Netflix series <Shards Of Her>. In 2024, Jake Hsu set his first steps in the suspenseful business-war themed TV series <Trade War>, in which he played a manservant with a complex personality, showcasing not only different aspects but also allowed the audience to witness his acting power. 

As a new generation actor, Jake shared that he maintained his reading habit, ever since his studies. Not only can he keep the fun of browsing through books that way, but it simultaneously is of great help to his acting skills. Let us now take a look at the reading world of our “considerate reader” Jake Hsu. 

Q: What was the book that started nurturing your reading habit? Do you have a daily reading plan?

Jake:  Looking back on it now, the first book that I was crazy about reading is <The Power of Film> (by Howard Suber). It was also the first book I read about movies. It introduced the complicated elements of movies in a simple way. At that time I had just entered University, and that book was like a treasure trove to me, with every page filled with amazing knowledge. 

A memory that is still vivid to this day is when I was waiting to go on [stage] in the black box theatre, snuggling up to the smallest of lights and roaming leisurely through the book. Although I don’t have a fixed reading plan, reading books still fills me with delight and is irreplaceable. 

Q: Do you have any special habits while reading?

Jake: I don’t know if everyone has the same experience as me, but when I start a book, I can’t read another one before I finish the first one, otherwise I would get confused. If I’m reading a novel that has many characters in it, I even draw character interrelationship diagrams, otherwise I would easily forget who is who. 

Q: Do you pay attention to certain rituals when reading?

Jake: I have to play instrumental music while reading, especially Lo-Fi style music, which can make me concentrate better. 

Q: Apart from work-related books, what kind of books do you prefer?

Jake: I was fascinated by world literature at one point. I would often go to the university library’s translated novel section to look for treasures there. I still remember that after I closed the last page of <A Thousand Splendid Suns> (T/N by Khaled Hosseini), I sat beside myself (from excitement) in front of my writing desk for a long time. These days, most of the books I read are materials related to movie creators or famous people, or knowledge reference books. 

Q: Have you ever starred in an adaptation of a literary work that you liked? Or have you ever become a fan of the book because you acted in an adaptation?

Jake: When I was studying drama in university, I performed in the classic <The Mousetrap> by famous British writer and playwright Agatha Christie. From then on, I started loving the deductive logic of this queen of detective (writers). Her most representative character Hercule Poirot has been adapted into television works that I enjoy ardously, such as <Murder On The Orient Express>, <Death On The Nile> and <A Haunting in Venice>.

Q: Please share with us the book that has had the most profound impact on you with respect to your life, and your acting.

Jake: The book that left the deepest impression on my life is <Just Like The Speed of Walking: My Daily life, Creations and the World> by (movie) director Hirokazu Kore-eda in which he describes several philosophies in life. 

(T/N: Jake then shares an excerpt from the first chapter, but I won’t attempt to translate a Chinese translation of a Japanese original book into English). 

The director’s perspective on the world, on roles/characters and on a person has had a very big impact on me. 

And the book that influenced my acting the most is <A Challenge For The Actor> (by Uta Hagen) which I studied while in University. Even though I have developed my own thoughts on acting at this point, the exercices and homework for actors in <A Challenge For The Actor> laid a lot of foundation during my first venture into acting that are still useful today. 

Q: If you have to go live on an uninhabited island for a year, and you could only bring one book with you, which one would you choose?

Jake:  Since it would be a deserted island, I would like to bring the whole series of <One Piece> (Eiichiro Oda), which I hope to finish in due time. If I can’t bring multiple books, I would like to take with me <Freeing The Natural Voice> by Kristin Linklater, practice it diligently for a year and see what happens. 

Q: Finally, please share three of your favourite recent books? 

Jake: First, the two-volume manhua <Shen Ming Convenience Store> by Xie Donglin that I rediscovered at the Taichung Comic Museum. [The author] has turned Taiwan’s traditional gods and deities into characters and tells the stories in a clear and humorous way. I couldn’t stop laughing and really love it. 

The second book is <Selected Film Reviews of Steven Tu: A Decade 2012-2022> which collects his masterpieces of ten years of film criticism. It’s like browsing a map of the film world of the past ten years through the eyes of Teacher Tu, which is close to reaching nirvana. 

Finally, the book in my hand called <Voyage With Kiki Kirin>, which covers the period from 2007 until Kiki Kirin’s passing in 2018. During those twelve years, director Kirokazu Kore-eda and Kiki Kirin conducted scattered interviews in different situations and different times. I feel like I have spent countless wonderful afternoons with this book. 

[assamnews]

‘Gulzar is a part of my creative journey’-Namrata Datta

‘Growing up, Gulzar's lyrics were not just melodies to me; they were an intimate connection etched into my heart. As a singer, his compositions echoed through my childhood, and I found myself frequently humming his tunes. However, it wasn't just the music that captivated me; it was the enchantment woven into his words. This profound admiration for Gulzar's artistry sparked my interest in exploring his literary world, leading me to his book, 'Actually I met them.' To my astonishment, the journey took an unexpected turn when Sanjay Kumar Sanyal, a respected producer at Assam Publishing Company, presented me with a unique opportunity – to translate Gulzar's book into Assamese. The outcome was the Assamese rendition named 'Smritir Manuhbor.' The unveiling ceremony was graced by Mumbai's screenplay writer and director, Akashaditya Lama, alongside Kolkata's Ranjan Ghosh.’

Subham Panseshwar delved into a conversation with Namrata Datta about the book and her fascinating journey of creativity.

Q: How did your foray into writing begin?

Namrata: My journey into writing commenced during my school days, although initially, I never envisioned sharing my creations with the world. Singing occupied the forefront of my pursuits at that time. After marriage, a serendipitous encounter with La Rochefoucauld's 'Maxim' ignited an unplanned translation journey, fueled by a growing attachment to the book.

Fate intervened when I met Mr Jiten Deka, a senior publisher from Nalbari, who, after a brief discussion about books, requested a manuscript. His unwavering confidence became a pivotal catalyst. Completing the translation and handing it over to him, I soon discovered a report in the weekly newspaper Sadin, acknowledging the Assamese translation of 'Maxim' by me. It was a report by Bedabrat Bora. This unexpected recognition was a gratifying milestone.

Q: Tell us about your original writing.

Namrata: Inspired by Keshab Mahanta's Assamese lyrics, I harboured a fervent desire to unravel the untold stories behind those melodious tunes. Approaching him, he generously agreed to share his insights, culminating in the creation of 'Priyatama ei Jivan.' The book garnered positive feedback. Additionally, I authored a novel titled 'Kathopakatha,' derived from a distinctive Sunday program I conceptualized for a local FM channel. It was a fictional narrative in the form of conversation. Curated songs were inserted in between the conversation to enhance the situation and the mood of the narrative. Rituparna Das, a distinguished broadcaster and playwright-director, lauded the program's form and content. Later, I expanding this concept into a novel. Mr Das hosted the book release event. Pervez Ahmed, a filmmaker, and my school friend, even translated parts of the novel into an English film under the title ‘Cherrypicker’, now available on mxplayer.

Q: You wrote a book on Assamese Lyrics and the Freedom movement. Could you share more about this book?

Namrata: This book emerged from a research project that earned me a Senior Fellowship from the Indian Government's Department of Culture. Titled 'Reflection of India's Freedom Movement in Assamese Lyrics,' it proved to be a laborious yet profoundly fulfilling undertaking.

Q: What about your book on Modoji's Maan Ki Baat?

Namrata: The concept for this book originated from Sanjay Kumar Sanyal. We meticulously selected excerpts from Modiji's 'Mann Ki Baat,' focusing on social responsibility, community development, success stories, and innovative ideas evident in his speeches. I firmly believe these speeches unveil the leader's inner spirit, philosophy, and administrative approaches. The resulting book, titled 'Mor Priya Deshbashi,' is an essential read for those seeking to understand the man behind the Prime Minister.

Let me add one line more, I translated some poems by GulzarJi and those were published in book form by a prestigious publication house of Assam- Journal Emporium. The title of the book is ‘Gulzaror Kabita’ (Poems by Gulzar). That was probably first translation of Gulzar in Assamese book form.

Beyond her writing journey, her career has taken diverse paths, from being a casual announcer and news reader at Akaswani and Doordarshan to transitioning into private TV channels and FM radio. She has also worked in newspapers and magazines. Presently, her active involvement in social work. Her projects includes co-authoring a book with my husband - , titled 'Pati, Patni and Bandhabi (Man, woman and Girl Friend).' And household hacks for working women titled Gharuwa Diha (Household Tips).

[srankmanga]

Godfather Of Champions

Read English translated Chinese novel “Godfather Of Champions” Description This is a story about the pursuit of victory. — “I subscribe only to the theory of victory. I only pursue victory. As long as I am able to obtain victory, I don’t care if it’s total football or counterattack. What is the ultimate goal of professional soccer? In my opinion, it is victory, and the pinnacle of victory is to become the champions. I am a manager. If I don’t wish to lose my job or be forgotten by the people, there’s only one path for me to take, and that is to lead the team in obtaining victories, in obtaining championship titles!” The main character was not well-liked by people. — “⋯We conducted a survey which had been deemed by Manager Tony Twain as extremely meaningless. In a random street survey conducted, ninety-three percent of those surveyed chose the option ‘I hate Tony Twain’, while only seven percent chose the option ‘This person is rather decent, I like him’. It is worth noting that nobody chose the option ‘Who is Tony Twain? I don’t know him’. Mark, do you know why Manager Twain felt that our survey was very meaningless?” Parker, a reporter from laughed loudly and said when he was being interviewed by BBC. But there were also people who were madly in love with him. — When Tony Twain was forced to talk about the survey conducted by during an interview, his reply was : “I am happy, because Nottingham Forest’s fans make up seven percent of England’s population.” And he did not seem to care about how the others saw him. — “What are you all trying to make me say? Admit that I am not popular, and everywhere I go will be filled with jeers and middle fingers. You all think I will be afraid? Wrong! Because I am able to bring victory to my team and its supporters. I don’t care how many people hate me and can’t wait to kill me, and I also won’t change myself to accommodate the mood of these losers. You want to improve your mood? Very simple, come and defeat me.” His love story had garnered widespread attention. — “Our reporters took these pictures at Manager Tony Twain’s doorsteps. It clearly shows that Shania entered his house at 8.34pm and she did not leave the house throughout the night at all. But Manager Tony Twain firmly denies, and insists that that was merely the newest-model inflatable doll which he had ordered. He was the number one star of the team. — “⋯ Became the spokesperson of world-wide famous clothing brands, shot advertisements, frequented the fashion industry’s award ceremonies, endorsed electronic games, has a supermodel girlfriend. His earnings from advertisements exceed his club salary by seventeen times, owns a special column in various print medias, publishing his autobiography (in progress), and is even said that he is planning to shoot an inspirational film based off his own person experiences! Who can tell me which part of his life experiences is worthy of being called ‘inspirational’? Hold on⋯. Are you all thinking that I’m referring to David Beckham? You’re sorely mistaken! I’m talking about Manager Tony Twain⋯.” He was very knowledgeable about Chinese soccer. — “⋯ I’ve heard about it, that Bora gifted four books to his manager Mr. Zhu before your country’s national team’s warm up match. After which, the team lost 1:3 to a nameless American team from Major League Soccer. The new excuse that Mr. Zhu gave for losing the match, was that Bora gifted “books” (‘books’ and ‘lose’ are homophones in the Chinese language). Here, I recommend that you guys find out what that one specific book is. Which book? Of course the one that caused you all to score a goal. After that, tell me the title of the book. Before every match, I will gift ten copies of that same book to you. In that case, won’t you all be able to get a triumphant 10:0 win over your opponents every time?” An excerpt taken from Tony Twain’s special column in a certain famous Chinese sports newspaper. He was loved and hated by the press. — “He has a special column in at least four renowned print media, and he is able to get a considerable amount of remuneration just by scolding people or writing a few hundred words of nonsense weekly. While we have to contemplate hard about our drafts for three days before our boss is pleased with it. In an article inside his special column, he scolded and called all of the media ‘son of a bitch’, announcing that he hated the media the most. But every time he publishes an article, we flock towards him like flies which had spotted butter. Why? Because the readers like to read his news and see him scold people. I dare to bet with you, and Manager Tony Twain knows clearly in his heart as well, that even though he says that he hates us, he knows that the present him cannot do without us. Similarly, we also cannot do without him. Is this ultimately considered a good or a bad thing?” Bruce Pearce, a reporter from said with a face of helplessness when talking about Tony Twain. But no matter the case, his players were his most loyal believers. — Gareth Bale, “No no, we never had any pressure when playing on our home grounds. Because the pressure is all on the manager. As long as we see him standing by the side of the field, all of us will feel that we will be able to win that match. Even the football hooligans are like meek lambs in front of him!” (After saying this, he began to laugh out loudly) The reply from George Wood, the team captain of Nottingham Forest, was the most straightforward. “We follow him because he can bring us victory.” The legendary experience of Tony Twain, the richest, most successful, most controversial manager with the most unique personality! Debuting this summer. Show more Read the full article