#and if there is ANYTHING jeanne can understand

[protect-namine]

I was thinking the other day that man, kokuto neji is such a character and I haven't liked a writer character like this since... shang qinghua?

which naturally led me to this thought: jj fic with svsss-style au where neji transmigrates/gets isekai'd into the world of havenna. as domina, of course.

it's extra fucked up imo because at least when sqh transmigrated in his book, he made up all of those characters and they mostly stayed in the realm of fantasy. like, sure, lbh was kinda based on himself in some ways and mbj was his ideal fantasy, but they still mostly stayed fictional, you know? sqq (sy) had to fix his plots because the characters sqh wrote strayed too far from their original plotlines

but theater makes a fictional world a bit too real and personal, especially when you use real people as inspirations for your writing. with neji, he'd be looking at rukiora and see three different people (mitsuki acting as rukiora; rukiora who was written based on a younger version of neji; rukiora who is her own person in this weirdly real world of havenna). neji would see fugio and to him that is both sou acting as fugio and the fugio who grew up with poison flowers. miguel is both fumi and the guy who ran away from his neshiromi fields. the only constant would probably be chicchi. she is too much like kisa in that... well. neji didn't really have a backstory for chicchi. chicchi is a blank canvas just like kisa is as an actor.

anyway. yeah, very sv-style character arc where neji, much like shen yuan in sv, is forced to humanize the villain. except this villain was his creation and is also tied to a bunch of personal issues for neji that he Doesn't Want To Think About and also he doesn't? really understand the character he wrote tbh?

isn't art supposed to process your emotions for you!! why must he process these himself!!

can you imagine neji, who always casts himself as a seer of some sort (fortune teller, ushinoko) or someone who generally has some control over his future or his "creation" (who is mary if not just another side of neji anyway; she's takihime redux, and takihime is also. neji). imagine this dude being transported inside the play he wrote but he doesn't understand it and he has no control over it and everyone's acting both in character and out of character. he both knows and doesn't know these people. they're fictional but also... real? does he treat them as real people? is domina real? he wanted his actors to imbue parts of themselves into his characters. are these people really just characters from a script? are they his quartz classmates? is he allowed to even hope that that's the case?

it's both THE improv exercise of his dreams and also. a nightmare

[kuiinncedes]

:|

[ravetillyoucry]

PUPARIA

Chapter 1 - Parfum D’etoiles

"Every time I get stuck in my sleep, I always have this dream, it's always the same, always." The, obviously artificially, blonde man spoke, pausing to finish his sip of coffee whilst signalling there was more to the story, and not to carry on the conversation without letting him finish.

"It's dark, wet, and raining, and I can't walk. You know how in your dreams you can never run with speed and you're so sluggish, it's like that, but I'm like, army crawling on the ground, like.. my legs are paralysed or something."

His head fell into his hands as he stopped to laugh mid-thought,

"Hah, I don't know, I never know how to explain it. It's so ...visceral. I wake up feeling caked in the mud still. Anyway- at some point I stop trying though, and I just lay there for, I don't know, hours, days, months. All in dream time, of course."

Gesturing to show how long exactly he meant in hand terms, he continued despite the fact his audience was more disturbed rather than understanding how comical it truly was.

"And- and I just feel my body freeze up, everything goes numb and I can't move at all, and I grow like, a shell, something like that, something that's keeping me in place anyway around me."

He stopped for again , his smile dropping when he realised nobody else found it as humorous as he did. Eyes adverting down into his own reflection in the black drink, he grabbed for his hair to fidget the embarrassment away as he realised he got too carried away and failed to read the room.

"Um.. anyway, I always wake up before I like.. hatch. Or something. And I always wake up shrunk after."

"Thats more weird than funny, Hosah." The smallest of the three sitting around the little table in the corner of the busy New York cafe spoke. He, Jeanne, had this specific aura of authority around him that nobody quite understood, but chose not to question.

Hosah chose not to question most things nowadays. Especially his coworkers. He only really had two friends at his job, and they had joined him for lunch today. Jeanne was always considered his closest friend of the two, but he had been seeing an awful lot of the other man, Thierri, recently too.

He could never tell if there was something more to the two than how it seemed on the outside, as the pair were often on jobs together as partners, but there was still an aura of tension between them, like they hated each other or something of the sort.

Deciding not to dwell, everyone awkwardly continued on with the shift in conversation from weird and funny dreams to whatever kind of kafkaesque nightmares Hosah had going on in his head.

After collecting together the coins they each had in their pockets for the bill, the trio made their way back to the main office building where plentiful work was left to be done. Right now all three of them were on a particularly disturbing case.

Shifters going missing for days and being found in increasingly unique circumstances. It was definitely not uncommon for shifters to be murdered, it was normal, almost expected. Hosah found it horrifying. It served as a gruesome reminder of what he could end up as if he didn't watch his back at every waking moment. He wasn't cut out for his job, he knew it deep down, but he was so used to this life, and he couldn't sleep at night knowing the things he knew and doing nothing about them. So he stuck in his unsuitable field, as he was incapable of doing anything else.

It seemed it was a particularly busy Thursday afternoon in the city, as Hosah found himself several people away from his coworkers now. Putting a little speed into his walk, he caught up to both Jeanne and Thierri as they neared the office building, dodging the randoms walking the street in the process.

The office was split into two divisions , division A and division B. The first two or so years working for the agency, Hosah spent in division B. These were the petty things, serving more as a private investigators than law enforcement. It was fun at least, snooping and finding out whether some dude really was cheating on his wife, dealing drugs on the side, or stealing from the cash register.

Division A however, were a shifter crime specialist unit. He'd done a few mediations here and there when in division B, but it wasn't until almost four years ago when he became a permanent member, as he was one of the only shifters in the agency at the time, or at least, he was one of the only known shifters.

Entering the establishment and loading into the elevator onto floor A, the topic had shifted to the new hire. Edmund or something. Hosah didn't really care to learn his name as they rarely stuck around, at least not in the shifters specialist unit. They usually found a preferred place with the B team or elsewhere all together as the mass amounts of cases that had to be covered became overwhelming for the newbie just looking for experience.

Hosah was a known figure across the entirety of both divisions. Whether that be because of his love for showing up clearly not sober, or the fact that, about 75% of the time, he was barely three inches tall, he wasn't sure. He didn't really prefer either of the two to being the case, but it was only logical to assume the latter.

"Oh, yeah Hosah, boss wants to speak to you about that actually. Something about shadowing probably. She didn't say really"

Jeanne mentioning his name awoke him from his day dream.

"What? Seriously?" Hosah wasn't usually trusted to be shadowed by new hires. Plus, he'd been here for almost a month now, he should know the ropes already.

"Mm. Should probably go now if you want to know what she has to say." The elevator chimed and Hosah was left in his lonesome to consider his options. Begrudgingly, he pressed the button to go up another floor, but not before the door was stopped mid-closing by a particularly tall figure he didn't quite recognise.

The new hire.

Hosah retracted back into the metal box he'd be trapped in with the unknown man, unable to shift his expression of confusion as the taller of the two gave an apologetic 'Sorry' under his breath before standing uncomfortably close to the figure in the corner. The seasoned detective stared, partly judging and partly out of curiosity. Sure, he was tall as everyone said, but not as tall as Thierri.

He took into account a number of things about new hire actually. He had a crooked canine tooth that poked out a little when he smiled, and he had two dotted scars under his bottom lip at either side. Those didn't seem to be his only piercings, as his ears also had two or three a-symmetrical decorations. He'd say 'how unprofessional' if it didn't make him a massive hypocrite. Hosah's eyes adverted as the two glanced briefly into each-other's.

Whilst the cornered's eyes stayed transfixed on his shoes, he couldn't help but feel his body tense and his face flush as eyes lingered on him and his every movement. 'Just say something, say what you want to say' was all he could wish for.

"We haven't met before, I don't think. Uh, my name's Edward. Randolph." The taller of the two extended a hand, his coat sleeve too short for his freakishly long limbs. Hosah stared at it for a brief moment before returning the favour and shaking it. Before he could formally introduce himself, Edward interrupted.

"I already know. You're Detective Levi, right?"

The fact he knew who he was proved to be a little unsettling.

"Mmm, just call me Hosah, please. Formality isn't exactly my forte," The handshake was becoming increasingly uncomfortable as it never seemed to end, Edward just kind of wanted to stand there holding his hand it seemed.

He let out a quiet 'Right' in a laugh. It wasn't until Hosah actively withdrew his hand that he let go.

After what seemed like forever, but in reality was only maybe two minutes, the doors chimed open once more. Now they were almost on the top floor of the building, as the next stairwell took them to the roof. Hosah had only occasionally been up here, and he doubted that Edward had been on the master floor at all. He really didn't know why the whole floor was needed when there would only be one office, but this was also where all the archived cases were filed, so he assumed it was mainly to declutter and store things away from the general working areas. He'd never really questioned it, after all.

This floor was particularly different to the three below it, as the wood wall panels weren't covered with the same yellowing wallpaper as the others, and the lights flickered like a ghost was about to appear and disappear again right before their eyes. Definitely a creepy hallway, with the emptiness of the entire floor contrasting the overcrowded division areas, where there was never a moment of silence.

Both detectives stood in the elevator for a while longer than what they had to, until Hosah swallowed down the sickly feeling building in his stomach and took charge towards the very end of the hall, to the office space.

Something wasn't right, this was not going to be a simple shadowing request as Jeanne speculated at all. Hosah wasn't a particularly laid-back worry-free individual, but this situation rubbed him the wrong way entirely.

He put speed into his step as the newbie stalked a few feet behind him. No, it wasn't whatever Boss was going to say that worried him, it was Edward. There was something so fine and specific about him that was off. Of course, Hosah didn't know what exactly that was yet, but the feeling of uneasiness was too distinct to not have any significance.

If there was one thing Hosah trusted, it was his intuition, and he knew that Edward was no normal new hire who'd be gone by the end of the month.

He felt his heart pump through his chest as he was now almost running down the endless hallway of doors and doors of empty rooms, until the two finally reached the end, facing the doorway into unknown territory.

Hosah had only been in Boss' office a handful of times, the room was dimly lit as the curtains were drawn, and the dark, almost maroon red wallpaper didn't help with the already unwelcoming feeling everyone who stepped inside had rush over them upon entering. Both men were beckoned inside upon knocking, the boss spinning her chair to face them like some cheesy movie villain.

"Come, sit, it's important." she called them over toward the two vintage leather chairs facing her desk.

Hosah braced himself for whatever was so important that he was summoned to the usually off limits floor for.

Boss was actually someone he had known in childhood, briefly. That's how Hosah ended up here. Although she was to be referred to as only Boss by everyone in the building, he still slipped up sometimes and called her by the name he knew her as, Jules.

The pair paid utmost attention as she began to speak again;

"Levi, you're one of our longest working employees, and a very valued member of our shifters specialist division," Oh god.

"But, you see, your condition has been.. Less than desirable as of lately, from an employers perspective." Oh, god.

She waited for any kind of response from either of the two, but when met with brief, stunned silence, she continued,

"Which is why I've come to the decision to give you a helping hand, per se, Edward will be assisting you on cases from now on. Since it'd be such a shame to have to let you go over this."

Hosah opened his mouth to speak but he had no words, his mind was racing so fast he couldn't create a coherent sentence. He sat in silence. The smile on Jules' face was nothing but sardonic as she watched him helplessly comply with the newfound situation.

On one hand, he was furious. He'd been humiliated and undermined in front of his junior. Someone he was going to have to be stuck with for the foreseeable future had zero chance of having any respect for him at this rate. But, Hosah also felt guilty.

The moment of embarrassment took him back to the time when he himself had just joined the company, with no experience and no qualifications in the field, he spent almost every waking moment inside this very building as if he was the weird kid looking for a place to sit in the cafeteria. Rejected and outcasted by those that had been here for much longer than him, as if he was invading their space or butting in where he wasn't supposed to.

Hosah almost saw himself in Edward for that brief moment, and held back any protests to the situation as to not relay the same awful feeling of being repudiated. Coughing on his lack of enthusiasm about the whole ordeal, he just nodded, completely avoiding even glancing to see Edward's reaction.

In a literal sense, he was still at his regular height, but boy did he feel small in this moment.

-~-

"So, what did boss have to say?" Jeanne stood up from against his car, opening the door for his coworker before getting into the driver's side himself.

Hosah just sighed, slouching down on the leather seat and hiding his face with his winter scarf, despite it still being the back end of August.

"That I needed help, since I'm shifting so much. Said I'm weighing you down by asking so many favours."

He looked to Jeanne for a response, but he didn't say much. Just a short 'Mm' as he focused on the dark city roads. She was right. Hosah felt bad for asking so much from him, but he and Thierri were the only two people he had to trust in the entirety of New York City. Hell, he was even being driven to the subway station home every night. As they reached a red light, Jeanne spoke up again,

"Well, Edward is sweet. You'll warm to him soon, and if it's seriously all that bad I'll still always be here to lend you a favour or two." his head was now turned so Hosah didn't have to look at the bandaged side of his face.

He was too stubborn to agree, so he just rolled down the passenger window and lit a cigarette.

"He has a key to my apartment. I don't like that. Can you believe her? Just giving out my key to any Tom Dick or Harry? I don't even know the guy yet." He'd reverted to playing with his hair again out of frustration, tapping ash out into the breeze.

"I mean, your apartment is under contract with the company, and it's not particularly out of character for her." If there was one thing Jeanne was going to do, it was try find the most optimistic yet logical explanation for everything Hosah complained about. It was a little annoying at times, but he had come to appreciate his wise insight.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just annoyed, can I be annoyed for a minute?"

"I'm not saying it's not out of line, Hosah. I'm with you, it's weird, but you signed the contract. She does what she wants and doesn't consider her employees, you should know that by now."

He just groaned, exhausted from avoiding Edward for the rest of the day and by all the pent up anger he'd been with holding in the meanwhile.

"There's something not right about Edward, s'all.. Something's wrong with him but I can't put my finger on it." Hosah's hand moved from his hair to his forehead, as if rubbing in exasperation will give him the eureka moment.

Jeanne just laughed at him.

"Ah, really? Honestly when I first spoke to him, he reminded me of you. Same sort of weird, dry humour that doesn't hit with me specifically but others find it charming." He reached out and patted the passenger seat head rest,

"You'll be fine. Trust me."

Hosah did trust Jeanne, he really did, but he couldn't shake the uneasiness still. Sure, he could be overthinking, but no one had ever made him so nervous before. There had to be something sinister hidden beneath the sickly sweet persona. There was no other explanation for the stomach churning feeling that had washed over him as Edward stepped into that elevator and shook his hand. Surely.

The two waved their goodbyes after a short drive to the station, Hosah having to make a mad dash for his ride home as he'd spent too long going down the endless loop of stairwells to avoid being trapped in the elevator again.

He stood on the subway, hand gripping the plastic strap as the movement of the metro pushed him into various different straphangers on the busy ride home, his thoughts lingering on the day and contemplating all the different things he could've said in that office. Still, his mind jumped back to that urge to protect Edward's feelings of rejection. Usually Hosah wouldn't care, but for some reason, his heart pushed him to silence and compliance earlier, something completely out of character for him. If there was one thing Hosah would do, it was protest and fight against anyone or anything he particularly didn't agree with. But for some reason, this was different.

He was almost pulled straight down face first onto the crowded floor as the train halted to a stop. Hosah was too caught up replaying everything in his head to pay attention to his surroundings. Collecting his balance, the detective pushed through the crowds of businessmen and women waiting to get home during the evening rush hour, but just as he was about to head towards the exit of the platform, a familiar voice called him,

"Hosah! Hey, wait up for me!"

Edward.

Although he wanted to pretend he never heard him at all, his body froze in place. Despite it not being intentional, Hosah must have given his coworker a nasty glare as he approached, still stood dead in his tracks.

Slightly intimidated, the assistant still started conversation.

".. So! We get off at the same stop! That's real convenient, seeing as we'll be working together from now on." Somehow Edward still managed to smile through the clear annoyance of his superior, whose neck was craned upwards to look at him.

"Yeah, yeah definitely." Hosah's gaze adverted, now looking back down at the floor like he was earlier.

It hurt to look at him, and not just because of the height difference. He felt his lips purse as the eyes looking down at him, despite his head now being turned away, stayed put with no sign of freeing him. With his heart in his throat, he wasn't sure what else to say.

"Uh, it's sixty two degrees, aren't you hot in a coat and a scarf over your suit?" Edward leant in closer to the smaller of the two's face, which had gotten progressively more red and the interaction continued.

Hosah scrambled to take the scarf off as he too realised how hot it was, deciding to blame the weather and not his embarrassment. His 'Yeah' struggled to be heard through the movement.

Despite the fact he really just wanted to run away until he got to his apartment, Hosah agreed to let his now assistant walk him to his building as to not be a nuisance by standing and chatting on the busy platform or to draw attention to the two by making a scene and fleeing.

The pair weaved their way through the evening crowds of the city, Edward holding onto the sleeve of Hosah's coat to avoid being separated. It wasn't until they'd long left the herds of people that he let go. Conversation was stale as expected. Hosah just wanted to get home in peace in all honesty. He's not tiny right now, so he doesn't need any help.

For whatever unknown reason, Edward still insisted. Nothing was more annoying than being treat as incapable. Afterall, he's a normal person, just like Jeanne, just like the barista that handed him his coffee earlier that day, but probably not like Edward, Edward definitely wasn't normal.

Slamming the door of his apartment behind him, Hosah almost fell to his knees as his legs buckled beneath him. Cradling his head in his hands, hair in his fists, he asked whatever higher beings were listening why he was the way he was and why today had to be such a continuous beating to his ego.

Looking up at the dark apartment, the only illuminations being the street lights poking through the curtains of the balconette and the fairy lights hanging above the TV stand, one thing sat in the corner of the living room haunted him.

An unfinished painting. Hosah groaned, he'd have to come back to it another day, leaving the easel unattended, keeping the mess of old bedsheets along with his long dried oil paint palette on the floor for the foreseeable future.

Too exhausted to properly get ready for bed, he stripped down into his just his boxer shorts and socks before collapsing onto the frameless mattress and subsequently falling asleep for the night, knowing he still had tomorrow ahead of him but deciding to ignore it all together, as he already had enough overthinking to do.

[chapter 2]

[arc-misadventures]

Swapped AU Jeanne meets the Rusted Knight

The Knight

Jeanne: So uhh… That a… That a nice look you’ve got there…

Jaune: Oh, thanks.

Jeanne: …

Jaune: …

Jeanne: Your giant jakalope is nice.

Jaune: I knock up, Rin!

Jeanne: …

Jeanne: Well… That explains why I was in there for so long this time… Hehe… H-How did that happen…?

Jaune: Well… Rin, saw me as the, Rusted Knight…

Jeanne: Like from the fairytale?

Jaune: Yeah, I-I’ll explain that later. A-Anyway, I appeared in your room dressed as I am now, armour, and all. And, the only person I saw was, Rin. And, she just sorta lost it…

Jeanne: Lost it?

Jaune: She took one look at me, said, ‘Hello Daddy~!’ And, she pounced me…

Jeanne: Rin has always had a crush on you. But, she’s always managed to keep her emotions in check. However, I think seeing you like this, broke the camels back, and she didn’t care about the repercussions of her actions, only that it happened. Can’t say I blame here honestly…

Jaune: I’m regretting it though…

Jeanne: Because you won’t be there to help her?

Jaune: Yeah… She told me it’s what she wished for, what she wanted more than anything else. Her eyes… Rin’s, beautiful pink eyes told me that this is what wanted. That she was telling the truth from the bottom of her heart. So, I gave her what she wanted. But, I can’t help, but feel sorry that I won’t be there to help her. And, I probably won’t be able to see it as often as I would like to… I don’t regret doing it… Just that I won’t be there to help her when she needs me…

Jeanne: Don’t worry, Jaune. Me, Nora, May, Mom, Dad, and the rest of my brothers; All of us will be there for her, you can count on that.

Jaune: T-Thank you, Jeanne… I’m lucky to have a sister like you in my life.

Jeanne: Hey, that’s just what… S-Sister… Y-Y-You called me sister…?!

Jaune: Well, we are sorta like twin aren’t we?

Jeanne: But, I-I thought you hated me.

Jaune: I’ve been stuck there for a long, long time. I’ve had plenty of time to think some things through. And, I was never truly angry at you, Jeanne. More so with the world, and the people I’ve had to face. So, will you forgive me?

Jeanne: There’s nothing to forgive, big bro.

Jaune: So, I’m the big brother in this relationship? Probably for the best, you are one hell of a hellion to deal with.

Jeanne: Oh, how rude of you.

Jaune: (Snrk!)

Jeanne: So… Do you have any ideas on what the baby should be named?

Jaune: Since I won’t be there I thought I should leave that to, Rin. But, if I had to pick one…

Rin: Ahh?! Oh… H-H-Hi, Jeanne… H-How was seeing, Jaune again?

Jeanne: …

Jeanne: Dammit! He was about to give me a name!

Nora: A name, a name for what?

Jeanne: For my nephew, and/or niece~!

Rin: Eep!

May: What are you talking about?

Jeanne: Why don’t we ask, Rin instead~?

May: Rin? What did, Rin do?

Nora: Does it have to do with that thing she’s hiding behind her back?

Rin: N-N-N-No! No it doesn’t!

Jeanne: Rin, Jaune told me what you two did together.

Rin: H-H-He did…?!

Jeanne: Yes. And, he asked me to be there for you. Me, and my whole family will be there for you, Rin. So you don’t have to worry, we’re here for you, you’re not in this alone.

Rin: Promise…?

Jeanne: Arc’s promise.

May: W-What the hell are you two talking about?

Nora: PleasebewhatIthinkitis!PleasebewhatIthinkitis!PleasebewhatIthinkitis!

Ren: H-Here you go…

May: Is that…? No way?!

Nora: Fuck yeah! I’m gonna be an aunt!

Jeanne: Congratulations, Rin! You’re going to be a mom!

Rin: T-Thank you, Jeanne… I know its so sudden… But, I saw, Jaune, and I saw how he looked… I-I wasn’t letting him get away from me again. So, I… Yeah…

May: I knew you had the hots for him. But, damn… I didn’t think you’d go that far with him.

Jeanne: Well Team ARNZ, we better pack. We’re taking a trip to see my parents! And, once there I can introduce my family to my two new sisers, and wife!

May: Wife?! I understand, Nora, and I would get adopted by your mom…

Nora: FUCK YEAH!

May: But, I didn’t think you need to marry, Rin just because, Jaune knocked her up.

Jeanne: No no no. Rin is my new sister. Your gonna be my wife, May.

May: …

May: You going to give me a ring now, or what?

[itmeblog]

11 for hobbies (Nova)

From this!

Nova was shot on Canos twice.

Canos is a fast moving desert planet in the middle of a targeted destabilization campaign by the GU. There are plenty of InCos there because there's a low barrier to entry. If you can get your hands on anything interesting and sell it to someone willing to pay, you're an InCo. The pay is bad and unsteady. The relevance of information is incredibly time sensitive, you can sprint your way to a buyer as soon as you get good intel, and have it depreciate to worthless by the time you reach them. InCos do not grow very old on this planet.

Nova has a few people there she gathers broad strokes intelligence from to sell to interested parties off planet. Military movement, blockades, funding and supporters, people of interest (the planet's crumbling infrastructure and government also makes it a great place to do a whole host of illegal activities so it attracts a ton of species, humans among them) etc. This is the most technically difficult planet on her route and the last.

The second time she got shot, it was completely by accident. She's just taller than most of the Canosians (they generally vary from chest height to waist height). She had the misfortune of being near someone who was being targeted for a petty rivalry (adultery) and the shot went wide, Nova was there. It got her in the shoulder. She is understandably upset about this.

When she says she got shot on Canos twice with like a slight air of disbelief, this is the event she is thinking about.

The first time she got shot, it was a targeted attack. Jeanne's informant had been compromised and Nova had to deal with the fallout which entailed killing both the informant, and their partner. As well as the two Canosians meant to kill her after she was supposed to give over information about other on planet contacts and Jeanne. The informant was on the wealthier side and had a flair for the dramatic. Nova killed them mid monologue (no, they did not think to disarm her. She doubts they even considered she had anything more than a knife or maybe a cheap pistol, given how most InCos in that region are generally poor and her gun is rather expensive. Her being obviously funded didn't really beat out the stereotypes there. She waited long enough to see who had bought them out before killing them), and managed to move out of the way before the first retaliatory shot could hit her, the second hit and ended up nicking her pancreas. She finished the last two off (running on a mix of adrenaline and a good dose of petty vengeance) and wandered around the house a bit to find the informant's partner (protocol can be a bitch) before dragging herself close to the ship and collapsing. She was picked up by SAWA.

[zeravmeta]

long winded whining underneath

saw that post abt the saberfaces and like while I can understand the point in like, a billion dollar company reusing a design/design element might not appear favorable and it isn't even that wrong to say they are squeezing their cash cow flagship character i fundamentally disagree because thats like the equivalent of complaining about jojo having every protagonist with a name that can be shortened to jojo or final fantasy always having reused monsters like bahamut

and this isnt even a "oh saber is good i swear!" type thing but like. fate's been around for almost two decades now and has had tons of media made with plenty of recurring motifs and thematics that are acknowledged by the writers who are incredibly vocal fans of the series so if you're going into a long established franchise and complaining about long standing injokes and long standing patterns it comes across less as poining out the flaws in a billion dollar company and more like you just dont like that you didnt get it at first? takeuchi samefaceness isnt a problem unique to takeuchi and there are thousands of artists who have the same issue and even then a bunch of the saberfaces werent even drawn by takeuchi at first (nero was wada and jeanne & mordred was konoe) so them playing off the saberface jokes with designs isnt even that agregious because even if they have similar colors you'd have to be reading it in bad faith to say that the fgo artoria and fgo jeannes takeuchi designs are the exact same. an artist can have a style to how they draw their characters and just because there is overlap does not automatically equate that to having lazy designs.

more than anything saberfacing is part of nasuverse iconography, when a character is a saberface it isnt just about selling the design it is in fact an intentional design choice that tells you about the themeing of the character. im not going to say that nasuverse lore is sacred because it definitely isnt and they are in fact just doing what they think is cool but when you have nasu literally adding a chapter for limbo because he thought hasendows design was so beautiful it shouldn't be limited to a single appearance and then had that expanded into one of the more popular story chapters that tells you that these are creators who do pay attention to the designs that go into their characters. the same applies to chica umenos oberon, to wada and redrops designs and so many more, they absolutely care about the art that goes into their series.

I'm not gonna tell you that you must absolutely do your homework to enjoy any piece of fate media we are all free to do literally whatever we want forever and -clenches fist- you can also enjoy it in any type of way even in a surface level way. but when you acknowledge that a series is long standing with deeper themes acknowledged by its long standing playerbase and that the writers have so much passion for their own work (for better or worse, again nasuverse is absolutely not immune to criticism), saying that it comes across as disingenuous to have a recurring character design injoke because its heavily popular now despite not being popular once upon a time in itself comes across as disingenuous. nasuverse stuff being born of niche doujin circles and still being in touch with those roots isnt some kind of disqualification of the existence of saberfaces or the reasons behind them. when we ask you to read fate stay night its literally because we want you to enjoy it More so that you can, in fact, understand why saberface is a thing to begin with. being a popular franchise nowadays doesnt remove any of that charm unless you're specifically ignoring them. we literally have bbs profile in fgo say 'if you want to understand her deal and the deal of other similar characters read fate extra ccc' (bb herself being a sakuraface) so like theyre fully forward about the most accessible entrypoint into the franchise having a ton of history behind it

[midnightmah07]

Heyyy Mah! Saw the recent emoji questionnaire!

May i do 🙈 for all the girls?

See ya! Have a nice day!

Hehe hello Ghostly!!! Always a joy having you here😊💞

🙈 SEE-NO-EVIL - whats a side of your oc that they don't want to show other people?

Daisy -> Daisy has lived by her parents teachings of "have courage and be kind" ever since they died, and while that helped making her into a wonderful girl it also made her put herself as the last priority possible. So while she does open up often she does her best so the people around her don't see anything in her to worry about, always trying to be of help but never being helped

Perse & Damali -> putting them together bc they have the biggest problem of hiding their true selves💀 Perse hides all her feelings in her heart under lock and key and basically no one can ever understand how she's feeling, if you see her in an emotional state (whether that is sad, angry or just really happy) consider yourself lucky because she doesn't show her emotions easily😭 Damali is similar but she does it in order to seem "perfect". While I do hammer in the fact that she has weird interests and such for the most part she's calm and collected, always wearing a practiced smile and never letting anyone know who she truly is and what her intentions are. In a sense they both don't want people to know who they are

Jeanne -> her self hatred probably!! Jeanne has severe self hatred issues that started from a young age but got worst after she felt guilty for doing what she did to Kalim; but she hides it from almost everyone!! She's always hiding underneath fake confidence and she always changes topic whenever something that could diverge the conversation to go there comes up...

Isabelle -> Isabelle is more sensitive and fragile than she shows to be. When you meet her you think she's this strong, confident person but she's actually deeply insecure, always worrying about what others think of her, if she's doing a good job as a princess, if she's being annoying, if Leona truly hates her- she's a mess and needs help😭

[dgrailwar]

Round 13, Day 1 - Ruler / Alter-Ego

The fight was intense. Blow after blow, each one harder than the last.

Still, the plan seemed to work. With Ruler taking the front, she ended up taking the brunt of the attacks, the Alter-Ego dove in, her bladed leg perfectly slashing into the eye of the goddess, causing her to roar in pain as she stepped back.

The ancient goddess- Medusa- glared at the two Servants. She removed the hand from her wounded eye, blood spilling down her face.

"You're bold. I'll give you that. The Divine Spirit I'm integrated with respects that, however, I do not. That goddess has wiped your minds of her goals, but let me enlighten you of your base roles. You're to fight in the Holy Grail War, and win. Then, a new era that will overwrite humanity will begin to be established. Neither of you have any reason to love humanity… so why do you resist?"

"...So, you're anti-humanity? Makes sense... and, yeah, true. This would be a neat moment for a heel-turn. You're right, I don't like humanity much either. I'll never be able to comprehend them. They're a bunch of twisted, miserable little freaks that don't understand anything about the world they live on. They thrive off of violence, deceit, and betrayal, and without their misery, I wouldn't have been 'born' so broken."

"This is usually where you say 'but'…"

"Right. But… well, I'll save the speech, and just say that I have my reasons. Still... whatever grudge you're holding... it must be real personal, huh?"

"...And you, 'Ruler'? You've been forsaken by mankind, despite giving everything to them. You have every right to despise the human world? And yet..."

The Ruler coughed, placing a hand on her wound, but managing to smile.

"…The only one with the right to forsake humanity is God, and I don't believe He has. Though, that doesn't mean that you don't have a right to anger. Humanity can be cruel and selfish, such are the imperfections of the world that we strive to improve upon moment after moment."

"Besides… I believe you don't loathe humanity as much as you claim to--"

Medusa spoke up, her voice bitter.

"Quiet. Be silent and simply accept your victory, 'hero'."

With that, the Ancient God vanished. The tension in the air began to slowly fizzle out, as the Alter-Ego stretched.

"Well, look at that. We survived. Still... to think that this War would be to 'overwrite humanity'. Crazy. But... well, that explains Cerberus. He was defending Great-Grandmommy. Shame we had to turn that Gorgon into a cyclops, though. Right, blondie?"

"…"

"Uh, blondie?"

The Ruler was staring down a path, deeper within the confines of the chamber.

"This way leads to the Grail. I'm sure of it. Let's keep moving. Still... before we go... can I ask something? I want your honest opinions."

-

Jeanne has taken a point of damage! Two more, and she'll fade away!

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

you don't have to answer this ask

but your comment about merlin being prettier than jalter

you're right and you should say it louder, I'M letting you cook

jalter is one of those designs where I can like…understand the basic reasons why people think she’s hot (big titty tsundere in black) but I don’t get why she’s regarded as being one of the objectively hottest fgo characters (disregarding the writing side, speaking just in terms of designing)

Like. Even when her outfit is good she has a mullet? And the long haired bit is just very weirdly shaped?

Or like, her weird ass dresses that make no sense-I’m all for sexy cut outs, but why is there just one small flap on one side? What’s even with the side support?? This this is held on with hopes and dreams and it doesn’t even add to it bc her back is the exact same color as her hair so it all blends together

LIKE WHAT IS THIS??? WHAT IS THIS STUPID FLAP??? It’s not goth and it’s not tasteful asymmetry like her swimsuit it’s just THERE

Also her sword looks like it was wrapped in a spiky pipe cleaner and i hate that, sorry

Honestly, even her bob kind of annoys me despite it being actually accurate for her. Why is it so misshapen and clunky (yes ik irl jeanne just chopped hers off, but jalter was made firstly to look attractive and this is not it)

she isn’t really even that goth in terms of what she wears despite the memes, she really just wears a lot of black (and her first two outfits are tattered at the bottom) other than the Brillo pad handle and the eye shaped pink details there’s nothing that really makes her goth other than her color scheme and I’m a pedantic little hussy so that annoys me

Like idk. I don’t think she’s ugly or partially offensively designed or anything despite my earlier ranting but I don’t understand the absolute death grip she has on so many people even independent of her character arc. Even for a black knight-type design she’s very mildly done

[mizzymii]

Vanitas Headcanons

General Headcanons that have no relevancy at all but I brainrot these on a daily basis.

If you see typos— no you didn't

TW: mentions of death and some Lightly-angsty Headcanons!

EDIT: I spelt so many things wrong WHOOPS I swear I know how to english

✎... VANITAS

⌛ Vanitas has itty bitty freckles all over his face, they weren't very noticeable but they're there

⌛ He is very good at knife juggling and lives for the thrill of it

⌛ Because I live for the Trans!Vanitas Headcanons and fancy ass scars; his scars oddly look like little wonky hour glasses

⌛ if Vanitas were to be in a relationship I feel like he isn't much of a PDA person; so he gets all funny when he's genuinely being shown affection in front of people.

⌛ for the Vanoè shippers and piggyback from the PDA Headcanons; I feel like Vanitas loves to just sit on the roof; he won't go out if his way to cuddle Noè or anything, but enjoys his company

⌛ for the VaniJeanne shippers; listen. Vanitas will let Jeanne do his makeup.

⌛ In a Modern-Day setting, in terms of music, I feel like Vanitas would like MCR; but also REALLY likes The Oozes

⌛ Vanitas is a musical guy because he just- radiates theatre kid. He likes the Falsettos :D

✎... NOÈ

🐱 I like to think Noè used to have a speech impediment when he was younger

🐱 Boi stims and likely has ADHD.

🐱 When he stims; he usually waves his hands around, shakes Vanitas or stomp in place

🐱 He can repeat "uhm uhm uhm uhm" for a minute straight until he remembers what he is thinking; and it pisses everyone (But Domi) off

🐱 for the Vanoè shippers, but I'm throwing in some angst. While Noè crushes on Vanitas (before a relationship), I feel like Noè tends to stare at Vanitas while on the rooftop and internally recites thousands of poems, but never speaks them.

🐱 When Noè gets Into a relationship with Vanitas, He leaves small pieces of the poems he's written around their room for Vanitas to find

🐱 For the DomiNoè shippers, I feel like Noè gives her the BEST hugs and cuddles you've EVER seen and is like her backpack

🐱 When Noè is in a relationship bc why tf not; you bet your ass he traces over ALL of his partners scars

🐱 Did I say I'm a Vanoè shipper? Well— more angst. In the end when Noè marks Vanitas, they come to a mutual understanding; but they embrace eachother for the last memory :) I can't think of anything sadder than that so that's for the softies (aka me)

🐱 Noè is a book dragon; he reads when he suddenly gets the motivation but he loves to hoard books because he thinks hell read them but never does

✎... JEANNE

🌹 She loves roses; she feels like a rose girl

🌹 In modern times; She's also a theatre kid- but she loves all the niche musicals.

🌹 her favorite singer is Aurora :) and she LOVES Tomm Moore movies

🌹for the VaniJeanne shippers, She loves to braid his hair and get him all pampered up

🌹 She gets sunburned very easily

🌹She's very sensitive to STRONG aroumas so she likes the subtlety

🌹Jeanne daydreams a lot when she has absolutely nothing to do

🌹(VaniJeanne) When Jeanne is in a relationship with Vanitas; she definitely makes sure to take care of him and is constantly checking up on him and giving him constant reminders that she does indeed love him

🌹Her love language is probably Words of Admiration and Physical touch

🌹She stims as well but they're usually little whistles and fiddling with sensory objects; these only happen when she's anxious and flustered

🌹For the DomiJeanne shippers; Jeanne loves to do Domi's first date was at a greenhouse then a Cafe.

🌹 Again for the DomiJeanne Shippers; Jeanne is the big spoon.

🌹 Jeanne would play DnD and always plays either the little and chaotic menaces or the big and gentle cutie patooties

✎... DOMINIQUE

I had a bunch of things for Domi but I had a blank while writing these

🗡 Bc I am; Domi is near sighted. It isn't TOO bad but it certainly is annoying

🗡 Domi is a secret bookworm and finds it so relaxing to read with a nice cup of tea

🗡 Domi used to take fencing classes and was really good? Listen girlie wields a sick rapier she DEFINITELY had practice ((this isn't even a Headcanon tbh))

🗡 Domi used to use Noè for practice

🗡 Domi doesn't like putting her hair up but is okay with doing braids or other types of hairstyles

🗡 Domi has a birthmark that looks to have matched Louis's :)

🗡 Domi, in Modern, would ALSO play DnD but dm's for Jeanne

🗡 Domi loves PDA :) romantic or platonic

🗡 I like to think Noè is her soulmate, both in a romantic and platonic sense

[queenbananya]

The evolution of Vanitas' eyes, especially toward Noé:

This one comes from Jun Mochizuki's official twitter account, just a few days ago. We don't know what Vanitas is looking at (yes I zoomed in, theres no reflection that I can see), but I'm willing to bet it is Noé, and probably from a distance while Noé isn't looking at him.

I may very well be wrong, and that's okay. It still shows us how far Vanitas expressions have come.

From chapter 1, when he meets Noé, and many other times when he first introduces himself, there's hardly any life in those eyes:

That expression does change drastically at times, when he talks of his "vengence":

Everytime he talks about it, he's borderline mad. He also wears this same look with the first few curse bearers he treats. At this point he has three different main expressions: crazed, mocking, and soulless. From this panel alone I'm convinced half the reason Noé decided to stick with him was because he wanted to help him, actually help him as a person.

Here is chapter 10, when he saves Noé from getting his name stolen.

Gone is the crazed look. He's protective now. Angry at those who dare try to hurt Noé. Only chapter 10, and he's already like this!

In the same arc, when that dead-like expression resurfaces, Noé notices it, and stabs Vanitas right where it hurts. He understands him more and more with each day they spend together, and Vanitas' walls likewise drop, little by little.

Skipping all the way to chapter 40. This is his expression now when using his book of Vanitas for his vengence (or salvation, in Noé's words):

It's no longer about that, even. He goes into this knowing how much it will cost him, but he's not doing it for himself anymore. It's for Noé, for Jeanne, for Chloe. He's determined to see it through.

And of course, can't mention this arc without this tender scene.

The sheer intimacy of it. The affection in those eyes. Angled from Noé's POV, as Vanitas rubs his forehead. This is how Noé sees him 😭

And lastly, Noé's confession, when he tells Vanitas "I still don't like you or anything, but I'm glad you are the person you are now". Vanitas' eyes are welling up with TEARS, not from sadness, not from frustration or anger but being genuinely moved with his words. Noé says "I still don't like you" because he KNOWS Vanitas can't take anything else but those words yet. Vanitas likely knows this, and understands just how much Noé cares for him to consider him over his own feelings.

Excuse me while I cry over this. Have this last beautiful panel of Vanitas looking up at the source of his light, his salvation and happiness. Noé.

[kaibutsushidousha]

Ok after finishing all of the main story content in Samurai Remnant, I'd really like to know your thoughts on not just Saber, but the other new servants as well. (I know you did Rider already so maybe you could talk about her Avenger form added recently to FGO)

Saving the Iori and Saber posts for after I play Entreat the Darkness but I suppose I can do this one now.

FSR's cast is built like Fate/EXTRA's. You have big arcs for the protagonist and the main Servant. And then every other Master is a supporting character for the protagonist's arc and their Servant are supporting characters to those supporting characters.

Zhou Yu is the golden example of that. He is the guy who understands Zheng's position, relates to his experiences, and serves as the model for Zheng to follow after every ending. He's not very explored in the parts of his character that aren't relevant to that, in the same way Zheng isn't very explored in the parts that aren't meant to show the ways he's similar to Iori. Although this is probably guaranteed to change when he goes to FGO because Zhuge Liang is right there hiding inside his Waver Velver skin.

Jeanne is the same Jeanne we know since Apocrypha, except in serious mode 100% and in a Master-Servant pair where both sides have firm opinions about the other side's life choices and refuse to back down there despite their fundamental disagreements. FSR and its collab event were the only two times I came out of a Jeanne story having zero problems with Jeanne's characterization, which is a major testament to how good Chiemon is and how Jeanne plays an essential part in making Chiemon the best.

Ushi Gozen is already covered here and here.

Are is different in that he exists as a personal antagonist to Saber rather than as a supporting character to either of his Masters. Saber's arc is about becoming more than Yamato Takeru, so they fight a boss who has the literal constraints of Yamato Takeru's story as his Noble Phantasm. He has his own personal goal in evidencing his own existence, but that's a really frustrating concept as it is because it doesn't give Type-Moon's reasons why Are's existence is doubted. He's a character I have ideas for how I'd have done him differently, but that's a topic for its own post.

Saburou is an accessory to Dorothea's character but he's the most poorly communicated character in the game, so he muddles the point of Dorothea along with him. His motive for wanting to test Doro is not stated but it's implied to be simply disagreeing with her decision to retreat instead of storming Yasuhiro's fortress in their last Digression, which really makes him come off as just an asshole. And I feel like more could be done with the arrangement of him and Saber being mutually weak to each other.

Musashi is the one Servant who serves as a supporting character to Iori rather than her own Master and she feels a lot more right in this role than she ever did as a main player. She's the one character who understands Iori's arc through personal experience and ultimately tries and cathartically fails to be a source of closure to Iori, the other Musashi, and to a lesser extent herself, all in a single duel. It's a satisfying loss for everyone involved.

Yoshinaka is an odd Rogue who is stripped of anything and everything that defined Yoshinaka's source character. Making Yoshinaka a good guy because they didn't want Tomoe to be heads over heels for the worst man of his time is understandable, but the narrative that Yoshinaka was unfairly hated comes with reasons why he was hated despite being innocent, and the game doesn't bother to work with that either. Their Yoshinaka is just a nobody who exists only to be Tomoe's man.

Samson is the Rogue who exists to be Takao's supporting character since Musashi is busy being another one of Iori's. He's a screamy Berserker, but for the first time, this archetype worked because the 3D models allowed for new levels of expressiveness, such as the thumbs up and him sitting next to Iori's house pouting. He's as much of a simp as any version of Samson should be and the way Takao treats that giant hulk like a baby is pretty cute. He's just nice to have around, especially when he is playable.

[secretmellowblog]

I feel like the scene where Valjean has dinner with Bishop Myriel and his sister has so many echoes of Valjean’s broken relationship with his own sister? It's like Myriel and Baptistine are who Valjean and Jeanne might have been, if they’d had wealth and privilege.

Both Myriel and Valjean’s families were scattered— the Myriels by the French Revolution, the Valjeans by illness/poverty. But after everything fell apart the brother and sister stuck together. They took care of each other. They stayed by each other even in the midst of poverty (although yeah it is important to note that the Myriel household’s poverty is voluntary, and is extremely different from the actual poverty of the Valjean household.) 

  It feels like a commentary on the way the revolutions/Napoleonic wars/upheaval of the past decades affected different classes very differently. You have the Myriel family representing the trauma of the aristocrats, and then the Valjean family representing the trauma of the peasants. 

Both Valjean and Myriel were also in a situation where they lost contact with their family for a while and had to survive by laboring– Valjean during his imprisonment, Myriel during the Revolution. Valjean's family was broken in 1795, Myriel's in 1793.  “Our family was ruined….In ‘93 one had no relatives,” Myriel says to Valjean about his experience. “One had only one’s arms.” He’s trying to reach out to Valjean by implying that he understands something of what he's going through— that the pain aristocrats like him experienced during the revolution has something in common with the pain that peasants like Valjean have experienced as a result of poverty. Myriel’s also been separated from his family, he’s also been exiled from the places where he used to live, and he’s also been forced to labor in order to survive. And If he survived it then there’s hope for Valjean too. 

But because Myriel is an aristocrat and Valjean is a peasant, Myriel’s situation was and is radically different, less painful, and less dire. And Myriel seems to understand that, but it’s still… well, it’s still a thing!  I don’t think Myriel is doing anything “wrong” here, but there are clearly limits to how much he actually understands. He talks about how he had “no relatives” during the Revolution, but a moment before he was talking with his sister about their many many relatives. He talks about laboring and having nothing but his arms— but he’s never been in the galleys; has he really experienced that? Like yes, Myriel’s family has been through terrible trauma. Myriel’s wife died in exile, for reasons we never learn, and his family was scattered/broken in a way that utterly changed him as a person.  But he doesn’t know what it actually means to lose everyone. He doesn’t know what it means to lose everything. Myriel might have felt like he did at one point, but he doesn’t. 

Because Myriel’s sister is still here.

1.2.4 is written from Baptistine’s point of view. She happily describes her brother to one of her friends, and seems content to be living with him. 

But Valjean’s sister is gone. She might be dead, or might as well be dead— he will never see her again. 

I don’t think Myriel is doing anything wrong here at all. He’s being a perfect kind host. He’s doing all he can to help Valjean without being condescending or preachy. He’s talking to him as a friend, and trying to help Valjean talk about his own past without shame by revealing some of the struggles he’s been through. But at the same time…when Valjean says he has nothing, it doesn’t mean “he’s lost a lot” it means he has nothing. When Valjean says he has no family, it doesn’t mean “he has some distant cousins he rarely talks to” it means that literally everyone he has ever loved is dead or gone forever.  

Myriel’s aristocratic family may have lost a lot in the Revolution, but it's not even comparable to what Valjean’s family has lost as a result of poverty and prison. 

Myriel’s original plan was to give Valjean a good night’s sleep and breakfast, then send him on his way to Pontarlier and hope he’ll get hired to work with the cheesemakers there. And that was a great plan! It was probably the best thing he could do in that situation. But like…would the people of Pontarlier have been any less bigoted towards Valjean than the people of Digne? Valjean probably doesn’t have hope that will happen. Again, I think Myriel was doing everything “right”-- it’s just that he’s only one person and doing everything he could might not have been enough. It’s like that earlier scene where the Bishop helped the man who was on Death Row. The Bishop thinks the Death Penalty is a moral evil, but he doesn’t have the power to get rid of it or even the power to rescue someone from it. He does all that he can to help the man on death row, by comforting him…. but it isn’t enough. And Myriel's aware that it isn't enough, that there are limits to how much he can help.

 In 1.2.4 Baptistine praises her brother for treating Valjean as an equal. At the same time, in her own narration, she portrays Valjean in the same pitying kinda-condescending way that she praises her brother for avoiding. 

Valjean spent nineteen years in prison because he was trying to help his sister and his sister’s children.

Myriel calls Valjean his “brother.” Myriel’s sister seems amazed that Myriel treats Valjean as his equal; it’s as if she doesn’t think that anyone could have ever genuinely treated Valjean as their brother.

[viilpstick]

I was gonna post this in my other acc but since I wrote this more like a vent and it's way more self indulgent than most fics that I wrote (also smaller) I decided to send it to ur inbox instead,,, anyway (⁠´⁠；⁠ω⁠；⁠｀⁠)

•••

“Kalim?” Jeanne's voice made the boy jump, his red eyes widening as he quickly dried the tears off his face. The raven haired girl wasn't a fool though, he wasn't ok.

“What happened?” She didn't even want to ask if he was ok, the answer was clearly a no, and there was no use debating the obvious.

“Nothing, I just–” he paused, taking a deep breath and showing her his thumb. “I just cut myself.”

Jeanne used her hand to analyze his finger, scared her hook could accidentally make the scratch worse. It wasn't deep, but it probably hurt because it was big. She asked him if he knew where the first aid kit was, he said he didn't know, so – with much protest from Kalim’s end – she just ripped a part of her red sash(?) off, wrapping it around his hand. The boy sighed.

“...sorry.”

“It's whatever. I can get another one.” She said nonchalantly, finishing to tie it around his hand. “Now, why were you crying?"

“I already said it, I cut–”

“No, you wouldn't cry because of that.” She demanded, her blue eyes capturing his red ones and making him bite his lip nervously. “Listen, Kalim… you can be vulnerable with me, really. Even if it's something stupid – which I don't think it is – I won't laugh.”

The white haired boy stayed quiet for a moment, until he ultimately gave up and looked down, his cheeks growing red in shame.

“I… I tried cooking something small. Just for me, you know? But… I ended up not only burning it but also hurting myself.” He then pointed to the sink, where a burnt pan laid, whatever food had been inside it was probably thrown in the trash. It explained the horrible smell she felt when getting into NRC’s kitchen.

“I thought Jamil didn't let you use a knife, or a stove?”

“He doesn't know.”

“Oh.” With that, she looked at him puzzled. “So… you're crying because it went wrong?”

“N-no, not really, it's just–” he groaned, resting his arms on the table and his head on them right after. Jeanne could see his frustration from a mile away. “I'm tired of not being able to do anything right, Jeanne. I can't even hold a knife properly.”

Oh.

Jeanne rubbed her hand up and down his back, her heart aching because of his pain, which was so clearly obvious. Kalim was shaking, he felt useless, he didn't understand why everything he made went so wrong. It was incredibly frustrating. The worst thing? Probably one of the most independent people he knew had caught him crying over not being able to cook a meal.

He… just felt so much shame.

“Kalim, look at me.” Jeanne asked, and he hesitantly complied. He saw a gentle smile on her face as she slowly passed her hands through his short hair. “Let's do it again, together. I'll guide you, and you’ll be able to do it by yourself.”

“No, you don't– I don't want to inconvenience you…” Kalim immediately refused, but was quickly silenced by a tender kiss on his forehead. Jeanne's eyes seemed to lock his gaze, making him weak and at her mercy, as she usually did.

It was a shame he couldn't hate her for the power she held over him.

“It's not inconvenient. I want to help you.” She said, a smile on her face. She made a small bun with her own hair, going to the sink to wash her hand and her hook, looking for alcohol to disinfect it. “I won't interfere unless I absolutely have to, come on. Let's make soup or something.”

“Are you sure?” He asked, still worried, but only received a smile from his girlfriend.

“Absolutely.”

With that, Kalim finally chuckled, the sound music to Jeanne's ears.

“Ok… thank you.”

This felt SO princess and the frog codded

KALIM IS A BABY BC HE IS CUTE AND SWEET

BUT HE IS FOR NOT WANTING TO BE IN OTHERS EYES A BABY :(((

also jeanne is such a gentleman, throw my hat to her

what a woman, amen

[doll-elvis]

What does Reeca Smith look like? I tried looking up photos but nothing seems to come up..

I got a few asks about Reeca Smith so I thought I would combine them here <3, thank you guys for the questions !!

As for the first ask: sorry some of these are aren’t the best quality 😩 but all these pictures of Reeca in 1974 were taken from the documentary “Elvis: Heartbreaker” also called “Elvis’ Women” or “Loving Elvis” depending on the country where you are streaming it

Reeca is on the right in this group photo

And this is Reeca pictured with the Trans Am that Elvis purchased for her ⬇️

If you’re in the North America and unable to watch the documentary, here is a tutorial that I posted awhile back, it still works and I use this method myself !! ⬇️

Second ask: As for any intimacy, this is all that Reeca has said on the subject ⬇️

Since she didn't mention kissing or any other form of intimacy in her most recent interview, I'm assuming it wasn't something that played a major role in their relationship. She has stated that Elvis and her would mostly just talk, and that he especially enjoyed just reading the Bible to her. I think Reeca’s dynamic with Elvis was exactly the same as girls like Heidi, Frances, Gloria and Arlene. All of those girls have only ever talked about Elvis in high regards, and I think that really does speak volumes

However, although these girls don’t see themselves as victims, and while I do truly believe that Elvis never took advantage of them, it still doesn’t justify the kissing. Like you said this is obviously a very hard pill to swallow for any Elvis fan but it personally helps me to try to understand Elvis’ intentions and his mindset when he involved himself with those girls. And so when they all say that it was very innocent, I believe them, and I can honestly say without a doubt, that I think Elvis had good/pure intentions and that the situation wasn’t as black and white as some people try to make it seem

As for the third ask: In terms of Reeca overstating her importance, that very well could be possible, but to give her the benefit of the doubt, Elvis invited a lot of people on tour 😩 and they weren’t always girls that he was dating, for example Jeanne Lemay Dumas who was Linda’s friend and the Alden sisters (Ginger’s family)

If she was invited by Elvis like she says, that doesn‘t mean that Reeca would have been his main girl or anything like that on the tour, it’s likely that he still would have had either Sheila or Linda with him as his girlfriend. Also Reeca was good friends with Ricky Stanley who accompanied Elvis on tours, so that could have been another factor

Infact the very first day that Reeca hanged out with Elvis, Linda, Ricky and David Stanley accompanied them. And in that amazon documentary Linda acknowledged Reeca and also referred to her as one of Elvis’ “dalliances”, so she was at least aware of Reeca’s friendship/relationship with Elvis

** also I saw you mentioned Elvis possibly dating Maggie Smith and I got another ask about her that I am currently researching for (desperately trying to find a copy of this book written about her 😩) and so hopefully I will have more info on her by then

quote from Maggie (Magnolia) Smith 💗

but just from the little research I have done so far, it’s looking like it’s unlikely that they ever dated. Maggie Smith herself hasn’t said that she dated him, Marty Lacker said she was someone Elvis felt sorry for and therefore given a job, and Nurse Tish and Mary Jenkins also only referred to her as one of the maids/employees. Only Nancy Rooks has said that she dated Elvis so I’m still trying to figure out who is telling the truth 😭 like why would Nancy just make that up?

As for Elvis possibly wanting to pursue a serious relationship with Reeca, I don’t think he meant to do so until she was much older

Reeca said this about Elvis wanting a possible future with her ➡️ “He said ‘I know you’re are young but when you’re older, maybe in a couple years, maybe we can go places and have more of a relationship’”

I don’t believe their relationship ever became “serious”, especially since Reeca has never said that they formally dated. He only saw her September and November of 1974, and then for the last time in January of 1975. He was probably preoccupied with Sheila Ryan, Linda Thompson and Ann Pennington etc etc 🤧

I hope this helps anyone who wanted to know more about Reeca, I would love to hear what you guys think, or if you have any info yourself on Reeca or Maggie that you want to share 💗!!

[kettle-flakes]

it's rare for me to find a piece of media that showcases a relationship that perfectly appeals to me as a person, but wow Jack Jeanne managed to do it so well. it makes me super happy !

minor spoilers for Shirota's route belooow~ i know this tag is a little quiet but good etiquette is important !

the relationship Shirota has with Kisa is,,, just so comforting to me with how it's presented? i just love it to bits. they're both sorta introverted people and a lot of their scenes together don't feature a lot of back and forth between them. i know to some it may seem weird or nonromantic/affectionate, but in my eyes there's such a quiet, unspoken intimacy that i adore and wish i could see more of in games !

they don't need to speak to each other super often, laughing, and chatting. they can just sit in each other's presence, eat sweets, drink tea, enjoy the peace, all with an understanding that they're enjoying themselves and are happy. that's how much of my own time is spent with those i'm close with, and to have a game portray that and not show it as being anything besides natural for them is deeply comforting.

also imo Shirota is probably one of the more interestingly written introvert characters. i think it's a bit too common for writers to make an introverted character that's a complete shut-in or is super shy. however, not all introverts are like that ! some like going outside just fine, or they are very direct when they speak. the thing that makes them introverted is that they get exhausted being around others for too long. it's just a take on an introvert i haven't seen in a while.

tldr this game was tailor made for my little introverted aro(?)ace heart !