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puff-poff · 3 years

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The Culture of the Demon World

One part of The Promised Neverland that I always wanted to learn more about was the demons and their culture. Demons are a whole new race with their own language, religions, traditions, food, and history, and I want to learn more about their society. So, I decided to do a bit of research on a few specific aspects of the demon world. After writing everything down and connecting the pieces while trying to remain true to canon, I finally have something clear enough to share with you all.

Without further ado, I present to you my analysis of demon culture.

Part One: Clothing Just like in real life, the clothing demons wear depends on their social status and wealth. The middle and lower-class demons wear loose, flowing clothes with wide collars and sleeves. They most likely do this just in case they aren’t able to eat human meat and maintain their form; baggy clothes won’t tear if the demons start to degenerate. This is why the wealthy demons wear tighter clothing. Tight-fitting outfits show that you can afford plenty of human meat and that you aren’t worried about degenerating.

Many demons, both poor and rich, wear long, layered clothing, but it’s hard to tell if this is a societal standard or a byproduct of cold weather. Almost all of the demons we see are wearing long-sleeved tops and ankle-length bottoms, as well as a jacket, shawl, cape, or scarf. However, the feet and hands are almost always uncovered.

A major part of demon clothing is, of course, their masks. This extra page explains the styles and functionality of the Goldy Pond demon’s masks:

Like the rest of their clothing, wealth plays a part in demon’s masks as well. Detailed masks with large horns, like Luce’s, are worn by rich demons who want to flaunt their wealth, while lower-class demons wear simple, paneled masks with short horns. Demons who want a more functional mask might choose one without horns so they don’t get in their way. The aristocrat demons also have a unifying feature between their territory’s masks to differentiate themselves from the leaders of other territories. Whether or not your mask shows your mouth appears to be a personal preference since Legravalima, Mujika, Sonju, Awla, and Mawla all have uncovered mouths despite the character’s drastic differences.

Another detail I would like to point out is the material of the masks. Most demon masks are likely made of a material similar to clay, but there are a few demons with special masks that appear to be made out of something else. Nous and Nouma, for example, have athletic masks coated with shiny material that’s probably similar to polyester. However, it was Legravalima and Sonju’s masks that interested me the most. Legravalima’s mask is smooth, glossy, and seemingly made out of metal. A metallic mask is likely a sign of royal status and immense wealth. This explains why Sonju had a metallic mask as a child, and why he doesn’t have one now. When he was a prince, Sonju wore a shiny mask with a design similar to Legravalima’s. After running away with Mujika, he grew out of his mask and now wears a clay one of the same design.

This might just be the art style of the series changing over time, but I also find it interesting that Sonju’s mask suddenly becomes glossy in chapter 156 during the battle at the royal capital. It’s his first time stepping foot in the palace since he ran away, and it’s as if his mask is suggesting that returning to the palace has given Sonju his royal status back.

Part Two: Architecture In many ways, the architecture in the demon world reminds me of places like the Sant Francesc Church in Spain and Royal Ontario Museum in Canada. As time goes on, old buildings are expanded and improved with modern additions to accommodate the changing world. This can be seen in the paradise hideout, where a newer building was constructed next to the original settlement.

The old, traditional demon buildings are made of clay and other types of stones. They don’t appear to have many windows, and the few windows they do have are holes without window panes. Many of the older buildings were carved out of mountains or trees, or at least rest atop a mountain with steps carved into the side. This traditional style of demon architecture is similar to old Pueblo architecture and adobe homes.

The newer demon architecture likely came into style sometime before Goldy Pond was built, seeing as Goldy Pond has buildings similar to those in modern demon villages. It resembles the European Tudor style with its grid window panes, timber frames, and sloped roofs. The walls were probably made using the wattle and daub technique and painted white or cream. Some of the buildings have stone foundations, but unlike the old style of architecture, the stones are laid like bricks. Buildings made using the new style of architecture also have shutters, awnings, and Juliet balconies.

This picture of the royal capital’s streets perfectly shows the mixing of the old and new architectural styles:

Here, you can see the original clay buildings with the balconies, awnings, and wooden frames of the new style added on. The buildings in the foreground have open windows while the ones further back have grid panes. One of the structures on the right is built in the style of the older demon homes, but it uses modern stone bricks and balconies. This blend of architecture helps show the development of the demon society through the years.

Part Three: Food Human meat is the most important food in demon culture since it’s what keeps the majority of demons from degenerating. I won’t be talking a lot about the farms and human meat in this post since it’s already been explored by the manga and people smarter than me. If you want to read more about demons and human meat, I recommend this post by the-silliest-idiot and this translation of the fanbook, particularly the Q&A sections.

As explained in the manga, the appearance of demons changes depending on the type of meat they eat. The aristocrat demons eat human meat, Parvus eats monkey meat, and the demon horse Sonju rides eats horse meat. As explained in the fanbook, humanoid demons will lose their human appearance if they don’t eat human meat, but monkey demons like Parvus can retain their appearance for a while. To keep themselves from degenerating or changing forms, humanoid demons don’t eat a lot of meat other than the human meat from the farms. When the demons do eat other meats, they eat bugs, fish, and birds, probably because those animals are difficult to change into.

While it’s unclear if demons eat the plants in the forest, we know that there are plenty of edible berries, nuts, fungi, and other plants that the human escapees eat during their travels. Demons also have a variety of fruits, vegetables, and nuts that they grow and harvest. In just these two panels, we can see that the demons have their own versions of pears, hazelnuts, pineapples, kiwi, and mangos (the mangos seem to be popular in the royal capital).

All demons, regardless of wealth or social status, appear to have equal access to all food except human meat. Lower-class demons get low-quality meat, but the same berries and nuts being sold at street markets are present in the Tifari offering.

Part Four: Language Unfortunately, I’m not smart enough to decode the old demon language. In the words of the fanbook, “Sugita created demon god's name, but every other text from the demon language that appeared afterward was Posuka's creation.” The language was made up by Posuka, and I’m not sure if there’s enough dialogue to translate a full alphabet. The old demon language looks like a combination of Japanese and Enochian, but that’s all I can gather from it. It’s also unclear if the language has a written form.

However, the old demon language isn’t used anymore. The language died out for two major reasons; a general lack of knowledge and to separate language from the old faith. The aristocratic demons know the language well enough, but we don’t see many commoner demons speaking it. The modern demon society writes in English, as shown by the signs at Goldy Pond, and it’s likely that they also speak English despite the story being written in Japanese. There's also a chance that the demons speak Old English since the promise was forged during medieval times. If this is true, then the aristocrats and heads of the farms could have a more modern accent because they often talk to people from the human world.

Part Five: The Arts Sadly, we don't know much about art in the demon world. The promise was made around the 11th century, so art in the demon world is likely reflective of that time. I can only assume they have their own literature, art movements, and music, but it's mostly speculation. One thing I noticed is that the demon world has a lot of embroideries, whether it be on the edges of a cape or banners inside the palace. This fits with my theory of medieval Europe-inspired art and languages. During medieval times, top layer garments such as coats and cloaks were commonly embroidered along the hemline and cuffs. This kind of embroidered clothing is worn by many demons throughout the series.

Banners, tapestries, and flags were also commonly created by artists during medieval times. Lines of flags are seen throughout the demon world, and a few buildings in the capital have banners hanging outside. The palace has a few banners of its own, though they're fancier than the ones in the capital streets.

Damask fabric is another example of demon artistry being influenced by medieval Europe. Damask is a reversible fabric created by weaving. The royal demons seem to have jumped on the damask train before the promise was sealed because it can be found in many places throughout the palace. Most notably, Legravalima's dress is partially made of damask, though the silhouette is very different from that of a medieval damask evening gown. Damask was commonly used to make curtains as well, like the ones draped around the Tifari offering.

We don’t know much about literature in the demon world. The books we see were written in the human world and sent to the farms, but surely the demons have their own books and stories. Seeing as the rest of the arts in the demon world were inspired by medieval Europe, I can only assume that their books, fables, and plays are as well. Much of medieval literature was based on religion and chivalry. There were also many fables and myths derived from old stories and religious texts. Demon children probably read many stories about the Evil Blooded, the runaway prince, and heroic knights who protect the demons from harm. There likely are many stories written in the old demon language as well. Similar to Latin and Old English in the Middle Ages, the old demon language was probably the main written language until the 11th century, when the demons began using English as a primary language.

I imagine that Anglo Saxon, Byzantine, and Norman (ha get it) art heavily inspired art in the demon world. The palace is likely covered in tapestries and murals depicting historic events. Metal and tilework were probably once a major part of demon artistry, but the practices died out over time. Instead, many demon artists practice painting and embroidery. Pieces of art in the demon world would be very vibrant and colorful, especially the works displayed in the palace.

When it comes to music in the demon world, there isn’t much to go off of. We know that the farms have access to instruments and sheet music because of Leslie and Nat. Barbara also sings a Japanese children’s song in chapter 113. Unfortunately, we don’t get much information about music in the demon world outside of the farms. I assume that demons primarily play string instruments and piano because of their long fingers. They also have more fingers than humans, meaning they can make a variety of chords that humans can’t. More fingers also allow demons to add more strings to their instruments. Even though it’s possible that demons have their own special instruments, we know that they also have human instruments like cellos, trumpets, and pianos.

Conclusion: There’s a lot more I wish I could talk about (mainly the elements of culture), but I’m stopping for now so this doesn’t get any longer. Feel free to correct me or add on anything I missed. If you made it this far, thank you for reading this incredibly long analysis of demon culture and I hope you have a great day.

#am I reading into this too much? yeah #the promised neverland #the promised neverland manga spoilers #tpn #yakusuko no neverland #ynn

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pebblysand · 2 years

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hello, hello! i hope you’re all doing well! i’m really sorry for the delayed post this month - i went to norway over the may bank holiday weekend and didn’t have time to write this post preemptively last week. for those of you who celebrate, i hope you had a great european labour day!

anyway, before diving into more life/writing updates, here are some quick links to different blog pages you might not see on mobile :

FIC MASTERLIST

FIC RECS

WRITING ADVICE

ORIGINAL PIECES

OPINION PIECES & ASKS [updated]

FINANCIALLY SUPPORT MY WRITING (thank you!)

[NOTE: i am currently not accepting prompts]

Castles (chap 11) ETA: yeah idk. i am working on it i promise. see below for more info.

links extended a/n-s: chapter v ; chapter vi & vii ; chapter viii ; chapter ix ; chapter x

[more life/writing updates under the cut]

it's may for the month of may do you get it??? 😂

WHAT I’M READING:

books:

i finished none of this is serious by catherine prasifka (who, btw, happens to be sally rooney’s sister in law) and very much enjoyed it. i wouldn’t say it’s a 5-star read, but definitely a 4-star one - i finished it in two days and was very hooked! the story is set in dublin and is a cross between three rooms, sally rooney’s general millennial figuring-your-shit-out-in-a-crumbling-world vibes, and metaphorical fantasy? i know it sounds weird, but it really works. the main plot follows sophie, a recent graduate trying to find her way between applying to jobs, evolving friendships, awkward situationships, etc., but also features a mysterious purple crack that randomly appears in the sky and is the subject of much anguish and speculation. the writing style is that crisp, quick, present tense shit that is now a bit cliché but that i will always eat right up regardless, so it really worked for me. however, what i found really interesting and unusual in the book was that the main character never actually speaks. she texts on her phone, has a rich internal monologue, but every conversation she has, you only really get the other person’s spoken quote, never hers. she explains what she thinks, and sometimes mentions what she doesn’t say, but while you know that she does respond something (i.e. she’s not mute), you never actually know what she says. the book obviously wants this to be a reflection on the “noise” that exists around us at the moment (social media, friends, etc) versus the relative “silence” of its main character. it’s like there’s so much being said around her, a constant, neverending buzz, but she never quite knows how to make herself heard/understood within that noise. i found this very clever and effective. generally, i think this book has a lot of embedded metaphors in its characters and situations, some that i really enjoyed (like sophie’s silence), and some that fell a bit more flat for me (like the crack in the sky - a metaphor of the news cycle? capitalism? the pandemic? - or sophie’s twin sister, hannah, who felt so one-dimensional i sometimes wondered if she was real or meant as a figment of sophie’s imagination and hatred of everything she isn’t but feels she should be?). but overall, i really related to sophie’s constant struggles with the split between her “online” life and irl. the book also really succeeds in portraying the difficult space of time between uni and work, where you’re done with uni but in the working world, no one wants you because you don’t have “experience.” all you want is to find a job, any job, to get some sort of validation/stability, and you don’t know what you have to do to achieve it. i really related to that and really recognised myself from a few years ago in the authors’ descriptions. lastly, i also really enjoyed grace, sophie’s best friend, to whom i really related to - it’s always interesting to get an outside perspective on what might be people’s perception of us, even though it’s not always flattering 🤣.

additionally, i am still reading 1984 on my kindle, i’m about 33% in. for now, i have to say, the book isn’t really grabbing my attention. i mean, i know it’s a classic and i do find it very interesting to see all of the “origins” of today’s dystopian novels in this story (and the style is definitely very modern) but i just - idk. i find myself skipping a lot of paragraphs of worldbuilding and description that seem a bit unnecessarily detailed. i suppose that at the time, the concept of the novel was new enough that everything needed to be explained but now, we’ve all read so much dystopia (especially in ya) that i feel like a lot of the intricacies of the world, i would already have assumed. so, idk. it’s definitely a good book and in my journey exploring “modern” classics, i’m enjoying this much more than i did to kill a mockingbird but still, i keep picking it up, reading a handful of pages, and finding my thoughts drifting as i keep reading.

WHAT I’M WATCHING:

peaky is over. thank god we know there will be a film in a couple of years cause otherwise i’d be utterly devastated. like most people, while my feelings towards this series were mixed (i think i’ll have more of a definite opinion upon rewatch), i really, really loved the finale. i think it was everything we could hope for, especially considering helen mccrory’s passing and the upheaval it obviously caused. i think you could probably write a thesis about the question of whether tommy really was ‘redeemed’ by the end but regardless, i truly loved this. peaky blinders is and will always be the show of my 20s and one of the most brilliant tv series ever made and i think that overall, the finale 100% lived up to expectations.

in other news, i’ve also watched the abercrombie doc yesterday, which was such a strange and fascinating trip down memory lane, and i just sat with my thoughts for a good while afterwards. i think:

one of the things that really struck me in mike jeffries’ attitude towards his critics is how much this marketing technique reminded me of ryanair. if you’re not familiar/not from europe, ryanair is an irish low-cost flight company that operates exclusively in europe and is very well-known for providing the Worst Possible Service to its customers, at the lowest cost possible. the planes fly, sure, and you will get there (interestingly, they’ve actually never had a major crash), but the workers are paid absolute peanuts and are employed under ridiculous irish contracts, regardless of where they are based in europe. the working conditions are terrible, the company makes you pay for literally everything, and the ceo openly claims to have considered things like: making people travel standing to save costs, or even making customers pay to use the bathrooms. these are very different companies, obviously, and ryanair has never had any discriminatory behaviours that we know of (if anything, they are known to hire more southern/eastern european staff to be able to pay them shittier salaries as the standard of living is lower in these countries) but i think there’s a very similar vein of: ‘yeah, i’m an arsehole, so what?’ brand image. it really came through in that interview where mike jeffries was like ‘yeah, we are exclusionary, that is our brand model.’ idk if it’s a ‘all press is good press’ ethos, or something else, but the attitude really reminded me of ryanair’s marketing.

on a broader spectrum, while there is obviously an issue when you apply those conditions to staffing (i.e. don’t hire poc-s, etc.), fundamentally, sure, you can choose to only market to a small, fit, white section of the population, but that’ll make you look like a complete arsehole. and, i found it interesting how the brand image, because it was so outright exclusionary, went from ‘cool’ to ‘uncool’ as we, as a society, evolved as well. there was actually a really good quote from one of the women who were interviewed which summed it up excellently: ‘A&F’s aura went away precisely because exclusion was the root of their success, and exclusion itself stopped being quite so cool.’ it’s such a true statement and it made me so grateful that we, as society, have evolved in the right direction in the past 20 years. when you remember what the 90s/00s were like, it’s really nice to see how far we’ve come (even if obviously, we’re far from perfect these days).

lastly, on an even broader point, it struck me how the rise and fall of abercrombie correlated, over the same period of time, with the rise and fall of the marketing of the american ‘image’ in europe. i think that anyone who was a kid/teenager in the 00s in europe probably remembers how ‘cool’ the people who wore A&F/Hollister in school were, not only because of the brand image itself, but also because that meant they had been to america! i remember that even having an american distant cousin sort of gave me street cred 🤣. whenever i visited them, i would not only bringing all those ‘cool’ brands from the us back for me, but also for my friends! those stores didn’t exist in europe and having american clothing was so ‘cool’ and trendy, because it also demonstrated that you were ‘cool’ and had been to cool places like new york or boston, or la. honestly, i cannot overstate how cool america was back then. they had all this stuff we didn’t have, all these films and tv shows, everyone i knew wanted to live there. i remember two of my friends got into a fight because friend A had gone to new york on holiday and the next year friend B did, and friend A accused B of ‘copying’ her for attention. it was madness. and now, no one i know wants to live in the us, bar from a girl in work, but she always justifies it by like ‘i know it’s bad but my boyfriend is american so we’ll have to live there eventually.’ and i don’t really know where this fall in status came from. is it the war in iraq, or the fact that we all got access to social media and realised america is So Bad in terms of healthcare, racism, etc. or just the living conditions deteriorating there? idk but it really happened throughout the 00s and early 10s, exactly at the same time as A&F’s rise and fall. and, don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of issues with europe, but i think it’s interesting that both A&F and america in general ceased to be aspirational at the same time.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO:

there aren’t really any podcasts that i truly remember from this month but i’ve very much been enjoying the irish times’ women’s podcast, which has just fed my usual annoyance at the patriarchy 🤣.

aside from that, top five songs currently are:

que tout s’danse by noé preszow - i’ve recently gotten obsessed with because i think it might be the theme song to one of the upcoming castles chapters

bad habits by ed sheeran - idk man i’ve just been in love with this song for a year now, it’s not going away. i find it very inspiring.

anthem by yonaka & barns courtney - another upcoming castles song

the kids are all rebels by lenii - same as the above but also i love lenii so much. i’ve been following her for a few years now but it was so nice to see her finally get the traction she deserved on tiktok over the pandemic!

laura by bat for lashes - another fic song 🤣🤣 omg. not castles though.

WHAT I’M WRITING:

as i’ve mentioned on here the past few weeks, my main focus this past month has been castles. i was hoping i would be able to post by this weekend but that has sort of fallen off track. i’ve been fighting seasonal allergies and been extremely tired due to my company returning to the office; i feel like commuting has taken up even more of my writing time. as i said on here, i’ve been feeling very guilty over my lack of updates lately and feel like i need to cut myself some slack. it’s just so hard comparing my 90k output from sep 2020 to may 2021 (when i wasn’t working) to the barely three chapters i’ve produced since then. it’s even more frustrating because when i do get time to focus on castles and actually write it, i love doing so So Much, but it just takes a lot of time and focus and finding time to do that whilst working full time is just So Damn Hard.

so like, idk. what i can promise you is that i am working on it. i have about 15k of a first draft at the moment, and i’m working on the rest/polishing it. as i said here, all i know is that once i do manage to get this done the way i want, there will probably be loads of content coming your way at once. so, i suppose, at least there’s that, haha.

WHAT I’M DOING:

you may not have noticed this because i sort of cleverly queued up some posts lately, but i’ve been taking a sort of social media break. i say “sort of” cause it’s not been a hard cut or anything, but i just deleted discord and tumblr off my phone and honestly, i think it was for the best. my screen time was getting absolutely ridiculous and i was having a very hard time focusing on things (writing included) - honestly, being constantly on my phone just wasn’t much fun anymore. i probably will reinstall tumblr eventually but i think, for the most part, i’m going to stay off discord (or at least, off the regular “chats”), just concentrating on fanfic conversations, etc. you might or might have seen it (not linking anything here cause i don’t want to restart the debate, and it’s not my point), but i had a disagreement with a discord that was created recently, restricting membership to a particular age group. and, it got me thinking a lot about the way we’ve now “restricted” fandoms to “exclusive” discord servers, that so few people can access, especially when they are invite-only. there’s gazillions of hp discord servers at the moment, each centred into their own little silo, and while i completely understand people who think differently, i’m not sure that’s what i want for myself.

i think we’re kind of congregating with fans that not only have the same general interests as we do, but also are of the same demographic, same countries, same fandom niche, etc. it’s becoming more and more niche to the point that disagreement and debate is practically nonexistent. and, don’t get me wrong, i’ve 100% participated in that myself, and i’ve found amazing communities and met amazing people along the way, but i generally have been finding that we are all a bit guilty (again, myself very much included) of finding our own safe echo chambers, both in fandom and otherwise, to the point that interacting with the “outside” and people who think differently becomes harder and harder to tolerate. like, yeah, there are a lot of stupid kids on tumblr, and a lot of arseholes, but i think we actually need those to live healthily in society. and again, it’s not a diss to anyone who does seek those “safe” secluded spaces, i’ve sought them myself in the past, but i don’t think they’re actually good for my mental health and the person that i am. as proven by the fact that i needed a social media break from it all, lmao 🤣🤣.

so anyway, i’m still on discord, and i might still interact here and there, and will defo get back on tumblr, but i think i’m better when i’m on the sidelines on this one, ahah.

anyway, i think that will be all for now. i hope you all have lovely month :).

lots of love,

pebblysand.

#may post

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mybg3notebook · 3 years

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Gale Summarised Analysis

Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were written up to the game version v4.1.104.3536 (Early access). As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information. Written in May 2021.

The majority of sources used for this article are in the game itself (this includes my Gale-solo playthroughs as well as a combination of the videos by munmomuu and selphie1999), and the few dev’s notes provided by pjenn. Gale as origin is not taken into account since it’s not finished and has little to none Gale-related content. There will be little datamining content as well since pjenn said the game contained almost no gale-related notes (only in the Weave and in the Revelation scene).

Additional disclaimers about meta-knowledge and interpretations in (post)

The number between brackets [] represents the topic-block related to (this post), which gathers as much evidence as I could get.

We can infer about Gale by analysing what he approves and disapproves of. Sometimes, we can even lightly infer some information from his neutral reactions, but let’s be honest: this way of analysing a char is pretty poor since it leaves everything to speculation. Neutral reactions can only be analysed, in very rare instances, by contrasting the same situation in other contexts, and seeing what other options Gale approves or disapproves of. With these considerations in mind, we can proceed to describe this character.

Disclaimer: this is a meta with my personal interpretation of the character, sticking as much as possible to the facts and leaving little to “desires” or “projections” of what I want him to be. If I do so, I will state it explicitly in the text for the sake of analysis honesty. I want to be clear about what is canon (facts shown in bg3 EA), from what’s personal interpretation with little proof.

Understanding Gale (integrated text)

We are none of us monsters. We are merely hatcheries for monstrous things. So we fight them

---Gale

Collecting most of the information provided in-game, we know he has a cat, a Library, and writes poetry sometimes. One of the first things that Gale will reveal is that he is a private person. He easily and clearly sets boundaries from the first moment, showing Tav where they stand. The second aspect he makes us aware of is his pragmatic thinking and his preference for diplomatic approaches. A third aspect that stands out on its own: he is a very verbose person, maybe as a result of his academia background in combination with his poetry hobby. He also has a bad posture when talking, but I’m not sure if this is intentional or a bug.

We can assure that Gale certainly is a man of the city [13], and may have a decent social status. It's impossible to say for sure if it's noble or rich or both, or it is just a natural consequence of being a wizard scholar: he is frustrated by the harshness of the camping life, he misses the civilisation of the city which offers well cooked meals, soft beds, and scented baths. Not by chance he is the only companion in the group who would approve of giving Oskar 200 gold to fight “the discomforts of the road” [13]. However, he adapts. Despite the lack of luxuries, he managed to survive in the wilderness.

Gale and his link with magic is unquestionable. Magic is life for Gale, metaphorically and literally speaking since it's magic what allows him to stay alive despite the "orb" in his chest. If we talk about Magic, we have to talk about Mystra and the Weave. The Weave is not only the embodiment of Mystra, it's an extension of Mystra herself. It extends across many planes of existence and is in almost all parts of Faerûn. By dragging power from it, Magic can be performed.

Mystra, for lore reasons and conjectures that I will discuss in the post "Mystra and her Chosen ones", turned teenager/young adult Gale into one of her Chosen, making their relationship more intimate and granting Gale a deeper access to the Weave. This put Gale into the category of an archwizard. It's clear that Gale was and still is a devotee of Mystra, which could give us a hint of his alignment since she is a neutral good goddess and she expects for her Chosen to align around it.

Gale likes confidence, in others and in himself. He is confident in his looks (he has described himself as a “handsome devil” and answered during the romance/Revelation scene that he knew he was beautiful under the light as well as Tav). But beyond these two lines, qualifying him as a narcissist seems extreme. He is surely very confident about his knowledge, and we see he is not just mere words: his Mind Flayer knowledge is at the the same level of what githyankis know. If we compare how Astarion/Tav struggled with the book of Thay, and then we see how Gale manages it (sadly the scene is not complete yet in EA, and there is almost no datamining info of Gale), we can conclude once more that his knowledge and power of the mind are real (he is, so far, the main companion who allows us to explore the lore of the game in a deeper way during his conversations). We also know it's a bit more complicated to intrude into his mind using the tadpole because he has knowledge and mental tools to protect himself (check the post about the Tadpole inside Gale). He is certainly a very verbose and confident scholar, who knows his limits, and in occasions he seems to dabble into an ego-teasing play as an attempt of levity, displaying his “insufferable side”, as he has described himself (his self-awareness of these traits is remarkable, and it is the reason why I avoid qualifying him as arrogant. Arrogant chars are hardly self-aware of their own bad manners or insufferable traits). But we can see it's usually done as a joke or, with an evil Tav, as an aggressive reaction. For a deep analysis of this aspect, check the post about "Gale Hypotheses- Part 2", section: "Narcissism".

Based on his approvals and disapprovals, we can see that Gale has a strong preference in avoiding fights, violence, and bloodshed [1]. He will always prefer diplomatic and persuasive approaches [2]. Reasoning is his best weapon, but if the individual we are dealing with can hardly be persuaded, he would approve of a deception or an intimidation as long blood is not spilt. Here is where we see his pragmatism in action, all the time. His primary goal at every moment is to avoid bloodshed. His philosophy could be summed up in the line “the means [as long as they don’t kill gratuitously] hardly matter if the end is worthy”. And for Gale, nothing is more worthy than life [3]. This doesn't cover only the life of innocents he cares about, it includes the life of the most dubious characters as well, such as Rugan or Crusher. Gratuitous death is meaningless for him. During the scene of Nettie we can have a glimpse of his philosophy towards life: he viscerally hates treating life as if it were nothing:

Gale: How dare she snuff out life with as much thought as snuffing out a bloody candle? […] It's not right to feel the cold breath of death in your neck, then move on as if it was nothing but a soothing breeze. One respects life by fighting for it, and one respects death by fearing it.

Gale: One should never be afraid to live life to the fullest.

Probably the limited amount of life he has due to the "orb" increased his sense of respect for life and its celebration. I personally understand Gale as a character who embodies the perspectives of a seriously ill person, knowing that their life may be short, but they will try to make the best out of it.

He doesn't only respect life per se, he also cares about its dignity. This can be seen in his explicit rejection to undead existences such as Connor (he explains that it would be merciful to put an end to his undead nightmare), or in his disapprovals of humiliation and torture [9]

We could suspect that this emphasis in protecting any life comes from the fact that only people who are alive can (sometimes) be forgiven or/and change. This is not explicit, but since he is a character who talks about being better and wiser than his previous self, about acknowledging mistakes, about forgiveness, this interpretation seems reasonable.

These concepts of kindness and compassion combined with “the mistakes of the youth” are repetitive in his interactions and approvals [5,12]. Of course, they echo in his soul since they are reflections and desires of his own experience. This pattern covers forgiving children in particular [5], and disapproving hard judgements [16], especially on matters whose story is not fully understood by Tav. This means he doesn't like quick judgements when he doesn't know the whole story first. This scenario can be easily seen during Karlach's quest, he reserves his judgment until knowing Karlach's side: There are always two sides to each story.

Gale: I have to say I don't know if agreeing to this hunt was such a wise idea. Who's to say who's the real villain in this tale of devils and masquerades? [...]When we track Karlach down, let's chat before we chop.

Similar concept appears during his Revelation scene, when he encourages and keeps asking Tav to listen to him first before judging. This is also the reason why in his Loss scene he would disapprove if Tav quickly assumes that his loss of Mystra was due to arrogance. Tav judged him without knowing the whole story. However, once Tav knows the whole story, Gale will accept any judgement from them without approval penalties during the Revelation scene.

He approves all actions that imply helping others in hard times and disapproves of them if they were done out of greed [4]. He is an animal lover [6,7]. Being kind to animals and treating them good will increase his approval, while animal cruelty will earn his disapproval. Same goes for humanoids: any display of gratuitous violence that could have been prevented with a trick or a diplomatic approach, any humiliation forced upon others, any torture or situation of slavery, is disapproved [8, 9, 11].

In particular, Gale seems to advocate the philosophy of “give others their own medicine”[18] or in other words: poetic justice. We can see this during the Myconid colony; he approves of helping the Myconid to avenge the young killed by the Duergar, adding the comment: “Wicked killers deserve wicked ends”. He is implying to give them a similar, wicked medicine to the Duergars. Another less deadly situation of this kind is shown during the foot situation with Crusher: Gale is the one suggesting “pungent poetic justice” and telling Tav that they should force Crusher to kiss their feet.

The most iconic scene, however, is during Nettie's, if Tav lies during her interrogation. As a hot-headed reaction, Gale states that he would have poisoned Nettie if this situation would have happened to him. Although, after calming down, he approves of and confirms Tav's actions [if Tav managed to persuade Nettie to give them the antidote]

Gale: A taste of her own medicine is what she deserves! […] But you handled it, and you handled it well.

In this scene we also see a pattern: Gale is shown as a fallible human; his most visceral reaction during the first moment is anger and indignation, giving us a hint that he is not so rational when it comes to emotional states. An extremely obvious, human concept.

The scene of Nettie trying to kill a potential menace (the victim of a MF) reverberated in his consciousness, projecting immediately a fact in his mind: if he ever dares to reveal his "orb" problem, and anyone knows what a danger he represents—no matter how stable it looks—people will want to remove the menace by killing him.

This is the reason behind his words “It's just that, had it been me... had it been...” Gale knows that this simplistic and common thinking in removing what's dangerous would end up turning into a more destructive tragedy in his case than in any infected victim of the tadpoles. So this combination makes us see, for the first time, an emotional Gale. After some seconds, he cools down and returns to his more rational, diplomatic, and moderate self. What we can read here is that Gale would be very prone to rush decisions or to make mistakes under emotional circumstances. We will learn later that the other mistake he made under emotional stress ended up with the "orb" stuck in his chest. A third mistake was done during the party, once more under the emotional stress of a potential abandonment by Tav due to the true nature of the orb.

Everything related to the “orb”—which is his most traumatic experience—naturally makes him more emotional and prone to mistakes. To see how truly traumatic the "orb" is in his life we can notice the following patterns during the meeting scene: he speaks about the tadpole in a relaxed, rational way, despite the traumatising experience. He first asks for an archwizard instead of for a cleric, because his priority is the orb. Gale's main fear is not the tadpole, but the orb. If we remember his words after the consumption of the artefacts, we realise he lives in a permanent state of anxiety and raw fear, and probably pain too, given his facial gesticulation when anything interacts with the "orb" (whether artefacts or Tav's hand). His banter with Shadowheart reinforces the concept that he always has a knot in the stomach. When he accepts the deal with Raphael, it seems to be related to the orb, not to the tadpole. The effect of the "orb" has ceased, but the tadpole is still in Gale's head since we still need to roll against a high DC and not only against a 1DC during this scene, so we can assume he still has the tadpole despite Raphael's deal. See the post about "The Tadpole" in Gale for more details.

Gale is a character that represents human experiences deeply related to growing up: mistakes done in the past, and the acceptance of not being forgiven despite the desire of wanting to. This can be easily seen during the conversation of the second tadpole dream, where Gale's mood is foul and we learn that his deepest desire is for Mystra to forgive him, but he also knows it's impossible for that to happen. He detects the lie in this dream because he has accepted that Mystra will never forgive him. Gale is the story of mistakes done during youth with grave consequences, of acknowledging them and trying to make them right, of surviving those mistakes, and depending on the interpretation, he is also the story of an ill dying man, with a gentle vision and deep care for life.

The great majority of his approvals are based on actions that show kindness and compassion, both reiterative concepts that are so important in his character that they come from his lips when we see the goblin party:

Gale: The shadow within is spreading like poison, corrupting kindness and compassion. [Only after a tough DC of 15]

In combination with: Gale: I don't know myself anymore. All this... It's not who I am. Around you, I'm not who I want to be. I should leave.

These lines show how, in a sudden change to an evil path, Gale would start doubting his own morality, explaining that the cause of it is the "orb" itself, corrupting the most core aspects of his personality. This corruption may or may not be lore-related. It's not completely clear what Gale's "orb" truly is. For more details, check the post of the "Orb".

His constant critical thinking comes from his advocacy to non-conventionality [15]: a true scholar will always explore all the options and hypotheses before reaching a conclusion. Therefore, Gale would approve of any non-conventional way to fix a problem [15] as long as it doesn't potentially cause harm or bloodshed [1,2,3,8,9]. Due to his own background, Gale will always advise to be very careful of the consequences of one’s actions. This can be easily seen when, after encountering the caged goblin Sazza, Gale would advocate to explore the possibility of reaching Gut Priestess to cure the tadpole. However, when Tav helps Sazza to escape, Gale will comment briefly against this action.

Gale: I know I said it's not inconceivable a goblin priestess could help us. And yet... was it really wise to set another goblin free so she can arrange introductions? […] consider the consequences. What if she leads her entire tribe to the grove? Tav: I don't care, I owe this grove no allegiance. Gale: No allegiance, no. Though we don't need to sign its death warrant

Once more we see that Gale is up to using any (unharming) means to get a goal, but not at any cost. He has a clear line he doesn't like to cross: life [3]. Avoiding putting other people's lives in danger is very important for him. We see this concept over and over in most scenes.

He doesn't likerushed decisions, and in that same train of thoughts, he will disapprove any use of unknown magic or tricks when nobody in the group can truly understand how they work [17], for example the tadpoles or Raphael's deal (he is against accepting it quickly, but he will approve of having a more cautious attitude and carefully thinking about it).

Since the moment we meet him, we can infer he is obsessed with the artefacts. It's obviously understandable: he doesn't want to die, but also, he doesn't want to kill all those that will be caught in the eruption of the orb. For this reason he will insist on the loot in the Temple Ruins despite knowing that grave robbery is not correct.

Gale: Bad form, isn't it? Grave robbing? […] Let's have a look at the loot. It isn't for your pockets only.

He keeps pondering life over death: although he respects the dead, he will always value more the living creatures in the present. This is also what pushes Gale to suggest Tav to open Rugan's chest. Stealing from the evil Zhentarins is not something that will weigh on his consciousness too much. Besides, he knows it belongs to a wizard: meaning that the chance for it to contain a powerful artefact is really high. Similar suggestions will be said about the Idol of Silvanus, but talking with him in the camp will show us that he won't approve of taking it, only as a last resort. He keeps pondering the living over a sacred piece of stone, since he knows the druids won't take the stealing very peacefully. Once more we see Gale's respect and care for life, trying to minimise damage as much as the circumstances allow him.

Gale is also a survivalist. He doesn't want to die, he loves celebrating life in its more mundane and small details. He is an emotional character for a wizard, a bit strange since they are usually portrayed as more rational and cold, losing their lives among dusty books. However, Gale has shown in many scenes that he prefers to survive without killing, but if he has to, he will do it, dealing with the weight of it in his consciousness because killing unprovoked affects him (scene in the camp after killing the druids, or the goblin party scene).

His moral in preventing gratuitous death sometimes will conflict with his own survival, especially if he is by an evil Tav's side. He couldn't accept bloodshed when other peaceful options were available and possible to reach. This is clearly shown during the goblin party, where Gale's consciousness suffers and feels the corruption of the "orb" killing the kindness and the compassion inside him. He accepts that wanting to live is a powerful drive, but he doesn't support this massacre, questioning if all that blood was necessary. A Tav killing the tieflings seems to lose the possibility of pursuing Gale romantically, at least in EA so far. For Gale, survival is important, but the means to do it (when they can cause death) matter too. Life is worth preserving.

The usual archetype of survivalist tends to be an individualist one who would survive at any cost without remorse because that's the “law of the jungle”, the strongest must survive. However, Gale seems to embody a different concept of survivalist that it's hard to put in words: a sort of communal survivalist, trying to survive in coexistence with his community: he wants his survival to imprint the least harm possible (even though sometimes it would not be possible), trying to help those around him as long as his condition allows it; for example, despite wanting Gut's potential cure for the tadpole, he would disagree in helping Sazza escape because she will lead the goblins to the Grove, no matter the fact that doing this will grant them their introduction to the priestess.

His list of approval shows that his sense of survival is always pondered with the consequences that it can cause on others (check the post with the "Extensive list of Gale's approvals"). The whole concept of the "orb" has this motivation as well: he wants to live and survive, but he also can't give up because his body would kill many, so he needs to do as much as his moral allows him to keep it in check. If he cannot do it any longer, he promises to minimise the disaster as much as possible by erupting in the deep Underdark or in a desolated corner of Faerûn (and considering his ridiculous list of approvals and disapprovals, we know he is honest in not wanting to kill gratuitously). Gale acknowledges his own mistakes, trying—to the best of his ability—to deal with them without catching others in them. Although all his speeches keep emphasising that he is a mere human, and plans may fail.

At some point, if he wants to survive “not at any cost”, he will be forced to ask Tav for help during the scene of the stew (available only for medium approval or higher). As a gesture of honesty, Gale will set a boundary before making this request, acknowledging its unfairness but giving Tav the decision to proceed or not. He is not denying to explain the details later, but at the moment he can't speak the “why” of his condition no matter how curious Tav is. Tav will decide whether they can keep their curiosity on the matter.

We will understand later that this impediment comes as a precaution as well as consequence of his personal trauma with Mystra and the "orb" (See post about "Gale: Manipulation, Lies, and Trust"). So, he is very clear about setting the conditions in which this conversation will happen from the beginning. The easiest way for Gale to avoid this whole situation would have been by simply lying, but he opted for an honest approach with clear out-loud reservations, knowing he was asking for more trust than he was allowed to, but the intention behind is more than important. There is a clear, huge contextual detail that we can't miss: this scene doesn't happen because of Gale's whims, he is forced to ask for help since his condition “is not a patient one” and will endanger everyone if not kept at bay.

This detail where Gale explicitly asks for an exchange of trust is not present if Gale's approval is neutral or lower. In this case, Gale would not care about giving a context to his strange request: he doesn't trust Tav and he doesn't expect to be trusted either, he only wants the artefacts to keep his condition in check for his sake and the sake of others. We can understand this change of attitude depending on the approval as he doesn't want to give any extra explanation to someone he is not interested in building a relationship with. For more details, check the post about "Gale: Manipulation, Lies, and Trust".

I personally support the idea that nobody in canon Faerûn is free of racial prejudices since Forgotten Realms lore has been created based strongly on fantasy racism. I've read that WotC wants to move forward and improve this aspect in 5e, but so far what they allowed Larian to do with the Tieflings in BG3 seems to show the contrary. So, since apparently we are going to face fantasy racism anyways, I will try to analyse racial prejudices from all chars. When it comes to Gale, it's a bit far-stretched to point out unjustified racial biases. He has a vague comment about Rashemi that some people may consider a faerunian saying. Personally, I think that line is a bias forced into him to have a particular dynamic with Minsc (the Rashemi “silly” companion -we all can see where Larian seems to go with this). Gale clearly sees tieflings, gnomes, and even goblins as people, and has a cautious attitude towards some githyanki (at least that's what we can infer with Lae'zel when we find her in the cage), but given the githyanki lore it's pretty reasonable to see them as dangerous creature that could kill people on the spot. So far, he seems to have no racial preference either [10].

As it was said before, he prefers to avoid killing people, but that doesn't mean he won't do it if his life depends on it. He will prefer persuasive and defusing approaches, but if he needs to kill to defend innocents or his own life, he won't hesitate. So therefore, stories about characters making mistakes or having violent excess in an effort to protect themselves or what they hold dear will be understood by him but hardly approved [19]. He tends more to approve a call out of that excess than approving an excuse for it.

Gale has deep abandonment issues that can be easily seen when he defends Astarion from being handed over to Gandrel. We need to put this in context before going on: for Gale, Astarion represents a danger as a vampire who attacked one of them during their sleep. By the display of meta-knowledge, we know with certainty that their approvals and disapprovals are mostly opposite: What one approves, the other will disapprove and vice versa. Getting rid of Astarion should be something that Gale would approve, however, he doesn't. If we explore his comments we will realise that what Gale disapproves from this situation is Tav's abandonment. After Mystra's abandonment, he knows very well that “Loyalty is such a very rare commodity”, and the few situations in EA in which Tav can display abandonment, resound strongly in Gale.

Gale is a scholar with a strong balanced rational side. But unlike the trope, he also embraces an emotional side that, so far the info we received in EA, it's the side that makes him prone to mistakes.

As an amateur poet, Gale loves words. We can obviously notice this in his verbose attitude, but also in the way he carefully uses words. One of his characteristic words is “spectacle”. He has also shown a reiterative—although not always—uneasy use of the word “fun”. Using “fun” as a way to describe the night spent with Gale gives him a slight uneasiness. “That’s a word for it.” He disapproves of using the word “Fun” after the Mayrina/Connor situation, in which scene Gale alludes that “your new company may be a proof of how depraved and twisted you are to see that tragedy as “fun”. Personally I think this is a direct allusion to Astarion, who considers Mayrina's situation as “entertainment”, in the same way he considered as “fun” the show of Arabella's death (two of several instances where he used that word). Gale also doesn’t use the word sex during EA, instead he uses romantic ones such as love-making, intimacy, art of the night/body. In the most technical case: coitus (used only when he is talking about “goblinoid intimacy” in the expression “post-coital snack”). These details are showing not only his poet/romantic side, but also his interpretation of sex from his perspective: sex can only be possible through a connection. We know he doesn’t engage in casual sex with Lae’zel if he is not romanced, and his romance can only potentially start if Tav shares that deep connection with him through the Weave.

Another detail related to words is that Gale has always used an infection/disease-related vocabulary to explain the “orb” stuck in his chest: infested, taint, shadow spreading

[…] I failed to control [this chaotic magic]. Instead it infested me. […] This Netherese taint... this orb, for lack of a better word [..] […] the shadow within is spreading like poison, corrupting kindness and compassion. [...]

Gale apparently has a particular way to sense magic. I have no way to check this in-game, but it seems very strange how he immediately identifies magical artifacts without casting Detect Magic. There are some extra scenes as well where he says to taste or smell the magic in some objects. Even his encounter with Shadowheart, besides being considered a flirt, could be also interpreted as him detecting the magic that we saw later in her hand or maybe the dark magic that blocks her memories, since Gale pointed out about a curtain covering her soul: “if the eyes are the mirror to the soul, yours have dark curtains across the mirror” (a very ominous flirting if it’s only a flirt)

This makes me suspect that, if the "orb" is not giving him this skill, it may be a consequence of having been Chosen of Mystra (for more details read the post about "Mystra and her Chosen ones"). If this is the case, he may have hindered remains of theirs powers when it comes to detect magic at will.

Gale has a perception of magic with all the senses: he sniffs and tastes magic. During the mirror scene you have an option related to [Arcana] tag where he “Sniff the mirror, trying to understand the nature of its magic”. A wizard Tav will just “Inspect the mirror”. He also said that he could “taste” the magic in the necromancy book and in the runes of teleportation.

What we know of his family is little: when he was a kid there was a housekeeper in his life (mentioned only once during the scene of the harpies) and his mother that seemed to have personally raised and cared for him (mentioned twice: in the ruin temple scene, and in his banter with Wyll)

Tav: Why care about decorum in a long-abandoned tomb? Gale: Because my mother raised a gentleman. Then again, to be alive is to be curious.

Wyll: Between the orb and the bug you've got more than your fair share of unwelcome passengers. Gale: What can I say. Mother always taught me to be a gracious host.

This post was written in May 2021. → For more Gale: Analysis Series Index

#bg3 meta #gale #gale of waterdeep #bg3 gale #bg3 early access #bg3

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loyalannister · 4 years

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UNDER THE LENS : Daenerys I, A Game of Thrones

The first perspective of Daenerys Targaryen opens in Magister Illyrio's manse at Pentos, where we meet the last scions of House Targaryen and get a glimpse of the contrasting traits, dreams and ambitions of the two siblings even as the chapter ends with a step forward in the narrative of the future mother of dragons.

• Probably no PoV other than her very first one does a better job of showing us exactly what Dany really wants - momentarily and for her future:

Dany could hear [...] the shouts of ragged children playing games beyond the walls of the estate. For a moment she wished she could be out there with them, barefoot and breathless and dressed in tatters, with no past and no future...

The text explicitly says that the Iron Throne & the lost glory of the Targaryens was something exclusive to Viserys' desire - not his sister's:

Viserys lived for that day.

It's absurd to claim that Daenerys would have rejected an opportunity to return to Westeros & reclaim the prosperity of her house at this point in the narrative but Martin does sharply contrast Viserys' desire with that of his sister's in the very next sentence :

All that Daenerys wanted back was the big house with the red door, the lemon tree outside her window, the childhood she had never known.

• The house with the red door looms large on Dany's innermost desires not only in A Game of Thrones but in her journey throughout the series. There have been various speculations on this house and its location, even some theorizing that it exists only as a figment of her imagination. But Daenerys recalls her emotions surrounding the red door with sharp clarity :

After Ser Willem had died, the servants had stolen what little money they had left, and soon after they had been put out of the big house. Dany had cried when the red door closed behind them forever.

Of course, one might argue that Daenerys was younger and she might not be recalling certain things correctly. But that begs the question - which parts of her childhood memories are trustworthy & which parts are not?

• One thing which captured my attention early on in the chapter was the fact that Daenerys is far more observant, intuitive & wary of everything offered to her compared to her older brother :

“Why does he give us so much?” she asked. “What does he want from us?” For nigh on half a year, they had lived in the magister’s house, eating his food, pampered by his servants. Dany was thirteen, old enough to know that such gifts seldom come without their price, here in the free city of Pentos.

Dany is right to be wary of Illyrio though, She even thinks back to the words spoken of Illyrio in the streets - 'he’d never had a friend he wouldn’t cheerfully sell for the right price.' When Illyrio assures Viserys that the common people of Westeros are sewing dragon banners & awaiting his return, she knows better than to hang on to his every word:

Dany had no agents, no way of knowing what anyone was doing or thinking across the narrow sea, but she mistrusted Illyrio’s sweet words as she mistrusted everything about Illyrio.

When Viserys vows to kill powerful people like Jaime Lannister and Robert Baratheon, Daenerys is quick to note Illyrio's reaction, which her brother misses:

Dany saw the smallest hint of a smile playing around his full lips, but her brother did not notice.

• As much as Viserys is and should be criticized by the readers for his abusive behavior, this chapter lays out the psychological basis for his behavior and makes me feel somewhat sympathetic for him. Viserys is essentially stuck in the past even though the events occuring around his escape from Westeros has long transpired:

Nodding, he pushed back a curtain and stared off into the night, and Dany knew he was fighting the Battle of the Trident once again.

He is desperate to reclaim the glory and power of House Targaryen (which is essentially why he arranges Dany's match with Drogo):

“We will have it all back someday, sweet sister,” he would promise her. Sometimes his hands shook when he talked about it. “The jewels and the silks, Dragonstone and King’s Landing, the Iron Throne and the Seven Kingdoms, all they have taken from us, we will have it back.”

Though he spins his own 'web of dreams', Viserys is not as confident as he might appear at first glance - his resolution wavers at times & he looks for reassurance from Illyrio to validate his desires and plans:

“The realm will rise for its rightful king. [...] And the smallfolk will be with us. They cry out for their king.” He looked at Illyrio anxiously. “They do, don’t they?”

• Daenerys shares a number of parallels with Tyrion Lannister (widely believed to be one of the three heads of the dragon with good reason). This sentence, in particular, sharply reminded me of the dynamic between Tyrion and Cersei:

Her mother had died birthing her, and for that her brother Viserys had never forgiven her.

Much like Viserys did to Daenerys, Cersei too has physically abused Tyrion (on more than one occasion, I dare say)

• This PoV introduces us to slaves for the first time in the series. Daenerys is astute enough to note that :

Illyrio’s servants entered, bowed, and set about their business. They were slaves, a gift from one of the magister’s many Dothraki friends. There was no slavery in the free city of Pentos. Nonetheless, they were slaves.

These are the servants (or rather slaves) who inform Dany of the many slaves working under Khal Drogo :

“Drogo is so rich that even his slaves wear golden collars...”

What many people seem to forget along the line is that Dany did not randomly take pity on slaves along her journey and decide to free them. Her revolution to end this horrible tradition stems from her own experience : she was essentially sold as a slave to Drogo. Even in her very first PoV, she is made to wear a collar before meeting Drogo - a very fancy collar but a collar nonetheless:

Last of all came the collar, a heavy golden torc emblazoned with ancient Valyrian glyphs.

• Obviously the Targaryens are not fireproof but they are resistant to heat to some extent. Will this come in useful for Daenerys in the future?

The water was scalding hot, but Daenerys did not flinch or cry out. She liked the heat. It made her feel clean.

• It's interesting that Viserys refers to Khal Drogo as 'Aegon the Dragonlord come again', while later on Tyrion Lannister refers to Daenerys herself as 'Aegon the Conqueror with teats'.

(I think it's high time antis stop denying that if Daenerys is to be compared to any of her forebears, it's Aegon the Conqueror, NOT Aerys the Mad King and if she is to be compared to any of her brothers, it's Rhaegar, NOT Viserys. Martin does a really good job of pointing out these comparisons throughout the series)

TRIVIA :

• Daenerys meets the Unsullied for the first time in her very first PoV.

• Magister Illyrio possesses a menagerie (which boasts of a panther among other animals).

#valyrianscrolls #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf meta #daenerys targaryen #asoiaf #loyalannister rereads asoiaf #my agot reread #text from loyalannister #daenerys under the lens

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rinharu-purple · 4 years

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About S2 PV CH 10-13

Yes, it is a belated post, since the chapters are out. But you still might enjoy reading this 😄😄

Starting with Kiro/Helios with a mullet (I can’t believe that he’s wearing a mullet).

He is in a seemingly abandoned venue with a fading microphone. Maybe he is imagining himself on the stage again? Someone has also pointed out that he might be deaf, because of the hear aid, but the singers always wear one on stage, so I don’t think that’s the case.

And then we switch to the embodiment of awesomeness goes by the name Gavin in a rooftop bar, chilling with a bottle of Tiger beer. Greeting MC with a “I am not here for you”, which is ironic, because in the previous PV 6-9 he said the exact opposite:

The way I see it, Gavin is giving us the good old push and pull treatment. Thanks babe :/

---

Victor is probably overseas (San Francisco maybe, it looks like the Golden Gate bridge in the background) and is buying a New CLA? (the letters on the background). But its a Maybach you’re leaning on Vic (and nobody buys them with the Mercedes star anymore btw, its too old school, but because it's a Maybach I'll let it slide unnecessary info)

His smile while texting with MC is very cute (probably his inside voice his calling her dummy but as long as it cant be heard from the outside we’re cool).

And the way the picture suits to the melody in those 4 single piano notes is really nice.

Lucien is back to his assassin mode, stealing stuff and going behind people’s backs, playing all sides against each other, scheming and such. Same old same old. Gotta admit though, that I like him like this the most. especially when he gets caught by the MC and keeps his composure like “Haven’t you heard? I am the lizard king in this no horse town” Smooth.

Nothing on Shaw. Sorry.

Joker is finally getting a sprite and is out there to get our LIs. Gathering proof on them etc. Let’s see where it goes.

Enter the angst:

Victor warns MC about pretending not to know him. Probably because he is already aware of the facht, that they are being watched, so he might be trying to conceal his relationship to MC, but I have no idea, how he is planning to do that, when they are both working for the BS.

But more importantly. Victor, a beige suit, with a black/brown shirt and a blue tie?!! You are an extremely rich guy, don’t you think that you should have the fashion sense which goes with it? Just because it looks good on Gavin doesn’t mean, it would look good on you too. Try something like this maybe?

While I am busy criticizing Victor’s Printemps ‘21 prét á porter look, this scene pops up out of nowhere accompanied by the melody going all crescendo, hitting me HARD:

I don’t even know where to start in this 4,5 seconds of heartbreak. Bullet points help:

- Symbolism is very strong with this scene. MC is shown falling into an inferno-like abyss with all red-fiery colors. And Gavin is responsible for it.

- Gavin is wearing his trench coat from S1 CH1, reminiscence to the start of the story. Also the red ribbon part of MC’s pullover might have been put there to symbolize the red string of fate. Having read @cheri-translate s translation on Gavin’s R&S earlier today about their inevitable attraction, it doesn’t feel like a far fetched speculation. Their souls are bound together and yet their hands are pulled apart in a way. We are so used to seeing Gavin and MC hand in hand or embracing, this feels like being hit by a truck. It also gives me some break-up vibes. Specifically because MC is reaching out for his hand but Gavin doesn’t move an inch.

- I need to say this though, his body and his face tell us two different stories. His body is stiff and doesn’t move, but look at his face:

Two things that stand out is 1) Ohmaygadheissohandsomeitmustbeillegal just kidding, not Gavin-stan gotta Gavin-stan swh 1) He is slightly biting his lip (the down curve on the edge of his mouth), so he is restraining himself from holding her (though I am almost certain that he would still subtly soften her fall with his evol). And 2) His eyes are filled with mixed emotions and his brows are furrowed very very little. He is showing only micro mimics so I am guessing that he is also trying to hide his relationship to MC, much like Victor.

Helios cutting MCs hair makes me only think about the Halloween 2020 event. No other comment on this. Again, PG is giving us some good throwbacks.

And the final blow with Lucien. The way its shown and the filter thats put on the scene hints towards a dream sequence. I don’t think it happens in the real world. Because for Lucien to lose the only source of color in his life is probably his worst fear. So having such a nightmare will probably lead to him distancing himself from MC even more.

OR, MC is going S1 CH11 all over again but this time around with Lucien. OR OR S2 CH 10-13 is S1 11-14 all over again, thus history repeats itself. Victor and MCs’ scene reminds me of this:

Helios threatening MC is much like MC finding out about Ares and as Areas threatens her not to be caught by him again.

MC falls again, but this time Gavin doesn’t catch her mid air.

Pretty sure its such my mind going to odd places, but the parallels are there, right? RIGHT?

Anyways this post didn’t come out as I desired it to be, probably because I took my sweet time contemplating it and the new chapter are out, so many of you must already know where I am wrong lol.

But above all CH32 falls tomorrow!!!!The most anticipated moment is right around to corner guys and gals!!!!

#mlqc #mlqc lucien #mlqc gavin #mlqc victor #mlqc kiro #mlqc shaw #mlqc ling xiao #mlqc zhou qiluo #mlqc li zeyan #mlqc bai qi #mlqc haku #mr. love queen's choice #pv 10-13 #PV 11-14 #mlqc second season

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godslayingenthusiast · 3 years

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https://qgpennyworth.com/portfolio/game-stonks/

Game Stonks is a work from Holy Nonsense, a Creative Commons project. View Holy Nonsense 2020 here.

Each entry (single page or multiple pages of the same work) is released under an individual CC: Attribution, Non Commercial, No Derivatives license. That means you can repost this work as-is anywhere for any non-commercial purposes.

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Some Thoughts About Game Stonks ~Anonymous

I’m not gonna put my name on this one, because I have spent a little time working in the field of finance and I might maybe want to maintain some of those relationships, but I think it’s really important to understand the actual social significance of this whole “Reddit bankrupting the Hedge Funds” thing before it gets too badly mythologized by Interested Parties.

To start with, this isn't an existential threat to finance. There will be winners and losers, but a lot of the losers will end up being everyday people. Robinhood itself parasitizes its "customers" by encouraging incredibly risky trades at the same time that it frontruns trades to HFT for a kickback. Some people will get rich but many, many more will lose their $600 or whatever. That itself is something we should push back on as leftists, we should be about solidarity and not lottery tickets. "Only invest what you can afford to lose" is fundamentally still a capitalist framing of investment.

In fact the other folks in finance I've talked to mostly find this as funny as everyone else. Those hedge funds were behaving irresponsibly even by the logic of hedge funds, so everyone's glad to see this except for the people who lost their shirts. There is a risk that this triggers a wider crisis, because it's a huge movement and there's a liquidity crunch involved that can lead to unexpected financial contagion. But it's not actually an unprecedented financial event if you look purely at trading metrics. If it causes a crash, it's because the market conditions have become fragile enough that anything could be a trigger.

This does very publicly expose a lot of the outrageously overcomplicated and unaccountable behaviors of finance. But a lot of those behaviors are not actually new! Funds try to gut companies, trading is frequently halted, stocks are frequently delisted. What's different here is that it's out in the open for non-professionals to see. I do hope the focus moves away from being anti-short, because shorting is a pretty arbitrary thing to be upset about. It would be way better if we could bring the focus to more obscure details like dark pools and HFT trade flow purchases and collusion between funds instead - or better yet, to capital gains and other taxation and regulatory structures that make speculation so profitable (and feed the over-complexity of the rest of the system).

There's the angle that this is an outpouring of rage against the system and therefore inherently good. We have to be careful in our analysis: who is expressing that rage, why, and how? WSB has an undercurrent of antisemitic sentiment, for example. One worry here is that it might not actually be a truly organic outpouring. There's reasonable speculation that a lot of insiders are trying to manipulate WSB, because they're with funds positioned on the other side of some of these trades. As these spontaneous social uprisings move online, it becomes even harder to detect bad actors, false flags, and other interlopers. The left is at risk of this happening to our own online spaces, the way it has happened to our in-person protests and events.

I don’t want to take the wind out of anyone’s sails, either! It’s pretty goddess-damned hilarious watching billionaires and the billionaire-enabling class running around like idiots and CNBC anchors trying to parse meme culture without getting fined by the FCC. Just keep your eyes open as you’re munching your popcorn, because you can bet your entire stock portfolio that The SystemTM is hard at work figuring out how to co-opt, corrupt, and neuter it.

#Holy Nonsense #HODL #hail eris #all hail discordia #fnord #gamestop stock #dumpster fire #wear a helmet #diamond hands

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ceilingfan5 · 4 years

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10, 16, 18!! mistaken identity, musician, stubbornness

Kravitz isn’t very good at being famous. It makes him tired. He’s mostly interested in music and having a good time, and while being rich makes those things much easier, the fame comes with a certain obstacle, and that’s...fans. Kravitz doesn’t really understand his fans. He plays music for himself, for his own interests, and it’s always sort of surprised him that people were into that sort of thing. Everything has always been secondary to just enjoying the music.

So when it comes to events with people, Kravitz is always a little out of his element. The tabloids love to joke about him, and how awkward he can be in interviews, especially when they surprise him. He doesn’t go on a lot of dates, which is an endless source of speculation. So his PR agent sets him up with someone for this red carpet event. She texts him to say she’ll send a picture and his profile, but Kravitz’s phone beeps with low battery and he rolls his eyes and stuffs it in his suit pocket. Oops. Whatever. He’ll figure it out.

He checks his appearance in the elevator’s mirrored walls and practices his blinding smile. Perfect. Not even a little constipated looking. He’ll do fine. And then he steps out, and walks out of the apartment, thanking the doorman, and he looks at the meeting place for his date. There’s no one there, which is a frown-worthy offence. He checks his watch, but he’s painfully on time. He doesn’t just want to stand around like a goobus, and he gets even itchier as the limo pulls up. It’ll wait for him, of course, but he doesn’t want to make the driver wait.

After a painful minute and a half, one of the most beautiful men Kravitz has ever seen walks toward him. He’s wearing an interesting outfit for a red carpet, but maybe he’s just eccentric. Hell, for all Kravitz knows, gold leggings, purple shorts, and three shawls could be in right now. The loads of tangled jewelry probably is, for sure. Kravitz smiles and steps in front of him so he doesn’t miss him, and the man jumps and does that usual double take people do when they see someone as famous, whether he likes it or not, as Kravitz.

“Are you my date?”

This man looks him up and down, and a slow grin spreads on his face.

“I sure am!”

The limo ride is nice and smooth, although his date, who calls himself Taako, seems excited by every little thing about it. He takes a lot of selfies. Maybe he’s just an excitable person, but in Kravitz’s opinion, if you’ve seen one limo, you’ve seen ‘em all. Taako is interested in fashion and cooking and travel, and he has gorgeous, glittering eyes, and the heels on his boots could be confiscated at the airport. He also does most of the talking, which immediately makes Kravitz fond of him. They step onto the red carpet arm in arm, blinded by paparazzi, and together they steer one another into the event.

“So, Taako, what are you famous for?” Kravitz says, taking two flutes of champagne and thanking a waiter.

“Uh, oh, me? My thing? Me?” Taako says with a bizarre giggle that makes cartoon hearts burst in Kravitz’s peripheral vision. “I’m, uh, I’m on TV.”

“Very nice, very nice. I’m a musician.”

“I know,” Taako says, with a bit of a dreamy sigh. “I have all your albums.”

“That’s good to hear.” Kravitz smiles. “My last date wasn’t interested in my music at all, and then I had nothing to talk about. He was some kind of business mogul, I think.”

“That’s a real shame.”

They get hors d'oeuvres and Taako makes Kravitz choke with laughter on a huge shrimp, which he almost spits at a minor Kardashian, and Taako pounds him on the back to make sure there aren’t any other crustaceans in his windpipe.

“Oh fuck, I almost killed Kravitz,” he says, eyes wide. “Your fans would eat me alive.”

“I’m sure your fans would bail you out of jail pending trial,” Kravitz croaks, and they both start laughing again, even though Taako keeps screwing up his lips in this weird expression Kravitz doesn’t understand when he mentions his fans. Maybe he isn’t comfortable being famous either! Wouldn’t that be a dream!

Kravitz introduces Taako to all of the famous faces he can tie to names, and they all make the same sort of dim expression and squint at Taako, asking what he’s from.

“He’s from TV, obviously,” Kravitz says, after at least the fifth time, getting annoyed.

“Yeah, obviously,” Taako says with a snort, and they go get more tiny quiches to share. They take a selfie by the big, gorgeous lit up fountain and Taako immediately has to post it on twitter.

“I don’t really understand Twitter,” Kravitz says, wishing he could be home playing guitar in his pajamas.

“Good thing you don’t,” Taako says, looking pale, and they start to hear notifications from around the room. The other celebrities start whispering and looking at them, which Kravitz does not care for at all.

“Is it true you’re dating a nobody?” A stray paprazzo shoves a microphone in Kravitz’s face. Kravitz wrinkles his nose, wondering who let the slime into the actual party.

“I wouldn’t say dating, yet- wait, what do you mean? Taako’s famous. He’s on TV.”

“Is that true?”

“Of course it is! Why would he lie? Get out of my face and stop bothering my date!”

More swarm, and Kravitz makes an executive decision. He grabs Taako’s wrist and runs. They carve their way through the party and through to the preparations for the next event, startling black-tied workers and people with walkie-talkies. Kravitz, panting, doesn’t stop until they’re in the bathroom together, the door slamming shut behind him. Taako looks at him, and looks at their reflection, and laughs, dissolving into helpless, hysteric giggles.

“I can’t believe this is real,” Taako mumbles, pushing his bangs out of his face.

“I’m so sorry about all of that,” Kravitz says. “They have no respect.”

“No, I should be, you know, sorry, probably,” Taako says. “I’m, uh, I’m not actually- I don’t actually have a TV show. Yet, I mean.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not a celebrity, Kravitz.”

Kravitz frowns stubbornly.

“Of course you are. My PR agent set you up with me.”

“Nah, dog, I was just walking by, and you noticed me.” Taako laughs and sighs, leaning against the wall. “I can’t believe I met you.”

“Well.” Kravitz puts his hands on his hips. “Well. Uh. Hm.”

“Yeah, That about sums it up.”

“Well, Taako. I think. You make a better celebrity than the celebrities I actually know. And I’ve had a great time with you this evening. So...maybe you want to stick around?”

Taako tilts his head like he’s trying to invent a new kind of calculus for birds.

“You’re not mad at me?”

“Why should I be? You weren’t boring, and I made the mistake. This one’s on me.”

A slow grin spreads across Taako’s face.

“Well, if you’re down, I’m down. Let’s go rattle Hollywood.”

“Only if you don’t try to kill me again.”

They laugh, and they leave the bathroom together, and they face the paparazzi together, and they get tipsy and eat too many hors d'oeuvres together, and when Kravitz gets in trouble with his PR agent for standing up his real date, Taako kisses him on the mouth and makes him forget all about it. All in all, one of the best events Kravitz has been to in years.

#taakitz #taz #taakitz fic #tazb #the adventure zone balance #the adventure zone #taako #kravitz #fan5fics #sorry this is so long!!!!!!#if this gets popular ill put it on ao3? maybe #it's 1.2k #ask game

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uzumaki-rebellion · 4 years

Text

“Stark’s New Intern” Chapter 25

Summary:

Erik is whisked away from Tony by a Monaco Princess and discovers they have more in common than he suspects.

NSFW. Mature Audience. 18+. Smut.

youtube

"The ego, gotta be vetoed if you want a free-throw The evils, stay with the scripture what your mama read you You gotta milk the game, son, I couldn't bottle feed you This next bar was 'bout to do some Logic shit But now I gotta stop the shit and let me pop my shit Drama still added on, stayin' positive All my niggas on my side, on the opposite…"

Denzel Curry—"Diet"

Vivienne dragged Erik through diplomatic guests and rooms until they were back at the entrance of the palace. A dark SUV with tinted windows whipped around and a guard opened the door for her and Erik.

"Get in!" she said.

Erik climbed into the back seat with her as light snow fell down.

"It snows here?" Erik asked.

"It's rare."

"Where are we going?"

"A surprise."

Vivienne pulled a small cell phone from inside her bra cup.

"Don't look so shocked!" she teased.

She made a call and Erik was able to make out part of her conversation with his basic French.

"Stark is not going to let me just hang out—"

"I'll handle Tony. You're the first interesting person I've met in a long time. I want to show you off."

"To who?"

"My friends—"

"Aye, driver…stop the car."

"Gasper, arrête la voiture…"

The SUV came to a stop just outside the palace property line.

"Stark has me on a tight leash here."

Vivienne pouted.

"Can't we just hang out in the palace?" he asked.

"Too many eyes and ears. I want to talk freely."

Going to his hotel was out of the question.

Vivienne gave instructions to Gaspar and texted someone.

Erik's cell buzzed. He pulled it out of his jacket.

"Where are you?"

Stark's voice was rushed.

"The Princess kidnapped me."

Tony didn't sound happy. Vivienne grabbed Erik's cell.

"I will bring him back safe to your hotel…it's boring there. He's young and should hang out with people his age…so what…you are such a bore right now! I don't care. I will call my Uncle and tell him. Yes…I will tell him. Goodbye, Tony. Stop acting like an old tired father."

She tossed Erik his phone.

"My Uncle wants you tomorrow night. I will keep you until tomorrow morning."

"Like some pet."

"And a sweet pet you are," she said patting his forehead.

Erik grabbed her hand and tossed it from his face.

"Easy now," she whispered.

Erik sat back and watched fat snowflakes fall from the sky. Forty minutes into their ride they were climbing up mountainous terrain until they passed through massive black metal gates. The snow had grown thick and at least three inches covered the ground. Two black Great Danes circled the car before being ushered away by a butler who held an umbrella to protect Vivienne from the snow.

Erik shivered as they stepped out of the SUV in front of a large chateau, but the Princess had them inside the secured hideaway quickly. Within the overly warm residence at least thirty twenty-somethings sat and stood around a cozy open space with dark furnishings drinking, smoking, and listening to music. Erik looked around and saw French antiques mixed with modern touches. Like the palace, it smelled old and decadent.

A fire roared in a tall and wide fireplace big enough to roast ten pigs on a spit. Above the massive ornate mantel was an aged oil painting of seventeenth-century royalty in a pastoral scene.

"Tu t'es échappé!"

A young man with oily dark hair and a lop-sided grin rushed over to Vivienne giving her cheek kisses.

"S'il vous plait parlez anglaise, Durant," Vivienne said.

"Is this him?" Durant asked.

"No. Don't even mention that bastard," Vivienne snapped.

She grabbed Erik's hand and pulled him to the center of the opulent gathering of blue-bloods.

"Vivienne, he has been calling here non-stop. He threatened to fly here and find you. You should speak with him," a young woman with flaxen hair pinned in a severe chignon said.

There was an urgency in her voice.

"Everyone, this is Erik. He works for Tony Stark. He is my Uncle's special guest. Erik these are my friends and that is my cousin Durant and my cousin Remy. Erik is American. "

"Do you speak French?" the flaxen-hair woman asked.

Erik lied.

"No."

The butler poured Erik a glass of medium brown liquor from a crystal decanter.

"No worries, Erik, we all speak English here," Durant said.

A raven-haired woman with thin glossy lips leaned into another white woman next to her as Vivienne turned her back.

"…hommes noirs…"

Erik caught the two white women snickering about Vivienne and Black men. He tried not to glare at them as he felt out the energy in the room. The decrepit rich. Millionaires would be shunned as peasants among this slick bunch.

Erik sipped his drink. Old rich bourbon. The kind not sold in stores.

The liquid beat a warm trail down his throat.

Durant gave Erik a tour of the first floor and Vivienne was cornered by her friends and berated for something that he couldn't hear nor understand that well.

"Where were you educated?" Remy asked.

Plump, bow-lipped, and nattily dressed, Remy smoked the same clove-flavored cigarette that Vivienne favored. Blowing smoke above Erik's head, Remy's ruddy cheeks looked influenced by too much liquor and whatever else they were snorting or popping by the blown-out wet look in his light blue eyes.

"I'll be attending grad school at M.I.T. soon," he said.

There was no sense lying. Erik knew they were just trying to place him in the proper hierarchy for their comfort.

"How long have you been with Tony Stark?"

"Almost a year now."

Erik swirled his glass and sipped a little more bourbon. He moved freely about the room admiring a few sculptures. One, in particular, caught his eye as it sat on a cherry wood console table. He pointed to it.

"This is a nice replica of the Actaeon and Diana statues at the Caserta Royal Palace."

"You've been there?"

"Twice. With my family. It was a museum tour."

"You know the story behind the work?" Remy asked inching closer to Erik.

"Diana was bathing with her nymphs in attendance and Actaeon was out with his hunting dogs. He accidentally saw Diana naked and she sent his own dogs after him. She punished him for his transgression. Turned him into a deer."

Erik let his fingertip touch the top of Actaeon's face transforming into a hunted stag. The head of the mythical man was all deer while the rest was still human in a dead run for his life.

"He commanded that his pack recognize him as he slowly morphed into a stag."

Ten various breeds of dogs surrounded poor Actaeon as the human and animal transformation disfigured his face.

"The gardens there are extensive," Durant said.

"Very beautiful. Like Tivoli itself."

"Well-traveled?"

"Try to be as much as I can."

Erik turned away from the sculpture and returned to the round wooden table that held the decanter of bourbon.

"More?"

A sharp-featured strawberry blonde seated on a beige double high-back chair pointed to the bourbon. She seemed amused to have Erik in her presence.

"Sure," Erik said holding his glass out to her.

Her eyes shifted from amusement to flustered surprise. She wasn't wearing pearls, but her expression sure was clutching some. Remy chuckled and Erik waited for the woman to pour.

She sat forward and lifted the decanter.

"Say when…" she said.

He let her go halfway before he held up his free hand.

"Thanks," he said. He took a big swig and turned away from her.

Vivienne's amused face beamed at him. He took a seat on a small couch and Vivienne swept over to sit with him.

There was small talk and Erik endured the irritating fishing into his past and personal life. Strawberry blonde and the raven-haired woman spoke in French, absorbed in their own world with not-so-subtle glances at Erik. He made out most of their conversation and grew bored with the idle chatter about men and parties. His focus moved back to Vivienne. She was the most beautiful woman in the room and the least invested in everyone else except for him. Her perfume tickled his nostrils.

"Anglais!" Vivienne scolded.

"Sorry," Strawberry said.

"So rude to my guest," she grumbled.

Vivienne grabbed his hand and pulled him off of the couch and moved him toward a staircase.

"We're off!" Vivienne called to her clique.

On the second floor, Erik followed Vivienne down a long hall. He glanced at more dynastic family oil paintings on the walls. He stopped at one that featured Vivienne. She stood next to him staring up at the gold-framed painting. Her father looked like a milkier Francesco, but much younger and with more hair. He had a pronounced large mouth and a weak chin. Cold gray eyes evoked a stern Monégasque aristocracy.

"My father Prince Julien, and my mother, Princess Ndaté."

Her mother was a rich warm espresso color with plump lips and a wide undefined nose with the cutest smile on her pixie face. Thick braids were twisted high on her head. Vivienne sat next to her mother on a forest green velvet settee wearing the same dark copper tea dress. Her father stood behind the settee with his hands touching his wife and daughter in a severely pressed dark suit.

"Your Moms became royalty here?"

"She was of royal descent from Senegal—"

"I have a play Aunt from Senegal."

"Oui?"

"Yeah. She's a queen to me."

"It was quite an event when they were married I am told. They met at Oxford. That's where I go to school."

"Only child?"

"Oui."

"Me too."

"Come…"

He followed her to another hall that led to a bedroom on the end.

"This your house?"

"Belongs to the family. We use it for special events. My cousins and I hide out here when we are between official duties at the palace. Unfortunately, having a father first in line to the throne makes my cousin Clara the sad puppy tonight. She had to stay behind for all the diplomatic duties."

"What's your shot at the throne?"

She cackled.

"My father is sixth in line. No chance. I will just be the speculative royal."

"A Black Princess in a white line. That's a big deal to a lot of people."

Vivienne unpinned her hair and the dark tresses fell even longer down her back.

"Close the door," she said.

Erik locked it and she stood in front of him.

"Unzip me," she demanded, her doe-like eyes seductive in the dim lighting of the room.

She turned away from him. Erik unhooked her and then zipped the dress down to her lower back.

"Merci."

She stepped out of the dress then tossed it on a pecan wood-stained rococo bed embellished with swirly scrolls and foliage fretwork. Her black silk underwear and strapless bra stayed on as she kicked off her heels. She had on sheer black thigh-high stockings and he watched her roll her hips as she walked to a delicate-looking bronze and leather Louis the Fifteenth writing desk with a matching leather chair. Her European Pops may have given her light skin and a loose curl pattern, but her African Mama most definitely gave her shelf booty and thighs for days. Her lack of modesty was much like his own when he was at home.

A chrome laptop was on the desk and Vivienne turned it on. Erik looked around the room and saw a pair of Bulgari sunglasses on a dresser. He put them on and admired his face in a dressing mirror. Her laptop powered up and she sauntered over to him. She pushed her sunglasses to the top of his head.

"I take off my clothes and you barely blink," she teased.

"I've seen a lot of bodies, Ma. Ain't no thang—"

"Ah, I saw you! Your eyes looked at my breasts just then."

He grinned.

"You're kinda spilling out there a bit."

She was.

Erik could see she had big light chestnut areolas that peeked out. Her snatched waist made her hips look wide from the front and enhanced the physical beauty that she displayed. Her eyes studied his face and she stepped closer to him. She unfastened his suit jacket and pulled it off of him, flinging it on top of her dress. He could feel her body heat.

"Get comfortable," she commanded.

Her fingers lifted and undid the first three buttons on his shirt. Erik clasped her fingers inside his hand.

"You're moving fast, girl. Don't even know me—"

"I know you're a liar," she whispered in his ear.

He frowned.

She tried stepping away from him but he held her wrists tight.

"I'm a liar?"

"You've been vetted by Tony. He doesn't just let anyone get close to him. And my Uncle hates commoners. You're not who you say you are."

He let her go. Her fingers went behind her back and she unclasped the hooks on her bra and let it fall to the floor. Her breasts dropped two inches on her chest from their heaviness, but as much as he was interested in playing with them and stretching his mouth over them, the smug look on her face had him edgy.

"Erik Stevens. American sounding name. But I've watched you. The way you walk. The way you talk and carry yourself. You remind me of my boyfriend…ex-boyfriend. You swaggered into my family's humble abode like you owned it. Even in the palace you moved around like others were beneath you or not worth your time. You don't suck up to Tony like I've seen others do. Either your family is very rich and well connected, or you have royalty in your background…oh, see? Your eyes gave you away…"

Vivienne stared at him. Some type of recognition colored her face.

"Someone in your family is from the motherland, oui? The east? It's so evident—"

"Oakland through and through, girl."

"No. Menteur. You are African. More like Halfrican…as am I."

She poked his chest.

Erik swiped the dark glasses back down over his eyes. He sat on her bed and felt his belly churn with tension. Vivienne's intuition had him shook. He tried to deflect.

"Come bring your fine ass here."

He held out his hand.

She walked over to her computer and turned on some music. He grimaced.

"I don't know what kind of mood you're trying to set, but that ain't it," he said.

He moved from the bed to her side and turned off the dreadful Europop sounds. He typed in the search engine and pulled up the M.I.T. website.

Her voice came into the room and the energy shifted.

Buttafly.

His muse.

"What is this?" Vivienne asked.

"A radio station I listen to. It streams worldwide."

"I like it."

Vivienne swayed her body, her hips circling with little dips. Her bare feet took tiny steps as she latched on to the hypnotic dreamy beats. Erik's eyes raked over her curves and the slight bounce of her tits.

"How many guys do you bring here the first time you meet them?"

"Guys? Mon doudou, do I look like I interact with guys?"

Her hands fluttered around her body.

"I only entertain the powerful and worthy."

Something within Erik stirred. Vivienne rolled her body and the music transitioned to something even more sensual.

"If the night brings you gossamer wings made of starlight and sable dreams, you better fly…"

Erik imagined moist lips with Buttafly's honey mouth whispering the words in his ear that he heard from the computer. Since he couldn't have the unseen girl of his aural fantasies on the radio, Vivienne was perfect compensation. He stepped to her and entwined his fingers with hers and shook his hips. Twirling her around to face him, Erik led Vivienne in some Chi-town two-steppin' that his grandfather taught him.

"I love this!" Vivienne squealed.

He pulled her in close and she was able to follow his lead.

"That's it, Princess," he encouraged.

She pulled the dark glasses from his eyes and tossed them on her bed as they stepped in time together. He spun and dipped adding the Oaktown drip to their partnering. Drawing her in tight, her breasts mashed into his chest and he liked the pressure she started to put on his loins as he felt his dick grow fat in his tailored slacks.

"I feel that," she sighed grinding on him.

"It's yours if you want it, Princess."

Vivienne turned and backed her ass against his groin.

"Let me be your heartbeat…"

Whatever poem Buttafly was reciting on top of the erotic beats made Vivienne gasp as she stood still and let him dry hump her ass. Erik's dick turned to iron and the heavy print beating against the split in her backside made her panties wet. His fingers stroked the front of her underwear forcefully to let her know what time it was. Her legs shook. Erik gripped her waist and held her in place as he thrust against her.

He wanted that weight bouncing on him so he pulled her back with him as he sat on the bed with her seated on his lap. She gave him what he wanted, lifting and dropping on his dick, the friction from his pants adding to the pleasure he was enjoying. He reached up and yanked on her long hair, threading his fingers through the thicker strands.

"Big ole ass…girl you know you got a big ole ass…look at you!"

Vivienne laughed and he tugged harder on her hair forcing her head back.

"Who takes care of all of this, huh? I know these white boys ain't handling you right. Look how you're acting. Your man know you wilding right now?"

"He's old news. There are other fish."

"You're sinking some hooks, Ma."

Vivienne spun around on him and straddled his thighs, her breasts sitting on his chest.

"You have protection?" she asked.

"Yeah. Will we be disturbed?"

"No."

She slid her fingers down to the last fastened buttons on his shirt and freed him from it. The skin on skin contact made his dick harder. Erik pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and fumbled for one of his condoms as she nibbled along his neck.

"I won't cause no international incident fucking a Princess will I?"

Her lips smothered his and her tongue was aggressive with his open mouth. Her kisses were desperate.

"You need me bad," he whispered in her ear as he snaked his tongue inside it.

Her greedy fingers went to work on his pants and he let her take them off along with his dark briefs.

"This is what I need," she groaned wrapping her fingers around his wood.

She stroked him nice and slow, teasing pre-cum out of his slit before she engulfed him with her lips. Resting on his elbows, Erik enjoyed watching her slather his dick with warm saliva and moans.

"Damn, baby. You know how to handle my shit. Rub them big titties on it."

Vivienne knelt down and lifted her breasts. He sandwiched his length in the deep valley of her cleavage and she interlocked her fingers together making his erection snug and secure. She rubbed her tits up and down and he had memories of Athena as he watched his dick disappear. He fingered around her areolas and tugged on her nipples.

"Nasty girl…just met me and got my dick like this. You like being a good slut?"

Vivienne lunged for his mouth and they kissed until the throbbing in the root of his dick made him antsy for pussy. He wasn't sure how much privacy they really would have, so he didn't want to waste time eating the box and then being interrupted without having a crack at royal walls. She seemed to be hot for his erection right away too. He could taste her folds after he pounded her good and proper. It was time for royal fucking and he planned on giving her Wakandan Prince dick.

Buttafly was providing the soundtrack he needed to serenade Vivienne into submission. She was about to quench the female drought he was experiencing. He tore open the gold magnum condom wrapper and slipped the rubber down his thick inches. The bed didn't feel sturdy to him so he pulled her over to the solid-looking cream vintage chaise lounge.

"Wait," she whispered and quickly walked to a door he thought was an ornate closet but was actually a bathroom.

She came back with a dark towel and spread it on the lounge. Erik sat down and helped her climb back onto his lap. They kissed once more and she moaned into his throat as he gave her deep soul kisses. He held the back of her neck and plundered her lusty mouth until she was whimpering.

"Fuck me," she begged.

"You want this dick?"

The mewling sound from her voice made him so horny. It was obvious they both hadn't had it in a long time. He didn't give her time to pull her panties off or slide them to the side. He just ripped them off and tossed the scraps on the floor. Gripping the bottom of her ass cheeks and lifting her up, she eased down on his length with only two adjustments with the angle. His abundant size didn't bother her at all. She was so wet that he knew she could slide down even more inches if he had them. Feeling more confident after a few false starts and gripping the back of the lounge for balance, Vivienne started dropping her pussy on him forcing harsh cursing to erupt from his mouth.

"You really tryna break a nigga in!"

"MMMhmmm."

"Okay, Princess. Big ole heavy ass…big heavy ass!"

He slapped her butt and the solid sound made his balls jump.

"Fuck me…fuck me, Princess. Ride that bitch…ride that bitch. Damn you got some weight on that shit."

She knew how to move and shook what her Mama gave her and then some. The clapping of cheeks was so loud that Erik just knew that everyone had to be able to hear it downstairs. She twisted her waist and circled her hips to make that shit even louder and his mouth fell open trying to inhale more air to keep up with her. He jackhammered into her until the music settled him down and he got caught up in a rhythm that had her begging him to wreck her shit for all time. She stopped speaking English then, and her breathy French made his mouth filthy talking back to her. He slid his fingers along her thigh-high stockings.

"Damn, Princess!"

Vivienne turned her body to the side and rested her head on the back of the lounge as she watched Erik's face next to hers. She rode the first four inches on the top of his dick and the sensation of her circling that tight box on him without going all the way down made him press his feet hard into the carpeted floor.

She had his face all scrunched up as he stared into her eyes. Her mouth was open and spilling more moans.

"Fuck me, Princess. Just like that…just like that. Got this big ass clapping!"

"Oui…oui…oui…"

"Fuck me…fuck me…take some more girl…go all the way down. Don't be scared. Fuck me good…take some more. You can get more in there…shit yeah…I like that shit…all the way down. Dassit…more…lemme stretch that shit more…fuck…oh fuck…there it is. Riding the tip so good, baby. Dassit…dassit, Princess. All the way down…all the way bitch…yeah…let a real nigga handle you…mmmmm…"

He pulled out and her eyes looked confused.

"Turn over. Get on your knees."

He forced Vivienne to clutch onto the armrest as he took her from behind.

"Spread them cheeks with your hands…I said spread them. Don't make me fucking repeat myself!"

Erik slapped the shit out of her ass and her body jerked from the punishment. Her hands reached back and pulled her ass cheeks apart for him. Her head rested on the cushion.

"Poke that ass out…dassit. Arch that back for me. Good girl. Make that pussy tight for me. Make it hard for me to get in this shit."

He inserted the bulbous head in and he felt her pushing her vaginal muscles against him.

"Yeah! Just like that! Make it hard for me to get in there…c'mon girl! Fuck!"

Vivienne's head angled back to watch his face.

"Fuck me….please…fuck me hard…" she panted.

"Hold them cheeks open!"

Her pussy was frothy and the creamy fluid dribbled down her thighs every time he pulled out to thrust back in fast.

"Nobody been taking care of this pussy."

"…fuck me, Erik…."

"Ain't no Oxford niggas available to break you off?"

She laughed and it died in her throat when he deep stroked her. He held her left arm back to help him get down deeper. He wasn't going to last.

"Loud pussy, girl…"

Her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth stayed lax.

"Oh…oh…oh…oh…"

"Get it, girl! Getcho dick!"

Vivienne clutched onto the armrest with her free hand and lifted up. He released her arm and she rode his dick by rocking back on him with her hands resting on her thighs.

"Do that…do that…" he hissed.

"Erik!"

"…finna nut…"

Her pussy made obscene farting noises and he let loose into the condom.

"Fuucckkkkkk!"

He fell over her back and gripped her shoulders, kissing the side of her face.

"Fucking icy, Princess!" he panted.

He lifted up feeling the hardness in his dick still holding out.

"I ain't forgot you, Ma."

Erik made her turn over and he lifted her legs over his arms and put in work. It didn't take long for her to fall apart all over his dick before he had to grab the base of his length to keep the condom from slipping as he became flaccid.

Vivienne ran her hand across the top of her hair and grinned from ear to ear.

"That was…mon Dieu…" she sighed.

She reached up and caressed his face.

"Are you using your wings? Are you flying above the world Black angel….?"

Buttafly's voice calmed the rapid beating in his heart from the physical exertion. Vivienne took his hand and pulled him onto her bed.

"Viens mon amour," she whispered.

###

They used all of his condoms.

Three in total.

Vivienne was insatiable and he gave it his all until he fell asleep. He awoke to find the two pitch-black Great Danes sleeping on the floor at the foot of the bed. When Erik stood up to go urinate, both dogs growled at him, their big ears tall on their heads like radar.

"Chut!" Vivienne hissed.

Both dogs backed down and rested their heads on their large paws.

Dressed in a fluffy ginger-colored robe, Vivienne sat on the bed with her laptop in front of her crossed legs.

"Morning," he said.

"Good morning to you. Sleep well?"

"Yeah. What time is it?"

"One—"

"Shit!"

"Don't worry. Tony knows you're still with me. I called him earlier. You don't have to be back until tonight."

"I have to be with your uncle."

"I know. Take a shower. Everything you need is in the bathroom. Are you hungry? I had lunch brought up since you slept through breakfast."

She pointed to a covered silver serving tray on the writing desk. There was fresh juice and water in glass pitchers with glasses.

"Be right back," he said.

Erik showered and pulled on a thick black robe that covered him down to his feet. A brand new toothbrush with individual toothpaste was sitting on the sink next to an unopened travel size deodorant roll. Stepping back into the bedroom, the two dogs watched him closely but didn't move or growl at him.

"Let them out before you eat anything. They will beg and it is so annoying."

Erik walked past the Great Danes and unlocked the bedroom door. They lifted their heads and Erik whistled. They jumped up and he shooed them out closing the door behind them.

Padding over to the serving tray, Erik lifted the cover and found ham omelets with cheese, resting on top of a large croissant with a side of diced mixed fruit and small finger sandwiches. He nibbled on a grape and poured himself water.

"Merde!" Vivienne snapped.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard. She glared at her screen.

"What do you want?!"

Her voice was annoyed. Erik tossed another grape into his mouth and drank some water.

"You refuse to take my calls. You make me hunt you down from the palace to your family chateau. I will not tolerate your disrespect!"

Erik froze.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose and his fingers shook so bad that he had to put his glass of water down. He stepped away from the writing desk and walked carefully to the bed, his eyes narrowing and the breath in his body moving rapidly in his chest.

That voice.

It couldn't be.

"T'Challa, we are no more. I told you that when I left—"

"You said we were just taking a step back to evaluate our relationship…who the fuck is that?!"

Blazing dark orbs burned into Erik's face. The hard scowl on T'Challa's mouth matched the one on Erik's own lips.

"That is my friend—"

"Friend? He is wearing a robe—"

"Hey, Princess. We have lunch waiting for us. Hang up."

"No one asked you to speak—"

"I'm talking, nigga and I'm digging out your bitch!"

"Vivienne!"

T'Challa's shout made Vivienne jump. Her eyes darted between them.

"He is a guest, T'Challa. We have a lot of guests here. There was a party last night—"

"You ain't gotta explain shit to him. Hang up!"

"If you hang up. I swear to Bast I will—"

"Do what?" Erik challenged.

Vivienne's eyes grew coy. She brushed her hair back over her shoulder and gave T'Challa a sly smile. She was enjoying it.

"We can talk when I get back."

"We shall talk now. Make him leave!"

Erik plopped down on the bed next to Vivienne and picked up her dark glasses. Pulling them on he placed his face close to the screen. T'Challa's eyes reminded Erik of his father's. For a second, N'Jobu's face loomed in his mind. Staring at his cousin, seeing the dark smooth skin, the flared nostrils, and hearing the haughty entitled voice, Baba was forced into his heart. Not only could Erik see his father in T'Challa's face, but he could see his own too. It was in the eyes. Those damn haunting Udaku eyes. No wonder Vivienne pegged him for royalty. She was fucking his cousin and unknowingly recognized the bloodline. Incredible.

"Where are you going?" Vivienne called out.

Erik stalked to the bedroom door.

"I have to get some air."

"Eat some food—"

"Vivienne!"

"T'Challa stop screaming at me! You'll see me when I let you!"

She slammed the laptop shut and jumped off the bed.

"Erik…Erik…what's wrong?"

Anger coursed through his body and made it rigid as the Princess wrapped her arms around his.

"I was being petty. I shouldn't have taken the chat. Not with you here. He's such an arrogant ass all the time—"

Erik lifted her up and crashed his lips onto her mouth.

Carrying her back to the bed, he pushed her laptop to the side and dropped her on the plush lavender duvet. Snatching off her robe he threw it behind him. Her eyes were ablaze as she watched him disrobe. His dick was ramrod straight and pointed toward her. He fisted the head and when he glanced at his wallet on the nightstand, he remembered he had no more condoms.

"Do you have anything?" he asked. His fingers twirled around the underside ridge of the tip.

She heard the desperate need in his voice. Her head shook and he couldn't hide his disappointment.

"Here," she said spreading her legs.

The faint pubic hairs on her plump mound were already damp and her vulva was swollen, the inner lips wide open revealing glistening pink.

"You sure?"

She lifted her legs up high.

Erik lined himself up with her.

"He wants you back," he said.

"He has to learn to deserve me."

"He don't deserve you. He doesn't deserve shit."

He plunged into Vivienne full over reckless venom. He wasn't gentle and she didn't want him to be.

"…ooh…mon dieu…ahhh…mon dieu…Erik…!"

He put his full weight on her and she clawed his back.

"Oh…oh…oh…oohmmmph…oui…oui…oui…"

He slammed into her, his length splitting her open wide, his aggression overwhelming her. She cried out in pleasure and he pushed her legs all the way back and shifted to his knees so he could break her down.

"You go back to Oxford, he gon' feel this dick!"

"Oui!"

Reckless. Piping her raw. Needing to stretch her out so she would remember him. The indignant anger in his cousin's voice aroused the alpha within himself and he pounded the fuck out of Vivienne to get back at his blood. If he couldn't bust that spoiled bastard in the face with his fist, then he was going to bust his woman down with his dick.

Erik fucked most of the sound out of Vivienne. She couldn't even make coherent words anymore. Her eyes were glued to his with her lips parted in sweet agony. Every few seconds a deep groan would spill from her throat. He kept the pace brutal and she was game for it.

"Hold your damn legs, bitch!"

Vivienne reached up and curved her hands under her thighs and held them in place as he gripped her throat with one hand and held onto the headboard with the other.

"OOooohhh!"

The vibration in her throat was felt in his hand and he pulled all the way out just to thrust back in to hit that bottom of her pussy hard. Her eyes rolled back and shut as tears spilled from her lids. He eased his grip from her neck to allow her more air but she pushed his hand back down harder.

"This my pussy now. Right?"

Her eyes popped open and her breasts bounced distracting him. He reached down and felt all over her chest as she thrashed under him. He plucked at her clit before rotating firm circles into the small nub.

"I'm cumming!" she shouted.

Erik watched her pussy contract around his girth and before she went limp in his arms, he pulled his shiny erection out and stroked it until stringy hot ropes of semen spurt all over her belly.

"Princess!" he choked out.

He milked out all that his balls could give and Vivienne smeared it into her skin. Gulping for air, Erik sat back from her. When he was able to breathe normally, he searched for his clothes and got dressed.

"You won't eat?" she asked.

"I need to get back to the hotel and get ready for tonight."

Disappointment turned her face sour.

"You have plenty of time."

He glanced out of the window. It was snowing again.

"So unusual," she whispered staring at the falling flakes with him.

"Do I need to call a car service?"

"Gaspar will take you where you need to go. Won't you stay longer, Erik? Please?"

Her face was lovely with the glow of their rough sex. Erik hated the man's guts but he had to admit that his cousin had great taste in women.

He sat on the edge of the bed and put on his shoes.

"How long you been with that nigga?"

"T'Challa? We've been on and off for two years."

"You love him?"

"I do. I'm not in love with him though. He makes that difficult."

"How?"

"He only loves himself and some other woman back in his country."

"Where is he from?"

"Wakanda."

"Have you ever been there?"

"No. It's a poor country and I don't do poor. He won't take me there anyway."

"Why not?"

She shrugged.

"He makes excuses. His family is well off. I think his father is a despot. He's been in power forever."

"He have any siblings?"

"A little sister."

This was news to him.

"What's her name?"

"Aren't you a curious one?"

"Sizing up my competition."

"Her name is Shuri. He's crazy about her. Brags about her all the time."

"Have you met his father?"

"King T'Chaka is T'Challa times ten."

She laughed. He tried to smile. His stomach was tight.

"I met him in London once. With T'halla's stepmother Queen Ramonda."

"He re-married…." Erik pondered the information. Another heir. And a wife that could get in the way.

"You know about them?"

"What?"

"You said 'She re-married'. Like that was important to you."

"Nah. Just curious. He seems so uptight."

"He can be a delight…when he gets his way."

"Why do you need a break from him?"

"He's intense. Like you. That can grow tiresome. But the sex is worth it."

She fell onto her back and stared at the ceiling.

"Thank God you both weren't in the same room. It was like watching two male Betta fish circle each other. The expression on his face though when you wouldn't leave! He's never been denied anything in his life!"

Erik stood from the bed. Vivienne crawled over to him and sat up on her knees holding out her arms. He kissed her lips but didn't hug her. She pouted.

"C'mon now, I can't get cum on my clothes."

She sat back on her heels.

"I enjoyed your company," she said.

"I enjoyed yours."

"Can I see you again?" she asked.

"Depends on Tony. We're here a few more days then it's back to L.A."

"I want you to call me."

"If I can. I will—"

"No. You call me. Or I will kidnap you again."

She cradled her breasts.

"You're the one who's spoiled," he said.

She didn't deny it.

###

The private room in the private Gentlemen's club reeked of pungent cigars, cognac, and tired old man cologne doused too liberally on pale pampered skin.

Erik tugged on the tie he had to wear wishing he had some good weed to smoke to help him focus. Tony sat near him cradling a Cuban cigar. The room was filled with high rollers from Saudi Arabia, China, Australia, Argentina, and South Africa. The card table and the dealer was set with chips. They all waited for Prince Francesco. He was late.

Erik's leg began to bounce and Tony kicked the bottom of his chair to make him stop.

"Forgive us!"

The Prince strolled in and Erik was surprised to see Princess Vivienne behind him. They both took seats at the poker table. He couldn't hide the delighted smile on his face when the Princess looked up and saw him sitting across from her.

"My niece, Princess Vivienne. I know the rules say men only, but I couldn't deny you all a chance to play with the best."

Small head bows were given to Vivienne but her eyes were only on Erik's.

The moment all their hands were dealt and bets were wagered, Erik learned the hard way. Never judge a book by its cover.

Princess Vivienne cleaned everyone's clock during the first two games, and as his pile of chips dwindled, Erik knew then that it was going to be a long night.

###

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@allhailqueennel @bartierbakarimobisson @cpwtwot @shookmcgookqueen @yoyolovesbucky

@raysunshine78 @the-illlest-blog @terrablaze514 @l-auteuse @amirra88 @jimizwidow @janelledarling

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@scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade @bugngiz @stariamrry @honeytoffee @meilintheempressofdreams

@tyees @eye-raq @writerbee-ffs @chocolatedream30 @childishgambinaa @mygirlrenee @thewaysheis—awkward

@tchallasbabymama

#Stark's New Intern #Killmonger Fanficton #Erik Stevens #Black Panther Fanfiction #Tony Stark #Uzumaki Rebellion

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sugar-petals · 4 years

Text

Tarot Reading: BTS’ First Dates With Their Future Spouse

⇁ NOTE: Since a similar reading sparked a lot of confusion recently. This applies to a long-term partner should they choose to have one, not their actual very first date if it has taken place. As for timing, what I am somewhat sure about is that Jimin and Yoongi’s spouses didn’t step into their life yet and it’ll take some time. It could go either way for the remaining members but they might have met them already or will do so very soon.

⇢ disclaimer ♡ this is subjective interpretation; there’s no guarantee for precision and things aren’t definite. the reading is for entertainment purposes only, all portrayals are speculative.

WARNINGS ⚠️ break-up/angst mention

↳ request:

jungkook: PAGE OF COINS

Pentacles? So you can already tell he’s gonna splurge. It’s going to be in a nice hotel or restaurant where they can wine and dine properly. Or, and that’s what the card’s imagery shows and I find to be more likely: It could be a picnic in the countryside! With a nice swim together included. This is going to be a very comfortable, youthful atmosphere and they get along so easily. He’s really curious about his partner and treats them well. All of this will be very pure and without much stress at all. Wholesome is the word that describes this occasion the very best. That it will be in spring or late spring will add to that. If I were to pick any member to go on a first date with going by the cards? Jungkook would be the #1 choice. His relationship will be the smoothest from the get-go and love at first sight.

hoseok: KNIGHT OF SWORDS (r)

Hobi’s in a soft mood. This date, compared to say Yoongi’s, it not about material things and impressing. Hoseok will observe and think a lot rather than shoot his shot, in fact, he’s gonna be shy as hell. The usually very assertive and strict Jung Hoseok will revert to a much gentler tone with his sweetheart because it really melts him. Surprisingly, his energy will be much more subdued on that day, likely because he couldn’t sleep beforehand and feels on edge ever since they texted about where to meet. I can imagine him taking it very slow deliberately not to rush to his date all disheveled. Their first date might be via video call actually, Corona or long distance might get the best of them.

yoongi: THE CHARIOT

This is so funny. Woongles is getting out the big guns and it’s gonna be effective. Rich bitch Suga has arrived! He’s gonna be the Tony Stark of BTS for one night. Yoongi shows up in a sexy expensive car, in sexy expensive clothes, with a sexy expensive attitude, at an expensive restaurant. He knows how to impress with material things. “Damn Yoongi, you look good” — his spouses’ first sentence. But there’s a deeper take to this. Yoongi takes off the focus from them. His celebrity role is a protective magnet for sasaengs. Observers will envy Yoongi and think he’s narcissistic and vain, but his date sees past the antics and likes it. And yes, it’s gonna be a very public first date with paparazzi. He gives the people what they want. It might be close to a venue where car races take place. Is Yoongi a Formula 1 fan?

namjoon: TWO OF CUPS (r)

I’m not really liking this reversal, something’s going wrong during that date. Not a disaster, but there’s a lot of tension. Namjoon might only develop chemistry with his future spouse after a much later try. This is definitely love at second sight. Joon might run into nervousness during that date and they can’t get on one page in that atmosphere and end up butting heads even if they don’t mean to. I see parallels to Taehyung’s reading, they both can’t be themselves at first. There also might be a break-up from a previous relationship that prevents the mood from developing to its most positive between them, but it won’t be their fault but an ex making troubles. The place of the date might be somewhere pretty memory-laden or even at home without being out and about to have a drink. They both stay sober.

jimin: THE HANGED MAN (r)

A great card for someone who’s struggled with relationships before because we see a breaking-free kind of process. No more victim roles. Jimin approaches that first date with a new state of mind. It can take the longest in BTS, but it’ll be a great undoing. He’s hopeful and feels a sense of direction due to his love interest’s presence. A good sign. On the other hand, he might act more impulsively. The HANGED MAN in reverse can also speak of committing the same mistake again so Jimin will be the most careful member in the group. He’s watching for red flags a lot and stays on edge even if the person turns out to be the one much later. As for the place, maybe close to a church, the HANGED MAN is usually upside down but the reversal turns it so it looks like Jesus on the cross.

seokjin: THREE OF COINS (r)

This is definitely a date that nobody in his work environment knows about. Top secret. Jin is really taking every possible precaution. BTS don’t know a single detail about Jin’s crush and the dating spot slash time. No hard feelings, it’s for strict privacy reasons and an idol habit. Jin is really head over heels and wants to protect this precious chemistry from any outside influence, no matter what it is. A leak to the industry is the last thing he wants. They will meet in a safe haven at night, maybe even in a car. It’s the least publically rumored and reported relationship. Take it as the opposite of what Yoongi is going to do. Jin is not down to show off, especially his money. Also, Jin will date someone that is not approved of by his father’s company and its reputation. His date might not be employed at that time.

taehyung: PAGE OF CUPS (r)

Similar to Namjoon, Taehyung’s relationship is love at second sight. The spark isn’t in full effect during the first date. This partnership slowly ripens, there’s no instant hormone explosion and teenager-like confessions, or shenanigans for that matter. I think that Taehyung is hiding a lot of his interests out of fear, or he withholds his expressive personality to guard himself. On a second date, he might be a lot more talkative and open. But at first, he will be pretty serious and even a bit fearful. As far as the place is concerned, Taehyung wanted it to be close to somewhere creative like an exhibition or an art deco cafe, but the place ends up being closed so they have to meet up in a more regular spot.

crossread:

mtl have sex on the first date

where/how they meet their future partner

#bts tarot #bts #bangtan #bts tarot reading #tarot #tarot reading

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margridarnauds · 4 years

Text

pagan-soul replied to your post “My absolute HATRED for the term “Celtic Mythology” VS my desire for...”

Why do you hate that term? ��

So, I decided to give this its own post because I really feel like it does deserve it, since it’s the kind of thing that I think most people outside of the field don’t really think about and you deserve the best answer you can get, though I’m not sure how clear I’m being. If there’s a point that I’m not clear on, please ask me to clarify, since I can never tell if I’m being entirely coherent. I’m not sure if I can give you a FULL answer, since some of this is slightly outside my pay grade (given I don’t get paid, that isn’t hard), but I’ll try to do what I can.

For most of us in the field, I think, we generally hate it because it’s very, very imprecise and a little misleading. There really ISN’T a singular “Celtic Mythology”, just like there was never really a singular “Celtic people”. There were a vast variety of Celtic-speaking groups, spread as far out as modern-day Turkey, and each one of them had a unique cultural environment. Cernunnos, for example, does not have anything to do with, say, Bres mac Elathan or Rhiannon. And, in fact, in terms of the times that each one of them would have been popping up, there’s a SIGNIFICANT difference in ages.

(Taken from David Stifter’s Sengoidelc)

At some point, as you can see on the linguistic map.....during the Proto-Celtic period, they WOULD have had roughly the same cast of characters, BUT that is a time that we really know little to nothing about, and even then, I do believe there would have been localizations depending on family group and region. We can TRY to reconstruct it by comparing different figures/names and then putting them in an Indo-European context. If, for example, you see similar things pop up in India, Ireland, Greece, etc., you can be fairly certain that it is [1] A pre-Christian survival and [2] Specifically, a Proto-Indo European survival, aka going back to really some of the EARLIEST belief systems we have. If you have the same things popping up in Irish and Welsh contexts AND you have the name popping up in Gaulish inscriptions, we can be fairly certain that the figure is a REALLY old ass Celtic figure. Figures like Lugh, Ogma, and Nuada.....they are probably VERY old. Not that we won’t argue over it. Because Celticists argue over everything. (If you want to know about some of what Celticists have conjectured, I highly recommend Proinsias Mac Cana’s ironically-titled , given the topic of this post, book, “Celtic Mythology”. Now, some of what he said has been debated, because.....see above. Celticists. Arguing. We love it. BUT he’s a respected figure in the field, and my supervisor likes him so I’m legally required to like him too.) WHICH brings us to our next problem, which is that the way that each figure developed. Lugh, in an Irish context, is not Lleu in a Welsh context. They probably share the same root figure, at some point in their shared history. Their names match up TOO PERFECTLY for them not to. But the way they developed was specifically in the cultural context of Wales/Ireland. Lugh in particular is a VERY malleable figure. You can read three works where Lugh is in and get a VERY different reading of him in each one. (Good king? Machiavellian schemer? Flawed pragmatist trying to unite a people who won’t be united? A figure who’s more a symbol of kingship than an actual CHARACTER? Depending on the source and the time/context, you can get any combination. For what it’s worth, in the Early Modern period, there is quite a bit of matieral that shows a darker side to Lugh.) Saying, “Yes, these two are related” SOUNDS like it’s admitting a lot, but in reality, that still doesn’t really tell us anything about this hypothetical figure. If you put a knife to my throat and made me GUESS, I would say that he had some connection to kingship and sovereignty. Possibly, in relationship to that, sacral kingship, given that both Lugh and Lleu are betrayed by a woman to their deaths. But that is HIGHLY speculative and again, doesn’t really SAY anything. Lugh is Lugh and Lleu is Lleu. It’d be like trying to say that, because you and your cousin come from the same grandma, you’re exactly the same. Now, you might be able to INTUIT certain things about your grandma from any common traits you and your cousin have, and that’s a valid line of inquiry, and it’s definitely one that plenty of solid Celticists have done, I am NOT denigrating their research, but you’re still you.

Finally, “Celtic Mythology” really is.....rather bombastic, as a term, for a group that almost always consists of Irish Mythology (and, sometimes, Irish folklore, which is VERY different from the mythological texts), with Medieval Welsh literature sprinkled in for a bit of flavor. (Even the term “Welsh Mythology” is controversial, simply because, really...it’s much harder to pick the MYTHOLOGY from the literature. Even harder than the Irish.) And, in the field, even saying “Celtic Studies” is something that we kind of do through gritted teeth because we don’t really have a better term for what we do. See that big-ass linguistic family tree up there? Yeah, I’m not too proud to admit that there are exactly two languages on there that I am in any way equipped to talk about: Middle Welsh and Old Irish. Now, an IDEAL Celticist, aka some of the best in the field, is a jack of all trades, someone who can talk about the linguistic evolution of at LEAST Old Irish and Welsh (including their modern descendants), with a solid background in Proto Indo European and the ability to at least comment on the various other Celtic languages. (There are some scholars who specialize in, say, Scottish Gaelic, Breton, Cornish, and Manx, but they are basically a niche in a niche. The field, as a WHOLE, is VERY much dominated by Irish, both modern and medieval. Which suits me very well, but does make me feel very bad for the other languages that get left out of the mix.) But that is a VERY small number of people in the field. Hell, I got met with basically crickets when I said that I wanted to study Breton, not because people didn’t WANT me to, but because the resources simply weren’t available, much less as an English speaker. (I still want to take it up, though.) I know of some professionals in the field who NEVER would call themselves a Celticist, simply because the term doesn’t really fit them. My paleography professor was, incidentally, one of them. Personally, I DO use it, because again, I don’t have another term.

But, and I can’t emphasize this enough, what I study isn’t a SINGULAR Celtic Mythology. What I study is Medieval Irish Literature, with a focus on the Mythological Cycle and, when needed, I can sometimes comment on the similarities to Welsh figures. I don’t LIKE it, because I feel like I can’t do the richness of the Welsh material justice, but I can do it if you put a knife to my throat. With stuff like, say, Gaulish Mythology....we can make very educated guesses based off of inscriptions and things that the Romans/Greeks said and comparing them to Irish/Welsh material, but we don’t really know. Can’t really know. And with others...there were no written materials during the medieval period, or at least none currently surviving. (This is why Old Irish and Middle Welsh to tend to dominate mythological discussion: The bulk of our medieval material does come from those sources. People can say all they want about the scribes who wrote down the Mythological Cycle, but the simple fact remains that, if it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be studying these texts.)

For me, the term “Celtic Mythology” kind of lumps all the individual Celtic materials into one massive soup bowl, regardless of time, context, culture, or any other distinguishing features, and, most of the time, would be just as easily done by saying “Irish Mythology” or “Welsh Mythology”. There are very few times, unless you’re talking about the ENTIRE POSTULATED HISTORY of a figure, that “Celtic” is really needed and it tends to assume that Irish = “Celtic” (most of the time, I see posts where Irish, in particular, is treated as being the same as “Celtic”, and my ire in this instance is directed towards them) instead of admitting the full variety of what that term actually means. Irish IS a Celtic language, yes, absolutely, but it is not the be-all, end-all, and the two terms are not synonymous. “Celtic” is a very broad term that can only really be useful in a few contexts, mainly linguistic, and is insanely controversial in the field as it is.

On a religious perspective, since I know that this is inevitable in conversations like this, does this mean that I’m saying, going back to my original example, “No, you cannot worship Rhiannon, Bres, and Cernunnos at the same time?” No. I am VERY firm on my stance that I can only speak from the perspective of my knowledge of the field, NOT on other people’s belief systems. This is similar to if someone was to ask me about the function of a given postulated deity, where I can only say “The material as it was written down indicates x, y, or z, and most of us in the field are VERY hesitant to apply a solid function to these figures, but if you feel that this figure is guiding you to a given conclusion, that’s fine. It isn’t ‘inaccurate.’ I don’t believe that there’s any way for a religion to be ‘inaccurate' so long as it’s harming no one.” (Use Celtic Studies as a smokescreen for white supremacy and I WILL roll down your throat faster than a hot dog on the 4th of July, though.) If all three of them are calling you, that’s something that I have no call on. I personally think that it’s a HELL of a combination, and I’d wish you the best of luck, but....it would certainly be an interesting one. If you want to take the reconstructionist root and try to figure out how they would have been worshipped in the Proto-Celtic times, that’s fine (though I do strongly advise against human sacrifice.) You’d have a devil of a task, but it’s certainly a fine one, and in many ways, not too unlike what scholars like Mac Cana did. And, if you want to worship them as they appear in the texts or how they’re personally guiding you, that’s not something that I can make a call on one way or another. Again, this is about my own personal feelings, from inside the field, on the term and how it can be rather misleading.

#pagan-soul #long post #celtic studies #celtic mythology #irish mythology

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thiscitychickk · 4 years

Text

SO this isn’t even fully edited by @ellesjourney yet (sorry Elle!) but people keep sending anon messages asking for the chapter and instead of getting annoyed.. enjoy a snippet that will definitely change before I post chapter 17, but.. a snippet nonetheless.

“We’ll keep taking it one step at a time,” Draco soothed, rubbing soothing circles on her stomach under the huge Tar Heels shirt she stole from him. “How many voicemails?”

“Only three.”

Thank God no one liked to hop on the phone anymore. Texts were far easier to handle.

“Let’s listen to them,” the man instructed, and Hermione felt herself sink into his embrace a little.

At a time where she felt so uncertain and frazzled, Draco seemed to be completely in control. She had no idea how he was so composed, but she was grateful.

“Can you answer my texts? Your followers are blowing up and people I haven’t spoken to since Harvard are reaching out like I don’t know exactly what they’re doing! Happy Easter my ass. Love ya. Call me… immediately!”

Hermione turned to smile softly at Draco after Pansy’s voice faded out. She hit play on the next message.

“Hermione… what the hell are you doing, girl? I have like… a million calls and texts and emails and DMs from reporters asking for statements. I was wondering why Remus gave me a lecture about protecting the identities of our staff, but shit.. Now I know. Okay, wow. So call me when you’re done with your boy toy and the legion of evil. Can I make those jokes anymore? Shit, is he listening? If he is… I knew you two were together months ago! And Hermione denied it! Bye! Call me!”

“If Gemma talked like that I’d fire her,” Draco said, making Hermione laugh. His communications director was just as buttoned-up as he was, while Tonks was just as energetic and even more eccentric than James. It worked out well.

“She’s… a character, but I trust her,” Hermione defended her colleague gently. She hit play on the next message.

“Mione? What the hell’s going on? Dad said to leave you alone, but.. Hey!”

“Happy Easter gal, I told Harry to leave you alone, but when has my son ever listened? Go enjoy your day, eat some caviar and foie gras. Just make sure you don’t drink any red wine they try to give you... Baptists don’t drink wine. It’s the blood of innocent children. There’s no coming back once you’ve taken a sip... look where Snape ended up. I'm just kidding dear... enjoy yourself. We’ll face the music when we have to. I’ll get this one to go away.”

“Wait! Da-”

The line went dead and Hermione rolled her eyes.

“If only the American people knew who they were trusting to represent them. I mean… that man is the voice of over 815,000 people in Congress.”

“Oh, stop! James is a good man, he’s just a bit fast and loose with his tongue.”

“That’s one way of putting it. How about we call Pansy and find out what’s come out so far?”

“That makes sense… I figure it’s better to hear it from her then check social media myself,” Hermione agreed as she hit her friend’s contact.

“Finally!” Pansy exclaimed. “What’s going on?”

“Happy Easter to you too, sis,” Hermione smiled. “We’re back at Draco’s and just going through all of my messages. We figured you could give us a rundown of what’s happened.”

“Well, some dumb ass from your high school tweeted out who you were when the first photos and videos popped up and the Draco stans confirmed your identity almost immediately. You have over 75,000 new Twitter followers and over 100,000 on Instagram.”

“Why does anyone even care,” she replied in a slightly dazed tone. They knew that this was a possibility once her face was public, but… why would people follow her? She doesn’t even post photos with Draco, her stories were photos of food and boomerangs of her walking in heels through the Capitol on days she liked her outfit. They’d be sorely disappointed if they were hoping for content with a certain blond man.

“Why wouldn’t they care is the better question. You're making news on a day where most people are stuck in their grandmother’s house that smells like cat litter listening to their relatives fight about the last will and testament of someone awful and rich who isn’t even dead yet. There’s nothing to do but stalk you and speculate. Talking shit online is one of the few joys these poor souls can indulge in.”

Well… that was one very specific way to put it.

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horistans · 4 years

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Please explain the detective au to us!!! I can’t read Japanese!!!! Thank you!! :)

Alright!! I'll Do My Best! I’ll be translating all the tweets released so far (from Nov. 20-26), but I’m not that fluent, so please be patient with me >.<;; I’ll also be taking some liberties to make it easier to understand in English so these won’t be direct translations. There may be multiple translations, so I welcome anyone else to also try to translate this! Mikoshiba also tweets in very casual speech, with lots of slang, so it’s possible I don’t properly translate some things.

To start, on Nov. 20, 2020, the Mikoshiba twitter surprised everyone by tweeting the following!

Nozaki told me to advertise our company on Twitter. I wonder there’ll be any effect from advertising like this is.

Well, I guess I’ll start next week, so look forward to it!

Employee Mikoshiba

The same day, Mikoshiba tweeted a photo:

The photo was tweeted with the text:

For today, here’s the doorplate

The Kanji on the door plate read: Nozaki Detective Agency

The twitter then went silent for the next two days to build hype and curiosity to what’s going to come! And on the third day, Tsubaki-sensei finally gave us some context.

We’ve started preparing for Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun’s 10 year anniversary project for next year but... I was soberly shaken, saying, “What...? 10 years...?“

What.... Wakamatsu hasn’t figured out the Lorelei mystery even after 10 years...?

That’s why the relationships have been slowly moving forward recently!

I’m realizing this after writing this, but Sensei says, “ ローレライのナゾ ”, literally the “Lorelei Mystery” or “riddle”... Maybe the AU will have something to do with that?

After this tweet, she RT’s the original Mikoshiba tweet for more explanation!!

Ah! That’s why, after 4 years (4years!?), Mikoshiba’s twitter is being used again.

This time it’s a Detective Parallel universe, So instead of a “Future Timeline” it’s a “Nozaki, somewhere in a parallel universe” story!

The project hasn’t started yet, so I might move some things around. Please take care of me! (or even Please be patient with me/look forward to it!)

(If you look at the time stamps, Tsubaki-sensei’s tweets were actually posted after the following tweet, Mikoshiba’s third update, but just to prevent confusion, I wanted to include the context here!)

This response is exceptionally long, so I’lll put a Read More here.

Since there’s still a year until the 10 year anniversary project, Sensei will probably continue world building through the Mikoshiba twitter... But there isn’t a set schedule or story line yet.

I was thinking about what to tweet about, but I think first I’ll introduce our employees.

Mikoshiba actually says, “I was thinking about what to advertise”, but I think “promote” or even “tweet” (because that’s more general) makes more sense here.

Either way!! After this, we’re introduced to the Nozaki Detective Agency Employees!! (Which is where that Hori photo came from :D)

First off is Nozaki!!

Representative Nozaki Umetaro.

23 years old. Manga artist-detective. His manga penname is “Yumeno Sakiko”

... Yeah... “Manga artist” and ”detective”. I don’t know what that means.

After reading a detective novel he thought “Detectives are cool!” or something It seems he started this office but still admires novels.

The last half of that was... really hard to translate (lol)... But hopefully it makes sense!

“If I solve a case, maybe someone will write a novel about it,“ he said, glimmering (hopefully/excitedly) No one is going to write it! (That’s not how it works!)

So then he said, “Ah, then I’ll draw it myself!” and started drawing manga. In this month’s issue, the heroine and her boyfriend had a date...

Huh? It’s a RomCom...?

So: Nozaki read a detective novel, thought it was cool and started an agency, then decided he also wanted to draw manga! So in this AU, he’s still a shoujo mangaka, but his day job is a detective (I guess LOL)

The next day!!! Is Hori-senpai!!

Employee 1: Hori Masayuki, age 24

He and Nozaki first met in high school, where he was his senpai. He’s generally really capable so he’s been a huge help after coming to our office!

The last sentence is... too hard for me to translate correctly (primarily cuz of the verb is kinda weird and the sentence subject has kanji I don’t know how to translate aa....)

But with my shipper heart, I personally read it as:

He often finds himself bickering with the one he likes, one of Nozaki’s guys! Ridiculous!

This may just be my own wishful thinking though, so please don’t take that as accurate lol

**EDIT** I asked someone else, and this is what they said

So a better, more accurate translation:

In Nozaki’s case, he only gets involved if he’s interested in it! Ridiculous!

In a similar fashion to Nozaki’s, he responds to the original tweet with more dialogue!

I’ve recently gotten used to talking with him but Why does he compliment my face so much?

He sometimes tells me, “It’s too bad“ What does that mean...!?

Up next is Waka!!! Here we start to deviate from what could be a potential future timeline, to a parallel universe (like Tsubaki explained)

Part-timer Young Wakamatsu, Age 17

He’s a high schooler living in Nozaki’s neighborhood. It must be fun working part-time at our company.

Seems he recently tried horseback-riding. How bougie! ...I wonder what happened to the flower arranging class I used to attend...

Wakamatsu’s name here is actually written as “Wakamatsu-shounen” (lit. Wakamatsu-boy) and I just considered removing the last half, but remembered how it’s handled in BNHA lol

Even in this AU, seems like Waka’s a rich boy!!!

also forgive me for translating that as bougie I couldn’t resist

And today’s tweet! Features Mikoshiba!

Employee 2: Mikoshiba Mikoto, Age 22.

This is me. I met Nozaki in college and somehow... it’s become like this. At the agency, Nozaki, Hori-senapi, and I are in charge of different requests.

Thinking about it, they’re all kinda feminine.

Wait, I still attend group dates! Even last week, I met with 3 women!!

Aaaa, Mikoshiba’s casual speech is hard for me to translate, so I apologize if this is wrong as well.

Eh...? What...? I got caught....

It was a game!! A depressing game!!

Employee introductions are now over I’ll tweet if anything else happens!

(Although, if there’s crunch time for Nozaki’s manuscript, I’ll be out of reach)

And so, that’s all the updates we have so far :) I hope it makes enough sense!

for TLDR; In preparation for GSNK’s 10 year anniversary, Tsubaki has started using Mikoshiba’s twitter to run a Detective AU! We haven’t seen any of the girls yet, but so far Nozaki, Mikoshiba, Hori, and Waka have been confirmed as the main characters/the employees at the Nozaki Detective agency.

Given context clues, I’m guessing the “mystery” will be the mystery of Lorelei, but that’s just speculation.

If you want to keep up with the tweets, I recommend following Mikoshiba on twitter (@/mikoshiba0214) and turning on notifications! We’re also talking about it often on the fan discord~ (link in my Updates tab, or you can add me on Discord and I’ll send you the invite directly)

#ask #answered #Anonymous #translation #Hopefully this is good enough aaaaaaa sorry about any errors #gsnk #gekkan shoujo nozaki-kun #gekkan shoujo nozaki kun #monthly girls' nozaki #monthly girls nozaki #monthly girls' nozaki-kun #monthly girls' nozaki kun #monthly girls nozaki-kun #monthly girls nozaki kun #Detective AU

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