#i cant even argue with the accuracy

[caffedrine]

Chevalier Michel - I fell in love with you that day – Choose your true love - Event Summary

This is mostly a summary for me - I make no promises on the accuracy of what’s happening. I’m not nearly fluent enough to get half the jokes/innuendo much less accurate plot points.

When Emma wakes up, she is in a pitch-black forest, which is weird since the last thing she remembers is waiting for Chevalier in his library.

There’s a unique smell to the forest, iron and something burning. As far as dreams go, this one is very vivid, and Emma trembles as the smell triggers memories of the last time she participated in a war. Thankfully, she cant hear any sounds of fighting around her, so she’s safe for now.

Her heart pounding, Emma forces her legs to carry her forward, until she enters a clearing with a large lake reflecting the moonlight. And on the edge of the lake, wearing a dark cloak is a familiar figure.

Emma calls out to Chevalier as she hurries towards him, the smell of blood and battle growing stronger as she nears him. She can see that Chevalier’s clothes are covered in something red, and he kneels down to scoop up water to wash himself.

Drawing close to him, Emma asks what happened and reaches out to touch him.

Chevalier recoils from her, unsheathing his sword and resting the tip just at her throat. He demands to know who she is. Very carefully, Emma tells him her name.

(Actually, this is just how he says 'hello')

Not helpful. Chevalier does not recognize the name nor the person.

Is this really Chevalier in front of her? His eyes are so cold that Emma can feel her blood freeze, and the traces of warmth she is used to is gone. She remembers back when she first met Chevalier, the ruthless bestial gaze, but this might be even worse. She can feel the hostility radiate from him, and it’s intense enough that she can’t breathe.

Chevalier tells her to run away, unless she wants to be killed. The tip of his sword is just touching the skin at her neck. The murderous intent half-convinces Emma that if she moves at all, he will chop of her head.

Emma mentally calms herself down, taking one deep breath after another. She needs to figure out what is going on.

Feeling better, Emma looks into Chevalier’s murderous gaze and asks him what is going on. She explains that she was reading back at the castle and suddenly she was here. It looks like he’s covered in blood, and it looks like a war is going on, so she’s understandably confused.

Chevalier doesn’t answer her.

But the hositilty has decreased, so he lowers his sword.

Chevalier sheathes his sword, turns, and walks away. Unlike usual, there is no ‘come with me’ look, but Emma decides to follow him. She doesn’t want to be alone in this place, even if it means being with a Chevalier who does not know her.

Upon returning to the forest, two people intercept Chevalier. His younger brother, Clavis, and the traitor knight, Sir Flandres. It’s the later that puts things into place for Emma, Flandres was a knight of the foreign policy faction 10 years ago

Both Clavis and Flandres were too agitated to even notice her and focused on Chevalier. Flandres begs Chevalier to reconsider, his family is among the 1,000 hostages captured by Obsidian. He asks if Chevalier really intends to abandon all those he has sworn to protect? If they mobilize the knights, then maybe they can save them.

Chevalier refuses to change his decision, even though Clavis argues that they could still win. Chevalier reminds them that Obsidian has firearms, and if they walk into the obvious trap, the 1,000 citizens will die along with the knights. Flandres asks if they could do a more covert operation to save them, but Chevalier refuses to waste the military power on this.

Clavis reminds him that he is consigning 1,000 people to death. Chevalier reminds Clavis that they are at war, people are going to die, but if they don’t win, then the entire country will be wiped off the map. He is getting tired of saying the exact same thing over and over again. Chevalier pushes past the two, as they stare at his speechless.

Somehow Emma was transported to 10 years in the past, when Rhodolite was invaded by Obsidian and all 7 princes went to the battlefield.

She is at the day when Chevalier let 1,000 hostages die, the Blood-Stained Rose Day.

Emma has no explanation of why she is here and how she went back in time, but this is too real to be just a dream.

She sits near Chevalier in the command tent as soldiers bring in reports. And each report is dire – with them losing land and Chevalier making decisions to abandon one battle and send more troops to another.

One of the scouts reports the Supreme Commander of the Obsidian Army was briefly spotted, and Chevalier asks if they have spotted Ever-Victorious Marshal. Nope, Gilbert is suspiciously absent. Chevalier muses that if they manage to kill the emperor, the fighting will be over. A soldier points out that the Supreme Commander, the Emperor of Obsidian, is the best fighter on the continent, no one can kill him.

Chevalier tells them to send for him the moment they pinpoint the Emperor’s position, he will fight him himself. He warns them not to engage the Emperor.

As the soldier leaves to spread Chevalier’s orders regarding the Emperor, another scout comes with more reports.

So far, with everyone focused on Chevalier, no one has noticed her. Or maybe they have, they just have other things to worry about. Instead, Emma is left by herself to listen to Chevalier give out order after order, and she is quickly overwhelmed by the cruelty of the war. As the night breaks into day, Emma feels a little safer, but it is impossible to relax.

Lucian, a face Emma can recognize, comes forward with an urgent report. Chevalier doesn’t even need to hear it to know, his stupid brother went and did it, right? Lucian asks if Chevalier was expecting it, and Chevalier admits that he wishes he wasn’t.

The other side now has Clavis and is demanding hostage negotiations. How would Chevalier like to handle this?

Chevalier tells Lucian to ignore the demand, if his stupid brother got himself into this situation, he can get himself out. Chevalier has made it clear that he does not intend to negotiate.

Even Emma is chilled by his disregard, and she has the advantage of knowing exactly how it will turn out.

One of the nearby soldiers objects and asks if Chevalier is sure. Chevalier reminds him that Clavis entered the enemy camp on his own, and he asks how many people should he sacrifice to rescue Clavis? The soldier backs down, and Chevalier tells the soldier not to think about unnecessary things and focus on their roles.

Emma muses that even though Clavis is his brother, Chevalier has no doubt in his decision to abandon him. She understands that if Chevalier makes the wrong choice, Rhodolite will be overrun by Obsidian troops and lose the war. He accepts the responsibility of making the ultimate judgments on the battlefield, right or wrong.

As Emma thinks about what Chevalier and the others are going through, Lucien abruptly looks at Emma and asks who she is.

Chevalier shrugs, he has no idea either. She just started following him and didn’t run away.

Eventually, the reports stop, and Chevalier calls for Lucien. He’s going to go for a walk. Lucien asks if he should come with him, but Chevalier tells him not to. Lucien then tells Chevalier to be careful.

Emma decides to join Chevalier, she doesn’t want to stay behind without him.

Chevalier makes a beeline into the forest, and judging from the way he’s moving, he seems to have a destination in mind. This isn’t the casual break she was expecting. As she frantically follows him, Chevalier abruptly stops. He warns her that if she continues to follow him, he won’t guarantee she’ll live. Emma assures him that she’s not worried, and unless he really can’t have her with him, she would still like to accompany him. She wants to know what happened during the Blood-Stained Rose Day. Chevalier is visibly confused, and Emma realizes that this war doesn’t even have a name yet. Chevalier calls her strange, snorts, and continues forward.

Under the cover of darkness, Chevalier hides in the shadows. There are multiple tents pitched nearby, all bearing the Obsidian Crest.

Emma is shocked at how easily Chevalier is approaching enemy territory, but he seems to be handling the situation. Looking at the tents, Emma is surprised at how few soldiers she can see.

Just as Emma begins to second guess herself, Chevalier unsheathes his sword and boldly walks into the enemy camp. The soldiers all shout in alarm and recognize Chevalier as the enemy commander. The soldiers at the front aim their firearms at Chevalier, but he is too fast and swings his sword before they can fire. For the first time in a while, Emma sees people die in front of her. Only a few soldiers have firearms, and the rest attack with melee weapons, but are struck down in turn.

Emma is shaking from the sight, but with no signs of reinforcements coming, she steels her legs and watches Chevalier. Finished with the soldiers, Chevalier enters the largest tent in the camp, only to quickly emerge, dragging a man with him by the hair.

The man is wearing a commander’s uniform, and he is shouting at Chevalier to release him and threatening him. Chevalier ignores him, throws him to the ground, and stabs the man through the shoulder with his sword. The man threatens that if Chevalier won’t stop, he won’t rescind the order to burn alive all those prisoners of war. Chevalier stabs him through his other shoulder, pointing out that the execution is already happening right this moment. He notes that since this commander and his subordinates are here, that means they didn’t have the stomach to see their execution orders carried through.

Thanks to that cowardice, it made it easier for Chevalier to find and dispose of them.

Chevalier stabs the commander in the shoulder again, and then in the legs, and the commander screams. This is the first time that Emma ever saw Chevalier purposefully torture someone. He’s angry, very angry.

Chevalier explains that he has just sacrificed 1,000 people to kill him, one of the army commanders. But what is the point in just killing him?

Chevalier throws the commander into a nearby tent, grabs a torch, and sets the tent on fire. The commander starts screaming, and Emma realizes that some of the wounds Chevalier inflicted on him made him unable to use his legs.

Emma realizes that Chevalier always knew what would happen when he allowed those hostages to die, and used their sacrifice to kill one of the enemy generals. With the gift of hindsight, Emma knows that this was instrumental to him saving Rhodolite.

Chevalier, framed by the blazing tent fire, looked calm, but Emma knew that his insides were boiling with rage. She can feel the palpable anger at the loss of all those people and knows that this decision will nearly bring about a civil war in the future. Everyone said Chevalier was a merciless beast that left those people to die, but the truth is that Chevalier didn’t want them to die in the first place. He had just decided to shoulder the burden of all those deaths in exchange for a future for Rhodolite.

Eventually the sound of the commander’s screams stops, and Chevalier sheathes his sword, checking the flames. Satisfied, he turns to leave, passing by Emma who is still hiding in the shadows. She struggles to chase after him.

Chevalier abruptly stops and asks how long she intends to follow him. Emma assures him that she won’t bother him, and to please allow her to stay near.

For the first time, Chevalier turns to face her. He is caked with dirt, sweat, and blood, but somehow remains noble and pure. He notes that there are few women who can see all of this and remain normal. But Emma has barely started crying. She’s not a soldier, but she seems used to the battlefield.

No, that’s not right.

Emma is used to Chevalier.

Who is she?

Chevalier roughly grabs her and her wedding ring shines faintly in the moonlight. Chevalier has figured out that Emma is in love with him, but why?

With Chevalier looking down at her, stinking of blood instead of roses, Emma looks into his eyes and asks how he knew.

Chevalier can tell from her courage, as well as her attitude. Besides, she seems to already know the outcome of the war. This is insane and impossible, but she doesn’t seem from this time.

Even ten years ago, Chevalier was able to deduct accurate conclusions from a small amount of information. Leaving him only with the question of why she loves him.

Emma looks into the eyes of this blood-soaked beast, and though her hand is trembling, she refuses to look away. She wouldn’t be the person she is if she could look away from Chevalier like this.

She admits that there are many reasons why she loves him, but the most important is that he is capable of more love than anyone else.

Chevalier asks if she’s serious.

Emma tells him that she knows he will shoulder the burden of those 1,000 people lost, as well as everyone else who sacrificed themselves in this war. No matter who hate him, he will do what it takes to save as many people as possible. She loves his strong will and sense of responsibility, and the fact that he is human.

Like anyone else, Chevalier feels sadness and anger, proving that he’s not some beast but a human. No matter what, Emma wants to stand next to and support him.

The wind blows, stinking of ash and blood. Emma still feels numb from the scene she’s just seen, but she pushes forward. Chevalier isn’t cruel and heartless, it is this war that makes him seem so. She wants to do everything possible to stop another tragedy like this from repeating.

Emma is still inexperienced and knows too little things, but it is important that she was able to see the Blood-Stained Rose Day up close like this.

She tells Chevalier that she is his fiancé, and she will never let him turn himself into a beast.

After a long moment of silence, Chevalier releases her hand. He knows nothing about her, but if she thinks all that is true, he is interested to see how far she goes.

Chevalier snorts turns, and walks away.

Emma thinks that she’s been chasing his back for a long time now. Now, in the future, she will always chase after him.

When Emma wakes up in the present, the dream lingers and she tells Chevalier about it. He pauses his work, considering it. It is a very strange dream.

Chevalier never told anyone about attacking the commander, and there are no records about it that anyone could have read. He also has no memory of anyone following him to the enemy camp.

Chevalier muses that if it was more than a dream, or just a dream, either way it doesn’t sound pleasant for her. Emma agrees, but she thinks it worthwhile to have occurred.

Awkwardly, Chevalier reaches out and caresses her cheek. Emma thinks he looks a little paler than usual. She feels the warmth of his hand, the warmth of a human. This same hand has been stained with blood so often that Chevalier fears he might be a beast. Even she, who knows him the best, cannot always suppress her fear.

Even though his hand is so gentle with her.

Ten years ago, after their commander was slain, the Obsidian troops lost their morale and withdrew from the villages they had occupied, and the war had been won by Rhodolite. The Emperor had never before been defeated in battle, and the withdraw was unexpectedly thorough.

Rhodolite had lost a lot to this war, but the fact that a small country was able to drive off Obsidian was significant on the global scale. Until that battle, Rhodolite was considered a weak small country, ignored on the global political scale. But, thanks to that victory, Rhodolite is heralded as a beacon of hope to all countries threatened by Obsidian.

Thanks to the sacrifice of all those who died on the battlefield.

Emma agrees that they are where they are today only because of everyone working so hard to protect the country. But the war shouldn’t have happened to begin with. No matter what they say about Rhodolite becoming prominent in victory, Emma cannot bring herself to glorify war.

Chevalier agrees with her sentiment.

Emma doesn’t want to lament her helplessness to stop anything, and she wants to work with Chevalier to build a world where no one needs to become a beast to win a war. She doesn’t want blood to get on Chevalier’s hands ever again.

Chevalier is interested to see how far she will go.

Emma remarks that dream-Chevalier said the same thing to her in the end. Chevalier muses that he must not have changed from who he was back then.

Chevalier pulls Emma’s hand close to him and kisses her fingertips, as if he was swearing a sacred oath. He has no intention of staining her hands with blood either.

Chevalier is someone who will wage a war if he thinks it is necessary. Currently, he’s thinking positively and continues to be a human. As long as the love between them exists, Emma is sure Chevalier will retain his humanity.

She looks at him, at his smile, and thinks about how warm it is.

[imobsessedwiththeatre]

Lets analyze dont lose your head song!! (Historical accuracy)

Grew up in the French Court- kinda?? She was at austrian court too i think. She was lady in waiting. NO SHE WASNT FRENCH just she spended most of her teenagw years here

Oui, oui, bonjour

Life was a chore so (she set sail)- exactly!! Her life in france was a chore!!

1522 came straight to the UK

All the British dudes, lame-the song made it seem she just moved to england, but she did not guys she was borned here :"). And she almost married a guy named William Carey, so its not rlly accurate

Epic fail

Ooh, I wanna dance and sing- yes! There was a show called "Chateu verte" or something i dont remember. And it was exactly in 1522 so its alr+

Politics, not my thing- i cant say if its accurate or not. I think she was quite interested in politics

Ooh, but then I met the King

And soon my daddy said, "You should try and get ahead"- YES

He wanted me, huh, obviously

Messaging me like everyday- it was like a stalk. He even sent her doctors when she got sick, without asking for it!!

Couldn't be better, then he sent me a letter and who am I kidding

I was prêt-à-manger-????

Ooh, sent a reply

Ooh, just saying hi

Ooh, you're a nice guy

I'll think about it maybe, xo baby- UHH?? HENRY STARTED ALL OF THIS FLIRTING?? SHE TRIED TO AVOID HIM??

Here we go

(You sent him kisses)

I didn't know I would move in with his misses- she in fact knew about his wife ane child.

(What?)

Get a life

You're living with his wife?- in 1530 henry wanted anne to movw into the palace, while trying to get catherine out

Like, what was I meant to do?

Sorry, not sorry 'bout what I said

I'm just tryna have some fun

Don't worry, don't worry, don't lose your head

I didn't mean to hurt anyone

LOL, say oh well

Or go to hell

I'm sorry, not sorry 'bout what I said

Don't lose your head

Three in the bed and the little one said- NO

If you wanna be wed, make up your mind

Her or me, chum

Don't wanna be some

Girl in a threesome- there wasnt any threesome?..

Are you blind?

Ooh, don't be bitter

Ooh, 'cause I'm fitter

Ooh, why hasn't it hit her?

He doesn't want to bang you

Somebody hang you- idrk if she would say it. I dont really know anything bout their relationship

Here we go

Your comic went viral

I didn't really mean it but rumours spiral- Yeah, they accused her of witch craft

Wow Anne, way to make the country hate you- FR. they loved catherine sooo...

Mate, what was I meant to do?

Sorry, not sorry 'bout what I said

I'm just tryna have some fun

Don't worry, don't worry, don't lose your head

I didn't mean to hurt anyone

LOL, say oh well

Or go to hell

I'm sorry, not sorry 'bout what I said

Don't lose your head

Tried to elope

But the pope said nope

Our only hope was Henry

He got a promotion

Caused a commotion

Set in motion the C of E

The rules were so outdated

Us two wanted to get x-rated- they already got 'x-rated'..

Soon, ex-communicated-yeah they made small secrwt wedding

Everybody chill, its totes God's will

Henry's out every night on the town-MHM

Just sleeping around, like what the hell?-YEA

If that's how it's gonna be

Maybe I'll flirt with a guy or three- NO. But they accused her of affair with her brother george, some violinist and other guy

Just to make him jell

Henry finds out and he goes mental- YEAH

He screams and shouts- wait he was rather calm i think?..yk he was abt to marry jane

Like so judgemental

You damned witch-Yeah...

Mate, just shut up

I wouldn't be such a b-

If you could get it up- UMMM...

Here we go

(Is that what you said?)- she didnt really argued tho..

And now he's going 'round like off with her head- it was like guards got her and her so called lovers on a talk

(No)

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he means it

(Seems it)

What was I meant to do?

(What was she meant to do?)

Like what was I meant to do?

(What was she meant to do?)

No, but what was I meant to do?

Sorry, not sorry 'bout what I said

I'm just tryna have some fun

Don't worry, don't worry, don't lose your head

I didn't mean to hurt anyone

LOL, say oh well

Or go to hell (she's going to hell)

Sorry, not sorry 'bout what I said

Sorry, not sorry 'bout what she said

Sorry, not sorry 'bout what I said

Don't lose your head

AND FOR THE REST?? ID SAY SHE WAS RATHER CONFIDENT THROUGH THE EXECUTION

[menalez]

@stoptweetingmia on twitter is such a scrote, he keeps using women's photos, famous or not, to pretend they're him and bait anti-trans people who know no better and attack the appearance of who he's used. like on one hand, they should know better and check the account to clearly see the photos he's using aren't him, but it's so pathetic and misogynyistic

the amount of womens pics that were used with many of them not even having a singular male trait, the trans woman intentionally choosing pictures where the women look more sexually ambiguous (pictures where theyre scrunching their faces, pictures with women’s jawlines being more emphasised, pictures where most of the womens faces dont even show bc the hair covers 60% of it, etc) is very 😬😬😬 but with that said, im sick of the “we can always tell crowd” for various reasons and this is one of them.

lets be honest and accept that you cant tell someone’s sex with 100% accuracy using a singular photo. photos and videos and real life are three different things. i could post pics of my male friend who has not transitioned whatsoever and many would mistake him for a woman, even in pics where he’s standing next to me. if someone posted my pics, some of the idiots above would argue im an obvious male and reference my “gorilla shoulders” or my “male bone structure” too. when someone posts a pic of someone and says “oh youd be able to tell im not a woman??” the response would be to say that makeup, angles, and filter among many other things come into play in pictures and not being able to clock someone’s sex in pics is possible but its far more observable in real life when you get to hear someone’s voice, see them move, and see them clearly without posing and makeup obstructing their appearance.

beyond that, even in real life there’s some people who are sexually ambiguous and i wouldn’t be able to clock. i wouldn’t be able to tell if someone asked me if amanda lepore is male or female. i would be too busy looking at the obvious horrific plastic surgeries to be thinking “thats a male!”.

and lastly, it doesnt matter if we can clock ppl 100% of the time or not. in most cases, you can tell someone’s sex (yes even if they transitioned) & in the case of sexual interactions, transition does not change someone’s body into that of the opposite sex’s so even id they pass completely, it doesnt work when we’re talking about intimate situations.

people are dying on the stupidest hill.

[hopeheartfilia]

ahhh trying to analyse what i think about mo ran's little inner monologue about liking chu wanning and not shi mei and like

:readmore:

fundamentally i do thinks there is some truth to it, like putting someone on a pedestal as pure and good isnt really about being in love.. like its you not the state of u get to the nitty gritty, if u dont like their flaws specifically do you even like them or just the idea of this perfect kind eprson youve build in your mind that cannot be sullied

but also i feel like i disagree about the. sexual aspect of it? like just because youre not horny doesnt mean you dont have a crush? but also i tried to explain what it feels like to have a crush when not hornh and im having the issue of im demiromantic and ive had one crush in my whole ass life and it was in middle school, i simply do not know enough about romantic attraction to tell you. Like i can easily say that Mo Ran isnt experiencing just sexual attraction, even if he is ridiculously horny, but like

How to explain that while yes i dont 5hink you had a crush on shi mei that its not because you dont like shimei physically? you also dont seem to enjoy spending time with shimei that much and dont seem to have many meaningfull connections with him. also also you dont seem to want to be closer to shi mei you just want him to be safe and happy and stuff? It sounds a bit likea ! hes so nice to me, sort of squish. Like when someone does somethibg really nice for you and you decide that youve pack bonded and youre gonna be extra nice to them and youre gonna be the bestest of friends

but often they end up not even being your best friend. because your bestfriend is someone who you dont get tired if being around for days in end and who you can argue but then understand each other, not just someone whos nice to you. you know.

And like Mo Ran doesnt like Chu Wanning jsut because he does somethibg nice for him, he respects jim and has the eorlds most obvious crush BeforE that, thats just when he goes Shizun care for me too? owo and then Cherish the shizun protect the shizun, and i feel like the xie sini moment of Arent I human too? Dont I hurt too? Was more important? Like figuiring out hes been fundamentally misunderstanding Chu Wanning and then finding out for himself what the guy is really liek is what does it for him, because its the understanding, its about the knowing

You can like people without knowing them but you cant love them without knowing them and being willing to learn more

Anyway im going on a tangent and i still cant tell you what the difference in the whole lvoe thing eould be between learning to love chu wanning romantically and in general is outside of he thinks all of his sharpest edges are cute? they endear shizun to him, and thats all i have because i dont remember the like. questions of that What type of attraction are you feeling? quiz that helps me work it out.

yeah i have a bit more emotional intelligence then mo ran because i spend a looot of time thinking and self analysing but also its not by much. which is partly why i find his EM of -33 so relatable. mine is zero in this metaphor, which is better but still. like at least i can tell other peoples emotions apart with a suprsingly high degree of accuracy for someone who had managed to convince themselves they cant feel guilt and it was just anger obviously, not misplaced guilt nuh uh

ah i need to figuire out hoe to add a readmore in mobile for this rant

anyway mo ran yes correct conslusion that youre head over heels for chu wanning and not in love with shi mei, but no i dont think its just because you desire him carnally, you also desire him in every other way, ehich does not seem to apply to shi mei, but i dont think youre ready for that internal "im not even sure you consider shi mei as a human person with like agency and shit and nit a prop in your backstory" conversation. Which. I do see that shi mei isnt written that way which is just.. perfection, the complexity of secondary characters in danmei is unparalleled, love it when people that arent the main couple have personalities

[cryopathiic]

[ kneel ] from kokushibo || @kejito // not accepting

[kneel]: receiver kneels before the victorious sender

CHI! HAI! HO! The ambience is sliced by each sharp exhale announcing the clash of blades. A spar in harmonious staccato takes place in the temple dojo tonight, where normally this space would be dedicated to the practice of mindfulness. Though one could argue that this friendly spar among the uppermost two demands equal focus — if not more; and violence is far from the endgoal.

The blink of an eye would suffice to have a blade wedged a little too deep, or a fan steal a finger. Every clash is followed by a short pause, katas performed to completion, even if each counterpart dons a very different expression. Yet, the deadpan dragging on Kokushibo's features shares its rigidity with the smirk etched into Dōma's own. And with how predictable the movements are, it soon almost turns into a lull. Almost.

An exceptionally smooth forward strike hopes to have Upper Two dodge to the side; instead, the younger oni steps forward into the cut and loses an arm in closing the distance between them. The blade glides through his forearm like a knife through soft tofu. There's a tangible bloodlust spike cutting through the constant buzz of white noise Upper Two contributes to the bloodbond. They both watch as time in itself seems to slow down and allow the golden gilded fan to float in the space between them, still attached to that clawed severed grip. But it never clatters to the floor; caught in mid-air by that same hand, reborn. It all happens in the spaces between a human's heartbeat.

Suddenly, they're standing too close. And Dōma never steps that close.

It's a soft, swift turn, like a dance; beckoning the Moon to swing in tandem. The two find themselves front to back, polychromatic orbs flashing a mischievous glare over Upper Two's heaved shoulder, and then — crack; his elbow sinks into his adversary's diaphragm. The ancient warrior may have heard an impalpable snicker. With speed no mundane hand could hope to match, the fan's flat edge smacks into Kokushibo's neck, depriving him of that stolen breath before he has drawn it. And Dōma releases his own oppressively close. The rime hangs heavy around Upper One's clavicle; to take it in would feel as though inhaling needles.

It was a window of opportunity.

He has memorized everything from those friendly spars; from the way Koku's grip sits at the handle to how his shoulders loosen before a strike to conceal its direction. You can tell a lot by looking at a swordsman's shoulders, after all. Upper Two, content that his sheer abrasiveness has earned him leverage, lets the tessen make rapid descend to his rival's wrist — tabi socks glide over the polished wood to swipe at his footwork. It's a guaranteed hit! There's no way that Kokushibo could catch his breath that fast and though demons don't necessarily need it to survive, the lack of it still hinders their accuracy.

So when he turns, he expects to hear the thud of Upper One landing flat on his butt. Which would honestly be hilarious —

Instead, he's the one looking up into a sixfold burning glare. Somehow it feels confusing yet natural all at once. For a moment, a hollow perplexion lingers on the guru's serraphic features. The next, he's sinking back into his knees, canting his head with a darling smile. A sole black strand floats down in the space between them and he watches it land over the tip of Kokushibo's practice blade like a dark feather.

A lock from his bangs!

❝ Ah, forgive me, I got a little carried away back there... ❞ Pearly fangs grip his bottom lip into a smirk. ❝ Thank you so much for putting up with a clumsy disciple like me, senpai ! ❞ The fans are promptly rested in his lap as palms join beneath his chin with a respectful bow. ❝ Do you think it would be appropriate for me to keep that? As... a token of another invaluable lesson, of course! ❞

[lesbobiwan]

Congrats on 501 followers! You rock and I know you will continue to do so! May I request #3 with either Cody or Fives (or both) please? Female reader or gender neutral reader is fine! Thank you thank you!

#3: "No panties?" + Fives

501st follower special

You've felt his eyes on you the entire night, dark with intent but never jealous.

The both of you know who you belong to.

The shiny that dragged you across the dance floor with a bashful grin twirls you towards the table where your 501st boys watch on.

Kix whistles you think, you can't hear it but you see the shape his lips make, and Jesse shoots you a pair of finger guns. Echo grins into his cup and all Fives does is watch.

You spin back towards the shiny, but you don't stay with him for long.

A hand closes around your bicep, pulling you back into a firm chest. "You mind if I cut in, kid?"

The shiny flounders for a moment, back going ridged like he wants to snap into a quick salute. "No, sir! Feel free, sir!" He scampers off without so much as a second glance to you.

"Aw, but I was having such a good time, sir," sarcasm drips from your voice, clearly mocking the shiny that would have kissed Fives' boots if he asked.

Fives grins and one hand dips low to squeeze your asscheek. "Well, I think we can have an even better time in the bathroom,"

His voice is thick with meaning, one eyebrow quirking up as if you need any sort of clue as to what he means.

"Oh, but, Fives, the bathroom is filthy," you protest, not at all meaning it.

Fives has fucked you in dirtier places now that you think about it.

Fives squeezes your ass again, harder this time and enough to make you squeak, "You didn't say that last week when you pushed me into a stall and dropped to your knees to suck my cock, sweetheart,"

“That was different,” you argue breathlessly, thighs clenching under your dress.

The hand on your ass slides up until it reaches the small of your back, and Fives barely has to guide you at all as the two of you make your way to the bathroom.

He pushes you in first, cutting off the poor soul who was reaching for the door handle, and locks the door behind him.

You watch as Fives stays facing the door after his closes it, as if preparing himself for what’s next.

The opportunity is there for you.

You grin and fold yourself over one of the sinks. The porcelain presses uncomfortably into your hips and you keep your chest off the faucet by propping yourself up with your hands.

Your skin prickles with excitement and arousal as Fives finally turns around.

“Shit, baby,” Fives groans, hands immediately finding your ass that’s peaking out from under your dress.

“No panties?”

You gasp as one of his fingers finds your clit. “W—wanted to surprise you,”

Fives wedges himself between your thighs, forcing your legs wider. “Well, consider me fucking surprised,”

“I’d rather you be fucking me,” you give him a cheeky grin through the mirror.

The course fabric of Fives’ civvies against your cunt has you gasping. You grind back into his erection, knowing full well that you’re leaving a stain on the front of his pants that everyone will see when the two of you leave.

Everyone will know it’s you that fucks Fives whenever and wherever you want.

“You want me to fuck you?” Fives demands, dragging his bulge against your slit.

You whine in confirmation, head dropping as you revel in the feeling of pants catching on your clit.

“Then look at me.”

A hand tangles in your hair and Fives jerks your head back until you meet his gaze through the mirror.

Your gasp catches in your throat, hands scrabbling against the porcelain as Fives takes away your leverage.

The blunt head of his cock presses against your sopping hole.

“Fives,” you whine, canting your hips back towards him.

He swats your ass with the hand not pulling your hair. “Ask me nicely.”

You huff. That cocky asshole.

“Please, fuck me, Fives,” you finally spit out, voice dripping in sarcasm.

Through the mirror, Fives looks wonderfully amused, but he still doesn’t move.

Shit. He actually wants you to beg?

“Please, Fives?” you shove your hips back a little more desperately than before. “I thought of you all day, I missed you so much. I thought I was gonna drip down my damn thighs all night with how much I needed y— shit!

Fives bottoms out between one blink and the next.

His cock stretches you perfectly, just skirting the line of too much, and you’re helpless to watch as your face contorts as he eases back out.

“Eyes on me,” Fives reminds you through gritted teeth before his hips snap back against you.

The sight of the two of you in the mirror is taboo and shamelessly lewd and you think you could watch it all day.

Your toes curl as Fives’ fingers start circling your clit.

“Shit,” Fives hisses, his breath hot against your neck, “you get so tight when I rub your pretty little clit.”

Your moan is loud enough to cover the banging on the door.

Fives hitches your hips up, just a small movement but the angle changes tremendously, and his cock drags against your g-spot with unerring accuracy.

Your eyes flutter shut as you shriek, hands smacking against the sink.

“Fives!”

The hand in your hair jerks viciously.

“What’d I tell you?” Fives demands, goatee scratching against your neck as he drops his head to whisper in your ear. “Eyes. On. Me.”

He punctuates his words with three hard thrusts that have you sobbing.

Still, your eyes open before he has to tell you again.

“There’s my girl,” Fives grins, pressing a sloppy kiss to your temple before he’s back to pounding into your cunt.

You meet his eyes, blown out and looking only at you, and you convulse around his cock as he pulls an orgasm from you.

A silent scream leaves your open mouth, and you fight to keep your eyes open, even as the orgasm of a life time rips through you because —

“F— fuck!”

Fives looks just as pretty when he cums.

His hips stutter against yours, both arms wrapping around your waist to anchor you to him as he cums deep inside you.

The two of you revel in your orgasms, Fives with his forehead pressed into the space between your shoulder blades.

He kisses the nape of your neck before finally easing himself out, the two of you hissing in overstimulation as he does.

A glob of his cum drips from your fluttering cunt, landing on the floor with a wet plop that has you both wrinkling your noses.

“Y’know, this bathroom is pretty filthy.”

“Are you just now realizing that?”

[rjshepherd]

give us the nsfw pack leader karl hcs PLEASE

lmao yall are thirsty af for this man huh?

argh ive left this one in my inbox for so long all my good ideas have dried up and withered away like a dead plant. this was also send in a time where i liked lycan Karl and now i dont canon it so much anymore DX .i hope these will still be ok :

-When Karl turns full lycan, all bets are off. He's temporarily lost all his humanity, all higher brain function given way to animal instinct: fight , fuck, feed, flee etc.

-Lycan Karl still looks mostly human. He's still got a great deal of control over his mutation. But that being said he has been known to slip up, give too much of himself away for more strength. He's capable of walking upright but moves more like the lycans, climbing walls, lunging on all fours or resting on his haunches. the only physical signs are his sharper teeth, slit pupil eyes and longer nails.

-He's still capable of using his metal powers but it comes at the cost of accuracy and fine control. he mostly flings heavy metal objects and hopes for the best. if that fails, he's got claws and teeth now and he's not afraid to use them.

-When he's like this, karl is pack leader, no questions asked. Creatures like Urias keep their distance from this tiny feral human, lest they wind up as one of those four F's. he doesnt take control from the lycan leaders often, but when he's in that sort of mood theres no sense arguing with him.

Speaking of the 4 F's lets go deeper shall we?

-When lycan Karl fights, its usually with the lycans. Prey are usually taken down without too much fuss but the some of the other pack members dont like it when this tiny hairless ape comes sauntering in, stinking of oil and death and starts demanding tithes and devotion. He's got a fair few scars from defending his place at top of the food chain and even more from creatures who cant seem to get that lesson through their thick skulls.

-Normal Karl might seem like he's spoiling for a fight 24/7 but lycan Karl as at least a little more sense in this regard. If you pick a fight with anyone who looks at you funny, soon the whole pack would be out for his blood. He avoids conflict as much as possible but lycans do a lot of posturing and acts of aggression for dominance. they dont usually comes to blows mind you.

- since he's the leader, he's broken up a few fights that have gone on too long. Again, if everyone fights to the death all the time, there wont be anyone left soon enough. Most of the time the lycans just swat at each other, grazing blows or warning shots before anything too serious happens. you have to remember however that Karl is not a full lycan and something they could brush off would could be lethal to him. its a good thing he has the Cadou healing him because the lycans will never treat him with kid gloves.

-Lets be real here, If he's fucking its probably with the lycans too. Feral Karl doesnt care where he gets hole, as long as its warm. Its often hard to tell what is fighting and what is fucking with these creatures, they dont usually live long enough to mate or have ruts/heats. The lycans arent his first choice for sex but he did know some of them when they were human, and if everyone is willing, why the fuck not?

-i mentioned how fighting and fucking for these creatures is pretty much the same; sex is violent and not in a kinky spanking or hair pulling way. im talking about breaking bones, ripping out chunks of flesh or pummeling on another into unconsciousness. its a constant fight for dominance that usually leaves both parties looking like theyve been fed through a wood chipper. Karl learned this one the hard way. man is a glutton for punishment

-If by some chance he's found a living human he wants to fuck, he MIGHT pull back on the feral tendencies for just long enough to sweet talk them into bed. Dont expect it to last, when the lust hits his veins he's going to revert back to savagery. youre going to be nipped, clawed, scratched and bitten. youre going to lose handfuls of hair, have your clothes ripped to shreds and your makeup (if you wear any) smeared across your face. You'll be littered with bruises and covered in fluids. Karl is going to ride you relentlessly until he's satisfied, thrusting into your holes until he has you almost doubled in half or riding your dick/strap until he's bruised your hips with his rock hard thighs.

-im going to just come out and say it; lycan karl isnt good at aftercare. He'll cuddle you all you like, bring you a towel to clean up but beyond that he doesn't care much. he's completely unaware of how normal humans heal and recover from such treatment. dont be surprised if he has the GALL to ask you for another round while you're lying there half dead. maybe wait till he's away from the pack and has located his human decency again.

- theres not a great deal i can say about Lycan karl's eating habits. He defers to the pack for such matters as he usually doesnt hunt himself. The rule is that he gets his share first. The lycans dont always bring back raw food or dead animals but he doesnt have a problem eating that sort of thing anyway. sometimes they will steal from the villagers but Karl usually makes them put it back. He doesnt want a bunch of pissy farmers showing up at his door complaining their grain and chickens have gone walkies.

- he does have a strict "no raw pork" policie mind you. Lets just say no one wants any parasites in their body besides the cadou.

-last F i guess, Pack leader karl isnt stupid. he's clearly got some strategy behind his metal army and when he's with the lycans its much the same. He prefers to stand his ground and fight but he's not so bloodthirsty and mindless he'll fight to the death at his on detriment when legging it makes more sense.

- its a little cute to see if very rare but when something has gotten the better of Karl, licking his wounds is quite literal. He does it out of force rather than a certainty it will help. im not sure he enjoys the taste of his own blood very much but at least keeping the wound moist and clean will let the mold do its work.

remember i said i was going to try and write a little less so i didnt burn myself out. yeah what happened to that idea lmao?

[nastyburger]

What are your thoughts on Cores? Are they all a type of element? (i.e Ice, Fire, Plant, Electric, etc) Could they be based one some kind of temperature slider? What kind of core would the Lunch Lady have? Would she have a simple hot/fire Core? Or would she have a sort of strange “Meat” Core? Idk I’m asking you

i love the concept of cores! i like to think cores are like the ghost’s mind and heart (but rolled into one and put in their chest) with the “mind” half being their obsession and the “heart” half being their element. i like to think theyre all elemental like fire ice and all that! i feel a core merely fuels the ghost, and the element is just a minor detail dictating certain features (do they feel more hot or cold to the touch? is their image slightly more fuzzed out like fire or pulsing with electricity? are they more rigid yet see through like ice? ect. though these traits are hard to see unless your looking really closely or have a good eye like frostbite taking one look at danny and knowing he has an ice core). like its more how the ghost is comprised/holding its ectoplasm together so i dont believe it dictates what their literal powers are.

hmmmmm think about it like atla nations! like sokka is very clearly water tribe with his clothes, culture, weapons, and natural inclination to the cold but that doesnt mean he’s a waterbender. i think about cores like that basically if that makes any sense! a good example of core not equaling power would be ember, she would have a fire core but her powers is clearly based on sound and music despite the aesthetic! which brings us to our next point..........

im very inclined to the idea that obsessions are wrapped up along in the core. its essentially the gas tank to the whole operation. the more a ghost indulges their obsession the more powerful they become and this is where their true power comes from. the actual elemental part is just the outer shell glue holding everything together and only particularly powerful ghosts, ghosts fortunate enough to have their element and obsession align, or ones simply smart enough to figure out how to tap in would learn their element and use it outwardly.

lets use danny as an example of “a powerful ghost using his core”, danny’s power was building so much that he physically felt freezing no what temperature it was or how much he bundled up. even in ghost form he was constantly shivering. danny’s core was literally freezing him from the inside out and needed to release the excess energy, he had no choice but to learn how to do this and just use ice powers. on the other hand though, this means he can use his ice powers far more frequently and exclusively as his main mode of attack if he wanted to. basically ghosts in this category have no choice but to use their elemental core lest they become a ticking time bomb of repression to themselves (i also like to believe tapping into ones core is very difficult to do hence danny needing to be taught instead of like accidentally releasing it or something, many ghosts born with the POTENTIAL to have this really powerful core ability often cease to exist because it destroys themselves from the inside out. thats why theres not many of them). other examples of this category would be frostbite and undergrowth.

contenders for the “fortunate enough to have their element and obsession align” would be technus. electricity is probably the most common type of element for this category in all honesty. technus is obsessed with technology, and while i would say most of his powers are “possessing” technology with his basic package of ghost powers theres no denying the dude definitely has some sparks flying. i feel like if your obsession is already close to your element then its only reasonable you stumble upon a natural way to use it. but heres the key difference between a ghost like technus and a ghost like danny: if technus can use electricity all the time then why bother possessing electronics? simple answer is thats just not sustainable. danny is literally overfilling with energy, he has so much excess its spilling over and will literally kill him if he doesnt blast off a couple of ice beams here and there. technus is pulling energy from his core, its not excess, hes just tapping into this extra reservoir of power, but if he uses it TOO much he will have the exact opposite problem of danny. basically expending too much of your own battery that you die from lack of power. unless you are the first category of ghosts, tapping into your core at all should be used sparingly.

“simply smart enough to figure out how to tap into their core” would be ghosts like ember and skulker. a musician pop star would have nothing to do with fire, likewise a hunter with electricity, but these two are able to minorly use their element abilities. “smart” probably isnt the right word to use here, but more or less for one reason or another, these ghosts figured it out and are now using their cores. thats basically all there is to it. though i will say, having a core strong enough in general to have power to tap into in the first place is another deciding factor for all three of these categories. with that, lets move on to the last set of ghosts.

going aaaaaaaall the way back to your original question of whether or not a ghost like the lunch lady would have a “meat core” or something like that, the final group of ghost are ones that simply dont use their elemental core at all. they instead lean into their obsessions. ghosts in this category can be here for a number of reasons, perhaps the shell of their core is very minor and weak and they cant use that elemental power no matter how hard they try, perhaps theyre so focused on their obsession they may not even need their elemental, perhaps they just simply cant learn how to tap into their core at all because they dont have enough sentience.

i would say the lunch lady and the box ghost are the “too weak to use their elements” ghosts, but that doesnt mean they are powerless! i like to think all ghosts have a “basic package of ghost powers” with levitation/telekinesis being one of them, the only difference among the ghosts is how their obsessions dictate their natural affinity towards certain things. so while the lunch lady doesnt LITERALLY have a meat core, her obsession gives her the natural inclination towards food and meat. she can control these things with the most accuracy and power, it allows her to do things like making the meat suit and whatnot, its just what she’s best at controlling. regardless, these ghosts can never learn how to use their elemental core but thats okay. their obsessions is just a different path to take. speaking of which........

“so focused on their obsession they dont even need their elemental core” is clockwork. hes just so powerful on his own, why would he need to use that? does he even have an elemental core to control? who knows and who cares because the dude can LITERALLY CONTROL TIME. another example would be desiree, maybe even the ghost writer. these guys already gain so much power from their obsession it doesnt matter whether or not they have the ability to use them or not. thats sorta the beauty in this category! because you know who else can fit in here? TUE box ghost. thats right, just because your elemental core is too weak to tap into doesn’t mean youre weak. in the ultimate enemy, the future box ghost is genuinely powerful. his abilities to control boxes extend beyond just levitating and throwing them around, he can make these pink plasma boxes and hes a genuine threat to behold. he leaned into his obsession and it developed enough to this point of power. again, loop this back to the atla comparison i was making earlier, just because someone is a nonbender doesnt make them weak! those nonbenders lean into learning different skill sets until mastery and become very formidable foes. just because youre not born with it doesn’t mean you cant git gud. on the other hand......

the very last kind of ghosts are the “cant learn how to use their core because theyre not sentient/intelligent enough”. these are ghosts like the blob ghosts, ectopusses, maybe even cujo and other animal ghosts if we’re being honest. using your core doesnt come naturally, it needs to be taught and learned, you have to actually train to use it. so in cases like these ghosts, they just dont have the thought process to do this. hell, some of them like the blobbies may not even have fully formed obsessions. their more scribbles, raw ideas, pure emotion giving sentience to ectoplasm. with cujo (assuming he has an elemental shell strong enough), you could argue that you can train him to use his core like its a dog trick, but in all honesty this would be very very difficult to do and whether or not cujo can use it on his own is debatable.

[legofemme]

How ... how are people making Neon J white? The dude is just a robot with organs

When they make gijinkas and human versions of him, theyre making him just. A white man. And its BAFFLING to me.

I also saw last night on twitter that someone just. Made normal ass djss white. Like literally made his arms and legs pasty white. HES. HES NOT EVEN WHITE IN THE GAME??? THEY CANT ARGUE "ACCURACY" BECAUSE HIS FUCKING SKIN IS PURPLE IN GAME. THEY WRNT OUT OF THEIR WAY TO MAKE HIM AS WHITE AS POSSIBLE AND I LOST IT

[caffedrine]

Rio Ortiz and Silvio Ricci - He is Me and I am Him?! - Event Summary

If anyone gets the idea that I know what I’m doing, then we have both made a giant mistake. I do not guarantee anything, much less accuracy in this summary.

This was a pretty fun event, you should definitely support Cybird when it comes out in English and buy/read it.

Warning: Mid-route spoilers for Rio and Silvio's routes.

Please note: This is set before Emma has romanced either Rio or Silvio.

One morning Emma wakes up to the sun shining in a clear blue sky, birds chirping happily at the morning, and no Rio around. She waits a while, but Rio, who if anything else, has always been punctual with her, never shows up. Emma grows concerned, has something happened to him?

Upon exiting her room, she overhears Rio and Silvio talking loudly nearby. As always, the atmosphere between them is anything but peaceful. Emma realizes that they’re arguing, and she rushes to put a stop to their fight, hoping that she can prevent herself from landing in turbulent waters.

She quickly steps between the two men, and politely greets Silvio, interrupting him. She has no idea what they’re fighting about now, but if she can hold off Silvio for a few minutes, she might be able to calm Rio down.

Silvio is happy to see her. Really, really happy to see her. He enthusiastically greets her, and pronounces how lovely it is to see her.

(Blushy Silvio)

There is a long pause as Emma digests these words.

Silvio suddenly apologizes, he lost track of the time. He understands why she wasn’t waiting for him in her room, she must have grown worried about him missing and decided to find him on her own. He gushes over how cute she is, inside and out. Smiling broadly, Silvio approaches her, and Emma backs away.

Is she still asleep or something?

Silvio notices her reaction and stops, his face falling. He apologizes, his face is very scary these days and it’s understandable why she doesn’t want him to be so close to her.

Rio snarles at Silvio to keep his damn mouth closed for once in his life.

Before her very eyes, Rio reaches out to grab Silvio’s head in a terrible grip, squeezing him with his full strength. Silvio whines that it hurts, adding that he just cant help himself when Emma is all cute like that. Just seeing her makes the worst catastrophic event of his life seem bearable.

Oh, no it doesn’t. Rio glowers even more, his hand squeezing and Silvio cries out. His head is going to crack open at this rate!

Emma is completely and utterly confused. The more she watches, the less she understands. Her brain keeps on running into the wall of why Silvio, a distinguished guest, and her attendant Rio are acting like this.

She grabs Rio’s hand and pries it off of Silvio. Leaning forward, she looks into Silvio’s eyes and asks if he’s okay. Silvio(?) admits that it really hurt, but after hearing her voice, and having her dote on him, he suddenly feels much better. He enthusiastically thanks her.

Awkwardly, Emma tells Silvio(?) that she’s glad she can help, deciding that this man definitely needs a doctor. She turns to find Rio and leans to whisper in to his ear and ask him to calm down.

Rio (?) suddenly jerks away from her, shouting at her to stay the hell away from him. Confused, Emma steps forward, and tries to soothe him. She assures him that she has no doubt Silvio (?) started everything, but he can’t just go and assault Silvio (?) no matter how much provocation he has endured.

(She touched his hand)

Rio (?) glares at her with a dark expression that she has never seen before. He praises her for having the guts to say that he is at fault for this. Or maybe this is her way of saying she wants to devote her life to making up for the social gaff against him.

Silvio (?) cuts in and demands that Rio (?) stop being so rude to Emma. Rio (?) calls Silvio (?) a fucking dog and tells him to shut it. Silvio (?) shouts at Rio (?) to watch his damn tongue.

Okay, everyone is now going to the infirmary. Emma will personally make sure they arrive with no complications. Silvio (?) and Rio (?) resist, giving each other a level look before turning back to her. Rio (?) tells Emma to wait, and they’ll explain everything.

Rio (?) steers her into a waiting room and tells her not to yell or scream, just to listen. He pushes her down on a sofa, and Silvio (?) immediately yells at him for being so violent. He asks if Emma is okay, and she assures him she is fine.

Silvio (?) sits companionably next to Emma and laughs a little, as if he is in trouble that he expects her to sympathize with. He explains that he and Rio (?) have appeared to switch bodies. Rio (?) adds that they already agreed that going to the infirmary won’t solve this problem.

Emma sits back and thinks about it, but once again her brain hits a wall. She looks from Rio’s (?) scowling face to Silvio’s (?) gentle smile. This should be unbelievable, but if it was true, it would honestly explain so much. Besides, Rio wouldn’t lie to her, and Silvio doesn’t come off as a liar either.

Silvio (?) gushes over how cute Emma’s surprised face looks. Oh, but using this body to express his affection is just so disgusting. It’s so painful to hold back and repress his feelings for Emma.

Rio (?) suddenly smacks him in the head reprovingly. He complains about how, out of everyone in the castle, its’ the fucking dog that he switched bodies with. Silvio (?) asks if that means he would be fine switching bodies with anyone else in the castle, and Rio (?) grumbles that might be Silvio’s (?) wish, but it’s not his.

Emma realizes that she’s going to have to mentally switch them, otherwise she will be way too confused. But, she thinks that she is able to understand the situation, and asks them if anything in particular happened that caused the switch.

Rio admits that nothing comes to mind, he just randomly woke up wearing Silvio’s body this morning. Silvio grumbles that this means that they have no clues on how to switch back. Normally, he would imagine that if they wait long enough, the switchback will eventually happen.

Emma suggests that they both retreat to their respective rooms and wait out this strange happening. Maybe if they avoid talking to anyone else, they’ll just eventually go back to normal.

Silvio shakes his head, he can’t do that. Unlike some people, he is a very busy man. Rio quickly interrupts to add that Emma is also very busy, so Silvio should stop acting like he’s the only one who’s plans are interrupted by this occurrence. Silvio replies that he has an unavoidable business meeting today.

Emma recalls that Silvio isn’t just a prince, he’s also a very influential businessman. Even while staying in Rhodolite, he is constantly meeting with merchants and artisans, and the Rhodolite economy benefits from his investing in the country’s businesses.

Silvio tells them that he has a deal hinging on his negotiations today. If it falls through, he will personally blame them and demand that they compensate him for every coin he loses. Rio grumbles that Silvio makes it sound like he had a choice in this body switch. Silvio only snorts, maybe if Rio wasn’t in the castle at all, the switch wouldn’t have happened in the first place. Rio retorts that the same goes for Silvio. Silvio asks if Rio is comparing the presence of a mere butler with that of an honored guest.

Even in this situation, they immediately start fighting. Emma can feel a headache approaching. She cuts in and asks Silvio if there is any way he can postpone his meeting today, but Silvio refuses. The person he’s meeting with is going on a long journey to foreign countries starting tomorrow, today is the last and only day they can meet.

Emma realizes that there is only one way they can handle Silvio’s business negotiations, but that would require Rio to be very amenable to bearing a large burden. Silvio asks Rio if he can do it, and Rio agrees; after all this agreement would benefit both Benitoite and Rhodolite.

Emma marvels at Rio, in spite of everything, he understands the situation perfectly. And, she realizes that she trusts him to uphold his end of this mission. Rio assures her that it will be okay, Emma’s thoughtfulness is getting him through this trying time. Ugh, but he doesn’t want to use this body to praise her. He tells her to wait just a little, they’ll be back to normal in no time.

Silvio grumbles that there is no time for them to be messing around, the meeting is scheduled for this evening. The other party is not straightforward, Rio will need to remember all the information Silvio is going to give him and consider when and how he will show his hand.  Silvio won’t forgive Rio if he performs poorly.

Rio tells Silvio not to worry, the experience of being pushed around by the prince of a neighboring country will serve him well. Silvio snorts at this and tells Rio to sincerely thank this mysterious prince for training him so well.

Rio tells Silvio to go ahead and give him the information for Rio to study. While he’s studying up on this negotiation, Silvio will need to take his place. Silvio’s face immediately falls from the triumphant grin to one of confusion. Rio ‘reminds’ him that he had set a series of tasks in preparation for his business deal today.

Rio was planning on finishing them this morning, but, well, life got in the way. He laughs at Silvio’s face, the nigh impossible tasks Silvio set out for him have suddenly bounced back onto Silvio. Silvio grumbles that it’s not impossible, with Rio’s skills they should have only taken half a day, tops. Emma realizes that thought they barely get along, Silvio obviously trusts and respects Rio’s talents.

Very kindly, Rio asks Silvio not to do anything strange while he’s borrowing his body. Silvio snarks that it should be him saying that; Rio’s weird attitude could throw off his entire image. Ugh, he wants to return to normal and just sink into the sea. Rio nods, he understands perfectly, he also wants to toss this body into the sea too.

(Things are going great)

Watching them, Emma wonders how two people who are so similar can come to blows so quickly. She interrupts them, telling them they’re out of time for squabbling and offers to help them. Speaking at the same time, they both try to claim Emma’s help, then stop at the same time, glaring at each other.

Rio points out that he’s now the ‘honored guest’, so he should be prioritized. Silvio disagrees, he’s now the ‘best friend’, and it would be less likely to raise suspicions if she helped him.

Well, they’ve fallen into their exact opposite roles quickly.

Emma decides to start by helping Rio organize the information needed for the negotiation, then she can help Silvio collect and prepare the sample materials.

With the three of them scrambling to prepare for the business meeting, time flies by, and soon enough Rio, still inside Silvio’s body, is meeting with his prospective new business partner, a floriculturist. Silvio and Emma are playing the parts of servants, supporting him.

This new potential business partner has a new strain of roses, with a more vivid color and richer scent. Silvio wants to buy them and process them into various other products and give the floriculturist a cut of the final profits. The man is amenable to this plan, but there are two factors that he is hesitant about. He is very patriotic and does not want his roses, the symbol of Rhodolite, to be treated poorly. He is also weary that the list of craftsmen Silvio is outsourcing the processing to are not familiar with working with roses.

Emma is in awe of Rio’s skills, he is pushing at the right moments, but backing off and considering the man’s point of view as well. But, beyond that, he is doing an excellent job of imitating Silvio’s style of speech, and how he would act. If Emma didn’t know any better, she would have thought they had already switched back to their normal bodies.

However, as good and skilled as Rio is, the floriculturist is about to withdraw from the negotiations until Silvio steps in. He produces the final sample product, a cut of herbal tea. The man sips it, and his eyes go wide. It is a flavor he has never tasted, but it is so good!

In Rio’s body, Silvio explains that the tea is made by a craftsman on the list, who is familiar with working with a wide variety of plants, plants that are rarely, if ever, used for tea. Rio explains that they didn’t just select a random listing of craftsmen, their selections were based on familiarity with delivering high-quality products to aristocrats and working with uncommon materials.

Well, that just sealed the deal. The man thanks Rio, and tells him that he looks forward to working together with Silvio on this matter. After they work out the finer details, the man approaches Emma and gifts her one of his roses since she is obviously Silvio’s woman.

Rio and Silvio immediately object to this. The man looks dumbfounded, he was certain he felt something between her and Silvio during this meeting. Silvio, in Rio’s body, tries to explain that Silvio would never be interested in a woman like her. Rio tires to say they’re not together, but his tongue ties up and he cant force the words out.

Oh, okay. The man finally understands. She’s with this man in front of him.

Silvio goes bright red and shouts even louder that the man is totally and completely wrong.

The man turns to face Emma; it appears she has a very complicated relationship with the two men here. Emma tells him not to worry about it and thanks him for the lovely rose, ignoring Silvio and Rio who have very difficult expressions on their faces.

She wonders why they are so similar.

Clover End: Rio

Somehow Rio was able to imitate Silvio throughout the entire negotiations. Afterward, the floriculturist approached him and apologized. He explains that from what he heard, he had thought Silvio would have used his rank and forced the negotiations through, prioritizing money over making sure they had a great product. He had come to this meeting expecting to refuse the deal, but seeing how his feelings were understood, the floriculturist completely trusts him now.

Imitating Silvio, Rio grasps the man’s outstretched hand and shakes it while laughing arrogantly. He assures him that he will meet his newest business partner’s expectations. With a look of respect and trust, the man tells him that Silvio is the best merchant he’s ever met.

That’s how Silvio has always been able to gain people’s trust.

While Rio can barely remember anything specific, it’s been a while since he figured out Silvio was his brother. But, when the man just called Silvio a ‘great merchant’, Rio knows that it is true. He may be tyrannical, but he never uses cowardly or underhanded tactics in commerce. For better or worse, Silvio faces these situations straightforwardly and doesn’t back down.

When Rio read through the materials and documents Silvio had prepared, he was reminded of this facet of Silvio’s personality. As much as he doesn’t want to admit it, Silvio has some good points.

Rio recalls that day of frantic studying, realizing that as much as Silvio had recorded in the endless documents, he had already memorized it for this specific meeting. He could feel Silvio’s enthusiasm through the words on the papers. He had gone through and anticipated the questions and concerns the other party would have and had worked hard to address them all. Even Emma had been impressed with Silvio’s research into this single business deal.

From Silvio’s notes, Rio could understand that this floriculturist’s roses were the best in the country. For the sake of Rhodolite, for the sake of Emma who loves this country, Rio wants Silvio’s venture to succeed and spread Rhodolite’s roses across the continent.

Silvio is a royal prince, and he could force the negotiations to his advantage, but Rio was already warned that was not an option. Silvio intends to treat this business deal like he’s treated all other business deals, as a well-connected merchant.

Silvio is still a horrid older brother and a terrible guest in the Rhodolite court. But, as a merchant, Silvio is impeccable in both morals and skill. Silvio would never have the floriculturist’s passion for roses, but he has worked hard to understand it for this meeting, like a true merchant.

No, he was like this even before he became a merchant.

Without warning, a memory crepes into Rio’s mind.

*Flashback Time*

Child!Rio is in the royal ballroom, pressed up against a window trying to get a view of the night sky when Silvio comes across him. Silvio asks what he’s doing, and Rio explains that he is trying to catch a glimpse of the meteor shower that night. He asks if Silvio is here for the same reason.

Silvio is not, he was just passing by when he heard a noise from the supposedly empty ballroom and came to investigate.

Rio complains that he can’t see the sky well, and Silvio suggests another area in the garden near the pool. It has an unobstructed view of the sky, and the pool would also reflect the meteor shower.

Rio hovers on indecision; he’s technically out of bed after his curfew, if he gets caught, he would be scolded. As if seeing his mind working, Silvio tells him that the Queen and Emidio are out tonight, and Rio’s mother is meeting with the King.

Rio asks if Silvio wants to come with him, but Silvio refuses, he doesn’t care to see the stars.

Silvio has always stolen things from Rio. Maybe the reason Silvio didn’t take the meteor shower away from Rio too was that this wasn’t something he could physically have. But then again, Silvio had gone out of his way to help Rio see them, even though he had no interest in seeing them himself.

Thinking of that memory, Rio wonders if Silvio has changed since that day. Even back then, he was good at understanding the value that other people had in things that Silvio couldn’t understand.

*End Flashback*

After the floriculturist leaves, Silvio collapses on the sofa with a deep breath of relief. He then assures Rio and Emma that he had no doubts that it would succeed, after all, he was the one who originally prepared the materials.

Rio should get upset and yell at him for that, but with the new memory that had just returned, he lets it lie. He knows that there are a lot of bad and painful memories associated with Silvio that he doesn’t want to remember, but that one just now wasn’t so bad.

Afterward, Silvio generously invites Rio and Emma to his room for a post-negotiation celebration. Silvio doesn’t want to give either of them any credit for it, but a successful business deal is worth celebrating.

The drink Silvio procures shimmers, and Rio is certain he has never seen it before. Emma accepts it and is amazed at how delicious it is. Rio takes a moment to fawn over how cute Emma is when she’s happy. Then he gets concerned, she’s drinking at a decent pace, but the alcohol content is very high, and her cheeks are already red.

Rio muses that the drink is very nice, but it would have been better if it was just the two of them drinking. Silvio shouts at him to stop complaining, and if he must, then he can just get the hell out. Rio suggests he and Emma leave, and Silvio snaps at him to leave Emma alone. Rio sure as hell is not going to leave Emma alone with Silvio, and to consider the implications.

Fine, if Rio must stay, he can go ahead and curl up in the corner of the room and leave the celebration to Silvio and Emma. Don’t say anything, don’t take up any space, just erase his presence.

Emma complains that they’re not celebrating, and to calm down. They did a good job working together today, and they should take the win.

Silvio puffs out his chest and asks if Emma now comprehends his greatness. Rio is over the moon to have Emma compliment him, if he wasn’t in this body he’d be hugging her right now.

Emma laughs a little and muses that they’re getting along a little better now.

(Double trouble)

Maybe she’s right; Rio was able to regain one memory associated with Silvio and has a better understanding of him than he did just this morning. He can’t say he’s happy but . . .

Afterward, Emma falls asleep while they’re drinking, and Rio marvels over how cute she looks. Unfortunately, he’ll have to cut this celebration short and return her to her room. When he approaches Emma to pick her up, Silvio reaches out and grabs his head roughly.

Rio is not going to use Silvio’s body to pick up women where everyone can see! What does he think will happen to both of their reputations?

Rio sees his point and considers having Silvio in his body carry her back. Oh, but that would mean letting Silvio carry her back to her room. Ahh, why is this so hard!? Rio and Silvio stare at each other, both at an impasse.

Eventually, Silvio gives up, he’ll let her sleep here and they’ll figure it out in the morning. Rio announces in that case, he’s not going to leave either. He challenges Silvio to a drinking contest, certain that he will win. Silvio snorts but raises a glass to his mouth; the contest is on!

At some point during the night, Rio fell asleep without winning the contest.

When Rio wakes up, he sees Emma awake and looking around with a surprised expression. It’s a wonderful sight to wake up to, and Rio cheerfully greets her.

Somewhere nearby, Silvio wakes up and complains that both Rio and Emma are in his room. Then he remembers what happened the previous day.

Looking from one to the other, Emma excitedly tells them that they’re back to normal.

Heart End – Silvio

Somehow Rio was able to imitate Silvio throughout the entire negotiations. Afterward, the floriculturist approached him and apologized. He explains that from what he heard, he had thought Silvio would have used his rank and forced the negotiations through and prioritized money over making sure they had a great product. He had come to this meeting expecting to refuse the deal, but seeing how his feelings were understood, the floriculturist completely trusts him now.

It wasn’t the perfect business negotiations Silvio had envisioned when he had prepared for it, and Rio was obviously inexperienced. But, they made it through with his reputation relatively unscathed, even though it would have been much smoother if Silvio was conducting it. Of course, he had never intended to use his status as a member of the Royal Family in the first place.

If he was to use that tactic, he could still make a profit, but he wouldn’t be able to build a lasting business relationship with anyone. That’s why he spends so much time assuring and satisfying the concerns of the other party in the first place.

Silvio has to admit that Rio was able to get the merchant to trust ‘him’ far better than Silvio himself would have. Despite all of the research and time Silvio put into his relationships, Rio always had an innate talent that led others to love him.

Silvio has to fight down a surge of irritation and remembers a moment when he was in the palace kitchen preparing for this meeting.

*Flashback Time*

Silvio had expected the floriculturist to be concerned about the craftsmen’s ability to handle the roses and was looking for a sample product, the herbal tea that he was positive would cinch the deal. He was certain the royal court would have it but . . . .

As an honored guest with his own servants and entourage, Silvio had no idea where anything in the Rhodolite Palace’s Kitchen was. As he was resorting to opening random cupboards and groping around for the tea, a servant called out to him offering to help. Turning around, Silvio sees a man standing there with a friendly smile and surmises that this is one of Rio’s workmates.

Silvio tells the servant about the tea he’s looking for, and when he names the brand, the servant grows uncomfortable. It’s expensive and rare, and they’re out of stock. He asks when Silvio needs it by, and Silvio tells him its for this very evening.

Suddenly more servants arrive, overhearing Silvio’s plight. There are some shops in the city that might stock it, if they all work together, they can hit the most likely shops and return in time. As more and more servants show up and start coordinating the effort, Silvio realizes that Rio might actually like it here. As a mere servant, Rio is protected from the troubles of being a royal, and his talent to be loved is to his advantage. This actually might be a great place for him.

The servants assure Silvio not to worry about it, they’re all indebted to him, so this is easy payback. Besides, it’s for his precious Emma, is it not? He only gets all flustered like this when it’s for her.

At Silvio’s uncomprehending look, one of the maids reminds him that he’s rejected every pretty girl who has confessed to him since his arrival at the palace. Each time, he tells them that he is already in love with someone else.

Even in Benitoite, many women adored Rio and confessed to him. He was always wishy-washy in dealing with them, dodging and obscuring their affections without directly rejecting them. To put it bluntly, he would run away from them.

But these days he’s apparently handling them face-on.

The servants grow concerned at Silvio’s uncharacteristic silence, but before they can ask anything, Emma comes rushing in. They give her a suspicious look, before turning to Silvio and wishing him good luck.

Silvio stares at Emma, wondering if she has managed to change Rio so completely.

Emma asks if something happened with Silvio and the servants just now? Some of them were particularly close to Rio and are very nice. Oh, Silvio might like them too, they know the best bars and pubs in town and know lots about alcohol.

Suspiciously, Silvio asks if Emma is friends with them too, and she says that she is, though mostly because she’s Rio’s friend.

Aha! A confession that she is pretending to be a noble! What plot is she and Rio hatching up here?

No, Emma is not saying that. It is possible to be both a noble and have friends amongst the servants. Besides, Rio is not that kind of person.

Silvio is amazed, how much can someone trust Rio without knowing anything of his past?

Emma catches his attention; she asks what she can do to help. Silvio hands over the list he prepared to her, explaining that these are items required to show hospitality. It is full of items, and he wonders how far she can get. Afterwards, they need her to practice brewing tea, his potential business partner has a very discerning tongue.

Emma reminds Silvio that he’s in Rio’s body, and it is Rio’s duty to prepare the tea. Of course, if Silvio cannot, she’ll step in and do it.

Silvio snaps back that he is amazing at brewing teas, if he were to brew it, it would close the deal before Rio even opened his mouth.

Okay, that sounds like a challenge. They’ll both brew and whoever makes the better tea wins. Silvio grumbles; if you lose you face humiliation, if you win you get punished by having to make the tea. This isn’t a good competition. Emma smiles at him happily, and his frustrations seem to vanish.

This is the woman who changed Rio.

*End Flashback*

There are parts of Rio that have changed, and parts of Rio that have stayed the same. Either way, he’s still a fucking dog.

But today, Silvio doesn’t mind so much.

Silvio generously invites Rio and Emma to his room for a post-negotiation celebration. Silvio doesn’t want to give either of them any credit for it, but a successful business deal is worth celebrating.

His celebration alcohol is of a rare and high quality rarely seen outside of Benitoite. Both Emma and Rio’s eyes widen at it and the pleasant flavor, and Emma thanks him profusely.

Rio muses that the drink is very nice, but it would have been better if it was just the two of them drinking. Silvio shouts at him to stop complaining, and if he must, then he can just get the hell out. Rio suggests he and Emma leave, and Silvio snaps at him to leave Emma alone. Rio sure as hell is not going to leave Emma alone with Silvio, and to consider the implications.

Fine, if Rio must stay, he can go ahead and curl up in the corner of the room and leave the celebration to Silvio and Emma. Don’t say anything, don’t take up any space, just erase his presence.

Emma complains that they’re not celebrating, and to calm down. They did a good job working together today, and they should take the win.

Silvio puffs out his chest and asks if Emma now comprehends his greatness. Rio is over the moon to have Emma compliment him, if he wasn’t in this body he’d be hugging her right now.

Emma laughs a little and muses that they’re getting along a little better now.

Maybe she’s right; Silvio does understand current Rio a little better, but it doesn’t make him happy at all.

Afterward, Emma falls asleep while they’re drinking, and Rio marvels over how cute she looks. Unfortunately, he’ll have to cut this celebration short and return her to her room. When he approaches Emma to pick her up, Silvio panics and reaches out to grab his head roughly. It’s a familiar gesture, one that Rio does not appreciate.  

Rio is not going to use Silvio’s body to pick up women where everyone can see! What does he think will happen to both of their reputations?

Eventually, Silvio gives up, he’ll let her sleep here and they’ll figure it out in the morning. Rio announces in that case, he’s not going to leave either. He challenges Silvio to a drinking contest, certain that he will win. Silvio snorts but raises a glass to his mouth; the contest is on!

At some point during the night, Silvio fell asleep without winning the contest.

Silvio wakes up to the sound of Rio gushing over how cute Emma is in the morning, especially her bedhead. It takes him a moment to regain his memories from the previous night, and he complains about both Emma and Rio still being in his room.

Looking from one to the other, Emma excitedly tells them that they’re back to normal.

Epilogue

Emma wakes up to a room full of empty bottles of alcohol. It appears that Silvio and Rio continued drinking late into the night, long after she fell asleep. Looking at them now, both of them are sleeping with peaceful expressions. She can’t tell if they’re still swapped or back to normal.

Suddenly Rio’s body opens his eyes, and he sees her looking at him. He smiles and wishes her a good morning, gushing over how cute she looks, including her bedhead. Silvio’s body opens his eyes and groans that he has to wake up to them. Oh, yeah, yesterday . . .

Emma is surprised and happy, they both seem to have switched back!

Silvio and Rio look at each other, and their eyes widen with surprise. Rio confirms that Emma is right, and more importantly, he can go back to expressing the full range of his feelings to his hearts content now! Silvio grumbles that he no longer has to pretend to be the fucking dog.

Once, Emma might have gotten flusterd and upset at them arguing, but now she can sense a bond of trust between them. As if they felt comfortable enough around each other to not hold back on how they really felt. Or maybe working together yesterday has brought them closer together. It was rough, but in retrospect, it wasn’t so bad.

Rio picks up on her expression and gushes over her. Silvio snarks at her for being so masochistic that she is so happy at things going back to normal. Emma tells him that even hearing him grumble makes her happy. Silvio complains that she’s being rude.

Today, Emma doubts Silvio would be able to say anything that would make her truly mad at him. Then again, if he would say nicer things, that would be better.

Seeing her expression, Silvio accuses her of thinking rude thoughts about him.

Before they can continue, Rio cuts in and offers to make her morning tea. Since coming to the palace, he has always brought her tea in the morning, and the attempted return to normalcy is appreciated.

Emma thanks him, but has a request. Since he’s always taking care of her, she wants to switch things up and make tea for him. After all, yesterday she had special training, so she is confident in her brewing capabilities.

Rio is thankful for her offer, and also thankful for all the help she gave him yesterday in reviewing the materials and documents for the business negotiation. They smile sweetly at each other.

Silvio smacks her lightly on the back, distracting her. If she’s making tea, then she can make some for him too.

The three of them leave Silvio’s room.

Rio asks Silvio to let him write the thank you note to the floriculturist from yesterday, and Emma thinks that Rio should be the one to write the note since he was the point person for the negotiations. Silvio warns Rio against writing anything strange, and Rio asks what he means.

Silvio explodes at Rio; because of the way he acted yesterday, his newest business partner now thinks he’s in a love triangle with two servants. Rio agrees that this is a terrible misunderstanding that he doesn’t want to perpetuate.

Suddenly two servants round the corner, and Emma recognizes them as Rio’s friends who had helped Silvio and her out yesterday. Upon seeing Silvio today, they back off and move out of their way. Emma thanks them for their help yesterday and subtly nudges Rio who also thanks them. They smile and nod back at him.

Silvio clears his throat and tells them that the herbal tea they procured was very useful in his meeting. He would like to reward them for helping. The servants protest, but Silvio overrides them. He has heard that they are familiar with the bars and taverns in the area. As a thank you, they can take him to the best one and drinks will be on him.

The servants perk up and thank him profusely. Emma thinks that she has seen another new side to Silvio, a kind and loyal side. Maybe he’s more than just a tyrannical tyrant.

Rio invites himself and Emma along. Silvio agrees to Emma accompanying them, but not Rio.

With wide, innocent eyes, Rio talks about how they drank together all night last night, but how can he be said to be rewarded for his part if he can’t taste the alcohol with his own body? Silvio argues back that the alcohol was too good for Rio anyways.

As they publicly argue, Emma thinks that she doesn’t feel anxious. Maybe they fight so much because they are too similar in some ways. Maybe if they give it a chance, they can become great friends.

[pilferingapples]

hey pilf!! i was just wondering: is there a reason fantine couldnt have just moved to m-sur-m and said cosette’s father had died, rather than left them? i cant remember hugo ever mentioning a reason for this and i’ve been wondering for a while

Augh this is something I’ve wondered about since the first time I knew Fantine’s story and I...am still sort of wondering? I will share the things I know and guess under the cut! ETA: MAYBE NOT if Tumblr won’t let that formatting work??

-First, obviously, Fantine shouldn’t HAVE to lie about Cosette , and it’s unfair that she and Cosette are punished by society for existing when they’ve done nothing wrong. 

-But it’s definitely true that children born out of wedlock and not legally acknowledged by their fathers faced a real social stigma, along with the other legal issues of not being entitled to support, inheritance, etc.

- note that I specifically say” children born out of wedlock and not legally acknowledged’, because there WERE official routes for fathers to acknowledge children born outside of legal marriage! Tholomyes, a frigging lawyer, would have known this! He intentionally did not do it, and it’s very possible Fantine wouldn’t have understood the legalities well enough to argue with him--or he could have just flat out lied and convinced her it was  done. She trusted him, after all.  This kind of legal recognition didn’t set a kid up as well as being born into the protection of legal marriage, but it was a heck of a lot better than no acknowledgement at all (and of course there might be a lot of reasons a couple didn’t marry!  A lot of couples didn’t, even if they effectively acted as a married couple their whole lives.) 

- Reasons a couple might not have married include: not having the money / access to notaries and officials to do the bans; being young and not having parental approval (remember they needed that approval until men were 25) ; intentionally avoiding legal marriage as a Bad Deal; having been abandoned but not formally divorced by previous spouses; etc etc etc. 

-There were a lot of reasons a woman who was Effectively But Not Legally Married could have failed to get her child’s father to be on the spot to acknowledge a birth, of course-- traveling seasonal laborers, soldiers, guy died of cholera while she was pregnant...

-There would be records, probably, either way. The Napoleonic age was BIG on records. Pretty detailed records!  (This of course does not guarantee 100 percent accuracy-- we can all be sure some kids didn’t have the parents they’re filed as having, because Humans are Complicated. But there were  records.)  I don’t know how these records would have been gathered, compiled or found for truly abandoned kids like Fantine (who really was born at the barest beginning of Napoleon’s time as a ruler)  or the momes, or how these people would ever have found their records.  Could Fantine have gotten copies of her birth record? Could Feuilly? How? I don’t know at all. 

So: 

- There should definitely be SOME record of Cosette’s birth 

- Fantine may or may not know how to access that record (and she can’t read it either way, we know)

- Tholomyes def. didn’t sign off as her dad on it , because he’s slug snot

- I have no idea how easy it would be for someone ELSE to get that record? I mean it’s not like Victurnien could have just gone to the library and Googled Fantine No Last Name.

- Overall, I think if someone in Fantine’s situation had strolled into M-sur-M and said “ yeah hi M. Madeleine’s Factory, I need a job to take care of my daughter, my husband went to join the Army and I never heard of him again, we’re met in Paris and he just said his name was Jean  so I can’t look him up in the register that this blogger is not totally sure how I would access anyway, woes” or similar, and seemed self-assured and straightforward--yeah, probably most people wouldn’t have blinked twice.  It was early 19C France! There had just been a lot of wars! People died all over the place, lotta orphans and widows kicking around. (Actually at least one contemporary author--forgive me not quotehunting atm-- thought it was absurd that this would even be a problem for Fantine, because unwed single mothers were so common! but of course that’s the thing about social prejudice, it’s really not applied consistently. Unwritten rules don’t matter until they suddenly do, and then they matter a lot.)

As for Fantine-- she DOES lie to the Thenardiers in just that way.  1.4.1: 

The traveller (Fantine) told her story, with slight modifications.

That she was a working-woman; that her husband was dead; that her work in Paris had failed her, and that she was on her way to seek it elsewhere, in her own native parts...

So it does occur to her to lie! But only to the Thenardiers. And of course the Thenardiers are much better at lying, and do it more, and have more of an audience; by the time Mme. Victurnien goes to see Cosette, they’ve got the town thinking Cosette’s abandoned, and are definitely casting Fantine in the worst light. 

But of course in M sur M Fantine doesn’t say anything; she tries to hide Cosette’s existence, which makes Certain People curious and inclined to snoop. 

Would it have been different if Fantine had walked into M-sur-M , said “ hey M. Madeleine’s Factory, I am an Honest Widow Woman trying to support my daughter, I need a job”?  Would it have worked if she’d said Cosette was her niece or her little sister?  Could Fantine, as earnest and straightforward as she is, have ever pulled that off?  Would it have been enough to make the gossips lose interest, or to protect her image at work (” of course she has a kid, she’s talked about her ever since she arrived, her husband’s dead” )? 

I honestly don’t know! It would depend so much on how convincing she was, and just how intrusive people around her wanted to be.  As a matter of a point to turn a fanfic AU on, I think it could work; Fantine was after all doing all right for a while before someone got nosy, so it’s not like there was a government background check when she got hired!  It’s not a stretch to think there might have been ways to defuse the unofficial intrusions that started off her slide down. 

But I also think the writer who said Fantine’s fate was ridiculously implausible was wrong.  Without the legal paperwork on file, Fantine and Cosette are always going to be open to certain social condemnations--which is of course part of the point of the novel. 

[indowolfgang]

About Jurassic Park’s lack of feathers: (y’all this is long)

most dinosaur related media doesn’t have feathered dinosaurs and a lot of people blame Jurassic Park. dinosaurs are my special interest and Jurassic Park is a big part of that so ima prove them wrong. first off i wanna say haters get owned: 2011: NASA scientists said it was the 7th best SciFi movie and 2012: Popular Mechanics said it was the 6th accurate and “was faithful to early '90s speculative genetics theories”

anyways... lets get into it

Games (that i have lol):

Ark: Survival Evolved: 10/29 dinosaurs

Compsognathus,  Deinonychus, Gallimimus, Megalosaurus, Microraptor, Oviraptor, Raptor, Therizinosaur, Troodon, Yutyrannus (this dino was actually found with direct evidence of feathers!)

at first i had no idea what type of ‘raptor’ they were referring to, but i checked and its a Utahraptor. the largest-known individual of Utahraptor was about 7 meters (23 feet) long so size is a-okay with me

i debated including the Pegomastax because the wiki says it has fur and quills, which could be argued as protofeathers, but since its from the early Jurassic its hard to say.. just to be safe i left it out

i only looked at dinosaurs cause there are a ton of made-up/mythical creatures, prehistoric birds/reptiles, and just a straight up vulture

The Isle: 3/30 dinosaurs 

Therizinosaurus, Orodromeus (AI), Austroraptor 

none of these are playable in survival mode btw

also i’m not sure if the game is going for accuracy or not, Dilophosaurus and Velociraptor are the right size but still... no feathers on known feathered dinos: Velo, Rex, or Utahraptor

technically feathers have never been found on Utahraptors but there is strong evidence that all dromaeosaurids had them since Microraptor and Dakotaraptor had them

Jurassic World Evolution: 0/69 (nice) dinosaurs

based on the movies Jurassic World, Fallen Kingdom, and eventually they added a Jurassic Park DLC. despite the Jurassic World movies not counting the Jurassic Park sequels (Lost World and JP3) as part of its time line, the Jurassic Park DLC includes skins from those movies. not much to say here... i’ll get into the movies further down

i didn’t count the pteranodon, cause its not a dinosaur and, still, no feathers

Saurian: 4/8 dinosaurs

Dakotaraptor, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Acheroraptor, Ornithomimid

i’ve only included the dinos that are currently in-game, the wiki says they are planing to add another playable dino, Anzu (feathered), but so far it hasn’t even been added as an AI yet

they are actually going for scientific accuracy so all the dinos that should have feathers do and they are, as far as i can tell, realistically placed. Good Job!

games are hard to talk about... usually games that feature dinos will have an element of ‘fantasy’ (Ark especially) and JWE is based on the Jurassic World movies so its dinos can only look like the movies dinos. The Isle is most likely suffering from the status quo, most dinos in popular media look like big lizards so they didn’t want to take a risk. the game isn’t finished and its possible it’ll go from a dinosaur sim to a shooter, since there are human models in game and controls for weapons. i’ve also heard players rumor that you’re not actually playing as the dino but as a camera that follows it around (which would explain the nigh vision mode). chances are The Isle will end up like Ark: man vs dino

Movies:

i thought about discussing The Land Before Time movies (cause i was obsessed with them as a kid lol), but that was pre-Jurassic Park so i’ll give it an honorable mention. ANYWAYS... Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park: Lost World, Jurassic Park 3, Jurassic World, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. none of them have feathered dinos. lets look at why that might be 🤔

Jurassic Park:

no feathered dinosaurs. BUT, feathered dinosaurs were not very mainstream in the scientific community until about 3 years after the movie came out,

“Three years after the first Jurassic Park debuted, paleontologists announced that the small theropod Sinosauropteryx was covered in a fine coat of fuzzy protofeathers. This was just the initial drop in a flood of feathery dinosaur discoveries which confirmed that a wide variety of dinosaurs bore archaic forms of plumage, from simple filaments to asymmetrical feathers that would have allowed them to fly.”

[from this National Geographic article (x)]

looking more into the history of feathered dinos, i found well... a lot. its really difficult to find a concrete time for when paleontologists discovered (and agreed on) feathered dinos, some places say 1860, 1923, 1979, 1983, it goes on forever, one source even said 2001. Archaeopteryx, which an early Jurassic creature, had complex, bird-like feathers. so why no feathers on other dinosaur reconstructions? its possible these discoveries were ignored by the larger scientific community in favor of the well established depictions of big, slow lizards

[if u wanna do even more reading about feathers check out this All About Birds article (x) and the History of discovery section on the Archaeopteryx’s wiki (x)]

JP definitely upped the Velociraptor’s size and did my Dilophosaurus dirty, so i will fault them for that. the big ass raptor has stayed in pop culture for-fucking-ever. it feels like everyone is making naked Utahraptors and calling them Velociraptors. and g*d... my poor Dilophosaurus... why’d they make you spit? and why so small? you’re really 6-7 meters (20-23 feet) long! you are a large carnivore!! also it is possible that Dilophosaurus had feathers, though again, because its from the early Jurassic, it would have been more like a fur

Lost World:

no feathered dinosaurs. i cant really fault them for not changing the dinosaurs looks in a sequel, also trust me when i say it could have been worse the dino depictions in the book are insane... Chameleon Carnotaurus anyone?

the movie also didn’t explain why there were different dinos at Site B compared to the actual park. my best explanation is from the book: Site B was where the dinosaurs were actually hatched and raised, they were moved to the park just before they got to big to handle. so we are to assume that any non-Jurassic Park dinos we saw in Lost World were originally planned to be moved. sucks that they left this detail out of the movie adaptation, cause a lot of fans got confused (including me lol)

Jurassic Park 3:

no feathered dinosaurs. an incredibly mild attempt at ‘feathered’ raptors was made in JP3 by giving the males quills, but at that point the movies had an established ‘science’ and completely changing the look of the animals at the end of a trilogy might have confused a few people (even if it was more scientifically accurate)

Jurassic World:

no feathered dinosaurs. they literally stated in the movie that they left out accurate feathered dinosaurs because Dr. Wu was asked to create: “Dinosaurs that look like what the public expects dinosaurs to look like. Scary. Scaly. Wild.” Dr. Wu also states that the dinosaurs have never been actual dinosaurs. their DNA is a melting pot of DNA.

(i swear i read something about Dr. Wu attempting to make feathered dinos, but because of all the non-dino DNA he couldn’t get the genes to stick, i can’t find a source or any proof of this so i guess that can be our lil headcanon lol)

though for a more real life reason,

“The reasoning behind this being continued through the subsequent movies, though, is more about how imposing the featherless versions look.” ... “It seems more likely that the filmmakers went with how most people would perceive dinosaurs in the hopes that dino experts would take notice.”

[from this Screen Rant article (x)]

so basically JW cared more about scary, recognizable dinos than accurate ones

Fallen Kingdom:

no feathered dinosaurs. again a sequel is a bit too late to change up your designs. unfortunately the change had to happen in JW or not at all

In Closing:

basically Jurassic Park came out just before paleontologists announced Sinosauropteryx, which popularized feathered dinos. even then Jurassic Park was restricted by the technology of the time. the early ninety’s was not the best time for CGI and i can’t imaging making feathered animatronic dinosaurs that could stand up to the rain they filmed in. new media is definitely stuck in the past, look at the movies that come out and compare how many are sequels or prequels or remakes or whatever. Jurassic Park was a great movie and obviously the vultures that make movies are gonna try and ride its brand into the sunset. blaming the movie for stopping new scientific discoveries from entering the mainstream isn’t fair. the movie did a lot to bring current science into the lime light, it popularized warmblooded, avian dinos and showed them as intelligent, fast moving animals instead of slow movie monsters

but JW had no excuse!  they should get majority of the blame for making the public afraid of feathers cause they themselves were afraid of feathers! they had the technology, the budget, and the opportunity to follow in its parent movie’s footsteps. they could have at least TRIED to be accurate but they just stuck to what people knew cause that was more profitable. science is only as interesting as the toys you can make of it i guess...

a final note, just for my sanity: JP dinos aren’t real dinosaurs. not even in fiction. they’re DNA is so full of garbage that their inaccurate appearances could be explained away with that alone. the books get into this more, talking about all the failed embryos and how many diseases these creatures had. even delving into their lack of social skills and how the raptors didn’t act like a pack, but a group of aggressive individuals. unfortunately the average viewer isn’t gonna know about all this set dressing. hell, i didn’t even read the 2 books until recently (end of 2019/ start of 2020) so i was as ready to believe whatever the movies showed me. honestly the books and movies are all good in different ways, not accurate, but good. read the books if you want more gore and technical explanations and the movies if you want, well... more story, they add a lot of stuff that wasn’t in the books

one day i’ll get into the differences in the books and movies.. one day

[ this was originally a response to someone but tumblr hid it, cause links. so i’ve edited it to be a standalone post and also WAY longer. feel free to add on or correct any mistakes i’ve made (be respectful tho) ]

[peridot-autistic]

About her comfort objects

i’ve seen a lot of people bring up, in the discourse about peridot as autistic rep, that the show is teaching a bad lesson by repeatedly taking away her comfort objects. the main one being her limb enhancers. now before i wasnt even convinced thats what they where. but watching catch and release i really cant argue with that. what i can argue with is that the show is teaching a bad lesson to kids here. see, with characters that people see as rep, this thing often happens where when anything bad happens to that character that has something to do with what they represent. it’s extrapolated to where people think its a statement for the group as a whole. but really i think this is a good thing, cause like, that happens to real autistic people. and it really hurts, and them showing that i think proves that they want to highlight not only those hardships, but how to overcome them. cause like, thats what she did, not by ditching comfort objects all together (if she totally abandoned the idea and then it was framed as positive development, THAT would be bad rep) but by finding and making her own. she is obviously overjoyed operating the robot she built in back to the barn, and the recorder she gets as a replacement really does help her cope and communicate. so idk, maybe im missing something (if i am hmu with an ask, im always striving for accuracy here) but in my eyes they did a pretty good job with her

[infinitydoublevenus]

My mom was combing my hair and I was ranting about pointless shit like I always do and I ironically used the word “bruh” because I didn’t see why not and my mom immediately goes “Can you not talk like that, it’s just...” Oh excuse me? Hm? It’s just what? Uncivilized? I told her as far as I know that’s a common word to be used in black communities (I’m not sure of the accuracy of this statement someone correct me if I’m wrong) and she goes “Then why are you saying it?” And I go “Because it’s not exclusive to those communities, just ore common there” (as far as I know). And I sarcastically called her Judgy McJudgyPants and I shit you not, this grown-ass 52-year-old adult woman gets all fucking up in arms about me “caling her names”. What are you, “mom”? A fucking 5-year-old? Literally no adult I know that’s mature would get pissy over someone calling them a preschool playground insult. It’s not like she was curled up in a ball crying either, no, this woman’s immediate reaction is to get angry at me. Because apparently calling her Judgy McJudgyPants is equivalent to a fucking hate crime in her little narrow minded fantasy world. And she starts arguing about who started it and it was obviously her, she’s the one who got all pissy instead of ignoring a meaningless playground insult, not my faukt youre so goddamn fucking sensitive you can’t even function. And I tell her that and she starts going off about how I started it. Like she fucking always does even if I didn’t do shit. So I told her “You never wanna acknowledge your faults because you just wanna be this martyr mother figure! You’re not perfect so stop acting like you are!” And she gets all angry and blatanty denies it. Like this is exactly why the fuck I’m angry!! What the hell woman!!! Then she starts yelling at the top of her goddamn lungs at me which she A. knows I hate and B. knows irritates my sensory issues without giving a shit about either of said facts, so I raise my voice since I don’t think she can hear ME over her loud ass arguing, and then she gets pissy at ME for yelling! I told her she was being a hypocrite and she gets all mad AGAIN saying I’m “calling her names” and saying shit like “I am your mother and you will obey me!” I told her “Don’t be so authoritarian. You’re not a dictator.” Now keep in mind I’ve tried to talk to them about shit like this calmly but do they ever listen when I don’t get mad, no, so I might as well be a  fucking bitch about it. Then she gets mad at me because “You will be obedient! You are MY daughter!” And at this point I don’t even remember what happened I’m so angry the memories are foggy, but she ended up being such a dick to me that I got really upset and started crying right there on the couch like a pathetic ass bastard, and she has THE NERVE to get mad at me for fucking crying! What kind of mothe rridicules her fucking DAUGHTER for being so upset she’s literally SOBBING AND WAILING in the middle of the goddamn living room? A dickass toxic no-mother-of-mine, that’s who! Then she says “Don’t be disrespectful to your mother!” as if she wasn’t being the same to me so I said in my firmest voice possible  “Don’t be such a jerk to your daughter.”  And she has the fucking gall to start MOCKING me for being so upset! So I’m super angry at this point, way beyond miffed in fact I’m absolutely livid, so instead of saying “pardon my french” first like I usually do when I’m about to swear I just go “Stop being such a condescending asshole!” Then my dad walks in the door, gets all up in my face which he knows FOR A FACT I take as threatening, points directly at my face and says in the most threatening tone ever “Don’t call your mother an asshole.” I told her she was instigating it and being a jerk to me and he goes off about how that’s no reason to call my mother an asshole. Like this dickface could see I was crying but did he give a shit? Nooo, the fact that I dared say something with the same meaning as “poopyhead” was more important apparently! He told me “don’t call her names” but she was doing the exact same thing and gets a fucking Scot Free Pass Card I guess! I told him she had been calling me names and he goes “What did she call you?” in this tone of voice that just. Like. You KNOW he didn’t believe you because he thinks you’re being a douche to someone else even though YOU’RE the one crying like a fucking baby in the goddamn nursing ward. I told him I didn’t remember, because I didn’t and he just walks away as if nothing happened instead of actually dealing with the situation! And then he goes “All of your privileges are revoked” like wtf does that mean. You literally define everything I enjoy as privilege. Even if its just going outside for gods sake. My mom threatened to take my phone and computer “no matter what’s on it” bitch it’s my only lifeline to MY BEST FUCKING FRIEND YOU GODDAMN INCONSIDERATED HEARTLESS ASSHOLE! I’ve told her this a million times over and she still doesn’t give a shit! I’ve told BOTH of them a million times and NEITHER of them give a shit! And instead of trying to calm me down despite the fact they could HEAR my depression coming back because I was saying ridiculous shit like “Everyone hates me” what do they do? Comfort me? Try to calm me down or at least put the dog in my chair? No, they fucking get mad at me for crying too loud! My mom had the fucking gal to call me “immature” because I was o damn upset! And I love my dog but she seemed to care more about my dad walking away than THE HUMAN WHO WAS WAILING HER ASS OFF RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER, It’s like she didn’t even care either! Everyone only gives a shit about my parents being upset because they’re so damn charistmatic outside of the house and no one ever sees this horrible hellish side of them!  The only people who ask about MY feelings are the ones who say “How are you” and they NEVER want an actual fucking answer! Nobody fucking cares! I can’t even go to my best friend right now (personal reasons)! I literally have no one to calm me the fuck down right now. I want out of this house. I want out, I want out, I want out, I want the fuck out of here, I want out of this toxic ass family, I want out of this psychologically abusive prison hellhole, I WANT OUT OF HERE!!!! But I cant call the fucking Child Protective Services because I’m a goddamn legal adult! I’m so damn pissed right now I’m shaking. I literally looked up a self harm simulator because I was so fucking upset. I actually played it. I played a fucking self harm simulator is how damn depressed I am right now. I NEVER play that kind of shit. 

And my parents threatened to not let me go to Target with the as if I fucking give more of a shit about that than the fact they’re being literal pieces of garbage right in front of my goddamn face. They didn’t give a shit I was upset, it’s always all about them, they just wanna fucking idolize themselves so they never have to look at how damn shitty they are! I hate them I hate them I HATE THEM!! 

The worst part is at the end of all this my dad confronted me and asked me why I thought my mom was being immature. I told him because no reasonable adult would be insulted by sarcastically being called Judgy McJudgyPants because it’s a stupid playground insult. And do you know. Do you fucking KNOW what his response was?

“Well, what if I called you retarded?” 

He basically equated a fucking slur with a made up insult that nobody uses ever. 

I told him “Don’t you dare compare that to something like Judgy McJudgyPants. That’s a slur. I used a made up insult. that word has been used as a slur against disabled people like me and maybe if YOU were disabled you would understand because right now it’s clear that you don’t understand it at all.”

And he fucking told me calling someone any name was THE FUCKING SAME as calling them retarded! Like no! I told him “No, because that slur damages disabled communities. Judgy McJudgyPants doesn’t.” 

AND HE KEEPS GOING OFF ABOUT HOW ITS THE SAME! I didn’t even ask him if when he asked me if he was actually calling me retarded because I got the feeling I wouldn’t like the answer to that. 

[anteroom-of-death]

God, younger me (under 12) was such a fucking Hellion, expelled from prestigious schools for rioting, witchcraft and fighting, outspoken feminist and advocate of gender equality, threw knives, possibly rabid, and could whip a dodge ball with bone-breaking accuracy.

Now Im such a mopey thing who cries and cant even argue her way into reprieve, scared of my own shadow, let people use me and I cry myself to sleep most nights...

What the hell happened to me?

[kettlewrites]

hi im vic, i like to write and make people cry ok thats it

KEFNKKRJDIE OKAY I CANT EVEN ARGUE BECAUSE ITS TRUE

10/10 🤧

write an 'about me' pretending to be me and i'll rate the accuracy /10