#i forgot her surname. not googling it

[indigobackfire]

It's ridiculous how they get this right but Alanza actually looks like the girls that star in Brazilian soap operas

[amostimprobabledream]

SMASH OR PASS ESPADA EDITION BIATCH (respectfully) ❤️

You're on!

Coyote Starrk

SMASH. Have you seen him? He's gorgeous! Also he's the number one Espada, so y'know. The power. Also I like his voice and he has a surprisingly sad backstory for a 'villain' character.

Barragan Luisenbarn

Him old and not in a hot dilf-y way. Pass.

Tier Halibel

Smash! She's gorgeous and dignified, and she's probably the least likely to accidentally (or purposefully) kill you.

Ulquiorra Cifer SMASH SMASH SMASH. C'MON FUCK ME, EMO BOY! Ugh. He's so rude and cold, and his character development is so good. Those pretty green eyes and the smooth voice. He's so fine.

Nnoitra Gilga

Pass. He's scary. I WILL say, though, I do think Nnoitra is a really well-written villain. He perfectly encapsulates what it means to be a Hollow, especially in his backstory with Nelliel and fight with Kenpachi. I do kind of hope Kubo brings him back for the Hell Arc like he did with Syazel.

Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez

LIGHT OF MY LIFE. FIRE OF MY LOINS. DO YOU KNOW HOW DOWN BAD I AM FOR THIS MAN? I literally started watching Bleach just for him. I was on a Naruto forum one day and somebody had a fanart of Grimmjow as their signature. I was like, "WHO is that fine man???" and the rest is history. I've loved him since like 2006 and he's the origins on my Junichi Suwabe fixation and one of my major villainfucker influences. Icon. Everything about him is so fucking cool, the god-tier design, the voice, the fights. Wow.

Anyways, Smash. <3

Zommari Leroux

Pass. His design is cool but then his fight with Byakuya immediately yeeted any cred he had out the window. Also he had barely enough screentime to leave any lasting impression. Szayel Aporro Granz

I can never spell this fucker's name. Anyway, Pass. Again, his character design isn't bad but the flamboyant evil nerd thing is off-putting to me. He kind of reminds me of one of those villain Pokemon team admins you fight midway through the game.

Aaroneiro Arrururie

Pass. The only time this man jar thing is hot is when he's wearing Kaein Shiba's face. And same with the Zommari issue, you never get a sense of who he is as a character because his screentime is so limited. (Another character's surname I had to google because I forgot it.) Also he lost to Rukia.

Yammy

Ew. Pass. -

Since the Espada are so hilariously divisive (half look like greek gods and the other are straight-up abominations), I'll include the ex-Espada for fun.

Luppi Atenor Pass. I'm sure the extremely androgynous look is someone's thing, but personally I like my male characters a bit more rugged. Also his personality was kind of lame and his fight with the lieutenants was nothing to write home about. Nelliel Oderschwank

PASS. I could write a literal essay on how much I dislike her, but in the interest of brevity I'll say this - her design is fantastic but that's all she's got going for her. The bitch has two personalities and both of them suck, hyperactive toddler or condescending and holier-than-thou.

Dordonii Soccacio Pass. He's so forgettable I had to google what his last name is. I don't think his design is bad but I don't really remember him except Ichigo whooped his ass and then he got drooled on by Nel.

Cirucci Sanderwicci

Smash! Goth chick solidarity ftw. It's a shame such an amazing design was given to a minor character because I love it, she's easily as pretty as Halibel but unfortunately since she had one fight and got stomped by Ishida I think the fandom forgets her. Also I like her name, it's that classic Kubo balance of being goofy but kinda cool.

Gantenbainne Mosqueda

Pass. It says something about how forgettable you are as a character when Kubo didn't even bring him back as a Mayuri zombie, instead Charlotte got revived just for being popular. (L for all Barragan's other fraccion.)

[gerardpilled]

why do people think Lindsey is problematic? Is it because she was in a band with that jimmy man (I forgot his surname) And why do people think Gerard is problematic? I tried Googling and it’s not really bringing up much

Level headed people dislike how she claimed in a tweet years ago that a decent amount of her ancestry is from India and how she apparently (saying apparently bc I just personally haven't seen screenshots) got defensive when Indian people questioned her on this. I am white so I don't really have much to say on if I think this is an irredeemable action or not. There's also what you said about being in msi that kind of comes in two forms. People don't like their purposely offensive shock-tactic music and how it's questionable at best. There's also the allegations of Jimmy's inappropriate behavior with a minor that I honestly haven't been able to find a whole lot of direct info on (a lot of it is re-interpretations from insane people or from super fans so if anyone has any articles lmk) I haven't seen it myself but I heard Lindsey voiced her support for Jimmy in a now-deleted tweet when the info first came out. From what I can tell I don't think they're friends anymore and I don't know the actual wording of her statement but either way, yeah not the best move on her part.

Anything else you see about her is just fabricated nonsense that I can maybe go into more detail on later if you want. I recommend checking out this post by raytorosaurus if you want to read a little more about it right now. I wasn't saying either Gerard or Lindsey are problematic honestly, I think they're both humans who made some stupid decisions and have said some stupid shit. I just think their actions are treated unequally because a large subsection of the fandom has always disliked Lindsey and that attitude has continued to this day. Hell, even when they were first seen at prorev together people were making posts saying she is going to kill him because she's not sober. I've noticed a lot of the 'info' people get on her comes in the form of twitter threads or comments that just say "oh she's racist and fatphobic and a bully in a pedophile band" and people just accept that at face value.

[sweetmage]

OC Name Meaning

Rules: google and post the meaning of your OC'S name (if you made their name up or they go by a nickname, post an explanation of how it came to you)! bonus if you can find something for their last name too.

Thank you to @sillyliterature and @nowandthane for tagging me 💖

I'm too shy to tag, but I'm urging everyone who sees this and has OCs to do so (and tag me so I can read it!💖)

Gonna put them under the cut because I have a lot! 😅

Rhidyl:

Searching his name brings up the rhodiola rosea plant because it thinks I'm misspelling it. Forcing the correct spelling just brings up my fanworks 😆

Riddle was his stage name and he he fucked up the spelling when he took it on as a full time alias. His real name is Meldri'lind which, in a drow conlang, is Adored (Meldrinus) Snake (Cahlind).

Edan:

One source says it means "paradise/place of pleasure" while another says it means "fire". I had the first meaning in mind when I chose it, though I find the second one fitting for his story.

I didn't realize at the time that this was one letter off from the default Cousland name (Aedan) 🤦🏾‍♂️

Taeyah:

If I misspell it like "Taiya" it seems to mean a "gift from the river". I didn't name Taeyah with a meaning in mind, I just threw it together 😅

Alois:

"Famous Warrior". I originally had it up for consideration because, despite being a masculine name, it has a soft and elegant sound to it. That combined with the meaning (as Alois is the sword and shield of their temple leader and goddess) made it quite fitting!

Alois's surname is Amata which means "beloved one".

Choice:

I think we all know what the word choice means 😆 He chose this virtue name as a reminder of his free will. His Pathfinder (the WotR game, what he was originally from) lineage gives him an almost insatiable pull towards violence towards himself and others, but he is choosing to deny these impulses.

Celestine:

"Heavenly, of the sky" I didn't have this in mind for her when I chose it, but I think it's quite pretty! Her name has no relation to the Lake Celestine location, I just forgot that was a place in Thedas when I named her lol

En'an'sulahn (Ahn):

Google says "Ahn" means "Grandfather" lol. My friend actually helped me name him using some Dalish conlang. His name means "Blessed Music". He almost did not survive after birth, so the sound of his cries were like music to the clans ears. Much in line with that, he also loves to sing shanties (he's a pirate).

El'la'shivasa (El'la):

Google thinks I mean "shavasana", the corpse pose in yoga. I guess that's fitting for my little necromancer that loves to relax lol.

El'la'shivasa is another conlang name meaning Great Secret Oath. That was originally meant to allude to something in its story but I dropped that plot point and don't remember what that meant. It just goes by "El'la" now and Ella means "fairy maiden" which is lovely :)

Athimien:

Means nothing according to Google. Yet another conlang name meaning "meek violence" (he was raised in a manner meant to oppose the shifting culture and leadership of his clan with the hopes he'd become keeper).

[the-lost-media-blog]

Corpse Party: New Chapter (lost mobile port)

Hey first things first: I'm sorry for not updating the blog in forever! I got busy with work and this fell to the side as I forgot about this. Not an excuse, but let's started.

All information here found on the Lost Media wiki.

Do you remember the horror RPG Corpse Party? For those who don't, here's a basic run-down of the story:

Highschool aged students (plus one teacher and one middle-schooler) preform a charm said to make sure that your friends forever. However, when the charm is preformed incorrectly, they get transported to an alternate world of Heavenly Host, the school that once stood years before it had to close down due to the grisly murders that occurred there; now our cast are forced to find a way out, while avoiding the deadly spirits of Heavenly Host.

The game was originally made in the mid 90's as CORPSE-PARTY, but the most popular version of the game is the PSP port from 2010/2011 (2010 was the original release in Japan, while it was translated into English in 2011). Before the PSP port was a thing, series creator Kedouin and the studio Team GrisGris planned to make it into a mobile exclusive where chapters 1-4 were released before it was dropped for the PC port that I'll call Blood Covered for convince/that's it's full title (currently available on Steam as seen below with New Chapter's promo image for reference).

Despite the mobile port being cancelled, it was used as the basis for the newer versions of the game that we all know/is currently available.

it introduced multiple chapters while CORPSE-PARTY was a single chapter.

the mobile version introduced the Wrong Ends as previously the ending you got depended on how many of the characters you've killed off of the starting five.

The mobile version also added more characters to the cast to help flesh out the story, this version of the game also gave the antagonist her first name (Sachiko) as previously she was referred to by her surname of Shinozaki.

Currently, only screenshots and one very grainy playthrough of the opening of this missing version of the game are available. they suggest that there's little difference between New Chapter and Blood Cover's story. Below is the playthrough of New Chapter's opening:

One character, Morishige was missing a character portrait in New Chapter, while he has one in Blood Covered and the newer versions of the game.

It was also reported that New Chapter lacked the voice acting that Blood Covered introduced (and was upgraded with more well-known VA's in the PSP port), and that New Chapter's music was re-worked for Blood Covered.

Of course, as this was a mobile port, New Chapter's maps are smaller and thinner than what can be seen in newer ports. As this was cancelled and exclusive to Japan; there isn't a whole lot known about New Chapter apart from what I've reported on. I'll include some screenshots below, one from each chapter of New Chapter.

note: None of these screenshots will be translated, as I don't want to trust Google Translate on this. Also, I won't include any screenshots of the blood and violence, as if you haven't seen any let's plays or played it yourself, I wouldn't want to spoil you.

Current Status:

LOST

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

What are some Spanish shows you would recommend to someone wanting to learn more Spanish through shows? Preferably shows that where they’re streamed at have a subtitles option

(Same anon, meant to include movies as well but forgot before sending)

Hello anon!! Let's see:

Shows:

I am currently watching El Ministerio del Tiempo (The Ministry of Time), it's a great show to not only learn about the language but also about the history of Spain as the show is about these time travelers trying to mantain history untouched, it's pretty neat! I've done some googling and it used to be on Netflix, but I don't think it is anymore. I've seen there's some English subtitles you can download, but I don't know how you can integrate that into the original video. Here is a post about someone using like a plugin to see the subs directly through the RTVE Play page (where it's still available) so maybe try there.

I just spent fifteen minutes looking for Spanish shows that have easy access to English subtitles but I haven't found any (at least of the ones I like), so I think they might be a bit tricky to find; I'll recommend them to you nevertheless in case you manage to get a hold on them.

The quintessential Spanish TV shows are imo Los Serrano (The Serrano Family) and Aquí No Hay Quién Viva (Nobody Can Live Here); they both have very simple premises and are just lighthearted sitcoms (Los Serrano is more narrative while Aquí No Hay Quién Viva is more similar to The Office). The latter is probably the most iconic one of the two, it is quoted daily and it is really good, while the former just exemplifies the 00s in Spain (keep in mind the shows are form the 00s so some of the plots might have not aged so well).

Paquita Salas is a modern classic, this one is definitely inspired by shows like The Office and it's also incredibly iconic, memeable and quotable. Anyways, it's about this washed up talent manager and her agency, and it has tons of cameos from famous Spanish people, it's very fun. It is on Netflix but I do not know if it has English subs (I think it does tho. Maybe? There's a possibility that's for sure). Also the seasons are like 6 episodes each so it's very easy to watch.

Skam España :) It had to be here :) And I know it has English subs cause I helped translating it lol. It's basically the Spanish remake of Skam, it's very good and I really recommend it. From season 2 onwards you can watch it completely in Youtube (just search for skam españa season x in the search box and you should be fine), or you can go to the best place in the universe, where you can find all episodes in true skam fashion :)

I am kinda embarrassed cause I haven't watched many Spanish shows so I cannot really speak for myself, but here goes a list of shows that I've heard are pretty good and where you can find them (maybe subbed!): Las Chicas del Cable (Netflix), Sky Rojo (Netflix), Merlí (Amazon Prime), Vis a Vis (Netflix), Veneno (Netflix), and El Internado (Netflix).

Movies:

I have watched even less Spanish movies so yeah. But I can still recommend some let's see

La Llamada (The Call, in English is called Holy Camp! for some reason) is the only Spanish musical I respect, I've seen both the movie and the original musical and I love them both so much, the movie is great (with the original actors of the stage production) and yeah I couldn't recommend it enought. It basically is about these teen girls who are at bible camp and one of them starts dreaming about God. It sounds boring now that I think about it but it's not I can assure you. It isn't really religious either don't worry. It used to be on Netflix but I don't think it is there still, I'm sorry :(

This one's a bit controversial but I'm putting it here cause it really shows the contrast between different regions in Spain; Ocho Apellidos Vascos (Eight Basque Surnames, once again, the English name for this movie is Spanish Affair for some reason???). Anyways, this one was a revolution when it came out, I don't know how many times I watched it in the span of like 2 months, it was a lot. The actors are all great, the story is pretty solid and it's generally funny I think (albeit maybe perpetuating certain stereotypes). It is a very simple premise; guy meets girl, guy falls in love with said girl and follows her from Sevilla to Euskadi. On Google it says it's on Netflix, Amazon Prime and HBO so... yeah.

The most beloved Spanish filmmaker is Pedro Almodóvar, and his movies are classics (that I have yet to see). Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) and Volver (Return) are probably his best works, and I really recommend them! They are both available on Netflix :)

Last week I watched another really famous Spanish movie from a director who passed away earlier this month, ¡Ay Carmela!, a movie about this troupe of itinerant artists during the Civil War that really shows how both sides of the war were. It's on HBO Max.

As with shows, here are some rapid-fire Spanish movies I've heard are pretty good: Los Santos Inocentes (Amazon Prime), Bienvenido, Mister Marshall (HBO Max), El Laberinto del Fauno (HBO Max and Disney Plus), Celda 211 (Netflix and HBO Max), La Lengua de las Mariposas (Amazon Prime), Mar Adentro (HBO Max), and Amanece Que No es Poco (HBO Max and Amazon Prime). I have actually watched the three last ones lol, I just didn't remember them.

Hope these recommendations serve you well, and please let me know if you watch any :)

[nikatyler]

Sim Yearbook Challenge by @bauhauzzz

Just a challenge to brush off the dust of that old yearbook and show the world how your oc or ocs looked when they were teenagers! were they edgy? were they more on the nerdy side? you can share as many pics as you’d like but please if you do join I’d love to see your entries, so tag your posts using the tag #yearbookchallenge and have fun!

Do I know how yearbooks work? No. Was I tagged? Also no. But I wanted to do this so I could have an excuse to take awkward teenage pictures of my main sims. Rambling under the cut.

Okay sooo. I imagine they’re all like 16-17 here, but they’re not actually the same age and they didn’t go to the same schools. When they were 16, Sharon still didn’t attend the same school as the triplets, and well, Rachel was about 10 when the triplets were 16 lol (don’t forget Rachel met Caleb when they were both all grown up already). Ross is canonically a year and a half younger than the triplets. So yeah, these photos weren’t taken in the same school year. I know you don’t care but I had to get it out haha. Moving on.

Caleb my beloved. Nothing to say here. Good unproblematic boy who never participates in any drama...unlike his brother.

“Redheads have souls, you guys are just mean.”

We talked about Tyler’s name enough, but look, he can make fun of it. Wouldn’t be Tyler otherwise. Here you can see him shortly after he made the decision to grow out his hair, but he has yet to grow into the person he’s now. Ohh and he’s lying. He was a Whovian. He watched Doctor Who with his little sister Zoey and secretly enjoyed it.

“Roses are red, violets are blue, I swear I do not watch Doctor Who.”

Bianca still had long hair back then! It’s strange to see but she looks good in anything. She stole that quote from some scientist, I think. Idk, I googled funny science quotes and forgot to write down who said it 😅

“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.”

Ross 🤝 tumblr user nikatyler

strong hatred for their surname

(and also the same terrible haircut in freshman year. dark times.)

No seriously, who let me pick Breeze as the legacy surname. Thank god Ross’s father had a normal surname so I can go with that 😂 And look, the yearbook kids granted Ross’s wish...sort of.

I’m still sad I didn’t give Ross an awkward edgy teenager phase for at least a few posts when I played the legacy, but oh well. This picture is enough. He’ll always have an awkward edgy phase around 16 in my heart. Then something happened and he suddenly got handsome and took advantage of it.

“Don’t you dare to call me Ross Breeze in the yearbook or else I’m sending my vampire best friend at you.”

Sharon! In the sims 3 story that I’m writing, she lived in quite a conservative environment for most of her life, not to mention her father is very strict...I think she’d look a lot like a basic white christian girl for a little bit (nothing wrong with that at all, it’s just not her). I wasn’t sure what to do with her quote, so in the end I picked this because she’s an athletic gal who loves running (and even does it professionally later).

“Sorry, gotta run.”

Rachel was a pure innocent bookworm in high school. Well, on the first sight. You best believe she ran a fandom tumblr and wrote terrible smut fanfiction about her favourite characters. I also considered putting “fictional characters made my standards too high” as her quote, but then I thought the one I chose is a bit more in character for her.

“Books before boys!”

I wasn’t tagged so I’m not officially tagging anyone either, but please please please do this too, it’s so fun.

[oc-character-development]

Spoiler free list of reactions I had watching Last Night in Soho:

Light switch switching off looking awesome? normal things looking cool? yeah, this definitely is an Edgar Wright film.

Thunderball!

It’s Phillippa Collins-Davidson from Endeavour series 2 episode 2, Nocturne (Anya Taylor-Joy). She’s grown up from Blythe Mount....no wait that episode takes place in 1966.

....Has my embarrassing preteen/ teenage crush on Matt Smith come back?

This dance scene is great!

...Why am I getting eleventh Doctor vibes from this scene? Come back for the 60th please!

Puppet on a string.... wait, thanks to Endeavour series 3, I know that came out in 1967 and this film is apparently set in 1965 because Thunderball... eh I’m not going to question it.

God this film soundtrack is awesome!

The mirror acting in this is brilliant!

The lighting, oh my god the lighting is so cool!

THE EDITING OF THIS FILM!!!!

I think I love this film!

I recognise that street...Why am I now expecting the Bentley to show up?!

This is tragic!

....I need a wee, but it’s too good to miss!

A lot of bad stuff happens in Soho.

Best horror film!!

Okay scrap just best horror film, this is the BEST FILM I’ve seen all year! and I’ve seen No Time To Die!

Spoiler reactions I had during the film:

‘For Diana’ -don’t make me sad! I forgot a legend was in this film! It’s her final role too!

God Jocasta is a b*tch. Don’t fake a suicide sob story! I dislike you so much!

Oh my god, James and Oliver Phelps!!!! Okay yes they played your favourite Harry Potter characters, but stop bloody grinning!!!

Aww the Phelps twins aren’t in there more, but still neat cameo, you’d barely know it’s both of them there, if you didn’t google which one was in it like I did!

Creepy old dude? Yeah...they’re making him out to be the villain but he’s not going to be the villain. It’s too obvious.

I like John, he believes Ellie, and he’s so nice he’s the kind of guy I want in my life!...he’s going to die isn’t he?

Where’s Finnick? O’Dair he his!

*whilst Ellie is in the library* Yeah... Diana Rigg is Sandy, isn’t she? She’s the only other character with a surname we know beyond Ellie and we don’t know her first name and it’s Diana Rigg, an absolute legend in her last film, she’s got to be important.

Yeah that creepy old guy isn’t Jack is he?

Oh my god, watch the car....wait THAT WAS FORESHADOWED IN THEIR FIRST INTERACTION! Edgar Wright, king of foreshadowing in films!

Nope he’s not Jack!

Oh sh*t!

I was right!

Yeah I’ve watched to much detective fiction....

No John!!!

Okay this is f*cking creepy!

No don’t kill Sandy! She needs to go to prison!

I mean those f*ckers deserved what they got but still.

Heck yeah!

Okay, that was a pretty awesome line, even from a dead arsehole.

Why are you sympathetic towards her, she’s a serial killer?!

Eh okay let her die, she’ll probably go to hell with her victims.

...what happened to Jocasta? she got almost stabbed, and is never seen again, presumably she quit fashion school? If so, good riddance!

Yes! They all got their happy endings! Technically.

[raspberry-arev]

After the Flood (a.k.a. bicci fic)

Hello friends! Some of you may remember that back in... er, who knows, I was writing a Bicci Proposal Fanfic. However, school and lack of motivation got in the way, and essentially, I forgot it existed. Until now. It's done, it's ready, it's here for you to read in whole! (I posted half of it before, but I can't find the thing.)

Characters: Jimmy Kaga-Ricci, Lister Bird, Rowan Omondi, OC (Abby Omondi), Angel Rahimi

Themes: older Ark, marriage proposal, coming out, grand gestures, The Ark Revival Tour, and peak Bicci romance (hopefully)

TWs: mentions of recovery from addiction, anxiety, food

Word count: 9k

JIMMY

It’s often impossible to pinpoint what exactly set off an event – or perhaps multiple – that changed your life as you knew it.

That was not Jimmy’s case, however. He remembered that Barbecue Saturday very well.

This time, it was Rowan and his spouse Abby who hosted. The two couples took turns and Jimmy was oh so grateful for it; the idea of managing Lister’s chaotic culinary experiments more than twice in one summer filled him with dread.

On Saturday morning, Jimmy and Lister packed up and drove all the way to the suburbs of London where Rowan and Abby lived. The sun was bright, everything gleamed buttery yellow, and Jimmy managed to talk Abby into letting him set the table and carry in all the food instead of her, which was quite an accomplishment. She was about as stubborn as her husband.

They rarely invited more than three extra people though. Being in the public eye in your formative years made you appreciate small gatherings of trustworthy people. And one of those proved to be Angel. Or, you know, Feresteh, but her nickname really stuck with them. From that time Jimmy nearly quit the band and Lister impaled himself and almost drowned in mud… yeah, call that a wild youth.

Over ten years later, they were hardly the same people.

After they decided to quit being The Ark for their own wellbeing and safety, Rowan kept his place in the music industry as a songwriter, producer and a solo artist. He went with the name Le Monde, a play on his surname as well as French for “the world”. It suited him. He was the world, never small, never just one thing.

Lister stopped being involved in music after a few collabs. While he was figuring out what to do next, he took a few modelling jobs, acted in music videos and got a small part in a sitcom. Jimmy used that time to get a college degree, but found he just wouldn’t be able to get the usual “college experience” he yearned for, and only got his diploma after doing classes long-distance.

Jimmy and Lister also got together. After many failed attempts at courtship and pretending being friends with benefits was enough… they got together. To Jimmy, it felt like it was inevitable; they have acted like partners long before it was official, they just needed to clean up their own messes before they could be a couple. It wouldn’t have felt right back then, but it did now.

Rowan was already at the grill preparing meat and wrapping camembert in shiny aluminium foil when Angel marched in, tall, elegant, beaming. Jimmy loved to see her again. Each time, she seemed a little more confident, more expressive, more… just more. She really did find her calling in the music industry, just as much as he found his tucked away in rural England with his boyfriend.

Yet, he was to be “tucked away” no longer.

At a certain point, their group fell momentarily silent; everyone was chewing their meal and soaking in the sun. Then Angel said, in an unfamiliar, cautious tone: “You see, I was talking to a couple of people…”

Rowan exchanged a quick look with Jimmy. “Go on,” he said.

“It’s gonna be ten years since you guys disbanded, you know.”

“I know,” Jimmy echoed.

“So. I was thinking. Hear me out, even if you think it’s bollocks…” Angel shot them a look, and then made a motion with her hand as if she was presenting them with something. “Have you ever thought of doing a revival concert?”

As Rowan did a theatrical “errrm”, Jimmy saw straight through his best friend’s bullshit: the two of them rehearsed this conversation. He knew Ro for most of his life, who did he think he was fooling?

His mind offered the answer quickly: Abby, perhaps. He wants to see how she would react, doesn’t he? Rowan would love to do a revival show like that, no doubt, but he valued his wife’s opinion too much to make a decision without her.

He felt movement on his left, and looked Lister in the eyes.

“Well,” said Lister, looking at him. “Wow, okay,” said Jimmy. Both were considering.

Angel swiftly picked up, “Just wanted to run this idea by you. Not because it’s me who would love to see you play once more – I mean, of course I would – but it’s expected to have an amazing turn-out.”

“Obviously, they’re The Ark,” Abby commented matter-of-factly.

“You’re right, Abby. So, guys? How are we feeling about this?”

It was bizzare. Normally, Jimmy would have expected to say he wasn’t at all interested – the boyband life was not for him anymore, tough luck – but recently, he felt a strong sense of nostalgia surge through him as the ten year mark got closer. He found himself reaching for his old guitar way more often, strumming at it, looking for something between the strings he could not reach.

Maybe he could do it just once.

What eventually came out of his mouth was… “I haven’t sung like that for a long time though.”

“You sing to me,” Lister contradicted him, his fingers intertwining with his. “All the time.”

Jimmy felt his face get hotter. “That’s hardly… Are you thousands of people?” He turned to Angel. “How many are we talking, anyway?”

She smiled a kind smile. “I don’t know, Jimmy, that depends on whether you three are up to it or not.”

Rowan cleared his throat. “Personally speaking, I think I wouldn’t mind, as long as we are just doing it once, and not trying for a comeback. I wouldn’t go there.”

“Same,” Lister nodded. “I love you guys, but I’m fine the way things are.”

“Right,” said Rowan firmly. “But… just this once, I mean, why not? We could use some extra money.” With this, he gently let his palm rest on Abby’s belly that swelled under her summer dress like a balloon. (Jimmy fought the urge to aww at them.)

Abby immediately assured him they were more than fine financially, but Rowan barely listened, clearly waiting for his former bandmates to say something. Jimmy felt Lister looking at him, unwavering. So he turned to him and asked, “What do you think? Cool or not?”

“I’m waiting for you to say.”

“Why?”

“Don’t want you to feel pressured or anything.”

“You shouldn’t… Just say what your opinion is!”

“You express your opinion,” Lister retorted, pretending to square his shoulders as a threat. Jimmy lovingly nudged him, and to stop being annoying to the remaining three people at the table, he shrugged, “It doesn’t sound so bad. One concert. I mean, we are still friends after all this time, so why not?”

“In that case, I would love to be the centre of attention again!” Lister exclaimed and gave Jimmy a boyish grin. “The crowd was deprived of my looks for too long.”

“Buddy, you were the drummer,” Rowan said. “Bold of you to assume anyone even looked at you with me and Jimmy jumping at the front.”

Jimmy snorted with laughter, but Lister was quick to defend himself. “Google all Lister Bird slash Reader fanfic and then we can talk about who got noticed, buddy.”

“Oi, you’re not even properly revived yet, stop fighting!” Angel called out, but laughter started bubbling from every direction before she even finished the sentence.

They had a proper business meeting about it in two weeks. And then another and another. When they announced the first date, the sales went through the roof. Jimmy had to get off of social media because the internet exploded with their names and faces. But he sort of found it a bit sweet, that so many people stuck around for them, like old friends that he never had the chance to talk to. One concert became three and then five, which was, honestly, more like a small tour at that point. Jimmy fought to call it After the Flood and won.

LISTER

“You really shouldn’t do that, you know. This bitch is hard to get rid of.”

Rowan tried to hide a small cough and put out his cigarette on the metal window sill next to him. “Hey,” he greeted Lister. “Didn’t expect you to come out here.”

“Yeah.” Lister found it hard to hang around smokers, and unfortunately, he met quite the number of them while they were in the process of rehearsing. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“What’s up?”

“Can we walk, like, over there? So… nobody can hear us through the door?”

Rowan eyed him suspiciously, but he followed him to the railing on the edge of the roof. There, he turned to him, seeming to fight himself.

“I’m really looking for a less shitty way to ask this,” he admitted eventually. “But… What have you done now, Lister?”

Lister felt a sort of numbed cramp seize his stomach for a second. It took a lot not to let anger overcome him. They were well over thirty, how the hell was Rowan still treating him like a fuck up? But no. This was more important than old grudges.

“Nothing! As of yet,” he assured his bandmate.

“Okay…?”

“Right. So. Erm. Nobody is here, right? Fine. I had this idea… you know, Jimmy and I have been together for a long time and I obviously care about him a lot, I always have, you kind of know that…”

“Yes, go on,” he pushed on gently.

“Fuck it. I want to fucking propose!”

A giant weight fell off his shoulders when he spoke those words aloud. It was like coming out all over again, god.

Rowan’s eyes twinkled. “Oooh,” he almost whispered, “and you need my help with that? I’m your man, tell me the plan!”

“There is none right now.”

“Oh, okay. I can still help if you want.”

This was another part Lister dreaded discussing.

“I… okay, so, I was thinking of… doing it on stage?”

His friend’s face changed rapidly.

Lister’s dream of a grand proposal to the love of his life in brilliant stage lights and the roars of the audience faded away. “That’s a no? That’s a no. Shit, forget it then.” He felt sick.

“Lister, I’m absolutely positive you mean well,” Rowan started. “But Jimmy would-“

Speak of the devil.

The door opened and out of it peaked Jimmy’s unshaven face. “Oh! There you both are.”

Rowan froze for a second. Lister was ready to improvise. “Alright, so how about I come by yours after practice and you transfer the files to me?” He smiled, but impaled Rowan with a meaningful look.

Fortunately, he caught on. “Oh yeah, yeah, that could work.”

“What files?” Jimmy inquired as he joined them, oblivious.

“Rowan has some of our old drafts still saved. I was thinking of squeezing in a drum solo somewhere, maybe with spoken word over it?”

“Sounds cool,” Jimmy smiled at him and slightly brushed the back of his hand with Lister’s. “Anyway, Dick the Sound Guy wants us all in there immediately.”

“Stop calling him that or I’ll have a Freudian slip at some point,” Lister laughed and guided Jimmy back into the building. Him and Rowan managed to exchange a subtle nod over the shorter man’s head.

JIMMY

As they were packing up that day, Jimmy tried incredibly hard to catch Rowan alone. Just like the old times when he needed to discuss something personal. And yet again, it involved Lister. Jimmy felt young and stupid again, but not really in a good way.

Finally, he managed to stop him while he was putting away the equipment. Lister was meanwhile in the office of their temporary new manager. “Ro, I need advice!” he whispered to his best friend.

“What about?”

“It’s Lister.”

“Oh dear Jesus, I’m having flashbacks.”

“Don’t be a dick, it’s important.”

“Okay then, tell me.”

“It kind of involves you too. Just… tell me if it’s a good idea.”

“Go on!”

“I want to, uh… I want to tell people Lister and I are a couple…” He took a breath. “Which means I would be coming out as gay as well, probably. I know that’s, like, a huge pile of drama, so if you don’t want me to complicate the tour, just say it, it’s honestly kind of irresponsible when I’m thinking about it now…”

“Jimbob. Easy.” Rowan waited for a second for Jimmy to wind down, leaning on a stack of five chairs, and then asked, “Are you really sure about it? Do you want people to know?”

Jimmy felt his thoughts humming in his head. He forced himself to say exactly how he felt.

“I know it’s gonna sound super dramatic, but I don’t want to die not saying it,” he explained slowly. “It became really important to me… I don’t know when. But it did. Talking about this part of me, too. I’m just worried about what Lister might say.”

“So I take it that you didn’t discuss this?”

“No way. I don’t even know how to start!” Jimmy exploded in loud whispering. “I should have talked to him a long time ago, but I just didn’t have the balls.”

“I get that, but… just bring it up. Like, theoretically. What if. I think he’s going to support you through it.”

“How could he?”

“What are you even saying at this point?

“You think he would like people sticking their nose in our personal business? I feel like it’s so unfair to him and his privacy… And I feel terrible about still wanting to do it… even though it’s inconsiderate. It’s all a fucking mess.”

“Okay, okay.” Rowan massaged his nose. He looked like he was trying incredibly hard not to snap at Jimmy and be at least somewhat encouraging. “Look, no spoilers, but I am going to say this. Lister absolutely will notbe mad and he will want to talk about the two of you if you give him the chance. That is all.”

“Wait, what? Ro, did he tell you something?”

“I am not talking!”

“Is that how you treat your best friend in a life crisis?!”

“You’re putting me in a life crisis, don’t you dare play the pity card! I swear, the two of you are a nightmare.”

“Rowan! Come back!”

LISTER

His visit to Rowan’s place was very brief, but it was enough for him to understand Rowan’s concerns. Eventually.

Lister explained that it didn’t feel appropriate for him to just whip out a ring in a restaurant: Jimmy was his love, his dream boy, as cliché as it sounded, and he wanted to do something that would measure up to all he was feeling. Which was… well, a whole lot. Like a “get down on one knee in front of thousands of people” lot.

And yet.

“It’s all great, and I’m sure there are people in the world that would love it, but we are talking about Jimmy.”

“Come on. I know, he’s private about… well, everything, but…”

“That, yes,” Rowan pointed at him while holding a can of coke, “but don’t you think this proposal on stage would be an anxiety-inducing situation? Because to me, that sounds like a lot of pressure and nerves.”

“He hasn’t had attacks since we moved and he went on those meds.”

“That doesn’t really –“

“Matter. Yeah. Yeah, I get your point, mate, he would die of shock. And everybody watching him. Fuck, I’m stupid.”

“No, you’re not,” Rowan grinned. “The two of you are just different… in some aspects. I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

Will I? Lister asked himself as he was driving back to the hotel that Jimmy and him were staying at for the time being. This was the only thing I came up with, like, ever.

When he swept his key card over the sensor and the door to their suite opened, he was greeted by the smell of dinner. He took a look into their little kitchen and found his boyfriend sitting at the table with his laptop. He didn’t notice him for a second, so Lister came up behind him and hugged him tightly.

Jimmy yelped.

“Where’s the food?!” Lister shook him a little, imitating Batman.

“Your hands are so cold!” Jimmy protested, but there was a trace of laughter in his voice. “On the stove, you bully!”

Lister almost flew over there, looking under the lid on the pot.

“Pasta,” Jimmy shrugged. “I needed my comfort food, so that’s that for you.” Lister smiled and thanked him, because yes, he was starving. Pasta was Jimmy’s go-to meal to cook, as it was quick to make and he was a pasta-sauce prodigy.

While his dinner was heating up in the microwave, Jimmy made small-talk about the supposed unused lyrics Rowan and him exchanged. Lister found it hard to lie to him, so he just turned to playful teasing, telling Jimmy to stop sniffing around, he’ll hear it when the time comes.

“Oh come on,” Jimmy huffed. “I’m just asking! And it’s my show, too. Spill it.”

“Sorry. Totally gonna steal your spotlight.”

“Lister, just tell me what it is.”

“A song.”

“What song?”

“A song that you have to wait for.”

“Babe, what song?!”

Lister took him by the waist and pulled him against his body. “Are you trying to ‘babe’ me into telling you right now? Is that what’s happening? Right in front of my pasta?” He went in for a kiss, and Jimmy tried to murmur something against his lips… but then he gave up. They leaned into each other and kept kissing until Lister pulled away to open the microwave. He got himself a fork and went to sit down after the long day, but Jimmy stayed there, right next to the sink. Looking a bit like he was going to hurl.

Before Lister could ask if he’s okay, Jimmy sat down on the other chair with a determined look on his face.

“There is something I need to discuss!” he blurted out.

Lister cautiously dropped the fork back into the bowl. “Okay…? And it’s something to do with me, yeah?”

“Yep. A lot to do with you.” He was visibly nervous. He clasped his hands together, as if Lister would have not noticed. “I… I was thinking about this one thing, and I need your opinion about it.”

“Cool. Go for it.”

“It’s about our relationship.”

“Are you aware you sound very sinister right now?”

He wildly shook his hands as if he wanted to dry them off. “Sorry, didn’t mean to,” he apologized in a strained voice. Then he cleared his throat, sharply lifted his eyes towards Lister’s and exclaimed, “I would like to reveal that we’re together.”

Lister felt everything about his face go lax in shock. He opened his eyes round and wide, his mouth followed, and Jimmy looked like he would faint.

“I, er. I just. I thought about it and I think it’s a decent idea and – please say something, Lister, before I get a fucking heart attack right now.”

It must have been so hard for him to speak up. Lister thought of his proposal plans and felt his mouth slowly form a smile. “I think it’s… brilliant! Yes, I would really like to do that!”

“Wait, really?”

“This is – I didn’t think you would want to, when did you change your mind?”

Jimmy shrugged, grinning in a sheepish way that made him look much younger. And cuter. “I thought I just… wanted to be open about this part of my life. Figured it’s time to say we are together. But if you, like, don’t feel like it, then…”

Lister beamed. “I feel like it. If you do, I do, trust me.” He walked around the table and lifted Jimmy into a hug. He laughed, relieved.

This was when it dawned on Lister… it was not such an easy matter. Exciting, yes, but it would gather all kinds of attention. He leaned onto the table, grabbed his dinner and him and Jimmy started talking about the situation it would put them in. If both are truly okay with it, how much would they reveal, when is the best time to do it. They kept talking through the bathroom door and while they were changing into pajamas in their bedroom.

As they were laying down and Lister gestured Jimmy to crawl into his arms, they became quieter. “You know why I also want to say it?” Jimmy mumbled, lying on the soft linen with one eye open.

“I’m all ears.”

“If I have to see one more article about which model or actress you’re screwing, I’m gonna lose the remaining marbles that I have.” Lister started chuckling as Jimmy awkwardly added, “Which is, admittedly, not many. Most have been lost in my youth.”

“Oh no,” Lister laughed and turned Jimmy’s face upwards to his. “So this just in: my boyfriend is possessive. Fancy that.”

“I’m not, it’s… I am… Oh, you hated Jowan, stop being smug.”

“I know I did, we both know. But jealous Jimmy? That’s a rare sight.”

“It’s just super uncomfortable. It’s all women, as well.”

“Heteronormativity is a bitch,” Lister nodded. He snuggled closer and let out a breath, “Don’t worry though. I am exclusively your problem.”

Jimmy kissed him, smiling. Lister felt lightheaded. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against Jimmy’s. He loved this – he loved how much he felt for him after so long they have been together. It never ceased or faded away… because it was Jimmy.

Lister was pretty sure he would love him until his last day on Earth.

It was time to start looking for a ring.

JIMMY

Not much later, they had a team meeting scheduled with all the important people at their recording company that were involved with their tour. Jimmy and Lister announced their intention to come out during the tour, and with Rowan’s full support, it wasn’t too hard to win the producers over. Jimmy had anticipated the PR people would deem it overly risky to their image, but they were fairly chill. As Rowan had put it, “As if anything about The Ark was ever about pandering to conservatives.”

They agreed that their demographic is absolutely different, and before they knew it, they were being ignored while people were exchanging speculations about how it all could help them promote the tour.

“If they do it on, like, the second show…”

“…we could sell some extra tickets after… another wave…”

“…that would probably be a good time to release a single, something related to…”

Jimmy felt something in his chest sink. This is why they left. These people took something good, something from their hearts and souls, and wanted to turn it into money. Some part of him understood, that’s how business works, but mostly, he just felt really sad for them.

“Oi!” Lister exploded over the chatter. “Sorry, but we are still here, and – Could you maybe not act like this coming out is a marketing tactic?!”

The room went briefly silent.

Jimmy squeezed his hand under the table to say a silent thanks. Then he choked out, “That’s not why we’re doing it!”

Their producer looked at them over the top of her reading glasses.

“Of course it’s not, love,” she cooed. “But to say it bluntly, I think you need all the help you can get.”

After many weeks and many briefings, they had agreed on making the announcement on the third show. Right in the middle of tour. Everybody was nervous, expectant, but there was this air of hopefulness when Jimmy and Lister ended up alone together. The glimmer in his partner’s eye when their eyes met promised something… no, it was not living absolutely openly, they still wanted privacy. But it felt like they were sealing something.

This was not an easy coming out.

But they were in for it. Together.

LISTER

“Just so I know,” Rowan said as Lister was trying to take off his Doc Martens with all his might, “what did you tell Jimmy this time?”

“We’re still working on music.”

“We should really make something then, before you go. I am not gonna lie to my childhood best friend, y’know.”

Finally, the boot came off, and Lister got off the little cabinet in Rowan’s hall. Abby was already making tea, and when she saw him walk by the kitchen door, she just nodded at him. Lister smirked at her; she loved pretending to still be mad at him for taking Rowan to a strip club on his stag night. (Or was it dancing on the table at the wedding reception? Anyhow.)

Rowan sat him down in the lounge and started the conversation with: “So. The big reveal is getting closer. How are we feeling?”

“I – great, good. I’m fine, and Jimmy seems to be fine, so yeah, we’re fine.”

“But I assume that’s not what you need help with?”

“You assume right. I will need you to bear with me, though.”

“That sounds interesting,” Rowan retorted and flashed a smile at Abby who was bringing them two steaming mugs of earl gray. “And when I say interesting I mean impending doom, why thank you, Abby!”

“No problem.” She slowly leaned over, careful not to lose balance with her belly, and kissed him on the forehead. “I’ll be off for my swimming class then. You two behave, will you.”

As she was making her way to the hall, Lister jokingly remarked, “No goodbye kiss for me?”

She stopped in the middle of the room and exchanged a glance with Rowan. Rowan, stirring his tea with a teaspoon, said, “Please don’t kill him, I need him for the concert.”

“Come on, you guys, I was fully kidding. Goodbye, Abby,” he waved to her with a bright smile. “Enjoy your swimming stuff!”

“Thank you, will do.” She disappeared.

“Just a question!” he called after her. She came back with an eyeroll. “Is it, like, harder to swim when you are pregnant? Like, I don’t mean to insult you or anything, I’m just genuinely wondering.”

She, too, put aside her snarky façade for a second. “Actually, I go there because it’s relieving. The water makes you float, so the weight of the baby is taken off my back and legs for a little while.”

“Oh! That’s clever.”

“Thank you. The more you know, am I right?”

“You know what I was just thinking of?”

“Yeah? I really have to go.”

“When you’re swimming, you’re a human submarine for the baby.”

It seemed to take Abby a minute to realize what he was saying. Very slowly, she brought her palm to her forehead.

Rowan then didn’t make it much better by adding, “Since when does a submarine have water inside? That would defeat the purpose.”

Lister thought about it and then gasped. “So… right now, you are a reverse human submarine!”

Abby looked at them both, clearly lost for words. “I’ll just go…” She closed the lounge door behind her.

After a good ten minutes of Rowan half laughing and half chastising Lister for saying the things he says, Lister threw his hands up in the air and claimed they seem to have “traded their sense of humour for a marriage certificate” two years ago.

Rowan immediately followed: “Speaking of marriage, any updates on that? You and…?”

“Well, my friend, that is precisely what we need to talk about today.”

“Okay. The meeting is officially in session, go.”

“First: am I the only one that was really surprised by Jimmy wanting to make us public? Because I really didn’t expect that at all.”

“Yeah, I guess he’s still full of surprises, huh?”

“That he is. However, Ro, I was thinking, and I still want to do a proposal. No – let me finish, it’s not that straightforward. I spent a lot of time talking to Jimmy about what he wants and how he sees the future, and you were super right in saying that I should never put him on the spot like that. Being so exposed to the public when we were kids messed with us in a big way, all of us.”

Rowan snapped his fingers in agreement.

“The idea is… It would be a proposal before a proposal. Like… I don’t know, announcing that I have the intention of proposing to him soon. And asking him if he is okay with that, you know? If he’s okay with the idea of saying yes. That way,” Lister gesticulated with his hands, “he’s not forced right there to say yes, the eventual real proposal can be sort of expected, which would calm him down a bit, but still a surprise, because when is it going to happen? I’m not saying.”

Rowan stared at him for about three seconds. “That was… a whole thing, buddy.”

“Thoughts?”

“I’m just trying to wrap my head around this. Wait. You want to do a proposal before the actual proposal.”

“Yes.”

“On stage. At the same time you are announcing that the two of you are together?”

“No! I mean, I don’t think so. I thought like, more at the end, maybe.”

“Proposal before a proposal…”

“It’s clever, if you think about it.”

“To me, it just seems very extra, Lister. Which I know is your trademark, but –”

“No, but listen. I want to propose to Jimmy. He wouldn’t survive a big flashy proposal, but I still want to make it a big deal, because it is. Ergo, I announce that I want to spend the rest of my stupid little life with him and ask him if it is okay to propose to him one day, likely soon.”

Rowan’ expression changed. “That does make sense,” he said. “For the two of you, especially.”

“Okay then: dear dad, do I have your blessing?”

“Never call me that again. But yes.”

“You are the closest to being a father out of all of us.”

“That is not what it sounds like and you know it.”

JIMMY

The first show was an explosion of feeling and memories. Nauseous with anxiety, burdened with expectation and weak in the knees, Jimmy ran into his first appearance on the stage the same way he would run into the middle of the highway. The lights and screams and colours almost blew him to pieces and then glued him back together. His first words addressed to the crowd and the earth-shattering screams that came in answer woke something in him, a force of nature. The gig was rather small compared to those they ended on ten years ago, but the crowd loved them to pieces and oh, he felt so alive.

The second show was slightly bigger, yes, and their fans didn’t disappoint. Plenty of pride flags were chucked at him, and he waved them and gave them to his mates and it made him even more excited about what him and Lister were going to do the next time round. These people stayed with them for so long, this sea of faces that looked toward him… for many of them, he would be the representation they need, again.

He remembered being a young trans boy, questioning if there is a life, a future, for him. Where were all the queer adults? The trans adults? How could he imagine adult life if he had never seen someone like him live it?

There he was, now. Adult. Gay. Transgender. A lot of time, he still knew very little about what he was doing, but he had a boyfriend who knew equally little, and together, they might be just what some queer kid in the crowd yearns to see.

LISTER

It was D-Day. Christ and Mary, it was, and they were going to say it. Finally. The staff have been informed, the security has been strengthened, they did everything so that some fan wouldn’t try and knock them the fuck out…, but he was still incredibly nervous. Minutes before the show, among all the rush and flourish, he caught Jimmy and pulled him to the side, apologizing to a couple of sound guys securing some cables on the ground.

“How are you doing?” he blurted out.

“I’ll die, but maybe in a good way. You?”

“Same. Or I’ll throw up, in a bad way.”

“Wait really?”

“No, I’m sick, but not the vomiting kind.”

“Anxiety! Welcome to the club!” Jimmy shouted as he was being ushered away under the stage so he could come up on a platform.

More pushing, more ushering, and he stood next to Rowan.

Their intro – a dramatic organ solo as light flashed through the artificial fog like sunbeams – was rumbling all around them. The crowd was losing their minds. He didn’t know how, but he still heard Rowan whisper:

“Lister, promise me you won’t do the other thing today!”

“Told you I won’t, stop being patronizing!” he snapped back, but then it was their time, and they were on a stage, coming up from behind Jimmy, each on every side, acting astonished as they supposedly came down from Noah’s Ark onto new land.

Listed dared to put his hand on Jimmy’s shoulder as they did so.

The show was on.

Here we go.

JIMMY

During the concert, he used every opportunity to interact with the audience that he had. It felt a bit manipulative at first – he wanted them to be up for a bit of talking, eventually – but then the feeling of guilt faded away. However complicated his relationship with the fans used to be, these people were the fans. They stayed loyal to them, they kept their music in their hearts, and came to this revival gig…

It would be okay, okay, okay.

When the last accords of the last song whizzed away into the night and he was thanking the crowd that stomped and cheered and waved signs in hope of an encore… he stopped at the front of the stage. Rowan strummed a few last cords on the guitar and fell silent.

He wished he had somewhere to sit down. His legs were shaking.

But he was not afraid. Not really.

“Now, you guys, these shows are very special for us. Because every single one of you, as we’re standing here and looking at each other, you have been waiting for so long…” His voice was drowned out by cheers. “For so long, you have not forgotten us, you came to our shows, you have been amazingly supportive, and I want to thank you, from the bottom of my heart!” He shouted the last few words as the sea of faces roared in joy.

When they calmed down again, he continued. “And because you are the ones that stuck with us… because of that, I would like to say a few things to you.

If you know about the days of my youth…” Pause as people laughed and shouted affirmations at him. “…you would probably remember that I was presumed to be in a relationship with a person that is standing on the stage with me, right now.”

It was good that only a few people cheered. But it made him sick to the stomach, still.

“Okay, no,” Rowan came in, and people applauded, and he pointed at them with a not-so-fake scolding look, “no, no, don’t you woo at me, young lady. This is so utterly not a thing! Jimmy has never left the friendzone!”

“Same here,” Jimmy laughed and patted Rowan across the back, maybe a little too hard, overcompensating. “Did you all, like, miss that Rowan came out as straight all those years ago?”

People were laughing. Nobody really cared, they just found it funny. Rowan claimed he was leaving it to Jimmy before “the PR team has me taken out”, and retreated a few steps, leaving Jimmy to face the crowd again.

Deep breaths, he told himself.

“What I wanted to say was that there was one thing that those people back then got right.” Breathe in, breathe out. “I am gay.”

Two seconds of silence and then an absolute thunderstorm of an applause. A rainbow pride flag landed at his feet and Jimmy took it, with meek laughter, and put it around his shoulders. He heard Rowan cheer and clap too, and for what felt like years, he couldn’t get a word in. He wished the whole world could be like this.

“I – gosh, thank you all, I’m not sure whether it was a surprise,” he finally managed to say, his voice breaking a little from surprise, “but yeah. I am a trans, gay man…” The hall exploded with joyous noise. “…and it’s not all that there is to me, but I’m here. And queer. Hello.”

He thought he was going to pass out. He had a clever segway prepared, but he couldn’t remember a word of it. This was the moment. He wanted to say it, but at the same time… How could he? It was so hard, why do things have to be so hard?

“The other… the second thing,” he said, gripping the pride flag. “It is that… wow, it’s hard. It’s that I am…” He felt himself turn around, and like a lost child call: “Lister?”

Lister climbed out from behind the drum set instantly. Nobody cheered, there were only confused whispers. Jimmy looked at him, asking for help without words, and he knew, as he always did. Jimmy found a place to look, above the crowd, beyond everything, as Lister stepped in and slowly took his hand.

“The second thing is that we are together,” Lister said, his voice steady.

And the crowd lost it.

There were people wailing in happy tears. Screaming at the top of their lungs. A dissonance of chanting their names, all at a different rhythm, before Rowan ran up to them and hugged them and spurred the crowd on, and they stood there wrapped in a pride flag, and Jimmy was kind of crying and leaning on Lister, and it was another half an hour of a pure mess, before they really left the stage with their ears buzzing and eyes wide.

Jimmy and Lister tumbled into a corner somewhere, and Jimmy had happy tears streaming down his cheeks and they were kissing and holding each other and shaking.

“Oh, I’m such a mess,” Jimmy laughed as he was smearing tears and foundation on his sleeve.

“And I love you so much,” Lister blurted out in a moment of raw honesty.

“Me too,” Jimmy took one of his hands and kissed the palm. “I love you so fucking much it’s unreal sometimes.”

LISTER

This was, hands down, the most jittery Lister got before a show. Ever.

Currently, he found himself sat at an old sofa in the dressing room, hands clasped and both legs involuntarily jumping up and down. Was it annoying? Likely. But he had to let his knees jump in such a vigorous way because if he hadn’t, his teeth might start clattering.

He hated that he couldn’t just be pumped and excited. He had to feel this unsettling, buzzing mess of an emotion. Anxiety, as Jimmy informed him. This is what it’s like for an anxious person, he said… except make it all the time and often for no real reason.

Lister shook his head a little.

His reason, too, was basically nothing. He knew. As if Jimmy would actually reject him or something…

Or would he?

Maybe he could? Oh God, maybe he could…

“Hey! You’re actually scaring me, what’s up with you?!”

Lister blinked in confusion. He saw Jimmy as he was making his way over. A half scolding, half worried look decorated his face.

He lowered his voice when he added: “The last time I saw you like this was when you had withdrawal symptoms. You can tell me if that’s what it is.”

“It’s not that. I’m fine,” Lister insisted. Crap, he was panicking too hard to actually come up with anything convincing. Come on, Bird, focus… He’s onto you…

“Actually,” Rowan’s voice travelled to them from the corner, “I just think we had weird coffee.”

“What? But you’re fine.”

“Yeah, well,” Rowan continued to make up a story, “we both got one, but I didn’t like the taste, it was too strong. Lister felt bad for throwing them out so he finished both of them, didn’t you?”

“Ye-Yes,” he finally caught on. Had to admit, Ro was impressive at this. Lister started to believe what their friend used to say: that he can lie very well, he just chooses not to. “I didn’t want to waste it. The coffee.”

“Lister,” Jimmy grunted in disbelief, hands on his hips. “That was a brilliant idea, you walnut! Look at yourself, you’re gonna be sick now!”

“I’m not.”

“You look it.”

“I’m just…” He rubbed his clammy hands together. “I’m just anxious I guess.”

“Well, no shit. Why do you think I avoid caffeine?” Jimmy sighed and dropped into a squat in front of Lister. He took Lister’s hands in his. “Seriously, are you okay? You’re not gonna have a heart attack, are you?”

“No, babe. I’m alright.” The last thing he wanted was for his boyfriend to be anxious too.

He looked down at Jimmy. The realization dawned on him, as he noticed that his partner dropped onto one of his knees to be more comfortable; very soon, the roles will be reversed. It will be Lister down on one knee, only Jimmy would be standing up in that case…

Okay.

Wow.

This is what true internal screaming felt like.

“You need water, as in now,” Jimmy decided and jumped up. “I’ll need you to drink at least three glasses before we start, that should help.”

He rushed out of the room to get hands on some water. Rowan and Lister looked at each other, the pretence gone.

“Alright?” Rowan nodded.

“I’m fucking choking, dude,” Lister replied.

It almost looked as if his friend was going to give him advice, or maybe say something generic and calming… but instead, Rowan let out a small laugh. Lister’s lips started twisting without him giving the command.

And then the two collapsed laughing. The pressure of this being the very last show and the knowledge of what Lister was about to do at the end of it were just the right recipe for hysterics.

Jimmy didn’t bother to ask twice what the joke was, as long as they promised they weren’t laughing at him.

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

As the concert was coming to an end and the crowd was cheering and chanting for an encore, Rowan seized the opportunity and called: “Alright, friends, we would like to indulge you in a little experiment! Can you join me at the front, Lister?”

Lister got out from behind the drum set and jogged to meet the rest of the group. Jimmy smiled, but his eyes studied both of them suspiciously. “What is this?”

Lister lazily raised his arms with the palms of his hands towards the crowd. “I have to admit, we kind of didn’t tell Jimmy what this is about. Sorry, my guy.” People laughed. Rowan signalled someone backstage, as Lister added: “But just so you don’t feel left out, you can have this triangle.” A nervous assistant handed Jimmy the instrument and ran off again.

Everybody was jeering and whistling, but there was an air of anticipation in the air.

“Oh wow, that’s generous of you,” Jimmy grimaced.

“I know, right? Anyhow.” Lister took a step forward, trying to calm himself. He could do this. He had acting jobs, he could absolutely pull this off.

He was Lister freaking Bird! He was the fan favourite!

“Dear audience, allow me to tell you a tale,” he addressed the crowd in his best narrator voice. A couple of screams rose from the crowd, but everyone else was listening intently. Behind him, Rowan started strumming a little melody on his guitar – one they created especially as a backdrop to Lister’s talk.

“I know this is a little unusual,” Lister admitted to the sea of people, “I know that you’re used to stories coming to you via this man’s voice,” he pointed at Jimmy, “and this man’s lyrics.” Rowan. “I know that I am just a simple drummer in this arrangement. But today, I will do the voice and the words. Because, well… Talking all the time is the one thing I am actually good at.”

That made the crowd laugh. Good. Great.

“But now, on with the story!” he exclaimed and made a motion with his hands as if he was showing them a canvas.

“Picture this. We are all fifteen, stuffed into a tiny studio in London,” he smiled, as if nostalgic. His voice flowed out of him in a steady melody, like the hum of a river. “We all had that awkward long hair phase – yes, I see some true veterans in the audience today. Good,” he smiled at a couple of girls in the front who seemed to know exactly which haircuts he meant. He raised his hands again. “I am sitting outside the recording room, behind the glass. On the other side, there’s Jimmy. I can see him clearly, I hope you can too,” he said, keeping his dreamy smile. “The giant black hoodie. The fringe almost hiding his eyes. Jimmy waits for the cue, bouncing up and down,” he chuckled as he swayed up and down on his toes, “and then starts singing the interlude in our first album. It’s only about two lines that we need to record, but I remember wishing it lasted longer. Obviously. Because his voice is amazing.”

The audience started yelling and swooning at once. Lister was honestly more okay looking at them than if he had to look at Jimmy and see what his reaction is.

Now, here comes the real cliché.

“But then,” he paused with real embarrassment in his voice, “then he looked up from under his hair… at me, with those big brown eyes… and asked me, if he was okay.”

Breathe in, and:

“My friends, that was the moment I have fallen for Jimmy Kaga-Ricci.”

A roar of screams started rising from the audience, when Rowan strummed dramatically on the guitar, as if something tragic had happened. Lister shot a look at Jimmy and found him laughing. Surprised, but amused.

Thank fuck. I’ve never told him that before.

On the outside, he theatrically turned to Rowan and scolded him: “I was just getting sentimental here?”

Rowan shrugged and strummed a more positive jingle. Everyone laughed and clapped. Lister was starting to enjoy this, actually. He sighed and walked forward onto a prolonged platform where Jimmy was usually stood on.

“Well, maybe my trusty assistant was right with the sound effects,” he admitted jovially. “Because my crush absolutely did not like me back for years. Hey, but that’s not to throw shade at the guy,” he added quickly to prevent any pitiful reaction that would make Jimmy feel bad. “Because you have to consider that I was and still am a bloody mess of a person.” That amused the listeners. Lister turned round, as he exclaimed. “I am the creator of problems, the maker of terrible decisions. We can all agree that Jimmy is a lovely lad…” He had to pause for the overwhelming reaction in support of that statement. “Yes, he is, but inflicting my teenage self upon him, that would just not be right.”

Jimmy suddenly clanked the metal stick against the triangle in an absolute cacophony to draw attention to himself. “Excuse me,” he called to Lister, “could you stop insulting yourself? I would enjoy that.”

A girl somewhere below them screamed as if she was getting murdered. They exchanged a quick glance, as if to say a little yikes, but then Lister laughed it off.

“Sorry, sorry,” he continued. “Through it all, Jimmy was always here for me. He was one of my first real friends. He was understanding when I needed it most, and ready to kick my ass when I needed it most.” He smiled at his boyfriend and hoped his voice is not shaking. “Look at you, Jimmy! I’m being embarrassing in front of hundreds of people and you still haven’t walked off stage.”

Jimmy laughed and lightly hit the triangle. He was ever the professional, but his eyes glimmered in curiosity. Expectation.

Lister kept looking at him. Rowan was strumming a slightly different melody now, and if Lister did say so himself, the atmosphere was fucking perfect.

“What I want to say is…, I feel that we were together before we got together. We were always partners. A great team. Maybe you wouldn’t think the same,” he admitted to Jimmy, “but a girl can dream. Oh! A rhyme!” He exclaimed to a symphony of awwws and ooohs. People were laughing again, clapping here and there. “That will be the only time!” Lister made a face of feigned shock. “Or not? Wow, I’m unpredictable!”

“You’re hot,” Jimmy rhymed with unexpected confidence.

The crowd was screaming their heads off at this interaction. Even Lister was a little flustered. He came back to his bandmates and gestured toward Jimmy, who was still smirking a little. “And he can improv, what’s not to like, honestly!”

Now, there came the challenge. Lister took a deep breath and prayed to all deities that were listening for this to come off as more sweet than cringy.

His voice fell into a different rhythm. One he kept studying every possible minute from any good slam poetry or original poem reading he could find online.

“But now, if our audience permits,” he put one hand on his chest, turning directly to Jimmy, “I would like to address you. Because, dear Jimmy, although I love each face in the crowd, my friends, my family, those that are both… I can state loud and proud that the biggest part of my heart goes to you.” He grinned sheepishly at Jimmy’s stunned expression, when he added: “If not all of it.”

“I can only guess what goes on in that mind, whether you think this is suspicious or kind… I can’t know these things. But there is one thing I do know. That no matter how much we grow, what we lose and what we gain, through all the smiles and all the pain, I will love you. It’s as big and as small as this. And today was an opportunity I couldn’t miss. So, nobody panic, stay in your seats. It’s not what it looks like.”

He got down on one knee in front of his boyfriend.

Jimmy gasped in sync with the audience: “Lister!” He backed away.

“Oh no, mister, don’t panic,” Lister retorted. That managed to amuse Jimmy a little – that he would know this would be the reaction. The audience was still going absolutely wild. Another pride flag just about missed Lister’s left ear.

“As I said, it’s not what it looks like. And I’m sick of rhyming by now, so…” He reached for Jimmy’s hand. Pulled it down to his by the triangle and encouragingly pressed a thumb into his palm. “I wanted to tell you – in a way that means something – that I don’t see myself living my life with anyone but you. So I have a question. Can you imagine me proposing in the near future?”

Jimmy looked like he suddenly couldn’t speak any human language. The only thing that came from his open lips was: “Huh?”

He was trying not to panic. To explain it well. Better than he had to Rowan.

“I would like to start talking about marriage. With you. I’m asking your permission to… go pick out a ring, perhaps. And propose to you. One day.”

“You want to…” He was trying so hard to make sense of this situation. Lister could almost hear the wheels in his brain clanking and whirring. After a second, Jimmy blurted out about the last thing Lister expected. ��You really want to marry me?”

He had to laugh. That sounded so bizarre! You have the wrong number, I don’t think you want to marry me, of all people. As if.

Covering Jimmy’s hand with both of his own, he answered: “Who else, Jimmy?”

As there was no instant reply, Lister felt the audience grow impatient.

This was the time to smooth things out. Make it amusing.

“Okay, I don’t want to stress you out. You can just think about it,” he ensured his partner. But I just wanted to let you know my, er, intentions.” Wow, great choice of words, Bird. But was there any better? He decided to make fun of himself a little when he sarcastically added: “Because this is the regency era, apparently.”

People were losing it. However, Lister was only looking at Jimmy now… and realized that the eyes of his boyfriend were welling up with tears as he looked down. Were they happy or sad tears? Shit.

“Oh…” Lister managed to say, when Jimmy dropped the triangle on the floor with a thud and shakily took Lister’s face into his soft palms.

His voice was trembling with emotion, as he answered:

“Allister Bird, I would love to marry you. I don’t think you even need to propose again.”

Before Lister could even register what he meant, Jimmy leaned down and gently pressed a kiss at his forehead. This was probably as close to kissing in public as Jimmy would ever allow.

Lister finally realized. He realized.

At the same time, Jimmy dropped down and Lister shot up. They embraced each other tightly, a mess of crumpled clothes and limbs and teary laughing, and Lister almost lifted Jimmy off the ground as he was happy-crying into the shorter man’s shoulder.

They heard Rowan screaming at the top of his lungs: “HE SAID YES, PEOPLE!” His voice was drowned out by the massive storm of excited screams that wouldn’t seize for good twenty minutes after.

But Lister and Jimmy didn’t really pay attention.

Paradoxically, although everyone could see them – and everyone would see them, as the news probably already travelled through the internet at the speed of light – it felt like this moment was theirs alone.

[msommers]

oc name meanings.

tagged by: @gendameron​ (on my inspo blog but wanna keep things sorted here) to share some oc name meanings! tagging: anyone who sees this and would like to give it a go! make sure to tag me because i love reading about these sorts of things 🥰

MAEVE —gaelic for “she who intoxicates” or “she who rules”. i don’t fully remember how i got to the name in the first place, but the name was definitely chosen because it sounded fitting for a bard who was shacking up with multiple witchers and capable of persuading people on the reg. 

SOMMERS — german/danish for “summer”. highkey this was just a nod to tvd because i love the look of the name and like having little references to media that i like in my oc names when i can manage it. fun fact is that i also?? completely forgot the name was pronounced Summers and for a solid year and a half would always say som-errs in my head and that’s how i read it 95% of the time now. 

ELENA — italian/spanish for “torch, light”. chosen specifically for its meaning to link with her dawnfather connection and the divine magic she uses to summon flames and light, plus her halo grants a radius of light and that’s prime for living torch jokes. this one wasn’t Intended as a tvd reference because i Do Not like the elena of the show, but it’s still there i guess.

GRANGER — english/french for “farm baliff”. okay well for the most part i just liked the sound of this surname along with elena, and the justification for its meaning having something to do with farming was an added bonus. 

MEREDITH — welsh for “great ruler/lord”. this is gonna unfortunately be my third tvd reference of the post my god, but i discovered the name meredith waaaay back when i first read the novels and i became obsessed with it, i thought it was so pretty. i didn’t know the meaning when i named mere because meanings weren’t even on my radar back then, but it turned out perfectly in the end for a cousland who takes the crown and goes on to make some changes for good to the kingdom lmfao.

COUSLAND — according to google it’s a gaelic form of another surname that means “peace”. i had no part in this one, thanks bioware for a pretty cool surname tho i’m into it big time even if some of your other choices have my blood boiling occasionally <3

[elencelebrindal]

Soooo... since the asshole Kido is not their father, what are their origins? Since they come from all around the world and whatnot.

I don’t have all of them fully detailed (I mean, the group of Bronzes we know), but I have the main five and Jabu with a bit more of an explanation behind their origins.  

[I made a digression on their Italian names here, you can skip if you’re not interested]

However, let me put a bit of a disclaimer here: part of this thing of “they have different nationalities” works really good for me because the have different names in the Italian dub, so I can avoid trying to explain why they all have Japanese names.  I am aware that people can have names of different origins (where’s the fun in naming a child if you’re not creative, come on), but this helps in adding a bit more diversity to these “orphans from mothers all around the world”. 

Three of the main five don’t have a name in the Italian dub (Seiya, Shun and Ikki are called like their constellations, which is ridiculous but what can I do about it, so they kept their OG names), but for clarity, here’s the name changes of the others. Obviously, the changed names have different meanings:

Shiryu : Sirio (which is the name of a star in Canis Major, also known as Sirius in latin). Technically an Italian name, since Sirio is the Italianization of Sirius. 

Hyoga: Crystal (or Cristal). I’m still convinced that they stole this from the Crystal Saint, it’s too funny. But, well, obviously you know what crystal means. Although, I believe it’s more of a girl name in English? I don’t know, names are weird. 

Seiya, Shun, and Ikki: Pegasus, Andromeda, and Phoenix. Unfortunately. So they keep their original names.

Jabu: Asher. According to the internet, it’s a name of Hebrew origins and it’s the name of the son if Israel in the bible. As a surname, it has different origins. 

Nachi: Black. You know what black means, so let’s move on. 

Ichi: Aspides. I don’t know if the inspiration was what I found, but aspides is the plural form of aspis, a wooden shield used in Ancient Greece. 

Geki: Gerki. Don’t know why this change was necessary. According to the internet this is just a rare surname, no meaning attached, a bit more common in the USA. 

Ban kept his name, and the name can also have origins in languages other than Japanese (such as Slavic origins or Hawaiian origins). I obviously searched on google, so I might not be correct. 

[End of the digression]

So, what are the origins of the Bronze Saints we know? Keep in mind: in my own headcanon (which is basically half-confirmed by whatever is going on in canon) Saints don’t have biological parents that are still alive. I think I elaborated on this on this blog, but I don’t remember. At some point or another, said parents passed away. 

Seiya is the only one I kept as Japanese. Also, it’s a good time to mention that, in my rant about Shun and Ikki, I forgot that Seiya has an older sister too (but hey, they forget her constantly, I can’t be blamed that much).  As the Italian dub calls Tokyo (a name that I adopted with the headcanon of it being a different city because Tokyo is the New York of anime and I’m tired of it), he was born in New Luxor (yeah, Nuova Luxor in the dub, I like it a lot :D )

Shiryu is Chinese. I really like the idea of him simply going back to his origins upon discovering his training place.  He was born in Pingyao, where there is one of the Nine-Dragon Walls. 

Hyoga is 100% Russian. Even though him being Kido’s son makes sense, I hate that old excuse of a man so here you go. Even if Natassia got pregnant on a one time thing, Kido can go cry his loneliness in his expensive pillows and stay away.  He was born in Oymyakon, the Russian settlement with the lowest registered temperatures ever. 

Shun and Ikki are German. I like to think this because of the whole backstory for Pandora, Shun and Ikki in the Hades Chapter. Since she is German, I liked the idea of her being chosen by the twin gods to find a vessel for Hades because she was actually pretty close to him already.  They were born in Munich. 

Jabu is Egyptian. This has a particular reason that came from both their early rivalry in the series and the Italian name for Tokyo. I wanted for there to be some sort of equivalence. He was born in Luxor (see what I did there).

Nachi is British, thanks to his Italian dub name “Black”. Kinda bizzarre, I know, but I couldn’t let go of the opportunity.  Never really thought about where he was born. 

Ichi is Greek, thanks to his Italian dub name “Aspides”.  Again, didn’t thin about his birth place. 

Ban could probably be Hawaiian (since his name has also Hawaiian origins if Internet didn’t lie to me), while I have no idea for Geki. Maybe he could be from the US, since the Italian dub name does exist in America. 

This, in my opinion, gives them a bit more diversity. It doesn’t make sense to me that all the other Saints have different nationalities, but the Bronze Saints are all Japanese save for Hyoga (who’s still half Japanese in the manga). Saint Seiya always struck me as something full of diversity, and I really don’t want them to be so monochromatic, artistically speaking. 

[ieatmypizzawithaforkandknife]

MAG 019 - Confession (part 1)

Summary: Jonathan reads the first half of the statement of Father Edwin Burroughs, regarding “his claimed demonic possession.”

Our first two-parter! Not that I realized that when I listened to the episode the first time, despite it being right there in the title, because I have the observational skills of a blind muskrat...but I’m excited because I know there will be more multi-parters in the future. I like the episodic format right now, but I know that as Things Begin To Happen, I’ll appreciate the increased breadth and depth of longer stories.

89 Bullingdon Rd is the third street address featured in the series so far, the other two being 93 Lancaster Rd in episode 5 and 105 Hill Top Rd in episode 8. Unlike the first two, however, this one actually exists - kind of. According to google maps, the house numbers on Lancaster Rd in Walthamstow run from about 1 to 85, and the numbers on Hill Top Rd in Cowley run from about 1 to 75. But 89 is right in the middle of the range of house numbers on Bullingdon Rd in Cowley, and while google maps says there’s an 89A but not an 89...it’s close enough. On one hand it’s super cool that these locations are relatively real (the towns are real, the streets are real, it’s just the exact buildings that aren’t). On the other hand 89A is a little too close to 89, and I wish Jonny had picked a number completely outside the range of addresses like he did with the first two, just to avoid crazy fans descending on real people’s houses.

It is definitely worth noting the proximity of 89 Bullingdon Rd to 105 Hill Top Rd. They’re only about half a mile (or about a kilometer, since this is in the UK after all) away from each other as the crow flies. And for both of them, the location itself seems to be tied to the paranormal happenings of the episode(s) they’re featured in. In episode 8, Ivo Lensik feels that unnatural burning start when he’s alone inside 105 Hill Top Rd, which stops as soon as Father Burroughs arrives. In this episode, Father Burroughs feels that same unnatural burning start when he’s alone inside 105 Hill Top Rd, and it only stops when Ivo uproots the tree. And in this episode, Bethany claims her problems are being caused by the Bullingdon Rd house itself, though she doesn’t explain what made her think that. But it’s very concerning that she can’t seem to see the only creepy thing about the house that we’re aware of: the old Latin word written in faded blue paint on the exposed wall.

The word “mentis” is Latin alright, but Father Burroughs translates it as “mind” which...isn’t quite right. “Mentis” doesn’t strictly mean “mind”, it means “of the mind”. The endings of Latin nouns change based on how they’re used in a sentence, so if you’re talking about the word “mind” as the subject of a sentence (or as the word in general) it is “mens”. “Mentis” is specifically the possessive form of the word. I don’t know whether this was deliberate or accidental on Jonny’s part, since if you look it up the dictionary entry shows “mens, mentis”. (It’s standard practice to include both the “subject” form and the “possessive” form in the dictionary since they’re different.) It makes me wonder if this word was part of a phrase and if there were other words hidden under the wallpaper. (Also, small shout-out to anyone reading this who is also a Latin geek, and I hope I explained it well enough that the non-Latin-geeks also understand that explanation.)

On the subject of language, this isn’t the first time Latin has appeared in connection with the paranormal. Ex Altiora, the Leitner found in episode 4, was written entirely in Latin (including the title), and the Lord’s Prayer was written in Latin on that long strip of singed paper found in the second trash bag in episode 5. It’s interesting that the same constellation of details from the trash bag incident are also in this episode: Latin, Christianity, and burning.

Latin isn’t even the only dead language to make an appearance this episode. When describing his experiences performing exorcisms at the beginning of the episode, Father Burroughs recounts: “I was once cursed at in Sumerian by a young man who was illiterate.” In episode 12, the phrase muttered by the hospitalized man that seemed to summon the “lightless flame” contained the word “Asag”, which is the name of a Sumerian demon that could boil fish alive in their rivers. Father Burroughs doesn’t appear in episode 12, but if he had been at that hospital, I think he would have pegged that guy as possessed and wanted to have an exorcism performed. So is there a connection between Sumerian and possession and burning? And how do all the different dead languages that have appeared so far (Latin, Sumerian, and Sanskrit) fit together?

I am also very interested in that nurse, Anna/Annie/Anne Kasuma/Willett. (Seriously, how many names does one person need?) For my purposes, I’m going to call her “Annie” because she seems to go by that. In this episode’s statement (made in 2011), Father Burroughs gives her surname as Willett, and in Jonathan’s wrap-up at the end of episode 8 (which he recorded in late 2015 or early 2016), Jonathan gives her surname as Kasuma. As an older, fairly conservative Catholic (she was a member of the congregation at Father Burroughs’ church, fully believed in demonic possession, etc.), it is highly unlikely that she changed her name for any reason other than marriage or divorce. Ivo Lensik described her as “Malaysian”, and Kasuma is an Indonesian name, whereas Willett is found overwhelmingly in predominantly white countries (the U.S., England, Australia, and Canada are at the top of the list of countries where the name is found). So it would make the most sense to me if Kasuma were her maiden name and Willett a married name. BUT when Jonathan mentions her in the wrap-up to episode 8, he calls her “Mrs. Kasuma”. Since everything else fits with the idea that Kasuma is her maiden name and Willett her married name, I’m thinking Jonathan just messed up the honorific, since he also referred to “Miss Popham” at the end of episode 15 when “Popham” was very clearly Laura’s married name. (This overly detailed surname analysis brought to you in part by my ongoing obsession with genealogy. If anyone reading this has anything resembling a passing interest in the subject, feel free to hit me up about it. I will gush.) All of that nitty-gritty was not without purpose: I think she’s important somehow. I could be reading too much into things, but why would Jonny give her a name change if it weren’t somehow important? Even I realized the nurse from episode 8 and the nurse from episode 19 were the same person on my first listen-through, when I missed or forgot 90% of the details in any given episode, so I don’t think he was trying to trip us up. And she has a direct connection to 105 Hill Top Rd: she grew up on that street, and had a lot of information on the property’s history dating back to before she was born, possibly indicating her family lived on that street even longer. But we haven’t met anyone else with either surname, so for now that’s where it stands: possibly a lead, muddled with a probable mistake.

I was so glad when Father Burroughs made the differentiation in this episode between perception and will: “Bethany told me that her will was still her own, but she could no longer trust her senses, and had found herself doing much that she did not understand.” She tried to eat a small slab of slate, and she apparently couldn’t perceive the word “Mentis” that was literally written on a wall. This might be the first time that the author of the statement calls attention to the recurring theme I’ve been calling “altered reality”. This “altered reality” is a heavy presence in the second part of this two-parter, but I’ll wait to talk about that in that episode’s post. Coupled with this “altered reality” is the “eating of something you really shouldn’t be eating”. In this episode, it’s Bethany trying to eat a slab of slate before being abruptly pulled back to reality by Father Burroughs, only then realizing what it was. Hinted at in this episode, and shown in more detail in the next one (minor spoiler, I guess?), is Father Burroughs eating human flesh and only realizing what it was when the police arrived. The only other time I remember these two themes working in tandem is in episode 3 when Graham Folger ate a notebook. No one stopped him or made him realize what he was doing, so we don’t know for sure that his reality was altered, but it makes the most sense to me that he, like Bethany and Father Burroughs, truly didn’t realize what he was doing. I’m not convinced that the events of this episode (and the next one) are actually related to the notebook incident in episode 3, but it’s an interesting parallel.

On a completely unrelated note, I’d like to talk a bit about Father Burroughs’ “possession” itself. First off, I get that Bethany saying “I’m so sorry...it wants your faith” was supposed to be an ominous line, but why is that the only thing she said throughout the entire attempted exorcism at the hospital? She couldn’t even say, “Hey, man, this isn’t working”? All she could do was look at him with pity and say that? I’d be OK with those being her only words if whatever was “possessing” her also affected her speech the way it did to Father Burroughs later...but she specifically established that she was free to speak and act as she wished, it was only at certain times that her perception of reality was altered. So I’m a little annoyed at her for not giving Father Burroughs (or us) any kind of useful warning or helpful information during the failed exorcism.

I was really confused by the apparent theft of the sacramental wine, too. What was the significance of that? Was it just an example of something weird Father Burroughs noticed that keyed him in to the fact that All Was Not Well, or was there something more to it? (This is only a semi-rhetorical question - if the answer to this was said outright or implied in this episode and it isn’t a post-S1 spoiler, please do fill me in. I sometimes miss stuff that’s super obvious to other people.)

I also find it interesting that he can say “God” towards the end of this episode. He stumbled over it, but by contrast he was completely unable to say “Lord” and “Jesus” at the very beginning. Not sure if this is significant, since there’s no real difference between the words “Lord” and “God” in my estimation. Jesus is specifically Christian, and while “Lord” tends to be associated with Christianity, it’s not exclusive. “God” is the most general of the three terms, yes, but in context he is very obviously referring to the Christian “God”, so his difficulty with getting certain words out isn’t based solely on their contextual meaning. Jonny could have written it without him getting out the word “God” at the end and I think most people listening would have understood that’s the word he was going for. It’s either some kind of clue, or Jonny just got sick of stuttering.

Father Burroughs’ call for protection is the point at which he knows something is Very, Very Wrong, as he feels his lips move even though he himself isn’t moving them. But, as with so many of these stories, Things Were Bad Long Before You Realized It. Bethany told him “it wants your faith” years before the Hill Top Rd incident. He himself admits that his pride led to his downfall, since he initiated an exorcism/blessing on Hill Top Rd when he wasn’t supposed to be doing them at all. But it wasn’t just his pride - it was something taking advantage of his pride. I think that, as much as any person can be, Father Burroughs was a victim of whatever possessed him. He made mistakes in his life - his sins, if you’re looking at it religiously, as he did - but he never wanted to be evil or commit crimes like cannibalism. Like the characters in so many of these stories, I don’t think he deserved what he got, and I mostly just feel bad for him.

His call for protection, he says, was answered by something that was not God, and when Jonathan reads the words that Father Burroughs’ lips were forming (“I am not for you. I am marked.”) we once again hear that creepy static or interference. And I still can’t decide if this is supposed to be some kind of clue or if it’s just to make things creepier. It feels like a clue, but I can’t figure out what exactly it’s supposed to mean. Most of the times I’ve noted it appearing (probably not a complete list - I’m working on it) it appears during a specific quoted phrase or instance of someone speaking: “Can I have a cigarette?” in episode 1. “Isn’t it funny, Amy, how you can live so near and never notice. I’ll need to return the visit someday” from not-Graham in episode 3. “Some hungers are too strong to be denied” from Angela in episode 14. Laura’s sister Elena asking her “how lost I was, in a low, grating voice” in episode 15. If the examples were limited to things like this, then I’d say that it occurs whenever some as-yet-undetermined otherworldly monster is given a human voice to speak through. But it also occurs the first time Ex Altiora is said in episode 4 and the first time The Boneturner’s Tale is said in episode 17, as well as two different moments during the recounting of the story inside TBT. So how is it connected to the Leitners? It didn’t occur when Jonathan read the title Key of Solomon in episode 4, which is implied to be a Leitner. And there’ve been a few other occurrences where something obviously supernatural is happening but that doesn’t involve speech or quoted words at all: When Laura describes the light changing from appearing like an approaching candle to sunlight (which it still wasn’t...) in episode 15, and when Jonathan reads the description of the bleeding books in episode 17 (”red dripped and pulsed from the cart”).

I don’t know what to make of the creepy static yet. But my specific concern with the most recent instance, when Father Burroughs “said” “I am not for you. I am marked” is: Who are the “I” and the “you” referring to? Is the “I” supposed to be Father Burroughs, or the thing “possessing” him? And who on earth is the “you”?

This post is part of a series where I write my thoughts about each episode and obsessively connect dots in an effort to figure out The Big Mysteries of the series. All posts in this series are tagged “is this liveblogging?” Comments and messages are welcome but I have only listened to season 1, so I ask that you not spoil me for anything beyond episode 40. In the words of Jonny Sims…thanks for listening!

[anaussiefan]

For the oc ask, if youre doing them

1. Why did you pick their name?

Sorry this took me like, two days (?) to answer, but I was trying to figure out which OCs of mine I wanted to answer this for, and then I also had to remember why I gave them the name I did,,,

Anyway ! I've decided I'll answer this for two, because I love them both very much and I couldn't pick between them!

This is Aaliyah! From my understanding, 'Aaliyah' means quite a few things in Arabic (either that or the websites I'm reading from just don't understand what the meaning is), however, two meanings I saw the most were 'exalted' and 'lofty'. According to Google, they both have two meanings, exalted meaning:

1. (of a person or their rank or status) at a high or powerful level

and 2. in a state of extreme happiness

and lofty meaning:

1. of imposing height

and 2. (of wool and other textiles) thick and resilient

I found these fitting, because Aaliyah is a very happy, care-free person, who also doesn't let negative things get her down. The in-universe reason for her getting named Aaliyah is that she was named after her great-grandmother, who was a very powerful woman who held control over the trade routes in her country for a good 25 years. So the first meanings apply to her great grandmother, whilst the second meanings apply to the current Aaliyah.

HOWEVER

Aaliyah tends to prefer being called Liyah (pronounced like 'Leah'), which, according to my research, means either "beautiful, wonder and light" or "gazelle, antelope, weary, and tired". I've also noted that gazelles have been used to symbolise female beauty. 'Leah' itself as a name is also said to mean "mistress, ruler, and meadow".

'Weary', 'tired' and 'meadow' don't necessarily tie in with her character much, though there may be a theme of deep-down weariness and exhaustion in her character arc, but that's uncertain at the moment. They do however tie in with the death I have in mind for her (which is more of an over planning thing, because she doesn't die in the plot, I just like to think of my character's futures after the stories are over).

'Mistress' and 'ruler' also tie in with her great grandmother.

(I also forgot to mention that the country that Aaliyah's family comes from is slightly inspired by Morocco, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, which is why I was looking for the Arabic meanings). (Also you'll probably noted that in one of the photos I have her last name as 'Ado', which I can't find a meaning for I just liked the way it sounded with her first name).

The second OC I wanted to talk about is Rikona Eguchi! She is from the same story as Aaliyah, and they are just two out of five main characters of the story (which is yet to be named btw, although I have "Revenge Will Be the Death of Me" as a sort of placed holder name, but it will be changed because I don't think it fits the tone of the story). I don't have as much to say about this one, the country she was born in is based off of Japan, so the names are Japanese, 'Rikona' meaning intelligence, and 'Eguchi' meaning mouth of the river. Rikona is a very smart character, and her family's home village was on the edge of a river near the shoreline, so I thought a surname that meant 'mouth of the river' was fitting.

That's all I really have to say on why I picked their names, thanks for the ask! I never really talk about my OC's because I never know where to start, so feel free to send as many questions about them as you want :D

OC ASKS

[more-stuff-of-pi]

Captain My Own Way

request: Can you do a Sawamura Daichi imagine where he’s dating the captain of the debate team and she’s having a hard time with her vice captain who thinks she only got the captainship because she’s a girl (the team is mostly boys) even though she’s hard working and smart so Daichi confronts the guy and she’s annoyed at him because she can handle it and he doesn’t understand because he’s trying to help and it’s the two of them working it out since they love and admire each other? {from @gloryofroses19​}

a/n: I know nothing about debate team and Google has failed me, so I apologize in advance but I did try my best :’( Thank you for the request (it’s my first one yay \(^ヮ^)/)! I hope it’s up to your liking :’)) We love and stan communication in this house

notes: y/s/n = your surname. requests are open :) find my masterlist here

pairing: sawamura daichi x fem!debate team captain!reader | genre: minor angst (w/lots of fluff) | warnings: swearing | word count: 1,856

“--and that’s why homework as a whole should be banned. For the benefit of students and teachers alike!” Otsuka rushed out his concluding sentence just as your phone’s timer went off.

“And time!” You stand up from where you and your vice captain, Masuda, had set up as a judges panel for the mock-debate. “Great work, Otsuka-kun! You played on logos for the majority of your argument but tying it all up with a call on pathos was a great way to conclude your counterpoint to Nomura’s argument. From the notes that Masuda and I took, I think we both agree that Otsuka-kun’s team won this debate.”

Annoyance rises in you as you struggle to maintain a light and positive composure while giving feedback to your team. The only tell was the slight twitch of your eye. Your vice had reluctantly grunted his agreement, arms crossed as he put in no effort to even pretend that he valued your opinion whatsoever.

“Nomura,” you refocused, “next time, for your conclusion, I think you should follow Otsuka-kun’s example and play more on the feelings of your audience! Empathy and sympathy are incredibly powerful emotions that can very well help decide someone’s position on an issue.” Nomura, the sweetheart that he is, smiles and nods shyly in response. You clap your hands, signaling the end of practice. “Okay! I’ll see you all on Friday for another mock-debate! I’ve managed to get Aoba Johsai to agree to a practice with us, so I expect you all to bring your best so that we can wipe the floor with them,” you grin proudly.

“What!” Kubo gasps. “How’d you do that?!”

You wink at her. “I’ve got my connections.”

“You’re so cool, Y/s/n-san!” Sugiyama whines, sweeping his things messily into his bag.

You grin, though, from the corner of your eye, you see Masuda give an exaggerated eye roll at your kouhais’ praise. He won’t let you have one goddamn thing will he.

As you neatly organize the files on your table, putting them away orderly, you occasionally break concentration to wave goodbye to the rest of the team filtering their way out of the classroom you all have been using as your club meeting space. As Ueno is the last one to leave, scrambling after Kubo and asking her on a date she always rejects, you’re left alone with Masuda. You feel like throwing up. It’s only been one full month since you’ve been the official captain of the Karasuno debate team and your vice has been doing a great job making your position a living hell.

“So, how did you manage to snag a practice debate, captain?” Masuda sneered.

You swallowed your desire to punch him square in the mouth and plastered on what you hoped to be a polite smile. “As I said, Masuda, I have connections in high places. They’re important in life’s work, you know.”

Masuda snorted. “They probably only agreed because you’re a girl and those are rare on debate teams.”

“Would you please stop talking about girls like we’re a rare species? Just because you aren’t well-acquainted with us does not mean that we don’t exist.” You mentally simultaneously kicked yourself for being such a smartass and gave yourself a fist bump for the same reason.

Masuda’s smirk fell to a glare. You only smiled brighter in response. Masuda huffed at you, grabbing his things and brushing past you as he left. “Bye, Masuda-kun! See you Friday!” you called cheerily, happy for the win.

For the past week it had been nothing but underhanded comments from him about how you supposedly got your position of captain due to your being a female. As far as you were concerned, you had worked your ass off for the past three years, jumping at any chance to make connections and help hoist up your ability as a debater and a leader. You were smart as hell and maintained your knowledge by reading up on as many current events as possible, so much so that you knew even the smallest of details that often go overlooked.

You were so frustrated over the blatant lack of respect your vice had for you, something which you constantly vented about to your boyfriend, Daichi. He knew the whole situation back and forth and oftentimes felt himself growing frustrated on your behalf, just like now when you recounted the events of your debate practice the next day at lunch.

“Is he an idiot, or something?” Daichi blurted as you told him about Masuda’s gestures.

You snorted, swallowing down a bit of food. “Must be.”

“I mean, does he not realize how hard you work? You’re incredible, baby girl, I just don’t get why he’s so adamant on tearing down your accomplishments.” Daichi’s eyebrows furrowed as he took a bite of beef.

Your heart warmed as a soft smile danced on your lips. “I love you.”

A blush rose on Daichi’s cheeks as he melted into a smile. “I love you, too.” He held your hand on the table, brushing his thumb across your knuckles. “Which is why I’m so frustrated for you. I wish I could help.”

“You being here and letting me talk to you about it is a big enough help as it is, so thank you.” You brought his hand to your lips as you pressed a gentle kiss to it. He turned his hand so that he held your cheek, his heart swelling with adoration. You lost yourself in his gaze before checking your phone for the time and suddenly yelping. Daichi jumped, pulling his hand away.

“Oh! I almost forgot, I have to call Seijoh to confirm for tomorrow!” You quickly swept up your things, cleaning up your half-eaten lunch. As you walked backwards hurriedly, you asked, “I love you, I’ll see you tonight?”

“I’ll see you tonight!” Daichi called after you, watching you turn on your heel and almost run to complete your task. There you go, working so hard again for the team you cared deeply for. Daichi knew how hard it was to be a captain and also how diligent you were. And smart. And kind. You did so much for your team and it angered Daichi to no end that anyone (and your vice no less!) would reduce your captainship to something as trivial as your gender. And Daichi knew that his anger had helped put people in line before. Maybe he could use it to help you…

•·················❁·················•

Daichi bounded down the stairs, opening the front door to welcome you inside for your study date. He was admittedly a little worried seeing as your text had read a simple ‘here’ which might not mean much to anyone else but Daichi knew you and knew that you always liked to text ‘here (* ^ ω ^)’ or even a simple ‘here!’.

“Hi, baby,” Daichi greeted, smiling brightly as he opened the door. That smile never failed to make your heart skip a beat, one of the many reasons that you loved him, though in that moment you couldn’t help but be annoyed with your wonderful boyfriend.

“Hi,” you returned, albeit a little coldly. You toed off your shoes and slipped into the slippers that you kept at his place. Thrown off by even the lack of a hello kiss, Daichi watched as you shuffled your way up to his room. Shaking his head, he closed the door and followed you. There was no doubt in his mind now that you were annoyed with him.

He hesitantly joined you at his usual place by your side on his floor during your Thursday evening study dates. You were steadfastly ignoring him, practically burning holes into your textbook rather than looking at him. Seeing as you were intent to keep doing so, Daichi sighed and set to work on his own homework, hoping to give you some time to tell him what had you so irritated.

He didn’t have to wait long. 

“Sawamura Daichi,” you prefaced, closing your textbook with a resounding thud, “I love you--”

“But?” He ventured.

“--and,” you emphasized with a pointed look, “I love that you want to help me, really, I do. But sometimes I’d rather take care of it myself.

“But he’s been bothering you for a whole month, baby, I wanted--” He stopped when you lifted up your hand.

“Please, just… let me finish.” You looked at him, hurt evident in your eyes. Upset that he would ever be the reason for it being there, he nodded and let you carry on. “I know you just wanted to help but if I needed it, I would have asked you for it, babe. I knew something was up when Masuda was late today because, as much as he is a giant jerk, he cares for this team as much as I do, just in his own way. He went off about how my ‘volleyball captain boyfriend’ cornered him and lectured him half to death about how to treat his ‘extraordinary debate team captain’. I know you did it because you thought you were helping, but next time, please just let me handle it.”

“I don’t understand, Y/n,” Daichi began, eyebrows knitted as he looked at you, “I thought I genuinely was helping. Since he clearly doesn’t listen to someone as intelligent and diligent as you, I thought maybe I could -- I don’t know -- that maybe I could intimidate him into being respectful.” You chuckled at that. The sound relieved a bit of the tension between Daichi’s brows, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I just-- It hurts so much seeing you frustrated because someone isn’t recognizing all that you do. I wanted to help and I thought I did. But I only end up upsetting you,” he frowned.

You sighed, picking up his hand and playing absentmindedly with his fingers. “I know, Daichi, I know. But what I’m getting at is that I wanted to handle it in my own way. I admire your ability as a captain and I admire how you lead your team and I admire how you’re able to wrangle them and straighten them out--,” Daichi let out a low chuckle, “--but I want to be able to captain my team in my own way. You and I are different people and that translates into how we lead. Does that make sense?”

“I think so,” he nodded. “You’re upset that I stuck my nose where it didn’t belong?” He squeezed your hand, smiling, assuring you that he truly did understand now and that he was only teasing.

“Essentially,” you laughed, the annoyance from before now fully replaced with the satisfaction of being with the one you loved most. “Thank you for wanting to help but next time ask me if I want it first, okay?”

“Okay.” Heat rose to your cheeks as Daichi lifted your hand, pressing a kiss onto the back of it, mimicking what you had done earlier that day. “I love you, Y/n.”

“And I love you,” you leaned in for a kiss, “Sawamura Daichi.”

•·················❁·················•

Needless to say, you both forgot about studying.

taglist: @samwrights​

[grayintogreen]

For that ask meme, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Cree specifically. Because I love how you write her (and the other TT)

Why I like them I... have a massive, massive love for characters who are defined by their extreme devotion, especially to a person. And I love clerics who skew darker than the typical interpretation of a cleric (hence my love for Jayne). And blood clerics are just AWESOME.

Also CAT LADY.

Why I don’t I wish she had more screentime!! That's not a good answer. There's really nothing I don't like about her, because she simply didn't have enough screentime. Her insane devotion to Lucien is one of the reasons WHY I love her. Even if I think she deserves better and gurl come on.

Favorite episode (scene if movie) I'm interpreting this question for a stream as "scene" and the next question as "episode."

I love that conversation she has with Fjord, where Fjord decides to be honest with her, and she's just so sad and miserable about it... and then suddenly she turns on a dime and is like "perhaps your carelessness killed him" (paraphrased) in this really threatening tone. I never forgot that and even back then I was like "oh y'all gonna regret leaving that loose end."

And they DID.

Favorite season/movie Fleeting Memories is an obvious one, since it's her introductory episode and we got a lot of her in it. But I also love Fair-Weather Faith for all the stuff in the tower and the dragon fight. (Her following Caduceus around was adorable, though I'm 85% sure she was following him because she recognized him as the most observant and was trying to distract him from seeing Otis stealing Fjord's bag.)

Favorite line God I don't want to google it, but her line to Caduceus in FWF that was like "Clever of you to bring protection from ice... I like to bring its enemy" before unleashing Firestorm. Like that is some girlboss shit.

Favorite outfit THE ONLY OFFICIAL ART OF HER ONLY HAS HER IN ONE THING. I like her little Catholic monk robes though.

OTP OH GEE I WONDER. I FUCKING WONDER.

I'm Creecien trash and will always be. Let me live.

Brotp I love her relationship with Tyffial AS I SEE IT. And I love writing her and Caduceus together. And I need to write her and Caleb together more, because I think they could be bros in at least two stories once she's done with being jealous.

Head Canon EVERYTHING I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT CREE IS HEADCANON. ALL OF IT.

My personal favorites:

-She's a bloodworker prodigy -She was a servant from age 2-12 for a Marquesian drug runner for the Clasp's daughter. - Her name is short for "Creek" because that's where she was bought from. Lucien gave her the surname "Deeproots" because of her loyalty.

Unpopular opinion I think liking her as much as I do is fairly unpopular since the Aeor arc was not anyone's favorite until the end of it, I think.

But also shipping her with Lucien, probably. /waves hands I can think she deserves better while also writing trash, and also I have a thousand complicated AUs where Lucien has to make it up to her that are extremely self-indulgent.

A wish Normally this is where I would say "TOMBTAKER ORIGIN STORY" but I'm so attached to MINE that I'm like "what if not...??" I still also want it, though, because A COMIC OF THE TOMBTAKERS WOULD MAKE ME SO HAPPY.

Look, man. Being adherent to canon and not wanting to be jossed is a tough life. I wrote 70k of Tombtakers origin story and could probably expand it to 170k if left to my own devices. I have a lot of feelings.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen While I would be really happy with a comic to joss me completely, because I'd get pretty art, I think a novel of Tombtakers origin story would absolutely destroy me. Like I'd love it and cherish it, but it would be rough. See previous point.

Also Matt don't confirm that Lucien and Cree never fucked, because while I WILL ignore THAT, I would rather just never know for certain.

5 words to best describe them Loyal, devoted, religious, calm, composed

(She's Lucien's exact opposite. I love it.)

My nickname for them I mean I call her "my sweet baby girl who never did anything wrong" (thanks Aabria) and "my daughter." But those aren't exclusive to her.

[urmomsstuntdouble]

so a while ago i made a post with the signatures i made for the characters in 1836, and i was kinda having a lot of fun with it, so i decided to make signatures for all the hetalia characters (im totally not procrastinating with the intensity of the sun rn wym). so here they are, with the names closest to canon that i could find. my commentary is also interspersed. anywho here’s the signatures!

so this first page is of the characters whose names are in latin and cyrillic, the scripts i feel comfortable writing in. this is 99% europeans, plus the us, canada, and cuba. this is alphabetized by the name of the country the character repesents but not their actual human name because im a dumbass, except for the last three, which are russia, belarus, and ukraine. belgium doesn’t have a canon last name, so i deferred to netherlands’ surname for her. denmark’s name here is magnus densen, which is the only full name given in canon. there are other potential first names and last names given for him (none of which are mathias kholer btw) but seeing as magnus densen is the only actual full name, that’s the one i decided to go with. i also used erzebet as hungary’s name, and beilshmidt for germany (who doesn’t have a canon last name but you know. siblings with prussia), tolys for lithuania, timo for finland, antoño for spain (more old fashioned than antonio), vash for switzerland, and irinya chernenko for ukraine. 

this second one is mostly asian countries with scripts that i dont know how to write in/am not comfortable writing in. for most of the asian countries, and egypt, it’s common to use signet rings as a form of signature. im not confident in my ability to create unique signets for all of them and in five different languages that i niether speak nor know the script for, so i left that out. egypt’s official name is gupta mohammad hassan, but since the p sound doesn’t exist in modern egyptian arabic, i decided it wouldn’t make sense for him to have gupta as one of his names. while he would probably speak coptic, i doubt that many members of the government or even your average egyptian who’d be seeing his name on official papers (cops if he gets pulled over for speeding, personal credit card, etc) would be able to pronounce it. coptic is sort of in the same boat as latin with its status as a dead language that some people speak as a second language, and i don’t think there have been any native speakers for a few hundred years. for greece, i gave him both a roman and greek signature, because im a bit more familiar with the greek script than any of the asian ones. seychelles is included here rather than on the latin only sheet because she doesn’t have a canon surname. making it bonnefoy is a bit weird imo and not logically consistent with how former colonies names work in canon (look no further than any character from the americas), so i gave her my own. her name here is michelle vinot. hong kong also has his english name, leon, next to his cantonese name, but i wasn’t sure if he had an english surname, so i just left it as a first name (he’s already got a cantonese surname so i didn’t think an english one was necessary). anyway uh final note is that i hope taiwan and hong kong’s signatures are different enough from china’s bc i wanted them to be somewhat similar, but with varying degrees of divergence from china. 

anyway that’s all i have for now, i hope these were cool! ta ta for now

edit: i tried tagging them in the order they appear (in case you cant read one of them) but apparently theres a limit to how many tags you can put on a post, so they’re under the cut now 

america/alfred f jones

austria/roderich edelstein

belgium/emma morgens

canada/matthew williams

cuba/máximo machado

denmark/magnus densen

england/arthur kirkland

estonia/eduard von bock

finland/timo väinämöinen

france/francis bonnefoy

germany/ludwig beilshmidt

hungary/erzebet héderváry (forgot the accent marks on the actual signatue)

iceland/emil steilsson

lithuania/tolys laurinaitis

liechtenstein/lily zwingli

latvia/raivis galante (end of 1st sheet left column)

monaco/lucille bonnefoy

norway/lukas bondevik

poland/feliks łukasiewicz

prussia/gilbert beilshmidt

romano/lovino vargas

spain/antoño fernandez carriedo

sweden/berwald oxtenstierna

switzerland/vash zwingli

veneziano/feliciano vargas

russia/ivan braginsky/Иван Брагинскы

belarus/natalya arlovskaya/Наталыа Арловскаыа

ukraine/irinya chernenko/ириныа черненко (end of 1st sheet right column)

china/wang yao/王瑤 (i used google translate for this. i apologise. also used the traditional option)

egypt/muhammad hassan/محمد حسن (arabic from google translate)

greece/herakles karpusi/Ηρακλής καρπούζι (greek from google translate)

hong kong/wang ka lung | leon/王家龙 (simplified chinese from google translate)

japan/honda kiku/本田菊 (from google translate)

south korea/im yong soo/ 임수용 (hangul from google translate)

seychelles/michelle vinot

tawian/lin xiao mei/林小梅 (simplified chinese from google translate)

turkey/sadik adnan/صادق عدنان (arabic from google translate. the turkish alphabet is very similar to the latin one and not all turks use arabic to sign their names, however, it was common for sultans and other members of the upper class to have very elaborate signets called tughras which used arabic calligraphy. i feel like a country would have something about as fancy, and that turkey is the sort of guy who would want one, so here’s his name in arabic. idk that he’d use it all that much these days, but woo! history!)