#i'm very grateful to the team who worked to translate it

[probablygayattorneys]

Now that I've finished Kat's anime, I want to highlight these two specific moments from the final episode.

These are two beliefs that I hold very strongly, and I rarely see them expressed well, so I want to talk about them for a second.

The first one, being the idea that we do not stand where we are on our own. This is something that I think about a lot because of my sexual orientation and gender identity. There's certainly still a long way that we have to go, but I was able to come out at 16 because of the progress that was made by those who came before me. It is only because of those who were brave enough to stand up when it wasn't safe that there's a world where it's (more) safe. I live in a country where I can marry whoever I want and was enabled to ask for my pronouns on my nametag at work because of the bravery of those who came before. Of course, things aren't perfect. There is still so much to do. But that's for me to do. I owe it to the memories of those who came before me and to the dreams of those who will come after to continue the fight. The anime ended up being a beautiful example of that, and of the idea that we have to, one day, pass things onto the next generation.

Which brings me to my second thing. "The power of friendship" is, admittedly, a bit trite. This is ultimately a kid's show. But it would have been so easy for them to paint it as a mystery that Professor Layton was able to solve all on his own, that he didn't need anyone, because he's so smart. (You see that a lot in adaptions of Sherlock Holmes, but that's a rant for another time.) But they didn't. This puzzle, like most of them, were solved by working together. I made a post when I completed all of the puzzles in Kat's game that was kind of about this, but there's a quote from Newsies that I love that applies here: being boss doesn't mean you have all the answers, just the brains to recognize the right one when you hear it. It's not about being the smartest person in the room, it's about teamwork and delegating and everyone working together. I know I've posted multiple times before about how most episodes of the anime simply come down to love, and I stand by it. No man is an island, after all, and when we care about each other and the bonds that we form together, we succeed together. While maybe a little cliché, I found the anime to be a touching meditation on that.

[tanoraqui]

Dungeon Meshi Liveblog: Izutsumi! and Elves

Chilchuck my love, you so fucking asked for that one.

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You woke him from his nap!!

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Asfslkfjsk was the fact that Senshi accidentally made this guy in the show? I don't remember it.

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I love how this fight showcases how fast Izutsumi is. Girl's got a Dex of like 22.

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Fuckin' tragic that this is just a chapter cover and they never actually, so far as I'm aware, dress in sheepskins the way they dressed in frogskins.

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Not to be Edgy(TM) but I'm pretty sure that by this definition, humans, especially magic-users, are also "monsters."

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The green-growing, snow-free cavern with the barometz suddenly appearing is I'm pretty sure the most blatant the dungeon has been so far about giving people what they want - except possibly for this usually hot & humid floor being freezing in the first place, just because Laios said he didn't like the heat.

I hope it keeps doing this sort of thing after he becomes king. I know that's not how this works but god I love a sentient land, especially one that tries to accommodate its people. Alas that this one's all a honey trap for flies.

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It's very clear to me that, while Izutsumi may genuinely prefer to avoid strenuous effort, either physical or emotional, most of her argument with Marcille in this chapter is about her testing the boundaries of the group's tolerance for her. Where she was before, they'd tell her, "You'd think you could be a little more grateful to us for taking you in." And this is a philosophy that Tade, Izutsumi's closest friend and the one other subordinate-due-to-species person among them, bought into:

Izutsumi was skeptical...but that's still what she lived with. Until now, with this new group, where she's getting mixed messages - or, what feels like mixed messages, between what the group does and says and what she thinks they're saying based on her past experience.

Chilchuck calls her a beast, then basically has her act as distracting bait for a dangerous period of time while the rest of the party (is busy being injured or tending to the injured) does nothing to help, and all Chilchuck does to help Izutsumi kill the ice golem is mark its weak point for her. But then he compliments her skills, apologizes for being rude, and gives her her own pack and bedroll, truly welcoming her to the group. And when she remarks sarcastically that nobody cares about a beast being naked, Marcille only redoubles her efforts to help her keep her modesty, while the others bind Laios's eyes because he's the one who's going to Make It Weird - not Izursumi. Laios stays blindfolded throughout the steam bath scene because the party respects Izutsumi as a person.

So then she starts that fight over food, partly because she genuinely doesn't want to eat gross things - and more importantly, doesn't want to risk becoming even more a monster than most people already view her. But also because she wants, perhaps subconsciously, to see what happens when she's "supposed" to be a "team member" now but she disobeys the more senior members of the group.

This chapter threads two needles, builds two distinctions: between "earning your place" and "pulling your fair weight", and between "doing things you don't like for others (on their orders/for their goals)" and "doing things you don't like for you (for your own goals)." I think it...could do better at it? Like, Tade is kinda failing at step 1, because it's not clear to me that she realizes needing to "be useful" in order to stay is inherently fucked up. But she DOES think of that as her personal goal, even if it's actually externally imposed, and she's okay with putting in hard, sometimes unpleasant work in order to achieve it.

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Kabru internally, triumphantly: CAHOOOOOOOOTS!

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{fond sigh} the Elves from the West on their white ships with avian figureheads... They may be dicks, but we do love a Tolkien reference.

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CANARIES IN THE COAL MINE. I have NO idea if that translation is intended but my god I love it. If it's deliberate, is it a subversion of that concept or is it an indication of what the Elvish government thinks of their crack team of dungeon-delvers?

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BIGGEST, BLUEST EYES OF PERFECT* HONESTY*...followed by the visible pupils of honest evasion. Man, I'm really enjoying the Shuro-Kabru dynamic here, too? Shuro like, "Don't bullshit me. I'm a prince. I'm willing to help, but I know a politician when I see one." They vibe, your honor. They bonded over one of the weirdest and most traumatic meals of both their lives.

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LMAOOOO. This was NOT in the show!

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I love how Namari greets him excitedly and immediately asks for news of Falin, and Shuro says nothing but, really, everything; and Namari changes the subject to something lighter that's still gossip about their friends. I don't really expect it to happen but I'd LOVE to see the whole old Touden party reunite in battle or just around a campfire again, because it's clear they were a very good party of dungeon-competent people who worked and got along well together.

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Srsly though the opening view of this scene is such eloquent dynamic-establishing, vis a vis the elves relationship with the Island Lord and, well, everyone else here. We heard people muttering nervously in the streets, we heard Kabru's brief but heartfelt story of Utaya... And now we get this:

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The words of a man who would definitely for sure not have a single problem, not a one!

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Wait, what shady side business did Shuro have?! I love that Chilchuck is objectively the most reputable person in the party... Except really he fits in with the others: I bet a lot of parties don't want to hire That Bitchy Pushy Halffoot, any more than they want to hire an Easterner with weird vibes or the daughter of an infamous thief. (Or a mysterious elvish mage who won't explain her real reasons for wanting to explore dungeons, but Marcille would've joined the Touden party anyway, for Falin.)

It shows how Laios's trust of others pays off just as often as it doesn't.

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THIS IS IT, THIS SORT OF IMAGINE SPOT IS WHY I LOVE KABRU VERY MUCH.

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THE WORDS OF A MAN WHO WILL DEFINITELY FOR SURE NOT HAVE A SINGLE PROBLEM, NOT A ONE!

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...hot.

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kitty cat

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I like how this sort of comment is obviously genuinely hurting Laios, and Chilchuck does kinda genuinely mean it, but also he's saying it more reflexively than anything. Laios says or does something Particularly Fucking Weird; Chilchuck comments and keeps going along with him. I do look forward to Chilchuck growing accepting of Laios's weirdness rather than just resigned, but it's a good character beat all around.

[the-wanderer16]

Loooonnnng post incoming... also, to the Spanish anon if you're here, appreciate your help if you could sight any incorrect translation. I'm forever indebted to your kind support 🙏🏻

Ps: I have included an image of the original text and the reply from Ingrid 🫶🏻 I swear they are just tooooo sweet for my heart 🤩🥰

From Mapi's IG

What I needed to tell you (Part 1):

A different kind of season has ended for me, full of learning, a lot of hard work and lots of love from my loved ones because they have had to take care of me in a way that I haven't needed in a long time.

I am very grateful to everyone who has made it possible for me to be back on the field, but I have to make some special mentions.

To my parents who came and took care of me practically every day since I was injured, perhaps you will say that it is normal because they are my parents, but all the affection and love they have given me, I am sure that without them it would have been much more complicated. THANK YOU, I couldn't have better parents. ❤️

And to you, Ingrid, for taking care of me, putting up with me, being there every day and giving me strength even though the season has been very intense for everyone and you already had enough with taking my position, I hope I have helped you "with my tricks" 😉😊 THANK YOU my heart. 🩷

During this time in which I have not traveled with the team, I have had much more time to spend with my friends, who have been an escape and a lot of laughter that I am infinitely grateful for because sometimes we forget that life too is just this, spending time with your loved ones and enjoying that company that we miss so much because of our profession but that is obviously what we choose because it is what we love, our beloved football. So THANK YOU friends, for being there, I feel very lucky to have you. 🧡

Bagheera I love you very much, you have been my best company 🖤

And I know it has nothing to do with this but I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who congratulated me on my birthday. I'm a bit of a mess with messages and I haven't responded yet. I have it in mind but just in case, thank you all very much. 🥰🙏🏻

pps: Alsoooo... the look on Ingrid's face in the video 😅 She looked😒 I bet she's saying "really now? you are going to take a video again?" 🤣🤣

[1000sunnygo]

The Three Captain's Interview (2021) : Hiroshi Kamiya as Law (Translated)

Awfully late to the party again. Here's a partial translation of the "Three Captains QnA" interview conducted in 2021 to celebrate the 100th volume of One Piece. I think most readers already accessed the translation via auto translator, or maybe someone translated already (in that case, ignore this)

I didn't find any available translation so I'm putting all of Hiroshi Kamiya's answers here. Just in case you don't know, Kamiya san in Law's voice actor. His answers were particularly long and informative, so I focused only on him.

Starts below the cut!

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Q. How did you feel when you got the role?

- The casting of Namikawa san (Eustass Kidd) and I was triggered by the work "Ilya no Sora, UFO no Natsu", in which Namikawa san played the role of a timid boy in junior high school and I was a sharp-tongued senior. Hiroaki Shibata, who was the producer of that work, later became the producer of One Piece and then approached us.

I understood the flow of the process and was grateful for the offer, but both Namikawa san and I were good at giving higher pitched voices at that time. So, to be honest, we had absolutely no idea what he had in mind when he cast us. But since I was approached and I had no choice but to give it a go, I gave the character a rough, low-pitched sound that didn't go well with my personal theme but matched the character's appearance; and they gave me an OK...

But, adding a personal note, I voiced an unnamed role 'Pirate A' all the way back in the first episode. I had a few more roles afterwards, and eventually I was given the role 'Eddy' in the Sky Island Arc. After a short interval, I was very happy to be chosen for a major role with the name 'Law' and as a rookie with over a hundred million bounty like Luffy.

By nature, the sounds I make don't have a distinct quality, so I didn't have much of a chance to be cast in "ONE PIECE" filled with unique characters. But thinking about it, Law doesn't really have any outstanding feature either (laughs). Regardless, I am very grateful that I was selected out of all other choices.

(T/N: I made a separate post about Kamiya san's roles in one piece here.)

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Q. Did you have any specific thoughts or feelings while playing in One Piece?

- I really wanted to play Law as a child. The past with Corazon is inseparable from the present Law, isn't it? Since Law at the moment is here because of that past, I really wanted to incorporate the childhood Law into my character.

Also, in the long history of One Piece, Luffy is the only male character who is played by the same actor for both his adult and child versions. There had never been a male voice actor who had the chance, so I had a personal ambition to set a precedent. The moment I found out that Law's past was going to be portrayed, I made a blunt confession that I absolutely wanted to play the (child Law) role. I later auditioned and was hired.

When the time came to record the episodes of Law's past and I was given a script with "Law, Hiroshi Kamiya" right next to Luffy, it meant a lot to me. Seeing the senior members of the One Piece cast team playing the main characters and monopolizing the studio microphones, I had always wanted to play as a main character in the same place someday. Unfortunately, I never had the chance, so, that time it felt like a dream come true.

I think this, too, was possible because it's a story created by Oda sensei. To begin with, it's rare for me to put up my hand to take an initiative by myself. The possibility of trying out a role and then people thinking "Totally off, this shouldn't be their voice at all" - is terrifying, isn't it? I'm a person lacking self-confidence, yet, Oda sensei created a work that moved my heart and made me feel like I wanted to express my tone, and thus I was able to have such a joyful experience. So, once again, I think One Piece is amazing.

(T/N: Kamiya san talking about voicing young Law in a different interview can be found here.)

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Q. Impression of the character you're currently playing?

- I think he's a man with a deep sense of responsibility. After all, the alliance was originally formed to defeat Doflamingo by taking advantage of Luffy's desire to beat the 'Emperors', and now even after defeating him, they're still working together. That makes him an honest guy who keeps his words.

That said, he's the captain of the Heart pirates. I think he wants to reciprocate the feeling to the crew that follows him with a belief that he's the best in the world. That's why when he said "I hate breads!" and the Straw hats kept pulling him like "you're one of us too!" (laughs), he kept holding his stance, "I'm NOT gonna go that way!"

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Q. Thoughts on Mayumi Tanaka as Luffy?

- I saw Mayumi san leading the anime like a boss from the moment Luffy came out of the barrel shouting "I SLEPT WELL!" in episode 1. The fact that it continues to go strong and become more popular with the viewers to this day - is truly amazing.

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Q. Thoughts on Daisuke Namikawa as Kidd?

- I think Namikawa san is ridiculous! After all, back at that time he would only play characters with meek voices, I really thought he didn't have the voice range to be entrusted with such a dynamic role. I think he threw his own persona away to play Kidd.

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Q. Do you think it's possible to win against Kaidou?

- It has to be. I think Luffy would be able to beat him with something beyond Law's strategy. To Law, Luffy is the one person that can create unexpected circumstances. I believe their actions would blossom meaningfully in future.

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Source: @Eiichiro_staff (search up the hashtag #三船長QA on Twitter)

[ficjoelispunk]

Ch 11 - Love & Hate

You can find all the chapters available here

<< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >>

A/N: HEY GUYS! I was very anxious for this chapter. I received help from a genuinely kind person, she made the revisions for me and the corrections in this chapter... I’m so grateful, @angelofsmalldeath-codeine you’re amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So, basically this chapter will be more pleasant to the reader, without grammatical errors due to translation. I hope you like it. ❤️

The Cali cartel wouldn't let it slide. They would respond accordingly.

A single slip on a whim was enough. Pablo's mother went to church on Christmas Eve. The Castaño brothers managed to follow her and attack Pablo's family forcing hem to flee.

Pablo would be against attacking. It was just a matter of time. And a war would start on the streets of Medellín. Sooner or later.

You just received a letter informing that Blackie's girlfriend's family had been murdered. It was Christmas Eve. They killed a pregnant woman. Pregnant. Los Pepes acted again.

You asked Trujillo to deliver the letter to Peña. You didn't want to have to see him.

"¿Estás bien?" Trujillo asked.

“I don't want to see this kind of thing anymore..." your eyes were full of tears.

You left the department as fast as you can. You warned Javier that this would get out of control. If you saw him, you would end up losing your mind.

"Esto acaba de llegar" Trujillo delivers the letter to Javier.

He closes his eyes after reading the information. Knowing that you saw that.

"Esto se está saliendo de control, Peña"

Javier runs his fingers down his chin. He reaches for his gun and leaves.

He goes to the crime scene. The place is quiet, just the noise of the team collecting evidence, death scattered throughout the room in the house. All dead. Blood.

***

It was already late at night, you are reading, the dim light of the lamp next to your bed, with a baby pink nightgown, with lace on the hems and neckline.

You hear someone knocking on the door of your accommodation.

You frowned. You hesitated.

Three more beats.

You get up and walk to the door.

Javier Peña, propped up with his big hands on the frame of your door.

You freeze at the sight of him . It takes a few minutes to process, and remember how to speak.

"What are you doing here?"

Javier's eyes dance on your body from head to toe. Seeing you with this night gown falling on the curves of your body was the only thing that could turn off his mind.

"Can I come in?"

"No. What do you want?"

Javier's eyes were deep. And you knew that in addition to the lust that waved at you, he was sadder than indecency.

"Enter"

You turn your face away, letting the air out through your mouth.

"No, I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to see you, and first of all, I'm just doing what you asked me to do"

"I..." Javier hesitates "I just wanted to talk"

You look at him.

"You're stinking of cigarettes and exhaling alcohol from your pores" you try to argue.

Anything not to have him in your room, because you know where it would end.

"Please, it's Christmas"

"So what? Do I look like Mrs Claus or something ?"

Javier stares at you. And you know he wouldn't get out of there if you didn't give in.

You roll your eyes. And pushes the door making room for him to pass.

"Thank you" Javier comes in.

It was stupidly ridiculous how you always ended up doing what he wanted. You close the door, and turn to Javier crossing your arms.

"What do you want to talk about?"

That was a good question.

Javier was watching your room. He walked to the bedside table, reached the book you were reading. Killing time. The last time he was in your dorm you were missing.

The truth is that not even Javier knew exactly what he was doing there. After leaving the crime scene. It was as if his head was connected to yours by an invisible wire, which pulled him to you. He just needed to be with you.

You were like a refuge for him in stressful times and shitty days at work. It was you who could turn off the noise of the world around. You were someone that made him comfortable. He wanted to be with you. He wanted to be part of you.

His legs automatically walked to your door. He didn't know exactly what to say, how to say it, but he wanted to be with you.

He scratched his nose, ran his fingers through his mustache. The hand on his waist, while looking at you.

"I didn't regret it," he said.

You frowned confused.

"What?"

"In the cleaning room, you said I regretted getting involved with you," he explained, "I didn't regret it"

You're froze for a while.

Javier Peña listened to you after all.

His eyes begin to dance on you, your hair stuck in a messy bun at the top of your head, go down your neck, your collarbone, the volume of your tight breasts in your arms crossed in front of your body. The curve of your hip contrasting with your waist. Your bare legs.

Javier runs his tongue through his lips. You were mouth-watering. He looked at you with devotion.

You blink a few times trying to concentrate.

"And what does that mean?"

Javier sighs.

"I just didn't want you to think you didn't mean anything to me. Because..." he hesitates "you do mean something to me”

What was going on?

"Look, Javier, I don't want you to think that just because we have sex you owe me something. I just want you to respect me"

"I respect you"

"You avoid me, and pretend I'm invisible if I arrive too fast not giving you a chance of you running away at the first opportunity"

Javier closes his eyes, and presses his fingers over them.

You were right. From the moment he realized the effects you had on him. From the moment he realized that he didn't want to and couldn't get involved with another woman, no matter how much he tried. That if he was with another woman, it was you he was thinking of .

An idiotic defense mechanism began to whistle and take control of his attitudes towards you. Out of fear. Afraid of what he was feeling.

"I'm sorry" Javier's voice was low and low.

You frowned again, tilting your body slightly forward towards him.

"Who are you? And what did you do with Javier Peña?"

He smiles blandly.

"I'm serious," he stares at you.

You sigh.

“You're sorry, Javier, you don't owe me anything”

He nods. And he stays silent for a while. Making you anxious. Uncomfortable. You didn't know what to expect.

"Where do you intend to go with this conversation?"

"I don't know what I'm doing, but the only thing I know for sure is that I'd like to be with you, I'd like to be good to you"

"So you want to be with me, be good to me, telling me to disappear? I can't understand you"

"I just wanted to keep you away..."

Your mouth opens in surprise, Javier was talking about feelings, obviously the effect of alcohol.

"Well, then, congratulations, you did it"

"I don't want to hurt you"

"Javier, I'm already hurt, mentally and physically"

He stared at you, frowning. There was silence for a while.

Slowly Javier begins to walk towards you.

His big and firm hands sliding through the greeting of your arms.

You drown into the puppy's eyes as he stares at you. He approaches by reducing the distance between you.

"I tried to ignore it. Pretend it was just an attraction. But nobody’s made me feel that way..."

Javier's fingers slide the strap of your night gown down your shoulders. Chills run through your body. You are unable to move.

"Nothing has this effect you have on me"

Javier's fingers slid smoothly along the contour of your face.

"Javier, you just want sex" you held his fists.

"Maybe. But I want it with you, only you"

You feel a knot in your stomach, it seemed like you were being hit by something right in the middle of your chest.

"You're drunk"

"I'm telling the truth"

You looked at him over his eyelashes.

"You made me sad, you wanted to make me sad, you left me alone" your voice was a whisper.

Javier slides his fingers into the curve of your breasts, your hardened nipples mark the fabric of your nightgown, you feel your mound throbbing.

"I'm sorry"

His fingers come down sliding your breast and you stiffen. Close your eyes.

"You only look for me when you need to forget the shit you're doing" you hesitate when you no longer feel his fingers caressing your body, opening your eyes.

"You make me feel good" he holds your chin.

"Where do you want to go with this?"

You weren't able to process what was happening. The things Javier was talking about. What was the point of that?

Javier leans over you towards your lips. Warm hands around your face, you close your eyes. Your noses leaning against each other.

"I want you" he whispers.

Your breathing is irregular. Your head seems to be foggy. Nothing is clear. It's all messed up.

You put your hands on his chest, trying to get some kind of control over him.

"You just want a distraction from your problems" your lips were so close that you felt the pinching of Javier's mustache on your skin.

He shook his head.

"No..." he walks away so he can look at you "When it's over, I always want to leave. But with you..." he hesitates, studying your face "with you, I want to stay"

Your stomach drops. The blood seems to have been drained from your body. You're silent for a while.

What was that? A Christmas miracle?

"Javi..." You close your eyes and shake your head, trying to organize the thoughts "this is not right"

"Look at me" he tries to hold your face in his hands .

You bite your lips. Javier's smell was like some kind of drug, a psychoactive made especially for you.

"Please..." was almost a whisper.

You obey.

"I'm telling you the truth. I tried to deny it, but..." he tries to find the words, his eyes dancing between your mouth and your eyes "I can't..."

You hold his fists again, around your face.

"You make things difficult for me, doing the wrong things, acting recklessly, without thinking about the consequences, being a total asshole..."

He interrupts you.

"I can solve this" he frowned.

You release the breath you didn’t know you were holding. .

"You can, but are you going to?"

Javier’s hand grabs your waist, pulling his body against yours hot, big, hard, you feel his cock already hard behind the jeans.

His eyes darkened with desire, hunger, with all the things he wants to do with you, half-closed.

"Yes," he murmurs, moving your hair out of the way, moving to your neck.

"Yes?" You repeat more than you really ask.

"Yes" he whispered in his ear.

You don't need much convincing, you easily lose all the determination, in fact, very little determination you left when trying to stay away from Javier Peña. Your mind totally goes blank at the touch of his soft lips on your neck. Feeling his heavy breath on your skin.

His hands reach for your back, pulling you as close as possible. Your pussy clenches around nothing.

There you were, the lust and desire, the two pillars of your relationship.

Javier's mouth runs down your neck slightly while the other hand slides down the fabric of your nightgown, you do not resist. You just feel a tingling heat radiating on your stomach.

The fabric of your clothes slipping down your body releases your breasts, leaving them naked, exposed. Javier's fingers smoothly ghosting over your nipple, your body stiffens. His warm hand massaging your breasts.

"You're beautiful” he whispers.

Javi keeps nipping down till he reaches your breasts and takes a nipple in his mouth. Your hands quickly reach for Javier's hair. His tongue dances softly over your perked up nipple, you let out a satisfying moan down your throat.

He knelt down, and slid the rest of the fabric of your night gown off your body, pooling it on the floor around your feet. You are naked in front of Javier as he is kneeling.

He looks at you with devotion. His hands holding your waist firmly, his fingers sinking into your flesh.

"You're like a Victorian painting" his tone is almost like worship. He draws a path of soft kisses down your stomach. Working his way down.

Your fingers slide through his soft hair. His hands move from your waist to grab your ass.

There was no turning back. You would let him do whatever he wanted to you. You are pliable to his will. Completely surrendered. Javier was the first man who made you feel this way.

Javier inhaled your scent while the roughness of his mustache contrasted on your soft skin. His lips found their pile, you grasp for air with an open mouth.

"Let's go to bed" you manage to say.

Javier stands up, his eyes hooded and dark with desire, trained on you, overflowing with sire. You take off his jacket, sliding over his broad shoulders and unbutton his shirt, both ending on the floor. Your hands go down Javier's defined chest, sending chills through his body, making him twitch, your fingers make their way down until they reach the waistband of his jeans.

Javier kisses your forehead, tilts his head to the side, to fit your lips into his, pressing a warm and firm kiss. You unbutton his jeans and undo the zipper.

You trail down Javier’s abdomen with soft kisses until you reach his underwear, quickly removing it. His cock is hard when it springs free, it’s leaking precum already. You removed his jeans and underwear with a swift movement. You get on your knees with your gaze trained in him.

Your hands hold the base of Javier's cock, you open your mouth, without breaking eye contact with him, you put the head of his cock in your mouth, wrapping your lips around him.

"Fuck" Javier was panting.

You could see his chest go up and down fast. You started sucking, lowering your lips along his length, until you felt his head in your throat, your hands held his leg, and you started working his shaft with your lips. Javier's hands went to your hair, holding it between his fingers. Your tongue began to curl around him, pressing his length, as you moved your lips, his hands began to pull your head, you increased the pace, but he pulled your hair, taking your mouth out of him.

Javier threw his head back.

"Fuck, babe! You're so good to me..." he was panting "I don't want it to end like this"

Javi pulled you up, passing through your waist, go down to your ass, to the back of your thigh, lifting your body to be on your lap, your two legs cross around Javier's waist, as he walks to the edge of your bed, putting a knee on it, and leaning to lie down.

You crawl to the middle of the bed, and open up to him. He positions his shoulders behind your thighs, his hands on the pulp of your ass, while looking at your pussy shining at him.

"Hermosa" he mumbles

You lean on your elbows, watching Javier bite his lips, and leaning over to prove you.

He moans as he dips his tongue into you, feeling your warmth and its bittersweet taste, his fingers open you to him, before you feel his tongue sliding once again to your rigid and tensioned clit, making your body spasm with the contact. Shivering. Your head falls backwards.

Your hands stick on the sheet under you, while Javier's tongue works in your middle, making your body squirm in response.

His hands firm on your hip, in an attempt to keep you still, you whine, Javi presses his lips around your clit sucking it the heat of his mouth, his tongue on you. He was eating you as if it were his favorite meal.

"Javi..." your hands ran through his hair.

Javier is looking at you, his eyes narrow, watching your mouth open as your back begins to form an arch, he circles your clitoris with his tongue, and slides two fingers into you, working together in tandem with his tongue.

Your hip starts to move back and forth on his face. It was Javier Peña, and he knew exactly what to do with you. His fingers are dexterous, reaching the place he knows makes your breath. You turn your head to the side in an attempt to drown out your moans in bed. While Javier reaches the sp spot inside you that he knows makes you melt.

You don't take off and you are soon swinging on your thighs around Javier's head, you tremble and he knows you're close. You cum with a strangled moan, the wave of pleasure that radiates through your body, your pussy squeezing Javier's fingers, your goes dark.

His hands caressed your stomach with a slight pressure, calming you as you come do your high , he feels your body relaxed on the bed, his lips kiss the inside of your thigh.

As soon as your breathing stabilizes, Javier holds his cock, writhing when he sees you melted for him.

He was beautiful under the yellow light of your lamp. The pink tip dripping precum, the thick vein of his length, Javier leans over to kiss you, as you feel his weight on your body, skin with skin, so for the first time, lying down, naked bodies on a bed.

A warm, soft, needy kiss, his tongue licking into your mouth, you feel your taste on his tongue.

You around his waist, holding him into you. Your hips moving in a desperate attempt to slide his cock into you.

"Easy, babe," he smiles, bringing his hand to guide him to your entrance as you lift your head to watch him.

But Javier slides into you, sinking his cock, in your tight heat, until his body was totally over you, your hips together, your pussy throbbing.

He moves his lips a sharing ing at you, his heavy breaths, sharing the same air, you run your fingers through his hair, caressing, Javier closes his eyes, feeling your affection, you two seemed to be one , his nose brushed yours , you felt his cock writhing inside you.

"Javi, please" your hip moves looking for him. Wishing for something, you were sore, desperate for him to possess you.

"Please, what?" He murmured over his lips.

"I need to feel you..."

Javier touches his forehead against yours, and somehow he pressed painfully deeper on you, and retreated, slowly, redoing the path, you moved your hip, in his rhythm, he began to sink into you more firmly, opening you to him, building your orgasm at a painful and electrifying pace. You feel your hips meet with his obscene noises.

You throw your head back sighing with your lips open. Your hands pull his body, your legs hold around him, all so that he is as close as you can manage to.

Your pussy clenches Javier's cock, while he makes his way inside you. As much as this is not the first time you feel his cock sink into you, you are sure you won't get used to how big and thick he is.

"Fuck, babe" he murmurs between your neck "it looks like you were made for me"

And it was real, you moved as if you knew where you needed to be, hands, lips, legs, the heat and weight of Javier's body on top of yours, it was intoxicating, and the more you had, the more you wanted, it was a hunger that did not go away.

You moan, unable to find words, while your room is filled with heat and dizzying noises.

Javier's cock hitting deep inside you, reaching places you didn't know could be reached, making you feel the pressure forming again in your core, ready to cum for the second time for him.

This time you feel Javier more cautious, a gentle caution that borders on affection and need.

It is difficult for him to hold on when he is inside you, the path to his release is so short and satisfying that being inside you becomes a torture so that he does not cum so fast.

He feels you squeeze around him. Javier slides completely out of you, leaving your pussy throbbing with desire.

You're whining.

He turns you on your back and bring your hips up. You open your legs so that it stays around his knees. He is squeezing your ass.

"This is certainly the vision of paradise," he murmurs, as he pushes his head to the mattress, leaving you prancing for him.

And he pushes his cock into you slowly getting used to this new angle.

"Goddammit.." he says with gritted teeth. If it was difficult before, now it was much more.

The position left free access to Javier's cock, and he could get deeper into you. He could perfectly see your pussy swallowing his cock, while grabbing your ass perfectly pulling you against him.

You took a deep breath when you felt it hit your cervix. The noise of both your hips when he pushed so deep into you, that you became one. Your hand slides to your clitoris, touching yourself as he moves his hip with obscene sounds.

You start to move too, chasing your orgasm. Javier gets paralyzed when you start rolling in front of him with his cock inside you.

"Fuck, hermosa, that's..." he releases the air, without words. "I love feeling you like this..." he was panting "you're going to cum, just relax baby, let go"

He moans almost a cry of adoration, when he feels your pussy squeezing his co as you moan his name desperately, cumming on his cock.

"Yeah, cariño, that’s it" Javier's hands go down your spine, while your body suffers from pleasure. And he can't hold back any longer, he pressed himself into you, holding his cock as deep as possible, faltering over your impulses, you feel him swell and pulse inside you, with a primitive and animalistic sound behind you, whispend filled y dripped down your leg.

Your vision has darkened, with so much pleasure, and how his orgasm drains your energy. As soon as you realize that Javier's pulse has calmed down, his legs slide down the bed. Javier slips out of you with a moan.

His hands slip down your leg collecting what leaked from your pussy, his fingers pushing inside you. You moan. Just opening your leg to give access to his fingers.

Next to you, Javier slides two of his fingers back into you, you are oversensitive after two orgasms.

"You want more" he kisses your shoulder.

You shake your head. Unable to do anything else.

"Mhmmm" overwhelmed.

The sensitivity makes it easier, you are smooth with him dripping from you, then Javier inserts his third finger, making you moan an even more pleasurable song to his ears.

"You get one more babe..." he encourages when he feels your needy pussy squeezing around his fingers again “just relax and give me one more Hermosa”

He kisses your back, your shoulders...

So tight, sucking his fingers, that they writhe inside you to get to the point where he knows it makes you see stars. You chase his fingers with your ass up.

"Relax cariño, just relax and come for me, I know you can" he says in your ear.

It doesn't take long for your body to start squeezing in hard spasms, you release the air through your mouth in worship. The third orgasm passing through your body, leaving you seeing white.

"Javi..."

He chases your orgasm, until he stops feeling your body shaking.

Javier lies next to you, he puts his arm under your head. His fingers fixing your hair. You are jelly, Javier needs to pull your body, completely soft with pleasure.

He kisses your forehead.

"Merry Christmas, babe" he speaks softly, while fixing his body pressed to your body.

You didn't know it was possible to achieve this level of pleasure. He was the first to get it out of you. He was the only one who could do it.

Your head on his chest, the smell of Javier clouding your mind, still troubled by orgasms. Your breaths calming down, together. Javier's fingers sliding down your spine.

"What do you want from me, Javi?" You murmur, your lips slipping the warm skin of his body, leaving a kiss on his chest, sighing.

Javi is silent for a while.

"Is it just sex for you?" He asks.

It takes you some time to process. Javi feels like you've been frozen.

"Why are you asking me that?"

He shrugged.

"I want to know how you feel"

What if you said something wrong and he just disappeared?

You two were adults. The truth will always be your choice. If he can't handle it. May he get better.

"I..." hesitates "I don't know, at first yes, but..." you get up, supporting your elbow next to him on the bed, he "is it just sex for you?" You repeat the question to him.

He smiles, releasing the air through his nose. Javier looks at you, and passes a stir of your hair behind your ear, his fingers sliding down your jaw.

"That's what we just did. It's definitely not just sex"

You blink at him. Running your eyes for his peaceful expression after sex. So, here and now, his face was clear, without expression marks, the crease on his forehead, always apparent, disappeared.

Your hand over to hold his face, and caress him with your thumb, your chin rests on his chest.

"What are we going to do?"

Javier's fingers caress his hair.

"I want you" he speaks softly, as if it were a secret.

"Javi..."

You knew he was a man of several women. You've never seen him date anyone. Don't even take anyone seriously. Which way was he trying to go?

"No, cariño, I thought I would never find someone like that, for me, but you've been here all this time. I know I'm an idiot most of the time, but I can't excuses when we just made love as if we were going to merge our bodies into each other."

Make love. The day has comd when you heard Javier Peña say he makes love.

You smile. Without being able to hide it.

"What is it?" He smiles too.

"You're messing with hard drugs" you remember the day he said he didn't love.

He smiles, and pulls you up, so he can be close to your mouth. The fact that you are warmed by a strangely contagious happiness is too much to hide, to contain. You tried to deny yourself, keeping busy as long as you can so as not to think how much you wan all Javier Peña for youself.

And now he was there, delivered like a Greek god to his beloved human, in your bed.

His eyes study you. You press a soft kiss on his lips. While you run your fingers through his hair.

"I would do anything for you, I know I can be good for you," he murmurs on your lips.

"You are a good man, Javi"

"Come here" he opens his arms, offering you his chest for you to lie down "can I stay?" He asks.

"Yes" you settle in his body, intertwining your legs in him.

***

You wake up before Javier. He looked peaceful, sleeping like a baby. He was so big that your bed was too small for him.

You got away of him slowly so as not to wake him up. You always woke up earlier and arrived earlier, he could sleep longer if he wanted to, you didn't want to wake him up.

You took the opportunity to observe him lying on your bed, to keep it in your memory. That was one of the best nights of your life. You already slept together, but now it was another scenario. You bit your thumb between your teeth, remembering how he spoke to you yesterday, each word a blow to your heart surrendered to Javier.

You hear a noise on the floor, and startles in a fright. Running your eyes on the floor, looking for the sound, as fast as you can.

Coming from the clothes you discarded the night before, you move the floor, quickly in the hope of not waking up Javier.

It was his cell phone ringing.

"Peña" you say, still crouching on the floor, without worrying what they would think with you answering his phone at the first hour of the day.

"It's Don Berna"

You freeze, your legs softened. Your stomach fell.

Don Berna. You heard that name. You met this man. He was responsible for your kidnapping.

"I need to discuss business with Peña, is he there?"

You're still on the floor. The heart racing.

Javier sat on the bed looking at you, sleepy. He gestures asking who it was.

Watch your hand falling slowly holding the phone.

Javier noticed your expression as if you had seen a ghost, pale, you are crouched on the floor. Your mouth slightly open.

He frowned. And he gets up, reaching for his pants on the floor putting them on, as he walks to you.

He reaches for the phone in your hand.

"Peña"

"It's me, Berna, I need to talk to you"

Javier hangs up immediately. He presses his lips in a thin he. Now he understands the reason for your shock. He kneels down to reach you, putting his hand on your shoulder.

"Don't touch me" you push his hand.

It was as if Javier's touch burned your skin. His eyes were snapped.

Did you know that Javier was involved with Los Pepes, some cartel, some drug trafficker enemy of Pablo, could turn a blind eye to it, because although they are an unscrupulous group, and knowing that this could trigger a disaster, they were after Pablo Escobar.

But Javier and Don Berna? No. Not him. This man kidnapped you. He left you 9 days in the hands of disgusting creatures. Taking you to extremes of fatigue. Fears. Traumas. There was no way you could get over it. The simple memory of what you went through, awakened what was worst in you. You feel betrayed.

They tried to rape you and Javier was meeting the man who threw you in the lion's den?

Your hands cover your body, as if Javier wasn't in you the night before. You reach for your nightgown on the floor.

"Cariño, I can explain"

"Don't call me that."

You couldn't breathe. Just dress as fast as you can and run to the other side of the bed.

Javi gets up as soon as he sees you basically running from him.

He tries to reach you.

You back off. Your arms wrapped around your body.

"Are you afraid of me?"

"Shouldn't I? Are you doing business with the man who kidnapped me, what do you want me to do?"

"No..." Javier shakes his head, keeps the tone low, patient.

"Did you participate in this? Did you have any involvement with my kidnapping? Did you offer me in exchange for information?"

Javier froze with your assumptions.

"What?" He frowned "no! Of course not, I never..."

"So what is it? Do you know where he is and are you going to arrest him?" You're a little hysterical.

"Listen to me"

"No" you're in denial "I can't believe you... how could I be so stupid? You used me..." you were sobbing, and you're not sure when it started.

"What? Babe, please…" Javi was surprised "No... I don't..." Javier advanced towards you, but you retreated until you were leaning against the wall.

"Stay away from me"

"Babe..." he seemed to feel some pain.

"Is that what I was for you? A fucking currency of exchange for information. That's why you didn't give me access to the files... everything makes sense!" You had your hands on your head while squeezing your body, as if you wanted to get rid of your skin. "How can you?" You stared at Javier, continuing with your daydream.

He was perplexed. He didn't know if he was sad that you found out like this. Or because you make these assumptions of him. He would never use you.

"Get out" you point to the door.

"No. You need to listen to me" he walks up to you, stretches his hands in front of his desperate body "please believe me or not, I would never negotiate you for information, never..."

"So you're going to arrest him? Are you going to turn him in?" Tears flowed down your face.

Javier feels desperate.

"Babe, IIt's not like that, you know, I can't..." he murmurs.

You smile ironically, looking at the ceiling. Sticking your nails to your arms.

You walk to the pile of clothes on the floor, reach for his shirt on the floor, and throw it to him.

"I’m not your babe. Get. Out."

"No, we can't stay like this, I would never do something like this to you, please, you need to believe me..."

"I trusted you" you were inconsolable sobbing "I trusted you and you used me..." you couldn't finish

Javier shook and advances holding you in his hug, you try to let go but you can't.

"Please babe, I'll never..."

You push his chest hard.

"Don't touch me!" You screamed. Wiping your tears with the back of your hand, your breath, trying to get back together "How could I be with you when you're working and cofor ng up for the man who kidnapped me?"

Javier looks away.

"Is that how you want to be good to me? Getting involved with the man who locked me in a room, leaving me there to be raped by the son’s of the cartel bosses?"

Javier shook his head. Prosecuting. You were right. He put on his shirt. His body was sore, tense. He felt an eagerness to do something but there was nothing he could say or do to fix it. He walks reluctantly to the door.

"Sorry," he says, and leaves his room. Martyring yourself.

You feel tears of anger and pain running down your face.

Stupid!

With Javier it was like that. You went from 0 to 100 in seconds. From love to hate.

***

You meet a man when you mess with his family. And Pablo Escobar was capable of hatred, revenge and terror.

How could he not directly attack the Cali Cartel, after attacking his family. He attacked the legitimate business of the Cartel. Gilberto Rodrigues was smart, and used a network of pharmacies to launder the money from the traffic. Escoba the buildings sending whoever was nearby into the air. There were dozens of explosions around the city.

People were terrified. He was sending a direct message to the government. If we continued to ignore the actions of Los Pepes. We would suffer the consequences.

Terror attracts terror. And Los Pepes responded accordingly.

What was the purpose of all that? It was hell on earth.

Javier pulled the chair to sit at the usual table that Don Berna used, in the same cafeteria they were in.

"I won't collaborate with you anymore," he murmured.

"Didn't you like something we did?"

"From the killing of innocent civilians, to begin with"

"I don't decide whether they are innocent or guilty, that's for the priests, right?"

Javier leans over the table.

"The Castaños are getting more and more crazy. That wasn't the plan"

"But it's working"

"Not if I stop giving you information"

"Your girlfriend doesn't want to help us anymore, is that it?"

Javier hit the table.

"She has nothing to do with it, she never participated in anything"

"I can talk to her if that's the case"

Javier got up, pointing the indicator to Don Berna.

"Don't go near her! Stay away from her. Can you hear me?"

"All right Peña, let's do the following..."

Javier knew you were right from the beginning. But seeing his co-workers being punished, and dying because of Pablo Escobar, and nothing happened, left him blind for revenge.

He wanted Pablo to pay. That justice be done by him, or by whoever was willing to fight against drug trafficking. And unfortunately it happened to be just the man who kidnapped you.

Javier went there with his mind made up. It had to end. He couldn't risk losing you, now that he had finally found you. Now that he knew you could only be his. There would be no room for anything else if it weren't for you.

But Don Berna was quick.

"I don't agree with the Castaño methods, but Pablo's men are hidden like rats. They're scared. Including Pablo's lawyer, my men attacked him with an automatic machine gun, and these kids didn't hit any shots, can you believe it? I need you to help me find him, so Pablo doesn't have a spokesperson. And we're done with that, you help me and I guarantee your girlfriend will be safe."

It would be the last thing he would do. And then he'd be out.

Javier asked Edward through Central Spike to track down Fernando Duque, Pablo's lawyer.

Edward requested the requirements, but Javier passed over you, the authorizations of Messina and the Ambassador.

Pablo's family tried to leave the country. The government couldn't stop them from leaving. But Pablo had a bad past with the airline. When he blew up a plane in the air in the past. And the company made sure everyone knew that the family was trying to take off.

You had to go to Bogotá urgently. A meeting was called with the president of Colombia, ambassador Crosby and Messina.

The president reported that Escobar bought 8 tickets to different places in the world on behalf of the family.

"We need to keep them in Colombia," Crosby said.

Legally there was no way to prevent them from leaving the country. But with the right support, they would not be accepted in other countries.

Your job was to contact all eight possible destinations of the family, and negotiate requesting support so that the family would not disembark. With the family in Colombia, Escobar would have to be cautious, and this was an asset that you could not lose.

You called the DEA agents, and prayed that Javier wouldn't answer.

With all this turmoil, you didn't have time to think much about things with Javier. And you were deeply grateful for the massive amount of work occupying you to be disturbed by the affective memories of the last night they had together.

The worst thing was that Javier's smell was still on your bed, on your pillows, on your sheets. It was difficult when you were so submerged in the deep sea that it was Javier Peña, and everything he caused in your body. At the same time, he was the person who supported and incited by giving the information to a group of vigilante assassins, in partnership with a cartel that kidnapped you and made you wish death, to continue living in the conditions in which you stayed for days.

Murphy answered the phone.

Thank God.

"I need you to get your passport and go to the airport. Escobar's family will try to leave the country, and I need you to follow them, wherever they go."

"Yes, when?"

"Now."

Javier was worried about studying the tension of his partner's body. He knew you were in Bogotá, it was already a nuisance not to have you where his eyes reached, and seeing the way Murphy looked, anxiety took over his body.

"And, Murphy?"

"Yes?"

"Don't tell anyone. Anyone. Did you hear me? Nobody. Do you understand?"

Yes. Murphy understood. He couldn't even talk to his own partner. Since he was an informant. And it wasn't more reliable.

"Who was it?" Javier asked.

Murphy said your name, as he reached for the coat to go out, and picked up his passport in the drawer.

"Where are you going?"

" Out" Murphy was already going up the stairs.

"With your passport?"

"Yes"

"Are you just going to say that?"

"Yes"

And he disappeared.

TAG: @harriedandharassed

[neocatharsis]

NCT 127 7th Anniversary relay message

Taeil to Johnny : I'm already feeling grateful and reassured just by your existence. Let's stay this way for a long, long time and let's be happy!

Johnny to Taeyong : Can you believe it?! I couldn't even imagine time goes away this quick. We learn so much and there were good things and hard things also, right. To be able to be together with you in those times is so precious to me. You also feel that way, don't you? Let's continue to run together while smiling :) 7 years is still too short if we think about being together for the rest of our lives, hahaha

Anyway, thank you and I love you

Our cool leader Taeyong, you rascal/this dude♡ (T/N : affectionate way of calling)

Taeyong to Yuta : My best friend, Yukkuri Yung Yung Yuta-gun

Somehow long time has passed by and amidst those long period, I think many things happened

Thank you for filling/staying by each other's sides reliably during those times~

Let's move forward together for a long time

Yuta to Doyoung : You who are always so understanding and being deeply considerate of others.

I think you're very amazing, and I want to say that I understand your mind as well.

Thank you for always working hard on many parts of our team♡

Doyoung to Jaehyun : Jaehyun-ah~ you're cool. You're cool, so don't worry too much and don't be uneasy, just enjoy it~ take care of your health too~ Because nothing is more important than health~ thank you~

Jaehyun to Jungwoo : Because you're here, there are so many joyful times. Your mole under your left eye is very sexy. You're doing great and I'm always cheering for you.

Jungwoo to Mark : Aeong-ie Mark-ya who's really really precious to Urichil~ let's get along well in the future too and may your laugh be unchanging just like now!

Mark to Haechan : As it's been a long time, and we know each other so well, as much as we're used to each other; in the future too, let's be us who treats each other well and more preciously. Don't get sick and I'm always rooting for your happineeeess~~

Haechan to Taeil : I've been with Hyung for 10 years and thank you for staying beside me reliably the way you are...! The musics I did with Hyung is always thrilling, hwaiting always in the future too, I love you Moon~♡

Translated by captainuwu

[cynicalruins]

Changérion Bible - Aizawa Kazunari interview

Translation by Windii, scans by me

(Spoiler alert for a few episodes)

Hayami Katsuhiko is a just and handsome hero cadet who failed to become the righteous hero Changéríon. He is a hot-blooded and frank guy with seriousness as his strong point, but he is quite a klutz. He is supposed to save the day, but is instead saved, and he partners up with Akira in an odd but funny two-man team before he knows it, yet he's a superhero who dreams big… In reality, however, he is an aggressive and fiery young man who moved to Tokyo when he was drunk.

"I honestly can't believe that Changéríon was such a memorable work for so many people."

-Like Hayami, who played the role in the past, he says so with a mysterious look on his face. However, contrary to his own feelings, he says he is still receiving feedback from various sources.

"The other day, I was participating in a theater workshop."

-It was a full-fledged one, inviting a teacher from England for professionals.

"There were about 10 participants, some of whom were from Bungeiza, Daisan Erotica, and former members of Yume no Yuuminsha, so it was quite exciting. On the last day, one of them told me that they had seen Changéríon. I was surprised. They seemed to have been thinking for a long time about when they were going to say it, since it was the last day. That's when I realized that someone had seen it."

-It was the same thing on stage.

"Sometimes people who have been fans since the Changéríon days come to watch me, which is kind of incredible."

-He confesses that he never intended to become an actor in the first place.

"I know I'm being cheeky, but I just didn't like the normal routine."

-It all started with a movie. He happened to see a film on holiday that was so romantic and interesting that he wanted to play such a role.

"The name of the work is too faddist, so I won't tell you. But I like romantic stories. That's why I often watch romantic movies."

-He was born and raised in Miyagi Prefecture. After graduating from high school, he took it for granted that he would work for a local company.

"That was a very nice place to work, everyone was kind, and I was blessed."

-He was assigned to a factory. He wore a uniform and did the same work day in and day out.

"…I am embarrassed to say this, but one day I saw my reflection in the glass as I was working in my uniform. I am now living with my parents, and I can see a future where I will get a wife, build a house, and have children. And I wondered if that was what I wanted."

-He went for a drink with agonizing thoughts and then went straight into action.

"I drank until morning and took the bullet train to Tokyo first thing in the morning (laughs)."

-It was truly an "impulse."

"One thing I remember very well was the news of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait that was playing at Tokyo Station. It was still early in the morning, but people were gathering around the TVs in the storefronts, and I wondered what was going on. Oh, it's war, they said."

-That day the Gulf War broke out. Unbeknownst to others, his life also changed dramatically.

"That was when I was 20 or 21. I moved in and lived at my senior's house for a while, but my parents scolded me. They said, "It's your choice to go to Tokyo, but you should do the bare minimum as a human being," and that was a good point. I had no more money, so I went back to my parents' house to visit my workplace and sell my car to make money… It was a great place to work, and I still feel bad about it, and I am grateful to my parents for not stopping me."

-Thus, he finally arrived in Tokyo. However, even at that point, he did not have a firm goal in mind.

"Since I was tall, I had been told since high school that I should model, so I decided to try modeling in Tokyo. So I looked at magazines and looked for an agency… Then I saw a movie, and I had a goal of becoming an actor. I guess I couldn't allow myself to make an escape route, so I gave up on the modeling agency. But I didn't know how to become an actor, so I asked for introductions and auditions. When you are alone in Tokyo, you have to help yourself to survive, so in that sense it is a tough city, although you can get by with your own efforts."

-However, he decided to live here.

Scouted out in the hallway?! First serial drama!

"I went to Toei's headquarters with my office manager to say hello."

-It was on the production floor, where the desks of the producers belonging to the company were lined up.

"While the manager was greeting the executives, I was waiting in the hallway and my shoelace came undone, so I had to sit down and tie it back on."

-Then a man appeared (he seemed to be a very important guy).

"He suddenly asked me who I was, and when I told him I was an actor, he said, 'I see, now come with me.'"

-He didn't know why, but he was called in for an audition for Racing Squadron Carranger that was being prepared at the time. Unfortunately, he was too tall to fit in with the other members and was rejected. He then decided to take on Super Shining Soldier Changéríon.

"When I received the script for the first episode, I thought that if it was going to be a choice between Akira and Hayami, I should be Hayami because of my personality. I heard that the two of them were competing with each other until the very end, but they decided on me at the last minute."

-However, he confesses that he did not really feel it.

"I mean, I was readily selected to appear in a serialized drama series, and I wondered if it would be so quick and easy."

-However, after that, he ended up having to work very hard (laughs).

Changéríon was a "playground"

"At first, Hayami was supposed to be more cool and carry the shadow of not being a hero. But before I knew it, he turned out to be such a serious fool."

-It was your own fault, said scriptwriter Inoue at the time, or not (laughs).

"I guess it's my fault. I was often told by Mr. Shirakura and Mr. Inoue that Hayami was not really this kind of guy. It is true that I was a bit aware of it, and there was a part of me that got carried away. It was my first acting job, and I had the strength of not knowing, you could say, or the feeling that it would be fine if it was funny. And I went overboard."

-However, his fearless vigor has created an image of Hayami as a hot-blooded, upright, stubborn, and good-natured person. In episode 9 "The Radiant Hayami!", for example, he transforms into the long-sought Changéríon in place of Akira, but his good-naturedness causes the dark creature, who begs him to change his ways, to flee. The hero is unable to wield his sword in the face of the apologetic opponent… Akira was an unconventional hero too, but is it our imagination that Hayami has also created a stir in the image of heroes of the past? Indeed, a hero is a being who slaughters his enemies in the name of justice. The antithesis of this attitude seems to have led to the current Kamen Rider Ryuuki.

"I feel that Mr. Inoue and Mr. Shirakura have successfully created an amusement park or, well, a more primitive park or playground for us. It's like we were just playing there. For example, "We made swings. But this is a swing set, so how would you play on it?" So we all thought hard about what we would do. We were really just having fun playing. If you could see the antithesis of that, I think it was because Mr. Shirakura and Mr. Inoue were so great."

-The only regret he has is that the program, which he says he played around in with all his might, was terminated in the middle of the cour. To be precise, it was not cancelled, but rather not renewed for a fourth cour, which was a shock to him since he thought it would continue.

"I guess I wanted more of a sense of convergence from everyone, because it ended without any. But now I think that last episode was good. The idea of a loop between a carefree daily life and a serious battlefield is amazing, isn't it? But I also think that maybe that's the way life is. As for myself, I wanted to settle things as Hayami. I think Hayami has always been a guy with a very negative attitude, thinking that he was supposed to be the one to make it. Just as it would have been nice to have a hero who was not cool and had no sense of justice, which Akira symbolized, it would have been nice to have someone with darker thoughts. Likewise, I think it would have been okay for Kuroiwa (Ogawa Atsushi) to be a villain and still fall in love with Eri (Kochihira Chika). …When you think about it like that, it was certainly a work that broke a lot of stereotypes."

-Hayami, who was in the midst of a conflict, however, finally achieves his longed-for transformation in episode 32 "Enter the Second Warrior!"… but this is Changéríon, after all, and Hayami transforms by eating dried plums (is he Suppaman?).

"For a long time, there were rumors. I wondered how it would turn out, and then it happened (laughs). I like the fact that Hayami is unaware of it, it's just like him."

-We asked him about his memorable episodes.

"I was happy to see the transformation. The scene where he eats Chief Munakata's seed of darkness and gets down on his knees saying, "That was delicious!" was funny. Then there was the scene where Akira and I switched places in "The Radiant Hayami!" That was a difficult episode. We were looking at each other and laughing, thinking, "This is not how it's supposed to be!" From that time on, I learned to do small acts in the frame, and we would restlessly do things together in the background. And the dubbing was separate, so it was mostly wasted (laughs)."

-What he did not like was dubbing.

"I hated it. When I saw the first episode, I thought it was so robotic. I thought that was so bad. I had a very hard time getting into the right mood for each episode."

-It was also around this time that he received his first fan letter.

"There was a one-time event called 'Cinefan' at Toei's Ooizumi Studios, and I wasn't scheduled to perform, but I went for one day and was surprised by the huge crowd. It was the first time for me to see fans in person, and I was surprised and happy to be called Hayami by a little kid, which was a strange feeling. I didn't really feel like I was playing the hero. I was more like "Detective Story" or "Tired Detective," which Akira likes, and we had said we would do something like that. So I was unexpectedly happy."

What Aizawa, an actor, thinks

"This job is more often hard and painful than fun, and there are more times when I don't do well, but sometimes I feel very fulfilled, and I want to savor it even more. At the time of Changéríon, I didn't think about these things, I was just playing like crazy, and I probably didn't wake up until later. But I learned a lot of things to wake up. Akira really has something that only he can do. I was very jealous of him because he had something that I could never have… but I was sure that there was a role that only I could play, so I decided to find it, because no matter what I played, I would always be me. I left because I didn't want to live a normal life, but at my age, when I interact with people from different professions, I often find myself empathizing with them, and I think that being an actor is not special. I hope that this will be a source of fertilizer. For me, Changéríon is like a "park where I went to during elementary school." I remember playing in the mud in the daytime, and I remember the dusk and the night scenery—If I had to give a word to my fans… I would say thank you. That's all I have to say."

-Thank you for a good time, too. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Akira & Hayami

Akira: The snakeskin jacket I'm wearing in Kamen Rider (Asakura) right now is my own. Hayami: Oh, I've seen it before! Akira: It's in my room, you know? I'm not wearing it outside. Hayami: No, I saw it outside! You were walking around with it on. Akira: You're lying! Totally lying! Hayami: Just kidding. ♡ Akira: (laughs) You know, I was thinking that if you found out that I was playing a Rider wearing such a thing, you would say, "Akira, what the heck… I'm so upset!" (*) Hayami: You're right (laughs). Rider, huh? I'm so sad, Akira. Akira: Actually, I know you're worried. ♡

Hayami: At the time, I was just so absorbed in things, so I'm glad that people still remember me after 6 years like this. Akira: Yes. But now, when I hear people say that my acting has improved as a rider, I'm like, "What?!" But it's true, we weren't very good at acting (laughs). The director would joke that if we were better, we would be able to do the long takes on camera, and the cutaways were very detailed. Hayami: Yes, there was a time when I was quite particular about getting a long take someday. Akira: Then, in the middle of the series, Director Konaka started making long takes of your scenes. Hayami: That made the acting more exciting. Then, I would make mistakes and get yelled at. Akira: And I get depressed (laughs). And it shows on my face. I can't smile when I should be smiling, and that's not good. Hayami: But I know that he is angry with me with love. I'm going to do my best.

Hayami: We've been talking about making a movie together for a long time, but it's not easy. Akira: But I would love to make a film! Let's really make it happen. *Editor's note: Actually, there was an initial plan for Hayami to visit Akira's Rider shooting site to correct his ways (?) as a hero. But unfortunately, it did not come true.

Aizawa Kazunari: Born August 1, 1969 in Miyagi Prefecture. After working as a model, he was scouted (?) in the hallway of Toei's headquarters and auditioned, making his debut as Super Shining Soldier Changéríon's Hayami Katsuhiko. Since then, he has been active in film and stage. He appeared in the movie "Dolls" directed by Kitano Takeshi, which will be released in the fall, and in the movie "SEMI" directed by Yokoi Kenji, which will be released at the end of the year.

[an-aroaces-harem]

Ivy Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER: I just deepl and google translated my way through this because I wanted to know what’s going on, so there are definitely mistakes but I believe I managed the general gist of the story. Anyway, it’s just a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes. Morganatic Idol belongs to Cybird and ABC Frontier, Inc.

When I returned home with a drunk Ivy-san, there was no sign of anyone in the living room, as if everyone was already resting.

Rina: Ivy-san, we're home. Please hang in there.

Ivy: Un ...

I support him as we walk, bearing the weight of his body on my shoulders.

Rina: It's good, it's good ...

Ivy: ... nng

We entered the room and managed to get him to sit on the bed.

I'm sweating from relief and exhaustion, but I don't have time to relax.

Ivy: ... ng

When I peeked in, I saw that Ivy-san had a red face and was repeatedly breathing hotly.

His moist gaze was unsteady, and he seemed to be looking at me, but not at me.

Rina: Here's some water. Can you drink it?

Ivy: Drink ...

Pulling the glass of water to his lips, he slurps it down and takes a gulp.

Ivy: ... Thank you.

Ivy: ... Hah ...

He fell down on the bed with a thud.

Ivy: Hot ...

He was able to answer a few questions, but he was probably still very drunk. His tone was unreliable and extremely weak.

Ivy: ... for bothering you, sorry ... I'm so unseemly.

Ivy: I didn't want you to see me like this ...

Rina: I don't think you're bothering me at all. Rather ... I'm sorry.

Ivy: ... Why are you apologizing?

Rina: Because you did this to protect me ...

(Because I offended that man. Besides, tequila is such a strong drink, it's only natural one gets completely wasted from it.)

If he hadn't drank for me, I'd have been the one who got drunk.

Ivy: ... You don't have to feel responsible. I was the one who got mad and provoked him.

Ivy: I wanted to ... protect you this time myself. I couldn't do it the other day ...

Rina: Ivy-san ...

Ivy: But now I'm in this mess ... I'm really screwed ...

Rina: Don't say that. I'm grateful.

Ivy: Kawanaga-san ...

Rina: It's true. That's why I don't want you to hold back.

Rina: Rely on me more to let me take care of you, so that you feel at ease.

Rina: I'll do anything to help you, Ivy-san.

Ivy: Anything ... huh

Ivy: You said that to me before.

Rina: ... Come to think of it, yes.

Ivy: It's strange. When you say it like that, it makes me want to spoil you.

He looks at me and smiles. His expression looks more fragile than usual, and my heart tightens ...

Rina: If so, please indulge me.

Ivy: I'm glad ... you're doing this for someone like me.

(Someone like me ... why do you say that?)

I don't understand why he is so down on himself.

When I was at a loss for a response and fell silent, Ivy-san muttered something inaudible.

Ivy: ... It's true what Arai-san said earlier ... I'm a good-for-nothing.

Rina: What?

Ivy: The songs I wrote for R2R didn't sell overseas.

Ivy: Eito, on the other hand ... was amazing. I'm the only one who can't do it ...

Ivy: If I hadn't been a member of the unit, R2R might have not disbanded.

Rina: !!

Ivy: exe doesn't really need me either.

Ivy: Eito approached me because he felt guilty for disbanding R2R and it was like a favor from an old friend ...

His words, muttered with empty eyes, gave me a tremendous shock.

Rina: What are you talking about? There's no such thing as a favor.

Ivy: It's true ... because I don't have anything.

Ivy: All of exe are awsome ... Xeno, Jace, Finn and Hugh ... they all have special talents.

Ivy: I'm the only mediocre one. I can sing, dance, compose ... nothing really great.

Ivy: They are all special. I'm different from them ...

Rina: ...

Ivy: So I have to ... work harder. I have to work harder than the others so that I can help ... everyone.

Ivy: If I don't ... I won't be able to stay in exe ...

Rina: Ivy-san ...

I was speechless at the sound of his voice as he squeezed it out.

Even though he isn't outstanding in singing or dancing in the team, Ivy-san is relied upon as a leader who brings everyone together.

(I never thought he'd have such complex thoughts.)

I could not see a trace of such an attitude from him in his normal life.

If he hadn't gotten drunk like this, he would have kept it a secret from everyone in a long time.

(That was a reason why he tried to handle so many tasks by himself ...)

It is painful to think of his feelings, hiding his anxiety behind his gentle smile for so long.

Rina: ... That's not true. I have told you many times that you are a great person, Ivy-san.

... I couldn't keep silent and said so.

Rina: exe absolutely needs Ivy-san's presence.

Ivy: Thank you for comforting me. You are always so kind ...

(No. He doesn't take me seriously ...!)

I wanted him to understand, so I leaned towards him.

Rina: I'm not trying to comfort you. Please listen to me, Ivy-san.

I took his hand and held it tightly. He seemed surprised by my strong tone.

Rina: You are a lot more than you think you are.

Ivy: I don't ... believe that. How can you have that much faith in my talents?

Rina: The reason why you're able to stay together as a group is because Ivy-san connects them all.

Rina: You take the initiative to take on tasks and you're always there to understand and care for everyone ...

Rina: Without you, I think exe would have fallen apart long ago.

Ivy: You're just imagining things. I was just trying to gain a reason for my existence by doing that.

Ivy: I don't have a strong personality or talent, so I can only be useful in that way.

Rina: No, Ivy-san isn't lying in the kindness he shows to all of them.

(I've been on the sidelines for a long time, so I understand that much ...)

Rina: They trust you because they know you are aware of it.

Ivy: ...

Rina: And you say you don't have the talent to compose music, but I don't think that's true.

The songs presented by exe are always songs that only exe can express.

Rina: You know your members better than anyone else, and they couldn't have done it without you.

Rina: And you, who has created such songs despite your troubles, how could you not be?

Ivy: ...

His shaking eyes convey his confusion.

Rina: You're the undisputed leader of exe and an exceptional person.

(And to, the most important person of all ...)

Rina: No matter what anyone says, even if you don't believe in yourself ... I believe in you.

Rina: I'll be always be there for you ...!

I held his hand and pleaded desperately. I wanted him to understand his power and charm that he was unaware of.

Ivy-san was silent for a while, but eventually ...

Ivy: ... I'm not sure yet, but I know you mean what you say.

Ivy: You always look me straight in the eye ...

Ivy: I think I'd like to believe ... if that's what you said.

He laughed when he said that.

Rina: Ivy-san ...

Ivy: Thank you, Kawanaga-san.

Ivy: ... No, Rina-chan.

Rina: Eh!?

I was startled when he called my given name for the first time. I let go of his hand, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back with all his might.

Rina: Ah ...!

The next moment I fell on the bed, and he was holding me in his arms.

Ivy: I just had to call you by your given name ... didn't you like it?

Rina: No, I don't mind.

(I'm rather glad ...)

Ivy: Good ...

The meltingly sweet smile makes my heart race to the point of bursting.

His eyes, hotter than usual due to drunkenness, were peering at me from a close distance.

Ivy: I'm glad you said that earlier ... you're the only one who's on my side at all times, aren't you?

Ivy: Promise me you'll never leave my side ...?

His body heat can be felt from where our bodies are touching.

The palm of one hand caresses my lips, and my body shivers with the heat.

Rina: Y-yes. I promise.

As if by magic, the words were slipping out.

Rina: I'll stay close by your side ...

Ivy: I'm glad you're here, Hana-chan ... with me, all the time ...

His face comes closer.

The aroma of western liquor wafting from his breath was almost intoxicating.

Soon our lips will touch ...

Rina: ...

I close my eyes as quickly as I can out of embarrassment.

... But soon I heard a small sigh.

Ivy: ...

(He's asleep ...)

His eyes were glazed over, perhaps because he was sleepy.

I had mixed feelings, disappointed and relieved.

I gently get up from the bed.

Ivy: ...

He's sleeping peacfully, but I'm really restless.

(I was about to be ... kissed ...)

I'm embarrassed when I remember.

(Ivy-san ... what do you think of me?)

The person who is supposed to answer me is in a dream.

I let out a sigh, put the blanket over Ivy-san's body and left the room ...

... The next morning.

I wanted to wake up Ivy-san at 6am because I was told he had a lesson at 7am ...

Ivy: Uuh ...

He was in no condition to get up from his bed.

Rina: Are you okay?

Ivy: I think I might be a bit ... spoiled. My head hurts ...

Rina: You have a hangover ... Here is your drink. Please drink it.

Ivy: Sorry ... thank you ...

I hurriedly give the green-faced Ivy-san a bottle of sports drink.

Ivy: Uh ...

He finally looked up at me, perhaps a little calmer now that he had rehydrated and sugared up.

Ivy: I ... got drunk and bothered you, didn't I?

Rina: Don't worry about it. I wasn't bothered by it at all.

Ivy: Sorry. I appreciate you saying that ...

The way he smiled bitterly was as usual, and I couldn't see any sign of him revealing his painful thoughts.

(Perhaps you don't remember what happened last night?)

(Did you forget you told me not to leave you?)

The warmth of his embrace still clearly remains in my body.

(And he almost kissed me ...)

It's kind of sad to think I'm the only one who remembers it.

Rina: ... Can you get up?

When I interrupted him to hide these feelings, Ivy-san nodded.

Ivy: I'm fine. Thanks to you, I'm much better. But I can't go on like this. I have to take a shower.

Rina: Well, I guess I'll be going now.

Ivy: Yeah, thanks for coming to wake me up.

Rising from bed, Ivy-san begins to get ready for the shower.

Ivy: ... And

Before leaving the room, he stopped at the door ... and turned around.

Ivy: When you said that you would stay by my side ... that made me so happy.

Rina: !

Ivy-san looks at me a little embarrassed.

Ivy: I remember. And it's not like I'm crazy or anything.

Rina: Ivy-san ...

Ivy: Thank you, Hana-chan. ... I'm off.

Rina: Y-yes ...!

... Even after he left, I couldn't stop the intense beating of my heart.

His relationship with me used to be like brother and sister.

I sensed that this was indeed beginning to change ...

[realmadridfamily]

How was the birth? I have no words. I think my Spanish is quite good enough to be able to cope in a delivery room in Spain and I've had really good experiences. I had an amazing and supportive team and we spoke in Spanish and English, and of course Tibo was there to translate what was needed.

You are a young girl and now, for the first time in your life, you are also a mother. How does this new and significant change affect you? I think, first of all, I'm still trying to find my way around it. The truth is that there is no school for mothers. My friends kept telling me: "when you are a mother, you will understand", but I didn't fully understand and I was very stressed before. I said to myself: "how will I know how to do this and how will I cope?" But it's something that just goes through your body and you automatically know how to deal with the situation. Suddenly you know how to do things you've never done before. Suddenly you know. It's some crazy instinct we have as mothers.

How does Tibo cope with being the father of a baby? It's been a few years since the last time. He's an amazing father. He is wonderful and so charming around her. I'm melting from this! It's true that a lot of time has passed, but he still remembers a lot of things, so he made it easier for me too, because I'm a little stressed and he supports me.

Most women who see you will ask: “How come she looks like that three months after giving birth? I know my body and I know I'm not healed yet. I have stretch marks, cellulite and many other little things that I see in myself. Of course, I am very grateful for my body and for myself. I'm very proud of what I went through and I don't look at it that much. I'm happy with what I have.

Getting back in shape after pregnancy was important to you? Yes, I thought about it, it didn't bother me too much, but of course I was worried somewhere. I guess I was more worried about stretch marks and I apply oils and creams every day. It's normal, it's natural, it's part of it and I'm so proud of what my body has done. It's miracle and magic. I am in love with my daughter and that is the most important thing in my eyes. If I have more or less stretch marks, or if I have two or five kilograms more, I don't worry about it.

It seems they don't like us very much in Spain … I really feel that they don't like us very much, but on the other hand I also receive a lot of support from very influential people in Madrid and there is a lot of understanding, compassion and kind words. Tibo talks about it with his teammates and I think there is a lot of support in our circle. On the other hand, life in Madrid is quite normal. It's not like I really feel different from the people and residents there on a daily basis. But of course I hear and know what's going on. Also when it comes to Spain and its opinions. As for me, I haven't had anything against me there, but yes, it's still very difficult.

Could this situation jeopardize Tibo's career in any way? We received many shocking "wishes". Tibo doesn't deserve it, but he received some harsh words and it was sad to see. I want to believe that it won't affect his career because it would be really terrible in my eyes. But I want to believe that people are smart enough to appreciate him as a human being, without harming, even if their opinions differ. I can say with certainty that many of the fans he once had are no longer his supporters. Whether it's people on Instagram who unfollowed him or fans who say "we don't like him anymore." I don't understand why. Because he expressed support to his wife's family and friends? He loves this country very much and it's really sad that people write him off for one or another reason and forget who he is and what he did for his team, that he is a legend. But this will change over time.

What about your career abroad? The situation in Israel had an impact on my work. I will tell you that due to the situation, I had to cancel two photo sessions and give up the cover. They said now is not the time for the Israeli model. Yes, they tried to put it nicely, it didn't turn out the way they wanted, but ok. I don't need it, but I understood where it came from. If I have to lose my job, I will. I will always be proud to say that I am Israeli.

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #532

Otomedia + Spring 2017, Toshiharu Mizutani (Art Director) interview

Part 4.

-- After the Grand Prix series had started, every two weeks we visited a different country.

M: Looking at the reference materials, I thought "How many countries has she visited?!" - Yamamoto Director was in every photo (laugh). I'm really grateful they decided to do two episodes in the same country. If the country changed every episode, it would be really tough, thinking also about the amount of work we would have to do.

-- Was there any conversation with Yamamoto Director that was particularly memorable to you?

M: Yamamoto Director had really a lot of tasks to do, such as the enormous amount of research that she has done, so I didn't have that many opportunities to discuss things with her. I could say that the enormous amount of research materials that she prepared for us were our director. But Yamamoto Director is a person, who first of all, is very particular about everything, so it was quite the challenge to get an 'okay' from her. Tamura-san has worked with her previously, so from the point of view of me [and my team], they seemed to get along very well, but still, even for him it wasn't easy to get an 'okay' from her. It made me so anxious, because I always thought "If even Tamura-san has so many corrections to do, then what is going to happen to me...?"

[Notes: Sayochin such a bully... 😔

I know that over the years, people in the fandom created their own version of "YoI" together with image of its "creators" in their heads, but to me it's really hard to imagine that people can really think that somebody like her is just doing nothing for so many years, eg. "in MAPPA's basement" being a freelancer. She either left the anime industry for the movie industry or she works under a different name, to not be followed around by unhinged people... ]

[millepied-legacy]

~ GRANDMA & GRANDPA~ 1 /2

Gen 2 beginning / previously / next

[TRANSCRIPT] under the cut.

You can translate the dialog if you want!

— Aw what a beautiful surprise. My Noah... — Hey Nana.

— I'm sorry to drop by like this unannounced. — Don't say that. You know you don't need an invitation, the doors are ALWAYS open for you.

— How have you been sweetheart? It's been a while since you last came to visit us. — I know, I'm sorry. I won't let it happen again, I'll visit more often. I promise. — That's wonderful to hear. — How's grandpa? — He's around here somewhere. You know how he is with his plants.

— Now, I believe I asked how have you been... How was the honeymoon? — I'm doing fine. We. We are doing fine, — Oh let me set the table. I just know we have things to talk about my boy.

— Ok, now sit child. Get yourself comfortable. Have some of my scones, there's a banana bread too. It's the healthy one. Specially made for you grandfather. Or would you like me to prepare something else? I have saved some stuff, just let me go get it- — Nana, it's fine. Just come here and sit down already [laughs]

— I'm very grateful, and everything looks delicious. But you know I'm on a diet because of my training. — Yeah I know. — I will have tho, your awesome mates. I can have as many as I want.

— Alright then. Let's start with: how have you been? What's going on with your life honey? Something about work maybe? — How do you just KNOW? I don have a think at work...

— A mother always know. Want to tell me about it? — I- I got an offer to play for another team. — Honey that's wonderful news. — Yeah-

— But it means moving to another city. And I don't know if it's the right move for me. For us. You know I've been travelling a lot but that's not the same as LIVING there, being away of you, my family and knowing you're not a short ride away.

— I was wondering, you know, since mom told me about you and grandpa moving here from Windenburg... How did you know-? How can one take that decision...? — Well you know who can have something to say about this...

[toreii]

Lost in the Book with Stitch part 19

Disclaimer: This is a fan translation. I apologize for any mistakes. I’m by no means fluent in Japanese, but I try my best. Please, support the official translation when it comes out. Be kind and friendly, and feel free to support me by donating a ko-fi if you’d like. Link is in my description!

Uninhabited Island - Waterfall

Ace: “Haa, it’s not easy to boil water with magic…Azul-senpai, is this enough?”

Azul: “Considering the amount of people, it’s still not enough. You will need three more cups.”

Ace: “Huh~. Still, not ready yet? Now that we know the location of the waterfall, can’t we let the others come get it?”

Ace: “Say, Azul-senpai. Since we’ve been working so hard, I think it’s fine to take a rest.”

Ace: “It’s so cool by the waterfall! I’m sure the others are taking a break right now. Right!”

Azul: “Hmph, it’s pointless to tempt me. Do I look like the type of person to put off what I can do right now?”

Ace: “Tch. After all, I can’t get through Azul-senpai.”

Ace: “Well then. I better clean up this troublesome work…”

*Rustle*

Azul: “Hm? What’s that noise…?”

Stitch:♪

Ace: “It’s Stitch. He has a big basket…let’s see what’s inside.”

Azul/Ace: “FRUIT!”

Azul: “Banana, coconut, pineapple, mango…it smells so good. It’s time to eat them all.”

Lilia: “Kufufu. I picked a lot of other things.”

Ace: “Lilia-senpai! Where did you find so many fruits!?”

Lilia: “Kufufu. Knowledge, experience, and years of intuition... Well, it's a matter of years.”

Lilia: “I’ll cut this fresh fruit right away, so wait a moment.”

Ace: “Yay! If we eat delicious fruit, we may be able to work a little harder.”

Azul: “Oh dear, a break. In the end, it’s what Ace-san wanted.”

Ace: “Admit it~. Azul-senpai has had his eyes glued on the fruit for a while now.”

Lilia: “I’ve kept you waiting. If you’re ready, let’s eat together.”

Ace: “Umph……this mango is so sweet…it melts in my mouth…”

Azul: “Yeah, this rich taste…I can’t believe it’s from the wild! If you were to buy it at the store, it won’t be less than 10,000 thaumarks!”

Lilia: “It’s good to eat. We should have the pineapple next. For now, let’s eat the bananas.”

Lilia: “Oh, what about coconut juice? We have wooden straws.”

Ace: “This is the best! I’m glad I’m on the same team as Lilia-senpai.”

Lilia: “Uh-huh. Eat and drink! Young people are like that.”

Lilia: “After resetting your mind with juice…next is this.”

*Lilia’s hand sparkles*

Ace: “That fruit. It’s the first time I see it. It looks like it’s shining gold…”

Lilia: “It’s unusual, isn’t it? I saw it for the first time when I was traveling in the southern country long ago.”

Lilia: “It’s a nutritious fruit. The locals were very grateful to eat it.”

Azul: “As long as I can eat such a precious fruit. I will have it.”

Azul: “Umph…”

Azul: “URK!”

Ace: “AZUL-SENPAI!!”

Azul: “Ugh……uuuugh! Yuck!”

Ace: “Azul-senpai… AZUL-SENPAI!!”

Ace: “Azul-senpai has… As soon as he ate the fruit, he collapsed and passed out…”

Lilia: “Come on, don’t spit it out. You can’t grow if you don’t eat a lot. Swallow, swallow.”

Lilia: “Growing up, you have to eat well without likes and dislikes. This fruit is good for nutritional strength.”

Lilia: “It seems when you cut into it, a shocking pungent odor and strong astringency will spread…there is no substitute for rich nutrition.”

Ace: “Huh…that’s right.”

Ace: “…By the way, Lilia-senpai, have you ever tried the fruit?”

Lilia: “Nope. It has been recommended, but I politely declined because it was said to be a valuable item.”

Ace: “Ah, I see. That’s right……hahaha.”

Ace: “For Azul-senpai, who has a sensitive tongue that can tell the difference in water, I have many things to say...”

Lilia: “I do not know how long the harsh uninhabited island life will last. Ace, you eat this too.”

Ace: “Huh, me!? No, I'm a little... I'm not feeling well right now...”

*Clack, clack*

Ace: “Ah! Gantu’s robot!”

Ace: “L-LILIA-SENPAI! IT’S A ROBOT! LET’S FIGHT NOW!”

To be continued…

[thestalwartheart]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you for the tag, @aniron48 ❤️ This was such a nice way to wrap up this year, and to remember what I'd written!

Tagging @cicerfics @dixkens @dassandre-00qpidsarrow @boffin1710 @samanthahirr and whoever else wants to play along!

Answers under the cut!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 82! I feel like I blacked out and blinked and woke up with a horrifying number of fics!

2. What’s your total A03 word count? 385,997 😨

3. What fandoms do you write for? James Bond mostly. Also Glass Onion/Knives Out. I don't write for The Witcher anymore, but I have in the past. On my laptop is a lot of unfinished Star Trek fic - mainly Kirk/Spock - and a crack at some Arthur/Eames (from Inception).

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

being with you (is the best of all)

date, interrupted

the places you leave in the dust

a rank above

by any other name

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I do try to, and I mostly succeed. I like to thank people for investing their time with my work, and I also like getting to know people in fandom. There's still 100+ comments I need to get back to, and some of them are very old. I will get to them though!!! I promise!

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Anything involving the MCD tag. There was also a short called garden that was very sad for other reasons.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Either being with you (is the best of all) or dispatches from the division.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not really, though I've had a few rude comments and bookmark notes. One person let me know across three chapters that they hated my characterisation of Bond so much they were tempted to rewrite the ending! But most people are lovely. The Bond fandom is small and most of us have our heads screwed on the right way.

9. Do you write smut? Frequently and without shame. There are 29 E-rated fics in my backlog for your reading pleasure.

10. Do you write crossovers? I have a Knives Out/James Bond crossover series where Bond and Blanc are detectives competing for Q's attention.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes and I am endlessly grateful for people who are more talented with languages than I am ❤️

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Just a team poem for 007 Fest, though I have worked with beta readers.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship? Kirk/Spock forever.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I had a multiverse fic I posted a chapter of that I don't think I have the energy for anymore. I was so undecided about the ending that I lost interest in writing it.

16. What are your writing strengths? I think I'm good with characters and details. My writing has been called immersive by a few people, and I do really pride myself on building atmosphere. I think I can turn a good phrase occasionally too!

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I need to get better at proofreading for typos. I'm quite lazy with plotting and planning as well. I definitely need to work on that for an original novel I'm writing!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I only do it if it's necessary, and I'm so glad AO3 now has a hover feature for immediate translation. One of my pet peeves at uni was how often scholars used random French and Latin words or phrases when they didn't need to!!!

19. First fandom you wrote for? HP, probably. Or Glee. Those fics have been purged from the internet now 😂

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written? Either dispatches from the division or the WIP I'm in the process of posting now, called the age of change.

Shout out to everyone who has made it to the end! As a reward, please enjoy this picture of my cat flopped over in her cat tree ❤️

[gyuyoungarchives]

💬 Daily Sports : [12072023] Press Interview Highlights for Celebrity

Actress Park Gyuyoung is making strides to capture the hearts of audiences worldwide, not just domestically. From the role of an ordinary office worker to a powerful influencer with 1.3 million followers and even a darkened character, she is meeting viewers with a more diverse range of characters through the Netflix series "Celebrity" released on the 31st of last month.

"Celebrity" is a story that depicts the glamorous and fierce bare faces of celebrities encountered by Ari, who dives into a world where becoming famous translates into money. According to the OTT ranking site Flix Patrol, as of the 10th, "Celebrity" ranked 6th in the TV series category and 2nd in the domestic chart.

"I'm not actually a celebrity, but it feels good that people enjoy watching it. I really didn't expect it to rank on the global chart. I think it's a bit of a reward for the hard work of many staff and actors. I'm proud and happy. I'm also grateful for the feedback we've received. One of them mentioned that my vocalization has improved, which is something I actually paid a lot of attention to, so I'm even more thankful."

Park Gyuyoung portrayed Seo Ari, who goes from being an ordinary office worker to a celebrity with 1.3 million followers in the drama. Seo Ari, who steps into SNS out of curiosity, discovers the law of success and becomes a famous celebrity with 1.3 million followers overnight by adding her own charm and personality.

"I thought it needed to be portrayed realistically. We already know how the SNS system works. I think we paid a lot of attention to realism so that viewers could immerse themselves."

Park Gyuyoung aimed to meticulously portray the process of Seo Ari becoming an influencer. She explained, "Seo Ari is a character who grows. As we move into the middle part, many events happen, and Ari starts to become more independent. I thought it wouldn't work without persuasiveness, so I tried to stay true to the emotions I felt at the time."

In "Celebrity," watching Park Gyuyoung's styling is also a delight. From the appearance of an office worker to Ari as a celebrity and conducting live broadcasts, the diverse outfits attract attention. Especially since it's a story about the glamorous life of an influencer, luxury brands continuously appear, supported by Netflix's solid backing.

"There are emotional and acting expressions, but I thought there needed to be visual changes so that viewers could find it fun and immersive. The director gave a lot of input on styling, and a dedicated styling team was assigned to Seo Ari. High-end items were supported by Netflix, and I'm very grateful that I got to film wearing a lot of nice clothes. It's an experience I'm grateful for."

While the glamorous outfits stand out, Seo Ari's bob haircut draws particular attention. Park Gyuyoung described Seo Ari's hair as a "Lego hair." She said, "There are beautiful sisters and brothers who appear as celebrities, and everyone's styling is glamorous. I thought if Seo Ari had Lego hair, it might be memorable. I think it was a good choice. It was styling that could only be completed through sharing opinions with everyone."

"Celebrity" features influencers suffering from malicious comments. In reality, not only influencers but also celebrities are voicing their pain from indiscriminate malicious comments. Park Gyuyoung opened up about how this is a natural part of being in a visible profession, but it's not easy.

"Seeing colleagues hurt by malicious comments makes me wish for societal improvement. I accept what needs to be accepted and just move past what needs to be overlooked. I don't actually receive a lot of malicious comments, but when I was acting as Seo Ari, I received a lot, which made me empathise with Ari."

Park Gyuyoung's real Instagram followers number 1.88 million. In the drama, Seo Ari is an influencer with 1.3 million followers. Park Gyuyoung mentioned that before "Celebrity" was released, she had 1.74 million, but it increased by 140,000 to 1.88 million currently.

This is thanks to the power of works like "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" and "Sweet Home," which spread worldwide through Netflix. "I'm living a normal life even after my debut. I'm at home, on set, and exercising repeatedly." When asked if she feels her popularity, she said, "When the work I've worked hard on is released, I do. If the reaction is good, I physically feel it," expressing her pride.

Park Gyuyoung also shared news of joining Netflix's series "Squid Game" Season 2. "I think it's really fortunate to be able to show myself through a good OTT. It's a medium that allows for diverse storytelling, and I'm most thankful for the opportunity given."

"When we make a project, we don't think that only our work should be successful. Overall, I think it contributes to the direction in which Korean content should move forward. Pressure is pressure, but what I can do is to play the character responsibly."

[pancake-breakfast]

I've lost track of what migraine day I'm on, but Trigun Book Club persists and so shall I.

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 13, Chapters 4-6 below.

Chapter 4: Black

Voiceover Narration: Little did Livio know, but both the hat and the cape provided him with a +10 bonus to strength in addition to the moral boost. Someday, he would open up the stat screen for both and discover this, and then he would weep grateful tears that those who had so little gave him so much.

Oh, Elendira's got her own stat boost outfit, I guess.

I love how much tone she has in her voice. Between her body language and the translation, she's just a very easy character to hear in your head.

Ok, this panel is badass.

Ooh, she actually landed a hit on him. Hasn't done that in a bit.

Why's she sizzling? Is it because she's on fire right now?

(Also, she might be in full badass mode, but goshdarnit, she better not seriously injure my Livio. He's important to me and needs to live!)

Aaaand we're back to Legato's monstrosity.

Dude. He has to save some for fighting Knives, dummy. He's not Gojo utilizing Limitless and being able to just go forever. He's going through his Last Run. There's a hard stop to his power and it's coming up quick.

Hahahahaha, these poor guards. Space ships are, like, history bordering on mythology nowadays. They'd be more mythological if their bones weren't scattered across the planet. Seeing an actual functioning one that came from actual space would be quite something.

That's RIGHT, Luida's the one in charge!

Vance? As in advance? I mean, I know it's an actual name, but it's not a very common one and Nightow really seems to like just making names up, anyway....

Ok, so... Knives has always been a bit OP, but what I'm gathering from the Earth Fleet presentation is that this is a bit ridiculous even by the standards of a culture used to Plants.

Ok, I already have questions about how they know about any particular individual. I'm guessing they gleaned a lot of relevant information out of the remnants of Domina, but yeah.

Goshdarn, of course they were hoping to find Vash....

Dramatic Legato pose!

Man, why'd he get so sweaty all of a sudden? That can't be comfortable.

Awww, Legato's little toy got wrecked. TBH, that looks more like Knives' work than Vash's... but that's only because it's hard to tell the curvature of the cut. Knives tends to do straight cuts while Vash destroys things in orbs.

Ugh, Vash might look badass, but he does not look good. Someone get him a sports drink or something to perk him up. Do Plants love electrolytes in this world?

I wonder who the other two were. Knives and pre-bagworm Legato?

Uh, oh. Guess who's back. You done threatened Livio too much, Elendira.

Chapter 5: Battle of the Mystics

Yeah, Raz doesn't fuck around....

It's weird seeing Raz with short hair. Like, Livio with short hair? Not as cool as if he'd cleaned it up but kept it long, but it was so uneven I get it. Raz with long hair and that undercut? Good for his level of chaos. Short-haired Raz? Just feels too restrained for him.

"Some dumbasses," huh? That's a rude (but perhaps not inaccurate) way to refer to Wolfwood and Vash.

I do appreciate how much more intense and unhinged Raz is compared to Livio. Even Elendira seems a bit taken aback by the mood switch in her opponent.

Oh, that's right. He's used to wielding full-out punishers rather than the double-fangs.

He's gonna burn through ammo so fast using them like that. It's a good thing the guns in this series have ammo in plot amounts.

LOL, Elendira is already sick of Razlo's shit.

Uh. That's a lot of nails. I don't like this. She's being mean to my boy.

Oh, gods. I'm not sure even he can survive this.

OH GOOD IT WASN'T REAL. Dammit, Nightow. Don't scare me like that.

Oof, he's still not in good shape. :/

Chapter 6: Tag-In A Person

I feel like... Livo and Razlo are gonna tag-team this fight somehow....

Mmm, seems like Raz can't deal with Elendira's bloodlust.

Elendira! He needed that leg!

Oof, tiny Wolfwood memory....

The way Elendira says this makes me think she has some experience being on the receiving end of this herself.

Look at him. Pumped full of nails again, but still going. He's a freaking machine.

Ok, I love how Nightow has used the dialog bubble to let us know that Livio is back in control here. It's a small thing, but excellent use of the medium.

I love this conversation between Livio and Razlo. It's Livio making peace with himself, with him recognizing his alter and... sort of validating Razlo's existence, I guess? That Razlo is him and isn't him, and that's ok, and they are part of a tandem structure?

Oooh, are they both fronting? Or... like... Livio's fronting, but Razlo's kinda there, too. I'm not sure how much that works with DID, but it's interesting from a narrative perspective.

Again, wonderful bit of paneling here.

Hahahaha, he didn't even bother to remove the nails. I realize this is a way of telling us that someone is a badass, but... like... having holes in your muscles and/or tendons seriously mucks with your range of motion. If you have a healing factor, get that shit out of the way so it can kick in. Otherwise, you're limiting yourself pretty severely. Like, he shouldn't be able to stretch out to his full wingspan with stuff popping through his back like that. Ok, I'll stop. I know I shouldn't expect realistic anatomical consequences in this series.

Wait, where's Vash? I'm worried about babygirl....

Heheheheh, backwards-firing gun trick shot. Again.

Oh, this is lovely. He's fighting right now with a balance neither side of him generally displays.

Ooh, he got a solid hit on her.

Heheheheheh, mind Razlo still has the mohawk. As he should.

Elendira's got her priorities straight. Kill first, ask questions later.

There's something very satisfying (and maybe very important) about Livio praising Razlo. Not just leaning on him when he's afraid, but honoring Razlo's skill and technique and complimenting him on it. Raz wanted so bad to be needed and to be praised, and now he's getting the praise from probably the person he needed it from the most.

Wait. Wait, is Razlo going somewhere??

What's coming next that's so bad that Raz isn't sure he can keep up with it??

Archive

Trigun Vol. 1: Covers + 1-3, 4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 || Vol. 2: Covers + Extras, 1, 2-4, 5-6, 7-8

TriMax Vol. 1: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 2: Covers + 1, 2-4, 5, 6-7 || Vol. 3: Covers + 1-3, 4-5, 6-7 || Vol. 4: Covers + 1-2, 3-5, 6-7 || Vol. 5: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 6: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 7: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 8: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5 + Bonus || Vol. 9: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 10: Covers + 1-3, 4-5, 6-8 || Vol. 11: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 12: Covers + 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 || Vol. 13: Covers + 1-3

Extra Credit: Trigun Vol. 1: Nebraska vs. Vash's Motivations, Vash's Loneliness, Vash's Depression (pt. 2 of post), Soupy Brains || Vol. 2: Coin Factoids || TriMax Vol. 1: Lina, Vash, and a Haircut || Meryl, Vash, and the Pursuit of Happiness || Vol. 5: Knives, Vash, and Hatred for Humanity || Vol. 6: Coping Series: Wolfwood, Meryl, Vash || Vol. 8: The Uncoordinated Counterattack || Vol. 9: Justice, Punishment, and Mercy, The Tolling of an Iron Bell || Vol. 10: Crucifixion Symbology (pt. 2 of post), Merging of Families, Being Childlike (And Why God Hates Chapel) || Vol. 11: New Hair, New Outlook

[boltlightning]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by the wonderful @starsuncounted; thank you muchly <3

1. how many total works do you have on ao3? 54!

2. what’s your total ao3 word count? 362,814. oy vey

3. what fandoms do you write for? these days, potc and final fantasy and assassin's creed now and then, though i generally write for whatever grabs my attention. remember when i wrote a fallout fic? wild

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos? oh dear. let’s see:

a house, a hearth, a (s)holmes — the great ace attorney, 6k. a collection of missing scenes about iris watson and her silly little family.

good company — fullmetal alchemist, 9k. pre-canon, roy mustang recruits people for his team. (i wrote this when i was 19 and there's still a lot i like about it, but boy is it humbling to reread.)

benchfellows — final fantasy vii remake, >1k. a drabble about cloud and aerith fighting in the wall market colosseum.

heart & home — fullmetal alchemist, 5k. roy and riza visits roy's home both pre-ishval and post-canon.

sun hits the water — potc, 8k. james and elizabeth get married after the fact, and fall in love some. at the time of writing this post it's got these beautiful round numbers i am SO pleased

5. do you respond to comments? almost certainly. sometimes i won't on really old pieces or comments that don't really necessitate a reply, but i do my best :—)

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? i trend more bittersweet than angsty; o sleeper (ff7, cloud/aerith) is one of the only ones i'd classify as TRULY angsty, everything else ends much higher.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? showing their versatility: slowly (ff7, also cloud/aerith) ends a little bittersweetly but the climax of this fic remains the sappiest, gushiest thing i've ever written

8. do you get hate on fics? i don't think i've gotten hate since the ff.net days and i'm grateful for it

9. do you write smut? a little, but nothing wild or worth posting. otherwise we're always fading to black or describing sex vaguely babey

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written? it's not my forte, per se, but the potc/temeraire universe is over 50k words and still will not let me go, so you could say i've dabbled.

11. have you had a fic stolen? / 12. have you had a fic translated? / 13. have you ever co-written a fic? no to all the above 🤪 (or...at least i hope, in the case of 11)

14. what's your all-time favorite ship? 8-year-old me was really onto something when she latched onto cloud/aerith with passion unrivaled to be honest. there is no use denying it

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? i have been working on a written version of the trespasser DLC for one of my dragon age characters for like.............three years now and it will never evolved past the five scenes i have scribbled down i'm afraid. the quarantine brainrot was real but it did not last

16. what are your writing strengths? i like to fancy myself good at description! and i'm very particular about flow and tone. there's nothing i won't do to maintain tone, even if it hurts to cut segments that don't fit

17. what are your writing weaknesses? alas, describing shit well means that i am terrible at stepping back and letting a scene breathe. i feel the need to explain stuff that doesn't need it, to my own detriment. and lately i just Cannot thread the needle with any transitions between scenes. someone come cure my yips it's extremely annoying balking at this

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? it CAN work but the only time i'm ever using it is if 1) i know someone who speaks the language, so i'm not making an ass of myself, or 2) it adds to the confusion of a scene in a meaningful way. rarely does it come up and rarely do i employ it

19. first fandom you wrote for? i'm sure it was kingdom hearts. the more things change, etc.

20. favorite fic you've written? the aforementioned potc/temeraire crossover aside...i could play coy here, but you KNOW it's steadfast & dependable (6k, potc, norribeth. but. it's complicated). she is my beautiful girlfriend and the concept continues to compel me on rereads

tagging @johnbly @thesumdancekid @graysongraysoff @antique-romantic if you're feelin it??? and also 🫵 you, the girl reading this