#kind of difficult to ask these children straightforwardly to just not say anything to anyone once they know you're here but

[unproduciblesmackdown]

nonzero people podcasting about goosebumps the musical & it’s never enough. neither extensive enough nor enthusiastic enough & that’s coming from me which is the entire explanation for the assessment. 

on the same topic but a completely different point, i was just appreciating how extra fun i always find understudy buddy to be. and obviously i would like to think that maybe tina & the unit that is brooke & zeke are like, more neutral to amicable after the show lol. tina is a lot of fun as is, like, automatic shoutout to any character just being like, getting in the way being offputting / a pain and all powered by one’s own intensity, that’s fun & funny & who among us? and like yeah she’s also definitely doing the mean girl thing like, in the song as mentioned lmao like please, rein it in. and maybe she will, but then when other suspects are being kind of crossed off the list just before thee play she manages to just be regular supportive towards brooke, so that’s promising lol. and also just shoutout to the Fun of a lively antagonistic role, great stuff, delightful number for her there, and sure helping ramp things up. and zeke and brooke not just showing up for this one horror musical (also i would love to shoutout zeke’s plight there lmfao like, the experience of original readers of poto where the twist is “nah it’s not a phantom it’s just some wet pathetic guy” like he’s so hyped to be The Ghost Lead and then he’s like oh god i’m a romantic lead in a hole & i’m five & it’s embarrassing & i even know my counterpart irl (the bestie) like i guess technically the role’s a ghost by the end & good for the mystery mask wearing element being exciting still) but that they were unnamed ensemble members in guys & dolls & saw that through, they’re bringing support & appreciation for the theatre, & on the flipside tina might just enjoy the theatricality & attention from it but she was having a great time informing everyone that on top of their haunted school it’s a specifically haunted (cursed) play, so maybe she can also relate to zeke and brooke’s horror genre appreciation. and she might warm up at all to zeke when he’s cleared about the fact he wasn’t trying to prank their efforts into oblivion, at least to the same degree she can manage to provide regular supportiveness to brooke when it comes to it. and on the one hand, despite brooke and zeke sure seeming like that hell of an established unit like probably just have their [socializing at school] foundation covered by hanging out w/each other, they could let brian in on that easily enough for something of a triumvirate, but now not only are they bffs since 5ever who love a genre together, they sure had an Adventure in emile messing up by [you never try to scooby doo villain your way through it] but also doing it all wrong where they think You’re the danger here & that you’re going to murder them, plus it’s scary for real exploring the darkness elevator underground tunnels anytime, but also now they have this off the shits experience with that new guy friend who was a ghost for real. kind of its own bonding element & maybe you wouldn’t exactly let anyone else in on it, much less like, tina lmao. she might be interested in The Legend but she was also super interested in telling everyone all about it, and idk, difficult and weird to explain, thing it’d all be quite the stuff to process for one lol like sure we love drama and ghosts and attention too but it’s A Lot. ghosts are real and i online dated one except across time rather than space and he was just some guy hanging out and i also hung out with him sometimes but then in the end it got weird b/c he was the suspicious understudy all along and this role is really not coming through....but also hey, could talk about it all eventually, and tina’s got plenty of context already. next year’s cast n crew party for the last show, be like hey guess what, b/c we’re solidly amicable now also

plus being extracurricular buddies like, ms. walker head in hands dealing with these three menaces lmao....although zeke wasn’t Really up to that much, tina’s sure committed to the show, etc. and it’s like, being a student or teacher or anyone else at a middle school is just always gonna be like that. could really be worse, she can handle it. and maybe she can know of the lore also, she’s out here engaging in irl drama and lore about like avenging her grandmother’s theatrical aspirations, or none of this would be going on lol. get used to these three and actually they’re reliable really, maybe tina will have learned to better accept not getting the dream role, which will be an easier time for everyone. but it’s just always gonna be a handful lol but all these kids were also all about putting on the play too, actually, yes maybe some problems arose from messing around with the platform but they could’ve been worse problems (queues of ghosts in line for their turn at finally achieving one last goal of performing their part in this one damn play lol) and does seem like it’s engineering issues inherently rather than Just messing around backstage unsupervised which isn’t often otherwise going to be fatally risky, and maybe just give people a rundown about the riskiness of things that Isn’t emile’s botched effort where he mostly just made children afraid of Him. like idk, i did shop class throughout middle school, we avoided injury w/successful cautionary rundowns. brian’s one other last goal could’ve been about safety measures, but whaddaya gonna do. anyways point is, hanging out after school for theatre purposes and having an understanding and bonus patience affordance with the teacher in charge of this and maybe everyone gets to know the Real Ghost Story or maybe it’s zeke & brooke’s personal inside secret, it was already a shared adventure for all involved even if they didn’t get the Full story the way those two did, all of them are up for Drama and for Horror, they’re good to go. and good for them

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Can you help me come up with a magic system for my fictional world? It is populated by moth- and butterfly-people and there is a figurehead royal family at the top of society. The Queen in particular gets the title of "The Chained Queen". The Chained Queen is even more of a figurehead. She is essentially a puppet, or a doll, the chains she is locked in preventing her from having any sense of self or agency. These chains can be broken, but it is difficult, so much that it has never happened before. I'm trying to come up with a magic system that would allow these chains to exist, but not give any powers to the main characters. Thank you!

If the queen is a doll, which is controlled by her puppet master, then how does this involve any magic? For that matter, if she is literally made of wood or something, why is she a queen in the first place? Is it a tradition that the queen is controlled by her puppet master? But, more importantly, it sounds like your magic system would require a lot of handwaving, and not just because of the literal chains – for example, she has no agency, so if her puppet master were to order her to do something, say tell a lie, how would she do it? Without any control, she would presumably keep making wooden-doll-y moves.

This kind of "robotic" character sounds like it could be a good plot device, in that it has an intuitive "real world" parallel that makes it easy to think about. A puppet master and a puppet is a really common story element in children's fiction. So it's easy to imagine how this character would work and behave, in contrast to something that has no real world analogue. But when you try to do something more complex with the character, and start thinking about how you would actually make her a doll, you run up against some really interesting questions and now you're a little lost. There's a difference between "fictional character -> straightforwardly imaginable consequences" and "fictional character -> tractable problems." When you can't handle a character in your head, it's because there's a limit to the meaningful ways you can draw on your knowledge of the real world to imagine how the character would work. This doesn't mean the character is bad, just that you need to figure out some handwavey thing to let it be "real."

A similar problem occurs with people who are "in love," or people who have "sex." I notice that fiction is sometimes ambiguous about whether a character who says "I love you" means they actually love the other character, or whether it's a figure of speech or a lie or whatever, but I don't see people asking these questions about saying things like "I am in love." We understand enough about the concept of love that we can tell when somebody is saying "I love you" because they really do love the other person (or think they do) without trying to handwave away the logic of the statement. This doesn't mean that one can do without any handwaving or anything – there's a lot one has to simply stipulate about a character's thoughts and feelings, and I don't think this is a problem – but at least we have a working assumption that love is not a meaningless concept. By contrast, I think a lot of fiction isn't sure how to write about "sex." Many stories have characters having sex, but few explain how or why they have sex, or how much they enjoy it.

Why is sex so hard to write about? The answer seems to me to be that while we understand love (at least at a certain level of abstraction), we don't understand sex, not in a way that would allow us to be confident about what a fictional character saying "I am in love" would mean. Sex doesn't have the same kinds of folk theories that love does. After all, if you don't know anyone who is in love, the most you can do is check whether the people you know who claim to be in love are acting . . . lovey, I guess? But sex has a totally different conceptual background. There is nothing particularly silly, or "ugly," about having a conversation about sex with a friend, but something tells us we're not doing the same thing as when we have a conversation about love. We don't really have a schema for what kinds of things can be said about sex, or what kinds of things one can think about sex. So a sex scene in fiction just . . . is. It doesn't necessarily feel right or wrong, it just is, and if you ask yourself why a character does this or that it can become very hard to answer.

This is also why "sex scenes" as a genre are so unsatisfying. I have found sex scenes in fiction to be as unsatisfying as reading a full-page description of the main character eating breakfast. They are always unsatisfying, and it's hard to pinpoint why this is.

[xiyao-feels]

Part Three: Claims about JGY

Intro - Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4

JGY

1) JGY has the authority to teach NHS the SoC

He does teach him, and there's no suggestion from anyone involved that he didn't.

In MDZS, the SoC is explicitly one of the Lan's exclusive teachings, and NMJ objects to LXC teaching it to JGY on those grounds; LXC's response to this includes the fact that it can't be leaking it since JGY is their sworn brother, a consideration which would not extend to NHS. I'm not saying that LXC would necessarily deny NHS the chance to learn it (if he were in fact capable of playing it; it's noted as very difficult), but there is no way that JGY has the authority to teach it to NHS without LXC's permission. Nor does NHS seem to be making any efforts to hide what he's playing (in front of both NMJ and some of the Nie men JGY was just playing in front of), so it doesn't seem as though JGY was playing on that to get NHS to keep in a secret. I grant you the plan is stupid enough as it is, but if he'd obtained permission from LXC to teach NHS that would elevate it to new heights of idiocy.

In CQL, the guqin conversation is missing a great deal of what we see in MDZS, and that includes the exchange about it being a Lan exclusive teaching. Nevertheless, we're not given any reason to suppose it's not—and all later discussion of it pretty much follows on MDZS, where it is.

2) JGY involves NHS in his killing of NMJ

He teaches him the corrupted SoC. Now, as in part one, I think MDZS canon suggests this would result in NHS actually helping NMJ, but that's clearly not what the movie is going for.

In MDZS, JGY consistently defends NHS from and to NMJ, as you've seen in some of the quotes in the previous sections. Moreover, after NHS burns his hands when NMJ burns NHS' things, he's the one who orders medicine prepared and comforts him, advises him to go back to his room and rest, and tries to keep him from provoking NMJ; and then, after NHS has run off and locked himself in his room, refusing to open it to anyone to allow them to deliver the medicine, and while NMJ is still furious about NHS' defiance, accepts the medicine and plans to take it to NHS' rooms after he's finished with NMJ (ch 49-50). He does not involve NHS in his plan to kill NMJ.

In CQL, again, we see rather fewer of JGY and NHS' interactions during this time period—which doesn't mean that they don't happen, just that we don't see it. Again, when CQL doesn't say something, I tend to assume it matches MDZS unless I have a specific reason to believe otherwise—CQL kind of relies on this, in fact, otherwise you have questions like "wait what the heck was JGY trying to dig up in the temple". Regardless of whether you agree with that argument, JGY does hold NHS back and prevent him from running towards a qi-deviating NMJ. Although I've seen it interpreted as cruel, he likely prevents NHS from getting himself killed or injured (as happens in MDZS, where NMJ wounds NHS (ch 50)). And this is of course not strictly part of the text, but I'll observe that ZZJ has said that he thinks JGY would regret allowing NHS to witness NMJ's qi-deviation. There is, regardless, no evidence in CQL that JGY used NHS in his plan to kill NMJ.

3) JGY can straightforwardly prevent NMJ's violence via the SoC

We see him do this when NMJ is about to punch NHS; he's obviously hurrying a little, but the SoC works clearly and quickly.

In both MDZS and CQL, he shows no sign of an ability to do this. Instead he just has to deal with NMJ attacking him. When he can prevent NMJ's violence towards him, it's literally just that he manages to talk him down; JGY is, in fact, incredibly vulnerable to NMJ's violence.

We see more of NMJ targeting JGY in MDZS (see next point), but in neither MDZS nor CQL does JGY show any sign of being able to stop NMJ's violence by playing a few quick measures.

Granted, this is mostly a replay about the SoC being able to stop NMJ's violence quickly even when used by someone with weak cultivation. But it's a very important point.

4) Someone other than JGY is the main target of NMJ's violence.

This isn't an explicit claim, but while NMJ is violent on more than one occasion, at no point is JGY his target, nor (from what I can tell) is it suggested he usually is. Rather, NHS and the Nie men are made to stand out as NMJ's victims.

In MDZS, JGY is absolutely the main target of NMJ's violence;* although he does burn NHS' things, leading to NHS' hands being burnt when he tries to save them, and later injures various people (including NHS!) when he qi-deviates, he does this latter /because he is hallucinating they are JGY/. He calls JGY out at the stairs and /publically/—in front of various Jin disciples!—and not only humiliates him but also kicks him down the stairs then draws his sabre on him with intent to kill him (all this after trying to hit him very first thing after they go outside). Earlier, of course, we see him try to kill MY after MY has just killed WRH and saved his life, and his final qi-deviation is immediately preceded by him kicking open a door to slaughter JGY on the spot for the crime of being upset to LXC about how NMJ treats him…ostensibly combined with him being polite and friendly to NMJ's face, but the last time JGY was anything but, NMJ tried to kill him, and indeed LXC is advising JGY against "provok[ing]" NMJ "again," presumably by talking back to him as he did at the stairs (ch 50).

In ch 118—before the stairs incident, and I think it must have been before the Chang clan are killed too—XY asks if JGY's bruise is from NMJ. Although in fact it is not (and observe JGY's response: “If he were the one who did it, do you think I could still be standing here and talking to you?”), the possibility of NMJ's violence towards JGY is clearly present. In ch 32, when WWX sees some kids playing, although we're told that LFZ is the most popular character and although the text is replete with indications that at this point in time he is both powerful and well-respected, there is /still/ the general knowledge that NMJ is going to threaten JGY and JGY is going to flee:

“Nie MingJue” raised swung his fist, “So what if you’re the Chief Cultivator. You’re still my youngest brother. You’ll have to run away whenever you see me anyways.”

“Jin GuangYao” did indeed cooperate and maintain his character. Flinching his shoulders, he quickly ran away.

See also WWX's comment in the first Empathy chapter, when he's surprised at watching NMJ and MY get along: 'Wei WuXian had heard too much of those jokes of how “LianFang-Zun fled whenever he heard that ChiFeng-Zun arrived”.'

We're even told that the brotherhood oath they swore was unusually violent!

NMJ's determination to kill JGY lasts even into his own death—that's /why/ JGY dismembers him and sets such strong seals on him, so that NMJ's fierce corpse won't kill him. NMJ's violence towards JGY is a central part of both of their narratives, and shows up all throughout the text.

*Well, NMJ is also very pro-Wen-killing, but on an individual level.

In CQL this is a little more complicated. NMJ seems perhaps generally less violent? Certainly we are shown less of his violence, and in e.g. the confrontation in Sun Palace he is not constantly attempting to get to JGY while LXC blocks his blows and explains things. In episode 36, although we still see the children playing, the exchange is a little modified; we're still told JGY is scared of NMJ, but the NMJ kid doesn't raise a fist or anything like that, and the JGY child doesn't run away. Nevertheless, NMJ is clearly hostile to JGY, and his violence at the stairs is the same: attempting to hit him the moment they arrive outside, kicking him down the stairs, and then drawing his sabre on him to try and kill him. The difference is that in CQL, JGY survives because NMJ qi-deviates, whereas in MDZS he would likely have died had LXC not intervened. The emphasis on NMJ's violence towards JGY is much less present in CQL; nevertheless, JGY is still the primary target of what violence we do see.

5) JGY is easily replaceable, indeed at all replaceable, as a subordinate

FJ does not explicitly say this, but NZH seems to be very well-integrated and to have been there a while, and there's no suggestion he is in any way less than a perfect subordinate, or that JGY was better. As though to emphasize this, we see him dive in front of NMJ to take a blow (as with MY in CQL)—and, of course, he has the good grace to die when NMJ tries to kill him. One of the rather underspecified Nie cultivators also flings himself in front of NMJ, taking a blow to save his life (although, to be entirely fair, willingness to take a blow for NMJ is probably the way in which MY /is/ most easily replaceable).

In MDZS, MY's competence as NMJ's subordinate, and indeed the extraordinary level of his competence, are fundamental to his and NMJ's relationship. Consider these quotes from ch. 49:

After he left, Nie MingJue switched to another deputy. Wei WuXian, however, felt that the new one was always a few beats slower. Meng Yao was an unusually clever talent. He could understand what wasn’t said, and perform to the best with the simplest orders. He was efficient and never slacked. Anyone used to him wouldn’t be able to refrain from comparing him with others.

and

Nie MingJue was never close to people. He rarely opened up to anyone. Though he finally managed to obtain a competent, trustworthy subordinate, whose character and capabilities he approved, he found that the subordinate’s true colors were nothing like what he had thought they were. It was only natural that his reaction was so extreme.

Moreover, it's WWX's conclusion in ch 49 that part of the reason NMJ agrees to swear brotherhood with JGY is JGY's extraordinary talent:

From [WWX's] observations, aside from how Lan XiChen brought it up, having always hoped that the two would reconcile, the most important factor was probably the gratitude of saving his life and writing the letters. To be precise, in his past battles, he had more-or-less depended on the information that Meng Yao sent over through Lan XiChen. He still thought that Jin GuangYao was a talented person whom one would rarely come upon, and intended on leading him back onto the right path. However, Jin GuangYao wasn’t his subordinate anymore. Only after they became sworn brothers would he have the status and the position to urge Jin GuangYao, like how he disciplined his younger brother, Nie HuaiSang.

This is also part of LXC's attempt to reassure JGY that NMJ has not entirely turned against him, in ch 50:

Lan XiChen, “He has always cherished your talent, hoping that you would choose the right path.

JGY's extraordinary competence is very much central to their relationship, and the /fact/ that he has to be so extraordinarily competent to achieve any recognition is central to the themes of the text.

In CQL, again, this is less explicit. However, in episode 10 NHS praises him and WWX and JC are impressed by his talent; the captain, the only other high-up Nie man we get an individual sense of, seems rather less impressive. Moreover, at the stairs, when confronting JGY about XY's imprisonment, NMJ says what did I tell you back in Qinghe (about wanting XY dead), i.e. when JGY was his servant, suggesting he still views JGY in the framework of that relationship and at least possibly suggesting that he still misses JGY in that position.

In the interests of justice I will also bring up the important claims about the characters I noticed that /do/ have significant textual support: first, that NMJ is very good at fighting; second, that NHS and NMJ are each other's most important people. (It technically also gets that NHS hates practicing the sabre, but given the way it contextualizes this I'm not giving them any points for that one.) FJ also claims that lying to someone to keep them from knowing something that would hurt them is an expression of love—although in MDZS this goes rather the other way around, with NMJ keeping things from NHS, considered in isolation it does fit in with similar expressions of love in CQL/MDZS.

Now, I want to be clear, I'm not actually being as thorough as I possibly could. To do that, I would have to watch it multiple times and think things over for at /least/ a month, and even aside from the poor anon who's waiting on the answer to the question "what do they erase about NHS and JGY," I have absolutely no desire to spend that kind of time with the film.

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[animeniacss]

A Palette of Emotions - Artist!Taehyung x Teacher!Reader - Chapter 22 - Easily Distracted

Synopsis: Taehyung dreams of being a professional and famous artist one day, but finds that the sea of creativity can be lurking with blood hungry sharks, as well as bland, motionless starfish. Swimming through the sea of opportunities somehow washed him up onto the shore of Bright Star Preschool, as an art teacher. This wasn’t where he expected to be 4 years into his career, but anything to get his big break though, right?

Feat. BTS, TXT, ITZY, Jisoo (BlackPink), Taeyong (NCT)

Genre: Romance, Slow Burn, Love Triangle, Drama, School Setting, Working!AU

Length: approx. 4.9k words

Chapter 22 - Easily Distracted

        “Wait, really?” Disbelief washed over Jungkook as he looked up at his mentor. Taehyung had been venting about his most recent experience with you as the both of them sat around Taehyung’s kitchen table. Jungkook was finally preparing to enter his first art show, so he brought pictures of every work he had made thus far, and the duo spread them around the table to try and choose which would be the main focus, and which would be set aside. It was a difficult task, one Taehyung always dreaded because to him, all of his work deserved to be seen in the foreground. Taehyung set one of the pictures down and let out a frustrated sigh.

            “Yeah…” he said softly. “I knew I should have waited before I told her how I felt and now I think I screwed everything up with her.” Jungkook leaned forward on the table a bit, grabbing his bottled water and taking a sip.

            “Don’t think that way, Hyung. Did she immediately say she didn’t like you?”

            “Well, no. She needed time to think.” He said simply.

            “Then maybe she’s thinking about how she’ll say yes. Women are complex creatures, you know…” Taehyung cocked an eyebrow at the young high school boy as a playful grin formed on Jungkook’s face.

            “You’ve had a girlfriend for like a month and a half, relax.” He said, and Jungkook began to laugh. “You’re not a wise, old guru of love when you’ve barely held her hand.”

            “We have!” Jungkook’s eyes went wide, and now Taehyung was the one to burst out laughing. “You’ll see. She’s coming to see me at my art show with her friends. She’s nice, so you’ll definitely like her.”

            “Looking forward to it.” Taehyung smiled. “Anyway, let’s get back to this, okay?” Jungkook nodded, and Taehyung passed him a few photos. “I think if we align these right in front of your spot, it’ll really pop. Nobody makes works like this that I’ve seen, so they’ll pop out even if we’re farther back in the venue spot.” Jungkook nodded.

            “I agree.” He said, setting those aside. The duo continued working for a little while longer until Jungkook’s mother called him telling him to head home in time for dinner. Collecting his pictures, Jungkook headed to the door. On his way out, he turned to Taehyung.

            “I really don’t think you should worry,” Jungkook said simply. “If she wants time to think, she probably won’t take dates from Mr. Kim either. So, all you can do is wait for the results.” Taehyung offered him a small smile and patted his shoulder.

            “Get home safe, Jungkook.” He said simply. The boy nodded, heading out the door and down towards the elevator. Taehyung watched him for a moment, before closing the door. He hummed, heading straight into the kitchen to grab himself a beer. Maybe two.

            He didn’t need to be getting love advice from the high schooler.

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

            “Mr. Kim!” An anxious Yuna shouted as she hurried onto the front playground of the school. Taehyung looked over from the swing set, where he was pushing Yeji and Soobin at the same time. “I wanna be pushed too.”

            “Okay, you can go next.” He smiled at her, and she squealed in excitement, watching her two friends practically fly away, higher and higher with every push on the swing set. He watched as Yuna’s mother left with a wave, and he nodded his head, turning his attention back to the kids. He had been trying to do that each morning and each afternoon, to keep his eyes on the children rather than in your direction. However, he found himself slipping up every now and again. His eyes darted from the swing set for a moment and caught a glimpse of you by the slide. You were watching as Chaeryeong and Lia slid down the slide together, squealing in delight as they held onto one another on the journey. You had not noticed him staring, because he looked back over at the swings just as they flew back towards him. Grabbing them, he quickly slowed them to a stop. “Okay, guys. Time to give someone else a turn.” Both children, compliant and mature, nodded and quickly hopped off, allowing Yuna to grab her spot on the plastic swing. As he began pushing her, he smiled as he saw Soobin and Yeji hurry to the other side of the playground.

            “I know how to jump from the swing when it’s super high!” Yuna shouted. Taehyung chuckled.

            “Oh really?” he asked curiously. “Let’s maybe not do that, though. It won’t be safe.” He offered one big push forward again, and Yuna shrieked in delight. He chuckled a bit until he heard a familiar voice.

            “Have a good day, Kai.” Taehyung felt his shoulders go rigid and he looked over towards the entrance of the preschool. There, he saw Namjoon, knelt as he offered his son a big hug, much to the boy’s delight. Taehyung immediately looked away, deciding it best to focus on the child he was pushing rather than the man who just walked into the premises. However, he could only do so much when out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Namjoon walked across the playground and in your direction. You met his gaze as you greeted Kai, before sending him off with his friends to play. Taehyung’s eyes now couldn’t focus on anything else, and they sat glued to you.

            “I was just wondering…” Namjoon began, and you knew quickly you would have to turn him down. You already knew what his request would be. “I was hoping I would be able to take you out again soon. I’m free this upcoming weekend and I was tempted to try this new place that opened up by my house.” You smiled at Namjoon as he shyly chuckled, his dimples poking through once again. “Only if you want to, of course.”

            “That sounds fun, Namjoon…” you said softly. “But I uhm…I’m not going to be accepting dates for a while.” Namjoon blinked, his shy smile curling up into a slight frown, an eyebrow cocked in curiosity. “Not that I don’t necessarily want to, it’s just a lot is going on right now.” You didn’t want to admit that your mind was taken up with thoughts of both him and Namjoon, both men who have been very upfront with their feelings for you and have sent you into the confinements of a three-sided love triangle with no means of escape currently in view. All you could do was sit in the middle and wait until one showed its face, even if it meant Namjoon and Taehyung were forced to sit and do the same. “I have my evaluations coming up and they’re always really stressful and…there’s just a lot of stuff, you know?”

            “Right,” Namjoon said quickly. “I understand. No worries, focus on all that first.” He smiled sweetly at you, and it made you feel a bit relieved, you had to admit. “But if you need anyone to talk to about anything, just give me a call, okay?”

            “Got it.” You said happily. Namjoon waved, before quickly calling out to Kai, who was dangling upside down from the monkey bars.

            “Kai, be careful!” He chuckled. Kai waved.

            “Teacher! Look at me!” You quickly hurried over, lifting your arms to get him down from his dangling spot, much to the dismay of him and his friends that were watching from the ground.

            “Kai, that’s dangerous…” you said softly, but Kai only offered a playful grin and giggled in amusement. Setting him back onto the floor, you sent him and the other boys off to play, Kai quickly taking your hand to lead you along with him. Namjoon smiled, before slowly making his way out of the daycare. He waved to Hoseok, who was sitting in the sandbox watching two little girls make a sandcastle. Then, he turned to Taehyung, whose eyes had yet to leave the tall, dark, and handsome man in thin-rimmed glasses.

            “Have a good day,” Namjoon said simply. Taehyung nodded.

            “Don’t try anything funny. I’m watching you. She made herself perfectly clear and-.”

            “I know, I heard her.” Namjoon interrupted quickly. Namjoon saw irritation written all over the younger boy’s face, and he couldn’t help but be amused. “I’m assuming she told you the same thing.”

            Taehyung was quiet for a moment but eventually nodded. “Yes.” He said softly. “Something along those lines.” Namjoon nodded.

            “Then for now I guess we can offer a temporary truce?” Namjoon grinned, hoping his playful joke would land. However, when Taehyung simply turned back to the swing set, Namjoon let out a sigh. “I was kidding.” He admitted.

            “Funny.” He said simply. He looked over at Namjoon once again. “Just don’t try anything funny until she’s ready.”

            “You make me out to sound like some kind of criminal,” Namjoon said simply. “I don’t feel that way towards you.”

            “Not as straightforwardly as I am, maybe.” He said simply. Namjoon frowned a bit.

            “You know, she’ll never go for you if you keep acting like an immature child.”

            “Imma-.” Taehyung glared at Namjoon now, feeling his anger rise. “And what makes you say that?” When he caught the swing again, his hands balled into fists as he pushed it once again.

            “I have a four-year-old son. I can see it from a mile away. You even pout like him.”

            “Mr. Kim. Watch this!” Yuna shouted from the swing, her voice slightly distorted from the wind hitting her face as she flew through it. Taehyung didn’t hear it though, the blood pumping in his ears as he turned to Namjoon.

            “I’m not acting like anything,” Taehyung said simply. “I’m just making sure you don’t keep overwhelming her with dates.”

            “I don’t intend to,” Namjoon said simply. “Why are you acting like I am? I literally told her I won’t bother her about it.”

            “I heard that little comment about being there if she needs you to talk, it’s such an obvious trick to get her to call you anyway.”

            “Mr. Kim, look!” Yuna shouted again, but it fell on deaf ears.

            “Is it really? Or are you just mad you were too selfish to offer her the same thing when she turned you down too?!” Taehyung’s eyes widened for a moment and he frowned. “And now you’re blaming it on me.” It made Namjoon chuckle a bit. “I guess she might find it cute, but if you ask me, it’s horribly unprofessional to act this way!”

            That was the word, the word that made Taehyung’s heart fall into his chest. It took him a moment to regain his composure, as much of it as he could, but he was finding it increasingly difficult. His hands balled into fists, and he glared at the taller man.

            “Tch…That’s not-!”

            Before Taehyung could say anything else, a high-pitched and childlike “Weeee!” alerted Taehyung’s attention to the right of him. He turned slightly, and for a moment, it felt as if everything was going in slow motion. Yuna’s little body was suspended in the air, arms and legs spread out in absolute glee as she flew. From the corner of his eye, he could see a group of kids at the sandbox watching their friend in glee, their mouths dropped open in shock. Hoseok was getting out of his spot at the sandbox and hurrying over. Just as Taehyung blinked, he heard someone shout:

            “Watch out, Taehyung!” However, before he could react, a hard piece of plastic slammed him in the face. Grunting, Taehyung flew backward and fell onto the ground, his head smacking onto the pavement. For a moment, he heard nothing but a loud buzzing in his ears, and he thought that he had died and gone to heaven. Good, maybe that’s where I should go… he thought to himself. However, slowly but surely, Taehyung could feel his arms and fingers twitch, he could feel the light of the sun poking at his eyes in an attempt to get them to open. He could hear children screaming, and the faint out of Seokjin’s voice. Another groan escaped his lips. He had to try to sit up and quickly lifted his head. However, a sharp pain flew across his head, from one ear to another, and his head simply slumped down to the floor again.

            “You might have a concussion, don’t move.” He heard a deep voice say. Taehyung tried to put a face to the voice, unable to for a moment.             Finally, however, it became clear as crystal who was talking to him.

            Or are you just mad you were too selfish to offer her the same thing when she turned you down too?!

            “Ghhh, don’t touch me, Kim Namjoon…” Taehyung groaned, his eyes still tightly held shut despite the pounding it caused in his head. He heard a snicker.

            “Well, he isn’t dead.” The voice hummed again. Taehyung was tempted to swing blindly above him, hoping that sheer luck to help him ‘accidentally’ knock this guy in his jaw. However, his body froze when a calmer, gentler voice flew through his ears like the perfect melody of a beautiful lullaby.

            “Taehyung? Are you okay?” She cooed. Taehyung groaned, feeling his eye muscles twitch a bit. “Hey, don’t open your eyes. Namjoon is right, you might have a concussion…just take it easy.” Taehyung could feel his head be lifted up gently, and a hand cupped behind him. “I don’t feel a bump. Let’s get you inside and give you some ice, just in case.”

            “Yeah…” Finally, Taehyung forced himself to sit up, and his eyes cracked open just a bit. He could see a dark skirt and colorful apron beside him, and when his eyes perked up just as a bit, as much as they could really, you were sitting beside him. Despite your calm voice, the worry was poking through your eyes and onto your entire face. “I’m fine.” He assured. “I just need some time to rest and-.”

            “Oh no.” Another voice chimed in, and when everyone looked up, Seokjin was standing there as well. “I’m not risking a lawsuit on a simple ‘I just need some time to rest’. I’m calling a medic to check on you, understand?”

            “Uh…” Before Taehyung could respond, he felt Seokjin take his arm.

            “Namjoon, take his other side and help me get him inside.” Taehyung groaned again but didn’t protest as Namjoon took his other arm and scooped him to his feet. “You guys get the kids inside,” Seokjin said simply.

            “Is Mr. Kim okay?” Soobin asked curiously as he stood by the sandbox.

            “Mr. Kim is going to be just fine,” Seokjin assured. “Now everyone, get in line and head in for the day, alright?” The kids silently did what they were told, following Hoseok and you inside with Namjoon and Seokjin dragging a barely functioning Taehyung behind. “Let’s go to my office. I have some supplies there.” Seokjin spoke. Taehyung groaned, letting his neck go limp and his head roll forward as he used what little strength, he had in his legs to follow the men.

            Taehyung was set on a comfortable chair, and his body finally got another moment to relax. He heard Namjoon and Seokjin speak before Namjoon left in fear of being late to work. Taehyung’s head was continuing to pound, and not until Seokjin turned the lights off and closed the curtains did he feel comfortable enough to open his eyes a crack. He watched as Seokjin walked over, slipping some ice behind Taehyung’s head. The cold chill of the ice course from his head to his neck and shoulder and Taehyung felt a sense of comfort and release.

            “Are you alright?” Seokjin asked. Taehyung nodded, draping his arm over his eyes. “I’m glad I was watching from the office window just at the right time. You looked very distracted.”

            “Yuna was calling at me to watch her and I didn’t hear her. Did she get hurt from jumping?”

            “No,” Seokjin assured. “She, unlike you, landed on the soft mulch around the swing set, so she just got a bit dirty. I think she was more worried about you anyway.” Taehyung sighed softly, biting his lip. “What were you two fighting about that you got so distracted?”

            “It’s nothing,” Taehyung said simply. “We weren’t even fighting.”

            Now, Seokjin had to laugh. “Oh really? Don’t try to fool me. Your eyebrows were furrowed from a mile away. The fire was basically coming up behind you, I’m amazed you also didn’t suffer third-degree burns.” Taehyung chuckled a bit. “You don’t have to tell me. I already have an idea. But I guess it’s none of my business. The man who saved your life and whisked you away to be medically treated.”

            “…Yeah, speaking of, where’s the nurse?”

            “We actually have one contracted at the urgent care right down the street. The person who owns the urgent care and the investor of the preschool are good friends, so they came to the agreement a few years back to try and save some money on both sides. So, for serious injuries, we call and they send a nurse over. We ended up closing the nurse’s office. With only one class, it was too much money to have an in-house nurse, so our investor saves lots of money this way.” Taehyung nodded, though he barely took in anything Seokjin said. “I think we should go back to having a nurse there all the time though.” He admitted. When he didn’t hear anything, he smiled. “You rest. Hoseok called the urgent care and they should be here soon.” Taehyung could hear Seokjin walk to the door, careful to close it as he exited. Taehyung was alone in Seokjin’s office, his head pounding as he sat silently in the darkened room with only the sensation of the ice pack on his head to keep him from falling asleep.

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

            Taehyung was not sure how long he sat in the dark office resting in the chair before the medic arrived at the school, but before he knew it, he was propped up with lights shining in his eyes, vitals being checked, and multiple questions of what happened being showered on him at once. He answered to the best of his ability, but his head was pounding so hard it felt like someone was attending a rock concert in there.

            “Well, it’s a very minor concussion.” The doctor said. Taehyung nodded, expecting as much. “I advise going home, taking the next day or two off, and resting up. If you force yourself to do anything, then you’ll only make it worse.”

            “Right. Thank you.” The doctor handed Taehyung a piece of paper.

            “Here’s a prescription. Get it filled and go home.” She smiled sweetly at him, before excusing herself and getting ready to leave. Taehyung watched her exit, opening the door as she stepped out. However, he also saw you there, chatting with the doctor for a moment before making your way into the office, closing the door behind you. Taehyung sighed, looking away. This was not something he was in the mood to deal with.

            “Are you okay?” you asked softly as you pulled up a chair beside him.

            “I’m fine. A few days of rest and I’ll be back.”

            “Okay, if you’re so sure.” You hummed. “That swing hit you hard, and the pavement. I’m glad the concussion was the only minor.” Taehyung nodded. “I saw you and Namjoon fighting….I was about to come over and say something, but the next thing I know is-.”

            “-Is I’m getting slammed onto the floor and Yuna turns into a rocket and goes flying.” Taehyung huffed. You could sense how angry he was with himself. “I can’t believe that happened, right in front of him. I think that’s what he wanted, for me to lose my cool.” You sighed softly.

            “Don’t think that way.” You said softly. “Do you need a ride home? You shouldn’t take the subways like this….” Taehyung thought for a moment, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll talk to President Kim.”

            “Yeah…” Taehyung said. He finally rolled his head in your direction, looking at you with half-lidded, semi-glossy eyes. “Sorry. Looks like you’ll have to do art again for the next few days.” You smiled a bit.

            “I think I can manage now that you’ve taught me everything you know. I’m practically a natural.” Taehyung smiled as he closed his eyes again. You bit your lip, before gently placing a hand on his arm. Not too sure how to offer comfort, you rubbed it gently. The sensation made Taehyung feel all tingly inside, and he hummed softly. It was a relaxing feeling, one that took his mind away from the war raging in his brain. After a moment, you slowly pulled your hand away. Taehyung’s eye cracked open to see you turn your head, most likely preparing to get up. Without thinking, he quickly took your hand, stopping you in your tracks. You turned to him, cheeks flushed and eyes wide in shock. He didn’t do anything, he just held it; squeezed it for a moment, as if he was pushing through the stinging sensation of a shot only to release your hand once again. When he looked up at you, he quickly retracted his hand.

“Sorry…” he mumbled.

“Don’t worry.” You assured, finally standing up. “I’ll go find President Kim, okay? Is there someone you can call to get you?”

            Taehyung thought for a moment. There was only one person.

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

            “ARE YOU OKAY?!” A frantic Park Jimin burst through the doors of Seokjin’s office. Seokjin looked up from his computer, and Taehyung groaned at the noise, his head lifting up as well. “Namjoon-Hyung told me as soon as he got into work. What happened, Tae?”

            “Nothing serious. Just got hit with a swing set, standard pre-school procedure.” He heard Seokjin snort a little from behind his desk. “Just take me home, I’m exhausted.”

            “Tae you can’t sleep with a concussion. You could die!”

            “Watch me.” He hissed. Jimin picked him up, swinging an arm over his shoulder.

            “Feel better, Taehyung.” Seokjin waved, watching as Jimin led him out of the office and to the exit of the preschool. Seokjin spun around in his chair, watching out the window as Taehyung was helped into Jimin’s car, the latter slipping into the driver’s side and pulling out of the parking lot. Seokjin hummed, exhaling a long breath before turning back to the computer and typing away. He now had an extensive amount of paperwork to fill out because of this injury, so he needed to get to work.

            As Jimin drove, he looked over to Taehyung, who was resting his head against the window. His eyes were closed, but it didn’t seem like he was sleeping. Still, Jimin didn’t want to be too careless.

            “Tae?” he hummed. His friend offered a groan in response, his eyes fluttering open. “I have glasses in the glove box. Put them on to help with the light sensitivity.” As Taehyung’s hand reached forward, grabbing the glasses, Taehyung looked back at the road. “So, what happened?”

            “I just got hit with a swing set because I wasn’t paying attention, that’s all…”

            “No, no. I know that. Namjoon-Hyung told me.” Despite the dark glasses on Taehyung’s face, he could still feel the daggers poking through them and into Jimin’s skin. “What happened that you weren’t paying attention?”

            “Oh, of course, he keeps that part out of the story, hm?” Taehyung scoffed. “I told him not to try anything funny because he asked her out on a date and we started arguing and he was just being annoying and-.” As he continued to ramble, Namjoon’s words hit his mind once again.

            You’re just mad that you were too selfish to offer a hand yourself, aren’t you? And you’re taking it out on me.

            “And yeah…” Taehyung finished. “That’s all…” Jimin glanced over at his friend once again, sighing softly. It wasn’t long after that, they pulled into the parking lot of Taehyung’s apartment. The duo got out and made their way inside. “God, I’m exhausted.”

            “I already said you can’t sleep with a concussion.” Jimin scoffed as they went up the elevator. “Sit up with some ice, I’ll dim the lights, but you can’t sleep.”

            “All of those things make me want to sleep,” Taehyung said. Jimin unlocked Taehyung’s apartment, leading him inside the bedroom and helping him onto the bed. He quickly turned the lights off.

            “Stay there, I’ll grab ice.” With Jimin gone, Taehyung stared up at the ceiling, waiting until his eyes adjusted in the dark before he was able to start making out outlines of various things in his room. When that simple act began causing his eyes to tense, he quickly shut them again, groaning to himself. When Jimin returned, he set the ice on his forehead. “Hyung gave me the rest of the day off, so I’ll stay here with you, okay?”

            “You don’t have to do that…Go back to work,” Taehyung begged.

            “Too late. I already punched out for the day.” Jimin giggled. “I’ll be in the living room. Holler if you need me.”

            “I seriously don’t need-.” Jimin immediately shut him up with a simple ‘shhhhhh’.

            “Stop arguing. You don’t have a girlfriend to take care of you, so until that happens, I need to make sure my spot as doting house husband is secured.” Taehyung grinned a bit, a grin Jimin could easily make out in the dark. He reached forward, propping up Taehyung’s head just slightly. “There. Now if you do fall asleep, you won’t die.” He said, before finally exiting the room.

            “You’re overreacting,” Taehyung called, but was not giving a response. Once he was left alone in the room again, Taehyung looked down at his hand. It lifted above his head, and he took a moment to make out its outline by continuously squeezing it into a fist. As he did so, he thought of all the things he was about to do today with that fist, things he is now forced to put on hold.

            Ball up clay with the kids.

            Grip the sides of the swing set for a child,

            Punch Namjoon in the jaw.

            Hold your hand.

            That last one sat in his mind for a moment, jumping back to the office when he quickly grabbed and squeezed your hand. The look of shock on your face made him feel immensely guilty. Only one thing sat in his mind: Here I am, telling him not to overstep his boundaries, and I’m being a total hypocrite. Maybe I deserved to get slammed onto the floor… The thought pissed him off to no end, and he slammed his fist on the bed in frustration, before forcing his eyes closed.

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

            Namjoon sat in his office that morning, resting against the back of his chair as he spun it around to stare ahead at the vast amount of Seoul scenery before him. He rested his chin on top of a balled-up fist and remained silent. He had sent Jimin to pick up and stay with Taehyung because he knew he shouldn’t be home alone after such a serious injury. He had no intention of letting the man suffer, despite how childish he seemed to be in regards to you. As he sat, he thought back to the moment the incident happened.

            Ghhhh…don’t touch me, Kim Namjoon…. he remembered Taehyung growling, which actually amused him. As he knelt beside the man, he watched as you hurried over, kneeling down and gently lifting his head into your lap. He watched as your brows furrowed together in intense worry, and how calmly you spoke to him in hopes to keep him calm as well. Namjoon had to admit that at that moment, he was a bit jealous. If he could get the same treatment, excluding the head injury, he would feel as if he was on cloud nine! However, that was not the case.

            No matter how much Namjoon wanted to admit it to himself, he had begun to notice it. Every time he had seen you and Taehyung together, whether it be at the museum, or at the daycare, the looks on your face were always much more genuine than Namjoon could ever hope to have when you were with him instead.

            “Mr. Kim?” a voice called, and Namjoon’s chair spun back around. His secretary stepped in, a petite girl fresh out of college, with long brown hair and dark brown eyes. “Your first meeting of the day is here. Mr. Im Heeseok.” Namjoon nodded, smiling.

            “Let him in, thank you.” He responded When his secretary left with only a polite nod of her head, Namjoon rose from his seat and walked towards the window, putting his hands in his pockets. Namjoon knew exactly why you had told him you had no intention of dating for a while, and it had little to do with upcoming evaluations. The more he thought about it, he slowly pulled a fist out of his pockets, hitting it against the glass just a bit in frustration.

            You were trying to find the right words to say that Kim Namjoon was still fighting in what seemed to be a losing battle. 

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[oumakokichi]

here's a question ive had since the localization came out; did the localization do anything to enforce more of an athiestic bent and put angie and shinguji in a more negative light wrt religion and spirituality (particularly angie)? or has that always been there? the whole "brainwashing" angle felt p harsh, not to mention saying angie's god outright is Atua instead of the general "my god" that the translations seemed to have. plus akamatsu seemed very internally harsh about her god in their FTEs

The localization definitely did change some things about theportrayal of Angie’s religion, but I would hesitate to say that they changedthe overall feel or messages of Chapter 3. The original was already pretty…well, I don’t know if “atheistic” is the best term for it, but the point ofChapter 3 in the original was definitely to have a kind of clash betweenwestern and eastern religion that reached a boiling point. I don’t think any ofthe general negativity associated with Angie and her cult, or Korekiyo and his séances,was impacted by NISA so much as it was already there in Kodaka’s writing.

As far as I could tell when playing the localization, infact, Korekiyo’s translator didn’t change or alter much about his dialogue.Other than the “Kiyo” nickname, I agreed with most of the choices they made(translating “Kagoinu Village” and the “Kagonoko Ritual” as the “Caged DogVillage” and “Caged Child Ritual” respectively were really good choices or alocalization, in fact, since they made them easier to understand). All of thereveals that happen in the post-trial (as in, those reveals, about his sister)were adapted pretty straightforwardly from the original. Nothing was cut oraltered significantly; his motives really were that messed-up.

As for Angie, the term “brainwashing” actually is a directtranslation and not something altered or swayed by the localization! The term 洗脳(“sennou”) comes up as early as Chapter 2 in both the original and the localization.I believe the first instance of it is in an optional dialogue session withHimiko on the night of Saihara’s first training session, where she mentionsthat she should’ve “had [Angie] undo her brainwashing sooner.” The followingmorning, when discussing Himiko’s magical show, Angie is pretty quick to changethe subject and avoids answering any questions when she’s asked by the rest ofthe group what she did to Himiko.

What’s more, there seems to be a very intentionalcorrelation between Angie’s talent and Mitarai’s. While not entirely the same, thetwo bear definite similarities which come to light especially if you do Angie’sFTEs. In her third FTE with Saihara (her 5th overall if you didKaede’s), she shows Saihara a picture she was painting, only for him to loseconsciousness immediately upon looking at it. When he wakes up again and asksher if there’s anything intrinsically special about the painting itself, shesays she’s not sure, and that she just “creates her art exactly the way godtells her to.”

It’s pretty heavily implied (more like confirmed, in herFTEs at least) that her artwork is how she gets people to listen to her and dowhat she asks, both on her home island and within the religious student councilshe sets up. There definitely seems to be a much larger degree of free willinvolved with her abilities than there was with Mitarai’s, the game is prettyemphatic about the fact that she does brainwash people to go along with herideas. The effectiveness of her brainwashing is up for debate, though; Saihararemains pretty unaffected in his FTEs with her despite her best attempts toforce him to marry her, Tenko was only pretending to join the student councilin order to keep an eye on Himiko, and I highly doubt Tsumugi was ever actuallybrainwashed because of, well, reasons.

Overall, the general feeling with Angie (in the narrative atleast) seems to be that she was someone whose intentions weren’t necessarily bad, but that she still did some prettyunsavory stuff nonetheless. It’s pretty clear that she does, in fact, want thekilling game to end—she’s one of the most outspoken characters of the opinion that“greed” and “desire” only lead people to commit murder, and that they’d all bebetter off staying within the school and making it comfortable for themselves,rather than continuing to try and escape the school.

Unlike other characters who have brought up similar plansbefore, like Celes, I think Angie did genuinely believe what she was saying,too. There’s an optional dialogue moment in Chapter 4 if you click on the doorto Angie’s lab while exploring around the school, where Saihara pretty muchoutright says that he couldn’t agree with her methods, but that he does realizethat she was trying to stop the killing game in her own way, then follows upwith a really nice comment about how he’ll never forget her. He has similar commentsfor most of his classmates following their deaths in each subsequent chapter,but I thought it was a really nice touch nonetheless.

As you point out though, if there is a fault in thelocalization to be found, it’s in changing Angie’s god altogether from a verygeneral, unspecific god to “Atua.” Ever since I heard about that particularlocalization decisions, I couldn’t agree with it for a number of reasons, notleast of all that it’s extremely disrespectful, as Atua is an actual, realdeity in Polynesian mythology. Adapting a real-life deity and applying it to acharacter whose backstory, island, and god are all deliberately undefined (andfictional) is a very bad choice all around.

Angie already suffers from a lot of bad, racist writingtropes on Kodaka’s part in the original. It’s pretty clear that since she’sboth dark-skinned and a “foreigner” (and we don’t know anything regardingwhether her pre-game self is actually a foreigner or not) she was designed tobe the “exotic, quirky island girl” whose religions and culture teeter betweenbaffling and downright creepy.

The portrayal of her island’s religion and customs alreadyisn’t positive in the original game; between “blood sacrifices,” purchasingorgans and children off of the internet, and the hypersexualization of bothAngie and her people (she tries to take off Saihara’s clothes in the same FTE Imentioned before, and there’s a lot of talk about the people on her island “comforting”each other sexually or “sharing the bride” at weddings), it feels like Kodakawas just one step short of calling them “un-civilized,” which is… eugh.

Taking all of that messy and unsavory writing and directlycorrelating it with actual Polynesian culture and mythology is such anincredibly disrespectful decision, moreso when I highly doubt that Angie’stranslator for the localization is Polynesian themselves or did any actualresearch into the subject. There was no need to slap a name onto Angie’s god inthe first place—her island and culture are still entirely undefined in-game, sowhy NISA felt that her religion needed to be equated with a real-life one isstill beyond me.

Other than the general racism though, I don’t think a lot ofthe rest of Angie’s dialogue was changed. There was a brief, optional line inthe bonus mode when she comes to invite you for a date where her translatordecided to have her say “Alola!” (which, you know, a Pokemon region based onHawaii isn’t even the same as the Polynesian islands, but okay), but otherwiseher translation was pretty faithful to the original dialogue. I think hertranslator didn’t have too much of a problem capturing the feeling of hercharacter; their main problem was simply the decision to make an unnecessarycorrelation between Angie’s fictional, made-up religion and all its negativeaspects and with actual Polynesian religion and culture.

Overall, I think a lot more of the issue stems back toKodaka’s own racism and flawed writing, though. I don’t think he was trying toleave a message of “religion = bad, always” in Chapter 3 so much as he was just…unaware of how it might come across to others. Religion in Japan is decidedlydifferent from religion in the west, so it’s important to remember that Kodakawas writing from a Japanese perspective, rather than an all-around westernatheistic perspective. He definitely wanted a sort of clash of ideas betweenAngie’s very foreign, western, cult-like religion, and Korekiyo’s research intoeastern culture and spirituality, but the writing got… well, very messy alongthe way.

This is just my take on it all, anyway! The association withAngie’s religion and “brainwashing” was definitely there in the original game,even very early on, but I do think the localization would’ve improved overallif it hadn’t bothered trying to put a real name to any of it. Thank you forasking this question by the way—it’s always good to clear this kind of stuffup, especially since all of the “Atua” changes must make it really difficultfor anyone playing the localization to know how much else was or wasn’t changedin Angie’s dialogue. I hope I could clear a few things up!

[margarethelstone]

Dragonfly ‘A’

When your friend writes you some dumb Hiccstrid to make you shut up, but instead of doing this, you decide to turn it into an actual fic.

Based on this conversation with @wilderwestqueen​

Can be found on fanfiction.net as well

“Hiccup”, Astrid said, looking soulfully in his eyes. “I am eternally, utterly and hopelessly in love with you. Let’s wed on the shores of the Edge and fly off into the sunset together, shooting plasma blasts through the wind, all whilst conceiving twelve beautiful children named after every dragon we’ve met on this island.”

“Astrid,” Hiccup said, tears filling his eyes as he grabbed a hold of Astrid’s hands. “I thought you’d never ask. Quick, clasp my chest. Let’s ride Toothless into the night sky and make passionate love in mid-air whilst wearing our dragon fly suits!”

Honestly, she didn’t even know she could raise her eyebrows that high.

“This is insane,” she stated, eyeing him in disbelief. “You are insane.”

The man in front of her rolled his eyes, but didn’t stop smiling nevertheless.

“Hiccup, I am not wearing this.”

“Just give it a try, will you?” he answered her, the excitement still resonating in his voice, as if he hadn’t heard what she’d just said. “It won’t bite, you know.”

“Oh, yes it will. And even if it doesn’t, I’m sure it will be the cause of my misery, injury, or death itself in some other way. Look, I love you, but this is way too much to expect from me.”

“Astrid, just -”

“I’m not wearing the Thor damned flight suit!”

With that, silence fell on the room. Admittedly, Hiccup did open his mouth, but clearly, he wasn’t able to come up with any sensible answer, so he closed it soon enough. He didn’t retreat immediately, but responding to Astrid’s words proved to be more difficult than ever, and thus, after a few moments of frowning and chewing his lower lip, he gave up, and sighed.

“Fine,” he muttered under his breath. “Forget it. Apparently I can’t even make a gift for my betrothed without making a total fool of myself.”

Berk’s blonde Shield Maiden only shook her head, seeing the grumpy expression on her beloved Viking’s face.

Good gods, he was hopeless.

When he told her that morning that he wanted to talk to her, she didn’t have the slightest idea of what it might be about, but then again, she didn’t really care that much. Fairly speaking, she expected him to propose another round of let’s-map-the-entire-world-together-before-my-Dad-decides-to-make-me-Chief thing rather than anything else, however, she was quite as ready to do everything he wanted her to.

Except this.

In her wildest dreams and nightmares, she certainly did not suppose that Hiccup Haddock, the Pride of Berk, her personal husband-to-be would drag her to his workshop, and gift her with nothing else, but her own, brand new Dragonfly ‘A’.

Yes, that was the name.

“Hiccup, listen to me,” she said, trying to sound softly, taking a few steps towards the flustered man. “You know how… sceptical I’ve always been about the whole Dragon Fly idea. It’s frustrating enough to see you using it, provoking some accident to happen every time you jump off of Toothless. What on Earth made you think I would agree to use one, too?”

“I figured that maybe if you ever tried it yourself, you might be more understanding for me and my enthusiasm for it,” he mumbled, still avoiding her gaze.

Astrid crossed her arms on her chest. “Well, I’m not.”

Hiccup finally glanced at her, only to give her the most offended glance he could offer – and yet, his beautiful fiancée didn’t even stir.

“I can see that.”

He looked away as soon as he’d voiced the words, clasping the suit in question in his hands. The blonde warrior couldn’t miss the pain that reflected in his features as he turned his head away, slouching as he did; but even considering the fact that she really didn’t want to see him like that, she still wouldn’t be able to accept his unusual present.

Sighing, Astrid stepped towards the Rider, stopping right before him. She tilted her head, trying to meet his gaze, but it was of no use; Hiccup simply wouldn’t look at her now, no matter how hard she had tried.

“Can you please tell me what it’s really about?” she asked gently. “Why would you want me to use that suit all of the sudden? It’s your thing.”

“I wanted you to fly with me,” came a muffled answer, before Hiccup mustered to look her in the eyes again, and explain himself more openly. “I thought that, well, maybe it would be a nice change. That instead of riding dragons together, we could try to do that on our own. Well, kind of. Anyway, that’s it. You can laugh now.”

The girl stared at him for a while, her eyes wide in shock. How was she supposed to answer something like that? Flying? Together? Was that the romanticism he wanted to put into life now?

She knew that at this specific moment, she should stay calm at all cost – but she couldn’t.

No longer bothering, Astrid burst into the most sonorous laughter, completely taking Hiccup aback.

“What?!” she stuttered, almost chocking on her own saliva. “Hiccup, this is bad even for you. I mean, what’s next, conceiving our children on the backs of dragons? Or naming them after the ones we’ve met so far?”

Hiccup’s cheeks were blushing madly at this point, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop laughing. She pressed her hands to her mouth, trying to muffle the sound, but it didn’t make much of a difference. Hiccup looked awfully miserable, and she knew it was her fault, but could anyone blame her? Yet, she tried once more to calm down, hoping the Viking would not take offence for too long.

She took a deep breath, then another. One more.

Alright, she was fine now.

“Babe, I’m sorry,” she began, praying to the gods she would not start giggling again. “I really shouldn’t have said that. It’s just -”

“It was calling out to be said, wasn’t it?” he responded harshly. “You’re right, you’re absolutely, positively right. The idea is ridiculous, I don’t know what I was thinking whenI decided to share it with you. Must have been drunk or something.”

“You’re never drunk.”

“Well, something tells me I will be tonight,” he drawled. “Not that you would care. I’m just that weird guy with one leg and ridiculous ideas. Why don’t you just turn on your heel, and tell me you don’t want to have anything to do with me?”

“Good Thor, Hiccup, you can be such a child sometimes,” she moaned mockingly. The word child brought the fresh memories to the man’s mind, and now he was blushing again in result. Astrid laughed shortly, and cupping his face in her hands, she made him turn in her direction. “Listen, Dragon Boy. I am eternally, utterly and hopelessly in love with you. I want to have everything to do with you. If you asked me to clasp your chest, fly to the Edge, and marry you on its shores right after we land, I would probably say yes, and never regret it. I am ready to die for you or kill for you -” she paused for a moment, watching how the expression on Hiccup’s face changes, feeling him relaxing into her grip “but I refuse to do neither of those looking like some feral crazy Dragon Lady.”

Before Hiccup had a chance to respond, Astrid stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips on his, while her hands moved swiftly, one landing on the man’s chest, the other on the back of his head, dipped in his luxurious auburn hair.

Hiccup, shocked, didn’t respond immediately, blinking in surprise, and wondering what he should do in a situation like this.

He didn’t want to kiss her.

He really didn’t want to kiss her.

Gods, he always wanted to kiss her.

Restraining himself no longer, he leaned in, embracing Astrid’s waist with both arms, holding her as close as he found possible. She smiled under his lips.

She always did.

When they broke apart, he saw a question in her eyes, but he only shook his head, smiling fondly at her. Her own grin widened significantly, and once again, Hiccup thought that he really couldn’t live without that smile.

He still felt embarrassed by the entire situation, but somehow, he was beginning to accept it. Astrid rejecting his gift was bad. Astrid laughing up the idea behind the gift was absolutely, terribly horrifying.

Yet, the same Astrid expressing her feelings for him so straightforwardly, holding him, accepting him, loving him sort of made it worth the pain.

Astrid snuggled her face into his neck, hugging him tightly.

“I’m really sorry, Hiccup. I shouldn’t have laughed like that, but it seriously wasn’t a good idea.”

“I think I can live with that. I overreacted, too.”

“You know, I don’t mind you wearing that suit yourself, it’s just -”

“It’s not your thing. Yeah, I know.”

He put a small kiss on her hair before the girl raised her head, still not loosening her grip on him.

“Yes. But also… If anything happens to you during those crazy flights, I want to be able to actually rescue you. And I won’t be able to do that if I’ll be falling into the ocean with you.”

Hiccup couldn’t help but chuckle at her words. He gave her another kiss, this time placed on her forehead, and whispered, “You’re quite right about that, M’lady. As you always are.”

“I’m glad to hear you say something reasonable for once,” she teased him back, also whispering, and then raised her brows in anticipation. “So, what do we do now?”

“Well,” Hiccup mused out loud. “Since you can’t appreciate the present I gave you, we must think of something else. Now, as much as I love the idea of marrying you at the Edge’s shore, I’m pretty sure Dad would kill me if I did, and I’d like to be present on my honeymoon. So, that’s out. But… How about a moonlit flight instead?”

“With how many dragons included?”

“I thought about one, honestly. You know, like for the first time.”

“Sentimental again.”

“Is that bad?”

“No.”

“Great,” he glanced at her mischievously. “Ready to grab my chest?”