#that also means i'm at the very beginning of ch 4 ^^

[violetsareblue-selfships]

good morning!!! <333

[noxiatoxia]

okay, i’ve been obsessing over your komaeda translations and i must know… given the unsure way he talks in the japanese (lots of filler words), does his dialogue change much after he learns the truth? late ch4, i mean. when he starts being condescending to everyone. i’m also very curious about his big speech about wanting to be called the ultimate hope

Hello, anon! Thank you for the message and interesting question! And thank you for the patience!

So, there's three questions here if I'm understanding:

Does Komaeda's speech pattern (sounding softer and using filler words, or generally downplaying his words) change later into ch.4?

When Komaeda starts rambling about hope, does he speak more clearly and more confidently?

What is the nuance in Komaeda's "hope" speech on the laptop?

I will answer all 3 in this order.

(Also, for anybody confused.... here's my post talking about how Komaeda uses filler words, and here's my post talking about how Komaeda's speech was deliberately changed during the earlier beta to make him sound less confident in himself.)

So, question number one:

1. Does Komaeda talk more rudely, use less filler words, or talk more assuredly in ch.4?

Hmm...I don't think so. He still uses honorifics for everyone (-san for girls and -kun for boys), he still uses sa and ne to the same amount, and he does not seem to devote any sort of rude speech for the most part. It is only his words that change, and not the way he speaks them.

My memory is horrifically bad, so please keep that in mind...I asked my friend @kaiokentimesten for help, and was provided with a good number of lines he remembered from ch.4/5 of Komaeda saying rude things, and I looked them up in the Japanese version. All lines were said in his usual speech formations, so there was no change. Again, the words he spoke just happened to be ruder, but they were said in the same tone.

I will show an example.

KOMAEDA: おっと、安易にハムスターを例に出すと、 脱落した彼に怒られちゃうかな? KOMAEDA: Oops. How clumsy of me to use hamsters as an example. Do you think that loser* would've gotten mad at me if he were still here?

*Komaeda does say "dropout" and it's used for people who have been eliminated in a game, or failed a test/exam/otherwise didn't "make the cut". I just think "loser" works better as a translation.

Nothing changes about Komaeda's speech here, he talks the same as he always does. He's just saying meaner words.

(I don't know where the translators got "weakling" from...that's nowhere in the text.)

The only exception I can think of is the beginning of Trial 4. Souda remarks they talk about the murder weapon, and Komaeda three times goes, "Ha?"

It's a funny scene, but significant because, as far as I know, this is the only time Komaeda uses this word.

(I could be wrong, but I'm totally coming up empty right now...please correct me if I am!)

は ha, is very rude. It means "What?" or "Huh?" but is a very rude way to say it. People like Kuzuryuu and Oowada love using it, and Hinata uses it a fair amount, although even Hinata - who's whole design philosophy, as pointed out by the SDR2 artbook, is to be more masculine and ruder than Naegi was - uses え e more often.

え e, うん un, ん nn, あれ are, are more casual but non-rude ways to say "What?"

Komaeda always used one of those first four from what I can remember, or simply 何 nani, which is probably the most neutral way to say "What?"

So to see Komaeda use this is surprising.

This is different than ははは, はっ, or あはは which are normal laughing sounds.

Oh, before we move out of Chapter 4, here's a mistranslation I want to point out (or, less mistranslation, more very direct translation where the joke is lost in English).

KOMAEDA: じゃあ、始めようか。シンキングターイム...ってヤツだね。

Komaeda isn't a stranger to randomly injecting English words into his speech - a quirk that I feel is used to show he's a bookworm/otherwise intelligent (that's just my thought) - and in those instances, instead of translating directly (because using English in English loses the nuance that using English in Japanese does) I would replace it with bigger, more obscure English words.

But this is actually not one of those times.

Another thing Komaeda is no stranger to is making random pop culture references. He does it more than you would think for a character like him.

While "Thinking Time" isn't a reference to any specific Japanese media per se, it's Japanese game show lingo.

For example, a tough question is given to the contestants, and they have 30 seconds to think of the answer before being forced to give one. These 30 seconds are called "Thinking Time".

I don't know the English equivalent. I know there's a countdown timer in stuff like Jeopardy and Minute to Win It, but I don't think they say anything. Sometimes it's "You have [x] seconds, good luck!" Or "and...start!" or suchlike.

I guess in that case, this line is better localized as:

KOMAEDA: Let's start! You have 30 seconds on the clock...good luck!

(I chose 30 seconds because that's how long the "Make your Selection" part lasts maximum).

2. When ranting about hope, does Komaeda speak more clearly, more confidently?

Yes!

In scenes like post- Chapter 1 trial, where Komaeda monologues to the audience for a few minutes before being knocked out - where he is rambling on and on - his speech is noticeably smoother with less pauses or filler injections. I would also venture to say the way he speaks makes it sound like he is stating facts, that he is very confident in his assertions.

3. Komaeda's Hope Speech on the laptop

Firstly, I want to point somethings out...unrelated to the hope speech itself, but just fun to note.

The garbled, loud noise you hear sometimes where Komaeda is speaking is not gibberish (listen here, volume warning). For whatever reason, the English version did not have Bryce Papenbrook record lines for this, and still uses the Japanese version.

It doesn't reveal any new information, sadly. And I can't make out the second one...but it's highly likely in that line I linked that Komaeda is saying 希望は絶望なんかに負けないんだ or "Hope will never lose to despair."

When it comes to the scrambled text...I've never been much of a decoder, but I can point some stuff out.

For one, I'm 99% sure the Japanese team probably provided the translators with the full, unscrambled text so they could better translate it.

That said, it's not impossible to figure this out.

<まじむかつく+超Ｙさしい２こんなにEEものｇ１０２＄うRしｓ～＝～＋いｄｓねうれOｒｚ』

まじむかつく is a term that means "extremely irritated" hence "seriously pissing me off".

The + is the same in both version, I assume it means "and".

The next part needs a little explaining. In Japanese, all consonants (for the most part) are followed by a vowel. on a Japanese keyboard, if you do not finish typing the character, only the consonant shows up.

for example, な is "na". but if you only type the n and don't follow with the a, you get ｎ.

There's a lot of Japanese slang based off this. To type ん you have to type "n" twice. so, a slang form of konnichiwa (こんにちは) is shortened to こん, konn. But it got shortened even further to こｎ.

so, 超Ｙさしい requires a bit of guesswork, as there are several sounds that start with "y", like ゆ yu, よ yo, や ya. the さしい at the end tells us it's an adjective.

超 in this case means "very", like "very expensive" or "very awesome".

Likely, Yさしい is やさしい, which is either "kind" or "easy".

This makes 超Ｙさしい either "extremely kind/nice" or "extremely simply/easy".

Official translators wrote it as "hella nice", aka "very kind".

Beyond that I start to get bad at this xD I don't know where they get "I can't believe something odd like this is only $102".

The 2 may be に, as 2 in Japanese is pronounced に(ni), and に is a particle.

I think the ＥＥ Is to be read like いい (ii) in Japanese. And the ｇ might be が (ga)?

超やさしいにこんなにいいものが１０２＄

こんなにいいもの would be "Such nice stuff" or "Really good stuff".

が at the end could be "But..." or "However..." but if the 102$ is connected somehow, then it may be an object particle.

Maybe it's "Really good stuff gotten easy for $102"

But that isn't fully true to the official English version, so maybe they were provided with more clear words to translate from. Like I said, I'm no good at codes.

The last part is easy though. うRし follows the same rule as before. うれし Ur(e)shi(i), which means "happy". I don't know what the "s" is, since it seems the sentence picks back up at いｄｓね, as うれしい is the full word. "d s" is probably d(e)s(u) with the ne particle at the end. うれしいですね, which means "I'm happy!"

And I'm guessing Orz is the emoticon.

Okay, sorry for rambling. When it comes to the actual speech, there is something interesting to note, albiet small.

The English version is correct in its translation, and the only thing I have to offer is the nuance behind how Komaeda makes his requests.

He says stuff like, "Respect me" "Praise me" "Build a bronze statue of me" and such. And he requests all of these by saying ～てくれ ~tekure.

I don't think Komaeda ever uses this outside of this speech. てくれ can be seen as rather rude. Though the formation looks like an imperative (very rude), it is not, since at it's core, てくれ means you are asking someone to do something for you, not ordering them. It is still the rudest way you can "request" something though.

It's not as severe as Komaeda yelling 黙れよ (damare yo) in 2.5, but it's close behind.

It does show he is being very callous and assertive in this scene, truly a 180 from him being casual but still respectful. This sort of demanding request tone coming from Komaeda is surprising, I feel.

Otherwise...there isn't really any nuance to add, I'm afraid. The speech is rather straight forward and the English version translates it well.

I hope this answers your questions!

[my-flesh-is-crispy]

Hi crispy! Can I request a Chance x Reader oneshot? A little angsty with a happy ending would be perfect, but anything is fine!

+++++++++++++++++++++++

77...even.

(yeah I'm still not the best at titles)

+++++++++++++++++++++++

ORDER UP!

A chance x reader oneshot with a splash of angst and a cheesy ending!

Call me 1 eggs with how much I'm going to cook hehehehe

(god I hate myself for saying that)

SELF HATRED ASIDE LETS GET INTO IT!

Tw: minor gore

+++++++++++++++++++++++

×°×(Setting: Haunted Hotel)×°×

The beginning of a new round always ment great things to a certain gambler. Chance. His ears plagued with the rattling sounds of slot machines and the sweet, sweet noise of the jackpot. Though, the "sweet sweet noise of the jackpot" for him in the hell sounds like the annoyed grunts, groans, complaints, and sometime screams from the things trying to kill him. And you of course! You were his beloved after all, anything trying to kill you was faughter for lead bullets to him. He was quite.... Confident,for a survivor, fighting to live just 4 minutes.

But this round was no different.

For now, You two hid in a corner behind a hedge on top a long brick pot. He was flipping his coin and you were waiting for him, sure you could walk out and start helping everyone but you didnt want leave him and his weakness 30 ass behind.

Ch: "y'know, y/n, lady luck isn't really on my side, it'd help if you were glued to mine~"chance reached to lightly put his arm around your waist, enough for you to pull away, but also enough for you to get closer if you wanted.he was always a bit of a flirt no matter the situation, especially gambling. He was being cheesy again... Y/n: " just because we're by ourselves here doesn't mean we don't have a job" even though he sighed and removed his arm to get back to gambling, he took your advice, I mean, he never really doesn't take your advice.

After re-rolling a couple time and fixing his hat shot you a grin. Ch: "and I am good to go!". You two linked hands and started off to find the killer and protect the team a little bit. he loved himself at least a little pda just because, simply, he could!

This round the killer was Jason, the masked mute maniac. Not a problem for chance. He couldn't outrun Jason, but janson can't outrun a bullet..... Chance: "cmon, ya' look scared! We're gonna be just fine, we pretty much always are!" You followed him to the middle of a grassy area and just down the hall you saw Jason trying to kill guest, Elliot, and two time. Guest was doing pretty well, he looked fine, but there wasn't really a moment where he wasnt "staying strong" whatever that meant. Two time is self explanatory, their two time, they could just respawn. However Eliot wasn't looking as good, he was limping around.

Right as chance saw guest miss his punch he fired his gun, hitting Jason like a target. Guest was able to get a pizza in that time he was stunned, very good help! He quickly hid the gun back behind his suit jacket but before he could make some kinda remark, you already ran over to check on Elliot, he better take the time to start gambling again if your going to get in the action.

You helped Elliot escape and find a med kit and you came back to check on guest and two time. Two time just died and respawed.... Somewhere, but now that Elliot was gone, guest was hanging on by a thread and just as you tried to help... He died. You ran over back to chance, you did get hit a few times, making you limp but he quickly shot Jason, grabbing your hand and guiding you to run away with him. You smiled through your panic as he saved you and as he pulled you behind a corner and started catching his breath he spoke.. Ch: "heh, I guess you owe me now for that stunt-" he joked before immediately gambling again, but having the worst luck.

7 tails. 8 coin flips with 7 tails..... He's going to be cutting it close here-

Jason was still coming for you and withen a few seconds he came through the doorway, you lead him to run this time, going through the ball pit and in the play room you suddenly felt him stand at a halt. Y/n: "wha- CHANCE WE HAVE TO RUN-!?" he grinned and turned around, gambling with his life once more and attempting a third shot.... He ran out of luck quickly... The gun? Just didn't fire... He went silent....7 stacks of weakness...one hit and he's dead.. Ch: "oh shi-" right as Jason was about to gashing wound chance you stepped in-between... Y/n: "we're even now." You tried to choke out but you were already coughing up blood and before you could see what he did, your vision faded....

+++++++++++++++++++++

Epilogue (happy ending)

+++++++++++++++++++++

Chance somehow lived the rest of the round, two time and Elliot got there right after you died to help him, but the moment he got teleported back his first concern was you, classic chance. In the survivor cabin he practically lunged at you. Ch: "Y/N WHAT WAS THAT!?! WHA- why-..... Why in lucks name did you do that?????" He asked in disbelief tilting your head around to get a better look at his favorite person. Y/n: "well.... I guess I just owed you" you say simply, laughing a little before hugging him back..... He could only guess all was well again...

[keiksycake]

Lunatic Blue Ch 9 (Gore TW || Hetalia Doujinshi)

YEAHHHHH AFTER 4 YEARS. 4 YEARS. 4 YEARS.

木綿ﾄﾞｩﾌ does it again with another very incredible chapter~ I missed this series so much! The wait was definitely worth it, this chapters as great as the others! I wish I could've finished it faster, I even put My Arika on hold lol, but I had assignments D;

There's no gore in this chapter but it's still full of horror and suspense!

If you haven't read this series yet, I HIGHLY recommend it, definitely one of my top top favorites, idk if I like any other more than it. Altho, I started doing a lot to "clean" the pages, which I didn't in the beginning. How much I've grown in both cleaning and translating within this 3 year gap is greatly exemplified in this series... Which is great, but in other words, that also means the first chapters are very drastically... I've been saying for a long time I want to re-do them, I started re-doing the first chapter a couple years back but never finished lol but finally the other day I decided to update it, posting what I have at least. Lets hope my renewed motivation is enough to actually finished...

Since it's been so long, I recommend even those who have read this series to re-read it before reading this one. Anyway, sorry for the long intro! Please enjoy! Here's a list of the prev chapters too:

Lunatic Blue 1

Lunatic Blue 2

Lunatic Blue 3

Lunatic Blue 4

Lunatic Blue 5

Lunatic Blue 6

Lunatic Blue 7

Lunatic Blue 8

I was too lazy to actually redraw this last page, sorry >.> Look at him mad broody tho lol

Also, I accidentally made this and thought it looked cool so I thought I'd add it in lol:

Notes:

Rather than "sir", child Alfred calls Arthur "nii-san" which means "older brother", but it's also largely used to refer to any older young man.

Rather than "the excitement" (of space), America says "romance", but I was afraid any young and/or American readers wouldn't get that it's meant in an excitement sense, not like love kind of romance.

I'm still not that great at translating, I had to guess for a lot of the sound effects bc English onomatopoeia sucks D;

The expression I tled to "prideful" literally is "hates to lose"

If anyone wants to make a clean version

I did not make this series, I'm just your friendly neighborhood translator~

Lunatic Blue 1

Lunatic Blue 2

Lunatic Blue 3

Lunatic Blue 4

Lunatic Blue 5

Lunatic Blue 6

Lunatic Blue 7

Lunatic Blue 8

[slusheeduck]

Also I have been chewing on the idea of Ralsei since the beginning and while I've seen the "Ralsei's the headband" and "Ralsei's the green crayon" theories, I think he's more of an anomaly than that. I can't say what exactly he is but that's not going to stop me from verbally vomiting up all my thoughts here.

I think Ralsei is a lot more abstract than other Darkners as a concept, and his entire purpose, essentially, is to be Kris's aid. I don't think he had his form (or even his personality) as Ralsei until Kris and Susie first showed up, and he's trying desperately to endear himself to Kris specifically, in the best way he can, because this is all his existence is meant to be. He's never hugged anyone, he's never had cake (despite making it), and he has no subjects; I wouldn't be surprised if he was just waiting there, suspended while knowing so much about the Dark World, until Kris finally showed up.

While I think he knows a lot of things ABOUT Kris, he didn't have the hands on experience of working with them as a person, which is why I think so many people found him off-putting in Ch 1 + 2. He emphasizes being smiley and nice because that's what being happy is, and being happy means that he's doing his job. I know his reaction to Kris having a breakdown post-Spamton is unsettling, but I genuinely think he didn't have a reference point of what to say outside of "Just don't worry about it!", because he'd never dealt with ANY sort of emotions firsthand.

Susie's the anomaly. He knows the prophesy says there'll be a monster/girl who will aid in saving the world, but Kris--someway or another--is the major influence on the Dark World, and thus she's not as important to his purpose. But then the unthinkable happens: she befriends Ralsei. She treats him like a real person, she goofs around and teases him, they get to go to the carnival together. And through that, she starts influencing him. Obviously he's (probably) never going to be a "bad kid," but he jokes back, he takes her opinions and tastes into account, and by Chapter 3 he's truly enjoying spending time with her playing games.

And in doing so, he's becoming more solid and real. Ch 3 shows so much more of a personality for him, and he fights back a little bit (WHY DO I HAVE TO BE THE HORSE? was a big moment for me of "Oh! He's annoyed! I haven't seen that!"). And, truthfully, I think that's incredibly distressing for him, because it's not what he was meant to do. He was meant to serve (hence why he was so comfortable in the butler set-up) and be whatever Kris needed him to be. But now Susie's here. And Susie is a huge advocate for being unabashedly yourself, and he's developing a self to be due to proximity.

And Chapter 4 is basically an 8-hour breakdown for him, because he wasn't supposed to be more than a help-meet. He's forming opinions outside of "be kind", he's being more outspoken and candid, and worst of all, he's experiencing true feelings. And that's terrible for him, because he knows how the story ends. Everyone has a role, and his is to support Kris. He doesn't want to distress them with the details initially, because that's not very "good servant" of him to do. But now it's personal. Now the ending hurts. And he's not a servant anymore; the heroes are his friends, and he's willing to take every hurt, every struggle, every obstacle if it means that they're okay. And he's still trying to smile and be positive, because it's still in his programming, but it's so much harder to now that he has a whole personhood in him that wasn't there before.

I also think that's why we see such a different side of him in the last couple hours of the game, where he's open about the danger they're all in and upfront with the fact that he doesn't know how to proceed. Before his "Look, I'm smiling! I'm happy!" moment, he's showing a range of emotions we haven't seen from him. He's anxious, he's scared, he's desperate and screams at the Knight to not open another fountain. But he also takes risks like jumping onto the Titan, and then he urges everyone to attack. He's directing instead of just helping, and I think until the "I'm smiling" moment, he forgets what he is. He's not the Prince, he's not a servant. He's Ralsei, and he's helping his friends.

I don't know if we'll find out what Ralsei truly is until Chapter 7, but I think 5 - 7 are going to have him be more proactive and less cagey about the Dark World, and I think his developing personhood is going to be a BIG factor in it.

[cuppajj]

Don't mind me as I found out this AU a day ago and heard you're waiting for BY ep 4 to form stuff w Dark Choco and Frigid Cacao and BOY do I have ideas.

(This is going to be a long ask, it's been cooking for a while and I need to ramble abt it, hopefully Tumblr won't eat it. Also a little spoilers about ep 13 & 14 and odyssey ch 1 if you're not there yet)

So, we're not talking about Dark Choco's perspective just yet (I'm also waiting on BY ep 4 for that) but from Cacao, we can establish stuff about how he feels about Choco in canon and go from there and speculations on BY ep 4.

Canon Cacao very clearly loves his son and truly longs for him back in his life. But, as referenced from the Hollyberry interaction, he's very reluctant to seek him out, preferring Choco approach him first instead.

One of the ways Cacao shows his love is how he respects the boundaries of those close to him (and, in turn, expects the same for them to him. That's why he violently snaps at Clotted Cream and feels very betrayed by Vanilla for keeping Lily a secret in Odyssey) and I feel this applies to Choco the most. He understands Choco needs his time and space, especially after the whole ep 14, and won't feel comfortable around him or his kingdom for a while. There's also the chance that Choco may not want to have him in his life again (untrue) and he'd rather not risk finding out that's true by personally seeking him out and further upsetting his son. (That last one was just my interpretation but AUGH)

This is the building blocks I found for forming Frigid Cacao's side of the relationship. Should Dark Choco return to the kingdom, Frigid Cacao would feel Very Much Conflicted™️ about having him back, but for different reasons.

On one hand, he would be relieved and overjoyed to sense his son's return. There's so much lost time, so much regrets, he wanted to make up for it and rebuild his relationship anew. But on the other hand, this clashes with the Soltitude he built for himself. Accepting his son back in his life would mean breaking down his walls, thus tearing down everything he built and betraying his own light. Perhaps that part of him would also be angry that Dark Choco would impose this on him. But it saddens him to turn him away. And so on and so forth it cycles.

This duality is the internal conflict that, while it opens the gate for redemption (or at least loosen his terror and maybe actually get him outside), is also very hectic for Choco himself because it also manifests in his powers.

The licorice monsters are noticably more docile around him, but they can just as soon lash out randomly, coming in big waves and heading for only one target. The weather is constantly shifting from mild snow to freezing blizzards in minutes. The paths feel cleared out but it feels like there's always something out to get him.

That's assuming Choco didn't return to the kingdom after the Beast Yeast expedition (bc I'm assuming you're setting Cacao's fall after BY ep 4). But if he did, there's two possibilities. One is the more boring Frigid Cacao's reign didn't last really long bc Choco was there from the beginning. The other one, ooh the other one also works as a bad ending for the first scenario.

(I ended up writing a full oneshot for it. If you want, I can send it in another ask, hahaha)

As someone who hasn’t gotten to that chapter in odyssey yet (i really oughtta watch a video on it bc these quills brake for nobody), this is a really good reference for Cacao and Choco in beast ancients!! I won’t say much about Choco since yeah I’m waiting for apathy pt 2 but I’ve definitely been wanting him to be a huge source of conflict for frigid cacao in the au, and this helps describe it pretty well. Cacao’s fall is being worked on because the timeline of beast ancients is a WIP, it does come after BY 4 for all I know atm, and whatever happens to Choco in that episode will determine where he is and how he affects his dad when he becomes a beast. But the bottom line is that it is not gonna be easy for either of them either way :D

Would love to see your one shot btw!

[bethanydelleman]

The racism Heathcliff faces isn't because of skin color. It's because he's Roma. Antiziganism was, and still is, a massive, MASSIVE problem in Europe. The Nazis genocided the Roma along with Jews, and there are other historical parallels there. And this absolute unmitigated hatred his society had for Heathcliff because he was Roma is at the core of his character. He succumbed to evil because of the despair it engendered in him.

I lived in France at one point and I witnessed this myself, it is definitely still a thing. All I'm saying is, put yourself in the shoes of the Earnshaws and it's more complicated than racism.

Just imagine if your dad/husband came home from a three day business trip and pulled a living human being out of his pocket. Just like that. "Here, new brother" like this child is a puppy at Christmas And then, he favours that kid above his biological children! Of course Hindley hates him! Of course Mrs. Earnshaw is angry!

These reactions are definitely a mix of racism and disbelief, anger, and hatred over favouritism (all Ch 4):

Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling it out of doors: she did fly up, asking how he could fashion to bring that gipsy brat into the house, when they had their own bairns to feed and fend for?

So, from the very beginning, he bred bad feeling in the house; and at Mrs. Earnshaw’s death, which happened in less than two years after, the young master had learned to regard his father as an oppressor rather than a friend, and Heathcliff as a usurper of his parent’s affections and his privileges; and he grew bitter with brooding over these injuries.

“Take my colt, Gipsy, then!” said young Earnshaw. “And I pray that he may break your neck: take him, and be damned, you beggarly interloper! and wheedle my father out of all he has: only afterwards show him what you are, imp of Satan.—And take that, I hope he’ll kick out your brains!”

Heathcliff is also denied an education and is dirt poor (Mr. Earnshaw brought him home and then left him nothing in the will, clearly. What an adoption plan!). When he returns rich, everyone is ready to accept him into society. He has the lawyers on his side, Isabella ready to marry him, and he has a respected position in society. So I would say his class/wealth is also a huge factor here.

All I'm saying is, it's not just racism. I mean, to me, Wuthering Heights is a two generation story of people being extremely awful to each other. I'm not sure what the theme is meant to be other than bonkers.

That said, yes, they should totally cast Heathcliff as a darker skinned person, because he definitely is one.

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

Hey slug! Obviously it's a bit older now, but I was wondering if you might be able to translate Sougyaran BAM, from Kuko? I feel like I don't quite understand the TLs I have seen, so I was wondering if there were certain references or concepts I'm missing here lol

I saw the email notification of this request at the perfect moment. Too anxious to do work or anything else productive. Too caffeinated to sleep. Fuck it. Time to look at Kuukou for an hour.

Under a cut for length

Like a lot of Kuukou's... well, everything... this song is an eclectic mix of elements that can all more or less be distilled into these couple of bullet points:

Trying to fight the listener

Dropping powerful life advice or Buddhist teachings

Claiming his music is both a game changer and the kind of stuff that gets your blood pumping

Scatting, rhyming without meaning, or otherwise making wordplay

Outside of the parts that are straight-up nonsensical, the majority of the rap is very casual to the point of being rude. However, it's also interspersed with formal religious language. Again, both of these are how Kuukou talks, but I get why this would make it difficult for someone to translate.

I talk about this a lot whenever I translate anything, but an important (and maybe the most important!) part of any translation is determining the methodology, focus, and goals before you begin. I figure that if someone's asking me to look at song lyrics for songs that have been out for years, they probably care a lot more about the minutiae of what the character's saying than if I'm writing a rap as part of a longer work where readers aren't going to give it much attention. In that second case, it's probably more important to convey the appearance of a rap--rhyme, rhythm, what have you--and make sure I'm hitting the overall meaning rather than translate word-for-word. You know? The issue is, translating word-for-word would produce mostly nonsense on this one, since my interpretation of its meaning is largely coming from reading between the lines. There's also no real meaning outside of the four bullet points above. It's all vibes. So, this is a vibe-focused translation. When Kuukou says something with no meaning (that I can tell) outside of wordplay, I've exchanged it with a fresh wordplay. At the same time, since I assume the audience wants to know the minutiae, I put footnotes at the very end for the most curious souls. Finally, outside of wordplay moments, there is no attention paid to rhyming, rhythm, or line length.

Also I spent like forty minutes on it so it isn't a polished work of art or anything of the sort. Lyrics:

You wanna piece of this? That’s cool, tough guy. Bring it on. ‘Cause I’mma mess you up. Hmm? You’ve had enough? Yeah, bitch, I bet you’re fuckin’ SATIETIED. Who the hell do you think you are? Aw, who I am kidding? It doesn’t matter who you are. I’ve never met an ass I couldn’t kick! And while I’m here thrashing your sorry butt, listen up. I’m Kuukou from Bad Ass Temple, representing Nagoya, yo. And I’m gonna be world champion. Whazzat? Who do I think I am, some kinda fancy-pants hotshot? Nah, dawg. I’m a monk, haha! Get in the zone, do it or go home, this ain’t the scene you’ve known. [1] I’m a rebellious rhymer staging a revolution. C’mon, join me! Let me hear your voices!

“Enough determination can move mountains,” as they say. Yeah, a-a-a-and I’ve got determination for days.

San gha gharan bam! [2] S-S-S-Scatting n’ rapping, rapping with my razzle-dazzle tongue [3] Check, ch-ch-ch-check it, che-wa-watch out Gha bam! S-S-S-Scatting n’ rapping, rapping, BAT’s sexy leader [4] Kick, kickin’ kickin’ killer San gha gharan bam gha gha gharan bam gha gha gharan bam Gha gha gha gha gharan bam

Say what? Rules, rules, rules—who the fuck cares about rules? I’m the ruler now. A ruler and a schooler. [5] Yo, I’ve got that brand new music— When I ring this giant bell, people hear that shit far and wide. Beat it! And lyrics? You already know I spit so much fire they call me a dragon. I’m all about the impulses, the anarchy, let’s fuckin’ go! I’m a breath of fresh air up in this shit. Eight pulls, nine pulls, ten pulls—someone say temples? [6] If you don’t know already, then you oughta listen up. You don’t need any of these options. Go make your own. Paint that shit vibrantly. Go try something new! And if it goes so well you can indulge in some goddamn rejoicin’? Then hell yeah, now we’re talking.

Yo, man. The world’s all in how you see it, as they say, and don’t you ever forget it. A-a-a-and I may be a monk, but I’m not preachin’ just to scold you! [7]

San gha gharan bam! S-S-S-Scatting n’ rapping, rapping with my razzle-dazzle tongue Check, ch-ch-ch-check it, che-wa-watch out Gha bam! S-S-S-Scatting n’ rapping, rapping, BAT’s sexy leader Kick, kickin’ kickin’ killer San gha gharan bam gha gha gharan bam gha gha gharan bam Gha gha gha gha gharan bam

Yeah, life’s got ups and downs. You asking me, “Whatchu lookin’ at?” [8] Your ASS, lol got ‘em. Wassup, wassup, I’m a rhymer. I’m makin’ some good shit up in here. Hm? Ey, dance, dance over days when our hearts are aligned [9] Shoo bidoo doo bidoo Roo bidoo doo bidoo Tickili tickili tackili-tatt-too

Yeah! Haha! My rapping’s freakin’ EXHILARATORY. Hello! Aight, c’mon on, lemme give you some of this and wake you right up. Yo, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, ho!

Gharan bam gharan bam Gh-gh-gh-gh hey! Bring it on, tough guy! R-r-rapping, rapping, r-r-rapping with my razzle-dazzle tongue R-r-rapping, yeah, gh-gh-gh, hey!

Yeah, clear the scene, ‘cause I’mma reinvent the scene. [10] Yo, get outta my way. I’m Evil Monk, the dragon of Bad Ass Temple, you know. Rrrrrrah! [1] This last is literally "clear weather (空)" or "energetic vibes (空)." At face value, it appears to be nonsense for rhyming. However, at the very end of the song, Kuukou talks about "the vibes/the scene (空気)" changing and him changing it (which can also be read as the weather changing/clearing up), which makes me wonder if those two are related. Just in case, I wrote them with a possible connection in English too.

[2] 僧伽藍 (sangharan) is a short form of 僧伽藍摩 (sangharama), a Buddhist temple or monastery. Bam is, of course, the sound of Kuukou throwing hands.

[3] 饒舌 (jouzetsu) is a fairly formal word in Japanese to refer to excessive talking. However, I was surprised to learn in the process of TLing this that it's also Chinese for rapping which appears to be how Kuukou's using it here. Also, if you're curious how English "jazzy" became "razzle-dazzle," I realized near the end of the song that I needed to start this word with the same sound as "rapping" (because he scats the j sound on jazzy and jouzetsu) whereupon I set out to find a good synonym. The issue is, I wasn't sure exactly how the lyric writers were using the term, so I put "jazzy" in an English-to-Japanese dictionary to get "loud, invigorating, eye-catching." Yeah, that's Kuukou all right. "Razzle-dazzle" is similar and starts with an r, so there we go.

[4] The lyrics say "xy な leader" (the な is just indicating that "xy" is being used as an adjective, btw) which I assumed means sexy... ekkusu ii said quickly sounds like sekushii. To be sure I wasn't barking up the wrong tree entirely, I ran a quick Twitter search on that line and found a very large number of Japanese Tweeters thinking the exact same thing I was. (It looks like Kuukou's VA once flashed his collarbone on this line in a concert, delighting scores of collarbone lovers everywhere.) That being said, searching anything on Twitter and finding horny Tweets isn't exactly a novel concept. Well, if I'm wrong about this, then at least I'm in the good company of all the thirsty Kuukou fans. Hahaha. If this seems OoC to you, I feel like it's here mainly for fanservice, not necessarily because Kuukou's trying to get some with the person he's beating up and/or preaching at. Although, idk. If you ship Kuukou with anyone, you could very well see some parallels...

[5] Literally "I'll beat up [everything] including the roulette board." Wordplay on rules (ruuru), ruler (ruuraa), and roulette (ruuretto)

[6] Literally "Terapii (therapy), terapii, terapii, tera (temple)-- Oh, the age of temples?" Wordplay/stupid joke

[7] I don't like how I worded this line, but I don't care enough to spend much more time fussing over it. Kuukou's making a joke that, as a monk, he delivers religious sermons 説法. However, in colloquial terms, a 説法 is a telling-off when someone does something undesirable. Kuukou, as a frequent doer of undesirable things, gets these from his dad constantly. Therefore, he's being like, "This isn't the LAME STUPID kind of 説法... this is the kind that ROCKS! *sick guitar riff*"

[8] These two lines seem like complete non sequiturs because they're paired together in Japanese for rhyming. (nami ga dekiru/nani ga mieru)

[9] I admit that I'm struggling to understand this line because the grammar is very irregular. Japanese Twitter is not being especially helpful here, as most Tweets featuring it are some version of "God, this damn song is stuck in my head."

[10] Literally "[Someone] changes the atmosphere/scene. The atmosphere/scene changes." See note 1

[usdemigods]

I cannot stop thinking about the 17 chapther of GS, and aaaaaah! It hurts me, 'cause if Izuku let know to Katsuki that he has magic I want to believe that Katsuki would understand, but the boy has years of indoctrination about the magic being unfair and bad. Also, Izukuuuuu I love you my boy but 💀, what was that???? I can totally see Izuku ignoring the ultimatum of Katsuki and being hurt later because "omg you were serious" (Because it happened!!!!!). Why can't they just be honesto ans happy and normal???

Also, awww your Katsuki is so cuteeee 💖😭, I love him, I reallyyy would like to see a Pov of him, especially what happened in the beach.

I just wanted to say that and also let a question completelly different so you can avoid giving spoilers.

I headcanon that Katsuki's favorite fruit are (now) the strawberrys and that sometimes he dreams about the kiss in the beach with Izuk- I mean "Mina".

Sooo what headcanons of your story do you have that you included or that you haven't been able to add yet? And most importantlly, how are you?

Sorry if I'm being too invasive or intense.

Omg thanks for sending this anon 😊 and neverrrr worry about being invasive or intense; in fact, everyone can afford to be more invasive and intense with me hahahaha. And I’m great :D thank you for asking, bored at work and wishing I could be writing instead 🙃

And yes, they literally make me want to rip my hair out 😃 like omg just TALK. But when I ask myself “should I just make them talk it out?” I can’t help but think “they wouldn’t fcking do that 😫” (yet….)

OKAY! Headcanons hmm 😈 Here, have five!

1. I haven’t found a way to make this explicit yet (will come out somehow) but everyone sees Mina differently. Only Izuku sees her true form and features: curly short pink hair, pink skin, completely black eyes. She doesn’t bewitch people anymore but casts a thin glamour to appear “normal”; she’s still new at this so uses a crutch: taking some features from everyone’s “ideal” and adapting them. To Katsuki she obviously still resembles someone (👀 perhaps he has a soft spot for her as a result?); to Eijirou I think she looks like a combination of Izuku and Katsuki, maybe with curly dark hair and freckles but with Katsuki’s cateye and jaw (I’ll let you unpack that…..); I think she has blonde hair through Ochako’s eyes, and pointed canines (🤨)

2. This is acc a huge thing that happened behind the scenes during ch 17. I wondered if I should keep it hush hush secret until one day I write a Katsuki POV of GS. But fuck itttt, we ball, I’ll tell 😆 I think Katsuki obviously noticed Eijirou’s feelings and assumed it’s reciprocated. He did pull Eijirou aside in Londin b4 shit went down and encouraged him (which is the only reason why Eijirou kissed Izuku in the end). I feel soooo bad for Katsuki 😣 I just want to kiss him on the forehead. Eijirou thinks Katsuki is just a supportive friend to Izuku.

3. After they left Bamburg Castle with Izuku knocked out Katsuki had a Crash Out™. He was Act 1 Katsuki, how he was in the beginning of the story: angry, lashing out, he scolded everyone for getting there too late, wouldn’t let anyone touch Izuku. Meanwhile our oblivious idiot was 😴😴😴. Katsuki carried him all the way to camp on his back and insisted on waiting by his side until he woke up while everyone celebrated🤭

4. I have SO many togachako headcanons, and I hate how I don’t really have the space to develop their slow burn as deeply as BKDK. Ever since she’s been weening off the sleeping draught I imagine Himiko as having very twisted, yandere-like dreams about Ochako; about possessing her, or even hurting her (not too much thoooo, and not too seriously), they’re ALMOST sexual but not quite; the dreams are very confusing and she hates them. Buries them. And she doesn’t know what they mean. But because she buries them it’s hard being around Ochako bc it makes her feel like she’s having disgusting nasty thoughts about her (she just doesn’t understand her feelingssss)

5. This is SO random but whenever I think about Aizawa travelling with Young Eri and them coming upon Prime All Might I always imagined a little ‘Will-they-won’t-they’ between them two. I don’t necessarily ship Aizawa and All Might generally but I just think it’s so funny, esp with them aged down as young adults and their sunshine grumpy dynamic (this is completely self indulgent)

I also loveeeee both of your headcanons ლ(´ڡ`ლ) I add that whenever Katsuki watches Izuku eat strawberries he thinks “cannibal 😧”. And the dreams!!!! I think, as much as he tries not to he ends up daydreaming about Mina and the beach ALLLLL the time and he hates himself for it, bc it feels like he’s violating Izuku (I just want to pat his head ☹️), and it’s genuinely distracting for him.

AHHH! Thank you anon I had so much fun writing this (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)ﻭ I can’t wait to share the next chapter with youuuuu

[lostfirefly]

Life Must Have It's Mysteries (Ch.9)

I'm dying to share the new chapter with you! The idea for this chapter visited me at the very beginning of the story. And maybe it is a bit bad, but I wanted to include it in one of the chapters :) I also like the idea that for the girl he loves, Buggy would do anything. English is not my native language, errors may occur. As always, feel free to share your thoughts :) Masterlist is here.

Description: Catherine's trapped. Will Buggy save her?

Warnings: Fun, fluff, arguing, sadness (have some tissues ready), adventure, inappropriate jokes, swearing (as always). Shitty shit again:)

Words: 4251

Taglist: @gingernut1314, @operationroots, @hey-august, @rorywritesjunk, @yujo-nishimura (I hope you still like it!)

The title is taken from “Life Must Have It's Mysteries” by Hans Zimmer (OST Inferno).

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

“What did you do?” Buggy stared at the bars. His eyes were wide and jaw dropped. 

“I didn't do anything! I just ran my hand along the wall.”

“So maybe you shouldn’t run your hands along these fucking walls? Maybe you stepped on something there?” He tried to pull the bars. “Not moving! Fuck!! Can you get through these things?” He examined the gate from floor to ceiling.

“Are you kidding me?” Catherine tried to push herself between the bars. “Of course not. Look at the walls, maybe there are some drawings or something else there.”

Catherine examined the walls from her side, Buggy checked the walls from the other side.

“Nothing! I see nothing!” There was panic in his voice. “What should I do?” 

“What?” 

“You always tell me what to do. Look at this, Buggy. Click on this, Buggy. Put your pants on, Buggy. That's why we got this far. You're the only reason we got all the pieces of the fucking sceptre together. I couldn't have done it alone. I don't have too many brains.” He scratched his head. “Wait! Did you take an axe or something else?” 

“The axe. Here!” She quickly pulled out a hatchet from her bag and gave it to him. 

“Move away!” 

“But...” 

“Catherine, motherfucker, move away!” Buggy growled through his teeth.

“Don't get mad!” She barked back.

“I’m not mad!” 

“You call me by my full name, that means you're angry at me!” Catherine said loudly and came closer to the grate.

“Seriously? You want to talk about this now? Well, okay! What kind of reaction were you expecting? We're somewhere at the bottom of the fucking pyramid, where even tourists don't go. You're sitting in some fucking Egyptian bullshit because of your curiosity. I cannot get you out. Why wouldn't I be angry? Move away!” 

Catherine pressed herself closer to the corner and watched as Buggy hit the goal with his pickaxe several times with all his might. 

“It doesn’t open! Why doesn’t it open?” He kicked the gate angrily. 

“Buggy, stop. It cannot be opened. It’s a fucking trap.” Catherine whispered and closed her eyes. “That's it, I'll die here.” 

“What? No! There must be a way out. Are you planning to stay there? No way! I cannot lose you too!” Buggy looked around the walls. 

“I don't like to be a pessimist, my love. But you can't open it. This is perhaps some old punishment cell for thieves, or maybe a place for errant slaves. Which does not open like a regular door. Sometimes the guilty were released into such cells and they simply waited for their end.” Catherine walked up to the bars, leaned her back against the wall, and sank to the ground. “I don't know. I'm sorry.” She said quietly. 

“For what?” Buggy sat down opposite the grate, leaning on another part of the wall. 

“For dragging you here. For appearing in your life at all. If it weren’t for me, you'd be partying with some girl on the loose right now.” Catherine bent her legs and rested her forehead on her knees. 

“Cotton candy,” Buggy slipped his hand between the bars and took her hand. “I'm not very good at this romantic stuff of yours. But don't apologize for showing up in my life, please. You… Y-You're the best gift of fate for a pathetic loser like me.” 

“You're not a loser.” Catherine replied quietly, running her finger along his arm. “Try to find a way out. I'll die here in a few days. You'll find yourself another girl and live with her. And in your head, I'll remain just some girl who stupidly walked into a small room and got stuck in it forever.” 

“Are you out of your mind? Why would I want another girl? No one will piss me off and amuse me at the same time the way you do.” He grinned, resting the back of his head against the wall and exhaled. “You made me pancakes.” 

“What?” Catherine raised her head. 

“Well, you keep cracking up and wanting to know when I.. when I fell in love with you. Remember, after our adventure, I took you and your sister back to my house.” Buggy leaned closer to the grate and rested his head on it.

“Yeah.” 

“After the first night…”  

“I'm surprised you didn't hit on me, by the way.” Catherine giggled and saw him start to blush.

“Damn! Do you want to know the story, or are you just gonna mock me?” He glanced at her and his cheeks burnt. 

“I wanna know! Let this be the last good story.” Catherine squeezed his hand and closed her eyes. 

“Nah, my little pie, there will be many more. So… Don't interrupt. I'm having a hard time telling it. I woke up the next morning because I smelled something yummy in the kitchen.” 

“Why am I not surprised you fell for the food?” She ran the tips of her fingers over his knuckles. 

“Fuck you, honestly. Why do you always do this? Ok. I didn't realize what the smell was at first. So I walked into the kitchen, and there you were in your zebra pajama pants cooking me pancakes. You were humming a song while you were making them. You still do it, by the way. I call it “a pancake song.” 

“You're so cute. And I’m humming? Really? Didn't notice.” Catherine felt Buggy's hand start shaking during the story and began stroking her thumb over his arm.

“Yes, you are. Well.. I remember you turned around to me with a plate, smiled and told me to sit down to breakfast. And I.. I looked at you and thought, “fuck, I.. I love her! I wanna wake up in the same bed with her, be in her arms, see her smile, see stupid pants with animals and eat these pancakes for the rest of my life.” Embarrassment made Buggy redder than his nose. “May I say no more?” 

“I remember that morning, too. You piled into the kitchen, suffering from a hangover, wearing only your pajama pants. So hot and sexy. But I really didn't think you were happy that I was there.” Catherine looked at him with the corner of her eye. 

“I'm not a complete jerk, cotton candy. Come on! The most beautiful girl in the world is sleeping at my place and then making me breakfast. Usually the girls just ran away in the morning while I was still sleeping.”

“Okay, it should be fair play. Do you want me to confess? I wanted to come over to your couch on the first night. But my sister kept talking, and I couldn't leave. All I could think was, “shut up, I love him and I want to tell him that right now”. And when I came out to see you, you were already asleep.”

Buggy giggled and scratched the back of his head. “I didn't sleep then. I was.. I was under the covers, pretending to be asleep. Well. I liked you, so I.. I don't know. I heard your footsteps and got scared. I couldn't think of anything better than lying still on the bed.”

“You're unbelievable.” She laughed and cleared her throat. “Listen, can you tell me one more story? How do you get out of jail? And why do you keep that prison photo in your wallet? But if you're not ready, that's okay. Tell this to my mummy later.” 

“I don't keep that photo in my wallet. I just hid it. I don't know, I was afraid you'd find it and leave me. But you're not gonna get off my back on the prison thing, are you? Well…” Buggy squeezed her hand, and scratched his cheek with his other hand. He exhaled and told the story of the escape. 

Catherine couldn't stop laughing. “First, I won't leave you until I’ll die in this cage. Second. Really? You had help from a sixteen-year-old kid? The great clown Buggy had teamed up with a teenager. Delightful! And that's how that wax man knows you.” She looked at his face, which was all red with embarrassment, and stroked his hand.

“Fuck you. Stop laughing at me!” He scowled.

“I’m not! Thanks for telling me. Too bad you can't split up and sneak in here. I'd hug you goodbye. I’m so happy I met you. I love you so, so much, my Buggy Bear. Remember that, okay?” 

“I love y~… Cathie-pie. Wait!” Buggy got up abruptly from his seat and ran somewhere.

“What?” Catherine got up off the floor and tried to poke her head between the bars. “Ouch! Where are you?”

“There's something here!” He shouted out of the darkness. 

“What's in there? I can barely see anything out here. Do you have some kind of clown night vision or something?” 

“Shut up! I don't know, some kind of shit.” 

“Wow, Buggy the Clown. You're just a master of descriptions. Some shit. What does it look like?” 

“I don't know. A small board with squares on it.” 

“Describe m~. Oh, my God!” Catherine jerked sharply away from the grate, seeing his flying hand. “At least give me a warning that you're sending your parts to me.” 

“Give me something, I'll show you what I see.” 

She placed a pad and pen in his hand, and the hand disappeared into the darkness. “Buggy? Are you still there?” 

“I'm coming!” Buggy walked over to the cage and showed her the drawing. “There's this thing.” 

“What the fuck is it?” Catherine stared at awkwardly drawn curved lines. “How old are you? Five years old? Can't you draw at all?” 

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, I'm sorry I didn't take an academic drawing class, somehow I didn't think that fucking skill would come in handy in my thirties when I'm stuck at the bottom of the fucking pyramid. Actually, I thought you were going to send me a phone.” 

“Wa~. I..” Catherine was silent for a second. “You're pissing me off.” 

“That's great! You send me a fucking notebook, and I'm pissing you off.” Buggy leaned sideways against the cage and crossed his arms. 

“Lord knows, I'll come to you in spirit and ruin your life.” Catherine shook her head and looked at the drawing. “Wait. This looks like a senet.” 

“What the fuck is this? Is this another fucking god?” 

“No, it's a game. There's a legend that this game was thought to be an amulet of a guide to the world of the dead. But there's also a myth that it was the game of the god Thoth. He created this game to win the soul of the goddess Nut from the moon god Khonsu. I told you about that too, but I wouldn't be surprised if you forgot.” Catherine waved her hand at him. “Because it was in the first pyramid, and then we spent the night in a motel where you ruined me in every way possible.” She blushed. 

“Oh! I remember that night! Trust me, that hot sex session we had there superseded any memory of those dead gods." Buggy giggled idiotically. 

“Geez! Wipe that satisfied smile off your face, clown.” Catherine narrowed her eyes. “Do you have at least something stuck in your head?”

“If you wanna know the answer, ask me something next time you stand naked in front of me. Or you’ll lie naked under me. " He winked at her.

“You're disgus~ Wait!” She began to look around the floor, walls, and ceiling. “There's a sign of Osiris on the ceiling. And in the corners is Thoth, Nut. And there's Khonsu in the middle. Why didn't I notice them right away?”

“You were too busy nagging me.” Buggy said mockingly. 

“Fuck you, honestly. This isn't a punishment cell. We're apparently in some sort of burial chamber. Wait!" Catherine pulled a notebook and the map out of her bag and quickly flipped through the pages. “Oh, my God! It's written right here. Don't get me wrong, but I think you're going to have to play this game to win my soul from the moon god.” 

“Excuse me?” Buggy goggled at Catherine and his head separated from his body in surprise. “I have no idea how to play it!” He reattached his head back to his body. “Is there no other way? I don't know. Recite some Egyptian spell again. You're always muttering something under your breath and all that shit opens up.”

“What is the probability that a room with a game in it, and gods painted on the floor playing it, has nothing to do with this cell? I'm sorry, I don't have the magic dust to open the fucking door. All I have is you, clown!” Catherine answered angrily and pointed her index finger at Buggy. 

“But I don't know how to play this fucking game. I can't do it.” He raised his voice. 

“Buggy, you're panicking!” 

“Yeah, I'm panicking. Join me! I’m sorry, cotton candy, but I'm clearly not fit to be a savior.” He leaned his back against the gate.

“Hey!” Catherine softened her voice, came closer to the grate, took his hand and looked at him. “What are you saying? You’ve already saved me so many times. Why don’t you believe in yourself? You’re smart, although you don’t use your brains sometimes. Come on, free me from the clutches of the moon god. Only the love of my life can do this. Otherwise, I will come to you in the form of a ghost and will torture you until your last breath.” She reached her other hand through the bars and stroked his hair. “I believe in you, my blue-haired hero.” 

Buggy exhaled heavily. “Alright. Let's do it. There's no choice anyway. Tell me how to play it.”

“Look. The game consists of 30 squares, referred to as houses.” Catherine began to show him the drawing.

“Houses?”

“Don't interrupt me! But yes! These squares are arranged in three rows, with ten houses in each row. Each gamer has 5 pieces or figures, call them as you want. Only one piece can be placed in each house at a time. Also, you have 4 sticks. These are usually popsicle sticks with one side painted black and the other painted white. When it's your turn, you'll throw the sticks. And I will tell you how many steps to move the pieces. The goal of the game is to get all of your pieces off the board before the other player. At the beginning of the game, you must place your pieces on the first row. Player 1 will place his pieces on the first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth houses. Player 2 should place his pieces on the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth houses.”

“Player 2?” Buggy asked. “Where can I find the second player? Are you suggesting that I should play with an imaginary friend? Or dig up a mummy?”

Catherine examined the walls again. “No. With me. You'll have to play with me. Of course! I'm sitting here, next to all these gods. If you win, they'll free me. If not, then I'll stay here.” She shrugged cheerfully and smiled.

“And you're so calm about it?” He blinked. “It was easier to escape from prison than to solve these fucking Egyptian riddles. Only this box is nailed there. How to play?” 

“So you’ll sit there and tell me everything. How will you come up with drawings like these...” She drew them on a piece of paper. “Let me know. Oh, and also the pieces have to move straight along the line, and when you get to the end of the line, you stand on the next line and move to the other side of the board. Like that. In the shape of a Z letter.” She drew a diagram of the movement. “Just bring me my sticks. I'll throw them and tell you how many steps to move my pieces.” 

Buggy sent one of his hands for the sticks, while the other held Catherine's hand. She felt a shiver in his hand and began stroking her finger across his palm. The hand quickly went back and brought the sticks, and he gave it to Catherine.

“Well, I'm off to rescue you from that Egyptian shit.” He kissed her hand and disappeared into the darkness. 

Catherine heard a noise and a muttering and chuckled softly. “He can't help but grunt.” She whispered under her breath. “You okay in there? Ready?” 

Buggy sat down on the floor with a lurch. “Wait a little while. I'm arranging the pieces according to your drawing. Done. Ready now.” He picked up the sticks in his hands, shook them a little, and threw them on the floor. “Throwing. Two white and two black.”

“Shit. Then move two steps forward! But you lose your next move! Then I throw twice.” Catherine began to write down all the moves in a notebook.

“It’s a good start. Fuck!!” He muttered. “Shit. One. Two. Done!” They both fell silent. “You're alive, cotton candy? Have the mummies of the Egyptian gods come for you yet?”

“Go to hell and don't scare me! I'm fine! Throwing sticks! Three black and one white. And then an extra move. My piece must now stand in place of yours. Get yours off the board, you've lost one of your army.” 

“Fuck! I told you, I’m a bad player!” 

“It's okay. I'm throwing it. Three black, one white. One step forward. And I have an extra turn again. Damn! Throwing! Yes! Two white and two black. I lose my turn.” Catherine made another note.

“Got it! One. Two. Done! Throwing! Three white and one black sides.” Buggy carefully rearranged the figures.

“Shit! Three steps forward and you lose your move!”

“What the fuck? Fucking Egyptian games!!” Buggy muttered. 

“Everything is fine! Calm down, please. Throwing! Two black, two white. I lose my turn, but you lose your piece again. Now there are only three left.” 

“How am I supposed to win? Only three pieces left!” Catherine could hear the irritation in his voice.

“It's okay. Throw it!”

“Damn! Four black and one white.” Buggy exhaled heavily. 

“Yes! Move five steps forward and throw again.”

“Oh, I like that! One, two… five. Throwing again! Two white and two black.” 

“Two steps forward and you miss a move. I throw. Four white. Move my chip four steps forward and I throw again. Three steps forward. I lose a move, but you lose a piece.” Catherine continued to cross out boxes on her notepad.

“Can you stop doing that? Fuck! How do I get to the end with two pieces?” He growled through his teeth.

“I didn't make the rules, Buggy!”

“Fuck! I'm throwing! Two black and two white.” He mumbled loudly. 

“Move to two. And you lose a move!” She heard him growl back. “It's all right! I'm throwing it! Okay, I have four whites and I throw again.” 

“One. Two. Four. Done!” Buggy mumbled. 

“Cool! Now it's my turn again. Three whites and I lose the move.”

“Got it! One, two. Three. How are we doing?” Buggy asked loudly.

“The moon god or Osiris are winning so far.” Catherine replied with a nervous laugh in her voice.

“Fucking Osiris! Four black.”

“Haha, you can be proud of yourself, clown. You knocked out one of my pieces. Move five squares forward. And throw again.” Catherine giggled.

“Got it. One. Two… Five. Throwing. Four white. One, two, three, four. Hey, Cathie-pie! I've reached the first drawing. It's like three bottles of rum.” Buggy answered happily, and Catherine heard him clap his hands.

“God, show some respect. That's not rum. It's Nefer hieroglyphics. It's a house of beauty. Drop your sticks. If four blacks come up, you’re gonna lose me to an Egyptian god.” There was silence in response. “Buggy? Are you throwing?”

He suddenly came back and sat with his back to the cage. 

“What happened?” Catherine asked and put her hand on his shoulder. 

“Don't say that again. It's not a funny joke, Catherine.” 

“What?”��

“You're going to lose me to an Egyptian god. Don't say this shit. It's not funny. You… You're my Cathie-pie. I can't lose you. I can't. I don't want to be alone again.” Buggy rested his head against the bars.

She stroked his head. “Sorry, my love. When I'm nervous, I make stupid jokes. Everything will be fine. See?” She showed him the piece of paper. “You're almost there!”

“You just said that if I throw four blacks, I'll lose.” Buggy glanced at Catherine with sad eyes. 

She smiled in response. “Not gonna lie. This option is possible.”

“I always lose. If you were with him, he would never let you get stuck in this kind of shit.” Buggy said quietly.

“Fuck him! You know, for some reason I’m sure that my blue-haired knight in shining clown armor will not lose his beloved girl to some god.”

“Where did you see the armor? I'm wearing jeans and a sweatshirt.” He sneered, took her hand and squeezed. 

“Still counts as armor.” Catherine stroked his head and asked softly. “Will my Buggy Bear save me?”. 

Buggy breathed out. “He'll try. Otherwise, he will be bored because there is no one to piss him off with this stupid nickname.”

“My hero! Look. Throw one and move here.” She showed him the drawing with three curved lines. “This is the House of Water. If a 5 is rolled, the piece remains in place. If a 4 is rolled, your piece leaves the board and you are the winner. In a different outcome, the piece goes here to the House of Revival. And then you have to start the game practically all over again. We don't want it. Don't cheat, please. And then I throw the sticks again after you.”

“Fine!” Buggy sighed heavily, stood up and walked into the darkness. “I’m throwing these fucking sticks.” 

Catherine clenched her fists and squeezed her eyes shut when she heard the sound of sticks being thrown. “Well, what's there?”

“Let your Egyptian gods go fuck themselves. It’s one!” Buggy snapped his fingers.

“I told you! You're great! I'm throwing. Four blacks. Move my piece to the House of Water!”

“Okay, but just keep in mind that you're not making it any easier for me to save you, Cathie-pie. A little more, and your chip will overtake mine.”

“Now you throw! Remember? If a 5 comes up, the chip stays in place, if a 4 com~.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Buggy muttered. “I got it. I'm throwing.”

“Don't be mad.” Catherine closed her eyes again. “What's there?”

“Five. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. At least something else didn’t fall out, and that’s good. Now I’m throwing.” She shook the sticks in her hand. “You and I are the perfect couple, clown. I have five too.” She laughed. “It’s your turn now.”

“Understood.”

Catherine buried her face in her hands. “Well, what's there?”

“Your Egyptian gods love to mock me as much as you do. Five again!” Buggy laughed nervously. 

“It's okay. My turn now.” She put the sticks in her palms, whispered a little and threw them on the floor. “Fuck yes! Also, five. Your turn. Throw it again.”

“Understood.”

Catherine heard the sound of falling sticks. “What's there?” The answer was silence. “Buggy? What happened?” She tried to look through the bars. “Hey? Are you still there?”

Suddenly, a flying head appeared near the bars. “Four!”

“Where is your body?” She pointed into space.

At this moment he connected the head with the body. “Fuck, Catherine! Did you even hear what I said? Four! I won!”

“What? Seriously?!” She pulled the bars. “But.. Why doesn't it open?”

Buggy grabbed the bars and pulled them a couple of times. “What the fuck?”

“You didn't cheat?” Catherine narrowed her eyes.

“Do I look like a person who cheats?”

“Are you seriously asking me this now?” Catherine pursed her mouth and raised her hands questioningly. “Then I don’t understand.” She sat down on the floor and rested her feet against the adjacent wall. “Maybe the game didn’t work. But why? Although maybe sometimes drawings are just drawings. Go away, Buggy. Try to find a way out and go home. If you don't find a way out, come back here, we’ll die together like in a stupid snotty novel.” She laughed nervously.

“Fucking Egyptian gods!” Buggy rested his forehead against the bars. “What the hell? Cathie-pie.. I.. Wait! What is this?”

“What? Where?” 

“There are some small inscriptions on the bars.”

Catherine jumped up from the floor. “Where?” He pointed his finger at the words. Catherine squinted and began to read the inscription. “Your rebirth is in Thoth’s nest. Come to save me, o, silent Thoth.”

They both heard a click.

“Come here quickly!” Buggy opened the door and pulled Catherine out of the cell by the scruff of the neck. “Or else, something fails somewhere again, closes, or worse.”

Catherine looked at him with wet eyes. “You won! You saved me! Again!” She threw herself on his neck and pecked him on the lips several times.

“Of course.” Smack from Catherine. “I.” Smack again. “Saved.” Smack. “You.” Smack. “Nobody dares take my cotton candy away from me.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “Write it down in your notebook. Buggy the Clown - 1.” He extended his other hand and showed his middle finger to the room with drawings. “Your Egyptian dead dudes - 0.”

[ggren-mainz]

Umineko - question arcs playthrough -> ep 2 - 1

last part - All parts and episodes - next part

Welcome back after an almost 2-week break, it's time for the next chapter ;P. Also i decided I'll introduce my gf and family to umineko via the stageplay, as i have heard that it's pretty good. Only up to ep 3 (soon 4) now, but anyways.

edit 2 days later as this sat in drafts : Watched it with my sis (my mom deemed it too tiring) and she loved it. Her favorite is George (both the character and the actor ;P), and she had some very interesting theories, one of them being that genji is kinzo's child, which damn. Age-wise i don't think it works but at least she's thinking. Also the outro was very confusing but i think it might've revealed some stuff. I'm not sure, but I'll keep it in mind. Anyways amazing watch.

She also did the tierlist and it's so funny

Anyways

I want to start this by saying that the culprit actually showed to me in a dream. That's right, i had a premonition. Basically the dream was me and some friends running in a destroyed world from Shannon with a gun. So what I'm getting to is that I now solved the mystery, and will now just laugh for the following 7 chapters. Ha ha ha.

(pls if shannon actually has any relation with the culprit/is the culprit, do not tell me or make any jokes/imply it. I am simply fooling around because of this quite funny dream i had)

rocking that victorian newspaper boy inspired fit.

and the hippie look. Perfect case of underdressed x overdressed. Also Tomitake Flash?????

this reads like some insane foreshadowing. Or at least it's definitely related to our little characters as well. You could say that they're like fish from the perspective of the witches. anyways, I'll put s mental pin to this line and perhaps rethink it later.

glad to see she's included in the credits now.

Anyways what's with this aquarium date?? When is it happening? Basically George and Shannon are on a date, and are just having fun, being very cute.

can't really figure out if this line should mean more or not. Cause like it's not that weird, but also it could turn into something more sinister later. I'll see.

And they say romance is dead.

Oh also another thing we (me and my sis) noticed yesterday while watching the play, but George is 23 and Shannon is 16.... raises one eyebrow. Ok george...ok...

....what magic? Hey shannon i think George will understand it very well why not explain it to us?

OOooohhh so this happens before the first game time wise. ok ok makes sense.

woah woah woah this is a bit of a change of atmosphere.

so from how much i'm getting this is Shannon talking about breaking free from her fate as 'furniture'. She is on the shrine's rock (the one that was destroyed at the beginning of ch 1) and wants to break some mirror that was offered as a sacrifice. I wonder, does that mean that because she broke this mirror, the shrine broke down and as such somehow started this entire tragedy?

is the key here metaphorical, or could it be referring to the key in the ephitath?

what promise? what wish? so many questions....question arc moment....

We then have a long scene of George and his family visiting the main house, and Shannon realising her crush on him, and some discussions between the George Jessica and her. These 2 are very cute, unfortunately it seems that Eva wants to marry George with someone who would benefit them financially/bussiness wise.

and as such it leads me to the question. Did she marry like this? Was her marriage with Hideyoshi like this oooorrr....

(before this she says that she loves her husband a lot), ah i see. I mean it's not like this doesn't happen nowadays too, except instead of getting married and then falling in love it's more like getting together and then falling in love. Which is fine, but idk if in this world this is ideal, as i doubt divorce is that accepted lol. And also ofc cause we know George loves Sayo.

anyways Eva continues talking and then takes George away and then tells the girls they'll also find men they love but then leans in and whispers something so vile and malicious in Shannon's ear, that my computer crashed and i had to restart the game lmao.

after a lot of ctrl-ing this is what she says. Bad but i think my computer overexaggerated.

So Shannon feels like shit and is caught with her head in the clouds by Natsuhi who punishes her to clean the entire reception.

mayhaps i shouldn't have wondered so far lmao. (for context i was curious if Lanon was an actual character or was just gonna remain a name and then i kept seeing yasu and here i am lol)

this is what detroit become human and what i also assume nier automata (idk i only played the prologue) wished they could be.

huuuuuh??? So again this brings me back to my question, does magic actually exist? i think so. But maybe Shannon is imagining this and all those flashy bunny rabbits I see online are Kinzo's personal strippers, idk.

Holly shit guys, look! it's the witch!!

Also is this story very related to love? I didn't expect that, interesting. Maybe it's just this chapter or a sub-genre but idk ill see. Also she already has the ring on.

hmm is it really that simple? You know how they say, don't make a deal with the devil, this is how this feels.

Huh i can't believe all my questions have been answered. So this is why she broke the mirror, this is the wish and also the promise and also the magic. Makes sense.

Also wait i just had a thought. Does Shannon break the mirror each loop, or did by any chance Kanon break it last time. Because you remember he said before he died that she should wait "another 100 years in hell for the next summoner" and assuming this summons the witch...

*shakes* who is it????

hmmm this sounds...suspiciously similar to Eva. Is she saying this because she wants to intimidate her and convince her to break the mirror or is Eva somehow behind this?

and this is just the exact quote. Why is she quoting her? Just to remind her? And if she doesn't just wanna remind her and she just thinks this then why call Kinzo Father? Is she related to him? Me and my sis have talked about the possibility of her being somehow related to Kinzo, like a daughter thingy. I'm not sure, and i definitely don't have enough clues to figure it out rn but anyways. Kinda hard to fake all of this tbh.

Immediatly after this line Kanon comes in to save Shannon, and after some more talking Beatrice gives both of them a butterfly shaped burn/bruise mark on their left palms. She does that by controlling their hands, which immediately remembered me of the ending scene in the stageplay, where Shannon and Kanon "shoot" each other with their hands in the shape of a pistol. who knows. I obviously dont.

these things are getting longer and longer...

next part

[recentadultburnout]

Info for writer in Thai series fandom: Mismatch bits and pieces.

All things too short to have their own ch.

A way to call a class

I noticed that when I read about a class of students in English, it was called by the year that class graduated, which is different from how it is in Thai. In Thailand, we count a class based on the school they are in. For example, Pat and Pran from Bad Buddy are in Class 36th. That means there are students who have already graduated from this school in total 35th generation, and they are the 36th.

Education system

อนุบาล-anuban-Nursery

3 years 

about 3-5 years old

The class number is typically written as อ.year/room number or simply year/room number, with the assumption that anyone who will need to use the number is aware that they are for nusery. 

อ. is the abbreviation of อนุบาล-anuban-Nursery (ป. for prathom and ม. for matyom. Read aloud as Or, Por, and Mor, respectively.)

If you're in the third year, the first room, it can be written as อ.3/1

ประถม-prathom-Elementary school

6 years

can be divided into 2 parts, 3 years each, prathom ton(ต้น-first) and prathom plai(ปลาย-last)

about 6-11 years old

มัธยม-matyom-Secondary school

6 years

can be divided into 2 parts, 3 years each, matyom ton and matyom plai

After matyom ton, one can choose to continue studies in matyom plai or switch to vocational classes. At present, the choice of vocational education is not very popular among families with wealth, and there is some negative bias.

about 12-17 years old

มหาลัยวิทยาลัย-mahawitthayalai-University

Usually 4, but this can vary depending on what you study.

*Most schools in Thailand have 2 semesters.

From nursery to secondary school, it usually like this:

Semester 1 starts around mid-May and ends in late September or early October.

Semester 2 starts around the beginning of November and ends in late February or early March.

At the university, it is usually like this:

Semester 1 starts around September and ends in December.

Semester 2 starts around February and ends in May.

But it may change if there is an announcement from the Ministry of Education.

*There are 9 years of compulsory education. From prathom to matyom ton.

Money

Thai Baht bank notes are divided into five denominations: 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 baht, which are sometimes referred to by their colors: 20-green, 50-blue, 100-red, 500-purple, and 1,000-gray(1,000 baht banknotes are actually more brown than gray, but maybe because brown 10 baht notes were used before, or the 1,000 baht notes might have used to be grayish, they are called this way.) As for coins, we have 1, 2, 5, 10 baht and 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 satang. One hundred satang is one baht. Satang is not used much, and if we do use it, we will mostly use only the 25 and 50 satang coins.

System of measurement

The metric system is the most popular. Other systems will be used if the topic requires it, such as using tea spoon and cup when baking or using Thai measurement for gold weight and land.

Meal

In Thai we have the word กับข้าว-kapkhao, which is things to eat with rice. When we eat it, it's commonly with many people, and we share it together, not somebody's in particular. At each meal, the kapkhao and the rice will be placed on the table for everyone to scoop up and put on their own plate. If you eat with someone you are not super close to, then you should have an extra utensil for scooping up kapkao and rice as to not make the other party uncomfortable. As for when you eat with friends, I would recommend using it also, but it is up to your group of friends' hygiene standards.

Grounded

Disclaimer:this is my perspective as a daughter of a family in Bangkok.

Getting grounded by one's own parents as a punishment is not a real concept here. I'm quite sure about that. Like, it's kind of redundant? Most of us already have to tell our parents all about where we go, when we will be back and with whom before we go out, and if they don't want us to go, then we don't. Plus, our public transportation wasn't that covered, so if a kid who still can't drive and lives far from it wants to go out, then having parents drop off and pick up after is kind of the only option. It's not like normally we are free to go out whenever.

Gap year

Taking a gap year wasn't the norm. It is often seen as a waste of time, and the people who did it might get gossip that they had to do it because they couldn't pass the exam.

Colors of the day

We have a color for each day, which came from a tale about Songkran, and it is common knowledge. Thus, when we want to color code something day-related, we use it and assume people will understand. A bakery company, Farmhouse, had been color-coding a bag sealer as a sign to tell what day their bread was put on shelves since 1987.

Sunday – Red

Monday –Yellow

Tuesday – Pink

Wednesday – Green

Thursday – Orange

Friday – Blue

Saturday – Purple

Year

We use both the Buddhist era (BE) and the Christian era. Sometimes we choose one to write down and sometimes we write them both side by side, Thai numerals for BE on one line and Arabic numerals for CE on another. But if it's an official document, it's more likely to be only BE. 

This year(2022) is 2565 BE.

Tip

Tiping is not part of our culture. Nowadays, some people have begun to start tipping due to the influence of other cultures, and there are both positive and negative opinions about that. Some say extra money is definitely a good thing, but some say if we started tipping people, the employer might see it as an opportunity to reduce their employee payment.

Chinatown

There are no words that translate directly into "Chinatown" in Thailand. Each neighborhood is usually called by its street name or landmark near it, and those Chinatown are that way too. The most popular one in Bangkok was called Yaowarat.

Move out

Not moving out of one's own parent's house is normal. Moving out is normal too, but from what I know, nobody will expect their kids to move out for no reason. Some families even dislike that very idea. Like, if you want to move out for no other reason than you just want to, there must be something wrong.

One of my friends who has a big family and really wants to try to live alone for once, but can't say so because her mother will surely be upset, is now planning to apply for something that requires her to stay somewhere else, so she can use that as the reason she has to move out.

Insect as a snacks

While it is a thing we do have, it's not that popular. Many have never eaten it before. Many eat it once just to try it and never again. There's a good chance that there's no one at all in a room full of people who eats fried insects on a regular basis. It's not exactly rare, but also not something that sells everywhere.

Don’t touch the head

Is something I heard many foreigners talk about Thai people, and I guess, while it might be something they were told by a Thai, it got exaggerated. Sure! You shouldn't go around touching strangers' heads. But that's just common sense, right? Why would anyone think they could touch any part of a stranger at all? For a close person, it's a completely different thing, and don't forget, everybody has a different and will have different boundaries!

Touching monks

It's not that women can't touch monks, it's that monks can't touch women, and we cooperate with them to make it easier for them to stay in the precepts.

Religion

The religion in Thailand consists of about 94% Buddhists, about 4% Muslims, about 1% Christians, and the rest are others. It can be seen that there are more Muslims than Christians, but Christians are mentioned slightly more in the entertainment media in my opinion.

Month

The name of the month in Thai can tell which month has how many days. Months with 30 days end with "Yon(ยน)", months with 31 days end with "Kom(คม)", and February ends with "Phan(พันธ์)".

Christmast

Although Christians are not the majority in Thailand, we do have some Christmas celebrations. The mall will play some Christmas songs and sell decorations or other Christmas-themed items, for example. It might not be that big, but it's there.

My mother says that we Thais will take every chance to have a festival and a celebration. Lol

Dishwasher

Dishwashers aren't a popular household item. I don't know the reason.

Age

Age of majority

In Thailand, one will reach their majority at 20 years old, but you can become majority before 20 after your lawful marriage, which can occur with legal guardian permission at 17 or older, or, in a special case, when you are younger than 17 but older than 15, and there is a reasonable cause for marriage and the court grants the permission.

Age of consent

Doing something indecent to someone who is under the age of 15 is illegal, regarding that person's consent. As for someone who is more than 15 but still under 18, it will need both that person and their legal guardian's consent to be legal. If one of them gave consent, it is still illegal. If both parties are under age, then they are both in the wrong and can both be sued by each other's parents.

Driving license

The applicant for a temporary personal motorcycle license must be at least 18 years of age, but if it is for a motorcycle with a total cylinder of not more than 110 cubic centimeters, it must be at least 15 years of age.

A temporary car driver's licensee must be at least 18 years of age.

Public-car and public-tricycle licensees must be at least 22 years of age.

A public motorcycle licensee must be over the age of 20.

A road roller, a tractor, and other driving licensee under section 43 must be at least 18 years of age.

Floods

Floods are the most common natural disasters in Thailand.

Transportation

In Bangkok, there are a few choices for in-town transportation. such as Bts, Mrt, buses, mini buses, taxis, tuk tuks and motorcycles. As for travel between provinces, there are trains, tour buses, vans, and airplanes. Once arriving in other provinces, public transport options vary from area to area but are often more limited than in Bangkok.

Insect screens

Typically, windows are equipped with insect screens. They can be hinged, sliding rails, or something else, but they are usually there.

Apparently, in some places, they are not typically installed. I'm a bit culture shocked. Do you usually have it or not? If not, could you tell me what it is like?

Social media

Facebook currently has some reputation for being an old people's platform but is still popular.

Twitter is also quite popular.

Line is the most popular one for chat apps. It is something you will need to have if you need to communicate with a lot of Thais. Many people complain about how it's not a good way to send files for work or that it makes it hard to separate between private time and work time, but it still maintains its status as being the main means of communication in offices and universities.

Tiktok is gaining many new users during the quarantine.

COVID 19

I searched in English for a bit and think you could find information such as daily cases or any regulations easily enough. As for the Thai people's opinion in general, we can sum it up by saying that many of us have no confidence in our government.

and here are some details:

We have worn a mask for PM 2.5 since before COVID-19 broke out and many will likely still wear it until we are sure there is no COVID left.

Vacine distribution is not very consistent and thorough. So, at the same time, there is someone who gets their third vaccination and someone who hasn't gotten their first yet. 

After COVID-19, no-contact deliveries have become extremely popular.

Y

The first queer media that gained popularity in Thailand were Japanese manga and anime. So we adopt the Japanese term "yaoi" for BL and "yuri" for GL, and that is the reason why we usually call queer series "series Y" in Thai.

Index

[lej222]

ASLFUA Rant//

So I was informed that my very first theory posted on here was shared on another platform. While I'm always open to civil discussion and sharing ideas, I was sad to see just how much my words were taken out of context. I want to thank the person who sent me the screenshots and I want to take this opportunity to address and clarify some things that were written about me and my posts:

First of all, a theory is called a theory for a reason. It does not mean I think what I post will 100% happen or it has to happen in the story. I write about possibilities, and I try to support my ideas by using the webtoon as the primary source. Reader interpretation can vary among different people, that's the fun of reading and the very reason why I started posting in this fandom after seeing that these theories hadn't been discussed before.

I have repeatedly emphasized that I do not care about romantic outcomes in this work because I view the webtoon as a growth story. In my ASLFUA ending theory I wrote about the possibility of Jisu ending up together with Miae. At that time, it wasn't a popular theory, that's why I raised the possiblity of it happening. It doesn't mean I won't like the ending if it doesn't come true. It was a theory for a reason. I wrote that if Jisu was only added to the story to create tension between the two main characters, it would mean bad writing. I never said Cheol ending up with Miae would be bad writing. What I meant was that I want Jisu to have his own character development outside of the Cheol-Miae romantic storyline. I firmly believe he will be an important character because there was no way the creator has left clues about him since the beginning if he wasn't going to be relevant to the main plot. Ever since then, I have made many theories about his role in the story, and I never said he definitely has to be a love interest. Please stop taking my words out of context.

Someone accused me of spreading mistranslations, referring to the lines in ch 2 and 4 about how Cheol will be a special person to Miae whom she'll never forget. The official English translation here is not wrong, it's the same in Korean. If you don't believe me, read the comment section on Naver under episode 2. There are a lot of readers who went back to that episode trying to understand why that line was there. It had a very important placement because it was at the end of the episode, right before the cover of the series which itself was also very symbolic. In the comment section readers have made theories about that line and many expressed their sadness over the possibility of the main characters not ending up together. About the emoji added in episode 4 after the same line, it really depends on your interpretation. I have written several posts where I mention how the narrator treats the characters as kids and uses a playful tone reflecting their age and inexperience about the world. This could be one interpretation - the narrator is looking back on these moments, knowing full well what's going to happen, and even if they don't end up together the tone is playful because those feelings are nostalgic (because with time you grow and look back differently on sad memories). Or you could say the narrator is playful because they are lying and the main characters will actually end up together. As of now, we don't know the answer, so anything is possible. The English translation is not wrong, one question about the series is why that sentence was added in the first place, which opens the door to many interesting theories.

Just my personal opinion, but I do not understand why Cheol and Miae not ending up together would ruin the story when they are 14/15 years old. I don't think many people stay with their first loves, especially if they start dating as teenagers. Then would you guys say that your first relationship was meaningless? Every social encounter, especially romantic relationships, are meaningful because they change us in many ways. We always learn from our experiences. Although, if they end up together, that's also good because some people only date once and stay with them for the rest of their lives, it's not impossible, and those people are lucky. I'm just saying for me a bittersweet ending wouldn't cheapen the story. And I don't understand why it would be a copy of 25 21 when ASLFUA was published before that tv series and likely had its ending planned out by that time.

Last of all, every one of us is entitled to our own opinion, I always ephasize that my theories might be totally wrong, they are theories for a reason. I never try to force my opinions on others, that's why I would happy if even if you share my posts, you wouldn't attack me because we have different theories or interpretations about the series. I won't take down my posts because I have very kind readers who might want to read them again, but I wanted to clarify my stance on this whole issue.

[hornystorage]

Some tags for better organization

I'm going through all the posts I can in the blog, tagging them so as to find them easier. To help with that, I'm also writing the tags here, what do they mean, and using them to tag this pinned post. To see any of the tags, just tap/click on it (on the tags section under the post).

The tags are not mutually exclusive. A post can (and will probably) have more than one tag.

(All the tags begin with CHS: meaning Curio's Horny Storage:)

CHS: picture Given to posts where the focus is the picture, rather than anything else that may or may not be written.

CHS: drawn This one is for drawing and paintings and that kind of art.

CHS: audio Posts where the main focus is the audio. My favourite kind of post.

CHS: written The biggest group of posts. They mostly have pictures, but the main point of them is what's written: captions and stories are tagged this.

CHS: caption The kind of written content added to an existing picture. Sometimes is hard to tell what's a story and what's a caption, so I went with my gut instinct.

CHS: story The kind of written content that doesn't necessarily have a picture attached. Sometimes is hard to tell what's a story and what's a caption, so I went with my gut instinct.

CHS: concepts Little ideas for stories and fictional products.

CHS: guidelines Guides, tutorials, and tips. From the classic "become a bedwetter" guides to how to fluff up a diaper.

CHS: games and challenges Some fun little activities to have some diapered (or not) fun.

CHS: diaper peak For those pictures where a bit (or a lot) of diaper peaks out of a buy's pants ;P

CHS: wet spot For the pictures where the focus is the big, wet patch on a guy's crotch.

CHS: wetting There are some videos and gifs where you can see the wetting happening, instead of a still of before or after.

CHS: humping Used for diapered boys humping their wet diapers in pictures and gifs.

CHS: chastity Sometimes explicitly included, sometimes just alluded to, so I tag it because I enjoy it.

CHS: magic wand Used for those posts that have those magic wand vibrators. I hear they feel very good on a wet diaper...

CHS: less kinky Some less kinky pictures that I just find hot.

CHS: bulge A tag for the hot bulges and packages of men (non-diaper bulges).

CHS: bedwetting A main kink for this blogger, so I tag the pics and stories that focus on the subject.

CHS: POV For the posts that put you on a POV (Point Of View). Also a favourite of mine.

CHS: furry Posts that have furries. Sometimes in diapers, sometimes just big and hot.

CHS: hypno Images that depict someone getting hypnotized, usually drawings.

CHS: rubberpupthoughts rubberpupthoughts wrote some very good stories and captions, but all his stuff seems to have disappeared from the internet. I'm reposting the few ones I have saved, and if you have some others, I'd be grateful if you could share them.

CHS: Mark and Luke A nice little story, contained in a single post.

CHS: the briefs saga Two captions that may not actually be related, but share a similar subject.

CHS: Diapers for my Boyfriend A story in 11 parts, of which I’m missing the first 3 parts.

CHS: Heath A four-parts story about a guy named Heath and how he ends in diapers. Sadly, I am missing the first part.

CHS: Josh and Mikey A series of captions with the recurring characters Mikey (who's becoming incontinent) and Josh (who's making it happen).

CHS: Tim and Joe A seemingly 4-parts story, of which I only have the last two parts. Gotta find the other two.

CHS: Tricked and Treated A two-part story involving lots of humiliation about a boy and his daddy on halloween (and after).

CHS: Remote Work Bullying A two-parter about a guy with an online dom working from home. Padded, of course.

CHS: Billy and Timmy's Rough Days One (technically two) of the more rough stories in the blog. While usually not my style, I find it particularly hot. (unofficial title, as I didn't see any in the posts themselves, which are form different people).

CHS: a favourite Some personal favourites of mine.

CHS: to find As blogs come and go, some stories that require access to deactivated blogs cannot be read anymore. I'd like to complete them where possible, so any clues as to where to find a complete version for archiving purposes are welcome.

CHS: tags Other blogs have their own tags. I reblog them so as to have easy access to the posts I like. Recommended to check out.

[captainsolocide]

solo talks about cbs elementary part 1

okay so yesterday I made post wondering if anyone would be interesting in hearing my cbs elementary thoughts. in the tags of that post I threatened said that one note was all it took to make this (a fleshed out series? of posts detailing pretty much everything I've ever thought about this show) happen, and for better or worse, I got that note, so instead of studying for one of my two midterms I have next week, I started this!

I am currently in the first half of season 4 but I started recording my thoughts from the very beginning. unfortunately they are very disorganized, so at least until I get to where I am currently watching I think I'm going to group these by multiple episodes. This section covers about the first half of season one

Since I've watched past the episodes I'll be talking about at first, I thought I would also add commentary if I have any hindsight to add to any of them. Any future knowledge commentary will prefaced as such.

Enjoy! and don't be afraid to leave your own thoughts if you feel so inclined, even if you completely disagree. I am insane about them so I am always ready to discuss :)

the good:

Holmes getting weird with his investigating (i.e. sniffing the walls, crawling around on the floor, licking things, etc.). It is very important to me that Holmes is, at the end of the day, a weird little guy

bitchy Holmes! Also very important to me! This also ties in with Holmes having emotions, but basically I just want Holmes to be written like the drama queen he is. (future solo thought: Elementary and JLM consistently do a good job of portraying him as such)

Avoidance of both teh stupid Watson and angry Watson trope. At this point, that's perfection

Holmes hates rich people! (future solo thought: I did not realize just how much copaganda there is in this how. it's very difficult to portray some of his more left-leaning ideals in shows like this, so I'm honestly glad for whatever scraps we can get)

I think Holmes having tattoos is a good call for a modernized version of him

crediting Watson with helping even when she hasn't done anything — this is something ACD!Holmes does as well and I think it's really funny (of course we know that Watson actually does help, just not always in obvious ways — sometimes even she's confused when Holmes thanks her, it's just funny the way he does this because he very rarely elaborates)

Encouraging Watson to make her own deductions (future solo thought: at this point in my watching this I didn't realize they were going to make Watson a detective in her own right, so this goes double now)

Telling Watson that she's necessary to his process fairly early into their relationship — we love codependent besties <3

Watson as a puzzle — not everyone likes this read of their relationship, but personally I love it

"WATSON!!!" — when Holmes yells her name like this I cannot help but be reminded of Jeremy Brett which can only do good things for my opinion of JLM's version

Holmes having daddy issues is always fun to explore, not mad at all if they decide to do more with this (future solo thought: I was very correct in this lmao)

Holmes just 🧍‍♂️-ing next to Watson's bed to wake her up occasionally. Again, reminds me of Brett, and it's objectively funny

"My dear Watson," I love this sentiment in the books when Holmes was saying this every other sentence, so seeing him say that at a time where it's not as common. It means a lot. To me.

Holmes' reaction to Watson calling herself his friend 🥹🥹

CIGARETTE ASH MONOGRAPH YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS

Okay. This one needs some explaining. Holmes starts out misogynistic does go in the good BECAUSE I think his growth through that can be a really interesting and important thing to watch — it shows that even the smartest of us can hold unconscious biases that we need to do work to undo

the bad

The reworking of Watson's backstory — not all of this is bad, in fact some of it was necessary to distinguish Joan as her own character, but I do resent how Watson's tragic backstory in this meant that her doctor title is not used, and I feel like taking away Watson's injuries was missed opportunity as well

no live-in Mrs. Hudson = Watson getting relegated to house keeper duties, something that character does not do in the books. wonder what the difference is here? (future solo thought: this was a bigger issue in season one, I think. as far as I can tell, there seems to be a more even sharing of household chores as their relationship develops more, but my point for early season one stands)

Copaganda. It's lame and not in line with Holmes' characterization if you think about it for more than two seconds. I understand he works with them sometimes, but the amount of respect they have Holmes have for the police is disgusting. there have been several episodes I could barely finish because it was just so so bad

Holmes called Freud a genius in season one. girl.

[aranarumei]

KIRI I selfishly want another look at cross-examination for your ask game…. also steel chair save me. steel chair save me please if you’re feeling up to it Actually there are a lot I want to ask about your names are too good. but I’ll refrain

HIIIIII <3 dirtbrain thank you for your patience!!!! also i'm very glad u think my names r good lol bc i truly do write whatever.

ask me about my wips | wip list

i decided i wouldn't do this ask until i finished a draft of One Scene from ch 3 of cross-examination and. thus i have done so! only took a year lmao. now i have like. i dunno. at least 3 more scenes to write...? maybe more. im really bad with Progressing Time. anyways one of the joys of fic is that while i tend to try to keep my fics feeling... canon-esque a lot of the time, i can also do whatever the hell i want. in this case it means i jump a few contrived hoops to give klavier brown eyes. this is because i described klavier's eyes as brown while drafting, checked to make sure i was right, and was then devastated to find out that his eyes weren't brown. so instead of simply waxing poetic (not really) about his blue eyes I've decided to go the "deeply weird choice" route instead...

There’s no response Apollo can give, so he simply stands there in shared silence, watching the wind play with the loose strands of Klavier’s braid, the folds in his jacket, the glaring shine of his bike, his pupils indistinguishable from his irises in the dark— “You’ve got brown eyes,” he blurts out. Startled out of his own musings, Klavier cracks a small smile. “I… do?” “I just—I remember them being blue,” Apollo mutters. “They usually are,” Klavier says. “I developed a habit of wearing colored contacts around the time I made my law and music debut, so I suppose it just… stuck.” He shrugs. “It’s not my main color, but I do enjoy wearing blue.” He peers down at Apollo. “I also suppose it must be strange.” Blue or not, Apollo feels caught by his gaze. “It’s not strange,” he says, and then amends his statement. “Even if it is, strange isn’t bad or good. It’s just different.”

as for steel chair save me. steel chair save me please. as you have no doubt sussed out. this is ch 4 of the anomalous agate! i went with the beginning of the chapter because any further feels like giving spoilers lol. Fun Fact my wip title is not steel chair save me exactly. no. in fact the title is Kind Of A Plot Spoiler so i did change the wip title a little.

Sunlight set the streets before me aglow. It was, by all accounts, the warmest day in autumn we’d had this year, and I was beginning to sweat. There was a restless kind of itch inside my skin that I couldn’t seem to quell. Part of it was the bruise—the mark had faded, but now the area of pale purple felt consistently irritated.  The other part was the fact that it was Saturday afternoon. Richard had closed the shop to make a special house call, and it was only now that I was realizing I’d spent the majority of every weekend working in Ginza. Rather than feel like I was straining at a bit, however, it turned out that on my one day off, my skin itched to head into Jewelry Étranger like always.  I’d decided to use the sudden free time to head to the supermarket, but in the absence of any attractive deals awaiting me, I was dragging my feet in the afternoon heat. My attention was waylaid by the sight of the cafe I’d entered only just over a week ago, and after considering its merit as a temperature-controlled room and a distraction, I decided to enter.