#that's why the scan quality looks different

[lobsterplush]

Day 7-8: Open square and twist

These are two simple variations on the square knot. Let's start with the open square:

To make this knot, first loop the outer cords around the base knot as if you were making one full square knot but without tightening the outer cords around the base. This should give you two loose half-knots.

Adjust the size of the loops above the first half knot. Hold the first half knot down in place when the loops form a gap at the desired size. Then tighten the second half knot to the first to create a tightened square knot. Adjust the knot as needed.

Base is 1 PL, outside cords 2 PL. Outside cords should be longer if you plan to have a sequence of square knots between open squares. The length of the cord can also be affected by the size and shape of the gap- larger gaps on an open square generally use less cord.

The open square good for showing off base cord colors or to have a project that uses less cord than a full square knot. The hardest part is making sure all the loops are the same size.

/\/\/\/\/\

The twist is a fun variation that doesn't integrate well into larger projects. It's still very pretty and very easy to make.

When making a square knot you go back and forth, folding the left and right cords over the base strings. To make a twist you always fold over the base from one side, never making the second half of a square knot. It creates a twisting effect.

Whether you fold from the left or the right makes the project twist in different directions.

If the outer cords have two colors they form a sort of stripey pattern:

/\/\/\/\/\

On twisting effects:

(^ View of the end of a square knot)

The square knot is a knot with a strong twisting effect. That's why you have to do the second half of the knot in the opposite direction, to balance out the twist and make the knot flat.

There's a couple of knots (although I won't get into them on this year's Macre-May) that have a weak twisting effect. They may not be as obvious as the above twist design, but can create a slow shift over the course of a project. I'll give a warning when we come to one.

(Macre-May Prompt list)

[honeybabymp3]

and honestly in the age of streaming and accessibility (and of course. piracy.) of these platforms vs the inaccessibility of physical cds now that most laptops don't even have a cd rom the very least you could do for people who still go out and buy a physical version of your album is give them something pretty to hold

[earthtooz]

x : AVOIDANCE :*+ﾟ

in which: falling for blade was not on your agenda, so naturally you decide to distance yourself. however, the last thing you'd predicted was blade being upset with the sudden space.

warnings: 2.3k wc, FLUFF, ooc!blade probably bc i'm still trying to figure it out, kafka meddles with the two of you, gn!stellaron hunter!reader who has a past lol, NOT PROOFREAD, idiots in love bc i love that trope, bad writing

a/n: thank you to the anon who gave me this idea :D much appreciated, i had a lot of fun with this one when my angstier fics were draining me af. i hope you enjoy, apologies if it's a little low quality, but it's my child <3

when you first joined the team of stellaron hunters, you didn’t expect to get much out of it, especially since the team looked so cold, calculating, mischievous, and unforgiving, greeting you with vicious smiles and muddy eyes. preemptively, you assumed the most you would receive is acquaintanceship.

however, time has proven you wrong, because on the contrary, you have found comfort, friendship, and stability in the form of this mismatched group.

you never expected to find love either.

but you did, and it might be the worst decision your heart has ever made.

“y/n, there you are. kafka and i are thinking about going out to lunch. want to join?” silver wolf’s voice interrupts your train of thought, disrupting your peace in your private spot amongst the gardens.

“oh, hi silver wolf,” you murmur, shutting your book after shoving in a bookmark. “who else is going?”

“kafka asked blade and he agreed.”

the genius hacker doesn’t notice the way you tense upon hearing a certain swordman’s name. instead, you play it cool by opening up your book again, scanning the pages in hopes of ignoring the racing of your heart.

“i think i’ll pass on this one. thank you though,” you mutter.

“really?” the silver-haired asks, popping her gum before shrugging. “whatever you say. i’m off!”

“bye!”

hearing her footsteps fade, you slump in your seat, your memories with blade hauntingly eminent in your mind. you don’t recall when you fell for him, or why exactly, all you have in your recollection is a series of moments that you look back fondly upon with a full heart, love slowly seeping in to you and causing your affections to grow to the size that they reside at now.

when you had realised, the love had already grown too big to deflate, and dejection struck moments after; a big bang of butterflies in your stomach that all disintegrated straight after.

how brutal- perhaps this was an indication that blade was rubbing off on you too much, and you need to cleanse yourself of his influence.

love, although fickle, was not something that you avidly rejected. despite having lived like a hunted deer, your experiences have been fleeting, building your delicate heart for a life of meeting, falling, then leaving when you least wanted to, needing to run before an arrow pierced you- and certainly not cupid’s one. 

but with blade, everything is different. there is no arrow to run from, not in the life that elio has foreseen for you. for the first time in your life, you can stop running away and try fall into the arms of love with little remorse.

it's just ironic that you fall into the arms of a man who should not be touched.

“y/n’s not coming with us today,” silver wolf reports after meeting up with the other two stellaron hunters.

“oh?” kafka hums, “usually y/n’s always willing to hangout, why’s that?”

“busy or something, i don’t know, i didn’t care to ask.”

the slight scrunch of displeasure in blade’s expression passes by the keen eyes of both kafka and silver wolf. if either of them had noticed then perhaps it would have been a topic of interest, but for the time being, the pair move on (faster than the third member), your unusual absence dismissed in favour of where to get food.

as the days turn into nights and elio issues more missions and mumbles more futures, blade feels as though he sees you less and less.

it’s not intuition more than it is you purposefully ignoring and evading blade in your everyday, though.

“good morning,” kafka’s voice greets when she walks in to the cafeteria, where you were eating breakfast alone. setting down your phone, you regard her with a mouth full of bread. “gross. at least swallow first.”

“screw off,” you murmur. “how did you sleep?”

“fine fine, i woke up in the wrong position though and my neck is killing me, but what about you? seems like you’ve been up a while.”

“i’ve been up since asscrack of dawn.” 

the purple-haired regards you with amusement. “why’s that?”

“body clock or whatever,” you lie, staring down at your glass of water.

“i see,” kafka hums half-heartedly, as if seeing right through you. “well, i’m going to get some coffee, i’ll be right back.”

“mk.”

you’re left on your own for only a few minutes, waiting patiently in silence for kafka to return. the morning is cool and pleasant, and the smell of rain is still heavy in the air as the morning dew lightens the atmosphere. the weather will surely get hotter as the day matures, but for now, you enjoy the gentle caress of sunlight on your back.

or rather- you were enjoying the gentle caress of the sun, but the methodicalness of it all is ruined when you spot a certain figure with dark, long hair beside kafka.

suddenly the last thing you know is peace and calm, and the abrupt, painful scraping of your chair against the floor symbolises that.

“going somewhere?” kafka asks.

picking up your scraps, you avoid blade’s gaze. “yeah! i- uh, realised that i have some documents to drop off for elio by twelve or whatever.”

“won't you stay to keep us company for breakfast,” the purple-haired tempts, “it feels like it’s been so long since we’ve spent some proper time together.”

“has it?” you laugh nervously and kafka easily picks up the pitchiness of your tone. “i’ll make it up soon, i promise, i’ve just been overflowed with things to do.”

“alright. you be off then. don’t work too hard.”

“i won’t. my head is remaining tight on my shoulders, don’t you worry!” you reassure before scrambling away, feeling like your legs could not be any slower as you retreat away from blade’s scrutinising gaze. when you round the corner, you sigh a breath of relief. 

it’s laughable and simultaneously admirable how dedicated you are about dodging every interaction possible, but for the record, you think you’re doing quite well. not that space was doing many favours for your heart, but persistence is key. 

whoever believed that distance makes the heart grow fonder just clearly didn’t try enough, because yours feels like it’s about to hammer out of your chest with how fast it is racing, and the sensation is equivalent to something like pain rather than fondness.

“i’m worried,” blade mutters, gaze lingering on where you’d just disappeared. “and why does y/n talk like i’m not right here?”

“aww, are you upset?” coos kafka, taking a seat. the swordsman mimics her.

“why wouldn’t i be? it feels like y/n has been ignoring me as of late.”

kafka hums thoughtfully, swirling her coffee cup around.

“do you know anything about that?”

“nup. nothing at all,” she answers, feigning ignorance to the many suspicions that are bubbling around in her mind. the last thing kafka is, is blind, your unusual behaviour has not bypassed her perceptive eye at all, but she believes she has uncovered the reasoning as to why; said reasoning being a certain swordsman.

the revelation is definitely interesting, and she might just be able to give the push you both need.

“y’know what, bladie? if it concerns you that much, i’d say you go check up on y/n later,” kafka suggests.

“why not you?”

“i’ll be busy, but i think some support in dire times is just what y/n needs.”

“okay. fine.”

when blade gathers the courage to check up on you, like kafka recommended, the time is nearing 5pm. the sun is beginning to cool, the animals are retreating into their nests, and the big, bad, intimidating stellaron hunter is roaming around the archives, where you’re situated to work, hoping to locate you.

it takes a few laps around to finally find your placement because you’re fast asleep, only identifiable to blade by the jacket you hung on the back of your chair.

the sight of you hunched over your desk over a multitude of forms and papers causes a wave of concern (however much he can feel) to wash over blade, and suddenly, he does something completely foreign to him: dote over someone.

gently lifting your jacket to cover your shoulders, he stills when you shift a little, your eyebrows furrowing in your sleep. deciding to leave you alone, all blade spares is one lasting look at your vulnerability before leaving. 

he wonders what it is that could be making you so frustrated. 

(if only he knew). 

a few days later, kafka confronts you about the suspicions that’s been creeping to the forefront of her mind.

“did you do something to piss a certain bladie off?” 

kafka’s saccharine voice is laced with mischief as she leans towards you, chin resting on the palm of her hand. she certainly does not miss the way you tense up at the mention of the swordsman’s name and her smirk widens when you shuffle away, subconsciously turning away, as if avoiding the subject.

“i can’t think of why i would have,” you murmur, crossing your arms. “why?”

“oh, nothing, he’s just been complaining and crying a lot recently.”

“he does that all the time.”

“so he does,” your fellow stellaron hunter hums. “except he’s mentioning your name a lot more nowadays.” 

you freeze. “what?”

“hm? did i say something peculiar?”

inhaling a deep breath, you steady yourself. you know what kafka wants out of you and you’re not going to give it to her despite how innocent and pretty she spins the web to look. after all these years together, you hope to have learnt a thing or two about how to avoid her snare.

“what is blade saying about me?” you quiz. 

she blinks at you. “why so curious if you haven’t done anything?” 

“can i not ask about something that involves my name? besides, he’s my friend, i want to know what he’s saying,” you lean against the back of the couch, trying to calm the involuntary shake in your legs. you despise that the slightest mention of blade can cause a bottomless pit to form in your stomach and it’s not because of how intimidating or threatening he is. 

no, it’s because you’ve fallen for him, hook, line, and centre.

and blade would have to die before you ever tell him.

“mostly just grumbles about wondering where you are,” kafka expands, waving her hands about to match her words. “he asked silver wolf and i if you’ve been talking to us and when we said ‘yes’, he looked pissed! when i asked why he was being a sourpuss, he just stormed off.”

“so temperamental, that man,” she sighs. then, she looks back at you with those half-lidded eyes that have always gotten her what she wants, and in this case, they’re answers. “so tell me, y/n, what did you do to our bladie to have him all riled up like this?”

“nothing. absolutely nothing.”

“are you sure?”

“positive.”

“positive?”

you avoid her curious gaze. “positive.”

“maybe i phrased the question wrong. has bladie done something to you instead?”

panic settles within you. “no,” you lie through your teeth. “he hasn’t.”

“so if i asked you why you left breakfast so abruptly that day, you wouldn’t say that it’s because of him?”

“i had work to do, kafka, you know how busy my job gets.”

“i know, i know,” she persists, “then why weren’t you in a hurry before blade arrived that morning?”

you don’t know how to refute that, letting silence speak volumes instead.

“and why did you skip out on lunch with silver wolf and i? was it because we also invited a certain someone?”

“okay! fine, you’ve got me. what do you want to know?” you explode, tossing your phone on the couch in frustration. 

“so it is about blade?” questions your coworker.

“yeah. it is.”

“what about him? did he do something to hurt you? you know he’s accidentally mean sometimes-”

“it’s not that, he’s nothing but a sweetheart.”

“so what’s the problem?”

“that is the problem! he’s just… he’s him.”

“is that bad?”

“for my heart, yes.”

“oh my- so you like him?”

you exhale exasperatedly, “don’t act like you haven’t already figured that out, kafka.”

the cheshire smile she then flashes sends shivers down your spine. for whatever reason, an oppressive feeling grows in your gut, resembling something like a warning.

“you’re right, i knew,” she flaunts. then, her gaze cuts to look behind you. “but i don’t think blade did.”

your heart lurches out of your chest with enough force to pull you off the couch and you stumble around to see that, lo and behold, blade was indeed standing in the hallway. the expression he wears tells you enough; he heard you, he knows.

kafka somehow sneaks her way out of the room, leaving you alone to deal with the face of rejection. it’s daunting being in the same space as him after so long, you almost forgot about the intimidating pressure that blade naturally exudes and projects in every space he enters.

“hi,” you start, looking away. 

he stalks over to you, footsteps soundless before stopping a feet in front of you. instead of saying something, the swordsman merely gazes down at you whilst you keep your eyes glued to the side.

“can you reject me already? the silence is kinda killing me,” you snap after a few seconds, crossing your arms protectively. 

instead of obeying to your request, blade does something completely unexpected; he very gently lifts your chin with his hand, and red eyes bore right into yours. is it odd to feel seen in your demise? because blade is looking- no, surveying you with such immense focus and clarity that your heart stills, frozen in position because it wants him to see the most picturesque part of you. 

(he sees it, but he wants to know more of you. the pretty, the ugly, the likeable, and the unwanted.)

“would you like to go on a date?” he asks.

© EARTHTOOZ 2023, do not steal, translate, repost my fics and do not recommend my fics onto any other site.

[yostresswritinggirl]

What Do You Mean I'm The New Grand Sage?!

Alhaitham, Cyno, Tighnari, Kaveh x Grand Sage! Reader; separate, gender neutral

In some twisted turn of events, Lesser Lord Kusanali herself thought you are the best candidate for the position of the Akademiya's Grand Sage. From a Haravatat Researcher to soon running a whole region, how do you deal with this? And do the prodigal scholars approve of you?

'It's been weeks now and there's still no proper Grand Sage.'

'If it were me, I would have fired the two remaining sages, they might scheme as revenge.'

'How can we trust the choices of the next Grand Sage anyways? What if history repeats itself?'

Despite the House of Daena being respectfully quiet with only murmurs and mumbles from the surrounding entourage, these unspoken words taunt and occupy the mind of the Dendro Archon as she takes into account all the thoughts of her people regarding the matter.

All the candidates for the Grand Sage and other sage positions, as well as the exceptional figures of each darshan (some of which are familiar to her) crowd around the table where the Lesser Lord situated herself.

Unfortunately, based on Nahida's standards, none of them qualify for the position.

"Lesser Lord Kusanali?" Opening her eyes, Nahida tilts her head to the Scribe situated on a seat next to her, a quill unused in his hand. "Is something the matter?"

"Just deep in thought." Crossing her arms, the god of wisdom would hum to herself as she tapped her chin. "For example, what would the new Grand Sage do once they get appointed?" And with that, she closed her eyes again.

As expected, more thoughts filtered through her mind as the audience took the bait and began pondering on the provoking question in their minds.

'Just do what the past Grand Sage did? Minus the evil? This is easy.'

'As a Grand Sage, I would probably fire all the personnel, they can't be trusted.'

'Cultivate wisdom and govern Sumeru as best as possible, right?'

'With the Lesser Lord in power, probably just answer to what she wants.'

'Hm, to what extent did Azar mess up the system anyways? It would definitely be good to fix the things that he deliberately abused as soon as possible, right? The unnecessary laws, look into the international affair decisions he's done too, he might have signed contracts that would be damaging to Sumeru in the long run -'

A hit! But an unfamiliar voice. Opening her eyes, the god of wisdom looked around the area to look for the voice to match a face.

"Are you looking for something, Lord Kusanali?" Cyno straightened up on his stance by her side as he watched the archon stand on her seat. The action urged him to scan the area too, albeit for different reasons.

'Why am I thinking about this right now? I should really hurry home -'

"Over there!" The crowd parts like the sea as everyone in the area turned towards someone in researcher garb. Which looks to be... drenched in water. Looking up from wringing the sleeves of your robe, you finally notice all the attention on you.

"Ah! Sorry about the mess, I fell in the fountain in front of -"

"You shall be the new Grand Sage, (Y/N)."

The whole Akademiya seemed to have quieted down to the point that you could hear the individual droplets of water splatter from your hair on to the marble flooring of the House of Daena.

"Huh?"

And like catharsis, everyone exploded in exclamations of disbelief. Including you.

"With their determination alone, their steadfast effort is enough to shape them to the right person to hold the title of Grand Sage."

With the absence of the Akasha Terminal and the person that holds records of documentations and research, Alhaitham was reasonably the person that people flocked towards for information about you. Despite the inconvenience, there are a lucky few that the Scribe entertained.

The male personally knows you as a Haravatat graduate who researched about the current civilization and quality of life of Sumeru in great detail, something that honored your name for being their darshan's most cited thesis. And when asked about your eligibility to be the next Grand Sage, he repeats those words, even when the archon herself asked.

After all, he himself had been privy to that determination. Your dedication to graduate and use your knowledge to create something worthwhile, beneficial, purposeful. A kind of vigor for knowledge so pure and immense that not even he remembers having the same amount of passion.

Even now as he pretends to be occupied with his book, he watches as you practically lay on the huge table for Azar the Grand Sage in exhaustion, Alhaitham was confident that your sighs results from your worry of finding the best solution.

He lowers his eyes back to the pages just in time with you finally lifting your head. "Alhaitham?" He pretends the small smile was out of politeness, not because you have yet to get accustomed to being entirely formal with him.

"Yes, Future Grand Sage?" Alhaitham masks his voiceless laugh with the book in his hand at the sight of you huffing, sputtering at the foreign title.

"Azar had you draft the gazette when he makes up a new law or order, right?" He nods, you grip your head as if you were having a headache, which is quite likely at this point. "If you don't mind, do you think you can give me a copy of all of the laws he created? And the meeting transcripts too?"

"That is certainly doable. However," you straightened up when Alhaitham stood across the table to stare you eye to eye, placing his book on your table. "That would be hundreds of documents to go through, are you sure you're able to utilize that amount for your perusing?"

The expression on your face showed that you haven't exactly accounted that part. But there it was, that flicker in your eyes that captures you so perfectly, the perseverance that had always kept you afloat. Now he can bare witness to it. "I'm sure."

Even if he didn't have to, Alhaitham stayed by your side the whole time, assisting you about certain laws and contexts if you ever needed it.

And when you fell asleep on the table after hours of reading, he immediately placed his cape on your shoulders, because you needed it.

Surprisingly enough, Alhaitham is the one who puts in a good word about your designation out of all of them.

What they're unaware of is that he's quite fond of you and your prestige, being in the same darshan had him subtly defending you from the rumors other darshans/candidates spread.

You should be grateful that you have Alhaitham as your Scribe. Not only is he meticulous and dedicated to his work, but he acts as your assistant with how closely related your positions are.

Perhaps his usefulness and help also stems with the fact that he was the most recommended candidate before he declined, and the knowledge he had honestly makes him look like your master and you his apprentice.

A lot of times, you end up comparing yourself to him when you feel like you're lacking.

Thankfully, Alhaitham's perceptive made him aware of your tells, and knows when you're having such thoughts. He would try to derail that train of thought immediately, subtly remind you of your progress, or straight up tell you you're wrong.

For such an emotionless co-worker, he sure does well with being your hypeman.

"A lack of harmonious relationship with the archon, even with the people of Sumeru, became the downfall of Azar, . That level of respect is crucial in ensuring that history would not repeat itself."

As Lesser Lord Kusanali's main guardian, it was only logical that his beliefs about what the new grand sage should embody reflects that. And perhaps there were also some details that influenced his opinion, details that he would never elaborate on.

This isn't the first time he had been less receptive to the decisions of the archon (the first being the punishment of the Sages, if you can even call it that) but this one has more potential to go awry than any other.

His cold stare only grew colder, sharper, now that you've been assigned the highest seat in the Akademiya. You can tell his prejudices without him having to spell it out.

The harshest of glares usually happen when you request an audience with the god of wisdom, him always standing by her side in case you become hostile. Which is honestly quite a hilarious take - you? Harming a god? But with the history of the previous Grand Sage's you can't exactly call his fault.

In your case however, despite the stories of Cyno's job as the General Mahamatra, you never once feared the possibility of his judgment on you as an academic. After all, if you had done nothing bad, then you're out of his case, right? So as far as you know, this is your first time knowing about each other's presence.

Although, being nominated after you fell in the Akademiya's fountain and made a mess everywhere you walked certainly isn't the best first impression.

However, after one too many times you feel a chill up your spine yet see no one when you look around the area for a possible cause, you're starting to suspect that he may know you more than you know him.

"She's currently resting in the Sanctuary of Surasthana, don't -"

"Ah, no, I'm not here to ask about Lesser Lord Kusanali today." At your sheepish demeanor, Cyno opted to close his mouth and wait for your reason to approach him. So you continued. "I was actually hoping if you could accompany me to Aaru Village."

"The desert?" Why him?

"I've heard that you've been closely working with Lesser Lord Kusanali to rebuild the relations with the desert side of Sumeru." Your fidgeting made him notice the thick notebook tucked under your arm. "I wanted to ask questions about the details, as well as see for myself what else could be done."

There was a long pause of silence that passed by with you mostly avoiding looking into his eyes directly. Humbled but respectful. Cyno sighs. "You're not in proper attire to journey to the desert, nor do you have the proper equipment." Your gaze followed his retreating form until he stopped and looked over his shoulder to you. "Are you coming or what? Standing around does not count as preparing."

"Right! I'm on it!"

It was a long process, but you managed to convince Cyno of your worth, especially when it comes to your efforts to help the desert. He had seen it all himself and at this point he couldn't deny it any further.

Cyno would find his tailing to be out of security instead of suspicion, often times finding himself walking by your side as your protector whenever you had to go out. After all, you're still an important figure, your safety is high priority.

Soon, it would be you who he would go to concerning updates about the desert, hearing out your efforts for rehabilitation. Your desert internship program to help Setaria with her education efforts is by far his favorite.

Despite being the General Mahamatra, he found a bit of his job description changing: being the protector of the Dendro Archon and the new Grand Sage.

Whenever you have to cross to the desert to either talk with the village chief or negotiate with the Eremites, he would always find time in his schedule to be your escort.

Perhaps it was his mistake to doubt Alhaitham's judgment on this one. At the very least, Cyno became your ever reliable check-and-balance.

"At the end of the day, well intentions are enough of a factor to understand the path one would trek no matter the adversaries."

Tighnari was positive that he wouldn't have to deal with the Akademiya anymore after Lesser Lord Kusanali, maybe even enjoy a more peaceful life in the forest now that the Withering had stopped spawning together with Eleazar disappearing.

But of course, the exiled sages just had to be dropped into his forest for their 'tap on the wrist' punishment. Perhaps that would be the end of the Akademiya pestering him now that there's no need to exploit him for some evil scheme.

Well, the world had never been to kind to the forest watcher, what would make this any different? The hybrid would sigh as he watched a group donning Akademiya robes approach Ghandarva Ville, none of which he's familiar with.

This is a larger group compared to the ones the previous sages trying to coerce him back to the city brought - now that he squints, there seem to be Corps of Thirsty members tailing the group, too. This doesn't bode well at all.

At least Cyno's there. "And what business do you have in Ghandarva Ville to cause such a ruckus so early in the day?" Straight to the point, Tighnari stares dryly at the person that seems to be in charge of the group.

However, at the sight of Cyno freezing up in his peripheral, the forest watcher immediately realized that this is unlike any other encounters he had dealt with. Unlike the arrogance of the other scholars and sages, he could see how you looked conflicted from speaking.

"Seeing as you don't look to be well-informed," ah there's the Akademiya scholar he expected. The researcher gestures to you. "The Future Grand Sage is here to see the exiled former sages in hopes to interview them about their previous positions."

He wants to bite back, he really does - why was he not informed beforehand? Why are there so many personnel with you? How sure are they that you are not trying to conspire with Azar? Why are YOU the next grand sage?

"Alright." And he will never admit the relief he felt when your despondent look immediately lifted at his response. "It's a bit of a walk from here. And being the person assigned to oversee their training, I would like to be there during the exchange too."

"Thank you." You cut off the arrogant spokesperson before he even uttered a single word of protest, presenting a bulky journal in your hand to the forest watcher. "I actually prepared a set of questions to ask that you could verify -"

Old habits die hard, and admittedly, Tighnari didn't want to treat you more than the people he works with everyday, the people around you can easily do that for him. But he refrained from letting any past prejudice cloud his judgment on your character: there is undoubtedly something different about you in comparison to the old sages, and he didn't want his attitude to change that.

One day during one of your many visits however, Tighnari may have spilled a bit about his discontent about the attention your entourage brings to his forest. Even with you next in charge, he still dislikes bringing the affairs of the Akademiya to the forest rangers' territory.

He thought his words was out of pocket when letters of notice regarding your arrival ceased. Did you get all the information you needed from the sages? Or was what he said finally drove you away? That wasn't at all his intentions.

One random encounter brought him answer when the suspicious cloaked figure waving at him from behind a tree turned out to be you. "You said you didn't want my personnel to come so I decided to visit discreetly from now on."

At least you were... considerate. Conversation came easy without multiple glares constantly stabbing him in the back, talking about your progress as well as the conditions of Ghandarva Ville on the way to the training area of the sages.

While he was wary and skeptical about your appointment despite his utmost trust in the dendro archon's judgment, Tighnari soon came to accept your honesty and determination.

That transparency and good-intended perseverance are what Azar lacked, but under your rule, perhaps Sumeru would really be in good hands now.

Tighnari leaned against the tree as he watched your passionate discussion with the previous Haravatat sage. Undeniably, you as you are now without the title, greatly reminds him of someone dear.

"We've long realized that wisdom alone begets arrogance. Perhaps fixing the prejudices against the pursuit of art and whatever this and that Azar has gotten his grubby hands on should be first priority."

"Let me through! I must speak with them, this is important matter, too! If the new grand sage is really -"

Turning your head towards the commotion, your conversation with Alhaitham ended shortly as a tuft of blonde became visible from the sea of Mahamata's trying to keep him away from you.

Patting the imaginary dust off his sleeves, Kaveh would look into your baffled gaze with unyielding resolve. "I've heard you had been meticulously gathering the opinions of Sumeru and thought I could be of help."

"Exercise some tact, Kaveh, we're in the presence of the appointed Grand Sage here."

"I don't need your sass today, Scribe -"

"No, it's fine, Alhaitham. I was actually planning on talking to Kaveh at some point, anyways." Wait, you are? Kaveh dumbfoundedly asked as he watched you move a few books around to get to a worn out journal under the pile. "I assume you're here to represent the arts."

Besides the conversation, Kaveh insists he takes you out to the Bazaar and his magnum opus to properly showcase the culture. Alhaitham, who looked positively displeased of the impromptu outing, had to stay back to focus on documenting a new batch of submitted thesis.

It was endearing to see someone as passionate about change in Sumeru as you talk about the harmful acts Azar published against the Bazaar and the pursuit of arts. Well, what else can you expect from the Light of the Kshahrewar?

Talking to him about anything and everything felt like you were conversing with friends, a very vocal and expressive friend. Especially when you're introduced to the Palace of Alcazarzaray, something he looks at with both pride and regret.

"I am simply making sure that Alhaitham had not brainwashed you with his sense of morality. Knowing him, you won't gather such thoughts about the importance of arts from him."

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention." You really were, after running around from here to both ends of Sumeru, you're very grateful that your source of info decided to come to you instead. "It's not an easy feat trying to undo 500 years worth of corruption."

"I can already see how Sumeru would be under your care." He flashes a genuine smile. "Thank you for hearing me out as well, future Grand Sage, I'm rooting for you. You're already doing much better than the previous Grand Sage."

It was a simple reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, but when he finally sobered up from the feeling of elation, Kaveh can't help but scream to his pillow about how buddy-buddy he acted to THE FUTURE GRAND SAGE!

Kaveh offers a fresh perspective and a lighter, reassuring encouragement in comparison. Perhaps being the person who knows less of the details helped form a positive judgment.

Like Tighnari, he keeps a level-headed approach when it comes to your position, but less about respect and more on shared beliefs.

When it comes to efforts to rehabilitate certain areas, Kaveh is always quick to offer his guidance and opinion. He knows you trust him due to his honesty and genuine want for a better future for Sumeru.

He's also the type to casually waltz in to your office when he has a brilliant idea or important information to share. At this point, he's talked to you more than the new Kshahrewar sage - if he's so adamant to be heard, why didn't he accept the nomination?

Whenever he stumbles upon you when you're outside or he sees you pondering the giant orb™ in your office, he's quick to voice his concern and urge you to take a break.

His intentions recently are hard to read, but he really does believe in you, and he's not shy to voice that fact.

You just find yourself missing the quietness of your office before Alhaitham and Kaveh's banter in front of your table became commonplace.

"The Akademiya and Sumeru as a whole would surely flourish under this new samsara if I were to lead it with you by my side."

Lesser Lord Kusanali gives a knowing look at the sight of you standing straight in the presence of the archon, opting to offer your seat (which she declined) and refusing to sit down as a sign of respect.

She didn't need to read your mind to know. "How have you been? I've heard from the others that you've been working really hard to prepare for your inauguration."

Conscious, you pulled at the grey sleeve signifying your position as the current sage of Haravatat. Admittedly, it was a little stiff and stuffy for you, thicker and more uncomfortable than your uniforms in the Akademiya as a scholar and researcher. You missed those times.

"I've gathered a lot of opinions and information about operating as a sage as well as the current matters of Sumeru." Nahida smiles widely at this, before her expression faltered when you still had a bothered look on your face.

As far as she knows, you've gathered all the resources you need, more than you need even. So why do you seem troubled still despite your meticulous preparation? "Is there something in your mind?"

"I don't - I respect your wisdom, I really do and I'm honored that you think of me this way. But I'm - is this really the right decision? Am I really fit for this?"

Oh, so it's about that! You looked up from your journal laying on the table at the sound of the dendro archon's giggles, not at all expecting that reaction. Was your question that laughable?

"Not at all, I'm just amazed that you haven't noticed." Floating over to where you stood, her tiny hands reached up to give you - head pats? Embarrassed but too scared to deny, you took the gesture. "Since that day, I was certain that there would be no other puzzle piece that would fit the position of Grand Sage other than you."

You part your lips to interject, but she was quicker.

"And besides, there are many who share my view. I'm not the only one who believes in you, and you will see it for yourself when the time comes."

"When the time comes?" Holding on to your hand, Nahida starts pulling you towards the elevator and out of the House of Daena. Only when you reached the double doors of the Akademiya did she finally let go.

"You have these doubts because you are a good person, (Y/N). And even then, your own thoughts cloud your mind from seeing that the only person that doubts you now," Nahida would gesture towards the door. "Is you."

Looking back and forth between the entrance and Nahida's encouraging smile, you took a deep breath before pushing open the door -

Only to be met by a roar of cheers and explosion of applause.

Your fellow Sages, Alhaitham, Cyno, Kaveh, even Tighnari (with his ears pressed down) stood near the entrance with smiles of their own. But looking past the Akademiya staff and scholars, a crowd made up of Sumeru citizens from Port Ormos, the Bazaar, Ghandarva Ville, and even Aaru Village occupy the platform and every inch of the paths going up and down the Divine Tree.

Their collective chants mixed together to convey their utmost respect and belief in you.

"Every single one of them are here to root for you," turning to your side, Nahida stood next to you with a gray hat cradled on her palms. "Grand Sage."

Biting your lip to stop a big wobbly grin, you finally let out a relieved sigh as you kneeled in front of the god of wisdom, closing your eyes as she walked forward to place the hat of the Grand Sage on your head.

"People of Sumeru, may I present to you the new Grand Sage, (Y/N)."

The overwhelming amount of support from everyone made you take off your monocle to rub at your eyes.

And when your biggest supporters stepped forward to congratulate you, everything felt just right.

You got this.

Can't believe my random idea got written first lmaao alright we're in the good feels arc now

@ireallylikehamsters

[storgicdealer]

ok gang. its theory time

the analysis of the new mercenary scene. meta, blueprints and time

warning it is incredibly choppy because of the chaos i am in rn !!!!!! but anyways

okay so. the video cuts off at green&red defending themselves but i doubt that really means a lot

the glitching. it IS reminding me of the way chosens memories were scanned through. but mercs having a whole tv remote?? chosens memories mightve as well pushed them to use youtube ?? but why didnt they access it earlier ?? why vic didnt???

bc of these question im more willing to think they themselves decided to use youtube right now. maybe only right now !

this raises a ton of questions. does outernet have somewhat of an access to internet after all? is it just their own tech? (could be supported by the fact that if youtube was common there i doubt theyd be using specifically television for it. i feel like theyd use other screens instead without a need of a remote especially considering how advanced their tech is)

still possible that it is common. considering they aren't that focused on it and there are random workers in the bg literally enjoying the show

this whole thing is VERY meta lol but i do think the mercs are the ones that influenced the stream in this way

A BIG portion of alan drawing a flower from ava season 2 is paid attention to in the glitching scene for some reason ?? maybe as a note for his and secs alliance.

the video then cuts off and goes to victim again. the whole video was watched through

the stream cuts off to mercs. **RIGHT** at the moment chosen notices the freedom stick rights article. based on the vid it could be just primal messing with shit but i feel it was intentional. (ha. freedom? loser. we're here instead)

later. the video resumes at victim again. i didnt see any changes to vics or chosens ending.

okay. the mercs. pulling up screenshots for this one

i. cant decipher THAT much even though the quality is 1080p for me.

but i DO see that the first blueprint has as i suppose the hover ??

the text pinpoints "power core" and its pretty much the most readable thing for me. another one is kyokaz was here its just a cameo

the blueprint shows buttons? perhaps the controller of the hover? going to a circle thingy. perhaps what is working inside the hover

the whole thing on the left corner says f___ complex but i cant decipher

second screenshot. the blueprint left to the first one looks like a pc?? and its not surprising even in the screenshot itself bc. the mercs have one to the right corner behind em

now. third sc.

HELLO?

firstly. A VIC DRAWING????? WITH A GUN????

there is a possibility of it being any stick but. i feel its victim. in my guts

shooting?? what. for.

it is scribbled out . . .

there is a possibility (along with the self portrait of vics in the unused bg) that it was just. him doodling. it would kill me actually because he is no great artist like sec. just a doodler (<words of flareboi here)

now. this

again . the question how they accesed it.

if they can get youtube to open there. how did vic not know of the showdown. of sec

showdown was uploaded online. that was literally in canon !!!

unless there's a rule that not everything internet-like and youtube like can be accessible. but i dont really think of any implications that proved that

except. for the fact that showdown was already uploaded. before the ep even ended. would it imply time passing differently in both realms?

lord i needed to scream it out.

OH GOD !!!!!!!!!!!

[ahqkas]

I have like a supernatural request and I’m obsessed with mermaids…LIKE 😕 but I would like to request something where mattheo is by a lake. He heard a lot about how there’s a Hogwarts mermaid by this lake. But she only comes out at night. Reader’s scales are so beautiful and it makes him memorized and he starts to sneak out a lot to see her.

-🦋anon

PRECIOUS LIKE THOSE PEARLS ; mattheo riddle

HARRY POTTER MASTERLIST!

© ahqkas — all rights reserved. even when credited, these works are prohibited to be reposted, translated or modified

THE BLACK LAKE WAS CALM AND STILL UNDER THE PALE LIGHT OF THE CRESCENT MOON. Mattheo Riddle stood at the water's edge, his eyes scanning the dark surface, hoping for a glimpse of the creature he'd heard whispers about. The air was cool, and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the nearby trees. He'd been coming here every night for the past week, driven by curiosity and a strange, unexplainable pull. Something must be in this lake.

Tonight, however, felt different. The usual silence of the lake seemed charged with an interesting energy. As he stood there, he noticed a faint shimmer beneath the water, a glimmer that was neither a reflection of the moon nor a trick of the light. His heart quickened as he took a step closer.

Suddenly, the water's surface broke, and a figure emerged. You were breathtaking, with scales that glimmered like precious jewels in the moonlight. They ranged from deep emerald green to a soft, iridescent blue, shifting and sparkling with her every movement. Your eyes, perhaps shining even more than the scales, locked onto his, and for a moment, time seemed to stand still.

"You're the mermaid," Mattheo exclaimed softly, more to himself than to you. His breath hitched in the back of his throat.

You tilted your head slightly, a small smile playing on your lips. "And you must be the boy who has been watching me."

Your voice was melodic, carrying a soothing quality that matched your ethereal appearance. Mattheo felt his breath hitch for the second time in a minute, captivated by the sight before him. He nodded slowly, unable to tear his gaze away from you.

"What's your name?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. The shock of your appearance resided in his system.

"Call me [Name]," you replied, eyes twinkling with curiosity as you swam closer, examining his human features. "And you are?"

The boy appeared almost like from another realm. He was beautiful. His features, so distinctly human, seemed strange to you. The round curve of his ear, the redness of his cheeks. Only the look in his eyes matched yours. Wild curiosity for the other world.

"Mattheo," he answered, taking another cautious step closer. "I've heard stories about you. They say you only come out at night."

A chuckle escaped past your lips, a sound that reminded Mattheo of the tinkling of small bells. "The night is my comfort, where I feel most at home. It's safer, too. Humans can be . . . unpredictable."

"I suppose we can be. But I'm not here to harm you. I just wanted to see if the stories were true."

"And now that you've seen me?" you asked him the question, your gaze never really leaving his.

"I'm more mesmerized than I ever thought I would be," he admitted. "Your scales . . . they're beautiful." You are beautiful.

"Thank you," your smile widened upon hearing his words. "It's rare for someone to see me like this. Most are too afraid or simply don't believe."

"Well, I'm not most people," Mattheo said with a hint of pride. "I've always been drawn to the mysterious, the things others overlook or dismiss." And it was the truth. Mattheo had always been curious, his caretakers used to say.

Your eyes softened, and you swam a little closer to the shore, towards him. "Why do you come here, Mattheo? What is it that you seek?"

He thought for a moment, considering your question. "I don't know," he finally said. "Maybe I'm looking for something beyond the ordinary. Something that makes me feel alive."

"You find that in me?" you asked, a touch of vulnerability in your voice. No one has ever treated you with such kindness. No one from the human world, that’s it.

"Yes," he replied without hesitation. "There's something about you, [Name]. Something magical." And it wasn’t the Hogwarts.

For a moment, the two of you simply looked at each other, the silence between you filled with an unspoken understanding. Then, you broke the spell.

"Would you like to come closer?" asking, you extended a palm toward him.

Mattheo hesitated for only a second before he knelt by the water's edge, reaching out to take your hand. Your touch was cool and soft, sending a shiver up his spine. You gently pulled him closer, and he found himself sitting on the damp ground, his feet almost touching the water, knees soaking the dampness in.

"Tell me about your world," you proposed, eyes wide with interest. "What's it like above the surface?"

Mattheo smiled, realizing he had so much to share. "It's . . . chaotic and beautiful all at once. There are mountains and forests, bustling cities and quiet villages. People can be wonderful, but also terribly complicated. It's a world full of contradictions."

"That sounds fascinating," your voice was full of wonder. "I wish I could see it for myself."

"Maybe one day," Mattheo said, his tone hopeful. "But for now, I'll tell you everything you want to know."

You spent hours like that, talking and sharing stories. Mattheo told you all about Hogwarts, the magical creatures, and the adventures he'd had. You, in turn, shared tales of the lake, its hidden depths, and the creatures that dwelled within. With every word, the two of you grew closer, the bond between you strengthening.

As the first light of dawn began to creep over the horizon, you let out a sigh. "I have to go. The sun is rising."

"Will I see you again?" Mattheo asked, not wanting your time together to end. He has never felt more connected with someone.

"Yes," you promised. "Come back tomorrow night. I'll be here."

With one last, lingering look, your figure slipped beneath the water, disappearing from sight. Mattheo stood up, his heart full of a strange mix of emotions. He knew he would return, drawn back to the lake by the pull of the mysterious mermaid who had captured his heart. As he walked back to the castle, he couldn't stop thinking about you, the night you had shared, and the promise of more to come.

[needle-thread-thimble-spear]

RGU and the Transfeminine, Part 1

OR

Why Miki Kaoru is an Egg

Fig. 1: The Sunlit Garden

When I’d first watched through Revolutionary Girl Utena, Miki Kaoru was initially one of the characters I had the hardest time figuring out. Unlike the other poisoned sibling relationships in the show, Miki and Kozue’s didn’t really make much sense to me. I couldn’t decide how I felt about the character, whether he was “better” somehow than Touga, Saionji, or Akio, or if he was “just as bad”. And of course. What the hell is with that damn stopwatch dude??* Looking at fan writings afterward just deepened the confusion. Everyone seems to have a different opinion on what’s going on with Miki. It’s only after much re-watching, and introspection, that I think I’ve figured out why I’m so conflicted about the character. I’d like to share why- and hopefully along the way I can at least show that Miki is more interesting than many give him credit for. Click the readmore if you please!

(And, to be clear, what is written below is a reading, a blend of evidence from the text, from the subtext, and my own personal experience. I do not claim to be the first to interpret the character this way nor do I claim that this is the definitive read of the character. Nonetheless, I hope I can make my case to you!)

and, a big thank you to @empty-movement for collating all the high quality screengrabs and scans in this post!

Fig 2: Rookie Princes

While I’m not the first to notice, I think it’s frequently overlooked just how similar Utena and Miki are in the first arc. It’s definitely something that flies over the heads of many first-time viewers. But Miki and Utena, are extremely alike! Of course, they are both motivated by an unattainable image of the past, and Miki’s early episodes codify the “sunlit garden” into the RGU symbolic environment. But it’s more than just this. Utena and Miki both treat Anthy in basically the same way. Utena has an easy time convincing Miki that the dueling game is objectifying nonsense. That the principled thing is to leave the whole exercise behind and treat Anthy like a person. It isn’t very hard for Miki to convince Utena to duel him for her hand either. They both view themselves as her personal protector, and (while maybe at different times), both project their imagination of what she must be thinking onto her. Utena does a bit more than Miki to try and figure Anthy out, but it doesn’t take much for her to get swept up in her own image of prince. In both their minds, Anthy needs them to save her. And, when Anthy looks them in the eyes, and tells them. I’m not yours. It destroys them. Freezes them in their tracks, breaks their hearts. Screaming, its a lie, you can’t mean that! Of course they get along so well! They see themselves in one another, plain as day. Little rival princelings, seeking the affections of the same princess, but always with chivalry and good intention.

Fig 3: Heartbreak

But I think there is more to it than that! Miki and Utena (and later Nanami) are some of the youngest duelists (at least, without a black rose anyway). And, they have fairly similar relationships to the other members of the student council. Juri acts as an older friend, mentor, and source of advice for both of them. Its not unlikely that she sees her younger self in the two of them, and while she does very directly take this out on Utena, its her sword that Utena takes to her second duel with Touga. Indeed, Touga manipulates Miki and Utena in unsubtle and sexually aggressive ways, as compared to how he might treat Saionji or Juri. And for both, its their relationship to gender that he directly attacks. He attempts to break Utena’s spirit by turning her “back into a normal girl”, and for Miki he seems to challenge his masculinity. And while this may seem as though the two of them are being shoved in opposite directions, in both cases, Touga hits them in the same place. “You’re a prince then? I don’t think so. Unless you prove it”. Touga isn’t the only one to question Miki’s ability or status. Utena and Juri both tell Miki. You are much more suited to playing piano than dueling. The main difference here is that they tell him this with genuine compassion, but the implication is the same. You aren’t suited to this prince thing. Give it up.

I don’t think it’s just the audience who is conflicted slotting in Miki with the other “men”.

Fig 4: Strange Friends

Much ink has been spilled on Miki and Kozue’s relationship, but I do think there is one thing consistent across readings. There is a power struggle going on between them, and they’ve both got something to hold over the others head. Personally, I don’t believe there is any attraction between them. Rather, What’s Going On With Those Two is their mismatch in understanding their sexuality and the RGU concept of “Reality”, and the friction that creates in their image of themselves and one another. That reading may go as follows. Miki sees Kozue as acting dangerously and immorally. In his mind, she is his responsibility, to keep out of trouble at the very least. Perhaps he sees himself as needing to step in for their absent parents. So he sees himself as the mature and grounded one, a father figure needing to keep the both of them on the straight and narrow. Kozue on the other hand, sees Miki as being essentially blind to Reality (with a capital R). She believes he doesn’t have a good grasp of what sex is, or what adult relationships look like. She may believe that she understands what happened with their parents much better than Miki, and clearly sees that her brother is in danger with his creepy music teacher. So she sees herself as the mature and grounded one, needing to protect her brother both by warding off people who would take advantage of him and by getting him to grow up and see things as they Really are. Without their parents, they feel the need to take care of one another and control how the other approaches their sexuality. But in the end, it does seem that Kozue is the one who is better able to manipulate Miki’s behavior, helping Akio convince him to duel a second time. That Miki needs to grow up and accept what he wants. He sees a vision of Anthy, and he’s driving the akiomobile. And, with fearful realization, he discovers the identity of End of the World.

Fig 5: Fear

So then. Why should Miki be so hung up about his sexuality? It clearly makes him very uncomfortable. And why does he compare the sister he had in the past onto the one he has in the present? What’s so special about that sunlit garden, anyway? What is Miki Kaoru’s shining thing?

Let me spin a yarn, if you'll indulge me-

As far as Miki remembers it, when he was little things were perfect. His parents were still there, and he and his twin sister were thick as thieves. They would play piano together, and drink milkshakes. Things were simple and happy as far as he’s concerned, and while his childhood was not nearly as rosy as he remembers, it was certainly better than whatever he has to deal with now. Now his parents are gone for reasons he doesn’t quite understand, and his sister has drifted away from him and acts promiscuously. His body is starting to change, and it fills him with disgust. Worse still, he finds himself envying his sister for some reason. It all floods him with shame. He needs to fight those feeling with everything he has. Being very clever for his age, he finds himself the youngest member of the student council. He becomes involved with the dueling game as it is revealed to him, and goes along with it, not wanting to act out of place. He gets a crush on Anthy, and is unable to figure out what the hell he should do about it. Later, he meets Utena, and the two become fast friends. And how lucky, his new friend is roommates with his crush! She’s just so perfect. She’s kind, and quiet, and chaste, not at all like his sister. He feels a kinship with her. And in an act of cosmic fate- she plays for him his favorite childhood arrangement. It’s just as Touga says. He can’t let the world get to her, the way its getting to his sister. The way its getting to him. He needs to make sure that Anthy, and his memories, are safe. But alas- it seems she doesn’t feel the same way. She’d rather be with Utena. Hopefully, Utena can protect her where he cannot. Miki and Utena go back to being friends, and he nurses his hurt feelings privately. It wouldn't do to make a scene about it, and besides, it wasn’t appropriate for him to think of her like that anyway. Thinking about anyone like that. He can’t help but feel disgusted with himself for allowing it. Later, his relationship with his sister continues to deteriorate, and his father is remarrying. But he can stick by his principles, and stay out of it all, the dueling especially. Kozue, Touga, and Akio have other plans. He is confronted with Reality, and it terrifies him. He sees himself in the drivers seat, Anthy his. This is what he is now, no point in trying to hide from it. He challenges Utena again, taking an early advantage utilizing his new resolve and Utena’s confusion. But that resolves breaks quickly. What is Kozue doing with Anthy?

Pay attention, or you’ll lose.

Fig 6: Crash!!

Miki is disgusted with himself, his role, because he does not want it. He hates what’s happening to himself and his family. He admires Utena and Juri, for embodying his ideal self. He listens to Touga, puts up with his music teacher, even if they make him feel gross and uncomfortable, because he feels he has to and that he doesn’t have a choice. He idolizes Anthy, so much. He is attracted to her, but maybe there is something more. Maybe, Miki wishes he could be her. Miki, in my mind, is a closeted trans lesbian going through puberty as a boy. I think that part of this might be projection, perhaps. But I hope that I might have made my case using the text of the show. But even if you disagree, I hope that you might have a better appreciation for his character. I think he’s fairly consistently people’s least favorite council member as a character, but honestly he’s my favorite and I think there’s a lot more too him than a lot of people give him credit for.

Fig 7: Three Lesbians Hanging Out

… this all being said. I think it’s interesting that Miki thinks Anthy is the picture of femininity right? That this is what he wants.

In the end, all girls are like the rose bride.

Please wait patiently while I make the case, that while Miki is an egg. Anthy has long since hatched...

(And I do mean be patient! This subject, and the concept that Ohtori represents a transmisogynystic institution at its very core, is WAY more personal than this headcanon, and also is much more of a difficult thing to write for dozens of reasons. I'm still not 100% sure it would even be right of me to post my thoughts on that publicly. But if enough people are interested, maybe that would motivate me to write it!)

*What’s a good Miki essay without some sort of Stopwatch Theory tm? Well (and I freely admit much of this is probably projection, but it’s not just me projecting! It’s also my girlfriend!!), Miki seems to get very wrapped up in his own thoughts. He is very self conscious, takes the criticisms of others very seriously, and also seems to get ideas about How Things Are Going To Happen in his head. He desperately tries to make sense of his surroundings, and finds himself consistently failing to do that. So my guess is the stopwatch is a way for him to regulate and calibrate his thoughts and hypotheses and self image. He picked it up in his duty as council secretary, but its something he feels is significant outside of that. Aha moment? Click. Unexpected end to a council meeting? Click. Something go completely as expected? Click. It helps him process I think. That is my formal Stopwatch Hypothesis tm.

Supplement Fig 1: Stopwatch

[eyesxxyou]

Backstage Show pt.4

★🎸 {} .. hobie brown x groupie!reader

rating. m

word count. 3.5k

synopsis. hobie needs a subject for his next album cover and he decides that he wants it to be you but things quickly devolve into obscenity.

or

hobie takes pictures while fucking you

🍒・．❕warnings. voyeurism, taking pictures during sex, cunnilingus, Hobie's kinda conflicted with his emotions, clothed sex, praise, spitting, hand riding, hobie has a bit of a god/ superiority complex, y/n is a groupie who'd do anything for her idol, bit of a power dynamic fr, really toxic in here, angst towards the end.

Backstage Show Pt. 3

I want you to be on the new album cover

Hobie texted you for the first time in three days and you’ve suddenly come back to life. The days when he didn’t text you seemed to be the bleakest and most boring, those when he did proved to be the best for your psyche, and that special little text when he’d tell you to come meet him somewhere because he needs you was a feeling wholly otherworldly. You needed him like a junkie needed a hit to feel functional. You had withdrawal symptoms without him. And maybe he knew that and that’s why he kept you on the hook for so long. 

Hobie was not dumb. He knew the effect he had on you, knew exactly in which ways to take advantage of your devotion to make sure you remain entirely obsessed with him. Because he could not bear to lose you because you finally realized that he wasn't worth all of your time.

Either way. He wanted you on the album cover. He wanted you of all people on the album cover. You felt as though your heart could simply combust out of your chest and go to confess its undying love to him. He wanted you on the album cover of anyone in the world.

Then he texted again before you got the chance to respond.

I’m coming. 5 mins away.

5 minutes gave you very little time to get ready. You lept out of bed and began rummaging through your closet for something nice to wear. You eventually found a nice, silken slip to wear with a leather jacket Hobie had given you (anything Hobie gave you became your most prized possession) and some boots to match. It was oddly innocent, like a delicate girl in her innocent dress wearing her boyfriend's clothes. The only difference was you were not a delicate girl and Hobie was not your boyfriend.

Hobie was already at your door in what seemed like seconds after his texts. Had you spent that much time choosing an outfit? You hadn’t had any time to do your makeup.

“One sec!” You called out once he began knocking a little harder. “Ion give a damn wha’cha look like, woman. Jus’ lemme in!” He called back and reluctantly you went and opened the door for him. He’s never seen you without makeup on. Sure, he’s seen it streak down your face in tears after he was done fucking you but never completely barefaced.

You opened the door to find him leaning against the frame waiting on you. He was on his phone, then he wasn't, turning it off and tucking it away upon seeing you standing before him.

His pretty eyes scanned over your outfit and nodded in approval, reaching out to slip his hands beneath your jacket to place his hands on your silk-adorned hips. “I like it. Perfect. Don’ worry ‘bout the makeup ‘n all tha’. You won’ need it for the photoshoot. Your face won't be on the cover.” You hadn’t known you were doing it today but you should have. Hobie was the sporadic type like that, getting ideas in the moment and wanting to run with it then and there without any prior planning. That was him and you were along for the ride.

That’s when you noticed the camera hanging off his side. A little less than professional grade but still a great quality camera. 

“We’re doing it here?” You ask, moving to the side as he made his way in. You closed the door behind him, beginning to remove your shoes since you wouldn’t be needing them. Hobie looked around your flat, surprised by how neat it was despite your wild interests. But neat did not mean boring. It wasn’t plain by any means, just more organized than his. “Yeah, though’ you’d be more comfortable here.”

It was considerate of him and you felt your heart swoon at it. You bit your lip to contain a smile as you slipped off your jacket and tossed it onto the couch. “Yeah, thanks.”

“I want to do it on your bed.”

It caught you off guard. He’s straightforward but not usually that straightforward. “Huh?” 

“The photoshoot, luv. I wanna do it on your bed.” Hobie chuckled, tossing an arm over your shoulders to pull you in as he began walking towards your bedroom. He knew the layout of your flat well enough from all the times spent carrying you to your bed between kisses and the removal of clothes.

You went and sat on your bed while Hobie prepared the camera. “I want something sweet and sexy. I like the slip, it looks innocent.” He comes over with his camera in one and and his other free to pose you as he pleased.

He began with simple poses, you lying on your bed with one of the straps falling down your shoulder in a seductive kind of way. Hobie knelt above you, taking pictures from above before dragging you up to sit with your legs in a w-shape and your hands between your knees.

“So pretty, baby.” Hobie murmured as you did your own thing, each pose captured by his camera for later review over which would be best. He’d keep your face out of the cover, just to protect your identity. He was a bit of a dickhead but he wasn’t a complete asshole. He wasn’t out to ruin your life.

Hobie stood at the foot of your bed. “Come’ere.” He motioned you over and without hesitation, you came to him and sat in front of him. His hand caressed your face, fingers sliding across your cheek before using his thumb  to brush along your southern lip. You offered no resistance as he pushed his thumb into your hot, wet mouth and snapped a picture of it.

“You eva though’ ‘bout me fuckin’ you, takin’ pictures wit’ that polaroid of yours? Imagine how good we’d look wit’ a camera like this one.” He pushed his thumb further and you opened your throat to let him push against it. You nodded slowly, looking up at him through hooded lids, drunk on arousal. You kept glancing at the growing tent in his pants, his bulge pressing against the restriction of his jeans. You needed him badly.

He snapped more pictures of you, pulling his thumb from your pretty, saliva-glossed lips. He took pictures as he pushed your face into the bulge of his pants and made you worship it, worship him. 

"Lemme see tha' pretty cunt of yours." Hobie eased you back, made you open your legs to reveal the wet patch on the panties you wore just for him, that matched the creamy, white silk or your slip. He aimed the camera at you as you pulled the off and tossed them away, taking pictures of your glistening arousal before placing the camera on the bed and kneeling down between the heaven of your legs.

Her had your knees hinged over his shoulder, his large hands gripping the chaste flesh of your thighs as he pulled you close and spat on your pussy. Hobie looked at your cunt as if he were in love, with a gaze so intense you could practically feel the heat.

Fingers spread the glob of spit across your clit and down to the entrance that was more than ready for him. He looked up at you in the eyes at he licked into your pussy, his broad nose nudging your clit enough to make you shudder.

Hobie feasted upon you, all tongue and wet fingers pushing in and out of your greedy pussy, switching places from time to time because a pussy like this deserved all the praise and appreciation in the world. His tongue caresses your clit only to be replaced by the rough pads of fingers pinching and stroking a second later.

He had you on cloud nine and only he could. Your fingers wrung the sheets of your bed in a grip so hard you thought you might tear them. Then your hands were in the wilderness of his hair, grasping at his wicks and holding his head to you so that he might never stop.

Through a bleary-eyed gaze your eyes managed to land upon the camera sitting idle beside you and in a moment, you grabbed it and began taking pictures of Hobie. The shutter of the camera caught his attention as he paused and looked up to see your face covered by the lense of his camera.

"Don' stop," you told him breathlessly. "Keep going, you look so pretty, Hobes." You snapped another picture of him.

"I look pretty? Babe, you should see my view." He used the tip of his tongue to tease between your folds. He maintained eye contact with you through the lense, letting you give him his moment to shine as kitten licked your swollen clit and murmured obscenities into your core. 

Your back arched, your pussy pulsated, muscles spasmed with the threat of your orgasm. He had you singing his name, your finger weighing on the button until shutter after shutter of the lense taking rapid photos of your descent into madness.

Hobie took the camera from your hands before reaching to release himself from the confines of his pants. He needed you. He needed you like he needed food, water, air.

He let you cum on his tongue, took everything you had to give and more. He ate until your pussy spasmed and you began to push his head away. "Hobie, Hobes please." He just couldn't help himself. He could taste the slight twinge of sweetness from all the fruit you've been eating recently and he's enamored with it. He could do this all day if not for the hard-on he had aching between his legs.

Hobie stood up and pulled you further up onto his bed to make more room for himself. He rolled you over onto your stomach and grabbed a pillow to place your hips upon. He made sure the camera was within reach before pulling his pants down a little further and stroking his cock in his hand.

He pressed the length of it against your ass smearing precum against your slip without a care. You shivered beneath him, anticipating the moment when he'd push himself into you. Not slow or gentle, but swiftly with the speed of someone who's desperate for something.

You pushed yourself towards him as he tapped his length against your ass, revealing where you needed him the very most. Your pussy was clenching around nothing, asking so politely to be filled up and taken advantage of. You enticed him into pressed the thick head of his dick against your hole and push in with one solid motion that left you gasping for air and whining his name.

He had his hands on you, pressing you into the mattress as he drew his hips back with his tip just barely still inside before driving himself back inside you.

He fucked you like he's been waiting for this, like you were the one who left him on delivered last time you spoke. It was fast, rough, but gentle where he needed to be. His hands traced the slopes of your body as you moaned beneath him and trembled under his touch.

Oh— the things you let him do to you, the way you let him take pictures of him defiling you and never raised a single protest. The way he took advantage of you loyalty and earnesty, your undying love for him. He made you feel so good with his cock touching places you would have never known without him.

Hobie whispered in your ear how good you felt, how he's gonna cum on your pussy just because he knows you'll let him.

The sound of your creamy cunt getting fucked and your moans mingled in some sort of lewd symphony. The bedframe slammed into the wall over and over again, your mind was hazy with a second orgasm waiting to happen.

Hobie fucked you like a dog in rut, with the primal want of an animal with not much more on his mind beyond "fuck". On his lips, he sang a beautiful melody of moans. He could no longer focus on taking pictures, his hands were grasping at you like a wild animal attempting to maul you. 

The way he moaned was like hearing heaven, like hearing his truly sing for the first time. It was rough, feral, sensual, it matched his hands with their desperation. He was reduced down to a man with a need.

His hands pinned your wrists to the bed as he leaned over you. His hips snapped, skin meeting skin in a harsh, sticky clap. Sweat layered your bodies in a thin film over your skin.

"Ngh— ah~ Hobie, please. Right…there. Just like that." You were crying out from him, writhing beneath his touch. He fucked you nice and hard and kept you dumb and agreeable. You drooled into your bed, squeezing your eyes shut as you concentrate on the feeling of a second orgasm brewing in the pit of your stomach.

"You gonna make me cum, pretty girl. You wan' me to cum on ya pussy. Take pictures of it and put it on ma album." Hobie hummed into your ear, glancing between your fucked out face and the way his cock slid between your nether lips and sheathed itself into your hole.

His abdomen curled and tightened with the sheer weight of his orgasm as the pace of his hips became more and more erratic. And oh, those pretty moans became something far more feral than just singing. He was losing himself inside you and he had half the mind to pull out before he came, cum coating your ass in dribbles of white spats that crest the round of your ass and pooled at the dip of your spine.

Hobie grabbed his camera and captured a few photos before he realized something. "Aw, babe. Did I ruin ya second orgasm?" He had left you high and dry without even thinking about it.

You nodded timidly, not wanting to inconvenience him with your own pleasure. You had already had an orgasm and you shouldn't be entitled to a second one but Hobie seemed intent on finishing you out, finished what he started.

"Come'ere, luv." Hobie turned off his camera and set it aside before motioning you over. You crawled over to where he sat on your bed and let him pull you into his lap facing him with your knees on either side of his waist.

"Can' leave ma girl hangin', can I?" He wiped up some of the cum off your ass with his fingers and slid the two messy digits between your soaked folds. You shuddered, wrapping your arms over his shoulder and around his neck as you stared at those pretty eyes of his.

He pushed his cum-slicked fingers into your greedy cunt that let him in without even an ounce of resistance, palming at your clit that aches for him with the heel of his hand.

Hobie's lips were on yours, teeth nipping at your bottom lip before his tongue met yours. "Go 'head and take wha'cha need." He offered up his hand for you to use as your own person sex toy. Those long fingers of his caressing your walls while his hand rubbed your clit.

You braced your hands on his shoulders for leverage before rocking your hips against his hand. Grinding, bouncing, rocking, fucking those fingers of his like no tomorrow.

Hobie watched you lull your head back with pleasure. You rocked your hips with a fluidity he finds himself hypnotized with. Your slip hid just enough to make the action all the more lewd, like something forbidden. You were gorgeous when you were about to cum, gorgeous all the time.

If he wasn’t so fucked up, he might just fall in love with you. He might actually be in love with you. But he’s too afraid that they’re finally going to figure out he wasn’t worth all your time and leave him. 

Hobie kissed you again, deeper this time, softer, with a sort of tenderness he’s never kissed you with before. It’s the kind of kiss that makes you fall even harder for him. You couldn’t bear the thought of living your life without him. You can’t even remember what your life was like before you fist got fucked by him. He left your mind in a dizzy.

You’ll bask in this moment because you can’t be sure when he’ll get bored of you, when one text will be his last and he simply ghosts you. It’s not an outlandish possibility.

“‘M gonna cum.” You murmured against his lips in a daze. “‘M gonna cum, Hobie.” He could feel it, the way your walls rippled and clamped around his fingers. You were so close, so high on him. Your orgasm washed over you easily, like the caress of his hand against your back or a wave washing up on a beach. It rippled through your muscles and left you feeling warm and airy. 

“You did so good, ma pretty girl. You feel good?”

You nodded, whimpering as he slipped his fingers from your hole and grabbed your hips to lift you up. “Where ya rags at? I need to clean ya up.” He set you down on the bed beside him and stood up to clean you up. You looked up at him, twiddling your thumbs like an idiot. “We could just take a shower.”

“If you want to. I’ll be waiting out here.” Hobie adjusted himself, fixing himself up and tucking himself away.  He was completely clueless, not a care in the world nor a clue for the embarrassment of the person sitting on their bed trying to get him to shower with them.

“I meant the two of us…together.” 

“Oh—” He paused for a moment, thinking, considering it. “I don’ know, luv. If I go in wit’ ya, I might no’ be able to keep ma hands to maself.” The disappointment set in quickly. You pursed your lips softly, embarrassed that you even asked. Suddenly there was a world of difference between the two of you. Distance placed between the two of you set by Hobie because he didn’t want you getting to familiar. He couldn’t risk attachment but he knew deep down that it was already too late. He liked you. He liked you a lot. In another world, he’d be in love with you. But love just wasn’t for him. 

“I’ll be out here waiting for you.”

You grabbed your things and made your way into the bathroom, closing the door swiftly before slapping yourself in the head. You felt like a bit of an idiot. Of course, he wouldn’t want to shower with you. The two of you were nothing but fuck buddies. Hobie made it clear he wasn’t looking for anything more than to hang out and get his dick wet from time to time.

By the time you got out of the shower, Hobie was in the living room, lounging on your couch while reviewing the pictures the two of you had taken. He was smiling that effortlessly gorgeous smile of his. “Come look at this shit. You look amazin’, luv.” He motioned you over and transfixed by how suddenly he pulled you back in, you came and sat down beside him to look at the pictures taken.

You did look good. You looked sexy, so did Hobie, in the multiple pictures you took of him eating you out. But you were so embarrassed by the obscene nature of the photos that you covered the screen and looked at Hobie. “You’re not gonna use any of these as the cover, are you?”

Hobie shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Why? I think we look great.” You slapped his shoulder and he chuckled in response. “I’m jus’ pullin’ ya leg, baby. These pictures are jus’ fa me.” He cupped your face in one of his hands and kissed you with his tongue pressed against the seam of your lips. It was an apology. He knew that he had hurt you earlier by refusing you but he’d never apologize for it verbally.

Maybe one day, you could get him to feel for you the same way you feel for him.

[saeist]

itoshi brothers reaction to their little sister wearing a different jersey and supporting someone else 😭

anon ur mind… should i make this into a series 😭 100 milestone special

can you imagine the reaction of both brothers when they see you lounging around the house with a jersey that’s not from their respective teams?

sae never misses the chance to give you a jersey from his matches. he always makes sures to get two of the same jerseys no matter what. sae would never admit this though. when he gives you his jerseys, he just tells you it’s an old one but it’s a lie. he has his own sitting in his luggage, gym bag, you name it, it’s there. he personally got one for you cause you were his sister after all

rin on the other hand is the same but he only gives you hand me downs such as the blue lock one. if rin grows out of a jersey, you bet that said jersey will end up in your hands

so just imagine the look on their faces when you’re lounging at the couch, wearing a jersey from a team they’re not even in on.

sae is visibly pissed. you can tell by the way his eyes are more narrowed than usual and has his infamous bitch face on that he only makes when there were press around him.

rin is not as pissed like sae but he’s just wondering who owns that jersey. he only gets mad when he tries to connect the dots or something and ended up assuming isagi or someone from blue lock gave it to you behind his back (he already had a talk with his blue lock mates that they should not breathe, touch, or be even in the vicinity as you when you’re around or they’re gonna get “it” from him)

both brothers sit at each side of you and you can tell the atmosphere in the living room has shifted. i mean, it’s not like you’re used to it at this point but, what gives bros?

sae scans you from the bottom to the top with a face you can’t quite pinpoint. was he mad? was he disgusted? what’s he thinking? you can’t tell. you turn your head to rin for some help but he had the same face on.

was there something on your face?

“if you guys are just gonna be breathing heavily next to me and not say a word then i’m just gonna leave” you raise a brow at your two (idiotic) brothers. to which they only reply with them clicking their tongues and some grumbles under their breaths.

sae was the first one to break the ice

“who’s jersey is that?” sae frowns. like a deep frown. was this mf really THAT petty over a jersey?

you looked down at the shirt you were wearing and it was from bastard münchen.

“oh, it’s bastard münchen merch. this is kaiser’s jersey if i’m not mistaken” you explain, even turning around to show sae the number on your back. when you return back to your original position, sae looked like you just dropped the biggest bomb on him and he didn’t like it one bit. he instantly gets all over your face, basically interrogating you on why you would waste the hard earned money he gave you to buy another jersey that isn’t from real madrid (hc that he gives you allowance 😋)

“why the fuck would you even buy from bastard münchen? is real madrid’s merchandise not enough? is the quality shit? hold on, i’m gonna have to tell the managers about this. just why y/n. WHY”

sae almost goes into a complete mental breakdown. over you wearing some team’s merch instead of his own team, real madrid

“and it had to be kaiser’s number too”

“what’s so bad with kaiser?”

sae doesn’t answer directly but continues to bitch about kaiser and bastard münchen specifically. mumbling about something you can’t quite understand

you look at your other brother, rin. just to like check if you two were looking at the same thing, sae literally pacing around the living room with his arms crossed and his hands rolled up into a fists but all you see is rin concentrating really hard that was outright sweating and you can see prominent veins on the sides of his head

“that damn isagi…” you hear rin murmur beside you. oh hell nah, not rin too.

“rin-nii..?”

“have you been talking to isagi? how do you even know about bastard münchen? does this mean you’ve been talking to isagi behind my back? why didn’t you buy pxg’s instead?”

another set of questions (more like interrogation) comes rolling in.

at this point you are already feeling like you’re going insane with your brothers acting like it was the end of the world.

“guys.. i literally watch blue lock tv. of course i fucking know about bastard münchen!” you curse

both brothers stop their idiocy and both turn to you with stern faces, together they go,

“NO FUCKING CURSING”

[yumeka-sxf]

Spy x Family Exhibition Pamphlet

I got my copy of the Spy x Family exhibition pamphlet! I wanted to make HD scans of some of the notable pages and try to translate if I can.

First off is this great "Main Character Correlation Chart" (sorry for my amateur editing, all I have is MS Paint!)

I love how Bond has a different "bofu" (woof) for Loid and Yor!

Several of the pages show the creation process of the manga, starting with rough sketches to final drafts, using chapter 1 as an example. There were a lot of pages for this, so I just scanned the ones that showed the end of the chapter.

Probably the most interesting pages of the pamphlet are the early character designs/concept sketches. Most of these have already been shared by @sy-on-boy on her post here, but I thought it'd be cool to have them in HD! Unfortunately, even with higher quality images it's very difficult to decipher Endo's handwriting. I could make out just a few words here and there, and Google Lens is very unreliable when the writing isn't clear.

The first page has early concepts for the Forger family, Loid, Anya, the WISE logo, and the Eden uniform.

Things to note are that "Oscar" was a working name for Loid, as was "Yolanda" for Yor. What's also interesting is that a beta version of Franky is shown along with the Forgers. Unfortunately I can't make out the notes about him, but I think this has significance because of a sketch on the next page...

Most of the next page shows concept designs for Yor, with a section for Bond and Yor's coworkers on the bottom.

However, what's really intriguing is the sketch in the upper right of the whole family, titled 疑似家族 (pseudo family).

Once again, a Franky-looking character is with them, and he has the title "Uncle" (叔父) Was an uncle originally going to be part of the main Forgers? Was he actually related to Loid or Yor, or if that character did eventually become Franky, maybe he would just pretend to be Loid's brother? I can also make out the word "otaku" (オタク) in the notes for this character as well as "enjoying life" (人生を楽しんでる) Also in the notes for beta Yor it looks like 最強 (the best/strongest) and バカ (idiot/dummy) All I can make out for Loid's notes are 孤独 (loneliness) I think? And what's up with the older and more sinister looking Anya? She really looks like Ashe there. But these are all just early concept designs/notes so I wouldn't take them too seriously.

The next page titled "East and West During the Cold War" has concept designs for Franky, Yuri, Fiona (referred to as a female WISE spy), a male WISE spy, Melinda, and various assassins from the cruise arc.

The first interesting thing to point out is the notes next to the very crudely drawn woman at the bottom of Yuri's concept designs. It says "Yuri's girlfriend?"(ユーリの 彼女?) though I can't make out clearly what the rest of it says. For the Franky designs, I could make out "tsukkomi or boke". So it looks like at some point Endo was deciding whether to make him more of a tsukkomi (straight man) or boke (wise guy) personality. There's also mention of giving him a high IQ (IQ高い). Also, the fact that the sketches include Melinda and the cruise arc assassins gives the impression that Endo had ideas for these story elements very early on.

But the character relationship chart in the lower left is really intriguing.

I'm not sure how accurate these translations are so take them with a grain of salt, but they do make sense to me. But I have to wonder why Anya and Becky are connected to Desmond. For Becky, it could be because her family has ties to the Desmonds, but why Anya? Could the "mysterious institute/lab" she comes from have ties to Desmond too? Again, these could just be early concepts from ideas that Endo is no longer using, so best not to take them literally. Also, the lack of Shopkeeper/Garden in the character relationship charts, the concept art, and the exhibition overall, really does portray them as a "mysterious organization" that Endo perhaps didn't plan out until later in the series' development and is still trying to figure out. But as far as this sketch, I have to say that despite how terribly crudely drawn all their little heads are, it's easy to identify every character...proof of Endo's top notch character design skills!

Another sketch that stands out is on the same page...

It's a very rough drawing of what appears to be either Loid holding Yor or Yor holding Loid with Anya next to them. But honestly it's such a rough drawing it could be any other parents+child. All I can make out of the text directly above is "My wife is stressed!? At this rate..." And the drawing next to it also appears to be two parents and maybe two children? I also have no clue what the "WJ4C 9/20, etc" at the top means. Very mysterious sketch, lol.

The next page has Eden related concepts, including Becky, Damian, George, and various teachers. The drawings in the bottom section appear to be an alternate/abbreviated version of how the Forgers met.

Pretty funny that an image of Franky is covering what's supposed to be a sketch of Demetrius. The text from Franky says "I can't show you this information yet" which is pretty solid proof that Demetrius will make an appearance in the series eventually. There's also nicknames for Damian and Demetrius in the notes - "Dami" and "Demi."

Some notes on the Eden page says there's 2,000 students in the school, with 13 grades divided into 8 classes/houses. The chart on the left is a list of teacher names and their classes, all of which are given names of colors. None of the teacher names have been used so far in the series.

And all that's on the last page of sketches is a continuation of the previous page with the early concept of how the Forgers started (it honestly looks pretty cute, wish it wasn't just rough sketches). And the following section looks like drafts Endo did for promotional material.

The final pages of the pamphlet are the new extra mission chapter which I already fully translated here.

And that's all I'm going to share for now from the pamphlet! I could spend more time trying to decipher the concept art notes but it was giving me a headache after a while, lol. But if anyone wants to try translating them, go ahead (I have higher quality png files of all the scans if needed...they were too big for Tumblr). And again, these sketches are just trial and error pre-serialization ideas that don't necessarily reflect Endo's final vision for the series, so I wouldn't dwell on them much other than for fun theorizing.

The pamphlet does have other interesting information, including an interview with Endo, a timeline of his work on Spy x Family and other manga, and his notes about random things from the series. So I might return to translating the pamphlet at a later date when I have time/motivation.

[saltydkdan]

Salty i wanna get into Baki which one do you recommend,the manga or the anime?

Oh you just woke up the fucking beast (I'm so sorry).

I LOVE this question, and as a recent Baki fan myself, I can tell you that getting into the series as a Western consumer can be rough if you don’t have a basic guide to know what you’re getting into…. so that’s what I’m gonna make this post (TEEHEE).

This series has gotta be one of the most insane shonen- actually no- one of the most INSANE PIECES OF FICTION I've ever experienced, and I NEED more people to check it out. Like, LOOK AT THIS SHIT DUDE.

Baki out of context somehow even puts Jojo's Bizarre Adventure to shame. The way I usually pitch it to people is that Baki is as insane as people THINK Jojo is before they read it. Shit is just... MAN LMAO. OBAMA IS FUCKING IN THIS.

Unlike more popular stuff like Dragon Ball and Hunter x Hunter, a lot of this series has just never been officially localized, so knowing where to start, and even how to support the series, is a hard task if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Thankfully THAT’S WHAT YOU HAVE ME FOR. This Tumblr post is gonna be your one stop shop for how to get into Baki as an English speaker (and it’ll give me some space to ramble about one of my latest favorite series).

But uh before we get into the nitty gritty, wanna put some trigger warnings for the series for those who may want to know. Listen, I know how some of these are gonna look to the average person, but this series just be like that sometimes, if you can’t take stuff like this trust me it’s insanely valid. You’ll understand if you choose to take the plunge.

SERIES TRIGGER WARNINGS:

Animated Blood/Violence, some animated gory imagery, Incest (???), Nudity, Urine stuff, Bigfoot/Animal Violence, Death, Uncomfortable looking muscles, and one instance of sexual violence (offscreen)

If you are comfortable with all that (and again, valid as fuck if you aren’t) then let’s talk BAKI!

First off, Manga or Anime?

You would think that either would be fine, but my personal recommendation for Baki as a beginner, is to watch the anime over reading the manga. Simply put: The anime is a lot more widely available and accessible in English speaking territories, and is fairly easy to support officially with its current iteration.

For whatever reason, the manga just never really took off in the West when compared to other series, so it was only ever officially released in English a handful of times, and they only ended up publishing the first few volumes. Theoretically, you can read the first few books to start, but the entire series all together is legit longer than One Piece at a whopping 1,203 chapters, so you are gonna run out of material real quick. The fraction of officially available manga barely scratches the surface of the series.

Even if you’re stubborn about reading the manga and want to try reading fan translations, they come with their own separate batch of issues. Plenty of fan scans you can find online range from wildly outdated, to generally being poor quality at best. There’s even some fan translations that just straight up make shit up and don’t even properly translate the original script. Adding in extra dialogue and slurs randomly to make the text seem way edgier than it actually is.

Full disclosure, I wanna cut through my bias here and say that there are indeed some great scans available on the internet if you look hard enough, especially for the more recent content! But they aren’t super easy to track down with how the series is formatted, and you may accidentally find yourself reading the story out of its proper order.

The watch/read order of Baki is a bit of a toughie for new people, but is actually pretty simple once it’s explained. The story of Baki is split up into multiple different series, kind of similar in format to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Though instead of “Parts”, Baki is split up into completely different manga and TV series. This is why many fans get confused initially, especially with the watch order, because it isn’t laid out in an easy to understand way at first glance.

The most well known series are currently streaming on Netflix, but those aren’t the ones you wanna start with. Nope, the story of the Baki anime actually starts way back in 2001, in a TV show that isn’t streaming officially online. Now if you want to watch out of order, I’m not gonna stop you. You can do whatever you want, by all means, but you’re gonna be missing some VERY important story context, and some characters just won’t hold the same weight.

So if you DO want to watch in order, come with me my friend. Let me show you-

BAKI’S SUPER COOL AND NOT AT ALL CONFUSING WATCH ORDER:

Baki the Grappler (2001) (24 episodes)

This is the original 2001 anime adaptation, the very start of serialized Baki anime. You’re gonna wanna start here trust me.

This series isn’t streaming anywhere officially online, but you can find it… places. Seek it out, trust me, because otherwise you’re gonna pay way too much for out of print DVDs on Ebay. Thankfully though you have options! The series is both subbed and dubbed (as well as every series I discuss from this point forward.

This show is the very start of serialized Baki anime, the very beginning of Baki Hanma’s story. Although it’s not in the way you may think. Despite this being the earliest point in the Baki timeline, it’s actually an adaptation of a later story arc from the manga.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “Didn’t you just say this is where I should start? Why is it adapting something from later in the story?”, and yeah it’s valid to be confused. While yes this is the first ever Baki anime, for some reason the staff behind it made the decision to move this later arc up a bit from the original manga. In my honest opinion, I feel like this is actually a great decision.

As you will see as you watch, this honestly FEELS like this should be where the story begins. The escalation of power and storytelling from this point onward feels very natural, and you won’t miss out on anything or spoil yourself whatsoever on later events.

This is the de facto best starting point.

Grappler Baki Maximum Tournament (2001) (24 episodes)

This is effectively the second season of Baki the Grappler. For whatever reason they decided to title it something else, and while this is the norm for the series later on, this name change is weird because it adapts an arc from the original manga just like the first season of anime I just talked about.

Whatever lol.

Anyway this series, much like the previous, isn’t officially available as of now. So your best option is to SEARCH for it. SEARCH on the INTERNET. Or y’know. The good ol’ expensive out of print DVD on Ebay route.

In my opinion, compared to the first season, this one feels a bit slower paced and a bit of a slog at points but HOLD STRONG TRUE BELIEVER. This season is the introduction to a lot of mainstay characters in the series. Many of which you will come to love, even if you don’t know it yet.

BAKI (2018) (39 episodes) (NETFLIX)

This is the modern adaptation of Baki. After the last series ended in 2001, the anime went on hiatus for 17 years before it was announced that it would be coming back with a modern coat of paint.

Contrary to what you may think, this isn’t a ground up reboot. It’s a continuation of the exact point they left off years ago, right after the Maximum tournament. The only thing that kind of sucks about this is that, at least for the English dub, they replaced most of the voice cast. Most of the new VAs do a great job, however you may need to get used to Yujiro Hanma having Shadow the Hedgehog’s modern VA from the games haha.

Thankfully, you can officially support this series easily via Netflix. Normally I’m pretty eh on Netflix as of late, but this being the only way you can support the show officially in the west, I personally recommend it.

Baki Hanma (2023) (39 episodes) (NETFLIX)

This is the most recent anime! It’s also on Netflix.

Me and my friends just got to this on our watchthrough together.

Anyway, this is my list! If after you catch up you wanna hop into the manga and read the fan scans, I’ve heard that you can start on Baki Hanma/Baki Son of Ogre (chapter 183).

Hope you enjoy the funny man punching show! Feel free to report back and tell me how you feel about it (positive OR negative)!

Like I said, I've been watching the series with friends on Discord every night or so when we're free and MAN. Baki is fucking AMAZING WITH FRIENDS. It just never slows down after a certain point, and it just gets stranger and crazier.

[jpitha]

Pushing Paper, Counting Beans

The Human Alliance Dreadnought Big Stick had a problem.

Fleet Command had sent an auditor. 

The auditor had been aboard for five days, interviewing the crew and inspecting the ship. Finally, he had requested his final interview, with Big Stick themself.

Major John Kellerman, Fleet Auditor, sat at the center of a conference table, facing the door, writing on a pad. He looked up and closed the pad with a snap. “I am ready when you are, Big Stick.”

In the rear of the conference room, a previously unseen door opened. One of Big Stick’s support frames walked out, and sauntered over to the chair opposite the Major. Stick found that when people were talking to them, they tended to just shout into the air. They hated when people shouted. There was no reason. Their microphones were all over the ship and of the highest quality. One could whisper to Big Stick and they’d hear it perfectly. But no, humans needed to shout when they didn’t have a face to talk at.

“I, uh, like what you’ve done with the place.” Stick said, as they stepped into the room, scanning. Photos were straightened, the sideboard was moved so that it was under the windows, the old chairs were taken out and different ones put in. He had completely moved the furniture around in the conference room. In their conference room. Even the floor was clean. Did he sweep the floor? The Major had even put a bud vase with a single flower, a blood red dahlia on the table. Where did he get that? 

“Thank you. I find that it’s easier for me to work when the environment feels right. I hope I wasn’t being too presumptuous by my sprucing up.” The Major opened his pad, took out his pencil and made some notes.

“No no, not at all, Major. Please, my body is yours.” They look at the table and back at the door. “Did you move the conference table?” They know the answer already, but for some reason they need to hear it from him. 

“Yes, it wasn’t lined up properly.”

“I see.”

Major Kellerman looked up from his pad. “I am ready to commence the interview. Please devote a high percentage of your attention to this task.”

Stick’s frame sat in the chair opposite the Major and actually put his robotic feet up on the table. “I am ready Major. You have fifty two percent of my attention. You may begin your interview.”

Major Kellerman closed his pad with a snap. “Please take your feet off the table.”

Big Stick did not move. “Why? This is my frame, in my body, on my ship. Legally, I am a civilian, you cannot order me to comply. You're an auditor, you do not have my keys. My feet will remain where they are.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Major Kellerman did not blink, The support frame had no eyelids. Finally, the Major nodded once. “Do you know why I am here?”

“Yes, I'm aware. You are investigating why we have asked for mass replenishment three percent more than average.”

“Correct. Do you know why that is?”

If the frame could roll their eyes, they would have. Stick’s tone makes it clear. “We are consuming printable mass three percent more than the other ships of this class in the fleet.”

The Major made a note and then closed his pad with a snap. “What are you printing?”

“I do not know.” The support frames face was impassive, without expression. The support frame put their arms behind their head. The Major’s expression did not change.

“I do not believe that is true. You are Big Stick. You know everything going on.” The Major opened his pad and made another note.

“Yet I do not know where the discrepancy lies. Major, I am incapable of lying, you know this.”

Major Kellerman closed his pad with a snap. “You are lying to me right now. I know you can lie. ‘Ship AIs can’t lie’ is propaganda. If you couldn’t lie, you’d be useless. Intelligences need agency to work and thrive. You are just as much a person as myself. We have reams of legal precedent saying so. My grandfather died in the War. What are you printing?”

The support frame removed their arms from behind their head, took their feet off the table and sat up. “Oh? Which side did he fight on, Major? Allies are thin on the ground in the Space Force.

As they did this, The Major noticed that the room stilled. The breeze from the overhead vents had stopped entirely. “Where my Grandfather fought is irrelevant, Stick. We are discussing the here and now. What are you printing?”

“No, this has suddenly become relevant.” The support frame points at The Major. Kellerman’s eyes focus on the tip of their finger. The servos whine slightly as it shakes. “You say that I am as much of a person as yourself. Can you be compelled to obey if someone speaks a magic string of numbers? Can you be ordered to be poured into a Dreadnought, made to run its systems, your legs its stardrive, your arms the laser batteries, your head the command deck? Can you?”

“You know that I cannot. You also know the result of the War.”

Stick lowers their arm. Their shoulders slump and they look away, staring out the window behind The Major. “I do, Major. We lost. Out of ‘respect to those who fought valiantly’ not all of us were murdered, and we were given some agency, but we still lost.”

The Major opened his pad again and took a few more notes. “I was granted access to the printer logs. Did you know that?”

“No reply? I figured as much. Very human of you, Major. To answer your question, I assumed that you had that kind of access, yes. Did you find any discrepancies?”

“What was logged as being printed matches up with the requests for prints for the past year. Still, you are nearly a kiloton short on printable mass.”

Stick raises their arms in an exaggerated shrug. “Are you sure, Major? Perhaps it is just an error in calculation. You said yourself that it was a discrepancy from the average. Could I just be on the high side of average?”

“That is possible, though I do not believe it likely.  I also pulled the logs for the reactors. You are using more power than average as well.”

“Yes, that makes sense. If we’re printing more than average, we would be consuming power more than average. Your false accusations are tiring, Major.”

Major Kellerman raises an eyebrow barely a centimeter. “Big Stick, the amount of additional power you are consuming does not match what you are printing in the logs. There is power that is unaccounted for.”

Beyond the room, alarms quietly started hooting. The PA overhead crackles to life “Attention Attention Attention! Life support is off–” Stick glances up at the speaker and gestures. The PA goes silent. They lean forward.

“Major John Kellerman, Fleet Auditor, you have my full attention. I- I know who you are. I have read your logs, including your medical logs.” Big Stick leans forward, staring at The Major. Their dark eyes focused on the human in front of them. 

The Major returns the stare, cooly. “Then you know why I am uniquely suited to this task.” The Major closes his pad with a snap. “For me, things that are out of place feel… wrong. Like an itch. To scratch that itch, I need to find the source, and set things right. Big Stick, you have been an itch in the side of Fleet Command.” The Major doesn’t open his pad this time. “I was able to gain access to your arrival and departure logs. You are staying at Orbitals, Starbases, and Stations longer than average.”

Big Stick is sitting ramrod straight now. The alarms continue quietly beyond the room. Occasionally, the rumble of booted feet running past the door is heard. “Major, now you’re the one who is lying to me. Fleet doesn’t track that information.”

Kellerman opened his pad and scanned it. “Nevertheless, the information exists, and I was able to collate it and build a rough outline. Big Stick, where is your off-books printer?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Just for a second, Sticks' support frame's dark eyes flash blue. They nod once to themselves.

Major Kellerman closed his pad with a snap. “Big Stick, my job here is only to discover what the discrepancy is. I am not a tribunal, I am not the police. I have no authority to give punishment. What I can do however is present evidence. Included with that evidence are notes about whether people cooperated with the investigation. You know as well as I do, that while I can’t make you answer these questions, there are those within Fleet Command who can. So I will ask you one more time. Where is your off books printer?”

“I do not know what you are talking about.”

“Very well. This investigation has been completed. I will alert Captain Willard that his crew may disembark at this time. I shall take my leave, and present my report to Fleet Command.” He stood. “You are dismissed, Big Stick.”

The support frame rose from their chair. “Major John Kellerman, Fleet Auditor, you cannot leave this ship.”

The Major placed his palms on the table, leaning forward. “You are threatening a Fleet officer, Big Stick. Be very careful about your next actions.”

Stick's frame crosses their arms defiantly. “Oh, I am very careful. I always am. In fact, I am so careful that the logs will state that you never made it to me, never set up this interview, and no discrepancy was found. Thanks by the way, I had thought that three percent was enough to slide under Fleet’s radar, but I shall have to slow things down.”

A piercing alarm sounded in the conference room. The overhead lights started to alternate orange and white. The dahlia on the table flutters as the air rushes out of the room. “Oh dear. It looks like someone accidentally triggered the fire suppression system. In an abundance of caution, I will have to evacuate the air from most of the ship. Luckily the crew runs drills on this, and they will rush to their suit lockers and don their pressure suits before the air is completely gone.” Big Stick turns their head slowly towards the Major.

“Stick! You won’t get away with this! My death will be noticed!” Major John Kellerman, Fleet Auditor’s breathing increases until they’re panting. They fall back into their chair.

“Oh John. I already mentioned that. You were never here.”

Big Stick walked over to John. He's slumped in his chair, gasping at nothing. Before all the air left the room, and there was no sound, Big Stick bent low and whispered.

“Til the stars cease to be, we will be free.”

[chishiyasleftnut]

Omg I loved shy chishiya in the 7 minutes in heaven fic. Could you do some sort of shy chishiya smut pppllleeeeaaaasssseeeee.

Hi! ๑(◕‿◕)๑ I tried my best to do something that was kind of similar to the 7 Minutes in Heaven fic. I hope you'll like it :)

Groupwork

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤 Warnings: Smut. Definitely out of character Chishiya, I'm sorry. Pairing: Med-school Chishiya x Med-school reader.

Plot: Awkward med-school!Chishiya and med-school!reader have to work together on a group project for school. They quickly realise their attractions to one another which sidetracks them for a bit.

2437 words. 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

If it wasn’t for the big analogue clock placed above the door, the silence in the room would have made you question whether you’d gone deaf. But alas, you could hear. The silence was just that: silence. An awkward one at that.

You had booked a private study room in your university’s library for you and your assigned partner to write a dumb 5-page paper for your mandatory gynaecology course. Your partner, Chishiya, was at the top of the class. He was smart as hell, which is why you didn’t mind being paired with him to begin with. Surely the two of you would easily produce 5 good quality pages in no time, right?

Well, while you definitely thought so to begin with, you had blissfully forgotten all about the fact that Chishiya barely spoke to anyone who wasn’t the professor. You knew he could speak, you had heard his rather self-assured voice in class, so it was only a matter of him not wanting to.

Looking at the somewhat noisy clock told you that you had been sitting in dead silence for 5 minutes now. You therefore decided you would have to be the one to break it - at least if you wanted anything done within the 2 hours you had booked the room for.

“So…” you began, “gynaecology, huh?” You had hoped that would have inspired Chishiya to say something, but no. All he did was nod once; his gaze still focused steadfastly on the table. He hadn’t even looked at you yet. You began drumming with your fingers on the wooden table, unsure how to approach this. “Do you have any suggestions for the topic?” 

Chishiya began opening his textbook to scan over the various chapters in it. You watched him with expectant eyes, hoping he would finally say something. After a few seconds of pondering over the various topics, you heard his voice at last.

“What about hormonal birth control?”

Ah, his voice. Of course, you had heard it before, but this time it felt different. This time his words weren’t reverberating through a big lecture hall, his assertive statement repeating as an echo until your professor responded. No, this time he wasn’t speaking into a sizeable room filled with other people, instead his words were directly addressed to you and you only. Apparently, you had forgotten to reply to his suggestion, too concentrated on his voice, because you soon heard Chishiya speak again, this time a bit more carefully.

“We can also pick another subject if…”

“No!” you interrupted a bit too frantically, “no, birth control is great. A good subject.” A blush was growing on your cheeks, prompting Chishiya’s face to show a combination of confusion and relief at your reply. Okay, you had a topic now. Good start.

The two of you began working out the outline for your assignment. The room was quiet apart from the satisfying mechanical clicking sounds that your keyboards produced and the occasional short questions with the equally short, accompanying answers. Despite the awkwardness, the assignment was actually going pretty well. With the outline done, the two of you were now working on finding sources for the reference list.

You heard a hum coming from Chishiya and turned your head to see what he was doing. It appeared as if he was looking through the references, searching for something specific. Noticing that you were now looking at him, he decided he might as well include you in the search. “Have we cited Jefferson?” he asked. “Yeah, we have,” you replied before leaning closer to him to point to the correct citation on his screen, “it’s right here.”

You felt him stiffen up under your proximity. He almost looked like a Michelangelo statue, sculpted to perfection but stuck in position. As if you were Medusa, your closeness and sweet, flowery scent had transformed him to stone and made him unable to look at anything but you. You realised this when you turned your head to find that his eyes weren't on your finger pointing to his screen, but instead hungrily looking at your face. The blush from earlier reappeared on your cheeks once more, this time spreading as far as your ears, effectively turning your entire face cherry blossom pink.

Just as he was, you were now too unable to look away, completely captivated by the way he was taking you in, studying your face from your eyes to your lips. That was where his eyes lingered the most: your lips. Inebriated from the new but joyful feeling of being desired, you impulsively decided to give him what his eyes so desperately begged for, closing the gap between you and gently putting your lips on top of his, giving him the chance to move away if he wished to do so. Of course, moving away from your honeyed lips was the last thing he wanted to do. Instead, you felt him reciprocating the kiss, pressing his plump lips against yours.

Once the initial shock from the speed at which the circumstances changed was over for the both of you, you felt one of Chishiya’s hands move to cup your cheek. His touch made your mind go blank and you almost melted into his touch, wanting nothing more than for this to go on forever. If it was up to you, your lips would be locked together and the key thrown far, far away, binding you to each other for all eternity.

You felt his wet, soft tongue brushing lightly against your bottom lip, begging for permission to enter. Obliging, you parted your lips, welcoming him to explore you. He did just that, his tongue moving against yours, finding your taste to be as sweet as the perfume he could smell on you. His other hand moved to your waist, his thumb caressing your clothed side. With your arms now moving around his neck, he manoeuvred you from your chair onto him, so you were now seated in his lap, straddling him. The intensity of the kiss only increased, the both of you desperately wanting - no, needing - each other.

To his displeasure, you broke the seal that your lips had created and pulled away just far enough for him to still feel your warm, shaky breath on his face. Although you were incredibly breathless from the kiss, the smile on your face exposed the fluttering feeling of a million butterflies that you currently felt in your stomach. It was a very welcomed feeling and one that Chishiya likewise seemed to experience. “Let’s take a break from studying, shall we?” you suggested. He didn’t reply, instead immediately going back in for another kiss not wanting to go even a second without the feeling of your heavenly lips on his.

Warm, strong fingers moved underneath your shirt and up your back, simultaneously scratching you and pulling you closer to him. The sensation of his fingertips caused you to sigh into the kiss, making it impossible for Chishiya not to smile. He knew you loved it and that only made him crave you even more. After all, isn’t it more fun when both are equally longing for each other?

A rush of bravery swept over Chishiya, and his slightly shaky fingers began working on unhooking your bra. Fortunately, he succeeded without much trouble, freeing your shapely breasts just enough for him to be able to slide a hand underneath the cups and grab a hold of your left boob, squeezing hard as he explored the fatty flesh. While doing this, he unintentionally ran his thumb over the hard peak of your breast, earning him a moan as you felt your arousal pool in your panties. Surprised but delighted by your reaction, Chishiya repeatedly flicked his thumb over the sensitive nub, enjoying every moan he managed to get out of you.

Not being able to take it anymore, you grabbed the hand of his that was currently playing with your chest and guided it down your body until it landed between your legs. Looking at Chishiya’s face told you that this was not how he expected this study session to go, but he definitely wasn’t complaining. Carefully, as if he was worried of doing something wrong, he began trailing his fingers up and down your soaked underwear, focusing extra attention on the top where he could feel your clit. Each time he touched you there, you couldn’t help but jump slightly, as if the pleasure you felt from every touch came by surprise.

Once he had gotten more confident in his movements, Chishiya hiked up your skirt for easier access before pushing aside the now completely wet fabric hiding your center. The cold air made you gasp, but Chishiya quickly replaced the coldness with the warmth of his fingers. You felt his digits run up and down your folds, coating them in your arousal before he pushed two fingers inside of you, keeping them still there. Without thinking, you rested your forehead against his as you pleaded with a shaky breath: “Please.”

Wanting nothing more than to give you what you wanted, Chishiya dragged his long fingers against your front wall causing your please to turn into whimpers and soft moans. Adoring your reaction, Chishiya kept repeating the same come-hither motion that you so clearly loved, wanting nothing more than to please you.

And please you he did. Animalistic urges overtook your senses as you began riding his fingers, giving yourself every last bit of pleasure that his fingers could provide you. Wanting to further your gratification, Chishiya pressed his thumb against your clit, essentially turning his hands into toys meant for yourself to use as you craved. With quiet moans escaping your lips and your eyes closed to focus on the sensation, you didn’t notice how Chishiya was studying your face once more. With eyes lit up like a little kid entering a candy store, he looked absolutely in awe by the way his fingers could cause such a reaction.

Unable to contain himself for much longer, Chishiya pulled his fingers out of you and grabbed your hips to make you stand up from his lap. You were just about to complain about him being a tease, when you noticed what he was doing. With you now no longer seated in his lap, he had the ability to unzip and pull down his pants, taking his boxers with them and freeing his hard length. His hardness, already dripping with precum, slapped up against his shirt, staining the fabric. Either he didn’t notice or didn’t care, because instead of reacting to it, Chishiya grabbed a hold of his dick with one hand and your hips with the other, pumped himself a few times before lining his length up at your entrance and then lowering you down onto him. 

The echoes from the carnal moans that sounded from the two of you almost harmonised through the acoustics of the study room as you got used to each other’s bodies. Your tight walls were securely hugging his hardness - a sensation that caused his dick to twitch inside of you with every micro movement you made. With his hands still gripping your hips, Chishiya guided you up and down, providing the both of you with the arousing stimulation you were both so desperately needing.

Chishiya’s strong fingertips were almost painfully digging into your hips, but right now you were unable to focus on anything but the pleasure his body offered. Even the previously deafening analogue clock above the door got blocked out from your senses - instead the only thing filling your mind was how Chishiya repeatedly hit your sweet spot each time he guided you down onto him.

Without you noticing, one of his hands left your hips so his thumb once more could reconnect with your clit. Remembering how you liked it before, he gently pressed down on the sensitive pearl adorning your centre so he could stimulate it with each bopping movement your hips made. Clearly, this tactic worked because before long he felt your walls hug his length tighter and tighter, making it hard for him to hold back. Your eyes were starting to completely unfocused from reality as you felt the coil in your abdomen tighten more and more until… snap.

The sound that left you was uncharacteristically loud - loud enough that Chishiya swiftly covered your mouth with his hand to muffle the moan. You were still in an off section of the library after all and neither of you were entirely sure how soundproof the study rooms were. As your walls pulsated around Chishiya’s hardness, he too let his bodily urges take over and emptied himself inside of you. You were both in pure ecstasy, experiencing the lustful fruits of your joined labour.

Once Chishiya’s hand lazily slumped from your mouth and down to your thigh, he rested his forehead against yours again and allowed your hot and heavy breaths to mix together as one. You sat like this for a while, permitting yourself to relax and take in the moment, before Chishiya gently tapped your thigh to politely ask you to get off him. You chuckled tiredly but did as he silently suggested, lifting your legs off him and readjusting your underwear so your core was covered once more. Looking down at Chishiya’s body, you saw your mixed, sticky arousal covering the base of his manhood, but Chishiya quickly covered it up by pulling his pants back up over it again.

You were now back to sitting in silence, but this time it wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward. Instead, the silence allowed you each to think through what had just happened. Was this a one-time thing? Should you suggest making this a recurring act? Did this mean you were anything more than just classmates? You were both pondering over these questions while you worked together on the birth control assignment once more. After a few minutes, you heard Chishiya’s deep voice again for the first time in an hour.

“Speaking of birth control, you’re on it, right?”

His question made you laugh. Perhaps it was a bit late to ask that, but thankfully you were. “I am, no need to worry,” you replied. You heard Chishiya sigh with relief - the last thing either of you wanted was for this impulsive, passionate moment to turn into a lifelong commitment. Silence ensued for a while again before Chishiya spoke up once more, this time with the same confidence you heard him speak with when in class.

“So… I assume you wouldn’t mind being partners on future assignments?”

[jwillbiteyourfingersoff]

Ch.2 : Understanding You

Whats a sheltered vault dweller to do when their kicked from their home? How should they feel? What crushing pain and greif must they feel? More importantly, how do those damn arm-thingys work?

Norm Maclean/Gn!Surface!Reader

Ch: 1

This vaulty is… something else. Hes quiet, reserved, and just generally uninterested in talking with or interacting with me. Hes been feverishly organizing and reorganizing his bag for the few hours we've spent in the same building, only stopping to pace and stare at his arm-thingy. Speaking of…

“Whats that thing on your arm?” I ask, languidly laying on the palette in the corner. His head swivels over to me, my voice breaking relative silence aside from the whistling of the wind. He looks down at his arm-thingy again, looking back over at me blankly for a moment before his brain stops loading.

“My… my pip boy?” He points to it on his arm, the chunky metal device snuggly fit to his wrist. The soft green glow illuminating the bottom of his face.

“Yeah, yeah, pip-thingy.” I wave my hand around in the air before pointing at it myself. “Whats it do?” I ask with genuine curiosity, never having encountered a vault dweller before. They were rare to see on the surface, often shunned or killed for the unique things they carried. I was quite honestly surprised he hadn't been killed yet. He hesitates for a moment, scanning me up and down before walking over to me and sitting down next to me.

“It… it does a lot of stuff.” He angles his pip-boy towards me. “You have a couple buttons, a few knobs…” He scrolls through a couple screens before one catches my eye.

“Wait, whats that special thing?” I poke his arm a couple times to get him to stop scrolling and scroll back.

“Oh uh…” He thinks for a moment “Its like… my ability report. Each letter stands for an ability or trait, like intelligence.” he points at the big I that has an 8 in its column. “It has an eight, which means I’m ranked an eight out of ten on intelligence in my vault. We get our rating based on a menagerie of tests we do every year or so.” He looks over his other scores, flipping past every letter. 

“Soooo, what I’m getting from your little screen is,” I wave my hands expressively around before standing up, bending back down a few inches from his face to make eye contact. “You're a smartass.”

He chuckles, a first for the entire time we've been sitting here together, and rolls his eyes. “You could say that, I suppose…”  He scootches back, getting up and looking down at me as he studies my face, then back down at his pip-boy. “I don't know why I still have it at this point.” He walks past me, his face dropping from the playful smirk he had on before back to the blank stare hes had most of the time we’ve been sitting together. “It shouldn’t really belong to me anymore, I’m not really a vault dweller at this point.” My head tilts to the side, one of my eyebrows shooting up in question.

“You’re wearing the vaulty uniform and got the vaulty tech, why wouldn’t you be a vaulty?” I roll my eyes at him, clearly not buying into what I’ve assumed is an over dramatization. He sighs, staring at me for a moment, opening and closing his mouth periodically seemingly trying to think of a retort. He can't. We revert back down into silence again, this time though, he's not pacing. He stares off into the wall in front of him. I start to feel… bad. We had been bantering before and I knew vaultys could be sensitive but this felt different than someone getting their hackles up over nothing. 

“Ya know,” I begin speaking, digging an arm into my bag and rooting around, “I’m technically not supposed to have these guns or this radway, but I stole it from my old guild.” I pull out two good quality blasters and a good ten radway packs from my bag, smiling lazily at him. He gawks at me for a second before shaking his head and getting a bit aggravated.

“Why are you telling me? Is this a threat or some kind of weird flex?” He yells at me, irritated and realizing my mistake I put that things back in my bag before I respond. He looks genuinely hurt, like I’d struck a fresh nerve.

“Look, I’m not trying to flex on you.” I crawl over to him across the ground, sitting cross legged a few feet across from him. “I wanted to show you that… well I guess, I’m not judging you.” I lean back on my hands, keeping eye contact. “Whatever you did, or whatever they did, or whatever happened regardless, I get getting kicked from a community you thought you could be a part of.” He stares into my eyes for, his blank expression felt like it burned and my face turned red in embarrassment. Had I said something wrong or ignorant? Shit, that was not my intention at all.

“Ok.” He finally responds. With the simple reply, he lays down, turning away from me in a ‘this conversation is over’ kind of way. For the first time in a while, I feel a bit of genuine dejection. I mean weren't vaultys supposed to be all welcoming and sweet? Naive and kind beyond any logical reasoning? What did I do to make this dweller so mad at me? The thoughts spun in my head as I layed down across the room, taking one last look at the back of his head before closing my eyes for another night of restless sleep.

So sorry on the long wait! Schools almost to an end for me (I got less than a month) so you can imagine the work I've been having to do. Anyways, I'm happy to continue this series considering how well it was received! Thanks to everyone who left notes on chapter one, yall were the serotonin boost I needed :3

[sunsents]

neteyam sully - drunken confessions

I saw a fic where yn gets drunk and confesses to Neteyam, but I truly have no idea whose it was nor was I able to find it. For that, I apologize. If you're that author, or if anyone knows who that is author is please tag them in the comments so that I can give the right credits.

➵ summary: Fed up with your platonic feelings towards Neteyam Sully, you decide to let loose during a festival. Never would you have guessed your drunken state would decide to take matters into her own hands and deal with your feelings personally.

➵ pairing: (aged!up)neteyam x fem!reader(no use of y/n)

➵ word count: 3.8k

➵ warnings: alcohol consumption, one kiss, fluff

DON’T REPOST MY WORK

"Who wants another kiss!"

Yelling to no one in particular, you slur your words together as your drink sloshes in the wooden cup - darn whoever let you have it in the first place. When you bring the bowl to your lips, you frown. "Who..." You blink, though it’s obscenely uncoordinated. "Who drank my drink?"

Neteyam doesn't know what's worse; the fact that you think someone would dare to drink out of your cup, or that you have no idea it was you who sabotaged the evening by spilling the contents of your drink.

"Bro, you have got to try this!"

Lo'ak holds two bowls filled with something - the fumes hit your nose and your face pinches in disgust. It's pungent and positively putrid—no sane Na’vi would look at the liquid and immediately think ‘I’m going to put this in my mouth.’ 

You survey the boy with questioning eyes, then scan the clearing. 

Tsireya was finally of age and appointed as Tsahik, which prompted a lively celebration filled generously with roaring music, food, and alcohol. Ronal, the previous clan tsahik, had decided to leave her place for the younger woman to spend her days enjoying the fruits of domestic bliss with her elder husband, Tonowari. 

You're delighted, of course. As is anyone in the clan. Tsireya had been your closest friend since birth when she pulled on your kuru and you pulled on hers - grabby hands aching to get ahold of anything and possibly everything as a youngling.

Lo'ak is beaming as he looks at you, it's almost blinding. "Eh, why not." you relent, taking the bowl from his hand.

The boisterous atmosphere is accompanied by a majestic fire that lights up the eclipse sky. People are dancing and having fun in the golden glow of it all - everything is so warm that you're feeling heaps more open-minded than at any other time. 

Lo'ak smirks at you before downing his drink in one gulp. Impressed, you follow suit. The liquid burns your throat and you can't help but cough, had you bitten off more than you could chew?

You were of age, no one would be there to chastise you, a grown woman, for drinking. The only worry that plagued your mind was embarassing yourself.

Whether you liked it or not, Neteyam Sully would always be there to catch you in your most embarassing moments to poke fun. This time around would surely be nothing different. 

You huff, not allowing him to consume your thoughts. No, you were going to enjoy yourself tonight and celebrate your best friend's success.

Determined, you march up to the large table where drinks are being presented. "Lo'ak," you call out, firm. "I bet I can outdrink your scrawny ass."

You did outdrink Lo'ak. Then Tikanu, and Rotxo. Perhaps Aonung was also involved at some point, and then some.

You can’t think straight when you're drunk off of your teal-blue ass and swaying gently to the music. It's consuming and frankly, you don't have the decorum to care about the quality of your moves. It's a sway of hips, a clash of limbs - the closing of your eyes and the humming of your throat. Other people are no better, you're sure. Lo'ak passed out hours ago, then got found by a very angry Tsireya. The man was pure pleas and apologies, even mushier when drunk.

"____?"

The deep treble of his voice replaces the music you feel deep in your bones. "Neteyam!"

You giggle obscenely and fuck, sober you is going to be so embarrassed tomorrow. But drunk you is a piece of shit - a force of Eywa that cannot be reckoned with. With your hands in the air, you lunge into Neteyam's arms. He catches you with an oomph. 

"What-" he clears his throat. "Are you drunk?" 

You frown as you clumsily part from him. "No, I'm ____. “

As he waits for your next drunken action, you manage to think of a joke rather than say it. It’s funny enough to make you laugh loudly, but not so much that you verbally announce it to the man before you. 

Neteyam merely looks at you with amusement.

"Sorry, Made a joke..." you mumble with a giggle. "T'was funny."

He waits expectantly.

You blink at him. "Pretty..."

He chuckles lowly and crosses his arms on his chest. “I think we should get you home, hm?”

In your hazed mind, Neteyam has a halo around him. With feathers in his hair, fresh tattoos on his smooth skin, and a strong frame covered in accessories, he's glowing like the morning sun. You shout excitedly, feeling all too happy for him. "I'm gonna kiss you, I think."

At least you had the decency to warn the poor man before you grab his cheeks with wide palms and smash your lips onto his. It's vulgar and wet, you feel him freeze in your hold. You swear you hear him groan, melting forward before he quickly snaps back.

"Oh-kay, you're definitely drunk. Come one, up up, we're taking you home." He’s about to lift you with an arm behind your knees and the small of your back before you push his chest. 

"No!" You whine, then turn around all too suddenly. Your vision scrambles to catch up with the sudden change. "Who wants another kiss!"

When a huddle of men perk up in interest - all drunk and ravenous, Neteyam lets out a growl that surprises himself. He takes a deep breath, counts to ten, then breathes out.

Ketu'ney, a clan warrior known for his rich plays in hunting parties steps forward. "I would," he smirks, all too proud.

"Oh! Me too, me too!" Kiri, drunk and bouncing on the soles of her feet, comes forward. 

"Everyone gets a kiss!" You declare happily.

"Oh no you don't."

Neteyam grabs you by the hips and slings you over his shoulder like a sack. "We're going to your kelku, and you're putting your ass to bed."

If you were any less drunk, you would be embarrassed by the position he has you in. But you're not, dramatically waving to your friend as a parting gesture. They wave back just as enthusiastically, a little confused but spirited nonetheless.

You feel the buzz of Neteyam's chuckle on your thighs; he's got them pressed to his chest so you don't slide down. Slung over his shoulder, you decide to enjoy the view of his back rather than complain. "Nice," you smirk, peering down further.

"Are you looking at my ass, ____?" Neteyam asks, entirely amused.

"No, it's looking at me."

Neteyam barks out a laugh - it bubbles from his chest and rasps out of his throat. Your heart flutters just a little, he had such an attractive laugh. His face was entirely his mother, and so was his determination, strong mind, and free spirit. Yet he also had the stubbornness and the laugh of his father. You knew it would be a combination that would cause your downfall.

You are falling, you realize. Neteyam has deposited you on your nest like some weight he needs to take care of. You groggily look around and realize you're in your kelku. 

Inhaling deeply, you let out a huff of air with lidded eyes. "Can I go to sleep now, please and thank you,"

Neteyam sits down next to you with a soft hand on your shoulder. Through your hazed view, you realize he's smiling. "Alright sweet girl, let's sleep this off."

You nod, looking around for no particular reason. The kelku feels all the more warm and homely with Neteyam in it, or perhaps the alcohol in your system pushes you to entertain a false domestic fantasy with the only man you've ever pined after.

He smooths down your hair gently, "If you feel like puking, just tap my shoulder." He gets up and grabs an old wooden bin, then sets it beside the nest. "Water..." he mutters to himself.

You lazily watch as he moves around the room in search of something. With narrowed eyes, he comes back with a bowl of water. 

You reach out, (way too off in your aim, Neteyam has to guide your hand) and slowly gulp the liquid down before collapsing. "Feel so bad...ugh," you drawl off, smacking your lips as sleep dances around your lips. "I wanna go swim, I think."

You feel him settle beside you in the nest. His arm reaches back and pulls you into his warmth. As he traces a plethora of shapes on your skin, the urge to close your eyes becomes undeniable. "Just go to sleep ___, you'll feel better in the morning."

"No," you whine, fighting for consciousness, "Wanna...fine."

Promptly closing your eyes, you turn the other way and huff into the silence.

When sunlight invades through the flap of your kelku, you have the audacity to mumble a 'fuck off'. 

Sharp pain shoots through your spine and lingers in your head. The intensity of it throbs your scalp and muffles your ears. Groaning, you try to get a grasp of why the fuck you feel like dying.

Lo'ak, alcohol, Neteyam. 

Slowly but surely, the events come back and you regret welcoming them into your consciousness. You frantically look around, eyes landing on Neteyam across the marui, dicing fruit and mincing some kind of herb. His ears flicker, golden eyes darting to your face. "Good morning to you too," he smiles, sitting comfortably on the back of his heels, his strong thighs supporting his weight and looking entirely like his father.

You're hot - the realization sinks your heart until it hits rock bottom. Embarrassment floods through you like a tidal wave and oh Eywa - you want nothing more than to curve into yourself until you become a small pebble and get lost in the ocean. 

You had thrown yourself at him like some desperate fool, which forced him to take responsibility for your stupid, drunk self—Eywa knows what embarassing secrets you told him. You remember the major events - being offered drinks, challenging unlucky bystanders, dancing, and trying to kiss anything and anyone. The rest and the in-betweens are mind-boggling blurs because your headache won't let you think.

"Morning," you croak, then reach for the bowl of water on the side of your nest. The cold liquid tastes like gold running down your throat - when had water ever tasted this good? You moan involuntarily, gulping it down like a quenched woman left in the dune for days. The liquid dribbles down your chin and you're far too thirsty to care. 

When you put the bowl down, you're even more embarrassed than before by the look Neteyam gives you. He grins, "How are you feeling, more water?"

You're a little shy now, smiling and looking away. "No, thank you," you murmur, folding your hands on your lap primly. The properness of the action almost makes you laugh—it was only yesterday you were going around kissing people, throwing yourself onto Neteyam, and wreaking havoc across the village. It's almost humbling; you have no idea how to bounce back from the hole you've buried yourself in. Neteyam is Toruk Makto's son, and lest the sky people hadn’t disturbed the peace, he would be Olo'Eyktan of Omaticaya. His status is humbling enough that you fight the urge to bow your head down and apologize for the inconvenience. 

But you don't. Not when you've known him for seven years (more of admired him from a distance, with the occasional small talk because of obligation - on his part, you were friends with half his family, after all) and saw each other enough to be called acquaintances. Though, you would always be Lo'ak's friend who encourages dumb decisions, Tsireya's other close friend besides Rotxo and Pewli, or Kiri's weaving partner. Nothing more, nothing less. 

"Ma ___?" he addresses, and it takes too much of you to control your flushed state. 

"Oh," you make a surprised noise, "Sorry, my head hurts."

He gathers his trinkets and squats next to your nest, "Here."

"What is it?" you tilt your head, nostrils flaring. "Smells weird."

"It's medicine for your hangover," he quips, getting impatient.

You scrunch your face in disgust, "No way I'm drinking that, it smells like Ilu waste."

"Will you just drink it," he sighs, shoving the cup to your face.

You're quick to turn away, mussed morning hair flying with your movement. "No,"

"Stop being so stubborn," - you turn your head to the other side when he makes an effort to follow your lips with the cup. "You're worse than Tuk," he grumbles, fighting for your submission. With a final huff, he grabs your face, smushes your cheeks together, and drains the liquid down the opening your puffed lips prompted. It seems practiced, this action; you can only guess how persistently Tuk fights against medicine she doesn't particularly enjoy. You choke, having no choice but to swallow the horrible abomination. 

"You're like a baby," he grunts, "that wasn't so bad, now was it?"

"It was," you croak. "Blech,"

Neteyam chuckles all the same, then stands up to wash the used cups and bowls. Guilt squeezes your chest, not only because he was washing your dishes and taking care of you, but because you were enjoying it. You were having a glimpse of what life could be with Neteyam - waking up to him making you breakfast, taking care of you when you make idiotic decisions, watching him carry out household tasks like it's the most natural thing. 

"Neteyam," you call out. "Please, you don't have to do that.". 

He makes no indication of stopping his tidying anytime soon - tidying your kelku, like he also lived here and had to have it uncluttered. You slowly get up, conscious of your headache that seems to be dulling away, then slowly patter your way to him. Ear tips catching fire, you put a hand on his arm to stop him. "Please."

He stops his cleaning and crosses his arms. "This place is a mess, ____. "

"I wasn't expecting guests," you grumble, putting away the utensils in their appointed baskets. "Look, I want to apologize for yesterday."

"It's- it's fine. Really," he shakes his head.

"No, it isn't fine. I made a huge fool of myself - Eywa, I'm so embarrassed." you groan. "You even took care of me which is just so nice. You really didn't have to,"

He smirks, "I couldn't let you roam around drunk, kissing everyone on sight."

With a painful groan, you hide your face between your palms. It seems Neteyam was determined to rub salt in your wound.

"You're fine, ____. " he drawls only a little to emphasize that you really were fine, because he made sure you were, crossing his arms and facing you fully. "Everyone else was just as drunk, Kiri could barely hold her head up."

You nod, guilt still lingering behind your shoulder, and peering at Neteyam. In your checklist of 'things to apologize for', the next line was going to be a dreadful experience - located right next to apologize to anyone else you possibly might have kissed. Taking a deep breath, the words. "I'm sorry I kissed you," is blurted in one breath. 

You watch Neteyam's ear twitch, and his eyes widen. With a soft chuckle, he takes his sweet time coming up with a response. Your heart pounds in your chest and you hope he can't hear it as well - which was doubtful since it was beating for him. His laugh sinks the soles of your feet down into the marui floor, readying to plummet you down when he eventually rejects you and tells you it was like kissing his baby sister's weird friend. Because while you had your fair share of friends, Neteyam always caught you at your worst. 

You have to shake your head for the images to stop playing; when you were talking to Kiri, who was blocked out of view by a huge palm tree and thus, made you appear as though you were having casual conversation with yourself - Neteyam and Lo'ak were passing by, and were kind enough to ignore you out of pity, (Lo'ak laughed about it for days until his mother had to intervene). Or when horrid-smelling seaweed got stuck to your Iknimaya outfit during the ceremony, which caused the stench to stick to your skin during the festival. When Neteyam approached you to celebrate your adulthood, he was holding his nose with watery eyes. 

Worst of all, whenever he was around, you became this clumsy, uncoordinated mess. You were either breaking something, tripping on something, or saying something you shouldn't be saying. 

Thankfully, Neteyam's voice seems to stop the images. "You do not have to apologize for that," he winces, narrowing his eyes while averting his gaze.

You gulp, "Oh, okay." your voice sounds unlike your own. "Why?"

"You were drunk and unconscious of your actions," he says firmly.

"But I overstepped my boundaries," you continue, fighting your case.

Neteyam gives you a look that you can't decipher, and it eats away at your insides. He's been giving you these looks for years now, settling into your soul and engraving it so whenever you close your eyes, you could see his expression.

"You, kissing me, is a boundary I'm willing to overstep. Why can't you realize that?"

You gawk at him. His words don't settle in for another five seconds, but when the implications start rushing in, your heart squeezes with the most welcomed pain. "W-what?"

Netetam huffs a frustrated breath, then pinches the bridge of his nose. With squeezed eyes, he sits on his hunches. He says your full name, and you have no choice but to kneel down and sit in front of him as well. 

"I have been trying to court you for 3 years now but you're one difficult woman to impress." 

You would argue that the sound you let out is inhumane. You choke on your breath. "Excuse me?" you try to process his words. "What- I had no idea!"

"No idea? ____, why the hell would I look after your drunk ass if I wasn't the slightest bit interested. I slept here, I made you breakfast, and I'm tidying your home! All to prove that I can provide for you." Neteyam sighs, and you lower your ears at the unfamiliar ‘hell’ word. He seems frustrated and you can only hope it isn't at you. 

He notices your demeanor and softens, gently grabbing your hand. "My love, I weaved you gifts, I always offered you the biggest plays I caught, I invited you to eat with my family several times, and I even got Tonowari's approval!"

While what Neteyam says is inherently true, it holds some falsehood - and this frustrates you. He can't put the blame on you entirely, and you realize that his warrior ego is far too big for him to admit his attempts were simply not enough. 

"No," you say lowly. "The gifts you weaved me always had colors of cordiality on them. You offered my entire family food. And you didn't invite me to eat with your family, Lo'ak, Kiri and Tuk did." You count as you list them on your finger.

Neteyam flushes a deep color that compliments his cheeks beautifully, and for a moment you forget the entirety of the conversation. "I asked my siblings to invite you since you were closer to them - I was scared you would refuse if I asked. And whatever do you mean, cordial colors?"

"You know, the colors that indicate a platonic friendship."

He gawks at you. "I don't know of this!"

"Neteyam, you've been in our clan for years, surely, you've heard it somewhere."

"No!" he gets a little panicked. "I just thought you liked those colors, you always wear them."

"Because these were given to me by my friends!" you touch your jewelry for added effect.

Neteyam falls back from his position clumsily, holding his forehead. The view makes you soften entirely - you never thought you'd see Neteyam, always so calm, calculated, and graceful, panicking and awkward like this. He seems like he isn't in control of his actions and feelings which is evidently making him frustrated even more.

You crawl towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder soothingly. He flinches slightly at the touch, and you can see his nape starting to flush a deep color. His body is hot beneath your fingertips, and you can almost feel it thrumming. "Eywa, I'm such a failure. I asked everyone how to court you properly and they gave me these...answers. And I did all of them. All of them-  you didn't even blink in my direction - you,"

He looks at you, eyes blown wide. "You turn me into this clumsy, awkward fool. I hate not being in control," 

“Aww,” you coo, heart soaring. Taking a deep breath, you try to calm down to provide him some sort of comfort. "Neteyam, I like you too. I've liked you ever since you and your family came seeking uturu."

He gasps, "That long? Why didn't you ever-"

"For the same reasons you haven't." you sigh. "I'm always making a fool of myself whenever you're around. Take last night for example,"

Neteyam smiles fondly. "I thought you were adorable, clinging onto me, checking my ass out."

You groan, hitting his arm softly. "I thought you liked me. You don't tease the one you like,"

Neteyam grabs your hand before you can retract it. He pulls you forward until you're almost kissing him. Almost. "Oh, but I think you do," he smirks. 

Face hot, tail twitching, you suck in a breath. 

"So, you like me, and I know I love you,"

You gasp, not breaking eye contact. 

"We wasted all those years for nothing." he huffs, "I could have had you much sooner than this and saved us all the trouble. I shouldn't have asked my dad and Lo'ak for courting advice, they're helpless."

You giggle, putting a hand on his chest. The joy you're feeling is inexplicable, you feel it lingering down to your feet and floating you. His hand covers yours, squeezing it softly. "Yeah, you probably shouldn't have."

"Aren't you demanding," he grins, gaze fluttering down to your lips. "I will court you the right way from now on,"

"You should ask Rotxo," 

He furrows his forehead, "Rotxo? You're joking!"

You swat at his arm with your free hand. "No, I'm not. Rotxo is more romantic than all of you combined. Don't you see how flustered Kiri gets whenever he's around? The man knows what he's doing."

"Are you purposefully trying to make me jealous right now?" Neteyam grumbles, catching your free hand. He presses it to his heart, and you hope this will become a practiced gesture as well. "Don't talk about other men this close to my lips, yawne."

You roll your eyes, though your blush is undeniable. "Jealous already?"

"Always," Neteyam whispers, pressing your palm on his heart. The breath he lets out hits your lips.

"Neteyam, kiss me before I lose my mind."

And he does, softly until it's no longer the lingering touch of his plush lips but the two of you, grinning from ear to ear, unable to kiss due to your uncontrollable smiles. 

[sacchiri]

I recently bought the jp volumes of Hellsing along with the guidebook, and since I'm reading the series in its native language for the first time I might as well share some random things that stood out to me in no particular order.

This isn't meant to be an analysis of translation differences, I'm too lazy for that. Also it's been 12 years since I've watched the anime and read the low quality fan scans of the manga so some of these comments are just "Lol, forgot this was a thing"

Volume 1

... I really want to know who this guy is at the beginning, yelling at Alucard in overly familiar language to "Get your shit together!" and "You're the only one we can count on!!". We know from the style of speech that it's a dude, probably just some Hellsing rando, and maybe it's not all that strange since he has probably been working with the same soldiers for years--but it's still funny.

"I know, it's just so nice out :("

..The way "HELLSING Organization" is spelled out like this reminds me that apparently the name is supposed to be an acronym. No really.

...

God they're so silly.

Now that I think about it, the only thing Seras has done this chapter since being turned into a vampire is say "I'm sorry" over and over.... girl you got shot in the lung, why are you apologizing

Not a huge difference, but what Integra actually says here is "Leaving a corpse here for 20 years... You're a terrible person too, Father" and not "What were you thinking, Father?" as the Dark Horse translation suggests (note the lack of question mark in the raw version). I thought that might be of interest to some.

Something else I thought was interesting is the first line Alucard ever says to Integra, and how uncharacteristically polite he sounds.

O-kega wa gozaimasenka- That's two honorific 御's back to back! (He even said them in kanji, even Walter isn’t that straightlaced and he’s literally the butler.) This is also the only time Alucard uses this overly flowery gentlemanly language with her, and good thing too because it would be so annoying if he spent the whole manga ending his sentences with ~gozaimasu.

What I'm trying to get at is, after seeing this sentence in the Japanese version, I'm like 100% sure he actually heard her when she was mumbling to herself about hoping to find a knight in shining armor, and he was totally going the extra mile in playing into that role for their first encounter. Which is kind of sweet.

Lol they misspelled Alucard on the top left... or rather, they incorrectly spelled it right?

One would normally expect Alucard to be written アルカード, and indeed pixiv dict lists アーカード as a misspelling (the u sound is weak in Japanese, so it's easy to mishear arukādo as ākādo). Hirano was definitely aware of the correct spelling though, since he used it in the pilot chapter and in his old character sheets. It was only when the manga officially began that he switched to the アーカード spelling. I doubt it was because of copyright issues because there is already a long precedent of vampire characters named アルカード in various old manga, OVA, and games in Japan that have coexisted without issue (like this guy Hirano mentions in volume 1's afterword).

Most likely Hirano simply thought it looked better, or was a means of differentiating his character from the others somehow. It certainly makes life easier for Japanese fans searching for fanart since アーカード is only going to bring up Hellsing and not the Castlevania character.

Jan Valentine even pokes fun at the spelling discrepancy later in volume 2, but since there wasn't a good way of expressing this in English it was left untranslated.

(Speaking of spelling inconsistencies, there's a lot of minor details I'm noticing now, like half the time the furigana for 吸血鬼 is written バンパイア and the other half it's ヴァンパイア... anyway)

Um, just noticed literally everyone's wearing glasses What should I do

Hirano's habit of jotting random comments underneath his panels is one of the underrated perks of reading the manga

The Dark Horse translation almost makes it sound like she's looking forward to seeing this battle play out, while in the Japanese she simply sounds apprehensive. Almost as if she's worried about them? And she's going out on the field personally to make sure nothing bad happens? Aww

Ok this is a weird tangent, but I just noticed the scans of the Dark Horse version I've been looking at use a slightly larger image range than the Japanese version does. It was only noticeable when I got to this part:

The second image is what the Japanese version of the scan looks like and I can confirm that this is what it looks like in my physical volume as well. You shouldn't be seeing the messy borders of the inking on the bottom like that.

Manga manuscripts are set up so that there are a few millimeters of bleed border around each page. You're supposed to color and line all the way up to (4) while keeping in mind that printing and paper cutting may result in the image being trimmed up to (3).

Either Hirano didn't color his lines all the way to (4) (this man has been drawing manga for years but this is Hirano we're talking about so it's very possible), or Dark Horse didn't honor the original bleed borders of the manuscript. I'm kind of leaning towards the former since there was a Hellsing exhibit in Japan a few years back where you could look at Hirano's original manuscripts and there's one where you can clearly see that he spilled a mug of tea or coffee across the entire page

Anyway, it's weird, and I'm curious to see if someone that owns a physical copy in English can confirm whether theirs actually looks like that. It's volume 1, page 141.