#using that word . and THEN also translate the quoted paragraph and THEN also translate the word into our third and fourth languages of stud

[cimicherrychanga]

linguistics major who is SO SCARED of the concept of writing a glossary on their own

[marvelouslizzie]

You're My Desire - Co-written with @notafunkiller

Summary: Your best friend drags you out on a double date. You were supposed to be Steve Rogers' date, but plans change pretty quickly and you end up in Bucky Barnes' arms.

Pairing: 40s Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Warnings: 18+ NSFW MINORS DNI, first date, public sex, ripped clothing, teasing, rough sex, dirty talk, praise, pet names, no mention of y/n

Word Count: 5.5K

A/N: We really don't have an excuse for this one. We just wanted 40s Bucky to have a good time, you know? This is basically smut with little bit of plot.

Please give my lovely co-writer @notafunkiller a follow. She's also a Bucky Barnes writer and her stories are amazing.

All work is ours, please do not repost or translate without our permission.

Every like, comment, and reblog is highly appreciated. Don’t hesitate to message us. Unless it's hate. That's never welcome.

Read more tag starts after the first paragraph of the story.

Even though you really didn’t want to, you find yourself on a double date with your best friend. She literally begged you to come because she promised she would bring someone for her date’s best friend and apparently she really doesn’t wanna disappoint the handsome soldier.

You're shocked, though, when you arrive at the fair and see Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes in the flesh waiting for you two at the gate.

You were pretty sure she brought you here for Bucky Barnes but it turns out your date is actually Steve Rogers, aka Captain America himself.

You don't know what to do at first, awkwardly watching your friend hugging Bucky as if they knew each other for ages. Even though they met just a day ago. Steve extends his hand politely, which you immediately shake.

It doesn’t take long for you to go inside the fun fair together while chatting casually. Your friend, Cassie, starts asking questions about the war. She loves front-line stories, but Bucky doesn’t seem like he enjoys telling them.

Steve, on the other hand, is very excited to do it, answering all of Cassie's questions as you quietly watch them. You wonder why you said yes to this date. You've never been into soldiers and even less into war discussions. But you love your friend very much even when she ignores you.

You find yourself looking at Bucky while Cassie and Steve start to chat and exchange stories. He kinda seems amused by this development. You shrug looking in his direction, waiting for him to say something. After all, you are both already bored and your friends don't even seem to care or notice you anymore in the first place.

Bucky just smiles and then tries to change the subject. You think he actually handles that topic change pretty smoothly and it sticks for a while until Cassie gets bored of talking about books.

You remark Bucky's sad face, but you don't say anything. Instead, you subtly start to walk slower, hoping he'll do the same. As Cassie keeps talking to Steve, Bucky notices you are getting behind and just slows down a little.

"You're okay? Are your legs hurting?" Bucky asks concerned while looking at her shoes.

“No, no, I’m fine. Just got tired of the war stories, that’s all.” You keep walking slowly.

"Me, too." He sighs. "It's a never-ending subject at this point."

“Well, where there's life there's hope.” You quote the Hobbit instinctively. You hold on to the hope, one day you won’t have to talk about this war.

Bucky gasps, looking at you in a way you never experienced before. "What did you say?"

“I just said where there's life there's hope.” You repeat, surprised by the way he probably recognized the quote. People usually have no idea what you are referring to. Not him though.

"You're a fan? Oh god!"

That starts your actual conversation with Bucky Barnes. It turns out he’s a big bookworm himself. He reads as much as he can, always buying more books that he manages to read.

You didn't even realize how close you are until your shoulders slightly brush. You blush when he smiles, clearly not minding. Still, you feel very conscious about your closeness and quickly look toward your friend, feeling guilty that you are enjoying the company of her date, but she doesn’t seem to care one bit. On the contrary, she’s actually holding Steve Rogers’ arm while talking and laughing.

"You're very beautiful." You hear Bucky murmur shily.

His compliment catches you off guard. You were about to apologize on behalf of Cassie. Yet you find yourself blushing.

"And you love reading. I am a lucky man. I get to talk to you."

“I could say the same thing myself, Sergeant. I much rather talk about books instead of the war.”

"Then you got the right company." Bucky smiles and looks around. "Should we get some ice cream?"

“That would be amazing.” And that’s how you end up separated from Cassie and Steve. Bucky informs them about their plan and then leaves without waiting for them.

You spend the next hour talking and walking around the entire fair. James even won a teddy bear for you. Once in a while both of you act like you wanna find Steve and Cassie, but you definitely don’t care.

"I don't remember the last time I felt so comfortable and good with someone."

“I’m glad I’m not boring the shit out of you.” You know it’s not ladylike to speak this way, but you feel comfortable around him. It’s crazy when you consider you just met him maybe two hours ago.

Bucky smiles. "I can say the same. Steve says I'm quite boring."

“He’s quite boring himself.”

"Is he?" He snorts.

“Yeah. Who knew Captain America would be into war stories?”

"Doesn't the name say it?" He continues in the same joking tone.

“The name suggests he’s heroic and boring but he’s more boring and less heroic than expected. Stealing his best friend's date doesn’t scream honorable to me.”

Bucky is shocked to see her indirectly standing up for him. "Maybe I stole his date, though."

“His date was uninterested from the start and just being nice to her best friend.”

"Is she still uninterested?"

“In him? Yes.” You act like you don’t understand what he is actually asking.

"Well, the feelings are mutual. About the date and now…"

“You were uninterested in Cassie?” You say it in a way that shows you don’t believe him.

"Wasn't it obvious?"

“Nope.” It definitely wasn’t when they hugged each other the moment they arrived.

"I was trying to be polite. She insisted on this… meeting because I helped her out. I was relieved I could bring Steve."

“She sounded very interested in you until Captain Rogers started with war stories.”

"She was staring at his… back ever since we arrived."

You burst out laughing and he joins you right after. It sets the tone for the rest of the night and makes you notice you both don’t give a shit.

*

"I want to show you something," you say after a few seconds and quickly drag him after you until you reach a darker alley close to the last attraction. You drop the teddy bear carefully at your feet. "Hi."

“Hi.” He still seems a bit confused, but it’s so cute. He looks at the teddy bear and then his eyes turn back to your face. You can’t help but smile.

"You're so cute. Has anyone told you that?" You smile in return.

He acts like thinking for a second. “No, not really. Just cute?” He fishes for more.

"And smart." You touch his chest shily. "And kind."

“Hmm, those are not what people notice first.” He moves a little bit closer. “You have something…” He doesn’t finish his sentence, instead, his thumb brushes the corner of your lips. You wait for him to wipe off whatever you had on your face before opening your mouth and letting your tongue touch his finger shamelessly.

You watch Bucky’s eyes widen out of surprise. He didn't expect that at all. You grab his hand, bringing his finger inside your mouth, and notice how his breathing quickens. Yet he doesn’t stop you.

You let your tongue play for a few seconds until you let his finger go with a small bite. He lets out the lowest moan but not only do you hear it, but you also love it.

"Wow, I…" He doesn't know what to say, all red and excited.

“You what? Do you feel uncomfortable? Excited? I mean, I can stop if you want.”

In response, brave and happy, Bucky kisses you. His tongue is already on your bottom lip asking for permission, which you grant by opening your mouth without realizing it.

The kiss isn’t shy like you expected, and he definitely knows how to kiss. The way his lips and tongue move makes you want more, right then and there.

Your hands go to his neck as you let yourself enjoy the kiss even more. You keep kissing until you feel breathless. When Bucky breaks it, he doesn’t move away. His forehead touches yours as you try to catch your breath.

"This was…"

“I wanna do something if that’s okay…” You say while suddenly getting on your knees. You are wearing your favorite nylon stockings and you're sure they are gonna get ripped, but you don't care.

Bucky thinks he's daydreaming because how can this happen? How?

"What? What are you doing?"

“I think you know what I am doing, Sergeant. Just tell me to stop if you don’t want it, okay?” Your hands move to his belt but you wait for a reaction first.

"Stop. That's not… you don't have to do this. We are having a great time anyway."

“I know I don’t have to, but I want to. Is that okay for you?”

He can only nod, totally shocked and excited at the same time.

You unbuckle him slowly. Even though you are in a public place, you're in no hurry. You unzip him while looking into his eyes. When you finally take him out of his pants, he seems speechless. He’s already hard, but as soon as you start to move your hand, he gets rock hard after maybe four pumps.

"Jesus, you're so pretty. You look like a doll on your knees."

You smile proudly. “Tell me what I look like when I do this,” you say before taking him inside your mouth.

He closes his eyes, groaning. Your mouth is so wet and warm. You take it slow at first. Your mouth moves gently while you swirl your tongue around the head.

"Please." You hear him whisper, his left hand resting against the wall behind him.

You move your mouth away from him just to ask “Please what?” Your lipstick is already a little smudged.

"Oh god, keep going. Please, you're such a pretty sight."

“Tell me how I look when you're inside my mouth and I'll continue, promise.” You wink and remind him he still hasn’t fulfilled your request.

"Like a dream. Like a goddess."

“Hmm…” You go back to taking him inside your mouth without making another comment. This time, you move a bit faster than before and start using your hand.

"Your mouth will be the death of me."

That makes you smile but you don’t stop, moving your hand and mouth at the same time, hoping for a good reaction. His hand finds its way to your hair, wrapping it enough to pull a little. That encourages you to go faster, in need for a tighter grip. And you get it: soon, he wraps more of your hair around his whole fist, moaning your name.

“I think I'm gonna…” He sounds so breathy. “You should pull away.”

You look at him, acknowledging his warning, but showing him you are ignoring it. You keep moving fast, making sure your tongue flicks around the right spot every time until he spills inside your mouth. It’s a lot more than you are used to, but you still keep going until he completely empties himself. You take your mouth off, looking into his eyes before swallowing.

"No." He covers his eyes while groaning. "You can't do this to me, doll. Jesus…"

“Do what?” You innocently ask.

He doesn't answer you, taking you by the back of the neck and kissing you sloppily. You don’t get a chance to warn him about the taste and he doesn’t seem to care one bit. He groans into your mouth when he feels your hands on his ass and breaks the kiss just to suck on your neck.

Then you feel his hands between your bodies, trying to pull up his pants again.

You break the kiss to ask: “What are you doing?”

"I'm putting on my pants," he sounds like a kid. "And I wanna get on my knees for you, too."

“Maybe I want something else that doesn’t require you to put your pants on.”

He nods, without understanding what you mean. "Alright. I'll just-" He drops his right hand until it reaches her skirt. "Is it okay?" You nod with a smile. Even though it’s not what you meant, it’s fine.

His fingers immediately go to your underwear and push it aside.

"Fuck me. Look at that." You are really wet and his curses don't help either. "Soaked. Is that for me, doll?"

“No, it’s for Captain Rogers, who bored the shit out of me.” You joke.

You feel his fingers stopping on your slit as he lifts his head. "What did you say?"

“I said it’s for Captain Rogers, who bored the shit out of me. You know that gets the girls wet.” You hope he won’t be offended by this. It’s just a silly joke.

In response, Bucky pushes a finger inside you quickly, his lips curling into a smirk. "Should I start talking about war, too? Bet that would get you even wetter."

You let out a deep breath, relieved. Thank God he isn’t offended. “That would get me dry as a desert, Sergeant Barnes.”

"Should I dye my hair then?" He snorts, moving his finger faster.

“Maybe you should get a shield. It would definitely look better on you.”

"A shield, huh?" Bucky adds another finger, trying to scissor them inside you a couple of times. "Is it too much?"

“Nope,” you say after a moan. “It’s not enough.”

"Fuck, you…" he closes his eyes. "You want another?"

“I want something else.” You smile, hoping him to understand this time.

"Yeah? Like what?"

You grab his cock and gently rub it without saying a word. You are not surprised he’s hard because his erection has been pressed on your leg for a while.

"Fuck. You want my cock, baby?"

“Yeah. Why do you think I didn’t let you pull your pants back up?”

"I don't-" He moans. "I didn't think."

“Come on. You are making me wait while I’m soaking your fingers.”

"Wanna make you…" Bucky interrupts himself by adding a third finger, his other hand going to your clit. "Happy."

“Fuck.” You throw your head back, that felt so good.

"You like this?" He rubs a little more, paying attention to your body. His fingers inside you keep the same pace, though. He isn't slowing down now even if it's the end of the world.

“Yeah, that.” You breathe out. You already feel your legs shaking and you're afraid your knees might give out, but it feels so good, you can’t seem to focus on the concerns.

"Hold on to me."

You put your hands on his shoulders and it helps you relax a bit more. After that, your orgasm comes crashing in like a big wave that leaves you breathless. He doesn't stop moving his fingers until you finish coming, then he slowly pulls them out, making sure to lick them before kissing you.

“You are such a dirty soldier, Sergeant Barnes,” you say with a smile.

"What is dirty about this?" He shrugs. "I'm a good soldier, of course."

“Doing this in a dark alley with me and licking your fingers clean like that. Very good soldier, indeed.”

"Ihm." He buries his head right onto your shoulder and breathes in. "Thank you."

“For what?” You find yourself kissing his hair while asking the question.

"For this evening and this. Thank you for trusting me."

“You are something else, Bucky,” you say while caressing his hair.

"Hmm?"

You kiss his hair and his ear, then move your lips to his neck. “You can thank me later. We are not done yet.”

"Changed your mind?" He smiles. "Want me on my knees after all?

“Maybe later.” You wink. “Now don’t act like you don’t know what I want because I know you want it, too.”

He freezes. "Wait, you're serious?"

“Of course I am serious. Just don’t finish inside, okay?”

He looks at you again all serious. "Are you sure? We don't have to, I can use my tongue."

“Don’t worry, it’s not my first time and yeah, I’m sure unless you don’t want to.”

Bucky looks at you with puppy eyes. "Uhm, it's my first time."

“Oh god.” Your eyes widen. “I… didn’t consider… that possibility. I’m sorry.”

Bucky starts laughing at your worried expression and kisses your cheek. "My first time with a bookworm doll."

You punch his shoulder. “You worried me!”

That makes him laugh even harder, and you can't help but smile. Because he's extra beautiful like this.

"Why? Do you have something against innocent boys, ma'am? Shame!"

“No, nothing against it. Absolutely would love to teach and corrupt but wouldn’t want that to be your first time.”

"You don't want to take advantage of me, huh? Such a good girl." He surprises you by suddenly lifting you and helping you wrap your legs around his torso.

“Would you like me to take advantage of you?” You kiss his jaw and cheeks.

"Fuck, yes. Yes."

“Then you have my permission to take advantage of me, too.”

He doesn't ask you again if you're sure. Instead, he lifts his right hand to your blouse and starts unbuttoning it as fast as he can. He's so impatient he even manages to rip a button. You just watch him work and smile, hoping the gentleman side of Bucky finally stops holding him back.

He groans at the sight of your hard nipples and quickly leans in to take one in his mouth.

“Oh fuck,” you whimper while he uses his tongue to play with your nipple. It feels so good you don't even notice when his hand drops under your skirt. Until you hear the ripping sound.

“What the fuck?” You can’t believe he's just ripped your nylon stockings. They are so hard to find and so expensive!

"Whha?" He doesn't even take his mouth off your nipple as he speaks.

“Do you know how expensive those stockings are?” Your surprise is so clear in your voice. “You owe me a pair of nylon stockings, Sargeant.”

"They were in the way, baby."

“Getting impatient?” You mock a little.

He pushes his hips a little more. "Can't you feel?"

“You still owe me a pair.”

"What about these?" His hands are now on her panties. "How many do I need to buy you so I can rip these off?"

“Just one pair, but if you wanna rip that one, too, this cycle might never end.”

He sighs, contemplating, but he finally decides not to, only pushing your underwear aside. "How do you want it?"

“What do you mean?”

Bucky takes another step until your back barely brushes against the wall. "How do you like this? The sex."

“Don’t try to act all kind and push aside what you actually want to do. That’s how I want it.”

"Do you uhm… like it fast or slow? The pace I mean." He's slowly pushing inside you while he asks, trying to be as gentle as possible.

“That’s exactly what I meant. Do it however you want and we will see how I like it. Don’t be too gentle like this.”

"Talk to me, okay?" He's halfway inside you now, staying still for a few seconds as he leaves small kisses on your neck.

“Oh, I will, don’t worry, handsome. No one can stop me from complaining if I don’t like something.”

"Good girl." He tries different types of thrusts and angles at first, wanting to see what you respond to the most.

“Fuck. Why do you keep saying that?” She moves her hips to make him thrust faster.

"Because you're my good girl. Dirty too." He moans when he feels you. "God, you want it faster, baby?"

“Yes, yes, I do. Please. Move faster.”

And he does, his grip on your ass tightening as he starts thrusting just the way you want. "Fuck, you're soaked. You feel so good around me."

“You feel good, too.” You moan in between words. “And you are strong. Really strong,” you remark because he doesn’t look tired while holding you.

But he doesn't seem to acknowledge that. "I'm so fucking lucky, Jesus." He groans when he feels your lips sucking on his collarbone.

“You didn’t think your double date would end this way, huh?”

"Deep inside you? Not a chance." He smiles, speeding up.

“Maybe deep inside someone else.” You tease on purpose.

Bucky immediately stops thrusting. "What?"

“I was just joking about how we were meant to be on a date with other people.” You hate that you can’t shut your mouth sometimes.

"Oh," he nods, restarting to move. "Well, I can assure you, he wouldn't have done this tonight." He jokes back.

“Fuck me against the wall like this?”

"Fuck you at all. But especially like this. And the language?" He laughs. "Never."

“Oh, so honorable of him.” You keep joking. “Poor Cassie.”

His right-hand flies behind your head to protect it as his thrusts become way too quick. "Fuck. You feel like heaven, I swear."

“God, how do you do that?” You are surprised that he can carry you with one hand. “Are you sure you aren’t a super soldier yourself?”

Bucky shakes his head amused. "That will go straight to my ego."

“You're carrying me with one hand while protecting my head with the other, and you keep fucking me at the same time. I think it should go straight to your ego.”

He groans. "Lower one of your hands now."

“Lower it where exactly?” You don’t understand what he wants.

His hand moves from the back of her head for a few seconds just to bring her fingers to her clitoris. "Right here. Can you rub this for me?"

“Ohh.” You finally understand what he’s trying to do, so you listen and start rubbing yourself while his hand goes back to your head.

"Good, good girl. Look at you." He doesn't even realize how deep his thrusts are because his focus is on your fingers.

“Oh god… It feels so good.” You have never done something like this before. No public sex, no touching yourself during sex, no good girl whispers next to your ear. They all make you feel dizzy.

"Yeah? Just good?" His mouth finds your breasts this time, and you just know he's leaving a few marks there by the way he sucks on your skin.

“You wanna hear how good it makes me feel?”

"Ihmm."

“Oh, you are even dirtier than you are showing, aren’t you, Sergeant Barnes?”

He looks up immediately. "Say that again." He demands.

“Sergeant Barnes?”

"Fuck, you need to rub faster."

“You need to fuck me harder.” You say while listening to his order.

"Harder?" He repeats, shocked, not expecting that in the slightest. But he does as you demand in a heartbeat, biting his tongue because it feels so good.

You have a hard time holding back your reaction because it feels just perfect. You can feel your orgasm approaching.

“Shit, you need to cover my mouth,” you say as quickly as possible.

"Just use me. Bite my shoulder," he suggests quickly, keeping the pace exactly the same.

You wanna say no, because you don’t wanna hurt him but there’s no other choice left. You sink your teeth in somewhere between his neck and shoulder and try to muffle yourself. The orgasm hits you so hard that you are afraid someone is gonna hear you even like this.

"Fuck," he groans, the pain feeling amazing as you keep coming, your legs wrapping even more tightly around his ass.

“Please, don’t stop,” you manage to say and go back to biting him, very aware of the hickey you are giving him, but that doesn’t stop you because you don’t want to get caught like this.

"Can't stop." At this point you wonder how no one noticed you by now. The sound of your skin touching and your groans are not quite silent. But even if they did, you know you wouldn't stop. How could you?

"Keep rubbing, I want you to find pleasure again."

“Again?” You sound shocked because you've literally just come.

"Again." He tries to lift one of your legs a little more. "Please."

“I don’t think I can, but keep going, okay?” You already came twice in a short amount of time. How much more can you do?

"Well, I think you can." He smiles. "Gonna mark me up, baby?"

“I think I already did.” You can see your teeth marks on his neck. You are sure it will turn into purple really soon.

"I'm your property now?" The hand he has on the back of your head quickly grabs your hair and wraps it around his fist.

“Are you?” You like the sound of that and how he’s pulling your hair.

"I am." He's frantically thrusting in and out of you. "Rub faster."

“Fuck,” you mumble while rubbing yourself. You aren’t sure if it’s gonna do anything, but it feels good. “Can I keep you then? You know, kidnap you and hide you in my apartment so you don’t have to go back to the war. We can just do this every day.”

"Fuck, do it." He smiles. "I dare you."

“Should I tie you up so it looks more realistic?” And suddenly all that rubbing starts to feel different, more pleasurable.

"On your bed? Go ahead."

You laugh at how easily he’s convinced, but your laugh is interrupted by a moan.

"Gonna come for me, dolly?"

“I am not sure.” You struggle to speak. “It feels like it.”

He pulls your hair hard. "Please, please."

“You beg so beautifully, how can I say no?” It’s not like your body is saying no, either.

When you finish coming again, you watch with your eyes semi-closed as James takes himself out without dropping you even a little and comes right on your thighs and ripped stockings. You feel the warmth of his come while you both are trying to catch your breath.

"This was… wow."

“This is a hell of a first date.” You find yourself giggling. Did all that really happen? The soreness between your legs says yes.

Bucky slowly puts you down. "You think?" He snorts.

“Oh yeah, very memorable.” You notice that your stockings are completely ruined so you have no other choice but to take them off.

"Fuck, you're dripping." He doesn't look like he's sorry and he can't say he is, either. He's actually very proud.

“Yeah, I am aware.” You laugh while taking them off and using them like a washcloth to clean yourself up.

"You have no idea how lovely the sight is." He winks at you while zipping up his pants.

You bite your bottom lip while looking at him. “Likewise. You look satisfied, Sargeant. Did something happen while you were gone?” You pull your skirt down.

"I got touched by an angel."

You laugh. “So cheesy. You are lucky that you are a bookworm. A really good-looking one, who is also good at bed even though we didn’t even need one.”

"Next time. Maybe we'll break it." He sounds so confident, but not demanding at all at the same time.

“When are you going back?” You find yourself asking. If he’s promising you a second time, you are gonna take it.

"In one week."

You make a sad face without realizing then take a deep breath to help yourself focus on the positive side. “That’s a lot of sex.”

He immediately lifts your chin and presses a kiss on your forehead. "I was joking. We got two months."

“You are such a liar.” You punch him in his shoulder.

Which only makes him laugh. "You like it hard."

But your attention is on his neck, on the spot you bit so hard. The purple spot looks really old and mostly faded already.

"No comment?" He snorts. "We're gonna have a lot of fun for sure."

“I have a question.” Your eyes are still on that same spot. “Does Steve heal quickly?”

"Why? You plan on kicking his ass?"

“Just answer the question, please.”

"Yeah, he does." Bucky shrugs. "One of the perks of the serum."

“Even the small scars or purple spots?”

"Yes." Bucky doesn't even think about it. "Which is great. Why? You think your friend will want to know?"

You don’t comment about his question, instead, touch the spot you bit down so hard. “You are nearly completely healed. My mark has vanished.”

"What?" He asks, confused.

“I bit down on your neck so hard, it was dark red. Now it’s gone.”

"I don't get purple easily. Never did. I guess you have to suck a little more." He smiles leaning in to kiss you again.

“I fully bit you,” you say before he does.

"I noticed." He giggled.

Since he doesn’t take it that seriously you let it go. “Fine. I will prove it to you later.”

"Prove what?" He gives you another kiss.

“That you heal quickly.” You try to fix yourself while you kiss him back.

"Oh, I feel healed every time I look at you."

“You are so cheesy.” Yet you can’t help but laugh. “How do I look?”

"Good boy version or?" He pauses dramatically.

“Both.”

"Good boy version first: you look like an angel." He smiles cheekily.

You snort. “I’m asking if I look decent, Bucky.”

"Angel,” he repeats before dropping his hands to your ass and squeezing. "They won't know you've got fucked against the wall if that's what you're afraid of. But you look strangely content and happy."

“That’s because I had a good date.” You scrunch your nose cheekily.

"Me too. The best date ever."

“Should we try to find our best friends?”

"Oh, sure." Bucky leans in to get the teddy bear before handing it to you.

"Ready for more war stories?"

“No, I’m not.” You hug the bear. “I gotta wash this.”

Bucky snorts. "Poor bear. Got traumatized."

“Traumatized and all dirty.” You don’t notice how close you are to Bucky until you feel him next to you. “Should we keep this a secret from our friends?”

"Do you want to?"

“I meant the having sex in a dark alley part. I don’t think my friend needs to know that.” She definitely shouldn’t know all this.

"We should totally keep that part to ourselves." He smiles.

“I could say that you kissed me or something. I don’t know. Is that too forward for the first date?”

"There's no such thing. You can say I kissed you."

“I was genuinely asking.” You smile. “I normally don’t even kiss on the first date.”

Bucky giggles, his hand squeezing your hip. "I am a lucky gal." You smile back at him until you notice a familiar face.

“Oh, is that Steve?” You point to the tall blonde guy.

"Yes, that's him. But where is your friend?"

“Right in front of him. I can see her dress.” It’s sticking on the side.

"Oh, yes. Gonna drive you home after that if that's alright with you." He sounds so casual like he already did that many times, but you notice something else.

“You have a car and you didn’t think of using it until now?”

"Oh." Redness takes over his cheeks. "I got… distracted."

"You are such an idiot." You start to giggle while walking toward your friends.

"Your idiot now. You got stuck with me for at least two months." He laughs.

"Just for two months?" You test his intentions.

"I can't assume you'd want to wait for me, can I?"

"I will tell your best friend to bring you back home in one piece. He's the hero after all. That should be easy, right?"

Bucky looks at her with a soft expression before kissing her hair. "Guess you really got stuck with me."

"Oh shit, Steve saw you kissing my hair." It’s going to be hard to keep this thing between you two.

"Does it bother you?"

“No, no, no.” You quickly try to explain. “It’s just I’m worried that they might think the worst of me. I mean… questioning our closeness.”

"I dare them." She is surprised by how serious and determined he is as he speaks.

“I would kiss you right now if I could.”

"I won't stop you." He giggles like a kid.

“Our friends are,” you whisper and look at your best friend, who is coming toward you. Cassie is holding Steve’s arm proudly.

"Oh, hello," Steve says. "Where have you been?"

"Here and there." Bucky shrugs. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes!" Cass immediately giggles, joining the conversation. "He has the best, best stories. What about-" She cuts herself off when she notices your appearance. "What happened to your stockings?"

“Oh.” You blush a little, thinking about how they got ruined. “I tripped and ruined them. They looked so horrible I had to take them off completely.”

"Yes, they got really dirty," Bucky confirms with the biggest grin Steve has seen in ages.

"Oh, really?" He lifts his eyebrow. "What a shame."

“Yeah. Sergeant Barnes promised me a new pair. What a gentleman he is.”

"A gentleman indeed." Steve shakes his head, well aware of what you two have done.

You bite your lip and give Bucky a look, hoping at least Cassie has no idea. You are sure the three of you can keep a secret. For now…

You may wanna read the next part: Trust In What Tomorrow Brings

[serial-serializednovelreader]

Nova’s Notes - Dracula Daily - May 25 + 26

The Suitor Squad speaks!!! Ahhh love them <3

Checking in with my favorite wet cat man, Seward is….not doing too well. Let’s listen to his podcast, shall we?

“Ebb tide in appetite to-day. Cannot eat, cannot rest, so diary instead. Since my rebuff of yesterday I have a sort of empty feeling; nothing in the world seems of sufficient importance to be worth the doing…”

Awwww John :(((( to quote Zuko, “That’s rough, buddy.”

Notice how he speaks here. Of course, beside the obvious abruptness and the fall in his appetite today, he also uses the word “rebuff” to describe Lucy’s rejection. Not to Merriam-Webster you, but I wanted to give a quick definition of rebuff because it actually surprised me when I read it:

“an abrupt or ungracious refusal or rejection of an offer, request, or friendly gesture.”

As expected, John is taking this pretty hard because to call Lucy’s rejection of him “abrupt” or “ungracious” is just…untrue? To be fair, we only had Lucy’s side of the story, but that just doesn’t sound like Lucy. I mean, she literally *cried* at the thought of causing him pain!! I’m not trying to police his words here — obviously, it’s his mental breakdown diary and he gets to choose the language — but it does show that he’s not taking this half so well as Quincey (probably) is, and Lucy totally read the vibes right when she worried about him walking away from this broken-hearted. Bro is in the trenches here.

Soooooo he turns to his work at the asylum for help. He really needs to get some better coping mechanisms, but at least we get to meet Renfield!

“In my manner of doing it there was, I now see, something of cruelty. I seemed to wish to keep him to the point of his madness—a thing which I avoid with the patients as I would the mouth of hell. [paragraph break] (Mem., under what circumstances would I not avoid the pit of hell?) Omnia Romæ venalia sunt. Hell has its price! verb. sap”

One thing I love about Dracula is that all of these characters have their own little quirks when talking. Stoker does a fairly good job of giving each character a unique “voice”, which I appreciate. Jonathan writes in a fairly meticulous way with long paragraphs of describing landscapes (plus, “lizard fashion”, of course). Mina writes in much the same way, but different. She seems to break into a more playful style of writing, as you can see with her “???” and “two-pages-to-the-week-with-Sunday-squeezed-in-a-corner-diaries”. Lucy, of course, probably has the most unique voice so far because her letters seem to be written impulsively. In one sentence, she laments how miserable Seward and Quincey are and in the next she celebrates how perfectly happy she is. It’s an active and emotional stream of consciousness we get to see unfold in her letters and — I’ll bet — in the way she talks.

Seward is a new voice and he already is showing a few quirks here. It’s interesting to see how this voice changes since we know he’s actually *speaking* these words, not just writing them down. Unethical behavior with Renfield aside (stop baiting the patients Seward!!!!), notice how he makes a mem. for a rhetorical question.

I find this fascinating because Jonathan does this mem., or memorandum, when he wants to remember something — such as recipes for Mina. But Seward does it when he wants to self-depreciate his own phrasing. Unless, he’s seriously asking the question to remember for later, which he might honestly be due to his next sentences (and in that case, oooooh buddy you’re going to be regretting asking that in a few months). He hits us with a Latin phrase which translates to (from what I could find), “All Rome is for sale” and then ANOTHER ONE which means “a word to the wise” or “enough said”.

What can we garner from this? Other than liking Latin, John likes self-deprecation and also philosophical thoughts about hell, or at least the metaphor of it — and that’s what he wants to save for later. Very interesting!!!

Describing Renfield (who’s 59, huh), I like how he touches on selfish vs. unselfish influences and how that affects humans. I find it interesting that, contrary to popular belief, being unselfish is what Seward would consider to be more dangerous — though it makes sense from his logic.

A selfish person would keep themselves close and be cautious about putting themselves in too much danger. After all, your life is not worth much if you put it at risk and that’s even more true in an asylum. Using “armor” and a “centripetal force” with self as the “fixed point” as metaphors for this kind of behavior is fascinating.

Meanwhile, someone “unselfish” or to put it a different way, acting under the influence of someone else for some unnamed reason (duty, love, etc.) will likely stop at nothing to achieve that goal once they’re put on it. It’s also dangerous to another person because they might not know what that goal is — and might end up being collateral damage as a result. Seward is keen to find out what Renfield’s reasoning is because he doesn’t want to be that collateral damage (and because he’s a curious, semi-unethical doctor buutttt). I like how he adds that only a series of accidents can balance this kind of centripetal force. Thanks for the metaphorical science lessons, Seward!

On to Quincey, my beloved. <333 His letter is to Arthur!

“We've told yarns by the camp-fire in the prairies; and dressed one another's wounds after trying a landing at the Marquesas; and drunk healths on the shore of Titicaca.”

So from the opening lines, we can gather that Quincey and Arthur (and yes, Seward too) have been globetrotting together! Because Titicaca is in South America and the Marquesas happens to be a collective of islands in the Southern Pacific Ocean. Quincey later refers to Seward as their “old pal at the Korea” which *could* mean Korea the country, or as this forum comment section speculates, could also mean the Korea Strait.

It’s super sweet that while Quincey and John want to drown their sorrows in wine, Quincey doesn’t hesitate to invite Arthur to celebrate his engagement to the love of his life as well as theirs oof!

It does seem like Quincey didn’t know before that Arthur was the one Lucy was in love with, because he seemed to speak vaguely to Lucy that he “must be a good fellow if you loved him” and “he’ll have to deal with me if he doesn’t know his happiness”. But, to me, it seems a little too much like what you would say to your friend if you didn’t know the other person. I’m getting a generic “he’ll date you if he knows what’s good for him” vibe.

My guess? Arthur probably wrote to Quincey saying “I’m engaged!!! To Lucy!!!” because they do all know each other and are friends, but maybe Arthur hadn’t wanted to share his feelings with the boy group just yet (he seems like a private person, since Lucy couldn’t get a read on his feelings) or wanted to keep it a surprise until he knew for sure his feelings were reciprocated. Of course, once Quincey received this letter, he put together that “ohhhh Art was my rival the whole time” and probably slapped his knee about the whole thing. It doesn’t stop him from inviting him to the next gathering, though!

The other theory I have is that all three of them knew they loved Lucy and each amicably agreed to still be friends, no matter who she chose (if she chose any of them). It would definitely make sense since Quincey talks about him and Seward “mingling their weeps” as if Arthur would know what he means by that. Additionally, it would make sense, since they all know each other pretty well and likely would know if they all were in love with the same woman, right? That could be why Seward and Quincey were so quick to ask if there was someone else — I mean, yes, that’s always the obvious ask when your proposal fails — but this could add another layer of meaning to their asking.

As for Quincey’s generic approach, that could be explained by him not knowing whether it was Seward or Arthur that Lucy loved (or, perhaps, an unknown third person) and he didn’t want to ask Lucy who it was in that moment, figuring he would find out later if it was indeed one of his friends.

No matter the theory, this letter says a lot about Quincey’s character! He’s obviously a good and honest man for not hesitating to invite his friend to the gathering, even when that friend is engaged to the woman he’s in love with as well. There’s not a lot more to be said about this that hasn’t already been said — but yeah, Quincey is definitely in my top 3 favorite Dracula characters and this is part of why.

Finally, Art’s letter to Quincey!

“Count me in every time. I bear messages which will make both your ears tingle.”

As this is a telegram, he has to make this short and sweet. But make your ears tingle??? Art???? Lol, I’m presuming this is about the proposal or about some other hot gossip (if it’s explained later, I genuinely forgot — again, it’s been two years since I’ve read the book and I keep feeling more and more like a first time reader).

Either way, I hope this is the year we stop calling Arthur boring (if we haven’t already), because he already doesn’t sound boring from just this message and it’s in telegram format.

He sounds like a guy you’d like to party with. “Count me in every time”, “make your ears tingle”? Sounds like a party guy to me! And obviously, he had to be fun-loving and resourceful enough to Quincey if they’ve traveled the world together (and, maybe have seen combat? — not quite clear on that one).

I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on Arthur this read around. Since I was among the people that called him boring in 2022, I want to see if there’s more to him than meets the eye!

[lingthusiasm]

Bonus 78: How we make Lingthusiasm transcripts - Interview with Sarah Dopierala

All of the Lingthusiasm main episodes and bonus episodes have transcripts, which involves some interesting technical challenges, including writing words in lots of languages, choosing between writing examples in their conventional spelling versus according to their phonetic value, and translating pauses and intonation into punctuation and paragraph breaks.   

In this behind the scenes bonus episode, Gretchen gets enthusiastic about the linguistic process of transcribing podcast episodes with Sarah Dopierala, whose name you may recognize from the credits at the end of the show! We talk about how Sarah's background in linguistics helps her with the technical words and phonetic transcriptions in Lingthusiasm episodes, her own research into converbs as a linguistics graduate student at Goethe University Frankfurt, and the linguistic tendencies that she's noticed from years of transcribing Lauren and Gretchen (guess which of us uses more quotative speech!). We also talk about how Sarah has found it more fun and efficient to use less automated/AI tools in her transcribing workflow over time (hint: it's related to "link Suzy as in"), and the process she goes through to edit the spoken version so that it reads well on the page. 

All of which to say: Sarah's job is not going away anytime soon, and it's thanks to your support as patrons that we can keep paying her to make these beautifully edited transcripts. As a reminder, all the main episode transcripts can be found at lingthusiasm.com/transcripts (and on each episode's shownotes page), the bonus episode transcripts are each linked to from each bonus episode's shownotes. Listen to this interview with our transcriptionist Sarah Dopierala, and get access to many more bonus episodes by supporting Lingthusiasm on Patreon.

[verycharismaticdragon]

Okay, continuing this thought, I pulled up the quotes I wanted, I checked back with the original text (or, well, older version of original text), let's see.

---

First, ch.1, p.9 (eng.edition), Shen Yuan describes himself as a "veteran reader of this novel". I double-checked with Chinese, and yes he specifies this novel. So it's not related to his "Expert" status on the forum mentioned in the Airplane extras (that seems to be a general webnovel-discussion forum, not a PIDW-related forum).

This does not really prove anything either way (maybe he considers anyone who made it to the end at all a veteran of PIDW), but I'm putting it into the evidence pile for later.

---

Then, on to the main point from yesterday, Shen Yuan's death:

ch.1, p.12 (eng.edition)

the bit that seems most relevant is: "would find himself persevering before his untimely death to finish a novel [...]"

Now, this has some implications I haven't even considered: the use of "persevering" implies some kind of effort. You could possibly even read this as 'Shen Yuan has been dying before he finished PIDW, and was holding on to see it finished', like some sort of prolonged illness situation. Buuut I've decided not to jump to conclusions before checking with CN text. (Well, once again, older edition of it, but from what I'm seeing, this fragment shouldn't have been edited.)

So, here's the full phrase with the relevant fragment highlighted:

想他一个规规矩矩花钱买V看正版的大好青年，临终之前坚持看完的居然是这样一本种马程度令人发指咋舌的骗钱注水文，他能不骂吗？

Let's break the fragment down further:

临终 línzhōng: approaching one's end; immediately before one's death; on one's deathbed

之前 zhīqián: before; prior to

坚持 jiānchí: persist in; persevere in; insist on; be bent on; cling to; hold on to; hang on

看完 kànwán: to finish reading/watching.

Okay, I know we're seeing "immediately before one's death" and "persevere to finish reading" and it kinda supports the previous theory, but let's not get too excited. Because here's the thing: in all of the usage examples of 临终 línzhōng I've seen, it was not used together with 之前 zhīqián (before, prior to). Probably because 临 lín part already has a meaning of "just before; approaching; about to" included in it (it can also be translated as "to face" for example, making "to face death" or "to face the end" other valid translations of 临终, but the meaning of "just before" is still included in the concept).

So, wtf is 之前 zhīqián, another "before", there for? From what I see in the usage examples, unlike 临 lín which implies immediate before-ness, 之前 zhīqián is about a more removed event. In fact, it seems to strongly imply that the speaker is referencing two points in time that do not overlap. (I mean, correct me if you're fluent and I'm wrong, but that's what I'm seeing in literally all examples.)

Thus, in our sentence, we have two separate events, only held together by referencing the order in which they occur: 临终 línzhōng "to face the end" (I've decided to use this tl for conciseness), and 坚持看完 jiānchí kànwán "persevere to finish reading" (or "be bent on finishing", or "insist on finishing"...) So, "[...] before facing the end, [he] persevered in finishing reading [...]".

And if we take these two events/actions as separate, there is in fact logic in putting them together like this. The previous sentence talks about Shen Yuan's "dying breath", so "before facing death" is a transition from that part. Then, the "persevered in finishing" part is expounded on in the next few paragraphs, which talk about SY finishing the novel despite all his gripes. In other words, this is a transition sentence between SY dying (later event) and the gripes he had with PIDW (formulated before dying, so earlier event).

All this is to say: I think ultimately this sentence does not actually state for fact that Shen Yuan died immediately after finishing PIDW. All it says is that he finished reading at some point before dying - which, uh, obviously - but the lack of concrete proof of him dying immediately is information too.

(cont. under cut)

Then, to the other bit I mentioned yesterday, about the 20 days binge-read:

ch.1, p.38-39 (eng.edition)

Here I'm going to look at the "He'd spent twenty days binging the novel from start to finish, [...]" bit in particular.

The paragraph above, excerpt in question highlighted (ch.4 of webnovel version):

可这不能怪他记得不清楚。你让一个骂傻逼作者傻逼文的人，去记连载了四年、时间线横跨两百年的小说最开头的古早内容？他可是看了二十天才看完的，入门那一段为虐而虐的苦情戏码早忘光了好吗！

Okay, it's a bit longer, but not as scary as it looks:

他 tā: he (as in pronoun)

可是 kěshì: indeed, in fact, or just an emphasis word (can also mean "however" or "but", but that doesn't seem to fit with the sentence)

看了 kànle: had read (to quote my dictionary, most of the time 了 is translated by a past tense, but it can also indicate that one action is completed before another)

二十天 èrshí tiān: 20 days

才 cái: only, just, only after, only then

看完 kànwán: finish reading (same as before, yeah)

的 de: (has many usages but in this case most likely) used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis (SY's narration in general uses a lot of emphases and filler words, very informal/colloquial style. just a note)

Without making it sound like human sentence, and omitting emphases, we get something like: "He had read for 20 days, only then finished reading, [...]"

So, yes, 20 days binge real. But what I wanted to see most was if there's an indication whether this is about the whole novel up to the finale, or just catching up to the ongoning series. "Start to finish" in the translation seems to lean towards the former, but I don't think Chinese is that specific.

To break it down, 看完 kànwán consists of 看 kàn, which in this case means "to read" and 完 wán - generally 'to finish, to end, to complete', but in this case most likely just 'used after a verb to indicate action completion'. In other words, 完 wán here specifically modifies the prior verb into its "finished [verb]ing" form. And while it does have an implication of completeness, this completeness refers to the action (reading) rather than the object acted upon (novel) (which is straight up ommitted from this sentence, actually. that's Chinese for ya).

So, here as well: the text doesn't really specify beyond the shadow of doubt whether Shen Yuan was binging the finished novel, or just everything that was out when he first got into it. (Probably because the paragraph in question is talking about very early chapters, that - in either case - SY likely went through on day 1 of his binge.) Which means that ultimately, the fact of that 20-day binge does not conflict with anything implying he has been following the novel for some time. (Once again, I haven't finished my reread so I don't recall what and where SQQ says about it, but I've recently checked Airplane extras for something and he mentions Peerless Cucumber's "subscribtion payments and demands for updates".)

---

Okay, so this is what I have from earliest chapters. Maybe this post will get a part 2 once I make progress on my reread, but nevermind that. Anyw, tl;dr:

SY considers himself a "veteran reader" of PIDW.

There's no solid proof that SY died immediately after reading PIDW's finale.

There's no solid proof SY's 20-day binge encompassed the whole novel from first to final chapter.

---

Also: thank you to everyone who replied yesterday! There are some points I wanna answer individually, but one was mentioned a couple of times, so: yeah, I also think that the new chapter Airplane is penning before he dies is supposed to be an extra. Buuuuut I also may or may not have played with the idea of sv!cucumber and sv!airplane actually being from two different versions of 'modern world' before... so let's put this under "further investigation needed" for now.

[bucktommyweek]

Resources for Writing

Hey everyone!

I am not necessarily the best person to ask about this but I have had a couple of conversations/asks about ao3, how it works, as well as asking for some tips if you're new to a fandom or to writing fan fiction as a whole.

I am not a great writer by any means but here are a few things I find essential and some resources/writeblr's I follow on here.

I also think fic should be as accessible to as many people as possible, just like books, so there are some tips on how to make your works more accessible.

These are also not requirements to participate in BuckTommyWeek, so please do not think that, or that I am trying to tell you what you must do to participate. These are simply tips I have found helpful over the years since learning how to to write.

- Paragraphs - 

It is better to have more paragraphs than it is to have less, especially to make your writing more accessibly paced for screen readers. Long paragraphs can make it hard to read.

Start a new paragraph when a different character is speaking. This will make it easier to discern who is saying what.

Start a new paragraph when there is a new topic/time change/event.

Start a new paragraph for dramatic effect.

Here is an example using one of my own fics.

Without paragraph breaks

In my example, we don't know that Chimney is the second voice until the word "replied" because the dialogue is squished together.

The second paragraph would be hard for some people to read but especially those with  a screen reader. The screen reader won't pause, so the pacing would be off for someone using one.

Here is an example from the same fic, only edited

We can now see with the paragraphs that the first voice (Tommy) and the second voice (Chimney) are different, even before we get to, "Chimney replied."

The paragraphs are also used for dramatic effect, in an attempt by me to help the reader understand that Buck is not only listening, but he is confused.

- Quotes -

Using quotations when someone is talking will help decipher speech from action or description. This also helps with accessibility.

Note: For anyone using Grammarly, it LOVES to remove opening quotations from the middle of paragraphs, it's done it to me so often I have tried to catch it but sometimes don't.

Example One: Sorry, I'm late, the fire was a beast Tommy said as he approached Buck from the doorway.

So are you replied Buck.

Example Two:

"Sorry I'm late, the fire was a beat," Tommy said as he approached Buck from the doorway.

"So are you," replied Buck.

- ao3 -

-Page Breaks for Accessibility -

This recommendation is mainly accessibility related and that is how you break up time jumps or scene changes within your fic when posting to AO3.

For accessibility with screen readers, what some people input as page breaks does not translate well.

This was something I didn't know until I was told but hyphens, often used as page breaks, get read aloud. It was something I never even thought of.

So if you have multiple hyphens, it will literally be read aloud repeatedly, depending on how many you have.

Example 1:

Buck pulled Tommy close, hand gripping his neck as they kissed.

---- will be read as, "hyphen hyphen hyphen hyphen," out loud.

Buck entered Chimney's hospital room ahead of Tommy.

AO3 has something that can fix this, but it does involve switching from HTML to Rich Text mode.

Example 2:

Click on Rich Text after you have copied your work in, or copy it into Rich Text mode in the first place

2. Click on the line button and a line will be inserted. This will be read as a break by a screen reader.

As far as ao3 goes, I use their own FAQ page whenever I'm looking for help on the site.

I will however show you my personal favourite part of ao3.

This button lets people know you liked their fic:

This button lets you save the fic to your ao3 account, AND you can make it private OR you can make it a Rec.

This will help other people find the fic, and you can make notes. However please note that the writer can see what you say there. I've never personally had any terrible bookmarks, but there have been some that kind of sucked, if I'm honest.

The most important section of ao3 for me as a creator, and many other creators is this.

I know comments can be intimidating, but a simple heart emoji, an "I loved this," or "This part was my fave," can really make a creator's day.

It can inspire them to write more, and to know that they are not just yelling into the void.

This got really long-winded so I do apologize but I hope I helped in some way.

-

Some writeblr's I follow myself to help with my writing: @fixyourwritinghabits @novlr @heywriters @wordsnstuff @handywritingresources

I also have my own writeblr which is under utilized for sure @projectwriteherewritenow

If you've read this far, thanks! If you have any questions asks are open or you can hit me up @evan-privileges (formerly alilypea)

Late tip: Don't use the word JUST much as I do. Dang lol.

[sovereign-skyy]

So was the cypher just a 22 shift cypher with + at the end of the alphabet or did you do something special beyond that? Bc while I know what the correct translation should be I can't quite put together why an answer with just the 22-shift would be close if the decoder is just using the regular alphabet but completely off when using a 27 letter alphabet of A through +. I know the paragraph before is supposed to have all the clues but there's definitely something I am missing and I gotta know what. Sorry to just pop up randomly and ask you this but I saw Amity reblog another question about it and just like zeroed on your blog in bc cryptography and flirting is so fucking cool and your rules do say to send you an ask.

First of all, don't apologise for popping up out of nowhere I love this! I have it in my bio for a reason lol

For anyone who didn't see the cipher in question (which I expect to be almost everyone who sees this) here's the link to @k1nky-r0b0t-g1rl's post (I'll also be quoting the relevant stuff but if you wanna try to kinda still solve it for yourself start there, I'll be explaining it in detail here):

I'll make this a more comprehensive explanation for anyone who wants it so it's probably gonna contain quite some stuff you already know, if you want to skip it just scroll until you see 'NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF' in big text!

SO

Here we have the original message:

E sxjp pk ejopxhh x oqynkqpeja ejpk ukqn ouopaio pdxp ixgao ukq osepzd ejpk dknju ik+a sdajaran E oxu "Kd Xiepu gjkso sxuu ikna xykqp pdxp," ok pdxp E zxj ixga ukq atlhxej atpnaiahu zkilhezxpa+ pklezo sdeha ukq'na oq++ajhu qjyaxnxyhu dknju xj+ pnuejc +aolxnxpahu pk de+a ep.

And this is the hint I gave:

There's three important parts to this so I'll go through them in order

Firstly, the hint is about Julius Caesar, hinting at the fact that the later text is encoded by a Caesar cipher. This is a cryptographic method where you move all the letters forward a certain amount (called the shift) of letters in the alphabet. So a caesar cipher with a right shift of 1 shifts all the letters one space forward, eg. A -> B, X -> Y. Generally the right shift is the default so I left it at that. A better hint would have also incorporated the right part but eh I'm not perfect.

Secondly, I talk about 23 people stabbing him, which indicates a shift of 23, giving us the following conversion table:

where the top row is the original letters and the bottom is the shifted letter values. If we left it at this and tried to decode the message we'd get:

H vams sn hmrsakk a rtbqntshmd hmsn xntq rxrsdlr sgas lajdr xnt rvhscg hmsn gnqmx ln+d vgdmdudq H rax "Ng Alhsx jmnvr vaxx lnqd abnts sgas," rn sgas H cam lajd xnt dwokahm dwsqdldkx cnlokhcasd+ snohcr vghkd xnt'qd rt++dmkx tmbdaqabkx gnqmx am+ sqxhmf +droaqasdkx sn gh+d hs.

Which is very much not correct. Now, we can cheat a little and change this to a 22-shift cipher (which is not correct) and get the following:

I wbnt to instbll b sucroutine into your systems thbt mbkes you switdh into horny mo+e whenever I sby "Oh Bmity knows wbyy more bcout thbt," so thbt I dbn mbke you explbin extremely domplidbte+ topids while you're su++enly uncebrbcly horny bn+ trying +espbrbtely to hi+e it.

Then we see something comprehensible, but not quite correct: there's some random B's, C's and D's in there and still some plusses in the middle of words. Regardless, you can make out from this wrong result what the message was supposed to be (an oversight on my part, and something I will take into account if/when I do it again)

And now comes the spicy part!

Thirdly, I say "a little (+) at the end" which (as you correctly identified in your ask) refers to the fact that I didn't use the default 26-letter alphabet, but instead used a slightly modified 27-letter alphabet with a + at the end, so we'd have the following letter order (I'll be referring to this as alphabet+ for brevity)

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ+

If we try to decode the message as a 23-rightshift caesar cipher with alphabet+, we get the following conversion table and message:

I want to install a subroutine into your systems that makes you switch into horny mode whenever I say "Oh Amity knows wayy more about that," so that I can make you explain extremely complicated topics while you're suddenly unbearably horny and trying desparately to hide it.

Which is finally correct! Yay, we have the original message!

NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF

But now we finally get to your question: why does the regular 22-shift almost work if it's totally wrong for alphabet+?

For that, we can consider the equivalent left-shift operations of our right-shift decodings:

For any standard alphabet caesar cipher, the 26-shift (left or right) operation is the same as the unencoded version (because A + 26 spaces is once again A), which means that we can also express our right-shift operations as a left-shift operation of shift 26 - R where R is the shift of our right-shift (if this doesn't make sense to anyone I'm happy to try to expand on it btw).

For the alphabet cipher, that means a 23 right-shift is equivalent to a 3 left-shift, and a 22 right-shift is equivalent to a 4 left-shift.

However, for alphabet+, it doesn't take 26 shifts to get back to normal, but 27 (since there's 27 characters in alphabet+). This means that a 23 right-shift alphabet+ operation is equivalent to a 4 left-shift and NOT a 3 left-shift.

Now, since they're not the same set of characters, an alphabet 4 left-shift is not the same as an alphabet+ 4 left-shift. However, it's good to take into account that the solution in alphabet+ is also very similar to our almost-solution in the regular alphabet.

If you'll look at Table 1 and 2 again, you'll see that while A, B and C translate to X, Y and Z for both 23 right-shifts, the + in the middle for alphabet+ messes everything up and leaves us with an icky leftover left-shift of 1 (which is close, but still incomprehensible to humans since it's such a big portion of letters)

However, if we create a conversion table for the 22 right-shift of the alphabet we get the following:

If we compare this to Table 2, we see that A, B, C & D are not the same for both. However, from E on, these two are EXACTLY the same. The part left of the + just has a right-shift of 1 (which is symmetrical to the left-shift of 1 we saw in Table 1).

So, in conclusion: because of the difference in amount of characters, both the 22 and 23 right-shift alphabet decodings are not EXACTLY the same as the 23 right-shift alphabet+ decoding. However, due to the similarity of the lower 4 left-shift, the 22 has more correct characters and is therefore more comprehensible.

I hope that helps a little and I didn't make it more confusing lmao, this is longer (and also took longer) than I thought it would be but it was fun to write, so thanks for asking! If anything is still unclear feel free to reblog with a question or send me an ask (that counts for anyone reading this btw)! Also, since you said you're a fan of flirting + cryptography, how about I unleash the next cipher on you? ;)

[turtleations]

HIDE Inspiration Talk 50 (# 24 - 26) - Translation

Eyeball

The first ring with an eyeball-motive that I bought was from a ring shop in New York, where the uncle from the shop said, “This artificial eye belonged to a terribly unlucky person, so if you wear it, you will be free from misfortune from now on,” so I bought it and put it on. I don’t know if he was lying or speaking the truth, though. I started collecting them afterwards. I’m into gross accessories. Because when Gene Simmons wore a scorpion bracelet and a spider ring, I thought, “Oh, cool!”

UFO

When I was a child, I thought of space as the place where the so called monster graveyard that made whirring noises from Ultraman, Alien Baltan and the like was (laughs). There was a period when I was engrossed with UFOs. Starting when I read the book of Yaoi Junichi [*1935, journalist specializing in UFOs], I thought, “Aliens exist for sure. The Soviet Union and the US are covering it up!” I said, “There is a base on the moon. The VIPs are migrating there one after the other,” and made the others read the book as well (laughs).

When I was in elementary school, we would also go looking for UFOs. We’d meet on our bicycles, go up the mountain, and make a base that we filled with anything connected to UFOs. There, on a flat open place nearby, we would all hand-in-hand say, “Venturer, Venturer, space people”*, and “Won’t you come here?”, all bringing our cameras with us (laughs).

[*) A chant commonly used to summon a UFO from out of nowhere. The translation “Venturer” is an educated guess made by me, picked as the most sensible, though not the most obvious choice for transcribing the word ベントラ. I have been unable to find an official transcribtion.]

[On a different note, this is the only quote from the collection that has an actual line break in it, so I suspect that those two paragraphs were taken from different interviews.]

America

When I was a child, I thought of the US as the country where KISS lives. Now it’s a place that’s good for music production. That said, I only know L.A.. Music aside, I’d call it a city of zones. Whether it’s for work or for fun, there is a certain degree of division into zones, which allows you to tell which areas are dangerous and which are safe. Therefore, although it is a functional city, you could also call it a cold city.

[britneyshakespeare]

So yesterday I read "Slimed with Gravy, Ringed by Drink" by Camille Ralphs, an article from the Poetry Foundation on the publication of the First Folio in 1623, a major work without which most of Shakespeare's plays might very well have been lost today, possibly the most influential secular work of literature in the world, you know.

It's a good article overall on the history and mysteries of the Folio. Lots of interesting stuff in there including how Shakespeare has been adapted, the state of many surviving Folios, theories of its accuracy to the text, a really interesting identification of John Milton's own copy currently in the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the fascinating annotations that may have influenced Milton's own poetry!!! Do read it. It's not an atrociously long article but there's a lot of thought-provoking information in there.

There's one paragraph in particular I keep coming back to though, so I'm just gonna quote it down here:

...[T]he Play on Shakespeare series, published by ACMRS Press, the publications division of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Arizona State University... grew out of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s plan to “translate” Shakespeare for the current century, bills itself “a new First Folio for a new era.” The 39 newly-commissioned versions of Shakespeare’s plays were written primarily by contemporary dramatists, who were asked to follow the reasonable principle laid out by series editor Lue Douthit: tamper in the name of clarification but submit to “do no harm.” The project was inspired by something the linguist John McWhorter wrote in 1998: “[the] irony today is that the Russians, the French, and other people in foreign countries possess Shakespeare to a much greater extent than we do … [because] they get to enjoy Shakespeare in the language they speak.”

Mainly it's the John McWhorter thing I keep coming back to. Side note: any of my non-native-English-speaking mutuals who have read Shakespeare, I would love to know your experiences. If you have read him in translation, or in the original English, or a mix of both. It's something I do wonder about! Even as an Anglophone reader, I find my experience varies so much just based on which edition of the text I'm reading and how it's presented. There's just so much variety in how to read literature and I would love to know what forces have shaped your own relationships to the stories. But anyway...

The article then goes on to talk about how the anachronistic language in Shakespeare will only fall more and more out of intelligibility for everyone because of how language evolves and yadda yadda yadda. I'm not going to say that that's wrong but I think it massively overlooks the history of the English language and how modern standard English became modern standard English.

First of all, is Shakespeare's language completely unintelligible to native English speakers today? No. Certain words and grammatical tenses have fallen out of use. Many words have shifted in meaning. But with context aiding a contemporary reader, there are very few lines in Shakespeare where the meaning can be said to be "unknown," and abundant lines that are perfectly comprehensible today. On the other hand, it's worth mentioning how many double entendres are well preserved in modern understanding. And additionally, things like archaic grammar and vocabulary are simply hurdles to get over. Once you get familiarized with your thees and thous, they're no longer likely to trip you up so much.

But it's also doubtful that 400 years from now, as the article suggests, our everyday language will be as hard to understand for twenty-fifth century English speakers to comprehend. The English language has significantly stabilized due to colonialism and the international adoption of English as a lingua franca. There are countless dialects within English, but what we consider to be standard international "correct" English will probably not change so radically, since it is so well and far established. The development and proliferation of modern English took a lot of blood and money from the rest of the world, the legacy of which can never be fully restored.

And this was just barely in sight by the time that Shakespeare died. This is why the language of the Elizabethans and Jacobeans is early-modern English. It forms the foundations of modern English, hence why it's mostly intelligible to speakers today, but there are still many antiquated figures within it. Early-modern English was more fluid and liberal. Spelling had not been standardized. Many regions of England still had slight variations in preferences for things like pronouns and verb conjugation. We see this even in works Shakespeare cowrote with the likes of Fletcher and Middleton, as the article points out. Shakespeare's vocabulary may not just reflect style and sentiment, but his Stratford background. His preferences could be deemed more "rustic" than many of his peers reared in London.

Features that make English more consistent now were not formalized yet. That's why Shakespeare sounds so "old." It's not just him being fancy. And there's also the fact that blank verse plays are an entirely neglected art nowadays. Regardless of the comprehensibility of the English, it's still strange for modern audiences uninitiated to Elizabethan literature to sit there and watch a King drop mad poetry about his feelings on stage by himself. The form and style of the entire genre is off.

But that, to me, is why we should read Shakespeare. We SHOULD be challenged. It very much IS within the grasp of a literate adult fluent in English to read one of his plays, in a modern edition with proper assistance and context. It is GOOD to be acquainted with something unfamiliar to us, but within our reach. I'm serious. I do not think I'm so much smarter than everyone else because I read Shakespeare. I don't just read the plain text as it was printed in the First Folio! The scholarship exists which has made Shakespeare accessible to me, and I take advantage of that access for my own pleasure.

This is to say that I disagree with the notion that Shakespeare is better suited to be enjoyed in foreign tongues. I think that's quite a complacent, modern American take. Not to say that the sentiment of McWhorter is wrong; I get what he's saying. And it's quite a beautiful thing that Shakespeare's plays are still so commonly staged, although arguably that comes from a false notion in our culture that Shakespeare is high literature worth preserving, at the expense of the rest of time and history. It is true that his body of work has such a high level of privilege in the so-called Western literary canon that either numerous other writers equally deserve, or no writer ever could possibly deserve.

The effort that goes into making Shakespeare's twenty-first century legacy, though, is a half-assed one. So much illustrious praise and deification of the individual and his works, and yet not as much to understanding the context of his time and place, of his influences, forms, and impacts on the eras which proceeded him. Shakespeare seems to exist in a vacuum with his archaic language, and we read it once or twice in high school when we're forced to, with prosaic translations on the adjoining page. This does not inspire a true appreciation in a culture for Shakespeare but it does reinforce a stereotype that he must be somehow important. It's this shallow stereotype that makes it seem in many minds today that it would be worth it to rip the precise language out of the text of a poet, and spit back out an equivalent "modern translation."

[ficretus]

Theory: Rhodopis as Knightfall, dissecting 2 paragraph story for every detail

Rhodopis has pretty much always been one of the basis of speculation for canonical Knightfall. Personally, this is first Knightfall theory I saw, back in the day on onewomancitadel blog (which seems to be deleted now). It was short, to the point and mostly made sense. In this post I'd like to dig into Rhodopis theory and look into every detail of the story to see does it make sense as a theory.

First of all, what is common belief regarding Knightfall and Rhodopis:

It's considered to be proto-Cinderella story so it connects her to Cinder. Rhodopis was courtesan that was enslaved twice. she is eventually freed by Kharaxus of Mytilene, brother of poet Sappho, who then marries her. People translate this into Knightfall because just like Rhodopis, Cinder was enslaved twice. Kharaxus becomes Jaune through Sappho and Saphron connection (both lesbians, Saphron lives in Greek themed city, oldest fragments of Sappho's poetry were found on ceramic vase shards which can be connected to Terra being named after terracotta). Kharaxos freeing Rhodopis and marrying her is then read as Knightfall conclusion of the story.

As I said, it's simple interpretation, however, there seem to be some misconceptions about the story.

First to be clear, when people say Rhodopis in context of Knightfall, they mean Herodotus Rhodopis, which I'll use in this post as well. Reason distinction matters is because Herodotus' and Strabo's versions are completely different. In Strabo's version, Rhodopis is woman who's sandal gets stolen by the eagle and brought to pharaoh. He is charmed by her sandal and orders his servants to find the woman who lost her sandal. Eventually they find Rhodopis and they marry. In fact, when people call Rhodopis proto-Cinderella story, this is the version they refer to (locating woman through her shoe shape and marrying monarch are elements they found their way to the mainstream Cinderella stories).

Nowhere is it stated Kharaxus marries Rhodopis. Here is quote from Heredotus version of the story: "Rhodopis came to Egypt to work, brought by Xanthes of Samos, but upon her arrival was freed for a lot of money by Kharaxus of Mytilene, son of Scamandronymus and brother of Sappho the poetess. Thus Rhodopis lived as a free woman in Egypt, where, as she was very alluring, she acquired a lot of money—sufficient for such a Rhodopis, so to speak, but not for such a pyramid." It's not even mentioned he does it out of romantic feelings in Herodotus version, that part is only in later poems by Poseidippos: "Dorikha, your bones are long since dust, and dust the fillet that bound your hair, and the perfume-breathing robe you folded about lovely Kharaxos when, in his arms, you sipped the wine at dawn." She is here refered to as Dorikha, which is asumed to be her real name. This removes major smoking gun from the theory, although I'd argue that even act of freeing her works as pro Knightfall argument.

Rhodes' name could be pro Rhodopis argument due to it's etymology (both derived from greek word for rose) and being the only named character in Cinder's backstory, but it's pretty uncertain. Rhodes can also mean pomegranate in Greek (which could add more to my "Cinder is unicorn" theory since unicorn in image I used is tied to pomegranate tree. By taking down the tree, unicorn is free, just like Cinder thinks she is finally free after killing Madame and Rhodes)

Now that is out the way, I'd like to put tinfoil on and try to dissect the story for any Knightfall parallels.

Both Rhodopis and Cinder get enslaved outside of their homeland. Rhodopis is taken from Thrace, first to island of Samos, then to Naucratis in Egypt. Cinder is taken first to Atlas, then Evernight.

Both use pseudonyms. Fall is heavily implied to be name Cinder gave to herself. Similarly, Rhodopis is professional pseudonym. As stated above, her real name was asumed to be Dorikha by later poets. Even if that's not the case, it would make no sense for her real name to be Rhodopis. She was Thracian, it would make no sense for her to have Greek name in that time period (in 6th century BC Thrace is not Hellenized).

Island of Samos matches Atlas as a setting. First of all, contrast to the rest of the world. Just like Atlas is most developed city of Remnant, Greece stands as shining beacon of civilization above barbarian lands like Thrace. Both are also technically islands, although one of them is floating. However, if we take Samos' etymology (meaning high in Phoenician), it literally becomes "high island" just like Atlas.

Now here is something I refer to as "Aesop connection". One of Rhodopis' fellow slaves while she was on Samos was famous fable writer Aesop. "and a fellow-slave of Aesop the story-writer. For he was owned by Iadmon, too," Why does this matter? If you imagine Cinder as slave of Atlas, who would her fellow slave be? It would be faunus. Does it make sense to connect Aesop to faunus? I'd say yes, after all, Aesop is famous for writing stories mostly about anthropomorphic animals. Aesop is also one of the most famous storytellers in history, and considering RWBY is story about stories, him appearing in some shape or form wouldn't be weird. I mostly bring this up because if writing staff wanted to check Aesop's biography, they'd have to see this paragraph by Herodotus, which is part of Rhodopis story. So this is bit of a counterargument against claiming Rhodopis is too obscure to be inspiration (another being the fact that Rhodopis appears on Cinderella wiki article). Aesop gets different conclusion to his slavery. He is freed and employed as either advisor to wealthy Samian, or as envoy of king Croesus. This is entering speculative territory, but Aesop's conclusion of slavery matches what one would assume to be conclusion to faunus in the story. Working either with wealthy Samian (and as I said before, Samos=Atlas) or with Croesus (famous for being richest man alive and synonym for immense wealth, "as rich as Croesus") both allude to faunus working together with Weiss (although to be fair, any non Jacques Schnee family member works here) and redemeed SDC as equals, ending the long conflict.

Kharaxus spends immense wealth to free Rhodopis, earning him ire back at home, his sister Sappho even writing a poem criticizing him: "Kharaxus, after giving Rhodopis her freedom, returned to Mytilene. He is bitterly attacked by Sappho in one of her poems." I bring this up as bit of a Joan of Arc parallel to "strengthen" Jaune's role as Kharaxus. Joan's involvement with the king was one of the main points of her heresy trial. This is also relatively logical conclusion if we asume Knightfall or even just Jaune redeeming Cinder happens in canon: his friends would definitely be bitter about him bringing her to the group. If we wanna go through Knightfall rabbit hole, then we can speculate Kharaxus paying massive price could be equated to Jaune giving Cinder (or at least letting her take) Relic of Choice (action which would also certainly cause him to be bitterly attacked by his friends), since Kharaxus returns home without Rhodopis.

In conclusion, Rhodopis is short and sweet theory to the fault. Its length and straight forwardness makes it easy to digest, however, it's minimalism and relative obscurity also make it easy to shoot down if you don't already like or believe in Knightfall as potential canon ship.

[occasionaltirades]

Excerpts and Summaries of “From the Heart of Hell: Manuscripts of a Sonderkommando Prisoner“

Dear reader, I write these words in the moments of my greatest despair. I do not know, I do not believe that I will live to read these lines again, ‘after the storm’… It may be that this, these very lines I am writing, will be the only witnesses to what was my life. But I will be happy if my writings reach you, free citizen of the world. Perhaps a spark of my inner fire will ignite in you, and you will fulfill at least a part of our life’s desire: you shall avenge, avenge our deaths!

_______

Four years ago, I read an article. It was titled, “Becoming Anne Frank”, by Dara Horn, and appeared in the November 2018 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine, which is a fantastic publication that I highly recommend. You can find it in any library and subscriptions are very affordable. The older issues and articles (including the aforementioned) are also typically available online. Most people are familiar with Anne Frank and her diary, which was published by her surviving father and has been translated into 70 languages and sold more than 30 million copies. However, this post will not be about Anne Frank, because this article piqued my interest with the following paragraph:

The line most often quoted from Frank’s diary— “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart”—is often called “inspiring,” by which we mean that it flatters us. It makes us feel forgiven for those lapses of our civilization that allow for piles of murdered girls—and if those words came from a murdered girl, well, then, we must be absolved, because they must be true.

It posits that part of the popularity of the book is that it predates the time when Anne’s family was presumably sold out, and by people who probably received a reward of approximately $1.40 per Jew. It continues:

Readers know that the author was a victim of genocide, but that does not mean they are reading a work about genocide. If that were her subject, it is unlikely that those writings would have been universally embraced.

The article mentions other writers, but the one that has compelled me is Zalmen Gradowski. He was a writer that they correctly bet I had never heard of, and whose work I was luckily able to obtain, but only by ordering it from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, paying for postage from Poland, and hoping it wouldn’t get lost in a lengthy transit. A far cry from a trip to a bookstore or library, where you could hopefully still easily procure a copy of one of the books that many of us may be familiar with from our time in school. In addition to the quotations at the top, Gradowski wrote the following:

This is the real reason why I write – that my condemned life may attain some meaning, that my hellish days and hopeless tomorrows may find some purpose in the future.

Having read these words, I wished to share with you some of what he wrote so that they may reach more people. So that his words may be immortalized in more minds. So that you too can bear some witness to what he says is, “merely a small part of the hell of Birkenau-Auschwitz. It is for you to imagine the reality[…]” “[so] that you will be able to form an image of how the children of our people perished.”

First, let me warn you that the following will not be pleasant. Zalmen Gradowski was forced to work in the Sonderkommando, made to escort prisoners and process bodies. He did not survive, dying in a courageous but unsuccessful prisoner revolt. He wrote on what he could and buried his writings in cans in the camp. His writings were retrieved by a surviving friend, but were damaged, and there are gaps in the text where parts were lost or unreadable. As such, most of what follows will be direct quotations, but may include some guessed words on the part of the compiler or myself. In some places [--] will denote a gap in the text. In parts where I have chosen to skip forward, the ellipses will also be in brackets. This is another reason I wished to post this; the book can be as physically difficult to read as it is emotionally, and I want people to be able to experience at least some of it. For both his sake, and for all our sake in this new year. If you’re interested in that Smithsonian article, here is a link:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/becoming-anne-frank-180970542/

___________________ Zalmen spent just shy of two years in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. He and his family had been considering emigrating to Palestine before war broke out, but after the outbreak of war, Poland was quickly occupied and he, his wife, parents, and two brothers and three sisters were all trapped. During the initial occupation, Zalmen did what he could to help his fellow Jews as the head of the medical and health department of the ghetto's Judenrat ("self-administrating" groups coercively formed by the Nazis to administer the closed-off Jewish populations). He continued to try and help as a member of a health group when they were initially moved to a transit camp where they were held without electricity or heating, and epidemics naturally raged. On December 8, 1942, they were moved to Birkenau where the SS carried out a selection wherein his wife, his mother, sisters, as well as his father and a brother-in-law were immediately murdered. Due to his physical condition, he was selected as a member of the Sonderkommando on December 9, in order to replace the 400 Sonderkommando that had been murdered that same day in the gas chamber of Crematorium I. Being a member of this group allowed him (and others) some ability to smuggle goods such as food to other prisoners, and to bribe guards with personal effects left behind by those murdered in order to lessen the suffering of those guarded. It is, however, also the reason he bore witness to so much hell and was able to record it for us. He worried that the world would not believe what was happening in camps like Auschwitz. That it would be dismissed as "horror propaganda" (which is precisely what the German state claimed it to be). He provides the following reason for his writing:

I write so that at least a tiny fraction of the truth may reach the world[...] This is the only goal; this is the sole purpose of my life. I live here with the thought, with the hope that my writings may reach you, and that at least a part of what I and all of us still alive here strive for, the final will of the murdered sisters and brothers of my people, may be realized in this life. ___________________ Come here to me, you free citizen of the world, who have had the good fortune not to know the rule of the cruel [--] two legged beasts, and I will tell you by what sophisticated, sadistic methods they have murdered millions of human beings from the defenceless, suffering Jewish people, protected by none. [...] If you do not return from your journey, it will be because your human heart was too weak to bear the strain of the gruesome, bestial deeds which your eyes beheld. [...] For you will have fled the world of men to seek comfort among the wildest, most savage beasts, rather than live among cultured demons.

From a section on transport to the concentration camp:

See, my friend, how they march in line as if turned to stone. No weeping, not a cry from a child is heard. Do you know why? Because all weeping by a child is stifled by a blow, both to the mother and the child. Such was the order given by the young wild animals [(Nazi guards)], such was their will. Their bestial instincts have been given free rein, and they are looking only for victims to sate their murderous souls, thirsting for warm Jewish blood. This mass of human beings must comply with their dreadful orders, since their lives are in their hands and their bodies could at any moment be corpses lying in red rivers of blood, with no one to bring them to eternal rest. See, my friend, how the mothers hug their children to stifle their weeping. They tuck their little heads under their shawls, so that the sobbing of the baby, freezing to death, will not be heard.

Here you see a woman standing with a baby in her arms. Her husband is standing next to her. They are staring out at the world passing by them, and instinctively keep glancing down at their lovely little baby. They are plagued by deep anxiety. They are still young, full of life, and the world they see through the windows is calling to them. They have someone to live for, someone to be there for, someone to work and labour for. They have just brought their first child into the world, and thereby woven themselves into the web of eternity, become partners in the building and development of the world. And at their very first steps in the world, they have been stopped and told to leave, to depart from the place they had begun to build their nest.

It is not themselves that they are thinking about. [...] For them, the child is the greatest happiness, the greatest comfort, the shared ideal of their lives. But for those cruel criminals, it is a useless plaything, without value or the right to exist.

After the train from the transport camp has begun moving. Remember that the camps were claimed to be "work camps":

The sound of the whistle rouses the people from their rigid immobility. The train has wrenched itself from [--] of death and is moving on. Mothers kiss their children, women their husbands. Tears of joy are flowing. Everyone has revived and drawn new breath. Hope for new life begins to form. [...] The belief is strengthening that all the rumours are false, all the terrible prophesies are baseless, built upon a single incident, dreadful in itself but not of a mass character.

The adults, who are suffering no less than the children, console themselves with the thought that the authorities will surely provide them with food and water at the next station. They will not deport a people intended as a labour force and let them die of hunger and thirst.

We get off the train. Now, my friend, see what happens. See who has come to welcome us. Soldiers in helmets, with large whips in their hands and big angry dogs at their sides. These are the open arms waiting to receive us [--]. No one understands why there is such a heavy guard. Why such a threatening reception? Why? What are we, that armed forces and wild dogs are needed to deal with us. We have come here to work, calm and peaceful people. So why all these precautions? Wait, and you will understand.

After being sorted into groups, apparently by age, sex, and prior occupation for the pretense of work. Zalmen himself was selected as one of the able-bodied:

The stronger ones, the small group supposedly selected as the best labour force, comfort themselves that transporting the women and children, and the weak and old men, in trucks is a mark of [humanitarian] feeling. Perhaps the authorities wish to spare them the burden of a march on foot after such an exhausting journey.

[...] They came with their wives and children, fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, and now they are all alone, without anyone. [...] They were together everywhere. Left the ghetto together, marched from the camp together, travelled on the locked train together. And now, at their final destination, when they have at least reached the dreadful and frightening point of culmination, they have been separated.

After arriving and being tattooed with an identification number:

From that moment on, you have lost your identity. You are no longer the man who once existed. Today you are a meaningless, worthless, walking number. [--] A hundred such numbers are created and taken to their new homes. [...] We stumble across the clayey ground and reach our new graves in fear and exhaustion. We have scarcely the time to look at our new home and breathe its air, when we are clubbed over the heads. Split skulls and battered faces are pouring with blood. Such is the welcome extended to the new arrivals. We are confused and shocked. [...] They explain briefly that this is the [bouquet] welcoming them to life in the camp.

Who knows how those vile criminals, to whatever species they belong, are now treating his weak, sick mother and dear, beloved sister? Who knows in what grave his father and brother have fallen, and how they are being treated? All stand helpless, anxious, despairing, alone, suffering and broken.

In a heavily damaged passage, Zalmen describes the daily march to work, and every man's eyes looking to the barbed wire of the women's camp. Searching for a relative, wife, sister, child. That maybe a ray of hope still glimmers. "You cannot make yourself believe that they have gone forever."

Outside our block too, a dead number is lying. We approach and have a look. Only this morning he was at work and now he lies motionless. No one cares. No one even sighs. Poor man, if you were with your parents now, their child, what commotion would surround you! Your mother would be lying beside you, weeping and sobbing. Your father would be pacing back and forth, unable to sit still, crying like a baby. Your brothers and sisters would be sitting around you, weeping bitterly and grieving for you. Your friends and [--] would come, and each would [--] the house would be full of sorrow [--] carried away by the terrible misfortune. [--] brothers and sisters [--] like stones in the camp. And when a stone sinks [--] no great misfortune. Grief has [--] them [--].

Zalmen writes about how some individuals still carried out the weekly prayers and songs of praise for God, and the struggle many felt on the topic of faith. As with everything else, he wrote much more, but here is an excerpt regarding the disillusioned bitterly watching the ever-faithful pray and sing, while in their daily lives they watched one tragedy and atrocity after the other:

[They] could inspire no feeling of gratitude, nor move us to sing praises to the Creator of the Universe who had allowed a barbarian nation to murder and annihilate millions of innocent people, men, women and children whose only crime was having been born Jewish; for recognizing the omnipotence of that same G-d to whom they now prayed for having brought monotheism to humanity. And because of this they have now become victims. And they should keep singing his praises? What for? To sing a song of praise before this sea of their own blood? To pray to him who refuses to hear the cries and screams of innocent children?

A recurring theme, but one for which there are no "succinct" passages is that of the despair of separation. The breaking up of families and not knowing the fate of loved ones. The despair of mothers who would have gladly died in their children's stead, but knowing that "the devil wants her too, along with her child, as a sacrifice". It is difficult to convey the sorrow in these pages. Gradowski saw the mass graves, the bodies, and the cremations. The hell of the Sonderkommando was bearing witness to it and knowing the fate that awaited them. It did afford them some capacity to help ease the suffering of fellow prisoners, but also meant quite literally processing the murdered. In a series of chapters close to the end, Zalmen describes the work they were forced to do. Watching as truckloads of women and children were brought to the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. They were stripped and forced to stand naked, waiting for "gates of hell to open and give them free passage to the grave.". He describes girls reunited with their mothers kissing and rejoicing at their reunion despite the knowledge that they will soon be leading them to death. He describes the pain of seeing all these people, full of life, who will "in a few hours, be frozen in death. Their mouths will be silent forever. The sparkling eyes, the bewitching charm, will stare fixedly in one direction - searching through dead eternity".

He laments how this multitude will soon be bodies lying in the mud. Their teeth ripped out for metals, rings and jewelry removed. The pale bodies who were just moments earlier their kin will be dragged across the cement and thrown "like a foul carcass" onto elevators to the crematoria. Within minutes hundreds of lives are reduced to ash. Soon, all of these lives will be confined to wheelbarrows, destined to be dumped into unmarked graves.

No trace will be left of those who stand here now; all these people who once filled entire cities, who once had a place in the world, will be effaced, torn out by the roots as if they had never been born.

Sickeningly, he mentions that on this occasion, representatives of the Nazi party had come for the day's "celebration". High-ranking officers whose faces they had never seen in the 16 months he'd been imprisoned coming to watch these women marched into the gas chambers. At this point in 1944, Germany was losing their war. Somehow this slaughter of innocents was supposed to convince them that this was the real battle, and that this extermination was what mattered as their soldiers fell on all fronts.

Further groups are herded into the gas chambers, more than two thousand people, and he describes how soldiers coldly and calmly dumped the poison in through "eyes" at the top of the chamber and walked away "Proud, brave and content, having accomplished the great task for their nation, their fatherland. They have come one step closer to victory".

Finally, Zalmen describes how, after the gas had been administered, they were to open the doors of these great tombs, from which would blow a "wave of atrocious death". The only sound was a barely audible trickling of fluids flowing from bodies. In a "vast, naked sea", body parts protruded, and heads appeared as if floating in this abyss. They are to pull apart these bodies, that are "twisted into each other like a ball of yarn, as if the devil has deliberately played a diabolical game with them before their death and set them in this pose".

Two frozen eyes stare at you, as if to ask: what will you do with me, brother? More than once you recognize an acquaintance with whom you had spent time before he entered the grave.

At the end, he describes the burning.

The hellish fire extends its flames like open arms and snatched up the corpses like precious treasure. The hair catches fire first. The skin swells up in blisters that burst within a few seconds. The hands and feet start to writhe-the veins tighten and move the limbs. Now the entire corpse ignites, the skin has burst, the fat flows, and you hear the sizzle of burning fire.[...] The head burns the longest. Small blue flames flicker in its sockets-the eyes are consumed with the brain deep down and in the mouth the tongue still burns. The entire process lasts twenty minutes - and a body, a world is reduced to ashes.

In one final letter in September of 1944, Zalmen Gradowski described the location of some of the ash pits, and how much had been dumped into the river. He told the finder where to find his other writings. He died less than one month later, probably on October 7, 1944, in a Sonderkommando revolt after almost two years in the camps. Auschwitz-Birkenau would be liberated by the Red Army three and a half months later, on January 27, 1945.

One message that rings through everything is of the barbarism to which people will resort, looking to blame others for a problem. Complex explanations for ills are ignored entirely in favor of a scapegoat. Further, to paraphrase Gradowski, the greater the civilization, the greater its barbarism. It was an organized, efficient society which gave rise to this atrocity, and it is within organized and "civilized" societies that we see an ever-increasing number of people downplaying or denying them. Societies wherein we have more and more people subscribing brazenly to the ideology of the perpetrators. Please, read and learn as much as you can. Humans are uniquely able to learn, almost directly, from those who came before us. Take in their memory and their lessons and carry them into the future.

[armthearmour]

Book Review: Medieval Arms and Armour: A Sourcebook

In writing Medieval Arms and Armour:A Sourcebook, Ralph Moffatt aims to provide a reference guide suitable to all scholars and enthusiasts of arms and armor, regardless of their level of experience. This work begins with a series of prefaces which provide a complete list of the illustrations and primary documents used throughout the work. Here the author also discusses his motivations for putting together this sourcebook together, as well as providing sections which teach the reader how to use a sourcebook and the correct English pronunciations for a number of the more complex technical terms used throughout the work.

The main body of the text is divided into three sections. The first section is an “Introduction to the Source-Types.” The author discusses separately both textual and material sources, discussing his processes for translation and transcription, and providing an overview of the types of documents he uses for the study of armor. The material sources Moffatt further subdivides into extant archaeological material and artistic material, briefly articulating the benefits and shortcomings of each source type.

The second section contains the documents. 151 documents are included, and each document is numbered. Moffatt includes a full library reference for the work being taken from, as well as any known author and date. The relevant quotation is then provided, transcribed in its original language, before finally a translation is presented. The quotes vary in length from just a few words briefly describing an item (for example, document 151, simply “my son Philip a hauberk of Milan [make]) to several paragraphs which occupy several pages.

The sources included in this work are varied, and draw upon documents produced by all manner of people. A large number of legal documents are present, including wills, inventories, house payments, craft statutes, etc. as well as prose sources such as biographical and chronicler accounts, and religious works.

One unfortunate restriction it seems the author placed upon himself, however, is the nationality of the documents. Every document included in Moffatt’s work is either British or French. Though some correspondences include an individual who is from outside France or the British Isles, one of the correspondents is British or French. This restriction is understandable for the sake of space, however, it does render the title somewhat misleading, as those looking for fourteenth century sources from the rest of medieval Europe will not be served by this book.

The third and final section of Medieval Arms and Armour: A Sourcebook is an illustrated glossary. This section includes a large number of artistic and archaeological sources which provide the reader with a visual representation of the elements of arms and armor which are discussed by the book. Accompanied by short definitions of the words in question, this section will be extremely valuable to those who are new to the study of arms and armor.

Finally, Moffatt includes a bibliography and index. The bibliography contains not only the scholarly sources Moffatt consulted for this work, but also a full list of primary sources. While a majority of the scholarly sources Moffatt consulted are English or French, here he did not neglect German scholarship.

Despite its few shortcomings, this book should find a welcome home on the shelf of every arms and armor enthusiast in the world. The wealth of sources of all types is immense, and the footnotes included by the author make finding references a simple task. For that reason, even the professional scholar will find this book of use, but the contextualizing information the author provides in the prefixes, as well as the discussion on sources and the illustrated glossary make this a truly invaluable source for those who are new to the discipline.

[silalcarin]

My favorite FFVIII moments from the FF 25th Memorial Ultimania Vol. 2 — Part 2

The Ultimania shows the following below, under Rinoa's "Memorable Quotes." This implies that it's canon for Rinoa to be in Squall's party while he goes to Balamb Garden, and not in Selphie's party while she goes to the Galbadia Missile Base:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Rinoa's "Memorable Scenes." Once again, this implies that it's canon for Rinoa to be in Squall's party while he goes to Balamb Garden, and not in Selphie's party while she goes to the Galbadia Missile Base:

Um, excuse me, "assaults"? "Assault" means to "make a physical attack on" and "the illegal act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so." Rinoa literally doesn't physically attack Squall. Hell, she never even touches him throughout this whole scene and the guided tour that comes afterwards. Where the hell is this damn "assault", localization team?

Not to mention that it doesn't match up the rest of the paragraph, which describes the scene more favorably — "convincing him to show her around the Garden", "audacious behavior." I don't know what this sentence looks like in its original Japanese kanji, since these screenshots are from the official English translation, but all I know is that it's a poor word choice to use.

I'm pointing out the incongruity of the word because I'm a survivor of both physical and sexual assault. So when that word is used incorrectly, I take offense.

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Quistis's "Memorable Scenes." This implies that it's canon for Squall, Zell and Selphie to avoid fighting the X-ATM092, leading to the FMV of Quistis destroying it and saving Squall:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Quistis's "Memorable Scenes." This implies that it's canon for Squall to allow Irvine to form a party with Rinoa and Selphie, leaving Quistis and Zell with him, as they exit Galbadia Garden:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Zell's "Memorable Quotes." This implies that it's canon for Squall to question Zell's leadership and his ability to watch over and protect Edea ("...Not too sure about that") in Lunar Gate:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Zell's "Memorable Scenes." This implies that it's canon for the Combat King 003 sidequest (a.k.a., the Zell's Love Quest) to be completed:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Zell's "Memorable Scenes." This implies that it's canon for not only Rinoa to be in Squall's party while he goes to Balamb Garden, but also for Zell to be in his party as well. This also implies that it's canon for Quistis and Irvine to be in Selphie's party while she goes to the Galbadia Missile Base:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Zell's "Memorable Scenes." This implies that it's canon for the Deep Sea Research Center sidequest to be completed, and for Zell to be in Squall's party throughout the sidequest:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Selphie's "Memorable Quotes." This implies that it's canon for Squall to: 1) not jump off the cliff after Selphie, and instead take the long way around; 2) disagree with Zell about jumping off the cliff ("I don't know about that…"), despite not doing so himself, leading to him calling Zell a "chicken-wuss" like Seifer does and Selphie following him:

Bear in mind, however, that this exchange will actually lower your Attitude score during the SeeD field exam. So, why the Ultimania implies that this exchange is canon is anyone's guess.

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Selphie's "Memorable Scenes." Once again, this implies that it's canon for Zell and Rinoa to be in Squall's party while he goes to Balamb Garden, and it's canon for Quistis and Irvine to be in Selphie's party while she goes to the Galbadia Missile Base:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Selphie's "Memorable Scenes." This implies that it's canon for Selphie and Rinoa to be in Squall's party when they visit Trabia Garden:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Irvine's "Memorable Scenes." Once again, this implies that it's canon for Squall to allow Irvine to form a party with Rinoa and Selphie, leaving Quistis and Zell with him, as they exit Galbadia Garden:

Also, way to go, localization team. The party left Galbadia Garden, not Trabia Garden.

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Laguna's "Memorable Scenes." This implies that it's canon for Zell and Selphie to be in Squall's party when they fight Adel:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Kiros's "Memorable Quotes." This implies that it's canon for Squall to talk to Laguna, Kiros and Ward in the Ragnarok as they prepare to save Ellone:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Kiros's "Memorable Scenes." This implies that it's canon for Quistis and Zell to be in Squall's party when they meet Laguna, Kiros and Ward in Esthar:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Cactuar's "Memorable Feature" in the Monsters section. This implies that it's canon for the Cactuar sidequest to be completed, and for Zell and Irvine to be in Squall's party throughout the sidequest:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under PuPu's "Memorable Feature" in the Monsters section. This implies that it's canon for the PuPu UFO? sidequest to be completed, and for Zell and Rinoa to be in Squall's party throughout the sidequest:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Adel's "Memorable Feature" in the Monsters section. Once again, this implies that it's canon for Zell and Selphie to be in Squall's party when they fight Adel:

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The Ultimania shows the following below, under Odin's "Memorable Scene" in the Extra Content — Guardian Forces section. This implies that it's canon for Zell and Rinoa to be in Squall's party when they fight Seifer in Lunatic Pandora:

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Link to Part 1

NOTE: This post had to be split into two parts, due to the 30-picture limit.

[kombuuuu]

tips for writing on here 🫣

OOOOOO

okay soooo

never write your fics ON tumblr, write on notes app or docs or literally anything else, because the likelihood of your tumblr lagging and crashing is suuuper high with big text amounts.

(this can be avoided with a pc/laptop because of the auto save feature.)

if you decide to write on those apps, never use two enter keys to start another paragraph, tumblr does that itself — with one enter key. that’s alll u need sugar. that’s why whenever you see sneak peeks of my writing, it’s all one big block of text. because tumble does spacings like that — it’s weird but tumblr is a mystery

it’s your personal choice how you make ‘title screens’ , but usually i go

Title > relationship > quote > warnings > image/gif > authors note > than the : readmore : command

if your had a pc / laptop, probably do beta reading on there, because it’s MUUUCH easier to spot typos or asterisks

(i use asterisks in my notes to signal when to make a word italic, that’s why sometimes you will see them in my rica, cause i miss some lolol)

use synonym .com

please, it’s the loml, if you are repeating words because you can’t find an alternative in ur little mind book, just use that and boom now you’re a dictionary

also it expands your vocabulary C: makes you more eloquent, which will translate into your writings !

word count really doesn’t matter, but if it’s a long fic, maybe copy past it to tumblr in paragraphs because tumblr lags a lot.

also,, tagging is very important,, so learn your tags (the ones u use the most will be the ones that show up automatically)

using pc / laptop gives you a ‘popular tags’ and ‘related tags’ category

related tags only show up if you have already typed in a previous tag C:

anyways that’s all i can think of love uuuu!!!!!

[softspeirs]

Fic writer interview!

Thanks @mercurygray for the tag!

How many works do you have on AO3? 120 for my 2 pseuds, sunlightdances and glowinghorizons!

What’s your total AO3 word count? 520,569

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? take a running start (the 100) keep me safe inside (your arms like towers) (the 100) one less day to be alone (the 100) give you everything i have (the 100) they will see my strength (in this love i found) (the 100)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I try to! I usually get to them all, even if I don't respond the same day. I really appreciate anyone who comments on my works, even old stuff for fandoms I don't write for anymore (see above fics and kudos lol) and want to say thanks.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? This is a hard question! I've always tried to be a happy ending writer, but I think some of my newer fics for HBO War stuff is probably more angsty because of the subject matter. I'm just now feeling confident in leaving a chapter or a fic itself ended on a angsty note.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending? Pretty much everything I write is fix-it fic, so usually they all have happy endings, but I'm partial to this fic for Marvel (Modern!Bucky x Reader) - Safe Place to Land on AO3 or Tumblr.

Do you write crossovers? I've only done a few, but I have a WIP on hiatus that I started ages ago that's a Supernatural/BoB time travel fic featuring one of my OCs! It's here: Lost in Time

Have you ever received hate on a fic? Yes and it still haunts me lol. I got the longest comment of my writing life (like, several paragraph essay) on one of my modern AUs for The 100 about how I should give up writing and it went into extreme detail with quotes and everything critiquing me. Honestly, it really threw me for a loop because it wasn't a constructive criticism, it was mean, and I stopped writing for a long time because of it.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? If I feel it has a place - I'm more likely to write a smut-adjacent, probably-still-rated-M heavy petting scene with lots of angst and tension. That's what I like to read if I read smut, too.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not an entire fic, but a writer in another fandom wrote something SO similar to one of my Marvel stories and there was a paragraph that was copy/pasted. I confronted them and they deleted it, and their blog shortly after. It sucked lol.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I know of!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? I haven't! I'd love to try it one day but I'm also such a procrastinator I fear I'd mess up any working relationship, haha.

What’s your all-time favorite ship? Based on what I've written, I still have a soft spot for Clarke and Bellamy from The 100, even though I won't ever write for that fandom again. Their dynamic was so great to write about. Back in my Fanfiction.net days I loved writing for Olivia and Lincoln from Fringe, too.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? I have a Dean Winchester/OC fic where she's a national park ranger and gets roped into shenanigans that I love, but I don't see myself going back to it unfortunately.

What are your writing strengths? I hope that I'm able to really set a scene and use dialogue and sense words to really put readers in the head of a particular character. I really want people to finish reading a piece and have a feeling.

What are your writing weaknesses? Sometimes I think I use too much dialogue and I tell rather than show.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? I would love it, but I don't speak another language confidently enough to use it the right way, and I just don't trust Google Translate to make it smooth enough, haha.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? I think I wrote RPF for the band McFly when I was 13 but I don't think any of that still exists, thank god. My first published fic was something for AltLivia/AltLincoln (Fringe) on ff.net in 2011.

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to? I'm in a Discord server for the Nancy Drew CW show and I'd love to write for Nancy/Ace, but I'd need to rewatch the show to do it confidently, I was just a casual watcher with friends when it was on TV.

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written? My favorite thing is my current WIP Barren Soul (Band of Brothers). I've been working on it on and off since 2020 and I think it has some of my best writing. It's also fun to re-read because I can see how I've grown as a writer over the years.

Tagging anyone else who wants to fill this out - no pressure!

[voyageofthenautilus]

Translation Notes, Part 2

Mod Blue: After I saw @mysticalspiders contemplate whether the original translation of Twenty Thousand Leagues is less homoerotic, I decided to check for myself, and then I spiraled out of control and decided to use this post as a means of doing what I love to do: screaming about the differences between Mercier's original translation, and the Walter translation we're reading now.

I don't have the greatest eye for what is and what isn't considered romantic/erotic, but I figured Aronnax's physical description of Nemo was a good place to start. Here's an excerpt from Walter's translation:

"Without hesitation, I identified his dominant qualities-- self-confidence, since his head reared like a nobleman's above the arc formed by the lines of his shoulders, and his black eyes gazed with icy assurance; calmness, since his skin, pale rather than ruddy, indicated tranquility of blood; energy, shown by the swiftly knitting muscles of his brow; and finally courage, since his deep breathing denotes tremendous reserves of vitality."

Here's how Mercier translates the same passage:

"I made out his prevailing qualities directly: self-confidence-- because his head was well-set on his shoulders, and his black eyes looked around with cold assurance; calmness-- for his skin, rather pale, showed his coolness of blood; energy-- evinced by the rapid contraction of his lofty brows; and courage-- because his deep breathing denoted great power of lungs."

Leaving aside all the pseuoscience... I think it's still clear in Mercier's translation that Aronnax is captivated by Nemo, but the language isn't quite as rich (in my opinion) and is a bit more impersonal- Nemo's head "rearing like a nobleman" paints a much more compelling picture than merely being "well-set on his shoulders," and the "swiftly knitting muscles of his brow" is (to me) more physical and visceral than the "rapid contraction of his lofty brows." Still, this isn't all that different.

The differences led me to wonder which translation is truer to Verne's text, so I'll refer to it here:

"Je reconnus sans hésiter ses qualités dominantes - la confiance en lui, car sa tête se dégageait noblement sur l'arc formé par la ligne de ses épaules, et ses yeux noirs regardaient avec une froide assurance : - le calme, car sa peau, pâle plutôt que colorée, annonçait la tranquillité du sang ; - l'énergie, que démontrait la rapide contraction de ses muscles sourciliers ; le courage enfin, car sa vaste respiration dénotait une grande expansion vitale."

Google's word-for-word translation is as follows:

"I recognized without hesitation his dominant qualities - self-confidence, for his head stood out nobly on the arc formed by the line of his shoulders, and his black eyes gazed with cold assurance: - calmness, for his skin, pale rather than colored, announced the tranquility of blood; - energy, demonstrated by the rapid contraction of his eyebrow muscles; finally courage, for his vast breathing denoted a great vital expansion."

It seems Mercier was truer to the text with the "rapid contraction" line, but Walter hit the mark in the description of how Nemo's head rises above his shoulders (expanding on "nobly" to mean "like a nobleman"). And he also chose some more fanciful, descriptive synonyms that aren't present in the French language- "ruddy" for "colored/colorée," "swiftly knitting" for "rapid contraction/rapide contraction," "tremendous" for "great/grand."

Walter also restores two paragraphs following this passage which Mercier excised from his translation. These talk about the "harmony of [Nemo's] facial expressions" ("de l'homogénéité des expressions dans les gestes du corps et du visage") and how Aronnax felt "'involuntarily reassured'" in his presence ("Je me sentis « involontairement » rassuré en sa présence"). To that last line, I say- ooh la la. Shame Mercier cut it... (I would also like to know why "involuntarily reassured" is in quotes- is it referring to something that audiences at the time would have been familiar with?)

Also in Walter's translation, Aronnax describes Nemo as "the most wonderful physical specimen I had ever encountered." Now that's homoerotic if anything ever was. In Mercier's translation, Aronnax still seem attracted, but perhaps slightly less dazzled: "This man was certainly the most admirable specimen I had ever met." Verne's original is a bit closer to Mercier's, as far as I can tell: "Cet homme formait certainement le plus admirable type que j'eusse jamais rencontré" (as translated by Google: "This man was certainly the most admirable type I had ever met"). (I now ask if any native French speakers/anyone who didn't just take two years of Duolingo lessons before getting frustrated and giving up, like I did, can chime in on whether these translations I'm getting from Google are accurate or not.)

Finally, here's an excerpt from Walter's translation where Aronnax gushes over Nemo's eyes:

"When this stranger focused his gaze on an object, his eyebrow lines gathered into a frown, his heavy eyelids closed around his pupils to contract his huge field of vision, and he looked! What a look- as if he could magnify objects shrinking into the distance; as if he could probe your very soul; as if he could pierce those sheets of water so opaque to our eyes and scan the deepest seas...!"

To me, this reads very much as "ooh, Aronnax's got a crush." Meanwhile, Aronnax's thoughts are more subdued in Mercier's translation:

"When this stranger fixed upon an object, his eyebrows met, his large eyelids closed around so as to contract the range of his vision, and he looked as if he magnified the objects lessened by the distance, as if he pierced those sheets of water so opaque to our eyes, and as if he read the very depths of the seas."

One line seemed notably omitted here: what about Nemo "prob[ing] your very soul?!" Naturally I had to run to the original text to confirm, and yes, it is there: "comme il vous pénétrait jusqu'à l'âme !" Aronnax also uses exclamation points in this scene, which he doesn't in Mercier's translation, which I've noticed is common throughout- Nemo's "You are my prisoners of war! You attacked me!" speech ends each sentence with a period, as if he's saying everything in a calm, cool, and collected manner. The original text and Walter's translation are considerably more fiery with the usage of exclamation points.

Moving on from Aronnax's physical description of Nemo, I've seen others point out that the offer Nemo makes Aronnax and the ensuing tour of the Nautilus is very Beauty and the Beast/"I can show you the wooooorrrrld" (I know that's from Aladdin, don't worry, I've got my Disney movies straight). Here's Walter's translation of Nemo's initial offer:

"Let me tell you, professor, you won't regret the time you spend aboard my vessel. You're going to voyage through a land of wonders. Stunned amazement will probably be your habitual state of mind. It will be a long while before you tire of the sights constantly before your eyes. I'm going to make another underwater tour of the world-- perhaps my last, who knows?-- and I'll review everything I've studied in the depths of these seas that I've crossed so often, and you can be my fellow student. Starting this very day, you'll enter a new element, you'll see what no human being has ever seen before-- since my men and I no longer count-- and thanks to me, you're going to learn the ultimate secrets of our planet."

This definitely could be read as a romantic overture. How does it compare to Mercier's version of the scene? Well... Mercier actually cut everything following the "land of wonders" line. He also cut what I joked was an "intricate ritual" of Aronnax wanting to touch Nemo in an appropriate way:

"I thought the commander would offer me his hand to seal our agreement. He did nothing of the sort. I regretted that."

The only other moments that immediately came to mind for me to compare the texts were when Nemo told Aronnax that their cabins are right beside each other, and when he singled him out among Conseil and Ned to take him on the tour of the Nautilus. Both of these incidents are very much present in Mercier's translation.